The Criminological Bulletin has been published since 1994. It is published annually and aims to provide research groups, public and private institutions, the media, and those interested in Criminology with quick, simple and brief information on data related to crime. , coming from preferably empirical criminological investigations.
Instituto Andaluz Interuniversitario de Criminología (Sección de Málaga)
Con la aceptación de este aviso el/los autor/es declara/n: Que el artículo se deriva de una investigación propia, que no ha sido publicado en el mismo formato que se presenta y que no está siendo objeto de postulación para su publicación en otra revista simultáneamente y con el mismo formato. Que acepta/n someter a evaluación el artículo, y a proceder en el término establecido a las correcciones que se indiquen, como condición para su publicación. Que existe conformidad con la política editorial de la revista Boletín Criminológico en lo relativo a la difusión de sus contenidos por correo electrónico en el formato pdf, y a través de su página web y de los directorios de revistas en los que está indizada . Que a tal efecto, por la presente el/los autor/es cede/n los derechos de difusión y reproducción del artículo presentado al Boletín Criminológico para todas las ediciones de la revista. La revista se publica bajo el sistema de licencias Creative Commons según la modalidad «Reconocimiento – NoComercial (by-nc): Se permite la generación de obras derivadas siempre que no se haga un uso comercial. Tampoco se puede utilizar la obra original con finalidades comerciales». La revista se publica y se gestiona mediante el software Open Journal Systems.
Limits of Penal Reformism and the Fallacy of Emancipatory Punishment: A Marxist-Abolitionist Critique
This article examines the inherent limits of penal reformism and the assumption that punishment can serve as a tool for social transformation, adopting a Marxist-informed critical criminology perspective. Through a historical-structural analysis, it demonstrates that the penal system—an integral part of the state apparatus—functions as a technology of domination and as a mechanism to regulate the labor force under capitalism. This insight explains the persistence of punitive tendencies despite successive “humanizing” reforms. After establishing the theoretical framework, the article analyzes the recent drift toward certain punitive progressive agendas (notably in feminist, anti-racist, and animal rights movements), with examples drawn from Spain. It proposes criteria to prevent the widening of the social control net and the institutional cooptation of these movements. Instead of reinforcing punitive logics, the article advances abolitionist orientations that redirect conflicts and harms toward life-affirming institutions – housing, healthcare, education, social care – and toward restorative/transformative frameworks, coupled with strict public accountability measures. The underlying thesis is that genuine penal transformation requires far-reaching material and political changes, inseparable from a broader emancipatory project.
Copyright (c) 2025 Boletín Criminológico https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Road Crime: Drink-Driving in Soria (2019-2023)
Road crime, especially driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotic substances, represents a critical challenge for road safety in Spain. This study analyses the reports issued by the Local Police of Soria between 2019 and 2023 with the aim of identifying trends and basic criminological characteristics of road offenders. Based on this analysis, the aim is to provide data to improve road safety strategies in similar contexts, although without attempting to directly evaluate the effectiveness of current policies. The predominant profile is that of Spanish men aged 41, with 17 years on their driving licence, with more than 80% of the cases linked to alcohol consumption. Crimes occur mostly at night and on weekends. The findings reflect trends in road crime in the city and may contribute to more detailed studies in the future.
Evolution of Victimisation and Perception of Insecurity in Alcorcón: a Comparative Study from 2016 to 2019
This study aims to analyse the evolution of victimisation and the perception of insecurity in the municipality of Alcorcón (Madrid) between 2016 and 2019 and to find out the differences in terms of age, gender and areas. Through surveys of a representative sample of 1,600 people in 2016 and 2019, changes in self-reported crime rates were assessed, as well as variations in the subjective perception of insecurity among citizens. The study also explores the measures taken by residents to avoid crime and fear of crime, in order to identify the factors that influence the feeling of safety in the municipality. The analysis reveals that, although victimisation rates showed a slight decrease between 2016 and 2019, perceptions of insecurity also reflect this trend. It is put in context with previous European and Spanish studies where the downward trend is reflected and also shows that situational prevention measures are effective in this regard.
Mass shootings and the copycat effect: Global prevalence outside the United States (1999-2022)
This study examines mass shootings where the “copycat effect” is present, with the exception of those carried out in the United States, during the period 1999-2022. This phenomenon occurs when perpetrators of a mass shooting copy the modus operandi of previous attacks, which are then projected as a model. The study sample includes 21 copycat cases, executed in 9 countries. The study reveals that these crimes are perpetrated by men, under the age of 34, predominantly in school settings and the perpetrators often end in suicide. The empirical results also reveal that in countries where these cases are more frequent, they also set role models for subsequent shooters. In conclusion, the small number of copycat behaviors does not prevent these events from being studied, especially in an era in which the internet and the media contribute to their constant globalization.
