Institute of Criminological & Sociological Research

Tests of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCAs) are a group of scenario-based dispositional scales frequently used to measure individual differences in shame and guilt. The main aim of the present research was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Serbian version of TOSCA for adolescents (TOSCA-A) and to further explore the validity of guilt and shame measures. TOSCA-A was evaluated in three samples: 114 primary school students, 256 high-school students, and 365 college students. Several models were tested, but two-factor oblique solution had the best fit in all three groups. However, both shame and guilt demonstrated high internal consistency. Convergent validity of shame-proneness was also demonstrated by moderate correlations with self-esteem, perceived stress, and different affects. Results related to the measure of guilt were less consistent across age groups. Finally, we showed that guilt is a reliable measure of someone's motivation to make amends or apologize and someone’s feelings of remorse and regret - rather than feeling of guilt.

Purpose The present study aimed to investigate the extent to which violent intergroup conflict may be associated with human life history trajectories. Methods We examined life histories in a postconflict socioecology (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo: N = 699) and compared them with a control condition (Serbia: N = 628) using the network analysis approach. Results Participants from the postconflict environment had higher number of children and reproduction planning, followed by lower age of first reproduction which suggest accelerated life histories. Network analysis showed that fertility and mating-related events in the control ecology were relatively independent from childhood environmental conditions, while fertility itself was positively associated with current socioeconomic status. In contrast, fertility and mating were linked with childhood economic family status and stability of the environment in the postconflict condition; current socioeconomic status was only related to childhood economic status in this network. Short-term mating and the onset of sexual behavior were more strongly positively related to the age of first reproduction in the postconflict socioecology, compared to the control socioecology. Fertility was positively associated with long-term mating and pregnancy planning, and negatively linked with the age of first reproduction in both ecological conditions. Conclusions Obtained findings are discussed within the theoretical frameworks of fast-slow continuum in life history trajectories and predictive adaptive response hypothesis. The results provide insights into how intergroup conflict may affect human life history dynamics and highlights the fruitfulness of using the network approach to analyze life history trajectories.

This study aimed to adapt the Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) survey for the Serbian language and culture, considering cultural variations in the quality of prison life. Following established guidelines, the researchers employed two approaches to assess content validity: a panel of prison research experts and focus groups with prisoners. Content validity indexes were calculated at both the item and scale levels. Terminology, phrasing, and sentence structure were adjusted, including changes from passive to active voice, to better reflect the realities of Serbian prisons. The final version achieved conceptual, semantic, idiomatic, and experiential equivalence with the original MQPL. Initial findings indicate that the adapted survey effectively captures prison-specific issues relevant to the contemporary Serbian context. The cultural adaption process reveals both similarities and differences between the Serbian penal system and those of more developed nations, influencing prisoners’ perceptions of their quality of life. Further validation with larger samples is needed to evaluate its psychometric properties.

The main goal of the present research was to explore the links between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism and fertility (number of children) due to its conceptual significance in estimating the adaptiveness of narcissism in an evolutionary sense. Furthermore, we aimed to explain these links via mating behavior (attachment in romantic relationships, short and long-term mating, and relationship satisfaction) and reproductive motivation (positive and negative childbearing motivations, and age of first reproduction) in participants from Serbia (N = 953). Correlation analysis showed similar associations between the two narcissism dimensions, mating and reproduction: negative associations are found between narcissism components and fertility, and long-term mating, followed by positive correlations with insecure attachment and negative childbearing motivations (although grandiose narcissism had positive associations with positive childbearing motives as well). Therefore, correlation analysis together with the structural model where narcissism is analyzed as a single trait showed that narcissism as a whole is associated with lower fitness. However, a structural model where two subdimensions are modeled separately revealed substantial differences between the two forms of narcissism in regard to mating and reproduction. The link between vulnerable narcissism and fertility was completely mediated by lower reproductive motivation (both types of motives), shorter duration of romantic relationships, and diminished relationship satisfaction. On the other hand, grandiose narcissism was positively associated with positive childbearing motives and relationship satisfaction; hence, it was positively indirectly associated with fertility via these links. The present findings may shed some light on differences between the narcissistic traits in their links with fertility—while both narcissistic dimensions seem to be largely maladaptive in an evolutionary sense, the distinctive features of grandiose narcissism may have some benefits for fertility.

