2000 ASC Annual Meeting Abstracts
Meeting | Author Index | Title Index
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
A Bad Woman is Hard to Find: Female Prisoner Risk Classification, Part II
We extend our earlier analysis of female prison violence and female inmate risk classification which relied on data for a cross section of the Federal prison population, with a data set for all newly sentenced cohorts for 1991 through 1997. The earlier analysis found both quantitative (rate) and qualitative (seriousness) differences between male and female prison violence. Females have lower rates of prison violence and commit less serious violence than males. It was also shown, that while classification scores predicted prison violence nearly as well for males and females, that the degree particular items contribute to the classification score’s predictive power, differed for men and women. With the much larger prison admission cohort data base, we find that most classification items predict violence similarly for males and females. One exception is the seriousness of the incarcerating offense, which contributes significantly to predicting male, but not female violence. We conclude that both the small number of females in prison populations and the low female violent misconduct base rate, requires either a larger sample of females, than is available in any prison population at a given time, or adoption of statistical techniques sensitive to low base rates, in order to detect significant predictor variables. We also argue for the inclusion of “dynamic” predictors in both male and female classification systems, that is, measures of inmate characteristics that both predict prison misconduct and are putatively changeable in a positive misconduct reducing way, through participation in appropriate prison programs. Dynamic predictors discussed are educational attainment, substance abuse, work skills, and family and community ties.
A British Perspective to Repeat Victimization in the Year 2000
The Crime and Disorder Act 1999 has empowered police and partners to work together in tackling crime and the targeting of repeat burglary and domestic violence offences are just two areas where police officers and local partnerships have proved to be strong and effective allies. So much has been achieved in the area of Repeat Victimisation (RV) since the first British Home Office funded research in the mid-1980’s (Forrester et al. 1988). From ‘this little acorn might oak trees have grown’ within the UK and this presentation will attempt to give an overview of the growth and nuturing of just some of these seeds and how in the year 2000 RV forests are appearing everywhere.
A Comparative Investigation Into Estimating Youth Violence: Instruments ande Outcomes
Understanding youth violence requires first careful measurement of the prevalence and incidence of those behaviors that can be called violent. Despite the seemingly obvious need for such careful assessment, an investigation demonstrated that most instruments that purport to or are, interpreted as measuring violence have serious limitations as measures of violent interpersonal behavior. In this segment, the Hamilton Fish Institute will present its study of instruments that have been used to study youth violence. A literature search identified the instruments used in studies of youth violence and a subsequent search was launched to locate the psychometric properties of these instruments and sub-scales. Finally, an assessment was made of the face-validity of the multiple instruments as measures of violent interpersonal behavior. Special emphasis will be given to those instruments used to develop National estimates of youth violence. This segment of the presentation will focus on: (a) defmitions of violence and aggression; (b) a summary of instruments available for estimating violence (c) an overview of the national, surveys available for estimating violence; (d) figures summarizing trends in different forms of violence as estimated by these national surveys.
A Comparative Study Between Northern and Southern Hemispheres
This paper is based on a comparative study between two “gangs” and their struggle to find a cultural identity and empower themselves by becoming politically conscious organizations. By comparing two groups–the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation from New York city and the Yorgos from Easter Island, Chile–I will trace the path of deviance among group members and the specific context in which these changes emerge. Both groups are from island populations that are dominated and controlled by a foreign mainland. Based on interviews with group members and field observations of group activities, this paper examines the similarities and differences between these two groups that have common dynamics despite being so far apart geographically.
A Comparison of Drug Court Program Completers and Noncompleters
Data from case files of 217 Chester County (PA) Drug Court program participants were analyzed to determine rates of program completion, and to identify variables correlated with the likelihood of program completion. Variables considered included age, race, sex, education, employment, income, marital status, parenthood, and prior drug usage patterns. Research findings provide the basis for several policy recommendations.
A Complicity Continuum of State Crime
State crime scholars have struggled to make distinctions between state initiated and state facilitated state and state-corporate crimes. The former, a less contentious concept, denotes an explicit, distinct action by a state for the furtherance of its organizational goals that violates law or produces social injury. State facilitated state and state-corporate crimes have been defined as tacit supports or inactions by the state which facilitate social injury, harm, or violations of law. Here we seek to more clearly establish the parameters of the phenomenon of state crime by creating a multidimensional continuum of state crime complicity. A sample of cases found in the state and state-corporate crime literature are placed on or between the (a) sociological-legal definitional extremes, (b) commission-omission behavioral extremes and, (c) the implicit-explicit policy extremes of the continuum. The continuum reveals the difficulties which arise from both liberal and conservative conceptualizations of state crime per se. The former has a tendency to move the definition to potentially absurd leels, while the latter risks an overly narrow and myopic definition of the phenomenon. We then propose a conceptualization and model of state crime that helps resolve some of these conundrums.
A Comprehensive Evaluation Model for the Institute for Public Safety Partnerships: A COPS Regional Community Policing Training Institute
The Institute for Public Safety Partnerships (IPSP) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is one of 28 U.S. Department of Justice, COPS Office funded community policing training institutes. IPSP selected community-police partnerships and collaboration as its training focus, and has provided community-based training and technical assistance in community policing and related topics to over 30 neighborhoods and cities in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Since its inception in July of 1997, IPSP has conducted extensive internal and external evaluations of its own internal as well as its field training operations. Functioning as a true ‘learning organization’ these evaluation efforts have led to changes in management and delivery of services. In addition, when faced with bland results from routine posttraining evaluation questionnaires, IPSP, working with faculty at UIC, developed innovative qualitative approaches to evaluating the impact of community policing training, using separate, focus groups with police and community training participants. This paper describes the comprehensive, multi-faceted evaluation approach developed by IPSP, reviews evaluation findings, explains how evaluation feedback has contributed to decisions regarding organizational operations and service delivery, and elaborates on the blend of quantitative and qualitative research methods needed to provide effective training feedback.
A Comprehensive Look at Drug Policies: The Case of Medical Marijuanha
Although relatively unknown until the 1996 California and Arizona ballot initiatives, medical marijuana laws were first introduced in 8 states in the late 1970s and another 13 states passed laws during the 1980s. These laws vary considerably in their breadth of medical allowances and their coordination of the distribution system. This paper provides the legislative policy background for future analyses by examining the different types of medical marijuana laws that currently exist across the fifty states, and identifying key elements that define these laws, such as how marijuana is to be supplied and to whom. Medical marijuana laws are examined within the context of each states’ larger treatment of marijuana, specifically drug scheduling, decriminalization, and legal penalties imposed for sale and possession. By examining these policies within the context of the states’ marijuana policies, it may be possible understand the range and severity of marijuana policies which exist between states. These policies are then correlated with various drug enforcement statistics from Uniform Crime Reports, State Court Processing Statistics and enforcement budgets to see if particular policies are associated with identifiable patterns of implementation.
A Comprehensive Look at Drug Policies: The Case of Systemic Interventions in Juvenile Justice System
In their National Institute of Justice (NIJ) technical report, Breaking the Cycle of Drug Use Among Juvenile Delinquents, the authors proposed a comprehensive, systems-based drug treatment model which addressed the multiple needs of juvenile offenders throughout the juvenile justice process. Empirically-based components included: 1) a single point of entry for juveniles entering the juvenile justice system; 2) thorough screening and assessment; 3) cross-systems case management; 4) community-based, family-centered treatment services (e.g. Multi-Systemic Therapy); 5) court supervised (e.g. drug courts) graduated sanctions, including diversion programs (e.g. TASC); 6) community-based collaboration between systems; and, 7) ongoing aftercare services. This analysis examines community-level ImpacTeen data to determine which components of the intervention model are present in 193 sites across the nation. This information is then compared with the latest Bureau of Justice Statistics’ State Court Processing System data on juvenile criminal histories and recidivism rates in a sample of these sites. It is hypothesized that communities which incorporate a larger number of intervention model components will experience lower juvenile re-arrest rates. Relationships between the intervention model and other state-level environmental variables such as age of adult status and presence of juvenile drug courts and diversion programs will also be explored.
A Comprehensive Treatment Strategy for Female Offenders
The number of females under the custody or control of correctional agencies in the United States has more than tripled in the past twenty years. In 1998, more than 84,000 females were incarcerated and more than 870,000 women were under the supervision of community correction agencies. Current research suggests that more than 50 percent of all female offenders will reoffend (Greenfield and Snell 1999; Morash et al. 1998). Two of the leading problems associated with female recidivism are the sue of traditional classification approaches and treatment strategies designed for male populations. This paper describes the characteristics and treatment needs of female offenders; examines the components of a 15-month five phase community-based treatment program for female offenders with substance abuse and/or mental health problems; and presents an assessment of expansive case management and tracking methodologies.
A Concentration Analysis of Arsons in the Downtown Core of Winnipeg, Manitoba
The present paper assesses the analytical potential of “Pattern Theory,” as developed by Brantingham and Brantingham, to explore the spatial and temporal distribution of arson in Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada. This paper will focus specifically on the distribution of arsons (n=1820) occurring in the Downtown core of Winnipeg in 1998 (n=1316), August of 1999 (n=240) and October of 1999 (n=264). This paper will examine different ‘types’ of arsonists identified in the literature (gang-related arsons, serial arsonists, mentally disordered arsonists, arson for profit and arson used for the purpose of crime concealment), and how they effect the distribution of arson in the core area. In addition, key places (churches, schools, drop in centers) or offender nodal points, will be examined to determine how motivated offenders interact with these places, and their impact on the distribution of different types of arsons in the core area. This study explores the spatial distribution of arson in Winnipeg will be illustrated through theuse of point concentration analysis techniques, 3D contour maps and GIS software provided by the Crime Prevention and Analysis Laboratory (CPAL) at Simon Fraser University.
A Conceptual Model for Anticipating Crime Displacement: Rational Choices in Context
Environmental Criminology combines rational choice models of crime with theories of the spatial and temporal patterning of human activities to anticipate the patterns of criminal events. Modeling of the movement patterns of offenders and victims in relation to the distributions and concentrations of other people and criminal targets can make it possible to anticipate patterns in the displacement of crime from one location to another. Analysis of the movement patterns of criminals utilizing particular crime attractors can provide information on likely alternative crime sites. Information on the SES and other characteristics of criminals can be used to predict their activity and awareness spaces, and their ranges of action. This paper presents a conceptual model that can be used to predict discreet displacement flows in time and space.
A Coordinated Court-Based Response to Domestic Violence
The paper outlines general challenges in providing court services to victims of domestic violence, as well as particular issues in the program studied including service of process, levels of civil and criminal legal representation, and professional role conflicts between domestic violence advocates and providers of child protection services. The three-year old Domestic Violence Unit at the District of Columbia Superior Court has three interrelated components addressed in the evaluation: centralized intake, a specialized clerk unit, and dedicated domestic violence courtrooms and judicial assignments. The evaluation examines case processing dynamics and system responses for a large number of petitioners and their respondents. Also included are interviews for a subset of those victims on their treatment by the staff of the DVU and feelings about their batterer and their own lives. Observations in the DVU courtrooms illustrate court tone and demeanor toward victims and accused batterers. And finally, in-depth interviews with the system participants from judges to prosecutors to intake center staff provide context and important themes for analysis and some future directions for the DVU.
A County-Level Comparison of United States Jurisdictions’ Use of Prison as a Sentencing Option
While several studies have compared states’ incarceration rates to gauge relative punitiveness, there is a dearth of systematic investigation designed to explain the significant inter-jurisdictional differences in sentencing practices within the United States. This study uses several types of information, including court and police data, to document and attempt to explain — considering legal as well as social and cultural characteristics — variations in use in prison as a sentencing option among a sample of U.S. counties. Implications of these findings are considered.
A Critical Analysis of Power-Control Theory
The paper “A Critical Analysis of Power-Control Theory” traces the development of Hagan et. al.’s Power-Control theory using LeBlanc and Caplan’s techniques of theoretical formalization. It argues that the concepts used to represent the constructs of the theory, do not successfully transform the thesis into testable statements. As a result, the theory’s original assertion “that the presence of power and the absence of control produce conditions conducive to common delinquency” (essentially a positive class-crime relationship) is never accurately tested. To remedy this, it is proposed that power be measured not by parent’s class or by patriarchy in the household (as Hagan et al do) but constructed as a sense of entitlement which is psychologically necessary to engage in unconventional or deviant behavior. It is theorized that this sense of empowerment can be produced simply by engaging in deviant activities but will also be present in upper class males. This alteration will theoretically support power-control’s original thesis while remaining consistent with the slightly negative class-crime relationship found in the wider literature.
A Critique of the Criminal Punishment Code: Florida’s Alternative to Its Sentencing Guidelines
Florida implemented sentencing guidelines in 1983 and abolished them in 1998, replacing them with The Criminal Punishment Code. Although the new code still provides for structured sentencing and is similar to the previous sentencing guidelines in many respects, there are also important differences. The intent of this paper is to critically examine The Criminal Punishment Code.
A Cross-Cultural Study of Social Learning Theory: Substance Abuse Among a Sample of South Korean Adolescents
This paper reports the findings from a study that tested three theoretical models of adolescent substance use in a sample of high school students in South Korea. The main purpose of the study was to determine how well social learning, social bonding, and self-control theories respectively account for substance use in this sample in an Asian society. The data for this investigation came from a self-report questionnaire survey among a sample size of 1,035 high school students in Pusan. Multiple OLS regression analysis indicated that social learning theory was strongly supported as an explanation for substance use by these Korean adolescents. Social bonding and self-control theories also were supported to some extent. However, when variables derived from these theories were placed in the same equation with social learning variables, most of their effects disappeared while social learning variables retained their strength. The findings indicate that these western theories of deviance, especially social learning theory, are not culture bound and can be validly applied to adolescent dev
A Developmental Definition of Desistance: An Empirical Examination
Developmental criminologists have recently begun to reconceptualize desistance as a process involving a change over time, rather than as a static end state of non-offending. The traditional approach to empirically operationalizing desistance is inconsistent with this new conceptualization. New research has suggested that the semi-parametric trajectory method provides a way to identify desistors that is consistent with the idea of desistance as a process. This paper applies both the traditional method and the trajectory method to the data from the Rochester Youth Development Study. The two methods identify very different groups of individuals as desistors. The traditional method tends to identify low-level offenders as desistors, and the trajectory method identifies two groups of desistors who experience distinct patterns of change from high levels of offending to very low levels of offending during the transition from mid adolescence to early adulthood. Implications of this result for future research are discussed.
A Developmental Status Theory of Delinquency and the Age-Crime Curve
Among delinquency theories that implicate the peer group as a factor promoting delinquency, there exists a tendency to focus on modeling, rather than operant learning, as the primary mechanism through which delinquent behavior emerges. When existing theories do discuss operant learning, they often fail to articulate adequately their conception of that which constitutes positive or negative reinforcement. The present paper argues that delinquency emerges as a means of achieving social status among one’s peers during adolescence. In particular, it suggeests that (1) delinquency benefits adolescents by increasing their social status among peers and (2) those who most value social status among their peers are most prone to engage in delinquent behavior. Longitudinal analysis using a nationally representative sample of adolescents supports both propositions.
A Different Kind of Resocialization: Examining the Inmate Subculture in a Juvenile Prison
While one of the goals of juvenile institutions is to resocialize offenders, I argue that the real impact of serving time in a juvenile prison lies not in the “progam” advocated by the institution, but in the interaction between inmates and between inmates and cottage staff. Based on a qualitative study of a cottage of violent male juvenile offenders at one state’s end-of-the-line training school, I examine and discuss key aspects of the inmate subculture. As well as discussing the inmates’ and staff members’ perspectives on life ‘inside the institution, I detail specific characteristics of this cottage and how the inmate subculture is modified and perpetuated as the population changes over time.
A Dynamic Process Approach to Criminal Careers Modelling
From an analysis of cohort data extracted from the Offenders’ Index (a data-base of conviction histories of offenders in England and Wales) a theory of offending based on some relatively simple assumptions can be postulated. The theory classifies the offender population by “risk” and “rate” of offending. With a suitable choice of five free parameters the goodness of fit, of the model derived from the theory to the cohort data, is extraordinarily high with over 99.9% of variance accounted for. With some further assumptions concerning formal and informal cautioning, the age at nth conviction profiles can also be reproduced. This paper explores the implications of the theory and challenges the conventional wisdom of the criminal career’s literature.
A Feminist Theory of Gangs
This paper is an attempt to begin to understand a widely recognized, but completely under-theorized aspect of the reality of gangs. We argue that the dominant frame in which gangs have been understood both misses a significant aspect of gang reality and does little to help solve the social problems surrounding gang activities, namely alienation, poverty and identity seeking. The singular perspective that has been used to try and understand gangs is wholly incapable of seeing gangs in their multiple, contradictory, contingent location in the lives of gang members and society writ large. The feminist critique of social science has long argued that we must listen seriously to the voices of the groups that we study. Likewise, feminist thought has forced us to rethink categories such as politics, the family, work and even caused us to recognize the shifting and contingent nature of our own worldviews. In this paper we will explore the ways in which feminism and other alternative theories might be able to offer useful insights toward a new criminology of gangs that neither glorifies gangs nor ignores the problems they cause. Our approach places gangs in a dialectic that includes both crime and political and social activism.
A Geographic Analysis of Illegal Drug Markets
Past research has established two important geographic principles concerning the marketing of illegal drugs-that illegal drug markets tend to be spatially concentrated, and that the location and marketing characteristics of the market place will vary depending on whether customers are local or regional. The present research will build on these principles to determine whether the location of illegal drug markets in Wilmington, Delaware can be predicted using variables that measure the relative size of the local demand combined with variables that measure accessibility to regional customers. The data include arrest and call for service data from the Wilmington police department for the years 1990, 199 1, and 1992 so as to be comparable to 1990 census data.
A Grounded Look on the Debate Over Prison-Based Education: Optimism Theory Versus Pessimism Wordview
The debate over prison education continues to divide scholars, correctional practitiioners, as well as politicians. Central on this debate are two contradictory perspectives: the idealism or optimisn view on prison education; and the pessimistic reaction on prison education. The idealism perspective suggests that correctional education programs can enhance the successful reintegration of certain individual inmates from the society of captives to the general free society. Whereas, the pessimistic perspective argues that prison education programs do not work and therefore should be eliminated. I located the debate on the contemporary political context (prison-based education Pell Grants). This political context was responsible for the elimination of prison-based education Pell grants in 1994. Until its elimination, Pell Grants were the primary sources of funding for post-secondary correctional education programming. This recent external environmental changes on our penal systems seem to create social problems that may have profound academic, political, policy, and social implications too important and too costly to ignore.
A Highly Innovative Intervention Programme for Very Young Offenders in the UK
This paper will describe the progress an innovative programme aimed at reducing persistent offending behaviour in children aged between 7 and 17, based in Portsmouth, UK. The targetting of particularly young offenders is very unusual in the LTK and another innovative aspect is that it tries to address the needs of the whole family as well as the offender. At the end of the first year of operation (March 2000), the impact of the intervention (PYOP) had significantly reduced the criminogenic needs and risk of re-offending, as measured by a standardised risk/needs inventory (the Level of Service Inventory – Revised or LSI-R). Early indications also suggest that PYOP has reduced the volume of charges brought against persistent young offenders on the project. The paper will look at changes in attitudes to offending and offending behaviour for participants on the project and give a detailed description of what the programme entails. It will also discuss plans for next year’s more rigorous evaluation involving self-reported offending measures and a reconviction analysis.
A Life Course Analysis of the Relationship Between Military Service and Criminal Behavior
Throughout history, the military has served as one of the largest employers and educators of young men, and recently, of young women. As such, it has had a great influence in the lives of a large proportion of the U.S. population. However, little is known about the relationship between military experience and criminal behavior. The few studies that have been done tend to ignore pre-military characteristics, and results also vary depending on the time period of military service. This study will examine the relationship between military service and criminal behavior from a life course perspective. Specifically, the main purpose of this research is to determine whether military service increases or decreases later criminal behavior. Additionally, the life course perspective suggests that this relationship may be dependent on a number of factors, including prior behavior patterns, the timing of military service in an individual’s life, and the historical context of military service. Preliminary results indicate that military service does have an impact on later criminal behavior, despite prior behavior patterns. Additionally, timing of service in the life course and in history appear to be important factors in determining the specific relationship between military service and crime.
A Life Course Perspective Approach to the Cycle of Violence
Cycle of violence theorists have recently moved from demonstrating that the cycle exists to identifying the specific ways in which childhood victimization leads to criminal offending. This paper contributes to such research by utilizing data from the National Youth Survey. The NYS is particularly suited for this type of investigation, as it includes detailed information regarding drug and alcohol offenses, juvenile delinquency, adult offending, and adult psychological and psychosocial functioning for a wide range of individuals over a long period of time. Moreover, it allows the inclusion of many other relevant variables that may impact the relationship between victimization and offending, including family structure and functioning, place of residence, association with deviant peers, and prior criminality. I utilize a life course perspective in analyzing data from the NYS. In particular, I investigate the ways in which victimization in early and late adolescence impact adult offending, and whether these trajectories are shaped by other important life events. In addition, I broaden the cycle of violence theory to examine the impact of victimization perpetrated by strangers and acquaintances, as well as parents and other family members, on delinquency and offending.
A Meta-Analysis of Racial Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System
Studies that examined the influence of race on the severity of juvenile dispositions show an inconclusive pattern of results. It has been hypothesized that race has a significant effect on the severity of juvenile dispositions only if important legal variables are not controlled for. Controlling for important legal variables such as seriousness of current offense and prior record should render the race effect non-significant. Meta-analytic techniques were utilized to uncover the true significance of race. Studies published in the last 20 years were gathered and coded for substantive and methodological characteristics. Contrary to the popular hypothesis, results show that these substantive and methodological characteristics fail to explain a significant amount of variation in the significance of race. Most studies do control for important legal variables and most studies still find a significant race difference. Nevertheless, a substantial proportion of variation in the severity of juvende dispositions remains to be explained. Controlling for unexplored factors would likely reduce the significance of the race difference.
A Multilevel Opportunity Model of School Victimization
Criminal opportunity theory has been a widely-tested and generally well-supported theory of adult victimization over the past several decades (Cohen and Cantor 1981; Cohen, Kluegel, and Land 198 1; Fisher, Sloan, Cullen, and Lu 1998; Massey, Krohn, and Bonati 1989; Messner and Blau 1987; Messner and Tardiff 1985; Miethe and Meier 1990; Miethe, Stafford, and Long 1987). More recently, scholars have begun to develop multilevel opportunity models of victimization, recognizing that opportunity and risk can be present at both the micro and macro levels of analysis (Kennedy and Forde 1990; Miethe and McDowall 1993; Mustaine and Tewksbury 1998; Rountree, Land, and Miethe 1994; Sampson and Wooldredge 1987; Sampson, Raudenbush, and Earls 1997; Thompson and Fisher 1996). However, little evidence exists regarding the applicability of multilevel opportunity models to school-based adolescent victimization. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by estimating hierarchical logistic regression models of criminal opportunity theory for both violent and property schoolbased victimization among 26,600 students nested within 34 middle and high schools in Kentucky.
A Multilevel Test of the Rusche and Kirchheimer Thesis
The Rusche and Kirchheimer thesis claims that as a fiscal crisis worsens, the capitalist state relies increasingly on incarceration to control labor surplus. Using multilevel data, we analyze the interplay between the employment status of male criminal defendants charged with burglary and armed robbery and the unemployment ratge on pretrial incarceration. We theorize that in cities with high unemployment, unemployed criminal defendants will be more likely to be incarcerated before trial. Additionally, because the state’s punitive apparatus is reportedly geared to control that segment of the surplus labor population which is most threatening to established interests, we examine whether unemployed African-American defendants are more likely to be incarcerated befgore trial in cities with a high unemployment rate. Results show that the unemployment rate mediates the relationship between employment status and pretrial incarceration. In cities with high unemployment, unemployed defendants have a higher probability of pretrial detention. No support is found for the social dynamite thesis. Unemployed African-American defendants do not face a higher probability of pretrial confinement in cities with a high unemployment rate. We conclude that pretrial incarceration is determined by the interaction between a defendant’s unemployment status and labor market conditions, as originally theorized by Rusche and Kirchheimer.
A New Version of the “Risk Principle”: Are Predictors of Delinquency Similar Across Youth With Varying Levels of Prior Antisocial Behavior:?
Recent research suggests that the psychosocial variables commonly associated with adolescent delinquency (e.g. delinquent peers) may have a stronger effect for individuals with a higher antisocial predisposition. Researchers hypothesize that both protective and risk factors are more salient for individuals with low self-control. The present paper tests this hypothesis with data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth merged mother child data set. Specifically, youths are disaggregated based on early childhood antisocial behavior into high and low propensity groups. Separate prediction models are run to examine whether the predictors of delinquency are similar across groups.
A Nineteenth-Century Pocket of Rural Crime
Scattered across the nineteenth-century rural landscape were pockets of crime and deviance. The most famous of those were the mining towns, logging camps, and cattle towns of the West. However, there were others with longer, but perhaps less dramatic histories. Through newspaper accounts, court documents, and census records this study examines one of those pockets, known informally as Hell’s Neck, in rural McLean County, Illinois, from the Civil War until 1900. Plagued by bad soil in an otherwise agriculturally rich county, a declining timber industry, and a prominent family whose escapades turned violent, this community and much of the surrounding township saw multiple suicides, murders, and acts of general mayhem. This study puts that township into the social, economic, and political context of the second half of the nineteenth century and discusses what this township represented for downstate, central Illinois.
A Pedagogical Tool for Teaching Criminological Theory: The Nacirema Revisited
Horace Miner’s classic article “The Body Ritual of the Nacirema” is revisited, updated and used as a tool with which to examine Criminological theories by applying these theories not to criminals, but to undergraduates.
A Process Evaluation of the Continuum of Care Sex Offender Program
Since July 1994, the California Youth Authority (CYA) has been operating a sex offender program at O.H. Close and Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facilities with an integrated relapse prevention treatment approach that begins in the institution and continues on in parole. The institutional phase is designed to treat moderate to high-risk sex offenders during most of their institutional confinement. The parole phase also encompasses treatment elements along with parole super-vision. This paper presents a description of the program’s operation from 1994 through 1999. The study describes the screening and selection of wards to participate in the program; the institutional component including the living unit, institutional staffing, staff training, and the treatment modality; and the parole component including the role of the sex offender parole agent specialists. Background characteristics of the study population (n=241), their program participation rates including institutional lengths of stay, and parole outcome rates at 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow-up periods are also included. Finally, the study discusses the program’s promising characteristics and identifies areas that need improvement or program additions.
A Profile of Women Who Kill and Their Victims
The purpose of this study was to provide a profile of women who kill and their victims. The data were all incidents in which a woman over age 18 (N = 2336) killed at least one victim as recorded in the Chicago Homicide Dataset between 1965 and 1995. Results indicate that the mean age for both offenders and victims was early to mid-thirties (32 and 35, respectively), that both offenders and victims were more likely to be African-American, and that victims were overwhelmingly male. The data also show that both legal and common-law husbands were at greatest risk of being killed by a woman. The weapon of choice, by far, was a knife. After profiling the offenders and victims, the paper concludes by comparing the killing trends of women in Chicago over the thirty-year period to those of national trends during 1965-1995.
A Proposal for a Multidisciplinary Response to School Violence
This paper will focus on a proposal for a coordinated team effort by school, health and law enforcement officials designed to prevent and minimize random acts of school violence. A secondary focus will be dedicated to the psychological impact on the victims.
A Prospective Study of Juvenile Murderers
Until recently, all knowledge about the developmental background and risk factors of juvenile homicide offenders were derived from retrospective studies. The present study is the first study in the annals of criminology to present data collected prospectively pertaining to juvenile homicide offenders. Twenty male homicide offenders are the focus of the present paper. Participants are in the Pittsburgh Youth Study, a longitudinal study of a community sample of young males, first seen at ages 10 and 13, and then followed over thirteen years, initially half-yearly and then yearly. The homicide offenders were identified through official delinquency records, and were compared to victims of homicide, non-homicidal violent offenders, and non-offenders. The paper reports on differences in precursor behaviors and risk factors that discriminate between the groups, and highlights the unique developmental aspects of those males who eventually committed homicide.
A Research of Computer Crime Pattern Analysis and Criminal Profiling
Current studies dealing with computer crimes can be divided into two categories: one is; applying security techniques to prevent; the second is enacting new laws to punish. However, there are still some criminals who breakthrough security loopholes. In order to fill’ the disjunction between security techniques and legal norms, it is crucial to improve criminal investigation. An important method is using intangible psychological evidence to explore the motivation of criminals. This newly developed criminal profiling technique can be applied to! narrow the scope of investigation so as to identify specific suspects. The approach of this study is mainly threefold. The first is to solicit information from relatives and friends of criminals to understand their development. The second is to conduct a content analysis of official records and related evidence from law enforcement. The most important method is to, interview criminals to develop a clear picture of the modus operandi and crime signature. This research will be an empirical study. It will collect various aspects of empirical data in order to analyze the pattern of computer crimes, to profile the motivation of criminals, and to, establish a theoretical framework, as well as to provide a reference for future studies.
A Routine Activity Approach to College Students and Firearms
Utilizing data from a national survey, this study seeks to examine the relationship between college students and firearms from a routine activity theory perspective. The correlates of firearm ownership and usage will be explored. Additionally, the study will address firearm victimization among college students. Future policy implications will also be discussed.
A Secondary Analysis of Two Data Sets on Pregancy, Drug Use and Violence
We are conducting secondary analyses of two NIDA-funded studies entitled, “An Ethnographic Study of Pregnancy and Drug Use” (R01 DA0682) (1989 – 1992) and “Ethnography of Victimization, Pregnancy and Drug Use,” (R01 DA9827) (1995-1998). Our goal is to present the ways in which women experience, cope with and protect themselves from battering and drug use during pregnancy. In their lives, pregnant drug users encounter a myriad of inhibitors and (fewer) facilitators, from which they construct survival strategies. Women reported drug use helped them to overcome adversities in their daily lives. It was sometimes a source of income and mostly a source of solace. Although drug use helped on a day-to-day basis, in the long term women faced severe consequences. Their drug use attenuated their ability to care for themselves and their children. This paper explicates a typology of levels of drug use and victimization during pregnancy and associated life events. By comparing women across types, we identify factors which contribute to the linkages between drug use and victimization. Since data was collected at different times, we also consider changing social and political climates by comparing perceptions and experiences of the interviewees from the first study with those of the second.
A Social Learning Approach to Refining the Intergenerational Transmission of Family Violence Hypothesis
The central purpose of this study is to test the intergenerational hypothesis by incorporating principles of social learning theory to a greater extent than has been done before. Direct path models of social learning theory are oversimplified. Given social learning theory principles, there should not be a deterministic relationship between exposure to regression in the family or origin and current relationship aggression. Rather, social learning theory principles may provide an explanation for why some individuals seems to acquire aggressive behaviors in their family of origin, while others do not. A complete social learning model of relationship aggression should consider all three states in the theory: the origins or acquisition of aggression, the factors that provoke or institgate aggression, and the variables that regulate the performance of aggression (Bandura, 1973). A multivariate causal model employing predictors based on social learning theory will be developed and tested. Using the most recent wave of the National Youth Survey, a path analytic procedure should show the sequential influence of multiple variables on the dependent variable, as well as provide a useful graphic picture of the strengths of relationships among variables. The model is developed as an exploratory attempt to gather information concerning the complex intercorrelations among the variables in the partner violence model.
A Spatial Analysis of Calls for Police Service in Vancouver, British Columbia
The present paper represents an extension of this author’s exploration of the spatial distribution of calls for police service in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The study period explores police dispatch records for the 1997 calendar year. This paper draws upon aspects of the Brantinghams’ Pattern Theory and their location quotient technique to analyze calls for police services that accumulate across various policing areas referred to as police atoms. This analysis examinations specific call modalities within each atom in order to determine which areas contain disproportionate numbers of calls of a certain type than expected according to chance variation. This technique makes it possible to determine which types of police incidents occur proportionately more frequently than other incidents in the same atom. Four broad incident categories (violence, non-violent crimes against persons, crimes against property, and incivilities) and specific incidents (such as theft from auto, fight, assault, disturbance, etc.) will be explored as separate items of interest. Atoms with disproportionately high frequency totals for calls of interest provide an opportunity to assess the applicability of pattern theory in furthering an understanding of the spatial distribution calls for police service in the study area.
A Spatial Analysis of Seattle and Buffalo Homicide, 1986-1990
Using newly developed techniques of exploratory spatial data analysis and multivariate spatial econometrics, this paper examines Seattle and Buffalo homicide incidents from 1986 to 1990. A “point pattern” analysis for both cities shows that homicide incident addresses exhibit a nonrandom spatial pattern (clustering). Further, and for both cities, homicide incident rates at the level of U.S. census tracts also exhibit a nonrandom spatial pattern (clustering). Interestingly, homicide rate clustering in Seattle is “explained away” by clustering of the important predictors of homicide. This is not the case for Buffalo. Multivariate results for Buffalo show significant residual spatial autocorrelation that is best represented by the “spatial lag” term of homicide, rather than a “spatial error” term. This suggests that diffusion, contagion, or imitation may have contributed to the observed spatial pattern in Buffalo. Finally, consequences of ignoring spatial dependence, when present in the data, are demonstrated.
A Survey of Prosectors on Community Prosecution
Prosecutors across the country are increasingly becoming involved with the community to proactively address quality of life crimes. The American Prosecutors Research Instituted conducted a mail survey of a nationally representative sample of prosecutors’ offices and in-depth follow-up phone interviews to assess how prosecutors define community lawyering, the degree to which prosecutors are involved in community lawyering, and differences in community lawyering practices among jurisdictions of different sizes.
A Tack in the Shoe: Some Forms of Resistance to Technological Social Control
This paper identifies 11 strategies of resistance to the surveillance component of technological means of social control (e.g., video, drug testing, location monitoring) and explores some of their social correlates and consequences.
A Test of the Stability of Punishment Hypothesis
This paper is an attempt to test the stability of punishment hypothesis, which posits that the punishment level of a society remains stable over time because there is a homeostatic process between crime and crime control to affect punishment level. However, the evidence has been mixed. Based on elaborated definitions oof stability and homeostatic process, two, instead of one, hypotheses are formulated: hypothesis of stable punishment and hypothesis of homeostatic process of punishment. To test the first hypothesis, uni-variate time series analysis and comparison of means of sub-samples are done to see if the mean of punishment rates is not changing over time. To test the second hypothesis, a series of bi- and multi-variate time series analyses are conducted to see if there are significant effects of crime and crime control on punishment. For the analyses, annual imprisonment, crime, and criminal justice expenditure data of the United States during the period from 1931 through 1980 are used. Results show that the hypothesis of stable punishment is supported by the data, while the hypothesis of homeostatic process of punishment is not. The implication of the results is interpreted in terms of theoretical and methodological points of view, and finally the alternative explanation of the process making the punishment leel stable is explored.
A Theoretical and Legal Analysis of Police Handling of Offenders Covered by the American’s With Disabilities Act
This paper will address theoretical issues relevant to the police handling of offenders covered by provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Included will be a policy analysis review based on current philosophical, practical, and empirical positions. Additionally, a legal analysis of current case law will be provided. Ultimately, this paper will include policy recommendations based on these analyses.
A Trend Analysis of the Effectiveness of Community Policing: Results From a Midwestern City
In recent years, a number of police departments throughout the United States have moved to a variety of community policing models in an effort to reduce crime and improve police community relations. Few studies, however, have examined the impact community policing has had on crime using longitudinal data. In 1994, community policing was implemented in Fort Wayne, Indiana, using a relatively unique strategy, the city-wide model. This study compares changes in the violent and property crime rates of Fort Wayne from 1986 to 1998 with changes in the rates of a number of comparable Midwestern cities using either traditional or another form of community policing. The comparison examines the effect city-wide community policing had on the crime rate above and beyond other known influences on crime (e.g. population and economic changes). Findings, implications of those findings, and guidelines for future research are discussed.
A Typology of Wartime Rape
Some observers hold that rape, whether during wartime or peace, is nothing less than a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear. This interpretation is conceptually and methodologically unsound. There are rules about rape. This paper offers an eight-category typology of war rape that has been constructed in terms of the logic that rape results from supportive social structures. Each type of rape is located on a continuum. The data include paintings, etchings, journals, military reports, historical accounts and scholarly works.
A War on Crime Without Resources
In 1968 President Nixon declared a “war on crime” but resources for the front-lines–the police and programs designed to prevent crime from occurring–have been reduced relative to the nearly limitless amounts of funding going to prisons and prosecutions. A balance of resources is necessary for justice to be “swift and certain”. The goal of public safety is unachievable under this misallocation of funding. Police departments in our major cities are struggling, despite political claims that they are operating efficiently. The “war on crime” has resulted in fewer arrests for “index” crimes (i.e. crimes considered as the ost dangerous according to the FBI reports) and more for drug offenses, more non-violent offenders going to prison than violent offenders, more Black drug offendeers than White offenders going to prison although usage is equivalent between the races, and more offenders being recycled into prison for relatively minor crimes. A “shadow” agenda instead exists in which politicians are acting to preserve their power and divert threats to the status quo. Declining economic security to achieve private sector needs for competitive goods protects the “haves” while the rights of the “have-nots” are being sacrificed.
About the Resistance of 19th Century Prisoners and the Understanding of Penitentiary Coercion
Historical research on 19th century prison focused mainly on the introduction of modern punishment (imprisonment), its mechanisms of control, order, labour and discipline. For, in general the 19th century punishment of prisoners is studied from the point of view of ‘the system’, with its rules of silence, discipline, order and labour, its educational programme, its architectural setting, etc… It resulted in a historigraphy were the system of punishment was the main issue. The prisoner remained absent. The absence of inmates in their own history is striking. How prisoners lived and submitted (or not) to penitentiary discipline remains an open question. The paper will focus on this historical passive and subordinated image of the 19th century prisoner. First a brief theoretical approach of dominance and resistance based on the work of J. C. Scott and his cocnept of infrapolitics will be presented. Secondly, the paper will present an (methodological) analysis of 19th century (Belgian) prison archives (sources). Since an important question is precisely what kind of prison sources can be relevant in a study of the resistance of 19th century prisoners. The paper will conclude with an illustrative case-study of 19th century Belgian prisoners (1876-1918).
Abracadabra, Inmate Style: The Power of “The Magic Words’ in Section 1983 Prisoner Civil Right Litigation
Recent literature on prisoner civil rights litigation has called into question the validity of the alleged frivolous nature of such lawsuits. The Prisoner Litigation Reform Act of 1996 decreased the number of Section 1983 filings by prisoners, but did not address the overwhelming number of prisoner lawsuits that are non-frivolous as a matter of law, but are found to lack substantive merit upon final adjudication. Using qualitative content analysis, this study explores the nature of such lawsuits and concludes that artful pleading by inmates is responsible for the problem. The socio-legal and public policy implications of the findings are discussed.
Absolute and Relative Involvement of Youth in Homicide Offending: An Update
An earlier work by Smith and Feiler (Violence and Victims, 10(4), 1995) explored shifts in absolute and relative participation by youths in homicide offending over the period 1958-1993. The results indicated a dramatic escalation in both aspects of offending among persons 15-19 years old. However, Smith & Feiler’s analysis ended at a time when a notable downward trend in national homicide rates was beginning. To determine whether this decline in homicide rates altered the findings reported earlier, an updated analysis was conducted by adding homicide data from 1994-1999. The results indicate that absolute levels (rates) of offending for 15-19 year-olds declined roughly 39% by 1999, but similar trends were evident for other age groups. Consequently, the relative involvement of youths (determined by ratios of youth to general population homicide rates) remains quite high, and is still well in excess of pre- 1990 youth cohorts. While most explanations of the decline in homicide rates during the latter half of the 1990s have concentrated on the circumstances of youth, the present results suggest the need to better account for reductions in the homicide rates across a broad spectrum of age groups.
Absolutist Politics in a Moderate Package: Prohibitionist Intentions of the Gun Control Movement
Debate over moderate gun control policies has been distorted by a limitation on public discussion of the full set of their consequences. It is widely agreed that an incremental or stepby-step strategy is an effective way of achieving stronger laws of all types, including gun control laws. Casual supporters of moderate controls ask why the National Rifle Association and other organizations oppose moderate controls, to which opponents reply: “Because we fear that gun control is a slippery slope, and moderate controls could eventually lead to gun prohibition.” Casual supporters insist that no one, least of all Handgun Control Inc. (HCI), is seriously seeking gun prohibition. This claim is tested by examining the policy statements of HCI and other gun control advocacy groups, their past legislative and political activities, public statements of their leaders and prominent supporters, the premises and logic used to argue for moderate controls, recent precedents of gun prohibition in other nations, and other relevant evidence. Two of the three most prominent advocacy groups overtly advocate handgun prohibition, while the third, HCI, used to overtly advocate banning handgun possession but now openly supports banning only small cheap handguns and “assault weapons.” A large, highly consistent body of circumstantial evidence nevertheless indicates that HCI leaders still support banning private possession of handguns, and perhaps all guns, even though they appear to deny such a position in the organization’s official policy statements. Because most Americans oppose banning handguns or all guns, HCI has ceased openly advocating prohibition, but its leadership very likely continues to support it covertly. The result is that debate is dishonest because HCI does not acknowledge that one,possible consequence of passing moderate gun laws is that it will make it politically easier to gain the prohibitionist controls that HCI covertly favors. Consequently, it is harder to concentrate political debate on the merits of a possibly useful moderate control measure because discussion is distorted by concerns over what the measure could lead to.
Accelerated Learning in Criminal Justice: Speed Teaching That Improves Student Retention and Learning
Discusses the results of a series of experiments that were conducted to test the effectiveness of using accelerated learning techniques to teach criminal justice courses. Techniques included computerized slideshows played to music specially selected and sequenced for accelerated learning purposes, use of music during exams, use of creative visualization techniques, and role plays. Learn how to use accelerated learning techniques to improve your students’ retention and learning.
Access to and Use of Guns Among Young Male Offenders
In recent years criminologists have argued that the accessibility of guns among young offenders has contributed to youthful violence. This paper will present findings from two studies about access to and use of guns among young males under custody for criminal offending. Both studies were conducted by National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. (NDRI) and both were funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). One study involved interviews with 401 young men age 18 to 21 incarcerated in a medium security prison in New York for a variety of felony offenses. Of the 401 young men, 291 (73%) said that prior to incarceration they had access to a gun and 198 (69% of those who said they had access) said they owned a gun. The second study involved younger offenders including 363 males age 18 or younger who were in the care and custody of the State Office of Child and Family Servides for one of four violent offenses (homicide, assault, robbery, ro sexual assault). Of the 363 youngsters, 282 (79%) said they had eever used a gun prior to their current custody and 237 (767% of those who said they had ever used a gun) said they had owned a gun. This paper will consider how the two groups of young male offenders acquired their guns and, in the case of the younger offenders, when they carried the gun. For the younger offenders, consideration will also be given to the relationship between involvement with guns and involvement with drug dealing, and the relationship between carrying a gun and having been threeatened by someone else with a gun.
Accessing Help: Routes of Exposure to Victim Services for Domestic Violence and Property Crime Victims
Relying upon survey and focus group data of domestic violence and property crime victims in a rural community, this study compares the ways these victims access victim services. In general, property crime victims reported being informed about the availability of victim services by criminal justice personnel, while victims of domestic violence reported a significant amount of word of mouth information about the victim service agencies in their community prior to their victimization. This indicates that public knowledge about victim services for domestic violence victims may be much more widespread than knowledge about services for other, nondomestic, crime victims. Nevertheless, law enforcement plays an integral role in linking both types of victims to victim services. This is particularly true in terms of dual arrest; data from this study indicate that some domestic violence victims first access victim services while dealing with their own criminal charges. Further differences between property and violent crime victims arose in the way victim services were offered to these victims by law enforcement personnel or victim advocates. Overall, domestic violence victims were much more likely to report being asked their needs and being offered services than property crime victims. Finally, I discuss issues which affect the success of victim service agencies attempts to make services available to crime victims, including: the use of proactive v. reactive strategies, victim willingness to seek services, defining self as a victim, and perceptions about the acceptability of victim services within the community. Data indicate that proactive strategies to expose victims to victim services should take a multidimensional approach, thereby meeting the goal of persistent and widespread exposure.
Accomplice Liability: Disparate Results in Sentencing
This paper examines issues central to disparate sentencing among those who aid and abet a crime. With a variety of statutes that have replaced common law precepts of accomplice liability, this study scrutinizes contemporary case law to better understand when knowledge and participation required for a violation of the substantive offense might generate criminal responsibility, and the extent to which liability might attach. In this regard, a number of questions are addressed: What crimes were the parties to the crime charged with? What were their various roles in the criminal venture? What types of punishment were meted to each accomplice? What were the rationale for the court’s decisions? In answering these questions, two main issues central to the law of complicity are addressed: (1) when liability may be imposed if a party was not present when a crime was committed; (2) when participation may be inferred in a crime based on the actions of a party after a crime was committed. By a detailed examination of cases, this paper traces an approach to the understanding of judicial decisions, one which provides insight to why accomplices in a variety of cases may get sentenced differently even when the crimes of the principals bear similar degrees of heinousness. The doctrine of complicity is a crucial part of criminal law, not only because teamwork is inherently more dangerous, but also because the task of distinguishing between principals and accomplices may be daunting, and also deciding on the punishment that each party gets.
Accountability on the Streets: Police Stops, Regulation, and Ethnicity
Recent evidence has shown that police-initiated contact with the public disproportionately effects young men and members of ethnic minorities. These social groups are also more likely to express dissatisfaction with being stopped by the police; reporting unfair and impolite treatment. Drawing primarily on interviews with police officers and members of local communities, this paper reports on a pilot project in England and Wales aimed at increasing police accountability during police-initiated encounters. The pilot extends the current legal requirement for police officers to record searches to include all stop encounters where the person stopped has to account for themselves. The paper’s main focus is on how regulating police interaction effects the ‘nature’ of stop encounters from a police and public perspective. This will explore issues of legitimacy and public confidence in policing amongst key social and ethnic groups. The paper also examines the impact of requiring police officers to record the ‘self-defined ethnicity’ of the person stopped. It looks at the effect of asking the question in ‘shaping’ the interaction and what information it reveals about police stops.
Action Research and Evaluation of Race Relations Initiatives in UK Prisons
The paper reports the interim results of a collaborative project between ‘Partners of Prisoners’ and the Home Office. The project is designed to improve prisons’ performance in 2 key areas: confronting racial harassment and discrimination; and ensuring equal opportunities for ethnic minority prisoners. This is achieved by use of a questionnaire which surveys prisoners’ full experiences of both direct and indirect racism and discrimination. For each prison, the evaluators produce an ‘action list’ of areas requiring policy and practice changes, based on the survey results. The ‘Partners of Prisoners’ team then draw up an action plan in consultation with the prison managers and negotiate putting the plan into practice. The same prisons are re-surveyed and analysed for significant reductions in key areas of discrimination which can then be associated with the ‘best practices’ formulated in the action plan. This is the first time that this ‘what works’ approach has been used in this context anywhere in the world and the results and their implications for prison management will have a wide application.
Adaptation of OJJDP’s Comprehensive Gang Model: Case Studies of Four Rural Communities
The evaluation utilizes a case study approach to chronicle the 12-month assessment and program planning activities involved in the adaptation of the Comprehensive Gang model. NCCD has been conducting the evaluation since the sites initiated their efforts to gain an understanding of the nature and scope of their gang problems, assisted by extensive efforts of the National Youth Gang Center and OJJDP. The evaluation seeks to identify strengths and challenges faced by the sites and the readiness of each site to initiate the program implementation based on the assessment and the Model specifications. Cross-site analysis focuses on factors that facilitated and impeded the furtherance of this developmental stage. The qualitative methods involved in the evaluation include: on-site observations; formal face to face interviews with Steering Committee and Assessment Team members, telephone interviews with site representatives; and, content analysis of site documentation and media coverage.
Adding Religion to Hirschi’s Social Control Theory
The importance of religion on the effects of various behaviors has a long tradition in both criminological and sociological thought. However, many theories of crime neglect to include religion in their causal matrices. hirschi’s social control theory is one such theory. I include a measure of religion in his formulation of the social bond and report the result.
Addressing the Technological Infusion in Higher Education
This paper examines the growth and impact of technological innovations in higher education. The technological infusion addressed in the paper includes, but is not limited to, web assisted instruction, structured use of computers in the classroom, and cd-rom packages Issues concerning institutional support, acquisition of technical skills for faculty and students, the potential for the further McDonaldization of courses, and educational philosophies are explored.
Adolescent Maltreatment in Educational Centres
Maltreatment is one of those situations that keeps a close relationship with other relevant problems in adolescents (like home leavings). The specific topics of this problem make us ask ourselves about the possibility of establishing indicators that allow a better and faster detection of the abuse in this period and in different ranges. From the teacher’s questionnaire, the result is still insufficient, so will just talk about tendency. Teachers consider adolescence as a conflictive and stormy period, they consider specify maltreatment conducts physical and emoitional abuse, and understand that detection and to broach maltreatment conducts concern to all the community. Abuse can be detected in the educatioal (even when is not tell) by the behavior of the student and his output level. A reduction in the number of students per class and more dedication from the teacher could be big contribution. Giving and receiving explanations, respect as the base of teacher-students relationship and the interest for student’s problems, are some of the characteristics of teachers that would make easier a close up to pupils victims of abuse. Maltreatment problem happens in family, in the centre or on the streets; it must be linked to the atmosphere in which educational activity is developed. Achievement of the educational objectives can be questioned if the adolescents are suffering from abuse. Certainly the atmosphere is organization, communication, are rules, sanctions, ways of solving problems…But all that with dignity and personal integrity respects as principals.
Adolescent Marijuana Use: An Exploration of Social Control Theory
This study uses data from the 1999 Nebraska Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, to test the relationship between family ties and adolescent’s marijuana use. Using variables derived from social control theory, youths with weak ties are hypothesized to be more likely to use marijuana than peers with strong child-parent ties. Adolescents who experience weak family ties, as measured by level of child to parent(s) attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief are significantly ore likely to use marijuana than their highly attached peers. The analysis also examines whether the effects of family ties are mediated or moderated by the relationship with uncoventional peers. Ordered logit regression, which allows for multiple dichotomous dependent variables, enables comparison effects of family ties across a range of marijuana use levels, from no usage to serious problems associated with drug abuse.
Adolescent-to-Parent Violence as a Predictor of Criminal Behavior in Adulthood
Violence is commonplace in many homes throughout this country. Past research on family violence has focused on violence betweeen couples and parental violence against children. However, a third type of family violence, adoelescent violence directed towards parents, has largely been ignored. This paper focuses ont he factors that contribute to adolescent-to-parent violence and also the long-term consequences of such behavior. To understand the nature of adolescent-to-parent violence this study integrates theoretical concepts from both the family violence and juvenile delinquency literature. Data collected at time two, ten years later, examines the long-term consequences of adolescent-to-parent violence, specifically involvement in criminal and deviant behaviors. The results of the study indicate that variables associated with juvenile delinquency are better predictors of adolescent-to-parent violence than are traditional family violence variables. The data also show that respondents who engaged in adolescent-to-parent violence exhibit more alcohol/substance use related problems and were more likely to be involved with both property and violent crime at time two. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future resarch are discussed.
Aftercare for Juvenile Offenders: Lessons From the Last Decade of Evaluation Research
This paper reviews and analyzes the research concerning aftercare programming in three areas: specialization of aftercare for specific subpopulations; the utilization of specific supervision strategies and technologies; and aftercare decision-making and the assessment process. Building on earlier work which surveyed the literature (Altschuler and Armstrong, 1994), this study considers subsequent advances in the research literature specific to the design, implementation, and evaluation of aftercare programming for juvenile offenders. Recommendations for future aftercare research and program development are provided.
Age and Extraordinary Physical Impairments: An Examination of the Effects of the Sentencing Guidelines on Elderly Offenders
This paper will explore the issue of elderly offenders and how the existing Sentencing Guidelines affect their sentence outcomes. More specifically, this paper will examine how the lack of a precise definition of Sections 51-11.1 and 5hl.4 of the Sentencing Guidelines lead to inconsistent sentencing results across the various judicial circuits. With this goal in mind, this paper will be divided into four sections. Section one will provide a general overview of the elderly population in prisons and jails. Demographic characteristics of this population will be examined as well as the challenges faced by this population within the correctional system. Section two will briefly examine the purpose of the Sentencing Guidelines. Particular focus will be on how terms such as elderly, infirmity, and extraordinary physical impairments are defined. Section three will examine case law derived from various federal circuits. Of most importance is how the Carey standard limits the discretion of federal judges when they are confronted with issues of age and elderly offenders. Section four will examine Wisconsin case law and how other state courts have addressed the issue of elderly offenders who are swept up into the criminal justice system.
Age Differences in Domestic Stalking and Violence
The following investigation, derived from life course/developmental theories concering age differences among violent offenders, measured the extent to which there were age differences among domestic stalkers who engaged in domestic violence. A random sample of 519 newly filed domestic orders of protection was drawn from published court case listings in two cities between 1997 and 1999. Logistic regression procedures were used to test the null hypothesis that after adjusting for possible predictor variables, there were no significant age differences among respondents who allegedly stalked and committed violent offenses against the petitioners. The null hypothesis was mostly rejected for domestic stalkers who committed domestic violent offenses against persons but not crimes against property. Age differences among domestic stalkers should be explored further as possible facilitating or inhibiting factors in the onset, duration, intensity, and outcome of violenct offenses against persons. The lack of age differences among domestic stalkers who commit domestic vandalism also should be examined to determine why age-associated factors may not apply to domestic vandalism
Aggression and Neighborhood Context: Using Behavioral Genetics to Understand How Neighborhood Disadvantage Moderates Environmental Influences on Adolescent Aggression
This study combines behavioral genetic methods with sociological theory of neighborhood differences in adolescent aggression. Analyses use National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data from 2153 monozygotic twin, dizygotic twin, full-sibling, and half-sibling pairs classified into structurally adequate and disadvantaged neighborhoods according to Census data on the proportion of non-intact families with children in their block groups. Classifying sibling pairs into neighborhood types allows this study to separately estimate and compare genetic and environmental invluences across adequate and disadvantaged neighborhoods and examine assumptions of sociological theories for neighborhood effects. Results reveal that among adolescents from disadvantaged neighborhoods, shared environment (i.e., family influences) has significant influence on aggression. In contrast, variation in shared environment does not contribute to aggression among adoelscents in adequate neighborhoods. These results are consistent with sociological theories of neighborhood effects and suggest the importance of within family processes, such as adolescents’ parental relationships, is increased by neighborhood disadvantage.
Alcohol, Marijuana, and Cocaine Use Among Urban and Rural Incarcerated Drug Abusers
Purpose — This study compares the alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine use of urban drug using prisoners (n=392) and rural drug using prisoners (n=252). Method — Group screening was used to select subjects from four Kentucky state prisons to meet study eligibility. ANOVAs examined differences for 30-day use, Twelve-month use, and Lifetime use for alcohol, marijuana and cocaine. Results — Subjects were white at 52.8% with an average age of 31.4 and 54.8% were single. There was a significant difference (p
Alcohol Consumption Behaviors as Predictors of Subsequent Violent Behavior: Prospective Analyses From the Add-Health Study
This study examined the impact of alcohol consumption behaviors (drinking frequency, binge drinking, drinking alone, drinking consequences, and peer drinking) on violent behaviors (physical fighting, group fighting, fighting with a weapon, shooting, stabbing, and robbery). Analyses are based on two waves of the public-use data (N=6504) of the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health (Add-Health Study). The study included a nationally representative sample of adolescents in grades 7 through 12. Violent behavior was dichotomized to indicate the presence of any versus no violent behavior. Logistic regression analyses, adjusted for gender, grade, and race/ethnicity, were used to test the relationship between alcohol consumption at time 1 and violent behavior at time 2. Adolescents who reported drinking at least 2 days per month at time 1 were more likely to report violent behavior at time 2 (OR=3.17; 95%CI2.55-3.95) than adolescents who did not drink. Those who reported binge drinking, negative consequences from drinking and friends who drink at time 1 were also more likely to report violent behavior at time 2. These results extend our understanding of drinking patterns and alcohol consumption behaviors as predictors of involvement in violent behaviors among adolescents.
Alcohol-Related Aggression in the Barroom Environment: A Study of Drinking Establishments at the Jersey Shore
There is a growing body of research that has examined the role of various situational variables in incidents of alcohol-related aggression in the barroom environment. At this time, however, most of this research has been conducted outside of the United States. In an attempt to replicate the findings of earlier studies, most of which have been condeucted overseas, I conducted a study at the Jersey Shore in which I examined alcohol-related aggression in a small sample of barrooms. This study consisted of fifty-three interviews of various bar staff, managers, patrons, musicians, and stage help, as well as a series of social observations conducted at each drinking establishment. Findings from this study seemed to coincide with those of earlier research. Situational variables found to be responsible for incidents of alcohol-related aggression included: crowdedness, interior design, flow of traffic, lighting, level of tobacco smoke, temperature, overall comfort of the bar, appearance and demeanor of employees, overall appearance of the bar, type of entertainment, patron characteristics, behaviors tolerated/not tolerated, level of alcohol consumption, and serving practices. It was also found that specific bar staff positions (i.e., bouncers, bartenders, doormen, bar-backs, tub-girls, shot-girls, waitresses, service bar attendants, and bottle-boys) influenced incidents of violence and aggression within barrooms.
All Work and No Play: The Relationship Between Part-Time Work and Adolescent Problem Behavior
Parents, government committees, and school officials often tout the benefits of part-time work for school-aged adolescents. Work, they argue, builds a sense of commitment, responsibility, and maturity. This paper empirically examines the effect of part-time work on adolescents’ behaviors, such as drug use, alcohol use, school performance, sexual practices, violence, and delinquency. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and structural equation modeling, this paper tests the relationship between work and adolescent problem behaviors, controlling for other risk and protective factors. Results of this analysis show that work has little, if any, effect on adolescent conduct. However, as number of work hours increases, this effect becomes greater and more negative. This finding has implications that could be helpful for parents, employrs, and youth advocates.
Alternatives to Incarceration for Felony Offenders in New York
The Vera Institute of Justice is evaluating ten New York City alternative to incarceration (ATI) programs for felony offenders. These programs work with mid-level offenders who are sentenced to day treatment programs instead of jail or prison. The programs serve four populations: general offenders, substance abusers, women, and youth. Results from the third year of the research will provide descriptive information and data on the programs and the ATI participants they serve (N>500). Findings include data on interim program outcomes, such as program attendance and retention, and on recidivism. Recidivism outcomes will be presented for both the study subjects and for a matched comparison group. The presentation will discuss treatment and other needs of the study population, ATI service delivery, and the relationship between these variables and program and criminal justice outcomes.
American Dreamers: Examining the Relationship Between Cultural Values and Criminal Behavior
The link between cultural values and criminal behavior is a topic of continuing interest for criminologists. In the classical literature, Robert Merton’s anomie theory highlights the potentially criminogenic effects of dominant cultural values. A recent theoretical approach to understanding the connection between culture and criminal conduct is Institutional Anomie Theory, as articulated by Messner and Rosenfeld (1995). While Institutional Anomie Theory has received empirical support in national and cross-national tests, previous research neglects the cultural factors central to Merton’s theory of anomie, focusing instead on institutional imbalance. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the cultural premises of Institutional Anomie Theory are empirically supported through micro-level analysis. Using a nationally representative sample of adults, there is evidence to suggest that the subscription to cultural values, and specifically adherence to the ideals of “The American Dream,” significantly increases the probability of arrest.
American Killers Are Armed, Dangerous and Youthful
A plague of violence seems to be sweeping the nation. Although homicide rates generally have fallen, recent studies reveal that the increase in homicides by juveniles in the late 1980s was attributed to crimes committed with handguns. While teenagers may be untrained in using firearms, they are more willing to pull the trigger without fully considering the consequences. Forty-three percent of American households with children have guns, according to a survey released recently by the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. Among the gun owners, 28 percent said they keep the guns hidden. Twenty-three percent said that at least one of the guns in the home is loaded at all times. Sixteen percent keep guns in the home both unlocked and loaded. This paper looks at where and how these youths obtain firearms and also some reasons as to why children turn violent.
Amity In-Prison and Community Substance Abuse Program: 4- and 5-Year Return to Custody Outcomes
The current study reports on 708 study subjects at 4- and 5-years following release from prison. Data indicate results similar to those found for the 3-year outcome study. Program participants who completed both in-prison and community aftercare were returned to custody significantly less frequently than those who received no treatment, participated in in-prison treatment only or did not complete aftercare. At 5-years post-release, 39.1 percent of the Aftercare Completers had been returned to state prison custody one or more times, compared to approximately 4 out of 5 subjects. In 1990 the California Department of Corrections implemented a nine- to 12-month therapeutic community in-prison substance abuse program at the R. J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California. Community aftercare services began in 1991. A formal outcome evaluation of treatment and control subjects was conducted from 1992 through 1996, with data being collected on 715 subjects. One- and 2-year follow-up data indicated that significantly fewer study subjects who completed both the in-prison and community programs were returned to state prison custody compared to no-treatment, in-prison program drops and in-prison program graduates who dropped from community aftercare. In 1997 the follow-up was extended to 3-years. Data on 493 subjects supported earlier findings, inmates who completed both the in-prison and community aftercare programs were significantly less likely to return to state prison custody during the follow-up in the other study groups. The percentages at both 4- and 5-year post release were similar.
Amity Prison Therapeutic Community Relapse Outcomes
The present report is drawn from an ongoing experimental evaluation of the effectiveness of the Amity prison therapeutic community (TC) and aftercare program for substance abusers located in San Diego, California. Data collection consisted of face- to-face interviews on a sample of 531 male in-mates. Earlier file studies have reported significant reductions in reincarceration rates at 12, 24 and 36 months after prison. This presentation reports on relapse rates. Reductions in first relapse rates (any use of any drug use) between the intent-to treat group and no-treatment control group from 91% to 78% were found at 12 months after release from prison. The greatest reductions were found for the group that completed prison TC plus aftercare with a 47% relapse rate. A similar pattern of results was found for relapse to regular drug use (once a week or more). Time until first relapse significantly increased with greater time spent in treatment. Relapse outcomes remained significant after controlling for client characteristics that have been identified as predictors of recidivism. The findings support the efficacy of prison TC plus aftercare in reducing relapse rates.
An Acceptable Level of Violence: Community Responses to Crime in Northern Ireland
The recent histories of Northern Ireland and South Africa are characterised by a sustaine dperiod of political conflict. In the working-class areas of Northern Ireland and in the black townships of South Africa, informal criminal justice mechanisms have developed to counter crime and anti-soicial behaviour in the respective communities. These mechanisms have emerged to fill the policing vacuum created by the conflict. In addition, both countries are marred by a ‘culture of violence,’ a legacy of the political conflict they have experienced. Political oppressiona nd repression by the State and its surrogates, together with the often violent social control exercised by the paramilitaries in Northern Ireland and the ‘comrades’ in South Africa, have desensitised the communities to violence. In the working-class areas of Northern Ireland, the punishment beatings and shootings of local ‘hoods’ have become part and parcel of everyday life. Similarly, the sjambokking (whipping) of ‘skillies’ and the shooting of gangsters is common place in the black townships in South Africa. When it comes to dealing with crime in the community, an ‘acceptable level of violence’ can be said to exist. This paper seeks to examine this ‘acceptable level of violence’ and community responses to crime.
An Analysis of Brooklyn Homicides in 1999 and Strategies for Saving Lives
After a dramatic decline in homicides in Brooklyn, New York, during the mid-1990’s, murders increased by 12.2% in 1999. There were 274 homicides in 1999, an increase of 30 homicides over 1998. This report examines the facts and circumstances of the 1999 murders and discusses whether there are patterns or explanations for the increase. In addition, the report suggests ways in which law enforcement can respond to the increase. The report found that: guns played a significant role in Brooklyn homicides; a significant percentage of homicide defendants were young men, who were unemployed, had not completed high school and had no prior criminal record; and there were increases in drug related disputes resulting in homicides and domestic violence homicides, including elder abuse homicides. The report discusses several law enforcement strategies which were implemented in 1999 to reduce the number of guns in Brooklyn, including a gun buy-back program, enhanced prosecutions of gun cases, a “fast track” initiative by the courts, and greater state-federal cooperation in gun prosecutions. In addition, the report discusses a new strategy called Community A.L.E.R.T. (Community And Law Enforcement Resources, Together) designed to combat violence in selected Brooklyn neighborhoods. This program is modeled on the nationally recognized “Boston Plan.”
An Analysis of Correctional Treatment
I investigated 52 treatment modalities in corrections under seven main classifications that have been empirically tested on offender populations, both in prison and in the community. This was in response to the short and incomplete literature on corrections in many textbooks on corrections, criminal justice, and criminology. I conclude that all treatments help some offenders in some ways for a certain period of time; a specific treatment might be beneficial for many types of offenders. At least one offender is helped by every type of treatment. It is concluded that we must look at the cumulative effects of treatment and be satisifed with small gains.
An Analysis of State Law Regarding Parental and Guardian Responsibility in Preventing Juvenile Delinquency
This study is a descriptive analysis of the literature regarding statutes, ordinances, and case law designed to hold parents and guardians responsible for delinquent acts. More specifically, this analysis will document the strategies states have taken to reduce delinquency by placing more responsibility on parents to determine the positive as well as negative impact these policies have. The researchers will then interpret the findings, draw conclusions and provide policy implications based on the study results.
An Analysis of the Historical and Current Roles of Animals in Criminal Justice
The purpose of this paper is to examine the various functions that non-human animals have performed–often involuntarily–in criminal justice. Throughout history, animals have served in the capacities of victims, “offenders”, judges and juries, executioners, evidence, weapons, tools, and signifiers of crimes by humans. In addition to exploring the historical role played by animals in each of these spheres, this paper examines the current status of animals in criminal justice.
An Assessment of Juvenile Justice Aftercare in Florida
Aftercare is crucial to the continuum of services for students exiting various juvenile justice facilities. The effects of specialized treatment and quality educational services in a residential facility are not likely to be long lasting unless they are consistently reinforced after youth have been reintegrated back into the community. In recent years, numerous studies have emphasized the value of providing aftercare services to juveniloes. These studies have largely concentrated on high-risk youth, while some of the literature has addressed aftercare services for youth in specialized settings, such as boot camps. In addition, programs offering aftercare services addressing special needs, such as substance abuse, have been developed. Notabloy absent from prior studies is empirical evidence that can be used to guide specific policy recommendations for effective aftercare services. The implementation and evaluation of aftercare programming is still in its infancy, and the literature demonstrating what type of aftercae programs work for what type of students is inconclusive. As such, a number of timely research questions arise in this area. The Florida Department of Education, Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program (JJEEP) is conducting ongoing research to determine what aftercare services work best for what type of youth.l
An Empirical Research on Corporate Crime in Taiwan
In Taiwan, street crimes are primary concern by most criminologists. However, in recent years, crimes committed by corporations have increased greatly in this country. The harm created by corporate crime includes tremendous economic and physical costs. Ironically, corporate crime did not attract enough academic attention in this country. This research is the first empirical study concerning corporate crime in Taiwan. Sponsored by National Science Council of Taiwan, this research used the empirical approach to collect data about causal factors of corporate crime in Taiwan. Interview and questionnaire survey were employed as main data-collecting method. The research sample was selected from a corporation which had criminal record. The sample consisted of 34 employees, (including 12 managers and 22 low-level employees) for interview and 300 employees for questionnaire survey. This corporation released toxic chemicals and caused hundred people (including employees and neighborhood residents) to get cancer. According to qualitative and quantitative data analysis, this research indicated the causal factors of corporate crime as: (1) the failure of government regulation; (2) the lack of self-regulation in corporation; (3) the lack of public concern about corporate crime; (4) the mechanistic structure of corporation; and (5) the low self-control tendency of corporation managers.
An Empirical Study of Women Homicide Offenders in Burke, Columbia, and Richmond Counties of Georgia
In this study, we will examine the 42 homicide cases in which women were the perpetrators between 1990 and September 1999 in three counties served by the Augusta Circuit Court in Augusta, Georgia. These three counties include Burke County (population 22,854), Columbia County (population 91,118) and Richmond County (population 191,329). Specifically, we are attempting to determine whether cases appearing in the rural areas of Richmond County Circuit Court (which include Burke, Columbia and Richmond Counties) are representative of those included in larger studies. Our study will help to bring to light homicide incidents which occur in social locations often missing in larger aggregate studies. Finally, we will discuss our findings in light of theories about women and crime.
An Evaluation of the “Notebook Method” as a Research Methods Learhing Tool for Criminal Justice Practitioners
The “Notebook Method”, developed by Shields, was originally designed as a tool to manage the elements of the scholarly research and paper writing process in a university setting. Specifically, the method transforms the scholarly writing process into a project management exercise that improves student time management and organizational skills. This method was adapted in 1995 by the staff at the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas and used in its command college program (The Graduate Management Institute) for policing leaders and administrators. At the time, the research component of the Graduate Management Institute was experiencing low completion rates and high costs, and was perceived to be irrelevant to the training needs of policing leaders and practitioners. The evaluation found that the method is highly adaptable to a non-academic learning environment, enables larger numbers of students to finish a required research project in a timely manner and at a lower cost, overcomes historical learning barriers associated with the research project component of the command college and enhances student performance at the oral defense.
An Evaluation of the Day Reporting Program in Vigo County, Indiana
The Vigo County [Indiana] Community Corrections has been administering a Day Reporting Program for adult offenders (mostly white) convicted of varied types of crime’s (e.g. violent crimes, drunk driving, property as well as personal crimes). An evaluation of the program will be conducted by the author. Offenders who were court-ordered to the program during the calendar years of 1998 and 1999 will be included in the study.
An Evaluation of Victim Impact Programs
Victim Impact Programs (VIP) were intially established by MADD as a method to curtail DUI offenses. The objective of this program is to have DUI offenders attend a VIP session and listen to a panel of DUI victims discuss how a drunk driver impacted their lives. A twelve month folloow up of VIP participants (N=440) and a comparison group of non-ViIP subjects (N=404) revealed a significant reduction in DUI recidivism. Using Cox proportional hazards model that makes use of the occurrence and timing of recidivism, the results show that DUI offenders who were exposed to a VIP intervention were far less likely to recidivate than the non-VIP group. using Braithwaite’s concept of shaming and reintegration, VIP appears to support a notion of condemming the deed but not the offender.
An Evaluation of Victim Offender Reconciliation Programs in Six California Counties
California is the site of numerous Victim Offender Reconciliation Programs (VORPs), in which juvenile offenders and their victims are brought face-to-face by trained mediators. The purpose of these programs is to allow victims to meet their offenders and discuss how the crime affected the victim and the community and to agree upon sanctions. Participation is voluntary. VORPs both augment and provide an alternative to traditional juvenile justice processing. In this paper, VORPs in six California counties (Los Angeles, Mendocino, Orange, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, and Sonoma) are evaluated. The evaluation design compared a group of juveniles that had participated in the VORP program (the treatment group) with a comparison group. Key dimensions of the evaluation included completed restitution payments, recidivism rate, rate of participation in the program, level of victim satisfaction, level of offender satisfaction, and rate of completion (“graduation rate”) of the VORP program. In general, VORP programs demonstrate higher rates of restitution, lower rates of recidivism, and high levels of victim and offender satisfaction. Differences among the programs are highlighted.
An Examination of Individual and Contextual Factors and Type of Legal Intervention in Reducing Domestic Violence Revictimization
In this paper, we explore the role of individual and contextual factors, as well as type of legal intervention, in reducing rates of and time to domestic violence revictimization. To this end, we first identify how and to what extent key individual and contextual-level factors are associated with time to revictimization after an intervention. We then establish whether there are differences in the prevalence and time to revictimization among three intervention groups: protective order only (PO); arrest of abuser only (A); and both protectie order and arrest of abuser (PO/arrest). Finally, we examine whether the three interventions differentially affect time to revictimization for certain populations. Drawing on previous literature and employing Cox regression and survival analyses, we deduce several hypotheses about the effects of each factor and the moderating influence of type of intervention on these factors. We then test the hypotheses using court, police report, and block-level U.S. Census data from a large urban jurisidiction in Texas. Prior drug use, race/ethnicity, community income level, and interaction effects of these latter two factors are found to be strong predictors of time to revictimization, but these effects are not uniform across interventions. Implications for future research and assessment of domestic violence interventions are discussed.
An Examination of Juvenile Homicide and Perceptions of Violence in Chicago: A True Phenomenon or Constructed Reality Caused by the Media
In this paper, I argue that the perception of juvenile homicide is a socially constructed concept, guided, in part, by the discourse presented in the mass media. In order to test this, I conduct a content analysis of newspaper depictions of juvenile homicide cases reported in the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-times and compare them to actual data reported to the Chicago Police Department. Interviews with newspaper reporters and editors from the papers are conducted to provide some insight into the “newsmaking” process.
An Examination of the Attitudes of Drug Court Personnel Toward Operational Development and Evaluation in Three Drug Courts
The recent proliferation of drug courts in the United States has witnessed the initiation, planning, implementation, and evaluation of the processes and outcomes of their operation. The intent of this study is to assess the attitudes of the directly-related court personnel who function as the main actors in these operations. Data from an attitude survey of personnel of three separate and distinctly different courts will be examined with the objective of determining if any differences exist. The data is analyzed to determine whether these differences are significant and how they might positively/negatively affect successful operation of the drug courts.
An Examination of the Ethical and Value Orientation of Criminal Justice Students
Criminal justice professionals are given the authority and responsibility of protecting the public and enforcing laws. While many of the ethical issues facing these professionas are typical of individuals in other disciplines, criminal justice practitioners also face a unique set of ethical dilemmas. There is some evidence of the existence of subcultures that tolerate unethical behavior. Two competing theories are designed to explain the existence of the subculture and its corresponding value systems. One explanation is that individuals who join the criminal justice system do not initially hold these values, but are socialized on the job to believe in these values. The competing explanation maintains that criminal justice departments recruit individuals who already ascribe to these values. It is crucial to determine which of these theories is correct so that effective strategies can be developed and implemented. Such knowledge would assist administrators who want to select ethical individuals and educators who are entrusted with the responsibility of teaching students ethic courses. The current study examined first, the values and ethical orientations held by criminal justice students and then if students vary by factors such as occupational interests, college majors of demographics.
An Getting by With a Little Help From Your Friends and Neighbors: Examination of the Effect of Social Support on Victimization Outcomes by Neighborhood
Prior research has found adverse social psychological consequences of criminal victimization (e.g., loower trust and increased fear of crime) to be related to the victim’s level of social support. We further this research by addressing whether the mediating effects of social support vary by levels of neighborhood social and physical disorder. Using panel data from a sample of nearly 1,400 Illinois residents, we illustrate how neighborhood characteristics may interact with two dimensions of social support: personal support and neighborhood support. We estimate a series of multivariate regression models to test for variation in the mediating effects of the two dimensions of social support on individuals’ level of trust and fear of crime. Our paper offers a theoretically-grounded approach that furthers our understanding of the conditioning effects of neighborhood context on the consequences of criminal victimization for individuals.
An Historical and Theoretical Perspective of Custodial Sexual Abse in Women’s Facilities
The issue of custodial sexual abuse within female correctional facilities has drawn significant recent interest. However, the presence of this problem within American correctional agencies in not a new phenomenon. With the ever-rising rate of female crime, there has been a corresponding increase of female inmates within U.S. correctional facilities. As a result, there has been a renewed focus upon female offenders and their treatment within the system that has brought about limited efforts to study the extent, nature, and effects of such abuse. The focus of this paper is a comparison of the extent of this problem between a number of correctional jurisdictions.
An Illusion of Gun Control
Recent events exemplify our country’s ongoing struggle to achieve the proper balance between gun control and the interests of liberty. In an intemperate public exchange with the President, who favors presale background checks for buyers at gun shows, the N.R.A., who is opposed, accused the Feds of threatening the public safety by failing to enforce laws already on the books. In an ironic twist just one week later, Smith and Wesson apparently capitulated to the enemy by agreeing to settle the gun safety lawsuit. While incremental changes in legal and regulatory oversight seemingly bode ill for pro-gunners, this paper argues the contrary: that instead of reducing the risk, our approach reflects a fundamental accommodation that creates an illusion of control while actually increasing the threat posed by the criminal misuse of firearms.
An Integrated Decision Making Model for Police-Citizen Encounters
The paper will present an integrated decision-making model of police decision-making in encounter situations. The model seeks to transcend the fragmented nature of much of the police decision making literature by incorporating the literature on societal contexts, organizational dynamics, police cultures and styles, personality and situational factors into a general model. The training and control implications of the model are discussed.
An Investigation Into the Cultural Aspects Behind Japan’s Low Crime Rates
Official rates of criminal offending, especially violent offending, in Japan are far lower than in the United States. This paper proposes that deeply ingrained cultural differences between Japan and the United States concerning the relationship of the individual to the social whole is at least partially responsible for the low levels of reported crime in Japan. In particular, the authors suggest that the boundaries of primary, affective, relationships (uchi — the inner world) in Japan encompass many more relationships than in the United States and extend to the economically rational world of employment, contract, and consumer relationships. The complex and dense web of primary relationships in Japan reduce criminal offending primarily through two processes: First, the potential offender is deterred from offending through the fear of bringing dishonor upon other members of his/her “inner world.” Second, if a criminal offense does occur, the dense network of reciprocal ties provide a necessary condition for the process of “reintegrative shaming” (Braithwaite, 1989) to be effective in preventing further misconduct. The process of reintegrative shaming extends to the semi-formal system of parole in Japan where volunteers, respected members of the community, take personal responsibility for the rehabilitation of their charges.
An Multi-Method Analysis of Issues Affecting Correctional Officer Retention Within the Arkansas Department of Correction
During 1998, the Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC) and the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock entered into a partnership to research the issue of correctional officer retention. The initiative was in response to a 42,4% departure rate among ADC’s line-level correctional officers during that year. In an effort to understand this labor crisis, this study employed a total population survey of ADC’s 1680 correctional officers and a series of focus groups involving nearly 200 correctional officers from across the state. Both methods addressed correctional officers’ attitudes towards their job satisfaction, pay and benefits, job stress and dangerousness, supervision and management, and job training and professional development. This paper discusses the appropriateness of the methodology, the results of the study, and potential benefits to employing a triangulated approach to the study of correctional officers and other populations living or working within a ‘closed’ environment.
An Observational Study of Active Shoplifters
The available demographic and behavioral data of shoplifting offenders have been drawn almost exclusively from samples of apprehended individuals, namely, researchers have relied on law enforcement or retail loss prevention officials to provide them with potential subjects. This methodology produces an inherent sampling bias wherein critical policy and theoretically-relevant profile data are generated exclusively from pools of apprehended individuals. The present study seeks to generate an unbiased profile of shoplifting offenders by sampling active shoplifters. Unobstrusive observations, gathered via closed-circuit television cameras in a retail environment, were used to observe evey fifth shopper entering the store. Demographic data were recorded on all subjects. Additional behavioral data were recorded on those who were observed shoplifting. General demographic data on the active shoplifters as well as comparisons with the non-shoplifters are used to provide a more unbiased profile of shoplifters. Relevant theoretical and policy implications are considered.
An Opportunity Theory Perspective on Desistance and Treatment Interventions
There has been little empirical investigation of the factors associated and correlated with desistance from offending- What has been written on this subject focuses on the socio-cognitive development of the offender–the psychosocial (or structural) forces which shape an individual’s motivation to desist. Studies of treatment intervention follow a general evaluation model, in which the stated goals of a program are taken as the frame of reference for evaluating its impact. But from other frameworks–in particular, routine activities and rational choice orientations–it is clear that programs may have unintended, positive impacts as well. For example, the mere fact of getting caught may affect both the way a person calculates the wisdom of entering crime-potent situations and may also affect the willingness of peers to expose the person to such situations. Similarly, participation in time-intensive treatment activities limits the residual time available for criminal behavior. Very little systematic attention has been paid to these questions. The authors describe a comprehensive yet parsimonious model of the correlates of desistance, combining the two approaches.
An Organizational-Exposure Model of Homicides of Police
Research on the structural correlates of killings of police largely mirrors research on general homicides. Although laudable, the extant research has not adequately tested whether, net of broader community-level factors, cross-unit variation in the structure of police work impacts officer exposure to risk. Borrowing from the lifestyle-exposure and routine activity perspectives, a model is developed that considers jointly theories of criminality and theories of victimization. A model of officer victimization that takes into account both community and organizational variables that create or restrict opportunities for killings of police offers a potentially more comprehensive explanation. Regression models for rare-event counts are used to test the relative contribution of the organizational-exposure and community-level factors to explaining police homicides in the largest 200 U.S. cities. To examine the effects of change over time, count panel models are estimated.
An Outcome Assessment of an Inmate Self-Development Program
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has offered several types of voluntary self development programs to build inmate educational and life skills. In support of this effort, Values programs have been implemented to encourage more prosocial outlooks and to teach positive values. This study evaluates the BOP Values Program initiative through an assessment of various outcomes (including disciplinary variables, behavioral scales and staff ratings). Using a one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design, changes are detected in the outcome measures for participants of the 20-week residential program. Comparisons of graduates and non-graduates are also made as a means of learning more about the differences between these groups. The research results indicate a positive program effect for the periods studied. A central finding is that program graduates experienced a significant decline on several antisocial attitude and criminal thinking style scales. Implications of the research results for the design and evaluation of Values programming are also discussed.
An Overview of the Data Resources Program of the National Institute of Justice
The NIJ Data Resources Program was established to ensure the preservation and availability of research and evaluation data collected through NIJ-ftinded research. This presentation will include an overview of NIJ’s Data Resources Program including a description of the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at the University of Michigan and available data, what NIJ perceives as the benefit of archived data, the secondary data analysis grants program, and the University of Michigan Summer Workshop on secondary data analysis.
Analysis of Outcomes of Student Support Groups in Delinquency Prevention, From Peacemaking and Social Learning Perspectives
As part of a grant funded by OJJDP under the Drug Free Communities Program, 87 students participating in a support group program for one year, are compared with a control group of 76 nonparticipants, to measure differences between groups on academic grades, school attendance, school conduct reports, arrests and self-reported alcohol and drug use. Results indicated significant prosocial changes among support group members in comparison with the controls. The support group program was designed to prevent and reduce delinquency in an at risk, minority population, using principles from peacemaking and social learning theories. The outcomes are critically analyzed in light of these perspectives.
Analysis of the Ft. Gibson Shooting and the Law Enforcement Response
On December 6, 1999, a thirteen-year-old opened fire and wounded four of his classmates at Ft. Gibson Middle School in Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma. This paper will describe the events that occurred during that shooting and the law enforcement response.
Analysis of Women and Defensive Gun Use in the United States: NRA’s Reproduction of Defensive Gun Use Newspaper Stories, 1958-1996
The focus of the study is on changes in the roles women have played in incidents of defensive gun use from 1958-1996 in the United States as reported by the National Rifle Association (NRA). The analysis examines (1) the extent to which there have been changes in the NRA’s reporting of women’s use of guns in self-defense events, (2) how the NRA’s portrayal of women’s defensive gun use differs from men’s across time, and (3) the degree to which there have been changes in the frequency of defensive gun use incidents where women were reported as victims or potential victims by the NRA. To explore this issue, our paper examines the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) “The Armed Citizen,” a monthly column that appears in the organization’s membership magazine, American Rifleman. “The Armed Citizen” reprints, albeit not verbatim, newspaper stories of defensive gun use. The study analyzes data from over 1,200 accounts of defensive gun use from a random sample of stories printed in the NRA’s monthly magazine, American Rifleman, in a regular column entitled “Armed Citizen.” A a social problems claims-making conceptual framework is used to analyze the results. The paper concludes with a discussion of the study’s implications for research seeking to understand women’s depicted roles in public problems claims related to gun use.
Analyzing NIBRS Data: A Practical Guide to Counting Rules, Analysis Using Desktop Tools, and On-Line Access
In this paper the authors demonstrate practical tools and protocols in the analysis of incidentbased crime information from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data set. Large and complex NIBRS data sets can be analyzed using readily available desktop applications (like MS Access, Excel, etc.) provided researchers thoroughly understand the nature and structure of the data, counting rules and methodologies. The authors demonstrate analyses of NIBRS data using Access, Excel, and pivot tables that are broadly available to both operational agencies and researchers. In addition to analyses that are relevant to local law enforcement agencies for crime analysis and CompStat-like applications, the authors also discuss regional and state level analyses that demonstrate the value of incident-based data for web-based, on-line applications.
Analyzing NIBRS for Use of Weapons and Drugs in Violent Crime
This paper presents the findings of research using NIBRS data to study the use of weapons and drugs in violent index crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault). The results show that NIBRS has considerable utility for this type analysis and provides details previously unavailable.
Analyzing Variation in Local Life Circumstances and Involvement in Criminal Offending Among a Population of Serious Offenders
Recent empirical research has focused on the influence of local life circumstances on criminal offending throughout the life course. However, this research has not examined the relationship between local life circumstances and criminal offending after a period of incarceration. Using data on over 500 serious offenders from the California Youth authority for a seven-year postparole period, we apply several methodological techniques to examine the relationship between local life circumstances (marriage, employment, drug use, alcohol use, street time) and criminal offending.
Anomie as a Consequence of Disturbances of Equilibrium in Case of Suddenly Occurring Social or Personal Changes
In Merton’s and Durkheim’s theories of anomie, there is–seen abstractly–a breakdown of norms if the balance between important goals and the possibilities to achieve them is disturbed or changed fundamentally. However, both of them do not explain why norms collapse at all. Neither do they describe a process of the breakdown and the following development of behavior. On this problem, a theory is presented. Accordingly, norms and other features that are important for the achievement of goals are causally coordinated in a framework of features. In this framework, the concepts receive their meaning and the features their stability. This defines an equilibrium and determines normal behavior. In case of serious changes of features that have influence on the achievement of goals, a disturbance of the equilibrium occurs. The concepts lose their meaning. Actions are released from their former influences. A dynamic individual process emerges in which the probability that new behavior occurs increases first and then decreases again. Thus, the theory predicts for deviant behavior that after an increase there can occur a decrease. The theory is explained and substantiated with curves on the development of criminality at times of social change as well as with the age-crime curve.
Antisocial Behavior and Gang Membership: Selection and Socialization
This paper extends our prior examinations of gang participation among the 7th grade cohort of the Pittsburgh Youth Study (PYS) by adding the PYS I St grade. cohort as well as three additional years of follow-up data for the 7th grade cohort- The combined sample includes 836 boys (351 white and 485 African American) and covers the period from first grade through the early 20s. Theoretically and empirically (using simultaneous hazards models), we distinguish selective mechanisms by which only a subset of boys join gangs from mechanisms by which gangs socialize boys into escalated antisocial activities. Our prior published research suggests that gang entry may be a further developmental step for some boys who are already on a trajectory of worsening antisocial behavior. In unpublished analyses, we have also found that periods of relatively brief association with gangs increase boys’ affiliation with delinquent peers and increase their own antisocial behaviors. The extension of these analyses with additional waves of data allows us to: (1) better understand gang entry in earlier (late childhood to early adolescence) versus later (middle to late adolescence) developmental periods, (2) observe more post-gang periods, including those following longer spells of gang participation, and (3) better understand differences by ethnicity.
Antisocial Personality Disorder and Therapeutic Community Treatment Outcomes
There is a belief that persons diagnosed with APD will not respond well to treatment, but the limited existing research has not supported this hypothesis. This study examined the relationship of APD to treatment outcomes for 275 clients randomly assigned to two therapeutic communities (TCs). It was hypothesized that clients diagnosed with APD via the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-II) would have poorer treatment outcomes than those with no APD. This hypothesis was not supported. Logistic regression analyses indicated that a MCMI-II diagnosis of APD was unrelated to treatment outcomes.. Treatment completion was the most important factor in reducing recent drug use and post-discharge arrests. The results indicate that persons diagnosed with APD, with histories of substantial drug abuse and criminality, can benefit from TC treatment with aftercare in the community or at the very least, do as well as those with no APD.
Aplications of a Multilevel, Mixed Methodology Design to Evaluate the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent and Chronic Juvenile Offenders
We present a multilevel mixed methodology design that is being implemented to evaluate the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent and Chronic Juvenile Offenders. Features of the Comprehensive Strategy that pose evaluation challenges include horizontal complexity, vertical complexity and the dynamic nature of the framework that is both flexible (community-specific) and responsive (evolves in response to lessons learned). Our multilevel design integrates qualitative narrative-based methods (using event structure analysis) with a focus on network structures and a pathways of change approach (using structural equation models). The longitudinal research design focuses on the linkages between Comprehensive Strategy events, community contexts and community- and system- level outcomes. The nested research design incorporates information from all the sites while progressively focusing on fewer sites to allow a richer, more thorough analysis of the Comprehensive Strategy planning and implementation processes.
Applications of COMPSTAT: Police Complaint Analysis by Location
The popularity of COMPSTAT as a tool for the police has increased the awareness of location as an important consideration in analysis of data. However, all too often little else is taken into consideration when policies are created. Through analysis of the complaints received by the Philadelphia Police Department, we see that creation of policies based on complaint location may be misinformed when the home address of the complainant is taken into consideration. Further, the geo-coding of complaints against the police can provide the department with an additional understanding of criminal activity by police officers. “Hot spots” of police criminal activity can be determined along with “patterns” of police criminal activity.
Applying Performance-Based Standards in an Operational Context
Hamilton County Juvenile Court Youth Center has used the project as a basis for implementing a comprehensive performance-based management model. Expanding on the technology used by the project, Hamilton County created a management information system (MIS) tool for use by juvenile detention and correctional facilities. The system permits continuous collection, retrieval and analysis of data related to the six operational areas defined by the project. Unit leaders within the facility receive daily reports on outcome measures in the areas of safety, security and order. The reports provide accountability and a concrete means for measuring and rewarding improvement. At the facility level, analysis of outcomes in comparison to aggregate mean scores for PbS project participants defines benchmarks for success and directs staff to outcomes and processes that are ripe for improvement. Developing facility improvement plans based on internal and external analyses provides strategies and timelines to address performance in selected practices and processes. Hamilton County is currently investigating the possibility of distributing its MIS tool and performance-based management model to other project participants and to detention centers throughout Ohio.
Approaching the Problem of Violent Crime Through Community Control, Trust, and Empowerment: Modernity, Risk Management, and the Current Sex Offender Statutues
The recebt sex offender registration and notification statutes, or Megan’s Laws, reflect a penological shift towards control of violent groups of offenders who pose certain risks to communities. Control of risk connotes an effort to control an elusive, dynamic force of collection of forces that exist in society. The various Megan’s Laws in effect in all fifty states also represent a return to communities for crime control. Registration and notification involves not only informing neighborhoods about the presence of sex offenders but also strengthening their trust with criminal justice officials and empowering the public by providing them access to this information. This paper examines Anthony Giddens’ characterization of modernity as a “risk society” by looking at the elements of trust and empowerment as they relate to the problem of sex offenders. I propose that access to crime control tools, such as various statewide sex offender internet cities and the California CD-ROM database, will empower communities becuase they will have more trust in their local criminal justice agencies and they may feel as though they have more control over their own lives.
Are Homicide Data Good Proxies for Data on Non-Lethal Violence?
An assumption common in much research on homicide is that its findings can be generalized to other forms of serious interpersonal violence. In other words, homicide data are often viewed as indirect indicators of patterns and trends in sub-lethal violent crimes for which data quality is more questionable. This paper examines this assumption by analyzing data on homicide from official statistics and data on assaults and robberies from victimization surveys (1) to determine the extent to which these data co-vary across time and place and (2) to identify the conditions under which they are more or less likely to co-vary. It concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for generalizations about cross-cultural variations in interpersonal violence derived from cross-national research on homicide.
Are Police Field Training Officers (FTOs) Exemplary?
This paper examines the behavioral differences between FTOs and non-FTOs in handling interpersonal conflicts. Observational data used in this study were collected as part of a 1arge-scale project conducted in 24 neighborhoods served by two metropolitan police departments during the summers of 1996 and 1997. Actions taken by patrol officers in interpersonal conflicts are grouped into two major categories: control and supportive. These actions are then examined along two dimensions: diversity and aggressiveness. Diversity refers to the sum of the number of different control and supportive actions taken by officers, while aggressiveness measures the level of force involved in police control actions. Multiple regression analyses show that FTOs and non-FTOs can be distinguished by the number of different actions and the number of different supportive actions. FTOs are more likely than non-FTOs to be diverse in their responses to interpersonal conflicts; FTOs are more likely to take a greater number of actions in general and more supportive actions in particular. But FTOs and non-FTOs display no differences in the level of force involved in their control actions toward citizens.
Are Sex Offenders Different? An Analysis of Re-Arrest Patterns
Current sex offender legislation is predicated on the beliefs that sex offenders have high recidivism rates regardless of the type of sex crime committed and that these rates are higher than those for other crime types. We test both of these hypotheses with Illinois criminal history data for the years 1990 to 1997. We evaluate re-arrest probabilities at varying time intervals across different types of sex offending and between sex crimes and other offenses. Our results may be used to more accurately calibrate the scope of sex offender legislation.
Are We Finished With Community Policing?
For a decade criminal justice journals were filled with articles examining the tenets of community policing, but lately such pieces seem few and far between. This paper will empirically examine the amount of space dedicated to community policing in key criminal justice journals over the past 15 years. Trends between academic interest in community policing and government funding will be compared and contrasted. The importance and the implications of these trends will be discussed.
Armed Americans: The Impact of Firearm Availability on National Homicide Rates
This study examines the relationship between firearm availability and national homicide rates. The theoretical and empirical literatures are reviewed, and a cross-national analysis conducted in two parts is described. The first part is a cross-sectional examination of the relationship between a circa 1990 measure of firearm availability and 1990-94 homicide rates across 36 countries. After controlling relevant factors, a statistically significant positive association between firearm availability and homicide is observed. The magnitude of the association is considerable. The observed relationship is found to be insensitive to model specification and sample composition. The second part of the analysis addresses the possibility that an association between firearm availability and homicide reflects the positive effect that leels of homicide exert on gun ownership. People living in countries experiencing pervasive lethal violence might purchase firearms to protect themselves. A two-wave panel analysis of a measure of firearm availability and homicide rates is estimated for 29 countries. Results indicate that, net of homicide’s impact on firearm availability, availability exerts a significant positive relationship on national homicide rates. This finding is insensitive to various model specifications and subsamples. The limitations of the study and avenues for future research are discussed.
Arousal, Affect, Coping and Defending and Delinquency
This presentation will focus on the role of arousal, as measured by testing heart rate, and heart rate in response to a standardized challenge, along with self reported affective arousal as a function of baseline personality characteristics coping and defending, distress and restraint. Arousal and affect have special roles in predicting persistence of aggression and delinquency. One-hundred thirty-three non-clinical subjects were studied under standardized conditions. The task produced differential effects by gender and on the two arousal subsystems: heart rate was more likely to get activated by unstructured tasks, especially in males. Affect, especially negative affect, was more likely to be activated by tasks involving the recounting of stressful events. In girls, there was considerable congruence between affective and heart rate arousal, whereas, in boys, there was discontinuity. The examination of the same associations in subjects with predelinquent characteristics produced more pronounced results. We will discuss the implications for the etiology of delinquency and related psychopathology.
Art Crime in Australia: An Analysis of an Illegal Market
This paper explores illegality in the art market of Australia. It draws upon qualitative data, including interviews and field observations involving over 300 respondents (dealerfs, museum personnel, police, insurance representatives, and other) to examine the general size and dimensions of theft and fraud in the art world. The report observes that both theft and fakery are persistent problems in the art market of Australia. The nature of the market tends to restrict somewhat the level of art theft, but issues of fakes and frauds tend to present major problems for those involved in the art trade. The Aboriginal art market poses its own particular issues, especially since there tend to be persistent issues of authorship and authenticity raised in this segment of Australia’s art market. A number of issues regarding prevention, including the importance of developing an art theft register for Australia, are considered.
Artificial Boundaries Between Criminology and Minority Groups in New Jersey: Inside and Outside of the Classroom
There are many interesections in the material covered in the two popular undergraduate courses of Criminology and Minority Groups. Minority Groups courses traditionally focus on race and ethnicity and Criminology–using the traditional definition of crime–tends to see racial and ethnic minorities as committing a disproportional amount of crime. This is true especially in the area of illegal drugs. This intersection that some see as very real has come to light outside of the classroom in the State of New Jersey where the head of the State Police was recently fired as a result of the racial profiling. This is a practice where state police officers target minority males becuase they believe it is more likely that minority males are drug dealers and/or transporters. Additionally, minorities are over represented in most arrest categories and in prison. I find myself talking about many of the same topics in both classes. This overlap becomes clearer when the instructor uses a conflict perspective. The connection between minority groups, drugs, crime, and prisons has been clearly delinieated by Angela Davis. She refers to the “prison industrial complex” which she believes has been increasingly funneling young minority males into prisons for drug and drug-related crimes.
Asia and the Pacific as the World Center Stage of the New Century: Crimes and Social Control in a Global Perspective
As the center stage of the world in the 21st century, Asia and the Pacific provide a vast test ground where Eastern civilizations meet-with Western development, socialism with capitalism, authoritarianism with democracy, tradition with modernity, community with organization, patriarchal authority with bureaucratic domination, and collectivism with individualism. This paper studies crimes and social control in the context of country-to-country, system-to-system, ideology-to-ideology, and civilization-to-civilization interactions in Asia and the Pacific. It first examines crimes, aiming at social disorganization crime, opportunity crime, corporate and bureaucratic crime, drug smuggling, human trafficking, and illegal immigration. It then analyzes social control, focusing on the transfer of control technologies, the change of control ideologies, the professionalization of control, forces, cross-border coordination.- and international cooperation. To attempt a systematic understanding, the paper explores the changing dynamics between major social forces, including capitalism and socialism, Eastern civilizations and Western development, the democratic form of government and patriarchal leadership, citizen initiatives and state authorities, formalism and informalism, procedural fairness and control effectiveness, and their possible impacts on crimes and social control in Asia and the Pacific.
Assessing Effects of the Truth in Sentencing Law in Massachusetts
One of the most important issues in sentencing is sentence disparity that occurs when there is a wide discrepancy between the sentence imposed and actual time served in prison.. In response to sentence disparity and crime control, in 1994 Massachusetts, as in many other states, adopted the truth in sentencing law which stipulates that offenders may not be released for any reason until they have served a substantial amount of their sentences. Since the implementation of the truth in sentencing law, there have been many changes in the imposition and execution of sentencing in Massachusetts. This study will examine the impacts of the truth sentencing law in Massachusetts on the size of prison population and the length of stay before and after the implementation of the truth in sentencing law. It will assess the discrepancy between sentence imposed and actual time served in prison by controlling crime seriousness and offenders’ criminal history. The dataset includes all sentenced offenders in Massachusetts Department of Correction’s facilities before and after 1994.
Assessing Graham v. Connor Ten Years Later
Allegations of excessive force in policing have been cited as one of the most frequent claims filed against police in arrest situations. The United States Supreme Court in Graham v. Connor (1989) determined the “objective reasonableness” standard is the standard of review for evaluating allegations of excessive force. This paper analyzes the patterns of lower federal court decisions in 700 Section 1983 cases decided from 1989 to 1999. The assessment examines how these courts have applied and interpreted the standard in four categories of force. Policy and training issues are discussed and future research concerns are presented.
Assessing Illegal Gun Markets in Four Cities
This paper will present findings from a study of firearms information needs in four cities: Miami, Tucson, Chicago and Salinas, California. The findings first focus on the types of firearm information currently collected in each of these cities, including ATF gun tracing data. We also examine how this current information is actually utilized and what kinds of questions the police at the local level would like to have answered through analysis of existing data. We also examine the types of information the police would like to have at their disposal. This study focuses on impact and needs at both strategic and tactical levels of policing. It also compares information gained from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program as it relates to understanding local gun markets in the study sites.
Assessing Police Acceptability: The Case of Northern Ireland
An integral part of any political settlement of the conflict in Northern Ireland is reform of policing. The parameters of police reform were the subject of the Patten Commission which was set up by the British government for this purpose. This paper will consider the debate on the problem of the acceptability of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and analyse the methodologies used to assess the level and extent of police acceptability in the community. The Patten Commission wused a range of methodologies: surveys, focus groups and public meetings across the province. Already existing survey evidence was also considered. The paper will argue that the analysis and interpretation of this evidence has relevance to the problem of police accountability in democratic societies in general.
Assessing Privatization in the Federal Prison System
At the direction of Congress, the Federal Bureau of Prisons contracted for the management and operation of a low-security federal prison in California to determine if contracting would result in lower costs and equal or better performance. Abt Associates was contracted to conduct the evaluation. This paper will summarize the findings of the first year’s report to Congress, delivered in September, 2000. Cost analyses followed a methodology for comparing public and private costs developed by OMB (“A-76” method), and for expenditures for the facility’s first three years were compared to expenditures for 14 other government-operated low-security facilities. With respect to institutional performance, eight different domains were defined; indicators of each were identified; and data were collected for the single contract facility and the same 14 Bureau-operated facilities. Data were drawn from systems that the Bureau uses to monitor the operations and performance of all Bureau facilities, from the contractor’s information system, from reports of the Bureau’s on-site contrator monitors, and from semi-annual findings of a performance evaluation board that determines whether the contractor is to be awarded bonuses. Cost and performance data were then considered in tandem to assess whether contracting for prison operations is, on balance, more cost efficient than government operations.
Assessing the Need for Treatment Among Offenders: Does Location Matter?
As many states move toward integrating criminal justice and substance abuse treatment systems, the first question that each one must address is “How many offenders need treatment?” Estimates of need, however, are often difficult for states and cities to estimate for at least two reasons. First, screening for substance abuse is not typically part of criminal justice processing, especially at the early stages of the process. Second, states rarely archive the information collected from assessments. Data collected from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program offers a unique opportunity to assess the need for treatment, generally and for specific drugs, in at least 3 5 major cities in the United States. Thus, the purpose of this study is three-fold. First, we will examine the utility of ADAM data to estimate the need for treatment among arrestees. Second, we will compare these estimates across cities using 1999 ADAM data and finally, we will provide a discussion regarding the usefulness of these data for policy and understanding drug use among offender populations.
Assessing the Needs of Residents in Shelters for Battered Women: Preliminary Findings
For several years we have been assessing the efficacy of shelters for battered women. Most of the research to date has focused on how shelters should be organized and what treatment philosophy and services would most benefit residents. However, few studies have focused primarily on the shelter residents themselves. This paper will report preliminary findings from data collected regarding the needs of residents of several battered women’s shelters in an Eastern City. Findings regarding how well shelters meet the needs of their residents will also be presented.
Assessing the Relationship Between Program Integrity and Recidivism Using the Correctional Program Assessment Inventory
Historically the criminal justice and criminological literature has been mixed regarding the value of correctional intervention designed to treat the offender. Over the last 20 years, however, evidence has emerged that displays the potential for appropriate correctional intervention to reduce recidivism by prompting offender change. Since the emergence of this most recent support for correctional treatment (primarily through meta-analyses), there has been a call to develop (and incorporate) ways through which the true value, or integrity, of a correctional program can be measured (see Genreau and Andrews, 1994; Van Voorhis, Cullen, and Applegate, 1995; Latessa and Holsinger, 1998). Gendreau and Andrews (1994), with the development of the Correctional Program Assessment Inventory (CPAI) have constructed a method by which program integrity can be quantified and analyzed. By measuring the most important characteristics of a correctional program (i.e., those factors that impact recidivism the most), the value of a program can be assessed and improved. This may int urn increase the likelihood that positive offender change will result. This paper examines the CPAI and how it may relate to program integrity. The CPAI was administered to nine residential correctional programs designed to serve high-risk juvenile offenders in Ohio. Criminal background checks were utilized in order to detect potential relationships between scores on the CPAI, and future (post-release) recidivism.
Assessing the Representiveness of the ADAM Sample of Adult Arrestees
This paper will explore the representativeness of the ADAM sample of adult arrestees using data collected quarterly by various sites participating in the ADAM program. Using both chi-square and multinomial logistic regression statistical techniques, this research will examine the similarities and differences among the three groups of arrestees eligible for inclusion in the ADAM study: interviewees that submit a urine specimen, interviewees that refuse or fail to produce a urine specimen, and eligible interviewees that voluntarily or involuntarily do not participate in the ADAM study. The results will contribute to the overall body of knowledge on the validity of self-report methodologies, generally, and the validity of the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program, specifically.
Assessing the Training Needs of Rural Law Enforcement
Presently, Minot State University is involved in a federally-funded project to assess the training needs of rural law enforcement, orchestrate training opportunities based on those needs, and then to evaluate the training once delivered. The project covers the Upper Plains states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. Pursuant to the first objective of the project–namely, training needs assessment–a survey was sent to the chief executive of every law enforcement agency in the four targeted states. In particular, the survey asked respondents to prioritize their training needs covering a wide ranges of topics, including but not limited to crime problem issues such as domestic violence and drugs, as well as operations-related issues such as community policing and the use of police reserves. In my paper, I have outlined the results of the surveys. Additionally, I have highlighted the similarities and differences between the training needs as described by rural law enforcement officers themselves via the surveys and the assumed training needs that conventional wisdom tends to assign all of law enforcement,
Assessing the Validity of the Revised ADAM 2000 Self Report Drug Use Measures
In the past year, Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) staff finalized the newly designed ADAM survey and conducted extensive cognitive testing, diagnostic validity testing, and field tests of the interview instrument. Starting in the first quarter of 2000, the new instrument will be implemented in all the ADAM sites. The new ADAM instrument has been designed to improve recall ability through a new calendar-based method for gathering self-reports of drug use. The survey has also been lengthened to include broader coverage of new topics (e.g., drug dependency and abuse, drug markets). It is hoped that the new format and layout of the 2000 ADAM survey will improve the accuracy of the new self-reports. This paper will compare selfreports of drugs use from the new ADAM survey for two quarters of data collection in 2000 to two quarters of data collection in 1999, using the old survey. The results from urine testing will act as the “gold standard” against which the validity of each year’s self-reports of drug use will be judged. In both years, the program used an immunoassay, EMIT (Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Testing) system, to screen for the presence of drugs in urine.
Assessing the Wilmington Partnership to Cease Firearm Violence: Implications for Policy and Theory
In Wilmington, NC, as in many communities, the systemic violence surrounding drug activity inordinately effects high poverty areas that often include public housing. In this community during the most recent six month period 66% of all aggravated assaults, robgeries, and homicides occurred in public housing or in nearby residential neighborhoods. The “Wilmington Partnership” is a special task force composed of local, state and federal agencies including police and prosecutors with the primary goal to reduce the level of violent crime overall and within specific neighborhoods. The strategy is to first identify the most dangerous violent offenders in the community and then seek to maximize the likelihood of apprehension, with special prosecution in either state or federal courts. This project will evaluate the criteria developed for the identification of targeted offenders within specific community areas. Also we explore the offender’s social networks and community characteristics through interviews with police assigned to the identified high violence areas, probation officers supervising clients in these areas and resident councils of public housing units and other community organizations. Prosecution strategies, sentencing outcomes, and general crime trends are reported and discussed. Finally, the implications for various theories, including social disorganization and the specific arguments of community decline theorists, the systemic odel of crime and ideas of comunity collective efficacy are discussed.
Assessing Workplace Deviance: Agent-based Scenario Analysis
A key factor in assessing workplace deviance is determining the optimal level of social control needed to ensure compliance. Control balance theory (Tittle, 1995) suggests that the amount of control to which one is subject relative to the amount of control one is able to exercise (control ratio) impacts, (1) the probability that one will engage in a deviant act and (2) the specific form or type of deviance. This study uses agent-based scenario analysis to detemine the likelihood of employee sabotage events directed toward an organization’s information systems. The “people” (agents) of a workplace social system are constructed in computer code to reflect key variables (e.g. ages, genders, incomes, etc.) and programmed with rules that inform their responses to certain situations. Agent-based simulation offer researchers valuable information about the dynamics of the real-world systems that they emulate and introduce new questions previously unconsidered.
Assessing Youth With Co-Occurring Stressors: Isues of Reliability, Validity and Treatment Needs
Juvenile arrests for drug offenses grew 120% between 1992 and 1996, translating to over 200,000 youth in 1996 alone. As a result, the Juvenile Justice System (JJS) is understandably eager to implement effective policies, sanctions, and treatments to break the delinquency-drug connection. Thus, there is a great need for impartial assessment tools that measure alcohol and other drug (AOD) involvement and the multiple co-occurring problems (e.g., mental health) that ultimately affect intervention efforts by JJS and behavioral health treatment providers. Unfortunately, there is a serious gap in our knowledge as to how to best assess AOD-involved adolescents in JJS and which tools would be most applicable. Consequently, this paper will examine the reliability and validity of information provided by AOD-involved adolescents in JJS, their presenting characteristics and how they differ from AOD- involved adolescents in the drug treatment system who are not JJS involved.
Assessment of a Bully Intervention in a Middle School and High School
This paper will examine bullying in two Ohio schools, a middle school and a high school. The project is funded by a grant from the COPS program to form partnerships between police and schools. An initial survey and focus groups identified variables related to bullying in both the middle school and high school. Based on these initial findings, strategies were developed to help address the issues identified. The findings of this paper will present the results of the initial assessment, a description of the intervention strategies developed by the schools, and a year-end post-test analysis of the program.
“Assisted Dating”: Beneficial Relationship or Sexual Exploitation?
Recently, grave concerns have been raised about the se4xual service of teenage girls in Korea. There are various forms of sexual trade in which teenage girls are involved. Among those, the most visible form is the hired prostitute in the entertaining industry including red-lights districts, taverns, massage parlors and even barber shops. In fact, youth employment in the entertaining industry has been prohibited but in reality a majority of active prostitutes are high teens or early twenties. As tougher control over illegal employment is imposed on this industry, a new form of teen prostitution appears. The invisible but rather serious form of teen prostitution is called “assisted dating” (Wonjo Kyoze in Korean, Enjo Kosai in Japanese). “Assisted dating” literally is a type of relationship in which made adults give economic support in return for sexual service of teenage girls, most of them being high-school students. Economic support does not confine to monetary compensation. It includes material compensation fo designer-brand clothes and luxuries such as Prada handbag, Escarda Jeans, Channel watches. One of the unique characteristics of the relationship in its original form is the duration of the relationship between the two actors. The relationship tends to last for a while as typical lovers do. Unlike “Enjo Kosai” found in Japan, the origin of this phenomenon, the Korean style of “assisted dating” contains more commercialized component: It is another form of prostitution where one-night stand between two strangers is the majority. The medium that connects male adults who want to buy young girl and teenage girls who want to earn money becomes multi-channeled: ads on the internet, on-line chatting, telephone chatting(phone-ging) in addition to the more traditional means through professional pimps. This study attempts to discuss the social context of “assisted dating” with relation to Koreal cultural ethos that allows men to prefer young girls as sexual partners. In addition to the explanation for the demanding side, it explores the attitudes and bheaviors of the teen generation as another important factor in understading this kind of sexual trade. Next, the extent of this phenomenon will be presented using official statistics, although it does not fully indicate the real number of incidenes. it also examines the official reaction of the criminal justice system and the efforts of the state to regulate this problem. Finally, it provides policy implications.
Attitudes of Policemen Towards Domestic Violence
The Israeli police have, over the past decade, invested considerable effort into increasing the officers’ awareness of the gravity of family violence, and abolishing their traditional conciliatory function in dealing with such incidents. The officers have been instructed to adopt the role of enforcers in cases of family violence. Nevertheless our previous study from 1996 indicated that there is considerable suspicion and disbelief among a great number of police officers towards women complaining of violence. In order to ascertain whether any change has occurred in the attitude of police officers to family violence since our study in 1996, we conducted a follow-up study of the issue. A comparison of the findings of the present study with those of the study carried out four years ago indicated, that even though the number of complaints which did not lead to prosecution was reduced from 46.7% in 1996 to 16.7% in 1999, and the number of arrests for violence in the family rose from 690 in 1996 to 2322 in 1999, Many police officers continue to look on the battered woman with mistrust. There is a tendency among the officers to differentiate between “good women”‘ who will not become a victims of family violence, and “bad women” who by their behavior and character provoke acts of violence against them.
Attitudes of Vietnamese Americans Toward Criminal Justice Interventions in Intimate-Partner Violence
Laws regarding domestic violence have changed substantially over the last two decades. The changes reflect the official recognition that assault by an intimate-partner is a social problem, and the legal intervention is appropriate. Intimate-partner violence is different from other crimes because of the relationship between the victim and the offender. Therefore, the success of the legal approach to intimate-partner violence depends not only on the enforcement of new laws by criminal justice agencies but also on the support for new policies from the public, including victims. Public attitudes toward criminal justice interventions, which reflect public support for the approach, are shaped by life’s experiences and can be different between racial/ethnic groups. The present study examines attitudes of Vietnamese Americans toward criminal justice approaches to intimate-partner violence. The purpose is to contribute to the understanding of diverse public attitudes toward criminal justice solutions to the problem and provide inputs for policy makers to design effective criminal justice practices or appropriate alternatives.
Attorney Ideology, Jury Selecftion Attitudes and Practices
Social psychologists have studied the relationship between attitudes and behaviors, demonstrating the significance of attitudes on individuals’ behaviors. This study focuses on the relationship between attorneys’ ideologies, jury selection attitudes and jury selection practices. Past studies have focused extensively on jurors’ biases entering the courtroom, ignoring the importance of attorneys’ biases. Specifically, we examine the ideologies of conservatism and modern racism as significant factors on jury selection attitudes and practices. 79 attorneys are interviewed and answer questionnaires regarding attitudes, jury selection attitudes and practices. Results demonstrate the significance of attitudes on some jury selection attitudes and practices, but not all jury selection attitudes and practices. Explanations are given for significant and nonsignificant results, raising issues of professionalism and biases.
Attorneys’ Perceptions on the Use of Jury Consultants in Criminal Trials: Survey Results
This paper examines the perceptions of criminal defense attorneys concerning the use of jury consultants in criminal trials. Attorneys were surveyed to learn their views on issues such as: consultant effectiveness, necessary qualifications possible regulation and licensing, financial concerns, and ethical issues. The concept of using consultants to buy justice for the rich, and state or federal oppression of the poor through the use of consultants was also examined. The future of jury consulting in this country and possible Sixth Amendment concerns were explored as well.
Authenticity and the Aboriginal Art Market in Australia
This paper explores the complex and sometimes contradictory meanings of “authenticity” in relation to Aboriginal art in Australia. In recent years the Australian news media has on numerous occasions raised questions about fakes and frauds in relation to Aboriginal art. Such discussions of authenticity often revolve around two questions: whether or not the named artist is responsible for the work; and whether or not the piece is an authentic Aboriginal product? The paper considers the somnetimes conflicting perspectives of the non-Abnoriginal art market and traditional Aboriginal culture in relation to these questions. These issues are considered in light of the diverse forms of contemporary Aboriginal art and variations in relationship to traditional culture.
AUTHOR-MEETS-CRITICS: The Real Costs of Gun Violence
Professors Cook and Ludwig have recently completed a new analysis of gun violence in the United States. Their critics have strongly attacked the research approach. This debate is important for anyone interested in gun control or violent crime.
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Back Door to Prison: Consequences of Blended Sentencing
Our recent research from Minnesota indicates that the number of juveniles with prison sentences under Blended Sentencing has doubled when compared to results under traditional Judicial Waiver legislation. Comparisons of juvenile profiles under each legislation indicates that youth under Blended Sentencing have less severe delinquency history and have less exposure to juvenile treatment. The current study focuses on a comparison of youth under Blended Sentencing (certified youth ahd with juveniles with stayed prison sentences) and matched adult offenders. How does sentence severity and length compare? How many are revoked in the two years following sentencing? What types of revocation reasons (new offenses versus probation violations) are most salient to an executed prison sentence and do these two populations differ by type of revocation?
Backlash in the Classroom: The Response of Students to Feminist Research on Violence Against Women
This presentation will examine the backlash commonly faced by faculty members who teach about violence against women with a particular focus on wife abuse and sexual violence. Replicating the response of media darlings such as Katie Rophie and Neil Gilbert, students often adamantly dismiss the findings of feminist researchers on the grounds that they are “male-bashers” who have misrepresented the reality of women’s experiences of intimate violence. Additionally, students often engage in victim-blaming particularly with regard to sexual assault survivors. This paper will examine the findings of a survey of 200 college students that measured attitudes toward feminism and violence against women. Strategies for responding to this backlash will be discussed and future directions for feminist pedagogy will be considered.
‘Bad Girls’-Media and Expert Images of Girls’ Violence and Gang Involvement in Canada (1970-1999)
This paper examines the construction of girls’ violence and gang involvement as a social problem by print journalists and social problems experts (namely social scientists) as claimsmaking groups in their respective media and professional fora. The issue of girls’ violence and gang involvement has recently received great attention in Canada due to increased exposure in the Canadian news media surrounding recent ‘shocking’ and violent events involving young girls. However, social scientists and other experts have been exploring and researching the etiology of girls’ violence and gang involvement and have also been at the fore of claims-making about this issue in recent years. Content analysis, guided by the contextual social constructionist perspective, was the research method used to isolate the rhetoric and imagery concerning girls’ violence and gang involvement found in a literature sample of newspaper articles and social scientific research publications from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. This paper examines the relationship between print journalists and social problems experts, as the media and social problems experts are not mutually exclusive groups. This research also explores the frequency with which claims appear in media and academic outlets about the nature and volume of girls’ violence and gang involvement, and reveals distinct patterns as to each group’s interests/agendas in the reporting of this phenomenon (and social problems in general), and the subsequent public perceptions and policies shaped by exposure to these claims and images.
Bad Law or Bad Policing: What Influences Police Decision Making in Two Australian Jurisdictions
Based on guidelines that have been established by the community, it is assumed that the exercise of discretion in decision making by operational police officers will occur in a fair, conscientious and unbiased manner. Recent changes in political sentiments in Australia suggest that this rhetoric is far removed from reality. In one jurisdiction, New South Wales, “law and order’ political policies have been reflected in results driven policing through the reduction of measurable reported crime, typically in association with increases in stop, search and detain or “move along” incidents. While the use of discretion in decision making by individual police officers is supported by the rhetoric of their executive management and government policy, the reality is that the officer who chooses to exercise their discretionary powers is significantly deterred from doing so. In another jurisdiction, the Northern Territory, recent changes have seen mandatory custodial sentences enacted in legislation for some offences of dishonesty, including extremely minor property crimes. In these cases, officers must make critical decisions that may put them in a position of redefining government policy, as they are the ones who largely control the incarceration of people for minor offences. Decisions in either jurisdiction assume greater importance when the majority of those who come under notice are likely to be young males, drawn from indigenous or ethnic minorities.
Bad Lawyering and Wrongful Convictions: How Much Does One Lead to the Other?
In America, persons charged with serious crimes who are unable to afford counsel are entitled to meaningful assistance of counsel, free of charge. However, the war on crime, which has helped to produce a significant increase in arrests and incarcerations since 1980, has undercut the availability of “meaningful assistance of counsel.” The numbers of people needed to provide criminal defense services have grown, but funding to support this work has not increased in kind. This deficit of services, which often produces bad lawyering, plays a significant role in producing unjust convictions. Of the twelve death row inmates in Illinois who have been exonerated since 1987, four were represented by attorneys who have since been disbarred or suspended. Of the sixty-eight wrongfully convicted individuals exonerated by post-conviction DNA testing, twenty-seven percent had incompetent legal assistance. What is wrong with the criminal defense services we provide to the indigent? What can be done to improve the quality of these services, and, therefore, reduce wrongful convictions?
“Bad Time” in Ohio’s Correctional System
In the state of Ohio, “bad time” refers to a time period by which a parole board may extend on offender’s stated prison term for criminal violations occurring while incarcerated. In effect, after an offender has been sentenced to a specified period of incarceration, a parole board may extend that sentence based on clear and convincing evidence that a crime has been committed during incarceration, even if a prosecution does not result. This presentation will focus on the use of this practice in Ohio, as well as the legal and constitutional implications of its use.
Barnstable House of Correction Residential Substance Abuse Treatment: A Process Evaluation
This evaluation study focuses on the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Department’s Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program, located on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. This paper comprises the results of a process evaluation conducted during 1999. Specifically, the evaluation examines the following four areas: (1) RSAT Entry Process and Population – this includes the classification process at Barnstable and provides a sociodemographic and criminal history profile of the characteristics of RSAT inmates in comparison to general population inmates; (1) The RSAT Program – information was collected on the program components, the intake and assessment procedures, and the unit rules regarding treatment attendance, failed drug tests, and other disciplinary infractions; (3) Program Competition and Termination – the researchers examined the criteria for program graduation, causes of terminations, and the proportions of inmates who did both. Information on program time frames, release information, and a comparison of treatment completers to non-completers is also included; (4) Key Principles of Effective Program Implementation – researchers compared relevant research-based principles of effective substance abuse programming for with the guiding principles in the Barnstable RSAT program. Special emphasis on issues of motivation and classification, length of time in treatment, staffing, and reintegration.
Bay Area Services Network (BASN)
The Bay Area Services Network (BASN) is an innovative case management approach to providing drug treatment services to parolees in six San Francisco Bay Area counties. Major changes were made in the drug treatment delivery system for this program, including dedicated treatment slots for parolees participating in the program. As part of the evaluation of BASN, RAND/UCLA researchers assessed the degree to which BASN improved the availability and accessibility of substance abuse treatment and related services in the Bay Area service system. Data gathered from surveys of drug and alcohol treatment providers, case managers, and key system actors, as well as automated treatment entry and exit information were analyzed to uncover system level impacts. Results are discussed in the context of diffusion of program components and philosophy into the broader treatment culture.
Behavioral Development and Crime
The dichotomy proposed by Moffitt (1993) provides a framework for the developmental study of antisocial behavior. Early disruptive behavior like aggressive behavior or attention problems, for instance, are thought to be primarily associated with ‘life-course-persistent offenders’ rather than with the ‘adolescence-limited offenders’. The purpose of this project is to study this association as well as the usefulness of the dichotomy as a framework. Therefore, selfreport data about antisocial and delinquent behavior was collected during the sixth wave of a large Dutch longitudinal study conducted by the Sophia Child Hospital in Rotterdam. The original sample of this study consisted of 2600 children aged 4 to 16 drawn in 1983 from the Dutch province of Zuid-Holland (Verhulst, 1985). In 1983, 2076 parents completed a CBCL. Almost 80% of the now young adults, aged 18 to 31, participated in the sixth wave which was completed in 1998. Delinquency will be associated with behavioral measurements of the first five waves.
Behind Bars: Doing Time or Doing The Life?
Sex work. The world’s oldest profession. Hooking. Give it whatever name you like, the subject of prostitution draws interest from a large and varied audience–an audience that, to name only a few, includes scholars, criminal justice practitioners, and voyeurs alike. in the professional arena scholarly attempts have been made to explain the resilience of the occupation. Others working in this same venue have explored and described the prostitute’s story. The film industry and contemporary novelists have sensationalized and romanticized the life as it plays itself out within a society that is both appalled at and intrigued by its presence. Yet, with all this attention, prostitution and the women working within its ranks remain largely misunderstood. They remain as enigmatic as they were more than sixty years ago when Kingsley Davis first addressed sex work from a xcholarly perspective in his seminal work “The Sociology of Prostitution” (1937). The paper I present here is a “natural extension” of the ethnographic research I began in 1993 when I entered the Quad City community to explore, discover, and describe the lived experience of prostitutes residing and working in four Midwestern cities located in eastern Iowa and western Illinois. I have now taken my basic questions of interest into a select group of Iowa penal institutions with the intent of gaining insight into the sex worker’s life while imprisoned. I am interested in identifying both similarities and differences among the lived experiences of women “behind bars” with those told to me by women who were actively doing the life. Specifically, I am interested in addressing three questions. Does incarceration truly limit one’s abilities to engage in prostitution or does it merely provide a different setting in which the sex worker’s skills can be of social or economic/material benefit? How does the sex worker negotiate her new reality, whether or not it allows her to remain in her occupational role?
Belgian Narratives of Police Reform
Since 1980 Belgium has known various -though not really radical- proposals of police reform. Only very few of these proposals have found a way into legislation and, subsequently, into police reform. However, in the wake of the so-called Dutroux-affair, a watershed government initiative was taken during 1997-98, which is to lead to a radical reform of Belgian police organization and functioning. This paper attempts to reconstruct and explain how various narratives of police reform have led to and culminated into this initiative towards radical reform.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The RCMP in Alberta
The RCMP has a unique role in the Canadian national sensibility of policing. Images of the red serge, musical ride, rugged frontiersmen, protectors of law and order in Western Canada and international peace keeping are key elements of our national policing psyche. Unfortunately, the APEC inquiry, the Airbus investigation, the commercialization of the RCMP image (Disneyfication), financial concerns and apparent service wide poor morale have diverted our attention. Still, we are ignoring in our acceptance of these older images, that the Service has undergone a decade of transition, one that has been guided by a variety of assumptions, political reforms and managerial calculations. Existing research gives little attention to the fact that external variables have in fact contributed to a disjointed process of organizational reform. Analysis of the Service’s early attempts to confront the political winds of change suggests the RCMP were strategically unprepared and as a result, instinctually fell back upon old structural and cultural assumptions. Disappointingly, reform was hindered by the Service’s broad mandate encompassing Federal, Provincial and Municipal policing responsibilities and an organizational belief that little was required in terms of structural change. It would not be until the mid 1990’s that the Service would, after a period of internal reflection, recognize the need for a renewed organizational and managerial model. Eventually, as with other police services, the RCMP would model its reform upon the foundation of community policing and au courant models of corporate management. This paper examines this range of reform initiatives first from the perspective of broad RCMP organizational shifts and then within the context of contract policing in the Province of Alberta (K-Division). The Alberta experience is unique for a number of reasons, but perhaps the most compelling is the political environment through which RCMP reform was guided; an environment articulated by the neo-liberal agendas of both the Federal and Provincial Governments.
Between Smoking Rock and a Hard Place Preliminary Results of a Drug Court Evaluation
The drug court movement, with an emphasis on treating drug addiction rather than applying draconian jail or prison sentences upon drug offenders, has been growing at an astonishing rate. While there are several reported differences in drug court implementation, structure and process, each court has at its core the belief that drug courts can significantly reduce both drug abuse and recidivism. This paper will present preliminary results of a two-part statistical evaluation of a newly formed drug court in East Texas. Analyses of both the drug courts procedural operations as well as the outcomes of the participants will be measured and compared with a group of subjects who were found ineligible for participation in the drug court program. Particular attention will also be given to a discussion of drug treatment vis-a-vie the punitive sanctions available to the court for program rule violations. Lastly, the paper will address the unique micro-level involvement of judges in a program participant’s treatment. The effect(s) of such judicial involvement will be analyzed and discussed in detail.
Beyond the Horizon: Critical Psychology and the Critique of “Street Gang” Psychopathology
Traditional gang theorists have attributed gang formation to a desire for power, excitement and the opportunity to engage in antisocial and criminal acts. However, based on life history interviews with members of the Latin King and Queen Nation in New York, we find that gang membership stems from a wish to form personal and collective relationships linked to issues of social empowerment, more than the orthodox psychololgical literature would suggest. This paper takes a critical psychological approach to highlight this paradox and the transition from “street gangs” to “street organizations.”
Biological Brain-Proneness for Criminal Violence: Implications for Behavior Control and Offender Rehabilitation
Based largely on technological advances in brain imaging and neurochemistry, the knowledge explosion in the neurosciences of the past four decades has yielded major changes in the fundamental paradigms in neuropsychiatry and in scientific psychology. Because of customary paradigm lags between disciplines and even across subspecialities in the same discipline, such massive paradigm shifts have been slow to radiate outward toward adjacent disciplines in the social sciences, including criminology. Although a “biological brain-proneness” toward violence is now widely accepted by neuroscientists, that proposition is not widely understood by criminologists, jurists, or the general public. To support the notion of “biological brain-proneness” toward violence, the authors review (tabularly and graphically) studies that have, over a period of nearly 40 years, assayed neuropathology among violent offenders through neurological or neuropsychological measures in relation to 1999 estimates by the Federal Centers for Disease Control on the prevalence of neuropathology in the general population. In the aggregate, the relative incidence of neuropathology among violent offenders exceeds many hundreds of times the incidence in the general population, at ratios ranging from 47:1 in the case of homicide offenders (i.e., a relative incidence of 4700%) through 31:1 among “habitual aggressive” offenders (a relative incidence of 3100%) to 6:1 in the case of “one-timne aggressives” (a relative incidence of 600%). Although such discrepancies do not confirm neuropathology as univariately causative of criminal aggression, not as exculpative, neither is it reasonable to believe that they are simple artifacts of chance. Hence, the growing body of evidence on dependable linkages between neuropathology and violence-proneness challenges traditional notions, both in the social sciences and in the law, about mens rea, criminal responsibility, and correctional sanctions aimed solely at (temporary) incapacitation or deterrence. In particular, the authors will explicate methods of behavior control and correctional management through psychopharmacological and neurosurgical alteration of brain biochemistry.
Biology and Environment: The Chicken and the Egg Phenomenon
Modern biosocial/environmental theories imply that there is an interconnection between biological traits and the social environment. They primarily state that biological factors predispose an individual toward deviant behavior because of the interaction of this biological factor with the social world. What is assumed in biosocial explanations of crime is that biology is the first in the causal order of deviant behavior. The possibility that biology is not the first in the series of developmental processes is something that merits further consideration. The current theoretical piece will attempt to shed light on the possibility that environment may predispose individuals to certain biological factors that increase the likelihood of crime. it is a strongly held belief that environment plays a role in fetal development. For example, it is established that poor nutrition, smoking, and other factors during pregnancy can lead to a wide variety of birth complications, including prenature delivery. Thus, it is equally possible that there are other outside influences that impact the development of the autonomic nervous system, brain functioning, etc. It is my contention that to strictly claim that genetics and biology are the pure cause of these factors is shortsighted. Many of these biological predispositions may be attributable to prenatal care and environmental factors. Thus, to claim that biology is the first in the causal order of criminal behavior is equally short sighted.
Birth Order and Adolescent Delinquenct: An Empirical Assessment
The link between birth-order and delinquency was a widely debated topic among criminologists early in the twentieth century; however, interest in this topic has waned over time leaving the effects of birth-order virtually unexplored in contemporary criminological literature. While much research on the effects of birth-order has been conducted within psychology and human development, these efforts have largely focused on intellectual development as a dependent variable and neglected delinquency. It is our contention that birth-order can have equally important effects on delinquent behavior as a consequence of differential association in the form of sibling influence, modeling, diminishing parental resources, etc. In particular, we are interested in assessing the effects of birthorder, delinquent behavior of siblings, and development of moral reasoning on subjects’ delinquency. In an attempt to re-examine the hypothesized connection between birth order and delinquency, the proposed article is a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data collected from a near-census of 8 th, 10th, and 12th graders in Montana. Structural equation modeling techniques (LISREL) will be used in the proposed analysis to assess how competing explanations of birthorders effects on delinquency compare to one another.
Black Deaths in Custody: A U.K. Perspective
My research is a comparative study between the deaths of black people in custody in the UK and that of Aborigines in Australia. At the time of the conference I will have completed my fieldwork at the Australian Institute of Criminology and the University of Sydney. My findings are based on documentary searches from Home Office databases and official publications and fieldwork conducted with two nongovernmental organisations in the UK, Inquest and the Institute of Race Relations. Basically, I intend to look at the recommendations made in the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1991) to see if and how well they have been implemented. And, if they have been effective, whether some of the recommendations would be applicable to the criminal justice system back home. In this respect, the object of this paper is to consider whether health is a subordinate issue for rank and file police officers particularly when it involves Black people. Are they are more concerned with affecting an arrest than the welfare of the detainee? This issue will be examined by questioning the legitimacy of the force used and assessing the issues behind policing methods.
Black Women and Imprisonment: An Historical and Theoretical Perspective
The paper will address the impact of slavery and other forms of oppression on the perceptions of Black women as dangerous and out of control”. How have they influenced the responses within the criminal justice system resulting in harsher sentences and a lesser degree of leniency than is traditionally afforded to White women? I will also examine the marginalization of Black women within criminological literature and research. I suggest that the theories which have been put forward to explain White women’s incarceration have failed to adequately take account of the different experiences of Black women in terms of the legacy of institutional racism and discrimination. Consequently, I will be putting forward a different theoretical perspective which will be grounded in a Black feminist historical understanding of how the state has sought to control Black women through legislative and social means of control..
Blaming the Victim: Sex Differences and the Acceptance of Rape Myths
The question of whether or not one accepts rape myths are essential in litigating rape cases. The research presented here focuses on the examination of attitudes of 120 randomly sampled undergraduate students from a midwestern university. Of the sample, 60 students were male and 60 were female. Four different scenarios depicting date rate situations along with statements concerning the scenarios and comon rape myths were presented to measure the perceptions and attitudes of the students. Other issues discussed in the research include rape myth acceptance, male rape, female rape and victim blaming. A statistical analysis of the data along with a full discussion of the implications of the research is included.
Blending Criminal and Tort Law Remedies to Deter Organizational Deviance
The line between criminal and tort law has been increasingly blurred over the past quarter century by the emergence of new remedies designed to deter and punish elite deviance. Examples of tort-like private causes of action which are designed to uncover and control white collar cirminals include the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Security & Exchange Commission’s Rule 10(b)(5) against fraud. Under these laws, multiple damages are awarded to private individuals for aiding the state by exposing systematic wrongdoing. Federal forfeiture statues and the recent class actions by government bodies against gun manufacturers and tobacco companies are additional examples of the merging of public and private law into “crimtort” remedies. This paper argues that these remedies can plan an important role in controlling organizational misbehavior but that because crimtort defendants are not accorded many of the protections provided by the criminal law, there is great potential for abuse. A set of principles for crafting defendant’s rights at a level intermediate between those accorded in criminal cases and those provided in civil lititigation is proposed.
Bolivia, Coca, and U.S. Foreign Policy
This paper discusses the U.S. position on source control as a method for controlling drug use in this country. It focuses on U.S. policy toward Bolivia, one of the major coca producing nations in the world. U.S. narcotics policy has evolved into a quasi-military model, as drug policy has taken on the mantle of being a national security issue. As such, it has been deemed necessary to bring in the Army to help eradicateBolivia’s coca crop. This paper discusses the 1952 Bolivian Revolution that resulted in agrarian reform and economic crisis, and the cultural and economic roles of coca growing in the Bolivian lowlands. It also analyzes the results of U.S. policy with regards to enforcement and eradication. This analysis includes both a discussion of U.S. Operation Blast Furnace and the murder of Bolivia’s leading botanist, Dr. Noel Kempff-Mercado. The paper concludes with the fallacies of the strategy of source control. Interestingly, the lessons not learned in Bolivia are currently being repeated in Colombia.
Boom-Town Crime, Bust-Town Crime: A Cojparative Analysis of Crime in Boston and Detroit
The twentieth century has witnessed remarkable economic, political and social changes, the impacts of which have been felt across the Unite4d States. U.S. economic restructuring has resulted in shifts in the composition of labor markets, as well as significant changes in the very nature of employment. How have these shifts affected urban crime? This study uses quantitative time-series analysis to examine the effects of economic restructuring on rates of crime in Boston and Detroit between 1950 and 1997. Although similar in terms of above average crime rates over most of the post-World War II era, these cities differ in terms of the economic each has experienced during this same time period. The results of this research suggest that the shift from a manufacturing industrial badse to a service industrial base yields increased rates of crime. However, the negativeimpact of industrial restructuring is lessend when the technology and business related service sector employment replaces manufacturing employment.
Bootlegging Buttlegging and Fencing
This paper examines what is known about market and distribution networks for alcohol and tobacco smuggled good in the European Union and the Baltic States. The paper describes current regulatory frameworks and the consequences of EU economic liberalization for smuggling and excise fraud. The focus of the paper will relate to different types of illicit market organization from ad hoc short term fragmented markets to those operated by organized criminal gangs. The paper will draw upon the authors’ current research in the UK region and the Finnish Baltic region.
Breaches of Conditional Sentence Orders: An Examination of Select Court Locations in BC
A great deal of attention has recently been focused on the creation of the conditional sentence order, a controversial sanction which allows certain offenders to serve sentences of imprisonment in the community. Introduced as part of the sentencing reform package proclaimed in 1996 (Bill C-41), conditional sentences were intended to reduce the use of imprisonment in Canada and facilitate principles of ‘restorative justice’. Over three years and some 42,000 conditional sentences later, it is unclear whether the sanction is achieving either of these objectives. What is becoming clear, however, is that it will be the breach rates that will determine how successful (or not) the application of conditional sentencing provisions will be. This study will provide much needed information regarding the use of conditional sentence orders in BC. Data will be collected from court files on all conditional sentences imposed between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 1998 in select BC court locations. Analysis of this data will provide valuable baseline information regarding the number of conditional sentences imposed, the nature of the offences for which they were given, the sentence lengths and the types of optional conditions which were attached. Specific research questions to be addressed in terms of breaches will include: 1) what is the reported (to court) breach rate? 2) what types of breaches are being reported? 3) what conditions are the most likely to be the subject of later breaches? And 4) what have the judicial responses to breaches been?
Breaking the Routine: Exploring Qualitative Methods for Assessing the Effectiveness of Neighborhood Safety Initiatives
This paper reports preliminary results of a post-Weed and Seed project in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Community Partners Program is a unique approach to dealing with neighborhood problems of crime and disorder. Collection of qualitative data from twenty targeted central city neighborhoods has been an ongoing process since program inception. Analysis of the data was carried out with the objective of assisting program staff and funding decision makers. The credibility of using qualitative data for local program evaluation is sdiscussed as is the relevance or nonrelevance of criminological theory.
Bringing Public Health and Criminological Perspectives Together to Assess Available Data Sources on Violence-Related Injuries Among Youths
Our level of knowledge about mortality producing criminal activities outpaces knowledge about morbidity (injury) producing criminal acts. In this panel, we will discuss and evaluate available data sources for assessing violence-related injuries, potential injuries and deaths for 0- 18 year olds. We consider criminal justice data systems, public health data systems, and youth survey data systems in their ability to assess the scope, prevalence, incidence, and risk and protective factors for this outcome. Public health perspectives on youth violence focus on gaining information on injury outcomes for future prevention efforts; criminological perspectives focus on gaining information about criminal behavior. Both perspectives examine the scope, incidence, prevalence, and risk and protective factors as they relate to their respective outcomes, overlapping specifically in the area of serious violence that potentially or does cause injury or death. Our panel will examine three primary sources of injury surveillance data, identifying the strengths and limitations of those sources, and suggesting ways in which our information could be improved. Thus, we hope that our discussion will inform and elaborate on the intersection between public health and criminological perspectives on youth violence.
Bringing the Crime Victim Into Community Policing: Findings From a National Survey of Police Departments and Victim Service Organizations
Policing Services to examine current policies and practices involving crime victims and victim service organizations (VSOs) in community policing. What are the standard approaches that police departments take for dealing with crime victims? Do victim service organizations consider collaborative partnerships with the police an important part of their mandate? Do police departments that take a community-oriented approach utilize crime victims as partners in problem solving? In order to answer these and other questions relating to police-VSO partnerships, the Police Foundation and the National Center for Victims of Crime conducted a survey with a national probability sample of 500 This paper presents findings from a project funded by the Office of Community Oriented police departments, and 321 victim service organizations with whom they work. This project was designed to establish baseline data on victim service organizations, identify promising community policing partnerships, and develop interview instruments for controlling the problem of repeat victimization
Bruality and Corruption: Preventing Police Misconduct
Headlines about police misconduct on the front pages of newspapers and at the top of TV newscasts around the country have grabbed the attention of the public in recent years. We have seen even more of it in recent months! Politicians and community activists are using this issue to promote their causes, fight for political support and break down the trust of citizens in the police. The two biggest cities in the USA, New York and Los Angeles, are both under siege by citizen outrage over police brutality and corruption charges. What should be done? This presentation will address prevention actions that should be taken to limit the incidence of police misconduct and to deal with those committing it. The role of government leaders, senior police management, the criminal justice system and the public will be discussed. Ethical issues regarding departmental policies, peer pressure and the education and training of police officers will be examined.
Bugs Not Bandits: Reconceptualising “Computer Crime”
What is computer crime and what is to be done about it? Most people understand computer crime as “hacking”, “virus writing” and “credit card fraud”. Given the mystique that shrouds computing, ordinary consumers rely on experts to explain what went wrong, and how to prevent it from occurring again. Events such as the Denial of Service attacks on Yahoo and E-Bay and the spread of email worms (eg. Melissa) reveal the fragility of the electronic networks that we have come to rely on. Further, software developers are often pressured to release software with known bugs, relying on the “good enough” philosophy advanced by large corporations such as Microsoft. Media “post mortems” of the Y2K bug showed that the reliability of the “experts” can also be called into question when self-serving interests are alleged to have taken advantage of a lack of public knowledge. This paper suggests that traditional crime prevention strategies may not be appropriate in many cases of computer crime as most criminal acts exploit exisiting flaws in software and hardware development. It is suggested that greater research into quality control processes in software development is needed before many of the issues related to computer crime can be effectively addressed.
Building an Outcome-based Information System for a Juvenile Justice System: Lessons From Philadelphia and San Francisco
If we conceive of a juvenile justice system in terms of a single juvenile court and all of the agencies that process clients in and out of this court, including all programs used by this court, it stands to reason that all of the participating agencies are stakeholders in program outcomes. Outcome information can enhance the quality of decisions made by probation staff, judges, program staff, human service agencies, funding agencies and interagency policy groups. Based on four efforts to develop this type of system, this paper describes the goals of creating outcome information, the methods by which outcome-based information systems are developed, how their products are shaped to serve the needs of user groups and how such systems continue to learn and develop. The paper underscores the advantages of building such systems for entire juvenile justice systems over outcome monitoring systems that serve individual programs or systems of programs that obtain their clients from many sources.
Busy Places and Broken Windows: The Role of Land Use in the Social Control of Criminal Victimization
Borrowing from the literatures on “Crime Prevention through Environmental Design”(CPTED) and the systemic model of social disorganization theory, we posit that the way physical space in a neighborhood is used — in terms of public versus private land use, familyoriented public use versus business-oriented public use, and the orderliness of the space (e.g., level of incivility) — affects individual risk of victimization within the community, net of individual-level opportunity-related risk factors. Furthermore, we suggest that these effects of land use operate largely through measures of community-level social ties, Finally, we suggest that the neighborhood land-use and social ties measures may moderate the effects of certain individuallevel victimization risk factors. We examine these potential main, mediating and moderating effects of community-level land use and social cohesion using data from over 4000 Seattle residents nested within 100 census tracts. Hierarchical logistic models of both violent and property victimization will be estimated. Implications regarding the integration of individual-level opportunity models with community-level models of crime control are discussed.
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California’s Juvenile Domestic Violence Courts: Does Early Intervention Work?
Domestic violence courts are typically designed to address adult offenders. Two California courts (Yolo and Santa Clara) have initiated domestic violence courts for juveniles who batter. Santa Clara Superior Court was the first in the nation to dedicate a juvenile court to domestic and family violence cases. Based on the premise that domestic violence is learned behavior, the court seeks to intervene early, before the offender has 30 years of behavior to unlearn. This study is based on interviews with offenders, victims, judges, public defenders and district attorneys involved in the 100+cases heard by the court. Data on recidivism and offender characteristics are explored.
Calling for Help: Does Police Behavior Influence the Reporting Decisions of Repeat Domestic Violence Victims?
Despite wide-spread speculation among reformers and researchers about the influence of police behavior on the future reporting decisions of domestic violence victims, very little research has directly tested this notion. One assertion is that victims who believe they were fairly treated by police are more likely to report future victimization than those who feel they were poorly treated. Another hypothesis is that mandatory arrest policies prohibit consideration of victim preference and will, therefore, discourage future reporting. The paper presents the final results of an exploratory study testing these two common assertions about domestic violence victim reporting. The findings indicated that police treatment of victims did not influence future reporting decisions. Reporting was found, however, to be influenced by whether victims received their preference of outcomes. These results provide support for the argument that mandatory arrest policies may discourage reporting among those victims who prefer an incident outcome other than arrest.
Cameras in Court: An Examination of Media Coverage of People v. Boss, 701 NYS.2d 891 (Sup. Ct. Albany County 2000)
From 1987-1997, the New York State Legislature suspended the law prohibiting the broadcast of court proceedings and engaged in four experiments allowing television cameras into criminal courts. Cameras have not been allowed into New York’s trial courts since June 1997. In January 2000, a trial judge ruled the state law unconstitutional and allowed the television media access to a heavily publicized trial. Legislators, the legal community, and the public are not solidly behind the notion of cameras In court and this is an on-going policy debate in New York, in other states, and at the federal level. Supporters of cameras in court argue that television coverage of criminal trials allows the public to see what happens inside the courtroom and contributes to public understanding of the justice system, Does audio-visual coverage of court proceedings achieve these goals? Four New York City police officers were on trial, accused of killing Amandou Diallo, a City resident. A content analysis of trial coverage, from five news media outlets and a channel airing “gavel to gavel” coverage, was completed. The analysis examines how the television news media reported the court proceedings, used the courtroom footage, and what information was made available to the public
Can Leopards Change Their Spots? The Introduction of Drug Liaison Officers to a Prison
As part of the current concern with drugs in the UK, which is a key aspect of government policy, the introduction of drug programmes for prisoners represents a major new initiative. Within a short period of time, new schemes have been introduced into many prisons under the acronym CARAT (Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice, Throughcare). This paper describes one such initiative whereby prison officers in the largest prison in Western Europe have been trained to act as Drug Liaison Officers and a special drug treatment wing has been set up. The paper describes the scheme and assesses its impact. It will discuss the views and attitudes of the prison officers involved (e.g., how did they take on their new role, how could they act as Drug Liaison Officers one day and as a basic prison officer the next), and also provide the comments of inmates who participated in the programme. Recommendations for future policy and practice are made.