Evidencing state and corporate violence towards ecosystems through digital forensic architecture
This descriptive article starts considering the relationship between green criminology and criminalistics to address the work of the agency Forensic Arquitecture. It examines the cases of environmental violence that this agency has dealt with so far in order to highlight the potential and limitations of its approach in line with a public criminology. In particular, it highlights the relevance of visualizing and recreating the phenomenology of various environmental harms and their impact, navigating between activism, art, science and technology. It ends with some notes on the possibility of refocusing its work as a way to give voice to the interdependence of human and non-human life in restorative processes. This topic has been chosen to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Criminological Bulletin because it reflects a common ground for an interdisciplinary and applied criminology, attentive to serious forms of victimization traditionally neglected, and which must be approached from different perspectives.
Copyright (c) 2024 Boletín Criminológico https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
A criminological agenda for the study of sexual offences in Spain
The aim of this study is to provide a brief summary of the discussion that has taken place in Spain following the so-called La Manada judgment of the Provincial Court of Navarra of 20-3-2018 (ECLI:ES:APNA:2018:86), which led to the reform of sexual offences in Spain (LO 10/2022 of 6 September), and its subsequent counter-reform (LO 4/2023 of 27 April). In this article we will highlight some of the debates that have taken place between feminist groups and criminal and procedural academics. We will do so by reviewing three feminist slogans: a. ‘It is not abuse, it is rape’; b. ‘I believe you, sister’; c. ‘Only yes means yes’. Finally, we highlight the contribution that criminology can make by indicating which issues should be investigated empirically in order to advance the discussion.
The Law of Concentration Applied to the Spatial and Temporal Study of Crime
The law of concentration, or Pareto principle, affirms that 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. Applied to crime, the law posits that crime is not distributed randomly or uniformly in space or time, but rather that most crime happens in the most criminogenic places and temporal units, in line with these 80/20 proportions. This article presents this law, illustrates its application using original analyses and summaries from other studies, and explains the methodology for creating cumulative and Lorenz curves, and for measuring levels of concentration using the Gini coefficient. The implications of the law of concentration for crime prevention are also discussed.
Constellations of Perversity - Towards a multi- dimensional model of Psychopathy
The classification of personality disorders has been systematically subjected to a series of conceptual, methodological and even ethical dilemmas. In this context, it is worth noting that psychopathy has not been included in the DSM5 psychiatric vademecum, assimilating it, with some nuances, to Antisocial Personality Disorder. However, professional experience in the field of mental health and criminology suggests that the reality of this psychological construct is somewhat more complex. In fact, what we can observe in people “diagnosed” with psychopathy is a great heterogeneity of personality profiles, with varying degrees of perversity or emotional depth that make some traditional instruments for assessing psychopathy very limited tools for understanding its complex constellation of edges. This article offers an updated review of the most recent findings on psychopathic personality, the definition of which would fit better into a conceptual map made up of various parameters of a cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal and emotional nature. Because of this new approach, several assessment tools have emerged, among which we highlight the different versions of the CAPP (Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality). While it is clear that more research in this field is needed, the available findings that assume a multidimensional approach are promising for advancing a holistic and comprehensive understanding of psychopathic personality.
The closed regime in spanish penitentiary centers
This article addresses the living conditions in isolation departments and closed prisons from the perspective of prisoners. This approach contains limitations and at the same time implies an essential contribution to the ethical and legal debate that must be raised in the face of the restrictive regulations and structural conditions for serving the prison sentence that call into question respect for human rights.
Criminological ideas and narratives in spanish picaresque literature
This work analyzes the ideas and narratives of modern Criminology (about crime, its explanation, and its control) in the stories of the picaresque novels of the Spanish Literature Golden Age (Lazarillo, Guzmán de Alfarache, Buscón, etc.). For it, the relationship between picaresque and criminality is described. The main characteristics of rogues and ruffians are specified, as well as the presence of women in the picaresque. The central part of the analysis investigates the risk factors and explanations given in picaresque novels about the lives of their protagonists: personal dispositions, rational choice, criminal opportunities, family factors, learning... Finally, it provides attention to the punishment of rogues and their eventual desistance or abandonment of the rogue life.
