Seemingly Unimportant Decisions

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 26th Sep 2022

A key aspect in preventing persistent offenders from re-offending is the idea of “seemingly unimportant decisions”. These are choices that non-offenders can make without the risk of consequence, which would likely result in an offender with a history of behaving in a certain way re-offending. For example, most people can go to a bar or pub and watch a sports match without becoming physically violent, however someone who has a propensity to become violent in emotionally charged situations, is more likely to react and respond badly in such an environment e.g., if someone accidentally knocks into them as they are...Click To Read More

Parcel Bombs

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 19th Sep 2022

Between 1978 and 1995, Ted Kaczynski sent universities, and airlines sixteen parcel bombs, which resulted in three deaths and injured twenty-three others. He saw violence as the only way to bring down a techno-industrial society, which he believed was destroying the planet. Because of his media profile, and the message behind his terrorism, which was unique, in an era where terrorist acts tended to directly address specific issues, it would be easy to quickly dismiss him as a one-off. However, on Tuesday evening (September 13^th, 2022), a pressurized device was sent to a Northeastern University (Boston, Massachusetts) building (Holmes House),...Click To Read More

Nature Vs. Nurture

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 12th Sep 2022

In both of my Master’s degrees (Psychology and Criminology) there was a common essay question; was behavior – in Criminology, offending - a result of nature or nurture? With crime in general, there really can be no direct linkage, as what is defined as a crime, is something that is socially constructed, and subject to change e.g., at one time crystal meth was legal in the US, and recently cannabis in many states has been decriminalized etc. However, if we get more specific, and ask a question about a particular behavior, such as aggression, that leads to violent offending, then...Click To Read More

Injustice Collectors

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 5th Sep 2022

Several large companies/agencies/organizations announced this month that they expect workers to return to the office full time. This has meant that many employees are evaluating the work environment in ways that before they had just accepted e.g., in-person collaboration had always seemed the only way to get projects completed, but during the pandemic it was shown that many of these things could be accomplished remotely/virtually and/or with limited face-to-face meetings. Another aspect of office life which is being considered in a way that it perhaps wasn’t before, is safety. For many people their “activity spaces” shrunk during the pandemic e.g.,...Click To Read More