Can Punishment Convey a Moral Message?
Moral reform theories seek to show that punishment is justified (in whole or in part) because it communicates the moral wrongness of the crime. These theories take as central that the source of wrongful behavior is the failure of the offender to appreciate the wrongfulnees of his conduct, that his failure is a defect of moral character, and that hard treatment (punishment) is necessary to the communication that the conduct was wrongful. It is problematic to assume that the commission of criminal acts results from a moral weakness not shared by others; moral character plays into circumstances to determine which individuals will offend. Character defects may, however, be a necessary condition for the performance of at least some crimes; punishment of such acts might legitimately address moral character. I argue that the moral good punishment may do the offender is not by itself sufficient to justify punishment, because the moral good of the offender is an insufficient basis for the use of coercion against him. If moral reform is instead understood as a constraint on deterrent or retributive purposes, no punishment will be justified, because state punishment cannot meaningfully communicate a moral message to the offender.
Capitalism and Crime: The Russian Experience
One of the most dramatic examples of political and economic change in recent history has been the transition experienced by the former Soviet Union and its satellite states in Eastern Europe. Cebulak (1996) has argued that there is a link between the transition of these societies to capitalism and the dramatic increases in crime they have experienced. The purpose of our study is to explore this possibility. More specifically, in this paper we elaborate and test propositions i concerning the impact of the transition to a capitalist political economy on Russian crime rates between 1985 and 1997. Russia is used since it is the largest and most powerful of the former Soviet states. The preliminary model is based on some of our earlier research (Williams and Rodeheaver 1998). Indicators in this model include measures of crime rates, unemployment, ‘foreign exchange reserves, and measures of voter participation. Initial analysis suggests that there is a positive relationship between increasing crime rates and the emergence and development of capitalism in Russia.
Caregivers and Crime Prevention in SafeFutures: Dealing With At-risk and Delinquent Youths
Drawing from semi-structured interviews with community caregivers participating in the St. Louis SafeFutures Program, this paper explores their roles and responsibilities in nurturing the at-risk and delinquent youth populations in several disinvested neighborhoods. The community caregivers provide a continuum of care within two after-school programs, two in- session school programs, two juvenile justice agencies, and one outreach program. Using qualitative methods to supplement quantitative analysis, the goal of this research is to evaluate the approaches used by the caregivers to reach the at-risk and delinquent youth and its link to the prevention of inner-city crime. The research suggests that communities are the fundamental institutions for crime prevention. However, this presentation will illustrate how in this case the connection of crime prevention to the community has been weak and in most cases non-existent.
Carjacking: A Unique Form of Armed Robbery or Not?
Relatively little research has been conducted on the crime of carjacking, a specialized type of robbery in which a motor vehicle is taken by force or threat of force from a victim. Best estimates suggest that there are approximately 8000 carjackings a year in the U.S. This paper examines non-fatal and fatal carjacking incidents in the greater metropolitan area of New Orleans for a five year period focusing on such things as: (12) situational criminal opportunity variables; (2) type of environments where carjackings occur; (3) target attractiveness; (4) victim profiles; (5) offender profiles; (6) the use of weapons; etc. Select results of ongoing interviews with convicted carjackers are discussed in the paper with special emphasis on offender motives and criminal opportunity structures. Unlike the crime of motor vehicle theft where the intent of the offender is on stealing a vehicle, carjacking is often a crime in which other offenses such as kidnapping and rape occur. Crime prevention efforts to control carjacking are also explored.
Cause or Consequence? Poverty, Family Structure, and Incarceration in the District of Columbia
Analysts have long linked poverty and the lack of cohesive families with involvement in the criminal justice system. Growing evidence suggests, however, that the converse may be true as well-that is, high incarceration rates may also contribute to poverty and familial deterioration. This report presents the results of data mapping analysis comparing rates of incarceration, poverty, and family structure. Statistical data are illustrated with detailed ethnographic accounts gathered from families involved in the criminal justice system. Study results are used to discuss implications for developing reintegration and crime prevention strategies.
Causes of Delinquency II: A Full Replication and Extension to Self-Control Theory
This research reports the results from a full replication study of Hirschi’s Causes of Delinquency. We use data from the original Richmond Youth Project and a recent survey of high school students in fayetteville, arkansas to specify a full structural model of social control theory. Despite differences in the distribution of key variables between the two sutdies, our results provide evidence for the consistency of the relationships found in Causes. For each data set, we also specify structural models including measures of self-control. As espected, measures of self-control in each data set are positively related to measures of social controk and both sets of measures are negatively related to delinquency. We discuss the theoretical and methodological implications of these results.
CCTV and Neo-Liberal Rule in Liverpool
This paper is concerned to chart the establishment and uses of closed circuit television (CCTV) within the location of Liverpool city center (UK). In doing this the paper seeks to contextualise CCTV within contemporary ‘partnership’ approaches to regeneration which are reshaping the material and discursive form of the city. Thus CCTV schemes along with other security initiatives are understood as social ordering strategies emanating from within locally powerful networks which are seeking to define and enact orderly regeneration projects. In focusing on the normative aspects of CCTV the paper raises questions concerning the efficacy of understanding contemporary forms of order primarily in terms of technical rationalities at the expense of neglecting a sociological investigation into the sedimentations of power and ideological aspects of legitimation involved in the process of social ordering. The paper concludes in arguing for a rethinking of central and local state relations in understanding contemporary shifts in social control.
Certainty, Severity, and Their Relative Deterrent Effects: Questioning the Role of Risk
In criminal deterrence theory and analysis, criminals are assumed to have a preference for risk. For that reason, variations in the certainty of punishment-in terms of both the probability of arrest and the probability of conviction-are said to carry more deterrent weight than the severity of punishment. We question both the theoretical need for including a preference for risk and the empirical evidence that has been offered in support of attaching greater weight to the certainty of punishment relative to the severity of punishment. We show, first, that deterrence theory is encumbered in undesirable ways through the explicit consideration of risk preferences. Next, we work through the algebra of the statistical formulations of deterrence models and demonstrate that the greater weight associated with certainty could well be an artifact of the model. Finally, we reanalyze data that appears, at first, to be consistent with the greater weight for certainty than severity but which when tested explicitly for the greater certainty weight shows that the evidence does not support that inference. We conclude by considering what it means to the theory and worldly application of criminal deterrence to place equal weight on the certainty and the severity of punishment.
Challenged Mothers: Incarcerated, Stigmatized, and Socially Controlled
Since 1985, the inmate population in the United States rose from 744,000 to 2,000,000. Today, the United States represents the highest imprisonment rate of any industrialized society (Gilliard and Beck, 1996). Women account for an increasing proportion of the risking prison population. Since 1979, the rate of incarcerated women increased by 340% while the male population increased by 207%. Currently, women are the fastest-growing segment of those involved in the criminal justice system (Wellisch, Anglin, and Prendergrast, 1993). In many degrees, the demographic characteristics of women involved in the criminal justice system mirrors that of males detained i the criminal jsutice system (Owen and Bloom, 1995). incarcerated women are disproportionately African American and Hispanic, undereducated, unskilled, and experience sporadic employment histories. They are mostly young, single, heads of households. The majority of those imprisoned (80%) have at least two children (Owen and Bloom, 1995). substance abuse uderlies much of female criminality, which can explain their 20% yearly incarceration increase. This exploratory study examines societal and self-imposed labels regarding incarcerated mothers. It also examines how placement of their children is a form of social control and stigma impacting incarcerated mothers’ ability to reintegrate into their immediate family and mainstream society succesffully.
Challenging the Labeling of Aboriginal Women: A Personal Perspective
Lisa Neve is an aboriginal woman who recently successfully appealed her designation (at age 21) of dangerous offender, a designation which is accompanied by an indefinite sentence. In 1994 she was called the most dangerous woman in Canada by Justice Murray and was sent to maximum security, where she was held until June 1999. At the appeal, it was ruled that instead of an indeterminate sentence, she should have received a 3 year sentence for the robbery which led to her conviction. Lisa’s case was supported by CAEFS and the Native Women’s Associationof Canada. her case points to broader inequalities in the treatment of aboriginal communities who are dramatically over-represented in Canadian prisons.
Challenging University and Relativism: Women’s Social Activism in South East Asia
This paper is drawn from a larger study interested in the ways women social activits in SE Asia understand and deploy international human rights discourse. We are interested in the ways third world women’s testimonies foreground a gendered critique of the fale dualism of relativism and univeralism in human rights debates. In particular it will examine the complex responses of women activists in SE Asia to human rights discourses. Drawing on 63 interviews with women activitis in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia, it explores the ways in which women activists manage the tension between an affirmation of universal principles of human rights, strategic mobiliation of rights discourse in political advocacy, an assertion of a culturally specific articulation of human rights principles at the grassroots levels. The women’s voices and stories challenge dominant representations of social activitis in the South East Asian Region and official government and broader international responses to women’s human rights, human rights more broadly and feminism.
Changing Lives A Study of Women in Prison Drug Treatment
In the 1990s, the California Department of Corrections (DCD) embarked on a massive experiment to introduce prison-based drug treatment in its institutions. The first prison therapeutic community (TC) for women in the new wave of rehabilitative efforts, “New Choice” has been in operation for since 1998 at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF). This paper examines the experience of women as they participate in the TC treatment process at CCWF. Through depth interviews, focus groups and participant observation, the links among past drug use, present drug treatment and visions of a future beyond imprisonment are explored. Preliminary findings indicate that even though most women are involuntarily assigned to the program, the majority of women begin to adopt some version of a treatment perspective over time. Their investment in a version of “right living”, a cornerstone of the TC model increases over their length of stay, and often comes into direct conflict with the precepts of the convict code among women. However, observations from the current field work indicate that women are very likely to begin to embrace these new way of “thinking, acting and feeling” and begin to develop a hybrid prison culture that incorporates elements of the two cultures.
Changing the Police: Putting Gender Centre Stage
Changing the police: Putting gender centre stage Studies of policing over many decades have either excluded any discussion of gender or highlighted that it is a neglected area of analysis. The few studies which have focused on women officers suggest that significant organisational barriers exists for women at all levels of the police organisation. This paper, drawing on ethnographic research with some of BritainTCOs senior police officers, looks at how gender and issues of equal opportunities are perceived by male and female officers and the impact that these perceptions have on the nature and potential for organisational change. It is argued that a gendered understanding of the police organisation, which is currently absent in British policing, could fundamentally alter
Chicago Police and Youths: Students’ Encounters With Officers and Chicago’s Community Policing Strategy
In 1993, approximately 1,000 students from 18 Chicago public high schools were surveyed about their encounters with Chicago police officers. Some of the early findings revealed students who were stopped by White officers were more likely to believe they were treated disrespectfully than those stopped by Black officers. Seventy-one percent of the respondents stated “serious problems” existed between youths and police officers. Approximately two-thirds of the students stated they were “doing nothing” when they were stopped. These public high schools will be resurveyed in the Spring, 2000. Students’ will be queried about their level of awareness of Chicago’s community policing approach, their degree of participation in this program, and its impact on their experiences with officers.
Child Abuse in Pennsylvania: Vague Standards for a Very Real Problem
The court system is overloaded with cases involving the neglect and abuse of children. However, difficulties arise in attempting to define what constitutes abuse and neglect versus what constitutes parenting decisions that are within the purview of individual parents/guardians. This paper will focus specifically on Pennsylvania case law interpreting and defining abuse and neglect, but will also include general information regarding other states’ interpretation of the issue.
Child Pornography Offenders in Canada
Despite considerable public and legal concern about the proliferation of child pornography, little systematic knowledge exists with respect to social characteristics and judicial outcomes for these offenders. In this paper we examine all child pornography cases that came before Canadian courts during a 2-year [1996/1997] period. The data show that offenders are somewhat older than typical inmates and that the courts were inclined to give relatively harsh sentences. The data further show large variations in sentencing patterns across the country. We argue that this class of offender differs in important ways from typical inmates.
Childhood and Family Backgrounds of Convicted Murderers
The effects of childhood and family background on criminal behaviour continue to be debated, yet there have been few attempts to access the background characteristics of those engaged in unlawful killing. Using data from Case Files, we explore the backgrounds of men convicted of murder England/Wales and Scotland. The data were gathered in an Economic and Social Research Council National Study of Homicide in Britain. The data set contains extensive and intensive data about 900 men and women convicted of murder. Case Files contain information gathered from various sources, including police and probation reports, psychiatric reports, psychological testing, and reports by a range of prison personnel. The data are used to examine a number of childhood characteristics of offenders, including physical, sexual and emotional abuse; psychological morbidity; educational achievement; disrupted caretaking; institutional care; and childhood patterns of offending, with a special focus on violence.
Childhood Cruelty to Animals and Subsequent Violence Against Humans
Recent studies have offered compelling evidence supporting a relationship between childhood cruelty to animals and later violence against humans. This study was designed to further explore whether violent offenders were significantly more likely than nonviolent offenders to abuse animals of various types. Two groups of adult prisoners were interviewed. The experimental group consisted of 45 inmates incarcerated for a violent crime and the control group consisted of 45 inmates incarcerated for a nonviolent crime. Two data collection instruments were used in the study. The first was used to extract demographic and personal background information about the subjects. The second was used to extract data with respect to cruelty to animals and categorized animals into four types: wild, farm, pet and stray. Previous studies have often suggested that cruelty to good animals such as pet animals is the most significant type of cruelty to animals relevant to the relationship. The results of the study supported the proposed hypothesis and demonstrated a statistically significant relationship between cruelty to animals and later violence against humans. Furthermore, the study found that cruelty to pet animals was the most statistically significant cruelty committed when the violent and nonviolent offenders were co
Childhood Victimization and Criminal Consequences: A Replication and Extension in the Northwest
This paper describes a replication and extension of Widom’s original study of the relationship between childhood victimization and criminal consequences, using a cohort of abused and neglected children from it different geographic region of the country (Northwest), different time period (1980-1985), and different ethnic background (including Native American Indians in addition to Whites and African Americans), We will describe (1) the design of this new study, (2) the prevalence of delinquency, adult criminality, and violent criminal behavior in this new sample of abused and neglected children (n=877) and matched controls (n=877); and (3) potential differences in the relationships between childhood victimization and criminal consequences by gender and by race/ethnicity. Implications of these findings regarding the generalizability of the “cycle of violence” phenomenon will be addressed as well as implications for future research and policy.
Childhood Victimization and School Discipline Problems
Using a quasi experimental, longitudinal, prospective cohort design, this study examines the relationship between childhood victimization and school discipline problems. it uses a sample of 169 verified dependency cases in the computerized records of Florida’s Protective Services System’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families, which were substantiated and validated as child maltreatment cases. A control goroup of 169 children matched on race, gender, age, and socioeconomic status was obtained from current records and historical archives of the County School Board. The results show significant differences between abused and non-abused children in terms of school discipline problems. I is suggested that intervention and prevention strategies should focus on the causes of the problem with focus on breaking the cycle of violence.
Childhood Victimization and School Discipline Problems
Using a quasi experimental, longitudinal, prospective cohort design, this study examines the relationship between childhood victimization and school discipline problems. It uses a sample of 169 verified dependency cases in the computerized records of Florida’s Protective Services System’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families, which were substantiated and validated as child maltreatment cases. A control group of 169 children matched on race, gender, age and socioeconomic status was obtained from current records and historical archives of the County School Board. The results show significant differences between abused and non-abused children in terms of school discipline problems. It is suggested that intervention and prevention strategies should focus on the causes of the problem with focus on breaking the cycle of violence.
Childhood Victimization as a Risk Factor for Multiple Problem Behaviors in Adolescence
This paper examines the extent to which childhood victimization is a risk factor for multiple problem behaviors in adolescence. Data are from a prospective cohorts design study of the consequences of childhood abuse and neglect which allows for a comparison of individuals who were victimized in childhood (n=676) to a group of non-victimized individuals (n=520) matched on a variety of demographic variables. It is hypothesized that abuse or neglect places children at increased risk for involvement in multiple forms of antisocial behaviors in adolescence. Gender differences will be examined since males and females may react differently to early childhood experiences. The hypotheses are tested with bivariate, multivariate, and confirmatory factor analyses. Findings are discussed in the context of the prevention and treatment implications of identifying risk factors for a syndrome of problem behavior.
Children as Victims of Assault: Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Departments
This presentation will examine the causes and types of assault-related injuries to children treated in Massachusetts hospital emergency departments. Data are based on the Emergency Department Surveillance and Coordinated injury Prevention (ED SCIP) Program, a newly established system for tracking all injuries treated in hospital emergency departments. Statewide estimates are based on a stratified random sample of hospitals. In 1999, an estimated 6000 assault-related injuries to children between the ages of 0-19 years were treated in Massachusetts hospital emergency departments (EDs). Although children under the age of 19 years account for about 25% of the state population, this age group accounted for almost a third of ED visits for assaults. The assault-related injury rate for young males was almost twice that of young females (64/100,000 vs. 31/100,000). For both males and females, injury rates were highest for those aged 15-19 years. Unarmed fights were the most common cause of assault-related injury, accounting for about half of all emergency department visits. Hispanic children had the highest injury rate (53.7/100,000), followed by white (43.2/100,000) and black (40.4/100,000) children.
Children in Danger and as Danger: The Discourse on ‘Safe Cities’ From Segregation to ‘Democratic Streets’
The paper focuses on social construction of childhood in contemporary Western society and on the vicious circle of a growing militarization of public space (streets, squares, grounds, etc.). In our modern adult-oriented society, children have been socially constructed as ‘incompetent human becomings’. As a consequence, this had the effect of associating children to a need for protection and to a condition of dependence and delayed responsibility. In particular, the former has been shaped on the image of children as ‘segreated angels’ and on their expulsion from public space, considered too dnagerous for them. More recently, especually during the last decade, in the context of a growing obsession for security led by the so called ‘culture of fear’, we are facing a new conceptualization of children as ‘evils’. The murder of toddler Jamie Bulger in 1993 in England by two ten-year-old boys and the kind of social and institutional reaction that followed the event, can be seen as a good example of the contemporary coin’s other side of the social representation of children. So, another ‘good reason’ has been found for more segreation, more criminalization of behaviors such as loitering–that, incidentally should be considered, on the contrary, as an integral aspect of children’s well-being–and more policing strategies. This is the case, for example of video surveillance, as well as curfewing children in school hours and in the evenings. The interaction of negative effects produced by this dichotomic construction of childhood and of the restriction/militarization of public space will be discussed in some detail.
Children in the Midst: Sex Offender Statutes and Community Responses to Child Safety
Sex offender legislation has always emphasized the feelings of community residents toward real or potential child victimization. Community pressure translates into political response as a way of meeting citizen demands and gaining constituent support. The legacy of Megan’s law and subsequent federal legislation sustains these political and community linkages. This paper considers child victimization and the community dynamics underlying the evolution of legislation promulgated by federal and state authorities. Offered analysis will emphasize: (1) community reaction to criminal victimization, particularly violence directed toward children; (2) the advent of internet websites devoted to sex offender notification and resultant community reactions, (3) community involvement in assessing sex offender dangerousness; and (4) assessment of current safeguards afforded under current sexual predator legislation.
Chinese Crime Trends in the Context of Economic Development
Development and crime has been a classical subject of sociology and criminology. This paper argues that relationship between development and crime is best studied with data from one nation. The paper analyzes Chinese official crime time series data and tests the hypotheses regarding the trend and cointegration of Chinese crimes. The paper argues that breakdown of general belief system and social norms, introduction of money-making values, and crime opportunities that come with increased circulation of goods and money are social forces underlining the crime patterns since economic reform started in China in 1978.
Chinese Immigrant Smuggling Operation: A System Dynanmics Model
Chinese immigrant smuggling and related criminal activities have been confronted by U.S. law enforcement agencies since the mid 1980s. One of the problems in analyzing Chinese immigrant smuggling is the pooor quality or lack of data on crucial aspects in modus operandi. A system dynamics model is proposed here to assess ongoing smuggling operation, including the latest method: the soft-top container method by cargo ships in the Long Beach and Seattle areas in 1999 and 2000. Data were collected through personal interviews with illegal Chinese immigrants working in restaurants and sweat shops in Houston and L.A. areas, with job brokers, and with INS agents. It is argued that this model is able to provide a clearer understanding of how the fundamental factors affecting a smuggling operation are interrelated.
Citation Release: That Other Form of Arrest
The existing research on both police decision-making in encounters with citizens and quantifying law through police-citizen encounters has often neglected an important outcome option available to officers. This research examines the use of field citations (ticketing) in lieu of full-custody arrests by the police. Using data collected through systematic social observations of police officers in a Midwestern metropolitan area, the correlates of officer decisions to issue citations versus “doing nothing” or conducting full-custody arrests are explored.
Citizen and Police Satisfaction in Civilian Review: An Evaluation of the Quality Service Assessment With the Minneapolis Civilian Review Authority
This paper presents the initial findings from the Quality Survey Assessment (QSA) of the Minneapolis Civilian Review Authority. The Minneapolis QSA is a pioneering effort in the United States. No other citizen oversight agency or police department offers its clients an opportunity to evaluate the quality of the service rendered. Findings from evaluations indicate that most citizens and police officers are satisfied with their experience with the CRA. In general, citizens are slightly more satisfied with how they were treated rather than the outcomes of their cases. This suggests that procedural justice is slightly ore important than distributive justice in the evaluation of the complaint procedures.
Citizen Participation With the Police-A Comparative Perspective: Japan and the United States
Is participation with the police a political or a social phenomenon? The police are inherently political. Their actions and intentions are directly related to crime control policies. Policing is informed by public policy, and in turn, police play a role in defining policing policies. Citizen participation, however, may not be a political phenomenon. This paper explores two bodies of literature, political participation and volunteerism, in an attempt to determine which best explains citizen participation with the police.
Citizen Perceptions of the ‘Driving While Black’ Phenomenon: Research Summary From Six Focus Groups
Research on several citizen focus groups, conducted with racially homogeneous groups of white and African American citizens in five North Carolina urban counties is presented and discussed. Perceptions of the prevalence of the ‘driving while black’ phenomenon are summarized, as well as the citizens’ perceptions of the basis for his/her beliefs on the topic. Direct and vicarious sources of perceptions are distinguished.
Civilian Review Boards: Edifying Police Organizations and Strengthening Relations With the Minority Community
Members of minority communities often feel that they are the victims of police misconduct and harassment (e.g., demeaning and abusive language, unwarranted stops and searches, and the use of excessive force). Because of these perceptions, residents in minority communities find it difficult to trust the police and formalize focused partnerships. The lack of trust, warranted or not, places a strain on community-police relations which in turn limits the quality of policing services in minority communities. Lodging formal complaints is just one of many mechanisms for bringing misconduct to light. However, minority citizens are often skeptical of the internal police process used to investigate their complaints. The presentation will explore the viability of Civilian Review Boards as a mechanism for increasing the legitimacy of civilian complaint review processes. These boards provide residents of minority communities the opportunity to voice their concerns regarding police misconduct without fear or intimidation. Civilian Review Boards will be championed as a system that improves the community’s perception of the police, increases citizen satisfaction with law enforcement officers, and fosters better relations between the police and the minority community.
Co-Producing Commercial Safety Services in Philadelphia
The tremendous investment in downtown redevelopment in the U.S. since the 1980s, often leveraged with large public subsidies, resulted in a need for a more effective mechanism to manage and market urban commercial space. Concomitantly, continued disinvestment and associated crime and disorder problems plagued many inner-city commercial areas. A form of special purpose government, the business improvement district (BID), offered a solution to the problem of place management that was amenable to both business and political interests in these commercial areas. This paper examines the use of BIDs in Philadelphia. Two case studies are developed that describe the context of BID public safety programming and their relationships with public policing agencies in the city’s central business district as well as in a neighborhood commercial district. The methods used include an analysis of official crime and disorder variables; observational data; and merchang surveys. A case is made for the responsible use of BIDs in both downtown and in neighborhood areas with some special caveats relating to scale of operations and the importance of effective partnerships in formulating an effective crime prevention and economic development program.
Co-Worker Violence and Gender: Findings From the National Violence Against Women Survey
In this study we examine the prevalence and characteristics of co-worker violence among women and men in the United States, and compare the prevalence of co-worker violence with violence perpetrated by other types of perpetrators. Information for the study comes from the National Violence Against Women (NVAW) Survey, which was conducted from November 1995 to May 1996 and consists of telephone interviews with a representative sample of 8,000 U.S. women and 8,000 U.S. men 18 years of age or older. Respondents to the survey were queried about rapes, physical assaults, stalkings, and threats to bodily harm or kill they experienced at the hands of all types of perpetrators, including co-workers. We found that lifetime co-worker victimization rates varied significantly between women and men (1.1 and 2.3 percent), while annual victimization rates were the same (o.1 percent). Both women and men were more likely to be victimized by a stranger, iuntimate partner, or other type of acquaintance/family member than a co-worker. Female victims of co-worker violence were significantly more likely than their male counterparts to be raped or stalked, and significantly less likely to be physically assaulted or threatened.No significant differences were found between female and male co-worker violence victims with respect to race, age, education, or rate of injury; however, female victims were significantly more likely to lose time from work as a result of their victimization and to report their victimization to the police. In summary, an estimated 1.1 million U.S. women and 2.3 million U.S. men have been victimized by a current or former co-worker at some time in their lifetime, while 100,697 U.S. women and 92,748 U.S. men are victimized by a current or former co-worker annually.
Coevolution as an Organizing Principle for a Multi-Disciplinary Criminology
Recent theoretical propositions and developments have clearly opened the door to multi-disciplinary approaches i sociological criminology. Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime, Mealy’s evolutionary exposition on primary and secondary sociopathy, Moffitt’s developmental taxonomy, and Elis’ extensive examination of gene-based evolutionary theories challenge traditional sociological understandings of criminal behavior. In short, traditional sociological theoretical approaches to understanding criminal and deviant behavior can not addequately integrate contemporary perspectives and research which provide strong evidence for the inclusion of biological and evolutionary theory into sociological theory and models of crime. This paper will examine potential evolutionary theories in relationship to their ability to serve as organizing and integrating principles for a multi-disciplinary criminology — one that has the ability to merge traditional sociological theory with contemporary biological and evolutionary approaches. It will also argue that coevolutionary theory provides the “best” (and perhaps most palatable) organizing principle for a criminology that hopes to fully integrate sociological and evolutionary theory. It does this by critically examining traditional, sociobiological, evolutionary psychological, and coevolutionary theories to determine how successful each might be as a general organizing principle for a multi-dimensional, multidisciplinary understanding of crime and delinquency.
Cognitive Achievement and Delinquency: Testing the Moderator Model
Numerous researchers have uncovered a robust relationship between cognitive achievement and criminality. However, others have argued that cognitive acheivement does not exert an independent influence on criminality. Rather, they have suggested that it is merely a proxy for such factors as race, disadvantaged environment and neurological deficits. The purpose of the present study was to assess whether cognitive achievement exerts an independent effect on delinquency, and whether it, in fact, serves as a moderator against the aforementioned risks. Using the Philadelphia portion of the Collaborative Perinatal Project data, logistic regression analyses were run in order to assess simple and complex relationships between cognitive achievement, the risks, and three models of delinquency — engagement, age of onset, and continuity. Results suggest that cognitive achievement does exert an independent influence on all three forms of delinquency. Additionally, it appears that cognitive achievement may moderate the relationship between disadvantaged environment, neurological deficits, and delinquency. These findings suggest that cognitive achievement may play a salient role in the lives of at-risk youth.
Collateral Consequences of the War on Drugs
Aggressive enforcement of drug laws has had collateral effects on the relationships between citizens and law. These contradictions are most pronounced in minority neighborhoods. Citizens’ experiences with street-level enforcement, racial profiling in highway stops, racially disparate impacts of sentencing laws, asset forfeiture and other dimensions of drug enforcement have had corrosive effects on the perceived legitimacy of law and legal institutions. The implications for informal social control and legal socialization are assessed.
Collecting Badges — The Gendered Meaning of Police Leadership
This paper focuses on the changing nature of the police organization and the changing demands that police leaders face in the twenty first century. As policewomen progress through the ranks, it is evident that they are actively involved in collecting TCybadgesTCO of credibility in order to secure their place as suitable police leaders. Drawing on in-depth interviews carried out with senior policewomen in four different forces in Britain, this paper explores some of these rTCybadgesTCO, through an insight of women TCOs pathways to leadership positions. In doing so, it also provides valuable information in helping us to understand more fully the gendered meanings and dimensions of police leadership.
Collective Efficacy and Crime in Canadian Public Housing: Results Form the Quality of Neighbourhood Life Survey (QNLS)
Much research on communities and crime suggests that poor neighbourhoods display higher levels of social disorganization, which leads to a breakdown of informal neighbourhood social controls, and consequently results in higher crime rates. The bulk of this research was conducted in areas (e.g., Census Tracts and Census Metropolitan Areas) that consisted of many different neighbourhoods, such as upscale and gentrified neighbourhoods, “mixed” neighbourhoods, as well as deteriorating inner cities and other areas of concentrated disadvantage. However, little attention has been paid to informal community social controls and the differential ability of residents in poor neighbourhoods to control crime. Following the work of Robert Sampson et al. on “collective efficacy” (e.g., social cohesion and trust) and local crime rates, this paper uses recent data from the Quality of Neighbourhood Life Survey (QNLS), which was conducted in several ethnically heterogeneous public housing estates in an urban area in Eastern Ontario. The following questions will be examined: (1) Does collective efficacy exist in the public housing estates? (2) Do collective efficacy and community social organization (e.g., local friendship networks) hav e an effect on local crime/victimization rates? (3) What factors are associated with collective efficacy? The results of this investigation will hopefully incrfease our understanding of crime and crime prevention in poor neighbourhoods and help develop stratgegies that can create or strengthen collective efficacy so that poor residents, too, can ‘take back’ their neighbourhoods and life in safer environments.
College Students’ Perceptions of Private Security
Much has been written about public perceptions of law enforcement in the last three decades. Despite large increases in the growth of the private policing industry vis-?-vis public law enforcement, we know very little about how people view agents of private policing. In this paper we examine the attitudes of college students in a large mid-Western school toward private security, with specific attention paid to private security officers. Responses were received from 631 undergraduate students (of 750 distributed surveys). The overall responses suggest that their views regarding private security officers are not negative, which is contrary to the imagery associated with security officers in popular culture. Overall, the findings suggest that respondents generally6 held positive attitudes toward private security officers. However, there were some observable differences based on subjects’ demographic characteristics. These differences were strongest for gender, employment and “contract” variables, with some support gained for variables related to family income and race.
Combating Hate: Police and Prosecutor Response to Hate Crime
This paper explores police and prosecutor response to hate crime in four United States jurisdictions. Some critics have argued that hate crime laws are a symbolic gesture and whether or not these laws can go beyond symbolism is dependent on how hate crime laws are implemented and enforced. Through the use of qualitative and quantitative analyses, this paper explores different combinations of police and prosecutor response to hate crime and the relationship between police and prosecutors dealing with hate crimes. As such, the results shed light on the benefits and consequences of different responses to hate crime as well as the “fit” between police and prosecutor responses within specific jurisdictions. In addition, this research also examines the effect of these criminal justice responses on aggregate case outcomes within each jurisdiction. Policy implications for addressing hate crime will be discussed.
Combining Law Enforcement and Court Data to Identify and Track Offenders in Domestic Relationship Incidents
This paper summarizes the findings from an analysis of 1,653 domestic relationship incidents using National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and court adjudication data in Vermont for 1995-1998. The project was designed as a demonstration for combining law enforcement and court data in order to identify domestic relationship incidents and track associated offenders through prosecution. The study found that of the 840 persons arrested in 791 domestic incidents some 340, or 40.5%, had at least one charge filed against them. Various characteristics of offenders, victims and the offense failed to discriminate between those offenders who were arrested and/or prosecuted and those who were not. Several observations and recommendations regarding the use of NIBRS and court data are presented.
Combining Therapeutic Programming and Satellite Tracking for Sex Offenders
In this paper, we address a number of recidivism issues surrounding adult sex offenders through the unique combination of satellite tracking technology and rehabilitative programs based on the cognitive behavioral model. Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking technologies and intensive cognitive behavioral program have been used separately and successfully across the United States. However, both components have only been applied in limited capacities outside the state of Maryland- Our approach combines a tested behavioral modification program and a creative technological approach that allows the treatment team a level and quality of supervision previously unknown. The success of cognitive behavioral programs with sex offenders is dependent on the carefully controlled implementation of a team-oriented approach to treatment. The program, which starts in prison and continues after release. educates offenders about their personal relapse cycles. Offenders participate in group therapy sessions where they are monitored closely by therapists, corrections, and eventually parole officers. Once the offender is released into the community, GPS technology allows for accurate tracking of an offender and helps to enforce conditions of parole which include areas of exclusion and continued participation in therapy. GPS permits offenders to hold jobs and transition into the community without compromising community safety.
Combining UCR and Census Data: Crosswalking From One Data Set to the Other
One of the difficulties in dealing with UCR data has been that the UCR uses ORI (Originating Agency Identifier) codes to denote policing jurisdictions. These jurisdictions may be municipalities, state or county agencies, or multi-agency departments. The Census Bureau uses FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) codes to identify places, which may be municipalities, tribes, townships, etc. Although for the most part the two overlap, there are a number of problems in reconciling the two coding schemes. This presentation will describe the problems that were faced by BJS and NACJD in developing a means of going from one coding scheme to the other and will provide examples of how the crosswalk file can be used.
Commerce and Crime: The Supreme Court and the Future of Federal Criminal Jurisdiction
For sixty years the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the interstate commerce power very expansively. Under this interpretation the Court has permitted Congress to enact an enormous array of legislation based on this power, including a substantial portion of the federal criminal code. When it invalidated the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act in the 1995 case of United States v. Lopez, the Court for the first time in sixty years found an act of Congress to be beyond the commerce power. The opinions suggest that the Court may be undertaking a new and much more restrictive interpretation of the commerce power. Justice Thomas’s opinion suggests an interpretation that calls into question a substantial number of federal criminal statutes and has the potential to drastically reshape federal criminal jurisdiction. The Court is currently reviewing, a federal court of appeals decision finding that a section of the federal Violence Against Women Act is unconstitutional as beyond the commerce power. This paper will examine constitutional basis of the federal criminal code along with the doctrinal developments in the Lopez case and more recent decisions, and will consider the implications of these developments on the future of federal criminal jurisdiction.
Common Sense and Deviancy: News Discourses and Asylum Seekers in Australia
This paper is concerned with recent discourses surrounding refugees and asylum seekers in the Australian Print Media. Refugees and asylum seekers have received considerable recent national media coverage and inspired equally considerable social and political debate. Largely these debates have been rooted in the taken for granted assumption that there is a refugee ‘problem’. Asylum seekers and refugees transgress many boundaries, and in so doing routinely disrupt established, although precarious, orders. I am interested in problematising the social functions of representations of deviance in relation to refugees and asylum seekers that also have the potential to tell us about the ‘normality’ of prevailing social orders. The purpose of this paper is to offer an account of ow this has been written and represented in the ‘quality’ press. In order to do so three major thematic categories of representation are interrogated: the invading deviant; the racialised deviant; and the diseased deviant. These thematic readings while largely discrete also operate with some interdependency. Each of these themes, I will argue, submits a distinctive element of the representations of ‘other’ within a dominant order that is grounded in racial, nationalistic and international economices of discourse. I will also argue that the study of news disources as a site of the reproduction of hegemonic relations is an important locale to understand the orchestration of consent.
Communities and Intimate Killing
While there has been a growing body of knowledge regarding individual-level influences on lethal domestic violence, there is an apparent gap in scientific knowledge with respect to community level studies of this subject- This research begins to close this void by contributing to a better understanding of those social structural factors which expose, not particular individuals, but whole communities, to lethal domestic violence outcomes. The study involves descriptive and multivariate analyses of secondary data acquired primarily from the FBI Supplemental Homicide Reports for the years 1984-1996 and the 1990 Census. The research focuses on cities of 100,000+ population as the units of analysis, and examines whether more black females than males kill their intimate partners relative to white and Hispanic males and females. Controlling for both structural and cultural influences on the dependent variable(s), we examine the idea that family structure is an important predictor of female violence against partners, particularly in black families where relevant structural/cultural conditions are more common.
Community and Crime in an Affluent Suburb
This paper, based on ethnographic research, explores community dynamics and crime in an affluent suburban area in the United Kingdom where in spite of low recorded crime rates, crime was perceived to be a problem. This arose from a paradox of community dynamics which, on the one hand increased fear of crime, but on the other contained crime. apart from evidence of small-scale and extremely localised solidarities, a socially fragmented community existed in which limited and lo9ose-knit local social networks, strong desires for privacy, and atomization prevailed. These factors, coupled with busy lifestyles and features of the suburban environment, resulted in isolation and enhanced fear of crime. However, fear arose more from concerns about crime in wider society together with general anxieties rooted in change in late-modernity, than actual risk of victimization. Crime control was rarely based on community action, instead being individualistic and reliant on sophisticated target hardening. Low crime, therefore, was less attributable to the pursuits of ‘active citizens’ envisaged by community crime prevention policies and more to structural processes of affluence, status and propertu ownership which created an exclusive and exclusionary community of vested interest, common identity and shared values.
Community Differences in the Prevalence and Consequences of Corporal Punishment in a Sample of African American Children: A Multilevel Analysis
Past studies on Anglo-American children find a positive relationship between spanking and delinquency. Research on African-American children finds no such relationship. We investigate whether subcultural differences in the community prevalence of corporal punishment account for these differences. We argue that in communities where corporal punishment is rarely used, children may view spanking as illegitimate and respond with oppositional behavior. In communities where corporal punishment is widely prevalent, children may perceive it as an indication of parental involvement. Our sample consisted of 887 African-American families in 41 communities, each with a 5th grader. HLM was used to test the extent to which the prevalence of corporal punishment in the community conditioned the association between its use by the primary caregiver and child conduct problems. Results indicate a positive relationship between the caretaker’s use of spanking and child conduct problems in communities with a low prevalence of corporal punishment, but no relationship between these variables where corporal punishment was common.
Community Organizations and Networks of Association: Towards a Theory of Parochial Social Control
It is commonly accepted that in the absence of effective social controls, crime and disorder flourish. While controls can operate at the individual, family, neighborhood and state levels, the safest communities are thought to be those in which controls are working effectively at each of these levels. Within the social disorganization tradition, researchers interested in the spatial variation in crime have focused their efforts on identifying the environmental characteristics that are the correlates of crime. While the implicit assumption has always been that areas characterized by conditions such as high levels of poverty, residential mobility and single parent families have high crime rates because they lack effective informal social controls, only recently have researchers begun to identify those controls. This study adds to the growing body of knowledge on informal control by examining the nature of parochial control (control arising form broad, local interpersonal networks including the relationship among local institutions). This study analyzes data on community organizations in Brownsville, NY to develop a model of parochial control by specifying the mechanisms that promote (or inhibit) the development of social networks as a dimension of the organizational structure of the community.
Community Penalties: Links Between Compliance, Enforcement and Reconviction
To demonstrate accountability and to establish credibility it is important that community penalities, as orders of the court, are properly enforced. A major aim of this study is to investigate whether good enforcement does contribute to reducing reoffending. It examines the links between compliance with community sentences, enforcement action and subsequent reconviction. The study is based on offenders beginning orders in three probation areas in the United Kingdom in 1996 and follows up reconvictions over a two-year period. The analysis of reconviction rates needs to separate the effects of enforcement and the influence of offenders’ characteristics. This has been accomplished using a predictor of reconvictions based chiefly on criminal history. The emerging findings have to be confirmed with fuller analysis on a larger dataset. However, the indications so fare are that offenders who do not comply with a community penalty are more likely subsequently to be reconvicted, and that action to achieve compliance may have a positive effect on reducing reconviction.
Community Policing, Fear of Crime and Attitudes Toward Law Enforcement: An Empirical Assessment
Among the putative goals of community policing is the creation of a more positive relationship between police and community residents as well as an improvement in the sense of public safety experienced by those residents. The present study examines whether fear of crime is lower and attitudes toward law enforcement more positive in places that are policed by departments that have made a stronger commitment to community policing. We use interviews with agency heads (chiefs and sheriffs) from 325 law enforcement departments in Florida to assess the extent to which 44 specific community policing practices and policies have been implemented and are considered important to the agency. We use interviews with 4,000 Florida citizens to determine which law enforcement agency they most closely identify with. This link of individual citizen with a particular agency is the basis of regression analyses which examine whether citizen fears of crime and attitudes toward law enforcement are related to the extent of community policing commitment reported by the local policing agency. We attempt to estimate the relative effects of the broad strategies of building partnerships, problem solving, crime prevention and agency change on the measures of citizen response. We do the estimates separately for agencies of different size and in places with different levels of crime. Preliminary analyses suggest that problem solving and organizational change may most consequential in relation to these citizen measures and that their effects may be greatest in high crime places.
Community Policing, Public Opinion and the Empirical Reality
This paper examines community policing policies as a relatively new policing feature in the Caribbean. It compares the key expectations of such policies with community crime data and public opinion. For example, we distinguish between community policing activities and crime and fear reduction and find significant gaps between expected outcomes and the empirical realities. Some questions are therefore raised – (1) could the community policing “product” be really measured, and, (2) could community policing be reasonably measured on the basis of crime and fear reduction or should other criteria have a significant place. In seeking to provide answers we measured public opinion, Public opinion was also used to assess the extent to which citizens see community policing as a more effective interactive and friendlier mode of policing. Comparisons are made with policing in selected American cities. Finally, implications for public policy and reform are discussed.
Community Policing and Drug Abuse: A Survey of Police Executives
Order maintenance and community-building approaches to community policing are generally seen as complementary. Each is based on the premise that social control can best be achieved by preventing social disorganization. However, aggressive order maintenance efforts to control drugs conflict with more public health oriented initiatives to reduce the demand and harm associated with drug use. The purpose of this research is to examine the characteristics of community policing initiatives that are associated with greater efforts in (or tolerance of) public health strategies in dealing with drug control (e.g., refer those suspected of using drugs to treatment agencies; provide new recruits with training about drug abuse treatment and prevention issues). As a first step, we conducted a mail survey of a nationally representative sample of Police Executives. Preliminary analyses of data from 400 Police Departments indicate that Police Executives: (a). report considerable officer discretion and an absence of formally defined policies regarding the exercise of many harm reduction activities; (b) view patrol officers as less supportive of increased harm reduction activities than other constituencies such as community residents or community-based organizations; and (c) have different reactions depending upon the drug activity being considered.
Community Policing as Seen by the Citizenry and Other Comunity Policing Agents: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Public Recommendations
This paper examines two related topics: 1) the perceived advantages and disadvantages of community policing expressed by the citizenry and other key players in community policing, and 2) policy recommendations provided by the same groups geared towards improving community policing. While there have been studies examining these issues among police departments, comparatively fewer studies have examined these issues from the perspective of the -beneficiaries” of community policing, namely the citizenry. The data for this study were gathered in Muscatine, Iowa from 4 focus groups of separate neighborhood groups in the city, and interviews with a police department captain, a patrol officer, two “community policing officers,” and the “safe streets coordinator,” who acts as a liaison between the neighborhood groups and the police. Results show that while each of the four neighborhood groups wanted community policing to continue and improve, attitudes concerning the advantages and disadvantages of community policing differ by neighborhood group as well as among the different interviewees. There was both agreement and disagreement among all of the groups in terms of policy recommendations. Implications of the findings will be discussed.
Community Policing in 30 Police Agencies: A Comparative Ethnography
Studies of community policing have generally relied on very small or very large samples of police agencies. Small-N studies have used case study or systematic social observation methods in one or a handful of departments. Large-N studies rely on mail, telephone, or fax surveys from a distance. Most of what we know about community policing comes from these small or large-N studies. I present the findings from a study using an intermediate methodology: a comparative ethnography based on site visits to thirty U.S. police agencies over a one-year period from 19992000. In addition, I discuss briefly the strengths and limitations of the comparative ethnographic method, including the challenges of coordinating and analyzing interview and observation data from approximately 20 researchers. The method described in this study bridges the gap between small-N and large-N research on community policing and provides insights beyond those provided by the other two methods.
Community Policing in Canada: An Evaluation for Montreal, 1990-2000
Community policing in Canada has been under way since the turn of the 1990’s. One of the major Metroplitan Area to implement community policing was the Montreal urban community: population 1.75 millions. Evaluative studies have been done from 1990 to 2000 which indicate that community policing does, indeed, work, using data about victimization, fear of crime, satisfaction of the police work, as well as the assessment of the police officers themselves. A retrospection of a decade of evaluation on policing in Montreal will be presented.
Community Policing in Israel: A National Assessment
In this paper we report on a three year national evaluation of community policing in Israel conducted by the Institute of Criminology of the Hebrew University. The study was based on field observations, interviews, and survey research focused in four specific cities, as well as field observations and survey research carried out at the national “headquarters” level of the Israeli National Police. We examine here the general impacts of community policing on the activities, philosophy and organization of policing in Israel. Specifically, we find that the implementation of community policing has brought new strategic approaches to Israeli policing, created a more community oriented philosophy of police work among police officers, and changed the nature of the relationship between the police and local authorities in Israel. At the same time, our study shows that implementation of community policing was only partial. In our discussion we examine the factors that impeded the development of community policing, focusing directly on: the lack of full organizational support for the changes proposed; resistance of the traditional military structures of Israeli policing to the organizational changes required by community policing; and the difficulties of implementing multiple program goals simultaneously.
Community Policing Partnerships for Domestic Violence: Documentations and Assessment of COPS-Funded Efforts
Some law enforcement departments around the country are applying the community policing philosophy and its practices to their response to the problem of domestic violence. In particular, many departments are developing partnerships with their community to enhance their effectiveness and improve available response options. PERF received funds from the Community Oriented Policing Services Office (COPS) to explore the nature, functioning and impact of these police-community partnerships, and to identify common impediments and how they are being overcome. The data for this project come from interviews with subject-matter experts and a national survey of approximately 355 COPS-funded law enforcement agencies and their partners. The presentation will address what we’ve learned thus far about the types of agencies that partner with the police; the roles and functions of these participant agencies in addressing the domestic violence situation; the nature of the partnership arrangement; the goals of the partnerships and the extent to which they have been achieved; and barriers and solutions that influence progress toward those goals.
Community Risk/Needs Assessment (CRNA) Instrument: Follow-up of Samples of Offenders in British Columbia
Studies were carried out on data from three successive yearly samples of offenders who had been evaluated by case managers using the Community Risk Needs Assessment instrument, which is used by the B.C. Corrections Branch to assist in the determination of community supervision levels. Study I examined indices of recidivism over the first year after assessment for each of the relationships between ratings and recidivism. The data indicate that over three successive independent samples, there appears to be relative stability in the way case managers use the CRNA, as well as expected relationships between ratings and offender behavior. Study II was done to determine the utility of the CRNA ratings as indicators of offender re-entry to the system over a longer period of time. Again, expected relationships between ratings and offender behavior were observed. Overall, examination of the relationship between CRNA indicators and offender return to the corrections system for a three year period following initial assessment, supports the utility of the CRNA as a classification tool for community case management.
Community Service Instead of Imprisonment in Default of Payment of Fine–German Experiences
The sanction of fine plays a dominant role in the sentencing practice in Germany. Due to the fact that the social conditions and the economic situation of life are getting worse for considerable parts of the society and particularly for delinquents, the practice of financial sanctioning and the recovering of fines has experienced remarkable problems. As a result, the number of fine defaulters in prison has increased significantly, especially in Eastern Germany. The German criminal law provides the possibility for fine defaulters to avoid imprisonment by ,community service”, but the practice is rather problematic. For this reason there are considerations, how such imprisonment can be avoided more efficiently. The author’s paper will demonstrate an example in the new federal state of MecklenburgWestern Pomerania. Its purpose is to install a widespread social network of help for fine defaulters by organizing and arranging community service aiming to avoid incarceration. The research focuses on the implementation of new structures of community service, especially for convicted offenders who have serious behavioral and personal problems like alcohol abuse, work maintenance problems etc. The first results are encouraging. The number of imprisonments of fine defaulters in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has decreased by half since 1997. The analysis of court records shows the changing patterns of the execution of fines after starting the new practice.
Community Surveys as a Service-Learning Experience in Sociology and Criminal Justice
At the request of our police chief, faculty and students in sociology and criminal justice designed a research project to discover community residents’ attitudes toward crime and police in their city. Victimization was also measured. The project was developed as a pedagogical devices in three classes: Introduction to Sociology, Introduction to Criminal Justice, and Seminar in Criminal Justice. In our teaching design, seminar students acted as group0 leaders and teachers of groups in each of the freshman classes. Students learned and discussed sampling designs, interviewing methods, and questionnaire construction. Students selected a sample of households by a cluster sampling method and all students were assigned households to canvass. Students entered their own data from the interviews and were required to write research papers testing sociological and criminological hypotheses. The data from all interviews were aggregated for analyses. The educational outcome of this methodology was assessed. Students encouraged the use of face-to-face interviewing rather than random access telephone interviews even though we experienced a disappointing response rate in our second survey. They found that they learned about their community as well as applying research methods and skills learned in other classes. The final results will be reported to the city’s residents through the media as well as presented to the chief of police.
Comparative Assessment of Felony and Misdemeanor Case Processing Times in Prosecutors’ Offices
Little research has been done on the amount of prosecutor time required to process felony and misdemeanor cases, from the time a case comes to the attention of the prosecutor through final adjudication. APRI collected time and activity data by case type from 47 prosecutors’ offices. This paper presents the results of the meta-analysis examining variation in case processing times by type of case and type of jurisdiction.
Comparative Impact of Juvenile Versus Criminal Court Sanctions on Recidivism Among Adolescent Felony Offenders: A Replication and Extension
This presentation will report the conclusions of a replication and extension of research by Fagan (1991) that compared the outcomes and impacts of juvenile and criminal court sanctions on recidivism among adolescent felony offenders. In this study we have compared the rates of recidivism between two similar groups of adolescents, both consisting of 15 and 16-year-olds who were, in 1992 or 1993, charged with either robbery, burglary, or aggravated assault. The matched sample consists of 2,400 adolescents – 1,200 from New York’s criminal courts and 1,200 from New Jersey’s juvenile courts. A two-factor natural experiment tested the effects of court jurisdiction (juvenile versus adult) and sanction severity on recidivism. The matched counties-matched cases design avoids the selection biases that limit most research comparing the outcomes and recidivism of adolescents in juvenile versus adult court. This study and its predecessor are unique in the empirical literature as the only studies to compare what happens to identical groups of juveniles sanctioned under different sentencing systems. The results of this empirical analysis are discussed in terms of policy impact upon both individual case outcomes and the future offending behavior of criminally involved adolescents.
Comparing the Locational Properties of Crime Categories Over Time
To what extent are various categories of crime, such as violent crimes versus property crimes, differentially distributed in urban space? This paper is concerned with determining whether different crime categories exhibit significantly different geographic patterns, and, to the extent that differences by crime type exist, what additional locational characteristics contribute to the spatial patterns found. We address these questions by examining police report data (1970, 1972-1982) from St. Louis, MO, (Kohfeld and Sprague 1993) in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis. The longitudinal character of the data provides the ability to describe geographic change over time in the location of crimes by category. This research is important because, though historical, the spatial patterning of specific crime types provides criminal justice agencies and concerned residents of urban neighborhoods the ability to tailor their anti-crime efforts to more effectively address the proximate causes of specific types of crime in specific geographic space.
Comparison Between Japanese Crime Data and the UCR Concerning Validity and Reliability Problems
This paper attempts to compare Japanese police statistics with the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) concerning validity and reliability problems. Five major issues are examined as follows: (1) dark figure or underreporting of crime problem, (2) official counting process of crime,(3) the composition of the crime index, (4) la” enforcement decision making and crime recording practices, and (5) the proper population base for computing crime rates. While comparative criminologists generally agree that Japanese crime statistics are high in quality or they are more accurate than the UCR,this author concludes that this general agreement is of dubious value. Consequently, in using official data for estimating the true extent of crime patterns, the comparative researcher should be cautious about the data interpretation.
Comparison of Crime Trends in Europe and in the United States An Assessment of Current Theoretical Explanations
The recent publication of the Council of Europe’s European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics, inspired partly by the American Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, allows some comparisons between these two data collections for the years 1990 to 1996. Data show that crime trends in the 36 European countries included in the European Sourcebook differed from those in the United States. Particularly drug and viollent offenses continued to increase in Europe until the end of the period under consideration (1996). Most of the theoretical explanations of crime trends currently en vogue in the United States seem of little help in understanding current European trends. The generally most valid approaches seem to be routine-activities and situational explanations.
Comparison of Criminal Justice and Other Student’s Attitudes ABout Capital Punishment
The late Justice Thurgood Marshall argued that “the American people are largely unaware of the information critical to a judgement” about the death penalty and that an informed citizenry “would consider it shocking, unjust and unacceptable.” This research originally began as a test of Justice Marshall’s hypothesis concerning knowledge and the support for the death penalty among Criminal Justice students at a regional Midwestern university. The results of this research were presented at the 1999 ASC conference. The research has been expanded to test knowledge about crime and support for the death penalty among the general student population. The research will examine support for the death penalty and whether views are affected by information on deterrence, execution of innocent individuals, and other related factors. This research will compare and contrast Criminal Justice majors with non-Criminal Justice majors concerning student’s knowledge of crime and support for the death penalty.
Comparison of Homicide Victimization Trends in Small, Medium and Large Cities in the U.S.
This paper compares homicide victimization among small (less than 25,000), medium (25,000-99,000) and large (100,000 and over) population groups (cities, SMSA and NonSMSA) in the U. S.. Data from the F. B. 1. supplemental homicide reports for the years 19871997 are used. The decline in homicide victimization has been largely been attributed to decreasing victimization in large urban areas. Researchers have also discussed the decrease in female homicide offending. Very little attention has been given to the patterns of homicide victimization in smaller cities and towns. Comparisons on characteristics of homicide such as victim-offender relationship, circumstance of the homicide, age, sex and race of the victim in small, medium and large population groups are made. The paper discusses possible explanations for similarities and differences in the patterns of homicide victimization in small, medium and large population groups.
Comparison of Rural/Urban Differences of Incidence and Reporting of Child and Adult Sexual Assault Victimization: Analyses Using Crisis Center Data
Knowing how sexual assault victimization and reporting vary as a function of data source and context has implications for both the criminal justice system and victim services. In this study, we analyzed data from 48 monthly reports by the rape crisis centers in all 67 counties in Pennsylvania. Although absolute numbers of sexual victimization were higher in urban counties, rates of sexual victimization were higher in rural counties for both child and adult victims. Contextual level factors, such as funding, did not predict the rate of sexual assault victimizations among children or adults. however, county spending per capita did affect reporting to the police for child victims; counties with greater funding had higher rates of reported child sexual assault victimizations. Regarding adults, victim offender relationship, county type, and their interaction predicted reporting. That is, urban counties and counties with higher levels of assaults by strangers had higher rates of reporting to the police, although urban counties with high rates of stranger assaults had lower rates of reporting. Possible reasons for and implications of these patterns of results will be discussed.
Competition, Crime and Regulation in the Telecommunications Industry
The 1984 divestiture of AT&T created a proliferation of telecommunication services and widespread opportunities for corporate and consumer fraud. Many companies eager to gain a competitive edge have resorted to deceptive practices. The evolution of the telecommunications industry has resulted in aggressive marketing practices that have affected untold numbers of consumers and has fostered fraudulent practices that pit major long-distance phone companies against each other and against Baby Bells. This paper examines slamming, cramming, jamming, and gouging violations. Data from state and federal agencies are analyzed to show the scope of fraudulent practices and the methods of perpetration. The research traces enforcement actions by state public service commissions and the Federal Communications Commission. The paper offers an analysis of the problems associated with regulatory sanctioning efforts that attempt to curtail unethical and illegal practice
Complainants’ Experience of the Police Complaints Process
This paper presents an analysis of the police complaints process from the complainants’ perspective. The discussion centres on evaluating the quality of service offered to complainants, through exploration of research findings from key studies (Brown 1988 and Maguire and Corbett 1991), and empirical research conducted on behalf of a regional force in 1996- 97. Complainants’ experiences of the complaints process are discussed, such as the extent to which complainants are satisfied with the quality of service offered and the perceived independence of the process. Research analysis indicates that a significant proportion of complainants expressed dissatisfaction, especially with parts of the investigation, such as length of time taken to resolve a case, extent to which they are kept informed about their case and most importantly the objectiveness of the investigation. Research findings tend to mirror those from earlier studies. A timely investigation conducted by the Home Affairs Committee (1998) addressed the perceived shortcomings of the police complaints process, and accordingly significant changes have occurred in the police discipline procedure. This paper addresses the issue of police accountability and legitimacy.
Comprehensive Community-Level Gang Problem Assessment
Examining a community’s gang problem is a crucial initial step in designing and implementing a community-wide response to gangs. The Office of Juvenile Justice’s Comprehensive Gang Model (Spergel Model) is driven by such an assessment, which incorporates demographic and crime data with information provided by youth (‘including gang-members), parents, community leaders, and service providers. The assessment answers “who, what, when, and where” questions about gangs so that all sectors of the community have a common, fact-based picture of the problem. A Steering Committee, comprised of community leaders and stakeholders provides oversight to an Assessment Team that collects the data. Members of the team are typically representatives from law enforcement, probation, schools, and service-providing agencies. In addition to reviewing existing records and reports, the team may use community focus groups, surveys and individual interviews to gather information. Four data domains are involved: individual (delinquency, substance abuse, victimization); family (composition, stability, system involvement); school (attendance, drug/weapon incidents, performance) and the
Compstat, Strategic Problem Solving, and Hi-Tech in American Police Agencies
In 1994, the New York City Police Department implemented Compstat, a management reform intended to improve internal accountability and external performance in the nation’s largest police agency. This award-winning innovation combined the use of computer data analysis, crime mapping, and a number of strategic management methods currently popular in the private sector. In the intervening years Compstat has been highly publicized and promoted. Drawing upon a survey of departments with 100 or more officers and a small sample of departments with 50-99, we describe the nature and extent to which police agencies around the nation are embracing Compstat-like structures and practices. Implications of these patterns are discussed.
Compstat and Crime: Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
The field of policing has undergone substantial change over the last thirty years; the post decade alone saw tremendous inn-ovation. Linking changes and innovations in policing to the recent downturn in crime, however, has caused rancorous debate. Critics cite various macro-structural factors ranging from the improved economy to shifting demographics – for decreasing crime rates. Innovations that changed the way streets are policed, they argue, are “coincidental to crime reduction. These innovations in policing, however, deserve much mom credit. One in particular, Compstat, has transformed police policy and practice. An idea adapted from the private sector by the New York Police Department, Compstat combines systems of accountability, crime mapping, and problem-solving. Many cities, f’ollowing the successes of the NYPD, have recently initiated their own variation of Compstat. This paper will explore the evolution of Compstat in Newark, New Jersey, its impact on police policies and practices, and the city’s reduction in crime. Based on observations, interviews, and crime data this paper will detail the change Compstat has had on the Newark Police Department and the “coincidental” 43 percent drop in crime the city has enjoyed since its inception.
Conceptual Model for Understanding and Reducing Illicit Drug Use Among Youth: The Impact of Law, P)olicy and Environmental Factors
Attempts to understand and intervene in the drugs-crime cycle have traditionally drawn upon a wide variety of conceptual models. ImpacTeen, a research program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is designed to examine the relationship between law, policy, environmental factors and youth substance use. It is the purpose of this paper to present a conceptual model, developed for ImpacTeen, to understand and reduce illicit drug use. The model includes state drug law policies ranging from strict prohibition to medicalization and harm reduction approaches. It also includes such factors as state prevention, education and treatment efforts and a wide variety of environmental factors such as socio-demographic/economic characteristics, perceptions of risk, peer reactions to drug use and perceived availability. This session will discuss the utility of such a model as well as provide examples of the research questions being addressed and the policy implications of those questions. Other panel presentations will provide examples of the application of the conceptual model: a taxonomy of selected drug laws, an examination of the impact of marijuana medicalization, and an examination of the impact of communities’ comprehensive attempts to reduce drug use among youth.
Concerning the Dark Figure in Eastern Europe
Both victimization studies and criminological studies have shown that only a small part of criminality is officially recognized. Police crime statistics, which to this day are widely used as reliable indicators of a region’s crime problem, describes only a small portion of the total number of crimes actually committed and yields a distorted picture of the actual level of crime in society. Nevertheless this distorted picture serves as the basis of discussions in the mass media and in the political arena. In Germany as in other countries the Dark Figure is regarded as at least as large as reported crime, i.e., only every second crime comes to light as a complaint recorded by the police. On the basis of several victim studies and research on police reporting behavior, we will show that the Dark Figure is essentially larger than generally assumed. The filtering process in most nations consists of two levels: the reporting patterns of crime victims, and the registration patterns of the police. Up to now discussions of the Dark Figure have not fully considered the former, nor specifics of the latter, but recent data from eastern and western Europe provide a basis for objectively evaluating official statistics. Victimization studies provide important information about the public’s behavior in bringing criminal complaints to the police. And by considering police crime statistics both before and after the collapse of communism in the eastern Europe insight can be gained as to how complaints and arrest figures are distorted by police organizations.
Conflation of Sex, Gender, and Sexual Orientation in the Discourse of State v. Green
This paper will undertake a discourse analysis of the legal construction of homosexual identity in the area of criminal law. In an analysis of the legal discourse of the trial court in State vs. Green (1989), this paper will explore the process through which Annette M. Green’s lesbian identity was made meaningful with regard to her status as criminal defendant and a battered woman within the context of her “battered person’s” defense. Here, what sort of image of the lesbian/homosexual is constructed? The lesbian relationship? What constitutes the central topes, preconceptions, and stereotypes? Are constructions of stigmas based on sex, gender, and sexual orientation interrelated in the discourse of Green? Are sex, gender, and/or sexual orientation conflated in this discourse, and if so, how? If there is conflation, how does it appear to operate in the context of same-sex domestic violence and a battered person’s defense? Do conflationary processes seem to inform the central topes, preconceptions, and stereotypes? In addressing these questions this paper explores the storytelling process in Green; folloowing Bennett and Feldman (1981), it conceptualizes a trial as a battle of competing stories. These stories are the discursive attempts by the adversaries to (re)construct compelling interpretations of reality. Thus, in the context of being a criminal defendant and a battered woman, what kinds of stories are the central stereotypes being deployed to tell? How does the heterocentric model of intimate violence get translated to the lesbian context?
Conjugal Visit in Brazil: A Prisoner’s Right
Prohibited in many countries, conjugal visit is allowed in Brazil, having being considered a prisoner’s right in March 1999 by the NationalCouncil for Criminal and Penitentiary Policy (NCCPP0, which authorized it to all inmates, male and female, Brazilian or foreigner, married or unmarried. According to NCCPP, conjugal visit should happen at least once a month, in a place which privacy and inviolability are preserved. Without mentioning sexual option, it doesn’t prohibit this kind of visit between homosexual partners, an attitude that has been viewed as a great step of the Brazilian penitentiary system.
Considerations in the Behavioral Management of Incarcerated Juvenile Offenders
This paper reviews traditional and non-traditional approaches to managing the behavior of juvenile offenders in residential detention and correctional facilities in the juvenile justice system. Included in the review is a consideration of relevant offender variables that are often overlooked in the development of offender management systems, such as offenders’ previous experience with authority figures and their current psychological assessment. The paper also examines the variable of staff demeanor and its relationship to effective behavior management in program settings. Recommendations for program strategies and staff training will be discussed.
Constitutional Consequences of Hospitality: The Supreme Court’s Restriction of the Right to Contest Government Invasions of Privacy
This paper will examine recent law potentially signaling a dramatic shift in the United States Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court has reevaluated the scope of privacy rights, restricting when and where persons may assert a violation of the Fourth Amendment. The source of this development will be identified and explained, and its implications on meaningful access to constitutional rights litigation will be considered.
Constructing Criminals: The Media’s Role in the Criminalization of Street Youth
As the modem welfare state continues to be scaled back, criminal justice policies are increasingly punitive and encompass acts not previously classified as crimes. This paper explores how these trends have been thematized in the media by examining reports of recent crime policies aimed at ‘deviant’ (and now illegal) activities of urban street youth in Ontario, Canada (specifically, squeegeeing and ‘aggressive’ panhandling). The criminalization of these public behaviours has transformed acts used to generate a living among street youth into threats to public safety that must be actively and aggressively policed. The media’s representations of street youth are implicated in this transformation as newspaper reports generally emphasize negative characteristics of street youth and underemphasize the social, political, and economic factors that give rise to their ending up on the streets. This paper examines the media’s role in the social construction of crime and criminals, and in shaping a sense of importance in the public about what acts and people constitute a threat to society. This paper offers a theoretical account of this social construction, as well as examples from mainstream Ontario newspapers.
Constructing Meaningful Violence: A View From the Girls
This paper reports some of the findings from our current work in which we explore how young teenage girls understand ‘violence’ and chart the ways in which violence is both experienced and deployed amongst girls in the context of their everyday lives. We are concerned with examining girls’ understandings and conceptualisations of violence and the ways in which violence impacts on their lives. Our focus in this study is not solely on socio-economicalloy marginalised gang members, but on girls drawn from a range of socio-economic and class backgrounds, predominantly white, living in a variety of locations across Scotland U.K. who, for the most part, are not in the juvenile justice system or part of an identifiable gang. In this paper, we discuss the ways in which girls attribute meaning to violence, by looking specifically at the manner in which girls enact and speak about violence, their telling of violent stories, and the reasons for and purposes served by such stories and enactments. This paper is based on data generated from a study of girls and violence, entitled ‘A View From the Girls: Exploring Violence and Violence Behaviour’ funded by the Economic and Social research Council of Great Britain [Award No. L133251018]. The study employed a mixed-method approach using self-report questionnaires, focus group discussions and in-depth individual interviews with girls aged 13-16 years.
Consumer Protection in Social Contracts
I argue the following: (1) Raw coercions are not social contracts. If government is legitimate by “contract,” the arrangements must be a fair contract. (2) Social Contracts are with governments, with distinct interests. (3) The paradox of “Social Contract” is that one side is the enforcer of the contract and de facto can change the terms. When persons in government change, governments can go bad. An initially reasonable arrangement devolves into mass killing. (4) The imbalance of contractual pwer is structural. No effective explicit law can protect the governed. (5) Constraint on government power, though necessary, cannot be explicitly in the contract, since no enforceable clauses would embody such constraint. (6) A right to bear arms is an indirect constraint. There is no right to resist as such, but the practical effect of arms-bearing empowers citizens to nullify the contract. Only such an implicit right can make the contract rational and non-coercive. (7) Efficiency interests of governments are harmed by this indirect right. Law-and-order enforcement is more expensive. Such costs are outweighted by the catastrophe of government going bad. So an implicit right to resist is essential to government by “the consent of the governed.”
Contemporary Corrections in the New South Africa
South Africa became a democracy in 1994 after fifty years of Apartheid rule where a large part of the population have been oppressed. During Apartheid a large portion of the South African population have been criminalised through the use of imprisonment. Democracy brought about the need for transformation. This need cuts through society, but has particular significance for government departments, which needed to facilitate the creation of a new democratic South Africa. Corrections in South Africa took up this particular challenge. Transformation in criminal justice is not easy. Correctional authorities faced a daunting task to reform the prison system to meet international standards. The purpose of this paper is to sensitise the academic world with regard to new developments in South African Corrections since 1994. Aspects to be discussed include the introduction of new legislation for Corrections, demilitarisation, unit management in prisons, electronic monitoring, privatised prisons and the introduction of super maximum prisons. Transformation in corrections did not only influence the normal hard issues of imprisonment and related aspects such as community corrections. It necessitated a broadening of paradigms to ensure that emphasis is placed on offenders, rather than safe custody. Staff development and retraining was also high on the transformation agenda.
Content Analysis of the International Presentations Given at the Annual Meetings of the ASC 1990-2000
This presentation will summarize the results of a content analysis of the international presentations given at the Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology from 1990-2000. First, the abstracts of presentations themselves will be analyzed as to the country of origin of the author(s), topic, use of comparative methodology pr of single country analysis and fluctuations in quantity over the decade of the 1990s. Then, the placemen-c of presentations within the ASC program will be analyzed to see if over the past ten years the prevailing policy has been to integrate international criminology into the mainstream if criminological research or treat international presentations as a separate domain. The results will be useful in two aspects: as an indicator of the degree to which the phenomenon of globalization is affecting the discipline in the United States, and as a starting point for discussions surrounding the continuing internationalization of the American Society of Criminology.
Contesting Criminality: Illegal Immigration and the Boundaries of Legitimacy
Since the 1980s, U.S. immigration law has used a logic of social control to enforce distinctions between legal and illegal residents. By making identity documents prerequisites for an increasing number of rights and services, immigration law enforcement has become diffused throughout society. Much like detention centers, requests for identity documents separate undocumented immigrants from the general population, locating them in an imagined yet material domain of illegality. Ethnographic research among Salvadoran immigrants in Los Angeles suggests that to leave and/or legitimize this domain, undocumented immigrants have assumed some authority to define their own legal identities. Undocumented immigrants have applied for legal status, purchased or forged documents, and hired unlicensed legal practitioners. Whether obtained fraudulently or legitimately, such identity documents have helped undocumented immigrants live and work in the United States, which, over time, has bolstered their claims to societal membership. The legalization of undocumented immigrants at least partially legitimizes formerly illicit activities, such as working without authorization. Thus, by taking up the logic of immigration law enforcement, the objects of social control can both contest their own criminalization and expose the illegal underpinnings of law.
Contextualizing Sex Offender Management Legislation and Policy: Evaluating the Problem of Latent Consequences
Sexual victimization has become one of the most publicized and researched social problems in society, However, potential linkages between the intended and unintended effects of sex offender management legislation have largely gone unaddressed in social science literature. This paper addresses these linkages by applying a social-systems model to help better understand the problems of managing sex offenders. Additionally, latent consequences of current and proposed sex offender legislation including community notification laws are examined. It is argued that sex offenders may face more considerable problems not intended by such legislation. In addition, we examine the “one-dimensional monster” stereotype of a sex offender and how this ostracism may discourage offenders from reporting their behavior and seeking counseling. Finally, we provide proposals for addressing these issues with the use of the therapeutic jurisprudence model.
Continuity in Offending Behavior Over Time? Assessing the Relationship Between Prior Delinquent Behavior and Intimate Partner Violence
Past research on criminal careers and intimate partner violence have progressed along two very distinctive tracts. As a result, there has been very little research examining how prior delinquent participation is related to perpetrating intimate partner violence in adulthood. Using data from waves one through seven of the National Youth Survey, our research examines a series of questions on the relationship between delinquent behavior and intimate partner violence. First, does prior delinquent behavior increase the likelihood of intimate partner violence? Second, does the relationship between prior delinquency and future partner violence vary when examined prospectively or retrospectively? Third, does variation in the seriousness of prior delinquent conduct (frequency of offending, severity, etc) impact the likelihood of partner violence? In short, are the worst offenders most likely to engage in acts of partner violence? Directions for future research on the linkages between delinquency and intimate partner violence are discussed.
Contracts to Kill as Scripted Behavior
Examining homicide events from the standpoint of interaction patterns has provided valuable insights into our understanding of their developmental dynamics. This knowledge is crucial to the formulation of strategies aimed at intervening in and preventing the occurrence of violence. For the most part, the utility of studying scripts that lead to violence has been confined to examining events as “situated transactions.” In the present paper, we will demonstrate that the study of behavioral scripts can be effectively extended and utilized in the examination of murder-for-hire events, as well. We will also show that the scripts that develop in murder-for-hire homicides, because of their contractual nature, are distinctively different from the scripts that develop in event-based situated transactions. The contract to kill and the killing as the only plausible solutions to what is perceived of as an unsolvable problem are emergent features of the behavioral scripts in murder-for-hire. Using trial transcripts, pre-sentence investigative reports, police transcripts, and interviews, we will present data on scripts from more than thirty murder-for-hire events. They will be examined for variations by gender, interpersonal relationships, and nature of contracts. Comparisons with the behavioral scripts of other types of homicide will be drawn.
Contrasts in Compliance by Corporations in The Netherlands
In various research, it has become clear that between branches of industry and between corporations within the same branch of industry there can be major differences in compliance with regulations. There is a continuum in compliance with regulations, with extremes on both sides of this continuum: ‘bad apples” versus ‘good apples’. The central question of this paper is: how can the variation in compliance with environmental and occupational safety regulations by corporations be explained? To answer this question, the results of a Ph.D. study will be presented. In this study, attention is focused on both extremes of the spectrum of compliance. ‘Good’ and ‘bad’ corporations within two branches of industry in the Netherlands are compared in search for explanatory factors. Hypotheses from corporate crime theory are tested by these case studies. These hypotheses focus on motives and opportunities for corporate crime on the macro-level of the (regulation of) the market and the micro-level of the corporation itself. Explanatory factors on this level are organizational characteristics like the corporate strategy, structure and culture and various forms of selfregulatioon. The results of this research will tell us something about the causes of corporate crime and the effectiveness of (self)regulation and enforcement.
Controlling Assets Transfers Inside the Corporate Group: The Australian Experience and Proposed Remedies
In the many financial frauds and corporate collapses of the 1980s and 1990s, a major element of the criminal activity consisted of the transfer of financial assets to and through private companies of corporate executives. This paper examines the Australian experience with such assets transfers, documenting some of the major frauds which have occurred. It then reviews and analyzes the recommendations which have been put forward in Australia to control such fraudulent assets transfers within groups.
Controlling for Selection in Studies of Lifecourse Transitions and Deviance
Lifecourse transitions (e.g., marriage, pregnancy and stable employment) have been shown to relate to decreases in substance use and crime in both males and females. What has been lacking in previous work, however, is a full appreciation of the role that selection factors may play in these transitions. Given that substance use and crime are multi-determined, the list of potential selection factors is large. The current project uses data from a longitudinal study of 481 young adults to assess the role of selection factors in understanding the influence of lifecourse transitions on substance use and crime. Two approaches for controlling the influence of selection factors are explored. The first approach relies on the actual measurement of potential selection factors, whereas the second employs a statistical control procedure. In the first approach, measures of previous deviant behavior, personality, and cognitive functioning are employed to model the selection process. Variables from each domain were found to be related to the occurrence and timing of the transitions. Relations between transition timing and decreases in substance use and crime are reported after controlling for these selection factors.
Controlling Sin: Self-Control Theory and the Spurious Relationship Between Religiosity and Delinquency
The link of religiosity to delinquency has been debated in the literature since Hirschi and Stark’s 1969 study that showed no significant relationship between these concepts. However, the literature remains a confused mix of alternative hypotheses and attempts to find a link between religiosity and deviance. This confusion is perhaps summed best by Grasmick, Bursik and Cochran (1991, p. 251) when they say “at least some aspects of religion inhibit at least some kinds of illegal behavior at least under some conditions”. This paper attempts to break through the confusion and argue that this is in fact a spurious relationship. We propose that Self-Control theory can be used to explain the relationship between religion and delinquency. Specifically, we examine if religiosity remains a significant predictor of a variety of forms of deviance when self-control theory is introduced in the model. Our current findings indicate that, although the link between religiosity and severl forms of deviance is non-significant, religiosity still is a powerful predictor of drug use, even when self-control theory variables are added.
Controlling the Vote
The right to vote was a hard-fought issue for African Americans who view the vote as both a right and a privilege. However, policies enacted to get tough on crime have had a dramatic effect on the prison population. In the United States, mandatory minimum sentences and the passage of strict federal sentencing guidelines has resulted in the largest incarcerated population in the world. America’s dramatic and sustained increase in its prison population is disproportionately African American. In addition, laws enacted to prevent ex-felons from voting can dramatically effect election outcomes. This paper contends that the incarceration of disproportionate numbers of African Americans incarcerated represents individuals permanently disenfranchised from voting as the result of a felony conviction. In addition, this paper argues that laws enacted to prevent felons from voting were enacted to influence the political process. These statistics buttress Tonry’s (199 1) assertion that the “War on Drugs” was really enacted to incarcerate large numbers of African American males. Quinney supports this perspective and his Conflict/Control Theory implies that the law benefits the dominant group to the detriment of others (Conklin, 1986). Evidence suggests that powerful groups in our society define certain behaviors as criminal in order to control the less powerful. The sentencing project explored the impact of felony disenfranchise laws in 1998. This investigation will explore more specifically the impact of disenfranchisement on the African American male. Incarceration rates will be examined in an attempt to discover if any relationship exists between the number of African Americans who have lost their right to vote to the number of African Americans who participate in national elections. At the same time, the political climate and racial undercurrent
Convicted Survivors: Describing and Comparing Battered Women Inmates and California’s Women Prisoners
This study describes women incarcerated at a California prison for the death of their male abusers and compares them with a statewide sample of women inmates. Women convicted for using lethal violence against abusive partners differ from the broader population of California women prisoners on key demographic markers. Further, despite a clear lack of criminal or violent histories, the overwhelming majority of battered women are convicted of first or second degree murder and receive long, harsh sentences whether they are represented by private or by public attorneys. This research suggests the possibility of a systematic criminal justice bias against women who kill their male partners.
Copying and Pasting the Way to Higher Level Discourse
The quality of classroom discussions is often disappointing. Not infrequently, students make false claims or present untested assumptions as the absolute truth. it is difficult for the instructor to comment on every false statement, and doing so could have a chilling effect on the free flow of ideas. Others have written on the advantages of web-based discussions in terms of removing bias and getting shy, intimidated, or under-motivated students to participate fully. This study examines whether on-line discussions, using WebCT’s bulletin board feature, can improve the quality of discussion and reduce erroneous assertsions. Data for the study include comparisons between face-to-face and on-line classes, based on student and instructor ratings. By requiring students to compose their piostings using a word processing program with spelling and grammar checks, by having students constructively criticize the postings of their classmates, and by the instructor using confidential email to critique students’ postings, it is hypoithesized that the quality of discussion will be superior to face-to-face classes.
Corporation’s Illegal Trade and Money Laundering
This paper traces illegal activities among corporations in international trades and money laundering, especially between the United States and other countries. Among the major findings is the corporation’s price manipulation of exporting products for money laundering. The study assesses the complexity of white collar crime and concludes with a review of several theoretical implications associated with the illegal corporate practice.
Correctional Management in Suburban and Urban Settings: Similarities and Differences
The United States is now a suburban nation with more people living in the “middle landscape” than in cities. Yet, suburban institutional developments are rarely covered nor are they studied in comparison to their better known urban counterparts to gain a metropolitan perspective. The panel attempts to address this problem. Four major themes will be covered in this session. The first is to discuss the nature of the communities served by the correctional facilities. What is the physical and socio-economic nature of the community and how does this impact on residents attitudes toward crime and the relationship of the community to the jail? The second area will explore differences and similarities in the correctional facilities including, physical strucures, managent philosophies, use of technology and the training and education of staff. The third area will review the jail population including the types of crimes committed, length of incarceration, rehabilitation/reintegration programs and whether the jail population is primarily native to the county or transcend. The final area to be covered is the future. Whare are the major projections and problems these correctional facilities face in the near and long term future?
Corrections Mapping and Community Justice
With the advent of pc-based computer mapping, a new tool became available to agencies and organizations in any number of public and private sectors to conduct spatial analyses. In the criminal justice system, the most heralded application of this new tool was crime hotspot analysis. At the same time, organizations interested in community development also began to employ geographic information system analysis techniques to produce community-based asset maps. As applications of GIS have grown, corrections too has begun to explore ways in which computer mapping can expand their analytical repertoire. In 1998, the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES) established a new program, the Community Justice Project (CJP), in great part on the power of analyses it had been conducting on mapping offenders. The Community Justice Project promotes a re-investment policy on the part of corrections to better deploy its resources in those neighborhoods with high concentrations of resident offenders. The CJP provides justice officials and community organizations help in community organizing, place-based budgeting, and program design. But central all these areas of assistance is community mapping. As produced by the CJP, community mapping brings together three kinds of information about a neighborhood: (1) locations and characteristics of crime and offenders; (2) measures of neighborhood well-being, such as employment rates; and, (3) community assets, such as nonprofit services. CJP employs community mapping to assess the correctional resources devoted to managing offenders on a block-by-block basis for any given neighborhood, help corrections agencies rethink their investment policies, and work with community constitutents to plan more strategic, neighborhood-based correctional programs.
Correlates of Homicides With Attributes of Serial Murder: The Influence of Both Aggregate and Individual Level Data
Previous studies of serial murder have typically focused on the attributes of the victims of a particular serial murderer in relation to the characteristics of that serial murderer. Specifically, most researchers have focused on serial killers that have already been apprehended, and have typically analyzed for patterns in the backgrounds of their victims. Unfortunately, there has been little research analyzing patterns across possible serial murders that have not been solved. The present study examines over 3,500 homicides with characteristics of serial murder that occurred from January of 1995 through December of 1999. These killings were analyzed in order to detect patterns across gender, race, physical characteristics, and other traits of the victims. Aggregate level data were also examined in order to test for patterns in region, climate and other possible correlates of the homicides.
Correlates of Prison Victimization: A Test of Importation, Deprivation and Lifestyles Models
For offenders, incarceration can mean a greater likelihood of victimization by others. To explain this and help predict the probability of inmate harm, researchers have developed deprivation, importation, and life styles models that assess the role that inmate characteristics and features of institutional life have on victimization events. We test these three models using archival data on inmate victimization (N=487) obtained from the National Institute of Justice. Results from logistic regression models provide the most support for a lifestyles model of inmate victimization. Findings have implications for both policy and future research.
Correlates of Retention in Alternative-to-Incarceration Programs
Alternative-to-incarceration (ATI) programs are treatment-oriented programs designed to be alternatives to jail and prison. Retention and program completion are two of the biggest indicators of success for ATIs. This paper investigates correlates of retention and program completion in ATIs. As part of an ongoing evaluation of ATIs, funded by the City of New York, analyses will be performed using a subsample of 195 ATI participants. Interviews with participants were conducted after admission to ATIs to gather information on background and self-reported criminal history. A second interview, conducted three months after admission, gathered information about services received, and circumstances and needs while in the program. Case file reviews, conducted after participants exit, yield information on completion status, and number of days participants attended ATIs. The relationship between self-reported criminal history and retention in ATIs will be explored. Correlates include prior criminal acts, convictions and time incarcerated. Circumstances and needs, and effects on retention and program completion will be examined. These factors include past and current rug use, mental health, perceptions of circumstances and program environment, and motivation and readiness to receive treatment. Identifying factors associated with retention in ATIs may help identify those at risk for failure, and may help programs orient services to address the needs of those participants in order to increase retention rates.
Corruption and Organized Crime: A Comparative Assessment of Governmental Responses
The Existence of Organized Crime is heavily dependent on the ability of criminal organizations to influence government officials, whose actions can prevent, impede or facilitate, the development of large scale criminal enterprises. The relative corruptibility of government and an absence of adequate corruption controls provides a fertile environment in which organized crime can flourish. In some countries, the financial and human resources of organized crime have, consequently, enabled such organizations to supplant existing governments and gain a form of legitimacy of their own. This paper illustrates the connection between levels of governmental corruption and the existence of criminal enterprises, by reviewing organized crime activities in Mexico, Nigeria, Chile, Japan, and Hong Kong. The first two countries have experienced substantial problems with organized crime along with festering government corruption, and the remaining countries, along with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region(SAR), have aggressively employed a multi-pronged approach to combating existing and potential problems of corruption and organized criminal activity.
Corruption and the Culture of Inequality: Local Culture and Global Crime. A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Corruption
Corruption was one of the first crimes to emerge in the global market place. The Lockheed scandal in the 1970s produced evidence of the involvement of national elites in a global network of brigery and corruption. But only in 1999, the OECD countries signed a convention against corruption that included national prosecution of bribery and corruption abroad. This paper analyses the cultural and structural factors that determine corruption on the national and global level. It center on the impact of hierarchical and non-egalitarian culture on the level of corruption. A cross-national, cross-cultural analysis of the ranking of 39 countries on the CPI (Corruption Perception Index) confirms a strong impact of the “culture of inequality” and its several dimensions that exceeds structural factors of inequality. Several conclusions are drawn concerning the fight against corruption and its prevention. In particular, strong control of national and global elites seems to be effective.
Corruption in Public Administration: Vulnerability to Pressure Groups and Corrupting Agents in Construction and Urban Planning
This research project is carried out in collaboration between two universities, one in southern Spain, and the other in southern Italy. Factors which promote corruption in the Latin normative and administrative cultures are their high level of formalism, lack of transparency, centralized decision making, and no concession to common sense. This creates a permanent pressure on civil servants or politicians to evade regulations that are impossible to comply with, not to obtain illicit benefits, but rather to speed up the administrative process and make it more efficient. These personal adaptations tend to develop into networks of contacts that interchange personal favors. It is thus difficult to distinguish between honest public servants or politicans who evade the rules to get the job done, and the dishonest ones who seek illicit enrichment. We focus on urban planning and building permits in two tourist areas. Data collection is based on: (1) interviews with key acts in the building industry; (2) an anonymous questionnaire to be filled in by public employees, and (3) content analysis of judicial decisions.
Cost of Residential Placement for Juvenile Offenders: Comparing the Public Sector and the Private Sector
Currently, there is an emphasis in the juvenile justice system on restorative justice and accountability. One result of this philosophical shift is a more punitive approach to handling juvenile offenders such as utilizing more residential placement. Residential placement can be in the public sector (juvenile hall) or in the private sector. This paper compares the costs of placing juveniles in public and private facilities. Based on a sample of juveniles in a southern California county, analyses include comparing the economic costs of detention and placement in residential facilities as well as re-arrests and offender characteristics.
Countering Arguments by Militant Right-Wing Constitutionalists
The paper deals with countering the legal arguments made by militant right-wing constitutionalists, so-called patriots, and militia members. My research dealt with identifying the arguments raised by such individuals and the connection between those militant positions and racism, anti-Semitism, and mysogeny. I then researched the historical and institutional background of the established legal principles involved in the arguments and demonstrated that the militant positions on each issue were invalid. Instead of being legitimate legal arguments or theories, the arguments of the militant far-right simply turned out to be window dressing for hate ideology.
County Effects on the Disposition of Murder Cases
Prior research on prosecutorial discretion, adjudication, and sentencing has focused on the effects of defendant, victim, and case characteristics. These studies generally have not considered the influence of community context on legal outcomes. Using data on a sample of persons arrested for murder, in conjunction with data on the sociodemographic characteristics of the counties in which their cases were adjudicated, we explore whether county characteristics affect the likelihood of prosecution, the nature of adjudication, the trial outcome, and sentence severity. In addition, we examine whether county characteristics moderate the effects on these outcomes of victim, defendant, and case characteristics. Drawing on recent research on punitiveness, we hypothesize that legal sanctions will be more severe for murder defendants processed in communities with a relatively older age structure, a higher proportion of whites, a larger fraction of Protestants, a larger percentage of republicans, an imbalanced sex ratio, and those located in the south.
Court Consolidation/Court Specialization: The Kinder, Gentler Court System?
his paper examines the court consolidation movement in California and compares it to the court specialization movement as exemplified by drug courts, mental health courts, domestic violence courts and proposed ‘one family-one judge systems. Areas examined include philosophies, legal procedural issues for defendants, and budgetary issues.. The case of Terry v. Superior Ct. 73 Cal. App. 4th. 661 will be discussed as an example of the tension between therapeutic jurisprudence and defendant’s rights within specialized courts. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential challenges and possibilities for these seemingly divergent court styles.
Court Mandated Sex Offender Treatment
A national survey conducted in 1999 by the National Crime Prevention Council revealed that many Americans do not practice what are considered basic crime prevention strategies and techniques, despite a clear disquiet over, even fear of crime. This paper will compare the results of the 1999 survey with a 2000 poll asking the same questions. It will examine significant differences within and among the sampled groups and suggest theoretical and practical implications for teaching individual crime reduction strategies. The role of various forms of public education will be discussed in the context of individual action, community-based prevention strategies, and community policing.
Crack-ing Down on Black Drug Offenders: Testing for Interactions Between Offender Race, Drug Type, and Statute Charged in Federal Drug Sentences
An interaction between defendant race and drug type has long been argued to affect sentencing outcomes for drug crimes. Specifically, many assert that black drug offenders receive harsher sentences than their white counterparts merely as a function of the harsher penalties associated with the specific drug types with which they are involved rather than differences in the actual criminal and/or offense conduct. This argument is particularly strong in the case of federal sentencing, where large differences in the sanctions specified by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and Federal Mandatory Minimums exist fot the various drug types–especially for crack and powder cocaine. Such disparities are most notably exemplified by the alleged “black/crack” federal sentence disparity. The current study uses a data partitioning strategy to analyze the relationship between defendant race, speciic statute charged, and drug type net of other theoretically relevant factors. Our findings call into question previous assumptions regarding this relationship and suggest that defendant race “conditions” the impact of drug type in some statutory contexts but not others.
Creating a Paradigm on Collaborative Decision-making: Early Findings From the Safe Kids/Safe Streets Program
Goals of the Safe Kids/Safe Streets Program include developing more comprehensive justice system approaches, coordinating case management, and implementing comprehensive, community-wide strategies to combat child abuse and neglect. Sites are mandated to establish collaboratives with law enforcement, justice, child welfare, school, health, mental health, and community involvement to undertake system reform, fill gaps in services, conduct local evaluations, and develop public education programs. No clear paradigm for operationalizing such collaborations yet exists. However, early Safe Kids/Safe Streets findings concur with those of other programs, highlighting the need for lengthy planning, timely technical assistance, and balancing system reform and services provision. Many questions are still unanswered. Can programs bring the necessary players to one table? Can decision-makers transcend sharing single agency decisions and make cross-agency decisions that affect an entire system? Can collaboratives be expanded and sustained beyond a single initiative? What impact does such decision-making have? Westat will present midterm findings from the process evaluation and early findings from the impact evaluation on sites’ status in answering these questions, contributing to the development of the paradigm, and achieving the program goals. We will also examine the linkages among the decision-making structure, the activities implemented, and the impacts desired and achieved.
Crime, Collective Efficacy, and Neighborhood Change: A Multilevel Approach to Analyzing Neighborhood Trajectories
A long tradition of ecological research has documented the connection between crime and neighborhood change. Most of this research is based on ecological-level correlations between changes in crime rates and their structural predictors, such as poverty, poverty, family disruption, and residential instability. There is very little contextual research on crime and changing neighborhood environments that simultaneously controls for individual-level characteristics of crime victims and/or offenders. The proposed research uses multilevel modeling to examine individual- and ecological-level predictors of homicide in Chicago from 1965 to 1998 using data from (1) incident-based homicide data from police records, (2) victim-based homicide data from coroner reports, (3) survey-based contextual measures the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, and (4) contextual data from the US-Census.
Crime, Corporations and the ‘New’ World Order
For many commentators, the last quarter of a century has seen significant, qualitative shifts in the nature of international political economy, to the extent that there are claims from both right and left of a new world order. In this paper, we examine these shifts and claims, from the point of view of their effects on the nature and incidence of corporate crime and its effective regulation. Our particular empirical focu are Canada, the UK and the USA. We begin by setting out the key elements in the construction of a neo-liberal hegemony in general, before providing a critical overview of (various) globalisation arguments, attend in particular to the implications of various globalisation arguments for the ability or otherwise of states to “manage” national economices in general, and to regulate corporations in particular. Within this context, we consider trends in the incidence and nature of corporate crime in the “new” world order, particularly with respect to: de- and re-regulation in Britain, the USA and Canada, changing corporate structures and mergers/take-overs, and the “opportunity structure” for corporate crime. These considerations take place within a theoretical framework based upon Marx’s method in political economy as well as some more recent developments in Marxist theory. Finalloy, then, we consider the prospects for regulating more effectively corporations in contemporary capitalism.
Crime, Sex, and Commerce: Prostitutes’ Legal Consciousness
This paper utilizes interview data with female and male prostitutes in regard to their attitudes toward, and experiences of, law and social control. This data is used here to suggest a modification in the application of the concept of “legal consciousness” expounded by Sarat, Sibley, and Ewick, among others. This research supports the developing notion of “contextualized legal consciousness” proposed by Nielsen. Deviant behavior, especially criminally deviant behavior, may or may not result in negative or critical attitudes toward the entire legal system; to understand these attitudes, the individual’s experience with law and the legal system must be explored. Preliminary findings suggest that although most prostitutes may be opposed to the criminalization of prostitution, and that many have had negative experiences with law enforcement, their attitudes toward decriminalization, legalization/regulation, and law in general vary dramatically. This paper analyzes these findings in more detail, using the differences between female and male prostitutes to highlight the notion of “contextualized” legal consciousness.
Crime and Community in Rural Australia
The relationship between crime and community cohesion was examined through case studies of four rural communities which were differentiated according to their social, demographic and crime profiles. Residents’ perceptions of the incidence of crime and other social problems in their communities were examined. The extent of fear of crime amongst residents, who, or what residents blamed for crime in their community and factors that intervened between the success or failure of the communities to cope with crime were investigated. More cohesive and integrated communities experienced less crime. Their residents perceived fewer community problems and were move involved with overcoming social problems that occurred in them. Conversely, more fragmented communities had more crime and other social problems. Their residents were quick to identify blame with particular groups within the community.
Crime and Heavy Metal: An Analysis of the Geographic Relationship Between the Distribution of Heavy Metals and Crime in the U.S.
This paper examines the geographic association between the distribution of heavy metals and crime rates across U.S. counties. We examine this association to test suggestions found in the medical, biological, and, to a lesser extent, the criminological literature, connecting heavy metals to deleterious behavioral effects including aggression, IQ deficiencies, and attention deficits, which in turn have been used to explain criminal behavior. The analysis also addresses the distribution of heavy metals found to impact crime relative to racial characteristics of the U.S. population to assess the sociological component of the hypothesized relationship. The data for this study were drawn from the Environmental Protection Agency ‘s Cumulative Exposure Project, Census Bureau population estimates, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’ s Uniform Crime Reports.
Crime and the Minimum Wage
In this paper we consider the connection between crime and the labour market by focussing specifically on cases where changes in minimum wage floors provide substantial pay increases for low wage workers, thereby altering their incentives to participate in crime or work. We formulate empirical tests, based upon area-level data, which consider the extent to which the sizable pay increasees offered by inimum wage increases are able to reduce crime. Comparing area-level crime rates before and after minimum wage changes produces evidence in line with the notion that altering economic incentives for low wage workers can reduce crime. Our results show that crime was reduced in areas which had more low wage workers before the introduction of the national minimum wage in the UK in April 1999.
Crime as Coping Strategy: Aussiedler (Germans of Russian Descents) and Their Way of Dealing With Migration
The rapid increase of immigration in the past years of Russian-Germans led to considerable problems with regard to their integration. Especially young imimgrants show multiple difficulties to cope with their new environment and their adaptation to completely different political, economic, and psychosocial conditions. It is important to know which external and internal factors determine the social learning process of these adolescent immigrants in their new culture. Therefore examines this paper which of these factors facilitate the process of becoming an equal member of the German society or which lead to social exclusion and the commitment of crimes The results of this research are based on semi-structured interviews conducted with 40 incarcerated and 40 adolescent Russian-Germans in freedom.
Crime Films and Society
In recent years, road rage has become a familiar and high profile issue which frequently hits the news headlines. The media has regularly highlighted the phenomenon, reporting that it is now a widespread problem and one which is ever ‘increasing. This has been reinforced by the findings of surveys which ‘indicate that the vast majority of drivers have been victim to some form of road rage behaviour in the past. This paper reviews the current literature in the area and compares this with the findings of a media analysis on road rage and data from the most recent British Crime Survey. Information on the nature and extent of road rage, as well as a profile of the victims and perpetrators most likely to be involved in such incidents is examined. The paper concludes by exploring the extent to which incidents of road rage constitute a serious issue for the police, and considers the need for further work ‘in this area – both from a policy and a research perspective.
Crime Gun Trace Frequency as a Function of Handgun Sales Volume Among Federally Licensed Firearm Deals in California
Less than 1% of all federal firearm licensees account for more than half of all crime gun traces submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). However, it is not known whether a large number of crime gun traces simply reflects a large sales volume, suggests that a licensee is involved in diverting guns to the criminal market, or both. For handguns, and for California holders of federal firearms licenses, we will test the hypothesis that trace frequency is a function of sales volume only and is not related to other factors. ATF has provided trace data for 1999. California has provided sales data for 1997-1999. We will model licensee’s trace frequency in 1999 as a function of their average sales volume for 1997-1999. The main outcome measure will be the “crime handgun trace ratio,” the number of handguns traced divided by the average sales volume. Sales volume, licensee type (dealer versus pawn broker), location, and type of handguns sold will be explored as covariates. We will also determine whether high trace dealers have other attributes suggestive of scofflaw behavior: a shorter time to crime for traced guns, failure to obtain a required state license, residential location, and others.
Crime in the Courthouse: When Judges and Lawyers Become Defendants: Its Effect on the Administration of Justice
This paper will seek to analyze the growing phenomenon of Judges, Prosecutors and Defense attorneys who ran afoul of the law either by their involvement in unethical or criminal behavior: Particular emphasis will be given to those who engage in a pattern ‘of corrupt activities by giving and accepting bribes in order to affect the outcome of criminal cases. What impact, if any, does it have on the Administration of Justice, the perception of the judicial system by the public and the media’s role in reporting or unearthing those illegal activities? What role, if any, has the mob or other entities played in influencing judges and lawyers to put a price on justice? How has it affected the level of crime in particular communities and what has been the response of the Judiciary, the Bar, as well as Federal, State and local Government.
Crime on College Campuses
This article examines crime rates among institutions of higher education. A convenience sample of college campuses was chosen based on geographic, demographic, and academic characteristics. Crime rates were established from Part I Index Crime Reports submitted to the F.B.I. between 1995-1998. Results show a positive association between crime rates and the percentage of males on campus. In addition, a positive correlation is observed between crime rates and academic competitiveness of school. The paper considers variants of control and strain theory as possible explanations for these differences in campus crime rates.
Crime Policy Transfer: From the International to the Local
The awareness of the processes of economic, cultural and political globalisation has impacted on the sphere of crime control policy principally by drawing attention to the attempts to control a range of cross border crimes. These may include, for example, trans-national policies and partnership-policing initiatives to control illegal drugs markets, international terrorism, the smuggling of contraband and illegal immigrants. However, there has also been an international trade in ways of conceptualising and attempting to forge solutions to more prosaic, local volume crimes: routine acquisitive crimes and crimes against the person. Building on research in the UK on the local development of community safety policy, this paper explores how, in the context of the way that processes of globalisation have marginalised local areas and populations, trans-Atlantic transfer of policy analyses and solutions has influenced the direction of local crime control policies.
Crime Prevention: Perceptions and Practices Among American Adults
A national survey conducted in 1999 by the National Crime Prevention Council revealed that many Americans do not practice what are considered basic crime prevention strategies and techniques, despite a clear disquiet over, even fear of crime. This paper will compare the results of the 1999 survey with a 2000 poll asking the same questions. It will examine significant differences within and among the samled groups and suggest theoretical and practical implications for teaching individual crime reduction strategies. The role of various forms of public education will be discussed in the context of individual action, community-based prevention strategies, and community policing.
Crime Reduction: Intervention Work in Secondary Schools
Home Office research found that people who truanted regularly or were excluded from school were at least twice as likely to be offenders as other children. 98% of males permanently excluded from school (61% of females) and 75% of males temporarily excluded (48% of females) admitted to committing offences. Of those with no history of school exclusion, less than half the males and only 20% of females were offenders. As part of the British government’s Crime Reduction Programme, f 12 million was available for an initiative that focused on approaches for improving secondary schools’ management of pupils’ behaviour and reducing truancy and exclusion. The aim of this work is to improve our understanding of the links between truancy, exclusions and involvement in crime. One of the main outcomes of the project is to mainstream those practises that are the most effective in behaviour management and crime reduction. This paper will focus on the evaluative aspects of the programme and the early indications of what appears to be working in reducing truancy, exclusion, bullying and offending in secondary school children. The difficulties in linking changes in the behaviour in schools to declines in crime will be discussed.
Crimes Committed Under the Influence of Alcohol and Drugs
It has been suggested that alcohol and/or drug use promotes certain types of offending, such as assault. In contrast, it has also been demonstrated that some individuals moderate their alcohol and drug use in order to be in better control with committing some types of crime, such as robbery. Yet, few studies have examined acute incidents of alcohol/drug-related delinquency in community samples of youths. The purpose of this study is to describe the types of offenses that are committed while young males are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Six years of annual data are analyzed for 506 boys who were in the seventh grade at the first assessment. We examine the relative proportion fo each type of crime that is committed while using alcohol and drugs. In addition, we determine whether rates and proportions vary among persistent delinquents and in persistent drug users. Finally, we test whether intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental risk factors are related to acute incidents of alcohol/drug-related offending. The results are discussed in terms of various theoretical models that explain the drug-crime nexus.
Crimes of Emotion
Contemporary efforts to construct crime problems often focus on the offender’s deviant emotions. Thus, most hate crimes are standard criminal offenses (e.g., assault, vandalism) that are defined as more serious because they are motivated by prejudice or hatred. Other examples include the redefinition of dangerous driving practices as road rage, or of rape as motivated by hatred and a desire to dominate. While most criminological theories attempt to account for offenders’ motivations (e.g., deviant emotions played a central role in psychoanalytic interpretations of criminal behavior), these new constructions of crimes give emotion a central place in public debates over crime and criminal justice.
Criminal Activity Among Women Mandated to Drug Treatment: A Before and After Comparison
This paper presents outcome data from project WORTH, an evaluation study of eight drug treatment programs for women offenders in New York City and Portland, Oregon. The sample consists of over 1,200 women who were interviewed at the time they entered treatment. This paper is examines the criminal activity of a subsample of the women (N~900) who were reinterviewed at follow-up (i.e., one year after they are discharged from treatment). The analyses compare the women’s criminal activity after leaving treatment with their behaviors during the year before they entered treatment. Several measures of criminal involvement are examined. These focus on the frequency that various types of crimes were committed, the extent of criminal activity (e.g., crime days), and the amount of time the women were involved in crime during the year. Women who complete treatment are compared with dropouts. Because time at risk varies considerably among the women, comparing criminal activity is problematic (e.g., women who are at risk for a short period of time do not necessarily have the same opportunity to commit crimes that other women have). We address this dilemma from a methodological standpoint by creating crime measures that control for variations in time at risk.
Criminal Careers of Juvenile Frequent Offenders and Developmental Aspects
The, paper presents research data of an empirical study analysing the delinquent behaviour and the social background of 306 frequent juvenile offenders in East-Germany. The study compares cross sectional data of juvenile offenders who were at least within one year time three times arrested by the police with the longitudinal data of the official criminal records of these juveniles. The question in this study is whether the identifying of frequent or chronic offender after the police data is valid compared with the criminal records data. The criminal records revealed that 7% of the police arrested juveniles had no records at all and 13% had only up to two records in life period. Nearly 25% of theses frequent arrested juveniles broke off their career after the last police arrest (for this study) occurred. Looking at recent developmental theories in criminal career research with an emphasis on dynamic aspects the question is how the group of the persisters and the one who broke off their career differ from each other. Is the influence of social background factors like family and school problems stronger on delinquent behaviour or are the situational factors like risk taking behaviour or delinquent peers more important?
Criminal Courts in an Emerging Democracy: The Czech Republic
This paper will present an overview of the criminal court structure and process in the post-socialist Czech Republic. Additionally, preliminary results of extensive survey research will be discussed. The author will discuss the attitudes and dispositions of Czech court personnel as well as other criminal justice personnel concerning the role of the criminal court, the goals of the justice process, and the future of Czech courts. Other areas to be addressed include the specific roles of judges, prosecutors, and defense counsel in criminal court proceedings.
Criminal Disfranchisement and Voter Turnout in the United States
We consider how rising correctional populations and laws denying voting rights to convicted felons have affected turnout in national elections since 1960. By failing to exclude the disfranchised felon population from the eligible electorate in calculating turnout rates, official figures have overstated turnout decline and have misspecified shifts in race and gender differences in turnout. We develop a correction that estimates the extent to which the overall decline and the race and gender gaps in turnout are due to felon disfranchisement. Then we estimate turnout rates among the disfranchised population under a counterfactual scenario that restores their right to vote. These estimates are based on matching characteristics of the felon population with the electorate as a whole in the Current Population Survey Voter Supplement module. We conclude by noting how the disfranchised population’s recent growth has skewed analysts’ perceptions of changes in the relative participation rates of women and African Americans, and the implications of these changes for American democracy. Restrictions on ballot access diminish the eligible pool of poor male and minority voters by virtue of their overrepresentation in the felon population, reducing the incentives for parties to seek their support.
Criminal Fine Enforcement in the Israeli Criminal Justice System
Fines form an attractive alternative sanction and are increasingly used in recent decades. Efficient collection of fines has great importance since unpaid fines lack punitive value, and judges may lose confidence in fines effectiveness if difficulties with collection become apparent. In Israel, the collection of fines was until 1995 the responsability of the court. When an offender did not pay the fine, an arrest warrent was issued and enforcement depended on police ability to locate the offender. This was not highly successful and default rates flucture between 30% to 50%. The Center for Fine and Tax Collection and Execution was established in 1995. It is computer-connected with court and police databases and receives files of unpaid fines, where the offenders are not located. Steps are taken against the fine defaulter with precise follow-up and measures such as confiscation of the offenders’ property (including physical property, bank accounts, wages and investments). Application for an arrest warrant becomes only a last resort. Data indicates that the rate of fines collected was significantly increased since the establishment of the center and 90% of file closures were due to payment. Following the success of the center it is recommended that all fine collection activity, should be handled by the Center.
Criminal History and Firearm Ownership of Firearm Homicide Perpetrator
Objective: To link firearm injury surveillance data on the perpetrators of firearm homicide with criminal history information and to examine the frequency and nature of previous criminal activities of firearm homicide perpetrators. Methods: Utilize FirearmInjury Reporting System data (linked records from medical examiner/coroner, law enforcement, and state crime laboratory on all firearm deaths) and link with the Wisconsin Criminal History database from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, the Crime Division of Law Enforcement Services. Main outcome measures include: frequency and severity (misdemeanor, felony, violent etc.) of arrests. Results: In a preliminary sample of 28 firearm homicide perpetrators, 12 (43%) had prior arrests (range 1-7) and over half (58%) of the arrests were weapon, violence or drug related. In the homicide events, ownership was known for 16 (52%) of the firearms. Thirteen (81%) were owned by the perpetrator and 3 (19%) by a family member or family friend. In cases where firearm ownership was known for the perpetrator, 4 (25%) had prior felony charges.. Conclusions: Extensive screening for both pre and post firearm purchase for a wider range of prior criminal activity may be helpful in preventing firearm homicides. Policies addressing firearm access to these individuals may be warranted.
Criminal Justice and General Systems Theory
One of the major attempts at theory development in the area of criminal justice has been to describe the connection between the primary institutions (i.e., police, courts, and corrections) as an interdependent system. This paper assesses the degree to which these primary institutions operate as a system. Using central concepts of General Systems Theory (GTS), critical differences between the criminal justice “system” and regular systems, in terms of processing inputs and outputs and assessing completion, are described.
Criminal Justice Education in the New Millennium: An International Perspective
The past forty years has seen a flush of higher education in criminology and criminal justice in the U.S. Around the globe the growth rage has varied. The purpose of this paper is to examine the international scene, exploring the extent of growth of criminology and criminal justice education programs, characteristics of instititons, faculty, and students, curriculum content, the institutional consequences of the programs, and plans for the future. A survey of national representatives, expert rapporteurs, library and internet searchers will provide the diverse data sources. Analysis will focus on prospects for future coordination and collaboration facilitated by flexible work and study schedules, ease of transport, and technology.
Criminal Justice Education Today and Tomorrow: Full Academic Inclusion or Marginalized Existence?
There continues to be an ongoing debate within the literature and within the hallways of academia concerning the appropriate make-up of the “general education” curriculum, and the “place” that certain disciplines should occupy both within that curriculum and the larger liberal arts context of the college or university as a whole. Which programs and which courses need to be included in order to ensure our undergraduate students a “well-rounded education” has consistently bewildered even many of academia’s best minds. While resolution of the problem occurs everywhere (after all, most colleges do have mandated general education programs) the way in which that resolution occurs, and the reasons for decisions that are ultimately made, are often mysterious to both seasoned and unseasoned academic observers. This work focuses upon the criteria, both real and imagined, that propel some disciplines solidly into the general education curriculum (defined for these purposes as those courses which are required of all majors) and block others from entering that sacred ground. As an example, this presentation will specifically focus upon the author’s perceptions concerning the achievement of genuine “inclusion” of the discipline of criminal justice within the social sciences. Perceptions will be supported through an examination of the “place” presently occupied by criminal justice programs upon various campuses. By implication, as well as lesser examinations, the “place” of other less “traditional” disciplines within academia will also be considered.
Criminal Justice Internships: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
This paper will address the author’s experiences with arranging internships and supervising students’ engaged in such internships. An examination of successful measures used to enhance the student’s learning experience will be detailed and a discussion as to what difficulties may be encountered in the internship experience will be highlighted. The intent of the paper is to assist internship supervisors in providing students’ with an enjoyable and productive internship experience.
Criminal Justice Monitoring Systems: What About Injury?
Criminal justice data systems are assessed for their utility in examining youth violence- related injury. Focusing on the Uniform Crime Reports, the Supplementary Homicide Reports, the National Incident Based Reporting System, and the National Crime Victimization Survey, we address the unique strengths of each system, coverage gaps, and potential for injury surveillance and research. Specifically, SHR provides valuable data on characteristics of homicide victims, offenders and circumstances. Although UCR is limited in information on injury-related violence, NIBRS fills in these gaps with detailed incident information, but is not fully implemented nationally. NCVS offers the opportunity to quantify nonfatal injuries that are not assessed in other legal or medical databases and to examine how characteristics of the victim, offender, and incident are associated with injury outcome. However, this system does not include victims younger than age twelve and it is vulnerable to intentional or unintentional misreporting. Implications for surveillance and research on youth violence and injury are discussed.
Criminal Justice Students in the Year 2000: Are They Changing? Should Their Education Change, Too?
This paper stems from longitudinal survey research conducted annually on Criminal Justice majors at SUNY Brockport, a liberal-arts college in Western New York. Data gathering was conducted by two research assistants and the author of this paper, in the Spring 2000 semester and represents responses from N=184 undergraduate students. Fifty-three closed-ended questions comprise the survey. Although questions range from demographic information to their satisfaction with our faculty, I will focus the discussion of results on noticeable trends in students’ choices of future career and educational aspirations, gender differences and ethical issues involved in using students as research assistants and research subjects.
Criminal Offending During One’s Life Course: The Effects of Previous Offending and Patterns of Routine Activities
This study focuses on the effects of previous offending and patterns of routine activities on the risk of criminal offending of seven types of crime: sexual offense, assault, threat, burglary, personal larceny, car theft and bicycle theft. It is examined to what extent individuals who have once been an offender have a higher risk of subsequent offending and to what extent this relationship can be explained by a real effect of previous offending (state dependence) or by patterns of routine activities (heterogeneity). Where earlier studies usually tested these hypotheses by comparing persons over a one-year period, the present paper tests them by looking at the changes during the course of life histories. Data on marital, fertility, residential, educational, and employment histories indicating patterns of routine activities – were related to histories of criminal offending. These data derived from a nationally representative survey administered in the Netherlands in 1996 to 1,939 individuals aged 15 years or older. Logistic multilevel models were used in the analysis of the data. The results of the analyses suggest that the relationship between previous and subsequent offending is partly due to state dependence, but more largely to (unobserved) heterogeneity in the population.
Criminal Profiling–The Intersection of the Public Arena, the Media, and Law Enforcement
Criminal profiling has been of much interest since the late 1970s, despite its’ relatively limited applicability and significant usurpation of resources within the criminal justice system. It is suggested that the promotion of criminal profiling serves multiple purposes for the public, media and law enforcement. Drawing on an analysis of the social construction of serial crime, it is proposed that through media accounts of profiling, literature, and television depictions, profiling is presented as a necessary antidote to a significant social problem. The public perceives this antidote as necessary because profiling allows for the belief that law enforcement is dealing with the serial crime problem in an effective manner and thus fear of crime may be reduced while support for the police may be increased. The media supports profiling because it adds additional elements to ‘good’ news stories, at the same time the media serves to reinforce the public perception of profiling as a useful antidote. Finally, law enforcement uses profiling in various ways, including solidifying and legitimating its position as an agency of social control, and promoting the belief that only law enforcement can successfully solve the problem of serial crime.
Criminalizing Homelessness: Changing Police Practices Towards the Homeless in New York and San Francisco
This paper looks at the shift from professional to order-maintenance based policing in New York and San Francisco in the 1980’s and 1990’s. I argue that the emergence of widespread homelessness in these cities created a crisis in the professional model of policing, which relied on rapid response systems, random motorized patrol, and the use of specialized units to target major crimes. These methods were unable to adequately address neighborhood and business concerns about growing disorder in public spaces. They have been replaced by an approach based on the “broken windows” theory and its emphasis on restoring order through the aggressive enforcement of minor violations. Through the use of interviews and historical records, I describe how neighborhood activists, neoconservative politicians, and police executives came to adopt “broken windows” based policing as a solution to their various problems. Community activists viewed it as a way of restoring order to communities after the failures of urban liberalism to reduce the negative effects of homelessness. Police officials embraced it as a way of enhancing their profile relative to other city departments. Finally, neoconservative politicians used it to describe the crisis of neighborhood “quality of life” as one of homelessness and disorder, thus justifying decreases in social spending.
Criminologies of Catastrophe: Understanding Criminal Justice in the New Millenium
The closing years of the 20th century saw the circulation of many theories proposing that criminal justice and penality are undergoing radical transformation. The paper reviews the current status of three of these, concerned with ‘postmodern penality’, the ‘death of the social’, and the ‘risk society’. While each can be linked with recognisable and important changes, in general they have exaggerated the universality and impact of the transformations concerned. In part this is because they adopt frameworks of analysis that minimise the role of relational politics, and thus underestimate: the iimpact of resistance to change; the instability of programs and their tendencies toward hybridity; and the emergence of other, competing, transformational tendencies. Such theoretical schema need to be regarded more as resources for a politics of crime and penality, than predictions of catastrophic change and maps of the future.
Criminology, Harm and Pleasure
As abolitionists have established, notions of “crime” offer a peculiarly blinkered vision of the range of misfortunes, dangers, harms, risk and injuries that are a routine part of everyday life. If the criminological intent is to reveal the extent of social harm, then the concept of “crime” has to be rejected as its sole justification and object of inquiry. However, while the concept of harm is clearly capable of broadening criminology’s horizons and radically unsettling its traditional agenda, it continues to operate within a discursive frame of the negative. When we acknowledge that harm is not only a source of fear, but also a source of fascination and entertainment, we are faced with a quite different set of possibilities. The way we enjoy violence, humiliation and hurt casts doubt on the universal applicability of harm as always connoting trouble, fear, loss and so on. The pleasure in creating harm, or doing wrong or breaking boundaries is also part of the equation and neds to be thought through. This paper explores the possibilities and potentialities for criminology of fusing the concerns of European abolitionism with those of American cultural criminology.
Criminology and Criminal Justice Curricula: New Initiatives
This roundtable’s panelists will address a new direction for criminology and criminal justice academic programs. Proposed will be a move away from traditional “straight lecture” and in the direction of interactive, web-based formats. Examples will be offered of partnerships that have developed between academic institutions, agencies of criminal justice, and private sector.
Criminology and Public Policy in Australia and New Zealand
This panel will feature representatives of some of the main research centers in criminology in Australia and New Zealand. Panelists will discuss their respective centre’s main activities, its major successes, and difficulties which they may have experienced in contributing their research products to the process of developing and implementing policy.
Criminology as Peacemaking: An Examination of Three Salient Themes Within the Pepinsky and Quinney Reader
Within the Pepinsky and Quinney reader (1991), twenty chapters address the “Peacemaking Criminology” approach to crime and criminal justice. As this approach to crime continues to gain increased coverage in crime-related textbooks, the formulations of peacemaking criminology presented in the Pepinsky and Quinney reader have not yet been examined together as a foundation upon which to conduct further research and policy practice. The aim of this paper is to undertake such an examination of the Pepinsky and Quinney reader. Specifically, this paper analyzes each peacemaking criminology chapter in terms of three themes. These themes are: (a) types of crimes/harms drawing the attention of peacemaking criminology authors; (b) types of peacemaking frameworks/perspectives guiding the analysis of peacemaking criminology authors; and (c) types of peacemaking alternatives provided by peacemaking criminology authors to confront the social injustices underlying crimes/harms within today’s society. The paper concludes with suggestions about directions that peacemaking criminology might take in the future.
Critical Assessment of Restorative Justice Measures for Juvenile Offenders
Often, informality is claimed to be one of the cornerstones of the Restorative Justice Model. Formality and too many rules would hamper an easy participation and involvement of the young offender(s) and the victim(s). Nevertheless, the question arises whether this claimed informality should not be tempered in order to respect some fundamental human rights and procedural safeguards of the minors involved. Within this contribution we would like to assess some basic procedural safeguards like the need for proportionality, the right to legal assistance, presumption of innocence, etc.
Critical Criminology in Britain: In the Shadow of New Labour
The major development in Brtain for critical criminology has been the election of a new Labour government which has put crime control at the centre of its agenda and developed in a short period a series of innovative policy initiatives. These have produced a wide range of critique both from the ranks of critical criminologists and feminists. Not the least conundrum is that the crime control policies of New Labour represent a travesty of left realism. Crime is taken seriously, politicans promise to be “hard on crime, hard on the causes of crime,” control of anti-social behaviour (including racism) is prioritized and social policy is explicitly inclusionist. In fact in all of these areas there has been a conservative spin on the realist nostrums. The suppression of crime and druge use becomes part of an authoritarian populism. “Causes” of crime are interpreted managerially, zero tolerance policies are advocated and social inclusion becomes coercive and demeaning. The paper provides a critique of New Labour crime policies in that they misunderstand the social terrain of late modernity, are misguided in their easy advocacy of technocratic interventions and nostalgic in their conception of what is possible and desirable.
Critique and Accusation
This paper developes from the idea that criminology could usefully refocus its attention on lost images of crime; namely, as connoting practices of accusation and judgment. It will explore specific accusatory practices that ascribe identities of ‘criminal’ to particular subjects in various cultural settings (e.g. courthouses, the media, etc.), and indicate the changing contexts for such accusations. In so doing, I shall argue that criminology could usefully turn away from disciplinary judgements about the purported realities of ‘crime’, and focus instead on exposing the practices by which such ‘truths’ are established. This endeavor offers a way of critically challenging the current cultural obsession with using multiple techniques of accusation to entrench dominant identities.
Cross-Sex Correctional Supervision of Incarcerated Women
It has been a century and a half since pioneer women reformers in the United States began a fight to create separate femaole-only correctional facilities, largely in order to remove women prisoners from the supervision–and sexual abuses–of male guards. The separate women’s prison movement gained momentum through the end of the 1800s and early 1900s. By the mid-1900s it seemed well-established that women prisoners in the U.S. should be housed in segregated female-only facilities under female staff supervision, even if this meant shipping women across state lines to do so. In the last several decades, however, this practice has been completely altered by changes in occupational law which, ironically, were provoked in part by the equality concerns of female correctional workers. As a result, women prisoners in the U.S. today are once again highly likely to be under the supervision of mostly male correctional staff, and accusations of male supervisory sexual abuses are increasingly radically. This paper traces the history of this problem, its current dimensions, and its implications for correctional practice and women prisoners, and its possible solutions.
Crossed Boundaries/Mixed Messages: “Difference” and the Limits of Tolerance
Society sends mixed messages to those who are deemed “different”. On one hand, transgressive behaviour may be tolerated, particularly if that behaviour is carried out in the context of a set of normative identities. On the other hand, transgressive identity does not seem to be as readily tolerated. The lives of those who transgress social norms are likely to become exposed to intrusive forms of social control and intervention. This paper suggests that there is a powerful network of informal mechanisms for intervention that are not yet well understood. The agencies of the criminal justice system explicitly react to transgressive actions, and are constrained by the rule of law, due process and legal tradition. However it is suggested that the “law” also performs another more powerful and symbolic function in everyday interactions between individual actors. The law is invoked to justify the intervention of individuals into the lives and actions of those who have breached the bounds of tolerance. This process is explored in the context of gender-variance and gender difference.
Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Critical Reflections on Emerging Trends
European states in general and the United States in particular have recently engaged in the substantial increase in the level and degree of pain delivered to socially defined deviant populations. Penal regimes have been constructed cruel and unusual in their severeity; disproportionate punishment has become commonplace; while more people are now interred for an even greater duration of their lives. This paper is designed to contribute towards an understanding of this punitive turn. Substantively the paper outlines and will seek to substantiate two hypothesis about the relationship between violence and the modern state. These may be stated as follows: First, whereas the penal project that characterized modernity sought to conceal the relationship between state violence and dispositions connected with revenge and vengeance, the penal projects pursued by contempoirary states such as the US are increasingly motivated by precisely such punitive dispositions. Second, while modern states typically seek to conceal their relationship to engeance through distinguishing the violence they prosecute from illegal forms of violence, contemporary states now initiate forms of violence which mirror like a double the very violence they confront.
CSAT’s Criminal Justice Treatment Networks: Preliminary Systems-Level Outcomes
In FY 1996, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) funded the Criminal Justice Treeatment Networks (CJTN) demonstration program. CSAT envisioned that the CJTNs would develop comprehensive substance abuse treatment models that coordinate criminal justice agencies and substance abuse treatment providers, expand service delivery, and facilitate access to treatment with the goal of reducing costs and improving treatment outcomes. Four networks located in Phoneix, AZ, San Francisco, CA; Brooklyn, NY: and Philadephia, PA provide services to adult female offenders while they are still a part of the criminal jsutice system. In addition to impacting the lives of female offenders and their families, the networks have significantly affected relationships: (1) among criminal justice agencies; (2) among treatment and other service providers, and (3) across criminal justice agencies and treatment/service providers. The collaboration between these partners has impacted the success of networks. This presentation, drawing on a cross-site evaluation, will provide preliminary outcome data on the systems-level impact the networks have had on their communities. Data collected through focus groups and personal interviews, as well as individual network quarterly reports, will be used in this presentation.
Culpability vs. Immunity: Appraising Public Opinion of Juvenile Capital Punishment
Currently in the United States there is widespread support for the use of the death penalty for adults and a strong tendency to treat juvenile offenders with increased punitiveness. Despite these trends we know relatively little about public attitudes toward the use of capital punishment for juveniles. Based on a random sample of 600 Orange County, CA residents, this paper explores the attitudes of respondents regarding the execution of juveniles. The paper will focus on the minimum age at which respondents are willing to allow a juvenile to be put to death and the degree to which they would consider an alternative sentence of life without the possibility of parole. The influence of such factors as religiosity, political affiliation, race and age on attitudes will also be discussed.
Culturalization as a Technique of Neutralization: Police Officers’ Perspectives on Policing Domestic Violence in the Palestinian Community in Israel
The study addresses police officers’ views on policing domestic violence in the Palestinian community in Israel. Survey techniques were used to elicit responses from 345 police officers working in police stations which service areas with high concentration of Arabs/Palestinians. The results disclose the difficulties and the dilemma police encounter when they attempt to enforce the Israeli law against family violence and its presumed arrest policy in the Palestinian community in Israel. The resort to “cultural grounds” by the police to explain non-intervention is a technique to neutralize commonly used by the police to avoid responsibility for implementing the law. The study suggests that the law (mostly based on Western models of intervention in family violence) is inadequate in dealing with domestic violence within the Palestinian community. it calls for a coordinated approach among formal and informal agencies within the Palestinian community as a way to protect female victims, who are in grave danger once they report the abuse to the police.
Cultures, Subcultures, Memes, and Drug Epidemics
This paper presents a theoretical framework for understanding the emergence and spread of drug epidemics within the prevailing social context of human interaction. The paper starts with the classical perspective on culture as the “complex whole” and then expands this perspective in five fundamental ways: 1) Non-Conformity: some people do not conform to the central culture; 2) Multiplicity: more than one culture can exist simultaneously in a given time and place; 3) Mutability: cultures change over time; 4) Divisibility: cultural elements are bound into chunks that in most societies are not completely linked together; and, 5) Bi-Directionality: individual actions both produce and reproduce a shared culture. The framework derived conceptualizes subcultures as individual elements (values, symbols and conduct norms) that spread by means of symbolic interactionism and social learning mechanisms. This framework can alternatively be derived from the theory of memes (anything that is passed along by imitation). By examining both lines of reasoning, the paper attempts to link criminological theory with ideas receiving much attention in the fields of communication and socio-biology.
Current Trends in Community Delinquency Prevention Programming
This paper reviews current directions in community prevention programming related to juvenile delinquency and violence. Title V of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDP) of 1974, as amended established the Community Prevention Grants Program (aka the Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs). This program addresses and supports the prevention component of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP) Comprehensive Strategy. It is the only Federal funding source dedicated entirely to delinquency prevention. This program is founded on a research-based framework that focuses on reducing risks and enhancing protective factors to prevent youth from entering the juvenile justice system. A key program concept is the offer of funding incentives to encourage multi-disciplinary community teams to engage in community assessments and to develop comprehensive, collaborative plans to prevent juvenile crime. Local initiatives that are planned as a result of this program reflect the direction of current prevention programming. The prevention approaches are assessed vis a vis their utility in generating community-based prevention programming that is amenable to current evaluation needs and practices, the level of community buy-in, and ease of implementation.
D
Dangerous Liaisons: Legal Barriers to Inmate/Guard Relationships
This paper is an investigation and analysis of the current law dealing with the consensual relationships between prison employees and the inmates of those institutions. There are many types of relationships between prison employees and inmates, most of which are regulated by institutional policy and state laws. An analysis and comparison of state law shall be undertaken, with an emphasis on the diversity of definition and sanction for the behavior involved. The history of how different states have dealt with prison relationships shall also be explored to reveal the changing attitude of state legislatures toward this behavior.
Dealing With the Intersection of Substance Abuse and Criminal Justice Supervision Within Public Housing: A Family Focused Approach
Wolrking with individuals caught at the intersection of substance abuse and criminal justice supervision is often complicated by the issues that living in public housing introduces. This overlap is common, as demonstrated in the families that La Bodega serves, with over 70% living in public housing. This reality poses challenges to planners and policy makers, who have worked to reinvent public housing as a supportive and nuturing community. new initiatives emphasize a holistic approach to addressing the multiple issues that residents face. Central to this is an understanding of the realities that families dealing with substance abuse have to deal with, such as domestic violence, mental illness, HIV/AIDS, fear of government agencies and of reaching out for help because of potential criminal justice sanctions, shame and stigma of substance abuse, misconceptions of due process and their rights as residents (lease stipulations, probation, eviction) and language barriers. An understanding of the barriers to treatment as well as underutilized resources in the community and the family is essential to this holistic approach. The discussion will focus on the experiences of La Bodega and its advantageous position to straddle these issues. Further discussion will focus on what we’ve learned from working in partnership with government and community-based organizations.
Dealing With the Modern Terrorist: The Need for Changes in Strategies and Tactics in the New War on Terrorism
As the new millennium has arrived, so has the appearance of a new breed of terrorist, highly sophisticated in technological skills, sometimes motivated by political and/or religious beliefs and sometimes motivated by the monetary incentive to sell his or her services as a “mercenary”. This type made an appearance in the U.S. during the Y2K crisis, and, as if to use the Y2K crisis as a cover, appeared and then disappeared. Alluding law enforcement agents and security specialist, this type of terrorist ultimately created terror by the use of the terrorist tactic of hiding in the shadows, a tactic purposefully employed in an effort to generate anxiety surrounding the possibility of if, when and where he/she would strike. This paper examines how the rules of the game of dealing with terrorist has been crucially altered by the new breed and discusses how these rules will present new problems which, in turn, will necessitate the consideration of serious changes in the tactics and strategies employed by law enforcement agencies and governments as they carry their fight against terrorism into the future.
Declining Crime in New York City: Correlates and Causation
The causes of crime reduction in New York City during the 1990s remains a topic of considerable academic and political debate. Many believe that the New York City experience demonstrates that if a police department has a valid theory of action, is organized around that theory, and has strong leadership that keeps departmental activities focused on its core mission, police can have a substantial impact on crime. Detractors, on the other hand, argue that the drops in crime are the result of such factors as changing demography, changing drug use patterns, and/or the improved economy. The Manhattan Institute of New York is currently involved in a research project designed to provide a more definitive answer as to the causes of crime reduction in New York during the 90s. The project utilizes official data provided by the NYPD, as well as independent analyses of NYPD strategy meetings, interviews with police officials, and systematic social observations of police activities. This paper, which reports on this project, argues that changes in the NYDP have had a substantial impact on crime in the city, independent of any alternative explanations.
Dedicated Probation Elements in Domestic Violence Programs: Do They Make a Difference?
The Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies Program encourages jurisdictions to implement mandatory or pro-arrest policies as an effective domestic violence intervention that is part of a coordinated community response. STOP provides for grants to develop and strengthen effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to combat violent crimes against women. The Institute for Law and Justice (ILJ) is conducting evaluations of these programs that includes analysis of impact sites across the country. This paper will explore the probation element of these evaluations. The focus of the paper will be to address three questions pertaining to the effect of dedicated domestic violence probation units in two sites. First, has there been an improvement in the monitoring of offenders? Second, what has been the effect on revocations and reoffending? Third, has the implementation of a dedicated unit affected victim well-being? These questions will be answered using a combination of data collection, case-tracking, victim focus groups, and interviews with probation officers.
Delays in Discovering Wrongful Convictions in Capital Cases
Attention has been given to the long delays between death sentences and execution. Similar attention has not been given to delays in the discovery of wrongful convictions in capital cases. Recent news stories indicate that some prisoners spend many years on death row before their wrongful conviction is determined. This paper examines how long it takes for wrongful capital convictions to be established and for innocent prisoners to be released. This study uses data from the Prisoner on Death Row database of the National Criminal Justice Data Archive. It examines the entire population of persons sentenced to death between 1972 and 1995 to determine which prisoners were subsequently released as innocent, how long it took to obtain the release, and what factors are associated with delays in discovery of innocence. Analysis of the data indicates that for all persons wrongfully sentenced to death, it took an average of 5 years to obtain a release from death row. Delays in determination of innocence and release were associated with race, ethnicity, gender, and education of the offenders. African-Americans, Hispanics, men, and the less educated all spent more time on death row before the determination of their wrongful conviction and subsequent release.
Delinquency, Health Behavior and Health
Two broad opposite visions seem to have emerged from the recent literature on crime. A first view is that crime a fun, is pleasurable and is basically a normal response to problematic circumstances (Wood & colleagues, Brezina). In a different approach Gotttfredson & Hirschi argued that crime is a part of broader cluster of problematic and risky behaviors, and they emphasize the pathological aspect of crime, and its negative effects for the offenders. In this presentation we will explore the relationships between crime and other type of health related behavior as well as two global health outcomes; general health status and mental health. We will use data from a general sample of adolescents. Preliminary analyses show that crime is related to risky health behaviors, to as well as to health outcomes. Implications for theories on crime will be discussed.
Demarcating the Sexual Offender
The behavior of humans, whether acting alone or in groups, is complex and convoluted. The deviant behavior of sex offenders is no less confounding. Past research has explored sexual offenders on the basis of their personalities, juvenile criminal histories and victimizations, their lifestyles and social environments and their biological and psychological development. If appropriate sanctions and treatments are to be proscribed for these social deviants, then a greater comprehension of these offenders and how they relate to their environment must be undertaken. As of yet, there has been no attempt to synthesize all of these factors to create a more complete portrait of this type of offender. This paper attemps such an integration.
Democide, Genocide and Deterrence: Where Might the Right to Arms Have Made a Difference in Twentieth Century History?
The debate over guns and crime usually takes place within a context of ordinary private crime, i.e. does a stricter or more liberal regime of firearms regulation foster or inhibit criminal activities such as homicide. This paper seeks to expand the discussion concerning firearms and crime. The standard debate over firearms and crime obscures a far more significant criminological issue. The greatest crimes of the twentieth century were committed not by ordinary criminals motivated by rountine concerns of profit and passion. Instead the greatest crimes of the twentieth century were committed by governments, principally the large scale murder of civilian populations. Over 100 million people in the twentieth century died at the hands of the governments that ruled over them. Certainly this is a criminological concern–international law and the Nuremburg Trials established the legal principle that such actions are criminal. But can we integrate this discussion into the debate over firearms policy? This paper proposes that much of the debate over civilian firearems ownership and deterrence of crime needs to be brought into the discussion of mass murder by governments. it does so, in part through an historical examination of government sponsored mass murder, asking where widespread civilian armament might have made a difference.
Demographic and Attitudinal Correlates of Support for Life Without Parole as an Alternative to the Death Penalty
This study offers a comparison of demographic and attitudinal correlates for global death penalty support and support for life without parole (LWOP) as an alternative to the death penalty. The data used for this project were drawn from the 1995 National Opinion Survey on Crime and Justice. overall, 70% of the survey respondents favor the death penalty, however, support drops to 59% when LWOP is offered as an alternative to the death penalty. Further, the characteristics of those who change their position from support for the death penalty to support for the alternative of LWOP were found to be similar to the characteristics of those who are most likely to initially oppose the death penalty. Women, African Americans, Democrats, liberals and those with no religious affiliation, are the groups most likely to indicate they would change their position from support for the death penalty to support for the alternative of LWOP. As are those respondents who believe in rehabilitation, those who believe the courts in their area are too harsh and those who feel money should be spent on social and economic problems rather than on criminal justice issues. Finally, the findings are discussed in the context of current death penalty opinion research.
Demographic Methods for Comparative Studies on Violence and Crime
This paper is a report on the use for comparative quantitative evaluation of violent and nonviolent deaths in different areas of the Arriaga’s demographic method of years of life lost. Arriaga, Eduardo.: 1984. Measuring and Explaining the Change of Life Expectancies. Demography, 21(l), 63-96) . This method allows the analysis of mortality changes for each single cause (natural and violent) and sex and age group, as well as for all age groups combined, The number of years of life lost measures the impact of the change of mortality on the life of the population, as does the life expectancy at birth. We analyzed in several papers the rates of mortality from external causes, observing in homicide a major cause , for sex and age groups and the number of years lost due to violence for Brazil, the Brazilian Great Regions, and the States of Rio de Janeiro and SAo Paulo. Comparisons are made with other regions in Brazil, and Argentina. Over two decades, mortality rates in Brazil have shown deterioration for males in almost all age groups, but mainly for youngs, in contrast with improvements at different ages for females. This results are shown comparatively among the researched areas.
Demonizing the Victim: Public Order Crimes and Societal Restructuring
In this article the classic arguments of Edwin Schur and Thomas Szasz, will be merged to further our understanding of the cultural logic behind the process of criminalization of public order crime. By looking at what assumptions underlie the reasons people committing these offences attach to their outlawed behavior we can start to appreciate that their delinquent behavior has not so much to do with issues of morality but rather are a subtle and unpredictable outcome of society’s social, economic, political and cultural structure. This is exemplified by how instances of gang violence in the 19th and 20th century through society’s institutions become defined as ‘foreign evils’. By the ‘foreignization’ of everyday cultural practices of marginal sections of the population societies recreate the parameters of their own reproduction. Especially in Western societies this has meant that the capitalist mode of production turns the inequality producing aspects of its own system into the moral fault of the people it marginalizes. However the people most affected by this process can invert the stigma of deviant into a status enhancing practice amongst their own, thereby often leading to a further exclusion from mainstream society and a deeper involvement in a deviant life style.
Describing Illegal Gun Markets in Baltimore
This paper will provide a general overview of illicit gun markets based upon results from a study of gun markets in 6 U.S. cities. Drawing upon both analysis of data from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and interviews with law enforcement practitioners and licensed gun dealers, the study seeks to illuminate patterns in illicit gun markets through site-specific and cross-site examination of various factors. including characteristics of gun offenders and suppliers, methods of gun distribution, temporal and geographical aspects of gun distribution, types of guns commonly available and/or preferred in the markets, and the role of legal and criminal justice factors in shaping the markets. The study will explore commomalities and differences in illicit gun markets across a variety of state and local conditions and assess the implications of these findings for law enforcement efforts to track and disrupt illegal gun trafficking.
Designing and Implementing an Adult Restorative Justice Program: Hopeful Beginnings and Bureaucratic Resistance
A coalition of county justice officials in a medium sized county in a Northwestern state launched a plan to implement an adult restorative justice program. Focusing on non-violent offenders, it sought to involve offenders, victims, families, and community members in resolution of problems associated with an offense. The program sought to avoid jail, formal court action, and traditional prosecution, replacing the traditional system with community site councils staffed by neighborhood volunteers to guide offenders, community members and victims in a determination of the harm committed, to assign service and restitution, and to determine the needed assistance for offenders and their families. While the initial design of the program called for a fully restorative program, some members took actions to alter program design during its first iteration. However, as still other players entered and left the evolving program, an agenda for change emerged again, suggesting strategies to re-energize a program, and implement the original design by “groping along.” The paper concludes with observations on strategies for implementation by groping along and using mechanisms of side-payments, by-passing, competition, and “member flooding” all of which served to break down prior opposition and invite a restructured program more similar to the original design. The implications for innovative justice programs are discussed by focusing on program design and implementation strategies.
Designing and Mapping a Combined Police and Probation Database: A Preliminary Assessment of the Development Process, Applications, and Use
A 1998 National Institute of Justice Grant made it possible to develop and evaluate the use of a database combining data elements from the Maricopa County (Arizona) Adult Probation Department probationer database with selected data elements from the Phoenix Police Department’s records management system. A field experiment was designed to evaluate the use of GIS mapping applications of that database to support problem-solving approaches to crime reduction. This paper describes the database and its development, and use by probation and police officers. Specific mapping applications and preliminary evaluation findings are also presented.
Desistance and Persistance in Self-Reported Delinquency: Trajectories and Correlates in Young Adulthood
In the past years, the examination of life-course trajectories of delinquent and criminal behavior from childhood to adulthood has become increasingly prominent in criminology. Thereby, the more recent studies began to focus on patterns of behavior over time within individuals or groups of individuals instead of relations between variables in a given population. This person-oriented approach is applied to 184 males from the Oregon Youth Study. The study participants filled out the Elliott Delinquency Scale (Elliott et al., 1983) at twelve annual assessment waves (mean age at first wave = 12.85, SD = .41). Using a theoretical classification scheme, three trajectories of delinquency were identified: desisters (n = 45), persisters (n = 76) and abstainers (n = 63). Our next research goal is to inquire into antecedents and correlates of different trajectories in delinquency. In a first step, the three groups will be compared on a broad range of measures from the last assessment wave, that is, sociodemographics (e.g., education, employment status, marital status), social capital (e.g., risky neighborhood, perceived emotional support from partner) and indicators of maladjustment (e.g., substance use, depression). Preliminary results suggest, for instance, that the persisters live in more risky neighborhoods than the abstainers and desisters.
Desistance From Crime: An Exploration of the Impact of Adult Social Bonds and the Intersection of Gender, Race, and Class
The purpose of this paper is to examine desistance from criminal behavior taking into consideration the intersection of gender, race, and class. Using secondary data analysis, this paper draws from Sampson and Laub’s Crime in the Makin in its test of desistance. The influence of stable employment and marital relations on desistance is explored with the belief that these factors will have a differential effect dependent on the gender, racial, and socioeconomic status of the individual. In addition, the role of parenthood in the desistance process is explored. It is hypothesized that there will be not only gender differences in the effect of parenthood on desistance, but also race and class differences.
Detecting and Describing Intervention Effects in a Universal School-based Randomized Trial Targeting Delinquent and Violent Behavior
We examined theoretical, methodological and statistical problems involved in evaluating the outcome of aggression on the playground for a universal preventive intervention for conduct disorder. Moderately aggressive children were hypothesized most likely to benefit. Aggression was measured on the playground using observers blind to the group status of the children. Behavior was microcoded in real time to minimize potential expectancy biases. The effectiveness of the intervention was strongly related to initial levels of aggressiveness. Models that incorporated corrections for low reliability (the ratio of variance due to true time-stable individual differences to total variance) and censoring (a floor effect in the rate data due to short periods of observation) obtained effect sizes five times larger than models without such corrections with respect to
Detecting Non-residential Burglary
This paper reports findings from a study of non-residential burglary funded by the UK Home Office’s Policing and Reducing Crime Group. It is based on surveys of police officers and crime scenes, supplemented by secondary data, collected over 6 months in a major UK police force region. A wide variety of premises were burgled, only half of which were shops, offices, warehouses and factories. About a seventh of crimes were successfully detected using a variety of methods, the most important of which were catching the burglar in the act, arrests based on eye witness evidence, and using criminal intelligence to identify or target the culprit. Forensic evidence also played a significant role, while many cases were cleared up when offenders admitted responsibility when arrested for another offence. Nevertheless, there was a majority of unsolved incidents, discovered when workers returned to premises after the weekend or the morning following the crime, with little or no evidence on which the police could base investigations. In view of the considerable success in catching burglars at or near the scene, there appears to be potential to make inroads into these by making appropriate security adjustments and enhanced police patrolling.
Detection and Evasion in Screening for Substances of Abuse: The Effects of Common Substances on Urinalysis Screening Methods
Urinalysis testing is one approach used in the correctional system to detect inmate substance use. Institutions require samples after family visiting, as part of drug treatment, in the disposition of an in-prison drug related offense, or, when staff suspect an inmate is intoxicated. Furthermore, some states have implemented random urinalysis testing of their general inmate population as part of an attempt to decrease the availability to and use of drugs by inmates. Given that urinalysis testing is an integral part of drug control and treatment measures in the corrections system, urine sample integrity is important. This paper (1) briefly describes three urinalysis screening methods, (2) reviews empirical evidence for some commonly available substances interfering with screening tests, (3) details sample collection procedures to increase the likelihood of collecting valid urine specimens, and (4) describes laboratory procedures used to detect sample tampering. It is hoped that, through this paper, the reader will gain a rudimentary understanding of the vulnerabilities of screening measures and learn about urine collection procedures that help to thwart sample adulteration. Such information could be used to improve existing institutional urine sample collection procedures, or in the development of testing programs to deter drug use in institutions
Detectives, “High Profile” Cases and “Community Policing”: The Politics of Promoting a Positive Police Image
This paper explores the relationship between detectives’ decision making and the social construction of ‘high profile’ cases. This study further locates the significant influences within the context of ‘community policing’. The restructuring of police organizations brought to fruition as a result of ‘community policing’ initiatives is examined with specific attention given to detective offices. Some of the questions addressed are: How do these new ‘community policing’ initiatives affect detective work and impact decision making in criminal investigations? Which cases become prioritized and hence are socially constructed as ‘high profile’? And how do detectives define, interpret and understand their ‘occupational expectations’ that shape their social realities in case decision makings?
Determinants of Elderly Crime: A Comparison of the Effects of Race, Gender, and Family Orientation on Crimes of Violence, Property, and Substance Abuse
Crimes committed by the elderly, although currently not considered to be a crucial social problem, hold the potential of becoming a serious issue in the future. As the “baby boomer” age group reaches retirement, their size is estimated to become greater than 50 million. In light of the elderly becoming a significant portion of the overall population, the importance of research concerning criminal activity among this group becomes explicit. This study presents an overview of elderly criminality as well as an examination of theories of crime pertinent to this specific age group. This study also presents findings that compare the effects of race, gender, and family orientation on three separate types of crimecrimes of violence, property crime, and substance abuse offenses.
Determinants of Intentions to Commit White Collar Crime
This study examines the effects of variables that predict intentions to commit a hypothetical, albeit realistic, corporate offense. Survey data were collected from 156 MBA students, many of whom had previous business experience. Drawing heavily on Differential Association/Social Learning theory, independent variables included personal attitudes of the respondents, as well as their perceptions of the cultural climate in the corporation regarding such activity. Multivariate regression equations were estimated and a number of significant effects were observed. Estimated models explained almost half of the variation in intentions to engage in unethical corporate activity. Implications of the findings will be discussed.
Determining Level of Punitiveness: Issues of Identity and Diversity in Police Districts
Police departments, as public agencies, receive their mandate for social control from their constituency, and more specifically, from the voting population within their districts. Subsequently, officers determine the methods of crime control and order maintenance that will fulfill the law enforcement wishes of those voters. Applying Breit and Horowitz’s (1979) model of statistical discrimination to police officers, it is hypothesized that this identification with the voting constituency leads to a more sympathetic and conciliatory method of law enforcement with that segment of the district population. However, the further along the diversity spectrum a citizen falls from the basic demographic characteristics of the voting population, the less likely an officer is to identify with him/her, and the more forceful and punitive the method of law enforcement will be. Implications for officer training and educational requirements of recruits will be discussed in light of the research findings.
Determining the Appropriate Level of Policing for Cities
There are about 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States employing approximately 623,000 full-time sworn officers. Law enforcement is a labor-intensive industry. Personnel costs consume 85 percent of an agency’s budget. There is no standardized method for determining the optimal level of police protection for a city.
Determining the Risk of Partner Violence Re-Offending: A Validity Assessment
The risk of re-offending increasingly influences sentencing decisions in domestic violence cases. The efficacy of those decisions, of course, requires some method of accurately assessing risk. This paper presents preliminary findings bearing on the validity of a risk assessment instrument used by the court in four Colorado Judicial Districts in rendering decisions about the placement of male perpetrators of partner violence (N=1,696). The convergent and predictive validity of the Domestic Violence Screening Instrument (DVSI) is assessed with this sample of male perpetrators. Convergent validity is estimated through comparisons between the DVSI and another risk assessment instrument, the Spouse Assault Risk Assessment (SARA). Predictive validity is estimated through follow-up behavioral data based on victim interviews, case manager interviews, and official records checks. The findings suggest that the DVSI has moderate convergent and predictive validity. The implications of the findings for conducting risk assessments and using such information for judicial and case management decision-making are discussed.