Multiple perpetrator sexual assaults in Spain: a systematic review
Multiple perpetrator sexual assaults have garnered increasing media and academic attention internationally over the past few decades. This interest has generated an extensive corpus of empirical research that provides valuable information on the incidence, profiles of those involved, and the dynamics of these events. In Spain, however, this focus is more recent, intensifying primarily in the last five years. Consequently, to date, no systematic review has been conducted to synthesize the available evidence in our national context. The present research aims to fill this gap by conducting a systematic analysis of studies carried out in Spain on multiple perpetrator sexual assaults, examining both their methodological aspects and main findings. This work not only offers a critical synthesis of the available evidence but also provides recommendations for future research, with the objective of promoting the establishment of standardized and consensual criteria that facilitate a more coherent and comparable analysis in future studies on this subject.
Administrative sanctions in environmental protection : An analysis of its practical implementation in Andalusia
The new European Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law confirms the Union’s commitment to a system for ensuring compliance of the legal systems involved in environmental protection in order to achieve ever greater coherence and effectiveness. This implies that administrative sanctioning law must be a properly articulated system if it is to fulfil its significant role. This paper empirically explores how this sanctioning system works in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. It describes and analyses the public information on the two main means of control and deterrence: complaints and inspections. The opinions of environmental agents complete the picture. The need for improvement in implementation and governance is clear.
Turning Research into Action: Making Violence Against Children a Public Priority in Spain
Child and adolescent victimization is a significant social issue, both in terms of its scope and its serious impact on development as well as the considerable public resources required for intervention. This article outlines the importance of working from the perspective of developmental victimology, which aims to facilitate decision-making and provide robust evidence to inform the design of public policies in the field of violence against children and adolescents. Despite its relevance, the translation of research findings into practice remains a challenge in Spain. Ethical considerations persist, necessitating resolution to ensure the protection of children’s rights in research while also promoting their best interests.
Mothers with addictions in prison: profile, prison experiences and future expectations
The addictions of incarcerated people constitute a central issue in the analysis of the penal and penitentiary system in our country, given the high number of people who have offended as a result of these addictions. Among the female prison population, alcohol and/or drug consumption is very high. So is the number of imprisoned mothers. Hence, the main objective of this paper is to bring together the relationship between motherhood and addictions among women in prison. For some women, drug use entails both the loss of custody of their children and, in some cases, the revocation of prison benefits. To this end, we will outline the profile of incarcerated mothers who are drug users, also giving an account of their experiences in prison and their expectations for the future.
SAVRY risk assessment in Spanish young female offenders: Is it a neutral tool?
It has traditionally been assumed that recidivism among girls could be explained and assessed through the generalization of findings found in boys or in samples mostly composed of boys. Certainly, the similarities between girls and boys who commit crimes and reoffend are notable, which has led to the conclusion that risk management can be considered from a gender-neutral perspective. Nevertheless, there are also some differences, both in their trajectories and in the factors that influence them, which should be considered if an adequate response to their needs is really sought. The aim of this study is to examine gender differences in the evaluation of the risk of recidivism with a neutral instrument, the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY), in a sample composed of youths who are complying with judicial measures of internment in closed centers located in the autonomous communities of Castile-La Mancha and Catalonia (N = 179; 82.7% boys). The results show that, in the final risk assessment of girls, professionals are guided by the instrument and the dynamic factors that are usually associated with violent behavior in boys and not by the factors most linked to violence in girls, such as history of abuse or victimization and self-harmful behaviors. The findings and their implications are discussed.
Differences between white-collar offenders and common offenders in a sample of convicted persons in a Spanish prison
The study aims to compare sociodemographic characteristics, and risk factors in childhood and adulthood between two samples of offenders: those convicted of common offences (n=328) and those convicted of white-collar crimes (n=349). Significant differences were found in most of the variables collected: white-collar offenders are older, are nationals, show more stability in employment and family, and possess more risk factors in childhood. Differences in adulthood are accentuated in the risk factors associated with common crimes (such as substance misuse) but less so in an economic or personal crisis that could facilitate involvement in the crime. Differences encountered are in line with the differences found in similar studies in other cultural contexts.
differences between white-collar offenders and common offenders
True crime and Criminology: An introduction
The genre of true crime has known a great development in the past ten years, although its origin can be traced to the XVI century. We present in this paper an introductory analysis about the relationship between this narrative genre and criminology. We stress two points. Firstly, that true crime, as cultural products, are tools to create criminological knowledge in the meanings developed by McGregor: phenomenological, counterfactual and mimetic-descriptive. Secondly, that given the plasticity and variety of themes considered, this genre has an important role as a teaching tool in our discipline. We offer also a classification of the different types in which true crime can be presented, in the literature as well as audiovisual narrative.
