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Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice 
Volume 60, No. 4, October 2018

CJCCJ Online: http://bit.ly/cjccj604

 

 

What's in a Name? Shifting Identities of Traditional Organized Crime in
Canada in the Transnational Fight against the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta

Anna Sergi

The Italian antimafia authorities have warned Canadian law enforcement about
the risks and the growing concerns for the infiltration of clans of the
Calabrian mafia, known as ‘ndrangheta, in Eastern Canada.3 The alarm linked
to the rise of the ‘ndrangheta challenges the paradigms of traditional
organized crime in Canada, because the ‘ndrangheta is presented as
traditional but also innovative and more pervasive than other mafia-type
groups. Through access to confidential investigations and interviews of key
specialist law enforcement teams in Toronto and Montreal, this article
investigates today's institutional perception of mafia – the ‘ndrangheta in
particular – in Canada when compared to Italian conceptualizations. I will
argue that the changes in narratives in Canada can be read in relation to
changes in the Italian identity in the country, moving towards
regionalization and specialist knowledge of ethnic differences.

Read at CJCCJ Online>>> http://bit.ly/cjccj604a

 

 


Comprendre les interactions des vendeurs de drogues illicites sur les forums
de discussion des cryptomarchés


Masarah Paquet-Clouston, David Décary-Hétu

This article explores how online drug sellers interact on cryptomarket
discussion forums. The results suggest that the sellers' interactions are
modulated by their status as sellers. Sellers fuse two roles to adjust their
status, combining the role of entrepreneur and the role of volunteer expert.
As entrepreneurs, sellers post promotional messages to take advantage of the
visibility provided by the forums. They also take on an expert volunteer
role, making “effort donations” to the community by helping other
participants. These effort donations may be made with the aim of raising
their reputation within a community, a key element in the sale of illegal
products online. These donations could also be motivated by a form of
participatory act, which benefits the maximum number of participants and
ensures the welfare and development of the virtual community.

Read at CJCCJ Online>>> http://bit.ly/cjccj604b

 

 


Police Encounters and Experiences among Youths and Adults Who Use Drugs:
Qualitative and Quantitative Findings of a Cross-Sectional Study in
Victoria, British Columbia


Alissa Greer, Justin Sorge, Kimberly Sharpe, Daniel Bear, Scott Macdonald  

People who use drugs are disproportionately represented in the criminal
justice system in Canada; how they come to be in contact with this system is
typically through encounters with police. Understanding the nature of
encounters between people who use drugs and police is vital to developing
interventions and policing practices that are appropriate, fair, and promote
the well-being of this community. This study quantitatively and
qualitatively examines police encounters from the perspectives of youths and
adults who use drugs in Victoria, British Columbia. The results show
divergent predictors of police encounters and perceptions of these
encounters based on age cohort. Youths were more likely to report police
encounters and were more likely to perceive these encounters as negative
compared with the adult cohort. Among both age groups, unstable housing was
a significant predictor of reporting a recent encounter with the police.
Among adults only, opioid use was a significant predictor of negative
encounters. The qualitative findings show that negative perceptions were
largely due to police harassment, being labelled as a person who uses drugs,
and interference with drug paraphernalia. These findings also show that
mutual respect and relationships built over time contribute to more positive
reports of encounters. There were also many reports of positive experiences
despite legal interference. These results suggest that people who use drugs
belong to a group that are labelled and discriminated against, but that
relationship building between people who use drugs and police can have a
positive impact. These results may inform local policing practices and
cultures, which can promote the health and well-being of the community.

Read at CJCCJ Online>>> http://bit.ly/cjccj604c

 

 


The Influence of Witness Intoxication, Witness Race, and Defendant Race on
Mock Juror Decision Making


Logan Ewanation, Evelyn Maeder

Negative stereotypes about Indigenous people concerning alcoholism and
criminality permeate Canadian society. This study primarily explores whether
racial bias affects mock jurors' perceptions of Indigenous eyewitnesses,
particularly when the eyewitness was intoxicated at the time of the crime.
Participants read a trial transcript in which eyewitness intoxication and
both eyewitness and defendant race (Indigenous/white) were manipulated, then
provided a verdict and responded to a series of questions about the
eyewitness. We found an indirect effect of eyewitness intoxication on
verdict, operating through perceived eyewitness accuracy, such that
intoxicated eyewitnesses were associated with significantly fewer
convictions. Participants also rated Indigenous eyewitnesses as more
accurate than white eyewitnesses. Although there were no significant main
effects of defendant or eyewitness race on verdicts, we did observe a
significant indirect effect of eyewitness race: Indigenous eyewitnesses were
associated with more convictions via perceived accuracy. These effects run
contrary to some previous literature and, coupled with our findings
regarding criminality stereotypes, suggest that prospective jurors may be
becoming aware of systemic bias facing Indigenous peoples. This study adds
to the growing body of research investigating prospective jurors' decision
making in Canada.

Read at CJCCJ Online>>> http://bit.ly/cjccj604d

 

 


Risk Terrains of Illicit Drug Activities in Durham Region, Ontario


Ismail Onat, Davut Akca, Mehmet Fatih Bastug

Street-level drug activities pose a serious problem for communities, and
exploring the environmental context of drug crimes is one important aspect
of the increasing problem in Canada. This study examined the urban backcloth
of illicit drug activities in the Durham Region, Ontario. Drawing on the
locations of 5,297 drug arrests between 2011and 2013, along with 6,291
surrounding physical features in the environment, the risk terrain modelling
framework guided the analyses, which revealed that the risk of drug crimes
varies by context and time. Similar to previous research in the United
States and the Netherlands, the authors found that 11 out of 18 correlates
were significantly associated with drug crimes. Unlike other study settings,
the locations of alcohol sales and service did not predict the occurrence of
drug crimes in the Durham Region. In addition, the risk clusters differed
when the same correlates were modelled for incidents of each year
separately. The models provided a valid prediction from one year to the
next. Nearly 85% of all places with illicit drugs arrests in 2012 and 2013
overlapped with high-risk places of 2011 and 2012, respectively. The
resulting risk map informs practitioners and policy makers on where to focus
resources in the region.

Read at CJCCJ Online>>> http://bit.ly/cjccj604e


 


 


Qualitatively Unpacking Canadian Public Safety Personnel Experiences of
Trauma and Their Well-Being


Rose Ricciardelli, R. Nicholas Carleton, Dianne Groll, Heidi Cramm

We thematically analysed responses volunteered by 828 of the nearly 9,000
public safety personnel (PSP) who participated in an online survey on
occupational stress injuries and symptoms. Participants responded to an
open-ended optional request for “additional feedback” located at the end of
the survey. Salient response themes reveal that, across occupations and
organizations, PSP report witnessing, enduring, and encountering extensive
trauma, directly and vicariously, acutely and cumulatively. PSP reported
effects of such trauma on themselves and their families as including
physical (e.g., headaches, back pain, cardiac arrest, digestive symptoms),
psychological (e.g., crying, feeling unhappy, living in fear, experiencing
anxiety and anger), and social or interpersonal impacts (e.g., social
exclusion, avoidance, cynicism towards others). The effects on their
families included marital breakdown and relationship dissolution with
children, as well as increased familial stress, strain, and anger. PSP also
reported fatalistic attitudes; specifically, they felt that nothing would
change, that they had no voice, and that both their employer and the
different levels of government did not care about their well-being.

Read at CJCCJ Online>>> http://bit.ly/cjccj604f

 

 

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