Deterrent Effects of Formal and Informal Responses to Probationer Violations on Subsequent Violations and Final Discharge
Probation is currently the most widely used form of correctional intervention. It’s wide use has prompted many evaluations of its cost-effectiveness and efficiency in preventing crime and reducing recidivism. Studies of probationer recidivism, however, have primarily incorporated static measures as predictors of recidivism, such as the probationers’ crime characteristics orsocio-demographic characteristics, and have not controlled for process measures in their explanations of recidivism. Process measures would include such variables as the frequency of supervision, or the probation officer’s formal and informal responses to probationer violations. Using a probability sample of probationers from Michigan, this paper examines both the formal and informal responses of probation officers to probationer violations, specifically the relative effects of these interventions on future violations and on the type of final. discharge accorded probationers. This information will potentially inform probation officers of strategies that may better assist them in determining the types of intervention that can reduce the risk of future violations.
Deterrent Power of Youth Court: The Effectiveness of a Three Judge Tribunal Youth Court
Three-judge tribunal youth courts seem to reflect the more traditional juvenile court. The project focuses on the deterrent power of one three-judge tribunal youth court in New York State. In this paper we analyze the effectiveness of Youth Court for the first two years of its operation. Data were gathered from youth court records and client follow up surveys. We seek to determine which offense types, controlling for age, sex, race, fairness, and time between arrest and court appearance, have a lower recidivism rate.
Developing a Theoretical Framework for Research on Foster and Institutional Care
The disproportionate number of young offenders who have been in foster or institutional care is reproduced year after year in the prison statistics. In the UK about 38% of the young prisoner population have spent a period in care, compared to about 2% of the general population. Similar trends appear on an international scale. This paper seeks to consider how developments in modem criminological thought might provide a useful theoretical framework for research on foster and institutional care. To date, criminological theory and childcare literature have tended to exist in two separate intellectual and professional domains, when arguably developments in one area could be used to inform the other. The theoretical analysis will begin from the standpoint of criminological theories that emphasise the importance of attachment to the family and the social bond, and will then move on to the issue of continuities and discontinuities in antisocial behaviour over the life course. Life course perspectives are regarded as particularly valuable in providing a wider theoretical framework to inform research on care. With their emphasis on continuity and change throughout life, they demonstrate people’s potential to overcome previous psychosocial adversity.
Developing Trajectories of Delinquency: A Comparison of Several Techniques
There is a growing recognition that greater attention needs to be directed toward individual growth curves and the description and explanation of differences in intraindividual change. Thus, process-oriented techniques based on the concept of individual growth curves have gained in popularity. Observations of an individual across several measurement occasions are assumed to represent manifestations of a single growth curve and, thus, provide a description of individual trajectories of change across time. Recently researchers have been advocating the use of growth mixture modeling, which is a semi-parametric group-based modeling technique. The mixture model method allows for cross-group differences in the shape of developmental trajectories and is especially suited for identifying heterogeneity in types of developmental trajectories rather than assuming them. Several statistical packages are currently being used to run mixture modeling, with the two most popular being Mplus and Proc Traj. In this study we compare these two programs. We model self-reported delinquency trajectories using four waves of data from an accelerated longitudinal study of 481 males who were age 12-18 at Time 1 and age 25-31 at Time 4. The modeling programs are compared in terms of the number and shape of the delinquency trajectories that emerge. As well, we discuss the advantages and limitations of each program.
Development and Crime — A Reevaulation of Modernization and Opportunity Theories With Crime Data in China
This research tests several hypotheses about cross-national variation in rates of incarceration. These rival hypotheses include the level of violent crime in a society, the nature of criminal justice responses to crime, economic structure, levels of social development, demographic composition as well as type of political system and cultural values. The findings support several of these hypotheses, and suggest that the effects vary by level of economic development.
Development of Educative Treatment in Juvenile Training Schools in Japan
By using formal statistics and the historical materials, I’ll analyze the development of educative treatment in juvenile training schools under the rehabilitation model after the enactment of a new Juvenile Law in 1948. Around 1950 juvenile training schools were too overcrowded to control their inmates. In addition, many juvenile offenders were confined in juvenile prisons. However, juvenile prisoners decreased soon, as most juvenile offenders were adjudicated at the family court under the new Juvenile Law. Until 1966 the annual total number of juveniles admitted to juvenile training schools amounted to over 8,000. However, after the baby-boomers became adult, the corresponding number decreased drastically. In 1974 it declined to 1,969. Then, to recruit more juveniles, juvenile training schools introduced the short-term treatment program. Juvenile training schools have improved the individual educative program for their inmates.
Development of Sanctions Severity in Criminal Careers
The paper presents the key findings of a project that aims at evaluating the practices of sanctioning in a sample of multiple registered persons. it is sought to analyse the development of sanctions in such “registration careers”. The longitudinal data of the Freiburg Birth Cohort Study gives the rare possibility of describing ad analysing the course of sanctions on an inter- as well as intra-individual basis. Linking the data of the police and the courts allows a nearly complete description of a person’s official career. in addition to the comprehensiveness of a single person’s set of formal as well as informal sanctions the mentioned sources provide enough cases for a thorough quantitative analysis. It is possible, therefore, to address questions like that of an escalation of sanctions or the dependence of the course of sanctions on different variables like type of first sanction, socio-demographic characteristics, damage caused etc. in such an official career. Because of the long period covered by the project it will be feasible to state and compare the development of sanctioning in juvenile as well as adult offenders. Furthermore, variations following the transition from the juvenile to the adult system of sanctioning can be described.
Development Trajectories of Violent Delinquency: A Joint Model of Parental and Peer Influences During Adolescence
The present study examines family and peer influences on adolescent violent behaviours using data from the Montreal Longitudinal Study. Growth Models suggest that different trajectories of parental practices (monitoring and coercion) and of peer delinquency are associated to the multiple trajectories of violent delinquency. Preliminary analysese suggest strong association between peer delinquency, monitoring, coercion and violent delinquency trajectories. Qualitative and quantitative aspects of the trajectories derived from Latent Class Growth Analysis will be discussed in the light of theories on delinquent peer selection.
Developmental Prevention in a Community Context
Developmental prevention involves intervention early in developmental pathways that lead to crime and related problems, emphasising investment in “child ftiendly ” institutions, communities and social policies and the manipulation of multiple risk and protective factors at different levels of the social ecology and at crucial transition points, such as around birth, the commencement of school, or the move from primary to high school. A major challenge is to implement in disadvantaged communities a package of evidence -based programs that influence multiple risk and protective factors, but in a way that not simply involves but empowers local residents and changes developmentally relevant institutions and social policies. In this paper I outline a series of steps for designing a community-based prevention program from a developmental perspective, and illustrate them by reference to the development of a prevention project in a disadvantaged community in Brisbane, Australia. The focus of this project is the transition from family to school. The goals are to build community capacity through the empowerment of children and their caregivers, enabling them to participate more effectively in preschools and schools and the wider society; and the development of more inclusive, child-friendly preschools, schools, neighbourhoods, community services and social policies.
Developmental Test of the Deviance Syndrome With Adjudicated Girls and Boys Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Many studies have proposed that various deviant behaviors are part of a latent construct now labelled “general deviance” by criminologists or “problem behavior” by psychologists. However, no studies has tested the existence of this syndrome from a developmental perspective. We will conduct our test with longitudinal data on onset. We will use an adjudicated sample to increase the participation rate for deviant behaviors that are infrequent. In addition, we will perform the test for girls and boys. The results of confirmatory factor analysis (EQS) support the presence of a construct of general deviance with longitudinal data.
Developmental Trajectories of Physical Aggression From School Entry to Late Adolescence
This study explores the linkage between trajectories of physical aggression in childhood and adolescence. It also extends the semi-parametric, group-based method described in Nagin and Tremblay (1999) and Nagin (1999) for identifying and analyzing developmental trajectories to permit the estimation of trajectories for repeated measures of two different response variables – physical aggression in childhood as measured by teacher reports and physical aggression in adolescence as measured by self-reported violent delinquency. This new method is applied to a large sample of males from Montreal who have been tracked since age 6 years old.
Deviance Among Athletes: An Integrated Conceptual Model
The relationship between ‘involvement in athletic activity and various forms of deviant behaviors is complex. Prior reasoning , as well as empirical findings, have offered support for both positive and negative relationships. The findings have varied according to types of athletics as well as demographics of the participants. Moreover, explanations for observed and presumed relationships have been rooted in a vast array of theoretical frameworks including control, learning, strain, labeling, biological and personality theory. This paper will examine prior research, theoretical lines of reasoning and research issues relevant to developing an integrated theoretical model for the examination of the athletics/deviance relationship. This will serve as the first stage of a pending research project. Instrument development, and possible preliminary data, will be included in the presentation.
Diagnostic and Treatment Implications of the California Youth Autholrity Ward Treatment Needs Assessment Validation Study
This presentation will address the diagnostic and treatment implications of the California Youth Authority’s Ward Treatment Needs Validation study partially funded by a National Institute of Justice grant. A large sample of youthful offenders was initially assessed by the TNA screening battery during their intake process at one of the CYA’s three reception centers. After six months or more in program the subjects’ medical and behavior records were reviewed. These records included reassessments using the screening battery and results of an in depth clinical interview. The follow up data was examined in comparison with the intake results, as well as providing a mental health cross section of our current population. Of particular interest are those wards who exhibit features of DSM IV Axis I diagnostic categories reflective of significant mental disorders. These are symptom constellations that need professional treatment services. The department is currently providing a number of services in these areas, and is actively pursuing funding for additional resources in order to make more treatment available. The results of the study, their treatment implications, and the success of the departments quest for additional resources will be discussed.
Different Models of Policing Paedophiles in the Community: A British Experience
This paper explores the different policing styles and techniques adopted by British Police to detect and investigate paedophiles within the community. Drawing upon empirical data from research conducted in both Metropolitan and Provincial police forces, it produces three ideal-typical policing paradigms that are applied specifically to intra-familial, extra-familial abuse and paedophile activity on the Internet. The ideal-typical model of policing intra-familial abuse can be linked to police as agents of social control. It directs attentions to the concept of community policing, in that it relies on members of the community reporting cases of abuse to the police. The second ideal-typical model focuses on extra-familial abuse and illustrates a pro-active policing technique that relies upon modes of surveillance. Finally, the police response to policing paedophiles on the Internet will be evaluated. These three types of police investigation will be examined in light of recent legislation, in particular, the Sex Offenders Act. This legislation demands that the police develop risk assessment and risk management strategies in order to police and manage paedophiles effectively within the community.
Differential Exposure and Vulnerability to HIV Infection Among Drug Involved Offenders
A major risk group for HIV infection is drug-involved offenders. Not only do they have much higher than average rates of injection drug use, but also higher rates of risky sexual behaviors and combinations of both drug and sexual risk behaviors. This paper examines a sample of over 1,700 drug-involved offenders about to be released from prison in Delaware. Though not a random sample, the sample is quite representative of drug-involved prisoners in Delaware. First, we describe demographic, criminal history, drug history, sexual behavior, and seropositivity characteristics of the sample. Then, we examine predictors of seropositivity in a stepwise logistic regression model. Finally, we decompose logistic regression results into components of exposure and vulnerability to HIV infection. Discussion centers on the implications of relative risks to different groups of prisoners.
Differential Perceptions About the Benefits of Drug Court: Client Recruitment Difficulties in a Research Project
A study examining the influence that drug courts have in motivating treatment retention and post-treatment success for drug-involved offenders began one year ago. Recruiting diversion program clients has been unexpectedly difficult, even with the assurance of state and federal confidentiality, payment up to $100 and a chance for their opinions about their drug court experiences to be heard. Previous studies of drug courts have focused on client outcomes such as recidivism rates and thus have not required client participation, only official record checks. Moreover, the few studies which do examine participant perspectives recruit samples of clients who have successfully completed drug court programs. Thus, there is sparse information available on clients who do not complete drug court programs and even less on clients who refuse to participate at all. This paper discusses the perceptions that drug court offenders have about their treatment needs, their “choice” to enter the drug court program, and their reasons for participating (or not) in our project. We present demographic data on all clients asked to participate in the study. We also present anecdotal information from the drug court judges, the treatment providers and the clients themselves regarding their perceptions of the drug court experience.
Differential Seat Belt Enforcement: A Multi-Jurisdictional Study
Over the past decade, many states have either passed a mandatory seat belt law or upgraded existing laws to primary enforcement (where an officer may stop a vehicle solely for seat belt non-compliance). Observation studies show that states that have primary enforcement law consistently achieve higher seat belt usage rates than states that do not. Despite this positive evidence, however, questions have been raised as to whether seat belt laws, particularly primary seat belt laws, are being differentially enforced by race. This project focuses on two jurisdictions in states that have recently enacted primary enforcement laws. In addition to statistical analyses, we use geographic information systems (GIS) to address the following questions: Do patterns of enforcement change with the implementation of primary seat belt laws? Is the racial composition of an area related to changes in enforcement patterns? Are minorities more likely than other groups to be subject to seat belt enforcement? Our findings will be discussed along with their policy implications.
Dimensions of Patrol Officers’ Performance and Behavior: Conceptualization and Measurement
In this paper we synthesize lines of basic and applied research on police behavior and police performance to specify behavioral constructs that are of both theoretical and practical significance, and we analyze data collected through systematic observations of officers on patrols to examine the properties of various measures of the constructs. Implications for theory construction and for applied inquiry are discussed.
Direct and Indirect Effects of Pubertal Development on Delinquency: A Life-Course Approach
Environmental influences on behavior have been a primary focus of research on adolescent delinquency. In particular, criminologists have found that the amounts of time adolescents spend with parents and peers are important factors that influence the propensity of youths to get into trouble. Now, there is an increasing awareness of the need to consider how developmental and social factors interact to condition delinquent and antisocial behavior. The paper employs a life-course perspective to address this issue. Using contractual data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), the project examines the direct effect of adoelescent sexual development on delinquency. The research also explores whether pubertal status exerts an indirect effet on delinquency by conditioning the influence of parents and peers on adolescent law-breaking behavior.
Discretion and Suspicion in Police Stops and Searches of the Public
Police use of legal powers to stop and search people has been a source of public debate for the last twenty years in Great Britain. This has focused on its disproportionate application to certain sections of the population, identified in surveys of the public and official police records. Drawing primarily on qualitative data from interviews and observations of police patrol, the paper examines this issue by exploring how police officers make decisions to stop and search. In doing so the paper focuses on how officers identify ‘suspicious’ individuals and activity, and how this relates to decisions to search; and how officers develop and formulate ‘grounds for search’; and profile the main ‘drivers’ of decisions to stop and search. Differing concepts of suspicion, identified in previous research, are explored in this context. The paper also examines the importance of discretion in police use of stop and search. It discusses a distinction between searches driven by information from other sources, such as public calls for service, (low discretion) and searches generated proactively by officers (high discretion). Any differences in police decision-making between these cases, focusing on officers’ development of suspicion and their use of discretion, is also explored.
Discrimination Without Prejudice: The Systemic Production of Discriminatory Outcomes
The criminal justice system regularly produces outcomes that are unequally distributed on extra-legal variables such as race, gender, and class. Explanations of these outcomes usually focus on the unequal criminal activity by offenders and/or prejudicial attitudes (from subtle and unintended to overt and conscious) by criminal justice agents. In this paper, we argue that some routine criminal justice activities tend to produce this unequal distribution of outcomes on non-legal variables even in the absence of differential criminal activity and prejudicial attitudes. As prejudice in criminal justice agents is reduced, it will become more important to focus on these systemic sources of discriminatory outcomes. After describing a range of activities that result in discrimination without prejudice, the paper focuses on the policy implications of how to respond to this situation.
Disparities in Federal Criminal Justice System: Examining the Factors Leading to Differential Outcomes by Race and Judicial District
Between 1986 and 1998, the difference in the amount of time that black and white offenders entering Federal prison could expect to serve before first release increased from 8 to 37 months. We also find, through a 3-way decomposition of sentencing disparity, that, by 1998, the relative importance of race in contributing to overall disparity in sentencing increased three-fold while the importance of Federal judicial districts remained flat and disparities across offenses types declined. This paper uses data to describe case-flow from arrest through prison admission and standing population to identify the specific sources of disparity in criminal case processing. It also presents data on indices that compare disparities betwen Federal judicial districts, races, and types of offenses and that conclude that disparities between races have increased more than disparities between districts or by offenses. To examine sentencing in more detail, the paper also presents results from regressions of sentencing decisions that control for racial differences in the characteristics of persons sentenced. These models show that much of the difference in sentencing across race is due to differences in offenses, with variations in tje mode of disposition and criminal history scores also contributing to the overall differences across race.
Displacement and Diffusion of Crime Control Benefits: Observations From a Controlled Study
Crime displacement and the related problem of diffusion of crime control benefits have generally not been a primary subject of empirical study. Most evidence about displacement and diffusion comes as a byproduct of study of something else (the direct effects of crime prevention strategies). This fact has hindered investigation of these phenomena, and has created important gaps in our understanding of the reliability of measures of displacement and diffusion. We report on a controlled study in which police strategies were implemented within specific geographic areas (crime hot spots) during specific time periods in order to measure potential displacement and diffusion effects. Three areas were examined representing property, violent and consensual offenses. Data collection included ethnographies, citizen surveys, official crime data, social observations, interviews and physical observations. We report on our overall findings regarding the magnitude and types of displacement and diffusion impacts observed. We also develop a model for understanding displacement and diffusion in the context of crime hot spots.
Disposition of Felony Cases in California by Race of Defendant
This paper examines the disposition of felony cases in California according to the race and ethnicity of the defendant. The data used for this study was obtained from the Criminal Justice Statistics Center of the California Department of Justice. The analysis is based on two types of sentencing information: a broad sentence classification (e.g., prison, jail, probation) and the type of sentence (e.g., felony sentence, misdemeanor sentence) handed down for each conviction. Available sentencing information was ranked in order of severity. Chi-squared analyses of this categorical data revealed that Caucasians were more likely than Blacks or Hispanics to receive sentences of lesser severity, and less likely than Blacks or Hispanics to receive the most severe type of outcome. However, many of the differences in sentencing observed among these racial/ethnic groups disappear when the defendant had some kind of prior record, especially a serious one. Still, Caucasians were significantly more likely than Blacks or Hispanics to have their cases dismissed or be acquitted when they had no prior record. An alternative model for this study is proposed that utilizes a new methodology for classifying and analyzing sentencing data.
Disproportionate Minority Confinement Program
This paper describes the implementation of the Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC) pilot program in Oakland and examines some of the issues related to that implementation. The DMC program was in operation in Oakland between January 1, 1996 and September 30, 1999. It was designed to provide services to African American juvenile parolees who are over-represented in the California Youth Authority’s (CYA) institutions. The services were intended to increase the parolees’ chances to succeed during their parole phase and avoid their revocation. About 80 African American parolees received residential and care services for three months at the Allied Fellowship Services (AFS) group home in Oakland. AFS, a Community-Based Organization (CBO) in Oakland, entered into an agreement with CYA to provide nine core services to DMC parolees referred there. These core services included group and individual counseling, substance abuse counseling, workshops in life skills, employment, and victim awareness. In order for the DMC participants to graduate, they were required to stay 90 days in the program. This report focuses on difficulties encountered during program implementation, problems related to data collection and record keeping, and offers recommendations which may help increase program participation and graduation rates.
Disputatiousness, Aggressiveness and Victimization Amongst Street Youth
Research indicates that violence often evolves from character contests in which participants attempt to save face at each other’s expense. These contests are said to be situated transactions which exhibit common patterns of escalation that often produce negative consequences for at least one of the participants. Utilizing a sample of 125 male street youth, the paper examines how childhood victimization, homelessness and violent cultural values influence perceptions of conflict and escalation of disputes. Further we explore how situational dynamics and interactional properties of violent transactions contextualize disputes and how these various factors come together to increase the risk of violent victimization in the street youth population.
Disrupting Illegal Gun Markets in Boston
Problem-oriented policing holds great promise for creating a strong local response to illicit firearms markets. This adaptable and dynamic approach provides an appropriate framework to uncover the complex mechanisms at play in illicit firearms market and to develop tailor-made interventions to disrupt the gum trade. Our earlier research on illegal firearms markets in Boston revealed the importance of a flow of semiautomatic handguns recently diverted from retail in both Massachusetts and southern states. In this paper, using qualitative and quantitative research methods, we present a more differentiated picture of the illegal gun trade. In particular, we will decompose Boston’s market along three dimensions: pathways of illicit firearm trafficking, sources of firearms, and criminal consumers of illicit firearms. This results of this research provide a better basis on which to recommend a set of methodologies to analyze local illegal gun markets and suggest gun market disruption interventions tailored to the different sources and criminal consumers.
Distinguishing Between the Criminal and the ‘Crazy’: Decisions to Arrest in Police Encounters With the Mentally Disordered
When police officers encounter persons who appear to be mentally ill, they must select from among a limited number of options for disposition, with arrest being one alternative-the most restrictive one, and the one with the greatest negative impact on the offender. From an objective standpoint, clear criteria exist for determining the most appropriate disposition in these incidents, with arrest the expected outcome for serious crimes even if the individual appears to exhibit symptoms of mental illness. In practice, however, few of the cases police handle involve serious crimes; and where offending behavior involves minor infractions of the law, officers must use their own discretion and judgement in deciding on a disposition. The current study examines officer’s subjective accounts of their encounters with mentally ill persons. Identifying common features of those incidents that ended in arrest. Data are taken from partially-structured interviews with Cleveland, Ohio police officers. Findings reveal several common features of those cases where an arrest was made. While over half of offenders were described as violent, and over half were described as under the influence of alcohol or drugs, neither circumstance was sufficient to lead to an arrest. Where officers relate both circumstances, however, arrest was the most frequent outcome. Other circumstances that differentiated between those arrested and those who were not were third party involvement; homelessness; and threat of harm to self.
Diversity, It’se a Two Edge Sword for the Police
The purpose of this paper is to deal with the subject of diversity in police work today. Diversity offers within our culture both opportunities and problems for the police in general. The richness of a heterogeneous culture such as ours has been the example for the world to follow. But it also posses some difficult challenges to policing and law enforcement in particular. As our society in qeneral becomes more diverse, the possibilities of friction between differing cultures, religions and norms, can only increase. Can the police cope with this phenomenon, especially when confronted with a multitude of different languages and life styles successfully? Included are both instances of conflict in the realm of criminal law and social customs as well as problem solving techniques for the police to use.
DNA Evidence Testing: Privatization: What is the Cost?
When a computer discovers the identity of a killer or rapist by matching DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) from blood, semans, or saliva left at a crime scene with a DNA profile in a database, nothing seems to beat what forensic scientists call a “cold hit” – a criminal fingered by his/her own genes. As of June 1998, all 50 states passed legislation requiring convicted offenders to provide samples of DNA.
Do Police Unions and Police Chiefs Really Disagree About Community Policing? Results From a National Study
This paper reports the results of a recent national survey of police chiefs and police employee organization leaders concerning community policing. Focusing special attention on the nature and extent of areas of disagreement concerning community policing, this paper also explores correlates of disagreement about community policing.
Do You Want to be a “Thousandaire”?: Some Considerations in the Preparation of a Successful Proposal to the NIJ Data Resources Program
Because of the nature of the NIJ Data Resources Program, there are some special considerations that are associated with successful proposals. This presentation provides two points of view on some of those considerations and suggests ways in which future research proposals might be strengthened.
Does Parole Matter? The Changing Nature of Parole in the United States
Our nation has made a fundamental shift from indeterminate to determinate sentencing. Discretionary parole release, the primary prison release mechanism prior the 1970’s, has largely been replaced by mandatory prison release. For those on the left, the impetus for this shift was equity. For those on the right, the impetus was to increase sentence lengths without negatively impacting recidivism. The “tough on crime” tenet has remained, and across the nation, jurisdictions have passed progressive “tougher” mandatory sentencing laws since the 1970’s. However, no empirical data has been sought to determine what effect, if any, sentencing structures have on length of time served and recidivism. Using nationwide data compiled from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP), this study addresses these questions. From our analysis, it appears that “tough” sentencing schemes have not delivered what they have promised. Across jurisdictions, those released via discretionary parole decision served longer sentences and were more likely to successfully complete parole than those under mandatory structures. This has profound implications for future research in this area, including a strong recommendation for replication studies, actuarial research, and program evaluations. In the future, we must determine what combination of offender and parole supervision characteristics are most promising and focus our release efforts there, while retaining in custody the truly dangerous offenders that mandatory schemes have failed to manage.
Does Pennsylvania’s Motivational Boot Camp Program Reduce Recidivism?
Pennsylvania’s Motivational Boot Camp was established with the intent of reducing prison overcrowding while providing an alternative program of rehabilitation that would lead to a reduction in crime. As offenders are, on averag,e serving about one year less in Boot Camp [which is a six-month program] than they would in prison under their original sentence, the program has accomplished one of its objectives by contributing to a reduction in prison crowding. However, the succeess of the second objective, reduction in recidivism, is less clear. Our previous research findings have been mixed with the recidivism rate of Boot Camp graduates being fairly stable at around 32% while that of the prison releasees has varied from 43% to 33%. This paper presents the findings from our current research, which improves upon our previous efforts in several ways: 1) uses more measures of recidivism [arrest, conviction, return to prison, and parole violations], 2) includes more control variables [e.g., more detailed prior record information, risk assessment score, substance abuse, and work status], 3) involves a larger sample [about 500 boot camp graduates and 500 prison releasees], and 4) provides a longer follow-up period [2-3 years depending upon the release date].
Doing Feminist Criminal Justice Policy Analysis: A Conceptual and Methodological Toolkit
Although women are offenders, victims, criminal justice agents, faily members, and community bystanders, criminal justice policy is rarely considered to be a “women’s issue.” At first glance, thirty years of “get tough on crime” policies appear to be either gender blind, gender neutral, or beneficial to women. In fact, these reforms contain significant hidden costs paid disproportionately by women. Feminist analysis reveals the negative consequences for women of these policies. This paper presents the justification and method for analyzing criminal justice policies from a feminist perspective.
“Doing Gender” on E: Drugs, Dance and the Social Construction of Gender
Based on a study of over one hundred interviews with Ecstasy users as well as a range of observational visits to dance clubs, this paper examines the ways in gender is constructed on the dance scene. Drawing from the work of James Messerschmidt and other recent writings on gender, this paper will explore the relationship between Ecstasy use and constructions of masculinity, femininity and sexuality. The paper will cover a number of issues including gender, drugs and “style”; gender, drugs and physical appearance (including some discussion on drugs, dance and dieting); gender and social relationships with those involved in the drugs “scene” gender, Ecstasy and sexual behaviour and Ecstasy and the construction of sexuality.
Doing Research in Difficult Places: A Suggested Methodology for Qualitative Research in Prisons
Troubled identities are neglected research subjects, except in quantitative or case tudy approaches which assume pathology in the identity under scrutiny. Troubled identities pose a challenge for qualitative research, partly because of the prevailing penal or medical settings, with all their attendant inhibitions and constraints. Using the example of some qualitative research into prisoner suicide carried out in various settings in a male prison, this paper presents a particular methodological approach which proved highly fruitful. The philosophy of ‘listening hard’ recognised the subjects as moral agents, and a research conduct of disciplined empathy was employed, not just in the design of the research, but also in the conduct of the in-depth interviews and in the selection and analysis of data. The researcher-as-outsider, encountering subjects convicted of rape, homicide and other serious crimes, must confront the feasibility, utility and limitations of empathy for this type of research, dimensions which are sharpened when the researcher is female and the subjects male. It is argued that the shortage of empathetic research into troubled identities stems from a fear and mistrust of the complexities, moral ambiguities and situational difficulties involved in research of this kind. But these can be faced and to some extent controlled and shaped so as to enrich the findings and implications of such research.
Domestic Violence: A Global Perspective
This study examined domestic crime statistics, government documents and materials. Among the countries studied are Russia, Jamaica, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Thailand, South Africa, Cambodia, St. Lucia, and United States. A secondary team of international scholars contributed to this study by providing research and translation services. All research and program materials were reviewed in context of their respective languages and the countries social structure. By the end of this presentation attendees will be able to (1) discuss the impact of domestic violence, anti-social and aggressive behavior by youth in selected countries; (2) to identify domestic violence ins elected world countries; (3) discuss and list selected programs that have been developed throughout the world to prevent domestic violence; and (4) discuss the impact of domestic violence in the United States and list successful prevention efforts. Domestic violence is a growing international concern. This violence is not limited to any social, economic or racial classification but has struck virtually every strata. Domestic violence from a global perspective is defined very differently. Selected countries are proactive, others are not.
Domestic Violence: The Role of Racial/Ethnic Dyads in Prosecutorial Decision-Making
Utilizing a random sample of 455 domestic violence cases processed through the Sacramento County Court System in 1995/96, this paper tests the impact of racial/ethnic dyads on prosecutorial decision-making while controlling for legal variables. Three outcome measures were identified: the decision to file criminal charges versus case rejection; the decision to file felony versus misdemeanor charges; and the decision to fully prosecute versus case dismissal. Victim arrest, hospital treatment, availability of witnesses and defendant substance use were significantly related to the decision to file criminal charges. Indicators of prior record and offense severity were significantly related to the decision to file felony versus misdemeanor charges. Victim cooperation, severity of injury and defendant substance use at the time of offense all attained significance in their impact on the decision to fully prosecute. Racial/ethnic dyads had no statistically significant impact on any of these decision points. Previous research suggesting that court systems may view black on black violence morel leniently (particularly between individuals with a prior relationship) is therefore not supported for this offense in this jurisdiction. Possible explanations for this finding are explored.
Domestic Violence Against Women: Community Justice Issue or Individual Crime?
This theoretical paper examines the definition of domestic violence as a non-crime, individual private crime, and community justice problem. Historicalloy, in patriarchal society, domestic violence was not a crime. Under some circumstances, men were regulated in how, when, and where they could beat their wives. It was only recently that some socieities, including the United States, have criminalized domestic violence. That criminalization, however, has privatized woman battering. Although it is an individual’s woman’s right to not be beaten, domestic violence continues unabatedly. This paper presents the proposition that domestic violence will continue to flourish until it is considered a community justice issue. Community justice is examined as an alternative to the individual privatization domestic violence that currently exists.
Domestic Violence Paradox: Arrest of “Battered” Women
Mandatory and pro-arrest policies for domestic violence offenders may result in an unintended consequence: a greater number of women arrested, either as sole offenders or in conjunction with dual arrests. Are women becoming more violent? Does this phenomenon reflect backlash shaped by men who batter? Do law enforcers, courts, and treatment providers support aggressive arrest policies for women? Are these women “offenders” or “victims”? This presentation explores these questions as well as the potential for acontextual decision-making that may facilitate female arrests, the consequences of gender-neutral law enforcement strategies, and the issues these actions raise for female offenders.
Driving and Speeding Behavior of North Carolina Vehicular Drivers: Preliminary Results of Baseline Data Collected in the Field
Results are presented from observational data collected on North Carolina highways. Researchers collected data on the race, age, gender and speeding behavior of motorists on select highways. Results are presented differentiating speeding behavior by demographic categories.
Drug Choices: A Study of Drug Use and Decision-Making
This research employs the rational choice theoretical framework to examine decisionmaking processes related to early stages of drug use and drug use progression. Previous research supports a stage-like progression of drug use, with drug use progressing in the following sequence: legal drug use, marijuana use, and other illicit drug use. Within this sequence, two important stages of progression have been identified: the use of legal drugs precedes illicit drug use, and the use of marijuana precedes other illicit drug use. The present study explores the question: 1) why do some people use illicit drugs (i.e., specifically marijuana), while others do not. The relevance of choice and the importance of opportunity for initiation and progression into illicit drug use is examined. Retrospective, semi-structured interviews are utilized as the primary data collection instrument. Interviews focus on early involvement with legal and illegal drugs. Snowball sampling techniques were used to sample subjects from four theoretically important groups: 1) legal drug users (i.e., alcohol and/or tobacco only); 2) recreational marijuana users; 3) regular marijuana users; and 4) ex-users of marijuana. 12 subjects were interviewed from each of these groups.
Drug Dependence Among Arrestees: Regional Differences
An interview study was conducted among a group of arrestees in six county jails in the state of Ohio between June 1999 and September 2000, examining the prevalence of alcohol and drug dependence and assessing the need for treatment of drug abuse. At the conclusion of each interview, the respondent provided a urine specimen. Four of the county jails at which interviews were conducted are in urban areas and two are in rural areas. This study intends, first, to examine the prevalence of drug dependence and positive drug-use screenings among arrestees, as well as the sociodemographic profiles of arrestees classifiable as drug dependent or testing positive for drug use. Second the study looks at respondents’ reports of past treatment for substance abuse and at their perceptions of their own need for treatment in the future, in order to evaluate the resistance to treatment within the criminal justice stystem. Finally, the study intends to assess whether significant differences in the results of the above investigations are found between urban and rural areas. Preliminary results show that about one-quarter of the respondents interviewed were currently dependent on alcohol, and 12% and 30% were classified as currently marijuana-dependent and currently cocaine-dependent, respectively.
Drug Market Violence: The Situational Factors That Facilitate and Impede Victim Retaliation
Individuals who rub drug dealers risk grave extralegal consequences because victimized dealers, unable to report the robbery to the police, have a strong incentive to retaliate (Jacobs, Topalli, & Wright, 2000). Drug robbers, in response, utilize particular tactics to manage this threat including intimidation, anonymity maintenance, and hypervigilance. The present research considers how drug dealer/victims perceive and respond to tactics designed and employed to stifle retaliation against their attackers. We interviewed 20 active drug dealers from St. Louis who had been recently robbed. Dealer/victims reported three primary motivations for seeking revengs; reputation maintenance, loss recoupment, and anger satisfaction. In addition, we learned how dealer/victims responded to drug robber retaliation maintenance tactics as well as the techniques they employed to identify and locate hte robbers who had victimized them.
Drug Testing Probationers and Parolees: The Affect Variables Have on Positive Results and No-show Rates
In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of drug test for probationers and parolees in the state of Maryland. Drug test for probationers and parolees are used to identify chronic users, monitor their use, and deter future drug use. This paper examines variables affecting positive rates and failure to appear rates for probationer and parolee drug test. Some of the variables examined consist of race, age, gender, type of drug tested positive for at intake, number of drugs tested positive for at intake, number of prior arrests, age of first arrest, and instant offense.
Drug Traffickers as Social Bandits: Culture and Drug Trafficking in Northern Mexico and the Border Region
This paper discusses ethnographic/qualitative research concerning the ways in which drug trafficking, and drug traffickers, are portrayed and interpreted in Northern Mexico and the border region. The research points to the intermingling of the drug trafficker persona with historical values associated with the Sierra and border areas, including longstanding patterns of smuggling as well as a tradition of independence and conflicting relationships with both Mexican and U.S. government authorities. Whether or not traffickers are viewed as “social bandits” or heroes varies by social group, and between rural and urban areas. In any case, the “celebretization” of drug traffickers in popular music in Mexico (and in parts of the U.S.) highlights the ambivalent relationship between drug trafficking, historical conflicts between the U.S. and Mexico, and socioeconomic and cultural factors. In addition, this paper makes some comparisons between the way drug traffickers are portrayed in the Mexican context and in urban areas of the U.S., where a similar ambivalence — in terms of what the drug trafficker represents — sometimes exists.
Drug Treatment and Parole Outcomes for Youthful Offenders
This paper describes the experiences of youthful offenders serving time in four California Department of the Youth Authority institutions who also received treatment for their substance abuse problems. Data were collected and is reported about participants’ background characteristics, drug use (while incarcerated or while on parole), release characteristics (success or failure), and parole outcomes. In addition, data are presented on the programs’ curricula, structure, and staff and participant well-being indicators. Follow-up data for 360 individuals are examined, including information on further juvenile justice contacts at 6, 12, and 24 months after release into the community. In order to provide insight into the relationship between drug use and criminal behavior, data are also analyzed concerning the pre- and post-treatment criminal involvement of the participants. Analyses indicate that, generally, outcomes are consistent across the programs, with increased time on parole associated with higher parole violation rates. Moreover, the data show a tendency for participants to fail parole due to (non drug-related) law violations more than to technical violations, and highlight the extent to which treatment abates post-release drug abuse.
Drug Treatment Court: Where Does it Leave the Drug Policy Debate on the Public Health/Criminal Justice Continuum?
Due to the “get tough” attitude of politicians and legislators in the 1980s that led to absurdly harsh sentences for drug-involved offenders, prisons were overwhelmed and court dockets burst at their scams. Meanwhile, drug addiction and related crime continued unabated. In response to this crisis emerged the drug treatment court movement in 1989. Judges in particular were frustrated with the revolving door of justice and their own diminished discretionary powers. Drug treatment courts utilize a non-adversarial protocol, focusing efforts on helping the offender-client remain drug-free and keeping him or her from recidivating. This more humane approach appears to be helping a substantial number of individuals change their lives for the better in contrast to the “strategies” of incapacitation and retribution. Our paper will analyze the possible effects of this new mechanism on the framing of the drug policy discourse. More specififically, we will examine whether such courts are coming to be viewed as stepping stones on the way to a progressively more humane, treatment-oriented policy framework or whether the government (and the public) wishes to see them institutionalized and “perfected”. Contextual issues such as the race and class status of those involved in drug treatment court programs will be considered.
Drug Treatment is Not Just for Quitters
Not everyone who seeks drug treatment wants to stop using drugs. Some want a break from the streets, some want to cut down their use for financial and health reasons, some want medical attention, some want food and a warm and safe place to sleep, some want to avoid incarceration–the list goes on. This varied utilization of treatment programs is especially interesting given the aversion to formal treatment expressed by many people who actually want to give up their drug use. These findings complicate notions of relapse and treatment effectiveness and call into question the viability of traditional drug treatment programs as they are currently imagined. Drawn from interviews and ethnographic fieldwork with heroin and cocaine users in New York City, this paper is an attempt to better understand drug treatment utilization and how recent welfare reforms in New York have made it even more difficult for people who use drugs to receive public assistance for basic human needs. Evidence suggests that harm reduction approaches that respect people’s goals and decisions seem more likely to promote the lasting interest in caring for oneself that is absolutely necessary to overcome problematic drug use, regardless of the type of “treatment” one receives.
Drug Use Among Growing Parole Populations
In the coming decade, hundreds of thousands of offenders will be returned to communities on parole or supervised release. Approximately one-third of these parolees were imprisoned on drug-related charges. National data on parolee characteristics are sparse, but California reports that 85% of its parolees are substance abusers and ONDCP estimates that more than 70% of prison inmates would benefit from treatment. A substantial portion of prison admissions, including more than 60% in California and nearly a quarter in Texas and New York, are due to parole revocations, and many revocations are due to drug violations. In addition to substantial substance abuse problems, many parolees have limited employment prospects and poor life management skills. In short, as the large prison population works its way toward release, many of the substance abuse issues associated with confinement and imprisonment will manifest themselves in the community among the parole population. This paper estimates the implications of changing parole patterns for drug use trends, reviews historical substance abuse control policies used on parolees, and discusses the potential for developing more robust strategies for confronting substance abuse among parole populations.
Drugs, Crime and HIV Risks Among Women Sex Traders
The crack epidemic emerged during the early 1980s, reached its peak in the early 1990s, and since that time has declined in many cities across the United States. In scores of urban communities, however, populations of hard core crack users persist. During the mid- and late -1990s, crack continued to be popular in Miami, Florida, and among women users, their primary mechanisms of support were thefts, drug sales, and trading sex for drugs or money. Based on extensive field work in Miami, data were collected on 708 women sex traders, all of whom were heavily involved with crack and/or other forms of cocaine. Detailed information is provided on their past and current drug use, criminality, sexual behaviors, and HIV risks. The data document that given their extensive drug use, bartering of sex for drugs, and their numerous sex partners, women sex traders continue to be at high risk for the acquisition and transmission of HIV/AIDS.
Drugs, Gangs, and Homicide in South Texas
In this paper we examine the drug-relatedness of homicides reported by Mexican American gang members. This research is derived from a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) study focusing on drug related gang violence among Mexican American males in South Texas. Data for this study was collected from active youth gang members from 26 gangs in San Antonio, Texas. The sample (chosen randomly) consisted of 160 male gang members ranging in age between 14 to 25 years. Data reveal that the respondents were involved in a high rate of violent incidents including homicides. Our qualitative analysis focuses on drug use, gang membership, and involvement in illegal activities and how these are related to the homicides reported by respondents. The implications of our findings are discussed.
Drugs, Pathological Gambling, and Crime: Interactions and Temporal Sequencing
The spread of legalized gambling over the past decade in the United States has sparked considerable concern, debate, and research. Gaming opponents argue that the expansion of legalized gambling will inevitably lead to an increased incidence of problem gambling, substance abuse, and criminal behavior. While a few studies have documented the extent of problem gambling among prison inmate populations, none have examined the interconnections between gambling, substance abuse, and criminal behavior. How, for example, does problem gambling affect the level and nature of criminal offending? What is the temporal sequence in the onset of gambling problems, substance abuse, and criminal behavior? These questions are examined using data provided by the ADAM (Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring) program in Las Vegas, Nevada and Des Moines, Iowa. The paper includes a discussion of major findings and policy implications.
Drugs and Crimes Amongst Australian Detainees
Throughout the 1990s crime rates have increased in Australia along with a number of other drug indicators such as opioid overdoses. Usually, drugs are cited as the reason for the increase in crime yet in Australia there has very little empirical evidence to support this claim. In 1999 a pilot study to monitoring illicit drug use amongst people detained by police in four Australian jurisdictions was put into place by the Australian Institute of Criminology. This paper uses data from the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) project which is affiliated with the International Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program to examine drug use behaviours and criminal activity. The paper will show how illicit drug use patterns vary across sites. The paper will conclude with some comparative material with the US ADAM program.
Drugs Policy: Learning From Other Vices, Times, and Places
Debates in the US about major change in the legal status of cocaine, heroin and marijuana currently involve exchange of vaguely formed impressions of the likely consequences of the change, along with unsubtle statements about the values involved. This seminar attempts to: (1) provide an analytic and normative base for making choices among different drug policy regimes; (2) describe the variety of data (e.g. from experiences in controlling gambling and prostitution, the period when cocaine was legally available in the US and experiences of European nations) available for projecting the consequences of a major relaxation in the severity of prohibition in the US; (3) present and assess the resulting projections. In the assessment, particular emphasis is given to the implications of the uncertainty surrounding projected consequences, the heterogeneity of those consequences and the potentially enormous redistribution of welfare among population groups.
Drugs Policy in the UK: Responding to Recreational Cannabis Users
Recent developments in the UK government’s anti-drugs strategy form the basic framework for this paper. Of particular relevance are: the emphasis placed on arrest referral and ‘treatment’, and the proposal to introduce mandatory testing of arrested persons (this already exists in prisons). The paper draws on recent research on arrest referral by the author, but is broadened to encompass a range of policy issues surrounding responses to both ‘problem users’ (and the link between drugs and acquisitive crime) and the significant number of recreational cannabis users in the UK. Indeed, in a political and an administrative sense, the latter have now become ‘problem users’.
Drunk Driving Attitudes and Behaviors: A Comparison of White, Black and Hispanic Drivers
To what extent are there race/ethnicity differences in attitudes toward and involvement in behaviors related to drunk driving? Does the overzealous enforcement of traffic laws against blacks (i.e., “driving while black”) also affect drunk driving enforcement? Recent studies suggests that blacks and Hispanics tend to be over-involved in drunk driving primarily as a consequence of their excessive involvement in drinking, particularly heaving drinking episodes, rather than as a result of police activity. This presentation uses data from the 1999 National Survey of Drinking and Driving Attitudes and Behaviors, a telephone survey supported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) who provide a nationalloy-representative sample of the driving age population. The presentation will explore race/ethnic differences in drinking, driving, and drinking-driving behaviors among non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, and Hispanics among the U.S. driving age public, with a particular focus on similarities and differences regarding alcohol-related arrests and crashes; self-reported DUI; knowledge of the laws related to drinking and driving; and attitudes related DUI laws, their enforcement, and their deterrent effects.
DUI Offenders and Substance Abuse Treatment: Mandates, Referrals, and Outcomes
Despite an increased legalistic focus on drinking and driving, little attention has been given to individuals who receive treatment as a condition of their probation instead of a jail sentence or fine. Although the media inundates society with information on the negative consequences driving under the influence (DUI), aspecfts of treatment need for DUI offenders contrasted with the relative lack of services available are rarely considered. What is the effect of policies which mandate substance abuse evaloautions and treatment for DUI offenders? This paper will explore characteristics of individuals who were arrested for DUI and the treatment they received as a result of that arrest. Data used for this analysis comes from cases referred to a probation office over a six month period. The authors specifically examine variables that affect the referral of DUI offenders to treatment, types of treatment received, and the successful completion of both treatment and probation expectations.
Dynamics of Social Control During the Adolescent Life-Course
Recent theoretical discussions have disagreed about whether the involvement in crime is due to the static traits of maladjusted individuals or a dynamic process of social control which changes throughout the life-course. Most notably, Gottfredson and Hirschi (1991) have proposed that criminal involvement is the result of internal mechanisms which remain relatively stable once developed early in life, while Sampson and Laub (1991) suggest that involvement in crime may be explained through a dynamic process of social control which varies over the life-course of an individual. Using data from a multi-site, longitudinal survey of youth, this paper will examine the dynamic relationship between social control and delinquency during the adolescent years.
E
Early Aggression in Children: Separating Current From Prior Effects in a Population Survey
Both control and developmental theorists stress the role of early family experiences in the genesis of childhood conduct disorders and adolescent delinquency. Evidence suggests that difficult temperaments in early childhood predict non-criminal antisocial behaviors in later childhood. In order to test for evidence of stability in antisocial dispositions and behaviors, we examined the first two waves of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (n=22,000). We examined several rites of passages: hazardous birth conditions, motor and social development, difficult temperament (at two ages), and antisocial behavior. In this paper we focus on the aggressiveness of children aged 48-59 months from cycle 2 based on the prior medical, developmental and temperament measures collected from the same families in cycle 1. This work attempts to establish whether the NLSCY makes it possible to identify the impact of early childhood conditions on later behavior, and particularly whether the children’s previous experiences are a better predictor of their current aggressive behavior compared to their current conditions.
Early Predictors of Serious Violence in Young Adults
This paper examines predictors of violence in a sample of 177 clinic-referred 7 to 12 year-old boys annually assessed using multi-informant clinical interviews and comprehensive questionnaires over an eleven-year period. The analyses in the present paper include participants who have completed at least one adult assessment (n=139) at age 18 or 19. Analyses: Violence included shootings, biting off extremities, and fighting resulting in paralysis or coma reported at 18 or 19. Analyses included factors present in childhood (through age 12) or early adolescence (through ate 15). Results: After controlling for ethnicity, urban environment, and low SES, the final logistics regression model included early Conduct Disorder (p=.008), presence of 2 or more siblings in household during childhood (p=.009), early alchol use (p=.02) and marijuana use in adolescence (p=.12). Variables that were individually associated with serious injury, but were removed from the final model, were poor communication with parent, paternal APD, broken family and early adolescent CDE. Discussion: The strength of both CD and alcohol use by the age of 12 as predictors of violence in youth adulthood strongly suggests early key foci for the resources used in the prevention of serious violence.
Early Sexual Abuse, Street Experience, and Drug Use Among Female Homeless and Runaway Adolescents
Objective: This study was conducted to examine the relationship between drug use patterns among homeless female adolescents and their history of child sexual abuse, and experiences on the street. Method: Six hundred and two homeless and runaway adolescents were interviewed in four Midwest states (Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas). Three hundred and sixty one female adolescents were included in this analysis. Use of Marijuana, use of hard drugs (crank, cocaine, opiates, etc.), experiences on the street were examined with respect to histories of sexual abuse. Logistic regression was used to analyze the effects of early sexual abuse and street experiences on drug use patterns among female homeless adolescents. Results: Early sexual abuse was associated with an increased likelihood of running away from home at early age, longer street experience, trading sex for money and other benefits, and more participation of deviant subsistence strategies. Early sexual abuse and deviant experience on street predicted the use of hard drugs. There was no significant effect found on marijuana users. Authors concluded that early sexual abuse of females increases the likelihood of more severe form of drug abuse.
Early Transitions to Adult Roles and Subsequent Adult Deviance: Moderating Effects of Gender and Mediating Influences or Self-Esteem
Recent research has highlighted the attenuating effect of adult social bonds and transitions to adulthood on deviant trajectories of behavior. However, timing of the transition to adulthood may affect the ability of adult role transitions to reduce deviance. We hypothesize that early timing of adult role entry has deleterious consequences on Self-esteem and quality of life; and affects later deviance both directly, and indirectly through Self-esteem. Structural Equation models were estimated using data from a cohort of 4,264 subjects in a longitudinal study. Adolescent Deviance and Self-derogation were measured when the subjects were in seventh grade, and retrospective accounts of early transitions to adulthood were measured when respondents were between 21 and 28 years of age, as was Adult Self-derogation and Adult Deviance. Indicators of Early transitions to adult roles included: not finishing high school, working full time before age 18, becoming involved in a spousal/cohabitative relationship before age 18, becoming a parent before age 18, and moving out of one’s parents home before age 18. Results clearly show that for both males and females, Early transition to adulthood has positive and significant direct effects on Adult Deviance. This direct effect is much stronger for males. While Early transition significantly increases Adult Selfderogation for females, males do not experience this effect. For females only, Adolescent Deviance indirectly influences Early transition to adulthood through its strong effect on Adolescent Self-derogation, which in turn has a positive effect on Early transition. Both groups show strong positive effects of Adult Self-derogation on Adult deviance. Likewise, both groups exhibit strong effects of Adolescent Deviance on Early transition to adulthood, suggesting that early exit from adolescent roles may be a form of deviance contributing to a trajectory of deviance.
Early Warning Systems as an Accountability Mechanism: Opportunities and Problems
This presentation reviews recent trends in the development of Early Warning (EW) systems as a mechanism of police accountability. It summarizes the findings of a national evaluation of EW systems, identifies the potentially positive aspects of such systems, and discusses the potential pitfalls. The presentation concludes with a discussion of the place of EW systems in the larger context of police accountability, taking into account both internal and external mechanisms.
Easy-to-Find and Hard-to-Find Subjects: Are Their Characteristics and Outcomes Different?
In planning follow-up studies that include individual interviews, criminal justice researchers must balance the considerable costs involved in locating and interviewing as many subjects as possible with the outcome bias that might result from collecting data from a less than complete set of the baseline sample. Hard-to-find subjects may differe from easy-to-find subjects in terms of both their characteristics and their outcomes. Using information on tracking contacts from a five-year follow-up study of participants in an evaluation of aprison-based drug treatment program, the paper will briefly describe the study’s tracking and locating procedures, develop profiles of hard-to-find and easy-to-find subjects uusing cluster analysis, and present preliminary data on differences in outcomes by tracking status. The methodological and cost implications of the findings will be discussed.
Ecological Assessment of Neighborhood, Family, Peer, and Individual Characteristics in Predicting Antisocial Behavior: A Multilevel Analysis
Testing several theories of antisocial behavior, this paper uses hierarchical linear modeling techniques on a sample of 867 African-American children and their primary caregivers. Using an epidemic perspective of community influences, the effects of neighborhood violence and neighborhood SES in predicting antisocial social behavior are studied. In addition to assessing the effects of neighborhood influences, this paper tests cultural and social learning perspectives as potential explanations of antisocial behavior. The results will be discussed at the Annual Criminology Meetings.
Economic and White-Collar Crime Trends in Finland Between 1990-2000
This study on economic crime, the sentences for persons and corporations, and its costs have been made by my research group in the years 1990-2000. The research material consists of more than 2,000 documents of the courts in Finland from 1993-1999. They are collected from the database of the Ministry of Justice. The essential research problems are the following: the kind of enterprises and individuals involved in defaults of payment, whether they are acting on a national or international level, whether the individuals have been involved in a criminal career in the past, what the total loss caused by these defaults amounts to for the individual victims of crime and enterprises as victims of crime. An important research program is to look at the differences between the sentences in 1993 and in 1999. During the 90’s, a lot has been done for preventing economic crime, and we would like to know what are the results. Has the profile of the criminals and their institutions changed in the 90’s, are sentences similar or not, are the losses caused by economic crime larger or smaller than before, have the total number of crimes decreased or increased?
Economic Espionage Activities
In the modern, competitive business world, billions are spent on research and development of products and ideas. In addition, millions are spent on competitive intelligence information gathering. When the competition steps over the line, the federal government now can get involved and prosecute.
Economic Insecurity and Punitiveness Toward Crime in the United States and the Czech Republic
Both the United States and the Czech Republic have experienced significant economic changes in the past decade that have created “insecurities” that are well documented. In the United States, corporate downsizing, deskilling and immersion in the “global economy” has meant the loss of employment and reduced incomes for millions of workers and managers in many industries. In the Czech Republic, the Velvet Revolution and the transition to capitalism has brought with it many of the opportunities but also the insecurities of market driven economies. In the classic sense described by Durkheim, rapid changes are forcing many people into new economic circumstances, the appropriate boundaries for which are either unestablished or not well understood. In such a condition of anomic uncertainty it is not uncommon for scapegoats to be created and a willingness to punish “others” engendered. The present research examines the support for harsh criminal punishments expressed by 2,250 Florida residents during 1997 and 1,750 Czech citizen during 1998. We are particularly concerned to assess whether punitiveness toward criminals is related to economic insecurities expressed by respondents in the two countries. Those insecurities and punitive attitudes are addressed with the use of the same survey questions *in both countries. Regression estimates control for other factors that may be related to punitive attitudes. Implications for general theories of punitiveness are discussed.
Economic Systems and the Point of Satiation
This paper presents a new theory, similar to Merton’s strain theory, in which a cultural argument explains different rates of crime across societies, while a structural argument explains within-nation variation in crime rates by socioeconomic status. The acquisitive/competitive drived originates in human nature, but this natural drive is either enhanced or suppressed by a country’s culture, which itself is influenced by the country’s economic system. Countries also vary in the amount of formal and informal restraints (including enforcement of laws) that regulate the expression of the acquisitive/competitive drive. Finally, there is a natural tendency for the acquisitive/competitive drive to slowly decline as one acquires more, up to a point of satiation after which the drive decreases dramatically. Like the drive, the point of satiation originagtes in human nature but can be enhanced or suppressed by culture. Real world examples illustrating these concepts are presented.
Educating Sensibilities: Children and the Intractabilities of Penal Communication
Theoretical work in the sociology of punishment (especially since Garland’s influential introduction of the notion of penal ‘sensibilities’) increasingly recognizes the importance of the cultural aspects of the topic. Yet surprisingly little examination exists of how penal questions actually figure in people’s everyday consciousness or conversations. We address penal culture from the perspective of conversation. Specifically, we discuss a number of conversations that we have had with nine-year-old children. By considering the dynamic aspects of these conversations we seek a) to demonstrate one method for investigating sensibilities-in-action and b) to indicate some ways in which the terms of penal culture are mobilized, assimilated or subverted amongst children. Such analysis discloses a quite high degree of ambiguity and semantic density in ordinary language discussions of punishing. We exemplify this inter alia by indicating the varying uses of the expression ‘teach someone a lesson’. The children’s dominant idea of the ‘lesson’ suggests that punishment is an intractable problem and that people are not particularly tractable to its corrective or suasive force. On the other hand the ‘lesson’ can also suggest communication of a different kind with more radical and hopeful implications.
Educational Linkages for Transitioning Juvenile Offenders: Strategies and Results From the Clark County IAP Pilot Site
The IAP demonstration sites (Colorado, Nevada, Virginia) have over the past four years placed special emphasis upon a number of programming dimensions that focus upon the re-entry phase in the movement of confined youth back into their home communities. Among the most critical areas for program development has been the return of youth to educational settings, often following extended periods of non-attendance in public schools in the community. In this paper the author explores several of the innovative approaches utilized in the Nevada IAP site to better expedite the reintegration of serious juvenile offenders back into school settings.
Effect of Participation in the Baltimore City Drug Court Treatment Program on Rearrest Over a Two-Year Period
Over the past decade, the drug court has grown from an experimental program in Dade County, Florida to widespread use throughout the United States. The Baltimore City Drug Court Treatment program began accepting nonviolent offenders in 1994. A preliminary analysis of drug court participants showed that the program was reaching its target offenders. Outcome data collected over a short follow-up period also revealed reductions in the proportion of subjects rearrested. The present analysis takes a closer look at the Baltimore Drug Court by analyzing recidivism data from 235 clients who were randomly assigned to drug treatment or to traditional court processing. The paper will use both a simple survival model and a split-population model to determine the effect of participation in the drug court on the timing of recidivism. Official arrest records gathered over a 24-month follow-up period will be used to measure client recidivism. A preliminary analysis of the drug treatment type and its relationship to the timing of recidivism for drug court participants will also be discussed.
Effect of Prosecutorial Discretion on Disparity Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines
One of the major factors in the establishment of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines was to reduce disparity in federal sentencing. Laura Frank, a reporter for the Tnnessean, reported that under the federal guidelines, Black offenders received sentences that were 10 percent higher than white offenders. After publication of the series articles, an analysis was completed which showed that this difference in sentencing outcomes was not caused by the sentencing guidelines, but by decisions made by prosecutors in the sentencing process. Additionally, this presentation analyzes sexual abuse crimes in the federal system to show the effect of prosecutorial decisions in the plea bargaining process on sentences of offenders.
Effect of Sentence Enhancement Laws on Gun Use in Felonies: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis of Detroit, Chicago, and Philadelphia
Research on the effect of sentence enhancement (SE) laws on gun use in felonies contains two potential problems. First, the dependent variable in these studies is either crime levels or crime rates. Instead, we argue that SE laws are more likely to affect the ratio of gun to non-gun crimes. Second, past studies fail to distinguish between SE laws that specify a mandatory minimum sentence for a felony with a firearm, from those that add on extra years to the felony sentence for the possession/use of a firearm. We contend that the latter is more likely to reduce the ratio of gun to non-gun crimes. In this paper, we address these two issues empirically by conducting an interrupted time-series analysis of monthly data from three northern industrial U.S. cities-Detroit, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
Effectiveness of Electronic Monitoring Supervision With Violent Parolees
This study examines the effectiveness of the use of electronic monitoring as a parole supervision tool by comparing men violent parolees mandated to receive such supervision released in fiscal year 1996 (N = 126) to a random sample of men violent parolees who did not receive such supervision released in fiscal year 1995 (n = 158). The follow-up period for each group was three years. Chi-square and t-test analyses revealed that the two groups did not differ on key demographic or criminal history variables often related to recidivism. Effectiveness was measured by examining how many parolees returned to prison within three years of release. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the independent effects of electronic monitoring supervision on recidivism after controlling for factors often related with return to prison including race, age, education, self-reported drug and alcxohol problems, type of commitment offense, sentence length, number of prior prison incarcerations, number of prior felony convictions, and parole success likelihood score. Results indicated that after controlling for relevant demographic and criminal history variables, parolees on electronic monitoring supervision were not less likely to be re-committed to prison that parolees who were not placed on electronic monitoring.
Effectiveness of Treatment in Domestic Violence Cases
The current research will report the effectiveness of treatement in domestic violence cases in a Mid-western county. Offenders who have received either court supervision, conditional discharge, or probation and placed in treatment as part of the protocol will be evaluated as to their success in treatment. The outcome measures will include re-arrest, degree of severity (of violence) or re-arrest, and attitude at the on-set and completion of treatment.
Effects of Alcohol Intoxication and Anger on Violent Decision Making in Men
While emphasizing the importance of the thought processes that underlie criminal decision making, tests of the rational choice perspective have largely ignored the role of psychopharmacological agents (such as alcohol) that may attenuate cognitive ability. Prior research suggests that acute alcohol intoxication increases aggressive responding, especially when subjects are angered or provoked. Using an experimental design, this study examines the relationship between intoxication, anger, and violence within a rational choice framework. Male subjects of legal drinking age were randomized to drink either an alcoholic beverage or a non-alcoholic beverage, with the former designed to elevate subjects’ blood alcohol levels to approximately 0.08%. Within each group, half of the subjects were randomized to receive an anger manipulation, while the remaining half received no such manipulation. Subjects then read a hypothetical scenario in which they encounter a belligerent male at a local bar. Afterward, subjects were asked to indicate how likely they would respond to such a situation with physical violence, and also indicate their perceptions of costs and benefits associated with assaulting the scenario male. Results are discussed as they relate to an expected utility model of violent decision making.
Effects of Case Management on Parolee Misconduct: The Bay Area Services Network
The Say Area Services Network (BASN) was established in 1991 by the California Department of Corrections to provide case management for newly released parolees in six San Francisco Say Area counties. To assess BASN effects on relapse to drug use and recidivism, RAND enrolled a sample of 419 parolees referred by their parole agents to BASN between 1995 and 1997 and a comparison sample of 239 parolees who met BASN eligibility criteria but were not referred to BASN during that timetrame. Baseline interviews occurred on or near the date of referral; followup interviews, six months later. We found no differences in relapse (number of drug use days) or recidivism (number of property, violent. or drug offenses) between BASN and comparison parolees- However, mean scores for intensity of case management and treatment were low among BASN parolees overall. In analyses using the SASN sample only, parolees who received more intensive case management reported fewer drug use days and fewer prop” offenses. These effects persisted when parolees’ motivation to stop drug use (as a control for self-selection bias) was added to the models. The effect of case management intensity on drug use was mediated by intensity of treatment received. BASN case management appears to have favorable effects on relapse and recidivism when delivered with sufficient intensity.
Effects of Child Maltreatment on Anxiety and Depression Among Institutionalized Youth
While it is clear from a review of the extant literature that there are negative psychosocial consequences of experiencing child maltreatment, less is known about the extent to which child maltreatment effects juveniles’ adjustment within correctional institutions. The present study examines this issue with a longitudinal sample of 509 juveniles confined to forty-eight correctional facilities. Self reported data from institutionalize youth were used to compare the effects of child maltreatment and other individual and institutional factors on juveniles’ levels of anxiety and depression. Results indicated that youth who experienced greater levels of child maltreatment had significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression, holding other factors constant. In addition, prior childhood maltreatment was associated with increased levels of depression over time. The results provide policy makers and correctional administrators with empirical research stressing the importance of assessing child maltreatment during correctional intake. Appropriate intervention should be implemented for institutionalized youth to reduce the negative psychological consequences associated with the experience of child maltreatment.
Effects of Juvenile Court Case Processing Decisions on Juvenile Dentention Populations: 1993-1997 Conditions and Future Forecast Populations
This research constructs a disaggregated flow model which uses inputs from various stages of juvenile court case processing (such as the number of court referrals, the number of adjudications, the use of detention or placement, and the average length of stay) to forecast the number of juveniles in detention and the number of committed youth in residential placement. The model utilizes juvenile court data to simulate the detained and committed juvenile populations under varying assumptions about juvenile court case processing decisions, thus yielding varying forecasts about future populations. It illustrates how even small changes in juvenile case processing choices and practices can
Effects of Loss of Public Defender Funding for Parents of CHIPS Cases: An E mpirical Test of the Organizational Model of the Courtroom Workgroup
The state of Wisconsin has historically provided the services of public defenders to parents of children who are subjects of CIRPS (Children in Need of Protective Services) petitions. However, in 1995 the state made the assumption that eliminating public defenders for parents during CHIPS proceedings would save the state money. The state Supreme Court subsequently overruled this decision in 1996. This one-year time frame provides a unique opportunity to empirically test the organizational model of the courtroom workgroup that has appeared in the literature for years. This study examines two outcome measures, total number of hearings to disposition and elapsed time to disposition, to determine the extent to which presence or absence of legal counsel for parents may affect the workings of the courtroom workgroup. In testing the courtroom workgroup dynamic, one would hypothesize a longer time to elapse between the initial detention hearing to the final disposition when parents are not provided the assistance of a public defender. Data from cases filed before and after the loss of public defender monies will be compared to cases filed during the time frame of no public defender assistance to test one aspect of the organizational model of the courtroom workgroup.
Effects of Race, Family Background, Crime, and Ensnarement in the Criminal Justice System on Adult Positions in the Social Stratification Hierarchy
A project of enduring sociological interest is to identify the factors and causal mechanisms that determine adult positions in the American stratification hierarchy. Race and family background are linked to socially organized access to opportunities to achieve or maintain position in the stratification system. Race and background also are linked to trajectories in crime and to the likelihood of ensnarement (via arrest, conviction, and incarceration) in the criminal jsutice system. Crime and ensnarement, int urn, are social events in the life course that influence trajectories and outcomes in the stratification system. Via a secondary analysis of data collected on a large sample of persons convicted of federal crimes, we investigate the effects of race, family background, criminality, and ensnarement on two measures of adult outcomes: financial well-being and employment stability. Our analyses extend current research on the structural effects of criminality and criminal justice labeling on the adult life course.
El Mundo Sin Frontieras: Obstacles to Transnational Crime Control
With economic globalization, opportunities for criminal activity, particularly by corporate entities, have grown beyond the control of nation-states. The Rome Statute for an International Criminal Court has created a forum for prosecution of “international street crime” by individuals, but even this step is over the objections of the United States and is only applicable to natural persons. This paper engages in a thought experiment to suggest the outlines of an international attack on preventable harms inflicted by corporate persons. We address definitions and sanctions in the context of creating an international adjudicatory forum.
Elderly as Victims of Crime in Barbados
This paper examines these and related issues among the elderly in the Caribbean Island of Barbados, and is intended to bring comparative insights to the mainstream debate. The study is based on a stratified random sample of 458 victims of six crimes and has four objectives: To examine the vicctimisation experiences (including fear of crime, the nature of the victimisation and the impac t of the victimisation) of the elderly in the sample; to comparetheir victimisation experiences with those of other age groups int he study in order to explore the role of age; to identify the socio-demographic correlates of the findings on the items above; and to discuss all of the findings in relation to the cross cultural data. The study concludes that the identified difference between the Barbados data and the cross cultural findings are best explained in terms of socio-cultural factors in Caribbean society.
Electrifying the Classroom
I am drafting a paper that addresses alternatives to conventional teaching. A panel will complement my take on the topic by furnishing their own alternative teaching methods. One perspective of instruction that has grown over the years is the use of electronic resources in the classroom. it is generally agreed that when used effectively, videos, transparencies, websites, student discussion groups and e-mail can make classes more efficient; lecturs more compelling, informative, and varried; reading assignments more extensive, interesting, and accessible; discussions more challenging and papers more original. A balanced approach to using these techniques will be emphasized.
Electronic Monitoring of Prisoners Released Early Under the Home Detention Curfew Scheme
On January 28 1999, the Home Office introduced a scheme for the early release of prisoners across England and Wales – Home Detention Curfew (HDC). Under this scheme, most prisoners sentenced to more than three months and less than four years in custody are eligible for release up to eight weeks before their normal discharge data, provided that they pass a risk assessment, have suitable accommodation and agree to abide by an electronically-monitored curfew. In the first year of the scheme, over 16,000 prisoners were released on HDC, making it one of the largest electronic monitoring schemes in the world. The Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate was commissioned to carry out an evaluation of the scheme, and this paper win present some of the results of this research project. The presentation will include: a brief overview of the scheme; information on release rates for different types of prison, prisoner and offence; analysis of successful completions and failures (recalls to prison); the main findings from a process evaluation; findings of a survey of curfewees, their families and supervising probation officers; results of a short-term reconviction study; and the main findings of a cost-benefit analysis of the scheme.
Emergency Medicine: Criminal Justice Partnership for Violence Prevention and Evaluation of Violence Reduction Initiatives
An important recent development in medicine is the evaluation of the effectiveness of criminal laws. These evaluations, and international quantitative comparisons show that criminal laws and criminal justice systems can, through deterrence, prevent violence. The majority of violent offences which result in ED treatment are not recorded by the police and seriousness of injury does not predict police recording and conviction. Many of the injured wish to report offences to the police whilst in the ED but are prevented from doing so through lack of facilities and unwillingness of ED staff to consider police involvement. These findings pave the way for a new focus of interest in injury prevention. Emergency medicine criminal justice joint working should, based on a sound legal and ethical framework, deter more violent offenders and would-be violent offenders by increasing rates of police investigation. It is an essential part of any audit of community violence. There are extensive opportunities in the ED to improve rates of police detection and access to victim support services. This joint approach provides new ways of evaluating violence prevention initiatives and law enforcement agencies as well as developing safer and more just communities.
Emloyment Turnover Among Alaska Native and Non-Native Village Public Safety Officers
Providing police and public safety services to the isolated Alaska Native villages spread across the state is a daunting challenge. With rates of intentional and accidental violent death much higher than those found in urbanized areas of Alaska and the U.S., these villages certainly do require a police and public safety presence. However, the terrain, climate, and a lack of roads interconnecting these villages, along with relatively small population sizes, have precluded a “traditional” method of dealing with their law enforcement and public safety needs. Instead, the Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) program has been developed over the past 20 years as a localized response to the broad range of public safety needs in Alaska Native villages. VPsos–whose five-part task bundle includes law enforcement, fire fighting, water safety, emergency medical assistance, and search and rescue–can be best thought of as public safety “jacks-of-all-trades.” This study focuses on the problems of officer attrition that plague VPSOs despite the innovative nature of this program. Two primary data sources were drawn upon to come to an understanding of VPSO turnover. Information about turnover rates and the amount of time officers spend in the program was obtained from lists of current and former VPSOs published by the Alaska Department of Public Safety. The measures of factors considered as possible reasons for turnover, as suggested by prior research on the VPSO program and by administrators closely associated with the program, were gathered by a self-administered survey of 113 (out of a possible 184) current and former VPSOs. The results of this study will be the focus of this presentation.
Emotional Breaking Point, Psychological Blow Automatism, and Provocation Considered
Provocation and psychological blow automatism are similar defences within Canadian criminal law, in that, they both involve the question of whether or not an offender lost the power of self-control due to a Perceived trigger (i.e., verbal assault or emotional shock), While a successful defence of psychological blow automatism results in an unqualified acquittal, a defence of Provocation merely reduces a conviction of murder to manslaughter. The blurred distinction between the two defences presents numerous problems for the trier of fact who must decide if the defence should be provocation or psychological blow automatism. The present study will examine Canadian criminal cases that involve psychological blow automatism for the purpose of providing answers to the following questions: Is there a difference between psychological blow automatism and provocation? Is psychological. blow automatism. simply a medically repackaged version of provocation? How influential is expert witness testimony in cases involving psychological blow automatism? is the distinction between the two defences purposely blurred to reduce the possibility of people being acquitted for their criminal acts? What does the future bold for psychological blow automatism.?
Enforcement of Norms: Group Cohesion and Sanctioning
Group cohesion is generally thought to contribute to social order. One explanation for this correlation suggests that it can be attributed to the higher rates of sanctioning found in solidary communities. In the present paper I suggest a mechanism that may be at least partially responsible for the relationship between group cohesion and sanctioning. I argue that times among potential sanctioners and other non-deviant group members are key. The strength of these relationships affects the level of support that group members give to those who punish anti-social behavior, and in turn, the likelihood that such sanctioning will occur. Thus group cohesion affects punishment indirectly by increasing the rewards that are given to sanctions. This increase in rewards then affects sanctioning decisions. Predictions are tested using experimental methods. The results support the hypotheses.
Enhancing Juvenile Justice Evaluation Capacity in the States
The Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) is working with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) on a project to provide training and technical assistance to the states to enhance their capacity to evaluate juvenile justice programs. This presentation will present an overview of the project’s activities, focusing on three key project components: (1) the results of a series of site visits identifying state juvenile justice evaluation policies and practices; (2) the development of the Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center, a Web-based juvenile justice evaluation resource center; and (3) the findings of state Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) projects funded by JRSA, designed to enhance their states’ evaluation capacities. Under the latter project component, three initiatives will be discussed: the Maine SAC’s work with the state Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee to build performance measurement into their grants to local agencies; the Massachusetts SAC’s process evaluation of the state’s delinquency prevention initiative; and the New Mexico SAC’s formative evaluation of a group-based treatment program designed for youth with antisocial behavior problems. The presentation will discuss how the various types of information being disseminated by the project can be used by evaluators who are interested in assessing juvenile justice programs.
Ensuring Programme Delivery: What Makes Programmes Work?
The paper explores the importance of ensuring both quality design and quality delivery in the implementation of offending behaviour programmes. The UK prison service has developed an accreditation system to ensure that programmes run in UK prisons comply with “what works” criteria. More problematic is ensuring that you deliver the programmes to best effect, and this means taking into account not only offender characteristics but also characteristics of staff running the programme and the site where it is run. The paper describes how the UK prison service experience of running accredited programmes has led to a greater awareness of how to manage implementation taking these factors into account.
Entering the Moral Maze: Planning Rehabilitation for Female Offenders
An ongoing study of residential programmes for female offenders illuminates the complexity of moral issues and choices which influence women’s offending. These issues and choices not only persist through female offenders later lives and lifestyles, but also re-surface in the dynamic and often volatile environment of residential settings. Thus the “moral maze” of female offenders’ experiences has important implications for the planning and management of rehabilitative programmes, affecting both the relevance of their content to female offending choices and their successful completion. This paper draws on material from documented and interview sources to consider the construction of this “moral maze” and applies it to the development of guidelines for good practice.
Equal Sentences? Equal Protection? The Crack and Powder Cocaine Sentencing Disparity Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines
This paper will examine the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Additionally, this sentencing disparity will be examined within the context of equal protection and Title VII (“The Civil Rights Act”). An argument will be made that this inherent disparity within the Federal Sentencing Guidelines is violative of equal protection principles, in that equal sentences are not imposed for like offenses.
Estimating Stranger Homicides in California Jurisdictions
The problem of missing data has been largely ignored in criminological research. What makes the issue of missing data important is the decline in Canada and the United States of arrest clearances for homicide as well as other crime. For example, in the United States, only about two-thirds of homicides are cleared by arrest. Among the one-third of offenses that remain uncleared, there is no information on offender characteristics and victim/offender relationships. This paper tests estimation techniques used previously to successfully estimate stranger homicides in Chicago. The present paper will test techniques to estimate stranger homicides in major California cities from 1987 through 1999.
Estimating the Prevalence and Underreporting of Hate Crime Among Public High School Students
This paper describes a study estimating the prevalence of hate and bias crime victimization among public high school students in Massachusetts. A stratified sampling technique was employed to select schools, based on region, racial composition, and per-pupil expenditures. Each school provided several classes for the questionnaire’s administration. The survey examines the victimization rate of several crimes; respondent’s perception of whether hate or bias motivated the offense, and if so, why they formed that perception; to whom victimization was reported, and why some chose not to report to police or school personnel. Recommendations for prevention and increasing reporting rates are discussed.
Estimating Wrongful Convictions
Although numerous cases of wrongful convictions have been documented in the literature and in the medial, criminologists have yet to devise a methodology to estimate the extent of such errors in the criminal justice system. Several methodologies are explored with this purpose in mind, including the use of official data, inmate self-reports, and case study approaches. Specifically, court-ordered discharges from imprisonment are used as a basis for measuring official error. Data from the Rand inmate surveys are employed to estimate the extent of convicted offenders who deny their commitment offenses. In addition, studies that attempt to catalogue individual wrongful convictions will serve as another basis for estimating false positive errors. Clearly each methodology has its own limitations, but by employing multiple measures and approaches, an estimate of the “dark figure” of wrongful convictions is made possible.
Ethernet Connectivity and Software Piracy in a University Setting
Software piracy has become a significant problem for businesses and educational institutions, and as computer crime continues to burgeon in our information age, its causes merit academic inquiry. Most studies on piracy have been primarily descriptive in nature. Moreover, the application of criminological theory to computer crime has been severely lacking. This research seeks to determine whether high-speed Internet access in university residential settings facilitates the transferring and distribution of unauthorized software packages and programs. Sykes and Matza’s Neutralization Theory will be used as the framework to examine students’ perceptions to determine the motives, rationalizations, and attitudes of software pirates. Additionally, this study will also examine the circumstances most likely to make piracy acceptable and perceivably noncriminal in the eyes of students.
Ethical Implications of Crime Mapping
The increased use of crime mapping within law enforcement agencies necessitates careful consideration of the intention, construction, and interpretation of the maps being generated. While crime maps are not inherently unethical, there are many levels within the mapping process which offer opportunities for unintentional misuse. This paper is presented as a first step in examining and understanding these potential mapping pitfalls. Since geographic information software (G IS) provides a seemingly significant improvement in the community policing efforts of many agencies, the issue is of even further interest in regard to the community policing philosophy. Many of the police personnel, community members, and stakeholders who are presented with data driven crime maps may not possess sufficient technical or statistical backgrounds to make sound interpretations of the maps they are viewing. There is also a need to examine the qualifications of the individual (whether civilian or sworn) who is in charge of generating crime maps. Among the most crucial issues regarding GIS is the ease with which the graphic elements move from the visual receptors of the viewer to instant conclusion regarding the information–requiring very little background information and mental interpretation. The maps seem to speak for themselves, regardless of their validity.
Ethics in Criminal Justice Academia: Meeting the Challenges of the New Millennium
One of the primary responsibilities of criminal justice academicians must be to uphold the highest standards of professioal ethics. Because of the visibility of all aspects of the criminal justice system and the nature of social science, it will be argued that vigorous adherence to ethical standards must be of primary importance to the profession of criminal justice academia. This paper examines the changing role of criminal justice academic ethics as the discipline enters the new millennium. Included is a historical examination of the development of criminal justice as a separate, recognized area of study, and the evolution of the criminal justice scholar. Specifically, this paper will provide: (1) a content analysis of a sample of codes of professional ethics for criminal justice departments in American universities/colleges; (2) an examination of the major ethical dilemmas facing criminal justice academicians; (3) strategies for avoiding these ethical pitfalls; and (4) suggestions for developing a guideline fo the evolution of criminal justice academic ethics.
Ethnographic View of San Francisco’s Young Heroin Users
In this paper we present preliminary findings from a three-year NIDA funded project entitled, “An Ethnography of New Heroin Users (1999-2002).” Using a combination of ethnographic methods and social survey techniques we are conducting an investigation into the initiation and continuation practices of young heroin users in the San Francisco Bay Area. When data collection is completed we will have recruited and interviewed 120 participants, 18 to 25 years old, who have used heroin a minimum of five times in the previous 30 days. Our research objectives are to gain a thorough understanding of the participant’s (1) process of initiation into heroin use; (2) progression to continued heroin use; (3) changing (or not changing) routes of administration; (4) use management, poly-drug use and impact on everyday life activities; (5) heroin procuring practices and other criminal activities, If any; (6) perceptions of and attitudes toward drug related health risks and actual high risk behaviors; (7) the impact of social networks on initiation, continuation and management of heroin use. This paper will focus on interviewees’ pre-heroin use perceptions and attitudes and then post heroin use attitudes, perceptions and practices regarding safe modes of heroin administration.
Ethnoviolence on Campus: The Experiences of Native American Students
The paper will provide preliminary findings of a survey of Native American students at NAU on their experiences of racially motivated violence. The survey instrument is a modified version of that developed, tested and applied by The Prejudice Institute, revised to reflect the specific population of Native American students. It includes close-ended questions assessing whether subjects have been victimized, and whether they have experienced other forms of discriminatory treatment while registered at NAU. Open-ended questions ask subjects to detail their experiences. The findings will shed some light on the campus climate for Native American students, as well as provide some direction as to how to develop effective policies to enhance their experiences on campus.
Evaluating a Parenting Program for Incarcerated Fathers: The Fathers and Children Together Program
Research reveals that half of the men in prison are incarcerated fathers (Harrison, 1997). Children of incarcerated fathers are at risk for a number of behavioral problems including delinquency and substance abuse; thus, clearly needing intervention (Seymour, 1998; Nijnatten, 1997). Over the last decade, such interventions have included the development of parenting programs for incarcerated mothers and fathers. While comprehensive evaluations of such programming have been limited, the results suggest some improvement in attitudes towards parenting (Harrison, 1997). The Kentucky Fathers and Children Together (F.A.C.T.) program was developed to improve incarcerated fathers’ parenting skills and provide fathers with the opportunity to practice those skills with their children through participation in a twelve week educational program. This research provides a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of this program through collecting both qualitative and quantitative data from inmates participating in the F.A.C.T. program as well as program providers. Potential benefits from such programming include reductions in child abuse, the prevention of delinquency and substance abuse among children separated from incarcerated parents, and new pathways toward desistance for the incarcerated fathers through improved father-child attachment relationships.
Evaluating a Youth-Led Program: Lessons Learned and Taught
Begun in 1998, YouthVision is a unique national program challenging youth to submit ideas for projects addressing conflict, prejudice, or violence in their community. YouthVision turns these ideas into functioning projects by providing technical assistance, teaching youth to conduct program evaluations, connecting youth to local resources, and awarding “start-up” funding for promising projects. During year-one 17 sites began receiving three years of direct program support. During year-two, 10 sites were selected to receive direct support. This presentation describes the lessons learned from a two-level evaluation, and offers tips above effective ways to teach youth about evaluation. Level one involves conducting process and outcome evaluations to document national program implenentation and its effect on the selected youth leaders. Evaluators observe selected program meetings, conduct individual interviews with and offer evaluation technical assistance to program staff. Level two involves teaching the youth leaders evaluation skills. Evaluators conduct annual evaluation workshops for youth leaders and developed a user-friendly self-evaluation workbook that youth use to monitor program activities and conduct their local evaluations. The workshops involve hand-on exercises on logic model development and selection of baseline and outcome measures. The workbook contains forms that if completed guide youth through developing a project overview, tracking project development and implementation, collecting baseline and follow-up data, and creating reports to meet grant requirements and to obtain program support and solicit additional funding. These data are also analyzed as part of the evaluation of the national program.
Evaluating Domestic Violence Training for Police Officers
This paper is a comprehensive outcome evaluation of the effects of domestic violence training among police officers in a southwestern, metropolitan area. The evaluation of the police officer training gauges the extent to which this planned intervention might affect police officer perceptions of domestic violence measured by multi-dimensional indicators, which focus on myths surrounding family violence, sexism, attitudes toward victims of domestic violence, and criminal justice policy. It further analyzes the effect of the training on the amount of time police officers spend on the scene with victims of domestic violence. Data were collected from police department and district attorney’s office files and are used to determine whether domestic violence training initiatives ultimately lead to a greater number of cases accepted for prosecution and a greater number of domestic violence cases resulting in convictions.
Evaluating Gang and Drug House Abatement in Chicago
The role of the Metropolitan Atlanta Crime Commission (MACC) is examined in connection with its mission, activities and membership participation. This paper will present a major transformation the agency has underwent, how this change came about, implications for law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies and future prospects for the agency. The key element in this transition is that MACC has shifted from a “distanced” assisting agency to one that took upon itself the role of becoming the primary voice on crime issues in the community. This rhetoric is examined against the backdrop of what MACC is actually doing.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Rural Law Enforcement Training
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a law enforcement training program. This research, funded by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), was designed to assess the STAR training curriculum delivered by the National Center for State, Local, and International Law Enforcement Training at FLETC. Training was delivered to rural law enforcement officers by FLETC staff on the campus of Minot State University. Pre- and post-training testing was conducted to measure officer expectations of, reactions to, and value perceptions of the training. Follow-up interviews, surveys, and observations were conducted six weeks after training to determine whether officers began to practically apply the material presented during training.
Evaluating the Impacts of a New Model of Family-Based Treatment and Prevention
Assessing La Bodega de la Familia’s success in achieving the broad goal of reducing intrafamilial harms of substance abuse presents unique challenges to the evaluator. This presentation describes the design of the Bodega impact evaluation and the diverse measures used to assess the program’s impacts on families and individuals, including drug-using adults and non-using adults and children. Preliminary findings from the research will also be presented. These will focus on descriptions of families participating in La Bodega family case management and a matched comparison sample (each comprised of approximately 100 families), the role of criminal justice agencies in referring and engaging families, and the type and quantity of services provided by the program. Additionally, findings on interim measures of outcome will be discussed, including retention in Bodega and other community-based treatment, and available comparative data on early measures of recidivism and discretionary use of criminal justice sanctions to the two study groups.
Evaluating the Methamphetamine Initiative in Dallas
This paper reports on the evaluation of the meth initiative in Dallas. The Dallas Police Department (DPD) received fumding from the COPS Office for public education, (including training for citizens and the development of educational material); treatment programs to reduce recidivism and determine effective treatment methods; and the enhancement of enforcement strategies. The DPD is working with the Greater Dallas Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (GDCADA) and the Dallas County DIVERT Court on education and treatment. As part of the evaluation design, the evaluators are interviewing police officials, members of GDCADA and the Drug Court, and meth users in treatment. In addition the evaluators are collecting data from arrest records, lab seizures, and drug court records.
Evaluating the Methamphetamine Initiative in Oklahoma City
This paper reports on the evaluation of the meth initiative in Oklahoma City. Eradicating clandestine labs, promoting education on the hazards of meth, and treating offenders in Drug Court are the primary activities occurring in this jurisdiction. The Oklahoma Police Department, Oklahoma County Drug Court, DEA, and 13 local law enforcement agencies are involved in this program . Evaluators are conducting interviews with law enforcement officials, drug court participants, and partner agencies in this program. In addition the evaluators are collecting data from arrest records, lab seizures, drug court records, and treatment providers.
Evaluating the South Oxnard Challenge Project: Year Three
The South Oxnard Challenge Project (SOCP) was developed as a 3-year demonstration project to test through a randomized experiment the practical applicability of Clear’s Corrections of Place concepts and to examine the results of a newly developed collaborative approach to administering juvenile justice in South Oxnard, California. The evaluation plan calls for 500 youth to be randomly assigned to SOCP or routine juvenile probation by February 29, 2000 with data collection at the end of the intervention and at 6-months after program completion. The study examines youth characteristics and compares the experimental and control groups on legislatively-mandated. outcomes: recidivism and completion of probation community service and restitution. The research team is also measuring staff contacts with youths, families, victims, and community. This presentation will give a brief overview of the project design and report mid-program implementation. and outcome results.
Evaluation and Criminal Justice Program Theory: The Critical Linkages
This paper will present criteria and methodology to enhance evaluation designs for criminal justice programs. To produce findings and results that are useful and directly applicable for decisionmaking is often difficult, but not impossible. If program evaluation is to be a fundamental part of effective public policy, the primary responsibility for program evaluation should rest with responsible officials. By integrating program evaluation and program administration, program managers must ensure that program evaluation functions: (1) demonstrate to the satisfaction of oversight officials, the extent to which the program is effectively administered, and (2) support the program manager in producing an effectively administered program. Program managers need better methods to guide program development and to demonstrate success. Policy makers and funding sources need results that answer their questions and identify what works and where to focus future resources. Criteria are recommended that define an effectively managed program, and a set of ideal conditions for program implementation and performance — conditions to be brought about through linkages between management direction and program logic.
Evaluation of a Comprehensive Community Approach to Domestic Violence Prevention
Domestic violence is a national concern that crosses racial and socioeconomic barriers. California law currently requires convicted abusers to attend anger management classes and in some cases professional counseling. West Covina Police Department in conjunction with the Family Court Judge and various social service agencies have implemented a comprehensive program designed to increase arrest, successful prosecution of abusers, and provide assistance for the victim. Through this program police are immediately able to obtain color photographic evidence, which assist in the succe4ssful prosecution of the abuser. Victim advocacy provides immediate shelter, if needed for the victim as well as connecting them to the various social service agencies. This aspect of the program provides classes for the victim in regards to what constitutes domestic violence, its impact on the victim as well as the children, and self esteem. Social Services provide medical, financial, and professional counseling for the victim and/or children. The purpose of this study is to assess the program’s impact. The method used will be a comparative retrospective case study on arrest rate, successful prosecution, dropped charges, and recidivism rate.
Evaluation of an Anger Management Programe in the United Kingdom
This paper reports the preliminary results of an evaluation of an anger and emotional management programme with adult male offenders in UK prisons. The impact of the programme on participants’ attitudes and institutional behaviour is assessed using self-report and staff observation measures administered pre and post treatment. Results are considered in relation to tutor experience and treatment integrity measured through self-assessment and peer assessment.
Evaluation of Comprehensive Community Initiatives: A Dynamic Approach
Evaluations of comprehensive community initiatives (CCIs) pose significant challenges: unlike traditional multi-site initiatives, which involve replication or adaptation of a single, specific program model, Ms involve multiple, locally-defined interventions that change over time. The key to resolving the challenges posed by CCIs is to view the initiative and its evaluation together as a “learning system”. Fundamental to the learning system is a dynamic view of program planning and implementation: programs evolve as a result of “lessons learned.” We describe a methodology to use strategic plans to evaluate the planning processes within and across program sites. Our analysis will stress both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the strategic plan. Specifically, we link our analysis of strategic plans to a general framework to evaluate CCI’s and explore strategic planning as a basis for measuring an evolutionary process whose impacts may only be evident after a number of years.
Evaluation of Prison-Based Drug and Alcohol Treatment in Pennsylvania
In collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, we undertook a research project consisting of three stages: 1) a descriptive assessment of prison based Drug and Alcohol programming (through surveys and a “mini conference” of treatment staff), 2) an intensive on-site process evaluation of drug and alcohol programs at two institutions, and 3) design of an outcome evaluation study. First, we designed and implemented a survey of drug and alcohol treatment programs at each of 24 state institutions. Surveys collected descriptive information about program content (e.g., type, duration), program staff (e.g., duties, staffing ratios), and inmates (e.g., eligibility, intake procedures). Staff completed one survey for each program (N = 118). Second, we conducted in-depth, on-site assessments of D & A programming at two institutions. We completed a total of 44 program observations, 18 staff interviews, 31 inmate interviews, and 5 case file reviews. Data collected from the first two stages describes the chain of critical elements that influence treatment program design, implementation and effectiveness. We examine variations in programming, program strengths and weaknesses, and discuss implications for program planning and outcome evaluation. In particular, accurate program descriptions are essential precursors to outcome evaluations.
Evaluation of SAFE STREETS NOW!
Safe Streeets Now!, headquartered in Oakland, California, is the widely-acknowledged prioner of the use of small claims courts by neighborhood residents for drug, crime, and disorder abatement. Through strategies at the cutting edge of community crime prvention and revitalization — the use of civil remedies, partnerships, capacity building, etc — SSN! programs aim to build individual empowerment, community cohesion, and neighborhood revitalization while reducing crime problems and improving the quality of life for neighborhood residents. Following a survey of all SSN! programs to develop a profile of programs and select intensive sites, case studies will be conducted for four SSN! programs, three existing programs and one new program to be followed as it evolves. Within two existing programs, impact studies will be conducted in six neighborhood-based problem-solving projects. Processes will be studied through in-person interviews, observations and assessments of training, and the review of program materials. Impact will be measured via pre/post interviews with Neighborhood Team members and key informants, surveys of place managers, objective assessments of physical and social incivilities, analyses of calls for service data, and interviews with knowledgeable outsiders. Evaluation products will include thorough case studies, including impact assessments of local problem solving efforts, and a cross-site synthesis in the form of an Executive Summary.
Evaluation of Secured by Design Housing Schemes, West Yorkshire, England
From the very inception of sociology in the United States, the South Side of Chicago has been portrayed as one of the areas with the highest violent and predatory crime rates in the City. For this and other reasons, the South Side was constantly a subject of much early theoretical debate. Recent social researchers have also pointed to the persistence of social problems in that area of the City in their quests to advance contemporary theorizing. Much of the theorizing attempts to link individual and neighborhood level variables to social conditions such as rates of violent and predatory crime. A common assumption has been that high crime rates of crime will persist under conditions of social disorganization, differential social organization, high joblessness, racism, segregation, and the like. Recent work has pointed to the levels of collective efficacy in a similar manner that previous works stressed the importance of informal social control. This paper will report findings from an ethnographic project that has been ongoing since 1997, and attempts to understand the relationships between high neighborhood violent and predatory crime rates, and informal social control on the South Side of Chicago. The data will challenge existing social control theories in various ways and suggest two extensions to the collective efficacy theory of Sampson et. al. 1997.
Evaluation of the Baton Rouge Partnership to Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence: Outcome Findings
This presentation will report results on the three-year evaluation study of the Baton Rouge Partnership to Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence. The project identifies gun-involved youth on probation from targeted areas of the city, providing them with intensive home monitoring by police-probation teams, case management services, and referral to various intervention and other social services. Between November 1997 and December 1999, 388 youth were referred to the program. Youth have been tracked, on a quarterly basis, in terms of participation in program services, education and/or vocational status, compliance with probation requirements, and recidivism. Outcomes for partnership youth are compared with a control group of 63 youth from a matched neighborhood area.. In addition the partnership engages in numerous other community building and family intervention activities within the targeted areas. Program impact on the community has been measured in terms of changes in police crime rates from 1993 to 2000.
Evaluation of the Comprehensive Commuity-Wide Approach to Gang Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression: Preliminary Findings
The presentation will address implementation and preliminary outcomes of the evaluation of OJJDP’s Comprehensive Gang Model in five program sites during the first four years. An overview of the Model – based on theoretical and policy perspectives which guide strategies of social opportunities provision, social intervention, control, community mobilization and organizational change will precede discussion of the evaluation. Process components of the Model include a gang problem assessment, development of a steering committee inter-staff teamwork, and youth outreach targeted to individual youth who are gang involved or at high risk of gang involvement. Preliminary findings are based on observational methods, archival methods, and 1000 program and comparison youth interviews. Sites had varying levels of success implementing the Model. Youth outreach has been well received, but not fully implemented. Social opportunities and services to program youth have been reasonably well developed, but community and faith groups have not been highly involved. Most program youth are probation referrals with varying levels of gang involvement. Program and comparison youth experience high levels of school suspension and expulsion, family problems, drug use and access to guns, but not heavy involvement in violence. Preliminary results suggest a reduction of deviant and criminal behavior among program youth.
Evaluation of the East Oakland Partnership to Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence: Process and Outcome Findings
This presentation will report results on the three-year evaluation of the East Oakland Partnership to Reduce Gun Violence. The partnership has sought to develop effective collaborations with key law enforcement and social service providers in order to identify and intervene with gun-involved youth. Presenters will discuss the many process factors that have contributed and hindered the development and efficacy of the partnership. The project began with referrals from juvenile probation as well as from a local hospital trauma center (gun shot victims). Data will be presented on 55 youth who were referred to the program from June 1999 to December 1999 in terms of services received, level of participation, educational/vocation status and recidivism.
Evaluation of the Little Village Gang Violence Reduction Project
The Gang Violence Reduction Project (GVRP) was implemented by the Chicago Police Department in the Little Village neighborhood from 1992 through 1997. The goal of the project was to reduce serious gang violence at the individual youth gang member and community area levels. The project involved community mobilization and increased social and economic opportunities targeted toward gang involved youth. The GVRP focused on the integration of social intervention and suppression strategies within a supportive framework of local organizational change and development. The evaluation collected and analyzed data on nearly 500 youth who were either project targeted youth, youth who received some services or a comparison group who did not receive services. Data collection included interviews, criminal history records, aggregate level police arrest data, field observations, project contact and service records, community surveys and focus groups. Findings show that youth in the project sample generally reduced and/or lowered their level of arrests in relation to youth in the comparison sample. The reductions were particularly significant for serious violence and drug selling. The project appeared to be particularly successful with youth between the ages of 17 and 24 and with the more serious offenders.
Evaluation of the National Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative
The Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative is a ambitious effort by the US Departments of Justice, Education and Health and Human Services to provide a comprehensive, communitywide approach to promote health childhood development and mental health and to address problems of school violence and drug abuse. Funding, focusing resources into six domains (school safety, safe school policies, education reform, ATOD and violence prevention and intervention, early childhood and mental health), has been provided to 77 school districts nationwide. This paper will describe the evaluation strategy for measuring the implementation and impact of this broad-based Initiative. Specific objectives include identifying the impact of the Initiative on school crime, violence and ATOD use and measuring the provision of programs and services leading to health children. Process, outcome and economic analyses are planned.
Evaluation Study of Toronto’s “John School”: Overview and Preliminary Results
This paper will provide an overview of the design, and initial results of the evaluation study project of the Toronto ‘John School’. The ‘John School’ is a diversion project for (male) first offenders who have been arrested and charged for attempting to buy sex on the street. Diverted offenders undergo a one day education program on the risks and harms of street prostitution, pay a program fee, and have their charges withdrawn upon completion. This study assesses and measures John School subjects’ attitudes, knowledge and behaviors with regards to prostitution and its risks, harms and control, and evaluates the effects of the ‘John School’ program in a pre/post intervention design through the year 2000. Early data analysis suggests that most diverted offenders come from lower socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds, and may be grouped into distinct categories. Their main motivation to attend the ‘John School’ is that it allows them to avoid criminal consequences (record) and personal and social embarassement due to the arest. We predict that the ‘John School’ program may be rather effective in communciating the perception of the ‘harmfulness’ of street prostitution in the short-term, but that these effects may not last or substantially influence offenders’ attitudes on how prostitution should be controlled. We also predict that different intervention effects can be shown for the distinctly different categories of prostitution offenders.
Evaluatng a Community Police Initiative in Philadelphia’s Public Housing
this presentation builds upon our four-year effort at evaluating a community policing initiative throughout Philadelphia’s public housing developments. The purpose of this initiative was to implement a series of problem-solving tactics whereby citizens and community policing officers would work in tandem to identify and solve problems in Philadelphia public housing. In this paper, we examine several aspects of this process as well as perceptual data from citizens residing in the developments. In addition, comparable data are analyzed for samples in areas directly contiguous to the public housing developments. Implications for community policing in geneeral and the policing of public housing particular are addressed.
Event Structure Analysis of Comprehensive Community Initiatives
Understanding the dynamics of collaborative processes in the evaluation of Comprehensive Community Initiatives poses considerable methodological challenges. One key methodological challenge is to link the various planning and implementation processes (both formal and informal) to community-level intermediate outcomes using “contextually grounded” explanations. To address this challenge, narrative descriptions of events from three sites implementing Comprehensive Community Initiatives to reduce crime and delinquency are formally analyzed using event-structure analysis. Event-structure analysis, a rule-driven formal technique of narrative analysis, is used to identify the causal linkages between events that occur as communities undertake collaborative planning and implementation efforts. This analysis produces a causal framework of events that identifies key ‘actors, crucial events, and critical turning points required for accomplishing desired outcomes. In addition, the roles of informal and formal events in the development of the community initiatives are revealed.
Evidence for the Reliability and Validity of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ): A Tool for Assessing Violent and Non-Violent Recidivism
The SAQ is a self-report measure developed to assess violent and non-violent recidivism. Three sets of research results will be presented. First, evidence for the reliability, construct, and concurrent validities of the SAQ. Second, evidence for the predictive validity of the SAQ. Third, the relative efficacy of the SAQ as compared to the PCL-R, LSI-R, GSIR, and VRAG in predicting violent and non-violent release failures. Results indicate that the SAQ is at least as effective as interview-based measures in predicting release failures.
Evolving Optimum Inmate Classification Policies in the Implementation of Truth-in-Sentencing: A Dynamic Model to Predict Bed-Type Mix
Researchers in the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) and the COMPETE Center, Graduate School of Business Administration, College of William and Mary, conducted empirical data analyses and developed a simulation model to explore the dynamic relationship between prison bed-type mix and inmate classification practices, as the implementation of Truth-in-Sentencing significantly alters prison inmate attributes over time. SCDC staff extracted extensive data on sentencing, time to serve, and inmate institutional behavior patterns to derive parameters for an interactive simulation model to demonstrate how prison bedspace mix can and would vary under different scenarios of classification policies/practices. Furthermore, each classification scenario is simulated under several combinations of assumptions/tgrends concerning sentencing structure and inmate behavior patterns. Based on simulation rfesults and the early evidence of TIS inmates committing ore infractions during incarceration, researchers explore policy and stratgegy implications relating to prison operations and future capacity planning. The presentation will also address the utility of the simulation model and its potential integration with other areas of corrections research, such as inmate risk assessment and sentencing guidelines evaluation.
Examination of Defensive Gun Use Incidents
Opponents of widespread, restrictive gun control policies often argue that law abiding citizens are the ones who will suffer from such policies. Citizens without guns, as the argument goes, will be less able to effectively defend themselves against criminal attempts. Sophisticated, yet controversial survey evidence suggests that citizens use guns for self-defense a non-trivial number of times each year. Nevertheless, detailed information about the circumstances under which guns are used defensively is missing. Traditional data sources do not contain sufficient incident-level information to permit the analysis of events in which guns have been used. Furthermore, defensive gun use has not been clearly defined, raising questions about the nature and extent of defensive gun use. This paper tackles the problem of defining gun use as defensive and provides information about the situations in which people have used firearms for seemingly defensive purposes. A unique dataset gathered from inmate respondents is used to study defensive gun use in violent and potentially violent assault situations. Quantitative and qualitative data provide the opportunity to distinguish defensive gun use from offensive gun use. If these two uses for guns can be differentiated, situational characteristics can be compared, such as injury outcomes, gun user’s intentions, relationships between combatants, and precipitating behaviors.
Examination of Gender and Site Differences for Racial Diverse Gang Members
Current research on gangs examines differences between gang members and non-gang mem berfs and their involvement in delinquent activities. However, most of this research has concentrated on maes, single gangs, and specific sites. Thus, there has been a paucity of research that examines the role of race, gender, and site on the gang experience. In this paper, I utilize self-report data from a multi-site survey of youth to examine the role of race on gang activity and if this varies by site or gender.
Examinig Andrews and Bont’s Concepts of Risk and Need and Their Impact on Drug and Delinquency Treatment Outcomes
Criminologists, treatment providers, and policy-makers have repeatedly sought to understand and predict the role of correctional treatment in reducing recidivism. Andrews, Bonta, and Hoge (1990) and Andrews and Bonta (1994) discuss the concepts of risk and need as predictive tools in assigning appropriate treatment to criminal populations. This study applies their concepts to the administration of a residential tretment program and community-based aftercare program designed for drug-abusing delinquent youth. Using data collected from an evaluation of these two programs, risk and need indices are calculated for the subjects. The relationships between risk and need levels and treatment efficacy, as demonstrated in a variety of recidivism measures, are explored. Implications for the findings are discussed.
Examining Drug Treatment Effectiveness Across Prison and Parole Systems
This paper repoirts on the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral treatment approach, DOPERS-based modular treatment (DMT), that focuses on changing drug-involved offenders’ irrational beliefs and thinking errors that contribute to substance abuse and criminal lifestyles. This study, conducted in Baltimore, consists of two phases: (1) pre-release (the last six months of incarceration); and (2) aftercare (the first six months of parole). The study compares treatment outcomes with respect to drug use (both self-report and regular urine testing results); criminal activity (confidential self-reports, rearrests, and reincarcerations); and psychological functioning over an 18-month period for four groups of subjects. in each six-month phase of the study, subjects are randomly assigned to either experimental (DMT) plus standard correctional programming (SPS), or SPS alone. Thus, DMT is offered to one group during both pre-release and parole phases; to one group during pre-release only; and to one group during parole only. A fourth group of subjects is not offered DMT during either period. This type of study is rare in that it examines the relative effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral treatment across prison and parole systems using the same treatment staff over the entire treatment course.
Examining Factors of Juvenile First Offender Dispositions in Philadelphia
This is study examined the case files of 1857 juvenile offenders who were arrested between January and June of 1994 in Philadelphia and were prosecuted for the first time in a juvenile court as a result of that arrest. The focus of the research was the impact of six factors upon the juvenile court’s disposition for these first offenders. The six factors included: the most serious charge present, age, race, gender, the judge, and whether there was a re-arrest prior to the disposition. The possible dispositions ranged from diversion oriented consent decrees and deferred adjudication to formal probation and institutionalization. Multiple regression models were used to examine the relationships of the various factors on dispositions.
Examining the Building Blocks of Theories: An Iterdisciplinary Analysis of Theories on Anti-Social and Criminal Behavior
In the debate about the supposedly fragmented state of theory building in criminology, this paper contributes by demonstrating a heuristic that helps establish the degree of theoretical progress in the field. In this theoretical analysis, the unit of analysis are theories themselves rather than certain behaviours or phenomena. Through the exercise of comparing theories on a number of theoretical properties, it becomes possible to compare theories over disciplines, to see where exactly differences exist between theories, and how to empirically establish these differences. The scope of theories covered includes theories from criminology, (developmental) psychology, biology and criminal sociology. An important limitation is that only theories on causes of anti-social and criminal behaviour are considered. We hope to demonstrate, however, that this heuristic may be fruitful in other areas of the criminological field as well.
Examining the Conditional Nature of the Illicit Drug Markets-Homicide Relationship: A Partial Test of the Theory of Contingent Causation
A scan of popular newspapers, news magazines and television programs reveals numerous accounts of an apparently strong association between illicit drug markets and lethal violence. Unfortunately, this association has not been adequately documented or studied systematically by criminologists, While a few descriptive analyses of the drugs/homicide nexus report a substantial bivariate association, these studies typically focus on only one major city in the U.S. Thus, it is unclear to what extent the drugs/homicide association observed in these analyses can be generalized to other cities. According to Zimring and Hawkins (1997), the drugs/homicide connection is not as straightforward as many think because cross-national evidence has shown that increased homicide rates do not necessarily follow from the proliferation of illicit drug sales. Consequently, they suggest that illegal drug markets are a contingent cause of lethal violence; expansion of illicit drug markets will produce additional homicides only Linder certain conditions. Using data from U.S. cities, this paper tests this thesis by examining whether the expected positive association between illicit drug market activity and homicide is contingent upon preexisting social and economic conditions.
Examining the Efficacy of Youth Violence Surveillance
Data sources currently utilized to portray the scope of youth violence (e.g. risk behaviors, injury, and mortality) have been examined. These include data obtained from self-report surveys, hospital records, and other official records. Data for injuries and mortality caused by youth violence are collected through different mechanisms, for different purposes, and from different populations (e.g., hospital admissions, “arrestees”). The result of these differences is that while there may be overlap between injuries recorded in a hospital record and other sources, for example, important differences can also exist. Our goal here is to focus specifically on the strengths and limitations of these data sources and offer recommendations for improving their efficacy in portraying the influences on, and scope of youth violence. Lastly, we discuss the need for greater collaboration between public health scientists and criminologists if efforts to understand and prevent youth violence are to be advanced.
Examining the Independent and Cumulative Effects of Protective Factors in Promoting Resiliency: Evidence From a National Sample of Adolescents
Research investigating resiliency has generally found that protective factors emerging over the life course play an integral role in insulating or buffering youths from the effects of multiple risk factors. Much of this research, however, has only examined the independent effects and has largely ignored the cumulative effects that protective factors might possess. Using a sample of 711 individuals selected from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Child-Mother data set, this research attempts to advance knowledge of how protective factors accumulate to instigate resiliency. Using multiple analytic strategies, the findings suggest that the protective factors used in this research only have trivial independent effects, however, their cumulative effects are significant and robust across multiple measures of resiliency. The theoretical and policy implications of this research are discussed.
Examining the Role of Values in a Community and Crime Model
Most contemporary community level crime models assume conventional values are dominant across all neighborhoods. Thus, attention has been focused on the role of social ties in strengthening shared values and encouraging informal social control. While some recent studies (e.g., Warner and rountree 1997; Warner and Rountree, in press) have questioned these assumptions, few studies have actually examined the role of values in a community and crime model. This study addresses this gap in the literature by including measures of culture in a community and crime model. Cultural variables include both measures of values and modes of behavior. Specificalloy we examine (1) the amount of variance in cultural variables across communities, (2) the extent to which social ties are related to value consensus, and (3) the extent to which cultural variables both moderate the effect of social ties on informal social control and mediate the effects of community structural variables on informal social control, and subsequently, violent crime rates. Data from this study are based on an NIJ supported survey of residents in 60 neighborhoods in a Midwestern state.
Examining the Use of Bounded Interviews in the National Crime Victimization Survey
This paper will examine the use of bounded interviews by the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Information from the School Crime Supplement to the NCVS will be used to compare unbounded, incoming rotation respondentds (ages 12 to 18) and their victimization experiences with continuing rotation respondents from (1) households that were iterviewed previously and (2) replacement households that were not prfeviously interviewed.
Excluded Identities and Structural Violence
This paper is a theoretical and empirical analysis of sources of excluded identities within mature institutions, with a focus on understanding the importance of the exclusion and the opportunities for institutional deterrence of such exclusion. The issue was highlighted by the eruption of violence at Columbis School. But adults preceded the children in such explosions of anger and frustration. We document the phenomenon in a traditional institution of higher education. This study focuses on both the professional identities within the academy and the student identities as affected by the overall climate of the institution. “Structural violence” is the causing of harm by inflexibility and rigidity of the rules of the structure in dealing with difference. Through the analysis of gender, race, and class, we have become much more aware in recent years of the harm that can be caused without any given perpetrator, by the holding to rules that do not allow for differences. Labeling is an example of the structural violence of the language of the social system. In school and in the system of juvenile justice, students are labeled “delinquent” or “deviant.” It is structurally violent because it defines someone’s identity with respect to another’s rules and perceptions of behavior.
Executions: The Orchestration of Death
The author, over the past fifteen years has been given unlimited access to the execution process in the State of Utah. Such access has included participation in execution planning meetings, ongoing interviews with death row inmates, access to the deathwatch experience and the witnessing of five executions–four by lethal injection and one by firing squad. This paper focuses on the process of execution as orchestration. Goffman’s “staging” and metaphor of dramaturge has been helpful in many aspects of social life. This paper uses the concept of “orchestration” to suggest the execution process is better understood as an orchestrated activity in that various groups are performing separate activities and “rehearsals” that eventually come together as a part of a whole in the final “performance.” This approach is not to suggest any aspects of “entertainment” or “recreation”. Rather the complicated process of executions is presented as an involved, coordinated effort by those required to act in the name of the State.
Expenditure on the Criminal Justice System in the U.S. and Europe
Preliminary data from the United Nations Sixth Survey on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (1995-1997) will be used to compare the pattern of public expense and human resources utilized in the justice systems of European countries to that of the United States. Additionally, crime data will be presented to examine whether there is a relationship between rates of crime in these countries and per capita expenditure and employment within the criminal justice system. Consistency between the UN Survey data and that of the US Census Bureau and FBI will be examined as well.
Experiences From a Norwegian Project to Improve the Transition Between Prison and Working Life
A number of people with a criminal record have problems to find and keep an ordinary job. A substantial majority of them therefore continue their criminal career, not necessarily because they are less qualified for a job than others, but partly because they may have certain behavioral problems. In 199, the Norwegian Labor Marked Administration and the Ministry of Justice initiated a four year pilot project–named “New Start in the Working Life”–which has the objective to improve the transition between prison and working life for people with a criminal record by employing elements of the Canadian “Cognitive Skills Program”, developed by Ross and Fabiano, in certain vocational rehabilitation schemes. An additional goal is to improve the labor marked services towards the prison population in general, by implementing routines that make it easier for all inmates who need and want that, to participate in vocational rehabilitation services immediately after release. The Work Research Institute in Oslo is charged with the task of the scientific evalaution of the pilot project. The researchers conducting this evaluation would like to use this opportunity to present and discuss experiences from this project.
Experiences of Victimization and Delinquency of Pupils in East Germany
The subject of a recent poll of 1,529 15-year old boys and girls in the Federal State of Western Pomerania was to find out patterns of victimization and delinquency with respect to different social milieus, socialization fields, individual social and political attitudes. One major interest of the study is focussed on violent attitudes, violent crimes and their racist or xenophobia background. Right wing attitudes are wide spread amongst young East German pupils. However, aggressive behavior is not direct caused by xenophobia attitudes. Aggressive youngsters with a aggressive and violent biographical background are more likely to join such groups where they can act out their aggressive predisposition’s. The study develops multivariate models on the interrelation between variables of social class, socialization, individual attitudes and crime experiences. Early experiences of violence in the family, family disorder and exclusion in different socialization areas play an important role in this context. Aspects of violent prevention in the community are discussed.
Experiential Learning in the Criminal Justice Curriculum
Prior research suggests that learning is most effective if it contains an experiential component. To often university classroom instruction consits of lectures, class and group discussions, occasional guest speakers, role-playing, and instructional videos. Rarely is learning enhanced by actual out-of-class experiences that make classroom learning come alive. This paper presents a variety of experiential learning strategies that dramatically enhance the education of criminal justice undergraduates at an urban university. The author examines the concept of experiential learning and suggests how it can be incorporated into the teaching of juvenile delinquency and community crime prevention courses.
Explaining Co-offending Patterns Using Social Exchange Theory
Studies in the past have revealed many empirical findings about co-offending, but relatively few attention is paid to the explanation of co-offending patterns. Until now, there is no theoretical perspective that accounts for all characteristics of co-offending and its varieties and dynamics. In this paper a comprehensive theory of co-offending is proposed. The basic idea is that co-offending can be regarded as an event in which material and inmaterial goods are exchanged. Co-offenders do not only offer instrumental services or shares in criminal profits to each other, but also information, social acdeptance and appreciation. In the paper the circumstances and variables that influence this social exchange will be described in detail. The ‘social exchange’ theory of co-offending is applicable to complex criminal co-operation as well as to youthful offending in groups. The paper shows how the theory can generate explanations for the variation between individuals and offense types in frequency, intensity and form of co-offending, the occurrence of instigators and recruiters, and in the change i offending groups and accomplice networks.
Explaining Dropout and Delinquency: A Test of Three Theories
Prior studies investigating the relationship between dropping out of high school and delinquency typically employ strain and social control theories to derive predictions. Differential association theory has also demonstrated strong predictive accuracy for juvenile delinquency, but is seldom used to explain law violating behavior among high school dropouts. The following study explores the possibility that the dropout-delinquency relationship is explianed by social control theory, general strain theory, and differential association theory. This sutdy also investigates the possibility that the relationship between these theories and law violating behavior may be distinct for students and dropouts. Hypotheses are evaluated using data from two waves of a national panel sample of 1988 eighth graders. Results indicate that social control theory has the greatest mediating effect of the three theories on the dropout-delinquency relationship. Dropout status did not condition the effect of delinquent peers on delinquency, as time spent with friends was equally criminolgenic for students and dropouts.
Explaining Non-Metropolitan Crime: A Test of Social Disorganization Theory Upon Crime in a Non-Urban Community
While considerable attention has been given to urban crime within criminology, rural and non-metropolitan crime has not been as thoroughly researched. We believe the criminal behavior that occurs in smaller communities, while being greatly underrepresented within the academic literature, offers a unique and fertile area for both empirical and theoretical development. This paper begins by examining what characteristics help to make rural and non-metropolitan communities unique from urban areas. We contend that academic researchers and policy makers are both in error of taking any research discoveries that have been made using urban data and applying these findings non-urban areas. While this may seem logical, we argue that non-urban communities are both distinct and divergent from urban areas thus requiring separate yet equal attention. Building upon this argument, we have taken property crime data from a non-metropolitan community and constructed a test of social disorganization. We have incorporated concepts from geographical information systems sciences (GIS) and data from the census bureau that has allowed us to investigate concepts that were once only testable upon urban areas. While this research is preliminary due to certain data constraints, we believe it offers a unique analysis of non-metropolitan crime by applying a theory and methods that until recently have been primarily reserved for the study of urban crime.
Explaining Violence by Black and White Adolescents: An Application of General Strain Theory
I use Agnew’s general strain theory (GST) to compare the causes of violence by black and white adolescents. Research on discrimination and stress find that blacks experience life stressors (prejudice, discrimination) that may lead to a number of negative emotions and negative health outcomes. GST provides a useful framework to conceptualize these negative life experiences, negative emotions, and their potential for negative outcomes. I conducted analyses on two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health which includes detailed interviews with a nationally representative sample of adolescents in grades 7-12. 1 performed separate regressions to compare the similarities and differences in the types of negative life experiences and negative emotions that lead to violence among blacks and whites. Some negative life experiences (violent victimization) and negative emotions have similar strong effects on violence by blacks and whites. However, there are some differences in the relevance of other causal factors (attachment to school, future expectations). Even though some causal factors may be similar, there are distinct racial differences in the quantity of those factors (e.g. blacks are more like to experience violent victimization). This research has implications for both general strain theory and our understanding racial differences in violence.
Exploring ‘Economic Rationality’ in the British Probation Service
Drawing on the author’s qualitative research in the British Probation Service, this paper will describe the emergence of strategies for offender supervision based on ‘economic’ reasoning following the demise of the ‘rehabilitative ideal’ (Garland 1997). This paper will focus on the use of a risk/needs assessment instrument as a resource rationing tool and consider the extent to which contemporary concerns with risk, resources and rationing have displaced traditional ‘rehabilitative’ concerns and ways of approaching offenders subject to probation supervision.
Exploring the Consequences of Child Maltreatment Over the Lifecourse
Research indicates that childhood abuse is associated with long-term problems for women including substance abuse, depression, adult criminality, adult victimization, and increased risk for HIVIAIDS infection. Recent studies also find that women in prison report higher rates of childhood and adult victimization, substance abuse problems, and HIV/AIDS infection than non-incarcerated women. Few studies of childhood abuse among adult women in general include measures of frequency, duration, relationship to the perpetrator, and age at first abuse. Further, little systematic research exists on the long-term consequences of childhood abuse and its relationship to substance use and other HIV/AIDS risk behaviors among incarcerated women. This study examines measures of childhood abuse and its relationship to HIV/AIDS risk behaviors with a random sample of 1,198 newly admitted female prisoners in 1999.
Exploring the Recidivism Process of Maryland Adult Probationers: An Examination of a Police-Correction Partnership
During the last 30 years correctional researchers and practitioners alike have seen dramatic changes in correctional philosophies. The rehabilitative ideals which dominated the 1960’s gave way to more punitive attitudes and programs which ultimately lead to prison overcrowding and over worked probation agencies. As a consequence, correctional agencies have been forced to develop alternative ways of sanctioning offenders. The get tough sentencing polices of the 1980’s supported programs such as intensive supervision programs. The latest innovation in correctional reform is the development of partnerships between police departments and correctional agencies or community probation programs. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of one such program utilizing measures of recidivism. Using a quasiexperimental research design that compares a sample of offenders who underwent community supervision with a matched sample of offenders who underwent “normal” supervision in the state of Maryland, this study examines if the recidivism process differs based upon the type of supervision imposed. In addition, the level of offender’s social bonds are examined to see if they condition the recidivism process. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Exploring Violent Crime in the UK: The Value of Local Police Force Data
In recent years there has been increasing concern over the level of violence in British society. In particular, there has been concern over various types of sexual violence, offences committed by young people and those committed by dangerous offenders living in the community. This paper gives an overview of levels and trends in violent crime from 1987 to 1997. It draws upon officially recorded crime figures as well as those from the British Crime Survey. However, it recognises the limitations with such data, particularly issues concerning under-reporting and under-recording. The research therefore incorporated an analysis of a sample calls to one local police force in England. This provides a useful case study on local patterns of violence, in particular the type of incidents reported to the police and factors associated with these incidents. It also provides an insight into the difficulty of recording these types of calls and how this may impact upon operational responses to violent crime. This presentation will demonstrate the value of local police force data and how it may complement more official sources. It does, however, conclude with recommendations for this area of work – for both the police and for further research.
Exposed to Domestic Violence
This project is studying how community oriented police departments are working with community partners to address the needss of children exposed to domestic violence. Project objectives are framed in four research questions: (1) How many law enforcement departments are working with community providers to help children exposed to domestic violence receive the services they need to mitigate the short and long term affects caused by the exposure? (2) What types of working partnerships are being formed between law enforcement and child protective services and/or community service providers to address the needs of children exposed to domestic violence? What can we learn from the national picture about how the different approaches came about; the goals of various approaches; the resources needed to implement various approaches; and the perceived impact of these approaches? (3) What can we learn from communities that have implemented a partnership response to children exposed to domestic violence? Case studies will be generated in five communities in sufficient detail to allow replication, and (4) What data exist, or can be collected, to measure the impact of a partnership responseo to children exposed to domestic violence? We will look at the feasibility of conducting a follow-on impact study.
Extending a Confluence Model of Neighbourhood and Family Effects on Childhood Gendered Aggression
Past crime and delinquency research is restrictive in focusing on direct predatory forms of physical aggression among adolescents and adults. This study focuses on children from two to eleven years of age, and it combines attention to physical aggression with a consideration of indirect aggression that involves manipulating feelings and relationships of and through others. While much recent attention has been given to the contextual effects of neighborhoods on predatory aggression, little is known about how such variation might influence indirect aggression This paper uses the first wave of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) to explore and explain the patterning of physical and indirect aggression among children. Neighborhood characteristics are operationalized through census characteristics and perceived neighborhood problems. Using hierarchical linear models with the NLSCY data, we are able to extend a confluence model of aggression, which shows how the ecological contexts of families and neighborhoods affect childhood behaviors. Residence in neighborhoods perceived to have elevated neighborhood problems is positively associated with both forms of aggression- Patterns of effects of the objective characteristics of Canadian neighborhoods on each form of aggression are presented.
Extending Findings From Repeat Victimization: Understanding the Nexus
This paper presents findings about the variation in incidence and time course of repeat victimization across crime types and across and within cities from a study by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). The study examines robbery, burglary and vehicle theft, examining the links between crime types in Indianapolis, Miami, Austin and Prince George’s County, MD. The study extends work on repeat victimization by standardizing the methods of analyzing repeat victimization, including definitions, time course, concentration by geographic area, and crime type. The focus of the research is to document the extent of the repeat phenomenon, specifying its scope, elaborating its distinctions, and developing a model which police can replicate as a step to developing appropriate interventions and preventing or reducing serial victimization.
Extrajudicial Measures for Youth Justice in Canada and in England and Wales
Canada and England and Wales have introduced major legislation aimed at renewing their youth justice strategies and reforming the youth justice system namely the Youth Criminal Justice Act and the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 respectively. Both introduce new approaches to the diversion of young people from court. This paper compares and contrasts the principles that inform these proposed extrajudicial measures, their objectives, and their implementation. It examines the different balances that have been struck between the aims of diversion, rehabilitation, restoration, and proportionality. It asks the question whether extrajudicial measures can ever be truly extrajudicial. The paper concludes with a brief summary of the findings from an evaluative study of a final warning scheme in England and Wales and comments on the relative merits of the approaches of the different countries.
‘Face-ing’ the Offender: Exploring Public Attitudes to Youth Justice and Young Offenders
Canadian youth justice legislation identifies an offender’s age and state of maturity to be important factors in determining how to deal with a young person who has violated the law. This study explores whether varying constructions of the age or maturity of a young offender affects sentencing preferences and ratings of the youth’s character. 506 respondents on Ontario, Canada were provided with a hypothetical case scenario about a young offender involved in a minor offence. Randomly assigned groups were provided extra pieces of information which constructed the youth on a continuum of more ‘youthful’ to more ‘adult-like’. Results indicate that the construction of apparent maturity did not affect public ratings but rather, the most significant relationship was the effect of more information about the youth’s context on ratings by the public.
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Factors Affecting Support for and Opposition to the Use of Psychiatric Medicine to Control Juvenile Delinquency
The widespread and increasing use of psychiatric medicine to inhibit juvenile misconduct is a significant aspect of modem crime control strategy and a controversial topic in criminology. Using data from the 1998 General Social Survey, the present study analyzes sources of support for and opposition to the use of psychiatric medicine to reduce destructive behavior and promote juvenile obedience to authority. Specific hypotheses are derived from a medicalization of deviance framework and Donald Black’s typology of styles of social control. Results indicate that structural, life-style, experiential, and attitudinal variables all play a role in determining support for the use of psychiatric medicine such as Ritalin to promote conformist behavior in children. A traditional religiosity/child-rearing factor generated by principal components analysis displayed the strongest (negative) effect on support for psychiatric social control in the regression equations. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.
Factors Associated With Sentencing Disparities
Flagrant sentencing disparities led some states to adopt sentencing guidelines. The goal is to eliminate differential sentencing outcomes for similarly situated offenders with different racial backgrouns. However, many observers consistently claim that minority offenders still routinely receive unfavorable sentencing outcomes when compared with white offenders. As such, they claim that “de facto racism” exists in criminal sentencing. On the other hand, some criminologists also claim that the “unfairness” in sentencing outcoemes is only in appearance and not widespread. They observed that, if at all, the disparities are due to members of the minority’s poverty rather than their race. Using data from Pennsylvania, this study examines the role of racial and economic factors in sentencing outcomes.
Factors Associated With the Initiation of Heroin Injection
Introduction: Risk factors for the initiation of heroin injection among those who sniff heroin have not been documented. There are competing perspectives for the initiation of heroin injection including a pharmacologic explanation, a social and drug use networks perspective and the street addict lifestyle perspective. These three perspectives will be explored in this presentation. Methods: As part of a study of injection drug use, current heroin sniffers who had never injected a drug and individuals who had had been heroin sniffers and had initiated drug injection in the previous four years were recruited from the streets. After careful screening to prevent misclassification and a urine test to assure active drug use, participants were administered a structured questionnaire which included questions on drug use history and lifestyle. A case control analysis was used to determine independent risk factors for progressing from heroin sniffing to heroin injection. Included in the analysis were data from 300 heroin sniffers and 185 new injection drug users who had sniffed heroin prior to initiation of injection. Drug use and lifestyle variables for the past 30 days for heroin sniffers and for the 30 days prior to first injection for the new injectors were entered into a logistic regression model. Results: Independent risk factors associated with initiation of injection were frequency of crack use (those using crack at least once a day were less likely to initiate injection), living with an injection drug user, spending $200 or more a week on drugs, and having a drug using partner who was “important” in the sniffer’s life. Discussion: The data support the pharmacologic and economic perspective that sniffers initiate heroin injection when their habit becomes too expensive to support. The data also suggest that social/drug using networks and addict lifestyle are associated with the decision to inject.
Factors Associated With Weapon Carrying Among Young Urban Females
Using data from an ongoing panel study of urban youth, this paper provides an examination of the factors associated with female weapon carrying. The analysis will be based on the sample of adolescent females in the Rochester Youth Development Study and will examine the types of weapons carried and the reasons for carrying versus not carrying. We will address the protective and risk factors related to why these females carry hidden weapons and assess their impact on various forms of delinquency over multiple waves of data covering early adolescence to young adulthood. Future research and policy implications will also be discussed.
Factors Influencing Students’ Perceptions of Violence Existing Within Their Schools
Incidents of school violence have become highly publicized over the past few years. Some research has begun to explore students’ concerns regarding violence occurring within their schools. This paper examines responses from 8th and 11th grade public school students (N-10,234) throughout the state of Delaware regarding their perceptions of violence existing within their schools. Our analysis will report on predictors of perceived violence on three levels, including student characteristics, levels of criminal activity occurring within the school, and levels of crime (property and violent) reported within the community. Findings show that high levels of criminal activity as well as certain student characteristics impact students’ perceptions of violence existing within their school.
Factors Related to Officers’ Participation in Community Policing Activities
In this paper, several demographic and structural factors predictive of police participation in activities considered to be vital for the success of community policing are delineated. Officers from communities of varying sizes in the United States and in Austria completed questionnaires that explored their participation in such activities. When their responses were examined and compared, it was discovered that their involvement varied by size of community, length of service, age, sex, shift assignment, rank, and personal acceptance of the community policing philosophy.
Factors Related to the Desistance of Crime in a Longitudinal Sample
Currently there is an effort in criminology to focus not, only on the initiation of crime and deviance for adolescents but to also look at patterns of persistence and desistance (Sampson & Laub., 1993). Self-reports of delinquent behavior were collected in 1996-1997 as part of an ongoing longitudinal research study initiated in 1990 of mothers and one of their children. Out of 300 participants 108 adolescents reported committing delinquent acts in the previous year. In 1998-1999 participants were brought in again to be interviewed, of the 108 previously classified delinquents thirty-six reported desisting from delinquency. We will investigate whether commonly measured constructs such as parental monitoring, family attachment, impulsivity and peer deviance are related to desistance. Other variables not collected so regularly (e.g. mentoring) will also be examined. In addition to looking at the relation between variables at one time period to outcomes at another we will explore the idea that perhaps it is the change in these variables over time that account for the change in delinquency status.
Factors That Influence the Progression and Desistance of Antisocial behavior
This study was a preliminary step in identifying the factors that influence the progression or desistance of antisocial behavior. Specifically, I hypothesized a model in which exposure to violence promotes the progression of antisocial behavior, and parental monitoring promotes the desistance of antisocial behavior. The data for this study was part of a longitudinal effort to evaluate Peacebuilders, a schoolwide violence-prevention program for elementary and middle4 schools in Pima County, Arizona. In this study, Time 1 was data collected in 1997 and Time 2 was data collected in 1998. Based on student self-reports and teacher reports, data was obtained for 1920 students for both Times 1 and 2. The study included three of the variables that were part of the survey administered to children: exposure to violence, parental monitoring, and antisocial behavior as well as one variable that was part of a survey administered to teachers: antisocial behavior. In order to test the hypothesized model, we investigated the effects of exposure to violence and parental monitoring on antisocial behavior at Time 2, while controlling for the effects of antisocial behavior at Time 1. Structural equation modeling analyses were done to test the overall fit of the model to the data.
Fake It ‘Til You Make It: Overconfidence and Client Outcome in a Reintegration Program
During a series of interviews and focus groups with rehabilitation practitioners, an indigenous typology of treatment clients emerged involving “resistors,” “fakers,” “wall flowers” and “buy-ins.” According to the treatment staff, only the last two types of clients are likely to succeed in a reintegration program. One of the dimensions used to assign clients to one of these types involved the client’s expressed level of self-confidence in their ability to succeed. One could identify a “faker,” for instance, because these are individuals who are “too confident, too soon.” The present study was designed to explore how client confidence levels interact with these counselor assessments in influencing treatment outcomes. During their third week, clients in a treatment-based reintegration program were asked to rate their chances of graduating from the program and subsequently holding down a job. Counselors were also asked to rate the clients’ chances at success and to provide their reasoning for this assessment. Outcome measures of successful employment were then taken three months after completion of the program. One hypothesis was that clients were least likely to succeed in the program in cases of “mismatch,” when clients were highly condident of their likely success, but counselors are more skeptical.
Family Background Factors and Victimization Characteristics of Youth Adjudicated for Sexual Offenses: Preliminary Findings
This paper will present the findings of an exploratory study of selected background characteristics of juveniles ins tate custody for sexual offending. The results will focus on the family backgrounds and victimization histories of these youth. Data have been collected from the subjects case files at the state observation and assessment center with supplemental interview data from a smaller sample of youth in an outpatient treatment program. The preliminary findings reveal extensive family disorganization and multiple incidents of victimization. Victimization data have collected on sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect.
Family Criminality in the Prediction of Boys’ Delinquency
This paper investigates how far criminal relatives predict a boy’s own delinquency. The analyses were based on 1,014 boys (originally aged 10 to 13 in the Pittsburgh Youth Study). Arrests of relatives (according to the parent) were compared with arrests of the boy, court petitions of the boy, and the boy’s reported delinquency (according to the parent, boy, and teacher). The fact that arrests of the boy predicted his later court petitions established the validity of the parent’s reports of arrests. Arrests of brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, grandfathers, and grandmothers all predicted the boy’s delinquency. The most important relative was the father; arrests of the father predicted the boy’s delinquency independently of all other arrested relatives. Studies of explanatory variables suggest that young mothers, a bad neighborhood and low guilt of the boy may be links in the causal chain between arrested fathers and delinquent boys.
Family Matters: Gender, Parental Status, Severity of Offense and Criminal Court Outcomes
Research examining gender differences in criminal court outcomes has consistently indicated that women are treated more leniently than men. Kathleen Daly’s research indicates that the court is not acting to protect women as the chivalry hypothesis suggests, but rather to protect families. This study builds upon Daly’s research by examining whether all familial relations illicit this lenient response, or if some relations, particularly those including children, are more beneficial to offenders. Using data from the 1991 Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities Ordinary Least Squares models of sentence length and Logit models of obtaining pre-trial release were estimated. The analysis indicates that familial relations account for part of the gender disparity in obtaining release, and that the odds of obtaining release are greater for offenders with children than for offenders with other types of familial relations. The results for sentence length indicate that familial relations interact both with gender and severity of offense. Female single parents and inmates who lived with their children and a partner, who committed offenses at or above the modal level of severity receive comparatively shorter sentences. However, at lower levels of offense severity and for male single parents, familial relations increase sentence length.
Family Processes and Delinquency: The Consistency of Relationships Across Ethnic Groups
This paper examines the relationship between family processes and delinquency within a social control framework. The relationship is assessed using a multiethnic sample to determine whether the impact of parental attachment, involvement and supervision on delinquency is consistent across Latino, White and African American youth. Past social control theory research suggests that there should be consistency across racial/ethnic groups regarding social bonding, however, studies on family processes indicate that this may not be the case. This study utilizes two waves of data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Data are appropriate for this analysis since the NLSY ’97 oversamples minority youth and collects detailed information on the family from both parents and youth. Through an examination of the social control perspective across separate ethnic groups, the generality of the theory is assessed.
Family Risk Factors and Family Treatments for Early-Onset Offending
Children with early, persistent (early-onset) antisocial behavior often show neuropsychological and temperamental difficulties as preschoolers; when parenting deficits co-occur, these also contribute. Socialenvironmental and family risk factors often cluster together within the same families. Some family factors reflecting social adversity likely impact on early-onset difficulties by mutual connections with more direct factors (parenting disturbance, parental psychopathology). Similarly, while family violence or divorce also elevates risk for early problems, effects on children are confounded with negative life events, parental psychopathology and the child’s own abuse experience. Parenting practices are powerful predictors of early antisocial behavior. Families of early-onset children show increased conflict, less monitoring and less involvement. Family-based approaches reduce risks for poor parenting that, in turn, contributes to earlyonset behavior. Interventions in this area often fail to address the sources of risk for children in family life: interventions for family violence and divorce conflict rarely even consider children. Conversely, interventions for reducing young children’s aggression do not commonly target contributory family issues (marital conflict, ADHD in child and parents), despite available treatments. Importantly, when traditional parent-child treatments are augmented by such components, parents are more likely to complete treatment, maximizing child gains.
Family Strain, Gender, and Delinquency: A Test of Agnew’s General Strain Theory
One way of testing a criminological theory is to examine its ability to explain why certain demographic or structural variables are related to criminal behavior. This paper reports such a test of Agnew’s general strain theory (GST) with respect to the relationship between gender and crime. The focus is on family-related strain faced by adolesscents and how it may account for gender differences in adolescdent crime. Building on the work of Broidy and Agnew (1997), this paper tests four GST explanations for why males are more highly involved in crime than females: (1) males may be exposed to a greater level of family strain, (2) males may be subject to different types of family strain, with male strains being more conducive to crime, (3 males may have a different emotional response to strain, with the male response more likely to involve the crime-inducing emotions of anger and frustration, and (4) males may have a different behavioral response to anger and frustration, with the male response more likely to involve crime. These explanations are examined with questionnaire data collecdted from a sample of 213 adolescents taken from a single urban area in the U.S. southwest.
Family Structure Effects on Adolescent Delinquency
America’s children are growing up in diverse family contexts. One-third of all children are born to unmarried mothers and over one-half of children will spend some time in a single-parent family. In fact, single father families are the fastest growing family form. In our paper, we examine the linkages between family structure and delinquency using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Specifically, we extend prior research that has compared the effects of growing up in a two-parent versus single-mother family by examining adolescent delinquency among youth residing in two-parent, single-mother, and single-father families. This strategy will help us identify the mechanisms through which living with a single parent increases delinquency, notably, whether the effect is predominantly a function of parental absence or parental gender. The Add Health data are ideal for this study as they contain detailed measures of family structure and delinquency for about 20,000 adolescents in grades 7-12.
Fatal Attraction: Towards and Understanding of the Relationship Between Gender and Boundary Violations in Prison Organizations
Prison employees are trained to maintain their “distance” from prisoners and to avoid personal entanglements with prisoners. Efforts to assure that those who enter the correctional service serve honorably, however, do not keep some prison employees from ending their careers in disgrace. Some employees engage in “career-ending” infractions whereby they are suspended/reprimanded, and some resign or are terminated for engaging in inappropriate relationships (or boundary violations) with inmates. Currently no empirically defensible research has systematically identified the factors that may distinguish such employees (disciplined) from the great number of their colleagues who do not deviate from what is expected. This paper examines the personnel records of 500 Texas prison employees disciplined for establishing inappropriate relationships between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 1998. We employ Goffman’s (1974) model of social frames to investigate the process by which prison employees establish inappropriate relationships with inmates. We also examine gender differences among a group of prison staff disciplined for establishing personal relationships with prisoners. Our gendered perspective helps us to understand gender differences in the type of boundary violations as well as illustrates how the processes that pull male and female prison employees into boundary violations may differ.
FBI’s High Tech Crime Squad and Economic Espionage
Criminal activity involving sophisticated technology or economic espionage have attracted attention in various circles in recent years. Cases of this type provide insights into various organizations and mechanisms used by the FBI for dealing with “high tech” criminal conduct. This presentation chronicles the development of law enforcement policies and practices relating to high tech crime and to the Economic Espionage Act of 1996.
Fear of Crime and Sense of Community: A Comparative Study of Fear of Crime at Bondi and Marrickville, Sydney, Australia
As a result of their work on a major national research consultancy on fear of crime funded by the (Australian) Criminology Research Council, the National Campaign Against Violence and Crime (now National Crime Prevention) and the National Anti-Crime Strategy, the authors undertook a project to examine possible links between people’s level of community participation and their level of fear of crime. The sites selected for this project were the Waverley and Marrickville Local Council areas in Sydney and the project was supported by the Councils. (Bondi Beach is located in the Waverley Council area). The methodology involved surveying approximately 200 residents and conducting focus group discussions and one-to-one interviews with young people, parents of young people and older people who reside in the respective areas. The results of this study provide an itneresting profile of fear of crime in suburban Sydney and how residents construct that fear and cope with it. The results also highlight the advantages of adopting a complementary methodology which allows survey results to be explored in focus group discussions and interviews. This approach provides a richness of data not possible from adopting a qualitative or quantitative methodology alone.
Fear of Crime in Kentucky
This paper will compare findings from 12 local community surveys in Kentucky conducted during the 1990s with those from a 1999 state-wide survey of several thousand residents. The paper will compare levels of fear of crime across various jurisdictions as well as examine correlates of fear. One feature of the data is that several of the local communities are small towns and the state is relatively rural.
Fear of Gang Crime: A Look at the Four Theoretical Models
Researchers have developed four independent but connected theories to explain fear of crime. These theories are subcultural diversity/racial heterogeneity, incivilities, community concern, and indirect victimization. We use data from a 1997 random-digit-dial survey in Orange County, California to test the ability of these models to explain fear of gang crime (e.g., tagging, home invasion robbery, drive-by shooting). We employ structural equation models to explore both direct and indirect effects of the different theoretical variables on fear.
Felony Defendants on Probation or Parole for a Prior Offense
This study examines the characteristics and criminal court processing of persons who were on parole or probation at the time of their arrest on a felony charge. The study utilizes State Court Processing Statistics data collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics for approximately 70,000 felony defendants charged with a felony in one of the Nation’s 75 largest counties during selected months from 1990 to 1998. About 10,000 of these defendants were on probation at the time of their arrest on the current felony charge, and another 4,000 were on parole. Cases are summarized in terms of current arrest offense(s). prior arrests and convictions, demographic characteristics, pretrial release and detention outcomes, adjudication outcome, and sentence received, if convicted. Comparisons am made between these defendants and those with no active criminal justice status at the time of arrest.
Female Inmates In Oklahoma: Issues in Sentencing, Transfers, and Parenting
Females constitute nearly 11% of inmates in the Oklahoma state correctional system, far higher than the national average. This paper will explore the issue of female incarceration in Oklahoma, examining both causes and consequences. First, we will examine correlates of sentencing, including race, socioeconomic status, employment history, geographical location, marital status, motherhood, and prior legal history. Then we will turn to an examination of current trends in transfer of prisoners, the use of private prisons to “warehouse” female inmates, and the effects of these policies on visitation and parenting. Finally, we will summarize parenting issues identified by both the inmates themselves and by the researchers. Statistical analyses will include descriptive data as well as regression analyses.
Female Racialists and the Internet
White supremacists have been using computer technology for over twenty-five years. Early use began with computer bulletin boards and continues today with options such as chat rooms, usenet, email, and webpages. This paper will focus on one aspect of how white racialists use the Internet through content analysis of webpages and e-zines aimed at or operated by female racialists.
Fictive Kin, Distressed Inner-City Households, and Drug Epidemics
The concept of fictive kin took on central importance within the lives of African American slaves. Slaves could not always control their lives but they could hold onto their humanity and their love of family. In this regard, there is much more than a quaint tradition in African-American children addressing all African-American elders as aunt and uncle, irrespective of blood relations. This practice bound them together and provided assurance of continuous care and security for children living in a world of slavery disordered by the whims of owners. This subcultural practice continued for hundreds of years, throughout slavery and into freedom. In the post World War 11 inner city, this practice has helped children in a world disordered by long-term poverty, unemployment, educational failure, poor housing, crime, drug epidemics, violence, family dissolution, and other hardships. To illustrate the concept, this paper examines the experiences of Island who raised 89 children as her own and other inner-city extended families.
Field Research and Juvenile Corrections
This paper provides an overview of the legal and philosophical changes that have occurred in juvenile justice during the past few decades. The paper discusses the current state of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of juvenile corrections, and calls for a renewed emphasis on field research. Such research will enable a more thorough understanding of the relationship between philosophical changes in juvenile justice and juvenile corrections’ policies and practices. Preliminary results from field research being conducted at a state juvenile correctional facility are discussed.
Fighting Back: Victim Weapon Use and Subsequent Assault
The type of weapon used in self-defense has been shown to effect whether an assault is completed or not. The self-defensive use of a firearm tends to reduce the likelihood of a completed assault. On the other hand, the probability that an assault will be completed increases when the victim employs a knife, other weapon, or bodily force. The disparity between the type of weapon used by the victim and by the offender has not been thoroughly exanmined to date. ‘Me following study characterizes this disparity in terms of coercive power. That is, an actor’s ability to force another actor to comply with his will is assessed through the differences in and the combined power of the two actors. Employing the incident-level of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) from 1992 through 1997, this study examined the relationship between the disparity in coercive power and a completed simple or aggravated assault when the victim was confronted with a threat by a stranger. The relationships among the victim’s use of an active resistance, the offender’s weapon use, the offender’s use of alcohol, and other victim and offender characteristics (gender, race, and age) on the completion of an assault will be discussed.
“Finders are Keepers!?” — Control Balance, Self Control, and Criminal Behavior in the Presence of Opportunities
In this paper everyday situations which offer opportunities for criminal or immoral behaviors are analyzed on the basis of ideas derived from Charles R. Tittle’s control balance theory (1995). In combination with the self control theory and the rountine activity approach, control balance theory allows the assumption that actors who display control imbalances are likely to carry out a criminal or immoral behavior if they are low in self control and if the opportunity presents itself. The study consÿÿ
Findings From an Evaluation of the San Francisco Community Assessment and Referral Center
In November of 1997, the City of San Francisco opened its doors to the Community Assessment and Referral Center (CARC) – one of six new juvenile justice programs initiated to improve the City’s trouble juvenile justice system. CARC was designed as a central intake point for arrested youth charged with non-violent offenses. The CARC would provide more comprehensive and efficient services to youth and their families by using comprehensive assessments, improved case management, and extensive information gathered across agencies. This presentation will address initial findings from the evaluation component of the CARC program and will focus on descriptions of the population served and program interventions. Outcome information will also be presented based on a matched comparison group.
Findings From the National Evaluation of Community Assessment Centers
The creation of assessment centers for juveniles and their families who become involved with the juvenile justice system or are “at-risk” of involvement is a burgeoning phenomenon. However, little is known about the impact of these programs and/or the possible unintended consequences. This paper presents findings from the national evaluation of assessment centers commissioned by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Four demonstration sites from the states of Colorado and Florida will be discussed. The presentation will focus on the results from the first phase of the study including process issues, description of the population served and services provided, and outcomes based on matched comparison groups.
Findings on the Link Between Domestic Violence and Stalking
As of yet, little research examines the relationship between domestic violence and stalking. Using a longitudinal study of battered women recruited through prosecutor’s offices in three jurisdictions in the U, S., this paper discusses their experiences with stalking. The goal of this paper is to identify the characteristics of a domestic violence stalker (e.g. what differentiates a batterer who stalks from one who does not) and the impact of case disposition on subsequent stalking. Implications for the criminal justice system’s response to both domestic violence and stalking will be discussed.
Firearm Homicide in Relation to Location of Public Housing in the City of Milwaukee
Background: A recent HUD study indicated that public housing residents have increased risk of gun violence. Objective: To compare 1991-1998 firearm homicide incidence in 19 Milwaukee public housing sites (PH) to 32 surrounding/contiguous census tracts (PHCT) and other city census tracts (OCT). Methods: Firearm homicide information was from. the Firearm Injury Reporting System. Community 2020 GIS software was used to map incident address. Milwaukee Housing Authority and census population data were used in calculating incidence rates. Results: Fourteen firearm homicides were located on PH property. All victims were African American, thirteen male, ten ages 14-22. Nine involved arguments, one divorce/separation, one robbery, three unknown. 84% of PH residents were African American, 40% in PHCT, and 29% in OCT. The overall firearm homicide (FH) rate was 26/100,000/year in PH versus 14/100,000/year for other areas of PHCT (p
Five Year Outcomes of the Delaware Therapeutic Community Treatment Contiuum
A continuum of correctional-based therapeutic community (TC) treatment programs for drug-involved offenders has been functioning for several years in Delaware. Previous evaluations of a specific sample featuring random assignment has shown the efficacy of the full continuum. These results have held for up to three years post treatment. This paper specifically examines recidivism and relapse for a sample followed for five years subsequent to release from prison. Particular focus is on the relative impact of completion of the transitional and aftercare programs, not only on relapse to illicit drug use, but also criminal recidivism and the interaction of employment status with relapse. The relative benefit of participation in the full continuum is supported, over and above the expected effects of differences in demographics and histories of criminal behavior and illicit substance use.
Florida’s Juvenile Boot Camps: Bucking the National Trend?
