Poster presentations

The presence of construction and demolition waste in peripheral areas, fields, roads, forests and rivers, is common in many regions of Spain. In fact, several international organizations continue to denounce the chronic and regrettable situation of many European countries to manage and locate illegal dumping. In this context, the VIEX Project (Project for remote sensing and environmental analysis of illegal dumping IB20050) was promoted in order to analyze illegal dumping in Extremadura (Spain) from an holistic point of view (engineering, legal and criminological). Its main goals are: to detect illegal waste, to analyze its incidence, causes and modus operandi, and to propose prevention measures. This paper presents the results of the analysis of police data, the location of waste in the field and the questionnaires and interviews handed to stakeholders involved (security forces, political agents, third sector, private companies, etc.). The main findings show a high incidence of solid waste in the region which are occasionally dumped and that there is a climate of impunity and permissiveness regarding these behaviors.

Family or intimate visits in prison affect the physical and mental well-being of prisoners, the maintenance of family and social ties and, ultimately, their opportunities for social reintegration. Despite the importance of this practice in the well-being of prisoners, there are contrasts between the penitentiary authorities of the countries regarding their levels of permissiveness. The study goals are three: (1) to carry out a systematic literature review to understand the visit impacts on the well-being of prisoners and their social reintegration; (2) to do a comparative analysis of this practice in a sample of countries (Spain, Germany, Finland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland and the United States -California, New York, Texas and Florida) in order to identify whether: the visits take place at intervals of over one month and their requirements and execution conditions and; (3) to place the mentioned countries on a scale of social exclusion in the theoretical framework of the AP-RIMES+ project. The method used is based on a secondary sources review and an expert consultation. The main result findings show that most countries allow for family visits but not intimate visits, making it necessary to improve prison policies and programs favor visits given their positive effect on reintegration.

This study aimed to examine Japanese citizens’ attitudes toward sexual offenders and the measures pertaining to such perpetrators. Despite the presence of various policies in other developed countries, there is still no national policy in Japan regarding individuals convicted of sexual crimes. The draft of the Disclosure and Barring Service Act garnered attention in 2023; however, it was postponed until the next Diet session. At the local government level, a limited number of cities, including Osaka and Fukuoka, implemented measures for individuals with criminal records for sexual offenses. These laws require former sex offenders to register with local government offices to receive support for rehabilitation and re-entry, not for community notification purposes. In this study, 431 citizens were surveyed regarding their attitudes toward former sexual offenders in Japan. Participants were recruited via the internet, and demographic variables such as education, age, and family structure were collected. Additionally, participants were asked about their attitudes toward various aspects related to sex offenders, including awareness and agreement with the ordinances in Osaka and Fukuoka, opinions on sentence length, effectiveness of support, potential introduction of GPS monitoring, necessity of registering addresses for support, and necessity of making addresses public for citizens. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to explore the impact of each demographic variable on attitudes toward the measures of former sexual offenders. As results, awareness of measures already in place in Osaka and Fukuoka, specifically for sexual offenders, was found to be very low. Less than 20% of the respondents were aware of these issues. Gender, age, and educational status were found to influence attitudes toward each of the policies studied. The details are reported in the presentation.

Co-authors: Mariano Núñez-Flores and Francisco Yuste-Hidalgo (University of Cordoba, Spain)

Cyberhate encompasses any expression on the Internet that deliberately damages the reputation of or instigates violence against a collective identity and its members, often targeting minorities. Cyberhate is present and prevalent globally among adolescents and has negative repercussions for individuals and societies. Therefore, there is an urgent need for empirical evidence regarding predictive factors for cyberhate (risk and protective factors). Recent studies have shown that adolescents’ social and emotional competencies can protect them against cyberhate. The development of these competencies can be influenced by attitudes towards inclusive education of their schoolteachers. The current study focused on both the indirect effects (via adolescents’ social and emotional competencies) and the direct effects of attitudes toward inclusive education of teachers on adolescents’ cyberhate. These relations were examined at the school level. The sample comprised 269 teachers at Wave 1 (Mage = 43.39, SD = 10.10, age range = 24-64 years; 58.70% female) and 1,619 of their students one year later, at Wave 2 (Mage = 12.99, SD = 0.53, age range = 12-15 years; 50.20% female). The participants were selected by convenience and accessibility from 37 schools of Spanish compulsory secondary education. This study was carried out with self-report surveys. A mediation model for each cyberhate dimension (perpetration and victimization) was developed with PROCESS macro (Model 4). The association between positive attitudes towards inclusive education of schoolteachers and low levels of cyberhate perpetration by adolescents was mediated by high adolescents’ social and emotional competencies. In addition, attitudes towards the inclusive education of teachers were directly and negatively related to the adolescents’ cyberhate victimization one year later. This work presents relevant implications for both educational policy and practice. The findings underscore the importance of teacher training.