Immigration and crime: the fallacy of suspicion
The relationship between immigration and crime involves complex dynamics, where foreigners are often overrepresented in police and prison statistics. However, empirical research suggests that the growth of the migration phenomenon is associated with a decrease in official crime rates. These previous results, although seemingly contradictory, are explained in these pages. After reviewing studies that show a negative relationship between migration and crime, explanations for the overrepresentation of foreigners in detainee and inmate data will be presented. The discussion will address to what extent the selectivity of the penal system and the use of the penal system for purposes that are not its own are at the root of this contradiction.
Detecting situations of vulnerability in police headquarters: an impossible mission?
This paper presents the results of the analysis of 54 interviews carried out to try to understand what it is like to go through the criminal justice system for two particularly vulnerable groups (foreigners who do not know the language and people with intellectual disabilities). Specifically, the analysis focuses on understanding the problems in identifying vulnerability in police headquarters. The interviewees showed that vulnerability often goes undetected, not because of deliberate action, but because of the system’s inability to identify it and, if necessary, to know how to proceed. From the discourses of professionals and the testimonies of people in situations of vulnerability who have been in police custody, it can be deduced that, although the lack of training and tools is a fact, there are also other reasons that go beyond the effectiveness of police work and have more to do with the context of police custody, the police culture, the mission entrusted to the police, and a broader vision of public policies on how and who should act to guarantee equity.
Psychological keys to femicide in male violence against intimate partners
Despite the existence of greater social awareness and the measures adopted by Public Administrations, the number of cases of intimate partner femicide in our country has not yet been stopped. In this paper the most relevant psychological variables of femicides in the context of the interaction between victims and aggressors are analyzed, as well as the criminological and typological profiles of femicides and the existence of some differences between femicides with or without subsequent suicide. It is concluded that there is no homogeneous pattern in sexist murderers, nor is there always a history of violence in the perpetrators, which makes it difficult to predict femicide in many cases. Finally, the involvement of society as a whole in the protection of victims of gender violence is essential.
femicides with or without subsequent suicide
The criminal policy model of social inclusion
The study puts forward a strategy of penal intervention for crime control, i.e. a criminal policy model, which stresses the beneficial effects for socially acceptable crime prevention of a correct way of reacting on the part of the agencies of crime control. The correct reaction of such agencies refers to those groups that constitute their priority object of control, namely, suspects, defendants, convicts and ex-convicts. The model proposes to evaluate these interventions through the prism of their capacity both to recover, consolidate or not worsen the level of social inclusion of these citizens, and to eliminate, reduce or not increase the social exclusion of these same citizens. Having established the model, the study sets out a first and detailed implementation of it, focusing on the penal interventions that produce the greatest social exclusion. Within the framework of this aim, in its first pages, the study frames the notion of the criminal policy model within the concept and constituent elements of criminal policy, as well as the political and socio-economic model to which it must refer. The final pages highlight the transformative power of international comparative indices; among them is the RIMES, designed in accordance with the proposed implementation of the criminal policy model of social inclusion.
Invisible narratives: opening the queer closet in the Spanish criminological context.
This article presents the main aspects related to crime and other criminalized acts, the people who break the law, the people affected as victims, the intervention of the institutions of social control and the application of sanctions and penalties in which the inclusion of a queer perspective is essential for a correct understanding and analysis within the Spanish criminological context.
Are theories of desistance and their practical implications dependent on the structural context?
The paper discusses whether theories of desistance and their preventive implications are universal or dependent on the structural characteristics of the context. Of course, theories of desistance, like criminological theories in general, identify social-psychological mechanisms that are generally relevant for understanding human behaviour. But these causal mechanisms are triggered by certain factors that may be more or less prevalent depending on the context. In the same way, the effectiveness of certain preventive institutions may also depend on the existence of certain structural conditions. In this paper, I give some examples of this structural dependence of theories of desistance and their practical implications, and I analyse whether some structural characteristics of Spanish society -such as familism or the inclusive nature of the prison system- could explain the importance of the theory of social support in understanding desistance in our context, and the role played by community service of the prison sentence.
Cyberstalking in young university students. A prevalence study
This investigation analyzes gender violence behaviour in youth relationships, focuses on that one what happens through TICs. It is a new topic because of there is a significant lack of scientific knowledge, specially due to there is not scientific unanimity either in terminology or in behaviors. The main goal of this investigation is to know the incidence of this phenomenon in young people from Malaga. For it, a questionnaire will be used to the University of Malaga ‘students, in order to know the incidence, both from the point of view of the victim and the perpetrator. The results concluded that these behaviors are carried out and received by young university students from Malaga, being the most used control behaviors.