Florida has more boot camps for juveniles than any other state in the U.S., and is the only state in which Sheriff Departments operate the programs. While, nationally public opinion about boot camps has grown increasingly negative, and evaluation research has indicated that boot camps are generally not more effective than other types of correctional programs, some of Florida’s boot camps have produced impressive recidivism results. Those boot camps are characterized by a rehabilitative focus, and gradual transitioning ending with intensive aftercare supervision. This study examines the practices of the most successful boot camps, and provides case studies of youth who have attended the programs.
Forecasting Methods in State Juvenile Correctons Agencies
Correctional agencies are often asked to forecast the size of future correctional populations. One of the primary uses for forecasts is to anticipate construction costs that may be needed to meet future demand for correctional “bed space.” The forecasting methods used by juvenile justice agencies have often been less technically developed than those used in the adult justice system. One reason for this maybe that the juvenile justice process is more difficult to model than the criminal justice process. This paper describes the state of the art ‘in forecasting methods used by state, juvenile Justice agencies. The findings are from the “Assessment of Space Needs ‘in Juvenile Detention and Corrections,” a project funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
Formative Evaluation of the PbS Program
The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) is conducting a formative evaluation of the PbS project. The evaluation is based on reviews of the project model, documents, and tools, site visits to facilities; and surveys of project consultants, data collectors, and participating facilities’ staff The first all-site survey has indicated initial positive findings in terms of (a) the adoption of the PbS model and (b) improved outcomes within facilities. Although nearly one-third of facility respondents reported experiencing significant difficulties with initial implementation, there was a strong consensus among participating facilities that performance-based standards will ultimately be accepted and used in juvenile correction and detention facilities. The findings of the evaluation indicate that the goals of the project are widely shared by facility administrators and staff, and that the use of performance-based measures and standards represent a value-added contribution to facility procedures and operations.
Forming and Dissolving Relationships: Violence, Race, and Gangs in a West London Town
The task of this paper is to discuss the nature of relative deprivation theory as it relates to race, status and violence in an ethnogrpahic study carried out in West London with young people and representatives from various agencies during the course of 18 months. There will be a specific focus on the choice of comparative reference groups with which the young people compare themselves. Social psychological theories of group formation will be employed to argue that the strategies used by the young people when confronted by constraints on ambitions and opportunities are the result of complex interactions between in-group and out-group members. It will be shown that the young people become most clearly cohesive as a group when in confrontation with significant others. Strategies will be suggested to reduce the extent of negative differentiation that can lead to violence.
Fraud in the Penny-Stock Industry: Bank on It
Fraud has dominated the penny-stock industry since its inception. However, the problem of these systemic criminal activities is rarely addressed. For the most part, criminal traders are investigated when they are involved in other unlawful activities, particularly narcotics and violent crimes, in addition to their regular fare of market manipulations and similar frauds. This paper analyzes the history of penny-stock fraud, and evaluates the regulatory mechanisms and government responses to the numerous criminal conspiracies which continue to plague the industry.
Freshman Interest Groups in Criminal Justice Education
This study examines the trials, errors, and successes of an experimental program that seeks to create a cohort effect among entering freshmen students that are majoring in criminal justice/criminology at one regional university. Data were collected from the 34 students in the two sections of the program in the semester in which it started. Measures included various exam scores, attendance records, and final grades in a selected course. Results showed that the freshment students who took part in the program had higher scores on exams and final grades for the selected course. These findings held regardless of the comparison group, whether it was to their counterparts (i.e., freshmen who did not participate in the program) or other students (i.e., upperclassmen). Regression analyses showed that the vast majority of the explained variance of this enhanced performance was explained by the increased class attendance by persons involved in this program.
From “No Call Too Small, To No Call At All?: Managing the Police Service Crisis in Canada
Declining budgets, spiraling police costs, reduced numbers, continuing inefficiencies and expanding demand for police services have forced public police in Canada to adopt a variety of innovative but questionable strategies to rationalize police services. Research based on survey and interview data with Canadian police executives reveals that police services are increasingly abandoning conventional services philosophies and strategies and engaging in aggressive service rationalization through the, elimination, reduction, transfer, sale, and privatization of police services. The emerging post-modern police service model raises a number of political and practical questions about the future role and viability of public policing in the more diversified and competitive policing environment of the future.
From Criminality to Health: The Family as as a Moderating Factor in Treating Drug Users in the Criminal Justice System
This paper focuses on the qualitative component of the evaluation of La Bodega de La Familia, and examines the effect that family involvement has on treatment for drug users with criminal histories. Parallelling the design of the quantitative, quasi-experimental component, this research compares drug users and their families served by La Bodega with a similar sample not served by the program. One-hour tape-recorded interviews were conducted with Bodega participants before treatment (time 1) and after treatment (time 2); comparison families were interviewed over a similar time period. The study examines the role that family plays in the development of drug use. It identifies risk and protective factors that family has played in the drug user’s crime involvement and eventual incarceration. It also explores the distinct role played by different family member s(triggering drug use, e.g., as co-user, or functioning as a deterrent, e.g., encouraging treatment) and how they might change over time. The research intends to inform policy regarding the potential benefits (and pitfalls) of actively involving family members in drug treatment and prevention programs.
From Nothing Works to What Works: Changing Professional Ideology in the 21st Century
PANEL ABSTRACT: Presenters in this session will discuss their views of the issues that will be important in Corrections and Sentencing as we move into the 21st Century. The papers will be published in a special edition of The Prison Journal focusing on the future of Corrections and Sentencing.
From Policing Repeat Victimization to Victim-Oriented Policing
Recent discussions of procedural Justice suggest that the process of how the police deal with victims can, from the perspective of the victim, sometimes be as important as the outcome. Even if the crime is not solved and no arrest made, victims want to know that something constructive has been done and that they were decently treated. Policing to prevent repeat victimization may facilitate the development of this approach since the victim sees that society, via the police as its designated agents, is making tangible efforts to prevent further crime against them. As such, preventing repeat victimization may provide a catalyst whereby community policing begins to more fully incorporate the perspective of the victim.
From Policy Research to Police Practice
The main issue in the paper is how crime analysis (including scientific research) can best contribute to problem solving and community policing. The application of crime analysis attunded to the police practice is required. It plays an important role in both policy-making, executing of policy priorities and measuring results of police work. If a good integration in the policy cycle of the police is needed then four ways of crime analysis can be distinguished: strategic analysis, problem analysis, operational analysis and evaluation analysis. Crime analysis may give direction and content to community policing and problem-oriented working only by virtue of the sound balance between three levels of crime analysis: first line expertise (general task), second line expertise (special task) en third line expertise (professional specialisation). In the paper is shown an illustration of the way crime analyses and scientific research have contributed to a problem solving approach of crime problems with Moroccan youngsters in the city of The Hague in The Netherlands.
From Rehabilitation to Retribution: Has Parole Decisionmaking Changed?
There is much rhetoric to suggest that parole decisionmaking has changed within the past two decades. Some suggest that parole boards reflect the “get touch on crime” attitudes of conservatives and are thus more retributive. Using parole release data from a Southeastern State, this study addresses the question of whether parole releasee decisions have shifted from a rehabilitation orientation to a focus on punishment. The data were gathered by reviewing records of all parole hearings for violent offenders in Alabama for the period June 1, 1993 through May 31, 1994. Legal, institutional, and demographicc variables were analyzed to detemine their effect on parole decisions. Bivariate and multivariate analysis revealed that seriousness of the offense, time served, and number of disciplinaries had the strongest impact on parole decisions.
From the National to the Transnational, From the Criminological to the Legal: Creating a ‘Global’ Organized Crime Offence
For the past several decades, criminal organizations based in Colombia have provided a steady flow of illicit drugs to the U.S. and Europe. In pursuing their illicit activities in the face of persistent government efforts to destroy them, these enterprises have proven to be innovative and highly adaptable. While a number of observers have recognized the flexibility and resilience of these drug trafficking organizations (DTOs), there have been no attempts to develop a systematic, learning-based explanation for how these criminal firms respond to government anti-drug efforts. The following paper offers such an explanation. Drawing upon a multidisciplinary body of literature on organizational and social learning, and interviews conducted with U.S. and Colombian officials, the author argues that Colombian DTOs alter their behavior in response to past experience and new information, store this knowledge in routines, procedures, as well as the collective memory of organizational members, and select and retain innovations that produce satisfactory outcomes. In other words, trafficking organizations ‘learn’ and in the process become increasingly efficient and more difficult to eliminate over time. This paper represents a theoretical and empirical contribution to the growing body of literature that applies organizational theory to criminal organizations.
Fruitful Government/Academic Partnerships in Sex Offender Therapy
This paper is a case study based upon the partnership between the University of Maryland and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS). Division of Probation and Parole. The University of Maryland had a research plan to integrate the use of Global Positioning Satellite technology to monitor sex offenders in a community with an intensive rehabilitation program. The goal of the research is to find solutions for alleviating prison overcrowding while identifying new methods for offender treatment without sacrificing community safety. Over the past twenty years the University and DPSCS have worked closely together on the development of improved information technology capabilities in criminal justice and in sentencing reform. Given the history between the two institutions, the University approached DPSCS with a research proposal. The objectives of the University of Maryland research plan matched well with the resources that DPSCS was able to provide. The University designed and evaluated the proposed program, and DPSCS provided the personnel to supervise the offenders and both units provided oversight to the effort. Both organizations contributed unique components to accomplish research objectives in an effective and innovative manner.
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Gambling, Delinquency, and Drug Use During Adolescence: Mutual Influences and Common Risk Factors
The purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to assess the possible mutual influence between gambling, drug use, and delinquency over a two-year period during mid adolescence and (2) to test whether the links between the three problem behaviors could be, at least partially, accounted for by common antecedent factors (impulsivity, parental supervision, and deviant friends) assessed during early adolescence. Seven hundred seventeen boys participated in the study. Impulsivity, parental supervision, and friends’ deviancy were collected when participants were 13 and 14 years of age. Gambling drug use, and delinquency were collected through self-reports at ages 16 and 17 years. Results showed no influence or modest influence of problem behaviors on each other from age 16 to age 17 years, once current links and auto-correlations were accounted for. Conversely, the cross-sectional links between the three problem behaviors at each age were moderately high. Part of these current links was accounted for by the three common predictors which were individually related to each outcome. The present findings contradict previous findings about the influence of gambling on other problem behaviors and support the notion of a “general problem behavior syndrome” fed by generic risk factors.
Gang Affiliation and Self-Esteem: The Effects of Biracial Identity
This paper will analyze data collected for California State Legislative Bill AB2650, an Evaluation of the Communities in Schools of San Fernhando Valley (CISSFV) gang prevention and intervention program. As part of the evaluation, youth in six probation camps were surveyed about self-esteem (using Battle’s Culture Free Self-Esteem Inventory). In addition to self-identified race, data on race of mother and father was collected in order to identify biracial youth. This study will compare gang members and non-gang members with regard to self-esteem. It will assess whether or not the effect of being biracial (compared to being mono-racial) will have an impact on the relationship between gang membership and self-esteem. Two general notions about the relationship between gang membership and self-esteem dominate the literature. The first assumes that juveniles engage in delinquent and gang behavior because they have a low self-esteem. The second, related to the first, suggests that gangs provide a sense of self-esteem and identity for juveniles, which they presumably cannot attain in “legitimate” ways. Because race affects the kind of cultural norms one is exposed to, as well as how one perceives their fit into society or society’s subcultures, it is expected to mediate the relationship between gang membership and self-esteem. Biracial individuals are expected to have identity issues that compound the typical identity issues that mono-racial children encounter in their adolescent years.
Gang Control Efforts in a Community Policing Environment
This project examined police responses to gang problems in Indianapolis and San Diego, describing the specific activities carried out by gang units. The study examined the functions and activities of the gang unit; identified the outcomes and measures used to determine their attainment, documented how gang unit personnel spend their time and the extent and nature of gang unit interaction with the community, at-risk or gang-involved youth or adults, and other personnel; and examined the fit of the gang unit into the community-oriented mission of the police agency. The project utilized an qualitative examination of police department procedures and practices, and extensive field observation of gang personnel. The project included extensive interviews with police leaders and other personnel in each agency to determine the rationale for gang-control policies.
Gang Emergence in New York City as a Mass Media/Youth Culture Construction: Continuity and Change in Group Structure and Symbolism
Reports of youth gang emergence have burgeoned across the United States since the mid-1990’s, a historical period during which arrest rates for violent crime have declined sharply. Both these apparently contradictory trends have occurred in New York City, where youth gang activity has been cyclical for several decades. This paper draws on data from a four year longitudinal comparative ethnographic study in three New York City neighborhoods to identify locally specific patterns of peer group organization and violence. All three neighborhoods experienced a rise and then a fall in local perceptions of gang emergence during the latter 1990’s. At the same time, violent youth group confrontations not involving named gangs occurred in distinctive patterns in each place. Local narrative constructions and actual reports of youth violence are juxtaposed for each neighborhood and compared and contrasted across neighborhoods in order to trace patterns of continuity and change during a cyclical rise and fall of perceived youth gang activity.
Gang Membership: A Reaction to Strain?
Who joins gangs and why? Do certain factors predispose some similarly at risk youths to join gangs?: Agnew’s General Strain Theory suggests that those individuals who experience negative affective states are more likely to engage in criminality. Yet these same factors are also believed to contribute to delinquent, non-gang related behavior as well. To what extent does the influence of these affective states differ between delinquent but non-gang youths and juvenile gang members? This paper presents an analysis of differences in survey responses examining family, school, neighborhood and peer relations in a group of gang and non-gang youth institutionalized in the Texas Youth Commission.
Gangs, Space, and Police Suppression
Based on several years of ethnographic field research with the Almighty Latin King Nation in Chicago, this paper charts the spatial practices and organizational geography of gangs in Chicago. It focuses on the cultural meanings of space — how gang identity is localized in the creation of a “hood” and consolidated and contested along turf borders. The intensely local topos of the “hood” exists in productive tension with the expansive, translocal imaginary of the “nation.” Gang control policing strategies focus on spatial displacement and dispersal, epitomized by Chicago’s notorious 1992 Gang Loitering Ordinance (struck down by U.S. Supreme Court in 1999). The analysis of spatial dynamics and suppression draws on the theoretical work of Henri Lefebvre, Michel de Certeau, Pierre Bourdieu, and Edward Soja.
Gangs and Transnational Crimes
Traditionally gangs confined their criminal activities to local and national boundaries. However, today they are operating nationally and internationally. They are involved in gun smuggling, alien smuggling, money laundering, drug trafficking, fraud, and counterfeiting. This paper will examine the nature and extent to which gangs are involved in transnational crimes and attempts to combat their activities.
Gangs as Social Movements? From Irrationalism and Elite Controls to Post-modern Empowerment
Since gangs have never been considered as a “collective enterprise to establish a new order of life” (Blumer 1957), they rarely have been approached from a social movements perspective. To do so, however, adds not only a much needed historical dimension to the analysis of gangs but allows for a more critical framework from which to interpret gang dynamics. In the following paper I discuss how (1) leading concepts in the literature of social movements theory can be effectively used to analyze contemporary youth gangs, and (2) an integrative model of new youth gangs can be conceptualized.
Gangsterism: Crip’in On Hoover
There exists an alternate world of gang bangin’, and low riding. There is this on-going war indicative of an epic struggle for “righteous living” in a conventional world that has otherwise denied individuals of a certain standard of living. Such denial has transformed these individuals into “soldiers” battling against constant deprivation. Original Gangsters speak of “Gangsterism”, Contemporary Gangs, and how drugs, violence, and money have replaced the pursuit of “righteous living” with a new breed of robotic soldiers, programmed to kill for “respect” alone. My ethnographic research with the Hoover Crips out of Los Angeles, California has afforded me with a unique opportunity to examine the mentality of these soldiers. This research is not about statistics, or tests of significance. Hoover is more than that! Hoover is a territory in the middle of a gang controlled battlefield, where cowardice, under-estimation, and hesitation has no place. The Hoover Crips have and continue to educate me and I am obligated to present their perspectives in the most “righteous” way possible.
Gault and the Juvenile Court: Interaction of Race and Type of Attorney on Juvenile Court Outcomes
Equal treatment under the law has been a controversial issue in the field of criminal justice especially in the juvenile justice system. Many studies have examined the impact of race on juvenile court decision-making. These studies have had mixed results on the influence of race. In addition, several studies have examined the effectiveness of the public defender versus the private attorney in court outcomes, also with mixed results. Since the Gault decision, attorneys have become common place in the juvenile court. The purpose of this study is to examine the interaction of race and type of attorney across two counties in Nebraska using data collected from juvenile offender files in each county. Hypotheses regarding race and type of attorney effects will be proposed and tested and findings will be discussed.
Gays, Lesbians and Law Enforcement, Oh My!: A Cross-National Examination of the Relationship Between Law Enforcement and the Gay and Lesbian Community in the United States and Venezuela as it Pertains to Domestic Violence
This research presents the results of a cross-national preliminary study examining the relationship between law enforcement and the gay and lesbian community in the United States and Venezuela as it pertains to domestic violence. Data are both empirical and ethnographic.
Gender, Attributional Styles, and Direction of Lethal Violence: A Partial Test of an Integrated Model of Suicide and Homicide
In 1994, Unnithan, Huff-Corzine, Corzine, and Whitt presented a compelling theoretically integrated model of suicide and homicide. To address the paucity of subsequent research to date, the present study is a partial test of the integrated model focusing specifically on gender differences in the suicide-to-homicide ratio (SHR). In light of prior research on the differential attributional styles of males and females, Unnithan et al.’s underlying assumption regarding attribution of blame and direction of lethal violence is assessed. Although generally under-represented in both suicide and homicide rates, it is hypothesized herein that females, based on attributional styles, will have a higher SHR. Using aggregate national suicide and homicide rates for the years 1979 through 1997, SHR’s are calculated and compared across gender, empirically assessing Unnithan et al.’s central assumption. Implications for the integrated model and for f6ture research are discussed.
Gender and Homicide Circumstance in England and Wales: What Difference Does Difference Make?
This paper discusses the findings of a detailed analysis of 170 prosecutors’ case files in England and Wales, supplemented by an analysis of official data on homicide between 1986 and 1996. In England and Wales, as in other jurisdictions, gender is largely ignored as a factor shaping homicide circumstance, while explanations instead characterise homicide as an undifferentiated event dominated by trivial causes and explosions of rage. This paper challenges this apparently unremarkable picture of homicidal violence in England and Wales as a seemingly uniform and gender-neutral crime. Important differences between men and women exist within official homicide data, and the detailed case file analysis shows that these differences cannot be explained away with the simple explanation that homicide is the outcome of trivial arguments, or that men are bigger and stronger than women and thus more likely to kill (Felson 1996). This analysis suggests that in most situations in which homicide arises, men derive functional utility from their use of violence. Consequently, when conceptualising and explaining violent events such as homicide, this contrasting picture demonstrates the need to consider gender as crucial in explaining the circumstances in which men and women kill, and in which they die.
Gender and Policing: Changes and Contrasts
This paper examines the changing nature of women TCOs participation in policing. It compares and contrasts the career developments of female officers over time. In this paper, data drawn from two international samples of policewomen interviewed in the late 1980s and 1990s will be used to chart and map developments. The comparative nature of this research provides a greater insight into police women TCOs careers within a global setting.
Gender and Teaching Evaluations: Issues and Perspectives
It has been established for over a decade now that teaching about social inequality (race, class, gender, etc.) is fraught with obstacles, not the least being that the “messenger” is typically met with varying degrees of hostility, anger, and rejection. Thomas Trzyna and Martin Abbott interpret this student response as a manifestation of grief over the death of the notion of the American Dream. Suggestions are offered by Trzyna and Abbott to professors on how to help students cope with this grief. I am suggesting here that what is needed now is help for professors as they must cope with all the hostility toward them (and associated threats to tenure). There is an emerging body of literature recognizing and analyzing student reactions to feminist perspectives. At least one school, Eastern Oregon University, considers feminist course content when evaluating student teaching evaluations. This presentation focuses specifically on student responses to women who teach about gender inequality. This type of situation elicits all of the hostility from students associated with their grief at the loss of the American Dream coupled with more hostility attributed to the suspicion that these “rantings” from this woman professor amount to nothing except her personal “axe to grind.” The presentation will conclude with a comparative case study.
Gender Differences in Children’s Aggressive Behavior: The Effect of Television Violence and Delinquent Peer Association
There has been a great deal of research compiled on the relationship between television violence and aggressive behavior in adolescents. Researchers have detected a relationship between television violence and violent or aggressive behavior in children as young as 3 years old. However, those studies, which attempt to correlate delinquent behavior with televised violence, neglect the impact of peer associations. This is a dramatic void, considering peers have long been recognized as the one of the strongest factors in juvenile delinquency. Furthermore, previous research has also neglected the role of gender in the impact of televised violence on aggression. Most of the previous studies have focused solely on young males. Using self-report data from 264 fifth and sixth grade students from several midwestern cities, the current research examines the relationship between television violence and aggressive behavior, accounting for the influence of gender and delinquent peer associations. In a preliminary analysis, it was found that delinquent peer associations are the strongest predictor of adolescent aggression for both males and females. Surprisingly, however, the relationship between television and aggression was greatest under conditions of delinquent peer associations for females and not for males.
Gender Differences in Drug Court Participants’ Perceptions of Mental Health Issues
Participants in the Syracuse Community Treatment Court exhibit a wide range of mental health problems. Participants themselves mention depression, stress, anger, frustration, “emotions,” anxiety, guilt, shame, loneliness, and worry. Case managers and treatment providers also report that many participants exhibit behavioral indications of mental health problems. Research indicates that among people with co-occurring disorders, women are more likely than men to be involved with a partner who abuses drugs, to lack self-esteem, to have physical health problems, and to have histories of violence as adults and as children. Through an analysis of fieldnotes of conversations between participants and the drug court judge between January 1997 and April 1999, this paper compares the ways in which male and female participants talk about their mental health issues. Findings from this comparative analysis will inform (1) the scholarly literature regarding the meanings that men and women attach to mental health problems and the contexts in which mental health problems emerge; (2) practitioners regarding differing treatment needs of men and women; and (3) drug court administrators regarding ways of organizing community services that will improve outcomes for participants and reduce barriers to effective implementation of drug courts themselves.
Gender Differences in Police Behavior: Handling Emotional Citizens
In a recent essay, Susan Martin states that police officers engage in “emotional labor” when they encounter citizens who are emotionally distraught. Dealing with emotional citizens may not conform to the “traditional”‘ philosophy of police as crime fighters, and citizens (or other officers) may interpret displays of emotion on the part of the officer as weakness. Martin hypothesizes that officers may respond differently to emotional citizens based an their (and the citizen’s) gender. This paper examines the relationship between officer gender and behavior when dealing with emotional citizens. In addition, attitudinal variables will be included to control for officer perceptions of their role, and their attitude toward “traditional” methods of policing.
Gender Differences in Trends in Violence Rates: Contemporary and Historical Patterns
This study examines trends in gender differences in lethal violence rates from the perspective of the integrated theory of homicide and suicide. While it is well established that males commit both suicide and homicide at higher rates than females, little research has been conducted examining historical trends in this relationship. According to the integrated homicide-suicide model, gender differences in violence rates are associated with differences in the manner in which males and females attribute blame and responsibility, which is subject to the cultural and structural characteristics of society. To address this issue, time series techniques are used to study twentieth century violence data for the United States. Of particular interest is the idea that the factors that explain gender differences tend to vary across different historical periods. Preliminary findings indicate that, consistent with expectations, the factors associated with gender differences in violence rates exhibit temporal variations with more recent trends being attributable to different factors than trends from earlier historical periods.
Gender Expectations and the Social Construction of Criminal Responsibility in the Insanity Defense
According to legal commentators, the insanity defense is a merciful method of dealing with the mentally ill individuals who commit a criminal offense. Conversely, feminist theorists argue the insanity defense reflects systematic criminal justice system biases against female offenders. From this perspective, legal and psychiatric professionals view women’s violent criminal behavior as so radically opposed to typical female behavior that it must be considered irrational or insane. This paper tests whether sex-specific expectations of “normal” behavior govern perceptions of the appropriateness of rationality of criminal actions. The analysis explores gender differences in the demographic, familial, psychiatric and legal predictors of psychiatric evaluations for men and women charged with a felony in Hennepin County (Minneapolis), Minnesota. Using logistic regression, I model both the predictors of psychiatric evaluations and the predictors of a successful insanity plea. I conclude by discussing the extent to which the differential labeling of women offenders is due to gender role expectations.
Gender Inequality and Intersexual Homicide
Criminologists have long recognized that socioeconomic inequality might be an important structural condition conducive to high rates of violent crime. An important insight from the feminist literature is that a particular form of inequality–gender inequality–is likely to be associated with a distinctive type of violence–gendered violence. Previous research based on samples of U.S. cities has demonstrated that rates of a quintessential gendered crime, rape, are related to the degree of gender inequality. The present paper extends this earlier work by examining the effects of gender inequality on the “gendering” of lethal violence. Drawing on the feminist backlash hypothesis, we predict that gender inequality will be negatively related to rates of male killings of females net of controls for other structural variables and the general climate of violence as indicated by levels of non-lethal violence. Regression analyses for a sample of cities support this hypothesis but also indicate effects on other homicide types. We suggest that these additional effects can also be interpreted with reference to “backlash” dynamics.
Gender Self-Esteem, and Delinquency: Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to Test and Extend Agnew’s General Strain Theory
The purpose of this study is to test hypotheses derived from Agnew’s (1992) revised strain theory and to reformulate the theory to include female delinquency using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Agnew (1992) reforulates the theory from his earlier version of general strain theory (1985) by stipulating that there are three types/dimensions of strain that lead to crime. Since Agnew’s (1992) revised strain theory seems to focus primarily on male delinquency as opposed to female delinquency, this study will attempt to build on Agnew’s work by examining how males and females respond differently to various forms of strain in their lives. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health provides good social psychological measures of the concepts defined in Agnew’s (1992) revised strain theory and concepts that are being used to build on Agnew’s work.
Gender Variation in Delinquent Activity: A Test of Social Learning Theory
The gender difference in crime and delinquency is the most robust of all variations by social background studied by criminologists. Yet, only a small number of studies have tested theories about that difference and most of that research has focused on a very limited number of variables, limited samples and/or limited measures of delinquency. In contrast, Hindelang, Hirschi and Weiss’ (1981) study of Seattle youth allows a simultaneous examination of a wider range of variables and measures of delinquency than any prior study. That analysis indicates that gender variation in self-reported offenses, officially-recorded delinquency and gang offenses can be explained by three key mechanisms central to a social learning – symbolic interactionist theory: 1) co-operative vs dominance-oriented self-images, 2) attitudes towards law and authority and 3) interaction with delinquent friends. A variety of variables examined in prior literature
Gendered Justice: Programming for Women in Correctional Settings
The dramatic, growth in women’s correctional populations has increased the visibility of women offenders and prompted correctional agencies to reexamine their programs and interventions in terms of gender. There is an emerging awareness that women who are involved in the correctional system present different issues than their male counterparts. This paper discusses the need to develop effective gender-responsive programming for women that is based on their life circumstances and pathways to crime. It provides an overview of contemporary issues relating to women’s programming such as classification, assessment, treatment plans, and transition to the community. The paper concludes with a framework for developing gender-responsive policy, procedures and programs for women offenders that addresses four primary areas: prevention, harm reduction, gender-responsive services, and community support.
General Strain Theory and Recidivism: Testing the Cumulative Impact of Strain on Recidivism From an Offender Population
This research tests the cumulative impact of General Strain Theory on recidivism among juvenile offenders. This project is differentiated utilizing official data sources for GST and offense rather than self-report data and also by focusing on recidivism rather than predicting delinquency onset. Expectations are that as the level of strain increases the number of offenses will increase and the effects will have a greater impact for racial ethnic minorities than for the majority. Sampled youth are first time committed juvenile offenders from a state youth services system. The measures of GST focus on two primary concepts drawn from previous research, Negative Life Events (NLE) and Neighborhood Community Problems (NCP). These two concepts are crucial to theory, policy and practice in juvenile justice representing the individual, family, and community levels. These concepts are measured through intake files of juvenile offenders that include family composition and employment variables and 1990 census tract data, based on each youth’s residence. Recidivism is measured using arrest history from the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) data on each youth. A positive association is expected between GST and number of offenses. Findings are expected to aid policy and practice in juvenile crime prevention and intervention.
Geographic Information Systems: An Effective Technological Intervention for Proactive Policing
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) use technology to predict areas of high crime. GIS has been shown to reduce crime in large cities, but at a substantial cost. Demographic factors such as, employment rate, population density, educational level, and community involvement influence GIS’ effectiveness. Since so many factors influence GIS, it is necessary to have guidelines to determine whether measures other than GIS might be more cost effective. GIS are effective when law enforcement agencies have exhausted traditional crime fighting methods and are seeking innovative solutions to proactively reduce crime. One way GIS allows law enforcement agencies to more effectively use existing resources is by pinpointing statistically high crime areas, thus creating more time for improving community service. Overall, GIS will result in a lower crime rate, while developing a stronger community relationship with local law enforcement. GIS is an effective crime prevention method that eventually must be implemented in cities worldwide.
Getting Ahead in Illegal Enterprise: A Network Explanation of Promotional Advancement in the Cosa Nostra
The paper provides an interpromotional analysis of Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano’s career in New York City’s Gambino family. Biographical material as well as complementary secondary data sources (court proceedings and electronic surveillance transcripts) are used to create Gravano’s working network throughout his 30-year career in illegal and legitimate business ventures. A social capital questionnaire is used to construct the interpromotional networks that account for Gravano’s rise from Gambino associate to underboss. Social capital properties are argued to shape opportunities for a member’s advancement within organizations (Burt 1992). Such organizational promotions, in turn, effect various facets of illegal enterprise (changes in criminal activities, likelihood of arrest, probability of attracting surveillance, participation in legitimate activities, increased financial earnings, and variations in regulatory violence).
Getting Old But Not Getting Out: Policy Changes Which Could Serve to Mitigate Morbidity and Mortality Among Aging Inmates
Prison populations continue to grow, in spite of decreases in reported crime. Theorists explain this inconsistency by citing the measured increases in sentencing, and the changes in state legislation which requires longer proportions of sentence served before parole qualification. These sentencing and population changes predict that offenders will continue to both age in prison, and enter prison later in life. This research examines the relationship between aging in prison, and the expected and predicted increase in morbidity and mortality among aging and elderly inmates. Examined are injuries from both trauma and disease, and policy changes which could serve to mitigate these problems.
Getting to Death: Fairness and Efficiency in the Processing and Conclusion of Death Penalty Cases After Furman
Recent death penalty controversies in Florida, Virginia, Texas and elsewhere have renewed debate on capital punishment in the U.S. This intense interest shows that questions of How fast (or slow)? and How fair? continue to besiege the administration of the death penalty. The authors of this paper have constructed the nation’s most comprehensive dataset on capital cases to assist in asnswering these questions: approximately 2,000 pieces of information about the defendants, victims, offenses, lawyers, judges, legal issues, and the criminal justice and judicial systems involved in state court capital direct appeal and state post-conviction decisions and all capital federal habeas corpus decisions from the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1973 (following Furman v. Georgia) through 1995. Preliminary descriptive analyses of these data show that, rather consistently over the 22-year period studied, state and federal courts have overturned approximately two or every three capital judgments rendered by judges and juries. These data also suggest that efforts to streamline the appeals process could profoundly affect the administration of the death penalty. From 1973-95, the average time required to allow judicial examinations to take place is close to a decade. We hypothesize that the “error catching,” or regulatory function of appellate review is strained by the number of capital judgements, resulting in high rates of reversals. Accordingly, we assess the relationship between the number of death sentences and both state and federal court reversals of capital judgments. That is, the more a jurisdiction uses the death penalty relative to population, homicide rates, and expenditures on criminal justice and the courts, the more likely it is that any of its death sentences will be found legally invalid and overturned. We will present the preliminary results from our data.
Getting Tough on Juveniles: The Transfer of Power and Discretion From Probation to Prosecution
The probation intake service is mandated to review all juvenile delinquency cases, and determine within statutory limitations, which cases should go to court to be prosecuted and which cases may be adjusted from prosecution at the intake level. Radical changes have occurred over recent years at this little understood but incredibly important part of the juvenile justice system. Nationally, adjustment rates for juvenile delinquents have declined and locally, in New York City, adjustment rates for juveniles are among the lowest in the country. While the national average is that 45% of all alleged juvenile delinquents are diverted from family court prosecution by probation (the rate was 55% several years ago), New York City only diverts 13% of its juvenile delinquents from family court prosecution. Both the national trend as well as New York City’s startlingly low diversion rates indicate a strong move away from traditional concepts of rehabilitation, so central to juvenile justice, to a crime control model more similar to what we have seen in adult corrections. The overall trend has been a transfer of power and discretion from probation departments to prosecutors. This paper will show why these national and local trends have occurred, why New York City is so different from the rest of the nation, analyze their intended and unintended policy implications and suggest some significant restructuring reforms for how this part of the juvenile justice system operates.
Girls, Guys, Alcohol, and Violence
Much of gang research has centered on drug use and sales and its connection with gang violence. At the same time, little research has been done specifically on the role of alcohol within gangs and its possible connection to violence despite the fact that researchers have noted that drinking constitutes an important aspect of social life and daily activity among gang members. In our earlier work, we began to look at the integration of drinking into daily life of male gang members. The purpose of this paper is to extend this analysis. More specifically, we examine the gendered ways in which male and female gang members drink from their introduction to alcohol to their current use in different social contexts and settings. In analysing their current use patterns, we focus especially on the similarities and differences among males compared to females in relation to drinking and violence. While male members clearly find drinking as having “disinhibiting effects,” female members, constrained by gendered notions of partying, have a much more varied perspective and experience. The data for this paper are drawn from an ongoing study on ethnic youth gangs in Northern California in which we conducted depth interviews from 1997 to 199, with 386 male and 104 female gang members from the African American, Latino, Asian American and Caucasian communities.
Got Alcohol?: It is Time to Begin Addressing Alcohol Use by Adolescents as a DRUG Problem
A review of the scientific aresearch clearly demonstrates a strong relationship between alcohol use and crime. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (1998), it is estimated that of violent incidents in which alcohol is a factor, 9% of the offenders were under age 21. Despite these findings and others, which clearly identify alcohol as the number one drug of choice in America, alcohol is not addressed in current U.S. anti-drug programs. In this presentation, a public health approach to primary prevention of violence will be discussed which focuses on (1) the need to revise current policies that exclude alcohol from the national war on drugs campaign and (2) early identification of youth experiencing or at risk for problem drinking.
Governing the Interstices: Foucault, Patten, and the Dispersal of Power
The Patten Report offers ‘A New Beginning’ for aspects of the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. Although it iis subtitled ‘Policing in Northern Ireland’ it is not about operational policing as such but rather a report on the structures that should be implemented in order to allow for policing. it is in fact, first and foremost a report about governmentality — about how to replace a sovereign force exercising government and control over tractable or recalcitrant subjects with a police service that works with willing and responsible communities and individuals in their own governance. With its emphasis on human rights, community policing, partnership, neighbourhood and problem-solving, the Patten Report’s contribution to the debate about the future look of the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland takes us to the very forefront of the governmentality approach. here ideas about how individuals “make themselves up” as citizens capable of bearing a regulated freedom coincide with newer “ways of knowing” in a process of understanding the governmentalisation of the state. This paper offers a critique of the Patten Report, an analysis of how a governmentality approach can enhance understanding of criminal justice management generally and a theoretical engagement with ideas of power and state in the post national state.
Graying Behind Bars: A Look at Idaho’s Elderly Prison Population
One consequence of America’s get tough on crime approach is a burgeoning elderly population in our prisons. Older people have unique problems, issues and requirements. Living in prison is challenging, regardless of age, but the particular problems facing the elderly are exacerbated by prison life. This paper focuses on the elderly population in Idaho’s correctional system. Data collected from the Idaho Department of Corrections form the basis of this analysis. Population statistics such as gender, age, length of sentence, number of prior incarcerations, and current convictions will be analyzed. Interviews with inmates and staff provide data on services, housing problems, programming, safety issues, and health care for Idaho’s older inmates. Policy implications will also be discussed.
Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts: A Multiple Models Approach to Predicting Recidivism
The standard procedure in recidivsm research is to develop a single prediction model that can be used to assess risk of future crimiunal behavior. Implicit in this approach is the belief that a single risk assessment model can capture the essential information needed to predict recidivism. We question this standard procedure by suggesting that the intractive complexities inherent in the prediction of recidivism are such that no single risk assessment model is sufficient for the task. Rather, each risk assessment model, by virtue ot its composition in terms of a finite set of risk factors, necesswarily emphasizes one set (or combination) of risk factors for recidivism, while deemphasizing others. By combining statistically the predictions of several classification tree-based assessment models, we demonstrate that a meta-prediction model can be derived that outperforms any of the constitutent models. We refer to this as the multiple models approach to recidivism prediction and provide data to suggest its utility.
Group Interventions for Multiply Victimized Children in the Community: An Evaluation Study
This three-year study evaluated a program providing group interventions for children and their parents who have experienced trauma and violence, at local neighborhood and school sites in six SF Bay Area counties. The therapeutic curriculum was designed to remedy the developmental ppsychopathology observed in multiple victimized children. A total of 488 children (ages 4-14 years) and their parents were served by this program, 223 of which participated in the outcome study. The children were predominantly from single parent families (80%) and of multi-ethnic minority origin (58%). The majority (87%) had a history of separation and loss in their family, 70% had been exposed to domestic violence, 43% had family members in trouble with the law, and neighborhood violence had affected 32%. Nine tenths of the children had been exposed to multiple types of traumatic events and one fourth suffered at least five of the six types of events (which include separation/loss, neighborood violence, domestic violence, parenting problems, substance abuse and trouble with the law). Compared to baseline, six months later the children’s social competence, behaviorla and emotional difficulties were assessed as significantly improved.
Gun Control: The Formula for Success (The Minnesota Experience)
Enforcement works. Gun use in Crime is reduced by vigorous enforcement of existing laws of moderate scope. New laws focusing on law-abiding owners (whether for hunting, sport, or defense) are not needed. Law enforcement is the key.
Gun Ownership and Academic Discipline
As debate surrounding private gun ownership intensifies. it is appropriate to investigate who owns guns and why. This study seeks to determine if academic discipline is related to differing rates of gun ownership among full time college students. Various demographic characteristics of students are collected and analyzed by this study in an effort to help understand why some students choose to own a gun while others do not. The study discusses various theoretical perspectives that are useful in interpreting findings of the survey.
Gun Storage Method and Risk of Homicide in the Home
A multidisciplinary conceptual model is being developed to identify elements of lifestyle that put people at increased risk to die by homicide. As a portion of that research, this paper uses a retrospective case-control study to investigate bow the risk of homicide for people who live in homes with guns is affected by methods of firearm storage. Subjects of ages 18 yews and older are drawn from two national surveys that ask similar questions regarding firearms. Data from the National Mortality Followback Survey are used to identify individuals who died by gun-related homicide in their own home. These case subjects are matched by gender and age to respondents of a national health -survey-, some are gun owners, but none died by homicide. Matched case-control pairs are compared using conditional logistic regression to determine whether the risk of homicide varies by method of firearm storage. The results provide empirical evidence to help inform the debate over the use of gun storage legislation to prevent homicide.
Gun Use Among Incarcerated Youth: A Comparison of the Subcultural and Control Models
Research on firearm ownership has played a prominent role in criminology; however, researchers have not developed comprehensive models to address gun use in the commission of criminal activity. This study will expand on current models of gun ownership to include criminal gun use. Specifically, the authors will simultaneously examine two models of gun use, a subcultural and a control model. The subcultural model will test the relationship between commitment to subcultural values, attitude patterns and gun use. Specific attention will be paid to predictors of pro-gun and pro-violence attitudes. A control model will be also developed. The control model will include measures of familial, economic, and social stability and will be used as a predictor of both pro-gun attitudes and criminal gun use. The models will be based on a sample of male inmates age 17-24 housed within the Michigan Department of Corrections.
H
Half Full: Searching for Success in the Criminal Justice System
This paper suggests an alternative to the “nothing works” theme of many criminal justice textbooks. This theme may lead to a sense of hopelessness among our students–the very individuals we hope will be creative and thoughtful policy makers in the future. While it is instructive to educate students about the failures of the dominant criminal justice system, it is also important to present alternatives. In trugh, there are many programs, typically on a smaller scale, that appear to provide promising alternatives to the status quo. In reviewing these alternatives a humanistic or peacemaking theme often becomes apparent. This paper relies on this theme as a framework for categorizing these programs.
Harm and Repair: Observing Restorative Justice in Vermont
This paper analyzes the decision-making process for negotiating reparative contracts with offenders in a restorative justice model. Based on a content analysis of videotaped Community Reparative Board meetings with probationers in Vermont, this paper (a) defines restoration as a core concept in restorative justie; (b) examines how boards identify harm to victims and community; (c) how they identify strategies to repair identified harm; (d) how often repair becomes a line item in reparative contracts; and (3) offers interpretation for situations in which harm is not identified and/or not repaired.
Hate Crime in Canada: Data Collection Issues
Hate crime is a social problem that has been identified as a priority by governments, academics, equality-seeking groups, and certain members of the general public. Police departments have reacted by creating hate crime initiatives and the Canadian government has responded by implementing revisions to the Criminal Code that allow for increased penalties for crimes motivated by hate. In addition, some preliminary attempts have been made to estimate the prevalence of hate-motivated crime in Canada. However, comprehensive data are needed to inform discussions about policy and about the magnitude and dimensions of the problem. Statistics Canada, through the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, has underway a study to collect data on hate-motivated crime. The objectives of the study are to assess the prevalence and characteristics of hate crimes, the policy and procedures in place to respond to these crimes, and to make recommendations for ongoing data collection. The analysis of this paper compares results of data provided by police departments, a national self-reported victimization survey, as well as certain community organizations. In addition to actual hate crime data, profiles of various Canadian communities are provided. This presentation will discuss the methodology used for this study, efforts by other jurisdictions, a comparative analysis of readily available data, as well as the advantages and limitations of collecting national hate crime statistics.
Hate-Speech Online: Computer-Mediated Communication as a Vehicle for Criminality
While it would be appropriate to state that criminologists and those in legal disciplines have recently discovered that new technologies are worthy of research, they have yet to tap into growing concerns over quasi-criminal activity, often characterised as hate-speech, within increasingly populated ‘virtual’ environments. As a results we find new forms of sociopathic behaviour, which present themselves in abundance, being disregarded due to their ‘virtual status’, while similar crimes in the ‘actual’ world are subject to intensive investigation. The paper aims to alter this focus by delineating acts of sociopathic behavior online in order to develop an aetiology of derisory/quasi-criminal speech/text acts. Through both a linguistic explication — employing the work of Austin, Matsueda and Butler — and an environmental anaysis — using Turner’s and Bakhtin’s work — the paper will show how derision and ‘harm’ manifests within online environments. Ultimately the paper contents that forms of derision and harm in ‘actual’ spaces have been re-engineered and injected into new ‘virtual’ spaces.
Health Care Fraud: Is Undertreatment Replacing Overtreatment?
Health care has been plagued by fraud related to overtreatment. Such issues as payment for referrals, ping-pong referrals, family ganging where treatment is extended to healthy faily members, charging for services not performed, and illegal business ventures based upon kickbacks have all been problems for private and government payers. These fraudulent issues may account for as much as 12 to 25 percent of payments made for health care. On the other hand, new forms of fraud are related to the denial of necessary services, as opposed to the overprovision of unnecessary services. Thse include denial of insurance claims, use of managed care and health maintenance organizations to restrict payments or care, and the decision to deny care by providers who are in capitated (at risk) relationships with payors. Fueling this tendency are incentive payments to primary care practitioners who supervise care, and the low barriers to entry for health maintenance and managed care organizations who are able to come and go quickly in health care markets. This paper delineates the major theoretical questions concerning overtreatment versus undertreatment and uses a large health dataset, the medical expenditure panel survey (MEPS) to provide preliminary answers to these questions. MEPS allows for study of the actual treatment provided to- and expenses incurred by- patients having typical conditions. Using MEPS, the treatment histories of patients can be compared to see whether they were over- or under-treated in relation to the typical treatment for patients with similar conditions.
Health Impact Assessment and Crime Prevention: An Analysis of the Effects of Burglary Reduction and Youth Diversion on Health in North West England
Crime prevention initiatives potentially influence a number of key health determinants through, for example, projects which modify the physical environment (e.g. target hardening and housing improvement schemes), reduce stress, anxiety and fear (e.g. of assault and personal victimisation), alter lifestyles and behaviour (e.g. youth diversion programmes) amd empower communities (e.g. neighbourhood watch). however, assessing the health impacts of such activities has not featured highly on the research agenda. This paper discusses results from research funded by the U.K. Department of Health concerned with developing methods of Health Impact Assessment for regeneration schemes. Two case studies from Liverpool in north west England are examined. The first is a target hardening scheme, the health impacts of which were explored through in-depth interviews with burglary victims, crime prevention officers, volunteers and other ‘stakeholders’. The second, a youth diversion programme targeting young women, explored the health consequences of social exclusion and the impacts on health of activities designed to steer young people away from anti-social and criminal behaviour. The methods used by and the results from the study should prove relevant to those in the public health and crime prevention fields interested in pursuing partnership approaches to problem solving.
Higher Education: The Relationship of Ritalin Use to Illegal Drug Use and Other Delinquent Behaviors Among School Children
There has been growing concern about the number of school children who are prescribed ritalin and other drugs to improve school performance and comportment. Researchers and politicians have argued about whether ritalin use increases or decreases the likelihood of illegal drug use. in this paper we examine the relationship between ritaiin use in school and the likelihood of illegal drug use and other delinquent behaviors. The data come from a 1999 study of 5th (n = 7,077), 8th (n = 6,607), and 11th (n = 3,754) graders in the Delaware school system. Nine percent of 5th graders, seven percent of 8th graders, and six percent of 11th graders report use of ritalin and other prescription drugs to help their school performance. Use of ritalin is compared to attitudes about illegal drugs, use of illegal drugs, school behavior, and delinquent activities. Discussion centers on what evidence exists for any association between prescribed behavior-altering drugs and illegal substance use.
Historical Child Abuse Investigations: The Experiences of the Survivors
During recent years police forces throughout the United Kingdom have launched investigations into historical cases of abuse in residential, group care and foster homes for children and youth. Indeed, all but two of the 49 mainland forces have completed or are working on such inquiries. This paper is based on an analysis of one such investigation, which involved both the Police and Social Service Departments. It draws on interviews conducted with of a sample of victims/survivors who were involved in the investigation. Rather than focusing on their experience of the abuse, the interviews concentrated on the effect upon them of the process of the investigation itself, including making the complaint, giving statements and evidence, and support from both police and social workers. The authors review the implications of the victim/survivors’ stories, and identify a number of lessons for future investigations of this kind.
Historical Contingency of Informal Social Control: Variation in Marriage-Crime Relationships Through Time, 1947-1996
Recent time-series analyses of relationships between social indicators and official offending over the latter twentieth century have concentrated on changes in economic deprivation and inequality (LaFree and Drass, 1996). Little conceptual or empirical attention has been paid to the influence on offending of informal social control flowing from changes in marital unions. Sweeping changes have occurred since the 1950s in Americans’ marital activity. This suggests competing hypotheses about the relationship between marriage and crime over time: On one hand, marriage has been one of the most prevalent relationships experienced by adults, and as such suggests that marriage has acted to suppress crime rates throughout time. On the other hand, the proportion of adults of marriageable age which has never married has risen in small but steady increments. This paper posits that the size of the pool of males ever- and never-married is related to offending through time via the existence of lack of marriage-derived social control, net of competing hypotheses invoking economic explanations and age structures. With national level annual time-series data, recursive regression analysis (Griffin and Isaac, 1992) is used to estimate historically contingent spells int he relationship between marital activity and offending over the years 1947-1996.
HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction Among Drug-involved Probationers
Probationers represent the largest segment of the criminal justice population in the United States, numbering 3.5 million at the close of 1999. It is estimated that more than three-fourths have drug and alcohol abuse problems, with significant numbers having histories of injection drug use and/or trading sex for money or drugs. Surprisingly, however, this large population has not been a focus of HIV/AIDS prevention research. In Delaware, the large number of probationers — some 20,030 as of December 31, 1998 — reflects a rate of 3,548 per 100,000 adult population, a rate exceeded only by the state of Washington. Rates of drug use among Delaware criminal justice populations are also significant. In addition, in terms of newly reported AIDS cases, Delaware’s incidence rate of 23.8 cases per 100,000 population places it far above the national average. Within this context, two alternative drug and sexual risk reduction interventions have been implemented with a population of drug-involved felony probationers in Wilmington, Delaware. This paper examines preliminary data on the relative effectiveness of the interventions in reducing HIV risk behaviors, and assesses the effects of criminal history and drug treatment experience in predicting changes in sexual activity, drug use, and HIV risk behaviors.
Holding Serious Juvenile Offenders Responsible: Implications From Differential Oppression Theory
Differential oppression theory proposes that much serious juvenile delinquency is a product of the oppression of children by adults, particularly within the context of the family. The maltreatment of children has been found to be highly correlated with both serious and moderate delinquency as well as other problem behaviors. Differential oppression theory would appear at first glance to suggest that the oppression or maltreatment of children establishes a sociological, if not a legal, excuse for the child’s delinquency. However, in this paper we claim just the opposite. Differential oppression theory argues that adult perceptions of children force youths into socially defined and controlled inferior roles, including the socially constructed “juvenile delinquent” role that separates youthful and adult offenders for treatment and control. While recognizing the causal forces of oppression, we argue that the very tenants of differential oppression theory provide the basis for holding youths charged with serious delinquencies responsible for their misdeeds. To maintain the structured inequality reflected in the differential treatment of children in the juvenile system and its failure to appropriately “punish” offenders denies the child his or her humanity. This paper, therefore, will examine the implications derived from differential oppression theory for punishing serious juvenile offenders.
Home Again, Home Again: Giving Up the Jig
This paper uses Akers’s Social Structure Social Learning Theory (SS-SL) to study what happens when children who run away or are asked to leave home return. The decision to return (whether voluntary or pressured) and the prospect of leaving home again are examined for a sample of 71 children (ages 12-19) who were surveyed as part of the National Incidence Study of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Throwaway Children, 1988. The paper examines the theory’s position that learning processes (like the balance of punishing versus rewarding consequences while gone from home) will be most influential in the decision to return and the likelihood of subsequent departures. It also examines Akers’s argument that effects of structural variables like gender and family organization will be mediated by learning processes. In addition, the paper looks at the effect of leaving home and returning on relations between the children and their care-givers.
Homicide and Sexual Homicide: An Investigation of Crime Scene Behaviours and Offender Characteristics
This study investigated the difference between sexual and non-sexual homicides, in terms of the offender’s specific behaviours at the crime scene, the thematic crime scene style (expressive or instrumental), and the victim target. Further investigation included an analysis of the distance the offenders travelled to commit the crime, the offender’s characteristics in terms of their age and their previous criminal history. A sample of 247 British single offender-single victim homicide cases were analysed using Multidimensional statistics. The results of this analysis show that there is a marked difference between offenders who committed a sexual homicide and those who did not. This difference was reflected across the spectrum of the variables analysed. Results are discussed in terms of implications for classification of homicide and sexual homicide, as well as the potential of this research for offender profiling.
Homicide Types in Los Angeles, 1900-1985
Using narrative accounts of homicides in police records, the present study examines change and stability in the types of homicide situations in Los Angeles from 1900 to 1985. Three dominant types of homicide situations are explored: (1) confrontational homicides, (2) homicides committed during other crimes (e.g., robbery-, burglary-homicides), and (3) fatal police shootings. The method of Qualitative Comparative Analysis is used to examine the unique and common structures of these homicide situations and changes in them over time. The results of this study are then discussed in terms of their implications for future research.
Homicide Victimization: A Cross-National Review From an Age and Gender Perspective
Research on homicide focuses disproportionately on aggregated data from developed countries, and neglects the victim perspective. Although homicides arc the most infrequent form of crime, they are nevertheless the most harmful. This study specifies the limitations faced by cross-national homicide research, pointing specifically to issues of reliability and validity in widely used data sets. Following a review of homicide research in the U.S. and cross-nationally, we conclude that a victim perspective is warranted. Strategies for future studies should encompass age and gender, as well as explanatory variables that account for issues such as inequalities, religion and social support, urbanization, and/or country-specific conflict. A major recommendation is to study countries with high and low homicide levels separately.
Homo-cide: Queer Killings Across Canada
Despite the outpouring of sympathy and outrage following the brutal 1998 murder of Matthew Shephard, a gay Wyoming student, the majority of similar killings would appear to go virtually unnoticed by the mainstream. In a recent analysis of homophobic violence in Canada, the author compiled a list of 88 homicides that occurred in the 1990s. In some cases the victims were perceived to be homosexual or transgendered; in others, there were allegations of a “homosexual advance.” The first section of this paper focuses on the criminological literature -which addresses how these types of killings are constructed and addressed by the media, the police, and the queer community — and the fierce debate among legal scholars, some of whom have argued that many of these killers face little or no jail time. By pathologizing the victim, they argue, a panoply of juridical practices are deployed which, in turn, regulate and vilify homosexuality in the courtroom. In the second section, the author uses media reports, case law and interviews with survivors and criminal justice personnel to examine the following variables: region, gender, victim-suspect interaction, the intensity of violence, and judicial outcomes. In the final section, the paper critically analyzes media constructions, policing and judicial procedures, and suggests new approaches the queer community can employ in response to these killings.
Honour and Revenge Among Youth in a Secondary School
The paper analyses processes of self- protective strategies generated within a secondary school in a multicultural area in Oslo. In the school, two moral codes meet and collide. These are idealtypical descriptions, described as the code of honour and the code of dignity. The pupils conceptualise and discuss them as “the Foreigners'” and “the Norwegian” way of thinking. The: two conceptualisations are paradigmatically different from each other, and constitute logical and structural forms whereby individuals define their self, their role and morals in completely opposite ways. The moral tension produced in the environmental frame of the school- creates an atmosphere of verbal attacks and ill-natured gossip, profanation and violence. In this environment, four different strategies are produced among actors belonging to different ethnic groups. By applying a transactional generative model an effort is made to discover the particular processes at work that aggregate different social forms that feed interactions between:: individuals striving to live up to emotional needs and moral values. One of these social forms can be described as criminal gang formation. Data are based on anthropological fieldwork conducted over a period of 12 months, and on a school survey conducted in the ninth and tenth
Hoochie-Mamas, Creepers, and Dope Fiends: The Inextricable Link Between Drug Addiction and Sex Work in a Jersey City Neighborhood and Implications for Law Enforcement
The connection among women (especially minority women), drug abuse, and the criminal justice system has become increasingly strong in the past decade. This development has occurred alongside declining economic vitality in inner cities and arrival of the crack epidemic, which brought a doubling of cocaine consumption and an increase in drug-related crime. Scholars argue that class, gender, and race conspired amid increasing poverty and growing addiction to relegate drug-abusing women to prostitution to finance drug use. This project draws upon those theoretical links for a qualitative study of 60 minority women who use drugs and work as street prostitutes on an urban stroll in New Jersey. Life-history interviews and observation over two years will explore hypothesized links between drug addiction and entry into sex work, and assess changes in individual drug and criminal trajectories. This project will track in particular the effects of an intensive police crackdown on prostitution upon drug and criminal trajectories, and the impact of access to available health systems to those trajectories. Discussion will include preliminary analyses of data; suitability of qualitative methods for studying active offenders who are often difficult to engage in research; and methods for retaining and tracking highly transient research subjects.
How “General” is Self-Control Theory? A Test of Interactions Between Self-Control and Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, Age, and Size of Place
Self-control theory makes strong claims to be a general theory of crime. Three disparat eliteratures can, in combination, be viewed as taking different approaches to testing this claim of generality: 1) whether the theory can explain all types of crime, 2) whether the theory can explain all types of criminals, and 3) whether the theory works equally well for different social groups (e.g., different ages, or genders). We present evidence on the latter approach with a nationally representative sample of adolescents. Using behavioral measures of self-control, we find that self-control tends to interact with gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, size of place, and age to affect measures of violent behavior. In light of our findings that the effects of self-control vary across social groups, and those from previous research regarding types of crimes and type of criminals, we conclude that the bulk of the evidence points to serious holes int he claim to generality asserted in self-control theory.
How Are Police Crime Statistics in the U.S. Flawed?
Police complaints and arrests are flawed measures of underlying crime. How? They depend upon (1) the reporting behavior of victims, (2) the recording procedures of the police, (3) police effectiveness in making sound arrests, and (4) in reporting complaints and arrests to higher offices — i.e., state and federal offices such as the ICJIA or the FBI. We shall look at each of these “filters” as they affect FBI crime statistics and suggest to what extent they are flawed.
How Do We Put the Community in Community-Based Justice? Some Views of Participants in Criminal Court Diversion
Direct involvement of communities in the administration of justice has become a priority in many jurisdictions. In May, 1998, two post-charge criminal court diversion projects were launched in Toronto, Canada, one for minor offenders and one for first-time cannabis offenders. While traditional measures of ‘success’ focus on completion of community sanctions and reoffending during a specific follow-up period, success is more fundamentally linked to the willingness and ability of victims, offenders, communities and agents of the criminal justice system to support such initiatives. This study presents data on the success of these diversion projects using both traditional measures as well as qualitative data on the views and experiences of offenders, victims, prosecutors, community agencies and defence counsel who have taken part in these projects. Areas of consideration include: motivations for involvement in community-based justice, attitudes toward community-based diversion, perceived benefits or limitations of community vs. criminal justice responses, and views on the viability of establishing long-term, restorative justice initiatives.
How Long Do Treatment Programs Need to Be? Examining the Effects of Treatment Program Duration on Recidivism Reductions
As we turn the millenium, no longer can we ignore the empirical evidence that shows correctional treatment programs founded on the five principles of effective rehabilitation, namely risk, need, responsivity, professional discretion, and treatment integrity, can reduce recidivism. Although much known about risk, need, and effective program characteristics, there is a relative lack of empirical investigations examining the question of ‘how much’ treatment is enough to make an impact on recidivism rates. Specifically, investigations are needed to examine the effects of different levels of treatment duration/intensity. A sample of over 400 adult male offenders incarcerated at a medium security provincial institution received one of three cognitive behavioral treatment programs that differed primarily on duration/intensity of services delivered. One program involved approximately 70 hours of group work over 5 weeks; a second involved approximately 150 hours over 10 weeks; and a third involved approximately 300 hours over 15 weeks. The purpose of the present investigation is to evaluate the effects of these different levels of duration/intensity on recidivism. The implications of the results on offender assessment, mediating role of risk and need, and treatment planning will be discussed.
How Representative of Arrest History is the Current Arrest?”: A Group of Arrestees
An interview study was conducted among a group of arrestees at six county jails in the state of Ohio between June 1999 and September 2000, examining the prevalence of alcohol and drug dependence and assessing the need for treatment of drug abuse. At the same time, respondents’ current arrest records and their arrest histories were also obtained from the jail administration. The objectives of the present study were to determine 1) whether the type of offense for which an arrestee was currently arrested could be seen as the typical offense committed by that arrestee; and 2) whether the prior occurrence of a particular type of offense was as good a predictor of current offense type as other predictors, including sociodemographic variables and drug-use factors. The results show that arrestees had a significantly high likelihood of having been arrested for the same type of offense in the past. While when the bivariate relationship is examined, drug dependence does seem to help predict the likelihood of committing a minor offense, drug dependence does not help predict the type of current offenses in the multivariate context. The arrestees tended to “specialize” in a particular type of offense over their adult arrest histories, repeating the very acts that brought them to the attention of police.
How Strong do Neighborhoods Have to be to Resist the Spread of Violence? The Diffusion of Drug and Violent Crimes in Baltimore, 1982-1994
Blumstein and colleagues have argued that changes in violent crime rates during the 1980s and 1990s can be understood as a result of the diffusion or spread of the drug trade, from core areas of cities to outer areas. The theory argues that the drug trade occasioned turf wars and introduced weapons into commun ities. The presence and diffusion of weapons led to an escalation of violence from low-level to more severe violence. This work has raised the question of how this process of drugs engendering violence can be disrupted. Studies of community and crime suggest that both formal and informal means of social control can affect the level and change in crime in communities. Sampson and Randenbush and others have arged that residents can take control of their neighborhoods through collective action. Lynch, Sabol, and Shelley find that police practices can enhance collective efficacy in areas undergoing structural change. Using Baltimore as a case study, this paper takes these general models linking communities and crime and applies them to the drug-violence nexus indentified by Blumstein and his colleagues. It uses Baltimore City Police Department data on reported crimes and arrests that have been geocoded to the address level to study the patterns of concentration, diffusion, and spread of violence and drugs from 1985-95. It combines these with Taylor’s survey data of residents in up to 66 Baltimore neighborhoods in 1982 and 994 and with census track and administrative data to describe the social structural characteristics of small areas. It adopts the prevalent approach to analyzing spatial data of exploratory spatial data analysis followed by confirmatory data analysis, and presents preliminary findings on the pattersnf oof diffusion of drugs and violence.
How to Win Tenure in an Academic Institution
The product of this roundtable session will be a manuscript on the topic of winning tenure in an academic institution. Participants in the roundtable will critique the draft manuscript on the topic and make suggestions about what people need to know about obtaining tenure. The end product will be a manuscript describing suggestions for planning, scheduling and winning tenure in a university or college setting.
How We Know What We Know: The Social Construction of Academic Debate in Criminology
The social constructionsit perspective has been applied to a variety of subjects within the discipline: hate crimes, child abuse, serial murder, deviance and police corruption. The primary premise behind social constructionism is that social problems are created through a process of claims making by interested claims makers. This paper makes the argument that the nature of scientific debate is no different from any other type of social problem creation/construction. Some claims are discarded while others are accepted and disseminated. This paper looks at some of the critical debates within criminology to make this point.
How Well Does NIBRS Data Reflect the National Crime Experience?
The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) was created in response to a law enforcement need for enhanced crime statistics. The NIBRS data, because they are incident-based as opposed to summarized tallies, provide a level of detail that has been unavailable in the past. However, the implementation of NIBRS by law enforcement agencies depends upon agencies having the resources available to make that conversion. The result is that, while at this point NIBRS data contributes 10 percent of the crime reported to the UCR program, there is concern that the current NIBRS data can not be used as representative of the crime experience of the whole nation. The purpose of this paper is to begin to assess the extent to which characteristics of crime measured by NIBRS data are representative of characteristics of crime nationally, and if not, what accounts for the variation. This is accomplished by comparing NIBRS data with other national sample data sets in which the representative nature of the data is known (e.g., the National Crime Victimization Survey).
Human Relations as a Punitive Tool
The close relationship as a professional tool in the probation service is the subject matter of this paper. It is based on research in the Swedish probation service. To accomplish her task, the probation officer seeks to get close to the probationer on a friendly basis in order get to know the probationer well. This acquaintance is not only friendly, it is also a tool for punishment. The interpersonal relationship between the probationer and the probation officer is seen as the most important means to change during the period of probation. Results from interviews with probation officers and probationers will be presented. With these narratives as a point of departure we proceed to discuss ‘how help and control work together and how friendly relations can be punitive tools.
Hunting Ghosts: The Control of White-collar Crime in the Securities Markets
The main question this paper will explore is the relation between the intensified focus on crime in the securities markets and the conspicuous lack of successful sentences in such cases. The last decade can be described as a period with feverish efforts to build up new control agencies and to create new laws who try to reduce the possible harmful effects of the growth in the financial markets. The ideas of deregulation and opening of the financial markets of the 1980’s has slowly mutated into a position where the markets are supposed to do best if they manage themselves, but under the governing gaze of private and state control. Certain minimum standards have to exist in these markets, if not there might be lack of trust and loss of investments. In spite of the efforts to fight insider dealing, stock price manipulation and other forms of securities crimes, we only have one court sentence of insider dealing (the infamous pizza case), two acquittals and two or three sentence sof stock price manipulation in Norway.
“I Would Gladly Pay You Tuesday for a Dime Bag Today”: The Role of Credit in Drug Markets
Credit is indispensable to the functioning of drug markets as currently constituted, for both users and distributors. Drug users rely on getting drugs “fronted” in order to stave off withdrawal, escape or intensify reality or simply to maintain a desired mental state. Distributors rely on credit to finance drug purchases that will pay for themselves many times over once credit is extended. While violence is sometimes a part of efforts to collect drug debts, this is by no means universal. Rather, violence or threats of violence as a collection technique characterizes certain types of markets. More typically, the threat of interrupting further access to product or of social ostracism is the technique for enforcing these legally unenforceable bargains. This ethnographic research argues that this is because both users and distributors enter the market with a balance of capital resources which favors social capital (trust and reputation) over financial capital.
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Identifying Unit-Dependency and Time-specificity in Longitudinal Analysis: A Graphical Methodology
Longitudinal methodology has contributed greatly to the sophistication of research in the field of criminology. Researchers have slowly come to realize that it is more sophisticated than analysis with cross-sectional data because it allows them to use the same subject repeatedly and potentially examine the effect of changes in characreristics on changes in an outcome. Unfortunately, these results are more vulneerable to potential influences of unusual units or time periods. Current diagnostics arte designed for cross-sectional analysis and are fallible when used for longitudinal models. This research designs a graphical diagnostic methodology to systematically examine the sensitivity of results from longitudinal analysis to extreme units and time periods. Currently, comparable tests for longitudinal analysis are tedious and require an extensive examination of large quantities of output. Furthermore, as analysis becomes more complicated, these tests are nearly impossible to conduct without an impractical time commitment. This procedure is quickly executed and displays the test results in an easily understood graph.
Identity Politics and the Location of Women in a Drug Environment
This paper presents partial results of an ethnographic study conducted in two New York City neighborhoods. Focusing on women who use heroin, it analyzes the way that drugs gradually become absorbed into and alter their daily practices and lifestyles. Examining this absorption and alteration highlights how these women contest categories of deviance and normalcy. The transformations that occur in their presentation of self–including their bodies, relationships, and sexualities–create forms of social identity that are both invented by the subjects and yet situated within already existing social dynamics. One of the concerns of the study is the question of the space carved out by these women both within the general social sphere and in their immediate communities. A close look at the construction of their stories will provide a reading of these women’s locations and positions in their homes and neighborhoods.
Ideology and Crime: The Second Half of the Twentieth Century
In his classic book, Ideology and Crime, Leon Radzinowicz relates penal practice to historical social and ideological conditions. While the issue of ideology and crime was a prominent topic in the 1960s and 1970s, it has subsequently given way to more “practical” concerns. This survey looks at the social, economic, and ideological changes in the United States from 1950-2000 and their affect upon the criminolgoical enterprise. Using a sociology of knowledge approach, various theories and perspectives are discussed in the context of social change, including the “new” criminologies and the rise of the criminal justice field.
Illicit Antiquities: An Archaeologist’s View of a Criminal Market
This paper draws upon field observations of archaeologists to show how material plundered from archaeological sites flows onto the apparently legitimate markets in London and New York, often through the best known auction houses. The role of various intermediaries and the auction houses themselves in the illicit movement of this plundered material will be examined. Evidence of the forms of destruction sites will be presented.
Illinois v. Wardlow: Did the Supreme Court Have Granted More Law Enforcement Autholrity at the Expense of the Fourth Amendment?
In Illinois v. Wardlow, _U, S. _ (2000), the Supreme Court appeared to have enhanced police authority and power to stop and frisk individual persons who are abroad on the street. Wardlow, ran upon seeing a caravan of police vehicles converge on an area of Chicago known for heavy narcotics trafficking. Following a brief chase by officers, Wardlow was subjected to a Terry frisk, revealing a firearm. Settled law allows a stop and a frisk where the officers possess reasonable basis to believe that the person way be armed and dangerous. While this type of court approved frisk may be primarily consistent with settled law, the practice of stopping and frisking a person who merely runs at the sight of police may not be based on sufficient individual suspicion.
Illuminating the “Invisible Victims”: Developing the Capability to Measure Crime Against People With Disabilities
The 1999 Crime Victims with Disabilities Awareness Act mandated that the Bueau of Justice Statistics (BJS) modify the National Crime Victimization Survey to “include statistics relating to (1) the nature of crimes against individuals with developmental disabilities; and (2) the specific charateristics of the victims of those crimes.” Prior research, while scanty, has indicated that persons with disabilities are victimized at significantly higher rates than other persons. The lack of attention given to examiing the extenht of victimization against the people with disabilities has led some researchers to coin the term “Invisible Victims” to describe their condition. Conducting research in this area is challenging, however, because of complexities associated with identifyinjg persons with disabilities, and adapting survey questionnaires and procedures to collect the data. This paper discusses many of the methodological issues that must be addressed to fulfill the mandates of the Crime Victims with Diabilities Awareness Act, and summarizes the actions that BJS has taken and planned to fulfill the requirements of the law.
Images of Kent State: The Effect of 30 Years on Perceptions of Culpability
This paper summarizes the findings of a survey conducted in 1975 on the Kent State Campus. The data had been coded, set aside and forgotten about until 1998. After the initial analysis had been completed in 1999, a follow-up survey was administered, again on the Kent State Campus, in conjunction with the 29th commemoration of the Kent State shootings. The surveys differ in key respects, however, the second survey was designed with a comparative study in mind. The issues of interest are: How have public perceptions of the Kent State shooting incident changed over time? And, in what way has the media influenced public perceptions of Kent State incident?
Immigrant Crime, Deportation and Detention: Is Detention Necessary to Ensure that Criminal Aliens Appear at Court Hearings
Qualitative and quantitative spatial analytic techniques are becoming increasingly prominent in studies of crime. The use of maps, in particular, has had a lengthy and celebrated history in criminology and is now experiencing something of a renaissance. In fact, Chicago school sociologists like Park, Burgess, Shaw, McKay, and others, used maps of the spatial distribution of crime and related community characteristics as the empirical foundation of their most important theoretical contributions (e.g., social disorganization). The present study builds on this re-emerging tradition of using maps to ask questions of homicide data that cannot be answered with statistical models. Specifically, this study investigates the relationship between the most recent wave of immigration and community levels of homicide in three “border” cities that have received large numbers of newcomers (El Paso, Miami, and San Diego). While quantitative methods have been used to explore this issue as part of this ongoing research project, the current focus is on a visual representation of the link between immigration and homicide. In addition to exploring this understudied substantive area, we offer strategies for using maps to manage the massive amounts of data generated during the course of macrological investigations of crime. Key findings support previous quantitative analyses that have demonstrated that immigration is not generally associated with higher community levels of homicide. The maps also show unexpected variations by location that have implications for both criminological theory and social policy. Finally, questions to be explored in future research with spatial analytic methods are discussed.
Impact Evaluation of the Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies Project: Preliminary Findings
The Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies Program encourages jurisdictions to implement mandatory or pro-arrest policies as an effective domestic violence intervention that is part of a coordinated community response. Congress appropriated funds for the Arrest Program under the Violence Against Women Act (1994). The Institute for Law and Justice (ILJ) is conducting an evaluation of the Program that includes an analysis of impact at six sites across the country. The research design incrporates data collection and statistical analysis, case tracking, focus groups, and victim interviews. The evaluation focuses on three questions pertaining to the criminal justice response to domestic violence. First, what has changed? Second, how have the changes impacted victims? Third, how have the changes affected offenders? This presentation focuses on preliminary findings in the areas of law enforcement response, prosecution of domestic violence cases, supervision of offenders, victim advocacy, and community support.
Impact Evaluation of the Kansas City Interdisciplinary Response to Sexual Assault: Preliminary Findings
The STOP Violence Against Women grants program authorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) aim to examine law enforcement, prosecution, or joint special units with the development of new training programs and materials; establishment of stalking programs; and development of agency policies and procedures for handling domestic violence or sexual assault offenses. In this context, ILJ is carrying out an impact evaluation of one sexual assault and five domestic violence sites representing national trends and innovations in law enforcement or prosecution approaches. The overall research design incorporates data collection and analysis, case tracking, focus groups, and victim interviews. The impact evaluation focuses in on three main questions: What has changed? how have the changes impacted the victims? How have the changes impacted the offenders? The Kansas City Interdisciplinary Response to Sexual Assault (KCIRSA) combines law enforcement (family violence unit and crime lab), prosecution, hospital, and non-profit collaboration to address issues and practices relating to sexual assault. This presentation focuses on the findings with regard to the impact on victims through victim interviews.
Impact of a Cognitive Program on Institutional Misconduct of Inmates in a Midwestern Prison
Based upon success of a voluntary cognitive program, the administration of a large Midwestern prison developed an involuntary cognitive program for high security level inmates. The program is designed to reduce misconduct by the participating inmates so ultimately their security level will be reduced and they can be transferred to less secure facilities. The evaluation of the beginning stages of the involuntary program was conducted and results are presented.
Impact of Determinate Sentencing Laws on Plea Rates and Delay
The research estimates the impact of determinate sentencing laws on guilty plea rates and court delay in seven states, using a multiple time series design with court-level data. The laws, which went into effect between 1979 and 1985, narrow judges’ sentencing discretion and reduce the role of parole boards and prisons in releasing prisoners. This is an empirical test of the theory that agreements are reached more easily when parties have better information about the consequences of the agreement.
Impact of Emotion on Consequence Salience and “Rational” Decision-making in Sexual Aggression
This study tests an expanded conceptualization of rational choice theory, which includes a consideration of the role of emotion on hypothetical offending decisions. It was hypothesized that sexually aroused subjects would focus on the perceived benefits of sexual coercion, while focusing less on the potential costs. In order to test this hypothesis, subjects were randomly assigned to three experimental (two levels of arousal and a no arousal control) conditions. After viewing sexually arousing (or control) stimuli, subjects were asked to read a scenario describing a hypothetical date, then asked to estimate the likelihood of engaging in several coercive tactics. Subjects were asked to make a list of the potential costs and benefits that might result from this type of misconduct (rather than respond to a set of researcher-developed consequences), as well as to rate the certainty, severity and “salience” (i.e. current importance) of each of these items. Results revealed that sexual arousal increased the likelihood of engaging in sexual coercion and also increased subjects’ perceptions of sexual pleasure as a currently important benefit. Some support was also found for the hypothesis that perception of the consequences mediated the effect of arousal on sexual coercion. Methodological and theoretical implications for future tests of rational choice theory are discussed.
Impact of Mandatory Minimums: A Review of the Literature and a Research Proposal
Mandatory minimums are a major issue in criminal justice and court research. These laws have spawned a plethora of debates and arguments over their overall impacts on the courts. This paper will summarize the literature on mandatory minimums. It will cover how mandatory minimums have evolved over time and the past and present research analyzing these laws’ effects. In addition, it will link mandatory minimums to a broader theoretical framework on punishment and penology. Most importantly, this paper will show that even though the mandatory minimum literature is theoretically rich, empirically much work needs to be done on assessing how these laws are influencing the state courts. How are state courts using mandatory minimums? Are some types of mandatory minimums used more frequently than others? Are mandatory minimums disproportionately affecting minorities? This paper will begin the initial process of answering these important questions by proposing a methodological framework in which to study the effects of mandatory minimums. By summarizing the mandatory minimum literature and by proposing a research methodology to measure these laws’i mpacts, this paper will lay the foundation for an in depth analysis of these laws in a particular state: Virginia.display structure
Impact of Race and Ethnicity on Charging Decisions for Drug Offenders
Critics of sentencing guidelines contend that discretion over sentencing outcomes shifts from the sentencing stage to the charging stage. Consequently, the existence of racial or ethnic disparities in charging decisions, in the context of sentencing guidelines, would produce substantial disparities in the punishment of similar offenders even if sentencing decisions at conviction appear to be uniform. However, very little research has directly tested this hypothesis. This study examines the exercise of discretion in charging decisions for felony drug offenders in three counties in Washington state, one of the first states to adopt sentencing guidelines. Preliminary findings indicate that offender race is unrelated to prosecutors’ initial filing decisions for offenders arrested for drug delivery, and that African American and Hispanic offenders are actually less likely than white offenders to be convicted of the most serious charge. Other factors that influence charging decisions include the circumstances of the arrest, peripheral involvement in the crime, the county of conviction, and pleading guilty.
Impact of Sentence Increases on Punishment Levels for Unlawful Alien Smuggling
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) of 1996 required that federal courts increase sentences for several immigration offenses, including offenses that involve the smuggling, transporting, and harboring of unlawful aliens in the United States. While subsequent sentence lengths for these offenders were longer, the proportion of cases sentenced within the designated sentencing range decreased substantially. Given the increasing tide of immigration convictions (particularly for the southwest border states) and the need for prison space to accommodate these offenders, the paper underscores how immigration issues fuel the debate over the competing sentencing principles of just punishment, deterrence, and uniformity. The analysis compares the sentences of unlawful alien smugglers convicted prior to, and following, the changes of the 1996 law to determine whether the observed sentencing patterns result from changes in the type of offenders being sentenced, or from differing decisions and practices of the court and the prosecution in the federal districts. The analysis uses the data files of the U.S. Sentencing Commission for fiscal years 1996 and 1998.
Impact of the Neighborhood Microsystem on Self-Report and Officially Recorded Delinquency: A Block by Block Analysis of Sense of Community
Social disorganization theory was prominent in the middle part of this century and has once again re-emerged as the prominent social theory in explaining the role neighborhood characteristics play in explaining variations in crime and delinquency rates. Since Sincham-Fagan and Schwartz’s (1986) landmark study, research based on this theory has profliferated and empirical evidence is accumulating yet there has been no consistent measure for the proposed mediating variables of SD theory. The current study offers an all-inclusive mediating variable, Sense of Community, which may help explain the divergent or at least inconsistent findings over the past decade. Utilizing the face-block for the neighborhood, data was collected on self-report delinquency for 103 youth and parents and neighbors were surveyed for the block’s level of SOC. Police records of crime and delinquency were also collected at the block-level. Results and implications for updated, systemic models of social disorganization will be discussed.
Implementation and Impact of ‘Get Tough’ Sentencing Reform at the Court Level: A Case Study
This NIJ funded study examines the implementation and impact of Measure 11, a “onestrike” sentencing law, in Multnomah County Oregon. Utilizing quantitative court, corrections, and media coverage data, combined with information gathered from indepth interviews and focus groups, the study addresses the following research questions: (a) What was the impetus and evolution of the reform? (b) How was the law implemented at the county level? (c) How did the reform affect criminal case processing? (d) How did the reform affect intra and inter-organizational relationships? (e) To what extent did the reform bring about the anticipated changes? Particular attention is paid to the courtroom community and local legal culture, assessing the affect of both upon the law’s implementation and final impact. Preliminary findings indicate that, while the effects of the law upon county resources were far less than anticipated, the effects upon courtroom interactions, the balance of courtroom power, case processing patterns and sentencing length were notable and long-term. The study also includes an analysis of the laws aftermath – addressing public and legislative reaction to the law as implemented along with an overview of procedural and legal changes instituted as a result of the Measure.
Implementing by Groping Along: A Struggle in Program Evolutionary Implementation
A coalition of county justice officials in a medium sized county in a Northwestern state launched a plan to implement an adult restorative justice program. Focusing on non-violent offenders, it sought to involve offenders, victims, families, and community members in resolution of problems associated with an offense. The program sought to avoid jail, formal court action, and traditional prosecution, replacing the traditional system with community site councils staffed by neighborhood volunteers to guide offenders, community members and victims in a determination of the harm committed, to assign service and restitution, and to determine the needed assistance for offenders and their families. While the initial design of the program called for a fully restorative program, some members took actions to alter program design during its first iteration. However, as still other players entered and left the evolving program, an agenda for change emerged again, suggesting strategies to re-energize a program, and implement the original design by “groping along.” The paper concludes with observations on strategies for implementation by groping along and using mechanisms of side-payments, by-passing, competition, and “member flooding” all of which served to break down prior opposition and invite a restructured program more similar to the original design. The implications for innovative justice programs are discussed by focusing on program design and implementation strategies.
Implementing Problem Oriented Policing: Lessons From the British Crime Reduction Programme
Problem oriented policing, which advocates that responses to crime and disorder should be related to thorough analysis of local problems, has become increasingly influential in both American and European police services. The Home Office for England and Wales is funding a $50 million research programme to identify and mainstream good practice in problem oriented policing (known as the Targeted Policing Initiative). Drawing on evidence gathered from almost thirty initiatives, this paper will discuss some of the practical problems involved in implementing this programme of research. Using case example, it will focus on the difficulties experienced by police officers in devising solutions that adequately address the problems identified by crime analysis. Since theory does not always translate into practice, this paper addresses the lessons learnt so far from these initiatives and how the theoretical tenets of pop can more readily be translated into the realities of everyday policing.
Implementing Specialized Probation Supervision: A Preliminary Study of Domestic Violence Probation Programs
Many jurisdictions have recently implemented specialized probation programs for domestic violence offenders, often coupled with court-ordered completion of batterer intervention programs. The basic premise underlying most of these programs is that specialized supervision will allow probation officers to provide more focused and, in some cases, more intensive supervision of these offenders, and that graduated sanctions can be more easily imposed on offenders who cannot meet the conditions of probation. Our study of three different specialized probation programs in Illinois provides an opportunity to test these assumptions. This paper presents data on the kind of supervision provided through these programs, and examines the ways in which probation violations are handled within these programs.
Implications of Sex Offender Legislation for Reintegration, Stigmatization, and Recidivism: An Exploratory Analysis
Washington State law authorizes local jurisdictions to notify the public of the residential location of and other relevant information about convicted sex offenders following their release from incarceration. The stated purpose of the legislation is “to protect the public and counteract the danger created by the particular offender” (RCW 4.24.550 1999). At present, the extent to which this objective has been achieved is not known, and the ambiguity of stigmatization theory and Braithwaite’s (1989) theory of reintegrative shaming precludes the advancement of any definite expectations. On one hand, the stigmatization that accompanies public notification might be associated with alienation of offenders from their communities. This alienation, in turn, might lead to further offending, which may be either sexual or non-sexual in nature. On the other hand, however, the community might respond to notification of sex offenders in a way that facilitates their acceptance and integration into community life. This acceptance, in turn, might motivate these offenders to abandon either some or all of their deviant activities. Data presently available to us do not permit rigorous testing of these and other theoretical expectations. However, limited tests of stigmatization hypotheses can be conducted with data that already have been collected: (1) individual-level data (e.g., age, race, sex, type of sexual offense, length of incarceration, residential location following release from incarceration, etc.) on approximately 10,000 sex offenders convicted in Washington State between 1990 and 2000; (2) content analysis of themes present in various sources of community notification-city and county newspapers, world wide web, etc.; and (3) interviews with city-, county-, and state- level law enforcement agencies who are charged with the responsibility of public notification in Washington State. Integration (or reintegration) effects are more difficult to ascertain without more specific data from offenders and communities. At the very least, however, we expect to be able to test the hypothesis that sex offenders who have been identified to their communities via public sources of information will recidivate more frequently than offenders who are not publicly exposed following conviction and/or release from prison.
Imprisonment Rates and Crime Rates in the Nations of the O.E.C.D.
A book reviewer in the American Political Science Review (June 1996) suggested that my first book, The New Social Contract, could have been improved. The reviewer suggested that “it would help to compare state level variations in incarceration rates at any one point over time.” This is very close to what I did in my 1998 book The Politics of Prison Expansion: Winning Elections by Waging War on Crime. Here I presented the results of a multiple regression analysis of the rate of imprisonment and the rate of crime in all fifty states over a twenty-year period. I identified a very unusual correlation between imprisonment rates and rates of reported crime in the fifty states. Does a similar relationship exist throughout the European Union? My latest paper expands on this thesis to include the other nations of The Organization for Economic and Cultural Development.
Improvements in Recorded Crime Statistics in England and Wales
As statistician responsible for recorded crime statistics in England and Wales, I have presided over an ambitious programme of improvements to the quality and consistency of police crime recording. This paper describes the progress we have already made. It also outlines our further plans for completing the transformation of the series into one can be used both as an accurage measure of police performance, and as an effective measure of crime (in conjunction with the British Crime Survey). The paper covers the following areas: (A) Completed Work: Devising a suitable offence coverage and classification for recorded crimes. Revision of the Home Office counting rules for recorded times; (b) Work in Progres: Production of a national framework for determining whether incidents should be recorded as crimes. Development of a National Management Information System for all police forces; Extension of GIS and crime pattern analysis to all police forces; (c) Work Planned: Establishment of electronic data transfer, using the internet. More sophisticated ways of disseminating data; More rigorous and ‘fool-proof’ audit trails, and Introduction of incident tracking, to measure attrition and integrated Criminal Justice performance.
Improving the Management and Care of Sex Offenders in the Community: Using Needs Assessment as a Tool for Comprehensive Planning
There are few comprehensive, locally tailored programs for the management and care of sex offenders in the community. Despite the fact that sex offenders constitute a heterogeneous population requiring different strategies and programs depending on the nature of the offense, demographics of the community, the common approach is to develop “one-size-fits-all” strategies and policies for supervision and treatment in the community. Proper management of sex offenders requires a detailed needs assessment of sex offenders in the community in order to develop strategies that have a greater potential for preventing recidivism in the community. This paper will describe the current movement within the United States for developing comprehensive plans for the management of sex offenders, drawing on our experiences with one such initiative in New York City funded by the Violence Against Women’s Office, Office of Justice Programs.
Imputation Issues in the UCR
When agenies fail to report their crime and arrest data to the FBI for compilation in the UCR annual report, Crime in the United States, the FBI estimates or imputes the msissing data. The means used by the FBI to impute data will be described, as will the consequences of so doing and the limitations it places on how they may be used. Suggested changes in the imputation procedures will be discussed.
In for a Dime, In for a Dollar: Using the Witch Trials of Renaissance Europe to Understand America’s War on Drugs
This paper represents an attempt to explore some of the parallels that can be drawn between the witch trials of Renaissance Europe and Postmodern America’s war on drugs. Elliot Currie’s (1968) conceptual framework proved to be helpful in understanding America’s efforts to manage deviant behavior with respect to the illegal drug trade. Specifically, Currie identified three characteristics that enabled the continental (European) legal order to be “an enormously effective machine for the systematic and massive production of confessed deviants [witches]” (Curie 1968). The three main characteristics of this legal order were: (1) a high-degree of structured interest in the apprehension and processing of deviants; (2) systematic establishment of extraordinary powers for suppressing deviance, with a concomitant lack of internal restraints; and (3) invulnerability to restraint from other social instituions. The purpose of this paper is to examine issues surrounding the war on drugs (i.e., property seizures, drug courier profiles, bureaucratic expansion, substantial assistance, and conspiracy) in an effort to illustrate how different control structures result in a different rates of deviance.
In the Eye of the Storm: Indigenous Aboriginal Traditions Versus ‘The Law’ in an Urban Setting
Law is often understood in its relationship, in its opposition, to indigenous ‘tradition;. As a rational system of rules, institutions and officials, law is a hallmark of modernity, over the purported irrationality and whimiscality of ‘traditionally’ derived sources of order, such as tribal custom. However, several authors have demonstrated the intricate links between these two concepts. The major interest of this paper is to empirically explore the relationship between tradition and law, in the context of the incorporation of Aboriginal traditions to legal orderings in an urban context–a context generally thought to be antithetical to traditionality.
Incapacitating the Dangerous: An Evaluation of Sentencing Reform in California
In the last three decades, the objectives of criminal sentencing policy have changed a great deal. Many have argued that the primary objective of criminal punishment in recent years has been the incapacitation of dangerous criminals in order to ensure the public safety. Nowhere has this trend been more evident than in California, where the most far-reaching and widely implemented Three-Strikes habitual offender statute was implemented in 1994. Far from being an isolated event in California policy making, the passage of Three Strikes can rather be seen as the culmination of several decades’ worth of sentencing policy reform. Although individual reforms may have been initially constructed to serve diverse ends, it is worthwhile to evaluate these reforms in terms of their efficacy in protecting the public by incapacitating dangerous offenders. The results of dynamic systems simulation analyses designed to evaluate the efficacy of criminal sentencing reform with respect to selective incapacitation are presented.
Inconsistencies in Emerging Drug Use Reports in a Longitudinal Study: Correlates and Consequences
This paper examines inconsistent reporting of new cocaine and marijuana use in a longitudinal study of young adults. This study found that one type of reporting pattern, “distancing,” was highly prevalent among those who were originally identified as non-users in the cohort. Respondents were categorized as “distances” if their new use was reported to have occurred prior to the last survey year when they had reported no lifetime use. In preliminary analyses on a cohort followed from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this study found that of those we classified as non-cocaine users in 1984, approximately 63% distanced their first reported use of cocaine. Of those we classified as 1984 marijuana non-users, 86% distanced their first reported use of this substance. Correlates of this phenomenon are analyzed. In addition , the consequence of these inconsistencies for prevalence estimation are discussed. Finally implications for the validity of self-reported illicit drug use in non-criminal justice samples are also examined.
Incorporating Crime Into the Architectural Design and Planning Process: The “Brantingham Method” of Neighbourhood Crime Study
In the architectural design process used in north american cities, whether for a building, a city block or planning a neigbourhood, crime should be considered in the early stages. A method for incorporating crime into the architectural design process has been developed based on the work of the Brantinghams in the field of environmental criminology. This method includes analysis of information from police crime data, police patrols, the site, surrounding uses and consultation with neighbourhood groups. This method parallells the architectural design process. An example of a neighbourbood crime study in Vancouver, British Columbia will be discussed where a clear crime picture of the neighbourhood is developed. Recommendations for architectural design, planning and community programs that reduce opportunities for crime will also be presented.
Increasing Access to Justice World Wide? International Variations in Community Courts
Community Courts as one aspect of community justice are increasingly popular in the US. More and more jurisdictions are experimenting with this concept to bring justice closer to the people. At the same time similar developments can be observed in other countries. This paper reports on the result of an international comparative study of community courts in the US, France, South Africa and Columbia. The project combined legal, policy land organizational analysis with initial outcome results from community courts implemented in these countries to identify common elements and policy implications.
Individual Crime Rates Among Holders of Permits to Carry Concealed Firearms Issued Under “May Issue” and “Shall Issue” Criteria
Previous studies of the impact of loosening criteria for permits to carry concealed firearms (CCW permits) have focused on overall crime rates and have yielded conflicting results. We report a controlled cohort study of individual crime rates among CCW permit holders whose permits were issued under either “may issue” or “shall issue” criteria in the same state and at about the same time. One cohort consists of a random sample of permittees from California in 1993-1994 whose permits were issued under “may issue” criteria. The second consists of 714 persons issued permits in Sacramento County, California under “shall issue” criteria in 1995. Both cohorts were followed for 3 years from the date the permit was issued. The main outcome measure was an arrest for a new crime. Among 917 persons in the “may issue” cohort, 51 (5.6%) had a prior criminal history; only 5 (0.5%) were charged with any new crime during follow-up. In comparison to this group, “shall issue” permittees were substantially more likely to have a prior criminal record and, regardless of prior criminal history status, were substantially more likely to be charged with a new crime.
Individualism Versus Collective Responsibility: The Case of Gun Ownership
Some criminologists argue that the widespread ownership of guns accounts for the high level of lethal violence in the United States. In this study the issues of gun ownership will be explored. Based on anoie theory it is assumed that the high number of guns in American society is due to a strong culture of individualism. The data from 1972-1998 general Social Surveys– compiled file, available from the ICPSR, are employed in this research. The individualism/collective responsibility scale will be created based on the selected survey questions. Two statistical methods that will beutilized in developing the scale are factor analysis and item analysis. With the use of discriminant analysis the created scale will be applied to predict different types of gun ownership.
Indo-Chinese Initiates to Heroin Use in Sydney, Australia
This small, exploratory study aimed to investigate the prevalence of risk behaviours and hepatitis C infection among Indo-Chinese initiates to heroin use. In-depth semi structured interviews and finger-prick blood testing were conducted 60 young people who had been using the drug for two or less years. Measures included patterns of heroin use, risk behaviours, perceived susceptibility to infection, HCV seroprevalence and access to services. Results indicate that Indo Chinese new injecting drug users (NIDU) are at high risk of hepatitis C infection with almost a quarter testing antibody positive. Despite perceived high availability of sterile injecting equipment, sharing of needles and syringes and injection paraphernalia was common. Among NIDU, there is a need for both increased access to services and information early in the use career and for programs designed to encourage non-injecting routes of administration. The study also indicates a need for interventions designed to prevent or delay the onset of injecting among heroin smokers. Both groups could be expected to benefit from health promotion initiatives designed to change the social and environmental contexts of injecting drug use.
Infanticide: A Qualitative Study of 14 Murderers
Analyzing qualitative data from fourteen intensive interviews with mothers who fatally injured their infants, this paper delineates the stages of the situated context of infant homicide. The data suggest that these infants died as a result of the mother’s inability to assuage discomfort and an interpretation of her infant as non-compliant. This interpretation challenged the mother’s self-esteem. The paper concludes that the basis for this interpretation is the social institutionalization of motherhood norms which leaves the mother powerless to select alternative action or escape the frustrating encounter.
Influence of Crime-Related Media and Fear of Crime on Public Opinion of Police Performance and Excessive Use of Force
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that the various media play in determining perceptions of crime and danger in three divergent societies, We investigate the processes by which persons in each of these societies formulate perceptions of their society and how they formulate perceptions of crime and danger in other societies. In each case we provide empirical evidence of the relative crime raw to determine the accuracy of citizen perceptions. Part of the analysis is to determine which types of crime persons perceive as most problematic for their society, and which they fear the most. We also discuss the relative impact of newspapers, literature, television, movies, videos and radio in determining attitudes toward crime and danger. The data are based on surveys, interviews and anecdotal evidence learned by living in each of the countries under study.
Influencing the Prosecutors: An Analysis of the Impact of Judicial Discretion on the Implementation of the California ‘Three-Strikes’ Law
In 1994 California implemented its version of the “three-strikes law” which called for a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 -years -to-life for all offenders. with three qualifying felonies. In addition. the law also eliminated many avenues of discretion that had been traditionally enjoyed by prosecutors and judges. However, prosecutors were given the ability to dismiss a prior strike offense when it was determined to be “in the furtherance of Justice.” This discretion was extended to judges as well by the California Supreme Court in the case People v. Superior Court (Romero) [53 Cal.Rptr.2d 789 (Cal, 1996)]. Because of the potential inter-branch rivalry between Judges and prosecutors, I hypothesize that the use of judicial discretion in three-strike cases has had an impact on the corresponding use of prosecutorial discretion. To test this hypothesis, I use logistic regression to analyze how judicial discretion has had an impact on the prosecution of three-strike cases in San Diego County, Using data from 1995 and 1997 in a pre- and post-test analysis, I conclude that the 1996 extension of this discretionary power to judges has not affected the way in which prosecutors exercise their authority to strike a strike.
Information and Punitive Attitudes: Impact of Characteristics of Offenders on Attitudes Toward Punitiveness of Sentences
Research has demonstrated in increase in the punitive attitudes of Americans unrelated to the crime rate. Using a random sample of residents from Tallahassee, FL, this paper predicts the attitudes of people concerning the sentence length of a convicted burglar by using demographics characteristics, attitudes concerning the justice system and experience with the justice system. In addition we are able to see how varying degrees of information about the burglar influences those attitudes. In giving the different information to the individuals about the convicted burglar, the issue of race of the convicted individual is also addressed in order to determine if people are more punitive toward blacks than they are to whites.
Information Sharing in Juvenile Justice Systems: Issues, Challenges, and Pitfalls
State and federal laws have always permitted information sharing across agencies. Due to federal, state and local initiatives, many jurisdictions are implementing integrated juvenile justice information sharing systems. Some, like Florida, are organized around adult/criminal justice models. Others, (e.g., Oklahoma, New Mexico) stress family court and dependency issues, while others (e.g., Birmingham, Alabama) use a delinquency prevention model. Juvenile justice systems are unique since they emphasize a rehabilitative mission. That requires cross-system agreement and collaboration on data definitions and standards among child serving agencies , thus vastly different from the adult/criminal model which places less emphasis on the family and has fewer interactions with schools, human services and mental health systems, and family courts. Using original research from a focus groups of experts, practitioners, and site visits and interviews with ongoing efforts at the state and local levels, this paper identifies and compares the crosssystem clash of values among components of the system. This paper will discuss those conflicts that can arise when juvenile justice systems seek to develop information sharing systems, provide an overview of the trends in states and localities, an analysis of the incentives and processes for successful system integration, and discuss common pitfalls in failed systems.
Inherent Conflicts Between Police and Human Rights: An International Survey
In this paper the author examines the police of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Finland, Germany and India to examine if there are structural, administrative and cultural characteristics in each of the police under review that can cause conflicts between the police and international human rights standards. He also explores remedies, if any, that can be developed to combat these inherent potential for conflicts.
Injection Status Differences in Property Crime Among Heroin Drug Users
Introduction: While considerable research has been conducted on the relationship between illicit drug abuse and property crime among drug users, few studies have examined this relationship focusing on differences on irijection status. This paper uses the street addict lifestyle conceptual framework to examine differences in patterns of property crime between injection and non-injection heroin users. Methods: As part of a study of injection drug use, current heroin injectors and heroin sniffers who had never injected a drug were recruited from the streets. After careful screening to prevent misclassification and a urine test to assure active drug use, participants were administered a structured questionnaire which included questions on drug use history, lifestyle, and criminal behavior. Property crime patterns will be compared between heroin injectors and sniffers who have never injected a drug. A series of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models will be performed examining the relationship between property crime and injection status controlling on sociodemographic (gender, age, ethnicity, income, and education), drug use (lifetime heroin use and polydrug use), other income-generating crime (prostitution and drug dealing) and social network variables. All variables considered in this model were generated based on the thirty-day period prior to the interview. Results: Data on 900 cases (600 injectors and 300 sniffers) were analyzed. Injection heroin use, a factor hypothesized to affect property crime involvement, was associated positively with property crime. Other independent variables that were associated with property crime were gender, lifetime heroin use, cocaine/crack-cocaine use, and social network. On the other hand, intensive involvement in drug dealing was associated negatively with property crime. Discussion: The data support some major hypotheses of the street addict lifestyle conceptual framework. Intravenous heroin injection – a key measure of significant involvement in the street addict subculture-increases the degree of involvement in property crime, especially for male users. The data also suggest that number of years using heroin, use of cocaine/crack-cocaine, and frequent interaction with significant others who themselves are heroin users and/or injectors are associated positively with property crime. Only intensive involvement in dealing drugs – which represents an alternative source of income-is associated negatively with property crime.
Inmate on Prison Guard Assaults: A Test of the Routine Activities Perspective
This studey employs routine activities theory as an explanation of inmate-on-prison-officer-assaults. The data include statewide information collected from reports filed by TDCJ-ID personnel subsequent to assault incidents. The data set is from 1998, and is comprised of 2515 inmate-on-officer-assault-cases. Each individual case is evaluated according to 82 separate variables. The data is assessed to determine the nature of the incidents in realtion to the routine activities perspective. Routine activities theory asserts that criminal victimization increases when a convergence of three minimal elements in space, and time occurs. The elements required are the existence of: a motivated offender, a suitable target for crimninal victimization, and an absence of capable guardians of persons or property. Our major premise is that lack of staffing in correctional environments limits the number of capable guardians for correctional officers. Thus, a staff shortage at correctional iunstitutions creates an environment in which correctional officers are more apt to be attacked by motivated offenders.
Inside the Black Box: Short Versus Long-Term On-Site Observations of Corrections-Based Therapeutic Communities for Drug Offenders
Recently, many studies have examined the effectiveness of corretions-based drug treatments, including Therapeutic Communities programs. Results of this research have been primarily positive, with some scholars purpoting that the programs are successful in reducing recidivism and subsequent drug use, while others have concluded that the programs provide limited gains. These disparate findings may be partly explained by the fact that few program evaluations give appropriate consideration to the actual implementation of these programs. Few program evaluations measure “therapeutic integrity” as a means to understand the type of service sprovided to the target population. Two recent process evaluations of short-term corrections-based drug treatment (TC) programs implemented a specially developed structured observation and interview methodology to assess therapeutic integrity issues. One of these evaluations I implemented this observation methodology over the course of several short-term (4-5 day) observations in six jail-based TC’s. The other evaluation implemented the same measurement methodology in one site over a 132-week period. The current paper reviews the different types of information that can be garnered by the use of this innovative observation methodology over both the short and long term. A discussion of the different types of questions and answers to be addressed by these differing observation perios is also presented.
Instituting and Evaluating Juvenile Justice Reform in San Francisco
The presentation will examine differences in the perspectives of a project manager and an evaluator of a 3-year state-funded project in San Francisco designed to reform the city’s juvenile justice system The project emphasized collaboration and redefining traditional methods and processes in arrest, referral for detention, assessment and service provision for juveniles. The authors will present their differing perspectives about the process of implementing and evaluating the project as well as the resolution of issues that arise. Issues discussed will include relationships, project design, random assignment, subject confidentiality, data collection, staff experience, and use of preliminary results.
Instrumental Theory of Delinquency and Its Broader Potential for Research
“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “to talk of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax – of cabbages and kings.” Does the Schwendingers’ Instrumental Theory of Delinquency talk about ‘things’ beyond the scope of social control and ‘opportunity structure’ theories, including (1) subcultural sources of bullying, (2) subcultural dimensions of killing by Geeks, (3) distribution of teen rapists in multi-subcultural networks, (4) subcultural effects of privatization of public education and (5) violence and parallel networks produced by changes in ‘initial conditions’ (chaos theory) of subcultural development? Data based on subcultural identity ratings, sociometric delinquency ratings, 3D models of multi-subcultural networks, and student ‘recollections’ of high-school subcultures indicate why such ‘things’ are germane to delinquency. They also validate the Instrumental Theory’s international potential for being a “progressive research program” (Imre Lakatos) as opposed to “degenerative programs” produced by structural functional theories.
Integrated Behavior Management Plan for Juveniles
The goal of the Integrated Behavioral Management Plan is to develop a program that will allow for the effective prevention and aftercare of drug and alcohol users by decreasing the risk factors and increasing the protective factors of youths. Thereby reducing the youths’ involvement with both drugs and alcohol and with the justice system. The basic premise of the program revolves around drug prevention and cessation aftercare. Juvenile involvement in drugs and alcohol use have clear correlations to other juvenile crimes and high risk behaviors such as truancy, school dropout rates, low educational progress, placement in Alternative Education Placement (AEP), gang membership or gang related activities and involvement with Juvenile Justice Offices. The Integrated Behavioral Management Plan is delivered in an after school format. At-risk youths, ages 10-15, participate in a program that combines refusal and resistance training, communication skills, decision making skills, mentoring, tutoring, a martial arts program, and counseling into a behavioral management program. Case management and parenttraining classes will also be offered to participants.
Integrating Diversity: Hate Crimes in the States
The integration of diversity in the states has sparked the development of various criminal sanctions to punish “hate crimes” against different races, religions, sexual orientations, ethnicity/national origins, disabilities, and genders. We developed a causal model (LISREL) of the factors correlating to state legislation approaches to hate crimes (N = 50), including three principal influences: (1) political ideology; (2) the socioeconomic conditions of the state; and (3) the problem context of crime and diversity within the state. Our findings and discussion may be of further utility in predicting future instances and growth of hate crime legislation in the states.
Integrating Families Into the Justice System’s Response to Drug Involved Offenders: From Punishment to Support
La Bodega de la Familia, a project of the Vera Institute of Justice, has been testing the proposition that strengthening the families of substance abusers under the supervision of the criminal justice system can improve the success of treatment, reduce the use of jail to punish relapse, and reduce the abuse within families that often accompanies addiction. The central premise of a family focused approach to substance abuse treatment is that to successfully treat addiction, substance abusers’ national support systems–their families–must also be fully engaged and supported. Family centered work places families in a position wo work with the criminal justice system to improve both public safety and health. Supported families then become a resource that the criminal justice system can turn to, as an alternative to sanctions such as incarceration. Dealing with addiction in this manner reflects a public health approach, and involves a shift in how substance abuse is framed. The context under which addiction occurs (family and community) is incorporated into treatment, which means that families become part of the solution, and have a greater voice. The natural method of facilitating this is through a strength-based approach rather than one based on sanction and deficit. The discussion will focus on the challenges of doing this kind of work, as well as the successes in addressing these challenges.
Integrating Sanction Celerity and Impulsivity: A Behavioral Economic Approach
Research investigating the relationship between criminal behavior and the timing of sanctions has proceeded along two separate tracks. The first involves several prominent theories (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990; Wilson and Herrnstein, 1985) that consider “impulsivity” a central determinant of criminal behavior. The distinct approach of the deterrence theorists comprises the second track. Personality traits aside, deterrence theory postulates that criminal behavior should relate inversely to the “celerity” with which potential punishment is expected to occur. Underlying this proposition, however, is the assumption that potential offenders prefer to delay punishment. Employing techniques from behavioral economics, this paper shows how the above-described approaches are inextricably related. In particular, it imports the notion of a “discount factor” into the traditional deterrence framework to examine impulsivity and celerity simultaneously. Using survey data, the paper then investigates several hypotheses. First, it assesses the relative predictive capacity of celerity and impulsivity as they relate to offending behavior. Second, it critically examines the major assumption underlying a celerity effect that individuals generally prefer to delay punishment (in economic parlance, that they have a positive discount rate). Finally, the paper explores the implications for offending behavior when this assumption does not hold (when individuals are “negative discounters”).
Integrating the Effects of Deviant Motivation and Constraints: A Test of Control Balance Theory Using Situational Control Ratios
Court mandated sex offender treatment is still basically an experiment in therapeutic jurisprudence. So called “specialists” in the field are operating without a researchable definition of terms. Evaluation instruments, though widely used, are still not adequately proven to be valid. Classification of sex offenders is in its infancy and major writers in the field still have no hesitancy to classify all sex offenders together in a violence category. The common bias in this treatment field appears to be an emotional one and is in opposition to many well researched psychological treatment issues. This paper calls for an evaluation of court mandated sex offender treatment based on sound scientific principles.
Integration Between Theory and Practice in the CJS: Asking the Staff
Throughout the Criminal Justice System it has been debated whether or not fragmentation exists within theory and practice in regards to the prediction and understanding of criminal behaviour. In this study, the researchers utilized definitions of criminological theories, along with observations from the criminological and criminal justice literature to identify how fragmentation reflects throughout theory and practice. Using a semi-structured interview format a cohort of professionals were chosen from a wide varieties of disciplines extending from criminological, psychological and sociological fields. The results of this study found that there is fragmentation within the criminal justice system, which causes each field within the system to work isolated and apart from each of its corresponding components. This isolation creates noteworthy discrepancies within each field, thus creating a system in which each component interacts individually and does not provide a solid foundation, or theory, in order to operate the system. The presentation will conclude by offering some recommendations and suggestions for a new approach for the future of integrating criminological theory with practice within the criminal justice system in general and across the components that comprise the justice system.
Intensive Aftercare: Reintegrating Case Management Across the Correctional Facility-Community Border
OJJDP’s 5-year long Intensive Aftercare Demonstration Initiative recently ended (Summer, 2000). Colorado, Nevada and Virginia are three states that hosted the small-scale pilot Intensive Aftercare Programs (IAP), which were based on a model developed for OJJDP by David Altschuler of Johns Hopkins University and Troy Armstrong of California State University at Sacramento. This paper will discuss the program development strategy and IAP concept from the standpoint of how the five case management components were implemented. The components are: 1) risk assessment and classification to determine eligibility, 2) individual case planning incorporating a family and community perspective, 3) the surveillance/service delivery mix, 4) blending incentives and sanctions in a graduated response capability, and 5) brokerage and community linkage.
Intergenerational Continuities in Parenting and Anti-Social Behavior in the Cambridge Study of Delinquent Development
We know that antisocial and criminal adults are more likely to have children with behavior problem although few data sets allow us to investigate these continuities and the associated processes prospectively across three generations. Parental mediators are often posited to play a role, but there are still few attempts to investigate a range of parenting attitudes and processes across generations. This study employs data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development to investigate continuities in conduct problem and in parenting processes linking three generations. The Cambridge study follows a cohort of London males from childhood into adulthood and parenthood. Data on parental attitudes, behaviors and background in the parent generation, and on the study males with children are available. Conduct problems in the third generation – the original study males’ children – are also assessed. Two research questions are posed: Firstly, are there continuities in parenting attitudes and behaviors across the first two generations of the Cambridge study? Secondly, are these parenting processes similarly related to antisocial behavior in the second and third generations of the Cambridge Study? Substantive findings will be reported and compared to other emerging data on this topic.
Intermediate Sanction Juvenile Boot Camp: Second Annual Evaluation of Cornerstone Camp Kenbridge
When it appropriated funding for Virginia’s intermediate sanction, juvenile boot camp, the General Assembly required an annual evaluation. This study produced the second evaluation report, and it was the first report to provide interim outcome data. A quasi-experimental design employing an experimental group of boot camp participants (N=68) and a control group of juveniles placed in juvenile correctional centers, on post-dispositional detention, or on probation (N=240) was used. Program goals and objectives were examined using process and outcome measures. Other areas examined were: (1) differences in recidivism rates for subgroups of offenders; (2) differences in short-term outcomes for experimental versus control group subjects; (3) correlations between boot camp completion rates and other variables; and (4) variations in self-esteem and educational achievement levels. Finally, data was collected on judges’ perceptions of the effectiveness and accessibility of the boot camp program.
Internal and External Manifestations of Strain Among a Sample of Incarcerated Kentuckians
Agnew’s (1992) general theory of strain was tested among a sample of incarcerated, adult Kentuckians. Specifically, antisocial behavior was hypothesized to manifest both externally (i.e. depression, attempted suicide) and internally (i.e. fighting, violence). Sources of strain included prior physical and emotional abuse, juvenile detention, and reports of employment and family problems. Negative affective states were measured using a life satisfaction index derived from Paloutzian and Ellison’s (1982) spiritual well-being scale. Logistic regression and path analysis techniques were used to analyze data gathered as part of the Health Services Use by Chronic Rural Drug Offenders project at the University of Kentucky.
International Law Enforcement Training
A review of the federal government’s efforts to develop and conduct international law enforcement training. Global challenges relating to intemational crime and terrorism have led to the development of extensive initiatives to train and partner with foreign police officers both within the United States and internationally. These programs have been developed in conjunction with foreign governments to reflect their particular law enforcement needs and mandate to operate within a democratic framework reflective of both civil and human rights concerns. Included will be a review of the International Law Enforcement Academies, particularly focusing upon the ILEA in Budapest, Hungary, which is celebrating its fifth year anniversary as a model for international law enforcement cooperation and partnership.
Internet Pedagogy: How We Can Teach Effectively Over the Web
Faculty at universities across the United States are beginning to teach classes, in whole or in part, on the Internet. Faculty who teach on the Internet face a number of pedagogical challenges that do not affect faculty who utilize traditional classroom instructional methods. In order to overcome some of these challenges, faculty should design their Internet course well in advance of actual course instruction and think about the pedagogical objectives that they seek to achieve with Internet instruction. The objectives that need to be ascertained range from the mundane (how do I effectively communicate with students?) to the profound (how do I “teach” over the Internet?). The pedagogical objectives should aim to assure the quality of instruction and achieve student learning. This paper will discuss the pedagogy of Internet instruction and offer suggestions to facuilty who wish to enter into this dynamic and difficult teaching venue.
Interpreting Trends in Gang Problems: Using Multiple Years of NYGC Surveys
OJJDP’s National Youth Gang Center has conducted five national surveys of law enforcement agency perceptions and information on gang crime problems. Four annual surveys from 1996 through 1999 have employed systematic and representative samples. Linking these four surveys makes it possible to study the dynamics of national and local level gang crime problems over time. The presentation will focus on patterns of gang problem reporting by jurisdictions over time, trends in gang-related crime and violence, variation in the demographic characteristics of gang members, and changes in strategic response to gangs by law enforcement. To the degree that it is possible, the relationships among these features of gang crime problems and response strategies will be explored.
Intimate Partner Homicide as Social Control
This paper presents findings from an exploratory analysis of intimate partner homicide using Donald Black’s self-help conceptual framework. The self-help perspective should be particularly helpful in explaining partner killings, as they often take place in the situational context of a conflict with clear moralistic and reactionary elements, such as self-defense, retaliation, or revenge. This analysis is based data on 228 intimate homicides committed in St. Louis between 1980 and 1995. Multiple methods are used to examine sex, race, and marital status differences in homicide patterns from a self-help perspective. This paper concludes by considering some of the broader methodological, substantive, and policy issues associated with the contention that much crime is committed as a form of social control.
Intraprison HIV Transmission and the Prison Subculture
To date, there is little empirical evidence to suggest that HIV is readily transmitted in prison. The few researchers who have attempted to measure intraprison HIV transmission have been forced to compromise reliable research techniques for convenient methodologies. As a result, the current literature on HIV transmission within correctional institutions can be characterized as contradictory and incomplete at best. This analysis is a quantitative and qualitative study of intraprison HIV transmission and employs a unique, backward-looking longitudinal research design to derive several relevant findings. First, I provide a reliable estimate of intraprison HIV transmission by using data from the Department of Corrections and the Department of Health to identify inmates who contracted HIV in prison, and statistical analyses to arrive at a reliable rate estimate. Second, I use logistic regression to determine if a relationship exists between contracting HIV inside prison and various inmate characteristics, such as prison exposure, age, race, instant offense, level of education, risk behaviors, and total sentence, thus indicating what inmate characteristics put an inmate at risk of contracting HIV inside prison. Third, I interview inmates and correctional officers to generate a qualitative understanding of the correctional environment and the inmate subculture in the context of competing theoretical models of prisonization. Fourth, I propose an integrative theoretical framework that helps explain the process of intraprison HIV transmission. The study concludes with a discussion of salient policy implications.
Is Fear Contagious Within British Electoral Wards?
Data from the 1988 British Crime Survey are analyzed to search for fear contagion within British Electoral Wards. The “Anselin 2SLS Alternative” is used to estimate spatial models of fear. Significant spatial effects from multivariate models that control for victimization and other personal characteristics are suggestive of fear contagion. Results are presented by crime type and comparisons are made to the perceived risk of crime. Significant contagion effects can be explained with reference to the “indirect victimization” model of fear. This model suggests that hearing about victimization experiences of others may be an important independent cause of fear. A direct examination of fear contagion is absent from the fear of crime and spatial analytic literatures.
Is Jeffrey Reiman’s Mine Executive a Murderer?
In 1998, Jeffrey Reiman published the Fifth Edition of The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison. This paper critically examines Reiman’s claim that a mine executive is guilty of murder, even mass maurder, in a mining disaster. The paper argues that Reiman’s claim contains a number of flaws, especially with respect to the elements of criminal law.
Islamic Political Culture and Crime: A Cross-National Study
Islam is often thought of as a cultural force that reduces crime because, it is a both a communitarian religion and embedded belief system. In short, Islam places the community over the individual and religion has a strong influence on individual behavior in most Muslim countries. Research on Islam and crime has only divided countries into Islamic and non Islamic categories and has failed to capture important differences across Islamic nations. This paper will utilize two continuous level indicators of Islamic culture: Totality, the extent to which Sharia (Islamic law) is used and Authenticity, how society views ideas and institutions that are of non-Islamic origin, to see if Islamic legal culture his an effect on rates of homicide and violent crime rates. Hypotheses will be tested through statistical analysis, which uses a broad cross-national sample of Muslim and nonMuslim nations and which controls for non-religious influences on crime rates.
Isolating the Contributions of the “Individual” and the “Environment” in a Discrete Choice Model of Criminal Recidivism: An Information Theoretic Approach
The influences of social, economic, ecological, and other environmental conditions on crime and deviance have been well documented in the criminology literature. It should therefore be expected that secondary deviance, or recidivism, will also be influenced by such factors. Most qualitative choice models of recidivism do not adequately incorporate in them knowledge about the environments of release. Clearly, no finite set of variables can fully capture heterogeneity among these environments, Instead, what: is desirable is the estimation of the model at the environmental level. In most studies, however, lack of sufficient observation at the environment level and illconditioned design matrices means either that the parameters cannot be estimated with traditional techniques or, when they can, they are highly unstable. In this paper, we apply the generalized maximum entropy (GME) and the generalized cross entropy (GCE) techniques to a set of data spanning 45 counties of release in order to obtain robust parameter estimates of county specific qualitative choice models of recidivism. The ability to include non-sample prior probabilities in the model increases their predictive powers. Finally, this approach allows a partitioning of the information contained in the full model into contributions of the ‘individual’ and the ‘environment’.
Issues and Dilemmas in Historical Feminist Research
Traditionall, ‘malestream’ historical studies in the field of criminology followed a similar approach to other types of conventional research in that netrality and objectivity were seen as paths towards ‘scientific’ logitimacy. From the 1970s radical and feminist researchers began to challenge the relevance of these methods, questioning the validity of simply ‘recapturing the past’ and instead recommended that historical research be an interpretive and dynamic process rather than an objective recording of ‘facts’. It therefore became the aim of feminist historians to deconstruct historical knwoeldge in order to re-assess women’s experiences against feminist standards. Using my own research regarding the punishment and social control of women in nineteenth century Liverpool as a case study, it is the intention of this paper to explore the way in which women’s criminological history can be re-examined and consequently re-written in feminist terms. In addition the various problems and difficulties that feminist researchers face in this task will be discussed.
Issues in Implementing Family Strengthening Programming for High-Risk Asian American Youth and Families
The relationship between the family and juvenile offending has been viewed as both a preventative mechanism as well as a pathway to delinquency. Today a variety of programs exist to address the impact of family characteristics on delinquency, aiming to strengthen these highrisk families. While a number of programs focus on addressing factors such as poor socialization practices, poor supervision and family isolation, Asian American families face unique cultural issues that are not emphasized in these traditional models. This paper highlights some of the successes and failures implementing family strengthening programming for Asian American high-risk families.
It Can Happen Everywhere: Wrongful Conviction in Israel
Until recently, retrial in Israel was granted only when new evidence that did not exist at the earlier trial was brought forward. A recent amendment has removed this barrier and now allows the Supreme Court to grant a retrial based on any evidence, regardless if new or old. Another amendment that has been introduced to the Court states that the fear that injustice has been done, and that a person has been wrongfully convicted, can be by itself a cause for a retrial. This amendment has been given a broad interpretation by the Israel Supreme Court, indicating that the causes for a retrial should be examined not from the angle of a particular piece of evidence, but rather in a comprehensive way considering the accumulated weight of all the evidence. It is possible that a particular piece of evidence brought forward to the court is not enough to justify a retrial, and therefore this new approach will increase the likelihood of exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. This paper will examine the new approach in the Israeli judicial system towards the issue of wrongful conviction, and will examine whether patterns revealed in the Huff, Rattner and Sagarin (1996) study apply to wrongful conviction in Israel as well.
It’s All in the Record: Using Criminal Justice Indicators to Test Gottfredson and Hirschi’s Theory
In A General Theory of Crime (1990), Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi suggest that low self-control, a deficiency caused by ineffective parental socialization, results in several problematic behaviors including criminal offending. Implicitly, the theory attends to the character flaws of persons likely to engage in serious criminal behavior (e.g., impulsivity, self-centeredness, and inability to achieve employment/educational goals). Based on this “flaw” extrapolation, I suggest that criminal offenders with low self-control will be likely to lie police and other authorities, employ aliases, have a wide geographic range of criminal activity, have tattoos, and use many social security numbers. Using Poisson regression analyses, these indicators were found to significantly predict habitual criminal offending net the effect of controls for age, race, and sex. This generally supports Gottfredson and Hirschi’s theory.
“It’s the Family Stupid”: New Labour, Old Family and Crime Control
This paper looks at three political movements in Britain: the social democratic ascendancy prior to 1979, the neo-liberal Conservative government and the subsequently New Labour Administration. It is argued that each elevate the family to a key role in explaining crime and delinquency although the diferent ideological settings considerably shape the fashion in which the role of the family is conceived. The positions of critical criminology and feminism on the causes of crime and the role of the family are discussed.
It Takes a Village: Public Willingness to Help Wayward Youth
Since the early 1980’s, two competing and powerful views towards young offenders have emerged. The conseervative position views young offenders as either incorrigibly violent and/or as knowingly harmful. Or, as DiIulio apty labeled them, as “super-preditors.” Rooted in this powerful imagery, conservatives argue that juvenile rehabilitation should be abandoned and that youths should be punished like adults. “Child saving” is thus seen as nothing more than a bleeding heart misadventure. Even so, a potent and competing view, taking voice in Hillary Clinton’s It Takes a Village, maintains that raising children is a joint effort that includes parents, the community, and the government. Analyzing data from a random sample of Tennessee respondents, we examine the degree to which citizens support a range of government-sponsored and community-based intervention programs. Moreover, we also evaluate the extent to which respondents are willing to volunteer to work with wayward youth. Overall, our results show that “child-saving” is still a powerful public idea.
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Jail Architecture and Management: Justice and Safety Issues
The direct supervision jail management program was developed approximately 25 years ago as an attempt to provide a more humane and safe arrangement for the confinement of jail prisoners by a combination of a management philosophy and an architectural design. This presentation will report on the results several studies conducted by the authors to measure the impact of this management and architectural program in the areas of inmate and staff safety. Issues from these research projects and others will be discussed and suggestions for further research will be covered.
Jail Culture: Women’s Stories of Survival and Resistance
A developing area of feminist cxriminological scholarship involves studying women’s experiences with crime and incarceration through their own narratives. Using an in-depth, topical life history approach to interviewing, this paper draws on 30 narratives collected from jailed women in Tucson, Arizona. The role of religion, intimate and non-intimate relationships, friendships, health care, education, and drug and alcohol abuse counseling in jail are among the topics women discussed with regard to jail culture. We examine these themes within the context of theoretical and empirical literature which emphasize women’s survival and resistance within the context of their offending and their incarceration.
Job Access and Crime Patterns in Cleveland: A GIS Approach
A number of economists and criminologists have attempted to establish linkages between job markets and crime rates. Most such analyses are flawed, however, for two reasons. First, most examine large units of analysis, such as cities or states, which may have as much variation within units as between them. Second, most analyses consider economic opportunities in terms of the total number of jobs in an area, ignoring both the sub-area locations of the jobs and the nature of the jobs themselves. We suggest that only an accessible and feasible job can provide a meaningful alternative to crime. A minimum-wage job in a remote suburb off the public bus line is probably useless to an inner-city job seeker with no personal vehicle. So is an opening for a highly-skilled computer specialist to someone without a high school diploma. Our analysis, therefore, focuses on the relative geographic access to entry-level positions in various areas of the city, and relates these patterns of job availability to crime patterns. This research utilizes Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques to examine the relations between crime rates and job access in Cleveland in 1980 and 1990. Census-tract-level crime data in Cleveland, originally developed by Harrell and Gouvis, are now available through the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data. Cleveland job-accessability data, disaggregated to the census tract and even smaller units, is available from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics for 1990 and from the Ohio Department of Transportation for 1980.
Joining Forces: How the Methods and Results of Empirical Research are Being Used in Developing White-collar Crime Intelligence
The Finnish Government made a decision in principle to fight white-collar crime and the black economy in February 1996. Alongside with the improvements in relations between officials, some of the funds committed to this ‘fight’ have been invested in scientific research. The particular research developments that I’m describing started in 1995, when a vast mass of empirical material consisting of information on 26,000 companies was used in a project about the misuse of state subsidies in Finland. The methods and findings of the study were later used in the development of a computer-based follow-up system for the Finnish tax authorities. During this last year, the empirical research materials of two other studies have been put to use in testing intelligence data analysis methods in the segmentation of companies for use as a comparative tool in the display structure Self-Organizing Map (SOM) of companies. In March 2000, the idea has been accepted as a joint project by a credit information agency (material provider), and the authorities combatting white-collar crime (end users) as well as two researchers (developers). The research undertaken in this project was conducted in the University of Turku and the technical research concerning SOM is being provided by Helsinki University of Technology. The first stage of the project is the further testing of different variables in collaboration with the credit information agency. After testing for appropriate variables, the second stage of the implementation of the system for use in white-collar crime intelligence will begin.
Judges’ Attitudes About Domestic Violence
Many believe that the attitudes of criminal justice practitioners toward domestic violence affect the adoption, implementation, and effectiveness of reforms aimed at improving responses to victims. and in holding offenders accountable. Therefore. the attitudes and beliefs of some actors, most notably law enforcement officers and more recently prosecutors, have been the subject of both research and training. However, there have been very few examinations of the attitudes and beliefs of the lower-court judges who process the majority of domestic violence cases, despite some evidence that judges have great discretion in making key decisions (such as whether or not to issue warrants, issue orders of protection, accept guilty pleas, and mandate treatment or sanctions). This paper examines the dimensions of judges’ beliefs about the causes of domestic violence, and about effective and ineffective court responses, through a survey of lower-court judges and rural magistrates in upstate New York.
Judicial Decision-Making in Custody Cases Involving Gay and Lesbian Parents, 1952-1999: A Study of Indeterminancy in Legal Rationales and Outcomes
This paper examines law’s indeterminancy and the process of making and remaking law in the appellate courts, as illustrated by judicial decision-making in custody cases involving gay and lesbian parents. While there are records of such cases beginning in the 1950s, the explosion of homosexual parenting as both a legal issue and a site of public debate is most evident in the 1980s and 1990s. In deciding these cases, reliance on the “best interest of the child” standard is common if not universal; however judges’ determinations of what constitutes the “best interest” is anything but static. Using archival data spanning a fifty-year time period, I will investigate the patterns of reasoning and meaning-making apparent in judicial decisions in homosexual parents’ custody cases, thus shedding light on the processes of legal change and institutionalization over time in the appellate courts.
Judicial Intervention and the Racial In-Cell Integration of the Texas Prison System
In 1977 the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) entered into a consent decree, Lamar v. Coffield (1977), that mandated the end of racially segregating inmates in the Texas Prison System. Despite over a decade of organizational resistance to the stipulations of the consent decree, in September 1991 the Texas Prison System began racially integrating offenders in-cells to bring about the “maximum possible integrationof cells consonant with the factors of security, control and rehabilitation.” In the present paper, access was granted to all prison records and court documents on Lamar v. Coffield, including a database of all incidents between two or more inmates in the Texas Prison System. The incidents that make up the database are recorded on what the prison system has labeled an Incident Data Form (IDF), and included in the database are all incidents between two or ore inmates from October 1988 until January 2000. Of particular interest on the Incident Data Form is whether or not the incident crossed racial lines, involved cell partners, and if the incident was “racially motivated” in nature. With this data spanning over ten years and in including over 50,000 incidents, we examine the prevalence of inter-racial inmate incidents in the Texas Prison System following racial in-cell integration and compare those to inmate intra-racial incidents. Included in this paper is a detailed timeline of the Lamar litigation that has spanned nearly three decades.
JUMP Evaluation Design
Two complimentary designs to assess the JUMP project are being used to evaluate the effectiveness of the JUMP programs. First, it uses a Lagged-Stage design, whereby data from youth completing a year of mentoring are compared with youth from the same program who are just initiating their mentoring relationship. While such a design does not rule out all threats to a valid causative conclusion, it does permit more confident statements regarding the effectiveness of both mentoring and specific JUMP programs than would be possible with a mere pre-post test design. It also reduces the National Evaluation’s burden to JUMP programs, allowing them to provide services to all recruited youth. Second, a mediational analysis is being conducted. This analysis will not determine the absolute level of intervention effects, but instead assist in identifying factors that predict youth risk reductions in target behaviors. In other words, the factors that are intermediate steps (mediational variables) to lowered risk are identified within each project. Similarities are sought between projects on these mediational variables. Together, the evaluation should both provide an indication of the benefits that youth receive from the mentoring experience, as well as identify programmatic activities that foster successful and productive mentoning relationships.
JUMP Evaluation From a Grantee Perspective
Participation in the JUMP program offers community based youth projects an opportunity to enhance services to youth while also contributing to a growing body of knowledge regarding a potentially effective intervention strategy: one-to-one mentoring. The benefits and challenges of using an automated data collection system will be discussed, with an emphasis on the way in which information collected for the national evaluation can be used to support local evaluation efforts. The integration of the JUMP MIS into current administrative and fund development efforts will also be highlighted. Finally, the utility of the national evaluation’s standardized screening instrument to programs serving at-risk youth will be presented.
JUMP Evaluation Implementation
This portion of the presentation will discuss standardized data collection procedures and instruments and the automated JUMP Management Information System developed by ITI and distributed to each JUMP project to facilitate the collection and reporting of consistent, timely and accurate information about youth, mentors and match activities. Procedures to augment this quantitative data with qualitative information through narrative reports and selected site visits also will be discussed. Benefits and challenges of designing and managing an automated data collection system will be outlined. This session will include a brief demonstration of the JUMP MIS. Finally, the role of the JUMP MIS to support local program administration, operation and resource development will be explained.
Jurisdictional Analysis of Police Chiefs’ Views on Legal Liabilities
Every two years, the Texas legislature mandates 40 hours of law enforcement management and leadership training for chiefs of police. To implement this law, from October 1997 to August 1999, the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas held 22 classes in 15 Texas cities, averaging 42 participants per class. Because six hours of the training were devoted to legal liabilities, we administered a survey on legal liabilities in law enforcement, in which 849 of 916 potential respondents voluntarily completed the instrument for a 93% participation rate. Based on population served as a proxy for agency size, this paper reports results from that survey and documents the chiefs’ perceptions of the prevalence of civil litigation, fear of litigation, type of suits filed by members of the public as well as by their own officers, and issues surrounding settlements, policy/procedure changes, training, indemnification, and lawsuit prevention.
Jury Reform in Washington State: The Final Report of the Washington State Jury Commission
In 1998 the Board of Judicial Administration of Washington State established the Washington Jury Commission whose mission was to make recommendations for reforming the state’s jury system to the supreme court and legislature. This paper presents the results from commission’s work including the recommendations made and contents of the commission’s final report. Also, the process of developing reform through a statewide commission and reform implementation concerns are discussed.
Juvenile Delinquency in Turkey: Patterns Based on Court Statistics
A delinquent act is an ordinary criminal act that is committed by a minor and includes the full gamut from misdemeanors to felonies. Modern societies including our own have come to treat offending youths differently from adults. The basis for the difference is that adults are presumed to be responsible for their criminal behavior whereas young perpetrators are generally considered not to be responsible. According to the Turkish criminal law offenders who are under the age of 12 at the time of the offence are not responsible of their criminal act. On the other hand, offenders who are between 12 and 15 at the time of the offence have to be testified about the capacity to think and behave in a mature fashion for the crime they have committed. Offenders who are between 15 and 18 at the time at the offence are partially responsible and they are to be imposed of reduced punishment. The objectives of this paper are to describe and to compare patterns and changes in juvenile delinquency in Turkey during the past decade. The data used in this paper is compiled from the Judicial Statistics Division of State Institute of Statistics of Turkey.
Juvenile Domestic and Family Violence: A Specialized Court Interventon for Juvenile Offenders and Victims
This paper focuses on young offenders in a specialized domestic and family violence juvenile court intervention program. The purpose of this court is to break the cycle of violence and includes frequent court reviews of the offenders, intensive supervision and counseling, and a teen batterers’ intervention. Victim services include legal assistance in familoy court and support groups. Domestic violence refers to violence against a partner, while famioly violence refers to violence against a sibling or parent. The research literature on the relationship between child victimization, parental domestic family violence and subsequent juvenile violent behavior is reviewed, along with the extent to which juvenile domestic and family violence are included in state laws. This project traces the social background, family histopry of child abuse and domestic and family violence, previous juvenile court involvement, compliance with court ordered programs and recidivism rates of all the minors referred to the court program. At least half of the offenders come from homes with domestic and family violence, and many had been abused as younger children. Similarly, victims often come from violent homes. Finally, the paper discusses issues and problems involved in the implementation and assessments of a doemstic and family violence juvenile court.
Juvenile Homicide and Illicit Drugs: Extending Blumstein and Heitz
This research seeks to extend the work of Blumstein and Heinz (1995), who outline how recent increases in the homicide rate among juveniles correspond with their involvement in the illegal drug trade. In that regard, county-level data for 1990 will be analyzed to assess the influence of key cultural and structural variables on drug-related and juvenile homicides, respectively. Findings will be discussed in terms of policy implications.
Juvenile Justice Programs and Strategies
Five promising programs for very young offenders in the juvenile justice system are reviewed. The state-of-the-art of risk assessment and screening is briefly described, along with other issues that need to be addressed to improve programming for this group of offenders. A comprehensive strategy for integrating human service interventions with very young offenders is outlined.
Juvenile Sex Offenders: What We Know and What We Need to Learn
In recent years both the general public and the criminal justice community been increasingly concerned about issues of sexual assault and abuse and the problems posed by sex offenders. Yet most of what has been published about juvenile sex offenders is actually based on studies of adult offenders. The authors of this paper recently completed a review of studies of juvenile sex offenders, including an analysis of typologies or other frameworks for understanding juvenile sex offending behavior that have been proposed. This paper presents these findings, and identifies key areas where additional research is needed.
Juvenile Sex Offenders and Risk Prediction
By using formal statistics and the historical materials, I’ll analyze the development of educative treatment in juvenile training schools under the rehabilitation model after the enactment of a new Juvenile Law in 1948. Around 1950 juvenile training schools were too overcrowded to control their inmates. In addition, many juvenile offenders were confined in juvenile prisons. However, juvenile prisoners decreased soon, as most juvenile offenders were adjudicated at the family court under the new Juvenile Law. Until 1966 the annual total number of juveniles admitted to juvenile training schools amounted to over 8,000. However, after the baby-boomers became adult, the corresponding number decreased drastically. In 1974 it declined to 1,969. Then, to recruit more juveniles, juvenile training schools introduced the short-term treatment program. Juvenile training schools have improved the individual educative program for their inmates.
Juvenile Transfer to Adult Court: Messages Sent and Received About Justice and Societal Values
The proposed paper will present the results of a study of juvenile and young offenders in Maryland, focussing on their perceptions of labeling, stigmatization and fairness/unfairness of the justice system. Over the past ten years, many states have modified their juvenile justice laws to allow more offenders to be transferred from juvenile to adult criminal court. While it is generally acknowledged that the transfer decision can have far reaching impacts, little research has systematically examined the impact on the juveniles who are transferred, especially how being transferred, then tried and, if found guilty, sentenced in criminal court affects their perceptions of themselves and the justice system. The study that is being undertaken involves interviews with approximately fifty juvenile offenders and fifty young offenders (juveniles who have been transferred to criminal court). While the interview includes questions about substance abuse, mental health issues, and family and social background, the paper to be presented will focus on questions regarding similarities and differences in the two groups in terms of whether they feel labeled or stigmatized by their delinquency findings/convictions and whether they think they have been treated fairly or unfairly by the justice system.
Juvenile Transfers: What Decisions are Made for Youths in the Juvenile Versus Criminal Justice Systems?
The Maryland General Assembly in 1998 created the Commission on Juvenile Justice Jurisdiction to prepare a well-researched report and make recommendations to the Legislature in September 2000 regarding jurisdiction issues. Researchers partnered with the Division of Juvenile Justice to provide the data to the Commissioners to make informed decisions. The project was broad based, including three general research agenda items; case processing, predictors of transfer decisions, and an assessment of services provided. This paper provides a profile of the youths based on the five legislative criteria for waiver and identifies the predictors of the decisions at the various points in the transfer process. A sample of youths (n=500) were tracked through the decision making process using automated data systems, intensive file review, interviews with courtroom workgroups, survey of corrections employees, and a small sample of youth interviews.
Juvenile Transfers to Circuit Court in Virginia
To examine the impact of legislation creating a prosecutorial and an automatic waiver in Virginia, researchers looked at juveniles referred to intake on offenses that met specific transfer eligibility requirements, for a two-year period. Twelve court districts, representing almost fifty rural and urban localities, were selected for data collection. Offender, offense, and victim characteristics were compared for cases that were transferred against those that were not, to determine what factors played a role in transfers to circuit court. Regional characteristics were also compared, to examine the consistency in sentencing practices across the state. The court data is supported by interviews with judges and prosecutors.
Juvenile Versus Criminal Justice Processing: A Qualitative Analysis of the Experiences and Reactions of Adolescent Offenders
Recent research suggests that, compared to processing in the juvenile justice system, transfer of adolescent offenders to criminal courts for prosecution and punishment as adults does not increase public safety. That is, transferred youths appear to recidivate more quickly and at a higher rate than comparable youths retained in the juvenile system. In an effort to interpret this finding, this paper explores the effects on young people of processing and sanctioning within the juvenile and adult systems. The analysis is based on interviews with 150 adolescent offenders in Florida. Subjects include transferred youths in adult prisons and jails or on probation, and a comparison group of juvenile offenders housed in deep-end juvenile residential facilities. The discussion focuses on youths’ experiences in and reactions to court processing, pretrial detention, and correctional facilities and programs within the two systems. We draw inferences from the data about differential effects of juvenile versus criminal justice processing and suggest theoretical frameworks that may be useful in interpreting observed differences in the behavioral trajectories of youths processed in the two systems.
Juvenile Violent Crimes as Dynamic Processes: Spatial Regimes and Trajectories of Juvenile Violent Crimes
Our analysis focuses on trajectories of county-level juvenile violent crimes in Virginia between 1991-1998. General Mixture Modeling Techniques are implemented to study the dynanmics of county/city-level juvenile violent crimes. Latent class analysis is used to define regimes of risk behaviors in counties. The focus is on understanding the factors associated with different trajectories of juvenile violent crimes between 1991 to 1998. Factors examined in the study include measures of community well-being, children’s health, family risks, and school success measures. The relevance of our framework for juvenile justice prevention policies is discussed.
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Keeping Firearms From Dangerous Persons by the Least Restrictive Means: An Examination of Virginia’s Gun Control Regimen
In November 1989, Virginia pioneered the use of instant, point-of-sale, criminal record checks as a means of denying firearms to criminals without significantly increasing the transaction costs imposed on law-abiding gun purchasers. In July 1993, Virginia became the second state to prohibit state residents from purchasing more than one handgun from licensed dealers in any 30-day period. This so-called ‘one-gun-a-month’ law was intended to significantly impede firearm trafficking while imposing a minimal burden on ordinary gun purchasers. In July 1995, Virginia authorized the non-discretionary issuance of permits allowing adult residents who are eligible to purchase firearms under state and federal law to carry concealed handguns. Each of these interventions was designed to limit the availability of firearms to persons with criminal records without significantly limiting the availability of firearms to persons without a history of serious offending. This study examined the effect of Virginia’s approach to gun control on lethal gun violence in the state using a multiple interrupted time series design and data from the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) and the National Vita Statistics System (NVSS). Results are considered in terms of the hypothesis that lethal violence is elated to firearm availability.
Killer Kids: The Newspaper Coverage of Juvenile Homicide in Houston 1986-1994
Despite a steady decline in juvenile homicide throughout the 1990’s, public concern and interest in juvenile violence is at an all-time high due to the recent deadly school shootings in Colorado, Kentucky, Mississippi and Arkansas. This increased public concern has resulted in a wealth of new research dealing with issues in juvenile homicide such as its root causes, prevention strategies, and changes over time. However, while this research has provided important information concerning the empirical reality of juvenile homicide, there has been little research concerning the social reality of juvenile homicide. Specifically, little research has attempted to determine how the media portrays juvenile homicide and whether its coverage is representative of the reality of juvenile homicide. Using an extensive data set of all homicides committed in Houston, TX from 1986-94, and all newspaper articles written for this period, this research attempts to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the representativeness of newspaper coverage of juvenile homicide. In addition, social, political, and policy implications resulting from how juvenile homicides are portrayed in the media will be discussed.
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Last Meals and Reasoned Appeals: Selective Reporting of Death Penalty Cases in Major Newspapers
The contentious debate over the use of death as punishment reflects larger movements in criminal justice and has significant impact on public opinion and the politics of crime control. Executions temporarily reinvigorate the debate and public interest in the penalty. This paper examines coverage of executions in major newspapers from 1979-1998. While coverage of executions is diminishing in quantity over time, several variables determine the amount of attention that an execution gets. These are place, crime characteristics, blundered execution, and victim/offender race. We show that political utility of the case for one or both sides in the hawk and dove discourse as well as the need to sell newspapers determines coverage. Obviously, the public’s read of the death penalty is highly sensational and politicized before they have a chance to engage the debate. The cases they see are not representative but are important as political capital. Qualitative analysis of a sample of articles confirms that execution stories reflect intrigue with grisly details, morality tales and frontier justice, and that this morbid fascinatio is used as a soapbox for politicians and claimsmakers whose constituencies appreciate debates over race and class bias in the criminal justice system.
Last Resorts: Youth Offender Appeals in Canada
Despite stable rates of incarceration and transfers to adult court, there has been a significant decrease in the number of young offender appeals heard in Canada since 1994. We examine national trends within these courts of appeal as well as assess the demographic and offense-specific characteristics of individual appellants. Additionally we examine the success of juveniles in these courts of appeal. Our findings support the hypothesis that rationing state-funded counsel has had a substantial negative effect on young persons before appellate courts.
Law and Violence: Strangers or Siblings?
What is the relationship between law and violence? Most criminologists consider them antithetical forms of human behavior: where law represents order and reason; violence represents disorder and passion. But not all scholars aggrees. Dissatisfied with the traditional contrast, some anthropologists have emphasized continuities, arguing that violence, such as feuding, is the functional equivalent of law at least in societies that lack a legal system. In recent years, the emergence of a new social scientific field–the sociology of conflict management (Black, 1976; 1993)_–has yielded a sharper understanding of the similarities and the differences between law and violence. From a conflict management perspective, although the presence of neutral, authoritative third parties, often administering explicit rules, is distinctive to law, both law and violence are confrontational ways of handling conflict in which two sides seek victory rather than compromise and in which third-party supporters commonly play a crucial role. Moreover, law and violence flourish under similar, though not identical, social conditions. Law and violence are best thought of, then, not as siblings or as strangers but as cousins.
Law Enforcement Majors and Aggressive Tendencies
This paper compares measures of aggression (disrespect for rights, physical aggression, generalized aggression, verbal aggression, conflict avoidance, etc.), between university students who wish to be police officers, and other university students. We also examine gender differences on aggression between male and female law enforcement majors to determine whether males are more aggressive than females. The results my or may not indicate a need to provide psychological tests for those who wish to work in law enforcement to weed out those who may be attracted to law enforcement as a means to legally act out aggressive tendencies.
Leadership Styles in the Criminal Justice Arena
This study examines the leadership styles of criminal justice managers in the context of policing, corrections and courts. Data was collected from municipalities across several states and jurisdictions in order to identify specific leadership styles of managers. In turn, these leadership styles are linked to contemporary and historical problems in criminal justice. Specifically, connections are drawn between leadership styles and noted performance problems. These performance problems can be either systemic or individual. The objvective of this research is to identify those leadership qualities among criminal justice leaders that point to both successful and unsuccessful management strategies and tactics.
Leathality Among Firearm Types: Incident Level Analysis in Jersey City, New Jersey 1992-1996
Crimes involving the use of firearms are a great concern in the United States. Many studies have examined weapon lethality. Most notably these studies highlight differences between guns and knives. Few studies have examined differences in lethality among firearms, especially at the incident level. Long guns (rifles and shotguns) have long been considered more lethal than handguns (pistols and revolvers). However, little has been suggested about the comparative lethality among handguns. There has been a dramatic increase in the production and sage of semiautomatic handguns with a simultaneous decrease in the production and usage of revolvers. Despite the fact that there is no conclusive evidence which suggests that semiautomatic handguns are more lethal than revolvers, policy and legislation have specifically targeted semiautomatic handguns based on this assumption of lethality (see Title XI of the 1994 Crime Control Act). Using fatal and nonfatal firearm assault data from Jersey City between 1992-1996 (N=870), my study will examine differences in firearm lethality, with a primary focus on an examination between semiautomatic pistols and revolvers (long hguns will also be analyzed). Using the “Hierarchy of Violence” suggested by Kleck (1991), an analysis will be conducted to determine the effect gun type has on assault outcomes. Stepwise logistic regression will be used to determine which significant variables to include in the full model. The full model will have multiple indicators for gun lethality (number of shots fired, number of gunshot wounds, etc.) OLS will be used for the full model to determine differences in firearm lethality.
Legal Aaptation Among Vietnamese Refugees ahd Immigrants
As a follow-up to research conducted in 1988, this study focuses on the adaptation to the American system of Criminal Justice by Vietnamese refugees and immigrants in Orange County, California. More specifically this will focus on the group’s legal consciousness and inclinations for using lawyer services. Preferences for choosing a lawyer and for what purpose are examined, as well as the overall satisfaction with the services provided. Knowledge of the refugee’s legal rights as American citizens are discussed and compared to the legal rights in their homeland. Demographic variables are also used to analyze the levels of adaptation to this aspect of the Criminal Justice system.
Legal Counsel and Juvenile Offenders: Why Attorneys Don’t Help
This paper examines the role of attorneys in recent felony cases processed in three distinct types of juvenile courts. Specifically, we determine the relationships between the presence and type of legal counsel, the timing of first court appearances by attorneys, the nature of the alleged offenses, demographic traits of the youths, and case outcomes. Like earlier research by Feld, we find some negative impact of attorney on case outcomes. We work to understand the attorney effect using both quantitative and qualitative data, varied court environments, and work group theory to guide us. The paper concludes with recommendations on how this situation might be improved upon.
Legislative and Court Responses to County Economic Disparities Affecting Death Penalty Cases in Idaho
Research indicates that the means of financing capital litigation with county tax dollars in Idaho creates an inequitable system wherein the decision to pursue or impose a death sentence rests, in part, on the financial health of the county in which the crime is charged. Public policy changes have been made in response to this issue being raised in several capital cases in the state and due to the widespread media coverage. One of the more significant changes was the creation of a state appellate public defender office which includes a capital case unit. This unit’s responsibility is to handle direct and collateral appeals in all death cases arising after October 1, 1998. In addition, counties and the state Supreme Court have enacted procedures and rules directed at the funding of capital litigation. This paper will discuss the background and substance of these policy changes and their relationship to both county economic resources and the federal Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA).
