In Their Own Hands: Young People and Self-Justice Retaliation in Germany

Strong and viable modern states have limited the use of private force to narrowly-defined situations of self-defense. Yet, evidence from crime surveys shows that a significant proportion of violent and property crimes is not reported to police. Instead of calling the police, people either take no ac...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Schwarzenbach, Anina (Author) ; Tankebe, Justice (Author) ; Oberwittler, Dietrich 1963- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2023
In: Crime & delinquency
Year: 2023, Volume: 69, Issue: 1, Pages: 121-151
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Keywords:
Delinquency
Police Legitimacy
self- justice retaliation
Social bonds
Vigilantism
Description
Summary:Strong and viable modern states have limited the use of private force to narrowly-defined situations of self-defense. Yet, evidence from crime surveys shows that a significant proportion of violent and property crimes is not reported to police. Instead of calling the police, people either take no action or employ a variety of mechanisms, including retaliation, to settle disputes. Drawing on data from a survey of 2,921 young people in two German cities, we investigate the propensity of adolescents to resort to self-justice retaliation. The results show widespread propensity to engage in retaliatory actions, particularly among adolescent males of low socio-economic status. Further, attitudes to the police, unsupervised routine activities, and delinquency-related variables were the most influential correlates of propensity to engage in retaliatory actions.
ISSN:1552-387X
DOI:10.1177/0011128720948032