On punitiveness: Developing a research agenda on penal climate change
Like in many other global north jurisdictions, incarceration rates have been declining for almost fifteen years. Together with the enduring crime drop, the declining public concern over crime and the shrinking interest of political parties for crime and punishment issues, this decarceration phenomenon has led to a gradual moderation of penal climate. This paper scrutinises this penal policy shift by proposing a research agenda on the change of penal climate. In so doing, the paper aims to contribute to the development of a comparative penology exploring the post-punitive turn scenario.
Protocols for action against sexual violence in the field of sports and leisure and the figure of the Delegate for the protection of children and adolescents
The sports field is not exempt from carrying out punishable conduct, being many of them blurred by the special environment in which they take place. This work aims to review protocols of action in matters of sexual violence, highlighting the difficulties generated by the sporting and regional variety. It is evident that uniformity of actions for similar contexts would be advisable, but currently heterogeneity prevails due to normative regulation and the characteristics of sport in general. Approaching information on cases of sexual violence to know the impact of these events in the sports scenario makes it easier to understand the relevance of the Delegates for the protection of children and adolescents as well as reference figures.
Some key ideas to contribute from science to a new knowledge-based criminal policy
This work proposes a new strategy to increase the impact of scientific research and knowledge in decision-making related to Criminal Policy. It provides an analysis of the role of the main actors involved in such decision-making, as well as the role of experts. Possible courses of action for the academic world are also described, such as the creation of interest groups, lobbies, think tanks, the potential of dissemination, or knowledge transfer, among others. Additionally, the existing incentives for these actions within the Spanish university system are discussed.
“Thirty years of Boletín Criminológico: beginnings and consolidation”
In June 1994, the first issue of Boletín Criminológico was published with the aim of disseminating empirical research in Criminology, a discipline that at that time was in its beginnings in Spain. The journal was born as a tool to publicize the empirical research conducted mainly in the Malaga section of the Andalusian Interuniversity Institute of Criminology (IAIC), but it soon expanded its scope, including works by researchers from all over the country and, gradually, from abroad, offering a space for the publication of papers of both academic and professional fields, and consolidating itself as a reference in Criminology in Spain. Thirty years have passed since those first issues began to be published on paper, in a format of 4 pages in triple column, very convenient for quick consultation of the contents and which has undergone several changes until its current digital format approved in length and content to the requirements of the evaluation agencies of research quality. Throughout these three decades, more than 200 articles on a wide range of topics have been published, with special emphasis on empirical criminological research carried out in Spain and Latin America. This article is the introduction to a special issue that celebrates this milestone with the participation of people who have collaborated with the journal over the years, publishing their research, being part of its editorial board or acting as external reviewers, all of them with consolidated and prestigious academic or professional careers. After recalling the journal’s beginnings until its consolidation as a reference publication in an expanding area of knowledge, this article presents data on the evolution of the journal (topics covered, origin of authors, profile of readers, evolution of the format and design of the publication, as well as its impact and quality indicators) and raises the challenges that lie ahead to address the current and future challenges of criminological research today.
Humanizing punishment: compassionate early release and the right of terminally ill prisoners to die with dignity in freedom in Peru”
The life of prisoners with serious and incurable terminal illnesses, whose desire to obtain their cherished freedom is to die with dignity in freedom, is a permanent dilemma; this scenario leads us to question: How do current legislation and prison practices in Peru address the right of terminally ill prisoners to die with dignity in freedom? Indeed, the study addresses the denial of early release as a possible violation of the fundamental rights of these prisoners, especially the right to die with dignity. This paper examines the Peruvian legal framework and compares it with legislation in other countries that have implemented measures to guarantee the release of prisoners in similar situations.
Explanatory model of post-prison social reintegration of parolees
This study aims to test an ecological model as an explanatory theoretical framework for social reintegration. Participants were 174 parolees between the ages of 18 and 48 from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Based on the methodology of structural equations, two conceptual models have been contrasted. These models differ in the type of relationship between the ecological levels considered (individual or ontosystem, relational or mesosystem, and social or macrosystem). In the first proposed model, the broadest level (macro) affected the relational level, and the latter affected the individual, finally exerting, the latter, effects on social reintegration. In the second specified model, the indicated levels were associated with each other, each exerting effects on social reintegration. The goodness-of-fit indicators confirmed that the latter model is the one with the best fit. Accordingly, it can be affirmed that both the social context, as well as the relational and individual context, intervene jointly in the explanation of the problem under study, and are closely related. The results indicate that social reintegration is a multifactorial phenomenon and that the proposed ecological model is adequate to evaluate this phenomenon.