Legitimacy, Consent and State Crime
This paper argues that the concept of legitimacy is crucial in both defining and explaining state crime. In contrast to the concept of deviance the legitimacy of state conduct does not necessarily depend upon how it is perceived but rather denotes a lack of congruence between the actual exercise of state powers and the legal and ideological framework which surrounds them. In explaining state crime the concept of legitimacy connects both with mainstream criminological theory (strain, neutralization, labelling, etc.) and with Gramscian theories of hegemony and the state.
Lessons Learned in Implementing the Federal Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants (JAIBG) Program
Under one of the largest Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) programs in years, the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants (JA1BG) program was created to promote greater accountability in the juvenile justice system. With roots in restorative justice, JAIBG funds are being used by states and localities to develop and administer accountability based sanctions for juvenile offenders, including immediate, intermediate and secure sanctions; as well as establishing drug, gun or youth courts; training/hiring detention workers, judges, probation officers, and prosecutors; as well as implementing other strategies. These block grant funds are either used by the state itself or disbursed via a grant mechanism to localities. The implementation process has varied widely by state based on how the juvenile justice system is organized, the degree to which the state has already implemented accountability-related initiatives, the organization and character of local jurisdictions, and other factors. In addition, at issue is the direction that the overall movement towards accountability will take as a result of this Federal initiative. This paper reports on lessons learned after the first two years of funding, an analysis of the types of programs funded, and reviews aspects of the implementation process as it is articulated between Federal, state and local levels.
Levels of Scale and Linguistic Problems: Are We Clear on What We’re Talking About?
The argument is made that we are rarely precise about the level of scale we are addressing in our theory or research, and the question is raised whether this is a conceptual problem or merely linguistic looseness. In fact, rather than analyzing “crime” we most often are dealing with crime rates, criminal situations, or criminal behavior. Attempting to develop theory, particularly integrative theory, without openly addressing this problem and then maintaining an ongoing awareness of the problem of level of scale produces disjointed results. We suggested that there are four abstract levels at which our work really focuses: societal, structural, interactional, and individual, and we discuss the ramifications of that idea for our work and for policy. Resolving this problem improves our theorization, our teaching of theory, and particularly the applicability of theory to practice.
Life Histories of Girls Sentenced to Adult Prison
In the last decade, there has been a nation-wide effort to process and incarcerate delinquent youth as adults. There are tremendous gaps in our theories. and knowledge about girls and crime, particularly for this group of offenders deemed so serious as to justify adult sentencing. To date, there have been no studies focusing exclusively on the lives, past or present of girls in adult prisons. This paper examiner, the life histories of girls who have been adjudicated as adults and are currently serving tune in an adult women’s prison. This research is based on in-depth interviews with 22 young women incarcerated in a medium-security women’s prison in the Midwest. We describe how the young women in this sample became involved in crime, resulting in their eventual processing as adult criminals. This includes discussion of their childhood experiences, family background, sexual and physical victimization, racism, economics, school experiences, chemical use, and structural dislocation. Based upon previous scholarship on girls and crime, we also consider whether the life histories or “pathways to offending” for the girls in this sample differ significantly from delinquent girls who remain in the juvenile justice, system.
Life on Rock Bottom: The Limits of Resistance
In this paper we explore the limits of resistance by examining what it measnf for women to live life on “rock bottom.” Such experiences are rarely analyzed extensively and we know little about how women come to wake up, reexamine their behavior, and attempt to straighten up. “Rock bottom” is often described as a static and finite point where people are no longer able to function in the heroin world and in conventional society. The forty women heroin users who we interviewed while conducting research at three different methadone clinics, however, articulated that there is no such thing as a real “rock bottom” except death. They have learned to their horror that there is always an even lower point of desperation. It is during such times of desperation that women reassess their behaviors within values that they themselves have internalized and find important. From this perspective “rock bottom” is a state of mind or perspective, not just a particular level of existence. Such experiences are highly personal as all women do not have the same limitations or values. What constitutes despicable behaviors for one woman may not be for another woman. What moves women to have “rock bottom” experiences is the revelation that they screwed up things that they cared about too. Wherever they go, the women with whom we spoke are reminded of what they already painfully acknowledge, at times, to themselves — that they are complete failures — as women and as human beings.
Lifestyle Correlates of Firearm Related Accidental Deaths
The risk factors for accidental death from firearms fall into several categories, including demographics, time and place, presence of firearm in the household, etc. There is reason to believe that a large portion of the accidental death involving firearms is associated with lifestyle. The paper will investigate the hypothesis that lifestyle and the resulting environment places gun owners, and others, at higher risk for accidental. These factors may include (but are not limited to) firearms in the household, alcohol use, drug use, employment patterns and general activities. The study will use the 1993 National Mortality Followback Survey to estimate lifestyle risk factors, or the lifestyle correlates of accidental death involving firearms. This paper will attempt to develop a consistent map of the correlates of accidental firearm deaths to identify high-hisk populations.
Lifetime Chance for Murder Victimization
Due to media portrayals of school shootings and gun law reform, murder is a topic that has received renewed national attention and people wonder how these crime statistics impact their lives. Just how safe are US citizens from being murdered during their lifetimes? Using Supplemental Homicide Reports (SHR), US Census population data, and the United States Life Tables supplied by the National Center for Health Statistics the study determines the odds of murder victimization in the US. These odds ratios are broken down by age, race, sex, and region and are compared to a similar study conducted in 1982 to determine who has benefited the most from the recent declining trend in murder rates. This study comes from a slightly different perspective than the way crime statistics are traditionally viewed. Where traditional murder rates express how many people out of 100,000 are victims of murder, odds ratios express the chances that one out a certain number of people could be the victim of a crime.
Limitations of “The Good Marriage Effect” on Desistance
We analyze quantitative and qualitative data derived from a long-term follow-up of a sample of adolescent female offenders (and a comparabIe male sample), in order to determine whether factors associated with women’s desistance from crime are similar to those emphasized in prior work on male offenders. Regression analyses revealed that level of marital attachment was not systematically related to either male or female desistance (defined by self-reports of criminal activity or the absence of recent arrests). We suggest how cohort changes in the meaning and permanence of marriage may have influenced these results. However, the lengthy “life history” narratives we also elicited from the respondents provide additional insights about the subset of individuals who did see marriage as an important catalyst for change. In addition, we explore negative cases, including a) those respondents who report high marital attachment but who have not desisted from criminal activity, b) those who report low quality marriages but nevertheless associate them with movement away from criminal behavior, and finally c) those for whom the absence of romantic ties is associated with positive life changes. While our ideas about the role of marriage are undoubtedly strongly influenced by our specific focus on female offenders, we conclude that some of the same processes may also contribute to a better understanding of life changes made by similarly situated males.
Link Between Maternal Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy and Life-Course Persistent Offending
Some studies have shown that maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy is related to developmental behavioral problems such as conduct disorder, attention-deficit disorder, and other negative sequalae. Recently, we employed data from the Philadelphia portion of the National Collaborative Perinatal Project to show a prospective link between maternal prenatal cigarette smoking and the age at first police contact in a cohort of African-American males and females followed through age 17. Using follow-up offending data collected through the Philadelphia Police Department for the same individuals through age 40, we assess the relationship between maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy and patterns of life-course persistent offending into late adulthood. Future research implications are discussed.
Linking Adolescent Hopelessness to Neighborhood Factors
Past research has established a link between hopelessness in adolescents and participation in risk behavior. Studies conducted in Augusta, Georgia and Huntsville, Alabama have shown that adolescents involved in high levels of risk behavior have correspondingly high levels of hopelessness. The current research builds on this link by focusing on the physical characteristics of one’s block and individual levels of hopelessness. By emphasizing the connection between hopelessness and block characteristics, this study attempts to show an additional linkage associated with hopelessness (perhaps establishing a chain of connected behaviors). First self-report data collected from low-income youth in Mobile, Alabama will be used to establish the link between hopelessness and risk behavior. Second, neighborhood block characteristics will be assessed and compared to levels of hopelessness. Using self-report data will allow several rival factors to be considered. In addition, the sample of youth is homogeneous with respect to socioeconomic status therefore those factors can be ruled out in explaining the results of this study. This research attempts to provide an adequate method to address the link between physical characteristics of one’s block and individual levels of adolescent hopelessness.
Links Between Corruption, Organized Crime and White Colllar Crime
A review of the federal government’s efforts to develop and conduct international law enforcement training. Global challenges relating to international crime and terrorism have led to the development of extensive initiatives to train and partner with foreign police officers both within the United States and internationally. These programs have been developed in conjunction with foreign governments to reflect their particular law enforcement needs and mandate to operate within a democratic framework reflective of both civil and human rights concerns. Included will be a review of the International Law Enforcement Academies, particularly focusing upon the ILEA in Budapest, Hungary, which is celebrating its fifth year anniversary as a model for international law enforcement cooperation and partnership.
Liquor is Quicker: Gender and Social Learning Among College Students
Aker’s (1998) Social Structure-Social Learning Theory (SS-SL) has recently been criticized for dealing with social structural factors as exogenous variables rather than integrating them into propositions that specify the learning processes better. For example, Morash (1998) has argued that SS-SL has largely ignored the ways in which gender structures institutions, interactions, and behaviors and takes Akers to task for ignoring feminist theories. This research uses Core Alcohol and Drug Survey data from a subsample of white unmarried college students from eight diverse campuses throughout the United States to examine how conflict structured by gender affects differences in the use of alcohol before sex. The focus on alcohol use before having sex is selected because it intersects two manifestations of masculinity. Alcohol use, especially more frequent and heavier consumption, is not only associated with males, it’s use in seduction and courtship is also gendered. The research derives hypotheses from feminist theory about how gender, campus Greek involvement, and normative campus climates regarding alcohol and sex affect differences between males and females in combining alcohol use with sex. The research specifically examines Akers claim that social learning variables (in this case anticipated positive consequences and risk of harm) will substantially mediate the effects of structural variables rather than modulate or moderate them.
Local and Trans-Local Approaches to Policy Formation and Drug Control
This paper presents an analysis of the evolution of drug policy that challenges the fundamental understanding of state power and its monopoly regarding drug policy and control. The realisation of the importance of local governance and study research complicates our understanding of drug control. Policy formation becomes a problematized factor in deloiberations on how and from where drugs are controlled. This paper is designed to redress this important limitation. Governance here is not be equated solely with government but can be exercised by any number of social bodies, departments, organisations and professions often with contingent rather than final results. There are two approaches regarding the interpretative analysis of drug control policy. The first, which is dominant in the literature, assumes that the primary context for explaining changes in public policy is its relation to the state. Policy is perceived as an instrument of and as emanating from the central state that is then applied to the local context. This view of policy power relations is often termed simply the top down or downward approach. However, as this paper will argue this does not seem to accurately felect the way in which control policy evolved in Edinburgh, Scotland. Instead, what became increasing apprante, was that not only did the influence of local agencies of control become important in the application of policy strategies, but that in the ad hoc flux that becamse the everyday reality of policy they attained pre-eminence. Significant development in drug control appeared to be determinedly grounded in a local pattern of policy formation. This analytical approach has often, unsurprisinly, been designated as bottom-up or upward.
Local Policing Network and Inclusive Security
The main aim of community policing in Finland today is local networking. The paper is based on evaluation of police initiative networking process; construction of local safety plan and partnership between the authorities, voluntary sector and residents. Main topics in the paper are: what kind of security is produced by networking process, what are the methods of promoting security (depoliticization of security, empowerment, responsibilisation), and what is the role of the police in this network. More broadly; although a nordic welfare society like Finland could not (at least yet) be defined as risk society the transformation towards a “a society of security” seems to be reality partly because of this networking process in which the social policy is going to be displaced by crime prevention and security policy.
Log-Multiplicative Association Model for Allocating Homicides With Unknown Victim-Offender Relationships
A persistent problem in studying the social relationship between victims and offenders in homicides has been that of missing data. To deal with this problem, Williams and Flewelling have developed two algorithms to allocate cases with undetermined victim/offender relationships. We show that Williams and Flewelling’s “adjusted rate” and “circumstance adjusted rate” equations are equivalent to the independence and saturated log-linear models, respectively, for the bivariate crossclassification of victim/offender relationship by circumstance. Unfortunately the former (independence) model makes no use of the association between relationship and circumstance and consequently has no predictive accuracy, while the latter (saturated) model results in a complete loss of parsimony. The present study proposes an allocation technique that fits a model that preserves accuracy and parsimony: a log-multiplicative model known as the heterogeneous row-and-column-effects model. We apply this technique to estimate rates of homicides disaggregated by victim-offender relationship using data from the Supplementary Homicide Reports for 1996 and compare our estimates with those obtained using Williams and Flewellings’ approach. Substantively, our analyses suggest that the conventional approach is likely to underestimate stranger homicides and overestimate homicides among family members.
Long- and Short-Term Effects of Separaton and Divorce on Delinquency and Problem Behaviors in Children: An Overview of Selected Outcomes From the NLSCY in Canada
This paper adds to the ongoing discussion within research and policy communities about the onset of problem behaviors and delinquency in children. Parental divorce and separation are associated with negative outcomes in the areas of psychological assessment, self-esteem and social relations. At the moment in a child’s life when family disruption occurs, SES, family functioning, social support and other protective or negative factors are impacted. This paper uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) in Canada to examine the long and short term effect of this family disruption on delinquency and problem outcomes for children and youth aged 6-15 years . (The NLSCY is a large multi-informant household survey tracking over 20,000 Canadian children from birth to young adulthood.) The analysis will examine the effects of family disruption, the timing of disruption, the level of family functioning, and other child and family socio-demographic factors on the occurrence of delinquency in children and youth.
Long-Term Effectiveness of an Adult Drug Court’s Impact(s) on Program Graduates
Drug Courts researchers have produced a considerable body of knowledge. We have empirically based findings relating to number of graduates, retention rates, criminal histories of participants, drug use patterns, drug free babies, restoration of families, and increased child support payments. Overall, research indicates that Drug Courts are an effective intervention for drug-using offenders. What we don’t know from the existing body of Drug Court research is what are the impact(s) on Drug Court graduates over the long run. How are they doing, 6, 12, 18 months or longer after succesffulloy completing a Drug Court program? This paper disfusses the interim results of an on-going study designed to determine the staying power of impact(s) on substance abusers who have graduated from an adult Drug Court. The major focus of this research project is to answer the question: Are there any long term effects on adult substance abusers that have graduated from a Drug Court? Content areas include: a brief overview of the drug court movement; a description of the Yuma County (AZ) Adult Court; a profile of current participants; a profile of drug court graduates; and a discussion of initial research findings.
Long-Term Impact of a Family Empowerment Intervention on Juvenile Offender Psychosocial Functioning
We report the results of a study of the long-term impact of a Family Empowerment Intervention (FEI) on the psychosocial functioning among youths processed at the Hillsborough County Juvenile Assessment Center who entered the project between September 1, 1994 and January 31, 1998. The FEI seeks to improve family functioning by empowering parents. Families involved in the project were randomly assigned to either receive an Extended Services Intervention (ESI) or the FEI. Families in the ESI group received monthly phone contacts and, if indicated, referral information; FEI families receive three one-hour, home-based meetings per week from a clinician-trained paraprofessional. For each youth, the last available observation was used in the analyses, as the best measure of long-term outcome. The results provide support for the sustained effect of FEI services. Analysis indicated that youths who completed the FEI had statistically significant lower rates of reported getting very high or drunk on alcohol, and claimed frequency of participation in crimes against persons, drug sales, and total delinquency, at least observation, than youths not completing the FEI. The results add to the findings of our earlier 12-month psychosocial functioning outcome analyses, which provided strong evidence of the salutary effects of the FEI.
Long-term Recidivism Impact of a Residential Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison Program
A quasi-experimental design is utilized to examine three-year recidivism outcomes for two groups of nonviolent, repeat felony offenders arrested for low-level drug sales: experimental subjects diverted from prison to a community-based, residential drug treatment alternative to prison program, and comparison subjects (matched offenders, sentenced to prison terms equivalent to successful treatment completion length). Subjects were tracked for three years from treatment admission (experimentals) or release from prison (comparisons), using official records. Multiple measures compare the impact of residential drug treatment on recidivism patterns over time, including rearrest, roconviction, reinicarceration, probation and parole violations, and survival time to first rearrest. Analyses include 1) descriptive comparisons of prevalence rates for various time frames, 2) multivariate analyses of prevalence rates using logistic regression, and arrest rates using OLS regression, and 3) Cox proportional hazard models of time to rearrest. Control variables are included from the following domains- demographics, family, social, educational, employment, medical, psychological, criminal, sexual behavior, and drug use and treatment histories, The data indicated, a significant overall impact of treatment on recidivism, although the effect decays somewhat over time. Time in treatment is significantly related to post-program recidivism. Other factors affecting recidivism for the experimental and comparison groups are presented.
Look Who’s Watching Now: Forensic Accounting and the Private Policing of White-collar Crime
In recent years it has become accepted wisdom that we are experiencing rapid increases in the rates of fraud and white-collar crime, and that the processes of economic globalization, corporate re-structuring, and the proliferation of sophisticated information technologies are largely responsible for this growth. The problematization of these trends has typically been followed by a somber reflection upon the challenges which these developments pose to the public police who are often unwilling and/or unable to deal with white-collar crime given jurisdictional boundaries and the prevailing public concern with street-level offenses. However, what has been overlooked in these debates thus far is the growing involvement of the private sector in policing fraud and other forms of white-collar crime on both a national and international scale. This paper will present the preliminary results of an in-depth study of one of the fastest growing markets in private policing–the forensic accounting industry. In tracing its origins, composition, and operations, it will be argued that forensic accounting bears a number of critical implications for the nature and administrationof justice as the considerations of public interest and accoutnability are eclipsed by the demands of the bottom line.
Looking for Love: Dysfunctional Attachment in Repeat Sexual Offenders
Little research exists that investigates the possible influences of dysfunctinal attachment in the development of repeat sexual offenders. Also, past sexual offender research focuses on the offender as an antisocial personality driven by power and control, while current research postulates that certain sexual offenders could be motivated by feelings of loneliness and isolation, possibly a type of borderline personality. The hypotheses tested stated that in a sample of repeat sexual offenders, a cohesive set of indicators of dysfunctional attachment would be indentified and would be related to both antisocial/ impulsive and detached outcome behaviors. Using a retrospective dataset comprising self-report and archival data from a sample of repeat sexual offenders, scales were created that were theoretically descriptive of dysfunctional attachment and antisocial/impulsive and detached behaviors. A Factor Analytic Simultaneous Equation Model was constructed to test the hypothesized model. Using a combination of confirmatory and exploratory analyses, a model was constructed that was statistically sound and had a good fit with the data. These results support the presence of dysfunctional attachment and specific related outcome behaviors in certain repeat sexual offenders. These results hold implications for apprehension, investigation, and treatment efforts.
Low Self-control, Social Bonds, and Criminal Activities Among Incarcerated Jail Inmates
Gottfredson and Hirschi’s A General Theory of Crime contends that the propensity to engage in criminal behavior, in the presence of criminal opportunity, is caused by a personality trait they call low self-control. An important but thus far neglected part of the theory is the claim I that low self-control has effects not only on crime but also on life chances, life quality, and I other social consequences, one of which, is social bonds. According to the general theory, those with low self-control are unable to establish social bonds because they are unreliable, untrustworthy, and generally undesirable as friends and family members. In short, the quality of interpersonal relationships, especially in primary groups, is low. To test these hypotheses, we collected data from more than 5 00 inmates in 4 Pennsylvania jails, focusing on the inmates’ psychological attributes and their bonds to family, school, and employment. A latent structural model is used to examine the relationships among several sets of variables measuring self-control, bonds, and criminal activities. The purpose of this article is first, to demonstrate the level of self-control and social bonds as two competing variables to explain criminal activities; and second, to examine the relationship between self-control and social bonds.
Low Self Control, Staged Opportunity, and Subsequent Fradulent Behavior
Since its conception, A General Theory of Crime has attracted a considerable amount of interest among criminologists. At this particular juncture, the extant research literature has generated qualified support for Gottfredson & Hirschi’s theory. However, opportunity, a critical element of low self-control theory has received very little empirical attention. Additionally, the few studies that have attempted to examine this theoretical concept conspicuously fail to consider the issue of temporal ordering. The current investigation addresses this oversight by presenting the subjects an opportunity to commit fraudulent behavior in a natural setting.
Low Self-control and Criminal Opportunity as Predictors of Crime: Main and Interactive Effects
The general theory of crime (Gottfredson and Hirschi) proposes that low self-control is an important causal factor in crime and that its effect is contingent on criminal opportunity. This study tested low self-control and criminal opportunity as predictors of crime committed over a six-month follow-up period by a sample of 525 adult offenders on parole. Low self-control was assessed by a multi-item self-report index. Criminal opportunity was measured directly (self-reported count of occasions on which one could easily commit a crime without being caught) and by proxy (criminal friends). In a series of analyses using property crime or violent crime as the dependent variable, low self-control and opportunity had both main and interactive effects. These results support the general theory of crime in finding that low self-control is a significant causal factor in crime and that its effect is partly contingent on criminal opportunity,
M
Macau’s Big Gamble: Organized Crime on the South China Coast
With the lowering of one flag and the raising of another, China reclaimed sovereignty over Macau in December 1999, thus ending 442 years of Portuguese rule and shaking off the last vestiges of European colonialism in Asia. Unlike Britain’s handover of nearby Hong Kong in 1997, however, this was not a reluctant surrender of a prized possession. Portugal tried to return Macau once before, but China’s leaders, fearful of losing a trading channel to the outside world, demurred. When Portugal withdrew the last of its military garrison from Macau in 1975, community leaders worried that law and order would deteriorate without the reassuring presence of the troops. Since then, coincidentally or not, Macau has been in steady decline. As feuds between rival Chinese gangs have terrorized the enclave over the last few years, the economy has withered and Macau has become ever more dependent on its casinos, which generate more than 60% of its tax revenues. This paper analyzes the factors that have turned Macau into a mini replica of 1920s Chicago, with its execution-style revenge killings and gang leaders with nicknames such as ‘Fatti Pui’ and ‘Broken Tooth’ Wan.
Maintaining Order in the Face of Crime: The Social Construction of Exceptions to Law Violations
This study researchers interactions between patrons and private security personnel for alcohol serving establishments in a rural Pennsylvania county. This paper argues that many criminal behaviors occur in such places but are negotiated by the security personnel and the patrons into “acceptable,” if not legal, behaviors rather than criminal ones. By employing direct participant observation, interviews, and aggregate data analysis, data was collected and assessed, indicating order in the establishment was more important to the people involved than law enforcement. The forms of infractions, types of negotiations, the differences between successful and unsuccessful negotiations, and the significance of each is addressed, as well as recommendations for improved negotiating success for security personnel and evaluation mechanisms within such a fluid working environment.
Making Laws, Taking Drugs
This paper will discuss developments in academic and policy discourse around the legal classification of illicit drugs. Within Britain, the recent publication of the report by The Independent Committee of Inquiry into the Misuse of Drugs Act has raised the whole issue of legal classification. Legalisers often argue that drug laws unnecessarily criminalise large numbers of otherwise law-abiding citizens. Implicit within this view is the suggestion that laws should, in some manner, reflect popular values and patterns of behaviour. With this in mind, it is surprising that social scientists have yet to come up with an empirically grounded classification of illicit drug use. The analysis on which this paper is based begins to address this gap. Drawing on large scale surveys in England and Wales, a classification of drug use will be presented that is sensitive to: levels of use; the extent of users’ repertoires; age of onset and current use; and correlation between use of particular drugs. While analysis draws on British data policy comparisons with the USA will be discussed. It is intended that this classification should inform current debates about the legal status of various illicit drugs and provide the basis for further analysis.
Making Sense of Criminal “Propensity”: Lessons From Reformed Ex-Offenders
Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) general theory of crime suggests that while criminality largely remains stable over the life course, criminal behavior is largely restricted to adolescence and young adulthood. This paper attempts to make sense of paradox by reviewing the findings of two studies on personality, crime and desistance. The personality characteristics of two samples of desisting ex-offenders (N=60), suggest that such persons resemble active offenders (N=50) more than non-offenders (N=200) in their dispositional personality traits (like low self-control). However, desisting ex-offenders differed significantly from persisting ex-offenders on measures of more dynamic domains of personality, such as measures of their motives, goals, self-beliefs, and life perspectives. The authors suggest that “criminality” or criminal propensity might be best understood as involving these other aspects of the self.
Male and Female Drug Abuse and Criminality in a Career Perspective
Degree of connection to the criminal underworld was the basis for typologic research on 698 male and 351 female drug abusers. Four types of men were distinguished; addicted criminals, criminal addicts, low-crime addicts and emotionally unstable addicts with little or no criminality. Categorising females was problematic as conspicuous criminality turned out to be perpetrated by only a few. One small group of highly criminal females was isolated. Another small group of women had supported themselves primarily by prostitution. The male and female drug careers in terms of abuse patterns were related to the criminal careers and the criminal behavior patterns in a time perspective.
Male and Female Latino High School Students’ Perceptions About Dating Violence: A Preliminary and Exploratory Examination
This paper presents the preliminary and partial findings from a survey of Latino High School students on dating violence. A social learning framework guides this research with a focus on “definitions” within the learning process. Students were asked about their definitions of dating violence, perceptions about the seriousness of dating violence and their acceptance of physical or verbal abuse to resolve conflict in the dating relationship. Differences in definitions, perceptions and acceptance were examined across gender, prior history of familial violence, peer approval of violence and victimization status. There was substantial variation found across the respondents’ definitions of dating violence. Gender was found significantly related to differences in definition and the acceptance of physical or verbal abuse in the dating relationship. Peer approval of violence and Respondent definitions of dating violence were also related to Respondents’ views on the acceptability of using verbal or physical abuse in the dating relationship. These findings are discussed in terms of their applicability to learning about violence as a norm and as one potential explanation for the under-reporting of dating and domestic violence in the Latino community.
Managing the Release of Offenders and Victim Input: Victims in the Service of Severity, Rehabilitation or Systems Efficiency?
This paper will consider some of the implications of the British Government’s obligation on the Probation Service to contact the victims, or their families, of ‘serious violent or sexual offences’ after sentence and before the release of prisoners from custody. Victims are contacted in order for account to be taken of any anxieties about the offender’s release that a victim may have, particularly when it may be appropriate to meet such anxieties by imposing restrictions on where the offender lives, works or goes. Victim contact work by the Probation Service not only challenges the traditional offender-oriented nature of the service and the cultural assumptions of those working for it, but also raises important questions about how the service should best be delivered and the consequent impact of the information gathered. Victim reports produced as a result of victim contact work may provide useful risk assessment information and may assist in confronting of offending behavior during custody, as well as providing benefits for the victims. However, the use (or abuse) of such information raises fundamental ethical issues which policy-makers have largely failed to address. Drawing upon fieldwork conducted in two Probation Services in England, this paper will explore the impact of the service upon victims, the management of offenders and the probation service. It will question the extent to which victims’ input is used in the service of severity, rehabilitation or systems efficiency.
Mandatory Arrest: What Do Victims Think?
Despite the current popularity of pro-arrest interventions in domestic violence cases, relatively little is known about the perceptions and experiences of victims with these policies. The authors interviewed twenty-five individuals whose abusive partners had been arrested under a new mandatory arrest statute. An open-ended interview schedule was used in order to allow participants wide latitude in their responses. Overall, respondents were poorly informed about recent changes in the law. A majority favored mandatory arrest for the following reasons: shifts responsibility away from the victim; immediate reduction of danger; gave the victim time to get help; and it was the right thing to do. They also expressed several concerns: fears that THEY might be subject to arrest; their partners could become more violent; and potentially harmful consequences for the stability of their families. Respondents suppoted mandatory arrest in combination with mandatory criminal sanctions and mandatory treatment for their abusers.
Manejando la Plaza: The Contradictory Role of the Mexican and American Governments in the Drug War
This paper analyzes the facilitation of drug production and transshipment into the U.S. by Mexican authorities, both civil and military, for those clients who have made appropriate arrangements. It also explores the highly visible efforts of the same authorities to deter the production and shipment of such drugs on the part of those who have neglected to make such arrangements. Their contradictory attitude toward drug consumption by the youth of Mexico is also discussed. The contradictory attitude of the current administration in Washington is also presented as an integral part of the drug trafficking dynamics. This includes the active cover up of the Mexican military’s drug running activity in the U.S. while publically proclaiming that cooperation between the two governments is getting better. The main method of discovery consists of interviews with U.S. Border Patrol agents along the Texas/Tamaulipas border as well as with Mexican criminal justice professionals, including a former head of the Policia Judicial Federal. Also, published sources (almost all Mexican) are reviewed. In addition, many former Mexican traffickers are interviewed.
Mapping the Immigration/Homicide Relationship in Three Border Cities, 1985-1995
Qualitative and quantitative spatial analytic techniques are becoming increasingly prominent in studies of crime. The use of maps, in particular, has had a lengthy and celebrated history in criminology and is now experiencing something of a renaissance. In fact, Chicago school sociologists like Park, Burgess, Shaw, McKay, and others, used maps of the spatial distribution of crime and related community characteristics as the empirical foundation of their most important theoretical contributions (e.g., social disorganization). The present study builds on this re-emerging tradition of using maps to ask questions of homicide data that cannot be answered with statistical models. Specifically, this study investigates the relationship between the most recent wave of immigration and community levels of homicide in three “border” cities that have received large numbers of newcomers (El Paso, Miami, and San Diego). While quantitative methods have been used to explore this issue as part of this ongoing research project, the current focus is on a visual representation of the link between immigration and homicide. In addition to exploring this understudied substantive area, we offer strategies for using maps to manage the massive amounts of data generated during the course of macrological investigations of crime. Key findings support previous quantitative analyses that have demonstrated that immigration is not generally associated with higher community levels of homicide. The maps also show unexpected variations by location that have implications for both criminological theory and social policy. Finally, questions to be explored in future research with spatial analytic methods are discussed.
Masculinity, Class, and Race: Shaping the Police Response to Gangs
Gang units made up of predominantly white males continue to construct the gang problem as “quitessentially male and minority,” and enforce it as such, despite evidence from research that as many as a third of the youth involved in gangs are girls and young women. This paper will examine the complicated interplay between masculinity, class, and race as they shape the culture of police gang units and, in turn, impact officers’ construction of the communities’ gang problem and their response to gangs. Data gathered from field observations and in-depth interviews conducted with gang unit officers in four metropolitan southwestern police departments are used to develop the subject.
Maternal Drug Use and Criminal Behavior Patterns: Towards an Understanding of Control Balance
How does contact with drug treatment and criminal justice programs influence patterns of drug use and criminal behaviors for pregnant women and mothers? The project seeks to identify what factors can account for patterns of drug use and criminal behaviors during pregnancy and motherhood, as well as to understand the influence of treatment on these patterns. This is accomplished using secondary analyses statistical techniques on The 1991 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). The 1991 NHSDA is the eleventh in a series of studies designed to measure the prevalence and correlates of drug use in the United States household population aged 12 and over. The project is framed in the control balance theory of deviant behavior. The major concept is that of balancing control–the amount of control people exercise as opposed to the amount of control to which they are subjected, such as in the treatment setting. The results of this project will have theoretical impact in criminology and important policy implications for both criminal justice and drug treatment programs. By identifying the risk factors for maternal drug use and crime, policy makers will be better equipped to prevent both drug use and crime for this at-risk population.
Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy and Self-Reported Offending by Offspring
Several studies have reported a significant relationship between maternal smoking during pregnancy and criminal/delinquent behavior in offspring. The present study was undertaken to verify this relationship based on self-reported offending of college students and recollections of cigarette smoking by their mothers. If confirmed, this study also sought to identify the causes of the relationship. Based on a sample of 6,212 offspring and their mothers, our findings support the conclusion that the offspring of mothers who recalled having smoked during pregnancy had an elevated probability of engaging in delinquency and crime. This relationship appeared stronger for females than for males, and was particularly evident in the case of offenses involving illegal drug use. As far as causes are concerned, four possibilities were considered: (1) neurological insult caused by cigarette smoke, (2) a genetic connection between maternal tendencies to smoke and offspring tendencies to use illegal drugs, (3) a link between maternal smoking and use of other fetal damaging drugs such as alcohol, and (4) a coincidental link between cigarette smoking by mothers and socioeconomic status of mothers and offspring. At the time this abstract was written, our analysis was still incomplete with respect to identifying the most likely explanation for the maternal smoking-offspring offending relationship.
Maximum-Security Inmates’ Attitudes Toward Placing Juveniles in Adult Prisons
Correctional managers are currently struggling over how to deal with juvenile offenders in facilities that were originally designed to handle adult offenders. Research suggests that young inmates in prison react psychologically to the prison context in a manner that is vastly different from adult inmates. Despite such findings, more and more juvenile offenders are being waived over or because of legislative mandates sent to the adult system. An assumption is made that adult inmates will not have a problem with the introduction of youthful offenders into the prison population. Little research, however, has been conducted examining adult inmate perceptions of juveniles in adult prisons. Thus, the current study seeks to address the following questions: 1) Is it a good idea to place juveniles in adult prisons?; 2) Should the same rules that are applied to adult inmates in prison be used for juveniles in prison?; 3) Should juveniles placed in adult prisons have their own programs?; 4) Will placing juveniles in prison stop these offenders from committing crime in the future?; and 5) What variables explain inmates’ perceptions? Data from a survey of maximum-security inmates in Ohio will be used to answer these questions.
Meaningful Input for Useful Output: Operationalizihg Evaluation Dimensions for the Consumer Community
Outcome-oriented program evaluation becomes the most useful to stakeholders when the data collected are tailored to the specific needs of the consumers of evaluation outputs. Sharing the burden of creating an evaluation strategy with all members of the user group invites direct involvement and planning on the part of the consumers-the user group. The first step in this process is evaluability assessment, a method in which program personnel take charge of the evaluation criteria according to their own infromational needs and treatment perspectives. This allows for meaningful information to be produced through the evaluation, information which addresses the specific needs of those engaging in the evaluation process. This paper draws on the experiences of two research teams and the construction of three permanent information systems for ongoing program evaluation. It focuses particularly on one stop of this bottom-up process: taking the self-identified outcome priorities and information needs of the user group, transforming them into objectively measurable outcomes, and selecting the best measures for those outcomes from among the available instruments.
Meaningful Relationships, Responsibility and Desistance From Crime
This study examines one of the most important transitions in the lives of many young people- the transition away from crime, Previous research has suggested that desistance is related to positive changes in key sociological factors such as employment, marriage and parenthood as well as psychological changes in attitudes and beliefs. A sample of 30 desisters and 30 persisters was identified through various reintegration programmes in Merseyside, UK. Both groups completed detailed interviews and a range of questionnaires designed to measure lifestyle and personality characteristics. Analysis was carried out using multidimensional scaling techniques. It was found that there are specific aspects of an offender’s circumstances that lead him/her on the path away from crime. These circumstances are likely to be a combination of an individual’s recognition of their own control over their lives together with a support system that provides daily activities that have a structure and context strong enough to replace criminal endeavour. In particular, it was found that while many of both the persisters and desisters reported having a partner and children, the difference between them lay in the quality of these relationships and the responsibility taken for them.
Measurement and Evaluation of Integrated Treatment and Tracking Technologies
Our paper contains the assessment of integrating Global Positioning System technology into sex offender reentry programs. We first measure the precision, accuracy, and speed of the GPS system on a civilian population. After implementing the GPS system on the offender population, the effectiveness of the system on the population and a further study of the system itself are measured using both quantitative and qualitative measures. Regarding the effectiveness of the system on the treated population, quantitative measures include statistical tests contrasting the treated population and comparable non-treated populations. Qualitative measures include interviews of treated subjects, parole officers, and treatment providers regarding its effectiveness and impact on the behavior of the treated subjects. Regarding the system itself, quantitative measures again include the precision. accuracy. and speed of the system. Qualitative measures consist of interviews with parole officers as to the system’s benefits and limitations as it affects their work.
Measuring Community Reintegration Through Longitudinal Tracking
During the past two years, Florida State University’s Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program (JJEEP), funded by the Florida Department of Education, has conducted a series of research projects related to continuous quality improvement of juvenile justice education. Through these efforts much of the research has focused on what constitutes effective educational practices and effective educational programs. Promising educational practices have been identified and their presence has been linked to quality educational programs in Florida’s juvenile facilities. The next step in identifying program effectiveness is to identify whether these “promising” programs provide a long-lasting positive impact on students after release. In an effort to identify these effects, it is imperative to consider outcome variables of students released from these programs throughout the state. Therefore, JJEEP has developed a research design to examine program effectiveness by measuring community reintegration variables for youths released from programs in Florida. These outcomes will include comprehensive family, school, employment, and subsequent crime involvement data.
Measuring Line-of-Duty Homicides by Law Enforcement Officers in the United States, 1976-1996
This paper compares the number of line-of-duty homicides committed by law enforcement officers in the U.S. reported in the Uniform Crime Reporting System and the National Vital Statistics System for the years 1976-1996. While the Uniform Crime Reporting System tends to report more homicides than the vital statistics, in some states the pattern is reversed. The paper reviews what is known about reporting errors in both systems.
Measuring Outcomes in Community Prosecution
Lawyers play important roles in the justice system. Based on the limited available research, we know that most of them focus on processing individual cases. In recent years, a growing number of attorneys have attempted to move away from case-processing to engage in problem solving in partnership with other governmental agencies and members of communities. Prosecutors, defenders, judges, municipal attorneys, legal services providers, and pro bono lawyers can be found engaged in collaborative, strategic, outcome-oriented work. The experiments are diverse and local, and the lawyers involved are not part of any organized movement. The panel includes the authors of original field studies and three national surveys of one of police departments, one of prosecutors, and one of law school clinical programs, who will discuss the challenges inherent in very early evaluation and their results to date.
Measuring Perceptions of Procedural Justice Among Drug-Involved Offenders
Procedural justice refers to the perception that the authorities are acting fairly, in accordance with rules and procedures accepted by the participants. The literature hypotheses that it consists of domains such as trustworthiness of the authority, respectful treatment, opportunity to be heard, impartiality and consistency of treatment, and accuracy of information used in their hearing. If defendants perceive that the courts are just, they may be more willing to comply with court orders and engage in programs aimed at rehabilitation. A procedural justice questionnaire was administered to nearly 1000 defendants who are members of the comparison group in an evaluation of Breaking the Cycle, a drug intervention strategy, nine months after their arrest. Items measuring the key domains were used to construct a scale of procedural justice among defendants not exposed to special intervention efforts and provide baseline ratings for future studies of drug-involved defendants. The results were compared to focus group interview reports of perceptions of judicial fairness.
Measuring Self-control at a Very Young Age
After the publication of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime (1990), numerous studies have been done to measure self-control and test for its power in predicting crime and analogous behaviors. While different measures have been proposed, they have never been applied to a very young age, such as ages 6-8, which is the defining age of self-control, according to the authors. This study is attempting to rewrite some popular scales that have been used for older kids or adults, and apply them on a sample of first grade students ages 6-8. Because of the young age of the subjects, teacher or parent’s report will be used instead of self-report. The appropriateness of the survey methods will be discussed and different sets of scores will be compared. To test for the scales’ reliability and their power in predicting child problem behavior, child
Measuring Stalking: The Extent and Nature Stalking in England and Wales
Stalking has been called the crime of the nineties (Goode, 1995). However, despite the introduction of new ‘anti-stalking’ legislation in England and Wales in 1997, there has been relatively little research into the problem. The 1998 British Crime Survey included an innovative, computerised self-completion module designed to provide the first reliable information on the extent and nature of stalking in England and Wales. Consideration will be given to the definition of stalking used in the research and the use of computerised self-completion methodology. The main findings from the research will also be discussed, in particular the relationship between victim and offender, the types of behaviours experienced and the impact these experiences had upon victims. The different experiences of male and female victims will be highlighted.
Measuring the Dimensions of Computer Crime
This work focuses on measuring the occurrences of criminal incidents involving the use of computers. Computer crime information has traditionally relied upon self-reports and surveys of business and industry. While these data sources have been useful, no uniform reporting of these incidents was available until the relatively recent redesign of the Uniform Crime Reports, known as NIBRS, made possible the collection of such information. This work shows the results of analyzing this data source in order to get a better understanding of the dimensions of crimes that involve computer use. From this analysis, consistencies and anomalies as compared to other data sources will also be discussed.
Measuring the Economic Benefits of Developmental Prevention Programs
For too long crime policy has been formulated without careful assessment of economic costs and benefits. Recently, there has been movement toward filling this important gap in policy analysis. The focus of this essay is economic evaluation of developmental prevention programs-programs that have the objective of fostering cognitive and pro-social development among young children. A review of the newly emerging literature on this topic prompts several recommendations for change. The changes can be summed up in terms of answers to a three-part question: What is the appropriate unit of analysis: Individuals or criminal events? Society or government? The crime rate and its social consequences or the criminal event and its consequences to the victim? In each case I argue for the first alternative. The argument that developmental prevention is a cost-effective alternative to criminal sanctions for averting crime is attractive but it cannot be convincingly sustained. Instead a more holistic approach is necessary that values benefits across multiple domains of individual functioning. Here it is argued that successful intervention is tantamount to saving a human life and should be valued accordingly. Analyses that have valued more than crime benefits have, by and large, measured financial impact on the public treasury. Here again it is argued that this is too narrow a focus. Although impacts on the public treasury are important, such an impact analysis should be viewed as a complement to, not a substitute for, a society-wide cost-benefit analysis. Finally, extant estimates of the costs of crime focus on victim consequences. While consequences to victims are important, they do not begin to capture the full impact of crime on the functioning of society. Estimates of the cost of crime should value tangible consequences to non-victims and victims alike.
Measuring the Effect of the ‘Truth in Sentencing’ Law on the Amount of Inmate Time Served in Massachusetts
In July of 1994, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts enacted “Truth in Sentencing” provisions that dramatically altered the sentencing guidelines used in the state. The primary changes in this statute that affected the length of time inmates served was the elimination of Statutory Good Time, the elimination of suspended and partially suspended state sentences and the setting of the Parole Eligibility date for state sentences at the minimum term of each sentence. The focus of this paper is to examine the effect the “Truth in Sentencing” law has had on the proportion of the maximum sentences served by inmates over the last five years. Inmates who have completed sentences with a maximum term of one to four years will be included. Using the Gini Concentration Ratio and the Lorenz Curve, the distribution of inmates time served by sentence length will be compared between inmates sentenced after 1994 who were affected by the Truth in Sentencing law. those who were not, and to inmates who were sentenced between 1990 and 1994. These comparisons are also examined by gender and for county sentences. The results show that while Truth in Sentencing inmates do serve a greater proportion of their sentences, there are significant differences between genders.
Measuring the Extent of Community Oriented Lawyering: The Police Perspective
“Community Oriented Lawyering” is similar to problem-oriented policing, in that attorneys engage in formal and informal collaborations with their communities in an effort to address the safety problems and quality of life issues of particular places. Community prosecutors, other governmental lawyers, legal services attorneys and private attorneys comprise the list of legal practitioners who are proactively working to solve problems in the communities where they work, and not primarily by handling criminal cases. This paper will describe a study conducted to determine the role lawyers play in police problem-solving efforts. A series of internet/mail surveys with police administrators and follow-up telephone interviews of police officers were used to assess the prevalence and nature of attorney participation on police problem-solving efforts. Results from the 173 surveys of police administrators and 109 interviews with line officers indicate that “Community Oriented Lawyering” is fairly widespread, and that both police administrators and line officers believe that lawyers can make significant contributions to police problem-solving efforts.
Measuring the Public’s Willingness-to-Pay to Reduce Crime
Previous studies of the “cost of crime” have relied primarily upon indirect measures such as property value differentials or jury awards to crime victims. Property value studies have been largely unable to disentangle the cost of individual crime types and instead measure the cost of a crime index. Jury award studies estimate the cost of individual crimes, but do so from an ex post standpoint. This paper presents the results of a representative survey of the U.S. population that yields direct measures of the ex ante cost of individual crimes – measures that are more relevant for cost-benefit and public policy analysis. The survey employs the “contingent valuation” methodology developed by economists to value non-market goods such as clean air and endangered species. Respondents are asked a series of questions eliciting their willingness-to-pay for a 10% reduction in specific crimes in their community. From these responses, we obtain estimates of the public’s willingness-to-pay to reduce the crimes of rape, robbery, burglary, assault and murder and convert them into the “cost” of individual crimes. We also examine how demographic characteristics and public policy preferences affect willingness-to-pay.
Measuring the Use of Surveillance Technology in American Schools: A National Survey of Trends and Practices
In an attempt to deal with problems of school violence, school administrators are turning to the use of new surveillance technologies such as: video cameras, weapon detectors, entry-control devices, and personal duress alarms. These technologies are believed to prevent and deter violence on campus and they also can be used to document events for further legal action. The utility of these technologies in schools is unknown. Using a national telephone survey of school safety administrators, the study addresses the following questions. What technologies are currently in use? How effective are they perceived to be? What problems, if any, are associated with the use of these technologies? and, to what extent are school districts planning to increase their use of surveillance technololgies?
Media and Public Perceptions in the Construction of a Social Problem and Its Solution: The Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta
A Sexual Sterilization Act was passed in Alberta, Canada in 1928. By the time of its repeal in 1972, over 2000 people had been sterilized, many without their consent, This paper looks at the role the media and public perceptions played in this process. What role, if any, did the media and public perceptions play in constructing the “problem” of “feeblemindedness”? What role did they play in determining who would be sexually sterilized? This paper looks at the groups and types of people who were in fact presented to the Eugenics Board and those who were ultimately sterilized. Did the people who eventually were sterilized match the image of the threat created in the public domain? By comparing the characteristics of these people with the images of the eugenic threat portrayed in the media and in public perceptions, the objective is to see how effective, if at all, the media and public perception were in constructing this social problem and in effecting a “solution”.
Media Power and Information Control: A Study of Police Organizations and Media Relations
Media coverage of police-citizen disputes during the 1960s did much to undermine both the image of police and citizen trust in law enforcement. Beginning with President Johnson’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice (1967), a series of government reports have recommended that police agencies establish media-relations offices housed within police organizations that are staffed and operated by public information officers (PIOs). Unfortunately, little is known about the processes by which police PIOs operate, or about the effectiveness of their media strategies. Using results from a national survey of municipal police departments and in-depth case study research, this study documents and evaluates the various strategies police use to make mass media central to their organizational framework.
Media’s Role in Determinig Perceptions of Crime and Danger: A Cross Cultural Perspective-Russia, Syria, and the United States
Public opinion research has consistently found a great deal of support for the police, although that support is mediated by race, age, political ideology, and experiential factors such as prior arrest and criminal victimization. Much less is known about the direct and indirect effects of crime-related media and fear of crime on opinions about the police. This paper examines the effects of numerous forms of crime-related media, fear of crime, and other demographic and attitudinal variables theoretically linked to support for the police. Using data collected from a CATI survey of 4,245 Californians (oversampled for African-Americans), the study examines the differences in support for the police across whites, Latinos and African-Americans in a three groups structural equation model. The effects of political ideology, age, prior experience with the police, and criminal victimization were varied across race; most were nonsignificant for Latinos and African-Americans. The only significant effects found across all three race/ethnic groups were for crime-related television shows and local television news, which were positively related to support for the police, and fear of crime, which was negatively related to support for the police. We conclude that the effects of exposure to crime-related media and fear of crime are important correlates in public opinion about criminal justice and merit further inquiry.
Megan’s Laws: When Policy Stems From Social Movements
Communities nationwide are implementing community notification statutes at a rate not often seen in the policy process. Megan’s Laws have seemingly occurred in response to the massive media attention given the tragic cases of violent sexual crimes against children, namely Megan Kana. In policy parlance, these deaths served as focusing events that mobilized the public to be proactive in pursuit of legislation, reminiscent of a social movement. The community notification movement had roots in another social movement campaign, which focused on awareness of violent sexual crimes against women. Focusing on the dynamic between public opinion and public policy, this work examines the formation of public policy when the public is leading the charge for a policy response.
Mental Health and Personality Problems Assessed by Structured Interviews in Incarcerated Juveniles
Juvenile crime is often distinct from adult crime. Although the association between the propensity to commit crime, mental health problems and personality problems have been well-established. for adult offenders, these associations are less clear for juvenile offenders. This is due, in part, to the developing personality structure of juvenfles as well as the way in which mental health problems are expressed in the juvenile population. In the present study, we examined the relationship between mental health problems, personality problems, and committing offense in a population of incarcerated juveniles. Using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, sections of the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA IV), and the Structured Interview for DSM IV Personality (SIDP-IV), we interviewed approximately 800 juvenile offenders incarcerated in secure detention facilities. Fulfillment of diagnostic criteria for 53 mental health problems and 5 personality problems were analyzed. In addition, the predictive value of mental health problems and personality problems on crime type (e.g., violent versus non-violent) was assessed. Findings will be discussed in terms of crime prevention and appropriate mental health treatment for juvenile offenders.
Metaphors of Inequality: Police and Judiciary in Brazil
In a country with strong social inequalities, police and the judiciary system reflect a perverse rationality for this “society of risks.” This paper examines the social construction of the police and the judiciary and their (perverse) relations that developed in the democratization process that began in 1984 after authoritarian military rule. The present situation of both police and judiciary are marked by corruption and collapse of the penal system, despite government policies that usually proved to be highly ineffective. This process is analyzed in detail in the case of the State of Rio de Janeiro, with comparative considerations with other states of the Federation.
Methamphetamine in Minneapolis: An Emerging Drug Problem
As metharnphetamine has emerged as a drug problem in Midwestern states, there are indications of its increasing prevalence in Minneapolis. This paper presents indicators of methamphetamine use and distribution in the Minneapolis metropolitan region. It also describes a multi-faceted law enforcement response to the emerging methamphetamine problem. The paper concludes by identifying a set of research challenges to measuring the extent of a drug problem, tracking law enforcement interventions, and assessing the impact of the interventions on the drug problem.
Methodological Problems in Screening Juvenile Offenders
In 1997, the California Youth Authority (CYA) implemented a paper-and-pencil assessment package to obtain ongoing direct information about the mental health status of wards entering state-level institutions. Sources of possible inaccuracy in these assessments include: (a) The reluctance of some wards to disclose aberrant or “bad” thoughts, feelings or behaviors; (b) The attempt by some wards to influence programming decisions by minimizing or exaggerating symptoms; (c) The situational distress and/or disorientation resulting from state-level incarceration; and (d) Standard reliability or validity problems associated with the assessment instruments. This presentation will report on an NIJ-funded research project designed to evaluate these problems, refine the assessment package, and establish the package as a reliable and valuable classification tool. File reviews, and interviews with treatment and security staff were conducted for approximately 1,000 wards. These data were used to estimate the prevalence of mental health treatment needs in this population, to determine the validity and reliability of the assessment package, and to develop a better understanding of the relationship among mental health problems, prior criminal behavior, personality characteristics, and functioning (including aggressiveness) within institutional environments.
Minimizing Judicial Discretion, Maximizing Racism? The Sentencing of Drug Traffickers Under Federal Sentencing Guidelines
Using data from the United States Sentencing Commission, this paper examines the sentencing of drug traffickers for the years 1992-1994, using both the in-out and sentence length decisions as dependent variables. Unlike most other studies of racial differences in criminal sentencing which focus exclusively on African-Americans, we include Hispanics and Asians (as well as African-Americans) in our analyses. Despite the stated intention of the federal sentencing guidelines legislation, we find substantial racial-ethnic differences in sentencing outcomes for drug traffickers, even while controlling for a number of important legal variables. These findings are discussed in context of theories of discretion in the criminal justice system, and the larger context of the United States “War on Drugs.”
Misdemeanor Sentencing Decisions: The Cost of Being Native American and Male
Criminal sentencing research has traditionally focused on Black/White disparities, and more recently, Latino/White disparities. In this paper we examine over 12,000 cases registered in 1993 from three Nebraska non-metropolitan counties to further determine the nature and scope of racial/ethnic disparities in the enforcement and adjudication of misdemeanor criminal codes. Findings from multivariate OLS and logistic regressions find that both Latino and Native American males and females in comparison to their White counterparts have significantly higher probabilities of being charged with drug/alcohol, assault, and property related offenses rather than simple traffic violations. They are also recipients of a higher average number of charges than their White counterparts. As a result, Latino and Native Arnerican males and females experience a significantly higher probability of receiving jail time rather than a fine and/or probation. Disparities are greatest for Native American males. Results clearly indicate the need for more criminal sentencing research including racial/ethnic groups other than White, Black, and Latino males and females. hi addition, researchers need to seriously address the effect that racial/ethnic bias in misdemeanor sentencing outcomes has on felony sentencing and prison parole decisions.
Mobilization of Bias Against Critical Criminology and Criminologists in Leading Academic Journals ! The
Critical criminologists recently have complained that their viewpoints and writings are omitted in leading scholarly journals published in the areas of crime, justice, and the law. We discuss the requirements for assessing whether or not leading mainstream periodicals are characterized by a mobilization of bias against critical criminology and critical criminologists. We further examine this possibility by conducting a content analysis of the periodicals Criminology, Justice Quarterly, and Law and Society Review from 1990 to 1999. Finally, we check empirically on the underrepresentation of members of the Division on Critical Criminology as authors in these mainstream journals. Although the scope of our study is limited, it provides provisional support for the mobilization of bias.
Modeling a Social Learning Explanation of High School Aggression and Violence
Using a structural equation modeling approach, this study examines the capacity of Albert Bandura’s social learning theory of aggression to predict and explain high school aggression, violence, instrumental aggression, and school vandalism and delinquency. In addition, this study assesses the nature of the contribution of personality constructs to a social learning explanation of school behaviors. A self-report questionnaire measuring the central constructs of social learning theory and personality characteristics was administered to a sample of 1,974 high school students across two school districts in central and southern California. The results of this study underscore the importance of specifying the different causal processes that underline a social learning explanation of diverse high school behaviors. Implications for social learning theory as well as adolescent aggression and school violence research are discussed.
Modeling the Relationships Among Disorder, Fear of Crime, and Community Policing
Using data from a supplement to the National Crime Victimization survey (NCVS) this study seeks to test multiple indicators and multiple causes of citizen fear of crime. Results from this study will hopefully shed light on the interrelationships among citizen perceptions of neighborhood decay and fear of crime, and, whether the presence of comunity policing affects these perceptions.
Models of Policing Domestic Violence
This paper presents the final results from a three year study of domestic violence units in police departments throughout Massachusetts. The main hypothesis is that there exist observable typologies in the organization and management of policing domestic violence. Subjects explored include the Unit’s composition, jurisdiction, responsibility, authority or status within the department, and coordination or cooperation outside the department. Finally, the existing body of literature on police management is reviewed and applied to the findings.
Monetary Costs and Benefits of Crime Prevention Programs
Few attempts have been made to calculate the monetary costs and benefits of crime prevention programs. Existing calculations for developmental, situational, and community prevention, and correctional intervention programs give hopeful indications that benefits often exceed costs. However, the noncomparability of methods used in different studies makes it impossible to determine which program or class of programs is the most economically efficient. A wide range of benefits should be measured, including health, employment, and education benefits, as well as crime reduction. Research is needed on key issues such as using capital versus operating costs, discounting costs and benefits over different time periods, using tangible versus intangible victim costs, and calculating costs and benefits from different perspectives (such as victim, taxpayer, or program participant). Because an economic analysis is limited by the quality of the research design, greater use should be made of high quality research designs.
Money Laundering in Cyberspace: The Sociology of Secret Payment Systems
Money laundering has three phrases: (1) the placement of ill-gotten monies in legitimate institutions (“placement”); (2) the occlusion of the beneficial owner (“layering”); and (3) the speedy and anonymous transference of monies (“integration”). In this context, how do the new media of electronic oney shape each phase? This paper explores this question in the light of Georg Simmel’s sociology of money. Different forms of money, according to Simmel, constitute different “forms of sociation” (Formen der Vergesellschaftung). This paper extens Simmel’s account of monetary forms of sociation, as outlined in his Philosophy of Money (1907), to such new forms of money as e-cash, Internet transfers, and smart cards, all of which have features especially useful for laundering money..
Moral Fault Lines: How a Street Gang Reduction Program Generates Class and Ethnic Conflict
The comparative research presented in this paper flows from the authors’ three-year evaluation of a statewide law enforcement agency’s attempt to reduce street gang activity by engaging small-scale neighborhoods in a grassroots “capacity building” program. The program, known as community mobilization, revolves around enlisting residents of disadvantaged urban, suburban, and rural neighborhoods in the process of collective problem solving. Program staff help residents develop the neighborhood’s organizational viability, the program’s central mechanism for achieving the long-terrn goals of reduced crime, delinquency, street gang activity, and public disorder. In evaluating the program’s processes and outcomes in three Illinois communities, the authors have (1) repeatedly conducted in-depth, semi-structured personal interviews with program site residents and the larger community’s major stakeholders, and (2) carried out systematic social observation. This paper discusses findings pertaining to one of the program’s most significant unintended consequences: The reinforcement and/or creation of neighborhood divisiveness. Using network and content analysis to treat and interpret the data, the authors conclude that the program has catalyzed or further exacerbated divisions along moral, social, symbolic, and economic lines. The authors illustrate the various processes by which the program produces these unintended consequences in each site. Specifically, the authors trace the program’s ensuing conflict to its bureaucratic context and to the differential ability of residents to deploy the program as a resource.
Mothers in Prison: A Review of Needs and Programs
In 1988 1 published an article that reviewed the laws and policies in all states regarding mother-infant programs in prisons. At that time only a few states had programs that allowed for the continued involvement of incarcerated women with their children. One prison nursery program operated at Bedford Hills, New York, and a few other states offered alternative sentencing options for women with short sentences and convictions for minor offenses. Since this paper was published, the number of incarcerated women has tripled in U.S. prisons. The majority of these women are young, single mothers, who have family situations that are considerable different from similarly incarcerated men. In addition, about six percent of newly incarcerated women are pregnant at the time they arrive in prison. The current paper updates changes in women’s corrections and reviews the current trends in programming to address the unique problems of mothering from prison. Discussion of some of the most innovative and successful programs is included in the paper.
Motivate, Advise and Assist: The Evaluation of a UK Probation Service Effective Practice Strategy for Offenders
The central aims of the Probation Service in England and Wales are the reduction of offending and protection of the public and rest upon evidence based practice. This paper is a presentation of the authors current research evaluating different aspects of the effectiveness of this initiative – an adult offender supervision programme as part of a probation service “Effective Practice Strategy’, and employment solutions for offenders. The initial research evaluates a structured cognitive behavioral groupwork program informed by Prochaska and Diclemente’s Spiral of Change. Two programs in different locations are evaluated and offender attitude, motivation and behavioral change are measured in terms of the success of the groupwork programme and its relevance to the individual supervision stabe. Parallel research has been conducted regarding offemders’ motivation to take up options in the UK Governments “New Deal’ training and employment initiatives. The research explores the reasons behind the failure to engage in or sustain employment and uses case study analysis of offender experiences and accounts provided by probation and employment advisors. Consideration is given to how the probation service can help offender’s transfer the increase in motivation in order to encourage them into employment or training.
Motives and Lifestyle of Drug Millionaires
Prosperous drug barons often choose to remain personally involved in logistical matters. An analysis of police dossiers assembled during an extensive investigation into a Dutch cannabis-smuggling network allowed for an exploration of the social fabric surrounding professional criminals in order to gain insights in their motives and lifestyle. Using a grounded theory approach, these findings were contrasted with existing theories on organized crime and clandestine organizations, resulting in an analytical framework to deal with issues like leadership, covert logistics, criminal counterintelligence, and the culture of trading, risk-taking and hedonism. new methodologies including ‘vulnerability analysis’ and ‘threat/damage assessment” could be added to the crime analyst’s toolbox. Ethical and epistemological dilemmas presented themselves that are common in the world of intelligence, but unfamiliar to most criminologists in academia. Information that could never be checked or shared with colleagues, nonetheless forced the researcher to rethink the initial interpretation of the criminal network under study. Lacking the safeguards of open debate once restricted information is involved, can criminologists ever claim to understand controversial phenomena such as organized crime? Does the academic method remain applicable, or can the information gap separating academics from criminal intelligence operators never be bridged?
Moving Beyond a Dichotomous Measure of Coercion
Using data collected as part of an observational study of the police in Indianapolis, Indiana, and St. Petersburg, Florida, this research examines determinants of police coercion. Approximately 3,500 police-citizen suspect encounters are analyzed. Specific attention is given to varying levels of coercion (e.g., verbal commands and threats, simple restraint techniques, use of impact methods). Further, the timing of numerous citizen actions (e.g., resistance, disrespect, officer safety, citizen conflict) within each encounter is carefully considered to ensure such actions occur “prior” to the use of police coercion – crucial to ensuring a causal relationship, but often lacking in encounter level analyses.
Moving Beyond Descriptive Analysis: Using GIS to Explain Pattern and Trends
ArcView is the current industry standard for criminologists interested in crime mapping. Though ArcView is versatile and user-friendly, it lacks the sophistication that allows us to move beyond descriptive and exploratory research. This paper will look at the availability of more advanced tools for spatial analysis in an attempt to encourage the use of more sophisticated GIS packiages, including ArcInfo, among others.
Moving in, Moving out? Young People’s Involvement in Drug Dealing With the New ‘Rave’ Club Culture
Following its first appearance in the -mid to late 80’s, the rave dance culture in the UK grew to be a massively popular youth cultural movement in which ‘going clubbing’ and drug taking formed an integral part. At the height of its popularity, the rave dance culture provided an easily accessed network for the buying and selling of illegal drugs, particularly the drug ecstasy. Many young people seized the economic advantages to be gained through this activity. This paper presents findings from an ethnographic study of young people participating in the rave dance culture in London, in the UK. It will highlight how the movement into drug dealing was largely unintentional though was usually triggered through the combination of a sufficient demand for drugs from others and having access to a drug supply. Once having crossed the drug dealing threshold a dealing lifestyle soon developed which was then found difficult to terminate. Plans to cease dealing were often ongoing. Terminating dealing was often only ceased as a result of being caught. The practical implications of becoming entrenched in a dealer lifestyle will be discussed.
Multi-jurisdictional Research in Small Police Agencies: An Impossible Goal or a Necessary Reality?
To date much research has focused on urban centers and the style of policing that coincides with the demographics and political environments of such areas. There is a growing trend to question whether what is derived from studies of large urban police departments has any direct correlation or application to smaller suburban police agencies. This paper focuses on the importance of conducting research in small police departments utilizing a multi-jurisdictional design that has viability and credibility to the field of criminal justice as well as the practitioners field of policing. The results of a survey conducted of small police agencies regarding their willingness to participate in research studies are presented. Moreover, recommendations will be made with respect to the methods on how to approach police agencies for partnerships in a research project.
Multilevel Criminological Analyses: Implications for an Individual-Context Opportunity Theory of Crime
Recent statistical advances have led to hierarchical modeling procedures that allow for more precise contextual analyses of crime and related behaviors. While multilevel techniques have been used to identify individual and contextual main effects as well as individual-context interaction effects, there has been little systematic theorizing that explains the complex interplay between individual characteristics and ambient contextual factors. In essence, multilevel methods have raced ahead of criminological theory. Our paper addresses this lacuna by exploring some of the key theoretical implications found in this pioneering multilevel empirical work. To ground our discussion, we first identify the core components of an individual-context general opportunity theory of crime. Our exposition follows Tittle’s (1995) guidelines for theory integration that calls for borrowing from multiple orientations to advance a general theory that attempts to account for all forms of deviance. In light of the our general opportunity framework, we review extant multilevel research to explore four general theoretical issues: 1) individualcontext main effects, 2) individual-context interactions, 3) individual-context effects across the life course, and 4) reciprocal relationships in the complex developmental individual -context causal chain. Our paper concludes with a discussion of the research agenda suggested by our individual-context general opportunity theory of crime.
Multilevel Impacts of Fear of Revenge on Residents’ Willingness to Report Drug Activity and Sales
It makes sense to expect that fear of revenge would hamper residents’ willingness to report drug activity, or drug sales, to police. But less well known is the level or levels at which this process operates, and whether this impact is indepeendent of the effects of incivilities on willingness to report, and independent and residents’ general attitudes toward police. Using Robert Davis’ 1990 survey of 400 residents in eight drug-plagued neighborhoods in four cities we conduct a series of multilevel models examining the impacts of fear of revenge under conditions of varying stringency. Results have implications both for Al Hunter’s version of the incivilities thesis, and work on the ecological organization of police work.
Murder in Britain: The Childhood Experiences of Men and Women Who Kill
To date homicide research is Britain has been minimal, Although a few studies have resulted in the production of important knowledge, the current level of homicides in England /Wales and Scotland and public concern point to the need for a more comprehensive and comparative approach that will improve upon and extend existing knowledge. In particular there have been few substantive studios which have focused on the childhood circumstances of men and women who kill, Thus knowledge concerning perpetrators experiences of poverty and discrimination, parenting, schooling, familial violence, sexual and physical abuse and offending is limited. In this paper using quantitative and qualitative data gathered from an ongoing National study of Homicide in Britain, the authors identify some of the diverse childhood experiences of Britain’s killers, We consider the childhood contexts associated with different types of lethal violence and explore the impact such experiences may have on assessments of risk and ‘pathways’ to the homicide event. Findings will be drawn from 2 data sources – a sample of 1000 casefiles of serving lifers; and interviews with 175 killers currently serving life sentences in prison.
Murder in the Motor City: The Disparity of Homicide Rates in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park, Michigan
Detroit has had a difficult time shaking its notorious “Murder Capital” label since the late 1980s, even though the homicide rate there has decreased. Located within the boundaries of Detroit are two separate cities with their own distinct homicide rates: Hamtramck and Highland Park. Hamtramck’s homicide rate depicts a quiet, safe community. In contrast, nearby Highland Park’s homicide rate soars higher than even that of Detroit. Within the 130-some square miles that these three cities occupy, there is a broad range of factors influencing the homicide rate within these communities. This paper will explore the similarities and peculiarities of these coterminous cities and subsequently how the homicide rate is affected.
Murky Conceptual Waters: Space, Public and Private
Concepts of space and the Public and the private are central to our understanding of crime and social control. They involve the normative and literal borders which define violations, whether by miscreants or control agents. These concepts have been muddied by the rapidity of recent technological change. This paper seeks to extend prior work on the social and cultural meaning and breaking of borders. I identify a number of meanings of these concepts and suggest a research agenda.
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NAFTA and Police Aggression: US/Mexico Versus US/Canadian Comparison
The increased border demands, both licit and illicit, since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was initiated five years ago in 1994 has had a corresponding impact on border law enforcement in Mexico, Canada and the United States. In Canada the Royal Candian Mounted Police assist their border guards while the Mexican federal police and the military assist their border police. In the U.S., the Border Patrol has compacts with state and local police, the FBI and, in certain instances, the military. International organized crime involving both drug and human smuggling has placed considerable strain on these newly “freed” borders. Police corruption associated with the lucrative international drug trade is a serious concern in all three NAFTA countries. However, police aggression, a common phenomenon among Mexican law enforcement, has increased among the U.S. Border Patrol as well. A profile of this aggressive contamination within law enforcement is provided.
Narcotics Cultivation, Trafficking, Prevention and Control in the Central Asian Republics: The Case of Tajikistan
ghanistan is the world’s largest producer of illicit opium. Its geographical proximity to the Central Asian Republics, coupled with the social problems plaguing the countries since the dissolution of the Soviet Union – high unemployment, low income, staggering inflation, difficult geographical terrain and almost non-existent border controls facilitate the harvesting and trafficking of narcotics in a region which has emerged as a new route for the illicit transit of drugs from Southwest Asia to Russia and Western Europe. The paper focuses on the extent of the drug problem in this region. Special attention will be paid to Tajikistan, the poorest and most vulnerable of the Central Asian Republics, and the ODCCP’s (United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention) attempts to measure the extent of the problem, prevent and eradicate it. Information has been gleaned through United Nations reports and interviews held and visits made by the researcher to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the spring of this year.
National Evaluation of SafeFutures: Inside, Looking Out
SafeFutures is an Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) multi-year initiative designed to further the existing efforts of selected communities in reducing delinquency and youth violence, using a continuum of care that encompasses prevention, intervention, treatment, and sanctioning programs or services. Six communities — Boston, MA; Contra Costa County, CA; Fort Belknap, MO; Imperial County, CA; Seattle, WA; and St. Louis, MO — began SafeFutures demonstrations in the spring of 1996. The national evaluation includes program observation and in-person interviews with staff-, performance indicator data collection to capture information about youth and family clients, service referral and use, and educational and juvenile justice outcomes; youth and parent surveys; case studies of successful interventions; and GIS mapping techniques. This presentation uses data from the surveys and case studies to examine client profiles, their perceptions of need for community and individual services, and factors associated with favorable case outcomes.
National Evaluation of the “Partnerships to Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence”
In 1997 OJJDP implemented the “Partnerships To Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence” program. Its goals were to: reduce juveniles’ illegal access to guns, reduce the incidence of youth carrying and using guns, and coordinate services for youth at risk for gun violence. Baton Rouge, LA, Oakland, CA, and Syracuse, NY received funding to implement the program. The national evaluators provided the sites with intensive evaluation technical assistance in developing their comprehensive plans and enhancing their partnership structures. This assistance included the development of program logic models for each site to enhance their local strategies and to identify appropriate process and outcome measures. Each site has successfully developed and implemented a comprehensive plan that contains integrated suppression, intervention, and prevention strategies. These efforts have resulted in the following program outcomes: 1) participating law enforcement, juvenile justice, and private youth-serving agencies have implemented policy and operational changes in support of the partnerships’ programs; 2) the partnerships’ suppression strategies-with the participation of ATF and local law enforcement agencies and community effortshave removed illegal guns from the streets; and 3) all three partnerships have implemented intensive intervention and prevention case management services for their at-risk target populations.
National Incident-Based Report System (NIBRS) Data
The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) is being implemented as an improvement to the existing summary Uniform Crime Reporting System. This presentation will present a brief history of NIBRS along with possible uses and structure of NIBRS data. Availability of the data (FBI, NACJD Web site, CD) and three major Web sites which give technical assistance for analyzing NIBRS data will also be discussed.
National Youth Gang Survey Trends
Moe than 3,000 law enforcement agencies have been surveyed each year since 1995 in the National Youth Gang Survey. The survey is nationally representative (since 1996), consisting of four subsamples. All cities with populations over 25,000 and all suburban counties are surveyed. In addition, random samples of small cities and rurual counties are surveyed each year. Important findings and trends covering four years (1996-1999) are presented. Conferees will learn how to access the survey database for analyses.
Native American Women in Prison
This exploratory study intended to determine if there are female prisoners who consider theirselves to be Native American. A specially-constructed Native American Identity Questionnaire was used to collect race and ethnicity data from female prisoners in one Ohio prison. It was found that over 40% (n=255) of those responding (n=601) consider theirselves to be at least partially Native American. The institution’s records at the time of the study reported only two (2) prisoners as Native American. This study suggests that demographic intake processes may not accurately reflect current prison populations.
Need for Implicit Harm: Public Reactions to Law Enforcement Initiatives Against Victimless Crimes
Media coverage of police initiatives in metropolitan regions reveals a cyclical pattern of intensified law enforcement activities followed by periods of non-enforcement for crimes such as prostitution, gambling and casual drug use. An explanatory model for this observed pattern is proposed in which public reaction to enforcement efforts at time (t) leads to either an intensification or a retreat from the current enforcement effort and an increased or reduced intensity of initiatives at a subsequent time (t+l). The inherent presence or the manufacturing of a sense of ‘implicit harm’ surrounding the targeted crimes (which to many are ‘victimless crimes’), is shown to be a critical element in determining whether public reactions are for or against a given law enforcement initiative.
Needle Exchange and Other Service Provision
In this presentation we report selected findings from our three-year National Institute on Drug Abuse funded project entitled, “An Ethnographic Process Evaluation of Needle Exchange” (DA08322-04). Using a combination of ethnographic methods and social survey techniques, this project builds on our previous evaluation of San Francisco’s HIV Prevention Project (HPP) by examining the relationship between needle exchange participation and utilization of ancillary services. We are now in Phase 11 of our three year project and have completed surveys with 400 needle exchangers from eight exchange sites. This presentation focuses on the interviewees’ self reports on changes in health practices since they began attending the needle exchange program. Specifically, we will focus on changes in needle and other injection equipment sharing. We will examine differences of ancillary service utilization by variables such as drug of choice, ethnicity, gender and age. Preferences for particular needle exchange sites will be presented and the role of ancillary services in site selection will be examined.
Neighborhood Correlates of Homicide Trends: An Analysis Using Hierarchial Growth-Curve Modeling
This research blends ideas and concepts from social disorganization theory with recent development in growth-curve methodology to examine the association between neighborhood structure and homicide lvel over time. Using 17 years of sequential data, I estimate a hierarchial growth-curve model that emphasizes the effects of neighborhood socio-economic and demongraphic characteristics on changiing levels of homicide in St. Louis from 1979-1995. The findings reveal that homicide trajectories vary widely across neighborhoods. However, even in the presence of substantial neighborhood differences in homicide trends, varying levels of socially disorganizing neighborhood factors, such as instability and disadvantage, produce clear changes in homicide levels both intially and over time.
Neighborhood Racial Composition, Racial Prejudice, Fear of Crime, and Punitive Attitudes: A Causal Model
Recent research on the fear of crime has demonstrated an empirical relationship between the perceived racial composition of neighborhoods and levels of fear. A separate body of research demonstrates that fear of crime and negative racial attitudes are among the more significant predictors of public support for more punitive criminal justice interventions. The present paper combines and extends these two areas of research by first addressing the question of whether neighborhood racial composition affects punitive attitudes in the same way as fear of crime. Then, a more fully specified model of punitive attitudes is developed using structural equation modeling techniques, which explicates the causal inter-relationships between neighborhood racial composition, racial attitudes, fear of crime, and punitiveness. The data employed in the analysis come from a survey of adult residents of Leon County, Florida, conducted in the Fall of 1995. Theoretical implications of the findings with respect to the “power threat” hypothesis regarding minority populations and criminal justice activity are discussed.
Neighborhood Revitalization, Crime and Fear
A major thrust of criminology theory and research over the past two decades has suggested that urban crime and fear are closely linked with particular community social and environmental conditions (Brantingham & Brantingham, 1981; Brown & Altman, 1983: Harries, 1980; Perkins & Taylor, 1996; Perkins, Wandersman, Rich & Taylor, 1993; Taylo9r, Gottfredson & Brower, 1984; Taylor & Harrell, 1996). Whiloe this body of literature provides compelling (not to say, consistent) evidence of links with specific socio-spatial features, especially cross-sectionally, there is still a lack of longitudinal quasi-experiments testing the impact of overall neighborhood revitalization on both crime and fear. The present paper is based on a seven-year study, funded by the National Institute of Justice and the Salt Lake City Department of Housing and Neighborhood Services. Two waves of resident survey (N = 365, 339) and environmental observation (N of properties = 480) data were collected on 60 streetblocks four years apart. Reported crime and building permit data for the same blocks are currently being processed. it is hypothesized that blocks showing greater revitalization over time across a number of subjective indicators of development (sense of community, place attachment, communitarianism, home and community satisfaction, neighborhood confidence) and objective indicators (home ownership, residential stability, home repairs and improvements, and citizen participation in community organizations) will experience greater reductions in victimization, reported crime, and fear. The impact on crime and fear of distance of blocks from particular revitalization project sites will also be tested.
Neighborhood Social Networks, Informal Social Control, and Urban Violence
Increasingly, researchers interested in the association between neighborhood social organization and the distribution of violent crime in urban settings are focusing on the unique and interactive effects of social networks and informal social control (i.e., the willingness of local residents to intervene on behalf of the goal of crime reduction). In the “cultural transmission” model, dense social networks in communities with low levels of informal social control may serve to transmit deviant behavioral orientations, thereby facilitating violence. In this view, neighborhood social networks exert an increasingly positive impact on the prevalence of violence as informal social control decreases. An alternative approach suggests that network density has countervailing effects on neighborhood violence. Dense networks generate neighborhood social capital that can be directed toward the informal social control of crime–coinsistent with the traditional “systemic” model. This model elaborates on the systemic model, nowever, by suggesting that criminals–to the extent that they are integrated into dense neighborood networks through kin and friendship ties–may mobilize their own network ties to facilitate continued criminal activity (e.g., through discouraging local residents from contacting the police). In this view, the positive impact of social network density on neighborhood violent crime increases as informal social control increases (that is, as the overall level of neighborhood social capital increases). These competing hypotheses are tested using Hierarchial Linear Models with data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods Community Survey–a sample of 8,782 Chicago residents of 343 neighborhoods. In models of neighborhood violence, findings indicate a robust interaction between social network density and informal social control consistent with the elaborated systemic mode.
Neighborhood Structure and Violent Delinquency: The Buffering Effect of Religious Involvement
According to community scholars, detrimental neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics help create an environment that is conducive to individual delinquency. At the same time social control and learning perspectives emphasize that individual factors are important to delinquency. Recent multi-level criminological theory suggests that both levels are important; the im,pact of neighborood and individual factors on delinquency depend on one another (i.e., cross-level interactions). This argument implies that neighborhood factors may be more relevant to delinquency for some youth than others. This paper specifically seeks to determine whether individual-level adolescent religious involvement reduces or “buffers” the influence of detrimental neighborhood characteristics on delinquency, and whether affiliation with a “strict” denomination heightens this buffering capacity. To assess these hypotheses, multi-level models of delinquency are developed that include interactions among neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics, individual religious involvement, and strict denominational affiliation using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Substantively, the findings demonstrate that low neighborhood socioeconomic status increases the likelihood of individual violence. Cross-level interactions demonstrate that this effect is buffered or reduced by religious involvement. However, strict denominational affiliation does not augment this effect.
Neighborhoods and Downtown Drug Courts: The Spatial Implications of the Drug Court Approach
The drug court movement, which began in Miami in 1989, has grown, changed and spread to over 200 American jurisdictions as well as being adopted by a number of foreign countries. While some published literature describing the growth, implementation and impact of drug courts is beginning to appear, few of these studies have closely examined the impact of the drug court approach on the neighborhoods they serve. This paper presents findings from an NIJ-funded retrospective evaluation of two of the earliest and longest-lived drug courts in Portland, Oregon and Las Vegas, Nevada. The analyses demonstrate how drug courts serve principal neighborhood areas within the cities and focus on the contextual implications of the drug court approach upon these neighborhoods. Inferences are drawn concerning the potential impact of drug courts as related to implementation issues that may be related to effectiveness in both reducing crime and improving the quality of life for the residents of these neighborhoods.
Network Strudcture, Social Homophily, and HIV-related Risk Behavior Among Drug Injectors in Washington, D.C.
Drug abusers in inner cities usually do not use them alone. They form a web of supporting networks by selling and acquiring drugs to and from others, having sex with partners, and injecting drugs together. Using a self-reported sample of about 500 drug injectors in a dozen of networks in Washington, D.C., this paper examines the extent to which the drug use behavior is related to the HIV exposure risk, and how the network structure conditions this relationship. In addition to detecting network structures, such as cliques and structural equivalent positions, and characterizing IDUs and their associated networks in various structural terms, such as centrality, prestige, multiplexity, density, and the like, this study evaluates how individuals’ locations in networks determine the proportion of their contacts who are infected. Taking the classification of network members into clusters of actors who are similar into account, comparisons of ties within subgroups are made to ties outside the subgroups. Utilizing the group-level measures derived from the social network analysis, a subsequent hierarchical data modeling analysis is conducted to study structural correlates and their interactions with individual attributes of the drug injectors in predicting their HIV-related risk behavior.
Networki Analysis of Co-offending Data
A number of criminological theories look for the causes of crime in the individual’s relations to his or her social environment. Thse relations are variously referred to as differential associations, social bonds, ties, interactions, learning, the transmission of cultures, subcultures or neutralisations, and so forth. All olf these concepts have somethin in common in that they are difficult to study using traditional, quantitative social scientific methodologies. Modern network analysis, such as is being employed in the context. Its use is still very uncommon in the field of criminology, however. The few network analyses of co-offending that have been carried out provide us with an interesting and in many respects new image of the character of juvenile offending. An analysis of networks of young offenders in Sweden, for example, shows that Stockholm plays host to a single large network comprising the most active young offenders, that co-offending relationships are extremely short-lived, that there are no cohesive violent gangs to be found and that the choice of co-offenders often takees place across ethnic lines. These results differ, at least in part, from the findings of research into juvenile offending carried out in the USA. This raises the important question of whether the Swedish results are a product of the methodology employed, or whether they reflect possible differences in the nature of juvenile offending between the USA nad certain European countries.
Networks and Social Control in Public Housing: Challenges to the Systemic Model
The systemic model of neighborhood organization, as discussed by Bursik and Grasmick (1993) and others, claims that crime is reduced through the formal and informal control of residents and their environment. From the systemic standpoint of neighborhood organization, the community is a system made up of kinship/friendship ties. How such Ties result in control of behavior in the streets has been more assumed than measured in the research literature. How such ties result in control, and how often, has been relatively unexplored. In this study, we analyzed two public housing complexes, both of which were characterized by some disorganization factors. Our findings challenge components of the systemic model of networks and social control. By comparing networks and few of crime in two local public housing units, we find that the effects of networks differed by context and were more complex than implied in the systemic model. In fact, preliminary results showed that the relationship between networks and fear of crime were curvilinear within site. It is also quite possible that extensiveness and depth of networks affect fear differently. In this paper, we use these findings as a basis to challenge the systemic model, assess its limitations, and offer suggestions for the improvement of this theoretical approach.
Networks of Interagency Coordination, Collaboration, and Communication: Two Case Studies Exploring Network Analytical Methods of Assessing Comprehensive Community Initiatives
The local coordination of crime/delinquency prevention and control initiatives have emerged as effective strategies for combating crime and delinquency, fear of crime, physical decay, and social disorder. Key to the effectiveness of these initiatives is the ability of local stakeholders (e.g., community leaders or active residents, representatives from local service agencies, etc.) to form “collaborative networks “to identify and prioritize problems, to identify appropriate responses, and to coordinate responses that are more comprehensive that those previously designed. The presentation highlight the use of network analysis as a tool for identifying patterns of coordination, collaboration, and communication. Data will be presented from the Offenders Maryland Hot Spots Community Initiative and the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent and Chronic Juvenile. Particular attention will be given to the change in the network structure pre and post program implementation, The structure of the networks are linked to notions of community social capital.
Neutralizing Pixie Dust: An Analysis of Employee Theft at the Vacation Kingdom
Theft by employees is a widespread multibillion-dollar problem faced by all segments of American industyr, and is part of a much larger issue of counterproductive behavior in the workplace which includes violence, substance use, and absenteeism on the job. Employee theft is less often a response to external economic pressures than it is a way to express dissatisfaction with a work environment that has continually demanded longer, harder hours without corresponding increases in wages or benefits. Because of the importance of employee behavior issues, this study will attempt to show both the prevalence of the theft problem and explain some of the reasons for counterproductive behavior in the workplace. The Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, Florida serves as the company of analysis for this research. Using innovative internet survey research techniques, a sample of approximately 450 current and former employees share not only their attitudes towards the company, but their own workplace behaviors, including theft. The findings indicate that employees who steal are often among the most productive workers in terms of guest service, the theft resulting from strained relationships between management and the company as a whole.
New Evidence on the Relationship Between Broken Homes and Delinquency
Extant studies of the relationship between family structure and delinquency have looked only at the condition of living in a broken home. By doing so, they have lumped together juveniles who lived in broken homes for long periods of time with those whose homes were disrupted only recently. Moreover, they have tended to ignore the age of the juvenile when the disruption occurred. In contrast, the presebt study examines the relationship between the broken home event and delinquency by considering (1) the duration of the disruption and (2) the juvenile’s age. The study uses recently released data on juveniles and their parents from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.
New Intemediate Sanctions the German Sanction System–Will They Have Effect on the Prison Population Inflation: Some Remarks in Comparison to Other Jurisdictions
Solutions for the problem of prison overcrowding can be found in three ways: the expansion of prison capacity; collective pardons, amnesties and early releases; or the reduction of the application and length of detentions. This possibility demands a consistent long-term penal policy that includes decriminalisation, avoiding pre-trial detention as far as possible, lowering the penal scales and the resort to non-custodial sanctions. In Germany one can find a very high percentage of day fines, and a very low percentage of unconditional prison sentences. This situation is different in Sweden or in Denmark, where short prison sentences are rather common. However, Germany faces an increasing problem with its prisoner rate that is much higher than that in the Scandinavian countries. That is the reason for the government to try to incorporate new intermediate sanctions in the German Penal Code: Community service, the supension of the driving licence and electronically supervised house arrest are discussed as new principal sentences. However, the effect of those new sanctions on the prisoner rate is doubted by several critics. That this sceptisim is justified will be shown by comparing the German to the Swedish and the Finish Sanction System.
New Labour, Community Safety and Public Tolerance
We are currently experiencing a “sea change” in the ways in which we think about crime, security, the state and the public. As in the past it is changing material and political practices which have spurred a growing number of criminologists to respond to recent changes and to try to make sense of them. As local authorities and multi-agency groupings become increasingly responsible in the UK for providing “community safety” (which has become an umbrella term which incorporates crime control, disorder as well as a range of risk hazards that might affect the community) there is a perceived need for the public to participate more directly in providing information, co-operation and legitimating these new arrangements. Consequently, there is a growing interest in public attitudes and toleration, although policy makers and the criminological community have, to date, found it difficult to come to terms with these elusive concepts.
New Legal and Organizational Measures in the Area of Combatting Organized Crime in Poland
First the author refers to current evaluations of the state of organized crime in Poland and to predictions concerning the scope of danger coming from that type of crime. This is presented against the background of the extent and rate of social and economic changes expected to occur. Next the author evaluates the strategies used to combat organized crime that have been applied so far. The main part of the paper deals with the most recent legal and organization measures which modify the strategy to combat organized crime. The issue here is first of all the institution of immunity witness (the law of June 1997 on immunity witnesses which took effect on September 1, 1998) as well as a new investigative institution called the Central Investigative Bureau which was established by an ordinance of the Chief Police Commissioner of February 29, 2000. The first practical effects of these measures are also discussed. The final part of the paper deals with some recommendations (both the most recent and some past ones) toward improving the strategy to combat organized crime. These recommendations address both some legal and organizational deficiencies in that area.
New Strategies in the Prosecution of Violence Against Children in Theoretical Perspective
This article is an in-depth exploration of the contemporary criminal justice strategies in the prosecution of parental violence against children. These new strategies are represented by the multi-disciplinary, coordinated approaches to the identification and legal processing of crimes against children, the approaches which utilize teams consisting of the representatives from the police, the prosecution office, the Child Protection and social workers from private (e.g. the Victim Advocates), as well as public (the Administration for Children’s Services) organizations, the psychologists and/or psychiatrists, medical examiners and child-advocates. Moreover, the police squads and the prosecution bureaqus involved in these approaches are specialized, and sometimes there are specialized judicial dockets as well, dealing strictly with criminal mistreatment of children. This paper develops an answer to the question, “What kind of phenomena are those recent legal strategies and organizational developments, and what trends and curernts in the criminal justice system and in the broader culture do they represent?” Firstly, I examine several “social control” theoretical approaches to the issue, specifically, the neo-Foucaultian, the class-conflict, and the feminist “patriarchal state” theories, and conclude that none of them can adequately assess and explain the development of the new strategies in question. Then I turn to the frameworks developed by John Hagan (1979; 1998), involving the “loosely-” and “tightly coupled” systems in the criminal justice establishments, and to historical approach to the connection of the welfare state and modern penalty advanced by David Garland (1986); and demonstrate how the combination of these theoretical frameworks can illuminate our undeetstanding of the contemporary trends in the processing of crimes against children. To substantiate and support these theoretical inferences and assertions, I use ethnographic and interview data collected from eight months of field work int he specialized Crimes Against Children prosecution bureau of a large urban jurisdiction.
New Theories to Explain New Crimes? Polish Criminology Since 1989
The unprecedented political, social, and economic transformations in Eastern Europe beginning in 1989 are unfortunately accompanied by very negative changes in the crime situation, including dramatic rises in violent crime and new forms of economic crime. Against this background and taking into account specifically the situation in Poland, the question arises of how Polish criminological theory takes these changes into account and explains them. The paper is an attempt to analyze some changes and new trends in Polish criminological theory over the past 11 years, while taking into account the relationship between theory and practice. New types of crimes require new theories to explain them while the unprecedented rises in crime rates themselves cannot be explained with pre- 1989 theories, either. Apart from that, there is the issue of to what extent Polish criminology could possibly benefit from the legacy of Western criminology, especially since many Western countries have gone through similar “crime revolutions” in the past.
Newsmedia Conceptions of Racist Violence as a Social Problem
This paper argues that there is a need to revisit and reconstruct the theoretical vocabulary and conception of social problems in criminology. Using the example of racial violence, this paper considers street crime (or ‘mugging’) and racist attacks as instances of social problem recognition and denial by the media in the UK. Conventionally, social problems are constructed through processes of simplification, stigmatization and appeals to a public consensus and sense of outrage, through which the media, entrepreneurs and others problematise certain issues groups or activities. The flip side of such constructions is that other issues or topics that could be seen as of concern and as problematic are denied or underplayed. Street crime, drug use, child abuse are some examples of the former, while the environment, poverty and crimes of the powerful are often thought of as exemplifying the other side of the coin. This paper goes on to argue that the media’s handling of the case of the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence in London in 1993 – and the subsequent inquiry into police investigative failures and the finding of institutional racism – cuts across these conventions. The complex positioning and manoevures of the news media reflects differential and multiple racialisations, as well as contingency and unevenness in the definition of social problems.
Nighttime Incarceration as an Intermediate Sanction: An Evaluation of the Oklahoma County Program
This presentation will discuss the results of an NU funded evaluation of an intermediate sanction program unique to Oklahoma, but broadly applicable. The Nighttime Incarceration Program (NIP) was intended to increase the capacity of nonviolent, repeat offenders to cope with daily life and enhance the likelihood of successful reintegration back into their communities. It was unique in that offenders were not eligible for probation, not in custody during the day, and were incarcerated at night where they were supposed to receive a variety of treatment services. Offenders would otherwise be incarcerated in a state prison. Both short term and long range outcomes of the programs participants will be discussed, so that evaluators can use this information to guide development of assessments of similar intermediate sanction programs, and communities interested in developing a similar program can use the results to help determine the suitability of such a program for their particular circumstances
Nobody’s Punk”: The Reasons and Rules for Fighting Among a Sample of Female Gang/Clique Members
A recent surge in popular and scholarly interest in female gangs has produced a richer understanding of their nature and dynamics. Qualitative studies in several cities have revealed variations with regard to group structure, function, criminality, and gender dynamics. While some prior and recent research finds that gang females do not like to fight, and/or attempt to avoid potential fighting situations, other studies suggest that female gang members readily engage in fighting behavior and enjoy these physical confrontations. Based on qualitative research in Boston–including 68 interviews with members of 25 different female gangs and cliques, and two years of fieldwork among urban adolescent girls–this paper presents findings on their reasons for fighting, the rules of fighting, and the situational characteristics of fight events.
“Not In My Backyard” and the Reintegration of Offenders: Discourses of Rejection and Inclusion in the Risk Society
Drawing on the critical sociology of Juergen Habermas and the integrative-constitutive theory of criminology, this paper analyzes the issue of offender reintegration in the ‘risk’ society. The central focus is the battle over the placement of a halfway house in a residential neighborhood. The halfway house events illustrate the way in which the packaging of information in a distrustful, disempowered community can lead to further marginalization of both the community and those it seeks to reject. While the paper is focused on a specific case, this case encapsulates broader issues of the management of information in western societies, and in particular the consequences of the loss of legitimacy accorded to political leaders and experts in those societies. Data from public meetings, a focus group, and interviews with “stakeholders” was collected during 1998-2000 in a Canadian city of 80,000, employing the approach and methods of action-research. The findings appear to be consistent with evidence from siliar events in other western countries.
Nowhere to Run: The Theft of Motorcycles in a Remote Island Location
The theft of motorcycles on the remote North Atlantic islands of Bermuda is a multi-million dollar a year enterprise and a gateway crime for juveniles. This paper examines the dynamics of bike theft, stripping and parts distribution and the efforts of the police and insurance industry combat the problem.
O
Objective Analysis of the Effects of Retention Elections on Judges’ Sentencing Practices Under the Merit Plan
This research provides the first objective analysis of the effects of Merit Plan retention election on judges’ sentencing decisions in an entire state. We reviewed the sentencing record of one district court judge in each of Wyoming’s 17 judicial districts in detail–district courts in Wyoming have original jurisdiction over felonies and high misdemeanors-in order to assess the effect of an impending retention election on sentencing. In order to minimize bias associated with the early years of a judge’s tenure, we reviewed sentencing decisions throughout the first six-year elected term following appointment for judges who had filed for reelection. Sentencing decisions were reviewed in 200 randomly selected cases for each judge. Twenty-four variables were collected on each case from court and probation records including defendant characteristics (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, SES, family characteristics, and gender), initial charge, plea bargain, sentence severity, legal representation, weapon used, prior offenses, and victim injury. In all, 3,400 cases were reviewed. Results from analyses provide new insight into the effects of retention elections and defendant characteristics on judicial decision making.
Observed Morale and Measured Cynicism Between Police Districts and Workloads
This paper will focus on the relationship between officer morale and cynicism taking into account the differing workloads between assignments. Using current definitions of police workload, the author seeks to examine the relationship between morale and cynicism of police officers in two central districts of a large metropolitan police department. The author will combine both quantitative and qualitative research to focus on the relationship between the two.
Obtaining and Using BJS Data From the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data
The National Archive of Criminal Justice Data was established in 1978 as a topical archive within the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). ICPSR is the world’s largest social science data archive. The NACJD acquires, archives and disseminates crime and justice research data collections from a number of sources, including the Bureau of Justice Statistics. In this presentation, the holdings of the NACJD made available from BJS are described, as are the procedures for obtaining and using BJS data. Most data is distributed from the NACJD’s World Wide Web site, so emphasis is placed in this presentation on using the NACJD Web site to obtain and analyze data.
Of Holocausts and Gun Control
A neglected issue in the gun control debate is the question of genocides or politicdes carried out by the state, and/or other minority groups within a nation, against ethnic or other minority groups. This paper suggests that, since firearms are primarily defensive weapons, unlike knives, bludgeons, etc., widespread possession of firearms in the potential victim population may be a significant deterrent to such mass murders.
Officer Perceptions of Policy Violations and the Willingness to Report Them
This study examines the perceptions of police officers regarding various behaviors that violate official organizational policy. Officer perceptions are measured in terms of how serious the behavior is believed to be, if the behavior is known by the officer to be a violation of official policy, what disciplinary action the officer believes would and should follow such a violation, and the willingness of the officer to report the violation. Based on data obtained from the August 1999 ICPSR version of Carl Klockars’ Police Corruption in Thirty Agencies in the United States, 1997, a quadratic regression model is used to analyze the impact length of service and rank of the officer has on willingness to report policy violations. It is found that low ranking officers (recruit) with little time of service (0-2 years) express a great willingness to report. Officers and detectives with 3-5 years of experience express the least willingness to report violations, with an increase in reporting as length of service and rank increase. This parabolic relationship is consistent with descriptive analyses such as Heck (1992) and Hunt and Manning (1991) which indicate a period of ‘induction’ or ‘learning’ that takes place before officers and detectives become part of the ‘blue wall of silence’. As commitment and investment in the bureaucratic mechanisms of the organization increase (length of time served and increase in rank) so does the willingness to be a bureaucratic ‘team player’. Analyzing I I different scenarios, the types of violations that are more likely to be ‘covered up’ or ignored are described. Sample size = 3,232 officers from 30 police agencies within the Continental U.S.
OJJDP’s Intensive Aftercare Program for Serious Juvenile Offenders: Outcome Evaluation Results
The National Council on Crime and Delinquency has been conducting a multi-site process and outcome evaluation of the OJJDP-sponsored Intensive Aftercare Program Research and Demonstration effort, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative dimensions, since 1995, when four sites began operations (Nevada, New Jersey, Colorado and Virginia). Program intake has now ceased the three continuing sites, with a total study enrollment of 517 randomized cases. This adequate, albeit less than ideal, enrollment, in large part, reflects diligent steps taken to restrict program eligibility to the most serious juvenile offenders. The current research findings cover the first two years of program operations. The evaluation employs an experimental design in each site and utilizes several measures of pre-post change among participants. The research examines the impact on specific areas of youth functioning, such as substance abuse, family functioning, employment and social functioning, that are theoretically and empirically linked to continued involvement in delinquent behavior. In addition, the research considers the use of multiple measures of recidivism on cohorts of institutional releasees, with a catchment period of 12 months post-release.
On a Wing and a Prayer: Researching the Aryan Warrior
A problem common to all ethnographic research on criminal organizations is access. In the case of political criminals of the radical right, this problem is made more difficult by dint of a strict code of secrecy. Also, many neo-Nazis hate the media, some are in the witness protection program, and enarly all of them distrust outsiders. How, then, does a criminologist gain access? This paper is based on my interviews with more than three dozen hard right activitis, including four bank robbing terrorists affiliated with the Aryn Republican Army. Access is gained on a wing and a prayer. Failures are to be expected. Success comes where there is confidence. And confidence is possible only when the researcher takes the time to learn something about the personal life history of his/her subjects. Through this human connection, research on the Aryan warrior becomes a reality.
On Getting the Job Done: An Examination of the Impact of Prison Labour Participation on Inmate Misconduct in Contemporary Portugal
Evaluation of prison labour programs has recently undergone significant changes. Reflecting, in part, the emergence of the “New Penology” ideals, the external social objectives of reduced recidivism and enhanced employability upon release are rapidly being downplayed in favour of the short term institutional goal of improved inmate conduct. In this way, the primary focus of prison labour is no longer that of the reintegration of the offender into the community but rather as a cost-effective means of internally managing the dangerous prison population. The following research examines the impact of participation in prison labour programs on inmate misconduct, as measured by the violation of institutional rules. Extensive data collected from a sample of prisoners incarcerated in a maximum security prison in Portugal are analyzed using OLS regression techniques. Results are discussed in fight of their implications for both theory and policy, with special attention being given to recent arguments surrounding the issue of mandatory prison labour.
On Narco-Guerrilla, Narco-Terrorism, Narco-Fascism, and Narco-Bourgeoisie
Since the mid- 1980s the specter of the narco-guerrilla or narco-terrorism has become a catchword in various Latin American countries. These terms imply that Marxist rebels are in league with drug traffickers, or even that the two are identical. However, while some rebel organizations do have dealings with criminal groups, their involvement pales in comparison with that of the established elites, in particular the military in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. The paper focuses on the terms narco-guerrilla, narco-terrorism, narco-fascism, and narco-bourgeoisie and aims to explain their origins and meanings.
On the Institutional Management of Stigma: Some Implications From Conversation Analysis
This study focusses on conversational resources that interactants in institutional settings deploy in response to utterances that are construable as stigmatising. Evidence from legal and social-service settings suggests that the management of stigmatising discourse as well as stigma per se is accomplished routinely and implicitly, not with reference to organizational handbooks or other deliberate training but rather via the use of imported, generic conversational resources, including embedded correction, the use of disagreement-implicative speech fragments, and changes in gaze direction. This study suggests that stigma is an important aspect of organizational work and discourse and recommends practices to enhance responses to stigmatising and otherwise marginalising linguistic practices with reference to the lived experience of interactants in these settings, instead of reliance on idealised notions of institutional talk.
On the Possibility of Forgiveness and Restoration: Parents of SBS Victims
This paper examines questions related to the possibility of forgiveness of offenders by parents of SBS victims. The broader theoretical framework draws on literature in peacemaking criminology, restorative justice, and studies of forgiveness. Qualitative data, from discussions of forgiveness and of the justice system on a listserv by the SBS Alliance, are analyzed. The central research questions are: (1) What are the opinions of parents of SBS victims on the issue of forgiveness of offenders? (2) What are the obstacles to offender forgiveness that they identify? (3) What are their opinions of the justice system and their experiences of the justice system?, and (4) How are opinions of and experiences with the justice system related to the possibility of the parents of SBS victims forgiving offenders?
One Cheer for Community Prosecution
Community prosecution programs have been introduced in several prosecutors’ offices throughout the country to achieve community outreach, assign cases to prosecutors by neighborhood rather than in the order they arrive, and to encourage prosecutors to spend more time in the community.. often working more closely with the police, Common features of these programs include redirection of service outside the court, with more sensitivity to the cultures and special needs of those served, greater focus on crime prevention, and closer collaboration with prosecutors in other jurisdictions. This paper raises the following questions about these programs and their efficacy.- Are the goals and objectives of community prosecution appropriate? Axe the programs set up to achieve those goals? What can be said about the efficacy of the programs based on the available evidence? What additional evidence is needed? How might the public best be served by prosecutors, if not through community prosecution? _
One Moment in Time: Using Pagers to Measure How Parole/Probation Officers Spend Their Time
For years parole and probation agencies across the United States have been looking for ways to assign work. Should it be a caseload count or should it be based on some type of scientific measurement/work unit concept? The Ohio Adult Parole Authority has operated on a work unit concept since the mid-1980s. The work unit concept has served as a yardstick to ensure equalizing workloads between officers and has helped to determine the number of field officer positions needed to operate smoothly. Previous studies designed to measure workload have included at least one study where officers were required to carry a sheet on which every task was recorded as was the time allocated to the task. This type of study proved to be very time consuming, and, consequently, unpopular. In order to alleviate that problem, yet maintain the integrity of the study, pagers and a random moment of paging system were used to determine how officers spend their day. The following paper discusses the mechanics, advantages and disadvantages of using pagers to measure work activity. The methodology may be helpful in profiling work patterns of several kinds of workers. A brief discussion of the data will also be included.
Online Applications Using Uniform Crime Reports Data
The advent of Internet technology has provided new opportunities for using and presenting data. Missing data, linking data and providing appropriate metadata are challenges that require new approaches. Examples of online applications using the Uniform Crime Reports in both Internet and intranet environments will be discussed.
Opening the Policy Window: Public Opinion and Determinate Sentencing Guidelines
Statutorily, the United States Sentencing Commission was charged with factoring public opinion into sentencing guidelines and focusing research on public attitudes toward crime seriousness and public sentencing preferences. Yet the dynamic between public opinion and public policy, which may be found in the way mass media affects public opinion and the role played by advocacy groups in influencing public and legislative views of sentencing, is not explicated. Understanding this relationship becomes increasingly important as more states develop and enact their own determinate sentencing guidelines. Using interview data that surveys Florida participants in the policy formation process, including legislators, judges, community activists, lobbyists, interest group members, and criminal justice practitioners, this research explores public opinion in the formation of determinate sentencing guidelines, with particular emphasis on what is opening
Operational and Management Issues in Women’s Prisons
In reaction to the rise in population of women’s prisons, operational and management issues arc now receiving much-needed attention. This paper outlines some of these issues and their implications for prison administration. Few states have developed appropriate policy on the management and supervision of female inmates and parolees. As a result. female prisons arc managed based on policies and procedures developed for the management of the male offender. These issues include classification, program development, training and operational procedures. A gender-appropriate classification system, for example, must take into consideration the differential levels of institution violence and disciplinary infraction exhibited female and rnale inmates. Training curricula, again with few exceptions, omits gender-specific in formation regarding the management and supervision of female prisoners. We argue that the gendered differences in women’s pathways to incarceration, offense patterns, their behavior while imprisoned and their needs (both during their prison term and at release) must be considered in planning for prison policy. The paper concludes in proposing a framework for implementing gender- responsive operations, management and supervision strategies and improving outcomes of women enmeshed in the criminal justice system.
Opposing the Rod: Historical Benchmarks in the Movement to End the Corporal Punishment of Children
Scholars concede that the corporal punishment of children is an entrenched disciplinary practice. It is widely received as an appropriate disciplinary measure by many. Moreover, it is a legislated practice in the home in all fifty states and in school districts across several states. Its support, however, has been sharply criticized by many children rights’ advocates, social scientists and child-rearing experts. Opponents have urged parents to practice alternative disciplinary measures and have called for its prohibition on the legislative front. This paper examines many of the historical benchmarks that have helped to galvanize this movement.
Order Amid Chaos: Enforcement Strategies in Drug Distribution Networks
This paper draws upon interview data focusing on issues of organisational control and management strategies in an otherwise opaque environment: drug networks controlling street level distribution. Research on patterns of drug distribution typically limits itself to interaction among street level dealers, or between dealers and users. Yet, markets for imported drugs in particular depend on a consistent hierarchical structure, in spite of the inability to access societally endorsed enforcement mechanisms. Alternative strategies necessarily emerge. Data suggest that order within a drug distribution network hinges on intense fear, or else or charisma. Charisma seems highly effective, but depends on a highly consistent, visible persona. In these typically violent environments, instilling fear requires either covert but effective threats, or else the willingness to engage in extreme and often erratic behaviour. Interviews reveal the underlying themes sustaining various “enforcement tactics”, as well as the reasoning behind their application. Community implications for dealing with street level distribution networks form part of the conclusion.
Organizational Reform in Large Police Departments: The Columbus, Ohio Division of Police Re-engineering Process
In recent years, much has been discussed and written on ways to improve policing in the United States. Police agencies large and small have begun initiatives to practice community oriented policing, problem oriented policing, and the latest area of interest, an adaptation of New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Compstat. All of these concepts have proven value for law enforcement. Often, however, the plans to practice the above have resulted in add-on programs to an agency operating much as it has for many years. Organizational philosophies, management paradigms, operational procedures, and officer attitudes and behaviors are often largely unchanged by the adoption of these strategies. When NYPD began the Compstat initiative, it didn’t simply begin having strategy meetings but undertook sweeping organizational change designed to make the agency more effective in addressing crime. Other large departments have also experienced major reform designed to improve effectiveness. Police departments in Chicago, Washington D.C., New Orleans, and Philadelphia are examples. When police agencies are queried as to whether COP, POP, or Compstat are embraced or practiced in their organization, most indicate at least some involvement in one or more of the strategies. When asked about what organizational changes occurred to support the adoption of the strategies, however, it is often discovered that little major change has occurred. The Columbus Ohio Division of Police began working in 1995 to identify citizen needs, organizational weaknesses, and to develop a long-term plan for organizational reform. The efforts culminated in a two-year long “re-engineering process” that has involved nearly 20% of the agencies personnel and resulted in a highly progressive plan for sweeping organizational change. This paper outlines that reengineering process that might serve as a model for innovative reform in other police agencies. While especially applicable for larger departments, re-engineering holds promise for most police organizations committed to reform, regardless of size.
Organized Crime and Appropriation of Ethnicity
In criminology race, culture and ethnicity are used to explain delinquency. In this tradition organized crime has often been presented with an exotic flavor. In the course of our research among Colombian “traquetos” in cocain, Turkish and Kurdish heroin dealers and Russian-speaking Mafiosi in The Netherlands we have learned to reverse the assumed causal relationship. It is through the appropriation of ethnicity that criminal groups and individuals manifest themselves.
Out of Court Jury Selection: Race, Space and the Construction of Community
Criminologists have become interested in the invocation of “community” to legitimate state criminal justice policy. in this paper, I extend the investigation to the out-of-court jury selection processes adopted in Australia, North America and the United Kingdom. I explore: how such selection processes have privileged particular constructions of community, perceived in territorial terms; the way in which “community representatives” have been chosen, and the nature of the debates that have taken place over the representation on jury panels of indigenous and other ethnic minority groups.
Overturned Convictions in Capital Cases: A Comparison Between Inmates Released From Death Row Because of Doubts About Their Guilt and Those Who Were Executed
This study focuses on 76 documented cases since 1970 in which prisoners were released from death row because of “doubts about their guilt”. It contains two separate sections. The primary component involves a qualitative analysis designed to provide a rich, descriptive account of the cases. The second portion of this study consists of a quantitative analysis devised to test hypotheses relating to factors that affect the outcome of the appellate decision process. The findings of the qualitative analysis suggest that prosecutorial misconduct, evidentiary errors, and new evidence are the primary factors cited by the courts for reversal. Additionally, informants or persons most familiar with the cases note the influence of prosecutorial misconduct, new evidence, police misconduct, and perjury of witnesses as significant factors that led to the wrongful convictions. The quantitative analyses indicate that allegations of perjury, the discovery of new evidence, the strength of the evidence, and the number of aggravating factors are significant predictors of judicial reversals. The final section of this study focuses on policy implications that may decrease the risk of error in capital cases. Future research suggestions are offered that may help further increase understanding of the phenomenon of wrongful convictions.
P
Paid Work and Delinquency
Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth for 1997, this paper examines the relationship among youth between paid work and delinquency. Several hypotheses are examined having to do with how the effects of work are conditioned by the age, gender, race, and social class of the youth and the work status of the youth’s parents. It is hoped that the research will clarify some of the discrepant findings on the relationship between paid work and delinquency (e.g., why the relationship is positive in some studies and negative in others).
Parallel Systems of Justice
Authoritarian governments often face serious threats to their legitimacy. These include civil wars, labor disputes, and widespread popular dissatisfaction with the government’s political and economic policies. When confronting these threats, a government has at least two response options. One is to follow the rule of law as stated in its constitution and iunternational agreements. This option commonly allows for the implementation of special restrictive measures to cope with the emergency. Another is to rely on state terror. State terror also includes restrictions on civil and legal rights, but on a much more extensive and severe scale in a climate of fear. It can include detention without notification of the charges, warrantless arrests, extra-judicial courts, summary executions, disappearances and torture. A seldom-researched aspect of state terror is now it corrupts the nation’s criminal justice system. Specifically, a parallel or extra-legal, shadow system of justice is developed by the state to “manage” the emergency. This shadow system often relies on the members of the legitimate police forces to carry out the state’s tasks. Using examples from Latin America, this paper describes this phenomenon and provides a theory to explain how state terror unermines a nation’s legitimate criminal justice institutions.
Parental Attachment and the Dynamics of Peers and Delinquency
This paper investigates how family attachment conditions the dynamics of delinquent peers and self-reported delinquency. Previous research suggests that time spent with family conditions the effects of delinquent peers because time with family limits opportunities for delinquency. However, existing research has only superficially examined the intimacy aspect of the parent/child relationship. Nor has this research considered parental effects on the overall learning process that is central to contemporary criminological theory. Using data from the National Youth Survey, I first present a second order latent variable measuring family attachment. Following this I use structural covariance models to investigate variation in the dynamics of the relationship between delinquent beliefs, delinquent peers, and delinquency across different levels of familya ttachment. Implications for learning and control theories are discussed.
Parental Controls, Parental Violence and Dating Violence: The Mediating Role of Self Control
Much of the research investigating the link between children witnessing parental violence and their later interpersonal violence suggests that violence is learned and passed on from generation to generation. Little research has been done that questions the learning mechanism in this replication of violence over the generations. Yet recent research finds that children who witness parental violence often report weakened child to parent attachments. These recent findings may support an alternate perspective on parenting and delinquency which suggests that delinquency is a result of weakened parent to child bonds (Hirschi, 1969). According to such a perspective, parents who are violent toward one another, may be ineffective parents who are neither attached to, nor monitor their children. This paper compares the levels of Parental Attachment, Parental Controls and respondent’s Self Control for children who do and do not witness inter-parental violence. Additionally, the effects of self control are assessed as a mediating link between witnessing parental violence and later, dating violence.
Parental Strain and Home Delinquency: A Cross-Cultural Application of General Strain Theory
General strain theory is in the process of becoming an influential model for explaining individual level variation in delinquency. According to this perspective, delinquency represents a specific style of coping with stressful or otherwise negative life events and circumstances. The 1996 study by Brezina extended the etiological model of Agnew’s (1992) original theory by asking: if delinquency is a form of coping, does it work? In other words, is delinquency a psychologically functional adaptation to strain? The research by Brezina suggests that it is: juveniles who responded to strain by committing acts of delinquency were significantly less likely to manifest symptons of psychological stress and discomfort than juveniles who refrained from delinquency. The basic goal of our research is to apply this model to the specific context of domestic life. We examine delinquent responses to parental strain as experienced by a sample of Finnish juveniles. Consistent with the functionality hypothesis, we predict that delinquent acts directed at home reduce the negative psychological effects of having bad relationships with one’s parents. We further expect that other forms of delinquency are not associated with this specific effect. Finally, we also compare the “functionality” of home delinquency to non-delinquent outlets of strain.
Parental Transitions: The Influence of Accumulation and Timing on Adolescent Delinquency and Substance Use
An association between family disruption and juvenile delinquency is well-noted in the literature. While direct and indirect parental controls have been found to mediate the relationship between family disruption and delinquency, we focus on the distal relationship. With few exceptions, family disruption is operationalized in a dichotomous fashion such that family structure is defined as intact or broken (divorced) or single parent versus two parent. Timing of family disruptions relative to child development is rarely considered. We attend to these limitations in an analysis of parental transitions from birth to age 13 in two samples of adolescent boys; sample one includes 201 at-risk youth from neighborhoods with higher than average juvenile crime rates (true?) and sample two includes 70 chronic and serious juvenile offenders. In our analyses we are concerned with the following questions: Does the number (or accumulation) of parental transitions influence delinquency? At what point does the number of transitions predict antisocial behavior; is one transition sufficient or is the critical number of transitions higher? We are also concerned with the accumulation of parental transitions at different key developmental ages. Does it matter when the transitions occurred (birth to three, preschool age (3 to 6), school-age (6 to 10), pre-puberty (10 to 13)) or is the key predictor simply number of transitions?
Parenting Orders: The Appropriateness aned the Practicalities
The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 is focussed on reforming youth justice as a major pan of Government policy to build safer communities, Section 8-10 of the Act deals with Parenting Orders. This is a new policy aimed to ensure that parents of disruptive and/or anti-social children, take full responsibility for their proper care and control. The order requires parents to attend training and guidance sessions and breach of conditions is punishable by a fine and/or removal of children into local authority care. This paper will examine the impact of the implementation of this policy and raises issues regarding the appropriateness and practicality of enforcing such an order in England and Wales.
Parenting Style, Peer Influence, and Juvenile Delinquency
This study examines how the worlds of parents and peers interact in the lives of adolescents in predicting deviant behavior. The study considers peers as potential instigators of delinquency (followwing differential association theory) and parents as potential barriers to delinquency (following control theory) is parental influence capable of counteracting the influence of delinquent peers? This proposition is tested using data from the Youth Development Study, a prospective longitudinal survey of 1000 adolescents and their parents. The results support the conventional emphasis on parenting style and delinquent friends in delinquency research. It suggests that though both of these social systems exert a considerable influence on adolescent behavior, they do not operate independently of one another and that authoritative parenting style has a moderate effect in counteracting or negating peer influence.
Parents, Peers, and Developmental Trajectories Toward Crime
Across time, the influence of parents and peers appears to change. Early in life, parents have a stronger influence on the development of youth than do their peers. This, however, will change as an individual ages. Using longitudinal data from the Marion County Youth Study (1964-1979), we examine the influence of parents and delinquent associations. Analyses generated through latent growth curve modeling show that although parental influence appears to decrease significantly later in life, parental attachment delays peer formations, thereby reducing delinquent behavior. Reductions in parental influence over time, however, was associated with an accelerated rate of acquiring delinquent peers and individual delinquency. Parents and peers thus appear to be interlocked in an etiological role that produces, or conversely reduces, delinquent behavior.
Parents, Peers, and Precociousness: Disentangling Factors Associated With Early Alcohol Use Among Native American Girls and Boys
Social learning theories stress that adolescent alcohol and drug use results from socialization influences in the domains of the community or neighborhood, the family, and peer groups. Alcohol use may also be regarded as a transition to adult-like behavior, in which life course developmental perspectives are appropriate. Utilizing hierarchical logistic regression models, this paper attempts to disentangle the effects of parental influences, peer pressures, and individual precociousness on initiation into drinking and current alcohol use among a sample of 220 American Indian 5th-8th graders (average age = 12) from three reservations in the upper Midwest. We test for specific effects of gender on these relationships, as well as examine the relative independence of the three domains in predicting both initiation and current alcohol use. Initial analyses indicate that peer influences are stronger predictors than family factors, including parenting and maternal alcohol use. Although we found small gender differences in alcohol initiation, girls are about 3 times more likely than boys to report current alcohol use. We hypothesize that adolescence girls are using alcohol more than boys as a result of an earlier entry into adult-like roles via puberty and dating behavior.
Parole in America: Predictive Models for Current Issues and Practices
A national sample of paroling authorities was used to investigate the impact of personal and organizational variables on attitudes toward a variety of issues currently facing modern American parole. The identification of problems facing parole as a practice, the rational for the use of early release mechanism, and avenues for potential improvement of such mechanisms are all addressed in the analysis. Policy implications for the structural and demographic makeup of parole boards and their subsequent parole decisions are discussed.
Participants’ Perceptions Regarding the Drug Court Program
Similar to the emergence of intermediate sanctions in the 1980s, the recent development of drug courts is an attempt to make the criminal justice system more punitive while at the same time providing treatment. Prior research suggested that offenders perceive the severity of intensive super-vision programs (ISP) equal to that of prison. Similar to ISP for drug offenders, the drug court program provides drug treatment, requires frequent drug testing, and uses graduated sanctions to ensure participant compliance to program requirements. Despite the fact that research has shown drug courts to be effective in reducing drug use and recidivism, there is limited information concerning the effectiveness and severity of the drug court program. Offender perceptions may be important to understanding whether criminal justice programs are having the intended effect. This study examines participants’ perceptions of a drug court program in California. Current drug court participants rated the following aspects: the effectiveness of drug court program components, the severity of the drug court program in comparison to other drug offense sentences, and the effectiveness and severity of each graduated sanction.
Participation and Control of Space in Community Policing
The community policing literature suggests that police and neighborhood residents participate together in problem solving in order to increase the control of neighborhood space. However, evaluations of police-resident interaction indicate that the level of participation and the objectives of participation vary considerably from place to place. Evaluations of problem solving suggest that the full problem solving process is often short-circuited and rarely engages residents as actors. In this study, police and residents of three neighborhoods in one major city were observed for twelve months, using a systematic observational protocol. Participation variables included the identification of issues, exploring options, making decisions, division of labor, implementation of assigned duties, and attention to assessing the process. Control of space variables included the control of space value premises, characteristics of the control process, structure of control, and nature or results. The problems with operationalizing these concepts in a field setting and alternative means of depicting these processes are discussed. The longitudinal interaction patterns are compared to the conceptions of participation and control of space in the community policing literature.
Participation in Gambling: A Critical Approach
The research presents the social construction of Gambling and tests the effects of structural characteristics on the participation in gambling. This new theoretical approach of studying legal gambling is based on social stratification theories. The conceptualization of gambling as a channel of complementary social mobility shed light on the participation in gambling. The data analysis was conducted by a series of one-way analysis of variance, logistic regression analysis, multiple regression analysis and Hierarchial Linear Models (HLM) based on a representative sampe of the urban adult population in Israel (N=710). Although the economic consideration in the social construction of gambling is higher among women, the results present a significant lower participation of this gender. Gambling is feared, both socially and economically, towards the attainment of the legitimate goals of equality of distribution. The findings support the hypothesis of gambling as a complementary social mobility. However, the access to this mobility channel is determined by gender and therefore restricted for women. The tendency to choose complementary mobility channel such as gambling signifies a solution, which has an element of protest, against the social opportunity structure. Gender participation in gambling may be interpreeted as an exprerssion of social entitlement on the one hand, and as a dissatisfaction of unfulfilled claims for social and citizenship egalitarian rights, on the other hand.
Partner Violence and Delinquency-related Violence: Do They Share the Same Developmental Percursors?
Recent research suggests that partner violence is but one form of a generally violent disposition and that the same developmental percursors that foster violence in delinquency-related contexts promote partner violence (Capaldi & Clark, 1998; Magdol et al., 1998). However, even in high-risk samples not more than 50% of male perpetrators show both types of violent behavior. this study examined whether, when controlling for their overlap, partner violence and delilnquency-related violence would be related to the same or different developmental percursors. Participants were 397 boys for whom behavioral, cognitive, family and peer measures were obtained between age six and 13. Delinquency-related violence and partner violence were assessed at 16 and 17 years of age. The results showed only a moderate relation between delinquency-related violence and partner violence. When controlling for their overlap, only partner violence was related to a difficult temperament, parental aggression toward the child, and a low self-esteem, whereas only delinquency-related violence was related to early aggressiveness and a favorable attitude toward the use of violence. Affiliation with aggressive friends was the only developmental precursor shared by delinquency-related violence and partner violence. These results are discussed int erms of their implications for theory development and intervention.
Partnerships That Work: Inter-Agency Collaboration as a Solution to the Salt Lake City Methamphetamine Problem
Salt Lake City is fighting a serious methamphetamine problem, which some say will get worse before it gets better. In fact, Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) statistics indicate that more than 20 per cent of male arrestees and 31 per cent of female arrestees tested positive for methamphetamine in 1998. This places Salt Lake City among the top three ADAM sites in methamphetamine abuse. The Salt Lake City Police Department, as recipient of a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant, has chosen to combat the local methamphetamine problem by pooling resources from a variety of agencies. Not only is this partnership large in size with more than 30 local, state, and federal agencies represented; but it is also diverse with participants from police departments, city and county attorney offices, drug courts, and social service agencies (e.g., Division of Child and Family Services). This paper outlines the strategies and the goals of this project and it’s relative success in formulating a cohesive and functional group to combat the methamphetamine problem. Specifically, we examine the project implementation process, on-going relationships among partners and problem-solving techniques, and strategies to continue partnerships after federal funding ends.
“Pass Them Out”: An Ethnographic Pilot Study of Designer-Drug Users in Southwestern Florida
The purpose of this ethnographic pilot study is to present a cultural portrait of the designer (e.g. ecstasy, GHB, Special K, and Rohypnol) drug user. In addition, this study will explore the relationship between various cultural venues (i.e. raves, after-hours parties, adult entertainment establishments, etc.) and designer drug-using behavior. This pilot study will adopt the following data collection strategy: (1) limited participant observation, (2) semi-structured interviewing, and (3) a review of relevant documents. All data will be coded and analyzed using NUD*IST N4. Preliminary findings will be discussed in relation to both new research initiatives and social policy implications.
Pathological Gambling, Substance Misuse, and Crime
In this paper I examine the nature and scope of pathological gambling, and the various ways that pathological gambling, substance misuse, and crime are related. I report on research focusing on gambling-drugs-crime linkages among heroin misusers enrolled in methadone treatment programs in New York City. The research found that a significant proportion of methadone patients may be pathological gamblers; that in this population heroin and alcohol are the drugs most likely to be used just prior to or while gambling, and that about two-thirds of the pathological gamblers had engaged in some type of crime or hustling activity to pay gambling debts or get money to be able to gamble. I also present findings about the gambling-drugs-crime connection derived from an ethnographic study of active heroin users in New York City. The implications of these findings and future research needs are also discussed.
“Pathways” to Homicide: Previous Offending of People Convicted of Murder in the UK
While research about homicide in the USA is fairly well developed, in Britain information is relatively sparse. This paper draws on data collected for a national study about homicide in Britain and examines the previous criminal experiences of men and women who have been convicted of murder. The study includes the diverse types of homicide – familial, drug and alcohol related, business -related, attacks on strangers and known others, murders by individuals and groups, murders of individual and of multiple victims. The aims of the research are to develop a multi-dimensional typology of homicide-, to investigate the motivational, interactional and situational contexts associated with different types of lethal violence and to consider the risk factors and ‘pathways’ to homicide. The research project uses data collected from three sources- the British national homicide index; examination of case files about approx, 1,000 serving prisoners convicted of murder; depth interviews with a selection of 175 of these prisoners, This paper will use quantitative data to consider the nature and extent of previous offending behaviour of people convicted of murder. In particular, it will compare the patterns of previous offending of people who commit various types of lethal violence and will examine the ways in which previous offending contributes to ‘pathways’ to homicide.
Pathways in the Offending Processes of Sexual Murderers: Developmental and Sexual Factors
The aim of the current study was to investigate specific pathways in the offending processes of sexual murderers and to verify the possible relationships with different sexual and developmental factors. Thirty-six offenders who had committed at least one sexual murder of an adult woman (14 years or older) were included in this study and were classified using cluster analysis. Subjects using the sadistic pathway (n=16) had planned their offense, selected their victim who was mostly unknown to the murderer, and had used physical restraints during the offense. Furthermore, they mutilated their victim and humiliated her. They experienced a greater risk of apprehension during the murder. These sexual murderers took more than 30 minutes to commit their crime. Finally, they hid the victim’s body. Subjects using the anger pathway (n=20) had neither premeditated the homicide nor selected the victim before the offense. Mutilation, humiliation and physical restraints were less predominant with these subjects than with those using the sadistic pathway. Moreover, these offenders, who took less than 30 minutes to commit their crime, had experienced fewer risks of apprehension and were more likely to leave the body at the crime scene after the murder occurred. Categorical analysis (Chi-Square tests) were then performed to verify the possible relationships between the two pathways with sexual and developmental factors included in the study, which are: (a) personal history; (b) non-sexual behaviors demonstrated during childhood, adolescence and adulthood; (c) sexual behaviors during adolescence and adulthood; (d) paraphiliacs, sexual fantasies and sexual dysfunctions and (e) family history. The two different pathways will be compared with the organised/disorganised typology of the FBI and other empirical research addressing the subject of sexual murderers. Finally, the utility of such typologies will be discussed.
Patterns of Racial Disparity in State Trooper Interactions With Citizens: Warnings, Citations, and Search Data
To evaluate the possible presence and extent of racial disparity in police interventions, demographic population data are sometimes used as a proxy for unavailable data on the prevalence of offending behavior across racial groups. Use of demographic data to define denominators for the calculation of rates of North Carolina State Highway Patrol interventions are discussed. Results are presented from NCSHP data for 1998.
PBA Card and Police Discretion: Does Membership Have Its Privileges?
Some level of police discretion is an inevitable consequence of the numerous decisions a police officer faces daily. In light of recent cases of police abuse of force and racial profiling, most scholarly inquiry has focused on whether police have exercised their discretion fairly/justly. Unexplored in the literature, however, has been consideration of how affiliation with a police association in the form of a membership card (or P.B.A. card) distributed to police officers and their family and friends may favorably influence the outcome of interactions with police. This paper addresses the extent to which the use of the PBA card has resulted in law enforcement agents ignoring criminal or traffic infractions because of the offender’s association with a fellow officer. In particular, this paper will examine the history, distribution, function, and public awareness of the membership card. Specific examples of the use of these cards as well as the larger issues associated with their existence will be examined. This paper will argue that the promotion and use of these cards by police associations is one of the largest and least studied threats to a democratic state.
Perceived Opportunities and Self-Control Theory
This paper focuses on the question of opportunity in self-control theory, as expressed in the work of Gottfredson and Hirschi. While situational opportunity has been explored in connection with delinquency (Felson and others) less attention has been paid to the idea of perceived opportunity’s relationship to the concept of self-control, itself Using a sample of elementary school students, who are involved in an educational enrichment and delinquency prevention program, perceived opportunity is measured in an experimental setting and through a series of structured interviews and surveys. Children’s level of self-control is then used to predict their degree of perceived opportunity for both deviant and non-deviant behavior. Implications for Control theory and crime prevention are discussed.
Perceived Racial and Ethnic Composition of Neighborhood and Support for Punitive Measures
In recent years there has been a well documented increase in punitiveness, both in terms of public policy and practice, and in popular attitudes about dealing with crime. The increase in punitiveness is clearly not a response to the equally well documented decline in crime rates. It has been suggested that one reason for the strong support for punitive policies is the popular belief that crime is a predominantly black male phenomenon. This study is grounded in the “social threat” perspective which connects aspects of social control to race-specific threats of crime. Research in this area has shown that the threat raised by the presence of minorities is linked to discriminatory and sometimes violent responses by private interests as well as the state. Using data from a survey of 4,500 Florida residents selected in 1997, this research examines the effect of perceived racial and ethnic composition of neighborhood on support for punitive measures to deal with criminals. Multivariate (OLS) regression is used to control for prior victimization and local crime rates, as well as other factors that could influence support for punitive measures. Analyses are performed separately for black, Hispanic, and white respondents and within contexts such as geographical region of the state and high and low crime areas. Implications for social threat theories of social control are discussed.
Perceived Risks of Contracting HIV/AIDS From Prison Work: A Comparison of Correctional Officers in Two States
This study determined the relationship between correctional officer knowledge of H1V/A1DS with perceived risk of contracting IRV from daily work-related activities. Male and female correctional officers who worked at least one year in five different prison units in the Midwest and in six prisons in Texas were selected to complete an anonymous mail survey. Preliminary analyses of the Midwest prisons show that officers relied on Department of Corrections training for their primary source of information about H1V/A1DS. However, a significant number of officers do not use the protective gear available to them in situations involving inmate contact, blood spills, and clean-up situations, which may put them at risk for contracting infectious diseases.
Perceptions of Drug Court Program Effectiveness
Nearly every state in the nation now has some type of drug court program, but there is still limited information about the effectiveness of this new intervention. There is growing evidence that drug courts help offenders remain drug free during the program and reduce recidivism. The treatment drug court combines individual and/or group counseling, frequent judicial supervision, urine monitoring for drug use and graduated sanctions. Even though the National Association of Drug Court Professionals has outlined the ten key components of drug court programs, the implementation of drug courts varies from one jurisdiction to the next. Thus it is difficult to determine what makes the program effective. This study compares offender perceptions of the program’s effectiveness over time and across jurisdictions in one southern California county. Current drug court participants rated the helpfulness of the program in various aspects of their recovery and the strength of the various program components. These perceptions are compared to the program graduation and recidivism rates and attitudes of key stakeholders.
Perceptions on Integrity of Dutch Police in Comparative Perspective
Every Dutch police force has been asked by the government to develop initiatives on enhancing integrity; this as part of a wider move to address ethical issues in public life generally. The authors have both been involved in different ways in following these developments in policing and government. They draw here partly on data collected as part of an international survey conducted by Prof. Carl Klockars and his research colleages in four countries: the USA, Croatia, Poland and Slovenia. They were involved in the project in the Netherlands; the research instrument was translated into Dutch and distributed in three police forces. The results will be compared with the findings from the other four countries. The data will also be placed in the context of current developments in the Netherlands were integrity receives a prominent place; the authors will examine the findings especially in relation to the wide-ranging efforts being made to institutionalize both positive control through integrity programmes and negative control (with internal investigations; much of this is quite innovative in the Netherlands where generally standards of conduct in public institutions are considered to be high). One element in pushing for change has been a number of scandals in policing and public life which have fuelled the debate on integrity.
Perceptual Stability Among Early Offenders: Deterrence Theory Revisited
Deterrence theory has been tested in a myriad of different ways. Early, methodologically weak investigations offered evidence of a marginal deterrent effect, particularly with regard to certainly of punishment. Subsequent empirical inquiry challenged these premature assumptions, suggesting deterrence plays virtually no role in determining onset or desistance of deviant activity. An important issue when attempting to uncover a deterrent effect is the extent to which perceptions of certainty or severity of punishment remain stable over time. The present study revisits this question within the context of the contemporary juvenile justice system in an effort to assess potential differences that may more readily foster a deterrent effect. Specifically, it is hypothesized that deterrence theory may have more merit today than when it was originally studied 30 years ago. I use panel data to determine perceptual stability among early, youthful offenders.
Peremptory Inclusion and Diverse Juries
Affirmative action jury selection strategies have been suggested as raceand ethnic specific remedies to unrepresentative juries by ensuring the presence of racial and ethnic minorities in the final jury box (Fukurai, 1997; Fukurai and Davies, 1997). However, constitutional concerns or possible bans on the use of race-specific means to create racially diverse juries have further suggested race- or ethnic-neutral strategies to ensure the diversity of the final jury (Fukurai and Krooth, 2000). The present research proposes the use of peremptory inclusion as a jury selection method to accomplish the goal of creating heterogeneous juries. The peremptory inclusive method relies on both the specific identification and selection of jurors from a jury pool by both prosecutors and defense attorneys. The present research suggests that by limiting a number of peremptory inclusions to three, the peremptory inclusive method greatly increases not only the racial and ethnic diversity of the jury, but also other socio-demographic and economic heterogeneity including gender, education, and social class. Because each party is not required to provide explanations in determining a selection criterion, peremptory inclusion has a tremendous potential to increase the heterogeneity of the final jury in criminal trials.
Perfect Victims, Perfect Policing? Police Responses to Women Attacked by a Serial Rapist
This paper reviews the police treatment of 15 of the 27 women attacked by one serial rapist in New Zealand. The material is based primarily on in-depth interviews conducted with the women, and covers the process from initial reporting through to completion of the court case and sentencing of the offender. Interview material from criminal investigators involved with the case is also presented. One of the questions posed by this study was: how were these women treated by the police when, in many ways, their cases conform to the stereotype of ‘the perfect victim’? The paper analyses police behaviours and responses from the women’s perspective, seeking to identify what victims valued most in relation to police practice and performance. It is suggested that the lessons learned from trying to give the perfect victims perfect policing have salience for police departments internationally as they endeavour to improve the quality of service offered to victims of sexual violence.
Performance-Based Standards for Juvenile Corrections: OJJDP’s PbS Program
The Performance-Based Standards (PbS) program, funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, is at the forefront of the movement to establish accountability and continuous improvement in programs, services and outcomes in the field of juvenile justice. To date, promising results are being demonstrated in many of the participating facilities. The PbS model, developed by the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators and Abt Associates, provides tools to juvenile detention and correctional facilities to monitor and improve performance outcomes in six critical facility functions: providing security, safety, order, health care, educational and mental health programming within a context that protects individual rights. Currently, 50 facilities are involved in an Internet-based reporting and feedback system, which also includes financial and technical support in developing strategies for improving conditions of confinement and services in juvenile detention and correctional facilities.
Performance Based Standards for Juvenile Detention and Corrections and Beyond
An OJJDP study of the conditions under which juveniles are held in secure juvenile detention and correctional facilities indicated a serious need for improvement. One important way of helping states and localities achieve the needed improvement is through Performance Based Standards. The Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators, through an open process involving correctional administrators throughout the nation, has developed suggested standards and is in the process of disseminating, implementing, and testing them. The effectiveness of Performance Based Standards in alleviating conditions which are harmful or which work counter to treatments being administered in facilities now leads to consideration of using Performance Based Standards to improve the effectiveness of juvenile aftercare. The Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators is now working with the team that developed OJJDP’s Intensive, Community-Based Aftercare Program in order to explore that possibility.
Personality and Violence: Inside the Mind of Violent Men
Increasingly, attention is being drawn to variations in psychological pathology among batterers as explanations for violent behavior. Profiles of violent men suggest that they have low self-esteem, are extremely jealous, have aggressive or hostile personality styles, and have poor communication and social skills. Much of this research, however, uses small samples of men in some kind of treatment program, consdquently limiting the generalizability of the findings. In contrast, the current study used data from the first and second waves of the National Survey of Families and Households to examine differences in the personality characteristics of four groups of men: those who did not use violence; persistent abusers; men whose violence ceased; and men who began to use violence gainst their female partner. The samle include approximately 3,500 couples who were either married or cohabiting during the first wave of the study and who were still with the same partner during the second wave five years later. The results suggest that even after controlling for demographic and relationship factors personality characteristics, specifically levels hostility and mastery, distinguish between these four groups of men.
Personality Development of Juvenile Murderers and Its Relationship to Post-Release Success
Increased interest has focused on juvenile homicide offenders since the mid 1980s when juvenile arrests for murder increased dramatically. Concern has been repeatedly expressed over the last 15 years regarding the maturity of these young killers and the likelihood of their reoffending. This paper provides follow-up data on 59 juvenile offenders who were committed to the adult Department of Corrections in Florida during the period January 1982 through January 1984 for one or more counts of murder, attempted murder, or, in a few cases, manslaughter. Although many of these adolescents were convicted of lengthy prison sentences, more than two thirds had been released prior to December 1999. This paper has two objectives. First, it reports on the classification of these juvenile murderers by their level of personality development at the time of the initial evaluation in the early 1980s. Second, it examines to what extent, if any, personality development is related to post-release success among sample subjects who were released from prison.
Physical and Sexual Abuse as Precursors to Substance Abuse Dependency: Findings From a Statewide Survey
As part of a statewide substance abuse treatment needs assessment, respondents to telephone surveys were interviewed for DSM-IV and DSM-II-R substance dependency diagnostic criteria. Respondents classified as clinically dependent report significantly higher levels of victimization by sexual or physical abuse. The findings suggest there is a strong correlation between substance dependency and sexual and physical abuse, especially for women. Implications for theory and treatment planning are discussed.
Police and Citizen Impressions of Community Oriented Policing in Twelve Cities
This paper explores the level of agreement among police and citizens on the implementation of city-wide community oriented policing strategies by comparing executives statements on policing priorities and practices in their cities with reports from citizens on police presence and activity. Data from two surveys are used, the National Survey of Police Executives and Agencies, and Criminal Victimization and Perceptions of Community safety in 12 cities.
Police and Emerging Technology
Technology has the potential for improving police operations in many ways, and most discussions of the issue present technology as an unvarnished good. However, the introduction of any technology into a police agency brings with a host of devils riding in the details, including the potential for unintended negative consequences. Some technology is instantly useful (AFIS, digital imaging); some is potentially useful but still in development (less-than-lethal weaponry); some is currently available but still being vetted in legal process (thermal imaging, passive firearm detection); and some qualifies as Buck Rogers technology with more promise than payoff at the moment. Some constitute a double-edged sword: DNA databanks promise to increase apprehensions, but DNA evidence is also exonerating persons wrongly convicted by traditional police methods. Agency infrastructure costs are also discussed, including the impact of Internet and other information technologies on the traditional rank and reward structures of policing.
Police Civil Liability for Inappropriate Response to Domestic Violence
Over the last several years, the criminal justice system has encouraged survivors of domestic abuse to report their victimization to law enforcement authorities. While some evidence suggests that police are more sensitive to the plight of domestic survivors, law enforcement response remains incomplete and problematic. This paper explores this issue, focusing on police civil liability for inappropriate response to domestic violence. It discusses the legal remedies that plaintiffs use in litigation when police fail to prevent domestic abuse. It also explores case law pursuant to the equal protection and substantive due process clauses of the fourteenth amendment, highlighting the circumstances under which police are held liable for inappropriate response to domestic violence. The paper concludes that police need more training and education on family abuse so they can become more responsive to domestic violence survivors.
Police Civilianization, 1950-2000: Change or Continuity?
In 1979, Dorothy Guyot asserted that changing the structure of American police organizations was akin to bending granite. In particular, Guyot noted that attempts to change the rank structure of departments has often met with failure due to various forces, such as police unions. However, Guyot suggested that adding civilians to police agencies added flexibility to departmental structure. The present study investigates changes in the proportion of civilian employees in US police agencies between 1950 and 2000. Using data from the FBI, levels of civilianization in US police departments are measured over time, to ascertain if civilianization has changed or remained constant for the past 50 years.
Police Crime Records: How Have They Changed in China?
The Chinese government has always considered crime statistics as an indicator of china’s image to the outside world. In 1993, findings from a five-year national crime survey (1987-1991) revealed that police crime records greatly under represented the crime reported to police. The findings have had some significant impact on the government policies of policing and triggered a series campaigns and police reforms. In 1995, a new People’s Police Act was adopted to replace the one established in 1957. The new act redefined the functions and roles of the police, including how police are expected to respond to rising crime in fast transitional social changes. In recent years China’s Ministry of Public Security have redefined some crimes. Our study examines and explains the impact of these changes on policing and police crime records. In addition, we will discuss how to read China’s police crime reports.
Police Discretion and Discrimination: Results From a Danish Study
Discretionary bias has been a major issue in police research during the last few years, but some of the criticism of law enforcement (especially in the US) may rest on a lack of understanding of police work. In this paper, results from a qualitative study of a suburban Copenhagen (Denmark) police force are used to highlight some aspects of police discretion that are easily overlooked in the heated debate in the US. Compared to their American counterparts, Danish police officers have a very wide, formally-acknowledged, discretionary license, making discretion a less sensitive subject to study. Police discretion can be understood as two distinctive kinds of power, namely the power of suspicion, and the power of prosecution. It is suggested that the power of suspicion is, and in most instances must necessarily be, discriminatory in nature. The power of prosecution is also often used in a discriminatory manner based on social criteria as opposed to the facts of the case. However, this kind of discrimination is not inevitable.
Police Diversion of Delinquent Youth: An Assessment of Programs
This paper focuses on the processes used to divert youths charged with delinquent/ status offenses away from the juvenile court. Seventeen diversion programs administered by police departments are considered in the research. Programs were categorized on the basis of their orientations/approaches to youth diversion. Three types were delineated: social control, social service, and balanced/restorative emphasis. More than 3,000 youths diverted in a one-year period are included in the study. The populations of the cities and demographic characteristics of the youths are also considered in the analysis. The goals of this in-progress research include determining the effects youth diversion has in reducing recidivism, examining the use of diversion to reduce referrals of minority group youths to the juvenile court, determining if diversion is used as a protective measure for some categories of youth offenders, and exploring the effects diversion may have on labeling and net-widening.
Police-Induced False Confessions, Wrongful Deprivations of Liberty, and Miscarriages of Justice
This talk will discuss the problem of police-induced false confessions (their causes, consequences, and solutions) in relation to wrongful deprivations of liberty and miscarriages of justice. I will review the recent research literature on these topics, present ongoing research and data on the problem, and discuss the future directions for criminological research in this area.
Police Labour Unions and Criminal Justice
Police labour unions are influential organisations in many countries. Their impact may be measured both by the way they shape working conditions and by their effect on public discourses and policy choices about policing. In this respect they may be little different from some other labour unions, especially in the human services sector. Yet their specific impact in such domains as law reform, sentencing and penal policies, is little studied in contemporary criminal justice studies. This paper addresses the relative absence of international studies of police unions and their impacts, since Reiner’s foundational work on Britain more than twenty years ago, and an earlier concentration of studies in the United States in the early 1970s. It then considers some of the ways in which contemporary police unions engage in criminal justice policy debates. It does so against a background study of the historical formation and development of police labour unions, especially in Australia where police unions early achieved a legitimacy rare in other jurisdictions. The paper concludes with a historical consideration and prospective evaluation of police union strategies and tactics in pursuit of their objectives, seen in the context of other criminal justice standards.
Police Misconduct Inside the Interrogation Room
This paper analyzes the various forms of police misconduct related to interrogation and confession. In particular, I discuss the training and practices of police interrogators with regard to the proper giving of Miranda warnings and eliciting of Miranda Waivers, the practice of questioning “Outside Miranda”, the use of interrogation techniques that are psychologically coercive and thus likely to elicit legally involuntary confessions, and the problem of police-induced false confessions (often caused by improper interrogation methods and procedures), which sometimes lead to the wrongful prosecution, conviction, and incarceration of innocent individuals. I focus both on the training of police interrogators in these areas, as well as their observed and documented practices. I connect this to the larger context of police misconduct and scandals that have occurred throughout the country, particularly in reference to recent interrogation-related misconduct issues inside the Chicago and Los Angeles Police Departments.
Police Misconduct Investigation: An Empirical Comparison of Internal and External Control Mechanism
Investigations of police misconduct are highly problematic. Though there is public skepticism about the police ability to investigate allegations of police misconduct and pressure to institute civilian review of allegations of police misconduct, little is known about the differences in operations of internal and external review processes. We will present data describing investigations of officer misuse of force complaints conducted by police and civilian authorities in a large city. These data describe the information content of investigation files. Data will show how internal and external review processes differ with regard to interpretation of evidence and how these interpretations influence investigative outcomes.
Police Officer Education
With the passage of the Quinn Bill in Massachusetts and subsequent legislation in Rhode Island, cities and towns have been required to pay for police officer education. This study examines the effect of the legislation on police officer education. Through questionnaires, questions researched include, but are not limited to, the number of officers who partake in the program, what effect education has on police officer attitudes, the effect of education on promotions, and the type of degrees earned.
Police Officer Evaluation in the Community Policing Context
Many police organizations around the nation have begun the transition from traditional law enforcement to a community policing approach. However, studies have indicated that a majority of these agencies have failed to change internal processes such as performance evaluation to reflect their new community role (Breci & Erickson, 1998). It is possible that police agencies have simply not had sufficient time to address the complex process of performance evaluation. However, it is also possible that administrators are having difficulty developing a valid and reliable performance appraisal that adequately measure what the community officers does. Additionally, this failure to update internal processes could be an indication of lack of commitment to community policing principles. This study conducted a survey of 200 agencies to examine what areas of performance are being measured, what type of evaluation instruments are being used, and whether more developed community police departments differ from others in performance evaluation of officers.
Police Perjury: A Factorial Survey
Few empirical studies of police perjury have been possible due to complicating factors such as the police remaining anonymous while reporting illegal behaviors inside the “blue wall.” This paper presents the findings of a factorial survey design of six hundred ten (610) New York City Police Officers and explores the factors which police officers state influence their decisions to commit perjury. Factorial survey designs have been successful in predicting “real life” behavior.
Police Perspectives on Community Partnerships
With the advent of community policing, research regarding both community perceptions of the police and police self-perceptions has proliferated. Few studies, however, focus on police perceptions of the community. Following their participation in a unique long-term police-community problem-solving effort, facilitated by the Institute for Public Safety Partnerships (a Regional Community Policing Institute funded by the COPS Office, U.S. Department of Justice), police and community members took part in separate focus groups designed to explore the nature and evolution of these police-community relationships. Based on intensive analyses of audio- and video-tapes of these focus groups, researchers will discuss the textual, conversational, and socio-linguistic cues and patterns that reflect changing police attitudes toward their community partners.
Police Power
Current penological literature has identified significant socio-cultural and socio-political shifts that have fundamentally altered the state of formal social control. While these shifts have been recognized in the penal realm for some time, scant attention has been given to the impact these shifts have had on the police institution. This paper will provide theoretical and empirical analysis focusing specifically on the prevalence of surveillance equipment and practices in the law enforcement community.
