33 Myths about crimes and people who commit them

I. On offences and perpetrator persons

1. To kill someone has always been a crime
2. Prisons have been there forever
3. Thanks to the media, we know that there is a lot of crime
4. The big criminals are monsters
5. Immigrants are criminals
6. Sex offenders cannot be reintegrated
7. Loonies and histerics go unpunished
8. Youths have no respect and the law is too soft on them
9. Women commit no crimes
10. The rich commit fewer crimes than the poor
11. You are either offender or victim

II. On victim-persons

12. Stranger danger
13. Grave crimes are reported
14. Juveniles are less often victims than adults
15. Victims want revenge
16. All victims have the same needs
17. Victims of terrorism are politizised
18. Bullying in school is sometimes exaggerated
19. Why dosn’t she leave him, if he mistreats her
20. Some are asking for it
21. Victims don’t want reintegration of offenders
22. More vigilance, less victims

III. On public policy and public opinion

23. Let’s do away with delinquency
24. The political parties doing nothing
25. Whoever does something, should pay for it
26. They enter through one door and come out through another
27. The solution is to never let them out
28. More prisons, less offences
29. More police, less offences
30. Laws against gender-based violence are futile
31. Society demands more punishment
32. There is no such thing as conflict resolution between victims and offenders
33. Criminal policy is based on evidence

These are the chapter headings ((trans. from the Spanish original: Johannes Feest) of a wonderful new book by three young female academics from the Basque Country.
Let us hope that it will soon find an adequate translation into English (and many other languages).

Paz Francés Lecumberri,
Lohitzune Zuloaga Lolo
Gema Varona Martínez
Mitos sobre delinquentes y victimas.
Argumentos contra la falsedad y la manipulacion.
Madrid: Los Libros de la Catatara 2019.