The expansion of human trafficking in the territory of Serbia occurred at the end of the last decade of the twentieth century. At that time, during the communist era, Serbia faced a structural crisis in the political, economic, normative legal, ethical and social spheres, as well as in the entire security sphere of citizens’ public life. In addition, the national security system was not organizationally or functionally ready to counter the new form of criminal activities such as human trafficking with criminal operations, and its territory covered - as the research results show, all forms: destinations, transit routes and countries of origin of the victims of that serious crime. The research was conducted using quantitative and qualitative methods and follows the correlation between the number of suspects arrested by the police and filed criminal charges with the prosecutor; number of indictments filed by the prosecutor on the basis of the criminal charges filed by the police against the suspects; and the number of convictions by the court on the basis of indictments for the commission of the criminal offense of human trafficking. Excerpts from research findings indicate that a negative correlation has been confirmed in the direction from police arrest and police criminal report to indictment and court verdict. The negative correlation reaches the level of one third of the total number of arrested who are suspected of having committed the criminal offense of human trafficking, and were never convicted.

The Dark Tetrad (Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism) is a taxonomy of personality dispositions toward immoral, antisocial, and antagonistic behavior; still, its predictive power in the domain of criminal behavior is rarely tested. In the present research, we analyzed the associations between the Dark Tetrad and several indicators of criminal behavior (onset of criminal behavior, juvenile correctional measures, problematic use of psychoactive substances [PUPS], penal recidivism, number of convictions, violent offences, and the risk of future recidivism) in a sample of Serbian prisoners (N = 471). While all dark traits were positively associated with criminal behavior indicators on a zero-order level (except violent offences), regression analyses identified Machiavellianism as the most prominent predictor. Psychopathy positively predicted PUPS, while narcissism had a negative contribution to PUPS and penal recidivism. Interactions with the participants’ sex showed that sadism represents a risk factor for females regarding early offences and PUPS, while Machiavellianism elevates the chance of repeated prison sentences for men. Finally, the structural model showed that juvenile offending mediates the association between Machiavellianism and general criminal recidivism. Findings showed the fruitfulness of assessing the Dark Tetrad traits in order to predict various aspects of criminal behavior.

An authoritative school climate, along with greater teacher support and warm relations among peers are frequently connected with less school bullying. The main aim of this paper is to examine the direct link as perceived by students between teachers’ disciplinary practices and bullying in school and students’ satisfaction with school. The indirect relationships are explored via the mediation of school belonging and the moderation of sex. High school students (N = 860, 40.4% male students) completed the Delaware School Climate Survey, the Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale, and the Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale at a single time point. In general, teachers’ disciplinary practices have significant direct effects on perceptions of bullying and satisfaction with school. Positive disciplinary (direct effect = .28, SE = .04) and SEL techniques (direct effect = .22, SE = .04) are related to bullying only among males, while punitive techniques are directly linked to school bullying unrelated to sex (b = .03, SE = .05). Similarly, the effect of positive disciplinary (direct effect = .27, SE = .08) and SEL (direct effect = .21, SE = .08) techniques on satisfaction with school was significant only among males. A direct relationship between punitive disciplinary techniques and satisfaction with school was not recognized. The mediation analysis revealed the indirect effects of teachers’ disciplinary practices on the dependent variables via school belonging to be stronger among females. Teachers’ negative modeling through punitive disciplinary practices leads to more bullying. School belonging may serve as a protective factor related to the negative impact of teachers’ disciplinary practices on school bullying as well as satisfaction with school, especially among females. Interventions should be focused on fostering school belonging along with the development of positive sex-specific disciplinary practices.