Police Stress: A Meta and Comparative Analysis of the Litrature
Over the past thirty years, the notion of police stress has become an important topic within the sub-discipline. Indeed, it has achieved a position of prominence in the literature and generally accepted with only minimal dissent. This study executives a meta-analysis of the extant literature on police stress, while also comparing it to the literature in other stressful professions, including corrections and critical medical care. The study concludes that the evidence is less than convincing that the profession causes stress, that it differs from stress in other professions, and that the operationalization of the concept has been poorly implemented in most studies, rendering the findings relatively useless for theory building. Suggested research strategies are suggested to remedy the condition of the research.
Police Trainee Perceptions of Danger and Litigational Risk: An Exploratory Study
This study examines police academy trainee perceptions of physical danger and risk of litigation posed by others. Longitudinal data are gathered from a purposive sample of police trainees at a southern police academy. As part of a larger pre-test/post-test measure of the effects of the training experience on student attitudes, this study analyzes dimensions of perceived danger and risk of law suit. These findings suggest that not only do police trainees perceive the public as a potential physical and litigational risk, but these perceptions may affect their police decision-making. The analysis indicates that perceived threat of law suit adds another dimension to traditional danger perceptions and may contribute to police social isolation or suspicion of the public.
Police Use of Guns in Norway and Sweden
In many aspects there are great similarities between the Norwegian and Swedish societies. However, as to policing Norway is one of the few countries with an unarmed police force. Weapons are stored at police stations or in patrol cars and may be used in self-defense or in case of need by permission of a police commissioner. By contrast, Swedish police officers carry handguns as part of the uniform. The comprehensive question is what the difference in availability of guns really means as to number of shootings and ultimately, in number of hurt and killed persons. The data consists of all reported incidents in the two countries where guns have been used by police officers in service, covering the period from 1985 to 1999. In the studied period about 450 incidents with shootings occur-red in Sweden, with 15 persons killed by police officer’s fire. The corresponding value from Norway is about 50 incidents and 4 persons killed. Even considering that Sweden has about double the Norwegian population, a tentative conclusion points to the great importance of the availability factor.
Police Women Constructing Their Feminity
This paper investigates the relationship between the gender division of labour within policing and the construction of femininity by police women in one large regional Canadian police agency, Using a range of methods, including participant observation and semi-structured field interviews , it is argued that policewomen construct their femininity using the resources available to be both effective police officers, and gender accountable, depending on the demands of the interaction. More significantly, as resources used by police women to construct their femininity change, the construction of femininity will also change . An approach examining the web of bounded knowledgeability (the structures and relationships) engaged in by individual police women provides academics an opportunity to view police women not as solely “hippolyte” or “amazon” but also as “Xena”.
Policeman and Tarzan’s Dilemma
The purpose of the present research was to find out what is the meaning of education in the life and career of Finnish male police officers. The data was collected using life story interviews with affiliated thematic interviews, and written life story narratives. Being a male police officer was found to be to a large extent a gendered matter. Education opens and shuts gates to respect, power, as well as higher incomes. At the same time it opens and shuts gates to various masculinities. The basic choice for each police officer is whether to try to reach the higher positions in the organization or to be satisfied with the status at the shopfloor as an ordinary constable. In this decision the primary question has to do with what kind of a male the officer wants to be. The available choices are crystallized in Edgar Rice Burrough’s mythical Tarzan character., On the one hand Tarzan is intelligent and a highly moral aristocrat and lord. At the same time he is a physical, energetic, active and determined male hero, whose body expresses his power position. The choice between aristocratic and physical masulinity is the Tarzan’s dilemma that every officer is faced with during his career.
Policing, Privacy and the Information Age: Unauthorised Access and Inappropriate Disclosure of Information Complaints in New South Wales
Recent advances in Information Technology have led to law enforcement agencies acquiring computer-based databases which enable them to record, store and search for information on a scale many find hard to imagine. At the same time computer literacy in increasing at an almost exponential rate. These advances, like most, come at a cost. While few could deny the benefits to law enforcement which come from better access to information and intelligence, the increased capacity for police officers to obtain information is coupled with an increased incidence of unlawful computer access and calls from civil liberty bodies to limit that access. In this paper, the authors survey the history of complaints in New South Wales and argue that the problem with unlawful access is not an ethical dilemma but a symptom of technology overtaking professional practice. The ease of access afforded by computers does not justify overlooking the point that data should only be accessed when a genuine need exists and not to satisfy curiosity or for personal gain. The information has not changed, just the medium for accessing it.
Policing Economic Espionage
This paper will provide background for this panel. It will first locate the issue of Economic Espionage within a (cyber)criminological context. It will then apply an analysis of policing the internet in order to explore the arious regulatory influences which can be brought to bear on Economic Espionage. Finally, the paper will discuss the role of law in the policing of cybercrimes.
Policing Human Rights: The Quintessential Paradox
The United Nations recognizes the importance of the institution of policing to global order and stability. It also recognizes that the nature of policing is paradoxical. On an intra-state level, it can be a humanitarian force guided by legal constraints that assures, simultaneously, social order and the full expression of civil and human rights; it can also be brutalizing force that controls and restrains rather than emancipates its public. This paper discusses the police/human rights dilemma in the international arena and explores the relationship between ideology and governmental policy, and police behavior.
Policing in Indian Country
This three-year exploratory study had two principal goals. First, to take a broad look at policing in Indian Country in order to better understand the many arrangements for administering police departments and develop an initial assessment of the challenges facing policing. The second goal was to evaluate the prospects for community policing in Indian Country. Could this strategy, which grew out of urban settings, be applied to the strikingly different cultural, geographic, and demographic features typical of Indian reservations? That is, can community policing provide an opportunity for native communities to develop and employ their own resources, priorities, and values in the service of public safety? A core issue that emerged is that federal policy has failed to promote the ability of Indian nations to exert meaningful control over their own policing institutions. Findings from research in Indian County on the characteristics of effective governing institutions indicate that such institutions are more effective when they reflect, in a functionally meaningful way, a tribe’s underlying cultural norms and values. Improving policing in Indian Country, therefore, necessarily begins with systematically linking community values to departmental values and then expressing these values in concrete operations.
Policing Mentally Disordered Suspects: Revisiting the Criminalization Hypothesis
In the last 40 years, deinstitutionalization of mental patients, inadequate funding of community-based mental health services, and restrictive civil commitment procedures have led to increases in the presence and visibility of mentally disordered persons within communities. The criminalization hypothesis refers to the notion that persons with mental disorders are increasingly handled by the criminal justice system rather than the mental health system. The use of arrest for mentally disordered suspects engaging in minor offenses and disorders is particularly controversial. Using data collected from two largescale systematic observation studies of police interactions with citizens (Police Services Study data collected in 1977 and Project on Policing Neighborhoods data collected in 1996-97), this research provides a systematic inquiry into the relationship between mentally disordered suspects and police use of arrest. Multivariate analyses show that police are not more likely to arrest mentally disordered suspects, as the criminalization hypothesis would suggest. Implications for this hypothesis and future research are discussed.
Policing the “Lilliputs”: An Examination of Officer Work Routines in Rural, Small-Town, and Suburban Departments
Over thirty years ago, Ostrom and Smith (1976) used the term “lilliputs” to describe smaller police agencies, Since then, most of the research on police-including officer work routines-has focused on large police departments. Using data collected during twelve months of systematic social observations of officers in twenty one small agencies, we examine similarities and differences in these small town officers’ work routines, as well as present findings concerning the nature of these officers’ interactions with citizens. Further, we compare our findings to those recently reported for observation studies in Cincinnati.
Policing the Crisis and the Crisis in Policing: Racism, Street Justice, and the Old Time Politics
This paper reports on the current crisis in the Hartford Police Department that has emerged since an aggressive anti-gang policy was initiated in the early 1990s. At least six Hartford police officers have been accused of crimes ranging from physical and sexual abuse during field interrogations, sexual extortion of prostitutes, and homicide. A recent evaluation of the police force has labeled it “dysfunctional,” and without effective management, and the city is now considering revampting the department’s structure and oversight. The paper includes findings of a study of police misconduct in the city based on data derived from interviews with 132 youth, half gang affiliated, about their experiences with the police. In addition, events in the news concerning rogue police and mismanagement at the executive level are presented. The behavior of the Hartford Police and its leadership is considered in a variety of contexts, including the role of the police union, the crackdowns on gangs, and the problems of recruitment and training. It will be argued that the problems of the Hartford Police Department are evidence of a city in crisis and overwhelming pressures on the police to get tough on crime. Racism, incompetence and the failure of a weak city government to address the needs of the community are shown to be at the root of these problems.
Policing the Public: The Role of Police Stops
This paper analyses new data collected by four English police forces on police stops of the public. Whilst previous police data has focussed only on those stops resulting in a search, the new data describes virtually all police stops where members of the public are asked to account for themselves. The analysis will explore the role of stops in police work by looking at their timing, location and the types of people stopped, as well as their outcomes of stops in terms of searches and arrests. The analysis will also focus on police stops of those from different ethnic minority backgrounds. It will ask whether ethnic minorities are stopped in disproportionate numbers, and whether the character of stops is in any way different between those from different ethnic groups.
Policy Research and Policy Initiatives: The Case of ‘Gun Control’
A dozen years ago, Marvin Wolfgang deplored the failure of politicians to adopt the gun control restrictions endorsed by a presidential commission’s policy research, noting that in other areas, such policy research had influences on crime-control policy making. There has certainly been a considerable amount of policy research regarding firearms since then, by criminologists and public health practitioners, although much has focused on the scope of the problem of gun-related violence rather than on specific remedial policy proposals. Most actual policy initiatives, however, have been pursued without specific policy research — handgun locks and personalization, for example — or in defiance of policy-research findings — e.g., gun turn-ins, and bans on small-guns, “assault weapons” and magazines, And, for the most part, criminologists and public health professionals have not opposed adoption of policy proposals even when they were not backed by scientific research.
Policy Responses to Transnational Organized Crime in Europe
In the UK a series of seminars is currently running, financed by the Economic and Social Research Council, on the theme of ‘Policy Responses to Transnational Organised Crime. The series brings together a group of both academics and practitioners from the main law enforcement agencies plus Interpol. The main aims of the series are: to examine the reasons for the emergence of the concept of transnational organised crime and to consider how useful a concept it is in the analysis of crime across frontiers; to examine the evidence regarding the prevalence of such crime and the associated problems of measurement; to examine current developments in attempts to control the phenomenon, with particular reference to ideas of ‘governance’; to examine the ethical issues and the acute problems of accountability raised by current developments. The paper summarises some of the main themes and findings that have emerged from the seminar series, for example, the need to analyse the structure, processes and interaction of licit, illicit and ‘grey’ markets and how varieties of enforcement or regulatory action impact on those markets.
Political Allegiance and Trust in the Norwegian Police
Trust in other people is unusually high in Norway, and trust in the police has consistently been higher than in any other of some twenty organizations. This trust varies little if at all with sex, income and region, it varies some with age, but the by far most important variation is due to political allegiance. On the average more than ninety percent of the Christian Popular party’s voters have very great or quite great trust in the police while “only” seventy percent of the voters of the (minuscule) marxist-leninist party have a similar trust. It is in the “outsider” parties that trust is lowest – those which have been excluded from participation in government by their socialism or their toughmindedness. As for the widespread trust one of the causes may be the unblemished behaviour demanded from prospective police officers and that graft is unknown, but the police officers’ embeddedness in their local community may be more important, causing them to enforce the law in a way that does not bring them into conflict with any major social group. Both trust and consideration for the local community’s wishes can be shown to have historical roots.
Politically Motivated Crimes Against Foreigners in the Federal Republic of Germany
This paper examines the relationship between the offense, the offender, and the victim for crimes identified as politically motivated crimes against foreigners. The data were specially prepared for the researchers from the criminal case records located at the State Police Headquarters in Stuttgart. The cases include all such crimes identified as having occurred in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg for the years 1994 to 1996. The findings from the research presented in this paper represent the first such analysis linking principal characteristics of the offense, the offender(s), and the victim(s).
Politics, Policies, and the Decimation of Successful Programs in Prison
The U.S. has increased its use of incarceration as a solution for social ills over the last 15 years, incurring history’s greatest costs for imprisonment: an estimated 41 billion will be spent in the year 2000 to incarcerate over 2 million citizens. Policies during this period emphasized punishment rather than intervention or prevention within prisons as well as in the larger community. This presentation will be informed by the experiences of a large state’s maximum security prison for women and will review political changes at the state level that resulted in the decimation of programs known to significantly reduce recidivism and further criminal involvement. Parallels between reasons why women were imprisoned in the 1990s and specific program cuts will be noted, and implications for society’s well-being and policy redesign will be discussed among attendees.
Politics and Criminological Knowledge: Impact of Public Funding and Program Specialization on Journal Articles
This paper explkores the impact of government initiatives on topics, theoretical preferences, and data and methods used in criminological research. The paper first explores the impact of the creation of thematically specialized criminology and criminal justice programs, supported by the political sector, on these dependent variables. It secondly studies the direct impact of government funding of research on its nature. Interaction effects between specialization and funding sources are also being explored. Multivariate analysis is applied to a new data set that is based on content analysis of 1,600 articles in leading criminology and sociology journals.
Politics of Scapegoatism: The Juvenile Case in America
This paper critically examines the increasing incidents of juvenile violence in America. From all indications, juvenile violence in America is viewed as a serious issue within the criminal justice community and within society at large. Although statistics show that crimes committed by juveniles are declining drastically, a majority of the American people doubt the claim. Because of this perception, many jurisdictions are now enacting legislations to try juveniles as adults for committing certain crimes, such as murder. To a certain degree, politicians, some members of the law enforcement, the media and some social analysts have attributed the country’s social ills to juvenile delinquency. In many respects, the youths of today are blamed for the moral decadence of the country, and they are also blamed for most of the violence that has overwhelmed the American society. If these allegations are true, then, the issues this paper addresses are who taught these youths to be prone to violence? Are these youths not products of the American society? And if they are, why are they singled out for ridiculing? The paper concludes that the youths in American are being used as scapegoats for the failure of the system and to a certain extent, for the failure of the parents of the youths in question in molding and shaping them to become good citizens.
Popular Sovereignty Without Populism: A Comparative Analysis of Juries
Popular sovereignty appears in several forms in criminal trials: in the person of the prosecutor representing public safety, the jury directly exercising popular decision-making, the written law embodying rules drawn up by legislatures, as well as the victims and defendants acting as citizens with rights. This paper compares the radically different configurations of the “popular” in French and Anglo-American criminal jury trials. It explores the argument put forward by Antoine Garapon that rituals which incorporate popular needs and aspirations can provide a democratic alternative to the vengeful sentencing policies plaguing most English-speaking countries today.
Positive Deviance: A Potentially Illuminating Concept
The concept of positive deviance is marginalized in deviance literature by the focus on negative deviance and the absence of comprehensive conceptions of deviance. Current conceptions of positive deviance simply parallel definitions of negative deviance, namely normative and reactivist conceptions. Normative definitions posit positive deviance as behaviors/attributes that exceed normative expectations (e.g., overconformity), such as “saintliness”. Reactivist definitions view positive deviance as positively evaluated behaviors/attributes (e.g, “beauty”). We propose a new typology, which crossclassifies reactivist and normative definitions of deviance and more precisely distinguishes positive deviance. Classic (negative) deviance refers to behaviors that involve underconformity to norms and negative evaluations. Rate-busting refers to overconformity that is negatively evaluated. Criminal worship refers to underconformity that is positively evaluated. Positive deviance refers to overconformity that is positively evaluated. This typology compensates for deficiencies in the separate conceptions of deviance by highlighting their contradictions (e.g., reactivists fail to consider ratebusting; normative theorists ignore criminal worship). Current and historical examples in each category illustrate the utility of the new typology. The typology also accommodates the contextual nature of deviance, accentuates the role of power in defining deviance, and suggests the value of general theories of behavior as opposed to specific theories of “deviant behavior”
Predicting Battered Women’s Satisfaction With the Criminal Justice System
Scant research has focused on the criminal justice and court response to domestic violence victims following a perpetrator’s arrest. To improve the criminal processing system’s response to women with abusive partners, research must address survivors’ experiences and satisfaction with all aspects of the system. To this end, nearly two hundred female victims of domestic violence were recruited through prosecutors’ offices in three jurisdictions. All were asked about their satisfaction with different aspects of the criminal processing system response, including the police response, the way the prosecuting attorney handled the case, the court process, and the case outcome. Variables specific to individual survivors (e.g. threats and violence experienced, social support) and variables about the criminal processing system (e. g. behaviors of the police, the prosecutor, and the judge) were then used to predict survivor satisfaction with the system. Implications for improving the criminal processing system’s response to woman battering will be discussed.
Predicting Recidivism of Adult Probationers Using Survival Models
The objective of this research was to find the strongest predictors of felony probationer recidivism. Secondary analysis was performed on a sample drawn from the Recidivism of Felons on Probation, 1986 – 1989- data set. Univariate analysis, bivariate correlations, and cox regression were performed to determine the unique contribution each independent variable has on recidivism. Four models were developed to predict recidivism by type of conviction offense. The four models included all felony probationers plus those convicted of drug, property, and violent offenses. Results indicate the most consistent predictor of recidivism across the models was being employed more than sixty percent of the time prior to being placed on probation.
Predicting School Violence: Analyzing the Validity of Violent Student Profiles
Recent shootings in schools throughout the country have raised serious public concerns about school safety. In response to the community, parents and students, many school officials have turned to the use of profiling techniques in order to identify students potentially at risk for committing violent acts. However, available information on the number of false positives generated in the use of criminal and violent offender profiles indicates a need for caution in this area. This paper examines some current profiles available to school personnel and tests their predictive validity using data available from self-report surveys on youth crime and violence.
Predicting the Disposition of Complaints Against the Police
Complaints against the police comprise an area of intense scholarly interest. However, research in this area typically involves 1) the examination of factors associated with complaints at the more severe end of the spectrum, namely, those alleging excessive force – or 2) the process of reviewing and investigating complaints against the police. In comparison, relatively little scholarly attention has been devoted to the factors that influence the dispositions of complaints against the police. The current study specifically addresses this issue by examining the role that officer, citizen, and complaint characteristics, as well as investigatory procedures, play in determining whether complaints are sustained.
Predicting Violence Potential Among Commitments to State-Level Juvenile Correctional Institutions
This presentation will focus on the prediction of violent and aggressive behavior in juvenile offenders admitted to the California Youth Authority. The study draws on data collected as part of an NIJ-funded research project designed to validate and refine mental health screening tools for serious juvenile offenders entering incarceration. Since April 1997, the California Youth Authority (CYA) has been using a paper-and-pencil assessment package to obtain information about the mental health status of juvenile offenders entering its state-level institutions. The instruments included in this package are the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument (MAYSI), the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist Youth Self Report (CBCL-YSR), and Weinberger Adjustment Inventory (WAI) and the Drug Experience Questionnaire (DEQ). none of these instruments was developed on samples of very serious juvenile offenders, and their applicability for the CYA population was uncertain. One of the goals of the NIJ-funded study was to explore combinations of items and scales that might better identify offenders with mental health problems and potential for violence and aggression during institutionalization. This presentation will report on efforts to establish violence risk assessment indices from these assessment instruments in combination with other information available at intake, such as prior criminal history and the results of other assessments.
Predictors of Childhood Hoicide: A Cross-Sectional Study of Subgroups
Using the relatively new EndNote program, a comprehensive infanticide and child homicide reference database has been compiled. This database has been created to review and summarize literature on the subject, investigate voids in the research and guide our ongoing efforts. Since the motivation of perpetrators are different, this database has been divided into subgroups; neonaticide (the death of a child
Predictors of Deviant Sexual Preferences in Sexual Aggressors of Women and Sexual Aggressors of Children
The aim of this study was to investigate the predictors of deviant sexual preferences in sexual aggressors of women and sexual aggressors of children. A total of 85 sexual aggressors of women and 81 sexual aggressors of children were included in this study. All subjects were imprisoned in a penitentiary, permitting assessment of their correctional risk level and their treatment needs. Assessment was carried out at the institution and consisted of the following categories : 1) personal history (sexuality, relationship, etc.); 2) family history (victimization, etc.); 3) modus operandi characteristics (premeditation, strategy to carry out the offense, etc.) ; 4) victim characteristics (presence of criteria to select the victim, gender, familiarity between the aggressor and the victim, etc.) ; 5) attitudes towards his crime and cognitive distortions. Moreover, sexual preferences were assessed phallometrically. Using logistic regression analysis, our results showed different predictors of deviant sexual preferences in sexual aggressors of women and sexual aggressors of children. Moreover, the predictors identified through the above method allowed to correctly classify more than 80 % of subjects according to whether they have deviant sexual preferences or not, in both types of sexual aggressor (sexual aggressors of women; sexual aggressors of children). These results will be discussed according to the theories of sexual aggression.
Predictors of Engagement in Court-Mandated Treatment: Findings at the Brooklyn Treatment Court, 1996-2000
Research indicates that substance abuse treatment primarily yields post-treatment benefits to those retained for a significant period, often defined as at least 90 days. This makes it important to identify key predictors of retention and to devise policies for subgroups at risk of dropout. Although a retention literature exists on voluntary treatment programs, few studies address dynamics in the growing number of court-mandated programs, such as drug courts. These programs use the threat of incarceration, coupled with extensive court supervision, to elicit improved compliance rates. Results were analyzed at the Brooklyn Treatment Court. Treatment engagement was defined as completing at least 90 days of treatment and, more rigorously, completing Phase One – which requires four consecutive months of drug-free and sanction-less participation. Multivariate analyses revealed legal coercion, which varies by length of the incarceration alternative, to be the strongest predictor. Also associated with engagement were older age, primary drug other than heroin, no prior misdemeanor convictions, and lower level of neighborhood social isolation. Warranting or failing to begin treatment within the first 30 days after agreeing to participate predicted lack of engagement. And contrary to expectations, socioeconomic and educational disadvantages were not predictive. Policy implications of all findings are discussed.
Predictors of Force by Police
This paper reports the variation in the amount of force used by police in 7,512 adult, custody arrests in six urban jurisdictions and the characteristic of the jurisdiction, arrest situation, mobilization of the police, the officer and the suspect that are associated with increased use of force. Results are presented for alternative measures of force, for models of force which include and exclude measures of suspect resistance, and for models which examine the role of extralegal factors, such as the race and sex of the officer and the suspect.
Predictors of Fraud Victimization: An Analysis of National Data
The National White Collar Crime Research Center conducted a national survey in which U.S. citizens were queried about behavior patterns that would leave them vulnerable to fraud victimization and the degree to which they had been victimized in a 12 month period prior to survey administration. The analysis of data focuses on the influence that high risk behavior and other independent factors (e.g., race, age, education) can have on fraud victimization. Results are presented for 8 different categories of fraud victimization. Age and sex are presented as key indicators of victimization vulnerability and subsequent victimization. Explanations are presented along with insights into fraud victimization reporting patterns.
Predictors of Institutional Misconduct and Post-release Recidivism Among a Sample of Federal Prison Inmates
In a 1998 meta-analysis of the literature on prison misconduct, Gendreau, Goggin, and Law note that the predictors of misconduct in prison are essentially the same as those which have been found to predict recidivism in other meta-analyses on that subject. To test this parallel, a Survey of Inmates in Federal Facilities conducted in 1991 is used to compare factors which are significant predictors of isconduct during a period of up to eight years following the original interviews compared with the predictors of recidivism among a subsample of the inmates who were released within six months of the original interview. The significance of the parallel between predictors of institutional adjustment and post-release success is discussed with a special ephasis on its implications for the evaluation of programs in prisons designed to influence future behavior
Predictors of Onset of First and Regular Substance Use in Males From Ages 7 to 19
Survival analysis was used to identify predictors of onset of substance use, onset of regular substance use, and time to regular substance use in data from three samples of Pittsburgh Youth Study males (50% African American; 50% Caucasian) who began the study in first (11 = 503), fourth (11 = 508), or seventh (11 = 506) grades. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses of I waves of data (over five years) showed that youth who were physically aggressive, were old for their grade or skipped school, had caretakers who experienced anxiety/depression, lived in a rough neighborhood, and had parents less concerned about the youth’s antisocial behavior were at higher risk for onset of tobacco use. African Americans were less likely to have early onset of tobacco use than Caucasians. Youth who were old for their grade, had been suspended from school, had negative attitudes toward school or substance use, had peers who drank, and had unemployed or poorly educated mothers were at greater risk of early onset of alcohol use. Youth who engaged in high risk behaviors and had peers who used substances were at higher risk for early onset of regular tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use, and depressed mood was a predictor of regular marijuana use.
Predictors of Perceived School Safety: A Multilevel Examination of Race in Urban and Rural Schools Across Kentucky
With the recent school shootings at Columbine Hiigh School in Littleton, Colorado, as well as other schools, the matter of school safety has begun to receive more attention. We might wonder how safe schools actually are. Perhaps more importantly, how safe do children feel at school? Are there differences in perceived safety between rural and urban students? These are the questions that this paper attempts to answer. Specifically, this paper addresses the individuallevel factors which lead to perceived violence embedded within both urban and rural school contexts. Given the “nested” nature of our data, hierarchical linear modeling is used to determine the main effects of individual and contextual school-level variables, as well as the conditioning or moderating influences of school location on individual perceptions of fear. Our findings suggest that overall, students do feel safer in rural schools, but not all students. Our findings also suggest that race is a powerful predictor as to whether students feel safe at school, especially rural schools. Male students who regard themselves racially as “other” than white or black report feeling most likely to be attacked in rural schools. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of some of the theoretical implications for future research and policy.
Predictors of Safety Over Time: Attitudinal Change in Light of Community Policing and Decreasing Crime Rates
The community policing movement has worked on the assumption that increasing police responsiveness to people in the community, while engaging social partnerships on a neighborhood level can reduce crime, fear of crime, and improve quality of life in the community. In this paper, I examine the impact of multiple predictors on fear of crime over four years. Data for this study is based on a random survey of citizens in Racine, WI who were part of a community policing initiative. A random survey of households was conducted over a four-year period with data collected at the onset of community policing, one year after program implementation, and again after four years. My research indicates that fear of crime has been reduced in the city. While age and gender are significant predictors in affecting perceptions of safety, other variables are more important. Neighborhood conditions, perceptions of crime as problematic in the area, and citizen attendance at community meetings have greater impact on citizen’s feelings of safety than do gender and age. Police visibility was not a significant predictor of feeling safe. These outcomes are interpreted in light of declining crime rates in the city.
Pregnancy, Drug Use, and HIV: Influences Affecting HIV Positive Women’s Reproductive Actions
Given the current use of antiretroviral drug therapy, women with HIV can live longer, and reduce the risk of vertical transmission to their children. This has the potential to increase HIV positive women’s reproductive life, There is limited research on the relationship between HIV positive women and their reproductive choices. An understanding of what influences women’s reproductive choices is paramount to constructing and implementing effective HIV/AIDS educational programs and medical care. In this study we investigated how HIV status, gender, ram, ethnicity, and class, and drug use influenced reproductive actions. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with HIV positive women (n=74), aged 18 to 49 years, from Oakland, California (n=26), Chicago, Illinois (n=20), and Rochester, New York (n=28). The women were predominately African American, with an annual income of less than $10,000. Data were collected between 1995 and 2000, audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed utilizing grounded theory qualitative methods. Reproductive action is influenced by women’s reproductive biographies, perceived replacement of children “taken away” by Child Protective Agencies, self-identity in mothering role, and “doing it [mothering] right this time” particularly for drug recovering women. Women’s relationship with God, cultural attitudes regarding abortion, and perceived risk of vertical transmission additionally influenced women’s reproductive actions.
Pregnant, Addicted to Crack, Railroaded to Prison: Is it Justifiable?
On July 13, 1989 in a Seminole County, Florida courtroom our nation’s criminal justice system won its first conviction against a 23 year-old woman for delivering illegal drugs to a minor through the umbilical cord. She was found guilty of having violated the state of Florida’s drug trafficking statute twice by giving birth in 1987 and again in 1989 to newborns who tested positive for a derivative of cocaine. Since that time, other states–Michigan, North Carolina, and Kentucky–have enacted similar legislation. Moreover, in South Carolina the case of Cornelia Whitner is before the U.S. Supreme Court for drugs in the womb. Evidence does suggest a significant increase in maternal drug use during pregnancy during the 1990s, and the problem will persist well into the new millennium. While crack in the womb poses many problems physicially, psychologically, socially, and emotionally, the question remains: Are women who are pregnant, addicted to crack and railroaded to prison caught up in society’s “quick fix” solution, because of losing the war on drugs, to the extent that women addicted to crack are being warehoused in prisons? New policy considerations will be presented encompassing treatment, not conviction and prison, for women pregnant, addicted to crack, and railroaded to prison.
Pregnant Girls and Moms in Detention
Teenaged moms in detention are a significant subject for research because of the risks involved when “kids have kids.” In this social psychological analysis, teenage mothers have been studied to examine patterns of sexuality, parenting and social support. Data came from open-ended interviews, essays and group discussion. Case files were also examined to gather background information for comparison. Three broad questions directed the research: How did they happen to become pregnant? How do they perceive their relationship with their child(ren)? What do they believe it would take for them to be good parents in the future? Subjects were detainees who participated voluntarily as part of an ongoing study of delinquents’ self-concepts about being parents.
Pregnant Women on Drugs: Combating Stereotypes and Stigma
In Pregnant Women on Drugs: Combating Stereotypes and Stigma (Rutgers University Press, 1999) Murphy and Rosenbaum describe the poverty, violence, drug abuse and sexual exploitation that characterized pregnant drug users’ childhoods and how their unplanned pregnancies blurred the line between when their childhood ended and their womanhood began. Becoming pregnant under those conditions accelerated these women’s loss of control over their bodies, their lives and their futures. Yet, everyone around them (themselves included) expected them to get control over themselves and their drug use. Pregnant Women on Drugs reports findings from 120 life history interviews with pregnant (or recently delivered) drug using women. Murphy and Rosenbaum found that women’s drug use during pregnancy cannot be understood apart from the social and economic contexts in which these experiences are embedded. In fact, they conclude that the greatest threat to effective parenting and child survival is a system that perpetuates poverty, violence, hardship and desperation.
Prejudice and Punishment: Judging Pregnant Women Who Use Drugs
This session will provide an overview of public policy responses to the issue of pregnant women who use drugs focusing particularly on the trend toward criminalization and nonconsensual testing. Throughout the late 1980’s and still today, “crack moms” and “crack babies” have been the subject of vigorous public debate. Much of this discussion has been governed by speculation and medical misinformation reported as fact in both medical journals and the popular press. The response in many instances has been extremely judgmental and punitive, including calls for the arrest and prosecution of pregnant women and new mothers. In 1997, South Carolina became the first state in the country to uphold such a criminal justice, punitive approach. A national review of state laws concerning drug using pregnant women demonstrates that there is an increasing trend toward harsh and inflexible civil child welfare approaches. Medical and social science research however suggests that non-punitive responses are far more effective in addressing the problems of both pregnant women and their families. Policy responses to pregnant women who use drugs take place in a particular historical context and reflect the intersection of today’s highly charged political debates about abortion, drugs, race and the proper role of the criminal justice system. Public policy alternatives and future approaches will be discussed.
Preliminary Findings of Sexual Assaults Reported to the Police: A Canadian Study
Sexual assaults are widely reported in both Canada and the United States. Data was collected on 115 sexual assaults occurring between January 1, 1996 and June 5, 1996 from a police department in a mid-sized Canadian city. Demographic information was collected on several aspects of the criminal event, including the occurrence, the victim, the offender, and any witnesses interviewed in each sexual assault. In addition, invested parties’ statements were collected from all those involved, including officers. Preliminary results will be presented on the dynamics of sexual assault reported to police, focusing on the interaction between offender, victims and witnesses involved in the event.
Preparing Criminal Justice Students for New Developments in Crime: The Issue of High Technology Crime
The primary purpiose of this article is to determine what knowledge elements are required to detect, investigate, and prosecute high technology crime. This study explores (1) the extent to which undergraduate criminal justice students are exposed to these knowledge elements under current criminal justice curricula, and (2) the degree of changing, or the likelihood for changing, the undergraduate criminal justice curriculum to accmmodate the increasing level of sophistication of crime in society. To determine what knowledge elements are required to detect, investigate, and prosecute high technology crime, academic leaders have been selected from the one hundred largest criminal justice undergraduate programs in the United States and asked to complete a written survey instrument consisting of a variety of questions and statements pertaining to high technology crime.
Pretrial Release and Detention of Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1998 Preliminary Findings
Preliminary data from the 1998 State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) series will be used to discuss pretrial release and detention of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties of the United States. Specifically, trends on rates of release and detention, bail amounts, time from arrest to release, criminal history and probability of release, and conduct of released defendants will be presented. Highlights from 1996 SCPS data reveal thirty-seven percent of all defendants were detained until the court disposed of their case, including 6% who were denied bail. A majority of defendants charged with murder (84%), robbery (61%), or burglary (53%) were detained. Sixty-one percent of murder defendants were denied bail. Furthermore, fifty-three percent of the defendants with an active criminal justice status were detained until case disposition, compared to 27% of those without such a status. Defendants on parole (73%) were the most likely to be detained, followed by those on probation (58%). In addition, released defendants were most likely to be released on personal recognizance (38% of all releases). The next most common type of pretrial release was surety bond (28%), followed by deposit bond (11%) and conditional releasee (95). And finally, nearly a third (31%) of released defendants committed one or more types of pretrial misconduct while in a release status. Twenty-two percent failed to appear in court as scheduled, and 16% were rearrested for a new offense. In conclusion, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, and 1998 SCPS data will be used to facilitate discussion on trends in the pretrial release and detention of felony defendants.
Prevalence, Prediction, and Effects of Seeking Service Provision Among a Sample of High Risk Urban Subjects
It is first hypothesized that life event stresses and/or depression will increase the chances a youth will seek service provision (e.g., psychological counseling, substance abuse counseling, etc.), independent of involvement in delinquent behavior. Data from the Rochester Youth development Study (RYDS), a longitudinal study of predominantly high-risk urban youth, will be used. The prevalence of obtaining such services in adolescence, as well as the extent of life event stresses and depression will be examined first. The hypotheses concerning stress and depression will then be tested both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, controlling for relevant variables, such as parent SES, gender, delinquency and drug use, which may in themselves lead to interesting findings. Fuerther, it is hypothesized that seeking service provision in adolescence will reduce criminal behavior and drug use in early adulthood.
Prevalence and Impact of Psychological Abuse Among Court Involved Battered Women
Clinical reports suggest that men who physically assault their intimate partners are invariably psychologically abusive toward them as well (e.g., Walker, 1979). Moreover, many domestic violence (DV) victims report that the psychological abuse is more damaging than the physical aggression they experience. Compared to research on physical assaults, however, relatively few studies have examined the prevalence and impact of psychological abuse in the context of intimate relationships (O’Leary, 1999). The present study provides data on psychological abuse among female DV victims entering the criminal justice system for either a civil (N = 2,686) or criminal case (N =1,131) 1). Staff from Pretrial Services completed structured interviews with the women that assessed prior psychological and physical abuse. As expected, the women reported high rates of psychological abuse. Physical aggression rarely occurred in the absence of psychological abuse, whereas close to one fifth of the victims experienced psychological abuse in the absence of prior physical aggression. Psychological abuse, after controlling for the severity of prior physical aggression, characteristics of the index offense and the antisocial features of the offenders, still accounted for unique variance in victims’ perceived threat and their desire to end the relationship. Additional analyses and the implications of these findings will be discussed.
Preventing Crime in Public Housing
The purpos of this presentation will be to describe security initiatives that work, how the PRIDE Patrols of the New Bedford Housing Authority function and, the communication between the partnerships which include the police and housing authority. Discussio will lead to the Police Residence Program of the New Bedford Housing Authority after a review of an extremely effective Trespass Policy. There will be information concerning conditions in the New Bedford Housing Developments before and since 1993 as well as a review of drug/crime elimination programs. The presentation will end with discussion about the latest security initiative of the New Bedford Housing Authority, working with GIS/GPS systems.
Preventing Delinquency Through Alternative Education Programs
Over the past decade a number of innovative educational programs have emerged. While largely positive, the reports of their effectiveness vary. This paper is a meta-analysis of various alternative educational programs that serve largely urban black and/or Hispanic youth who might be considered at-risk for delinquency. Since poor academic performance is related to offending for certain ethnic groups as both juveniles and adults, it is worth exploring the extent to which an improved educational experience alters what may be a negative trajectory. Thus far, the evaluations of programs such as Head Start and the Perry Pre-School Project indicate that education can reduce the odds of offending. This paper discusses whether or not some of the more junior educational initiatives hold similar promise. The paper also isolates the specific traits of the different programs that make them effective delinquency prevention mechanisms.
Preventing Delinquency Through Local Delinquency Prevention Councils: The Kentucky Experience
This paper examines initial effots of the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to develop and implement eight local delinquency prevention councils and the effectiveness of the councils in supporting local delinquency prevention programs. Data for the paper are derived from interviews with DJJ personnel, council members, and program staff; participant observations of council meetings, and from program development and evaluation workplans developed by council supported delinquency prevnetion programs. Program successes, as well as problems encountered, in the development of state supported local delinquency prevention effort are reviewed and recommendations for future state supported delinquency prevneiton efforts are mae.
Preventing Reincarceration of Felony Offenders: Reason for Optimism Based on Ten-Year Treatment Outcome Data
Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) is a highly structured cognitive behavioral group approach utilized with offenders, drug abusers, alcoholics, and other groups. Separate formats and workbooks have been developed for different types of clients, but the approach was pioneered with drug offenders beginning in 1986. In 1999 an evaluation was conducted on 1,052 participants’ and 329 controls’ local and national arrest records detailing arrests, convictions, and subsequent sentences for each individual after earlier release. This method has been consistently employed each year with results published in numerous sources. At the time of data collection, all 1,052 treated subjects and controls had been released at least 6 months, and the 1-through-6 year reincarceration rates reported represent the corresponding rate of reincarceration for all subjects during that particular time span after release. The reincarceration rates for the treated and control groups for the full ten years after release show the treated groups’ reincarceration rate is consistently lower than controls. In fact, at each of the I 0-year post-release points, the treated groups’ reincarceration rate was significantly lower than controls. In May 1999, these findings were further enhanced by an independent cost-benefit analysis that concluded MRT Treatment showed the highest benefit for each dollar spent on offenders, yielding a saving of $11.48 in eventual criminal justice and other costs based on the success of the intervention. Prior reports have shown that MRT increases moral reasoning in offenders, increases life purpose and self-esteem, decreases sensation seeking, decreases failures on work release and community corrections programs, decreases rearrests, reincarcerations, and severity of subsequent crime, and prevents fewer misconducts in participants. Approximately 75 research reports from across the United States have been published on MRT implementations. Data on an estimated 20,000 MRT-treated offenders has been published and compared to over 65,000 controls with all results consistently showing the same positive trends. Several of these studies have been independent evaluations of state-wide implementations of MRT.
Preventing the “Early Start” Within Transitional Divorce Families: An Experimental Test of Precurors Influencing Antisocial Behavior and Delinquency
Results are presented from a preventive intervention trial focusing on parent training for at-risk divorced families. Data are from 5 waves (30 months) of the Oregon Divorce Study (a set of two longitudinal samples, ODS-1, a passive design, and ODS-11, a randomized preventive intervention trial). ODS-1 evaluated processes hypothesized to predict maternal and child adjustment to divorce in a sample of 197 families. Findings were applied to inform the experimental trial with 238 recently separated mothers and their sons. The primary objective was to experimentally manipulate parenting variables (i.e., discipline, monitoring, positive involvement, and problem solving) hypothesized to influence the development of antisocial behavior and delinquency. It was expected that mothers would reduce coercive parenting and increase positive parenting related to the control group. Benefits in parenting were expected to predict subsequent reductions in behavior problems and delinquency. These hypotheses were largely supported. Another objective of the program was to reduce stress and depression in the mothers’ lives, which are almost an epidemiological certainty following divorce. The paper discusses the importance of preventing problems associated with disrupted parenting practices during family transitions because divorce has become relatively normative in contemporary society.
Preventive Measures Against Organized Crime
During the nineties of the last century, law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities intensified their war on organized crime. The question is, however, whether this “arms race” is effective. In the arms race the focus lies on the aspect of enmity between ‘the’ society and organized crime — as though conflict and opposing interests are the only elements at play. On the basis of a systematic analysis of closed police investigations of criminal groups, I will suggest that there are a lot of interfaces between criminal groups and the legitimate environment. These interfaces offer relevant clues for the prevention of organized crime. Taking preventive measures against organized crime is however very complicated. Recent experiences in Amsterdam illustrate the challenges as well as the pitfalls of preventive actions against organized crime.
Print Media’s Reporting on School Shootings: A Content Analysis of the Los Angeles Times Reporting on the Columbine Shooting Incident
This paper reports on a study examining media coverage of the Columbine shooting. The central focus of the research was to assess the use by newspapers of semantical and visual imagery to change public opinion. Using 24 weeks of the Los Angeles Times following the shooting, this study explored how the newspaper reported the major story and various side events and stories. The study employed several standard content analysis strategies in its effort.
Prior Victimization and Crime Concentration
Previous research has found that victimization is not random but concentrated on few victims who experience more than one crime per year. It has also been found that such crime concentration depends on individual and household characteristics of the victims when the average number of crimes is low or moderate but when it is high some individual characteristics become irrelevant. The last result was obtained using multilevel modeling of fixed and random effects. The present study expands the above work by investigating a threefold question. What is the role of prior victimization by personal, property or motor vehicle crime on the effects of individual and household covariates on personal crimes’? Does prior victimization demonstrate any random effects itself, and, if so, what are their implications for theory and crime prevention? Finally, how the effects of prior victimization on current personal crimes vary the further back it has occurred. The data employed in the study come from the 1994 NCVS, which collected information on crime experiences of respondents during three six-month periods.
Prison Alternatives: Are the Sanctions Standard of Widen the Net of Social Control
One of the most persistent concerns in the development of criminal justice programs intended to function as alternatives to incarceration is that the intent frequently gets subverted in the implementation stages. The result has been that such programs more often than no produce a net-widening instead of a diversionary effect. This paper examines the design and implenentation of a state funded program in Delaware County, PA, created to divert drug-dependent offenders who would otherwise be sentenced to prison into residential and/or community based treatment alternatives. The paper examines the assumptions underlying the program’s design at both the state and local level and compares them with the reality of actual program operation since the first year the program was implemented. In particular, data are presented on the types of defendants who were not admitted to the program but who fell within the accepted parameters for eligibility under the state’s sentencing guidelines system. By comparing sentences for rejected defendants with those who were sentenced to the program, as well as examining general county sentencing patterns, the present study draws conclusions about the net-widening vs. diversionary impact of the program and discusses the implications of the findings for state and local policymakers.
Prison-Based Therapeutic Community Treatment From the Perspedctive of the Participants: Results From 20 Focus Groups
This paper will report on the results of 20 focus groups conducted at five prison-based therapeutic community (TC) substance abuse programs (SAPs) located at five California state prisons. These five programs, totaling 1,000 beds, were funded under the California Budget Act of 1997 and commenced operations in July 1998. As part of an ongoing process evaluation of these SAPs, four focus groups were conducted at each TC (one with treatment staff, one with custody staff, and two with inmate participants). The purpose of these focus groups was to collect qualitative process data in order to assess the implementation and ongoing operations of each SAP from the perspective of the primary participants in the treatment process (treatment staff, custody staff, and residents). Each focus group was audiotaped and verbatim written transcripts were prepared. Central themes and issues were identified and summarized using content analysis. Major issues of relevance that pertained to individual programs (e.g., organizational cultures, treatment philosophies) as well as issues that appeared to be common to all of the SAPs (e.g., over reliance on punishment and negative reinforcements in the treatment process, lack of appropriate training for treatment and custody staff) will be presented and discussed.
Prison Privatization: Keep Your Money in Your Pocket
Privatization of correctional institutions has been a central topic of debate in the criminological literature in recent years. Strengths and weaknesses of these institutions have been discussed in detail. However, the literature does not address the actual economical benefit that privatization will provide and the entities that will receive the benefit. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide empirical research that will examine the economical structure of both the public and private prison operations. Specifically, the author attempted to measure the direct benefit privatization of prison operations has for the taxpayer as well as analysis the financial operations of both the public and private prison.
Prison Riots as Revolutions: Institutional Leadership, Prediction, and Control
In a previous paper, we argued that that the same forces that cause revolutions also cause prison riots. We tested this argument using historical data on riots in 13 prisons. This paper develops this theme further, based on studies of. (1) the New York City Department of Correction, as it was transformed from a condition of severe disorder (analogous to a “revolutionary situation”) to comparative safety and order (analogous to ending a revolution); (2) riots that occurred in two in New Mexico, brought about when state authorities turned to private administration but failed to improve existing problems and in some ways made matters worse; (3) the time-distribution of U.S. prison riots since World War 11, especially the clustering of prison riots in “waves” and the correspondence between those wave and efforts to experiment with new forms of prison administration.
Prisons and the Future of Social Control
As prison populations continue to expand on both sides of the Atlantic there is an increasing sense that this is an inevitable feature of late modernity in which sanctions are increasingly expressed through forms of social exclusion. However, there are contradictory trends developing which are challenging this widely held assumption and suggest that in the medium to long term we may see the demise of the prison. If this is a possible scenario the question is what forms of punishment are likely to predominate and what role is prison likely to play in the future. Drawing on the classic formulations of Foucault and Rusche and Kirchheimer this paper aims to consider the future development of prisons and punishment in a post-Fordist, postmodemist, post- traditional, post-welfarist, post-rehabilitative and globalised world.
Prisons in Europe — Actual Developments and Problems in East and West
The authors give an overview on European prison systems in the situation of social transition. Special emphasis is given to the situation in Eastern Europe. The major challenges of the prison system seem to be threefold: First to establish an effective system of prisoners’ rights, second to improve the daily living conditions (especially in Central and Eastern European countries) and third to reduce prison overcrowding. Prisons need to be supervised and effectively controlled. Prisoners’ rights and the humane living conditions can be deployed by a variety of control systems that have been developed in carious forms in the European countries: individual complaints procedures, national and international (CPT) inspections systems, ombudsmen, boards of visitors, etc. Organisational reforms have been stimulated by budget restrictions (e.g. Germany) and do not necessarily lead into reduced services for prisoners. Quality control and the evaluation of prisons under economic standards (cost-benefit analyses) should be seen as a chance to improve the conditions for prisoners and staff.
Private Prisons for Dummies: Social Costs, Executive Pay, and the Management Overhead of a NASDAQ Company
Despite widespread ideological belief in the ineffiency of government, research on the cost of privately run prisons shows little to no financial savings. This paper investigates this finding by exploring the overhead costs, such as high CEO salaries, lawyers, and consultants. The research methodology involves reviewing Securities and Exchange Commission filings for the Corrections Corporation of America and Prison Realty Trust. The conclusion emphasizes the need for criminologists to utilize new tools like Internet investment Web sites to research the for-profit criminal justice-industrial complex.
Private vs. Public Prison Operation: A Quantitative Analysis of Prison Environment Quality in Juvenile Institions
Continued rapid expansion of privately operated correctional. facilities has led to concerns regarding the quality of prison environments. Despite these concerns, limited empirical research has examined the differences between facilities operated by the private sector and those operated by the public sector. This paper examines the effect of privatization on 48 residential juvenile correctional. institutions. Using data form 4,121 juveniles and 1,300 staff, the impact of the operating sector on the prison environment, intermediate outcomes, and staff work experiences is empirically examined.
Probation Absconders
Examination of probation violation is common in the literature; however, rarely examined are probationers who abscond from community supervision. Absconders are essentially ‘esdaping’ from probation. Aside from the fact that justice is not being served by probationers evading supervision and avoiding their imposed sentence, these violators could pose a serious risk to public safety. Probationer characteristics, criminal histories, committing offense, and violations prior to absconding will be examined for a group of offenders who were classified as ‘absconders’ after being placed under community supervision. Policy implications will be discussed.
Probation Officer Stress Levels: Does Perceptions of Participating in Decision Making Make a Difference?
The benefits of participatory management have been highly touted in the private sector and have been identified in the research literature as a means for reducing probation officer stress. Stress reduction can also prove very cost effective for organizations — with less expenditures required for medical benefits and costs associated with turnover. This study examines the stress levels and perceptions of probation personnel regarding participatory management in their workplace. The responses of 636 probation officers responsible for supervising adult offenders in a southeastern state will be explored. A number of demographic variables are analyzed, and a structural model is developed for predicting the contributing factors for probation officer workplace stress. Delimitations for future research will be discussed.
Probation Supervision With Female Offenders
In the United Kingdom models of intervention for offenders on probation have been derived primarily from theories of offending which have been developed to explain offending among young men. This has resulted in an increased emphasis being placed upon structured, usually cognitive-behavioural, approaches which are aimed at encouraging offenders to take responsibility for their behaviour. However interviews conducted with female probationers in Scotland have suggested that women attach more importance to interventions aimed at alleviating personal and social problems and empowering them to take greater control over their lives. Drawing upon interviews with women on probation and supervising social workers, questionnaires completed by supervising social workers and an analysis of reconviction data, this paper will present the findings from an ongoing study which is examining the relative effectiveness of different models of supervision with female probationers.
Problem Programs: Analyzing the Impact of Viewing Specific Programs on Fear of Crime
Gerbner’s cultivation hypothesis predicts that television viewing fosters a ‘mean world view.” Implicit in this hypothesis is the notion that the specific content of television programs is not as important as the underlying ideological message contained in most, if not 4 television programming. In the past, tests of the relationship between television and perceptions of crime have utilized measures of either total television viewing or amount of viewing in a particular genre of television, such as crime drama or crime news. The present study will explore an alternative hypothesis — that specific content of programming is related to public perceptions of crime. We do this by analyzing the relationship between watching particular programs and several dependent variables, including fear of crime, crime risk and perception of the crime problem. Telephone surveys of 1,460 randomly chosen respondents in a state capital are used to assess the view habits of individuals and their perceptions about crime during the fall of 1995. Models of fear, risk and perceptions of the crime problem, controlling for age, gender, race, income and other control variables, are used to isolate the effects of program viewing.
Problem-Solving and Team-Building Intervention: Assessing an Assault Reduction Strategy in a Public High School
This study reports the preliminary results of an evaluation of a problem-solving and team-building intervention aimed at reducing assaults and related problems (including fear of crime) at a mid-sized urban high school in Western New York State. School Administrators in conjunction with the local police identified assaultive bheavior on school grounds as a substantial problem. A problem-solving seminar was held that included administrators, teachers, students, and police officers. The seminar was designed to develop problem-solving techniques, and then apply those techniques to reduce assaults on school grounds. Data were obtained through surveys of teachers as well as official crime data from police and school disciplinary reports before and after the intervention occurred to assess whether the intervention reduced assaults and related behavior on the school grounds. The findings from this study offer insight into the viability of such an intervention as an effective strategy to reduce school violence. Overall, this evaluation is consistent with the U. S. Department of Education’s National Educational Goals for all schools to be free of violence.
Problem Solving for Homicide Prevention in Baltimore
Following on the basic problem oriented architecture of the Boston Gun Project, work is in progress in Baltimore on a “pulling levers” or focussed deterrence strategy to prevent homicide and serious violence. The project has convened an interagency working group; conducted quantitative and qualitative research on homicide patterns, homicide victims and offenders, and drug markets; designed an intervention; and commenced implementation. The core effort is directed at preventing violence by and amongst what is estimated to be 3-4000 chronic offenders involved in some 325 drug trafficking groups in several dozen drug market areas.
Problem Solving Responses to Firearms Violence: Indianapolis Violence Reduction Partnership
In early 1998 a working group of representatives of all the local, state, and federal criminal justice agencies serving the Indianapolis region was formed to engage in a problem solving approach to reducing homicide and serious violence. This paper describes this formal problem solving initiative, law enforcement strategies that have emerged, and community based prevention initiatives. Initial findings from the assessment of the initiative are also presented. Challenges of studying this type of evolving problem solving effort are discussed.
Problems Associated With the Analysis of Homicide in Small Populations
Substantive interests in the variation of homicide across geographic units such as counties and for demographically specific groups frequently results in the analysis of rates from small populations. This paper describes problems associated with this type of analysis and suggests strategies for analyzing this type of data.
Processing Domestic Violence Cases in California’s Courts
Domestic violence courts are one of the most recent innovations in case processing in the judiciary. Like other forms of “therapeutic justice,” such as drug courts, domestic violence courts attempt to provide more appropriate and effective methods of dispute resolution and sentencing than have traditionally been available through the courts. Yet the methods of case processing vary widely between different courts that are designated as domestic violence courts. This paper summarizes the findings of a survey of 52 courts in California that have specialized calendars for processing domestic violence cases. The paper reviews which case types are identified as domestic violence, how these cases are processed, the services available to victims of domestic violence and batterers, and the resources available to the courts.
Processing Risk: Hazards and Opportunities
Criminological studies of risk tend to conflate the future-oriented meaning of risk as probability with a present-oriented definition that views risk as equivalent to danger. Further, the significant contributions and advancements of other disciplinary approaches to risk have seemingly been ignored by criminologists. This disciplinary demarcation implies that risk involving the probability of crime and incivility is unrelated to risk associated with non-criminal behavior and events. Using data from the 1993 General Social Survey, we first determine the extent to which different people equally identify and perceive crime hazards and opportunities, as well as the extent to which similar people fail to equally identify crime hazards and opportunities. Second, following Wildavsky and Dake (1990), we compare types of dangers and opportunities (both criminal and non-criminal) to determine if there are general tendencies to be risk averse (i.e. potential losses greater than potential gains), or risk taking (potential gain outweighing potential loss), and how risk varies given the nature and type of hazard and opportunity under consideration. The results of our study contribute to a broader understanding of how it is that present hazards and opportunities may contribute to future probabilities and understandings of these probabilities.
Professional Correctional Officials in South Africa: A Profile Analysis
When democracy finally arrived in South Africa in 1994, the country was faced with a massive duty of transformation to do away with the legacies of the Apartheid era. The South African Department of Correctional Services forms part of the South African public service. Therefore, the Department of Correctional Services in South Africa was severely affected by political change. Management decided that staff members needed retraining to adapt to certain changes in policy and future philosophy and to bring about the desired transformation. On the basis of the above, a research project followed to analyse, and scientifically validate the profile needed for a South African correctional official. The sample represented all nine provinces in South Africa, all population groups (Black, Coloured, Indian and White) and both males and females. It also included representatives of all the different hierarchical levels in the Department of Correctional Services. Results from the study have been used to design a contemporary training curriculum for correctional officials in South Africa, but it could also be used at international level. The paper will focus in more detail on approaches during, and results from the research project.
Profiling Hackers: Beyond Psychology
Guided by grounded theory, this paper examines the non-criminal, on-line activities of hackers. The social context of the hacker is on-line interaction; therefore, a profile of communication activities is also a profile of basic subcultural activity. All subjects participated in an e-mail discussion list focused on the incarceration of Kevin Mitnick. Although much of the discussion regards political activism (hacktivism), many ad hoc discussions formed around events of the day. A content analysis of recurring themes in these discussions forms the basic categories of a profile of hackers. Discussion of traditional and other untraditional methods of profiling hackers is included.
Profiling Stories and What They Can Teach Us About Race, Policing and the Legal System
It is common to hear from African American, Latino, or other minority persons in the U.S. stories concerning what has come to be known as racial profiling: the use of traffic stops as a pretext to launch what would otherwise be illegal investigations in numbers that are greatly disproportionate to the numbers of minorities on the road. These are nearly universal experiences for minorities, even if this phenomenon has been invisible to whites until recently. Reviewing narratives of these encounters from interviews, several themes emerge: personal powerlessness, the undermining of trust not only in police but in the entire justice system, and damge to self-concept. This paper will explore how the narratives and the themes they raise bring to the fore troubling questions concerning rational and efficient crime fighting strategies, police-community relations, and the very legitimacy of the legal system, and suggest what some of the answers might be.
Program Accountability Measures for Juvenile Commitment Programs
This paper reports the findings of a comprehensive assessment of Florida’s juvenile commitment programs in terms of program accountability measures (PAM). The study reflects the process undertaken by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice to incorporate accountability into the program that serve youth committed to the Department. It examines inputs, costs, and outcomes of commitment programs and allows for comparisons across programs. The methodology utilized to calculate PAM index scores balances the cost of program completion against the actual recidivism rates of youth saved, taking into account the youths’ characteristics and predicted recidivism rates. PAM scores are calculated for each juvenile commitment program in Florida and summarized according to the following classifications: Level 2, minimum-risk, non-residential program; Level 4, low-risk residential program Level 6, moderate-risk residential programs, boot camp programs; Level 8, high-risk residential programs, and Level 10, maximum-risk residential programs
Promising Practices in Juvenile Justice Education: An Overview of the Literature and an Examination of Florida Facilities
Emerging in the past several years has been a national reform movement in education to improve the quality of educational services for youth. Associated concerns have included the use of technolo9gy in the classroom, smaller class sizes, and more highly trained teachers. Additionally, one of the major initiatives developing from the reform movement is the call for higher education standards and associated accountability measures. The consensus of what constitutes an effective educational practice and successful delivery of quality education is unclear. However, what emerges as “effective” seems to be the extent to which each of these components is individualized to meet the personal competencies and deficits of each child. In juvenile justice education these goals and concerns are particularly germane. In Florida, the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program (JJEEP) conducts Quality Assurance Reviews (QARs) for each juvenile justice educational program. The presence of “promising practices” noted in the literature have been linked to quality educational programs in Florida, as indicated by higher QAR scores. This paper reviews relevant literature that identifies “promising education practices” as potentially “best practices” in the overall effort to facilitate their transfer and expansion into juvenile justice facilities. Additionally, an examination of how the presence of these practices translate into quality programs in Florida is examined.
Promoting Innovation in a Criminal Court Setting
This Paper discusses lessons learned in a collaborative venture in coordinated planning and strategic management of change between Temple University action-researchers from the Crime & Justice Research Institute in Philadelphia and government and justice officials in one of the larger criminal court systems in the State. The authors examine a broad range of activities and achievements, as well as problems and opportunities for further innovation that have emerged over the five-Year period during which the project has operated. Implications are discussed for policymakers and researchers interested in the numerous substantive reforms that have been initiated, and for others in the fields of organizational and management science concerned more about the processes within which court innovation can be fostered.
Promoting Positive Restorative Justice
The influential documentary film maker and criminologist, Roger Graeff, addressing the annual conference of the National Association for Youth Justice in Shropshire, England in September 1999, spoke warmly about restorative justice and its ability to make juveniles take responsibility for their behaviour; ‘and that is what we all want’, he said, ‘to make juveniles take more responsibility for what they do’. For many people, it seems, the belief in the capacity of a variety of practices that fall under the umbrella of restorative justice, to make juveniles more responsible, is at the root of its appeal. It makes sense, after all, for juveniles to be more responsible. Not only is this a good thing in its own right, but if juveniles are more responsible then they will commit fewer offences. The moral and ethical basis for this paper takes, as its starting point, however, a radical departure from this point of view. In line more with the kind of thinking which underpins international conventions on the rights of children and the treatment of juveniles offenders, the central theme of this paper is that overriding the responsibility that young people may have to others is the responsibility that others and especially the State has towards them. Children are prevented from accessing the full rights of citizenship, and they are protected in international and domestic laws from bearing the full responsibility of adulthood. This paper seeks to advance principles for promoting a positive approach towards the development and operation of restorative justice practices for juveniles which builds on the internationally recognised status of children, and makes use of current knowledge about children and what is known about the effectiveness of forms of treatment of juveniles offenders.
Prosecutions and Risks Under the Economic Espionage Act
When the Economic Espionage Act was signed into law in 1996, predictions varied widely over its potential impact. Some predicted a flood of new court cases while others dismissed the event as much ado about nothing. The brief four year history shows that the momentum for regular criminal prosecutions of intellectual property crimes continues to build.
Prosecutor Office Workload: A Quantitative Assessment of Case Processing Work Performed by Non-Attorney Staff
In the past, efforts to develop a comprehensive and objective understanding of prosecutor workload have focused only on the case processing activities of attorneys in prosecutors’ offices. Little has been done to document the amount of time other non-attorney staff (e.g., investigators, victim/witness advocates, and support staff) in prosecutors’ offices spend handling cases. Non-attomey staff play critical roles in case processing that must otherwise be performed by attorneys. This paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of attorney versus non-attorney time, from a sample of 762 staff in 31 prosecutors’ offices, by case type and type of jurisdiction.
Prosecutorial Discretion and Real Offense Sentencing: A Potential for Disparity Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines
The federal sentencing guidelines were adopted by the U.S. Sentencing Commission in 1987 to reduce judicial discretion and unwarranted sentence disparity. Likewise, the real offense sentencing system as opposed to the charge offense system, was adopted to reduce prosecutorial discretion in charging. However, current research suggests that disparity may exist within the scope of the current federal guidelines and more specifically, that discretion has shifted from the judge to the prosecutor. Prosecutorial discretion and the decision to charge are important in that they tend to create a ‘profile’ for an offender that follows him/her through the judicial process. Therefore, instead of focusing solely on judicial discretion, sentences need to be evaluated as a composite of many legal and extralegal factors within various stages of the criminal justice process, i.e., indictment, conviction, and sentencing. The Intensive Study Sample (ISS), a data set created by the Federal Sentencing Commission, has provided the opportunity for such a study of 1995 drug convictions. The purpose of this paper is to present the descriptive results of this study which will disclose the impact of prosecutorial discretion throughout the various stages of the judicial process and the subsequent effect this may have on sentencing.
Proteck Ya Neck: Exploring the Group Context of Delinquency and Youth Crime in an Inner City London Borough
The paper addresses the group context of offending committed by young people in an inner city London borough. The data is based on interviews and observations. The primary concern of the paper is to discuss the similarities and differences between ‘groups’ of young people in my research, delinquent ‘gags’ found in the US and the group context of delinquency detailed inother previous British studies. The paper will suggest that the context of offending by groups of young people within my study is dissimilar to that as suggested by gang research in America. This point will be elaborated through contrasting my data with characteristics of juvenile gangs detailed in various US studies. The chapter will then elaborate on the group context of offending in my research suggesting that the context is dependent on the type of offence being committed and surrounding situational factors. The discussion will then compare and contrast my research with other previous like research in Britain. Here a discussion will ensue on the degree to whether the group context of the juveniles’ offending within my research is either a conteporary extension or radical departure of groups of young offenders as detailed in previous British research.
Protective Effects Among Gang-Risk Youth: Distinguishing Protection From Risk
Disentangling the differences between risk and protection has emerged as an interest among criminologists. This presentation provides conceptually and empirically derived guidelines for detecting protective processes that reduce the risk of joining gangs. We examine protective effects as unique from risk using data from personal interviews conducted with adolescent Latino and African American males in two California cities (San Diego and Long Beach). This dataset is unique in its purposive sample of gang members and youth at-risk of joining gans in high gang areas in those cities. These data are used to identify protective factors that act as moderators of risk experiences by examining interaction effects between risk and protective factors. We consider the stability of gang resiliency processes across ethnicity and site.
Protective Factors and Gang Membership
Underlying many delinquency prevention programs is the belief that ani-social behaviors can be minimized by eleminating risk factors and strengthening protective factors. In this paper, I utilize data from a longitudinal study of adolescents to examine the role of protective factors representing four domains (personal, family, peer, and school) in preventing gang affiliation. Of special interest, however, is the effect of involvement in school-based prevention programs on the likelihood of joining a gang.
Protective Order Legislation in the United States
The recent increased attention to domestic violence has resulted in greater attention to protective orders. As a result, many state statutes have been revised to include clearer and more comprehensive procedures. This research project involved a content analysis of state statutes from all 50 states to compare definitions of abuse; filing and eligibility provisions; options for relief; and provisions for enforcement. Trends and directions for future legislation are discussed.
Prototype NIBRS Supplement to Crime in the United States
A prototype Crime in the United States supplement showing data from the National IncidentBased Reporting System (NIBRS) will be presented. When finalized, the supplement will be the first FBI publication presenting NIBRS data in aggregate, as well as at the local law enforcement agency level. Tables and charts demonstrating the capabilities of the incident-based system for addressing crime incidents, victims, and offenders will be included. The prototype will be constructed using actual 1998 figures collected from about 2,500 law enforcement agencies in 17 states. Current plans call for publication of 1999 NIBRS data in late 2000 or early 2001.
Provincial Laws on the Protection of Women in China: A Partial Test of Black’s Theory
Using data extracted from 29 provincial laws on the protection of women in China promulgated during the 1980s, the current study tests Black’s (1976) proposition that the quantity of law varies with stratification, morphology, culture, organization, and social control. Our analysis yielded little support for Black’s propositions except significant direct relationships between morphology and the quantity of five types of provincial laws. The paper concludes with a discussion of alternative explanations for the observed findings and the implications oof this research for further studies on the development of law.
Psy-ence Fiction: Programs for Mentally Disordered Female Offenders
Many women-centered models rest on the assumption that females entering the criminal justice systerm experience a high degree of mental disorder, In Canada, this supposition has been central to the philosophy and implementation of the new regional facilities for federally sentended women. As articulated in the Mental Health Strategy for Women Offenders and the National Strategy for High Need Women Offenders in Correctional Institutions, it is assumed that the majority of federally sentenced women suffer from personality disorders. Treatment for these disorders rests oil a cognitive, social learning model aimed at transforming the anti-social thoughts and behaviours of women into prosocial ones. Classification tools identify the particular needs and risk of individual prisoners which then dcetermine appropriate and specific programming. I argue that this process has resulted in the pathologization of federally sentenced wornen, the individualization of their actions and the depoliticization of their resistance. Despite these grave problems, the Canadian model is regarded by many as ‘cutting edge’ and adopted elsewhere, I conclude with a consideration of alternatives to this paradigm which recognize but do not medicalize women’s emotional distress.
Psychological Problems and Engagement in Correctional Substance Abuse Treatment
Psychological problems among probationers in corrections-based therapeutic communities (TC) have been shown to be related to higher rates of recidivism following treatment, However, relatively little is known about how these problems impact engagement in and progress during the treatment episode. Baseline and during-treatment assessments were collected from 417 probationers court-mandated to a 6-month modified TC. Analyses, using multiple indicators of engagement, showed lower levels of treatment involvement were associated with higher levels of psychological problems. Furthermore, probationers with more problems also reported lower ratings of improvement, and more negative evaluations of the treatment and security staff.
Psychological Profile of the Serial Killer: Redefining a Misnomer
This paper explores the possibility that a generalised profile of serial offenders may contribute to the conceptualisation of serial crime. The latter has become immersed in a debate over the minimum number of victims that should be set as the defining criterion. There are several conceptual and practical problems in seeking to define serial crime in terms of minimum victim numbers, and the possibility is raised that a serial criminal might be identified as such after only one offence has been committed. In this light the term “serial crime” is seen as a misnomer. A redefinition of the term is pursued by first identifying the psychological mechanisms characteristic of serial offenders; in this context, specific attention is given to the personality characteristics of psychopathy, narcissism, sadism, paraphilic tendencies, fantasy proneness or dissociative tendencies, and compulsiveness. A general definition of serial crime then is proposed, focusing on the psychology of the serial offender regardless of the particular offence mode. As a result of this analysis serial murder, serial rape, and serial arson can be described in terms of specific behaviours evidenced in the crime scene and the style of victimisation; these descriptions may be used to classify serial offenders. Finally, the proposed definition of serial crime is applied to the question, “Can women be serial criminals?”
Psychometric Properties of the Danger Assessment Instrument: Findings From the Intimate Partner Femicide Study
This paper will present new findings on the psychometric properties of the Danger Assessment (DA) intimate partner homicide risk assessment instrument from the NIJ/NIH/CDC funded 12 city case control study of risk factors for intimate partner femicide. A sample of femicide/attempted femicide (380) victims (cases) were recruited from police, medical examiner, shelter and trauma center records with interviews conducted with proxies for the actual femicides and the victims of attempted femicide. Abused controls (N = 384) and non-abused Controls (376) were recruited by telephone survey. Internal consistency reliability for the DA was .72 in the cases and .74 in the abused controls with a significant mean difference between the two groups (6.3 vs. 3.2). Risk factors for femicide from the DA supported by preliminary bivariate analysis were increased severity and frequency of physical violence, threats to kill, perception of capability of killing, choking, gun in house, forced sex, abusive during pregnancy, extreme controlling behaviors, extreme jealousy, perpetrator suicidality, violence outside of home, and child abuse. An additional risk factor, prior stalking, should also be added to the DA. Sensitivity and specificity analysis will also be presented.
Psychopathy and Violence Among Juveniles
The association between psychopathy and violence has been well established over the past 20-30 years by an impressive body of outcome studies examining adult samples. Interest in the construct of psychopathy as it applies to children and adolescents has become an area of considerable research interest in the past 5 -10 years, in part due to the strength of the relationship between psychopathy and violence among adult offenders. Despite the interest in “juvenile psychopathy” in general and its relationship to violence in particular, relatively few studies specifically have examined whether this construct predicts various forms of aggression among children and adolescents. The proposed presentation will provide an overview of several recent studies that have attempted to assess psychopathy among juveniles, with particular attention given to those that have examined its relationship to violence. Methodological limitations of this literature will be described, both in terms of the utility of psychopathy as a predictor variable and the utility of various measures of “violence” as outcome criteria. Recommendations for addressing some of the limitations of prior research will be provided and discussed in conjunction with a review of several new instruments that have been developed to assess psychopathy among juveniles specifically.
Psychosocial Changes Among Special Populations in a Prison-based Therapeutic Community
California’s aggressive expansion of substance abuse treatment in correctional settings has raised a number of issues concerning the appropriateness and effectiveness of integrating certain “special populations” into treatment programs for the general inmate population, The current study examines in-treatment changes (over a period of 6 to 12 months) in five areas of psychological functioning (self-esteem, depression, anxiety, decision-making, and self-efficacy) and three areas of social functioning (hostility, risk-taking, and social conformity) among sex offenders and mentally ill inmates in a prison-based therapeutic community. In-treatment changes in these areas are contrasted with those of the general population inmates in the same program. In addition, focus group data from correctional staff, treatment staff, and inmates are presented regarding the impact that these special population inmates have on the overall functioning of the program, as well as on the general treatment milieu.
Psychosocial Changes and Pre-treatment Motivation in a Prison-based Therapeutic Community
The California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility (CSATF) in Corcoran differs from most prison-based therapeutic communities in that admission is largely involuntary. This policy, unique to the California prison system, has resulted in a large pool of inmate treatment participants representing the full spectrum of pre-treatment motivation for change, The current study examiners in-treatment changes (over a period of 6 to 12 months) in five areas of psychological functioning (self-esteem, depression, anxiety, decision-making, and self-efficacy) and three areas of social functioning (hostility, risk-taking, and social conformity) among inmates with high, medium, and low pre-treatment motivation for change. In addition, focus group data from correctional staff, treatment staff, and inmates are presented regarding the perceived impact of inmates’ pre-treatment motivation on the overall functioning of the program.
Public Assistance and the Participation of Youth in Criminal Activity
Strain theories suggest that youth who are members of poor families are more likely to engage in criminal activity for financial gain. A logical extension of this argument is that public assistance, which is designed to offset the severity and conditions of poverty, should have a negative impact on participation in criminal activities. This paper seeks to explore whether participation in public assistance programs reduces the risk for engagement in property crimes and drug sales among youth. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth is used to assess the extent to which participation in property crimes and drug sales among poor youth between the ages of 15 and 20 are mitigated by the level and type of public assistance available to their families.
Public Attitudes Towards Illicit Drugs in Modern Britain: The Vanishing Generation Gap
This paper involves a detailed secondary analysis of two large data sets resulting from two surveys of public opinion commissioned by the Independent Committee of Inquiry into the Misuse of Drugs Act: one school survey of young people aged 11-16 years, the other a survey of adults aged 16-59 years. The surveys covered a range of drug issues. The findings presented here are concerned with perceptions of the harmfulness of different substances (heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, amphetamine and cannabis) together with alcohol and tobacco. Adults rank cannabis is considerably less harmful than all other illicit substances which are uniformly seen as harmful. Children and young people, on the other hand, see all illicit drugs as harmful at age 11 years, but gradually come to distinguish between cannabis and other drugs, seeing cannabis as increasingly less harmful with increasing age. Perhaps the most striking finding is that among adults there is no evidence of a ‘generation gap’ in these perceptions of drug-related harms– other than alcohol and tobacco which are seen as increasingly more harmful by older age cohorts.
Public Health Data Sources: Morbidity and Mortality
This paper will review the following routinely-collected morbidity and mortality data sources: hospital discharge records; emergency room patient records; records of office-based physicians’; patients coroners’ and medical examiners’ death certificates and reports; child abuse reports. The merits and shortcomings of data gathered primarily to satisfy public health objectives will be discussed in term of the information they yield that may inform the prevention and/or control of injury-producing youth violence.
Public Opinion, the Media and Crime Policy: Voodo Politics in the Era of the TV Game Show
Many countries In the western world are experiencing a revival of punitive crime policies. This is most notable in the United States and it is from the US that many of the new punitive policies (such as “three strikes”) are being exported. Australia has just experienced a crisis in sentencing policy precipitated by mandatory sentencing laws in two of its jurisdictions. What marked this crisis and has become characteristic of the new punitiveness elsewhere, has been the justifications for the new “tough” approach. The approach is no longer justified as necessary to reduce crime or as a way to ensure safety in the community. Politicians know that the figures will not support them if they mount that argument. The new policies are justified on the basis of popular appeal. It is what is perceived to be popular that has become the most important criteria of choice in crime policy. There is now a “direct feed” between immediate popularity and penal policy. This link has been engendered to some extent by the increasing reach, relevance and packaging of the media. This paper will discuss the changing of dominant concerns Iin crime policy and the role of the media in this process. Using examples from the US, Australia, Canada the UK and Australia populist crime policy will be discussed. The remedies and responses to this new policy environment hinge on understanding the appeals and weaknesses of populism. It is argued that well informed critics will have the power to break the Voodoo charms of crime policy “game show” hosts.
Public Opinion and the Death Penalty: Theory and Application
The use of opinion research is frequent in the area of death penalty research. Opinion poll organizations, as well as the government, frequently publish public opinion surveys on the topic. Also, opinion surveys are given to members of the law enforcement community, as well as to members of the academic community, to gauge their stances on the issue. This research hopes to determine if legal events involving the death penalty have altered public opinion. This research and the use of the death penalty as a punishment for murder involves the use of criminological theory, specifically, the use of punishment to justify societal goals – preventing, stopping, or controlling crime, through the use of deterrence and retribution. The public is more likely to agree with the retributive aspects of capital punishment as a potential solution for high murder rates. Have the views of the public changed at the beginning of a new century, and are these views affected by legal events and research? Public opinion in the year 2000 and beyond will determine the course of the administration of the death penalty in the United States.
Public Support for Criminal Justice Interventions in Domestic Violence
Domestic violence has been the target of policy reforms and program initiatives over the past two decades. While most of these initiatives have focused on changing the behavior of offenders, or providing help to victims, a long-term objective of many reformers has been to change public beliefs and attitudes about violence, and to increase public awareness of, and support for, more aggressive official responses. However, little research has addressed public opinion about the appropriateness and effectiveness of criminal justice interventions, although many have speculated that support for innovative responses varies both within and across communities. This paper reports the preliminary findings of a study of public attitudes about criminal justice responses to domestic violence, based on a survey of 1200 adults, in four medium-sized cities and two rural counties. The research will address the following questions: (1) Are attitudes about appropriate and effective interventions associated with individual characteristics (such as respondent’s age, gender, race, or ethnicity), or with individual life experiences (education, social class, personal experience in abusive or violent relationships)? (2) Do levels of support for criminal justice interventions vary across social context, such as rural vs. urban communities, or communities with more proactive and progressive criminal justice practices and victim services?
Public Versus Private Juvenile Justice Educational Services: A Comparative Analysis
Privatization in juvenile justice has experienced considerable growth in the past decade. This growth has been justified by a cost effective rationale, which claims that private providers can offer higher quality services at a reduced cost. However, such claims are without research support. Nonetheless, many states continue to contract with private entities to provide various juvenile justice services, including education. Due to the well-established relationship between education and crime, it seems that providing at-risk juveniles with quality educational services can improve post-release outcomes. Therefore, it is especially important to evaluate the efficacy of privatization efforts in juvenile justice education. This study uses statewide data and various statistical techniques to evaluate the quality of educational services being provided by public, private not-for-profit, and private for-profit juvenile justice programs. The data indicate that public juvenile justice programs provide better educational services than private programs. Additionally, private not-for-profit programs offer better educational services than private forprofit programs. However, there are some private entities who provide excellent services. This study concludes that states need to be cautious in awarding contracts to private providers, as some deliver lower quality educational services than their public counterparts and at no reduced cost.
Public Vulnerability to Police Stops
This paper uses new data from the Youth Lifestyles Survey to identify factors which are associated with being stopped by the police for people aged 12-30. Foot stops and vehicle stops are analysed separately in relation both to key demographic variables and more specific lifestyle variables, such as going out, use of drugs and alcohol and offending. As well as painting a picture of those likely to be stopped, the analysis models the correlates of offending to establish their independent associations. This statistical analysis provides a basis for exploring theoretical models relating to public availability for stopping and to police practice.
Pulling the Plug on Computer Theft
computer have become a common item in both business and homes. The highly copetitive nature of the industry–with new products coming onto the market all the time mean that the market for stolen computers and components have become a very real problem. The study looks at the recording of computer theft from commercial organizations and suggests ways to improve current practice. It also examines the circumstances surrounding computer theft and recommends some crime prevention measures to reduce victimization. To inform future operations, the study considers a number of police initiatives within the United Kingdom aimed at computer thieves and fences. The research identifies a number of key points for improving recording practice, crime prevention and operations against computer thieves.
Punishing and Incarcerating Gang Members
This paper will focus on the special treatment afforded gang members by correctional institutions. While special emphasis will be placed on local jails, an attempt to deal with penitentiaries will also be made.
Punishing Juvenile Offenders in Russia: 1992-1996
To date, only limited cross-national research has examined the processing of juvenile offenders. Much of the existing cross-national data has concentrated on societies such as the U.S., the United Kingdom, and other industrial societies. In an effort to address this limitation, this paper uses newly translated data to present an analysis of the processing of juvenile offenders (ages 14-17) in Russia during the period 1992-1996. The data presented include arrest rates, regional differences in juvenile crime, types of offenses in which juveniles were involved, demographic characteristics of offenders, and the criminal justice disposition of juvenile cases. We examine specific aspects of the disposition process including community supervision and drug treatment.
Punishment, Humiliation and the American Culture of Vengence
This paper will attempt to analyze media treatment of issues of crime and punishment to gague the extent of the association of vengence with justice. Located within the literature on the sociology of punishment, an argument will be made that the narrow concept of justice extolled in the press is part of a changing American culture of vengence. The analysis will focus on reactions to crime by the public.
Punishment and Pleasure: Women, Food and the Imprisoned Body
Food assumes enormous importance in prison: for many prisoners it conditions their life in custody and represents THE prison experience. This paper explores the complex relationship between gender, food and imprisonment through an analysis of data obtained from in-depth interviews and group discussions conducted in three women’s prisons in England. The findings indicate that, in prison, where control is taken away as the prisoner and her body become the objects of external forces, food is experienced not only as part of the disciplinary machinery, but also as a powerful source of pleasure, resistance and rebellion. The implications of such findings for health promotion in the prison context are discussed. Here, the pleasures and consolations of food constitute a redefinition of what it is to be healthy in this context, one that challenges the dominant meaning constructed in current health promotional discourse.
Punitiveness and the Juvenile Justice System: Does Deterrence Work?
There appears to have been a shift in the ideology of the juvenile justice system away from the rehabilitative ideal under which it was developed and toward a more punitive system. The authors will examine the development of the punitive ideology and to understand how punitiveness manifests within different sectors of the criminal justice. Specifically, this paper will examine the effect of punitiveness on juvenile arrest rates, sentence lengths, and incarceration rate.
Pupil Perceptions of School Violence and Safety
School violence and pupil safety are issues of international concern shared by many countries. These factors have major significance relating to key issues of social inclusion and implications for school adjustment, achievement and attendance and also offending behavior and criminality. In the UK programmes to prevent social exclusion currently receive high priority for central government funding. Many initiatives have been established across England and Wales and this session reports on information gathered as part of such a development in Bridgend, South Wales. The views and attitudes of all comprehensive school pupils have been obtained through a detailed questionnaire and findings relating to their views on school and community safety and violent behaviour are reported. Information obtained through focus groups discussing school safety developments and expenditure will also be presented. Progress will be reviewed across the range of projects to promote inclusion and the development of positive pupil attitudes.
Putting Crime Into Context: Using Social and Crime Indicators in Developing Public Policy
As most people are aware, the national reports on trends in crime indicate a decrease in the rate of serious crime over the past several years. Although good news, communities need to be aware that measuring crime and developing public policy should be built on more than national rates as calculated by the Uniform Crime Reports. It is vitally important that each community put crime into context, recognizing the relationship that other social indicators can have on the overall increase or decrease of crime in individual communities. This information can then be used for more informed policy development that can be tailor made to fit the community’s unique situational factors. This paper explains how a mid-size city established a protocol for putting crime into context through integration of a social and crime indicators data base and use of surveys with service providers to prioritize concerns. A model for transitioning information into policy is provided.
Q
Qualitative Differences Among Repeat Victims
The study of repeat victimization has grown in importance as a research strategy for building theory and informing policy. The quantitative analysis of repeat victimization has borrowed a great deal from the study of criminal careers. Both the conceptual models and the statistical methods from criminal career research are being used ‘in the study of repeat victimization. One of the things borrowed from criminal career research is the assumption that the distribution of victimization is continuous, that what distinguished the non-victim from the one-time victim is the same as what distinguishes the four-time victim from the fifth-time victim. This paper tests the assertion that the distribution of repeat victimization is discontinuous and specifically that very high volume repeat victims are quite different from both non-victims and from lower volume repeat victimization. If this is the case, then much of the modeling of repeat victimization will be misleading. Moreover, it would suggest that more discrete treatments of repeat victimization are in order. Data from the 1992-1998 NCVS are used to test this assertion.
Quality-of-Life Offenders in New York City
The New York City Police Department is a leader in terms of the size of the crime and drug problems it faces, its professionalism, and its use of innovative strategies and techniques to combat crime. One of its most important approaches to crime reduction in the 1990s has become known as quality-of-life policing. This paper provides a review of how often arrestees engage in quality-of-life behaviors, their contacts with police, and whether they report changing their behaviors due to policing. Funded by National Institutes of Justice to “measure what matters” in policing research, the authors developed and administered a Policing Supplement following the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring in NYC interview. This 30-minute supplement was completed by approximately 850 arrestees in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan in the last half of 1999. All subjects gave an additional informed consent so investigators can obtain their official arrest histories to ascertain the validity of self-reports. This presentation focuses primarily upon arrestees’ self-reports as recorded on a quality-of-life grid. The analysis will document the proportion of arrestees who self-reported one or more of 40 different quality-of-life behaviors (e.g. fare beating, public urination, loud and rowdy, marijuana smoking, etc.), including the recency of doing so. In addition, they reported on the recency of being contacted by police for such behaviors. Persons who reported doing such quality-of-life behaviors were asked whether they had changed or stopped their involvements. If so, they were asked whether such changes were due to “police presence,” or “police contact,” or for other reasons. This analysis will also control for the type of arrest charge (e.g. felony, misdemeanor, quality-of-life), drug use patterns, and criminal justice histories.
Quasi-Experimental Examination of Outcomes of Community Corrections Programs Established Under North Carolina’s Structured Sentencing Law
North Carolina’s Structured Sentencing law established community corrections programs (primarily day reporting centers) for offenders sentenced to Intermediate punishments, many of whom would heretofore have gone to prison. The primary aim of these programs is to provide effective rehabilitation. The typical client has a history of prior convictions, is currently on probation for a nonviolent offense, and has a substance abuse problem. Specific goals of the programs are to reduce recidivism, probation revocations, relapse to substance abuse, and overall system costs. To address whether the state has implemented programs that may help produce these outcomes, this study compares several types of outcomes for program clients to those for a similarly situated comparison group of probationers. The outcomes examined during the 12-month follow-up period include rearrest, reconviction, reincarceration, probation violations, readmission to substance abuse treatment, results of urine drug screens, and employment. These outcomes are examined in light of the two groups’ risk of reoffending and need for services (as assessed by the Level of Service Inventory-Revised), their substance abuse history (from the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory, and the type and intensity of services received in the DRCs compared to services received as part of typical probation supervision.
Quasi-Experimental Outcomes From the Brooklyn Treatment Court’s Women’s Criminal Justice/Treatment Network
This paper will present highlights from the outcome evaluation of female offender’s participating in the Brooklyn Treatment Court (BTC), including changes in criminal justice contact and drug use as a function of treatment intensity, controlling for exposure to the court-based BTC services. The evaluation uses a quasi-experimental design, using a modified Addiction Severity Index, to model behavioral changes, including drug use, health status, employment and other indicators. In addition, the evaluation applies a pre-post quasi-experimental design to model criminal justice system outcomes, including changes in the incidence, prevalence, and severity of criminal justice contact. The King’s County Supreme Court (NY) began 13TC in 1996 as an experimental project to test the feasibility and ceffectiveness of reducing offender drug use and criminal activity through court-mandated drug treatment and case managerneut. BTC links drug-involved defendants to treatment by identifying defendants early in their cowl contact, requiring completion of treatment as a condition of case dismissal, assessing and matching defendants to appropriate treatment settings and services and actively monitoring each defendant’s progress.
Questioning the Increasing Use of Residential Placement for Juvenile Offenders: What Do We Know About the Conditions of Confinement for Youth
The proportion of juvenile offenders who spend time in private residential placements has increased greatly over the last two decades. The simplest reasons for this include more minors in custody and an increasing reliance on residential treatment as a disposition for these youth. But this increase also reflects the influence of past and present legal reforms and policy shifts in criminal justice and social welfare., as well as the historical relationship between private and public service providers. Private residential treatment is held up as the ideal for delinquent youth, supposedly offering more services in a less restrictive environment. While this paper reflects upon the larger issue of the causes and consequences of the expanding use of residential treatment, its main purpose is to consider the conditions of life for children and youth sent to these placements. Sources of data include ethnographies of children in residential care, evaluation studies of residential. care, historical accounts of life in institutions for children, media reports of conditions in residential settings and official hearings about problems in the group home industry, The limited information available on the conditions within these settings and the outcomes of residential treatment give pause for concern in light of the continuing expansion of the residential placement industry.
Questioning the Source of Homicide Statistics
The “dark figure of crime” has been described in the literature by criminologists and sociologists alike, and has largely been recognized to represent crimes that are undetected or underreported to police. Underreported crimes include rape and domestic violence. As for the case of undetected crimes, a person may not even know that they had been victimized, for example, attributing that “missing wallet” to having “misplaced it”. In the context of medicolegal death investigation, underreporting “suicide” as a manner of death has also been discussed. Although suicide rates have been challenged from time to time, these challenges have primarily been in the form of suggesting that medicolegal officers intentionally render a verdict other than “suicide”. Reasons offered may include the desire to spare an already grieving family from social embarrassment or to make it possible for a beneficiary to collect on life insurance. The rates of homicide, however, have not been placed under such scrutiny. When a verdict of “homicide” is rendered as the manner of death, the verdict becomes a “fact” and is not challenged as being influenced by social factors. Members in society no longer recognize that the verdict “homicide” was socially produced and lose sight of the social factors that influence the verdict. This paper will question the “truthfulness” of medicolegal death statistics. I will suggest that the information used in the calculation of mortality rates be questioned. I will maintain that homicide rates are turned into “fact” through use by the scientific community and are largely taken by the scientific community as being error-free. Homicide statistics are not generally recognized, if at all, as having any errors, not even of the statistical kind. I will argue that because social factors influence medicolegal death investigation and it is from the medicolegal officer’s office whereby a manner of death is declared a “homicide”, that variation in homicide rates will be inevitable. I maintain that homicide statistics are socially constructed.
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Race, Gender, and Perceptuion of Police Conduct: A Sampling of Criminal Justice Majors
This study is a survey of criminal justice majors from three regional universities in the Southwest. The survey employs a Likert-type instrument which focuses on the conduct of police in general. The survey seeks to obtain information about how criminal justice majors perceive the behavior/conduct of police officers in responding to different situations where police interdiction is necessary. The study is an attempt to recognize the beliefs and attitudes with which students enter the criminal justice profession. The study will add to the body of information pertaining to the perception of police behavior.
Race, Gender, and the LSI-R: The Predictive Validity of the LSI-R on a Sample of U.S. Offenders
While there is a growing body of evidence indicating the validity of the LSI-R in predicting risk, few of these studies have been conducted using samples of offenders from the United States. There are even fewer validation studies of the LSI-R that have been conducted with samples of female offenders. This study examines the predictive validity of the LSI-R on a sample (N=1250) of offenders served by community corrections facilities within the State of Ohio. The sample consists of both males (80 percent) and females (20 percent) and is representative of over 550 offenders. Measures include initial LSI-R scores, re-assessment scores on the LSI-R, sex, race, age, type of program completion (successful versus unsuccessful), number of general infractions while in the program, number of violent infractions while in the program, number of days to first infraction, and whether the offender was re-incarcerated in a state prison facility. This study, while focusing on the predictive validity of the LSI-R with a U.S. sample and across categories of gender, will also examine the validity of the LSI-R across categories of race.
Race, Gender and Prison Violence: A Test of the Importation and Deprivation Hypotheses
Over the years, examinations of prison violence have focused on the comparative influence of importation and deprivation factors as predictors of the correlates of inmate violence. These studies, however, liited their focus to the study of either race or gender effects. However, none has fully examined the relationship between race and gender, especially with regard to possible interaction effects on inmate violence. This study employs logistic and Poisson regression techniques on self-report data obtained from the Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities to assess the factors associated with the probability of inmates being found guilty of violence towards other inmates and the number of guilty findings they receive. Implications for the relative merits of the importation and deprivation hypotheses will be discussed.
Race, Homicide and Firearms Availability
Several studies have examined the impact of firearm availability on homicide levels within various political subdivisions, including nations, states and counties, with mixed results. With few exceptions, however, this research has focused on the homicide rates of total populations. Using the rate of federal firearms licenses (FFLs) at the county level as an indicator of firearms availability and controlling for several sociodemographic characteristics related to violence, the current research examines the effects of firearms on racially disaggregated homicide rates for whites and blacks in the United States.
Race, Space, and the Politics of Policing: A Social History of the LAPD
This essay seeks to place the historical development of the Los Angeles Police Department within the context of broader political, demographic, social, and spatial development patterns with the city. The organizing theme is that the organizational development of the LAPD has been significantly effected over time by the prevailing political culture, racial and ethnic diversity, rapid population growth, and geographic expansion. Viewed in this way the organizational development and culture of the LAPD can be seen not as an “aberration”, as it is often depicted in popular and media accounts but rather the result of conscious and reflexive political and organizational decisions.
Race and Violence
A central tenet of disorganization theory is that racial differences in violent behavior, such as adolescent fighting, are due to differences in the structural contexts in which racial minorities are embedded. Research on race and crime at the macro level has tested this argument by examining whether the effects of structural variables on violence are invariant across racial categories. Yet, this approach does not provide a direct test of the argument, which implies that the individual level effect of race on offending should disappear once community context has been adequately controlled. In this paper, we test this prediction using data drawn from the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), and models that link community and individual levels of analysis.
Race Differences in the Consequences of Childhood Victimization: Mental Health/Mental Illness and Violence
The present research examines race/ethnicity differences in longterm outcomes for victims of childhood abuse and neglect, with a specific focus on comorbidity of mental health/mental illness and violent behavior as consequences of childhood victimization. We address two specific goals: 1) to assess the extent to which there are differences between African-Americans and Whites in the prevalence and comorbidity of mental/illness, and violence as a consequence of childhood abuse and/or neglect and 2) to assess potential race/ethnicity differences in risk and protective factors for adult outcomes of mental illness and violence as a consequence of childhood abuse and neglect. The data are based on a prospective cohorts design study, using court substantiated cases of physical and sexual abuse and neglect from the years 1967 to 1971 which were matched on the basis of race, sex, age, and approximate family social class to a group of non-abused and non-neglected individuals and followed up into young adulthood, In-person interviews were conducted during the years 1989-1995 (N=I, 196). Implications for future research and intervention are discussed
Race Specific Crime Fears and Punitive Attitudes Toward Crime: Fleshing Out “Vocabularies of Punitive Motive”
A significant element in the “imprisonment binge” of the past twenty-five years has been the development of “vocabularies of punitive motive” that provide some of the ideological warrant for expanding prison populations and harsher penalties for those incarcerated. As expressed in popular and even political culture, one theme in this discourse on crime and punishment has been the fink of race with the threat of crime. Though hardly new, the salience of raciahzed. crime fears has been especially strong in the years since George Bush interjected Willie Horton into the 1988 presidential campaign. Since then, the equation of putative crime threat with the presence of racial minorities, especially blacks, has been recognized by such diverse observers as James Q. Wilson and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. This paper examines the link between race specific crime fears and the support of harsh measures for dealing with adult and juvenile crime in a statewide sample of 2250 Florida residents interviewed during 1997. We hypothesize that the more worried respondents would be if approached by black strangers at night, the more support they will express for harsh criminal punishments. Regression estimates will control for other factors related to punitive attitudes and will be done separately for black, Hispanic and white respondents. The relevance of these findings for an expanded interpretation of the “social threat” hypothesis of social control will be considered.
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Use of Sentencing Alternatives for Drug Offenders
In general, conflict theories emphasize the harsher treatment by the criminal justice system of racial and ethnic minority offenders as opposed to white offenders. Less theoretical and empirical attention has been given to racial disparities in the use of less severe sentencing alternatives. In this paper we describe four alternative sanctions for drug offenders in Washington State: 1) The Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative, 2) The First-Time offender Waiver, 3) Work Ethic Camp, and 4) Mitigated Exceptional Sentences. We use data from the late 1990s to assess the overall use and differential use of these alternatives for white and minority offenders, While studies focusing on sentence length often show relatively small differences between racial/ethnic groups once legal factors are controlled, our multivariate analyses show robust differences in the use of these alternative sanctions. Theoretical and policy implications of the study are discussed.
Racial Correlates of Pre-Hearing Detention Among Missouri Juveniles
This paper explores disproportionate minority confinement in Missouri and analyzes all referrals made to the juvenile court in 1997 to determine whether and to what extent race plays a role in the decision to detain a child pending an adjudication of the charges against the child. Legal variables including the seriousness of the referral offense, concurrent charges and prior record are all controlled for along with nonlegal factors including age, processing county, circuit and the racial composition of the child’s county of residence. Despite these controls, race continues to play a statistically significant role in the decision to detain.
Racial Disparity Among Women in Commitment to Pennsylvania’s Prisons
Several researchers have used the amount of racial disproportionality in punishment explained by racial disparity in offending to determine whether there is unwarranted racial disparity in the criminal justice system. Their results are misleading either because of data aggregation at the national level or aggregation of offenses. Also, they provide no results specifically for women, the traditionally neglected gender in criminal justice studies. We utilize the basic analytic procedure of these studies on female data for Pennsylvania and disaggregate offenses. Our results show substantial racial disparity that is detrimental to black women, especially for less serious offenses. Additionally, for the same offenses except drug violations, disparity is greater among women than among men.
Racial Profiling: Confronting the Challenges of Vehicle Stop Data Analysis
Responding to allegations of “racial profiling,” many law enforcement agencies have begun to collect data on persons stopped by police in vehicles. They have discovered, however, that analyzing those data to produce meaningful results is very complicated . Approaching this problem from the perspective of inferring causality, the presenters will discuss the challenges in controlling for alternative explanations and some options available to departments to address these difficulties.
Racial Profiling: Defining the Problem, Understanding the Cause, Finding the Solution
Racial profiling is somewhat ill-defined, but one can provide some content to the concept and identify a set of practices that if undertaken would constitute pernicious police behavior. It is good to monitor the police and have them know that they are being monitored. It is bad to condemn the police on crude statistical grounds that are truly unpersuasive as evidence but which in a volatile political climate can seem meaningful. If racial disproportionalities in arrest are the concern, one has to seriously look at our anti-drug laws, which have and almost certainly will continue to ensnare and imprison poor minorities at very high rates. Racial profiling is given much impetus as an issue right now by the fact that crime is down so much yet the prison population keeps growing.
Racial Profiling Data Collection Design and Analysis Issues
The design and implementation of racial profiling data collection systems within law enforcement organizations has recently been at the forefront of a national dialogue. It is believed that, well planned and comprehensive data collection efforts can serve as a catalyst for informed community and police discussions about stop and search practices. However, nearly all jurisdictions engaged in data collection are in early stages of data design, and most jurisdictions that have implemented data collection systems have not completed rigorous data analysis. Additionally, the American model for data collection to date has focused on traffic stops. However, new methodologies for collecting and analyzing pedestrian stops may become an important component of new data collections systems. This paper discusses issues around racial profiling data collection and analysis. Using case studies from five jurisdictions collecting data on racial profiling in traffic stops we discuss the common concerns and obstacles facing departments, the methodologies used to collect data and the challenges of data analysis. The paper discusses ideas and problems around designing data collection systems, creating comparative benchmark populations, conducting data analysis, and using the data analysis in police training. Local collection of data on police stop and search practices is an important first step in addressing the problem of racial profiling. However, information on data collection techniques and analysis practices is a critical component for assessing the extent and pervasiveness of racial profiling practices.
Racial Profiling in America: A New Wave of Policy Reform Combating Discriminatory Impact
Racial profiling, or “Driving While Brown”, occurs when law enforcement officers stop persons on pretext (e.g., motorists with burned out license plate lights) in a discriminatory fashion, using race or ethnicity as a decision factor. It also occurs when such persons are treated differentially based on skin color, such as when African American motorists are searched at rates far exceeding white drivers stopped for similar offenses. Most often, it is done because officers form schematic profiles, linking race with behaviors, such as drug trafficking. It can be conscious or unconscious, but the primary focus of this paper is on unconscious discrimination. The paper outlines the history of a recent reform effort, driven by the American Civil Liberties Union, in which legislation and litigation are combined in attacking the use of racial profiling by law enforcement. Of particular interest is the willingness of states and the federal government to recognize and address through legislation this form of discrimination. The paper concludes by speculating on whether the campaign against racial profiling may lead to even broader reforms attempting to correct systematic, unconscious, discrimination in the criminal justice system.
Racial Typification of Criminals and Support for Harsh Punitive Policies
The explosion of prison populations, the proliferation of mandatory sentencing provisions and the accelerated renewal of executions are but a few of the indicators of a surging punitiveness in our political culture that has, in the past fifteen years, disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minorities. During this same period, the typification of crime in racial terms, though not entirely new, has become a staple of popular and media discourse. It has been frequently suggested that one reason for the strong public support for punitive policies is the popular belief that crime is a predomkinantly black male phenomenon. This study explores a question rooted in the concurrent evolution of the unprecedented surge in punitive policy and the iconic equation of criminal threat with young black males in popular culture. Using usrvey data (N=2,526) collected in Orlando, Florida during 1998, we assess whether people who typify crime as a non-white phenomenon endorse more punitive policies in relation to both adult and juvenile crime. OLS regression, controlling for other factors that may influence punitive attitudes is done separately for black, Hispanic and white respondents. Implications of our findings for social threat theories of social control are discussed.
Rape and Seduction Scripts 2000
Previous research has utilized script theory as an important tool for social scientists in understanding people’s attitudes and beliefs regarding problematic events, e.g., rape and violence, A study conducted by Ryan (1986) has shown the different scripts for rape and seduction scenarios perceived by introductory level college students. The findings for rape scripts involved a female victim and a male attacker. The rape scenario occurred outside and at night. Findings for seduction scripts involved consensual participants. Scenarios were more frequently indoors and involved alcohol. The present study is an extension of Ryan’s research on rape and seduction perceptions, Data are being collected from students currently enrolled in introductory and upper level classes in the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, instructing them to describe a “typical” rape and “typical” seduction scenario. Findings will be presented on: comparisons between the scripts used by college students today and the scripts used by students in Ryan’s study on typical rapes and typical seductions; the comparison of introductory and upper level students scripts for ram and seduction; and the variations between male and female scripts.
Rape Prevention: Individual Self-Protection Strategies for Women and Their Implications for Research and Practice
Research in the area of rape avoidance strategies has documented how women may effectively resist sexual assault and rape. Data show that a variety of resistance stratewgies may be helpful to women in avoiding completion of rape, while the level of offender violence is the most important determinant of victim injury. Contextual characteristics of the assault including victim-offender relationship, alcohol use, and the social situation are discussed as they affect the outcomes of rape attacks. Social psychological barriers to resisting sexual attacks, particularly by known men, are presented. This area of research is reviewed and recommendations are provided to enhance women’s ability to avoid rape until the broader goal of primary prevention of rape can be effected in society. Suggestions are made for incorporating several key components (self-defense training and education about risk reduction strategies, information about social psychological barriers, and gender role socialization) into rape prevention programs targeted to women in both educational and community settings.
Rational Choice Perspective on the Causes and Correlates of Prescription Fraud in San Diego
This paper examines the incidence and prevalence of prescription fraud in San Diego, CA, building upon a Problem-Oriented Policing project started by local law enforcement in that city. Reported incidents of fraud and police arrests from 1998 to the present are analyzed spatially and temporally, and categorized by type of drug, offender demographics, and pharmacy type. Drawing on the rational choice perspective, this analysis attempts to identify whether certain characteristics of pharmacies, doctors, and patients/offenders exist that contribute to prescription fraud. The research results will help guide the development of situational crime prevention strategies for local law enforcement efforts, pharmacy and prescription policies, and statewide guidelines.
Reactivity in a Large-scale Observational Study of Police: Qualitative and (Some) Quantitative Evidence
Observational studies of police are a form of field research. Observers accompany police officers over the course of a shift and directly observe and document their behavior. Critics of observational field research are skeptical about the face validity of observational data because research subjects (e.g., patrol officers) could react to the presence of an observer and alter their behavior. The purpose of this paper is to: (1) synthesize fragmented accounts of reactivity in the ethnographic field research literature in order to identify behaviors susceptible to reactivity (e.g., “showing off” or proactive police behavior) and specify hypothesized effects of observer sex and time in the field on police behavior; (2) discuss why police officers are likely to react to the presence of observers (i.e., suspicion of outsiders); and (3) delineate the extent (and hypothesized effects) of reactivity in observational studies of police using qualitative and quantitative data from a large-scale observational study of police (Project on Policing Neighborhoods or POPN).
“Reading” Prisons: A Humanistic Approach
Current research on prison organizations has provided little in the way of new vistas from which to understand or “see” the complex behavior that defines such instituions. Relying on Morgan’s “metaphorical template” for understanding organizational behavior, the present critique intens partially to fill this gap by presenting an application of this template to the contemporary prison. We examine several relevant and informative organizational metaphors and their potential applicability to the organizational behavior of prisons. Our objective is to suggest that a metaphoric approach such as that developed by Morgan is potentially a valuable tool for researching prisons in that it encourages us to “see” or “read” prisons in ways that differ from existing conceptualizations. Finally, we suggest that such new readings might engender humanistic transformations in the policies, programs, and practices currently governing prison organizations.
Recent Trends in Securities Fraud and Enforcement
This paper examines recent developments in both securities fraud and enforcement practices. Financial markets and the a tivities that take place within them reflect both stability and change. For example, recent trends indicate greater concentration on internet companies as well as greater usage of the internet to executive transactions and make markets, yet the fundamental technology of securities fraud remains largely the same in spite of these new developments. This research draws from financial reports, newspapers, government and self-regulatory reports and sanctioning information to exmine developments in both fraud and enforcement practices, with emphasis on both historical and contemporary contexts.
Recidivism of North Carolina Prisoners With Substance Abuse Problems
Many research studies have examined the relationship between substance abuse and crime, with some indicating that as many as 80% of offenders have substance abuse problems. This study examines the relationship between substance abuse and recidivism in North Carolina. The sample is comprised of 16,165 offenders who were released from prison in FY 1996/97. Data were provided by the Department of Correction and the State Bureau of Investigation’s Division of Criminal Information. This study provides information on the number of prisoners who had identified substance abuse problems, whether they were referred to substance abuse treatment while in prison, the type of treatment they received, whether they completed treatment, and their recidivism rates. Two types of prison-based substance abuse treatment programs were examined in detail – Drug Alcohol Recovery Treatment (DART) and substance abuse treatment provided through contract providers (“private substance abuse treatment”). A statistical profile of participants was completed for each type of prison-based treatment. The profile included demographic characteristics, substance abuse history, criminal history, risk level (based on a composite measure), current conviction information, rearrest information, and programmatic information (length of stay and program completion). Multivariate analysis was conducted to determine whether completion of substance abuse treatment reduced recidivism.
Recidivism Patterns of Youths Targeted by Juvenile Drug Courts
Juvenile drug courts have proliferated in recent years, becoming a key juvenile justice intervention for substance-involved youth. In part, their popularity is based on the assumption eligible juveniles are likely to reoffend if not treated for their substance abuse problem. However, empirical data are lacking on the extent to which juvenile drug courts actually divert youth at risk of recidivism; little is known about the criminal histories or recidivism patterns of the typical juvenile drug court participant (first-time nonviolent drug offenders). Using detailed data on juvenile justice contacts for a 1975 birth cohort of juveniles in a major urban jurisdiction, this paper considers whether juvenile drug courts are true “diversion” programs by analyzing the offending and rearrest patterns of the typical participant. Specifically, beginning with their first petitioned drug offense, we determine the probability that these youth commit new offenses following their first drug offense, the types of new offenses committed, and how their offending patterns compare to juvenile offenders without drug arrests. These comparisons include analyses of the intervals between arrests, types of charges, number of prior offenses, percentage of complaints that result in a petition filed, and annualized rate of rearrest.
Recidivism Under North Carolina’s Structured Sentencing Laws
Structured Sentencing became law in North Carolina in 1994. The new system was founded on a number of policy choices: truth in sentencing and the abolishment of parole; selective incapacitation of violent and repeat offenders; a range of graduate community and intermediate sanctions for other offenders; greater uniformity in sentencing similar offenders similarly; and a commitment to balance correctional needs with correctional capacity. Findings of a current study on recidivism afford a first look at the recidivism of offenders sentenced under Structured Sentencing. The sample of 51,588 offenders selcted for study included all offenders released from prison by the NC Department of Correction or placed on probation during FY 1996/97. Eight-one percent of the sample cohort consisted of Structured Sentencing cases, providing some initial comparative data on the recidivism of Fair Sentencing (old law) and Structured Sentencing (new law) offenders. The aggregate data sources included the following for each offender in the sample: (a) demographic and prior record information, current convicted offense and sentence, correctional program assignment, and type of supervision in the community; (b) fingerprinted rearrest and reconviction records within a fixed 24-month period following the offender’s release; and (c) employment information for the first year following the offender’s current involvement with the criminal justice system. A case profile was constructed for each offender, comprised of personal and criminal history characteristics, the most serious current offense of conviction, sentence type imposed, correctional program assignments, nature of the offender’s release to the community, subsequent employment, rearrests, and reconvictions. The analysis presents a descriptive statistical profile of the sample and aggregate figures on the incidence and type of prior and subsequent (i.e., recidivistic) criminal behavior. This profiling also allows for some initial comparisons between the recidivism of old law and new law offenders, and of offenders on different types of supervision in the community. Further multivariate analysis explores the impact of a variety of legal components and risk factors on the probability of an offender to recidivate. Finally, the study advances some hypotheses on the possible effect the new sentencing law will have on the recidivism of all offenders, and of the reconstituted mix of offenders sentenced to prison and probation.
Reconceptualizing Post-Incarceration Criminal Disenfranchisement: Historical Practices, Purposes, and the New Penology
There is little theorizing on criminal disenfranchisement within the larger sociology of punishment literature. Consequently, the empirical facts, social critiques, and legal debates are discussed within a theoretical void. This paper focuses on post-incarceration criminal disenfranchisement. It situates criminal disenfranchisement in the larger penal theory by first examining the purposes, both past and present, served by this practice. This is necessitated by an historical study that begins with criminal disenfranchisement practices in the classical world. Traditional penal models such as rehabilitation, retribution, and reintegration are examined. It is suggested that these models provide an inadequate theoretical framework for understanding criminal disenfranchisement. As an alternative, Feeley and Simon’s “new penology” is assessed, leading to the conclusion that criminal disenfranchisement is best understood within this critical framework.
Reconciling Psychopathy and Low Self-control
The constructs of psychopathy and low self-control contain considerable conceptual overlap. If psychopathy is summarized as a selfish, manipulative personality and lifestyle and low self-control as a general lack of constraint, then it can be shown that the two constructs, as currently measured, each contain elements of the other, as well as unique elements. This research tested the hypotheses that, when combined, items measuring low self-control and psychopathy will generate three separate constructs: the psychopathic personality, low self- control, and prosocial traits and tendencies (the diligence, future orientation, academic skills and interests, and problem-solving skills thought to be absent in persons with low self-control), and that each will contribute to the prediction of offending. Results from college students and prisoners strongly supported the hypothesis that prosocial traits should be considered separate from those conceptualized as overtly antisocial, but were ambiguous regarding whether low self-control and psychopathy are distinct constructs. Results supported the hypothesis that each construct would contribute significantly to the prediction of crime and delinquency, and that total variance explained would exceed that of low self-control alone. Results suggest that attention should be paid to the development of prosocial as well as antisocial traits to account for offending.
Recreational Versus Problem Drug Use: Do the Same Risk Factors Apply?
Over the past two decades, a considerable amount of research has focused on identifying which risk factors are most predictive of adolescent drug use. Scholars generalloy agree that contextual and individual and interpersonal risk factors provide the best explanation for this phenomenon (Hawkins, Catalano, and Miller, 1992; Sloboda and David, 1997). However, distinctions between risk factors in their predictive utility for different patterns of drug use are rarely addressed. There exists the possibility that separate risk factor models may be necessary to explain recreational versus problem drug use among adolescents. The present study uses data from Mexican-American and non-Hispanic White adolescents to identify which risk factors differentially predict recreational drug use from problem drug use.
Reducing Crime and Disorder: The Partnership Approach Enshrined in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (England and Wales)
The Crime and Disorder Act (1998) imposes responsibilities on local government and the police as a partnership to: (a) conduct and publish an audit of local crime and disorder problems; (b) consult locally on the basis of the audit; (c) produce and publish a strategy for tackling issues identified in the audit; (d) monitor progress; and (e) repeat the process every three years. There are 375 such ‘Crime and Disorder Partnerships’ in England and Wales. Research done by the British Home Office has examined three crime and disorder partnerships through in-depth case studies. In each case-study involved observing partnership meetings, interviewing key members of the partnerships and other local agencies, and analysig partnership documentation, over a number of months. This is to identify the successes and challenges which have been encountered in developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating crime and disorder reduction strategies, both at a strategic and operational level.
Reducing Gun Crimes in New Haven
This paper describes the workings of the Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative in New Haven. The project focuses on gun crimes. Initial findings from the project are presented. Challenges of the project are discussed.
Reducing Gun-Related Incidents in Philadelphia Using GIS
Reducing gun-related incidents has been a priority in the City of Philadelphia. As a result, a three-year project has been underway to create a geographic information system (GIS). This system enables collaborative efforts between the following agencies: (1) Philadelphia Police Department; (2) ATF Philadelphia field office; (3) ATF National Tracing Center; and (4) University of Pennsylvania. The result is the creation of the Firearms Analysis System that will enhance problem-solving efforts related to gun incidents. This paper will discuss how this application has enhanced investigations with the aid of maps, charts, and reports. Attention will also be given to barriers to implementation and how such applications may be developed for other criminal justice problems.
Reducing Gun Violence in East Los Angeles
Supported by funding from NIJ, RAND initiated an effort to reduce gun violence in the Boyle Heights region of Los Angeles. The intervention is based on the SARA model (Scanning, Analysis, Response, Assessment). The scanning revealed that Boyle Heights consistently had among the highest homicide rates in Los Angeles, and analysis showed that the vast majority of homicides (>75%) were clearly gang-related or gang-motivated. In response, RAND collaborated with a coalition of more than 15 criminal justice and ervice agencies, including LAPD, probation, parole, housing, the district attorney and the US attorney, to develop an intervention. Under this intervention, individual gang members are held responsible for the violent acts of their gang cohorts. This paper provides an overview of the SARA model and the results achieved to date in Boyle Heights.
Reducing Juvenile Recidivism: The Process and Outcomes of an Evaluation in Northern Ireland
This paper focuses on an unique longitudinal study evaluating the impact of an intensive probation programme on serious and/or persistent young offenders in Northern Ireland. It examines the methods used on the programme as well as some of the key outcome results. The programme targets 15-17 year old juveniles who are often repeat offenders and many have exhausted the patience of their family, school and community. The findings are based on research carried out over almost three years, tracking young people, their parents and probation officers at the time of sentence, on completion of the intensive supervision period and a subsequent followup period. As well as incorporating reconviction data the authors focus on other measures of effectiveness such as re-integration into the community, attitudinal and behavioural change, relationships, personal problems, structured daily routine and lifestyle. The design of the research will be explored within the context of the very often chaotic nature of such young people’s lives and the difficulties of tracking them over time. The research is also discussed in relation to the on-going “what works?” debate by highlighting what has been learnt in relation to method and outcome effectiveness.
Reducing Substance Abuse Among Youthful Offenders: Can Juvenile Drug Courts Make a Difference?
In part with continual efforts to reduce recidivism and substance abuse among juvenile substance-abusing offenders, juvenile courts have created specialized drug court dockets for juvenile offenders. Such courts have been created to assess the unique needs of juveniles and to provide needed services and treatment through an intensive monitoring program. This paper describes the implementation and treatment process of the Maricopa County Juvenile Drug Courts. By utilizing a matched group design, the effectiveness of the juvenile drug courts is evaluated. In particular, focus is given to issues on selection of youth for drug court, treatment process, retention and recidivism, and life circumstances.
Registering Firearms: The Canadian Case
In 1995, the present Canadian government introduced universal firearms registration [UFRI. In 1994, it was claimed that UFR would cost no more than $85 million over five years; F01 requests have uncovered that UFR has cost at least $300 million over the last three years. The “demonization” of average people who happen to own a gun lays the foundation for a massive increase in governmental intrusiveness in the lives of ordinary citizens. UFR violates the basic principles set forth by Sir Robert Peal. Experience in other countries shows that passive resistance to UFR is widespread. In order to be of use to the police, firearm registration requires near total compliance. The history of gun control in both Canada and the United Kingdom demonstrates the “slippery slope” of accepting even the most benign appearing gun control measures. At each stage, the government either restricted access to firearms or prohibited and confiscated arbitrary types Of Ordinary firearms.
Regulatory Voids and Fraud in the Global Insurance Industry
This paper makes the general argument that one of the consequences of the globalization of financial markets has been the creation of what Saskia Sassen has called “regulatory voids,” markets that operate with little or no governmental oversight. As empirical support for this argument the paper presents a case study of frauds committed in California’s surplus lines insurance indsustry in the late 1980s and early 1990s. There, the departure of legitimate companies from the auto insurance and inner-city commercial insurance markets left the door wide open for white collar criminals to sell bogus insurance policies issued by companies domiciled in foreign, often Caribbean, countries. These schemes took advantage of California laws that allowed non-admitted, i.e., nonlicensed, insurance companies operating in the surplus lines market to sell insurance products without meeting the financial standards required of licensed insurers. When these firms inevitably failed, policyholders were stuck with hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid claims. The case study illustrates how changing markets create the opportunities for white-collar criminals to utilize specific organizational forms to achieve their goals.
Reintegrating Juvenile Offenders: Translating the Intensive Aftercare Program Model Into Performance Standards
Over the last dozen years, OJJDP has been supporting a staged research, development and demonstration effort focusing on the reintegration of incarcerated juvenile offenders returning to the community. The 5-year long Demonstration phase that was piloted in Colorado, Nevada and Virginia recently ended (Summer, 2000). Work on the Intensive Aftercare Program (IAP) model, on which the demonstration was based, has entered a new stage. The IAP model is now being used as the basis for developing specific reintegration performance standards in conjunction with OJJDP’s corrections facility-oriented Performance-based Standards (PbS) project. The PbS project is being conducted by the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators. Work is commencing initially in three PbS sites: Oregon, Arizona and Connecticut. Among the goals of the PbS/IAP partnership is the development and testing of standards for reintegration that parallel standards already developed by the PbS project. Reintegration focuses attention on how juveniles are prepared for re-entry into the specific communities to which they will return, how the transition is handled, and how the aftercare in the community is provided. The paper will discuss progress to date on the PbS/IAP project and the implications for future work in both PbS sites and other jurisdictions across the country.
Relationship Between Developmental Trajectories of Temperament in Childhood and Conduct Disorder Symptons in Adolescence
The link between temperament in childhood and Conduct Disorder (CD) symptoms in adolescence was investigated among a sample of 1650 participants. Childhood temperament was assessed yearly between the ages of 6 and 12. The presence of DSM-IIIR CD symptoms was self-reported by the adolescents (15-16 years) and their parents. First, developmental trajectories for the three temperamental traits representing the basis of Cloninger’s (1986-1 1987) personality model are presented. Developmental trajectories were identified using semi parametric mixture models and found to be mostly stable through childhood. Second, the developmental trajectories of temperament were related to the number of CD symptoms using Poisson regression. Children on a high level trajectory of Novelty Seeking and on a low level trajectory for Reward Dependence reported a significantly higher number of covert CD symtoms in adolescence. Membership in the high level Novelty Seeking trajectory significantly predicted overt CD symptoms for boys. For girls, high Novelty Seeking, low Reward Dependence and the interaction between the two dimensions predicted overt CD symptoms. Analyses of the relationship between Cloninger’s personality profiles and CD revealed that boys with an antisocial profile and girls with an explosive-schizoid profile had a significantly higher number of CD symptoms in adolescence.
Relationship Between Offending and Victimization: An Examination of Probation
Offender and victims are not distinct groups, and offending and victimization are not unique problems. Rather, there is a strong correlation between victimization and offending, and the factors the predict offending also predict victimization. This study examined the relationship between victimization and offending in a sample of individuals at high risk offending: individuals under probation supervision. Additionally, the study investigated the moderating effects of local-life circumstances (e.g., marriage, employment, and education) and routine activities on the relationship between offending and victimization. Probationers were asked about the prior two years by an interviewer who used life-history calendars to establish the timing and sequence of subjects’ victimization and offending experiences. Implications for risk and prevention of victimization are discussed.
Reliable and Valid Fear: The Measurement of Feelings of Unsafety or Fear of Crime
Despite the criticisms regarding the measurement of fear of crime or ore in general feelings of unsafety, a reliable and valid measuring instrument is still absent. This is in part due to the lack of research that concerns these fundamental issues. This study aims for developing a reliable measuring instrument which is more valid than the instruments generally used in research regarding feelings of unsafety. A primary condition for a valid measuring instrument is reliability. In this paper the reliabilities of measuring instruments often used are discussed. The examining of the reliabilities was done first by carrying out an informal meta-analysis and second, by constructing a questionnaire which comprised an inventory of scales used in research of feelings of unsafety to varying extent. Respondents received either a questionnaire that made use of questions, or a questionnaire that made use of statements. The results will be applied to the continuation of this study, which focuses on the sensitivity of categories of respondents to certain items (differential item functioning) and the relation between concepts (concurrent and differentialk validity).
Repeat Burglary in Two Australian Cities
This paper will examine patterns of repeat burglary in two Australian cities. its purpose is twofold. First it will examine important methodological issues pertaining to the analysis of repeat victimisation. In particular the focus will be on the time-course of repeat burglary, because this illuminates whether repeat burglaries ‘flag’ pre-existing risk factors, or whether the initial burglary ‘boosts’ the risk of subsequent burglary (using the terminology of Pease). Several time-course approaches will be discussed, including the use of the frequency distribution of time between burglaries, the use of an adjusted frequency distribution recommdnded by Anderson, Chenery and Pease, and finally survival analysis. The second part the paper will examine substantive patterns of repeat burglary in two Australian cities that have experienced quite different recent burglary trends. The impact of overall burglary trends on repeat burglaries will be examined, and the implications for theory and policy discussed.
Repeat Offending in the Canberra RISE Project: An Overview
The Canberra, Australia Reintegrative Shaming Experiments (RISE) have randomly assigned over 1200 offenders to restorative justice diversionary conferences or prosecution in court since 1995. Preliminary results for these experiments show that repeat offending rates are lower for conference than for court cases under certain conditions, but not under others. These conditions include type of offense and the prior experience of the conference leaders. At the same time, victims are far more satisfied with conference than with court. Combining the satisfaction of victims with repeat offending holds important implications for both sentencing policy and such sanctioning theories as procedural justice and reintegrative shaming.
Report on the Effects of Participation in a Cultural Awareness Program on Santa Clara County Jail Inmates
This paper documents the changes in self-reported English proficiency, cultural pride, cultural perceptions, racial/ethnic tolerance and awareness of other cultures of 179 Santa Clara County (California) jail inmates who participated in an eight-week cultural awarness workshop taught by one of the authors. The program participants were administered identical pre- and post- workshop assessment instruments consisting of 26 Likert scale questions. A paired-sample t-test was used to test for a significant change in he participants attitudes pre- and post- workshop. On the whole, little change was noted in the participants attitudes after completing the program. The authors hypothesize that this “non-result” of program participation is due to the inmates relatively high leel of the acdeptance of other cultures and pride in their own culture prior to program participation. This high degree of acceptance of other cultures and pride in one’s own culture may be due to the inmates previous exposure to a variety of cultural traiditons in ethnically diverse Santa Clara County.
Reporting of Crimes to the Police in Israel
Based on the last victim survey conducted in Israel by the Bureau of Statistics, in 1990, this study examines the issue of victims who report to the Israeli police their experience as victims of property and vehicle crimes. By using two stages of logistic regression the findings reveals that insurance has a strong effect on the odds of reporting property and vehicle crimes. However, this effect is in the opposite direction than expected. Also found that there is a relationship between socioeconomic status and the willingness to report deferent types of victimization. Another finding shows that a high percent of the victims do not report their victimization. A third of the “nonreportees” explained their action in terms of lack of belief in police efficacy, and in police ability to solve the crime.
Reporting Sexual Victimization: National-Level Research on College Women
Although much discussed, there has been only limited systematic empirical investigation of the circumstances under which women who have been sexually victimized report their victimization to others. Based on two recent national-level studies of college women that employ different measures of sexual victimization, we explore this issue for women who have been raped or otherwise sexually assaulted. We examine both the extent to which women report their victimization to law enforcement officials and the determinants of such reporting behavior. We also assess whether women report their sexual victimization to people other than law enforcement officials and the factors that shape the likelihood of this decision. The paper ends by exploring the policy implications of these findings.
Research and Pratice in the Behavioral Science of Violence and Crime
This presentation focuses on the current research efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Behavioral Science Unit. Studies covering a wide range of topics including serial crimes, technology crimes, threat assessment crimes against vulnerable populations, and various other criminal behaviors are summarized and interpreted relative to traditional criminological theories and practice. Implications for further research and the impact of these efforts on policing will also be discussed.
Residence Robbery: Home Invasions in a New Orleans Vietnamese Community
Twenty-five home invasion cases that occurred in a suburban New Orleans Vietnamese community in the past three years are examined. Elements of the criminal acts are reviewed with the assistance of community informants including an experienced Vietnamese Sheriff’s deputy who works the juvenile gang detail. The focus of the work is to give a cultural context to residence robbery. Preliminary evidence suggests that the Vietnamese youths engaged in this type of aggressive armed robbery operate within loosely organized “men’s clubs” that serve as intelligence networks to discover which families are likely to have large sums of money at specific times and are therefore targeted. In the actual attach itself the use of force seems to go beyond what is necessary to accomplish the crime to include the threat of additional violence to ensure that the victims will not cooperate with the authorities.
Resident’s Intervention and Levels of Neighborhood Violence: A Mesa Level Approach to Social Control
From the very inception of sociology in the United States, the South Side of Chicago has been portrayed as one of the areas with the highest violent and predatory crime rates in the City. For this and other reasons, the South Side was constantly a subject of much early theoretical debate. Recent social researchers have also pointed to the persistence of social problems in that area of the City in their quests to advance contemporary theorizing. Much of the theorizing attempts to link individual and neighborhood level variables to social conditions such as rates of violent and predatory crime. A common assumption has been that high crime rates of crime will persist under conditions of social disorganization, differential social organization, high joblessness, racism, segregation, and the like. Recent work has pointed to the levels of collective efficacy in a similar manner that previous works stressed the importance of informal social control. This paper will report findings from an ethnographic project that has been ongoing since 1997, and attempts to understand the relaitonships between high neighborhood violent and predatory crime rates, and informal social control on the South Side of Chicago. The data will challenge existing social control theories in various ways and suggest two extensions to the collective efficacy theory of Sampson et. al. 1997.
Residential Segregation: A Closer Look
This research uses GIS techniques to explore the association between residential segregation and crime across census tracts of San Antonio, Texas. Although evidence suggests a relationship between residential segregation and urban pathologies such as crime, the literature examining the relationship often uses large spatial aggregates (e.g., SMSA’s) as the unit of analysis while theoretical considerations are often at the neighborhood level. This research extends previous research by using “localized” levels of segregation to determine effects on crime. Specifically, blockgroup patterns of racial composition are used to determine census tract level measures of segregation, such as D, XP*y, and xP*x. These census tract level measures of segregation are then used in conjunction with hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) procedures to determine the effects of these measures on both blockgroup and census tract level burglary events. This research extends prior research by determining where segregation effects on crime are the strongest, blockgroups or census tracts. This analysis should lead to more meaningful spatial studies of segregation and crime in the future.
Resisting Arrest: Predictors of Suspect Non-Compliance and Use of Force Against Police Officers
This study examines predictors of resisting arrest in 1,220 arrest situations in Phoenix, Arizona between June 13 and June 27, 1994. Our research adds to the existing literature by examining both passive and violent suspect resistance. The predictors assessed in the study involve officer-, suspect-and situational variables. Using a logistic regression analysis, the most powerful predictors of arrest resistance involved several suspect attributes, most notably suspect demeanor. Of the officer-related variables, officer gender and time on the police force were significant predictors of encountering a resistant suspect. Finally, the key situational predictor of resisting arrest concerned the presence of witnesses. Findings and policy implications are discussed.
Responding to Gun Violence: Implementing Consent to Search in St. Louis
This paper reviews three attempts to implement a consent to search program in the city of St. Louis. The first effort to implement the program netted a large number of guns with a relatively small investment of police time. Subsequent interventions failed to achieve similar results. This paper discusses the difficulties in implementing programs that require police-community partnerships and offers several explanations for the failure to successfully institutionalize innovative programs.
Responding to Racism in the Criminal Justice System With the Shared Values of Criminology as Peacemaking and Critical Race Theory
This paper examines the intersection of critical race theory and criminology as peacemaking. With peacemaking, critical race theory shares a deconstructive style that rejects totalizing theories in favor of the views and perspective of those on society’s margins. Attuned to the pit-falls of perspective, critical race theorists look to “life on the bottom” to identify the structural and contextual causes of violence. With peacemakers, critical race theorists hold a vew of professionalism that supports local efforts to define problems and to design and implement solutions that strengthen local infrastructure, foster intergroup relationships, and promote human dignity. Critical race theorists are not committed to any particular method or metatheory; rather, the level of diversity and disagreement is regarded as a strength of the movement. As for the means to realize safe communities and provide redress, race critics recognize the possibility of legitimate pluralism. Critical race theorists also share an opposition to systems of illegitimate hierarchy and structural inequality. Above all, critical race theorists make little attempt to conceal their political, moral, even spiritual, passion.
Responses to Anti-Social Behaviour in Loyalist and Republican Communities in Belfast
This paper addresses responses to anti-social behaviour in Loyalist and Replican communities in Belfast. First of all, I will examine the role of the Royal Ulster constabulary as the official police force of Northern Ireland, focusing on issues of police-community relations during the phase of conflict resolution. Secondly, I will address the operation of alternative systems of criminal justice in certain Belfast communities where police legitimacy is contested. I will be looking at the role of Loyalist and Republican paramilitary organisations in the control of crime and the emergence of restorative justice projects within these communities. I will be arguing that the control fo anti-social behaviour by paramilitary groups and community activits is supplanting the need for official criminal justice agencies in a post-cease-fire phase in Northern Ireland. The content of the paper is based on 14 months fieldwork in Belfast, including 70 semi-structured interviews with young offenders, community activits, politicians and church leaders, and 200 hours of observation in voluntary and community organisations in Loyalist and Republican areas.
Restorative Conferencing: The State of the Nation
This paper is based on research that both quantitatively and qualitatively examines restorative conferencing models being used as nonadversarial sanctioning process alternatives in the United States. The paper summarizes work to date identifying existing knowledge about community youth sanctioning models. The project comprehensively describes and profiles youth sanctioning models, compares such models by conducting formative process evaluations in several jurisdictions which serve to clarify goals, policies and procedures and understand variation in modes of citizen participation and in the role assumed by justice professionals. The goal of the project is to provide juvenile justice professionals, researchers and policymakers with information on community youth sanctioning models to improve research, implementation and management decisionmaking.
Restorative Justice and the Problem of Punishment
Restorative justice is a new perspective with a growing currency in Western industrialized societies. As a problem-solving approach to harmful behaviour that eschews violent and coercive methods, restorative justice theory displaces the phenomenon of punishment which is central to retributive justice. Restorative justice theory and practice, however, have tended to overlook or de-emphasize the analyses of punishments which are primarily concerned with “the psychology of punitive justice” (Mead) or the sociological function of punishment to “maintain social cohesion intact” (Durkheim). This paper considers the problem of punishment as an expression of collective, moral/legal censure motivated by the psychological sentiments of revents and the sociopolitical foundations of retribution. A challenge for restorative justice lies in the question of how to respond to these issues in the absence of punishment.
Restorative Justice in a Juvenile Detention Facility: Problems and Prospects
This paper discusses the challenges experienced in the implementation of the balanced and restorative justice model at a state-run juvenile detention facility in Michigan. Focusing primarily on accountability and competency development, the paper discusses how the BARJ mission is being accomplished through the identification of priorities for practice that avoid the pitfalls associated with the BARJ approach. Expectations for the program, and the crafting of a new role institutions of higher learning in this process are explored.
Restorative Justice in Action: Evaluating Community Court
This paper presents the results of a short-term evaluation of the new Community Court in Hennepin County, Minnesota, as well as the experimental design for the long-term evaluation. Over the short-term, we evaluated Community Court in four distinct ways. First, we measured defendant compliance with their primary sanction of the “Sentencing to Service” program, in which defendants are assigned to work crews that complete community beautification projects (e.g., removing graffiti, collecting trash, painting fire hydrants). Community Court defendants are assigned to work crews in the community where they committed their offenses, as part of a restorative justice approach to sentencing. Second, we measured community members’ perceptions of crime in their neighborhoods and level of satisfaction with the Community Court project, via a telephone survey to a random sample of residents in our catchment area. Third, we measured the immediacy of the court process, to evaluate whether Community Court has reduced the length of time between offense and disposition. Finally, we contracted with an outside agency to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of Community Court. The paper will conclude by describing the experimental design in place for the long-term evaluation of Hennepin County’s Community Court.
Restorative Justice in Practice: Community Service in Comparison With Traditional Juvenile Protection Measures
We will present the results of a research into the application and the effects of community service in the Belgian juvenile justice system. Comparing two (matched) groups of about 200 boys after they received or a community service or a more traditional measure reveals that the community service group committed significantly less new offences during a registration period of 18 months than the control group with a traditional measure. The question emerges why we found such a significant difference between both groups. The second part of the presentation will try to find an answer. Several hypotheses are advanced. To test them about 100 boys have been interviewed in a period of two and a half months after they received or a community service or a traditional measure. Questions were asked on family and school situation, leisure time, social network, self-concept, future perspectives, appreciation of the measure, preparedness to recidivism and so on. The boys were selected out of court dossiers and had to respond to several criteria with regard to age and committed offences. Complementary to the interviews, we also started with a sentencing research to find out which variables the judge takes into account to determine which measure he imposes to a certain juvenile. We will also briefly discuss the outcome of the interviews with the judges.
Restorative Justice Program at Dewitt Nelson Youth Correctional Facility, California Youth Authority
A restorative justice program has been implemented at the Dewitt Nelson Youth Correctional Facility, a part of the California Youth Authority, with the appointment of a formal guidance committee in January of 1997. It endorses principles of Restorative Justice by involving the three clients (victims, offenders, and communities) of restorative justice in a cooperative relationship to promote healing within each of these clients. The program is designed to allow the three clients to share their perceptions of a specific criminal behavior and the consequences of that behavior. It helps all of the participants gain understanding, acceptance as well as empathy for one another; thereby greatly enhancing the healing process. Accomplishments and implementation barriers of the restorative program are identified for future improvements. The program is adaptable to community-based agencies dealing with juvenile delinquents to provide restoration for victims, communities as well as offenders.
Reversing Wrongful Convictions: Processes Involved in Undoing Justice
Analyses of wrongful convictions have documented its incidence, isolated key factors (e.g., eyewitness misidentification, police and prosecutorial misconduct, and inadequate legal representation), and drawn attention to the exculpatory potential of DNA evidence. The present investigation focuses on the link between the evidentiary processes that lead to a wrongful conviction and those processes that resulted in the reversal of the conviction. Social structural and evidentiary data on 182 cases of persons wrongfully convicted of criminal homicide in the U.S., drawn principally from law reviews, published reports, and new accounts, are analyzed. The analyses are guided by the theoretical formulations of Black (1976, 1989, 1998; and Cooney, 1994) on the impact of the structures of homicide cases, the errors that lead to wrongful convictions, and the evidence needed to exonerate the accused. Variations in the interplay between the structure of the case and the evidentiary processes are analyzed across three sentencing possibilities: the death penalty, life imprisonment, and a sentence less than life.
Revisiting the Immigrant/Violent Crime Nexus: Results From Miami
The racial and ethnic dynamics of crime and violence have changed since the European newcomers associated with the early Chicago school studies settled in the heavily industrialized urban Midwest and Northeast areas. This regional pattern is no longer a reflection of immigrant settlement and the opportunity for economic advancement is vastly different than 100 years ago. Recent immigrants, heavily Latino but increasingly Afro-Caribbean or Asian, are concentrated in Sunbelt cities, live adjacent to native-born ethnic minority communities and participate in the informal economy. The current immigration experience is still however, as in the past, rooted in urban conditions (e.g. high crime, poverty, joblessness, etc.) resembling those originally studied during the Chicago schools rise to prominence. This paper brings immigration back into the criminological research literature. There are of course several reasons why this topic has been overlooked. As many scholars have pointed out, (some) social scientists have cautiously studied subjects such as immigration and crime, since findings could fuel stereotypes promoting the image of crime-prone immigrants. Also, racially disaggregated data sets on the criminal involvement of Latinos and Haitians, whose crime rates are most likely to be affected by the recent influx of immigrants, are rare and generally require time-consuming and expensive data collection efforts. Lastly, the contemporary immigration/crime link in general remains an understudied subject, leaving basic questions unanswered about issues like selectivity among immigrants (particularly as this relates to “political” verses economic” immigration patterns), the macrosocial causes and effects of immigration,and the importance of distinctions among immigrants.
Riding the Cruisers and Walking the Beat: The Making of the Anglo-American Sociology of the Police
This paper is concerned with genealogies in the particular criminological subfield of police studies. It will examine: (a) how a distinctive Anglo-American sociological perspective on the police was created during the 1960s; (b) the theoretical and methodological approaches that have characterised police studies emanating in the UK; and (c) the ways in which the tradition that we will delineate establishes particular conceptions of how the police and policing are to be studied. The paper’s starting point is Michael Banton’s ‘The Policeman in the Community’, published in 1964. This work is often referred to as a foundation stone of police sociology – in Britain as well as in the USA because it employed a comparative methodology between the two countries. This paper argues that its influence and legacy has meant that the sociological study of the police has been dominated by Durkheimian perspective, a stress upon the symbolic nature of the (public) police, and the foregrounding of direct observation of police work as the best methodological way to understand the police. The paper will assess the continuing influence of this legacy, as well as contrasting it with other ways of understanding the police and policework.
Righteous Bullets: When is Police Homicide Justifiable?
During the period 1986 to 1996 a number of civilians were shot and killed by members of the Victorian police force, occasioning public outcry and calls for greater training and accountability of individual police officers. This paper examines the concepts of “justification” and “excuse” and their utility in assessing the accountability of police use of potentially deadly force. In particular it is suggested that Just War Theory provides a sound philosophical and ethical framework for understanding the practical issues facing contemporary police forces and individual police officers.
Risk and Protective Factors for Gang Membership: Is There a Difference?
This presentation examines conceptual and empirical issues surrounding the definition of risk and protective factors for gang membership. Can the same factor be at the same time both a risk and protective factor? And, if so, what characteristics does such a factor possess that permit it to be both fish and fowl? Do protective factors other than the absence or inverse of a risk factor actually exist? Data from the Denver Youth Survey, a 12 year longitudinal study, is used to empirically identify factors that increase the chance of gang membership, examine the ability of these same factors to reduce the chance of gang membership, and determine the existence of factors that are not risk factors but interact with risk factors to reduce the chance of gang membership. Clearly this is a “fishing trip,” but is the outcome “foul”?
Risk Factors for Gang Membership: Level of Association Within an Incarcerated Population
There are a number of risk factors that should be considered when discussing issues related to gang activity. Risk factors for gang membership can be placed in one of five categories: family, community, school, individual and peers. Each factor contributes to the potential for gang membership, but at varying levels of association. The paper presents a descriptive analysis of these risk factors for self reporting incarcerated gang members. Further analysis determines the degree of significance with implications for future prevention programs and policies.
Risk for Use in Crime of Multiple-Purchase and Single-Purchase Handguns
Concern that handguns sold in multiple sales may be more likely than others to be used in crime has prompted some states to limit the number of handguns sold with the so-called “one gun a month” law. Using all handguns sold through licensed gun dealers in California in 1996 (approximately 300,000 firearms), we will identify those sold in single and multiple transactions. As a surrogate measure for gun use in crime, gun tracing information from the California Department of Justice and ATF will be searched to identify any gun purchased in 1996 and recovered in a criminal context within 3 years of the purchase date. We hypothesize that handguns sold in a multiple purchase are more likely to be used in crime than are those sold in a single transaction. We will examine two definitions of a multiple purchase: more than one gun in 30 days and more than one gun within 5 consecutive business days. The main outcome measure will be the appearance of a gun in the crime trace data. Tracing rates (number of guns traced per 1,000 gun-years), rate ratios, and the average “time to crime” (time between handgun sale and use in crime) will be presented.
Risk Management and Effective Intervention
This presentation discusses the ongoing efforts of the National Institute of Corrections to disseminate best practices in correctional intervention and risk classification. In recent years, this has involved disseminating information pertinent to the findings of several meta-analyses of correctional treatment programs. NIC is also assisting state and local efforts to: a) address substance abuse, criminogenic attitudes and cognitive skills, and b) implement cognitive behavioral interventions for medium and high risk correctional clients in botn institutional and community-based settings. This presentation addresses the history and current status of these initiatives.
Risk of Crime Victimization Among Youth Exposed to Domestic Violence
This paper explores the degree to which youth are at higher risk of crime victimization when they live in a household with an adult who has been the victim of domestic violence or another violent crime. Combined data from the 1996, 1997, and 1998 National Crime Victimization Survey show a generally higher victimization risk for youth who live in households with a victimized adult. The risk is elevated for youth from households with adult victims of both domestic as well as other, non-domestic violence. Girls living in households with an adult victim of domestic violence appear to be at particularly high risk for crime victimization. Some of the added risk for such youth appears to be from family members. These findings reinforce the need to direct crime prevention and detection efforts toward youth in households in which an adult has been victimized.
Risk Scores and Recidivism: The Experience of a Sample of Alabama Youth
One of the greatest challenges in juvenile corrections is to predict the future behavior of delinquents. The most common measns of predicting future behavior is to compute a risk score using a standardized instrument. This study will match risk scores given to a sample of students adjudicated to the Alabama Department of Youth Services with their post-release behavior. Through this comparison the author will be able to assess the predictive validity of risk scores and make suggestions as to how risk instruments could be improved.
Risks, Needs and Justice: Dilemmas of Modernisation in the British Probation Service
This paper draws on research recently carried out by the author for the Home Office to outline the impact and potential contribution of new forms of risk and need assessment in British ‘corrections.’ It goes on to consider the role played by risk assessment and predictions of future herm in the recasting of British probation as a ‘public protection’ service; whether such developments are compatible with a system of justice based on the seriousness of past offences; whether they necessarily tend, as some critics argue, in the direction of social exclusion and coercive risk management, or whether they can be adapted to serve a more inclusive and reintegrative agenda if combined with new aspirations towards effective rehabilitation. Some possible lines of development are outlined, each presenting particular difficulties and challenges.
Robert McClaughry and the Politics of the National Prison Association, 1885-1905
In the last half of the nineteenth century prison officials started a professionalization process by forming the National Prison Association. Like all such organizations considerable politics was at play in this organization. Three groups made up the association. They were: 1) the religious/philanthropist types who had no practical experience in the day-to-day management and care of prisons, and 2) the more practical wardens who had no theoretical background to inform their administrative decisions, and 3) those transitional figures who tried to bridge the two extreme groups. Robert McClaughry, a warden at the Joliet, Illinois state prison, was one of these transitional figures. His political career that eventually led to his election as president of the association will be set forth in this paper.
Role of Early Childhood Behavior Problems and Initiating Gateway Substance Use
The paper will use data from the Children of the National Longitudinal Study of Young Women to examine longitudinal patterns in initiating substance use and the role early childhood problems (e.g., ADHD, conduct disorder) pay in this process. Patterns of initiating can be observed from approximately age 10 to 18 with assessments of early childhood behaviors prior to age 10. problems can be juxtposed against maternal behavior, school behaviors, peer association and other social indicators for individual and family. Latent growth models are used to model the patterns and associations among variables.
Role of Education, Labour Market and Social Factors in Shaping the Crime-Age Profit
That crime tends to rise and peak in the mid to late teens and early twenties then declines with age has, by now, become an accepted fact. Despite this, over the last twenty years there have been debates over the true nature of the relationship between crime and age. This paper uses self report data collected from young males aged 16-25 and examines the crime age profiles of two groups: those who leave school at 16 and those who stay on past the compulsory school leaving age. My findings show that for three categories of crime (property, handling and violent offences) the two groups have significantly different crime-age profiles but that the gap between the two profiles can be accounted for by differences across the two groups in a number observable variables related to the labour market, education, family, individual and area/neighbourhood. The most important factors underpinning differences in the crime age profiles by education group are whether an individual lives with their parents, family contact with the police and school truancy.
Role of Race and Gender in Departures From the Federal Sentencing Guidelines
The relationship between gender and sentencing outcomes has been a topic of great debate within the last two decades. The empirical and theoretical literature of disciplines such as sociology, criminal jsutice, history, and law reflects the breadth of resources devoted to exploring how sentencing outcomes have been influenced by defendants’ gender. The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 mandated federal sentencing based on offender conduct as opposed to offender characteristics, and specifically prohibited the use of a defendant’s gender in sentencing calculations. Under the federal sentencing guidelines judges are required to impose sentences within a narrow range specified by the defendant’s particular offense level and criminal history. However, federal courts are permitted to impose a sentence outside the range of the guidelines, if the court finds that there are aggravating or mitigating circumstances that may not have been taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission. Prior research has suggested that a defendant’s gender exerts a significant effect on sentencing outcomes when other legally relevant variables are controlled for (Albonetti, 1997). Additionally, departures from the federal sentencing guidelines have been proposed a principle mechanism for guideline circumvention. however, research on the relationship between the application of particular departures and a defendant’s gender is scant. This paper examines the influence of gender on specific departure decisions for defendants sentended for federal drug offenses in 1995/1996.
Roles of Interest Groups in Criminal Justice Policy-Making: Who, When, and How
Traditionally, the sparse criminal justice literature that addresses the role of interest groups in criminal justice policy making has emphasized the importance of professional criminal justice organization relative to lay groups. A review of these early studies and more recent case studies of federal criminal justice legislation, suggests, however, that lay groups do play an important role in keeping certain criminal justice issues off the policy agenda, educating policy makers and the public about emerging issues, and maintaining legislative support for policies. That is, while lay organizations, relative to professional organizations, do not usually play an important role in determining the details of legislation, they can affect what ultimately becomes policy. The emphasis on the role of professional groups seems to be the result of a limited definition of both the policy-making process and influence. This paper demonstrates that defining the policy making process and influence more broadly, beyond the enactment of legislation, provides a better understanding of when and how different types of interest groups affect criminal justice policy making. Such an approach, in turn, provides a better understanding of what does and does not become criminal justice policy.
ROUNDTABLE: Good Citizenship and Crime: Orthoganlity Versus Overlap
Prior research has identified dimensions of “good citizenship” in early adulthood, including group involvement, volunteerism, neighborliness, interpersonal connection, continuing education, constructive engagement, financial responsibility, honest, and multiethnic acceptance (Hawkins et al., 1999; Kosterman et al. 1999). These dimensions were mostly independent of each other. Many were significantly associated with gender and ethnicity, though the pattern was mixed (e.g., females and Caucasian-Americans were higher on some dimensions, and males and African-Americans were higher on others), thd they were predicted well by school bonding during adolescence. Important remaining questions concern the relationship between dimensions of good citizenship and crime. To what extent is good citizenship associated with leess criminal behavior? Do different dimensions of good citizenship relate differently to various criminal behaviors? To what extent do dimentions of adult good citizenship and crime have common versus unique predictors in childhood and adoelscence? The data are from the Seattle Social Development Project, a theory-driven longitudinal study of 808 youth from high-crime neighborhoods interviewed annually from age 10 to 16, and again at ages 18 and 21. The sample is gender-balanced and ethnically diverse. Descriptive results are complemented with multivariate logistic regression analyses. Implications for promoting good citizenship and preventing criminal behavior are discussed.
