Cultural Dislocation and Double Anomie in Offending among Afghan Migrants: A Criminological Analysis of Criminal Policy and Penal Responses in Iran and Western Jurisdictions

Abstract

Migration is not merely a geographical movement but a multidimensional social process involving changes in identity, cultural belonging, social bonds, economic opportunities, and relations with legal and political institutions. This article examines offending among Afghan migrants through the concepts of cultural dislocation and double anomie and analyzes the ways in which criminal policy and penal responses in Iran and selected Western jurisdictions may either mitigate or intensify criminogenic vulnerability. Using a comparative and analytical criminological approach, the study argues that migrant offending cannot adequately be explained by nationality, ethnicity, or migration status. Instead, it should be understood through the interaction of structural marginalization, blocked legitimate opportunities, weakened informal social control, discrimination, neighborhood disadvantage, insecure legal status, and incomplete integration into the host society. The concept of double anomie is developed to describe a condition in which migrants experience simultaneous or sequential weakening of normative attachment to the society of origin while remaining only partially integrated into the normative and institutional structure of the receiving society. Particular attention is given to second-generation Afghan migrants, for whom the discrepancy between subjective belonging and institutional recognition may become especially pronounced. The article further distinguishes actual offending from processes of criminalization and emphasizes that irregular migration status, selective enforcement, administrative violations, and differential exposure to policing may increase contact with criminal justice institutions without necessarily indicating greater criminal propensity. The comparative analysis shows that both Iranian and Western criminal policies contain punitive and integrative tendencies, including detention, deportation, surveillance, social prevention, procedural safeguards, community-based interventions, and reintegration measures. The study concludes that an effective criminal policy should combine proportionate enforcement with social inclusion, legal stability, victim protection, educational and employment opportunities, and stronger institutional legitimacy. Reducing double anomie requires addressing the social conditions that generate exclusion rather than treating migrant identity itself as a source of criminal risk.