This study aims to predict social determinants of alcohol use and examines the influence of social bond/attachment, parental control and social learning on the frequency of youth alcohol use. The total of 1843 complete responses were received from 25 high school students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to examine the results of this study. There are very few studies assessed the aspects of the social learning and social control theories in Kyrgyzstan and it is a total new area for youth deviant behavior studies. The results of this study indicate that social bond and attachment decreases the use of alcohol among high school students. However, parental control and social learning (differential association) increase the the frequency of the alcohol consumption among Kyrgyz youth.

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This study examined high school students’ trust in police in from a conflict theory point of view by using Ungdata Vestland County package (N=7,796). Four models were tested by employing binary logistic regression analysis. Seven out of eight variables of conflict theory were significant to predict students’ trust in the police, but conflict theory alone accounted for a low level of variation in predicting trust in the police (5%). In Model 2, variables related to victimization, safety feelings, and antisocial behavior alone were significant in predicting students’ trust in police.  This variable group happened to be two times more powerful to predict students’ trust in the police compared to conflict theory variables. The third model assessed the capacity of social capital variables to predict students’ trust in the police. Among social capital variables, school well-being, family relations, and quality of life were also significant predictors of students’ trust in the police.  In the final model, when controlled with other related factors, the effect of conflict theory somewhat weakened but five out of eight variables were still strongly related to trust in the police and the final model accounted for a 15% variation in the trust in police. The significance of the study, theoretical and policy implications and future direction was discussed in advance.

Organized crime (OC) groups in Kyrgyzstan have reached a level where they are competing with governmental authorities and institutions. Leaders of OC groups can assign members of their groups into law enforcement positions and parliament. It is safe to claim that the absence of rule of law and legal gaps encourage organized crime groups to flourish. From an economic point of view, privatization and capitalization of the economic system in the process of democratization have been in the interest and favor of the development of criminal organizations. Organized crime gangs can easily fill their chests by benefiting from the legal gaps. For instance, all the jewelry store owners at the major markets in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan pay fees to an OC gang for their safety and security. Small business owners have been taken under control by organized crime to resolve economic disputes or just because they are in their area of control. Moreover, gangs and groups operating in the South Kyrgyzstan, as well as in Talas and Bishkek, deal with drug trafficking. The cultural aspect of this issue focuses on the importance of the clan ties and network connections in Kyrgyzstan and its use by organized crime. The networking used by the OC also includes utilization of the Internet and social media, consequently it became difficult to counter them during the process of globalization and the whole of society being integrated with the internet and social media, the fight against organized crime has become more difficult. Challenging existing socio-cultural structures, to increase law enforcement and combat clan-based subculture and informal law practices, such as the “thieves” “laws” and “brotherhood hierarchies” of organized crime, have been an almost impossible endeavor over the past 30 years. Consequently, breaking the network of OC and destroying its nationwide functions is a challenge, not only in Kyrgyzstan but in many post-soviet countries.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between terrorism threat and police performance. Hierarchical multivariate linear modelling technique is used in this study. The units of analyses were provinces of Turkey (at level two) and years (at level one). The relationship between terrorism threat (operationalised as ideological incidents reported to the police) and police performance (operationalised as crime clearance rate) is assessed. Socio-economic development, population size, and the size of minority population are controlled. This paper concludes that there is a significant relationship between terrorism threat and police performance within the provinces of Turkey. However, this relationship is contextualised by the size of the minority population within the provinces. More specifically, as the size of the minority population increases, the negative effect of terrorism threat on police performance strengthens. Police performance is operationalised as crime clearance rates. Moreover, only the more serious crimes are included in the calculation of crime clearance rates. Other operationalisations of police performance might yield different results. The level of terrorism threat needs to be considered while assessing police performance.