Routine Activities, Work, and Delinquency
This study investigates the link between youth employment and adolescent deviant behavior, from the perspective of routine activities. We hypothesize that being employed alters adolescents’ patterns of routine activities and that this change in activities in turn leads to higher rates of deviance. We focus on routine activities that entail “unstructured socializing activities with peers that occur in the absence of authority figures, which Osgodd et al. (1996) found to be especially relevant to deviance. Data from the tenth grade sample of the 1996 and 1997 Monitoring the Future studies are analyzed. Preliminary results show that, consistent with previous research, working over twenty hours is related to higher rates of deviance for adolescents. Tobit and ordinal regression analyses were utilized to test the hypotheses that engaging in routine activities mediates the relationship between work and deviance, for tenth grade students. As hypothesized, Adolescents who work more than twenty hours per week are more likely to engage in unstructured socializing activities. Engaging in routine activities is found to account for a large share of the employment-deviance relationship, after controlling for relevant demographic variables, school commitment, and school achievement.
Routine Activities and Foraging Theory: The Influence of Motivation on Size of Criminal Hunting Area
Routine activity theory suggests that for a direct-contact predatory crime to occur, the paths of the offender and victim must intersect in time and space within an environment appropriate for criminal activity. This involves: (1) a motivated offender; (2) a suitable target; and (3) the absence of capable guardians. As target desirability and guardian risk are subjective determinations made by the offender, his or her motivation level influences perceptions of criminal opportunity. The more motivated the offender, the greater the range of acceptable targets. Target backcloths, in turn, influence hunting areas and crime pattterns. These ideas will be discussed from the perspectives of foraging theory and the geographic profiling of serial offenders.
Routine Activities and Patterns in Juvenile Offending: An Exploration
Cohen and Felson have succeeded in their attempts to redefine the criminological focus on offender motivation. They deviate from traditional criminological perspectives by shifting their focus on the ways in which routine activities help shape an individual’s probability of criminal victimization. Since that time, the insights offered by RAT have expanded to include discussions on the relationship between offending and routine activities. This paper examines the predictive ability of RAT using data from a sample of over 2000 adolescents attending junior and senior high schools in a Western Canadian city., Specifically, this research attempts to determine the independent and contextual effects of selected measures of RAT on involvement in delinquent behavior.
Routine Activities and Social Disorganization
This study focuses on the proposition that routine actiities mediate between social disorganization processes and contextual variation in rates of delinquency. Osgood et al.’s (1996) individual level version of routine activities theory argues that situations conducive to deviance are especially prevalent during unstructured socializing with peers, away from authority figures. This reasoning meshes well with the emphasis on peer groups as a proximal link to deviance in social disorganization theory. Furthermore, there is good reason to suspect that aggregate levels of unstructured socializing will have both individual and contextual effects on delinquency. I examine the relevance of unstructured socializing to contextual variation in rates of delinquency through an analysis of 4358 eighth grade students at 36 schools in 10 cities. Hierarchical linear models reveal that unstructured socializing accounts for a sizable portion of school level variance in delinquency. Indeed, out of fourteen demographic and explanatory variables, unstructured socializing is the only variable with a contextual effect on delinquency. Furthermore, there is clear evidence of the relevance of routine actiities to the larger social disorganization framework. A contextual effect of parental monitoring, corresponding to the notion of shared involvement in parenting, is the principal factor explaining variation across schools in levels of unstructured socializing.
RSAT in Idaho: A Comparison of Inmate and Staff Perceptions of the Program
Residential substance abuse treatment programs are a hot topic in corrections. Much of the research on RSAT programs has focused on measuring the success of the program In terms of recidivism rates. In this paper we focus on an understudied component of the program, the attitudes and perceptions of program participants. We present the findings from inmate and staff surveys.
Rurality and the Problem With Fear of Crime
Over the past three decades the concept of ‘the fear of crime’ has become increasingly important to many working in the fields of criminology, victimology, and public policy. Indeed, some researches have noted that fear of crime has all but become a sub-discipline in its own right (Hale 1996). Throughout the short but influential life the fear of crime has enjoyed as a disciplinary object, there has been unprecedented disagreement of both it’s precise definition and the methods by which it might be measured. Further, most research into the fear of crime has been overwhelmingly urban-centric in its focus largely ignoring the experiences of those living in rural communities. This paper comes from a perspective critical of many of the existing methodologies regarding fear of crime. Deriving from a study of five rural communities in Australia, this research explores the often hidden complexities of crime fear which many of the more traditional research methods into the topic seem to conveniently ignore. Indeed, the findings presented here call into question the very validity and utility of such an emotionally loaded concept as the fear of crime when its very use engenders a gross oversimplification of the very social factors through which it is constituted.
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Safety Laws in Practice: The Translation of Industrial Safety Legislation Into Everyday Shop-Floor Reality
The purpose of this paper is to examine how occupational health and safety rights, designed to protect workers, operate or fail to operate in everyday work situations. An extensive five-month participant observation study was conducted in a large Canadian industrial factory. In addition to observations and content analysis of safety documents, interviews were also conducted with full-time workers, contract workers, suppliers, supervisors, and safety representatives. This study reveals crucial weaknesses in how safety is managed in the workplace which has important implications for the regulation of industrial occupational health and safety. While health and safety advocates should continue their quest for improved workplace conditions, this study reveals that focus should also be placed on how regulatory law is filtered down and played out in everyday social interactions.
Salience of Encounter-Level Outcome Satisfaction: A Multi-Level Analysis of Satisfaction With Police
In a recent paper we reported that perceived quality of life was the strongest determinant of citizen satisfaction with neighborhood police services. Variation in this emotionally based response outweighed that of experiences with the police for satisfaction among all residents surveyed after adjusting for neighborhood context and other important variables. This finding could be read to say that striving to improve the character of police-citizen interactions, while important in its own right, may contribute only modestly to improvements in expressed satisfaction with and support for police. Prior to making such a conclusion, however, we believe further analysis is warranted. We propose to investigate further by focusing attention on the subset of our respondents who reported recent experience with local police. It is these citizens and others like them who are most likely to react to the character of police-citizen interactions. Their neighbors may be affected “vicariously”, but those with recent experience are affected directly. In this paper we will assess the power of recent experience to affect satisfaction, controlling as before for psychological constructs and neighborhood context.
Sample Selection Bias and the Validity of the NCVS-School Crime Supplements
High non-interview rate and differential reporting have been suspected to affect the generalizability of results based on the National Crime Victimization Survey-School Crime Supplements (NCVS-SCS). Some speculate that “higher risk” school children are under-represented in the national sample, however, there is little empirical support available. I provide a systematic examination of the following issues: (1) comparison of the demographic and socio-economic characteristics betwewen interviewed vs. non-interviewed students; (2) the differential patterns of non-responses in school crime victimization measurement across demographic and socio-economic characteristics; (3) the impact of different interview methods on the non-response rate; and (4) appropriate measurement of standard errors for complex sample using Jackknife variance estimation procedure. Discussions on the potential use of NCVS-SCS data are provided.
Sanction Severity and Criminal Deterrence
One of the seminal questions facing crime researchers for the past several decades has been whether the threat of punishment deters offending. Resulting studies suggest it does, a finding that has been labeled the “deterrent effect.” That said, there is lingering opacity about how the various dimensions of punishment influence behavior, and how these dimensions possibly interrelate. Criminal deterrence theory offers one prominent account of criminal behavior, postulating that crime should diminish with the magnitude (“severity”), likelihood (“certainty”), and imminence (“celerity”) of potential punishment. Despite considerable research, however, questions surround the existence of certainty, severity, and celerity effects. In this paper, we address a continuing puzzle from the literature –while extant studies strongly support a certainty effect, the evidence for a severity effect is mixed. We propose and test a new deterrence model that seeks to explain why investigations into severity effects have produced mixed results. We find evidence that previous inquiries have omitted important mediating variables that affect the relationship between sanction severity and crime. In this study, we measure each subject’s propensity to disregard the future and their susceptibility to influence by non-govermnental or “extra-legal” sanctions (like shame, guilt, and ostracism). We find that each mediating variable predicts the degree to which subjects are influenced by the magnitude of potential punishment.
“Sausage Factories” or “Hurricanes of Humanity”: An Examination of Municipal Courts in Missouri
Trial courts of limited jurisdiction dispose of the vast majority of the nation’s criminal and civil cases. This study examines municipal courts and municipal judges in Missouri. Specifically, the paper presents a description of the various municipal courts, their jurisdiction and caseload. Findings will also be presented regarding municipal court judges and their qualifications. Trends and implications for policy development and research are discussed.
School and Community Programs and Practices That Reduce Youth Antisocial Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis
While the overall incidence of youth violence has decreased for the third straight year, recent high-profile violent incidents in schools have focused the public’s attention on the problem of youth violence and on the effectiveness of efforts to reduce that violence. To advance understanding of both the causes and remedies for youth violence, the Harnilton Fish Institute is assembling a comprehensive database on the effectiveness of school- and community-based programs for reducing violence and other antisocial behaviors. Research findings have been assembled in a computer analyzable database and results of evaluations have been quantitatively synthesized to identify effective programs and principals for preventive intervention. This work contributes each year to the President’s Annual Report on School Safety. In addition to developing estimates of effectiveness, the Institute also records data on the details study samples, study methods and procedures, as well as information on the theoretical orientation of interventions, supplementation., and other exogenous characteristics of tests of interventions. Using mixed effects modeling, we will demonstrate the impact of these factors on study findings and will then present statistically adjusted findings that standardize the impact of factors across programs.
School Colors: An Analysis of Gang Related Activity Near Schools
School violence has caught much of the media attention within the last three years. Most coverage concerns incidents involving violent shootings. These celebrated incidents have not involved traditionally defined gang members. However, student self-report studies have indicatged that gang presence near schools doubled between 1989 and 1995; researchers have indicated school violence and gang activity ae “frequently related.” This paper will analyze whether or not this trend holds true for the gang related activity in Orange County, California. The data utlized will be obtained from the Orange County Gang Incident Tracking System (GITS) which includes 22 reporting police departments tracking gang activity from 1996 through 1999. This paper will examine gang related activity near schools comparing school days verus nonschool days and time of day, comparing involvement of drugs and weapons, comparing juvenile versus adult arrests, comparing middle schools versus high schools, and finally school proximity to gang territories.
School Context and Adolescent Substance Use: The Moderating Effects on School, Parent, and Peer Attachment
Accumulating evidence suggests that the etiologies of substance use and other deviant behaviors include both individual and contextual factors. This study offers an integrative approach in accounting for these macro and individual levels of influence by examining the conditioning effects of school climate on the relations between three aspects social control (school, parent, and peers attachment) and substance use. With this approach, we seek to extend previous work by delineating the mechanisms through which school characteristics affect the strength of the relationship between individual-level social bonds and the use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. The data were drawn from a sample of 27,458 students located within 42 middle and high schools in Kentucky. We focused on school characteristics including school efficacy (capital and deficits), school socioeconomic status, structure (middle vs. high), and racial heterogeneity. Using hierarchical linear modeling techniques (HLM), we estimated these effects on the school means controlling for individual level predictors as well as on the slopes for the three dimensions of attachment. In this manner, we were able to determine the direct and moderating effects of school climate on substance use. Results indicated that the relationship between peer attachment and substance use was unaffected by school context. In contrast, the relations between school and parent attachment and cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use were particularly sensitive to school characteristics. Individuals possessing deficits in school bonding and parental attachment had lower levels of substance use in low risk schools compared to individuals possessing similar deficits in high risk schools. These findings contribute to our understanding of the complex interaction between individual levels of attachment and the contextual characteristics at the school level.
School Failure and Delinquency
School failure has been noted as one of the most persistent correlates of delinquency. it is included in both theories of crime and empirical research. However, the factors that underlie failure and how school performance may moderate the effects of those factors have been examined less frequently. While some research examines either cognitive ability or behavior little research includes both of these dimensions simultaneously. The current research uses data from the Cambridge Study on Delinquent Development to examine the extent to which acting out behavior and IQ (age 8) influence the age of onset of offending and self reported violence. The paper also examines the degree to which school failure moderates the effects of acting out and IQ in relation to these two outcomes.
School-Level Predictors of Alcohol Use, Tobacco Use, and Delinquency in Adolescent Males
School has been recognized as an important developmental context in general, as well as in specific relation to substance use and delinquency. Using a longitudinal sample of approximately 950 boys who attended public elementary (N = 50) and middle (N = 14) schools in Pittsburgh, concurrent analyses address the following questions: 1) Do rates of alcohol and tobacco use, delinquency, and both alcohol and tobacco use and delinquency differ across elementary schools and/or middle schools?, 2) Can socio-demographic/structural characteristics of schools, such as average class size and proportion of students in poverty, explain variance in preadolescent and adolescent alcohol and tobacco use and delinquency beyond what is explained by individual characteristics, such as school motivation and academic achievement?, 3) Do such characteristics of schools, moderate relations between individual characteristics and use and delinquency outcomes? Prospective analyses examine the following questions: 1) Does where a boy went to elementary school predict alcohol and tobacco use and/or delinquency in middle school? and 2) Does where a boy went to middle school predict alcohol and tobacco and/or delinquency in high school and beyond? Implications of results for school-based prevention efforts will be discussed.
School-Police Partnership: Identifying At-Risk Youth Through a Truant Recovery
A substantial amount of research has established that truancy is a consistent at-risk indicator of future criminality. The Richmond (CA) Police Department recognizes the critical role of the education system in preventing the involvement of youth in drug, gang, and gun activity that too often leads to violent crime, including homicide. This paper studies the experience of 178 juveniles targeted by the Truant Recovery Program, a collaborative and non-punitive school/law enforcement effort, and considers questions regarding its impact through examination of juvenile jsutice and school information in the years before and after the truancy sweep. In particular, the paper raises questions about what schools can do with children who demonstrate at-risk behavior.
School Violence: Identifying Factors and Characteristics of Students at Risk of Violent Behavior
School administrators and law enforcement officials throughout the U.S. are responding to school violence following several tragic shooting incidents. This paper reports on the results of a collaborative effort between school and police officials to identify risk factors for school violence. Analyses of survey data from students, school staff, and parents resulted in a model of school violence. Violent impulses and acts are common in schools, but seem to be mediated by behavioral and attitudinal factors; of different types of offenders, the “silent perpetrators” may be more at risk of violence than the more visible “bullies”; some parents seem to minimize the risk of violence; and the model suggests that school violence can be minimized by collaborative efforts of school and public safety officials.
Scientific Misconduct: A Theoretical and Empirical Inquiry
Scientific misconduct remains one of the most under-studied forms of occupational deviance. The few empirical studies to date have done little to illuminate possible causal factors at any level. There is also little known about the effects of being found guilty of scientific misconduct This study, sponsored by the federal Office of Research Integrity (ORI), is based on interviews with a number of scientists against whom an official finding of scientific misconduct was made by the ORI. These telephone interviews were taped recorded and professionally transcribed, resulting in a text file. Three theoretical frameworks were used to approach this research. First, it was hypothesized that some of the scientists had what Cressey referred to as a non-shareable problem. Second, using the labeling perspective, it was hypothesized that some of the scientists were cut off from subsequent career opportunities due to being labeled as guilty of scientific misconduct. Last, it was hypothesized that some of the subjected engaged in scientific misconduct as a means of restoring perceived inequity between themselves and their supervisor or the organization. The textual data were content analyzed by both manual and computer-assisted methods. Key terms and phrases derived from the hypotheses were used to search the text, Preliminary analysis of the data consists of descriptive statistics. In addition to permitting the testing of the study’s hypotheses, the results illuminate possible policy implications. These include measures that laboratories can take to prevent future instances of scientific misconduct.
Scientific Overstatement in the Literature of Gangs
Although the term “gang” lacks conceptual specificity in the relevant literature, explanatory models and typologies steadily proliferate. The problem with many of these, it will be argued, is that they obfuscate differences among and within gangs through scientific overstatement. Consequently, research serves to affirm stereotypes because only those observations, which are not problematic, are included, and only those, which lend themselves to generalization and assertion, are treated seriously. This approach to the study of gangs is untenable, particularly with regard to hybrid forms. Empirical evidence will be drawn from a study on the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation.
Screening Offenders for Intensive Treatment: The Role of Recidivism Risk and Drug Use Severity
Although most criminal justice agencies across the United States have become invested in treating drug-abusing offenders in the past decade, the demand for treatment resources has continued to exceed availability. Not only must officials decide who should have access to limited treatment services, but they also need to determine the most appropriate type and intensity of treatment in which a drug-involved offender should be placed. This presentation examines the use of recidivism risk classification and drug use severity measures in screening for placement in intensive correctional drug treatment. The relationship between these measures, the provision of treatment, and post-prison outcomes also will be addressed.
Second Responders Program: Evaluation of a Coordinated Police/Social Service Approach to Domestic Violence
Police have been encouraged to collaborate in interagency approaches to problems of domestic violence. Typically, such programs introduce a social service or police/social service team approach some time after the incident for which police were initially called. In Richmond, Virginia, the Second Responders program involves social service workers based in the precincts and on call throughout the night. Second Responders respond to domestic violence calls as soon as the scenes are secured by police. Upon arrival, they offer a range of immediate and future services to the victim. We report on an evaluation of the Second Responders program, supported by the National Institute of Justice. Using a quasi-experimental design, we interview victims in the experimental precincts where the Second Responders program was implemented and in the control precincts where the Second Responders program was not implemented, within days of the incident, and again six months later. In the initial interview respondents are asked about services provided by police and Second Responders, about their responses to these actions, and about the history of the relationship and the precipitating incident. Follow-up interviews ask respondents about repeat abuse, services received, attitudes towards police, court experience, and life-changes made. We also examine official data.
Securities Fraud in the Digital Age
This paper discusses traditional forms of securities fraud, and how they are facilitated by the advent of digital technology. The disintermediation which characterises the communication of investment information and on-line share trading has begun to exclude third parties who might otherwise serve as gatekeepers to prevent, detec and disclose illegality. The paper also discusses new forms of policing securities markets in cyberspace.
Seductions of White-Collar Crime
Attention has been paid to the “sedutions of crime” for common and other criminals but, less interest has been focussed on the motives and rationalizations of white-collar criminals. Using published interviews with white-collar criminals, such as Nick Leeson (Barings Bank), the author will investigate the vocabularies of motive that these criminals give and contrast them with those of other criminals. He will attempt to construct a typology of white-collar criminals to capture the range of types and motives involved; some do it ostensibly for the company (price-fixing), others seem to revel in dirty work (industrial espionage), some speak almost in terms of addiction regarding risk and “kicks” (dealing-room traders), and yet others echo the words and attitudes of violent criminals in their “looting” of companies (Savings and Loan, Maxwell). This paper contributes particularly to the analysis of vocabularies of motive and to examining these for white-collar criminals with the intention of later interviewing convicted (and non-convicted) respondents to elicit their motivations/rationalizations.
Seeking the Truth About a Prison
A knowledge gap exists about how to measure the quality of life in a prison. Different modes of inquiry lead to very different outcomes. The research conducted by the author, her colleagues and others has in many ways represented part of a dual search – scholarly and managerial – to accurately describe and conduct satisfactory analyses of fife in prison. How far have we come in this enterprise; and what are the best ways of seeking truths about a prison? What is measured; what is it important to measure; and what are useful ways of attempting to do so? This descriptive enterprise has significance in social research more generally and also has a clear relevance to current trends in performance measurement in criminal justice and other public sector organisations. What are the risks and limitations of measurement? Measuring the quality of prison life is something that is urgently required by senior managers, policy makers and those accountable to the public and yet it is poorly practised. It is a necessary precursor to a researchbased understanding of what shapes prison life. How are policies practised? How do some prisons become brutal and indifferent, where others achieve apparent legitimacy? None of the currently available sources reflect adequately the quality of life in an establishment. What are the reasons for this failure to operationalise important dimensions of prison life? This paper considers some attempts to capture the quality of life in prison, including some recent exploratory exercises being piloted in seven establishments.
Self-control, Rationality, and Decision Making of Burglary
The key to inquire into the decision making process of burglary is to identify the interaction and interdependence between individual and collective rationalities. Meanwhile, the morality and cognition in the process needs to be distinguished. Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) general theory of crime provides a synthetic framework that includes all of these factors by incorporating classical/rational choice theory and perceptual deterrence theory. This paper will explore how Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) general theory of crime could become a master framework for the inquiry.
Self-Control Theory and Mating Effort
Several theorists (Rowe 1996, Harpending and Draper 1988, Rushton 1985) have proposed a connection between mating effort strategy and antisocial behavior. Criminologists are also interested in antisocial behavior. The leading criminological theory (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990) proposes that most crimes and analogous behaviors (drinking, smoking, promiscuity, increased susceptibility to accidents and illness) spring from a single cause. This cause, according to Gottfredson and Hirschi, is low self-control, the elements of which include impulsivity, immediate and easy gratification of desires, the thrill of risky behavior and few long-term benefits. Gottfredson and Hirschi emphasize the description of all these behaviors but suggest only socialization as a cause. They pay no attention to individual differences. We propose that there is a convergence between evolutionary and criminological theory. We show that Gottfredson and Hirschi are describing phenotypes; the evolutionary theorists we have mentioned are suggesting underlying causal mechanisms that produce these behaviors.
Self-Reported Fear of Crime: The Community Context
The research literature contains numerous studies which have identified demographic variables which might predict self-reported fear of crime. This study will build upon this existing knowledge by also attempting to identify other variables which might predict fear of crime. The authors explore this issue from a community context. Specifically, the authors examine whether there is a relationship between a citizen’s self-reported fear of crime and their perceptions of local police and public safety, attitudes toward crime prevention programs, evaluation of their neighborhood, or demographic characteristics. Data is taken from a survey of over two thousand residents of a medium-sized community in the State of Michigan.
Self-Reported Speeding Behavior: Results From a North Carolina Reverse Record Check
A sample of approximately 300 white and 300 African Americans who have recently received speeding tickets from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol are surveyed and asked to report on their driving and vehicular speeding behavior. Results are discussed in terms of possible differences in the reporting of speeding behavior across racial groups.
Self-Reported Violent Behavior and Risk and Protective Factors Among 277 Adolescents
Theory regarding serious and violent juvenile offending has recently been advanced through efforts of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), and the Causes and Correlates longitudinal research program. This and other recent research suggest preventive systems of social control may serve to influence the development of extreme forms of deviance. Self-report surveys were developed as part of an OJJDP, Title V, Local Prevention Initiative in effort to explore current theory regarding the development of violent behavior. Survey items and scale content were developed to representing various risk and protective factors proposed to be associated with the development of violent behavior. Surveys were administered to 277, 6th through 8th grade students at two middle schools, and 177 of their parents as part of a larger Title V project. Survey results support current theory regarding the association of violent behavior and multiple risk and protective factors. Multiple regression results suggest an exploratory model involving parent attitudes and behavior to explain a substantial proportion of violent behavior reported by adolescent participants. However, protective factors which may contribute to resiliency also appear to be important in offsetting risks or suppressing self-reported violent behavior. Implications involving institutions of social control are discussed.
Selling Peace: Challenges Facing Peacemakers in Criminology
To lend credibility to their identity as scientific criminologists, researchers have abandoned large abstract theories and system-wide perspectives, particularly peacemaking. The result is a field od deified crime-specific theories and proscribed methodologies, recommending only certain forms of research and particular approaches as appropriate. The recognition and incorporation of peacemaking into criminology is hindered by its current lack of organization and empirical emphases. Criminologists, while believing that peacemaking is a good idea, disregard peacemaking when constructing research. Results found in current literature often reflect peacemaking principles, yet these principles receive little recognition. This paper presents the “science” of the peacemaking perspective, and discusses challenges facing peacemakers in a narrowly defined “scientific” world. It makes recommendations for peacemaking efforts to gain support and encourage collaborative peacemaking research and scholarship among criminologists.
Semiotic Improvisation in Life History Accounts
If a biographer aims to write a coherent narrative, as I do, she encounters the necessity of fiction inherent in her selection and creation of textual voice, timing, and event. Fiction regulates the relation between language and reality, between, in this project, the richness of ethnographic data and the elusiveness of memory. Events, once embodied in time and place and enlivened by sensory perception, become stories, reliant on evocative images, the context of which must be recreated from a combination of sources which need the immediacy of personal experience retold. Still living, aged elders provide content that propels, or contradicts, a genealogical impulse; remnants of neighborhoods cut through with highways, remind, perhaps, of familiar networks now torn asunder; official, public versions of crimes indicate past events that never did happen the way the obsessive documents declare: these are glimpses of the past that provide the makings of a thematic structure, best kept loose enough to accommodate semiotic improvisation, the play of signs.
Sentencing and Human Rights: Three Strikes Mandatory Imprisonment Laws and the Violation of Human Rights
This paper analyzes the introduction of mandatory imprisonment in Australia under various ‘three strikes’ styled legislation. The analysis considers why many academics, legal professionals and members of judiciary consider the legislation to breach fundamental human rights. A key focal point of the political campaign to repeal the laws has been around the issue of international human rights standards. There is widespread agreement that the laws brech the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The paper analyzes how the ‘meta-narrative’ of human rights has brought together sections of conservative, liberal and left politics around a range of issues in opposition to the mandatory sentencing legislation. The paper considers these arguments, in particular focusing on whether the ‘three strikes’ mandatory imprisonment undermines traditional notions of the rule of law and whether it constitutes racial discrimination.
Sentencing Federal Sex Offenders: Degrees of Depravity and Danger
The federal courts sentence a wide range of sex offenders. In previous years, many have been Native Americans who are subject to federal jurisdiction through their residence on tribal lands. In the past two years, increasing numbers of sex offenders have been prosecuted under the FBI’s “Innocent Images” program, which is targeted at inter-state crimes committed over the Internet. All offenders are sentenced under the federal sentencing guidelines, which were designed to rationalize punishment and establish uniform penalties for similar offenders. The variety of offenders now in federal court highlights the need for careful differentiation among offenders in light of the purposes of punishment. The guideline for criminal sexual abuse of a minor–stautory rape–has been criticized as inqdequate both for punishing offenders whose conduct includes aggravating factors, such as enticement or coercion of the victim, and for incapacitating offenders who are sexual predators presenting an unacceptable risk of recidivism. This paper describes efforts by Congress and the Sentencing Commission to improve the sentencing of federal sex offenders.
Sentencing Ideals: Prison Inmates’ Perceptions of Self and Reference Groups
Ideals about sanctioning were obtained from a random sample of 312 Canadian prison inmates using a series of vignettes. The stimuli formed a Graeco-Latin square over conditioning factors, including seriousness of offense, prior criminal record, offender social status, and crime motive. In addition to eliciting each individual’s own ideals, preferences attributed to judges, other inmates, and the public at large were obtained. From this design individual level models for each inmate are estimated that summarize how sanctions ought to respond to potential determinants of sanction severity. In parallel with a previous study, a principle result is that the modal response is not a rejection of societal norms about sanctioning. The modal inmate advances ideals most nearly similar to those they attribute to judges even as they attribute rejection of such ideals to fellow inmates. Only a minority actually advances the rejectionist stance that the greater part of fellow inmates erroneously regard as typical. With this design, and the resulting individual level models summarizing patterns of response, individuals’ views may be arrayed along a spectrum from conformity to rejection, as may perceived similarity/discrepancy between self and other reference groups. The resulting individual differences are related to individual characteristics, such as age, education, and facets of criminal history.
Sentencing in Germany and the U.S.: Comparing Apfels With Apples
Previous English-language comparisons of German and American sentencing have been based primarily on formal legal rules, impressionistic accounts, and data on prison and jail stocks and flows. Although most observers believe that German sentencing is much more lenient in its use of custodial sanctions, a few studies suggest that the two countries are not that different, especially for more serious offenses. The present study attempts to reconcile these disparate findings by pointing out some methodological limitations of prior studies, and by using several new sources of information: recent German-language literature on sentencing law and practice; and actual examples of German and American sentencing in cases selected to represent offenses which are frequently prosecuted in both countries. Particular attention is paid to the use of non-custodial sentencing alternatives in the German cases, and the way in which such alternatives are viewed by judges, victims and prosecutors. Topics and methods for further research are considered.
Sentencing Patterns in the German Juvenile Justice System
The paper discusses the development of juvenile justice agencies and of the sentencing practice after the reunification of Germany. In the Federal German system in general and especially in East Germany (former ODR) in comparison to West Germany different sentencing practices have emerged. This is partly due to regional traditions and patterns of juvenile crime. The paper presents the analysis of up to now unpublished statistics and the results of a nation-wide poll of juvenile justice agencies concerning the availability of restorative and educative -measures for -juvenile courts and youth departments. Restitution and victim-offender mediation ‘have developed rapidly since the mid of the eighties and mediation schemes have been established in nearly all local youth departments. Juvenile courts in Germany deal with 14-21 years old young offenders. The transfer to adult courts for offenders aged 18-21 years is practised very differently in comparison of the Federal States. In contrary, to the American waiver decision practice the more serious cases remain under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court in order to find a milder sentence in comparison to more than 21 year old adults. The practice of juvenile courts varies between more liberal/educative to more repressive (using more extensively youth custody) sentencing approaches. In spite of an increased crime rate especially concerning violent crimes the East German Federal States are not following a very repressive policy. The data indicate that diversion and community sanctions are more frequently used to cut down the greater influx of cases and to cope problems of prison overcrowding. The declining or at least stable crime rates since 1994 do not support more repressive strategies.
Sentencing Policy and the Innocent
The debate concerning the reliability with which we acquit the innocent focuses primarily upon the results of trials. But trials are exceptional events in criminal procedure: the typical determination of guilt is by plea. While it might appear that reliability would be assured when the conviction rests upon the accused’s acknowledgment of guilt, we employ a sentencing policy which may encourage the innocent to plead. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (which make explicit policy out of formerly subterranean sentencing practices), those who plead guilty can expect to receive shorter sentences than those who go to trial. Those who go to trial but do not testify can expect shorter sentences than those who insist upon testifying on their own behalf For close to 10% of those convicted in federal court, the difference between pleading guilty and insisting upon a trial at which one testifies can mean the difference between the possibility of probation and the certainty of jail if convicted. This paper explores the impact of this sentencing paradigm upon those who protest their innocence. It asks whether we cannot readjust our policy in a manner which would be less punitive to those who accurately but unsuccessfully protest their innocence.
Sentencing Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines: A Multi-Level Analysis of Judicial and Prosecutorial Discretionj
Previous research on judicial and prosecutorial discretion under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines has examined the effects of legally-relevant variables, defendant characteristics, and processing variables on length of imprisonment. This research has estimated models of sentencing outcomes at the individual defendant level of analysis. In contrast to this earlier research that treated circuit-level sentencing outcomes as control variables, the current study explores the usefulness of estimating multilevel equations that explicitly estimate the effect of contextual level variables in sentencing. This research examines whether district differences in departure rates and guilty plea rates singificantly influence sentence outcomes. The routinzation of departures and guilty pleas, indicated by high relatively high rates, is hypothesized to exert a significant effect on length of imprisonment, over and above the effect of individual-level predictors.
Sentencing Women: Gender Politics and Penal Politics
The paper analyzes the jurisprudential and policy issues raised in arguing for the differential sentencing of women on grounds of gender. Central concepts discussed are: risk; citizenship; legitimacy; role-worth; individual versus actuarial sentencing; purposes of sentencing; pragmatism and equity.
Serial Homicide Offender Tracking (SHOT): A Qualitative Analysis of Public Information Data on Homicide Victimology Correlated With Serial Killer Typologies
For the past 20 years, the primary instrument used to correlate unsolved homicides and sex crimes and link these crimes to habitual offenders has been the FBI’s Violent Crime Apprehension Program (VICAP). Because less than 3% of local law enforcement agencies utilize this program, this study was undertaken in an attempt to use public information -namely, newspaper reports available through Lexus Nexus-to determine to what extent unsolved homicides can be tracked and correlated using readily available victim data. Searching 200,000 news reports from 1995-99, a data set of 3,500 victims was derived which potentially could be correlated to attributes of serial homicides. Utilizing qualitative research software (HYPEResearch), the data were analyzed in a constructivist framework to identify and code victimology variables into clusters based on location, gender, age, manner of death, weapon used, and crime scene characteristics. Clusters were then scrutinized through specific queries based on the known typologies of serial killers in an effort to determine if previously unlinked homicides could attributed to the same UNSUB. The SHOT system represents an alternative approach to VICAP by correlating known variables of serialists using publicly available data to identify, track, and potentially link unsolved crimes to the same offender.
Service Model Integrations: Comparative Approaches, Different Processes
Several efforts are underway to -improve the system for delivering services to offenders. This paper will review the underlying theories of these service integrations to improve access and delivery of services. It presents a comparative analysis of the use of different models in the Maryland Break the Cycle and W/B HIDTA program. The findings illustrate the wide variation in the certainty, celerity, and seventy of the sanctions now being used with drug-involved offenders, differences in sanctions administered by judges and those used by case managers or probation officers, and associated differences in offender participation in drug treatment and testing
Severe Sibling Abuse: Comparisons With Sibling Physical Conflict and Other Juvenile Violence
America’s children are growing up in diverse family contexts. One-third of all children are born to unmarried mothers and over one-half of children will spend some time in a single-parent family. In fact, single father families are the fastest growing family form. In our paper, we examine the linkages between family structure and delinquency using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Specifically, we extend prior research that has compared the effects of growing up in a two-parent versus single-mother family by examining adolescent delinquency among youth residing in two-parent, single-mother, and single-father families. This strategy will help us identify the mechanisms through which living with a single parent increases delinquency, notably, whether the effect is predominantly a function of parental absence or parental gender. The Add Health data are ideal for this study as they contain detailed measures of family structure and delinquency for about 20,000 adolescents in grades 7-12.
Sex Crime in the Press: Negotiated Realities in Northern Ireland
Results are presented from a three year study examining the social construction of sex crime in Northern Irish newsprint media discourse. Shifting patterns and trends in sex crime coverage are identified to illustrate the different forms of negotiated reality which variously dominated such discourses between 1985 and 1997. The analysis is then located within a broader context of social and political flux. It is argued that shifts in (newsprint) media discourse around particular social problems in the public sphere can be usefully examined as symbolic representations of broader ideological struggles being dialectically played out and ultimately resolved in private. For example, the principal official agents of control in Northern Ireland, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), are generally seen as illegitimate within Nationalist communities. Yet throughout the 1990s the involvement of the RUC in the treatment of child sex abuse cases was increasingly accepted by normally hostile constituencies. This evolvement of tacit consent, albeit in one limited sphere of policing, is illustrative of the different levels on which people engage with the police within a context of ongoing conflict. The often oblique indicators of this negotiated truce are tracked through press representations of the problem of sex crime.
Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Among Mexican-American Female Adolescents
Throughout the past few decades, more attention has been paid to partner violence and women as victims of sex crimes. Despite more research in this area, a dearth of empirical work exists looking at the role of culture in partner violence. Furthermore, little research has been directed toward the Hispanic population, in particular, Mexican-American adoelescent females who may experience more violence by virtue of their social, economic and cultural environment. Our research examines the etiology of sexual and intimate partner violence among Mexican-American females aged 14-18 by comparing a random sample of high-risk young women associated/affiliated with gangs and a random sample of low-risk girls not associated/affiliated with gangs. We conclude with preliminary findings of differences between the two groups through 10 psychometric instruments and life history interviews which explore the xtent and nature of sexual and intimate partner violence among this population.
Sexual Coercion of Dating Partners by University Students and It’s Relationship to Non-Sexual Physical Assault
This study measured use of physical coercion and other sexual coercion by a sample of 837 students at two universities, using the Sexual Coercion Scales of the revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2). The four Physical Coercion scale items measure use of physical force and threat of force to coerce sexual acts. The percent who reported committing each of the four physical coercion and each of three non-physical coercive acts in the scale will be presented,- and also the percent who engaged in one or more of the Physical Coercion acts, one or more of the Other Sexual Coercion acts, and percent reporting any sexually coercive act. The results of testing the hypothesis that non-sexual physical assaults are correlated with both physical and other sexual coercion will be presented. The following types of offenders will be distinguished: 1. Non-sexual physical assault only. 2. Sexual coercion only. 3. Both non-sexual physical assault and sexual coercion. The characteristics of each of these types of offenders will be presented and also compared with non-offendors. The implications of the findings for theories of rape will be discussed.
Sexual Offenders and Recidivism: An Analysis of Traditional Correlates of Crime and Dangerous Prediction
Despite the voluminous research on sex offenders most of the literature has been conducted by psychiatrists/psychologists. As a result, there has been limited focus on (1) deterring sexual violence, (2) the role of offender criminal histories and offender demographics in predicting sexual violence, and (3) the efficacy of the social control mechanisms designed to identify, monitor, and treat sex offenders. Yet, despite our contemporary moral panic over sex offenders most criminologists have shied away from the topic allowing the discussion to be dominated by the medical community. The data for the current study involved 1,000 convicted sex offenders who were under community supervision and was collected by the Bureau of Justie Statistics and accessed via the ICPSR web site. Recidivism data was collected for a three year period following the offender’s placement on probation. Regression analysis results indicate that although traditional correlates of recidivism can predict general recidivism among a population of sex offenders these measures do not accurately predict chronic sex offending. Thus, research findings question current criminal justice policy procedures that often rely on these measures to identify which sex offenders pose the greatest risk.
Sexual Orientation, Justice, and Higher Education: An Ethnography of Student Attitudes Towardes Gay Civil Rights and Hate Crimes
Both the popular press and recent scholarship have hypothesized that attitudes regarding legal treatment of gays and lesbians by the civil and criminal justice systems have changed significantly in the two years since the death of Matthew Shepard. Research has also suggested that attitudes regarding matters of sexual orientation and the law are affected by level of education. Groups of first-year college students and groups of college seniors were interviewed to obtain in-depth understandings of the groups’ varying perceptions regarding the treatment of homosexuals by the civil and criminal law. A typology of beliefs systems and the reasons underlying such beliefs, as well asd the implications of such findings for higher education, are explored.
Sexual Orientation and Delinquency: A Possible Link?
Criminologists have frequently examined the interaction of gender, race, and class with delinquent behavior. Few researchers, however, have examined sexuality in this same way. While research has found that homosexuals and bisexuals are at significantly increased risk of substance abuse and suicide, does this trend also apply to other deviant behaviors? A prior study on this subject (Ellis, Hoffman & Burke, 1990) found that bisexuals were more violent than heterosexual and heterosexuals were more violent than homosexuals. The current study explores this possible relationship as well as the relationship between sexuality and substance abuse. This study is based on a self-report survey of over 10,000 college students from 22 universities in Canada and the United States. These students were questioned rgarding their prior and current propensity to violence as measured by four scales: Instrumental Violence, Sexual Violence, Retaliatory Violence, and Experiential Violence. Substance abuse was also examined. The analysis uses a series of factor analyses to examine how self-identified sexual orientation (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and uncertain) is related to propensity for violence and substance abuse.
Sexual Violence and Media Coverage of Rape: Patterns of Vilification in Light of the Anti-Feminist Backlash
This study is a continuation of a previous study conducted by the researchers in 1998-99. The previous study examined the media coverage of eleven highly publicized rape cases between 1980 and 1996. The focus was on media attribution of rape. The study concluded that the media, no matter what the scenario, blamed the victim for the sexual assault. Based upon the findings and professional response, this study re-examines the data in the context of the antifeminist backlash, Concerns pivot around the previous findings, media vilification of rape victims, and the impact that anti-feminist ideologies and resistance to the rape reform movement have on these findings. The study questions whether the anti-feminist backlash affects the media’s vilification of the rape victims. In other words, the study investigates whether the media coverage of the eleven rape cases are a result of the anti-feminist backlash. A content analysis of the articles will be performed for each rape case to quantity the number of anti-feminist statements made by the authors. Frequency distributions for the variables of anti-feminist ideologies and victim vilification will be conducted. Regression analysis will be performed to determine the relationship between the anti-feminist backlash and media vilification of rape victims.
Shifting Paradigms: A Study on the Implementation of Restorative Justice
The recent proliferation of restorative justice is transforming the traditional justice system into a new strategy of addressing the problem of crime. The ‘new’ restorative model obligates the community to the point that its members must, once again, take part in the reintegration of their offender’s back into the community. In light of such, the question explored is will the community embrace the latter ideology in retrospect of past submersion in a conservative atmosphere? Basing our methodology on quantitative findings this paper explores various epistemological factors that may influence society’s acceptance of restorative justice and its tenants. The paper concludes by evaluating levels of acceptance of the concept and comparing punitive and restorative perspectives of the sample.
Skimmed Milk Masquerading as Cream? Resolving Competing Claims on Crime Declines
Declining crime and violence rates in the past decade have lead to claims of unique effects of a wide range of policing other crime control measures, as well as variety of extra-legal influences. To assess these claims, homicide rates are compared across 20 large U.S. cities for 30 years to illustrate the generality of increases and declines over multiple cycles. Case studies from three cities address the promises and limits of particular strategies, and assess their comparative advantage at the margin versus the influence of secular trends to explain cyclical homicide patterns. The paper offers a competing framework for explaining the generality of recurring cycles of crime and violence epidemics.
Sleeping Giant of Welfare Reform: A Panel Study of Welfare Reform and Crime Rates at the City Level
One major public policy event during the 1990’s that has largely escaped the attention of criminologists has been welfare reform. Yet there has been a dramatic 50% reduction in welfare participation by poor female-headed households, many concentrated in urban areas, since 1993. Such a quantum change in the source of legitimate income of poor urban areas might very well have an impact on criminal participation in those communities. However, the predicted direction of such an effect is ambiguous at best. After providing a discussion of how existing theory might explain the effect of welfare reform on crime, we empirically explore the question using a panel data model consisting of 20 cities from 1985 to 1997. We use state level variation in the place of welfare reform to identify correlation between changes in welfare participation and changes in the crime rates for women. We report the results and discuss the implications for policy.
Social and Structural Sources of Official Corruption in China
Corruption becomes a widespread -social problem in China. Its seriousness, financial costs, and scale have reached such an unprecedented level that even the top Party leaders have to admit that official corruption may seriously jeopardize communist legitimacy and endanger its survival. This paper examines social and structural factors that contribute to rampant corruption. It argues that decentralized administrative control in the Chinese economy gives rise to cellularization of local economy in which large self-sufficient units or cells have more control of resources. Increasing local control creates unprecedented opportunities for abuse of public trust by the local or regional officials in the absence of well developed legal system, regulatory control, and constituent accountability. Rapid economic development further accelerates malfeasance. As the result, official corruption has gradually become quasi-institutionalized system in which officials can easily transfer their political capital into economic capital in a transitional economy.
Social Bonds, Deterrence, and Crime: A Test o Gender-Specific Effects
Much of the research on the relationship between social bonds and crime focuses on adolescents and juvenile offenders. In the current study, we examine gender-specific effects of social bonds on criminal behavior of adult offenders. On the basis of prior research, we hypothesized that the effects of social bonds are not gender-specific. Conversely, we predicted that the effects of deterrence vary with gender. To test these hypotheses, we collected monthly data from 125 inmates in Northern Virginia jails. A two-level hierarchial model was constructed to test the impact of social bonds and deterrence on criminal activities committed by male and female offenders. The results show complex patterns. For male offenders, both social bonds and deterrence reduce criminal activities. Social bonds, however, do not have a significant effect on female crimes. Much of female criminal behavior is drug-related, augmented by deviant relationships.
Social Bonds and Self Control: Assessing Their Relationship on Desistance Among a Sample of Drug Users
an ongoing debate in the criminological literature concerns the relative strength of interal person level traits (i.e. low self-control) and external social factors (i.e. social bonds) in explaining a person’s likelihood of criminal involvement. This research will attempt to add to this literature by testing the strength of these proposed relations on offenders released from prison to investigate how self control variables, specifically, risk taking and locus of control scales, and criminal propensity variables, affect social bonds, specifically, employment, enrollment in an education program,a nd spousal relationships, and how these variables in turn affect drug use and the likelihood oof rearrest 18 months after release from prison.
Social Capital and Police Performance
Social capital is offered as a theoretical framework for understanding police performance. “Hard” measures have never been appropriate for judging police performance, and although “soft” measures represent an advance in performance measurement., they also suffer drawbacks. Community building via increasing levels of social capital is a legitimate police goal today due to the community policing movement. Although various efforts made by police and community actors to enhance social control are dependent upon levels of social capital, the predictors and outcomes of social capital among police remain unexamined. Officers’ social capital is predicted to influence performance along both “hard” and “soft” dimensions, although in different ways. Police and citizen survey data are analyzed to provide an empirical test of the social capital model of police performance. Because social capital is a resource that varies by race, class, and gender, these characteristics are also analyzed. Employing social capital as a tool to assess police performance sends the message that it is important for officers to increase the levels of trust, empathy, cooperation, understanding and contact between themselves and the citizens they serve. Implications for increasing officer social capital as a means of improving policing are discussed.
Social Contracts, Public Expectations and Policing
A key social relationship governing social order is that between the police and the public. Increasingly, however, we see media reports of public dissatisfaction with police performance. Part of the basis for criticism is that the police have somehow failed to live up to public expectations of their duties. The present study investigates the Canadian context and how it is that certain police behaviors may be construed as having somehow failed to live up to public expectations, and more significantly, whether such behaviors are perceived as having breached the (informal and formal) contracts to which police are to adhere. To investigate, print media reports of public dissatisfaction with policing over a 10-year period, and the relevant attendant themes, are first considered.. Next, formal contracts are examined: What contracts formally govern police behavior? In Canada, relevant contracts include the RCMP Act, provincial Police Services Acts and the Charter. Finally, we consider how it is that public dissatisfaction meshes with (or fails to mesh with) the stipulations of the contracts to which police adhere, and the implications for both police performance and public satisfaction with policing.
Social Control of the Distributed Denial of Service Computer Offense
The first generation of computer crime research highlights the use of PCs by young persons who engage in a variety of unlawful computer related crimes. Specific among them is a variation of the “Trojan Horse” offense where one program is developed and sent to several large computer networks with instructions for each user on the system. At the appointed time, the program directs hundreds or thousands of computers worldwide to send traffic to a specific site all at once. Overwhelmed, the result is a distributed denial of service by the victim ecommerce company to its regular online customers. This offense is contrasted with the release of a virus intended to destroy data or unlawful site access done to steal funds or confidential data. Quantitative and qualitative research indicates that a significant percentage of this type of computer crime is perpetrated by young persons who possess a relatively high degree of technological sophistication. Among the various motives behind the offense are “bragging rights” by the individual or group who point to national media attention as proof of their act having been accomplished. This article defines and explains the offense of denial of service and shows its prevalence as well as potential. Data will also reflect how this offense if perceived in the fields of law enforcement and private computer network security. A final section contains a discussion of evidentiary issues which the police and prosecution rely on to try and maintain social control of this particular crime.
Social Defence and International Reconstruction: Illustrating the Governance of Post-war Criminological Discourse
This paper examines the technocratic priorities of criminological discourse following the second world war. In doing so, it charts the role and influence of the United Nations and the doctrine of social defence, and traces those shifts and events which have forged a nexus between criminological endeavour and processes of governnance. This paper aims to illustrate that social defence and international reconstruction provide a useful framework for understanding the links between power/knowledge and the pragmatic orientations of criminological scholarship.
Social Isolation and Consumer Fraud Victimization: Investigating Vulnerability and Reporting Behavior
This is a study of victimization by consumer fraud. We investigate factors that may make some people more vulnerable to victimization by consumer fraud than others. Theories of social isolation suggest that those who are more isolated from society are more vulnerable to crimes in general because they lack the basic knowledge necessary to avoid victimization. They are less likely to receive information about avoidance. Additionally, those who are socially isolated might not know to whom they can and should report victimization. Consequently, they are less likely to report victimization when it does occur. Social isolation may affect the vulnerability and reporting behaviors for consumer fraud victims. These assumptions are tested analyzing data from a representative sample of 400 residents via telephone interviews.
Social Isolation and Lethal Violence Across the Rural-Urban Continuum
Research on the structural sources of lethal violence has been primarily concerned with violence in urban areas. Economic variables such as poverty have played a central role in this tradition. More recently, however, the urban literature has focused on the spatial configuration of poverty within urban areas as a possible overriding explanation for high rates of lethal violence. Although the social isolation thesis has received attention in the urban criminological literature, no research has tested the explanatory ability of this model across units of analysis other than urban areas. This study thus extends the macro-level research tradition by examining the social isolations thesis across the rural-urban continuum. Using data from the U.S. census and the Uniform Crime Reports, oru examination of the link between social isolation and homicide reveals interesting variations across the rural-urban continuum. Specifically, we find a robust positive association for metropolitan areas, however, in the presence of relevant controls, social isolation actually has a negative association with homicide in rural areas. We conclude by speculating on the reasons for variation in this relationship across the rural urban continuum.
Social Learning and Social Bonding: An Integrated Model of Intimate Violence
Recent research has suggested that intimate violence and general crime may be distinct phenomena requiring separate theoretical explanations. However, current attempts to explain intimate violence outside of criminological theory have tended to be post hoc, incomplete, facile, or even atheoretical, focusing more on correlates than on true explanation. Moreover, some of the more common correlates and explanations of intimate violence may be subsumed by mainstream criminological theories of general crime, especially social learning and social bonding theories. Using logistic regression analysis, the present study examines the relative predictive power of social learning and social bonding theories in explaining the use of physical aggression in dating relationships in a sample of 1,826 college students. An integrated theoretical model incorporating both social learning and social bonding concepts is also tested in an effort to generate a more rigorous theoretical explanation of intimate violence.
Social Policy Responses to Rape Prevention
This paper critically assesses the main social policy responses to preventing rape that have developed over the last three decades of feminist struggle to make sexual violence a public matter of legitimate concern to the work of the state. It considers the preventative potential of legal measures, anti-violence campaigns waged by feminist and men’s groups in the US and Australia, public education campaigns in US and Canadian Schools and Universities, and public awareness campaigns sponsored by the state. We argue that sexual violence is not amenable to quick fix strategies that place responsibility for prevention entirely on individual men or women. While we recognise that responsibilising victims and individualising offenders is consistent with wider global shifts in social policy calling upon individuals to manage their own risk, we argue that the increasing reliance on such neo-liberal social policy is especially problematic in preventing rape. The paper suggests ways to resist this which place greater emphasis on the promotion of sexual ethics; the eroticisation of consent; the reinvention of the norms of romance to include both these, and the complete separation of the psycho-social-symbolic connections between sex and violence.
Social Rage and Crime Crontrol: Control as an Emotional Response
This paper addresses the effects of politically-cultivated emotions on crime control. Crime control in the United States since the 1970s has been of an extremist nature, with harsh social and economic costs, and serving little function in terms of actual crime control. While there are quantifiable findings on the failures of massively-expanded prison construction, civil rights reduction, the execution of innocent people, three-strikes laws, and so on, this analysis is an examination of the literature, interpreted in light of my theory on social rage. One explanation for the enactment of scientifically-baseless get-tough crime control policies is that a segment of the public believes (wrongly, as it turns out) that they will “feel better” if offenders are punished severely, legal correctness be damned. Rage-laden victims’ movements, for example, represent a public’s emotional need or desire to punish in an extreme fashion. This belief is fueled by venegance-founded religions teachings and by political messages touting an equation between harshness and justice. Moreover, political encouragement of public fear, especially of African American males, makes racist crime control seem appropriate of “right.” A further explanation is that the media mis-educate the public as to the reasons for crime as well as the solutions tocrime. Yet another reason for public support of extremist crime control is concrete and selfish: it creates jobs. The punishment-oriented public is misled by a system that hopes to maintain oppression of the socially disenfranchised (the poor, immigrants, the mentally ill, women, and racial and ethnic minorities), thereby promoting anomie.
Social Structure, Cultural Attitudes and Punishmjent: A Cross-National Analysis of Incarceration Rates
This research tests several hypotheses about cross-national variation in rates of incarceration. These rival hypotheses include the level of violent crime in a society, the nature of criminal justice responses to crime, economic structure, levels of social development, demographic composition as well as type of political system and cultural values. The findings support several of these hypotheses, and suggest that the effects vary by level of economic development.
Socialization Contexts and Delinquency: A Multi-Level Analysis With African-American Sample
This paper uses hierarchical linear modeling with a sample of African American children and their primary caregivers to test a social contextual model of delinquent behavior that includes both community and social psychological influences. Consistent with the model, we found that quality of parenting, affiliation with deviant peers, and school commitment mediated much of the association between child temperament and delinquent behavior. Our analyses also showed a variety of community influences. Collective socialization was inversely related to delinquency, while it conditioned the effect of the social psychological variables. The impact of both parenting and school commitment upon delinquency became stronger as collective socialization increased, whereas the association between deviant peer group and delinquency declined with increased collective socialization. Consistent with epidemic theory, the association between difficult temperament and affiliation with deviant peers was stronger in high crime areas. There was also evidence that parenting and school commitment are more consequential in risky neighborhoods as the relationship between these variables and delinquency was stronger in neighborhoods where crime was high. After controlling for the other variables in our model, there was no evidence that high concentrations of African American families within a community increase the chances that a child will become delinquent. These findings demonstrate the importance of building models of delinquent behavior that combine community and social psychological processes.
Socioeconomic Conditions, Criminal Justice System Actions, and Index Crime in the U.S.: A Time Series Analysis, 1958-1998
The purpose of this paper is to estimate major determinants of the U.S. criminal activity using aggregate time series data for the period 1958 through 1998. This study examines both the long-run and short-run dynamics between the U.S. crime trends and macro level factors such as economic, demographic, and criminal justice system variables. We use cointergration analysis for the long-run dynamics and an error correction model for the short-run dynamics. In addition, we consider the possible endogeneity of clearance rate, and estimate the cointergrating parameters by two stage least squares using one lagged values of enforcement expenditures per capita and one lagged values of clearance rates as instrument variables. The impacts of macroeconomics stability, age/race/education demographics, and criminal justice action/resources on the index crime trends will be analyzed and discussed.
Some of Us Were Brave!: The Role of the Federation of Colored Women in the Establishment of Institutions for Colored Children
The purpose of this paper is to explore the efforts of black women whose mission was to protect black youth from the dangers inherent in being housed in prisons with adults because of violations of the law or of proscriptions on the behavior of blacks. The goal is to bring to light the contributions of those once invisible women who were, in a large part, responsible for the improved treatment and handling of colored children by the justice system. This paper will cover the time period from the 1890s, when the national organization was established, to the first half of the twentieth century, when institutions for black youth in the south were established. First, a brief history of the Black Women’s clubs will be presented to provide some background for their movement into juvenile justice. Second, a discussion of specific efforts to establish institutions for colored children and the groups and individuals responsible will be presented.
Someone to Watch Over Me: The Potential for Guardianship Against Intimate Partner Violence
Criminological inquiry traditionally has ignored crimes of violence between intimates under the assumption that such acts are qualitatively different from other types of criminal violence. The current paper challenges this assumption by attempting to extend routine activity theory to the study of intimate partner violence. Specifically, I examine the extent to which guardianship is a useful construct in explaining the frequency and severity of intimate violence incidents. Using data from a recent survey of women’s experiences of violence (Tjaden and Thoennes, 1998), different types of guardianship are assessed. Results indicate that guardianship is an important construct in understanding the situational correlates of intimate partner violence. Implications for the criminological study of intimate partner violence are discussed.
‘Sometimes it’s Hard to be a Woman’: Gender, Kinship and Self-Help Groups for Prisoners’ Partners
Recent research in both the USA and the UK has recognized the fundamental role played by self-help groups in helping women cope with the imprisonment of a male partner. However, little research has explored the benefits of membership, beyond the pragmatic recognition that the groups meet an unmet need for support and information. With reference to the findings of a recent qualitative research study conducted by the author in the UK, the paper seeks to integrate interdisciplinary perspectives drawn from criminal justice research, family theory and gender studies to construct a gendered theoretical framework for understanding the significance and value of group membership in this context. Drawing on the work of Carol Gilligan, Lori Girshick and Janet Finch, the paper explores the relevance of gendered ideologies of caring, and questions the role of self-help groups in empowering women, challenging assumptions that make imprisonment can allow women independence and promote empowerment. The paper will conclude with a brief discussion of the potential implications of this research, identifying issues relevant to future social and penal policy.
Specialization in Juvenile Violent Assault: The Role of Context (Home vs. School) and Target Selection (Peer vs. Adult)
From a larger sample of juvenile adjudications in 16 counties in Georgia in 1993, we examined the 173 cases in which there was an assault on a parent, sibling, teacher, or schoolmate. Multivariate analyses using demographic and legal factors as predictors indicated that parents were more likely to be assaulted by females, by older juveniles and by juveniles with prior charges of unruliness. Teachers were more likely to be assaulted by younger adolescents, and schoolmates were more likely to be assaulted by black juveniles, by males, and by juveniles with fewer charges of unruliness. None of the variables were significantly related to assaults on siblings. Courts were more likely to detain juveniles who assaulted parents than other types of victims, Regarding adjudication, judges were likely to dismiss charges against juveniles who assaulted parents, informally adjust juveniles who assaulted teachers and schoolmates, and find delinquent juveniles who assaulted siblings.
Specifying the Type of Strain Most Likely to Lead to Crime and Delinquency
General strain theory’s (GST) greatest strength is also its biggest weakness. GST points to many types of strain not considered by previous strain theories, but the theory provides little guidance as to which types of strain will be most strongly related to delinquency. This paper draws on several literatures and the empirical research on strain theory in an attempt to more precisely specify the types of strain most likely to lead to crime and delinquency
Sports Violence and the Criminal Law: The Case of Hockey
Our society has increasingly used the criminal law to curb all types of violence in recent decades, including: hate crime, domestic violence and harassment, among others. One area that has been less explored is excessive violence in legal sports, particularly hockey. A review of case law from hockey games in Canada and the United States during the twentieth century reveals criminal cases from simple assault to homicide trials. Most of the charges relate to amateur hockey and have been in Canada. Criminal charges have greatly increased since 1970. The periodic professional is also charged in high profile incidents. The greater number of criminal charges in Canada may reflect less tolerance than in the United States, rather than more violence.
Spousal Abuse: A Cross-Cultural Comparative Study
Prior research has established the astronomical increase in cases of reported I spousal abuse worldwide. This paper is an attempt at cross-cultural comparative review and evaluation of various available spousal abuse statistics and literature. Spousal abuse is sometimes defined as an unjust use of physical force of coercion by a spouse to injure or assault his/her partner, often resulting in physical and psychological harm, and sometimes death. Specifically the paper examines and compares cross-cultural/cross-national patterns and trends in spouse abuse vis-a-vis the common denominator. The university of common causal denominator in spousal abuse is supported.
Stalker Risk Factors, Typologies and Police Response to Stalkers
This session involves behavioral risk factors for stalking and the police effectiveness in evaluating and responding to stalkers based on these risk factors. This session will involve police officers from the Los Angeles Police Department Threat Management Unit, the San Francisco Police Department and Dr. Lloyd Klein who will discuss risk factors for internet talking. Stephen Morewitz will discuss his research, which is a large-scale study of domestic stalking. “Stalking Risk Factors and Police Response to Stalkers Based on Typologies: A Round Table Discussion” will evaluate behavioral and demographic risk factors for stalking and policing strategies used to identify and respond to stalkers and protect stalking victims in the community. A police officer from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)*s Threat Management Unit will discuss the LAPD*s use of the Zona Typology and Vertical Case Management procedures in assessing and responding to the threat of stalkers. A police officer from the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) will share the SFPD*s strategies for taking appropriate actions against stalkers and methods for ensuring the safety of stalking victims. Dr. Lloyd Klein, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, & Chair of the Crime & Delinquency Section of the Society For the Study of Social Problems, will describe the risk factors associated with internet stalking and possible institutional strategies for responding to cyberstalking using case studies.
State-Level Variations in Death Penalty Intensity: Implications for Wrongful Convictions and Executions of the Innocent
State-level analysis of death row activity in the post-Furman period reveals clear patterns in death penalty intensity. Examining the rates at which convicted murderers are death sentenced, retained on death row through the appellate process, and ultimately executed points toward six patterns of death penalty practice, ranging from abolitionism to aggressive use of the death penalty. The present research identifies these six levels of death penalty intensity, provides a profile of the states within each level, examines the social, political, economic, and cultural factors that predict and distinguish these levels, and considers their implications for our understanding of where and with what frequency wrongful convictions and executions of the innocent are occurring.
State of California Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction Program Evaluation
The State of California Board of Corrections has undertaken a program research initiative to reduce the number of seriously and persistently mental ill persons in California jails. Under this program, the County of Santa Cruz Mentally Ill Offender Strategy Committee, the County of Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Department, and the Santa Cruz Department of Mental Health are engaged in a four year randomized trial of the application of an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Program to an offender population. It is hypothesized that the experimental program will stabilize seriously and persistently ill offenders, who otherwise are at serious risk of re-offending. The treatment group will receive ACT program services while the control group will receive the services that are currently supplied to mentally ill offenders. BOTEC Analysis Corporation designed the experiment, is carrying out the research component, and will develop an implementation study, a process evaluation, and an outcome analysis.
State Services for Survivors of Rape in the U.K.
This paper explores the development of joint police and health authority initiatives for survivors of rape and sexual assault in the UK. In 1987 Greater Manchester police and health authority launched the first Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Britain, loosely modelled on initiatives in the USA. By 1991 Tyne and Wear had followed suit with the REACH project, and in June 2000 The Haven was launched at King’s College Hospital London. Other smaller projects include the STAR project in West Yorkshire and Juniper Lodge in Leicester. Developed despite opposition from some local voluntary sector services and feminists groups such as Rape Crisis; these initiatives have been portrayed as a threat to Rape Crisis Groups through potential loss of funding, and because of the ‘depoliticisation’ that may result when counselling and support becomes the domain of statutory service provides. Utilising intensive research undertaken in West Yorkshire, and drawing on experiences in the USA, this paper will analyse police motivations for the development of these initiatives; discuss voluntary sector and feminist responses to these initiatives; and critically assess whether these services really do pose a threat to Rape Crisis Groups in the UK or whether they compliment Rape Crisis, filling a significant gap in services provision.
States’ Attempts to Affect Juvenile Drug-Crime Relationship Through Law and Policy: An Overview of the Current Status of State Drug Laws in Selected Domains as of December 31, 1999
One of the major approaches which states have used to prevent or intervene in the drugs-crime cycle is the creation and application of laws. During the past few decades, the nature and extent of the state-level illicit drug laws have included sanction-oriented measures, drug testing policies, diversion into treatment and, most recently, measures authorizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. However, no systematic attempts have been made to create a taxonomy of those laws. This paper will provide an overview of the current status of selected categories of state drug laws as of December 31, 1999. Specifically, we will summarize the legislative approaches taken by the states for sanctioning individuals who violate bans on the sale, manufacture, and distribution of illegal drugs, as well as bans on the possession of such substances. This taxonomy will show within and between-state variations and will facilitate the analysis of the impact of state laws on drug use.
Status of Experimental Criminology: A View From the Academy of Experimental Criminology
This session will be moderated by Lawrence Sherman. The moderator will identify how research conducted by newly elected Fellows of the Academy of Experimental Criminology has advanced understanding in crucial areas of the discipline and hold a general discussion of the prospects for experimental designs in criminology.
Staying Out of Trouble: Desisting From Crime in Theory and Practice
Most men and many women will, during their lifetime, commit a criminal offence of one sort or another. One in three men and one in twelve women ‘in England and Wales will even be convicted of a (non-motoring) crime by the time they are 40 years old. However, research suggests that most offending ‘careers’ are brief, and neither nasty nor brutish. In contrast to the extensive work which has aimed to describe and explain how and why delinquent behavior starts and persists, very little has been directed at explaining how and why it stops. Drawing on diverse theoretical perspectives and a review of empirical research evidence, this paper aims to contribute to an understanding of the process by which men and women who, having made a ‘false start’, come to desist from crime. The paper identifies directions for future research and draws out implications for the practice of preventing re-offending.
Steps to Success: Community Involvement in Juvenile Reabilitation
In 1999 Youngstown State University was awarded grant moneys from the Office of Criminal Justice Services, to begin a rehabilitative program, Steps to Success, at the local juvenile justice center. The program involves community involvement and active participation. While incarcerated, juveniles are introduced to many different activities/hobbies/and life skills by volunteers from the community. Some of the activities have been karate, painting, parenting skills, ice hockey, basketball, dental hygiene, radio announcing, military recruitment, and many others. Once a juvenile is released from the community, they have the opportunity to participate in lessons and other activities, which are funded through grant moneys. Some juveniles have taken karate lessons, graphic art, basketball, and others. This report examines the types of activities that the juveniles were introduced to in the facility. Their impressions of the activities and other hobbies/activities they would like to learn. The types of lessons that the juveniles participated in after release from the juvenile justice center will also be discussed and the problems encountered when trying to place the juveniles into lessons/activities. Finally, an evaluation of the successfulness of the program will be presented.
STOP Project Reports of Improvements in Justice System Responsiveness to Violence Against Women
The goal for this part of the National STOP Evaluation and for the Victim Impact study was to obtain as much evidence as possible to document the impact that STOP funding has had on improved justice system responsiveness to women victims of violence. “Improved responsiveness” includes on the criminal side, increases in responses to calls to police, in arrests, in charges filed against perpetrators, in court appearances, and in convictions. On the civil side it covers increases in protection orders. Based on random samples of law enforcement, prosecution, and victim services programs funded under the STOP formula grant program that received at least $10,000 from STOP. Law Enforcement agencies are asked to report on police calls, arrests, etc.; prosecution agencies on charges, court appearances, and convictions; and everyone on protection orders. Findings will be summarized and their implications discussed. Also discussed will be the limitation of the available data nad the difficulties inherent in trying to assess the impact of programs on severely under-reported phenomena such as violence against women.
Strain, Criminogenic Traits and Crime: Using General Strain Theory to Predict Membership in Different Offender Classes
For several decades, criminologists have realized that the majority of serious crime is committed by a very small group of high rate, chronic offenders (e.g., Elliot and Ageton 1980; Wolfgang 1958). Moffit’s (1993) developmental taxonomy–distinguishing between relatively common youthful offenders (adolescent-limited) and the less common high rate, chronic offenders (life-course persistent)–has attracted much attention and garnered some empirical support. According to Moffit, these life-course persistent offenders suffer from neurological deficits that produce criminogenic individual traits. Adolescent-limited offenders, however, are typical youths that engage in delinquency because legitimate rights of passage to adulthood are often unavailable. As adolescents reach the age at which legitimate rights of passage become available, antisocial behavior declines. Agnew’s General Strain Theory (1992) also suggests that youths may engage in delinquency as an adaptation to strain/stress resulting from the blockage or unavailability of legitimate opportunities to achieve desired goals (as well as other sources of strain). Agnew suggests, however, that the manner in which an individual reacts to strain may beinfluencded by a number of factors, iuncluding individual traits. Analyzing a longitudinal study of working class males in Britain, we test several hypotheses derived fro Agnew’s model. We conclude by addressing the theoretical implications and provide some suggestions for future research.
Strain, Need for Autonomy, Delinquency
Prior research reveals a significant relationship between autonomy needs and delinquent behavior. Adolescents who express a particularly strong need for freedom and independence from adult controls tend to exhibit relative high levels of delinquency. Yet little is known about the factors that contribute to a strong need for autonomy. This is an important area for research, because knowledge of the factors that give rise to a “stubborn” need for autonomy may help to inform crime and delinquency prevention efforts. Drawing on relevant theory and research, I hypothesize that the development of a strong need for autonomy can be traced, in part, to negative relations with adults or interpersonal “strain”. Preliminary analyses of national survey data lend support to the hypothesis.
Strain, Negative Emotions, and Deviance Among African Americans: A Test of General Strain Theory
While Agnew’s general strain theory (GST) is one of the most important theoretical developments observed in micro-social criminology for the past ten years, its empirical tests are limited but not only in number but also in several conceptual and methodological aspects. To fill the gap in the current research on GST, we hypothesize that: (1) nonsocial as well as social strain has positive effects on negative emotions, measured by inner- and outer-directed affective states rather than traits; (2) negative emotions have positive effects on deviant coping, inner- and outer-directed deviance with the same-directed effects larger than the opposite-directed effects; (3) the positive effets of strain on negative emotions and negative emotions on deviant cooing are buffered by religiosity; (4) males and females are not different in the likelihood of experiencing strain; (5) males and females are different in the types of strain; (6) males tend to respond to strain with outer-directed cemotion and thus outer-directed deviant coping, whereas feamles with inner-directed emotion and thus inner-directed deviant coping; and (7) the buffering effects of religiosity are greater for males than for females. To these hypotheses, we analyze the first and fourth waves of data from the National Survey of Black Americans.
Strategic Approaches to Reducing Fireajms Violence–The Indianapolis Violence
Since January 1998 a multi-agency team of criminal justice agencies has engaged in a formal problem solving process to address homicides and serious violence in Indianapolis. The group has conducted ongoing problem analysis, developed and implemented strategies, and assessed impact. This paper describes the problem solving process, the picture of the violence problem that emerges from analysis, and the key strategies implemented. The paper includes an interim assessment of impact on homicide and related violent crime.
Strategies for Fostering Utilization of Information From an Outcome-based Information System Tracking Delinquent Youths
ProDES (The Program Development and Evaluation System) is a unique outcome-based information system that tracks every delinquent youth in the City of Philadelphia’s juvenile justice system and measures delinquency program outcomes, regardless of the program’s location. ProDES’ primary goals focus on the utilization of data collected by the system. The goals of ProDES are as follows: (1) To facilitate the development, enhancement and refinement of delinquency programs serving youths from Philadelphia; (2) To facilitate the rational matching by probation officers and judges of adjudicated Philadelphia youths to programs that can meet the youths’ needs and the community’s needs; and (3) To facilitate the entire array of delinquency services provided by the City of Philadelphia’s juvenile justice system. This paper will explore the extent to which these utilization-focused goals have been met, Barriers and obstacles encountered in attempting to foster use among intended users (i.e, delinquency program administrators, probation officers, judges, delinquency program fiscal agents) will be discussed. Finally, strategies for successfully overcoming these challenges will be presented.
Strategies for Retaining Battered Women in Longitudinal Research
Historically, it has been difficult to conduct longitudinal research with battered women because they are a highly mobile population. This paper discusses our experiences with attempting to successfully retain just under 200 battered women who have been participating in a longitudinal study that examines the women’s perceptions of and experiences with the criminal processing system. We will discuss some of the difficulties we have faced and will also present and discuss several strategies that have proven successful in helping us to obtain a high retainment rate.
Strategies to Reduce Rape and Sexual Assault in Memphis, Tennessee
This paper describes the strategies of local, state, and federal agencies in Memphis, Tennessee against rape and sexual assault. Initial findings of the project are presented. Research issues for theories of deterrence are discussed.
Street Stops and Broken Windows: Terry, Race and Disorder in New York City
This paper analyzes variation in Stop and Frisk (S/F) activity across neighborhoods in New York City in 1998. “Broken windows” theories of physical and social disorder suggest that neighborhods with greater concentration of physical and social disorder suggest that neighborhoods with greater concentration of physical and social disorder should evidence higher S/F activity, especially for quality-of-life crimes. however, while disorder theory informs quality-of-life policing strategies, patterns of S/F activity suggest that neighborhood characteristics such as poverty and social disorganization are competing predictors of race- and crime-specific stops. Accordingly, neighborhood correlates of “street stop” activity offer evidence of competing assumptions and meanings of policing strategy. In addition, neighborhood variation in the rate at which street stops meet Terry standards (of reasonable suspicion) provides additional perspective on the social and strategic meanings of policing. The paper also discusses methodological issues in the analysis of street stops, and concludes with implications of S/F strategies for crime control and social norms.
Street Violence in the Netherlands
In recent years the phenomenon of ‘senseless’violence has become a major concern in The Netherlands. The Current discussion centers around the question whether this type of violence is increasing, both in frequency and seriousness. Information sources show varying patterns. Equally problematic is the fact that the definitions of concepts such as ‘senseless violence’ and ‘street violence’ differ significantly. Do we actually know what we are talking about when we are disucssing the issue of ‘senseless’ violence? And what do we know about what drives the perpetrators to this sort of behavior? In response to a request of the Dutch government, the Research and Documentation Centre of the Department of Justice, together with the University of Groningen and privately-owned Beke Research Group recently published the first results of a study of street violence. Street violence was defined as physical violence aimed against persons and committed outdoors in a public arena. It is restricted to violence between strangers. Police reports from two police regions on incidents of violence in 1998 were used as data sources. The first findings, focusing on the nature and level of street violence, were presented to the government in December 1999.
Strengthening Families and Reducing Risk Under SafeFutures: What Do the Data Tell Us?
The SafeFutures initiative is a manifestation of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Comprehensive Strategyfor Serious, Violent, and Chronic Offenders (OJJDP, 1993). SafeFutures operationalizes the Comprehensive Strategy by supporting the communities’ efforts to develop or enhance their continuum of services for youth and their families. Six communities — Boston, MA; Contra Costa County, CA; Fort Belknap, MO; Imperial County, CA; Seattle, WA; and St. Louis, MO — began SafeFutures demonstrations in the spring of 1996. Family strengthening and risk reduction are two key principles emphasized by SafeFutures and the Comprehensive Strategy. This presentation analyzes national client indicator data to assess the progress in achieving these two objectives. The extent to which SafeFutures youth, their siblings and their care givers receive services under SafeFutures and the nature of services provided are examined. Change in client risk profiles over time and the nature of that change are also analyzed. Issues inhibiting community efforts to provide these services and affect change are also discussed.
Structural and Processual Factors in So-Called Binge Drinking Across Campuses: Exploring Akers’ Social Structure-Social Learning Theory
This research uses data from the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey collected for students at eight universities to examine some of the implications of Akers’s (1998) Social Structure – Social Learning Theory. Indicators of each of the four levels of social structure identified by Akers are used in an analysis of binge drinking differential institutional or community organization (the respective universities), differential sociodemographic locations (gender, age, race), differential location in reference groups (fraternity/sorority involvement), and a theoretical structural variable (integration). Social learning process indicators of differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement, and modeling/imitation are also included in the analysis. The results indicate that the effects of most of the structural variables on binge drinking are mediated by the social learning process variables7 consistent with Akers’s position. A substantial amount of the effect of campus Greek involvement, however, was left unmediated by the social learning variables.
Structural Locations in Combination and Substance Use: Examining Akers’ Social Structure-Social Learning Theory
This research utilizes Core Alcohol and Drug Survey data collected from eight college campuses throughout the United States to examine some of the implications of Akers’s (1998) Social Structure – Social Learning Theory. Other research has indicated that sorority/fraternity participation has a direct effect on alcohol consumption that is not mediated by learning variables. This research looks at various combinations of age, gender, race, and sorority/fraternity participation to see how different structural combinations affect alcohol and marijuana use and whether they might interact with social learning variables to account for substance use.
Structure and Scope of Ukrainian Organized Crime
The purpose of this paper is to surpass the often anecdotal evidence experts use to characterize organized crime in Ukraine today and provide the necessary information for sounder analyses of the situation in Ukraine. Drawing upon research conducted within Ukraine and elsewhere, the paper will elucidate a series of significant attributes that best describe organized crime in Ukraine, including but not limited to: (a) The portfolio of activities engaged in by criminal organizations (e.g. trafficking in women, narcotics. contract murders. extortion. financial fraud- etc.); (b) The structure of organized criminal groups in Ukraine, with particular emphasis on whether they are hierarchical or network-based; (c) The existence and typologies of linkages with foreign criminal enterprises; (d) The use of corruption and/or violence as strategies to counteract inimical government and law enforcement initiatives. The paper will also touch on the possible existence of a criminal-political nexus that helps to protect criminal organizations, and will examine the existence and significance of regional variations of organized criminal activity in Ukraine. In the end, it is likely that this information will help identify vulnerabilities that the government of Ukraine and others can exploit to mitigate organized criminal activity within Ukraine.
Structure Versus Culture: An Examination of Prison Violence Across the U.S.
One of the purposes of incarceration is to physically separate violent citizens from the rest of society and hopefully rehabilitate that inmae. Ironically, once the inmate enters prison their violent tendencies and behaviors often intensify and worsen. The majority of studies on prison violence examine individual-level motivation of violent inmates and often ignore the impact of structural determinants (i.e. prison conditions and structural characteristics). This macro-level study of 499 male correctional facilities in the U.S. focuses on the prison as the unit of analysis and its role in initiating and perpetuating violence. Specifically, it identifies whether prison violence is best explained by structural or cultural determinants. Preliminary findings suggest that staff assaults are best predicted by a combination of cultural and structural variables, whereas inmate assaults are best predicted by one structural variable (i.e. staff to inmate ratio).
Studies in Recidivism at the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics
The development of methodologies for the measurement of recidivism holds the key to the definition of performance indicators and the evaluation of different programs in the justice sector. In the past decade, recidivism has been measured for persons convicted in youth courts. The methodology for this work is based on the linkage of youth court records based on age, sex and Soundex of the surnames. Work is currently being done to develop the methodology to measure recidivism in the Corrections sector by tracking (for a period of five years) a sample of adults and youth released from incarceration and probation in M2. Plans for the coming year, 2000-2001, include the following projects: the application of the methods developed for Youth Court data to adults; bridging the gap between youth and adult criminal histories by tracking convicted youths in the adult court data-base; and the development and testing of a methodology for the identification of repeat youth offenders in policing data. As well, there is a project to develop procedures for the routine linkage of multi-sectoral micro-data to produce measures of recidivism.
Studying Police Integrity in Austria
Austria, a country of 8 million inhabitants and about 30,000 law enforcement officials, has been regarded as a country with little corruption., The public and the official employees have traditionally been very sensitive to corruption issues. Law-enforcement tasks in Austria are assigned to the Gendarmerie in the rural areas and to the Police in 14 cities. About 2,000 questionnaires were sent to the officers of the Police and the Gendarmerie. The questionnaires containing 11 scenarios inquired about the estimates of seriousness, opinions about the appropriate and expected discipline, and expressed willingness to report.
Studying Police Integrity in Finland
An integrity survey of the Finnish police force was conducted in 1999. The questionnaires, distributed to the police officers electronically, inqiured of police officers to evaluate hypothetical cases of police misconduct. These cases include various types of police misconduct, including corruption, deadly force, falsification of report, and verbal abuse. With respect to each scenario, the respondents were asked to evaluate its seriousness, assess the appropriate discipline and estimate the expected discipline, and express willingness to report the described behavior.
Studying Police Integrity in Hungary
This paper examines the contours of police integrity exhibited by the Hungarian police. The questionnaire that focuses primarily on corruption scenarios was distributed to Hungarian police officers (N=440) in 1998-1999. The respondents evaluated the seriousness of hypothetical scenarios, selected appropriate and expected discipline for the violations described, and assessed their willingness to report fellow police officers.
Studying Police Integrity in Poland
A questionnaire developed to measure police integrity in the U.S. police departments was adopted, with minor adjustments, as an instrument to be distributed among 2,000 Polish police officers nationwide. This paper discusses the difficulties encountered in measuring the differences in the perception of “police integrity” between rank and file officers.
Studying Police Integrity in Slovenia
The paper presents and compares results of two different studies dealing with problems of police integrity in the Slovenian Police. The first study examined attitudes toward corruption among a sample of 767 police officers. The second study investigated personal and interpersonal determinants of police deviance on a sample of 740 police officers. By comparing and contrasting the results of both studies, the paper presents a more complete picture of police integrity in Slovenia.
Studying Police Integrity in Sweden
A questionnaire on police integrity was sent in 1999 to 2,100 randomly chosen Swedish police officers of all ranks (13 percent of the whole force). The results show that the highest levels of intolerance are shown with respect to stealing and being offered kickbacks for not reporting speeding offences. Medium levels of intolerance are shown against corrupt behaviour in the absence of any service being provided. The lowest levels of intolerance were recorded with respect to working on the side selling security advice and also concerning the use of a police car for private purposes and changing the service roster without permission. There are also rather obvious signs of ego-defense and the Code of Silence since the respondents look more seriously at these issues than they believe their colleagues do and are not as willing to report as they are to indicate tolerance.
Subcultures and the Natural History of Drug Epidemics in the Inner City
Inner-city New York, as well as much of the rest of the country has experienced a succession of drug epidemics including the Heroin Injection Epidemic (which peaked in the 1960s and early 1970s), the Crack Epidemic (primarily late 1980s), and the Marijuana/Blunts Epidemic (starting in the 1990s). This paper reviews the natural history of each epidemic, the subcultural elements (values, symbols, and conduct norms) that characterized each, and their impact on both individuals and the larger community. The experiences over time of youths and young adults in three households are examined in order to place the subcultures in context.
Subjective and Objective Indicators of Legal Pressure and Their Impacts
While most researchers agree that legally mandated substance abuse treatment can be effective, little is known about how different forms and amounts of legal coercion relate, to treatment retention and other outcomes, and how these external pressures interact with other factors to affect outcome. This paper presents results from a recent study done at the Vera Institute involving offenders entering long-term residential treatment through two distinct mandatory treatment programs, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison (DTAP) program (N= 150), and a local TASC program (N=120). Analyses examined differences in these clients’ perceptions of legal pressure, variations in the legal consequences faced by dropouts in the two groups and the programs’ use of monitoring and enforcement, and the impacts of these and individual background factors on program retention and subsequent criminal recidivism. Discussion will focus on the different coercive strategies employed by the two programs, the association between subjective and objective measures of legal pressure, and the ways that they and related factors such as motivation can differentially affect retention and recidivism.
Substance Abuse Treatment Networks: Their Impact on Juvenile Justice Client Flow
In FY 1996, The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment initiated development of Juvenile Justice Treatment Network (JJTN) demonstration programs in three sites: Denver, Colorado, Travis County (Austin), Texas; and Lane County (Eugene), Oregon. These networks aim to achieve a comprehensive, integrated approach to treatment and case management of juvenile offenders with substance abuse problems through structured partnerships between a lead justice agency and multiple substance abuse treatment providers, school systems, and other relevant health and mental health service providers. Currently in their final year of funding, the three JJTN sites have created networks of between 6 and 30 agencies to treat more than 3,000 justice-involved youth. Development of the network structures has significantly effected justice system operations at all three sites. For example, all sites have centralized intake and assessment procedures, coordinated case management and probation officer roles, increased requirements of material presented to judges prior to sentencing, and cross-trained staff from different agencies. This paper discusses the expected and actual changes in local justice systems as a result of network development. It also outlines the influences on network development of independent changes in local justice and service delivery systems.
Substantiated and Unsubstantiated Maltreatment Cases: Implications Regarding Reappearance Histories
This study assembles more precise information about the large number of maltreatment reports that are determined by social services to be unsubstantiated. Specifically, we assess whether the status of a maltreatment case (substantiated vs. unsubstantiated) has implications for the probability of further delinquency or maltreatment. Reappearance rates for these groups were also compared to status offenders/delinquents. Juvenile court records for 16,300 juveniles were assessed over a three-year period. Almost 16% of these cases involved maltreatment referrals. Logistic regression analysis was employed to assess the probability of reappearing based on time one referral status. Data show that having a case recorded as unsubstantiated lowered a youth’s odds of subsequent offending by 55% relative to being abused. The probability of reappearing in juvenile court was highest for juvenile offenders, followed in order by maltreated youth and youth whose reports were unsubstantiated. The implications of this work for maltreatment sampling schemes are discussed.
Suggestibility and Personality: Compliance With False Confessions
In this paper everyday situations which offer opportunities for criminal or immoral behaviors are analyzed on the basis of ideas derived from Charles R. Tittle’s control balance theory (1995). In combination with the self control theory and the routine activity approach, control balance theory allows the assumption that actors who display control imbalances are likely to carry out a criminal or immoral behavior if they are low in self control and if the opportunity presents itself. The study consists of an empirical examination of this assumption. A quasi-experimental design was used to analyze the effects of control imbalances, self control, and situational characteristics on the likelihood of keeping money which is found by chance. A standardized questionnaire (vignett technique) is presented to a sample of 240 German adults aged 18-65. Multivariate data analyses were undertaken to examine the main and interactive effects of the measured variables. The results are interpreted and discussed with regard to the effectiveness of the theoretical framework applied and the further implications of this.
Suicide and Hoicide During Police Tactical Operations
Integrated theories of violence assert that suicide and homicide constitute alternate expressions of extreme frustration with life events. Some of the crises that hold the potential for violent expression, and some that have already included violent behavior, prompt police intervention while the crisis is ongoing. Police response in such cases often includes the deployment of specially trained and equipped groups of officers, commonly referred to as tactical or SWAT (for Special Weapons and Tactics) teams. A recent study of police tactical teams in the United States collected data on both violent acts committed by citizens during situations that included a SWAT mobilization and on the use of firearms by the involved officers. This paper reports on what this data discloses about the incidence and prevalence of 1) self- and other-directed violent acts committed by citizens during police tactical operations and 2) lethal force usage by SWAT officers.
Superfund Siting Dilemmas: The Case of Silver Valley
This research project examines the decision-making processes utilized by stakeholders involved in determining the nature and extent of the Superfund cleanup of Idaho’s Silver Valley. This project is designed to study impediments to the effective use of regulatory remedies for the environmental harm associated with the local mining industry. The salient values, decision-making strategies, and justifications associated with positions regarding the siting of the Superfund cleanup are compared for various stakeholders such as, area business owners, Coeur d’Alene Tribe members, Environmental Protection Agency representatives, local residents, and area politicians.
Survey of Law Enforcement Agencies’ Domestic Violence Protocols and Responses to Officer Perpetrated Dometic Violence
Researchers have long asserted that domestic violence cuts across all socio-economic, racial, ethnic and occupational lines. One largely unexplored group is police officers who abuse their intimate partners. The problem of officer-involved domestic violence is both unique and multifaceted, with issues regarding the validity of the investigation, the safety of the victim, the appropriate response to the discovery or report of the abuse, and the action to be taken when the abuse is proven. This statewide survey examines official response to officer-involved domestic abuse reported to the agencies over a 10year period, with a focus on the formal and informal policies used by police agencies, as well as the number of reported incidents and official action taken. A comparison is made between a model policy and the actions taken by the agencies surveyed. Limitations of the study are noted, and a future research agenda is proposed.
Survival of the Slickest: Camouflaging Control Frauds as Legitimate Firms
The law and economics literature argues that markets constrain fraud. Professor Fischel and Judge Easterbrook concede that some firms defraud by camouflaging themselves as honest firms. However, they conclude that focusing on CEOs who wish to engage in fraud is misleading because it fails to take into account the actions of honest firms. Honest firms have an incentive to differentiate themselves from frauds and Easterbrook and Fischel state that they do so successfully, e.g., by hiring “Big Five” accounting firms. The authors assume that the reputational interest of such audit firms will cause them to refuse to aid frauds. They argue that creditors and shareholders are adept at reading such signals and avoiding the fraudulent. This is in contrast to regulators, who fail to differentiate honest CEOs (Fischel puts Michael Milken in this category) from the fraudulent. I present the facts of Fischel’s attempt to apply this theory in the real world in which he argued that the regulators’ criticisms of Lincoln Savings were invalid. The case illustrates the ability of CEOs engaged in control fraud to counter honest firm’s efforts at differentiation by manipulating top audit firms, and other professionals, to assit the fraud.
Suspect Searches: Using Constitutional Standards to Assess Police Behavior
This paper examines a key component of the police contribution to justice: their adherence to constitutional standards in conducting searches. It will examine three central research issues: (1) how frequently patrol officers engage in searches and under what circumstances they search, (2) how often their searches meet constitutional standards and in what ways they diverge, and (3) what accounts for variation in the conformity of police to constitutional standards. Insufficient effort has been paid to these questions over the last three decades, with researchers either focused on the results of police searches – suppression motions or employed indirect methods (official records and questionnaires) to estimate the propriety of police conduct. In contrast, this study uses direct observations of police practices by disinterested researchers to describe, evaluate and explain the patterns of police searches. The paper will examine previously-recorded field observations of police searches in Richmond, Virginia. Performing a detailed content analysis of narrative descriptions of police-citizen encounters, the study will determine the frequency and manner with which citizens are searched, as well as establishing the proportion that pass constitutional muster. The paper provides an empirical assessment of search practices that does not rely on indirect data sources and that systematically examines a wide range of possible influences on police behavior and constitutional performance.
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Tactical Rules for the Use of Force Among a Sample of Venezuelan Prison Guards
The quality of confinement in Venezuela’s prisons ranks among the lowest in the hemisphere, and a salient dimension of this critical situation is violence. Whereas prior studies of Venezuelan prisons have focused mainly on violence between prisoners, this paper examines the use of force by prison guards. A near-complete sample of 40 prison guards in a Venezuelan prison were interviewed in extenso regarding their “tactical rules” for the use of force against prisoners. The results reveal that use of force by prison guards represents an important ingredient in the creation of a climate of violence within the institution. Tactical rules for the use of force are compared for prison guards and Venezuelahn police officers (the subject of an earlier study), and some conclusions are offered regarding the determinants of the use of force among public security personnel in the country.
Take the Money and Run: The First Alliance Case
Small consumer finance companies, benefiting from the deregulation of the 1980s, created a niche for themselves in the home equity loan market. Accusations of deceptive practices have been levied against some of these companies. This paper explores the conditions that permitted First Alliance Corporation [a company that filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as regulators were stepping up their investigations] to victimize hundreds of poor and elderly individuals.
Taking Measure of ADAM: Survey Methods and Self-Report Data in Jails
The Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) project stands squarely within, yet distinctly apart from, traditional survey approaches in criminology. Our intent here is to document those convergences and departures, methodological as well as empirical. We note that self-report data from non-incarcerated populations are common sources for estimating both the incidence and prevalence of criminal (and deviant) behaviors. Less common are research efforts that collect self-report data from incarcerated, or recently released, populations. Rarer still are studies that attempt to meet riot only the methodological standards of survey research generally, but. also the data information needs of practitioners specifically. With implementation on a national scale, yet probability sampling specific to the locality, the ADAM project clearly is a premiere example of the least common survey approach. Not so apparent is whether self-report data generated by ADAM are subject to the same or different constraints and whether those constraints render the data more or less reliable for practitioners and criminologists alike. We address such questions by comparing results from the ADAM project in northwestern states to results from other surveys vis-a-vis cooperation and completion rates, sampling bias and error, interactive effects of interviewer and arrestee characteristics, and potential utility of the data.
Target Selection in Drug Robbery
This paper explores the target selection strategies used by active drub robbers-persons who take money/drugs from dealers by force or threat of force. Implications for rational choice theory are addressed. Data were drawn from indepth interviews with 29 active drug robbers operating on the streets of St. Louis, Missouri.
Targeting Hypothesized Mediators of Early Offending Using a Treatment Foster Care Model of Intervention: Relationship of Mediators to Outcomes
MTFC is a treatment model developed to re-create the powerful socializing influence of functional family life for adjudicated youth who have been placed by the courts into out-of-home care because of community safety concerns. Foster parents are trained to couple positive relational activities with the of use non-violent discipline and supervision strategies. The foster parents and youth are surrounded with 24-hour access to professionals who provide support, problem solving, and help designing therapeutic interventions. Outcomes of a 5-year longitudinal randomized intervention study will be presented. Follow-up data from this study suggest that compared to a treatment as usual control group MTFC had positive impact on official and self-reported criminality beyond other well-known predictors of chronic juvenile offending such as age at 1 st arrest, number of previous offenses, age at referral. In addition, hypothesized mediators were also shown to co-vary with youth outcomes in ways predicted. Results of this study suggest that developmentally appropriate, intensive, and individualized family focused treatment is both feasible and superior to treatment as usual (i.e., group care) at any point in the developmental trajectory of antisocial youngsters.
TBA
Using data derived from more than 1,000 interviews, I will argue that race is becoming less of a determinant in the formation of public attitudes toward the police and that other factors should be collected and utilized in determining policy. The residents (chosen through random sampling) of a diverse Southern California community were asked open-ended questions regarding their attitudes about both the police and the neighborhoods in which they live. In addition, interview respondents were questioned as to their ethnic background. The data show that factors such as the type of neighborhood in which a respondent lives may be better predictors of attitudes toward the police than ethnic background. The paper explores the current and frequent use of race as a factor in many analyses of public attitudes and suggests other variables that may be more pertinent in similar research.
Teaching About Genocide and Political Violence in the New Millennium
The twentieth century was filled with an unprecedented outbreak of genocide and political violence. This phenomenon has led to many important and interesting avenues of intellectual study such as how has this occurred, what are warning signs, does the world have a responsibility to act/react, what is the role of the U.N., how do we define genocide and political violence, and how do issues of economics, business, environment, poopulation, poverty, religion, etc. interesect. This presentation will address some of these relevant questions and provide practical suggestions for teacing about these issues in the classroom.
Teaching as Research: Intertextuality as a Tool for Information Distribution
In intertexuality, we focus on the importance of getting some of the practice of teaching down in writing, both from teachers and from students, so that the Dear Habermas site (www.csudh.edu/dearhabermas) can play a role in providing flexibility. By treating student texts as texts for intertexuality,w e grant them social distance from the routine completion of “ritual assignments,” and make a number of acceptable interpretations available to all students. We also provide a more manageable approach to working with student writing, since all of them can watch the development of a discussion thread, and follow detailed writing samples on the site. Term papers and tests are very much isolated endeavors which do not encourage academic discussion and involvement. The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical analysis of faulty information distribution as structural violence. Intertextuality, through the creation of non-traditional texts is a foil to such structural violence, suggesting an academy role in educating for public discourse. There are numerous areas in which we need to see new textual roles, that broaden the reach to professionals in many different contexts. Teaching has been too long cut off from research, and we are paying for the consequences in the resulting structural violence of our institutions. Our need for texts to guide each other into the new technologies is as great as our need to hear our students and each other in good faith.
Teaching Criminal Justice Ethics: The Use of the Student Journal to Enhance Learning
This paper considers the benefits of using student journals in teaching a course in criminal justice ethics. Drawing on the work of Paulo Freire and the humanist tradition, I examine how the use of the student journal can be used as a method for developing the self-reflective dimension and the critical consciousness of students. The paper desribes the use of the student journal as a means to enable students to give their “solutions” to difficult hypothetical ethical dilemmas faced by the criminal justice professional. it also examines the use of the journal as a mechanism for the critical consideration of the student’s own ethical system. Finally, the paper examines how the student journal can serve as basis for facilitating the discussion fo ethical issues in the classroom setting.
Teaching Ethics to Criminal Justice Intern Students
Teaching ethics to criminal justice intern students has been a challenge for many instructors and criminal justice programs. Ethical dilemma ranged from how to encourage students to participate in the program, when to introduce the concept of professional ethics, to whose responsibility it is to ensure the professionalism in the program. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the ethical issues related to conducting Criminal Justice Internship Program. Ethical concerns shared by the instructors, students, field supervisors, and the intern agencies will be examined. Furthermore, specific concerns from each parties involved in the program will also be discussed.
Teaching Media and Crime Courses
Criminologists recently have devoted more attention than in the past to how the mass media depict crime and punishment. This makes sense. As criminologists, we lament that the news media present a distroted view of crime. The news media focus most on the least frequent cxrimes, and the least on the crime that occurr with the most frequency. Similarly, fictional media also have been criticized. In light of the shootings at Colume and several shooting sprees in the workplace, lawmakers and the public alike ask, “Does violence in the media cause violence in society?” Accordingly there are more books and articles written by criminologists about how the media depict crime, more ASC sessions on the topic, and our academic programs are offering more courses about crime and media and violence. My paper addresses this last point: incorporating the media into undergraduate and graduate courses on crime and justice. I discuss two issues: (1) teaching undergraduate and graduate courses about media and crime; (2) incorporating media productions into your classes, whether or not they deal specifically with the media and crime. This more concrete issue includes choosing media productions, what you, the teacher, hope to get out of them, and preparing the students to work through these cultural productions.
Teaching the Issues of ‘Women in Prison’: A Search for Creative Pedagogy
There has been a paucity of research on women prisoners in the past decade (Zaitzow and Thomas, 1999). This has made it difficult for those who teach corrections and related courses to provide rich, accurate, and timely material to effectively communicate to college students the nature of women’s prison culture and its corresponding changes in the past two decades. This problem is compounded by a credibility factor: What, some students ask, can a white, middle-class male know about the prison experiences of female prisoners, most of whom are women of color and poor? In this paper, I identify several characteristics of the credibility factor and the impact it has on effectively teaching women’s prison issues. Next, I describe several strategies for obtaining information on women’s prison experiences. Finally, I identify ways to provide stuents with an appreciation for women’s prison experience. I conclude by expanding the pedagogical issue(s) to a broader defense of the credibility of male scholarship in female prisons.
Teaching the Relationship Between Cinematic Aggression and the Process of Male Audience Identification
It is argued frequently that audience members identify with characters in cinematic narratives, and that such identification potentiates the subsequent emulation of characters’ aggressive actions. How can this process of identification be explainef to students? One approach suggested in this paper entails three general steps. First, it is explained and demonstrated that cinematic narratives often, either directly or obliquely, portray social or interpersonal problems commonly faced by audience members. One type of proiblem involves cultural double binds, i.e., incompatible, mutually exclusive values or social expectations that are presented to members of a culture. Secondly, it is explained and demonstrated that one function of cinematic narratives, especially those that are muthic in nature, is to either rationalize or gloss the contradiction inherent in the double bind so as to temporarily reduce dissonance and negative affect of audience members. Thirdly, it is explainef and demonstrated that this function is accomplished through the identification of audience members with cinematic characters. Identification is defined as a process involving the interations between cognitive connection to portrayal social or interpersonal problems and emotion elicited in the audience member. This three-step process is exemplified here through an explication of the popularity among male audience members of cinematic aggression. It is suggested that such aggression in films is often contextualized by the direct or oblique portrayal of double binds involving male occupational failure and its salience for positive male social and personal identity. Male audience members connect cognitively to this portrayal because it represents a cultural double bind characteristic of American society. Emotions of shame and rage vicariously evoked in audience members facilitate the process of identification with key characters in the cinematic narrative. Clips from the following films will be employed to exemplify cinematically portrayed aggression along a continuum of explicitness regarding the motif of male occupational success/failure: Death of a Salesman, Falling Down, Glengarry Glen Ross, Reservoir Dogs, and Sudden Impact.
Team Work — Not Making the Dream Work: Community Policing in Poland
In January of 1999, following the philosophy of Community Oriented Policing, the Polish National Police restructured its organization. This paper presents results of research conducted with the Polish Police and community members representing diverse environments including: college students, politicians, clergy, and media representatives. Our results represent an analysis of thousands of questionnaires distributed to the members of the Polish Police and then contrasted against data collected from numerous in-depth interviews with community members. Through the questionnaires and the interviews, the twelve principles of Community Oriented-Problem Solving policing are revisited, providing a base line for discussion about the feasibility of implementation of philosophical paradigm in real-life environments.
Tearing Down the Self: Alternative Life Histories
The writing of life history remains a valuable undertaking within the broader practice of qualitative inquiry. However, a variety of recent development in qualitative methodology and cultural theory suggest alternatives to the traditional conceptualization of life history writing as a researcher’s factual, comprehensive accounting of a research sobject’s life course and sense of self. Such alternative conceptualizations of life history research and writing include life histories crafted as non-linear, fragmented fictions regarding self and identity; life histories that develop from the researcher’s own auto-ethnographic history, and that intertwine this history with the life histories of research subjects; life histories that emerge out of those social situations and cultural spaces occuped by individuals and groups; and life histories that are submerged or reconstructed within subcultural dynamics, and within the immediacy of lived experience. Together, these alternative conceptualizations imply that successful life histories may well tear down notions of individual and self as much as they construct and confirm them.
Techno-Policing: Promises, Limits and Social Acceptance
By the turn of the 20th century, technological progress has to offer a striking array of gadgets, procedures and technical systems for specialized policing-tasks and social control in general. The routine use in advanced countries of (for example) DNA-profiling and -databanks, video-surveillance, biometric identification devices or satellite-tracking could let appear the arsenals of the literary Big Brother as early experimental studies. Beyond the rhetoric of ‘community policing’ we are witnessing a strong emerging pattern of what could be called ‘techno-piolicing’. In this perspective the term embraces all police-policies, strategies, tactics, that depends essentially on the capacities of advanced technologies. Based on a finished study that focus on the police-use of technology in Germany and the U.S.l, this paper will discuss how the diverse social control technologies could be systemized and how this effort could help in understanding modern policing. It will also be argued, that there are — besides seducing possibilities for social control agencies like the police — also shortcomings and pitfalls with techno-policing. The most interesting issue for criminology remains with the ambivalent acceptance of social control technologies among those, who are subjected to them. The paper will present some general interpretations on this topic.
Techno-Warriorism as a New Police Culture? Interpreting Images of Paramilitary Policing
At no other time in police history has the study of the intersection of police culture and police technology been more necessary. An enormous for-profit complex of police technology vendors, an influx of federal dollars from the Department of Justice, and the involvement of the Department of Defense and their associated for-profit industries, have created conditions that overshadow what happened in the days of LEAA. This paper examines images associated with the for-profit industry which promotes and supplies an array of technological products used by police paramilitary units (SWAT teams). We discuss four themes including, for example, the blurring distinction between “police” and “military” that surfaced in this analysis
Technology, Teaching, and Learning in Criminal Justice: Examples of Instructor and Student Uses of Technology in CJ Courses
Increasingly, professors and students have the opportunity to use technological tools such as the web, email, multimedia presentations, etc. This has generated often heated debate about the impact of such tools: Do they mrerely improve work format, without improving content, or even at the expense of quality? Can they revolutionize teaching and learning or are they harbingers of doom for the traditional liberal arts education? Yet these passionate debates often focus on hypothetical scenarios depicting the impact of technology on learning in terms of extremes, from “technology as savior” to “technolgy as usurper” of traditional educational structures, relationships, and processes. Largely lost in this polemic are conversations about how ordinary mortals (e.g. non-geeks), both instructors and students, can us technology in modest yet meaningful ways as part of the educational process. In this spirit, this presentation will provide examples and discussion of how instructors and students can use technology such as designing web pages, creating graphic (Powerpoint) presentations, and using web-based research resources to enhance the process of learning.
Technology and the Internalization of Policing: A Historical Perspective
The role of technology in the transformation of policing has been discussed in various contexts. Studies have focused on both organizational developments (e.g., the routinization of police work) and functional re-orientations (e.g., the control of cybercrime). Less discussed, at least as an independent topic of reflection, has been the role of technology in the development of international police work. This paper will review aspects in the role of technologies in the area of communication, transportation, and criminal identification in relation to the internationalization of the police function. data are derived from ongoing historical research on the evolution of international policing since the middle of the 19th century. i conclude with reflections on the relative autonomy of technology as a contributing factor, if insufficient condition, in the internationalization of the police function.
Telemarketing Fraud: Who are the Tricksters and What Makes Them Trick?
About forty billion dollars a year is said to be bilked out of customers who fall prey to the sales tactics employed by telemarketing scammers. A considerable literature now exists that identifies victims and suggests ways to avoid being cheated. Virtually no research attention, however, has been given to the offenders who engage in pitching telemarketing scams. This paper used a variety of research tactics to portray telemarketing fraudsters and the ruses that they employ in their work. It also seeks to locate the behavior within the typological family of criminal behavior and to suggest some possible means of reducing fraudulent telemarketing activities.
Television Network News Coverage of Corporate Crime From 1970-2000
Studies of crime coverage on television newscasts indicate a preference for reporting violent interpersonal offenses. What about corporate crime? The present study, using the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, examines television nightly newscasts over a thirty year period. Findings focus on trends in nightly news coverage of corporate crime between 1970 and 2000.
Ten-city Population-based Survey of Attitudes Toward Mandatory Domestic Violence Reporting by Health Care Personnel
State laws mandating health care personnel to contact police when treating patients injured as a result of domestic violence are controversial. Attitudes toward these laws have been studied in select groups, but never in a large population-based sample. We measured support for mandatory reporting (MR) among 845 women in 10 cities who participated in a telephone survey assessing risk factors for intimate partner violence. Abused women were over-sampled to create equal groups (427 abused and 418 nonabused); results were weighted based on probability of selection. The estimated prevalence of abuse was 11. 7%; 72% of women supported MR. Potential reasons for support included: victims would find it easier to get help (81%) and would like health care personnel to call the police (68%). Potential reasons for the minority opposition included: victims would be less likely to disclose abuse (77%), would resent someone else having control (61%), and reporting would increase the risk of perpetrator retaliation (44%). Abused women were significantly less likely to support MR (59% versus 73%, p Conclusion: Most women support mandatory reporting by health care personnel. Although, abuse status plays a role in women’s support.
Ten-Year Recidivism Follow-Up of 1989 Sex Offenders Releases
This study examines the ten-year recidivism rates of all sex offenders released from Ohio prisons in 1989. Baseline recidivism rates for any new crime or technical parole violation, recidivism involving sex offenses only, recidivis of offenders based on a victim typology, and the effects of basic sex offender programming on recidivism are included in this report.
Test First and Ask Questions Afterwards: Improving Validity of Self-Report Drug Use Data by Arrestees
Previous works have consistently documented that respondents underreport their recent illegal drug use. Despite this problem, few works have experimented with methods that might improve the validity of self-report drug use data. In the current study, arrestees surveyed through the Substance Abuse Need for Treatment among Arrestees (SANTA) study are exposed to two manipulations. The first – the standard SANTA collection procedure – involves the request for a urine specimen after the survey has been completed. The second condition requires that the urine specimen be collected and its results shared with the arrestee prior to the administration of the survey. It is hypothesized that respondents who are informed of their urine specimen results prior to the administration of a drug use survey will be more likely to self-report illegal drug use behaviors, and to be diagnosed dependent, than they would under the standard procedure. Implications for the future of drug use research are assessed in light of the generated findings.
Testing and Extending the Systemic Model of Social Disorganization: Assessing Neighborhood Effects on Victimization
The systemic model of victimization posits neighborhood-level effects of social networks on victimization levels. In particular this theoretical model proposes that the informal social control emanating from these networks accounts for varying crime levels. Although some research supports this hypothesis, recent evidence has refined our understanding of how social networks affect crime, highlighted the importance of non-linear relationships, and has, in some cases, cast doubt on this control hypothesis. This study uses data from 60 urban neighborhoods to estimate nonrecursive models that test whether control or strain variables contribute to victimization levels. Implications for the theor’s scope and structure are discussed.
Testing Social Control and Social Learning Theories: Temporal and Spatial (In)Variability in the Effects of Subculture on Delinquency
Do the effects of subculture on delinquency vary by time and place? Despite the general importance of culturally embedded values, norms, and beliefs for social control and social learning theories, there have been few systematic attempts to test for temporal and spatial variability in the effects of subculture on delinquency. We test for variation in subcultural effects using data collected in Richmond, California, in the mid-1960s and in Fyetteville, Arkansas, in the late-1990s. Since the Fayetteville study is a replication of the Richmond study, we are able to use identical measures on two samples of adolescents separated by more than 30 years and thousands of miles. Our results show the distributions of the dependent and the independent variables to differ across the two samples, indicating broad cultural differences in our two samples. Yet, contrary to the expectations of social learning theory, the effects of subculture on delinquent behavior do not vary in any meaningful way across the two samples. We discuss the implications of these findings for delinquency theories.
Testing Violence Prevention Strategies: Lessons Learned From the Field
Findings from research on the correlates of violence have generally been taken as evidence that those correlates likely play some role in the development of violent behavior. Research has demonstrated that “difficulty of implementation” is a strong an indicator in determining program effectiveness. “Difficulty of implementation” is just one of the factors being examined by the Hamilton Fish institute in testing and evaluating promising violence prevention strategies in the field. In this segment, Institute staff will discuss the challenges and successes in implementing and coordinating a large-scale comprehensive evaluation of a seven-university violence prevention consortium. Presenters will address difficult issues faced during the implementation of a large-scale collaborative research effort, including: political sensitivity regarding the issue of youth violence, particularly in school settings; difficulty in forming and solidifying university/school partnerships and repairing problems resulting from those that fail; balancing individual research needs with national., cross-site research protocol; difficulties regarding active consent and securing comparison samples; and issues surrounding retention and follow-up.
The “Effectiveness” of Differential Supervision
This paper considers methodological issues attached to the study of the responsibity principle of effective correctional treatment. The paper reports the findings of an evaluation of the Client Management Classification system. As in previous evaluations of differential supervision, the experimental group subjects experienced substantially lower rates of revocation than control group counterparts. However, when analysis shifted technical violations and arrests (outcomes more closely tied to offender versus officer responses), higher rates of failure surfaced in the experimental group. Additional analyses of treatment group subjects using measures of program integrity substantiate the original findings. The paper discusses the implications of this study for the methodological design of evaluations of efforts to implement the responsivity principle in offender treatment.
The “Image” of Serial Killers: From Events to Social Construnction
The aim of this work has been to understand how the phenomenon “serial killer” has been created. The optical has been based on constructivist theories by Ibarra and Kitsuse and of social representations, with mechanisms of anchorage and objectivation as delineated by Moscovici. Serial killers aren’t a recent phenomenon: they have always been there, even if they weren’t known with this name. In Medieval Age, Gilles de Rais and Erzsebet Bathory were called “heretical”. In times more close to ours, Vincenzo Verzeni (‘800) and Leonarda Cianciulli (40s) were studied following somatic approach. At the end of the 70s we can find modifications in apprioaching this particular category of criminals. Why? Statistis speak about an increase of 450% for this category of crimes in the last 20 years, but this is a low percentage among the widest category of murders in general, less than 1%. This objective condition is not therefore sufficient to explain the change of interest in serial crimes. This modification is not therefore due to events’ modifications, but to changing of interest in observing the same facts. Wanting to inquire the opinion of common people (the opinion of the experts is well known), I prepared a survey research ith 62 items inspired to Vicap, a FBI computer program with the function of storing every information about violent crimes committed in the USA. The questionnaire was proposed to 200 students (males and females) attending to the faculties of Psychology, Law and Literature of the University of Turin, Italy. Some of the hypothesis that guided my research have been the following: (1) there is a great interest in this subject; (2) people know very little of the phenomenon; (3) female murdress ae almost unknown, and (4) people have an image of serial killer that can origin a prototype.
The “Other” Software Piracy: Who Cares About Warez?
This paper analyzes the role of check cashing businesses in providing both specific financial services to the public, and serving as a conduit for the flow of illegal cash derived from criminal activity abroad. Generally concentrated in low-income neighborhoods, such businesses provide residents without access to traditional banking institutions a means to conduct their financial affairs. At the same time, however, it is suspected that these largely unregulated financial institutions are heavily involved in international money laundering schemes. We examine the problems inherent in regulating these institutions, the types and extent of fraud uncovered in them, the responses of the industry to increased government concern and scrutiny, and the potential impact of new regulations on deterring criminal activity.
The “Web” of Social Control: The Private Policing of Cyberspace by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) — An Exploratory Study
This paper will examine the role of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the regulation of content found in “cyberspace”. In Canada, both the Federal and Provincial Governments have yet to develop legislation specifically aimed at dealing with “illegal” or “indecent” material available “on-line”. The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC), the main governing agency for Canadian media, has also taken a hands-off approach by choosing not to regulate the Internet. Instead, much of the responsibility has been placed on ISPs to actively police the actions of their users. In a number of court cases in Canada, for instance, ISPs have been held legally liable for the material posted on the Internet by their users. As a result, a majority of ISPs have developed formal policies and procedures that must be accepted as a condition to the delivery of their services. However, this system of “self-regulation” raises important questions concerning the level of authority that is given to these (predominantly) private companies and the implications that this may have on the availability of information and the personal freedom of on-line users.
The Adequacy of ‘Human Rights’ Claims as a Challenge to Corporate Violence and Environmental Destruction: A Case Study of the International Oil Industry
This paper explores the potential of human rights discourses to challenge the violence perpetrated against local peoples and their environments within the context of state-corporate agreements concerning the exploration for, and the development and exploitation of, oil reserves by multinational oil companies. Since the Second World War, activits have increasingly utilised speciic rights claims, in both their legal and ideological forms, as a means of challenging the moral, ethical and legal legitimacy of particular exercises and abuses of power. Indeed, criticisms of and challenges to the activities of multinational oil companies in countries like Nigeria, Columbia and Burma frequently have been articulated from within a human rights framework. However, this paper will identify a series of problems with articulating these struggles and, more importantly, searching for “solutions” to the violence, in terms of the protection and enforcement of human rights. The paper concludes by arguing that stuggles that are articulated within a human rights framework are likely to be successful only under particular sets of conditions.
The Adoption of Innovation in Police Agencies: A Case Study
The implementation of a geographic information system at a suburban police department can be challenging. This Midwestern case study is developed from an ongoing partnership between the University of Cincinnati and a nearby police department, with funding for this project from the National Institute of Justice. We discuss why and how this small agency adopted a crime mapping system, as well as what helped and hindered its use. Police officer attitudes toward crime mapping are measured twice: before a formal introduction to using the geographic information system; then several months after its full implementation. Attitudinal changes among the officers and how they use mapping are examined. We also discuss the role of city and police management adopting a geographic information system, including their ability to use maps to identify problems, change procedures, and allocate resources. We conclude with recommendations and potential pitfalls from our experience.
The Ahistorical Marx: Some Ontological Questions for Class-based Critical Theory
While acknowledging the contributions made to critical criminology by Marxist oriented offerings, this paper argues that a sensible reading of Marx must recognize the ultimate ahistorical nature of his conceptualization of “class”, and hence, the paradoxically ahistorical nature of Marx’s dialectical materialism. In response, the paper makes the claim that the writings of Nietzsche and Foucault afford the possibility of a construction of “class” that both avoids the dangerous hypostatizations implied by Marx’s approach as well as furnishes the possibility for a “responsible” and efficacious “incorporation” of power into criminological theory.
The American Gulag: The Emergence and Growth of the Prison Industrial Complex
This paper provides an update on previous research by the author on the “prison industrial complex.” The focus here will be especially on the “profit motive” behind the recent expansion of the prison system. Included also will be a review of some of the many different types of business who are “investing” in prisons and the “products” they are selling, including the labor of prisoners. A sample listing of businesses will be included in an appendix.
The Attitudes and Experiences of Women Prisoners With the Female Condom
This paper examines the acceptability of the female condom among a population of 250 women prisoners. Half reported histories of sex work with nearly equal numbers reporting trading sex for drugs, two-thirds had been infected with a sexually transmitted disease, and 8% were HIV+. One in five said they had never used a condom, and three-quarters reported inconsistent condom use. Respondents participated in a 20-hour educational program prior to prison release designed to educate them about their HIV risk factors and to introduce the female condom. This paper reports on the women’s attitudes and experiences 6 months following release from prison. Evaluations of the educational program were overwhelmingly positive, but the real test of the program’s efficacy is behavioral change. At the 6-month follow-up, about two-thirds had tried the female condom, and 16% reported they used a female condom every time they had sex. Nearly two-thirds of those at baseline who said they never used condoms, tried the female condom. Another 19% reported they used a male condom every time they had sex, indicating that 35% of the women were consistently using a male or female condom with every sex act. The paper examines the characteristics of those most likely to use condoms.
The Baltimore City Drug Treatment Court: First Evaluation Report
Drug treatment courts are a popular mechanisms to reduce drug use, its associated criminal activity, and the costs related to incarcerating large numbers of drug-involved offenders. This report summarizes data from an ongoing evaluation of the Baltimore City Drug Treatment Court (BDTC). The study randomly assigned 235 eligible clients to either drug treatment court or “treatment as usual” between February, 1997 and August, 1998. The treatment and control groups were similar at the beginning of the study period in terms of demographics and prior criminal history. Results indicated that the program has been successful at targeting the intended population of drug-involved non-violent offenders, and is being used as an alternative to incarceration for these offenders, therefore saving the system money. Furthermore, the program is reducing criminal offending: During the twelve months following the disposition for the arrest that brought the subjects into the study, 44% of Drug Treatment Court cases and 56% of control group cases were arrested for new offenses. This difference is larger than the differences reported for similar follow-up periods in other drug treatment courts.
The Benefits of Reducing Gun Violence: Evidence From Contingent-Valuation Survey Data
This paper presents the first attempt to estimate the benefits of reducing gun violence using the contingent-valuation approach. Data from a nationally representative survey of American adults administered by the National Opinion Research Center suggest that the average household is willing to pay approximately $240 per year in additional taxes to reduce assault related gunshot injuries by 30 percent through law enforcement interventions designed to interrupt illegal gun sales and illegal gun carrying. The results imply that the benefits of preventing the use of guns in violence in America is on the order of $80 billion per year, or around $1 million per gunshot injury. While the contingent-valuation data used in this analysis are limited in some respects by the constraints of telephone survey methods, the results imply a value of life that is quite consistent with those obtained from studies of wage-risk tradeoffs and other marketplace behaviors.
The Boston SafeFutures Initiative and Program Specific Data Collection
In this era of unique application of service provision to youth, the use of uniform data collection procedures across services can become impractical and impossible. The Boston SafeFutures Initiative includes many unique programs to achieve the SafeFutures vision to reduce youth violence and delinquency in the Blue Hill Avenue Corridor. Because of this BOTEC Analysis Corporation, the local evaluator for the Boston SafeFutures Initiative, has created unique program-specific data collection protocols to collect qualitative and quantitative data. This panel presentation will consist of a review of the unique Boston SafeFutures programs and a discussion of the various program-specific data collection techniques adopted by the Boston SafeFutures Local Evaluation.
The Burden of Very Young Offenders on the Juvenile Justice System
As the number of officially-recognized young offenders increases, the juvenile justice system will be forced to develop new processes and interventions to accommodate this distinct family of clients. This presentation will document the number and types of very young offenders entering the juvenile justice system and assess their impact on specific juvenile justice functions (e.g., such as detention, adjudication, probation, and placement). Through a comparison of the delinquent careers of early and late onset youth, this work will also show the potential that successful interventions could have on public safety and the general well-being of communities.
The Canadian Model and the Psychology of Criminal Conduct and Corrections
The content of assessment instruments such as the LSI and the CPAI reflect not only a commitment to evidence-based theory and practice but also a particular attraction to a general personality and social psychology of crime and corrections. The psychology of criminal conduct (PCC) demands that an understanding of criminal behavior yields: a) the potential to predict criminal behaviors and b) the potential to influence its occurrence. Both are achieved through attention to theoretically relevant variables. The LSI, as a risk/need assessment instrument, directs attention to the major risk factors identified within PCC. The CPAI, as an assessment of program factors, directs attention to major risk, need, responsivility, integrity, staff and management concerns. Issues of ethicality, justice, legality and decency apply in corrections just as they apply in areas outside of the range of PCC.
The Case of the Tree That Battered a Woman: An Analysis of the Language of Domestic Violence Calls
A grounded analysis was conducted based on observations (n=15) of domestic violence calls responded to by police officers during 440 hours of observations] research in a mid-size city in the Southwest. The analysis led to the discovery of a complex interplay of language embedded in interactions between officers, victims, and offenders involved in domestic violence situations, The subtle dance of words that occurs in such incidents results in a script in which batterers continue to express power and manipulate situations, and officers unknowingly collude with offenders to deny or minimize the offender’s actions. Results include victim frustration, increased victim hostility, and missed opportunities for confronting batterer behavior. The analysis of the influence of situational variables, such as offender demeanor, on police officers’ handling of domestic violence situations is limited without an understanding of the discourse inherent in domestic violence incidents.
The Catalytic Role of Stereotypes and Violence Against Asian Americans
Although to accurately measure the amount of racially motivated crimes committed against Asian descendants (jerein also referred to as Asian Americans) is an extremely difficult task, government commissions and Asian communities agree that Asian Americans are often victimized by violent crimes. In spite of vast differences in culture, religion, and political views, those groups also share similar historical experiences in the United States and today confront a host of common issues that include prejudice, discrimination, and racial violence. This paper examines the catalytic role that stereotypes play in perpetuating violence against Asian Americans, including the scope of Anti-Asian American violence and the harm it causes. For clarity, this paper divides racial violence against Asian Americans into two categories: rational targeting and racist violence.
The Challenges of Challenge Grants: The San Diego Experience
California has provided funding for several programs targeting juvenile offenders. The programs are administered by the Board of Corrections and include collaborations between justice agencies and others, such as social services, mental health, and education, as well as a rigorous evaluation component. Historically, these agencies have not coordinated their efforts to address issues associated with juvenile crime. That mandate has created challenges for program staff and evaluators. This presentation discusses how probation staff of the Breaking Cycles demonstration project and researchers from the San Diego Association of Governments, along with the California Board of Corrections, have addressed the program and research challenges to meet the information needs of state and local policymakers.
The Challenges of Evaluating ‘On Track’ –An Early Multiple Intervention
‘On Track’ is a $60 million initiative which forms part of the UK’s Crime Reduction Programme. It aims to provide early support services to children aged 4-12 at risk of offending, and their families. The programme encapsulates three principles from research on youth offending: factors which place children at increased likelihood of offending can be identified early certain types of intervention have been shown to be effective in reducing future offending a range of co-ordinated interventions at critical points through the child’s early life will be much more effective than single interventions. This paper will describe challenges of evaluating a large-scale project which will assess whether multiple interventions are effective and cost-effective in preventing or reducing offending in children and young people. Early data from the initiative will be presented and discussed.
The Clemency Alternative: Justice Denied
The State of Missouri is fourth in the nation in executions since the death penalty was re-instated in 1977. Forty-two men died by poisoning as legal homicide and two men were granted commutations by the Governor. This paper examines all the clemency petitions submitted to the Missouri Governors by defense attorneys and/or concerned friends. Content analysis of all forty four petitions demonstrates the range of issues presented and suggests factors leading to successful commutations. The paper concludes that significant ambiguity permeates the criminal justice system, supporting the position of the American Bar Association in calling for a moratorium on executions. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall said in Furman vs. Georgia (1972) that if the American people were fully informed they would find the death penalty shocking, unjust, and unacceptable. Recognizing the legal issues facing the Governor and lifting the veil regarding the flaws in the legal procedures and processes will provide the tools for a rational debate of this issue.
The Conditional Effect of Internal and External Control Factors on the Relationship Between Criminal Association and Criminal Involvement
Internal constraint of conscience and external constraint of perceived disapproval of significant others and likelihood of formal punishment are hypothesized to mdoerate young adults’ suspectibility to criminal peer influence. The hypothesized relationships are tested using the OLS regression with data derived from the sixth wave (1983) of the National Youth Survey. in general, young adults are more likely to engage in criminal activites if they are associated with criminal peers. Those who reported strong conscience are less likely to engage in criminal activities. These effects are observed controlling for previous criminal involvement (1981) and socio-demographic variables. In addition, feelings of conscience and perceived disapproval of parents and coworkers significantly reduced young adults’ susceptibility to criminal peer influence both individually and simultaneously. Specifically, those who have friends engaging in criminal activities but simultaneously reported stronger conscience and anticipated disapproval of parents and coworkers committed less crime than those who reported low conscience and do not anticipate the disapproval. Perceived likelihood of formal punishment reduced criminal peer influence individually but not concurrently with the other hypothesized conditional variables in the model.
The Consequences of ‘Get Tough’ Juvenile Legislation: Differential Correctional Processing in Adult and Juvenile Settings for Juvenile Offenders
This paper will synthesize a comprehensive literature review examining conditions confinement and their subsequent effects on recidivism in adult and juvenile settings. Because nearly every state has recently passed ‘get tough’ legislation for juveniles including expeditious transfer/waiver measures and blended sentencing– there is a pressing need to examine the effects of adult correctional processing for juveniles. Prior research by Bishop et al. (1997) suggests that juveniles who are processed in criminal court recidivate quicker, more often, and with more severe offenses; this paper will the reason for disparate outcomes is due to differential correctional processing. This literature review will address the structural and process level differences in ‘deep end’ juvenile and adult facilities. The treatment vs. custody dichotomy will be addressed considering its relationship on inmate perceptions about the effectiveness of incapacitation and their hopes for the future. Directions for future empirical research will be discussed.
The Context of Justifiable KIilling: A Theoretical Exploration of American Culture
While homicide has long been a topic of interest particularly in relation to violence and victims, less has been said about normative forms of homicide such as police shootings and state executions. Justifiable violence, by agents of law enforcementis a product of cultural as well as legal interpretations of social action. The definitions that support legitimate violence are subjective, influenced by the interplay of perpetrators, victims and the wider social audience. This paper explores the process of legitimizing lethal force which includes the use of three themes; differential life value, conservatism, and justification. The media plays an important role, working these themes into an interpretation that supports the legitimacy of official homicide.
The Contribution of Symbolic Interactionism to Critical Criminology
In 1985, Dario Melossi referred to the rejection of the contribution that symbolic interactionism can make to the field of critical criminology as one cause of the crisis in critical criminology. The purpose of this paper is to further Melossi’s argument by showing how principles from symbolic interactionism acan be used to enhance Marxist explanations of criminal behavior. The argument for such a merger rests upon two similarities in the works of Mead and Marx: their common image of human nature and common emphasis on the importance of interaction within a given social structure.
The Cooperation Between the Criminal Investigation Department and the Criminal Intelligence Service
The policeforces in the Netherlands have formed Criminal Intelligence Services in the sixties. The purpose of these services is to gather information on serious crimes committed in a region. They do this mainly by staying in contact with informants. Since a couple of years the Intelligence Services are obliged to support the Criminal Investigation Departments of the forces with their investigations. In practice it proved difficult to get this support and the resulting cooperation going. An attempt is made to picture the cooperation between the Criminal Intelligence Services and the Criminal Investigation Departments, the problems which are faced during the cooperation and the consequences of these problems. Information is gathered by means of interviews with people working for the Criminal Intelligence Service and the Criminal Investigation Department of one of the regional forces. Explanations for the observed problems and consequences will be given on the basis of organizational theories and theories on organizational culture.
The Crime of Modernity: Migration, Crime and Punishment in Italy, 1890 to 1994
The recent influx of migrant workers into Italy (and other Western societies) has again placed the issue of the relationship between migration and crime at the forefront of public opinion. Such relationship goes back to the fascination of modernity with mobility: liberty and mobility have increasingly been coupled not only in the realm of international relationship but especially in the everyday life experiences and perceptions of Western societies. It is the destiny of modernity to continuously excite movement – but at the same time fearing it when uncontrolled and then aspiring to put “checks” on it. This is true from the very beginning of modernity, starting with the “free and ‘unattached’ proletarians” narrated by Marx in Volume One of Capital. In the development of Western societies, unchecked mobility (both “spatial” and “social”) has recurrently been connected with crime. I investigate empirically this set of assumptions by analysing the relationships of tirne-series of migration, crime and punishment rates, in Italy, from 1890 to 1994.
The Criminal Case Profiling Study: The Findings of a Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Criminal Cases and the Legal Aid Payments They Attracted in England and Wales
Responsibility for the payment of publically funded criminal legal aid is shortly to pass to the Criminal Defence Service and plans are underway for new contracting arrangements. To inform this policy, the Legal Services Research Centre undertook a project to develop a comprehensive picture of the costs and cost drivers in criminal cases. This paper will present the findings of the analysis of the various payment systems, interviews with lawyers and the analysis of the data collected from solicitors; files about key factors in each case.
The Criminalisation of Consent: The Case of S&M
The activities in recent years of both the British Courts and the police, as well as in the judiciary in western regions in the U.S. and Canada, has resulted in the successful criminalising of the sexual play of consenting citizens whilst non-consenting violence, normally towards children or inflicted in sport, remains legal. This paper explores the criminalisation of pleasure and sexuality by examining the case of the criminalisation of sadomasochistic practices throughout western nations at a time when the cultural artifacts of SM are becoming part of the mainstream culture through fashion and film
The Delinquency Truancy Assessment Center — Building a Database From the Ground Floor
The Delinquency Treatment Assessment Center (TAC) came about because of a Best Practices research report conducted by the Memphis/Shelby Crime Commission (MSCC). In attempting to meaningfully intervene with truant youth, the MSCC realized that a coordinated multi-agency approach was necessary. This coordination had to extend to criminal justice and other agencies as well as city (Memphis), county (Shelby County) and state (Tennessee) agencies. Central to this idea was the realization that agencies needed to share data so that youths would not be lost between agencies. The researchers are now developing a database that will include information from ten agencies including the Memphis City Schools Board of Education, Shelby County Schools Board of Education, Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, District Attorney General for the Thirtieth Judicial District, Memphis Police Department, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Memphis and Shelby County Children’s Community Services Agency, Shelby County Community Services Agency and Tennessee Department of Human Services.
The Design, Content and Use of Crime and Disorder Audits: A Reflection on Recent Experiences in Britain
In Britain, the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act has placed a statutory duty on every local authority and police force to produce Crime and Disorder Audits for their areas. Over 400 have now been produced. One function ofthe audits has been to inform comprehensive three year Crime and Disorder Strategies which focus upon measures to reduce crime, tackle anti-social behaviour and strengthen social cohesion within communities. Drawing upon a national sample of audits stratified by type of local authority (e.g. metropolitan authorities, rural counties, unitary authorities) this paper will explore: 1) the range of data sets included in the audits; 2) the sophistication of the data analysis which underpins them; 3) the handling and mapping of crime data; 4) the nature of the problems identified as key priorities and how these vary by type of area/community; 5) the methods used in the audits to present and communicate ‘significant facts’ concerning crime and disorder; 6) the extent of community consultation in defining crime and disorder priorities The paper will conclude with an analysis of how closely (if at all) the priorities identified in the audits accord with the picture generated from analyses of victimisation survey data and official statistics.
The Development of a Prison Classification System for Women
Ohio’s prison system until 1999 used the same institutional classification system for males and females, when a new, empirically- derived system was put into effect for men. Since that time research staffers have worked with staff in Ohio’s three female prisons to create a policy framework for a classification system and to develop reliable and valid institutional classification instruments for Ohio’s female inmates. Empirical studies will be complete in the first half of 2000 regarding an instrument to classify new female inmates during the first few months of incarceration and a second instrument that reclassifies those who have already been in prison. The development studies will focus on indicators of misbehavior such as total tickets, serious misbehavior, and amount of discipline imposed. Results will be integrated with other policy concerns to produce the final instruments and classification system. The policy committee believes that it will be possible to integrate programming concerns more effectively into the women’s classification system than the men’s. Both policy and research issues will be summarized in this presentation. There will also be a review of similarities and differences between the male and female classification instruments.
The Development of Empathy Through Attachment Relationships and Reintegrative Shaming: Testing an Integrative Social Capital Theory of Crime
Developmental theories of crime offer criminologists an opportunity to understand how early attachment processes and later attachment processes are linked to the development of empathy and desistance. Sampson and Laub’s classic work illustrated that among non-substance-abusing men, attachments to partners or to work lead toward desistance (Sampson and Laub, 1993). Similarly, Hagan and McCarthy’s research further develops an integrated social capital theory of crime based upon numerous theoretical perspectives including revised strain theory, control theories, the sociology of emotions literature and Braithwaite’s reintegrative shaming (Hagan and McCarthy, 1997). However, Hagan and McCarthy omit the work of developmental psychology positing that early abuse leads to a variety of negative developmental outcomes including mistrust, shame and doubt. This shame, as evidenced by Hagan and McCarthy’s work, is reinforced by punitive criminal justice responses to youth crime leading to more criminal behavior. This paper tests the following proposition using the both the Cambridge data and the National Youth Survey. Proactive rather than reactive responses to youth crime will facilitate the development of new attachment relationships through the provision of empathic understanding and reintegrative shaming leading to desistance through the development of the offender’s own capacity for empathy,
The Differing Community-Level Outcomes of Policing Drug Markets in New York City
This paper uses ethnographic data to examine differing outcomes of narcotics enforcement efforts in New York City neighborhoods. These outcomes were not primarily the result of policing strategies, but rather, were responsive to variations in neighborhood circumstances and in the social organization of drug markets. Major differences in policing outcomes were found in the areas of displacement, arrest rates, and community awareness of and satisfaction with specific interventions. For example, some communities were clearly grateful for police intervention that reduced blatant street-level drug distribution and use. Other neighborhoods were indifferent to the presence of the police, while still others openly resented the heavy-handed tactics that have become the signature of the New York City Police Department’s approach to the war on drugs. There appears to be little understanding among law enforcement officials as to why the same strategy produced widely different results. The research highlights the usefulness of ethnographic methods and community studies for improving our understanding of drug markets and for describing the strengths and weaknesses of current approaches to drug enforcement.
The Diffusion of Community Policing
Police departments across the United States are adopting community policing. In a recent paper Parks and Mastrofski reported that 75 percent of police chiefs in a large, representative sample of departments reported being relatively far along in implementing this “new paradigm.” What are they implementing, and from whom do they learn what community policing implementation means? This paper reports diffusion patterns in community policing, drawing upon responses from some 1,800 chief executives who were asked which departments were particularly influential in helping them structure their community policing implementation. I hypothesize that we may trace various styles of implementation back to a small set of “source” departments that by reputation or by proselytizing influence community policing in many more agencies.
The Dimensionality of Crime: A Dynamic Factor Analysis
The purpose of this study is to examine the causal relationship between index crimes and relevant social indicators. This sort of study has been done before using a cross-sectional design (UCR, 1985). This study differs from previous work in that here, I use a longitudinal design. The questions I examine are: Do the dimensions of crime remain constant over the years and can this be demonstrated empirically? In addressing these questions, I identify stable variables that indicate crime causation, meet the criterion of “face validity,” and remain consistent over the years included in the study-1980 to 1997. Data for the study come from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports and the Bureau of the Census. The methodological technique that informs this study is dynamic factor analysis. Factor analysis is well-suited to concepts like crime causation that have multiple dimensions. Dynamic factor analysis, as the name indicates, is a technique that allows one to study the factors over time. It is a method of estimating time-series relationships with latent variables. In this model, the structural estimation is combined with simultaneous measurement models, which link each of the measured dependent indicators to the latent state variable. With a single joint likelihood, which is a function of both structural and measurement models, the maximum likelihood is then a jointly optimal solution to both problems.
The Dynamic Between Types of Government Control and Quality of Life
A debate in the District of Columbia has concerned the issue of D.C. statehood. While some District residents believe that statehood along with subsequent voting rights and increased local authority would increase the quality of life for its residents, others believe federal control is necessary for the proper management of the territory. This paper explores the dynamic between government control and its affect on quality of life. Further, using a strain-type theory, I will explore how quality of life indicators can predict crime rates in the District of Columbia. Quality of life data will be collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, archival data, and from interviews with prominent D.C. leaders. It is hypothesized that during periods of increaseed local control there will be improvements in measures of quality of life. Moreover, during these periods of high quality of life there is a predictable decline in the crime rate.
The Dynanics of Heroin Overdose Among San Franciscan Drug Dealers
In this presentation, we report selected findings from two National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded studies. “A Study of New Heroin Users,”(RO1 DA12073) and the other, “An Ethnographic Process Evaluation of Needle Exchange” (DA08322-04). The young heroin user study focuses on the initiation and continuation of heroin use among youth. The needle exchange study is an evaluation of the use of ancillary services by clients of San Francisco’s HIV Prevention Project. Both use a combination of ethnographic methods and social survey techniques. The young heroin user sample (18 to 25 years old) will be compared with the needle exchange sample (median age =42) on self reported incidence and prevalence of overdose. In order to address the differential overdose rates between the two populations, this presentation will focus on the dynamics of heroin overdose including the ways in which such factors as setting, tolerance, perceived purity, and poly-drug (particularly alcohol) use relate to heroin overdose. These findings will contribute to the creation and implementation of strategies to intervene in the rising national rates of heroin overdose.
The Ecological and Social Composition of Areas With Relatively High and Low Criminal Activity in Edmonton, Alberta 1955-1999
t has been found that there exists in the city of Edmonton a number of rigidly defined areas that have, in large measure, resisted criminal activity over the past four years despite their criminal potential and proximity to criminogenic centres or “hot spots.” The authours examine these stable “cold spots” and note the social and ecological peculiarities that are common to them and how those peculiarities make these areas crime resistent.
The Effect of “Good” Peers on Behavioral Outcomes of Violent Youth
Teachers, in high schools with students who are high risk for violence, were interviewed about their perceptions of the behavior style of non-violent (“good”) students and how these youth interacted with each other and with violence-prone schoolmates. The study attempted both to define “good” students behavior toward “good” school mates and toward violent-prone ones, and find if there is a relationship between “good” students’ attitude and behaviors toward the violence-prone students and the latters’ violent behavior.
The Effect of Cannabis Use in High School and Tranbsitional Problems on Use in Adulthood: A Seven-Year Panel Study
Prior research has shown that cannabis use in adolescence is a significant predictor of later use in young adulthood. The period of transition from adolescence to adulthood and school to the labour market is an important phase in the life cycle. Problems experienced during this transition may be an additional factor leading to increased cannabis use in the young adult years. Social control and strain theories are used to develop hypotheses concerning the effects of transitional problems on later cannabis use after controlling for earlier use in high school. The data derive from a longitudinal panel study of Canadian youth who were first sampled in their final year of high school and re-contacted seven years later, with a response rate of 45%. Multivariate analyses are used to test a model that predicts change in cannabis use from late adolescence to early adulthood.
The Effect of Deindustrialization on Homicide in Three American Cities
The “deindustrialization hypothesis”has been posited as one explanation of homicide. According to this hypothesis, the loss of industry, and jobs influence homicide of all types, especially those that are robbery or drug, related. Specifically, we hypothesize that areas with declining manufacturing bases have a concurrent increase in homicides, especially drug-related homicides. The effects of poverty, mobility, and demographic characteristics are also examined. A second issue concerns units of analysis. Various arguments have been made for the utility of certain units of analysis over others. To address this issue, we examine our hypothesis from two different units of analysis. First, we examine deindustrialization at the city level, then at the census tract level. Homicide data is taken from police records documented from 1980 through 1994 in three American cities. Homicides in 1980 and 1990 are geocoded according to census tract. Census data and industry data correspond to these years. Initial regression analyses lend some support to the de industrialization hypothesis, indicating that loss of manufacturing in an area increases homicide rates in general and drug-related homicides in particular. However, this finding is not consistent across cities. Thus, real differences in the economic situations of cities must be considered when make comparisons.
The Effect of Gang Membership on Transitions to Adulthood
This study examines the role that being a member of a delinquent gang has an the transition from adolescence to adult roles and statuses. Panel data from early adolescense to young adulthood for the Rochester Youth Development Study, a sample of youth who were at high risk for serious delinquent behavior, are used. The results indicate that being a member of a gang in early adolescence increases the probability of teenage pregnancy and parenthood, failure to complete a high school education, and unemployment. This effect is found even after controlling for delinquency and a number of potential predictors of precocious transitions. ‘Moreover, the effect is stronger for boys who have been “stable” gang members as compared to those who were in a gang for only one data collection wave. The importance of the gang as a social network influencing the trajectories in the life course of its members is discussed.
The Effect of Homicide Rates on Support for Capital Punishment
Support for capital punishment has grown in the United States along with increasing levels of crime during the past several decades. However, in spite of extensive research on attitudes toward the death penalty in the United States, few studies have examined the influence of crime rates on support for capital punishment. In this paper we asses the effects of national and local homicide rates on attitudes toward the death penalty as measured in the General Social Survey (GSS). We test two hypotheses, one cross-sectional, the other longitudinal: (1) Respondents who reside in areas with high homicide rates are more likely to support capital punishment than those in areas with lower homicide rates, controlling for other individual and social characteristics associated with death penalty attitudes. (2) Changes over time in both national and more localized homicide rates are positively associated with trends in death penalty attitudes. In other words, we expect that during times and in places with greater increases in homicide, support for capital punishment has grown more rapidly. We evaluate these hypotheses with GSS data containing place identifiers for representative samples of adults over the period 1972-1998.
The Effect of Intensive “Quality of Life” Policing on Drug Injectors in New York City
As part of New York City’s “war on drugs” and “quality of life” campaigns, law enforcement officials have devoted increased attention to eliminating all forms of public drug taking. Using ethnographic interviews and observations, this research shows how drug injectors have been especially affected by this greater scrutiny. The “stop and frisk” policies that have been an integral part of policing minority neighborhoods have resulted in an upswing of risky drug use practices as injectors are increasingly reluctant to carry injection equipment and must often share with others. In addition, as the number of available drug using locales dwindles, injectors have fewer options and must rely on the homes of close acquaintances to use drugs, people with whom they are much more likely to share syringes in unsafe ways. State-sponsored harm reduction programs are designed to reduce these kinds of risks, but they stand diametrically opposed to aggressive law enforcement policies and practices that, arguably, maximize harm.
The Effect of Offender-oriented Publicity in Rational Choice and Situational Crime Prevention
One of the premises of the “rational choice” perspective on crime is the offender’s decision-making process. Another premise is the distinction between criminal involvement and criminal events. Different factors encompassing costs and rewards affect the decision-making process and the eventual involvement or desistance. This paper will address the impact of offender-oriented publicity in relation to rational choice and the criminal involvement process. The benefits of such publicity for situational crime prevention methods and its application to different crime types (focusing on auto theft) will be discussed. An experiment designed to address auto thefts in Jersey City, New Jersey, will provide empirical support for the discussion.
The Effect of Period on the Age-Crime Curve: A Log-Linear Analysis of Crime Rates Estimated by a Study of Four Cohorts
In the Freiburg Cohort Study (N=400,000) police data and court records are collected of all young people living in Baden-Wurteemberg (a state of Germany) and have been born in the years 1970, 1973, 1975, and 1978. The annual prevalence rates of police arrests for these four cohorts are estimated starting in the year 1984 till now. This is done for different ethnic groups of residents. especially for the ethnic German immigrants from Eastern Europe the age dependency of these rates varies strongly between the four cohorts. A log-linear analysis shows that the different shapes of the age-crime curves are caused by period effects and are not in contradiction to the (generally) assumed age invariance of delinquency. Furthermore, through a log-linear analysis of the annual rates age-crime curves for different ethic groups could be estimated, which are determined only by age and are no longer confounded with period effects, as these curves estimated from single cohort studies normally are.
The Effects and Consequences of Selling and Using Heroin Among Mexican American Street Gang Members
This paper explores the effects of heroin selling and using on Mexican American street gangs in a large southwestern city. This research is based on data from 160 life history interviews and field observations among 26 street gans during a four-year period. We argue how the use and sale of heroin has had detrimental effects not only on the individual user/seller, but also on the existence of the gang itself. During the course of this study, many gang members began to use heroin initially only on an occasional basis. The paper describes how many became addicted and were unable to maintain the obligations associated with gang membership. Discussed is how adult Mexican American prison gangs contributed to the demise of the youth gangs by using members as low-level street sellers. Gangs who continued to deal and sell heroin independent of these prison gangs were subject to violence and repression by rival gangs and adult prison gang members. Discussed as well is how increased heroin dealing within this community heightened the attention of law enforcement agencies. This study contributes to a greater understanding of the etiology of drug edealing among youth gangs within established inner city drug markets.
The Effects of Abuse in Childhood on Spouse Battering in Adulthood
Research findings suggest that victims of child abuse become entwined in a cycle of violence as perpetrators and victims of violent offending and domestic violence. However, most of the supporting evidence comes from studies that have relied on retrospective reporting of child abuse. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of early childhood victimization on spouse battering in adulthood by comparing prospective records of child abuse to retrospective self-reports. Using data from a prospective cohort design study, abused and neglected children were matched with a control group and followed up into adulthood (N=I, 190). With controls for race and approximate family social class, we examine the association between child abuse and spouse battering separately for males and females. In addition, we examine how hostility and alcohol/drug abuse may moderate the observed relationships. The findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and methodological implications.
The Effects of Family and Self-Concept on Youth Gang Membership
Adolescent gang activity is a major concern in the United States. The present research examines the effects of parental management, self-esteem, and cultural identity on youth gang involvement among a sample of 4,997 eighth-grade students. Data utilized in this research are part of the National Evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program. A variety of analytical techniques were employed to examine the ability of parental management, self-concept, and cultural identity to predict gang membership among the total sample, among males and females, and among Anglo, Black, and Hispanic subgroups. The level of perceived parental management was found to be the most significant predictor of youth gang involvement. However, none of the models produced provided a significant amount of predictive value.
The Effects of Life Circumstances on the Short-Term Within Individual Variability in Adolescents’ Involvement in Delinquency
The continuity and change in offending has generated substantial interest among criminologists. While propensity theorists argue that life events occurring after childhood have little explanatory importance in offending, theorists from a developmental perspective argue that factors occurring over the life course are important determinants in explaining changes in offending. Research on the effects of life circumstances on the short-term within-individual variability in offending of adults has supported these findings (Homey, Osgood, and Marshall 1995). Research has not, however, investigated the effects of life circumstances on the short-term variability in delinquency among a sample of youths. In the present paper, using data collected from a sample of institutionalized adolescents, we examine the role of life circumstances as determinants of change in delinquent behavior. Implications of the results and future directions are discussed.
The Effects of Managed Care Policy on the Treatment of Juvenile Sex Offenders
Managed care, 95 a recent policy initiative, has compelled practitioners within various realms of human service to adopt and Implement cost-effective strategies. Such adaptive strategies have been speculated to have an effect on the various populations served, typically through increasing formal rational procedures; inevitably resulting in Increased unanticipated consequences (irrationalities), which are at times in direct contradiction to the stated goals of the treatment. This paper focuses on the effects of managed care on a population of adjudicated Juvenile sex offenders being treated within the confines of a social service agency. An analysis of data derived from participant observation, open-ended questionnaire, and intensive interviews of the staff of this agency, as well as professional clinicians with whom they interact allows for specification of the predicted consequences for theme clients, and implies that increased formal rationality within the correctional setting may stand in stark contrast to stated substantive goals. Findings from this analysis will be presented and discussed within a vignette format.