Co-authors: Stefan Hopf (Vienna Centre for Societal Security, Austria), Emanuel Tananau Blumenschein (Vienna Centre for Societal Security, Austria), Norbert Leonhardmair (Vienna Centre for Societal Security, Austria), Joachim Kersten (Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei, Germany), Natalie Köpsel (Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei, Germany), Sandra González Cabezas (Asociación Askabide Liberación, Spain), Hilde Hellbernd (S.I.G.N.A.L. e.V., Germany), Jarmo Houtsonen (Poliisiammattikorkeakoulu, Finland), Ainhoa Izaguirre Choperena (Universidad De La Iglesia De Deusto Entidad Religiosa, Spain), María Lopez Belloso (Universidad De La Iglesia De Deusto Entidad Religiosa, Spain), Angelika May (S.I.G.N.A.L. e.V., Germany), Marianne Mela (Poliisiammattikorkeakoulu, Finland), Suvi Nipuli (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Finland), Seija (Parekh Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Finland), Lorea Romero Gutierrez (Universidad De La Iglesia De Deusto Entidad Religiosa, Spain) and Margarita Vassileva (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France)

Research on the epidemic of domestic abuse reveals lack of overlap between police crime statistics and victim surveys indicating that although domestic abuse is widespread only a minor part of victims are served by the help system. Moreover, only 30% of the victim-survivors of domestic violence turn to the various care structures, while the majority turns to their networks of family and friends. In order to identify determinants of successful pathways, we interviewed 108 victim-survivors from vulnerable groups (i.e. migration background, LGBTIQ+ identification, health impairments, rural/remote areas) from Austria, Finland, France, Germany, and Spain on their search for help, asking for enabling and hindering factors in contact with various institutions of the help system. Regarding the pathways, results of the interviews indicated that approaches to help are various, but they can be dissected into different steps that might take place. Firstly, respondents often reported a preparatory step, this includes seeking out information, planning contingencies, and acknowledging one’s own victimisation. Secondly, direct support seeking measures can be undertaken, often reaching out to informal networks, where available. Support seeking steps often included the use of formal support structures as well, whether general or dedicated support services. These range from LEAs and shelters, to general practitioners and therapists. Lastly, instances where reporting was done externally, i.e., without the go ahead of respondents, can play an important role within the support seeking process, as it might serve as a starting point or a first negative experience with support services, either motivating or hampering further activities by victims. The interviews highlighted the experiences of vulnerable victims, which further illustrate the weaknesses of the support system and the accumulated difficulties that both victims and frontline responders have to overcome.

Co-authors: Joaquín Rodríguez-Ruiz (Universidad de Cordoba, Spain) and Bryan Lee Miller (Clemson University, USA)

Previous systematic reviews have focused on the relation between some problematic technology-related behaviours (e.g. social media addiction) and the use of some substances (e.g. alcohol or cannabis), but the overall association between Problematic Technology Use and substance use has not been analysed yet. Thus, this study aimed to systematically review and meta-analyse the existing evidence relating Problematic Technology Use and substance use. Searches were conducted in six different databases in September 2022. A total of 153 studies were included. Meta-analytic results showed a powerful link between Problematic Technology Use and substance use. The association was stronger in females and adolescents. Licit substances were more strongly related to Problematic Technology Use; and online gambling and social media were the most robustly associated with substance use. Given that Problematic Technology use and substance use are highly interrelated, exploring common underlying factors could be useful for treatment from a transdiagnostic perspective. Keywords: Problematic Technology Use, substance use, systematic review, meta-analysis. Acknowledgement: this research project was funded by a Fulbright grant for predoctoral research 2022/2023 and PID2019-109770RB-I00 grant.

Co-authors: Joaquín Rodríguez-Ruiz and Raquel Espejo-Siles (Universidad de Cordoba, Spain)

Adolescent substance use is a global health threat. Thus, the identification of risk and protective factors is essential to prevent or decrease substance use. Although diverse factors have been linked with substance use in adolescence, little is known about the relation between moral disengagement and substance use. Specifically, no studies to date examined the impact of parental moral disengagement on substance use. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to explore its prospective impact on adolescent substance use and analyse if this relation is mediated by adolescents´ moral disengagement. This was a prospective longitudinal study in which 533 students (48.1% female, 51.9% male) were followed up annually in three consecutive school years. The mean age of participants at T1 was 12.46 (SD = 0.71). Data were collected using validated self-reported questionnaires. We found that parental moral disengagement at T1 was significantly related to more licit substance use at T3, but the correlation with illicit substance use was not significant. According to the mediation analysis, there was no significant direct prospective association between parental moral disengagement and licit substance use, but there was an indirect relation between the two through higher levels of adolescents´ moral disengagement. These findings are noteworthy as parental moral disengagement only predicted substance use through adolescents´ moral disengagement. Fostering moral competency in adolescents could be an effective element for preventing substance use even when moral disengagement is induced by parents.

Religiously motivated hate crimes wield profound consequences, particularly affecting the mental well-being of young victims, heightening the risks of depression and suicide. The considerable underreporting of such incidents underscores the imperative for thorough investigations, employing methodologies such as self-reported surveys, interviews, and experimental approaches. While prevailing literature predominantly concentrates on victims, offenders, and law enforcement, religiously motivated hate crimes frequently unfold in public spaces, necessitating an intricate exploration of bystander dynamics. This comprehensive study, featuring surveys and vignette experiments conducted across four countries with 1000 respondents each (N=4000), embarks on a threefold mission: unravelling respondents' attitudes toward hate crime sanctions, dissecting the nuances of bystander behaviour in simulated hate crime scenarios, and scrutinising the impact of victim characteristics on individuals' inclination to intervene. The victim's religious identity emerges as a focal point in our vignettes, aiming to elucidate the 'who, why, and for whom' in hate crime scenarios. The presentation will disclose preliminary results, deliberate on unexpected findings, and delineate implications for future research. By delving into attitudes, bystander dynamics, and victim characteristics, this study seeks to make meaningful contributions to the prevention of hate crime victimisation and offer insights into the transformative processes guiding bystanders toward becoming upstanders.