With the digitization of society, perpetrators gained new tools to commit crimes. Online fraud, also referred to as e-fraud, is one of the most common types of cybercrime. The present study focusses on two types of e-fraud: phishing and online consumer fraud. Although e-fraud always contains a digital component, the human is the weakest link in such crimes. Perpetrators deceive their victims to acquire sensitive data or to conclude a fraudulent sale, which makes victims unwillingly participate in the offence. However, not every person adheres to such fraudulent schemes. This raises the question what makes some people comply with these schemes and thus become a victim of cybercrime, while others do not. In this study, the differences between personality traits of e-fraud victims and the Dutch population were investigated. Personality traits influence the way people process information and react to situations, which also applies when people are confronted with e-fraud. Data were collected through an online survey, in which 224 e-fraud victims participated. The outcomes of the survey were compared with norm groups representative for the Dutch population. E-fraud victims, compared to the Dutch population, scored higher on extraversion, altruism and conscientiousness, and lower on neuroticism. Based on the findings, recommendations have been made for the development of targeted preventive measures against e-fraud.

In contrast with the critical, innovative ideas developed between the 1960s and the 1980s regarding the way we deal with illegal drugs in our societies, the current dominant approaches frame the issue of drugs as a matter of crime, public order, and control. Pleasurable substances have always existed and always will, and so the efforts to cope with them. However, we witness today remarkable developments at local, national and international levels in the fields of drug policies (on cannabis for example), drug trafficking (new routes, new actors) and drug use (new substances, new drug cultures), all of which deserve our attention and push us to think beyond the repressive paradigm. This contribution, which also serves as an introduction for this special issue of ToCC on drugs, aims to present an overview of the main developments taking place, and challenges ahead, within the three above-mentioned fields. There are new markets and trends in the use of legal and illegal pleasurable substances, particularly regarding synthetic drugs (amphetamines, methamphetamines and new psychoactive substances or NPS), tobacco and alcohol. Illegal drugs are supplied from changing countries and through new routes, while retailing increasingly takes place through the so-called cryptomarkets (online). Effective policies are rendered impossible by the fundamental repression paradox: the more intensive and effective the repression, the larger the profits of drug traffickers and the balloon effects (displacement). Despite the harms and negative effects of repressive policies have extensively been documented, a societal debate towards the regulation of illegal drugs is hindered by the use of false dichotomies or presuppositions, by the use of ethical or moral appeals, or by lack of political will. Also the debate in the media is static, superficial and full of clichés. Scientific research on drugs also follows specific agendas and it is focussed on particular aspects of the problem. Changes to end the ‘war on drugs’, certainly regarding cannabis, are however underway in many places at local and national level (Uruguay, Canada, US, Spain, etc.), this despite UN bureaucracies and international conventions that fiercely resist those changes.

This article describes a qualitative inquiry into Dutch people going to Syria for participating in Jihad. The inquiry compares theoretical findings with empirical facts, based on a content analysis and a document analysis, completed with ten depth-interviews. The results show that a combination of scientific findings on radicalisation and foreign fighters explains the jihad movement to Syria partly. The results also show that some factors, which have not recently be examined scientificly, are crucial for the character and extent of the movement towards Jihad.

In the Netherlands ‘Safety Houses’ have been established, in which partner organizations in the field of criminal justice, crime prevention, law enforcement, public administration and social services collaborate in order to reduce crime and recidivism, and to increase public safety. This article examines why some Safety Houses are better in achieving these goals than others. The effectiveness of 39 Safety Houses is analyzed by means of QCA (qualitative comparative analysis). Results show two different paths leading to effective outcomes. Effective Safety Houses have been in existence for at least three years, show a high degree of stability and a centrally integrated collaboration structure. In addition, they either have considerable resources at their disposal or have been set up with a network administrative organization, where a neutral coordinator governs the network.

In this paper delinquent development from age 12 to 29 of 498 juvenile sex offenders is analyzed. Fixed and random effects models are used to determine the effect of employment and of the stability of employment on the criminal career. We first show that juvenile sex offenders have limited access to the labor market, with stagnating participation rates from age 25 on, many different and short contracts. In spite of this, employment reduces offending, and having stable employment has an additional reducing effect on crime. We also looked at three types of sex offenders (child abusers, peer abusers and group offenders), who have a different background and for whom therefore effects could differ. We found no difference for offender types in the effect of employment on offending. The effects of employment stability, however, were due to only child abusers experiencing significant effects of continuity. We conclude that for juvenile sex offenders employment impacts similarly on offending as was found in previous studies among high-risk groups.

Unlike the physical abusers of children, little is known about downloaders of child pornography. The key questions in this article are: who are the downloaders, what are their backgrounds, why and how they download child pornography, how they behave offline and online and what types of downloaders can be distinguished? A simple answer to these questions is currently impossible to give. There is more, preferably longitudinal, research needed on risk factors for downloading child pornography and the various types of downloaders. Combating the downloaders requires a lot of the police in terms of international cooperation and up to date knowledge and expertise. This also served the treatment practices, which is partly dependent on a properly conducted police investigation.