The study of criminal behavior in both the individual and within a given society.
Questions tagged [criminology]
205 questions
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Did Gina Grant serve only 12 months in prison for killing her mother?
Today, a professor of ethics was discussing the story of Gina Grant, a straight-A student, aged 14, who stabbed her mother to death by a crystal candlestick with the help of her boyfriend who tried to present it as a suicide; Grant got her Harvard…
George Chalhoub
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Does a video show Michael Brown robbing a store in Ferguson the day he was shot?
The Inquisitr reports that there is a conspiracy theory regarding the alleged robbery by shooting victim Michael Brown.
The theory claims that the video, claimed by the police to prove Brown robbed a store, is not from August 2014as claimed, but…
ike
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Were thousands of people executed by "Breaking On the Wheel" for copying fabrics in pre-revolution France?
An article by Rick Falkvinge best categorized as political opinion / commentary on copyright enforcement claims that:
A few centuries ago, the penalty for unauthorized copying was
breaking on the wheel.
It is a term we’re not very familiar with…
Paul
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Did a soldier fight off 40 train robbers?
The Art of Manliness website reports
Bishnu Shrestha, who had just retired from the Indian army where he served as a Gorkha soldier, held off a horde of robbers that tried to rob a train in India. From the article on Republica:
“The band of about…
user4951
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Does prison work reduce recidivism?
I'm having difficulty finding statistics comparing the recidivism rates of regular prisoners and the ones that worked while serving the sentence. I can't remember where but I've read that "specialists believe working in prisons can reduce recidivism…
Renan
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Does the 'Mafia' still exist in Italy?
Here is a claim that says the mafia still exist in Italy:
Yes, sadly it does, and will ever does. I'm Italian.
and it's not called mob.. or whatever.
there are many clans, in several Italian cities.. and you could call all them "Mafia"
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Persian Cat
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Has a mass murder ever been prevented by a good guy with a firearm?
While the statistical relationship between gun ownership and mass homicides has been discussed on Skeptics.SE, I have not seen any questions or answers on the following claim.
The policy of the National Rifle Association includes statements such…
Brian M. Hunt
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Correlation between MAO-A gene and murderers / sex offenders
The MAO-A gene, also known as the "Warrior gene", is thought to cause increased antisocial and violent behavior patterns in people who have experienced an abusive childhood. [ref] Caspi et. al. found similar results.
I also remember an episode of…
Polynomial
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Do immigrants to the US commit less crimes that native born Americans?
In 2015, Donald Trump suggested in a speech that Mexican immigrants to the US were bringing crime.
In response, several reporters denied it, such as the Washington Post
data show that new immigrants — including illegal immigrants — are actually…
Jacob Blaustein
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Will a warming climate cause more crime?
The Register reports, somewhat skeptically, that an american consultant has produced an analysis claiming that climate change will lead to an increase in crime.
The paper, published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management (original…
matt_black
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Can a body be dissolved by a few liters or gallons of Hydrofluoric acid?
In the "Cat's in the Bag..." episode of Season 1 of "Breaking Bad," characters are shown with 4 gallon-jugs of Hydrofluoric Acid that they use to dissolve 2 adult corpses. Chemistry is a major plot device in the show and it seems like they go to…
Larry OBrien
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Did Vera Renczi (“the Black Widow”), a female serial killer, exist?
Wikipedia describes Vera Renczi (a.k.a. Black Widow or Chatelaine of Berkerekul) as
a Romanian serial killer who allegedly confessed to poisoning 35 individuals including her two husbands, multiple lovers, and her son with arsenic during the…
Alex
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Have 82 officers been charged for on-duty shootings since 2005?
Multiple news sources ranging from 2 years ago to now, such as CNN, NBC, New York Magazine, PBS, Salon, Vox, and NPR mention that between 2005 and May 2017, around 80 police officers have been charged with murder or manslaughter resulting from…
Barry Harrison
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Did OJ Simpson murder his ex wife and Ron Goldman?
Many people believe that OJ murdered his wife and Ron Goldman.
He was found not guilty in criminal court but later found liable for their deaths in civil court, based on newer evidence that wasn't admissible during the criminal trial, I believe. …
D.Hutchinson
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Did increase in minimum wage cause a decrease in crime in NYC?
I was recently reading about the pros and cons of increasing the minimum wage.
This excerpt is from pro #15 at the bottom of this webpage:
Researchers who studied crime rates and the minimum wage in New York City over a 25-year period found that…
Daniel
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