The criminal event — the mass murder of students at the "Vladislav Ribnikar" school in Belgrade, on May 3, 2023, as a form of mass victimization of students, raised many questions, much more in the lay world and significantly less in the scientific or professional public: Was it possible recognize from the student’s behavior that in the future (immediate, near, distant, upcoming. . . ) he will take action to take the lives of students in the school he attends? Can we talk about the statistically inevitable "Black Swan" in the attack on students? Is the attack on students a consequence of the perception of school security in the security system of the Republic of Serbia? Research results show that such attacks can be predicted and prevented. Furthermore, based on the results of the research, it is concluded that in the Republic of Serbia in 2001, a pilot program of the “Safe Schools” model was launched, which lasted for four years and after 2004, it stopped being implemented as part of the prevention of crime in the local community through the program "Safe Communities". The research results show that in the Republic of Serbia there is no: "Code of school safety and safety behavior"; Law on safe school, students and school staff adopted by the National Assembly; “Declaration on the safety of students, teachers, professors and the school” as an initial document for the safety of the school, students and teachers; "National Center for School Safety"; "School Safety Office" in cities and local governments; personnel for auditing school safety; training for leadership in school security, and does not understand that the application of layered protection of students and the school as elements of support for the educational process, students, school staff and the school is necessary.

Enforcement criminal law is a system of legal regulations that determine the procedure, manner and conditions for the execution of criminal sanctions. Serbia also implemented European standards in the execution of criminal sanctions, with special emphasis on the level of implementation of those standards in the area of execution of criminal sanctions, in its legislation. In addition to the standards related to the conditions of serving a prison sentence, the protection of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty, the manner of treatment of persons deprived of their liberty, protection against torture, inhumane or degrading treatment and punishment is particularly emphasized. In recent decades, the increasingly prevalent view is that criminal sanctions have a weak impact on reducing the crime rate, even less on the factors that cause and shape it. Prison sentences do not achieve objective effects in changing the criminal pattern of behavior of offenders, on the contrary, they have a greater effect on increasing the risk that the offender will repeat the crime. In the conditions of globalization, digitization and international legal harmonization, the system of execution of criminal sanctions requires a high degree of common international rules that define and regulate executive criminal legislation.

This article aimed to provide a systematic narrative synthesis of existing studies on the mediators of change in psychotherapy with adolescents (10–19 years) and transition age youth (TAY) (20–29 years) who have experienced trauma-related symptoms or posttraumatic disorder. Additionally, we were interested in identifying psychotherapy-, trauma type-, and clients’ age- and gender-specific mediators of treatment outcome. Following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, a total of 3,723 studies published in PubMed and PsycINFO databases were screened against inclusion criteria, revealing 15 eligible studies. No studies with only TAY were found; therefore, all results were limited to therapy with adolescents. Cognitive mediators were tested in 66% of selected studies, followed by parents/family-related, mental-health-related, therapy-related, and behavioral mediators. Moderate evidence was found for posttraumatic cognitions, whereas therapeutic alliance seemed to be a promising candidate for future research. Striking absence of non-cognitive-behavioral therapy interventions, emotional and adolescent-specific mediators, as well as studies with males and in non-Western societies was evident. Future original studies would benefit from applying methodological rigor in respect to mediation testing.

The continuous landscape of violence that unfolds parallel to everyday life undermines our sense of well-being, security, and trust in the effectiveness of institutions that are evidently failing to guide individuals to act and react in socially desirable ways. In the paper, the authors explore the phenomenon of violence within the framework of objectively established structures and the circumstances under which economic polarization and power polarization dominate, arguing that mass shootings represent factors that significantly influence the emergence and frequency of violence. Since moral competence is one of the key resources of society for successfully coping with adaptive demands, particularly during crises, increasing connectedness, developing moral competence, and enhancing empathy are imperatives for building a society that can consistently and effectively respond to the (moral) challenges posed by its environment. The paper aims to point towards ideas on violence prevention by affirming the importance of moral competence in preventing violence, thereby preventing moral confusion, and reducing the risk of society?s inadequate response to moral challenges.