The Effects of Neighborhood, School, and Individual Characteristics on Delinquency: A Cross-Nested Multilevel Study
So far, researchers in criminology have performed only a few multilevel studies of contextual effects on delinquency. Among those studies, two sources of weakness hinder the generalizability of the results. The first weakness is the use of inappropriate analysis techniques, most previous multileel studies using ordinary regression analysis, despite the fact that multilevel data tend to violate the assumptions of ordinary least squares regression. The second weakness is that most of these studies utilized only one social context, usually neighborhoods, but adolescents belong to several social contexts at the same time. With these weaknesses in mind, the present study advances previous studies both by employing Hierarchial linear Modeling technique and by incorporating both neighborhood and school contexts into one framework. The effects of social contexts are discussed in relation to social disorganization theory, differential association theory and social control theory.
The Effects of Parental Neglect on Male Sibling Alcohol Use
This paper examines the effets of parental neglect on self-reported alcohol use of male biological siblings. Parental neglect is considered to be the lack of emoitional affection, behavior reward, school involvement, and supervision. The sample consists of 94, white adolescent sibling pairs, who live with both of their parents. Parental neglect is operationalized for both parents using self-reports from their children. Both father’s and mother’s neglect were hypothesized to have positive effects on sibling alcohol use. In addition, the effect of the older brother’s alcohol use on the younger brother’s alcohol use, along with the effects of parental alcohol use and SES were simultaneously modely with parental neglect. The resulots of the analysis found that parental alcohol use had a significant positive effect on the younger brother’s alcohol use only. Father’s neglect had a non-significant negative effect on the oldest brother’s alcohol use, but a positive significant effect on the younger brother’s alcohol use. Mother’s neglect had a significant positive effect on the oldest brother’s alcohol use, but a significant negative effect on the younger brother’s alcohol use. The older brother’s alcohol use had a significant positive effect on the younger brother’s alcohol use. Limitations of the study are addressed.
The Effects of Race and Age on Misdemeanor Court Dispositions
Recent studies of criminal justice decision-making have focused on the premise that young, AFrican- American, males are seen as more threatening than other African Americans and whites and accordingly are responded to more severely. This research has primarily examined decisi8on-making involving serious, felony criminal activity. The objective of the present research is to assess the individual and interaction effects of age and race on misdemeanor court dispositions. A sample of 1670 cases is randomly selected from all nontraffic misdemeanors scheduled for a criminal district court hearing in one county in North Carolina. The results have implications for providing further insights into a neglected area of decision-making and assessing the validity of the criminal threat thesis involving minor criminal activity.
The Effects of Social Disorder and Neighbourhood Characteristics on Fear of Crime and Neighbourhood Satisfaction
In Canada very few studies exist that examine the relationship between social disorder and fear of crime. Specifically, does social disorder contribute to fear of crime, and does this vary by type of crime? Data for the analysis is taken from the 1994 Winnipeg Area Survey (N=1002), which provides a five item social disorder scale and measures six fear of crime dimensions. Multivariate analysis show that social disorder is the most consistent predictor of fear across all categories. Neighbourhood level strategies may offer the most potential to reduce fear of crime.
The Effects of Work and JJS Sanctions on Subsequent Delinquent Behavior: An International Comparison
This presentation examines structural arrangements for the transition from school to work and for juvenile justice (arrest and sanctioning) in two international settings, Bremen, Germany and Denver, Colorado. Using comparable data from two collaborating longitudinal studies – The Bremen School to Work Study and the Denver Youth Survey – findings about the joint effects of work status and JJS processing on subsequent delinquent behavior will be presented. Of particular interest is (1) whether opportunities for a smooth transition from school to work- as provided by the German apprenticeship system, opportunities that are not available in the U.S., affect subsequent delinquent behavior; (2) whether justice systems like those in the U.S. that typically have jurisdiction through age 17, that may employ transfers to adult court, and that have reduced levels of diversion, more strongly deter future delinquency and criminal behavior than a system like the German system that has jurisdiction through age 20, makes extensive use of diversion, and has no provision for transferring juveniles to adult court; and (3) If there are interactive effects between work status and JJS experiences on future delinquency at either of the two sites.
The Emergence of a ‘War’ on Economic Crime: The Case of Finland
In 1996 and 1999, the Finnish Government produced its first two Action Programmes aimed at reducing ‘economic crime,’ a rubric covering a broad range of illegal business acivities. The operationalisation of these Programmes has entailed considerable resourcing, the passing of new laws, the establishment of new control agencies and methods of working, the development of training and education programmes, and a significant state-funded research effort. The focus of this paper is not on the contours and efficacy of this initiative against economic crime per se. Rather, against a (here, implicit) comparision with the situation of corporate and white-collar crime control in Britain, we explore two central questions: first, what were the social, economic and political conditions within which this initiative emerged; and, second, what are the conditions that may sustain this initiative and those which may undermine it — that is, what are its limits? This paper is one product of an ongoing, collaborative research project, drawing upon a range of textual sources as well as interviews with key figures in the Finnish initiative.
The Emerging Battle Over the World Trade Organization: Implications for the Study and Control of Transnational Corporate Crime
Last year thousands of protesters massed in Seattle in opposition to the World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings there. By raising their voices agains the WTO’s neo-liberal agenda they created a new awareness around the world about the WTO and the dangers posed by its corporate dominated policies. This paper explores the historical development of the WTO and how its agenda is a formula for a world-wide dismantling of regulatory laws protecting the environment, workers, and consumers. In particular we examine how the WTO’s proposed changes to trade policy promise heighten levels of corporate criminality, and how they also pose new challenges for both the study and social control of transnational corporate crime.
The Empirical Status of Social Learning Theory: A Meta-Analysis
Social learning theory, as advanced by Akers, has long been recognized among the leading theories in criminology. Although not without its critics, the theory appears to have attracted a great deal of consensus on its predictive accuracy. This conclusion, however, has been based primarily on narrative reviews of numerous, widely disparate empirical tests of the theory. These tests have estimated partial or full theoretical models, used juvenile or adult samples of adopted cross-sectional or longitudinal designs, examined a wide variety of dependent variables, and may or may not have incorporated social learning variables into integrated models or in competition with rival theories. However thorough a narrative literature review may be, conclusions drawn from such a review often depend on subjective criteria. Meta-analysis, on the other hand, is a statistical technique that can provide a more objective and systematic analysis of the evidence that supports or refutes a theory. This paper utilizes meta-analysis to quantitatively synthesize the empirical findings of the extant tests of social learning theory in an effort to draw firmer conclusions about the empirical adequacy of the theory and the conditions under which support for the theory holds.
The End of Innocence: Images of Youth and Juvenile Justice Policies
In the first hundred years of the Juvenile Justice System, perceptions and images of youth have changed from wayward child to superpredator. Similarly, public policies on how to respond to adolescent delinquency have swung from “best interests of the child” to “adult crime, adult time.” The authors review prevailing images of youth and critique zero-tolerance policies which have further eroded the concept of adolescence and been used to justify a variety of punitive reforms. The authors recommend more rational and balanced policies in order to avoid the extreme reactive politicalization which characterized the 1990s.
The Endurance of Correctional Institutions: A Case Study
The capacity of prisons to endure is analyzed in the context of the current prison budding boom. This paper examines survival of a particular correctional institution that was under attack over thirty years ago because of its corrupt staff, brutal treatment of inmates, and high cost of operation. Despite extraordinarily diverse and concerted efforts to close this institution, it remains open. If even such “worst-case” prisons survive, the closure of prisons whose survival can be more easily justified is unlikely. The stock of prison space is predicted to remain very large, therefore, even when conventional wisdom about the appropriate response to crime rejects the currently favored strategy of wholesale imprisonment.
The Establishment of a Web-Based Criminal Justice Course
The proliferation of web-based teaching has drastically altered the landscape in which educational services can be delivered. This study hopes to accomplish several goals related to this proliferation. First, it intends to gather data on as many schools as possible currently offering some or all of the entire curriculum on the web. Secondly, the researchers intend to utilize the data gathered by the survey instrument to establish the best means to implement a web-based introduction to criminal justice course. Third, the study will gather student opinions from the other universities that offer criminal justice classes in electronic form. Unique to this study will be the method in which surveys are distributed. In keeping with the spirit of technological innovation, the survey will be distributed in a paper format as well as posted on a web page to access.l
The European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics: Comparative Crime Trends in 36 European Countries From 1990-1996
In 1999, the Council of Europe published the European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics. The Sourcebook covers the years 1990 to 1996 and contains information on police, prosecution, conviction and correctional statistics as well as survey data for 36 European countries. This paper’s focus will be on the methodology of the data collection process and on a comparison of crime trends according to police statistics on the so-called traditional crimes such as intentional homicide, property offenses (theft, burglary, domestic burglary), drug offenses and violent offenses (assault, rape and robbery). While property offenses reached their maximum level in 1992 and homicide in 1993/4 and started to decrease since the, drug and violent offenses were still increasing by the end of the period studied. Several theoretical explanations for these trends are discussed.
The Evolution of Pretrial Release: A Community Correction Strategy in an Era of Crime Control
The use of pretrial release has changed over time. Judges, when making the pretrial release decision, consider offender likelihood of failure to appear and risk to the community. During this Ear of Crime Control, the latter concern looms large. Thus, in order to protect the community from would-be offenders, judges may impose conditions upon pretrial releasees. Such accused offenders remain in the community, where attempts are made to monitor them closely and assist in their reintegration. This is an interesting development, for it entails social control of non-convicted offenders. In this paper, I examine the costs and benefits of restrictive pretrial release.
The Experience of Six Community Restorative Justice Projects in Washington State: Issues Impacting on Process and Outcome
The paper discusses the three year experience of the State Governor’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee funding six restorative justice prpjects in five counties within the state. These projects represent attempts to implement community based and juvenile justice system integrated strategies, using principles of restorative justice, to more effectively address issues of juvenile crime and delinquency while ensuring community safety and harmony. Activities include Victim-Offiender Mediation (VOM), offender competency development services, victim support services, and community education. Projects are required to evaluate their activity accomplishments, program outcomes and systemic impacts on juveniles, victims, the justice system and the broader community. This paper discusses issues related to successful project implementation and outcome, including issues of community and justice system readiness and organizational capacities required for implementation of community restorative justice initiatives.
The Explanatory Power of Background Variables for Morality Indexes
Personal interviews have been carried out with representative samples of more than two thousand adults in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, The questionnaire comprised a couple of hundred questions related to various legal and moral issues. A large number of indexes have been constructed and some of them will be presented in relation to important background variables. Multiple regression analyses will indicate how large a part of the variation in (he morality ‘indexes can be explained by the independent variables and which of the independent variables have the highest explanatory power. The main background variables examined are gender, age, civil status, children under 18, education, income, employment, urbanism. Stepwise multiple regression analyses have been carried out for both the Nordic countries totally and for the individual countries.
The Factors That Determine Prosecutors’ Preferences in Recommending Criminal Sentences
Rigorous study has been done on prosecutors’ decisions to file or not to file criminal charges. Fewer studies have been done on prosecutors’ decision-making processes in later stages of the justice process-including the prosecutor’s preferences in recommending criminal sentences. A sample of 430 sentence recommendations from 86 elected District Attorneys reveal variable orientations toward punitive, rehabilitative or deterrent correctional philosophies between prosecutors. Explanatory factors for this variation between prosecutors are examined. Additionally, inidividual prosecutors’ preferences are shown to be variable-as they may be attenuated, reversed or strengthened by framing effects.
The Federal Justice Statistics Program
This presentation discusses the BJS Federal Justice Statistics Program which compiles operational data from several Federal criminal justice agencies – including the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and the Bureau of Prisons. Population-based, individual-level data are available for every offender processed at each stage of the Federal criminal justice system. Available data describe decisions to prosecute and charging practices by U.S. attorneys, pretrial release and detention decisions by Federal judges, adjudications and sentencing, appeals of convictions and sentences, and offender under correctional supervision – probation, parole, supervised release, and incarceration. Data are made available to users on the Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center Internet Home Page and on CD-ROM.
The First Two Years of a Drug Treatment Court: Triumphs and Tribulations
The presentation will report the results of a process and outcome evaluation of a drug treatment court’s first two years. it will involve a discussion of process descriptives, client performance and outcomes. There will be a focus on identifying which client and process characteristics increase the likelihood of success or failure in the treatment program. Qualitative data compiled from interrviews with drug court clients and personnel will also be presented.
The Formal Structure of Correctional Organizations
Organizational contingency theorists suggest the formal structure of organizations is a product of environmental influences. Though the research on structure of organizations is quite rich, there is a dearth of research that examines the relationship between the structural characteristics of American correctional organizations and their context. This paper fills this void by examining the factors associated with spatial, occupational, functional, hierarchical and administrative differentiation in state correctional facilities.
The Friends of Siblings: A Test of Social Homogamy vs. Peer Selection for Deviant Behaviors
A research design that expands the sibling design to include friends of each sib permits a test of the determinants of friends’ behavioral similarity. Under a selection hypothesis in which friends choose one another for their phenotypic traits, friend 1 and friend 2, of sibling 1 and 2, respectively, should possess little behavioral resemblance, although the friend-sib pairs are alike behaviorally. Social homogamy processes, on the other hand, predict that all four individuals should share the same average level of behavioral resemblance. We tested these predictions in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health using self-reported delinquency. The structural equation model of delinquency was run only on full siblings because of sample size limitations. The model of delinquency yielded results strongly in support of peer selection effects. We will provide further examples of the model’s application to other deviant behaviors and will discuss extensions of the model that estimate genetic and environmental contributions to variation.
The Future Criminal Behavior of Violent Youths: Is Transfer to Adult Court Effective?
Contemporary concerns over youth violence have contributed to a variety of legislative reforms. One popular approach has been to exclude certain violent offenders from juvenile court jurisdiction and place them directly into the adult criminal justice system. A few recent studies have suggested that this tactic may be ineffective in the long run, based on the recidivism exhibited by transferred youths upon their return to society. This study examines this issue for 557 violent youths from Pennsylvania, of which 138 were waived to adult court and 419 were retained in juvenile court. The likelihood, seriousness, and timing of their recidivism will be considered, along with a number of possible explanations for the findings. The views of various Pennsylvania justice system officials also will be reported. Finally, the relevant policy implications from this and other similar research will be discussed.
The Future of Community Policing in Florida
The paper is based upon a survey sent to all Florida law enforcement agencies. Questions were clustered around issues related to the establish of ongoing community partnerships with local, state, and federal agencies, plus indigenous community organizations; community policing training; local funding initiatives; the incorporation of new technologies; and changes in organizational structure. Research focus was upon whether law enforcement agencies had so fully incorporated community policing that it would remain a permanent part of an agency’s culture, even if federal COPS Office support were withdrawn. Research was funded by the Regional Community Training Institute at St. Petersburg, FL.
The Future of the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland
This paper will examine and explore the future role of the Royal Ulster Constabulary in policing of the Nationalist Community in Northern Ireland. In light of the current social changes taking place in Northern Ireland, it is reasonable to assume that corresponding changes in delivery of police services will occur as well. Speculation by both the public and politicians has resulted in discontent and apprehension among the police officers involved in this scenario. This exploratory research effort will address these concerns from historical as well as futuristic perspectives. It is suggested that the RUC will need to employ innovative recruitment processes in order to cope with the impending organizational and environmental changes.
The Gang Leader’s Perspective
This paper will present the results of contacts I have had with leaders of the major Chicago gangs during the 1980s and 1990s. Larry Hoover, the legendary leaders of the Gangsters Disciples, and Willie Johnson, the leader of the Vice Lord Nation, receive more attention, but other gang leaders whose views are presented are Jeff Fort, former leader of the Black P. Stone Nation; and Willie Lloyd, leader of the Conservative Unknown Vice Lords. A social constructionist perspective is used as the world views, goals, and strategies of these various gang leaders are presented. An examination is made of how the views of these incarcerated gang leaders are respected on the streets by supporters of their gang culture. An attempt will be made also to examine how past influences molded the individual to become the person the is, how he amassed the power to rise to the top of the gang culture, and how this gang leader lives in several worlds at the same time.
The General Theory of Crime: Constructing the Next Generation
The General Theory of Crime has undergone a wide range of probing since the theory was first introduced a decade ago. This paper summarizes the theoretical, operational, and methodological findings found within the ten years of published research and commentaries addressing the General Theory. In addition, qualitative data from face to face interviews with Gottfredson and Hirschi are used to trace the evolution of the General Theory. As a result, and based upon existing information, a next general model is proposed for the General Theory of Crime.
The Georgia Cognitive Skills Program: Preliminary Outcoe Findings
The movement to cognitive skills and cognitive restructing models represents a systematic, wide scale implementation of a theoretically based intervention that is supported rather impressively by several recent meta-analyses of correctional effectiveness. These studies concur that programs most effective in reducing offemder recidivism are cognitive behavioral or behavioral approaches. This paper presents preliminary results of an experimental outcome evaluation of Ross and Fabiano’s Reasoning and Rehabilitation as applied to parolees throughout the State of Georgia. Six month follow-up data will be presented to determine the program’s impact on: a) reoffending, b) employment, c) technical violations, and d) drug and alcohol abuse.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Problematic Perceptions of Human Nature in Sociological Criminology
This paper examines the traditional and persistent assumptions regarding human nature in sociological criminology. It argues that serious theoretical and empirical problems arise as a direct result of relying upon these assumptions. These assumptions delimit the explanatory power of sociological criminology and may, as a consequence, threaten sociology’s place in criminology. Specifically, prevailing one-dimensional assumptions of human nature seriously hinder sociology’s ability to explain intra- and inter-contextual variation. This paper will outline each of the three major assumptions (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) of human nature along with their respective strengths and limitations. The paper also argues that a re-conceptualization of human nature – one that is multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary and, thus, integrative – is necessary to overcome the shortcomings of traditional conceptualizations. Thus, it introduces some alternative conceptualizations of human nature which represent possible multi-dimensional solutions to the limiting nature of sociological understandings. Finally, this paper outlines several criteria for the successful re-conceptualization of human nature for sociological criminology.
The Grantee’s Perspective: Comments and Concerns of a Current Grantee
A recently funded NIJ grantee (to be named) will provide an overview of his project, how he identified the data with which he is working, initiate a discussion about research and practical issues associated with secondary data analysis, and describe generally his application preparation experience. This presentation is intended to provide an example of a successful secondary data analysis application and funded project.
The Handling of Pregnant, Drug-Using Probationers by Probation Departments
Every year thousands of babies are born who were exposed to alcohol or illicit drugs while in their mother’s womb. While the government has used reactive and punitive measures to address the problem, the number of affected infants continues to rise. One resource that has not been used to deal with the problem is a state’s probation system. This paper examines the amount of educational and practical support probation departments provide to pregnant women on probation in Washington state and around the nation. Additionally, implications from the results and potential proactive and rehabilitative probation-based programs that address the problem of drug use during pregnancy will be addressed.
The Hidden Relationship Between Economic Hardship and Crime: Empirical Overcoming of Theoretical and Methodological Obstacles
Positive casual relations between economic hardship and crime on the macro-level are supported by different crime theories, which include rational choice, strain, anomie, social control, and even neo-Marxist models. Research on this subject is mostly conducted on formal unemployment and crime data. However, empirical findings supported only partially this conception. Scholarship describes theoretical and methodological obstacles as responsible for this situation. Therefore, the present research focuses on a special economic frame in order to overcome these obstacles: the Israeli economy, which has integrated Palestinian workers during the last decades. This study is based on time-series analysis of a short period characterized by severe economic hardship among Palestinians due to a loss of employment in Israel. It aims at finding a significant positive relationship between unemployment among Palestinians and property crime rates in Israel.
The Illinois Secretary of State Police: A Hybridized Model
As a content analysis of primary sources, this paper represents a socio-historical analyis of the Illinois Secretary of State Police (ISSP), Illinois’ first attempt at state-level policing. The ISSP is cast as a variant on the original model for state policing, within the mosaic of American police organizational models. It is argued that the ISSP began as a hybridized amalgam that combined divergent elements found in both the Progressive Era reform ideals for state police organizations and the ancient office of the sheriff. Lastly, the ISSP serves as an exemplar for the social, political, cultural. and historical forces responsible for organizational birth during reform eras.
The Impact of Changing the Drug Court Adjudication Process: A Comparison of Broward County Dedicated Drug Treatment Court Cohorts
Specialized drug treatment courts provide the criminal justice system an opportunity to address the problem of drugs in the United States. As drug treatment courts continue to expand, it is important to understand how changes in the courts affect the goal of offender completing the program. In Broward County, Florida, the drug treatment court changed from a post-adjudication process to a pre-adjudication process. The purpose of this article is to examine the impact this change has had on program completion. One cohort of offenders who participated in the Broward County Dedicated Drug Treatment Court when it Used a post adjudication process was compared to a second cohort from the same court after the court changed to a pre-adjudication process. A model that incorporates the type of adjudication treatment, and offender characteristics was empirically tested using logistic regression. The results indicate that offenders who were in the pre-adjudication cohort were more likely to complete the program than those offenders who were in the post-adjudication program.
The Impact of Community Policing in Chicago
This paper examines the impact of community policing on two sets of outcome measures; resident reports of neighborhood conditions and their assessments of the quality of local police service. The data are drawn from seven yearly cit-wide tracking polls involving over 14,000 respondents. Respondents are geo-coded to the beat level, where their responses can be matched to measures of program effectiveness.
The Impact of Criminal Justice System Involvement on Juvenile Offending Trajectories
Much of the current research on offending focuses on different trajectories of offending among subgroups of offenders. Offenders follow different patterns of offending, with patterns defined by age of onset or desistance, chronicity, and frequency of offending. Within these groups, we can see that all offenders do not follow the typical age-crime curve of offending. Much of this research focuses on identifying groups of offenders and describing them in terms of background or individual-level variables. Another line of research focuses on differential treatment of offenders in the juvenile justice system. Offenders with certain background characteristics (e.g. race, socioeconon-dc status) or from certain neighborhoods may experience different responses by the police or the courts. The current paper attempts to incorporate both of these lines of research. Using official delinquency records from a county in central Illinois, we look at patterns of offending in terms of both police contacts and juvenile delinquency petitions filed. We look at the effect that involvement in the juvenile justice system has on future offending and how this involvement affects patterns of delinquent offending.
The Impact of Ethnic Succession on Homicide in Southeast Los Angeles
An extensive body of research addresses the impact of race and ethnic succession on community levels of crime and violence. Few studies, however, have examined the relationship between crime and the movement of Hispanics into African-American communities. Our research evaluates changes in homicide between 1980 and 1999 in the Southeast area of Los Angeles, an impoverished area with a history of chronic violence in which Hispanics have supplanted African Americans as the majority group. Using micro-level data from police case files, we assess changes in the level and characteristics of homicide in light of the changing demographics of place. We utilize data on ethnic composition kept by local public housing offices and by public schools in the area to capture annual changes in neighborhood composition. Within-group homicides are expected to decrease while between-group homicides are expected to increase during the period. We expect the most pronounced changes to occur in youth homicides, especially those involving gangs.
The Impact of In-Prison Therapeutic Communities on Rates of Institutional Disorder
There is a growing emphasis in corrections on the treatment of inmates with drug problems. The typical method of evaluating drug treatment programs is to examine how the treatment effects the inmate in terms of relapse and recidivism. Much less emphasis has been placed on investigating how the inclusion of a treatment program in a correctional setting effects the institution itself. Those studies that have explored this issue have found positive effects on management for those prisons operating therapeutic communities. This study examines the consequences of oeprating a therapeutic community (called KEY) in four Delaware prisons. The effect on management is examined from a perspective of institutional disorders. Disorders, from less severe inmate rule violations to more serious assaults, are investigated. Rates of serious and less-serioud disorder are examined within the KEY and compared with rates outside of the KEY (general population). Findings indicate that in-prison therapeutic communiteis affect the rates of disorder among inmates. The impact of these findings for prison management is discussed.
The Impact of Juvenile Court Decisions on Recidivism
The Juvenile Court has many functions to perform and many factors to consider in responding to delinquent petitions. There is an increased social and political effort to make juvenile courts accountable on a single bottom-line measure: recidivism. This paper endeavors to place the court’s interventions in perspective relative to demographics, legal charges, time between petitions and social history information. Data were gathered on all juveniles in a southern city who entered the system between January 1, 1992 and December 31, 1993 and who had neither aged-out (reached 18 and had their records destroyed) or who continued to have an active file in 1997 when the data were collected. The sample is of closed juvenile cases where there has been sufficient time to follow the sequence of activity and interventions and statistically assess the impact of legal and demographic variables on repeat offenses. The findings suggest that personal and social demographic variables impact arecidivism more than any court action. Court actions, themselves, do not show a statistical relationship with the future behaviors of the juveniles processed by the court. The data show that 52% of the first petitions are either voluntarily dismissed or deferred and the delinquent reappears in the system. Dismissing of petitions may benefit the system, but it does not appear to impact future behavior. The data also show that the earlier the court gets involved, the greater the likelihood that there will not be subsequent petitions. This suggests that early intervention has a positive impact. Thus, ignoring problems and behaviors until age 12 or older increases the likelihood of reappearing in court. The data also suggest that being identified as BEH (Behaviorally and Emotionally Handicapped) is significantly related to repeat offending. School performance has always been a good indicator of potential delinquency and these data confirm that relationship.
The Impact of Military Service in Vietnam on Offending and Drug-Use Across the Life-Course
Prior research shows that military service disconnects men from past social and personal disadvantages, and thus fundamentally alters their normal life-course patterns of development. Much of this research, however, has been conducted only with World War 11 veterans. Relatively few studies have examined the influence of military service in Vietnam and its impact on altering individual trajectories of development. Through Latent Growth Curve Models, this study will examine the effects associated with military service during Vietnam. Longitudinal data collected by the Marion County Youth study (1964-1979) were used to track a sample of 1227 male over a 25 year period. Analyses of these data revealed substantial nonrandom selection effects associated with service in Vietnam. Lower class youths with already established delinquent records were significantly more likely to have served in Vietnam. However, it also appears that military service fundamentally altered individual drug-use and offending patterns. Being in Vietnam was associated with a significant accelerated decrease in the overall delayed formation of drug culture embeddedness.
The Impact of Multijurisdictional Task Forces on Drug Crime
The federal Byrne program provides funding for states and communities to organize and implement multijurisdictional task forces to deal with drug crimes. The State of Florida has used Byrne funds to create 44 such task forces. An evaluation of the impact of these task forces was begun in 1999. Researchers had access to data from all quarterly reports from 36 task forces. Interviews were also conducted with all task force coordinators and other key personnel. Major findings are that: (1) task forces are not well integrated vertically with state and federal agences; (2) task forces are well integrated horizontally between local law enforcement agencies, and (3) task forces have resulted in increased arrests for drug-related crime. A logistic regression model indicates that both horizontal coordination and the expenditures for task force activities are strongly related to arrest rates.
The Impact of Situational and Cultural Factors Influencing Victimization and Offending Patterns of Black Women
This paper will address some of the historical and contemporary factors which has exposed Black women to violence in personal relationships, cultural and social context. I will present literature in the field which traces the developmental relationship between early experiences of experiencing or being exposed to violence and being perpetrators of violent offenses. Traditional theories suggest that there is a linear relationship between childhood abuse and later offending. I will argue that there are a number of intervening factors including, cultural indicators, environmental stressors, and institutional violence that increases the rate of offending. I will further argue that in many situations Black women’s engagement in violent offending is often as a means of survival and ‘resistance’, negotiating every day personal, institutional and environmental violence.
The Impact of Truth in Sentencing on the Treatment of Incarcerated Sex Offenders
The trend in sentencing has been a movement toward retributive justice and an increased dependence on incarceration. Part of this trend has been the adoption of “Truth in Sentencing” legislation, which requires offenders to serve a minimum of 85% of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole. This paper is concerned with the effect that such broad-based policies will have on the more specific goal of offender rehabilitation. One concern is that by severely restricting parole, incentives for inmates to participate in rehabilitiative programming or to abide by institutional rules will greatly diminish. This study focuses exclusively on sex offenders confined for treatment in two states. Specifically, it compares incarcerated sex offenders from New Jersey (which meets the 85% federal standard for truth in sentencing) to a matched comparison group from Massachusetts (which does not meet the 85% federal standard). Relying upon information from institutional case files and ANCOVA statistical analysis, this study compares court ordered sentence length, changes in actual time served until parole eligibility, rates of participation in prison treatment programs, and rates of disciplinary infractions.
The Impact of VAWA: What Counts: Preliminary Findings
The 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and subsequent amendments, grants, and publications are among the most recent federal efforts to augment state and local responses to victims of violence and violent offenders. LINC is spearheading a study by team of senior researchers to determine specific types of impact of VAWA in four states and counties. Case studies in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Oregon are incorporating a combination of methods including interviews with a wide spectrum of key state holders, on-site observations of exemplary VAWA-funded approaches, and life course analysis utilizing graphical tools and data from state and local needs assessments and evaluations as well as the FBI supplementary homicide reports. Initial findings suggest that the impact of VAWA goes well beyond the funding provided for services, prosecution and training. Specific types of impact and barriers to change depend on the stage, type, impetus, and organizational arrangements for developing state and local strategies for reducing violence against women and increasing offender accountability at the time VAWA was enacted.
The Implications of Criminology of an Anti-juridical Conception of Social Order
Western political and philosophical thought has been dominated by a juridical tradition which is exemplified in Hobbes contractarianism. Juridicism presumes a state of nature where each individual rationally surrenders some of his/her rights to the State in exchange for the regular satisfaction of most of their desires (e.g., for security). The intervention of the State then marks a break with the state of nature and makes sociality possible through the use of reason and suspension of human passions. The State then asserts its power as a function of its legitimacy derived from Reason. Against this, Spinoza presents a conception of society not based on organisation (the imposition of a Form from the outside), but of composition. This rejects the Hobbesian contract on the grounds that surrendering our power to a third party (the State) is antithetical to our interests. The existence of the State, according to Spinoza, does not limit our freedom, but rather by makes that freedom possible by extending our powers. This paper will explore the implications of an anti-juridical conception of the social order and, in particular, its implications for agency which are crucial to both Liberal and Marxist accounts of social change. This theory when applied to criminology may open up new perspectives on questions of criminality and its relation to the State.
The Importance of Frank Tannenbaum to Criminology
An analysis of many contemporary works in Criminology may lead one to conclude that the contribution of Frank Tannenbaum is of minimal significance. This is exemplied by the very small and even nonexistent reference to his work. This roundtable discussion explores the failure of contemporary works in Criminology to provide an adequate discussion of the importance of Frank Tannenbaum to the Interactionist School of Criminology. This will include an in depth discussion of his major publications relevant to the discipline as well as a detailed discussion of the “stamping” and “tagging” processes and his “dramatization of evil” concept. Finally, suggestions as to why his work may have been historicalloy neglected will be discussed.
The Importance of Timing: The Varying Impact of Childhood and Adolescent Maltreatment on Multiple Outcome Problems
Child maltreatment has been related to a number of negative outcomes during adolescence. However, researchers have not clearly specified the developmental stages when maltreatment occurs to see if there are differential effects. Typically, for example, previous measures of ‘childhood maltreatment’ combine two distinct types: those who were maltreated in childhood only and those who were maltreated during both childhood and adolescence. If the latter group actually drives the observed relationship. then there may be less of an empirical link between child maltreatment and later outcomes, unless maltreatment persists into adolescence. Adolescent maltreatment has also received very little attention. To examine these issues, data are drawn from the Rochester Youth Development Study, an ongoing longitudinal investigation of a representative community sample of adolescents, The Rochester project has information on substantiated cases of maltreatment among the sample subjects, including the developmental chronology of maltreatment incidents. Adolescent outcome measures include: delinquency. violence, drug and alcohol use, school dropout, teen parenthood and arrest histories, In this analysis, we examine the impact of the timing of maltreatment on these outcomes holding relevant variables constant.
The Imposition of Criminal Sentencing in Federal Courts: The Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender
Researchers continue to shed light on the importance of examining the contextual influences that impact the imposition of criminal sentences (see Walker, et al 2000 for a review). These findings reveal that while the legal factors of a defendants case are the primary determinants of the harshness of criminal sentencing, these are not the only factors that impact such decision making. This analysis focuses attention on the intersection of race, ethnicity and gender on a range of offense types in the context of federal sentencing. Additional extra-legal variables will be introduced into the analysis, with particular focus on the impact of defendant’s dependent children. Two harshness of sentencing variables will be analyzed (prison/no prison and length of sentence), with a range of legal and bureaucratic control variables.
The Increased Criminalization of Racialized Women and Girls in Canada
In this paper I will provide a brief historical overview of the developent of juvenile and adult (in)justice processes in Canada, followed by a description of the current situation for women and girls who are charged, prosecuted and imprisoned in Canada. I will also highlight some of the issue areas and some of the particular circumstances faced by criminalized women, especially those who are young, racialized, poor, lesbian and/or disabled.
The Indeterminancy of Forecasts of Crime Rates and Juvenile Offenses
How much crime will there be in the United States in the next five or ten years? Will crime rates go up or down or remain about the same? Since juvenile crime often is a leading edge of crime problems to come, how many juvenile offenses will there be? Will the number of juvenile serious violent offenders/homicide perpetrators increase? What will be the resulting demands on the juvenile and criminal justice systems? Over the past three decades, criminologists have made a number of attempts to address these and related questions. This usually has taken the form of efforts to explain past variations, and/or project future levels of, crime by applying techniques of demographic and statistical analysis. The purposes of this paper are twofold. First, we review a number of extant demographic projections of crime rates and offenses that haVe been made for the U.S. over the past few decades, with a special focus on projections of juvenile crime rates/offenses. it will be seen that one characteristic of most extant projections of juvenile and criminal offenses is that, until recently, they have prodeuced only expected or average values of future levels of crime rates or offenses. But temporal variability of age-specific crime rates has been a key characteristic of offending rates and numbers of offenses disregard the uncertainty associated with such projections. To emphasize the significance of the uncertainty of projections of criminal and/or juvenile offenses, a second objective of the paper is to describe some exercises in the construction of plausible national projections of expected numbers of male juvenile homicide offenders — as well as upper and lower bounds for the expected numbers — for each year from 1998 to 2007. A final section contains a statement of the major conclusions from our review and analyses.
The Indiana Victim Services Assessment Project: Current Findings
The Indiana Victim Services Assessment Project is examining the statewide system of victim services and assessing how well victims’ needs are being met. In the first phase of research, we focused on the services provided by victim assistants and their views of victims’ needs. In the current phase, we report on our in-person interviews with crime victims about their perceived needs and views of the criminal justice experiences. We are using a random sample of 1000 crime victims whose case was filed in 1998. These victims come from 20 jurisdictions around Indiana. We will discuss findings on the relationship between access to victim services and participation in the prosecution process.
The Influence of Race, Gender, and Class on Female Delinquency
Theories of female delinquency have historically been derived from androcentric perspectives, extrapolating from data based only on males. In particular, recent feminist research has been interested in the intersection among race, class, and gender. Using the 1983 National Youth Survey (a representative sample of 1,725 young adults aged 17 to 26 from the U.S.), we explored the relationship between delinquency and race, gender, and class, testing the thesis that these three variables act together to explain a significant amount of variation in self-reported delinquency. Among both females and males, gender (being male), drug use, and delinquent peers emerged as the most substantial correlates. having a lower yearly income was less important, but statistically significant. Among females only, race, drug use and having been beaten up by others emered as significant. Having a lower income was still important, but less substantive. The foregoing results have implications both for feminist epistemology as well as critical, feminist analyses of traditional data sets.
The Insanity Defense Re-Examined: A Legal and Historical Analysis
This paper considers problematic issues with the defense of insanity in light of its legal purpose to divert defendants who, as a result of mental disease or disorder, are not responsible for the criminal act with which they have been charged. The paper argues that although the insanity defense has been characterized a reflection of the fundamental moral principles of our criminal law, there has been a recurrent historical problem regarding the place of “volitional impairment” in the legal interpretation of insanity. Drawing on key court decisions, the paper examines the problematic relationship between the legal definitions of insanity and the psychiatric/psychological interpretations of mental disorder.
The Intended “Hawthorne Effect”: Program Evaluation as Outcomes Monitoring and as Outcomes Management
The paper describes a research methodology for a program evaluation of a substance abuse treatment center in which the research team deliberately tries to influence outcomes of treatment. Based on the findings revealed in the Hawthorne Studies, the premise is that if we know someone is watching us, sometimes we change our behavior. But rather than view this effect as a research bias, the author argues that the research process itself may help motivate managers and staff to increase both productivity and effectiveness. The research design included both process and outcomes measurement. Program processes studied included: client assessments, case management, and case follow-up. Program Outcomes measurements were made in three areas of post-treatment adjustment: (1) Evidence of sobriety; (2) evidence of improved change in quality of community adjustment; and (3) evidence of post-treatment criminal behavior and reduced conflict with the law. A unique feature of the research design was its use of ongoing research activities to deliberately impact program process and outcomes thus introducing the role of outcomes monitoring and outcomes management as a permanent feature of the treatment process. By periodically reporting on clients’ status to treatment staff during the coure of treatments, a goal was to have the research evaluation make positive contributions to the delivery of services and thus to deliberately effect program outcomes. The completed study results are summarized to provide a base to support a system of “outcomes management.”
The John P. Craine House: A Community Residetial Program for Female Offenders and Their Children
Special issues concerning female offenders who are also mothers receive occasional, but relatively little has been developed in the way of policies or programs for them. The majority of incarcerated women are mothers, and the pains of imprisonment are borne by their children as well, many of whom may themselves develop problems requiring interventions. The John P. Craine House is a community residential program for female offenders and their young children, intended as an alternative to prison and as a way to keep the women and children together. Craine House is the first such program in Indiana and one of only a small number throughout the country. Craine House is in its seventh year of operation, and has developed an impressive record of success in preventing recidivism and promoting the successful reintegration of its residents into the community. This paper describes the program, presents preliminary evaluation information documenting the effectiveness of the program, and discusses the potential value of such programs for community corrections.
The Judicial Practice of Juvenile Pre-Trial Detention in Eastern Germany After the Reunification
Juvenile delinquency in Eastern Germany has experienced a major increase since the reunification of Germany in 1990, due to the political, social, and economic changes. In the same time, the number of cases of pre-trial detention in the former GDR has increased rapidly both for adults and juveniles. Still after nearly ten years, the situation of pre-trial detention is a major problem especially for juveniles as the living conditions in pre-trial detention are worse than for sentenced prisoners. The author’s study deals with juvenile pre-trial detention in Eastern Germany and gives an overall impression of collaboration of judges and the youth welfare boards, and of impediments in this process. The author interviewed judges, prosecutors, the juvenile court’s aid, prison officers, social pedagogues and juvenile pre-trial detainees in a remand prison in Eastern Germany. The results show that a lack of information and collaboration causes an increasing risk of imprisonment, whereas frequent communication between judges and the other persons concerned can avoid unnecessary incarceration and its negative impacts on juvenile delinquents. At the same time the study shows that judicial orders to pre-trial detention are not only based on the reasons foreseen by law, but that pre-trial detention is often instrumentalized as a measure of education or crisis intervention or for reasons such as general prevention.
The Just Community: A Needs-Based Perspective on Justice That Renders Criminology Obsolete
This paper will explore the requirements of a just community, specifically its basis in a needs-based economy (as opposed to a merits-and rights-based economy). The definitions of harm within each economy will be explored, and it will be shown that a definition of justice as equal well-being renders state-based enforcement systems obsolete. This includes criminology as well. Ways in which each person might embrace a just community will be offered, thereby making the possibilities for change available to everyone, everywhere, now.
The Killings of Our Police Officers: A Social Disorganization Model
Data from the FBI and the United States Census Bureau will be used to identify characteristics of urban areas which have an impact on the homicide of police officers while on duty. Relying on the literature regarding the use of force both by and against police officers, the data will be analyzed within a social disorganization framework, examining the effects of poverty, population size, mobility and heterogeneity, while controlling for organizational variables (such as department size and calls for service) and general levels of violence (i.e. the Index I crime rate). It is hypothesized that, holding constant organizational variables and crime levels, those cities which exhibit higher degrees of social disorganization will experience greater numbers of the murder of police officers. As this phenomenon takes the form of count data, represented by non-negative integers, the model will be tested using Poisson/negative binomial regression.
The Kings County Specialized Felony Domestic Violence Court: Implementation Issues and Impact Findings
The Kings County (Brooklyn) Supreme Court has operated a specializcd felony domestic violence court since June, 1996 with the goal of mounting an effective and coordinated response to Serious domestic violence crimes. The court’s model incorporates many progressive features, including a coordinated network of criminal justice and social service partner agencies; enhanced information flow on cases; dedicated personnel; vertical processing and standard practices; an emphasis on defendant monitoring, intervention, and accountability; and enhanced protection for and services to victims. The National Institute of Justice funded this research-practitioner partnership, in which the Center for Court Innovation has been active in the development and implementation of the court model, and the Urban Institute serves as an independent evaluator to assess the implementation and impact of this approach. Qualitative and quantitative findings address several implementation issues, including the development and evolution of the model; strategies used to achieve the model’s goals; and current policy and operational challenges. Conclusions from the impact analysis will be presented, describing the model’s effects on case processing, case outcomes, and system functioning. In particular, the analysis addresses the court’s role in monitorinig defendants and enhancing victim safety.
The Kintock Group, Inc.-Employment Resource Center: A Two-Year Post-Release Follow-Up Study
The Kintock Group, Inc. Employment Reference Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a nonprofit, privately run community based correctional program that is designed to specifically assist the criminal justice system in the reduction and prevention of criminal activity. The major core components of the program is assessment, case management, substance abuse treatment, workshop participation, life skills, employment referral, job placements, employment counseling and job retention support. The overall client population is adult male and female offenders from culturally diverse backgrounds whom have served time in state and federal institutions. The Kintock Group, Inc. and Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, engaged in a collaborative two-year follow-up research endeavor. The study compared three groups of clients in Pennsylvania: Kintock Program participants, Community Corrections Center participants and Paroled participants. The study tracked each group for a two-year follow-up time period in reference to post-release recommitment activity. All groups were analyzed in respect to recommitment rates between groups. Study variables included: age, race, employment status, offense originally committed, and recommitment data in time period intervals of three, six, nine, twelve, fifteen, eighteen, twenty-one and twenty-four months. Client history files were compiled from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole.
The Legacy of the COPS Program
The presentations will focus on two unique aspects that address the legacy of the COPS Program, which was funded through the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1) the role of Federalism in Fostering Community Policing, and (b) Re-Engineering Strategies Used by the Federal Government to Achieve Its Goal of Hiring 100,000 Police Officers.
The Legal System’s Treatment of Serious Crimes Prior to and Since the Enactment of Hate Crime Laws
While there has been significant research on the effects of hate crimes on victims, there has been much less research into the effects of hate crime laws, especialloy with regard to the proportion of minority offenderss actually convicted. For example, black and Native American persons are twice as likely as Asian and white persons to be subject to arrest for commiting a hate crime. Moreover, hate crime laws mandate additional years in prison. Yet black inmates comprise 50% of the prison population but black persons represent less than 13% of the general population. However, it is not clear whether hate crime laws have in effect operated to maintain disproportionate prison populations, because it is not clear who has actually been convicted of hate crimes. To determine how the legal system processes hate crime incidents, the research reported in this paper is based on an analysis of hate crime convictions, as noted in appellate legal decisions dating from the 1800s to the present. While crimes motivated by hate were not called “hate crimes” until recently, through the use of vast computerized legal databases, it is possible to find comparable crimes that occurred before the enactment of hate crime laws and compare them with recent hate crime prosecutions. In particular, this paper contains a discussion of whether serious hate crimes have been treated any differently since the enactment of hate crime laws.
The Legislative Response to Violence in our Public School Systems
With an increased public awareness and concern about violence in our secondary and elementary school systems, education professionals, citizens and legislators are suggesting numerous methods to control or end this phenomena. These suggestions appear to fall within the following categories: stricter policies for students, increased school security, interpersonal skills and education for students and techers, fundamental changes in school organization, and changes in state and local laws. This paper will focus on a review and comparison of the fifth category, legislative responses aimed at controlling school violence.
The Management of Gangs in Prison: The Effectiveness of Efforts to Identify and Validate Membership in Strategic Threat Groups
In response to an apparent increase in the degree of organization among and violence by prison gangs, or Security Threat Groups, a number of prison administrations recently have developed policies designed to control these groups by removing their members and deterring future members. These programs typically rely on special intelligence units to identify suspects and to validate membership on the basis of specified, weighted criteria. Once validated, STG members are removed from the general population and isolated in separate, maximum security facilities. Based on a review of official records and both interviews and questionnaires with correctional officers, command staff and administrators working at twenty-one facilities statewide, our study of the Arizona Department of Corrections’ STG Management Program focuses on both the procedures used and the outcomes achieved. In this paper we describe the nature of the program, the procedures used, and the strengths and weaknesses of this method of identifying and isolating members of strategic threat groups, concluding with several general policy recommendations.
The Marginalization of Mating Effort Strategy in Our Modern Society
Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) theory of low self-control is compatible with the mating effort strategy proposed by the evolutionary psychologists Harpending and Draper (1988). They describe simple societies characterized by either mating effort or parenting effort. They suggest that in modern complex societies, the lowest SES groups are characterized by mating effort, whereas the upper SES groups are characterized by parenting effort. We demonstrate that the model of mating effort strategy assists in understanding a significant portion of the crime committed in the U.S., particularly street crime in poor urban communities. We propose that our modern parenting effort culture is a result of increasing social complexity. We suggest that a historical social process (industrialization) has promoted a parenting effort culture among the middle classes and has led to the increasing marginalization of mating effort strategy. Following Linda Mealey’s (1995) emphasis on early intervention and methods of channeling antisocial behavior into prosocial activities, we offer policy consideration.
The Meaning of Citizenship in Urban Safety Policies
Policies may be seen as a social total phenomenon: they have economic, legal, cultural and moral implications. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the meaning of “citizenship” in urban safety policies. Urban safety has become the focus of criminal policies at both the national and local levels. They imply a new mode of governance, especially at city level, by being deployed through partnerships between public institutions, market agencies and citizens’ organizations. As urban safety, in the Italian context, is supported by a discourse which makes it into a citizen’s right, it becomes important to see what is intended by “citizen”, how inclusive is this term, its social and cultural connotations, its political implications, its difference with the welfare state meaning and its consequences for notions of social order and social control.
The Methamphetamine Problem in Little Rock: Contrasting Objectivist and Constructivist Approaches
Claims are abundant that methamphetamine abuse represents a social problem now reaching epidemic proportions in many regions of the United States. As part of an evaluation of a federally-funded anti-methamphetamine initiative in Little Rock, a variety of measures of the local methamphetamine problem have been collected. These include “objective” measures of prevalence of methamphetamine use in the area, related indicators of the nature of the local methamphetamine market, and. measures of local law enforcement intervention efforts. These are assessed in context of statements made by local “claims makers” derived from interview data and media representations of the local problem. A synthesis of the differing portraits of the local problem is attempted by utilizing a contextual constructionist perspective. Implications for public policy are also presented.
The Moderating Effect of Theoretical Models of Delinquent Behavior on Interventions: A Meta-Analysis
Many responses to the problem of juvenile crime surround the use of interventions. As Gendreau and Ross (1979) discussed, one factor contributing to the difference between programs that “work” and those that do not is the conceptualization of criminal behavior on which the program is based. The conceptual model of criminal behavior determines the goals of the intervention and the mediating factors on which the program should focus. The model also serves to guide program planners and practitioners in terms of the techniques they should employ to reduce juvenile crime (Martin, Sechrest & Redner, 1981). The proposed paper focuses on two such models: the medical model and the socio/ecological model. The medical model holds the view that delinquent behavior is a function of some underlying deficit within the individual that requires a “cure” through some type of intervention or treatment (Izzo & Ross, 1990). By contrast, in the socio/ecological model the predominate focus of change is the individual’s environment. The purpose of the proposed resarch is to provide a quantitative integration of the findings of individual studies on the effectiveness of interventions with officially delinquent youth using meta-analysis. Specially, the efficacy of the medical model approach versus the socio/ecological approach will be presented.
The Montreal School Environment Project: The Theoretical Model and the Validity of the School Socioeducational Environment Questionnaire
The university-community collaborative project pursues three interrelated goals: 1) to validate and normalize a new instrument to asseess the socio-educational environment of secondary schools (the SEZ), 2) to conduct an epidemiological study on school victimization and violence perception and, 3) to develop a standardized procedure, based upon the school socio-educational profiles, to guide and support the establishment of comprehensive and school-wide violence prevention programs. In this presentation, we will first briefly present our conceptualization of the school socio-educational environment, which integrates and distinguishes three specific dimensions: a) the quality of the different types of school climate, b) the perceptions of school problems, and c) the perception of the quality of educational practices. next, we will report the first results on the validity of the SEQ which was administered to students (N=18,500) and school personell (n-2,500) (two adapted versions) in 50 public French Canadian high schools of the Isle and the suburbs of Montreal. In addition to the self reported measures, this study included official school records on attendance, school dropout, grade retention, etc., as well as official police records on known violent incidents for each targeted schools. Results regarding the internal and discriminant validity will be presented,
The National Hate Crime Data Collection Program: Developing a Method for Measuring and Predicting the Occurrence of Bias Crime
This paper begins with an historical account of the National Hate Crime Data Collection Program which has been managed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation since passage of the Hate Crime Statistics Act in 1990. Next, the paper examines law enforcement participation in the program. Regional differences in participation rates are noted. Then, the paper presents an analysis of current trends in the national hate crime data. Trends in crimes by specific bias type are examined. Finally, the paper presents a promising inferential model–Tobit analysis–for analyzing hate crimes and its correlates. Demographic and socioeconomic data from 96 counties in three states are presented to demonstrate the utility of this model.
The NYPD: What Went Wrong?
There is a massive fracture in the type of attention that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has received in the period between 1994-1996 in contrast to the years between 1997 and today. During the first period, the department received nationwide and international acclaim for the City’s dramatic reduction in crime. During the second period, however, voices that previously claimed that the price tag of the NYPD’s crime reduction strategies was harassment and alienation of minority communities, received far more attention. For many, the Louima, Diallo, Dorismond and other incidents became the banner and rallying cry for this position. This paper explores the reasons for this dramatic shift in public perceptions and positions. It attempts to go beyond the customary liberal and conservative rhetoric on appropriate police practice by analyzing crucial changes in the NYPD’s organization, management and crime strategies. This study draws upon department and community interviews in addition to unprecedented access to departmental documents. It findings provide lessons not only for the NYPD but for other police organizations currently embarking upon significant changes in policy and direction.
The Panopticon Revisited: Reflections of Benthan and Foucault on Touring a Supermax (ADX) Prison
The Supermax (ADX) prison of the late 20th century has more in common with early prisons such as Bentham’s notions of utilitarianism as seen in the Panopticon, the Walnut Street Jail, and Eastern Penitentiary as well as Foucault’s notions of surveillance and regime than many persons would choose to admit. Several penological models (penitence-incapacitation-rehabilitation-reintegration) have replaced the original philosophy of penitence with punitive incapacitation being the most current model. This paper traces the development of segregation within American prisons and their impact on philosophies of incarceration and treatment of offenders as currently manifested within the Supermax prison.
The PCL-R in the Courtroom
The use of the Psychopathy Checklist – Revised (PCL-R) as a measure of future dangerousness has produced alarming developments in courtrooms across the country, where judges and juries are being encouraged to rely on it as the basis for deprivation of liberty or even deprivation of life. The PCL-R is being promoted as a risk assessment tool in a wide variety of forensic settings, notwithstanding the fact that it imperfectly predicts violence, particularly violence that occurs in institutional settings, and has not been systematically studied in youth, women and African Americans. Despite such concerns, expert witnesses are touting the PCL-R as a scientific and valid basis for decisions to execute individuals, deny release to pre-trial detainees, and impose involuntary indeterminate commitment to psychiatric institutions. This presentation will focus on the practical and ethical consequences of the PCL-R’s use in the courtroom, describe examples of the test’s misuse, and explore some troubling implications of the construct of psychopathy.
The Perception of Lethality and a Homeowner Defensive Scenario
A firearm’s appearance may have a powerful psychological impact as people may focus on the weapon to the exclusion of other factors during a crime. According to the literature, weapons may prune aggressive attitudes and gender differences exist in these attitudes. In legal circles and those teaching self-defense, a firearm’s appearance is of concern. Instructors may recommend to students that they pick one weapon over another due to the impact of its perceived lethality in court. To test these factors, we presented a scenario of a homeowner shooting a burglar who was caught in the act. The homeowner was not engaged in physical conflict with the burglar. The homeowner was on trial for the fatal shooting. Of interest was the type of firearm used by the homeowner. It could be a common sporting firearm or one usually described by the popular press as looking evil (“assault” weapon is a technical distinction). Subjects were asked to judge the innocence or guilt of the homeowner and to recommend a sentence. There were strong gender differences with females, who thought the homeowner to be guilty, recommending a stiff sentence. Interestingly and surprisingly, firearm type had a marginal effect.
The Phoenix Barrier Project: A Time Series Evaluation of CPTED
Many cities have implemented Crime Prevnetion Through Environmental Design (CPTED) approaches to reduce various types of criminal activity, namely, drug trafficking and subsequent violent street crimes. A widely used approach involves installing concrete barriers (also referred to as Phoenix Barriers) that change the flow of vehicle traffic into and out of the problem neighborhood. previous research on the effects of CPTED approaches is scant, and is often limited to anecdotal evidence or weak research designs. This paper will present an evaluation of a Northeastern city’s Phoenix Barrier project. Using aggregated police reports for a ten year period, the evaluation employs an interrupted time series, design to measure changes in violent and drug-related crime in the barrier area, contiguous neighborhoods, and throughout the city. Preliminary findings suggest the Phoenix Barriers produced immediate and long term decreases in drug-related crime in the barrier area. Similar decreases were not observed in the contiguous neighborhoods or throughout the rest of the city. However, decreases in violent crimes in the barrier area were mirrored by a reduction in violent crime in other neighborhoods.
The Phoenix Experience With the COPS Methamphetamine Initiative
Methamphetamine use is not a new phenomenon in Phoenix. Data from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program indicates that more than 16 per cent of male arrestees and 22 per cent of female arrestees tested positive for methamphetamine in 1998. To help combat the increasing methamphetamine problem in the city, Phoenix became one of six sites to be part of the Community Oriented Policing Services Methamphetamine Initiative project. A cornerstone of the Phoenix Meth Initiative is that of public education using innovative strategies. Included in the public education component of this project is training by law enforcement, a drug-free work place program, and a non-traditional media campaign. This last component of the project involves disseminating anti-meth messages on billboards, grocery bags, video store postcards, and commercials shown before feature films in local movie theaters. This paper focuses on the results of a citizen phone survey which was conducted to determine the level of increased awareness about methamphetamine through the educational strategies employed in the Phoenix Meth Initiative.
The Police Criminal Investigation Process: Findings From a National Survey on Policy and Practices
Criminal investigation is a fundamental mission of the police in the United States. However, this topic has received little scientific attention. Much of the available knowledge comes from a small number of dated ethnographic studies and a controversial report (The Rand Study) by Greenwood, et al in the 1970’s. We recently completed a study to update and expand on the limited information about the investigation process. We surveyed a nationally representative sample of police agencies. The sample included over 3,000 state, county and municipal general purpose agencies and included all agencies with more than 100 sworn employees, all state police agencies, and a representative sample of more than 15,000 smaller county and municipal agencies. The data collection instrument covered five major areas: organizational and personnel matters, the roles of investigators and patrol officers, investigation management and administration, investigation support (forensics and technology issues), and investigative effectiveness. Our paper will present an overview of the major findings and will consider these in light of changes in the investigation process over the past three decades.
The Police Response to Gangs: A Multi Site Study
This project is systematically describing, analyzing and evaluating the programs and activities used by specialized police gang units by using filed-based research methods. This includes an effort to develop a deeper understanding of how and why police gang units respond to community gang problems in the way that they do. The project objectives are to: (1) identify and examine the factors leading to the creation of specialized police gang units and examine how these factors influence the gang unit’s response to their community’s gang problem; (2) examine alternative ways in which police agencies organize their resources in order to respond to the local gang problem; (3) examine the beliefs of the gang unit officers and how their beliefs might impact the police response to gangs; and (4) identify the activities that gang unit officers perform to clarify the role that police gang units play within their communities.
The Politics of Doing Policy Research: Don’t Confuse Me With Data, I Already Know the Right Answer
We report on two recent experiences of policy research in California based on the results from a statewide survey of Californians we conducted in the Spring and summer of 1999. We interviewed 4,250 residents of California and asked questions about their support of ‘Three Strikes’ sentencing policies and about attitudes towards Police, Police use of Force, and public review of police conduct. Upon the circulation of two press releases of basic results concerning these two areas (2 of several areas the survey focused on), the barrage of reaction followed. Reactions came from both groups who thought our findings justified their opinions and those who decried our results as they disagreed with their opinions. We were asked by some to subvert ethical principles of research, to violate conflict of interest laws, and to endorse political campaigns (something which is against the law in California). We were also accused of fraud, libeled, and attacked as incompetent in public meetings and in the Press. The common theme throughout these contacts with the partisans was that no one expressed any interest in understanding our results, only claiming or defaming that which supported or opposed their already firmly entrenched points of view. How could we have approached these situations differently? Was our attempt to introduce data into highly charged political debates worth the trouble? In what directions should we proceed to increase the debate around such issues and provide citizens in general with more information about such issues? These questions will be addressed along with some recommendations to those wishing to engage in similar policy research.
The Politics of Scapegoatism: The Juvenile Case in America
This paper critically examines the increasing incidents of juvenile violence in America. From all indications, juvenile violence in America is viewed as a serious issue within the criminal justice community and within society at large. Although statistics show that crimes committed by juveniles are declining drastically, a majority of the American people doubt the claim. Because of this perception, many jurisdictions are now enacting legislations to try juveniles as adults for committing certain crimes, such as murder. To a certain degree, politicians, some members of the law enforcement, the media and some social analysts have attributed the country’s social ills to juvenile delinquency. In many respects, the youths of today are blamed for the moral decadence of the country, and they are also blamed for most of the violence that has overwhelmed the American society. If these allegations are true, then, the issues this paper addresses are who taught these youths to be prone to violence? Are these youths not products of the American society? And if they are, why are they singled out for ridiculing? The paper concludes that the youths in America are being used as scapegoats for the failure of the system and to a certain extent, for the failure of the parents of the youths in question in molding and shaping them to become good citizens.
The Portland STACS Initiative on Youth Gun Violence
The Portland SACSI project is characterized by a “three legged” architecture of enforcement, supervision and outreach in addressing the problem of youth gun violence. The research is keyed to these organizational and functional units, with projects aimed at validation of existing experiential knowledge and filling the gaps in knowledge which are essential for strategic planning. This paper will review and report preliminary findings from several of these research initiatives including open-ended interviews with the target population, systematic surveys of the target population, network analysis, over representation of minorities and evaluation of the CBS program (Community Based Strategies).
The Power of Biography: Criminal Policy and Prison Life in the Swedish Welfare State
In analyzing the biographical discourse, my aim is not to construct, but to deconstruct the descriptive organization of lives in prison in biographical terms. I see it as a way of dis-embedding the disciplining power of individuals. I regard individuality as a form of social control that individuals exercise in telling their lives. Biography is a way of constructing coherent pasts that make sense to the present, The criminal policy of the Swedish welfare state has been founded on the ideology of treatment and social engineering. This in turn developed from the emergence of new forms of exercise of power and concomitant new forms of knowledge during the nineteenth century and gave rise to what Foucault calls “knowable man”, conceptualized in the terms of subjectivity, personality, and individuality. The new knowledge of the individual also produced a new reality, where one had to subjectivize oneself as an individual, good or bad.
The Preoccupation With ‘Theoretical Coherence’ in Sentencing: An Alternate Approach to Search for Judicial Explanation
Sentencing scholarship has tended to be dominated by the starting point that the decision process lacks ‘coherence’. “Coherence’ has been understood by the interlocking converns of normative-philosophy, cognitive psychology,a nd legality. A particular concern has been the introduction of greater accountability into the sentencing decision process. In this tradition (radicalised by Hogarth’s classic ‘Sentencing as a Human Process’), sentencing outcomes can be understood as and predicted by the relative power and combination of a variety of discrete ‘factors’. Complimentary to this is the concern with ‘the theory of punishment’ being operated by the sentencer. In this model of the sentencing process, accountability and coherence can be achieved by requiring the sentencer to ‘explain’ his/her decisions in terms of these given factors and her selected theory of punishment. Problematising both of these (complimentary) notions of coherence and accountability, the paper suggests that the search for ‘theoretical coherence’ (at least as normally assumed) is a chimera. The paper aims to advance the development of an alternate approach to understanding the sentencing process which is neither ‘rule-less’ nor ‘explained’ by the weighting of discrete factors, or, the judge’s selected theory of punishment. Demonstrating the social malleability of judicial explanations for sentencers, the paper proposes the re-thinking of accountability for sentencing and in so doing seeks to disturb the preoccupation with ‘theoretical coherence’.
The Presentation of Crime and Victims in the Media: A Comparison of Images Presented in Women’s and Men’s Magazines
The media is considered one of the most influential participants in the social construction of crime and justice. Several studies have been conducted on the portrayal of crime stories in news magazines, such as Time and Newsweek. However, very few studies have examined the portrayal of crime in exclusively women’s magazines and men’s magazines. These two genres of popular magazines, like other media outlets, influence our opinions and attitudes toward social issues. This study is an attempt to understand and compare the images of crime and victims that are presented in women’s magazines and men’s magazines. The focus is on the types of crime stories presented, and who the victims are and how they are presented to the reader. A brief discussion of how the presentation of crimes and victims in these two types of magazines differs from the presentation of crime in the news medium will also be included.
The Prison, the Gated Community and the Commodification of Security
Concern about “security” has ascended as a major social force over the past few decades, with demands for increased security permeating a number of social realms. The manifested effect has been a reshaping of social life that emphasizes segregation between distinct social groups and homogenization within social groups through the use of physical barriers and other technologies to maintain and enforce this segregated security. Two venues where such strategies have aparticularly developed are in prison institutions and in residential gated communities, where security concerns have culminated in the creation of social spaces that are internally homogeneous, yet segregated from the larger social landscape. In this paper, I examine how the need for security-related commodities is marketed and sold by security products/services companies in these two speciic realms. Using data from interviews with security products sales people and through a contextual analysis of security product promotional materials and trade periodicals that target both venues, I examine whether the commodification of security is similarly reflected in materials that target prison audiences compared to those that target the residential community market. Within that analysis, I measure the degree to which the sales pitches promote separation and segregation of defined populations. In doing so, I address how the tactics and the language used by correctional commodities comparies are similar to, and distinguished from, the discursive strategies used by those who market gated communities and their security attendant products.
The Prison Experiences of White-Collar Offenders in a Shock Incarceration Program and in a Traditional Prison
Shock incarcerationprograms were designed to instill discipline in young, streetwise, male offenders. Interestingly, a number of white-collar offenders have been committed to boot camp prisons. Few studies have considered how white-collar offenders adapt to the prison environment in general, and no study has considered how white-collar offenders adjust to a boot camp prison. This study analyzes the prison experiences of white-collar offenders serving time in a shock incarceration program and in a traditional, minimum security prison.
The Process of Collaborative Research Between IUP and the State Correctional Institution for Young Adult Offenders at Pine Grove
In response to an increasing population of violent Young Adult Offenders (YAO’s) legislatively transferred from juvenile court to the adult criminal system, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PaDOC) has created a facility (State Correctional Institution at Pine Grove) to house this unique population. This paper will discuss the on-going collaborative relationship between the PaDOC and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). Specifically, it will address the challenges and opportunities available for conducting research in this institution, the process of collecting qualitative and quantitative data, the specific studies that are planned and outcomes that will be measured, as well as the impact that this research may have on public policy.
The Processing of Environmental Law Violators in Federal Criminal Courts: Differences in the Treatment of Individuals and Companies
This paper examines the processing of federal environmental law violators between 1972 and the present using data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Criminal Enforcement Docket”, which tracks cases from their initial investigation to their sentencing in federal courts. Our paper focuses on the variation in the case processing and sentencing of individuals and company violators. We examine the variation in the decisions to close casees prior to prosecution, to refer cases to the courts, to decline filing criminal charges, and to decline prosecution. We examine the reason for these decisions, such as referral for non-criminal action, referral to another federal agency, pre-trial diversion, insufficient evidence and suppression of evidence. We examine the variation in case outcomes, such as acquittals, convictions, plea bargains and court dismissals. We examine sentencing practices, such as the type and severity of sanctions. And we test the general hypothesis that companies fare better than individuals in the prosecution and sentencing of environmental crimes.
The Public Perspective on Policing Intimate Partner Violence
Within the last thirty years, policing intimate partner violence has become an issue of increasing concern for scholars, victim advocates, criminal justice system agents and policy makers. The recent move toward mandatory and presumptive arrest policies for intimate offenders has generated a great deal of research, generally resulting in more questions than answers. While research exploring the most effective means of dealing with victims and offenders of this violence has grown exponentially in a very short amount of time, few researchers have addressed public perceptions regarding these issues. Little is known about the extent of public knowledge in regard to recent policies dealing with intimate violence and less is known about how the public believes that this type of violence should be dealt with by the police. This research will address these issues in the attempt to answer two important questions. First, how does the public believe police will respond to a specific incident of intimate partner violence within their community? Second, how does the public believe that police should respond to such an incident? In addition, this research will examine several individual, situational and community level factors and their influence on perceptions as well as respondents’ knowledge of current police policies dealing with intimate violence within their communities. This information and the level of congruence in perceptions regarding likely and desirable police responses to intimate violence has important implications for reporting decisions and policy making. This study reports on a sample of six hundred respondents, 200 from each of three communities in New York State.
The Question of Mutual Victimization in Marriage Revisited: A Case of Vietnamese Couples
Although there is a general consensus of who is the victim of marital violence, a few studies suggest that violence against husbands is equally prevalent as violence against wives. Almost all studies that examined mutual victimization in marriage, whether they used longitudinal or cross-sectional studies with use of the Conflict Tactics Scale or a self-report questionnaire, primarily focused on American couples in general and provided limited inquiries about victimization among minority couples. The current research attempts to revisit the past question about mutual victimization by examining Vietnamese married couples. The present resarch used a mailed questionnaire sent to Vietnamese students at the local university. A list of all Vietnamese undergraduate students (N=2,136) was obtained and 721 students (30% of 2,136) were randomly selected from the list. Of those 721 students, 131 students (18%) returned a questionnaire. The objective of the proposed research is to gain an understanding of mutual violence in marriage among Vietnamese couples by examining social and cultural contexts in which wife abuse takes place.
The Radical Analysis of Imprisonment: Unity, Divergence and Alternatives
Most who posit a radical analysis of imprisonment assert that Rusche and Kirchheirner (1939) provide the foundation for their work. However, particularly over the past two decades, numerous explanations that offer a radical perspective articulate a variety of analytic positions. For example, there may be an emphasis on the use of prisons for local economic development; as part of a more general “prison-industrial complex”; as social and political control; or more specifically to manage and (re)socialize the surplus labor force. This paper attempts to differentiate various radical perspectives, and reflects on the extent to which they rely on Rusche and Kirchheimer’s work. The authors argue for an analysis that maintains a more integral role of prisons in U.S. capitalist development than previously adopted.
The Relationship Between Domestic Violence Case Disposition and Victimization Six Months Later
This paper reports findings from a longitudinal study on 175 battered women whose court cases have closed in three jurisdictions in the U.S. Detailed interviews were conducted with the participants shortly after their court case closed, and again 6 months later. The goal of this paper is to determine whether the case disposition is related to subsequent victimization, which women were most likely to experience re-victimization, and whether and how a re-victimized woman’s evaluation of the system in die first offense is related to her use of the system in re-victimization offenses.
The Relationship Between Gang Involvement and the Use of Illicit Drugs: Findings Fron the Offender Population Urinalysis Screening (OPUS) Program
A number of previous works have examined the relationship between gang involvement and the use of illegal drugs. To date, however, no studies have collected gang-related survey data in conjunction with an objective measure of illicit drug use. Given the relationship between gang membership and deviance, it is hypothesized that current gang members will test positive for illegal drugs more than their non-gang member counterparts. In the current study, a survey of gang-related behaviors is collected from a sample of juvenile detainees interviewed through the Offender Population Urinalysis (OPUS) Program. Implications for drug control and other law enforcement strategies are assessed in light of the current findings.
The Relationship Between Maternal Smoking and Other Forms of Deviant Behavior
This research will apply Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) general theory of crime to maternal smoking. One of the claims of the general theory is, of course, its generalityits recognition of the relationship between crime and behavior sharing traits with crime. Maternal smoking is not traditionally viewed as having much to do with other types of deviance, but according to Gottfredson and Hirschi, it should. This research will test this claim, and will serve two purposes. First, it provides another test of the general theory, one with important policy implications. Second, it allows us to identify a noncriminal form of behavior (smoking) that may prove helpful in identifying women at risk for other parenting problems.
The Relationship Between Narcissism and Antisocial Traits Among Institutionalized Convicted Male Offendrs in Hawaii
This research intends to investigate whether there is a correlational relationship between narcissim (egocentrism/selfism) and antisocial traits among the institutionalized convicted male offenders in Hawaii that the majority is Asian/Pacific Islander. The Narcissistic Personality Inventory and the Self-Report Delinquency Inventory were combined and modified in an attempt to better operationalize concepts of narcissism and antisocial traits by expanding its scope of assessment beyond the realm of behaviors. The potential impact of imprisonment on personality and/or behavioral change will also be examined. The data will be compared between institutionalized convicted offenders and a general population of males to determint ehe level of narcissism and antisocial trait across these two groups, particularly among Asian/Pacific Islander males in Hawaii, in an attempt to determine what separates the law-abiding population and the population who violate the law.
The Relative Effects of Community Level Factors on Crime and Health
Macro-criminological theory and research identify a number of ecological factors which effect variations in crime rates across communities. Interestingly, public health theory and research suggest that same structural conditions are likely to have similar influence on a variety of negative health outcomes. This study seeks to determine if the factors that promote higher rates of crime also lead to higher rates of poor health outcomes. This hypothesis will be assessed by developing and comparing empirical models for a number of crime (index crime, calls for service) and health-related (low birth weight, inadequate prenatal care, teen births, infant mortality, and maternal smoking) variables for sample of neighborhoods within a large mid-western city. Special emphasis will be placed on devising a composite measure of social deprivation and determining its affect on the dependent measures.
The Restorative Justice Program at Dewitt Nelson Youth Correctional Facility, California Youth Authority
A restorative justice program has been implemented at the DeWitt Nelson Youth Correctional Facility, a part of the California Youth Authority, with the appointment of a formal guidance committee in January of 1997. It endorses principles of Restorative Justice by involving the three clients (victims, offenders, and communities) of restorative justice in a cooperative relationship to promote healing within each of these clients. The program is designed to allow the three clients to share their perceptions of a specific criminal behavior and the consequences of that behavior. It helps all of the participants gain understanding, acceptance as well as empathy for one another; thereby greatly enhancing the healing process. Accomplishments and implementation barriers of the restorative program are identified for future improvements. The program is adaptable to community-based agencies dealing with juvenile delinquents to provide restoration for victims, communities as well as offenders
The Right Man, But the Wrong Crime: The Case of Philip Ray Workman
Most studies of wrongful convictions focus on cases in which the wrong person is convicted of a crime. A less frequent, but also important, type of wrongful conviction occurs when a person guilty of one crime is convicted of a much more serious offense. This paper reviews one such case, that of Philip Ray Workman, convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in Tennessee. Workman’s jury believed that he shot a police officer who was arresting him for armed robbery. The paper summarizes the evidence the jury heard, and then describes ballistics and other evidence indicating that Workman did not fire the fatal shot. The Tennessee law on felony murder and the review of Workman’s case by the appellate courts, clemency board, and governor are described. At the time this abstract was written, Mr. Workman has an execution date of April 6, 2000.
The Risk of Commitment Following Boot Camp: Cox Regression With Competing”Events
This paper examines multiple modes of failure following a sentence to juvenile boot camp. The methodological challenges presented by competing and conditioning events are illustrated by fitting extended proportional hazards models to commitment survival data (n=761). The application focuses on two modes of failure following release from boot camp: commitment for a new offense and commitment for a technical probation violation. Two approaches to multiple failure data are presented. The first treats a new offense as time-varying covariate that conditions the hazards for commitment. The second applies a data augmentation method that duplicates the data by failure type. Using the data augmentation method it is possible to compare the coefficients of covariates across failure types within the same model. The primary predictor variables are the frequency, duration, and proximity of detentionj prior to boot camp. Covariates used in model construction include prior adjudications, prior out-of-home placements, age-at-intake, porobation supervision level, and subscales from the Colorado Young Offender Level of Supervision Inventory (CYO-LSI)
The Road to Offending: Serious and Violent Young Offenders and Their Pathways to Crime
Due to the apparent recent increase in violent young offending in Canada and the United States, the public has once again begun to ask questions about the roots and causes of serious and violent youthful offending, and what official and non-official interventions and remedies exist to reduce and prevent juvenile violence. This paper reports on the preliminary finding of a three-year research project examining 400 serious and violent incarcerated male and female youth in Vancouver, British Columbia between 1998-2000. Through the use of semi-structured interviews with incarcerated youth, and a detailed analysis of their official files, the researchers attempt to identify the main pathways that lead to serious and violent youthful offending and the role of several interventions, including incarceration. The main variables used in order to establish these different pathways include: demographics; criminal history; self-identity; family, work, and school bonds; drug and alcohol abuse; physical and sexual abuse; peers; and mental health.
The Rocky Road to “Restoring” Justice: An Examination of Restorative Justice Activity as a Social Movement
In this paper, I examine restorative justice activity in the United States and the manner by which the actions of associated groups can be seen as constitutive of a social movement. I argue that looking at the subject of restorative justice through a social movement lens allows for insights into contemporary attempts at changing the criminal justice and legal systems that otherwise escape investigation or receive scant attention. Foremost among these insights is that the potential of restorative justice actions must be viewed in relationship to the formation of a collective identity among advocate groups and with an eye to the formidable obstacles posed by the social structure. In addition, I draw upon critical criminological and sociolegal theories in order to address the question of how (and if) the variety of actions taken in the name of restoring justice address the power imbalances inherent in the criminal justice system. I conclude by contrasting this approach to the study of restorative justice with other more popular approaches in order to demonstrate its potential.
The Role Modeling Approach to Behavioral Modification in Juvenile Boot Camps
Similar to the military boot camp, the objective of correctional boot camps is to provide cadets with a foundation of discipline, responsibility, and self-esteem. As part of the treatment philosophy, a correctional facility in Central California professes to use a role model approach between TAC (Teach, Advise, Council) officers and cadets to encourage pro-social behavior. Because the cadets’ primary interaction is with TAC officers, their role is considered to be the most crucial. Although not clearly defined, it is evident that this facility utilizes a Social Learning Model for behavioral modification. The goal of this pilot study was to investigate how the facility’s personnel employ the mentoring approach to roster positive change in cadets. The researchers have based their evaluation on official program material, observations, and interviews. A total of 40 participants were selected based on a priori criteria. The participants included 20 TAC officers and 20 cadets. Thematic categories were drawn from the data and analyzed in comparison to the tenets of the Social Learning model. The results of this study have several implications such as providing guidelines for training, improving mentoring programs in general, and serving as a catalyst for future research.
The Role of City Political Structures in Policing, Welfare, and Crime, 1980 to 1996
Although many studies have examined the relationship between various social structures and policing, few discuss institutional politics, and none offer a theory of how institutional politics affects official crime- control efforts. Likewise, social disorganization and opportunity theories of crime have also failed to adequately address how institutional politics affects the context in which social processes operate to generate local crime. I propose a model of crime that combines elements of social disorganization and opportunity theories, and addresses the role political structures play in creating the context for crime through official anti-crime and welfare efforts. Hicks and Misra’s ( 1993) political resource theory of welfare is adapted to the current context. By identifying important actors and resources, this study develops a theory of how city politics affects criminal opportunity and social disorganization through welfare and policing, which, in turn affect crime rates. I collect data on crime, city political structure, disorganization, and opportunity variables for 750 cities with populations 25,000 or greater from 1981 to 1996, and analyze these data using mixed fixed-random effects statistical models. Results suggest that city political structures affect official crime and poverty control efforts directly, and indirectly affect social disorganization, opportunity and ultimately crime.
The Role of Program-Level Characteristics in Predicting Outcomes for Girls in Prevention and Delinquency Programs
Much of the extant literature on program evaluation focuses on the linkage between program outcomes and individual-level characteristics. Many scholars, however, have argued for the inclusion of organization-level characteristics to account for the interaction between individuals and programs and to add to the explained variance in outcomes. In this paper, we build a model predicting ‘success’ for female clients of prevention and delinquency programs in Philadelphia, using both individual- and organization-level factors. In doing so, we attempt to address the following questions: (1) what program characteristics are predictive of program success for girls? and (2) what do organization-level factors add (if anything) to our explanation of program outcomes? Data are drawn from a recent sub-sample of PrOMIS and ProDES, evaluation systems which track delinquency prevention (at-risk) and delinquent (adjudicated) youths referred to programs funded by the City of Philadelphia. The study’s findings will serve to identify organizational characteristics that are critical to girls’ program success, with the ultimate goal of facilitating better matching by referring agencies of girls to programs. In addition, they will allow us to assess the relative impact of adding organization-level characteristics to predictive models in future evaluation research.
The Role of Stakes in Conformity on Participation in Prison-Based Drug Treatment
There have been few studies of background characteristics of voluntary and involuntary participants in drug treatment programs in prison. Using data from the 1991 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, this research examines the extent to which participation is a function of Hirschi’s social control variables, such as attachment. The research is important because of the likelihood that strong social controls increase the likelihood of treatment success.
The Role of the Cops Office in Facilitating Change Consistent With Community-Oriented Policing: A Resource Dependency Perspective
Resource dependency theory claims that organizational structure and behavior reflect changes intended to secure a flow of resources from the environment. With regard to law enforcement, resource dependency theory may help explain organizational change consistent with community-oriented policing because of funding from the Justice Department’s Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS). This paper draws on resource dependency theory and investigates the role of the COPS office in explaining organizational change in municipal and county law enforcement agencies employing more than 100 full-time, sworn officers/deputies. The primary substantive independent variables include the awards given to law enforcement agencies for specific COPS programs; control variables include county size, crime, citizen dissatisfaction, and social disorganization; and the dependent variables include composite measures of internally-focused and externally-focused change.
The Screening Validity of the YO-LSI for Substance Abuse
The Youthful Level of Service Inventory (YO-LSI) risk assessment instrument seeks to provide an empirical account of a juvenile’s overall risk level as well as to identify criminogenic need areas (treatment targets). The YO-LSI instrument is composed of static and dynamic predictors of criminal risk including criminal history, family circumstances, educational achievement, peer relations, substance abuse, personality and behavior, and attitudes and orientations. The majority of the subsections represent treatment targets and are designed to provide assessors with the high need areas of the juvenile. The substance abuse subsection is comprised of five items that tap both drug and alcohol use. These five items are not intended to replace a more comprehensive substance abuse screening, only to identify when such a screening is warranted. This paper examines the ability of the YO-LSI to accurately identify those youths in need of comprehensive substance abuse screening. By correlating the YO-LSI total score and substance abuse sub-scores with the score from a longer, more comprehensive substance abuse assessment, this paper examines the utility of the YO-LSI as a substance abuse screening tool. Additionally, it identifies other high-risk areas which might be particularly problematic for substance abusing juveniles and may represent other promising targets.
The Secret World of Drug Trafficking: What Do We Know?
This paper presents the results of a study of drug trafficking in New York City. The study involves the systematic analysis of documents gathered by criminal justice agencies during the course of the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. It has substantially expanded the information available about the kinds of enterprises invlved in drug trafficking, the tasks they undertake, and the ways that they are organized. It has shown that there is much more variation among drug trafficking organizations than suggested in the literature to date and that these range from small, loosely structured “freelance” groups to large, hierarchial “corporate” organizations. The research uses rational choice theory, which provides a new framework to assist scientific understanding of trafficking and the development of intervention policies. Results and future directions for research are discussed.
The Sex Offender-Victim Relationship: Applying Rational Choice, Routine Activities and Opportunity Theories to Rural Child Sex Abusers
This paper examines the victim-offender relationship among sex offenders using rational choice, routine activities theory and opportunity perspectives. We analyze data collected in two rural counties in Minnesota from 158 adjudicated male offenders who participated in sex offender treatment programs between 1982 and 1997. Specifically, we view sex offenders as motivated offenders, in the presence of suitable targets (minors residing within the home), and a lack of capable guardians (mother not in the home, betrayal of care-taking role). In this sample, sexual abuse is seen as a rational, opportunistic choice by these offenders rather than the result of extraneous variables (drugs, alcohol, prior abuse histories) influencing their behavior. Multiple measures will be utilized to determine that assaults were calculated and predatory in nature despite the fact that only one-quarter of the offenders fully admit their offense. Our analysis will demonstrate the difficult policy implications of treating and rehabilitating this type of offender, when perpetrators are often returned to direct proximity with the young victims to perpetuate a cycle of abuse.
The Shape of Gender Inequality and Disadvantage in Race- and Gender-Specific Homicide Rates in U.S. Cities
This research assesses the impact of gender inequality and concentrated disadvantage on homicide rates disaggregated into race- and gender-specific groups. While key structural theories found influential to understanding racespecific homicide are reviewed, this study merges race-relations and feminist explanations into the study of homicide rates among specific groups: white males, white females, black males, and black females. Our efforts result in an examination of multiple measures of concentrated disadvantage-racial residential segregation, disparities in labor market opportunities, poverty-and gender inequality across our race- and gender-specific homicide rates. Overall we find that those structural measures most commonly implemented in the homicide literature contribute little to our understanding of the homicide offending among African Americans and females (regardless of race). Those measures informed by our merger of race-relations and feminist literature, literature that highlights the interconnections between race, gender, and violence, will be emphasized in this research.
The Significance of Atypical Onset of Violence
The present study is an extension of the developmental pathways models proposed by Loeber et al. (1993), which show three pathways of behaviors (Overt, Covert, and Authority Conflict) that progress from less serious disruptive behavior to serious forms of delinquency. The fit of the pathways models has been demonstrated in the Pittsburgh Youth Study, and has been replicated in other samples. Knowledge of developmental pathways is important in being able to identify youth at risk for escalation to serious forms of offending. However, it is also important to learn more about the smaller group of individuals who do not fit the usual sequence of behaviors. Specifically, it is important to understand those who initiate with the most serious forms of offending without first engaging in the less serious forms. The present study focuses on adolescent males who committed violence without progressing through prior steps, those who, according to the pathways model, are developmentally ‘atypical’ (n=41). Using longitudinal data up to age 18, this group is compared to those who progressed through the pathway in the expected order, the developmentally ‘typical’ group (n=67), in terms of demographics, mental health, substance use, and other behaviors.
The Social Construction of American Indian Drinking: Perceptions of American Indian and White Officials
Research shows that alcohol abuse is a significant problem among the american Indian population. It has been suggested that American Indians and whites interpret the behavioral pattern differently, which may reflect the distinc symbolic-moral universes of the two groups. The extant literature suggests that whites stereotypically apply an individualistic medical interpretation to the Indian alcohol problems, whereas American Indians evince a collectivist cultural orientation that blames whites for the problem. However, systematic empirical evidence on the issue is lacking. Here we compare the perceptions of 12 American Indian and 12 white officials responsible for responding to alcohol abuse and related crimes on the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming. Data were collected using in-depthm, semi-structured interviews. The findings show that the two groups generally converge in their attributions concerning the causes and approaches to social control. The results indicate that the views of whites and american Indians do, in fact, reflect their distintive symbolic-moral universes.
The Social Construction of Gangs in Nonmetropolitan Areas
The emergence of gangs in nonmetropolitan areas is a phenomenon that has neither been well documented nor well accounted for. In mail surveys nonmetropolitan police agencies have reported the presence of gangs in their jurisdictions, but little is known about how rural police define “gang prescence” or what is meant by the ternm “gang” in rural jurisdictions. This study utilizes telephone interviews with 200 nonmetropolitan agencies reporting gangs in their jurisdictions. The interviews focus on: (1) how these agencies define gangs and gang-related problems, (2) how they identify individual gang members, and (3) local stratgegies for responding to gangs. The analysis will also consider the extent to which the definitions of gangs and gang-related problems used by nonmetropolitan agencies are consistent with those used in larger cities and the implications of this for developing gang control policies applicable to nonmetropolitan areas.
The Social Control Function of Intimate Partners: Attachment or Monitoring?
The contribution of spouses or intimate partners to desistance from crime has been shown in a number of studies. However, there has been some disagreement about the mechanisms underlying the relationship. One position focuses on the attachment and social bonding involved in strong marriages, while another emphasizes how marriage decreases the ties to deviant peers. This paper explores the monitoring function of intimate partners. The current project uses interview data with 740 incarcerated offenders who provided month-by-month details of their fives for the three-year period preceding incarceration- Within-person analyses determine how the likelihood of violence is affected by the attachment to and monitoring by intimate partners with whom men are involved at particular times.
The Social Organization of Campus Justice
Students on campuses are often protected from the impact of the criminal justice process. Colleges and Universities adjudicate minor and/or major violations in judicial boards and disciplinary committees. These meet in secret, do not allow legal representation of accused parties, there is no confrontation of witness and proof of an infraction is lower than in a criminal court. The paper assesses the impact of this and other informal processes of social control on official documentation of “crimes” on campus. The social organization of justice on campus explains the gap between various official measures of “crimes” and those from victimization surveys. We use quantitative and qualitative methods to show the impact of various changes in the social context of campus Justice. In particular we assess the effects of Federal Legislation and publicity on the process of making accounts of crimes on campus. We found that as concerns about crime reduced so victimization increased. In 1993-94 our survey showed large increases in multiple victimization and in overall victimization. We suggest a number of explanations from qualitative accounts.
The Social Organization of Fear in Family Households
Research on fear of crime has concentrated exclusively on personal fear while neglecting the fear that people have for others in their lives — children, spouses, friends — whose safety they value. This article examines the prevalence, organization, and consequences of altruistic fear (fear for oothers) in family households. Sample survey data reveal that altruistic fear is more common and, for many individuals, more intense than personal fear, and has a social distribution that differs significantly from that of personal fear. Within family households, altruistic fear does not exhibit an egalitarian or symmetric structure. men, for example, are considerably more likely to express fear for their wives than vice versa, and young females, whether as sives or daughters, are objects of particular concern. One of the most striking findings of the investigation is that many of the everyday precautionary behaviors practiced by Americans and conventionally assumed to be self-protective are primarily a consequence of altruistic fear.
The Social Organization of Organized Chinese Alien Smuggling
This paper reports preliminary findings from a NIJ-funded study on Chinese alien smuggling organizers or organizations. Through interviews with smuggling organizers and field observations, we have found that, contrary to widely held conceptions among the U.S. law enforcement community or the media, most alien smugglers are private citizens residing in China or U.S. who just want to make a profit in ways they know how. They are loosely connected and often form very weak organizations. Although the division of labor is clear, their organizational structure in most cases is not well developed. Because of their amorphous social structure, smugglers have been able to improvise creative measures to counter law enforcement efforts and remained successful in moving large number of Chinese nationals into the U.S.
The Social Structure of Violence: A Test of Black’s Theory of Vengeance
Donald Black’s theory of conflict management proposes that the social structure of a conflict determines whether it will be handled violently. Although Black’s theory is built on a wealth of evidence, it has not been systematically tested. To test Black’s theory, structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with inmates at a prison in Georgia who are incarcerated for violence (assault, battery, homicide) in a response to a conflict, or moralistic violence. The interview addresses a conflict the respondent handled violently (the crime), and a similar conflict the respondent handled non-violently. If, for example, the violent conflict was provoked by an unpaid drug debt, the respondent describes a non-violent conflict provoked by an unpaid drug debt. The interview reconstructs the social structure of both conflicts, allowing an examination of whether moralistic violence occurs under the conditions specified in the theory. Because each respondent describes conflicts based on similar situations, and occurring during the same time period, the design controls for provocational, individual, and ecological influences outside the theoretical model, isolating the role of conflict structure. Conventional quantitative techniques are used to assess the results; qualitative data provide context and nuance. The results generally support the theory.
The Social Therapeutic Institution in Germany: Status Quo and Perspectives
From the introduction of social therapeutic institutions as a special form of correctional institution up to 1998, prisoners only received the therapy after an application for it and the acceptance by the institution. Two years ago, with the reform of the federal penal code concerning sexual offences, the legal requirements of social therapeutic treatment were changed. From 2003 on, certain sexual offenders sentenced to more than 2 years’ imprisonment must be sent to these institutions. After a rough sketch of the social therapeutic institution’s status quo, the consequendes of this change will be analysed with regard to organisation, finances and the legal situation. The author reports on a questionnaire to all ministries of justice who are responsible for the implementation of the new provision. Although the extension of social therapeutic institutions is planned in most states, the budgetary restrictions will complicate the achievement of substantial reforms. Furthermore, the author gives an outline on the evaluationr esearch concerning recidivism after social therapy compared to regular prisons. The results in germany are encouraging. An actual longitudinal study at Greifswald deals with 500 career offenders 20 years after being released from a social therapeutic institution in Berlin-Tegel.
The Social World of the Police Murder Squad
This paper argues that there is an important connection between the investigative work that detectives perform in particular contexts and situations, and how they negotiate and symbolically construct their understandings of self, organization and environment. Drawing upon data collected as part of a three year qualitative study examining the policing of criminal homicide in England, it is suggested that police detective work is principally concerned with the identification, interpretation and application of information in an effort to identify suspects and construct cases against them. As such it is a form of activity that can be termed ‘information work’. In order to understand the nature and dynamics of this information work, the three allied concepts of process, definition and meaning, associated largely with the symbolic interactionist perspective, are identified as being particularly prescient in capturing the permutations of action, interaction and experience that are central to what detectives do, and consequently how they construct their social
The Socialization of African American Women in Law Enforcement: Experiences of Women on the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department
The number of African American females employed in sworn positions on large metropolitan police departments has increased significantly over the last 30 years. Despite the long history of law enforcement in the United States, the presence of uniformed African American women in police department is a relatively new phenomenon making it is important to capture their changing experiences. This study will examine the professional socialization of African American women employed in the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department. We believe the results will have two major benefits to police executives. They will benefit from empirical data that will enhance: 1) their efforts to recruit and retain minority police officers; mid 2) the development of policies that promote equality. We will use both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine: 1) the socialization of the African American female police officer; 2) changes in the status and role of African American Women in Policing; 3) the personal costs of doing police work, 4) choosing a career in law enforcement; and 5) opportunities for career advancement.
The Standards for Lawful Interception of Telecommunications
Contrary to what their official title suggests, these standards do not apply to the police but to the private industry of telecommunications and require the industry to facilitate the interception of private conversations and the transmission of data through cell phones making use of the numerical technique. The existence of these standards, which were developed by the FBI and adopted in Canada by the Solicitor General without any debate in Parliament, was recently made public by an investigative journalist. I will discuss their development in the U.S., their adoption in Canada and their general significance for privacy. The general public is completely ignorant of these standards and indeed, the telecomm. Industry markets its numerical technology by insisting on the protection of privacy that it affords.
The Strategic Management of Community Safety: A Comparative Analysis Between the U.S.A. and the U.K.
Police maintaining the rule of law, by definition, uphold the unequal distribution of power between groups of citizens in society. Changing the police mandate to require the inclusion of the communities in developing community safety, creates a catch 22 situation. Communities must attempt to overcome the effects of the power differentials based on race, religion and socio-economic factors in order to become involved in the coproduction of community safety. At the same time, the police maintain these power differentials while initiating and encouraging the active involvement and development of partnerships between the police, other agencies and the community. “These partnerships are characterized by tension and conflict, underpinned by the very power differentials between parties that the police currently maintain. The authors of this comparative analysis argue that resolution of such tensions requires clear strategic management and leadership among police, other agencies and their communities. When they become willing to think and learn outside and across organizational boundaries they will start to develop ways to securing and sustaining community safety. In succeeding, they will readdress current imbalances and may ultimately redesign their roles in society, not as maintainers or victims of power differentials but as active collaborative agents of social change.
The Street Pendulum: From Deviance to Activism and From Activism to Deviance
This paper identifies the structural, organizational and ideological factors that make Street Organizations shift from community oriented organizations to deviant organizations and vice versa. This paper is based on interviews conducted by members of the Street Organization Project with gang members in New York City and Los Angeles, as well as ethnographic research, field notes, and news reports. First, I present a brief description oof the historical periods in which members of three “notorious” gangs in the nation (The ALKQN and Asociacion Neta in NY and the Bloods in LA) have claimed to become pro-community organizations. Second, I identify the inter- and intra-organizational processes that have led to these shifts. Finally, I present a series of policy recommendations that directly result from this research.
The Structural Determinants of Justifiable Citizen Homicides
Homicide is one of the few crimes defined by its outcome rather than its process. There is an abundance of criminological literature examining the influence of structural conditions on homicide in general. Less research, however, has examined the influence of structural conditions on dissaggregated forms of homicide. The research that has been conducted on dissaggregated indicates that there are both structural similarities and differences (Sampson, 1985, 1987; Williams and Flewelling, 1988; Jacobs and Wood, 1999; Parker and McCall, 1999). Less is known about the structural processes that generate legally permissible homicides. Given the debate about the issue of guns in the role of self-defense, it is clear that this category of homicide is important to study for both theoretical and public policy reasons. The present research addresses this issue through an examination of justifiable citizen homicide rates in 13S cities with over 100,000 residents. This research examines the influence of structural socioeconomic conditions, policing, and gun legislation on the rate of legally permissible citizen on citizen homicides. The implications of the findings for both theory and policy are discussed
The Structure of the Sentencing Code and Inmate Behavior: Does the Code Make a Difference?
In 1996 Ohio eliminated for most offenders the shortening of prison sentences as a reward for good behavior and release through parole. A very determinate sentencing structure was the replacement, with most inmates serving 97 percent of a prison term unless the sentencing judge changed the sentence. The research bureau of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction has received funding from the National Institute of Justice to study the impact on inmate behavior of these changes in the sentencing structure. Files from samples of inmates from before, during, and after the changeover are being reviewed to determine behavior patterns for up to the first two years in prison. Because inmates differ in propensity to misbehave in prison, and these patterns can vary between samples and over time, other possibly relevant variables on each inmate are being collected. The ASC presentation should detail early findings from the study.
The Study of the Effectiveness of Protective Orders in Reducing Re-abuse in Domestic Violence Cases in a Mid-Western County
The paper will examine the effectiveness of protective orders in domestic violent cases. A systematic sample of 100 civil orders and 100 restraining orders issued in conjunction with criminal charges in domestic violence cases will be analyzed in order to identify persons most likely to re-abuse and victims who are most vulnerable for re-abuse. These risk factors will include the characteristics of protection orders as well as the characteristics of the petitioners and the respondent.
The Subjective Impact of Youth Authority Incarceration and Parole
This study replicates a 1979 study by the National Institute of Corrections and the National Institute of Justice, which was conducted by the California Department of the Youth Authority. Two hundred wards were interviewed in depth immediately prior to institutional release and again approximately six months later. Information derived from the interviews includes information on family background, educational experience, work experience, criminal history, Youth Authority programming and experience, Youth Parole programs and other parole-period experiences. Folloow-up measures of parole success ae compared with ward responses. The study examines the influence of self-reported attitudes, background characteristics, and institutional training and experience on parole success. The replication study, like the initial study, includes interviews with youthful offenders in the institutions and on parole who report on their subjective experience of the system. The report also compares how well indicators of parole success identified in the 1979 study indicate success for Youth Authority wards released ten or more years later.
The Technological Basis of Satellite Tracking Technologies for Released Sex Offenders
The current pace of technological development offers possibilities for modernizing the tools used in incarceration and rehabilitation. The goal of such improvements is to assist professionals in fulfilling their responsibilities, and to create a more efficient correctional system. The best implementation of such modem instruments can result in reduction of recidivism and prison overcrowding, as well as lowered operational costs for the entire system. One of today’s most touted high-tech tools is the Global Position System (GPS). which can be used in devices to locate and keep track of convicts on parole or probation. Already utilized in several jurisdictions across the country, this device has so far proven to be highly effective. However, in order to implement this system at maximum benefit to the users, a full understanding of the technology, including all its capabilities and limitations, needs to be acquired. Only then can a proper population be identified and possible subjects selected for a monitoring program. This technology truly has the potential to revolutionize the whole philosophy of incarceration and rehabilitation, and become firmly established in the corrections industry. This paper is detailed study of the technology behind satellite tracking systems and its application to the corrections industry
The Theory of Internet Association: Application of Differential Association Theory to the Internet
The Internet continues to undergo incredible growth, both in terms of the amount of information it contains and it’s popularity among people worldwide. This growth makes it one of the dominant social tools on the planet. This paper presents a theory which contends that the Internet may serve as a virtual association which can be helpful in the acquisition of definitions that are favorable to crime and therefore, can create a higher rate of crime and possibly even a new source for crime. This theory serves as an addition to and an extension of Edwin Sutherland’s differential association theory of crime. In addition to looking at ways in which the Internet serves as a virtual primary association, it will look at ways in which the Internet can support, promote, and facilitate many different forms of criminal activity. Also, the incident at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado will be used as a case study to demonstrate this theory, showing it’s relevance in society today.
The Toronto ‘John School’ Diversion Program: A Case Study in the Social Politics of Informal Justice
This paper eexamines the social and legal implications of increasingly popular ‘diversion programs’ in contemporary criminal justice, using the Toronto ‘John School’ diversion program for first time prostitution offenders as an illustrative case study. Prostitution enforcement in Toronto focuses exclusively on street prostitution, and the vast majority of arrested and subsequently diverted offenders come from lower socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds. Most diverted offenders indicate that they were automatically ‘sent’ to the diversion program, rather than being offered a choice between a trial and diversion, raising fundamental questions of ‘due process’. Diverted offenders are required to pay a substantial diversion program fee ($400). These revenues constitute the core funding for the social service agency implementing the ‘John School’ program, creating a cycle of peculiar institutional and economic interdependency between enforcement and diversion program, and thus new incentives and rewards shaping the dynamics of ‘crime control’. The central institution facilitating the diversion program is the police, offering them a key role and powers in the ‘trying’ and ‘sentencing’ of offenders in the informal realm of diversion justice. The contents and rhetoric of the John School education program are highly moralistic and even pathologizing, employing strategies of ‘shaming’, as well as contemporary forms of ‘mercy’ as well as ‘redemption’ geared at the diverted prostitution offender.
The Traffic in Illicit Antiquities Examined as a Criminal Market
There is within the arts and archaeological communities a growing interest in the proliferation of the international trade in plundered antiquities. There are many constituencies involved in the attempt to limit this trade, for example, archaeologists want to preserve the integrity of their sites, national politicans want to protect their heritage, and curators want to assure the propriety of their collections, among others. Sociologists and criminologists may play a role by providing analyses which allow a full understanding of how this trade functions as a complex, interwoven set of “market” activities. A major task of the present paper is to show how such a market analysis might be constructed, and how such markets share similarities and differences with other kinds of criminal markets (for examples, the trade in goods taken from burglaries, international drug markets, and the markets for faked and stolen art works). One purpose of such analyses is to make clear what the policy options might be for restricting the trade in illicit antiquities. For example, draconian policies aimed at restricting the destruction of sites in the source countries (where the local populations are often very poor) would seem to be of limited effect as long as the demand remains from the destination countries (where ultimate purchasers are very wealthy). Prior sociological analysis has suggested that care must be taken with such notions as the idea that one “can’t legislate morality”, and the impacts of possible legal options are assessed in terms of the potential impact on moral views of the problem of the illicit traffic in plundered antiquities.
The United Nations and the Administration of Justice: The Missing Link in Peacekeeping
The new world order of the 1990s prompted the United Nations to assume a larger and more multifaceted role in the internal conflicts that occurred in a number of Third World countries. Traditionally, the U.N. aided in the peacekeeping effort with a military contingent and in providing humanitarian assistance for people of a ravaged region or country. In-the 1990s, the U.N. enhanced their efforts efforts by attempting to address human rights issues. One of the targets was the administration of justice within a country-that was experiencing internal conflict El Salvador, Mozambique, Somalia, and Haiti were among the early attempts at U.N. intervention in the justice system. This paper is designed to accomplish-two tasks. First, by utilizing the case study method,it assesses the efforts of the U.N. at intervention in the justice system. of countries experiencing internal conflict. Second, if this policy of intervention is to continue on a somewhat regular basis, it offers a strategy for improving this kind of initiative.
The Use and Impact of Sanctions in Drug Intervention Programs for Offenders
Programs for drug-abusing offenders use sanctions to increase compliance with drug treatment and testing conditions and reducing drug use. This paper reviews the theory and research on the use of sanctions to change behavior and present a comparative analysis of the use and effects of sanctions from ongoing evaluations of three Breaking the Cycle projects and the Brooklyn Treatment Court. The findings illustrate the wide variation in the certainty, celerity, and severity of the sanctions now being used with drug-involved offenders, differences in sanctions administered by judges and those used by case managers or probation officers, and associated differences in offender participation in drug treatment and testing.
The Use and Misuse of Odds Ratios
The increasing popularity of logistic regression has led to a recent explosion in reporting odds ratios. Unfortunately, odds ratios are often misinterpreted. This paper clarifies the meaning of odds ratios, and distinguishes them from likelihood differences and likelihood ratios. I also show that one common misinterpretation interpreting odds ratios as likelihood ratios — leads to a systematic inflation of effect size. Finally, I propose a readily interpreted effect size measure, the Centered Likelihood Ratio (CLR), which is simply derived from odds ratios but is in the appropriate metric of likelihood ratios.
The Use of Course Management Systems in the Classroom
This paper will examine the different course managements sytems available to assist faculty in the delivery of course material. The pros and cons of each package will be presented as well as a discussion of the overall impact of technology on the changing face of instruction.
The Use of Technology to Protect Battered Women
Research has shown that restraining orders often fail to protect battered women. Our research project will explore other methods that are currently being used to protect battered women. In particular, we will focus on the use of technology to decrease the risk of future victimization for victims of domestic violence. Since this research is of an exploratory nature, a preliminary definition of technology will include panic alarms, cellular phones, home security devices, electronic monitoring of both the offender and the property surrounding the victim’s home, and surveillance cameras. The research will provide an opportunity for subjects to identify other forms of technology not included in the definition that are currently in use. Data for this research will be collected through surveys of 500 randomly selected battered women shelters, community-based domestic violence programs, and safe homes from the national directory compiled by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Findings will be used to examine the following issues: 1) the level of cooperation between community programs and the criminal justice system to protect battered women; 2) the relationship between funding sources for community programs and access to security technology; and 3) the level of use of security technology to protect battered women.
The Validity of Adult Arrestee Self-Reports of Crack Cocaine Use
Despite the many problems associated with crack use, little validated empirical evidence about the prevalence of crack cocaine exists. Researchers that track crack cocaine use have relied on self-reports to differentiate crack and powder cocaine. Prior research suggests that the accuracy of self-reports, for a variety of illicit substances, is relatively low. To examine the validity of self-reports of crack use, this paper employs a newly developed technology to detect specifically the presence of markers of crack cocaine in urine specimens. With a sample of 2,327 arrestees, from six cities that participate in the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Program, both face-to-face interview and urinalysis data are examined. Using a positive urinalysis result as the validity standard, we assess the extent to which arrestees underreport crack cocaine use as compared to the use of marijuana opiates, and methamphetamine. Logistic regression models we also developed to predict the factors that relate to underreporting. The implications of these findings for the monitoring of crack use are discussed.
The Validity of Self-Report of HIV Status Among Drug Users
This paper examines the validity of self-reported HIV status in drug-using populations, focusing on the relationship between criminal involvement and the accuracy of self-reports. We conducted a secondeary analysis of data collected by the NIDA-funded Cooperative Agreement for AIDS Community-Based Outreach/Intervention Research Program. The analyses assessed criterion-based validity of self-reported HIV status for large samples of high-risk drug users (N~13,000) in ten Cooperative Agreement cities that performed biological testing (the criterion measure) on virtually all the subjects. Although about 12 percent tested HIV seropositive, their self-reports are highly inaccurate. We examined the validity of self-reports for both HIV seropositive and seronegative individuals for the sample as a whole and for subgroups of offenders (i.e.,l individuals who were ever arrested or charged with a criminal offense versus those who were not; and clients who obtained income illegally in the month before the interview versus those who did not.) The validity of self-reported HIV status is assessed using several statistics: percent agreement, Cohen’s kappa, sensitivity and specificity, and predictive power of the self-report. The results of these analyses are important in informing researchers who are studying HIV among offendeers about the strengths and limitations of self-reported HIV status.
“The Virgin Killer” Fact or Myth: Are Murderers Usually Law Abiding Who Kill in a Momentary Outburst of Ungovernable Rage?
Current American federal, and most state, laws bar gun possession by persons who have been convicted of any felony, or certain misdemeanors, or who have been involuntarily committed to a mental institution. The central issue in the “gun control” debate has been whether these laws would be efficacious if they were to be enforced. Those advocating banning and confiscating all guns, or all handguns, argue that most homicides are committed by ordinary people acting out of memontary and uncontrollable rage. If that were true, confiscation of firearms from the ordinary citizenry might substantially reduce homicide, even if it.proved impossible to enforce gun bans against active criminals. But it is not true that most murders are committed by ordinary people. Studies of homicide uniformly find almost all murderers to have life histories of violence, felony, psychopathology, substance abuse, restraining orders and other indicia of extreme aberrance. If there is an argument for banning guns to the entire populace, it must derive from some other basis than that ordinary citizens are likely to commit murder.
The War on Drugs and Black Females: Testing the Impact of the Sentencing Policies for Crack Cocaine on Black Females in the Federal System
The disproportionate representation of black females within the incarcerated female population is seldom the focus of criminal justice research. The few studies that do exist tend to use descriptive analyses. These studies often conclude that the war on drugs and mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offenses explain the disproportionate representation of black females. This study tests whether the disproportionate representation of black females within the population of incarcerated females in the federal system is related to the war on drugs. The war on drugs will be operationalized as the mandatory minimum sentencing schemes included in the Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 and 1988 and attached to drug offenses involving crack cocaine. The objectives of the research are to determine if the type of drug involved, specifically crack cocaine, and/or mandatory minimum sentencing associated with crack cocaine are significant in determining if black women who are incarcerated for drug offenses in the federal system are incarcerated. Data sets from the United States Sentencing Commission for FY 1996 are used to test several hypotheses (ICPSR 9317). The sample will consist of all black, white, and Hispanic women convicted of drug offenses.
The Web of Deviance: Using the Internet to Explore Issues in Criminological Research
The purpose of this paper is to explore alternative avenues for original data collection in deviance research. Drawing on previous ‘cyber’ studies, the authors examine both the pros and cons of conducting deviance survey research on the Internet. The existence of the Internet and the ever-growing popularity of the World Wide Web clearly offers new avenues of exploration for the researcher. Individuals and groups may be more easily reached than ever before without the burden of geographical borders. Many of these groups might be target populations for deviance research. While the Internet does not entirely eliminate the cost, the benefits are quite apparent. The widespread use of electronic mail allows for the instantaneous transmission to potential respondents, while web-based technology enables researchers to develop secure, anonymous surveys online. With any benefit comes an associated cost. Despite the apparent ease by which researchers can gather data from Internet surveys, sampling bias and other methodological issues come into play. Internet users tend to be younger, more educated, and more affluent than the general population, and some of the most popular groups to study in deviance research may not have Internet access and thus not offer an adequate sample for research.
The Youngest Parolees: Do They Have Different Parole Experiences?
While most parole studies have indicated that age is important to predicting recidivism, questions remain about the experiences of parolees aged 21 and under. This paper looks at a sample of those parolees and examines their experiences during the first year of parole. We examine recidivism, the relative efficacy of a risk prediction instrument, relative dangerousness, potential followup reassessment factors and consumption of various drug, vocational and treatment programs. These results are compared to those for other parolees.
‘Theft of Time’: Disciplinary Measure or New Crime?
This paper examines the genealogy of crime creation through an investigation of a new type of white-collar crime, “theft of time”. This “crime”, committed by employees against employers, consists of (mis)using employee time and the employer’s property to pursue activities unrelated to the job for which the employee has been hired. In recent years the emphasis has turned from stealing time by taking extensive breaks or conducting social activities on the job, to computer-facilitate doffences such as surfing the net. The paper documents the birth and development of this offence from its humble beginnings in the sciences of business management, to its enunciation as a social problem, to the passage of civil and criminal legislation in the modern state. The process is ongoing, the degree of legislative success achieved by promoters varies by jurisdiction and nation-state. Much depends on the strength and tactics of forces of resistance, whose roots and strategies, knowledge claims and legitimation techniques constitute an important part of this story. The aim of this study is to understand the forces which enable and propel the crime creation process, from the development of technologies that make intensive surveillance and monitoring of the workplace activities of employees possible, to the habits of mind that make it feasible, to the hegemonic forces that make it (appear) necessary. The development of this new offence against capital will be linked to the corporate counter-revolution and the allied intensification of demands on labour, manifested in increased punitiveness, inequality and ideological censure.
Theological Emphasis, Attribution Style, and Punitiveness: Using Attribution Theory to Assess the Religiosity-Death Penalty Attitudes Relationship
This paper uses structural equation modeling to assess how the relationship between theological emphasis and attitudes toward capital punishment works. Specifically, it examines the path between theological emphasis, attribution style, attitudes toward system treatment, and capital punishment sentiment. The data in this study are based on surveys administered to a random sample of potential jurors in Hillsborough County, Florida
Theoretical Process of Crime Displacement and Diffusion With Time and Place
The concept of displacement can be understood as mobility and flexibility of offenders who circumvent over intentionally changed criminal opportunities by preventive or control measures. Thus, critics often claim that changes in opportunities actually lead to changes in criminal behavior, that measures on crime prevention simply shift its targed crime incidence to other areas where no preventive measures implemented. As the reverse concept of displacement, scholars recently explored “the diffusion of benefit” that spread the beneficial influence of an itnervention beyond the places whicha re directly targed (Clark and Weisburd 1994). Although many researches on crime displacement and diffusion of benefits have been studied, the process and patterns of their effects with time and space are very rare in current debates. The paper tries to develop theoretical understanding of these process, pattern and interactions that presumably varied with characteristics of community, scope of prevention and targeted offenders.
Theorizing Police Misconduct in Conditions of Internal Conflict
Policing is increasingly seen as a key function of democratization in countries that suffer from internal conflicts. The recent findings of the Patten Commission on policing in Northern Ireland exemplify the wider recognition and importance of policing as a key institutional variable in effecting more peaceful and fair societies. Paradoxically, the police in many conflict-torn countries serve the interests of often precarious and/or repressive regimes, failing to preserve civil order or ensure safety to ordinary citizens. Indeed, many ordinary citizens become the victims of such police. This paper examines the conditions of policing in societies affected by violent internal conflict, and asks what are the bases for evaluating police conduct and ensuring accountability in such societies. Based on work currently being undertaken with respect to Colombia, it urges the need to take sufficient cognizance of the local context, without sacrificing the capacity to make constructive comparisons or judgments of appropriateness of conduct. The blurring of coercive functions under the banner of “security” is one of the theoretical issues to be considered in the paper.
Theorizing Race and Imprisonment: A Comparative Approach
This paper will compare how notions of race underpin the prison systems of France, Britain, and the US. While Britain and America gather statistics on ethnic groups, to reveal a vast disproportion of prisoners of colour, France differentiates only between citizens and foreigners. By referring to recent official publications about the prison systems in each country this paper will explore how issues of identity are imbricated within the prison itself.
Theory Driven Problem Solving in the Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative
This paper provides a cross-site assessment of the Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative. We discuss the potential for theory driven problem solving to community safety. This assessment is based on field interviews of key actors at each of the sites.
They May be Legal, But They Ain’t Right: Corporate Crimes Without Law Violations
Recent studies have highlighted the risks posed by organized crime, especially on a transnational scale. Corporate, governmental and individual forms of white-collar crime have also drawn some well-deserved attention. However, by concentrating on what is officially defined as illegal or criminal, we have neglected an even more serious threat to society. This threat emanates from a host of activities and corporate practices that are within the letter of the law and yet have multiple adverse social consequences. Quite often, the main reason why these practices remain legal and tolerated is that these industries are able to mobilize financial and other resources in order to avoid stricter regulation. The objectives of this paper are to define the problem, to document and analyze some of the most significant negative effects, and to propose concrete and practical courses of action.
Three Forms of Strain Theory?
This paper argues that since the time of Merton’s original formulation of strain theory, three distinct types of refinement to the theory have emerged. Each of these three forms of refinement posits different assumptions about the rationality of decision makers and the mediating mechanisms through which the refiners of the theory assume the strain/deviance relationship operates. Some authors suggest that Merton’s strain theory asserts either individual level or aggregate level relationships between strain and deviance. Some suggest that biologically innate frustration/aggression mechanisms offer modern explanations for the relationships that Merton proposed. I suggest that controversy pertaining to different versions of strain theory may be clarified through a better understanding of four issues: (1) current research pertaining to the frustration/aggression mechanism, and what this psychologically based theory would and would not predict if correct; (2) modern methodological and statistical concepts which clarify Robinson’s 1950 description of the “ecological fallacy”; (3) statistical and methodological principles of mediation; and (4) the role of cultural transmission of norms, attitudes, and justifications.
Three Problems for Retributive Sentencing
This paper poses three problems for a retributive approach to sentencing. It argues that a harm-for-harm approach would set the amount of punishment (or, alternatively, the upper limit of punishment) as the amount that could be reasonably expected to result from the criminal act committed by the offender. The first problem is: In the simplest kind of case (one offender, one victim, the offender fully intends the harm inflicted), how can we measure harm so that the harm of punishment is equal to the harm to the victim A more complex case poses the second problem: How should we determine the amount of punishment when the criminal act risks harm to a victim but doesn’t cause harm. The third and most complex problem is: How to determine the amount of punishment when the criminal act either risks or causes harm to multiple victims. The paper proposes philosophical solutions to these problems and then sketches out procedures for putting these solutions into the practice of sentencing.
Too Close to Home: Unintended Casualties of the War on Drugs in Harlem
Using ethnographic methods and techniques, this study examines dramatic changes in the structure of heroin markets in New York’s Harlem. A neighborhood that was once at odds with the violent, anonymous dealers from the corporate-style organizations, now protects and insulates the new dealers, local youths who were raised in the neighborhood. As the character of drug markets changed, policing strategies did not change to reflect the new dynamics of these drug markets. Aggressive policing tactics that once received community support are now widely seen as disproportionately punitive to the well being of the neighborhood, especially in light of several highly publicized police shootings of unarmed black men with the last few months. This research will contribute to the growing public debate over the war on drugs and its impact on neighborhoods as drug markets become more integrated into the social fabric of communities.
Toward a Non-Consensus Social Control Theory: Stigma of Arrest, Attachment Costs, and Commitment Costs
Social control theories have been criticized for assuming a common value system. For example, Travis Hirschi asserts that his control “assumes a common value system within the society or group whose norms are being violated” (1969:23). This assumption may be unrealistic when applied to the issue of criminality within modern heterogeneous societies. This theoretical paper proposes a control theory focusing on perceptual factors of deterrence. Rather than consensus, the proposed control theory assumes only that individuals view an arrest and subsequent involvement with the criminal justice system as stigmatizing and costly. Regardless of an individual’s belief in the moral validity of the law, the proposed control theory suggest that persons will refrain from committing crime to the extent that they view an arrest as a stigmatizing event that will be disapproved by significant others (Williams and Hawkins 1986). Moreover, an arrest is likely to result in “attachment costs” and “comitment costs” that will deter criminal behavior. A focus on the detrimental affects of arrest, regardless of one’s views regarding the predominant value system, eliminates the “consensus” aspects of social control theory and simultaneously encourages the integration of such a control theory with motivational theories (i.e. general strain, differential association) of criminality that dispute the existence of a common value system.
Toward a Theoretical and Practical Understanding of the Criminal Careers of Places
The importance of place in the etiology of crime has gained popularity in recent years. Place-based factors are essential to the recently elaborated theories of routine activities and environmental criminology, as well as to restatements of more traditional criminological theories such as social disorganization. In addition, recent technological advances in desktop computers and Geographic Information System (GIS) software technology have enabled researchers and practitioners to begin exploring spatial data in new and innovative ways. Finally, recent innovations in criminal justice practice, such as problem-oriented policing and community justice partnerships, have relied on place-based information for targeting and evaluating intervention strategies. Related to these theoretical, practical, and technological advances, it has been suggested that a focus on “place” is often a more appropriate unit of analysis than individuals. In fact, evidence seems to support this contention in that places have been found to be more often recidivistic than are people. The purpose of the proposed paper is to describe the criminal careers of places in one large Eastern U.S. city. Twenty years of police incident data will be examined to describe such factors as the proportion of recidivistic places in the city, the time between offenses, and the stability of offense types at each place.
Toward a Theory of Police Deviance (With Help From Control Balance)
The work of scholars who study police deviance has yet to result in the development of a substantive theory with which to frame their collective efforts. Recently, Tittle (1995) advanced a general theory of deviance that may help to fill this gap. This paper examines the utility of control balance as a new theoretical orientation in police deviance research. First, we presnt a framework for conceptualizing control balance within the special context of police deviance. Then, using survey data collected from a sample of Philadelphia police officers for the purpose of measuring control ratios, we provide an empirical test of the theory. The results are generally supportive of control balance theory.
Toward Public Health Policing? Enforcement of Laws Regulating Youth Access to Alcohol and Tobacco
The policies and practices of law enforcement agencies have the potential to positively or negatively affect how a multitude of public health issues are handled in communities. Examples of social problems in which law enforcement and public health interests intersect include alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug control; domestic violence; traffic safety; and sexual abuse. Data from a 1999 telephone survey of 160 local law enforcement agencies (including both police and sheriff’s departments) in 10 states are used to investigate agency practices with respect to enforcement of alcohol and tobacco age of sale and purchase/possession laws. Departments that conduct compliance checks of local merchants to determine compliance with alcohol age-of-sale laws are also likely to conduct tobacco compliance checks as well as “Cops in Shops” operations focused on alcohol purchase attempts by underage persons. These results are interpreted in the context of external pressures from, and alliances with, public health agencies as well as the “bureaucratic routines” of local law enforcement agencies.
Towards a 21st Century CyberJustice: The Criminal Justice Process in the Information Age
This paper will explore the relationships between the Internet and the criminal justice process. It will consider firstly the issue of the “old dealing with the new”: the problems which the Internet poses for establishing policing and the justice process. Can, for example, the criminal justice system cope with the new types of offence or cybercrimes that are starting to emerge? Secondly it will consider the “new dealing with the old”. At this level, could cyberspace itself be used to assist or at least adjust the policing of society and also the process of criminal justice?
Towards a Contemporary Theory of Girls’ Transgressions
The delinquency and deviance literature has typically ignored gender as a category of analysis, despite the fact that gender is the single most significant predictor of trouble with the law. To the extent that gender is considered a variable of analysis, commentators typically rely upon antiquated notions of masculinity and feminity. These framings fail to consider the profound shifts in gender norms that have occurred during the last 100 years, as well as the consequences for violating these norms. Based on dissertation research drawing from interviews and observations of over 100 female juvenile offenders, I argue that as dominant norms of feminity have shifted from virtue to sexual availability, different varieties of gender transgressions have come under the purview of the state. Girls, in particular, have often come to the attention of the system when they violated conventional gendered behavior. Whereas girls 100 years ago were punished for explicitly sexualized behavior around a “virgin/whore” continuum, contemporary categories of troubles for girls increasingly move across poles of “sexual/violent” offenses.
Towards an Understanding of Social Space: A Model to Test Black’s Style of Law Premises
This research develops a model that will test Donald Black’s conciliatory style of law premise as outlined within The Behavior of Law. While previous research has tested Black’s quantity of law premises, the styles of law premised within Black’s seminal writings have consistently been ignored. Using 1990 U.S. Census data, a principle component analysis is applied to Elkhart County, Indiana resulting in differentiation by social area. Individual level data from the Center for Community Justice VORP is then integrated with the aggregate level social area analysis. The resulting cartographic representations can be used to assess social structural questions within the burgeoning field of restorative justice.
Tracking Police Culture: Twenty Years of Police Union Writings
Since the microscope of social science was focused on the occupation of policing in the mid- 1 960s, scholars have assumed the existence of the “police sub-culture,” a normative socializing force that powerfully shapes all entrants into the occupation. John Crank identified five thematic areas of that culture: coercion, suspicion, soldarity, survival techniques, and death. This paper examined the themes of suspicion and solidarity as they have appeared in the writings in the police union publication of a major eastern city. A content analysis of the publication over a 20-year span of time tracks the intensity of suspicion that line officers directed toward both police managers and the public, as well as the extent, form, and intensity of union solidarity.
Traffic Enforcement as a Form of Racial Harassment by the Police? Analysis of Inmate Criminal Histories
Utilizing secondary analyses, the present study examined citizen’s satisfaction with local police using an integrated victimization-fear of crime model. Because fear of crime and citizen’s satisfaction with police have been conceptually linked, and many of the indicators used in understanding fear of crime have also been used independently to understand citizen satisfaction with police, this study sought to determine which fear of crime indicators most strongly drive citizens’ satisfaction with police. Additionally, the differential impact of such factors was examined across various demographic groups. The findings and policy implications will be discussed.
Transcendence, Self, and Justice: Functionalism Versus Dysfunction
Much of the criminological discourse has been supported by the traditional model of science and its adherence to the scientific method. Within that context, failed socialization and dysfunction characterize much of what we create as the realities of those who have been defined as deviant. By using a sample of gay, drug-using criminals, this paper explores functionalism and dysfunction within the context of the self. As such, the paper considers whether it is possible to transcend prevailing notions and constructions of justice.
Trap Theory and Efficient Prevention of Cooperative Crimes
Corruption, or the misuse of public power for private ends, is widespread. As long as the probability of detection is less than unity, it may occur. This paper proposes a method of inducing any part to corruption or cooperative crimes to voluntarily reveal the corruption or illegal agreement, thus eliminating corruption and other cooperative crimes. The method is nothing but some “traps”. For cooperative crimes, we allow one party in an agreement to keep all benefits or values if that party informs authorities of the crime, while the other parties not only forfeits all the gains but also receives extra penalties. For example, someone paying a bribe can retain the benefits of the bribe and also have the amount of the bribe back from the recipient if he reports to authorities. The advantage of the “trap theory” is extraordinary. Potential bribe-takers would realize that ultimately they would be caught and punished, then there would be no incentive to engage in the intial bribery agreement. I employ a game theoretic framework for analysis, and the game is progressed in three stages by two players. If at least one player decides not to enter an agreement, the game ends. If both players agree to enter, the game proceeds to stage 2, where there exists a positive probability that the agreement will be detected by authorities. If the detection occurs, the game moves forward to stage 3, where the players individually decide upon the amount of information about the agreement each will reveal. In stage 3, I make several modifications, which provide incentives to one of the players to confess. Under these modifications, corruption and other illegal transactions will not occur, and the game will end at the first stage. To illustrate the power of the theory, I expand and modify the games to conform to more complex situations and in each, corruption and other illegal transations are eliminated. Some related issues have been discussed, such as evidential issue, reputation, punishment, etc. which appear not to affect the effectiveness of the application of the trap theory.
Treating Youthful Offenders With Moral Reconation Therapy: A Survival Analysis
Meta-analytic evidence regarding the efficacy of rehabilitative efforts is accumulating. In addition to aggregating treatment effects these meta-analyses have begun to explore the program types and conditions of implementation that are associated with successful rehabilitation. These studies have indicated the greater the involvement of the evaluator in the design, planning and delivery of the intervention the larger the effect size. This result suggests that the generalizability of pilot programs is an important issue. in light of generalizability concerns this paper examines the portability of Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT). The efficacy of the MRT program has been supported by two quasi-experimental trials. These trials have been conducted by MRT’s authors. When treatment and control groups in these trials were compared the treatment group was consistently favored on a variety of measures quantifying post-treatment criminal activity. This paper tested the effect of MRT when implemented by criminal justice system personnel in a county jail in Maryland. Treatment and control groups were randomly assigned. A survival analysis was used to test for group differences in the length of time until re-arrest. Treatment and control group differences were not significant.
Tripartite Model: A Sociological Analysis of School Offenders
In the aftermath of gun violence in schools across the country, policy makers are tightening security measures on school premises to protect the students, teachers, and staff. In many instances, the school authorities are emphasizing a zero-tolerance policy and students are being suspended for having colored spiked hair, or is serving time in holding cells for writing potentially threatening Halloween stories as school paper for classes. Both security measures and students’ counseling have been beefed up. We are implementing many devices to monitor the behavior of youth adults with least understanding of the reactions of the students. A school environment is the product of interactions among three major roles-students, teachers, and administrators. Therefore a student’s behavior is, in many respects, a product of the interactions taking place among these three forces. Sociological analysis will establish the fact that the school offenders are being created by the interactions of these forces. This environment can be registered as a “tripartite model.” This paper will report a study based upon focus groups of students, teachers, and administrators of a county of Virginia.
Triple Jeopardy? Black and Asian Women Police Officers’ Experiences of Discrimination
This was an exploratory study into a hitherto unexamined area of discrimination within the police force of England and Wales: the triple discriminatory effect of racism and sexism that female police officers from ethnic minorities encounter. A summary of the theoretical perspective used is given, followed by a discussion of our results, from interviews with black and Asian female police officers, white female police officers, and black and Asian male police officers in the context of relevant existing research evidence from the United States. We found evidence to suggest that female ethnic minority officers suffered from sexual or gendered harassment and discrimination in addition to the sort of racism suffered by their black male colleagues and the sort of sexism suffered by their white female counterparts. The implications of this for future anti-discrimination policy are discussed, including some tentative policy suggestions.
Trying Times and Temper Tantrums: The Mediating Effects of Anger on Strain and Delinquency
Agnew’s General Strain Theory (GST) stipulates that delinquency is more likely to occur when individuals react angrily to strain. Given the pivotal role of anger in this theory, there have been surprisingly few empirical tests of GST that examine the role of anger. Mazerolle and Piquero (1998) found partial support for the mediating effect of anger on GST and suggest that more conclusive results may be possible with a sample exhibiting greater variation in strain. This paper builds on Mazerolle and Piquero’s study and presents an empirical analysis of the mediating effects of anger on strain and delinquency using data from the School Culture, Climate and Violence study of Philadelphia middle schools. The paper also attempts to address sociocultural shortcomings in GST literature by including analysis of GST’s ability to explain delinquency across different racial, socioeconomic and family composition groups.
Turning Points or Selection Artifacts?: Examining Stability and Change Within a Fixed Effects Framework
Sampson and Laub’s (1993) evidence that well-bonded marriages and stable employment pave the way for desistance has been criticized by Gottfredson and Hirschi (1995) as failing to properly account for selection bias. Brame, Farrington, Paternoster, Nagin, and Bushway have, in various collaborations, attempted to examine these arguments within random, fixed, and semi/non-para metric models designed specifically to control for selection effects. To date, this line of research has tended to support the Sampson and Laub hypothesis of significant stability coupled with undeniable evidence of change. Using data from the National Youth Survey (ages 11 -27) within a longitudinal, fixed effects framework, the current article examines the effects of well-bonded marriages and emergent parenthood upon desistance from offending while accounting for the influences of assortative mating, peer affiliation, and stable individual tendencies.
Two Cheers for Community Prosecution
This paper summarizes findings of two studies of community prosecution programs and the implications of those findings for the future of prosecution, It identifies key changes occurring in prosecution strategies, considers the form of community prosecution as an operational strategy and its implementation, addresses the congruence of these programs with community policing programs, and discusses the measurement of effectiveness of community prosecution in dealing with specific problems. It focuses on the effectiveness of these programs as tools for crime prevention, considers the potential downsides of the programs, and offers directions for the future of prosecution generally and community prosecution in particular, with suggestions ,for further research.
Types of Ecstasy User
In the Preface to his classic book The Order of Things, Michel Foucault recalled an early Chinese classification, wherein animals were divided into (a) belonging to the Emperor, (b) embalmed, (c) tame, (d) sucking pigs, (e) sirens, (f) fabulous, (g) stray dogs, (h) included in the present classification, (i) frenzied, j) innumerable, (k) drawn with a very fine camel hair brush, (l) et cetera, (m) having just broken the water pitcher, (n) that from a long way off look like flies. The native user typologies provided by 229 Scottish ecstasy users reflect a logical and taxonomic rigor similar to Foucault’s Chinese classifier of animals.
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U.S. Influences on Recent Crime Control Policy in England and Wales
This paper examines the idea of ‘policy transfer’ in the area of crime control. More specifically it looks at the influence of the United States on recent criminal justice and penal policy in the UK. Three policy areas are discussed – privatized corrections, zero tolerance policing and ‘two’ and ‘three strikes’ sentencing. Changes in these areas have been widely perceived as being primarily influenced by developments in the USA. However, to date there has been no systematic empirical study of how and why policy change in these areas comes about. Drawing upon a systematic review of the literature, this paper examines the plausibility of the idea of policy transfer, and highlights four distinct routes through which policy transfer may occur between jurisdictions: ”emulation’, ‘elite-networking’, ‘harmonization’ and ‘penetration’. Finally, we consider how such transfer might be examined empirically and outline the basis of a forthcoming research project.
Unconscious Racism and Criminal Law Enforcement
Psychological research has demonstrated the existence of unconscious racism or stereotyping. This research is drawn on to explain the inconsistencies of research findings regarding racial discrimination on the part of the police, and in the criminal courts.
Understanding Enduring Resident Commitment to Neighborhood Organizations and Quality of Life
Throughout history, the resident volunteer in neighborhood organizations has played an important role in shaping neighborhood characteristics and the urban political environment. This paper presents the findings of hypothesis tests that predict differences in motivation, ideology, and identity characteristics among resident activists, according to their intensity and duration of involvement in neighborhood associations. Qualitative narrative methods are used to address questions about resident participation that previous quantitative, cross sectional studies have not examined. Conclusions discuss the important factors related to continued resident civic involvement and commitment to neighborhood quality of life.
Understanding Judicial Departures: An Analysis of Statewide Variation in Sentencing Departures Across Pennsylvania
The implementation of sentencing guidelines in Pennsylvania largely developed out of a concern for unwarranted disparity. There are two basic concerns with the disparity issue. First, have the guidelines created a hydraulic displacement of discretion to the prosecutor, and second, when the guidelines are applied, do departures from the guidelines create unwarranted disparity. This second concern is the focus of the present research. First, we interview judges who have departed from the guidelines to develop a deeper understanding of their reasons for departing. Second, we examine statewide patterns of sentencing departures to examine whether or not departures below the guidelines are differentially applied to different types of offenders. Previous studies examining sentencing departures have generally applied OLS regression. This method, however, violates certain core assumptions by ignoring the nested nature of sentencing data (i.e. cases nested within counties). The present study therefore attempts to avoid this pitfall by applying a multilevel modeling approach to the study of judicial departures.
Understanding the Dynamics of Robbery: A Detailed Analysis of Robbery Incidents Using NIBRS Data
In this paper the authors use incident-based crime information from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data set to analyze incidents involving robbery in multiple jurisdictions. The research demonstrates the inherent value of the incident-based structure of NIBRS data, which enables the authors to analyze the dynamics of robbery in a variety of settings. The authors are able to identify factors that distinguish robberies resulting in injury or death from those that do not, as well as attributes associated with robberies and other offenses (e.g., burglary, rape, auto theft, etc.). Given history UCR program limitations, the hierarchy rule and the classification of robbery as a property crime, large scale and detailed analyses of robbery have heretofore been extraordinarily limited. This research not only demonstrates the value of NIBRS for analysis of robbery and other offenses, it also expands our knowledge of the dynamics of robbery incidents and the attributes of both victims and offenders.
Understanding the Role of Communities in the Longterm Criminal Consequences of Child Maltreatment
This research examines the role of neighborhood social organization characteristics in the development of negative longterm outcomes for maltreated children, specifically criminal offending, violence, and substance abuse. Two sets of hypotheses will be tested: (1) Victims of early child maltreatment who reside in neighborhoods characterized by negative social organization have the highest risk for the development of criminal offending, and high rates of persistent criminal offending, violence, and substance abuse; and (2) Social isolation and neighborhood social mobility will be examined as potential mechanisms linking neighborhood organization factors to individual outcomes. The data are from documented cases of child abuse and neglect (physical and sexual abuse and neglect, N=676) from the years 1967 through 1971 and matched controls (N=520) who were followed prospectively and interviewed during the years 1989-1995. Additional data on neighborhood characteristics (from census tracts) will be collected. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) will be used to examine the interactions between variables at multiple ecological levels. Semiparametric mixed Poisson statistical models will be used to explore the shape and continuity of criminal offending.
Understanding Women’s Involvement in Sexual Crime
While women’s entry into crime has commonly been explained by reference to ‘survival strategies’ adopted in response to childhood victimisation, recent studies have begun to question the gender-based assumptions in which such conceptions are grounded. Their findings have helped to refocus the debate on women’s criminality by drawing attention to the diverse range of factors which generate and maintain women’s involvement in violent crime. This paper applies the insights of the above research to the highly-contentious area of sex offending by women. Based on a study of 30 convicted women sex offenders, the paper explores the women’s pathways into sexual crime and interrogates constructions of these offenders as victimised and male-coerced individuals. In addition to data from casde records, the study utilised information gleaned from life history interviews with women sex offenders in prison and probation settings. The findings indicate a complex picture involving a heterogeneous group of women with widely-varying personal and offending histories. On the basis of these findings it is suggested that researchers and criminal justice practitioners need to move away from gender-based stereotypes which deny women’s ability actively to engage in violent and sexualloy-aggressive behaviours.
Unequal Rule Enforcement in Corrections: Race Discrimination or Other Factors?
This study examines the conduct rule enforcement process in a Midwestern maximum-security prison. This facility’s monthly reports of conduct rule violations reveals that the majority of less serious rule violations, or “order-maintenance reports,” are consistently filed against AfricanAmerican offenders. The purpose of this study is to explore the role of race discrimination in the filing of reports for minor conduct rule violations. The data consist of incident reports of all guilty findings on staff-reported conduct rule violations finalized between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 1998 (N=3,500). Offender variables in the data include race, age, most serious criminal sentence, class level of the conduct rule violation, number of prior conduct rule violations, date of arrival into the Department of Correction, and length of time to be served at the time of the conduct rule violation (reported in months). Correctional staff variables cover race, gender, age, rank or position held, and time employed with the Department of Correction. Hypotheses concerning the effects of offender’s race and the interaction between offender’s and staff member’s race on the probability of the report being for an order maintenance violation are tested, controlling for other offender and staff variables.
Unfinished Business: The Missing Link(s) in Community-Policing
America has historical roots in defining crime as a moral failure on the part of the offender. In response to this individual failure, retributive punishment is often seen as the only acceptable way to reach justice. Those politicians screaming for harsher criminal penalties continue to be elected while recommendations for preventive policies are tossed aside. Community-oriented policing, as currently implemented, serves as only part of an overall alternative aimed at proactive crime prevention. Although the impact of community-oriented policing has been great, the progress made must continue to push for success beyond the politics surrounding crime policy. Three alternatives are suggested for advancing community-oriented policing to the next step. First, there must be a greater link between private business crime prevention and public crime policy. Second, increased social support programs aimed at criminally susceptible family and youth must be more fully implemented based on solid research evidence pointing to success of these programs. Third, a combination of programs based on rational-choice theory and social support theory must move beyond political differences and formulate integration strategies with the objective of progressing the fundamental premise behind community-oriented policing.
Unintended Racism During Voir Dire? The Differential Treatment of African-American Prospective Jurors During the Jury Selection Process
During a qualitative analysis of the jury selection process in criminal courts it became increasingly evident that Africa American jurors were treated differently than their caucasian counterparts by the judges, defense attorneys, and prosecuting attorneys during the voir dire process. Depending on the particular courtroom in which the questions posed to the prospective jurors, the treatment African-American jurors differed in quantity and quality than other jurors in the venire. This paper will discuss these differences and the marked impact these variations have upon the composition of juries observed, considering the defendants in all these cases were young Africa American males.
Unpacking Age, Co-offending, and Crime Relationships
The paper reports a study of crime patterns among juveniles. It will focus on age and the size of co-offending groups to understand crime events and to predict subsequent criminality. The study used a random start of 400 offenders, half of whom were selected for a crime committed alone and half selected for a crime committed with at least one other offender, to generate a snowball sample of offenders whose criminal behavior was traced from a first offense to the age of 18. Both age at that offense and size of co-offending group appear to influence crime trajectories. How they do so, and why, will be considered in this paper.
Unpacking the Relationship Between Psychopathy and Violence in the MacArthur Risk Assessment Study
Although psychopathy is recognized as a relatively strong risk factor for violence among inmates and mentally disordered offenders, few studies have examined the extent to which its predictive power generalizes to civil psychiatric samples. Using data on 1,136 patients from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment project, this presentation focuses on the extent to which the two factors that underlie the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) represent a single, unique personality construct that predicts violence among civil patients. Data will be presented to show that the PCLSV is a significant predictor of violence among civil psychiatric patients, even after controlling for a host of covariates such as past violence and substance abuse. However, the predictive power of the PCL:SV is not based upon its assessment of the core traits of psychopathy, as traditionally construed (e.g., callousness, superficiality, deceitfulness). Implications for the twofactor theory that underlies the best validated measures of psychopathy, and for risk assessment practice will be discussed.
Up in Smoke: An Ethnographic Exploration of the Oakland Cannabis Club
The Passage of Proposition 215 by California voters has paved the way for the distribution and use of medicinal marijuana. Still, the cultivation, distribution and use of marijuana is illegal by federal law. As such, the U.S. government has made a concerted effort to close the “cannabis clubs” which carry out the mandate of the CA populace. Citing various reasons for their closures, federal authorities argue that patrons of cannabis clubs can either seek other equally effective treatment or are simply claiming contrived ailments to obtain the drug. This study details preliminary findings of an ethnographic examination of cannabis club patrons and owners in an effort to uncover the true motivations of users and the utility of medicinal marijuana.
Urban Ecology and Police Malpractice: Identifying Contexts for Career-ending Misconduct in the New York City Police Department
The present study examines career-ending misconduct of New York City police officers and the extent to which misconduct has varied in frequency and character across New York City communities between 1975 and 1996. Data sources include official police department records of misconduct events and U.S. Census decennial measures at 1970, 1980, and 1990. Appealing to theories of police deviance and the ecology of crime, a longitudinal panel design is used through which indicators of social ecology and unpredicted ecological change (as a measure of community instability) are entered into several multivariate models to examine rates of misconduct across and within communities. Findings are expected to show that communities characterized by ecological instability experience high levels of police misconduct compared to communities that are ecologically stable. Implications for police deployment and supervision, as well as for future research on police misconduct are discussed.
Urban-Rural Differences in Desistance From Marijuana Use: A Life-Course Transitions Approach
In recent years, criminologists have become more aware of the importance of life-course transitions in the etiology of delinquent and criminal behavior, including its onset, persistence, and desistance. At the same time, a complementary fine of research has begun paying more attention to adult criminal behavior and the salience of life-course transitions that are unique to adulthood. For example, work drawing from control theory has posited that adult social bonds, such as marriage, may be a primary factor in explaining the “aging out” of young adults from criminal behavior. What we think is missing from the existing literature is attention to social context. As a first step, we intend to explore the extent to which one’s residence in a rural versus an urban area may attenuate the relationship between adult social bonds and one type of adult criminal behavior: marijuana use. The sample of respondents on which we base our analyses is drawn primarily from Wave 7 of the National Youth Survey (N= 11,725 21-27 year-olds).
Urbanization, Delinquency, and Psychoactive Substance Use
This paper is an attempt to return to some of the early hypotheses of criminology and to test them by means of recent data. The paper presents several reasons linking urbanization with delinquency as well as with psychoactive substance use. Essentialloy, the argument is based on the association between urbanization and alienation and social isolation. These, in turn, contribute to the need for some of the benefits provided by the consumption of such substances (licit and illicit). The derived hypotheses are then tested by means of country-level data, derived from multi-national studies as well as Interpol’s International Crime Statistics.
Urbanization and Homicide: Unraveling a Non-Linear Relationship Across Time and Space in 19th Century France
Research on the relationship between urbanization and violence has produced discrepant results. Cross-sectional designs (as well as most urban history), based largely on U.S. data, usually report a positive association between urbanization and crimes against persons. On the other side, longitudinal studies, which have been more likely to draw on populations outside the U.S., tend to find a negative association between the proportion of a population living in urban areas and violent crime. This anomaly may result from the fact that urbanization is relatively high in America, and the possibility that the relationship between urbanization and violent crime is not linear. If rural regions and the most urbanized areas are high in crimes against persons, analyses of populations with lower levels of urbanization would find a negative association between urbanization and violence. On the other hand, a positive correlation would show up in highly urbanized populations such as those in North America. This research focuses on homicide rates to examine how urbanization and violent crime are related in the last half of the 19th century in France. Graphs and an ARIMA (1,0,1) model show the nonlinearity of urbanization and homicide for continental France, 1848-1913. Graphs and a cross-sectional time-series analysis of several regions of France with wide variation in urbanization further support the thesis at a lower level of analysis.
Use of Victim-Offender Relationship as a Screening Device in Legal Decision Making
Current perspectives in the sociology of law highlight the use of screening devices as important instruments of social control that take into account factors that are not directly related to the deviant act itself. Within the criminal justice system, the relationship between defendants and victims is one such screening device. Research suggests that violent crime involving intimates may be treated more leniently than violent acts among non-intimates because of stereotypical assumptions about intimate violence that are inherent in criminal justice decision-making. To test this general hypothesis, I examine 106 cases involving defendants convicted of homicide that vary by type of victim-offender relationship, but are identical int erms of initial charge laid, subsequent conviction, gender of defendant and victim, mode of conviction, defendant’s prior criminal history, year in which the case is resolved as well as the age of the defendant and the victim. In particular, I analyze sentencing decisions to determine (1) if/how judges integrate assumptions about intimacy and violent crime in their decisions; (2) if the sentencing principles emphasized differ by type of victim-offender relationship (e.g. rehabilitiation, deterrence); (3) if mitigating and/or aggravating factors differ for intimate and non-intimate offenders; and, finally (4) if the sentences imposed vary depending on the type of relationship, holding constant other relevant factors.
Using a Web-Based Information System (WIS) to Make Survey Studies More Effective and More Efficient
This study will present how researchers can utilize the Web-based nformation System (WIS) to develop a web-based survey as a data-gathering tool that, compared to a traditional mail survey, is potentially faster to conduct, yield more accurate information, and are considerably cheaper. Most importantly, the study will show that the WIS provides practical techniques that can make collected data ready for statistical analysis (e.g., in a form of SPSS program). The study also discusses some drawbacks of web-based survey as well as proposes recommendations for maximizing the use of the on-line survey.
Using Attribution Theory to Explain Criminal Substance Abuse
Attributing blame is a basic way to make sense of negative events. From attribution theory, it is assumed that attributions can be of either an internal or external nature and that each contribute to various outcomes. For the present study, 70 incarcerated male offenders completed a self-report measure of alcohol (external) and peronal (internal) blame. The outcome measure wa the occurrence of substance abuse in the index offence. Using regression analysis, the results indicated a R2 of .16 with alcohol and personal blame as the independent variables. After standardizing the variables, the inclusion of an interaction term (alcohol x personal) inreased the R2 to .18. Integrating both external and internal criminal attributions to explain the presence of substance abuse in criminal offending are discussed.
Using Criminological Theories to Explain Violent Forms of Delinquency
This paper considers the ability of delinquency theories to explain violent offending among a sample of incarcerated high-risk juvenile offenders. We test strain theory, social control theory, differential association and nonsocial reinforcement theory using data from a survey administered to 318 subjects incarcerated in a state correctional facility in August 1999. Scales are created to represent key concepts from the different theories under consideration here. We compare the relative fit of the competing theories and examine the ability of an integrated theory to provide a closer fit to the data. Our dependent variable is a weighted index representing participation in a variety of violent offenses. The study involves multiple regression analyses and, as appropriate, path analyses. We present the findings and discuss the implications of the results.
Using Internet Technology to Improve Conditions of Confinement for Juvenile Offenders
In order for the PbS project to cost-effectively collect and manage data from dispersed sites, Abt Associates, Inc. has developed and implemented an innovative online data collection and reporting system. The system has received positive reviews from project participants and could serve as a prototype for programs with similar requirements. Facility staff use the project’s password-protected World Wide Web site (www.performance-standards.org) to enter data periodically, view and download graphic performance reports, assess problem areas, and access resources for improvement. An integral feature of the PbS model, the web-based system: (a) reduces the cost of project participation; (b) makes the data collection process more efficient, improves data quality by checking information as it is entered; (c) provides facilities with regular performance reports; (d) gives facilities the tools to diagnose problems, develop solutions, and track their improvement over time; (e) encourages facilities to integrate information technology into their daily operations; and (f) helps facilities to institutionalize a process of continuous self-improvement. As the project expands, new facilities can be added to the system at very low cost, The website will also include a monitoring system for use by project staff to track facilities’ progress and to analyze outcomes and improvements across facilities.
Using National Incident Based Reporting System Data for Regional Crime Analysis
The utility of the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for strategic crime analysis has yet to be fully explored. NIBRS represents an advancement over existing reporting systems and possesses considerable utility for local and regional strategic crime analysis. This paper discusses the utility of NIBRS for identifying local and regional trends in narcotics related offenses. Using multiple jurisdictions from within one region of Virginia, this project examines trends in the sale/distribution and possession of narcotics. The analysis shows that the standardized reporting format of NIBRS transcends local boundaries providing significantly more incident-related detail than has heretofore been available for strategic crime analysis at a regional level.
Using Novels to Teach Theory and Process in Criminal Justice
In Pictures at an Execution, Wendy Lesser poses a dilemma that anyone teaching courses about crime needs to address. She states: “I am drawn to the increasingly blurry borderline between real murder and fictional murder, between murder as news and murder as art, between event and story.” How might novels be used to delineate issues around this indifference? And could the genre of non-fiction novels provide even more insight? The advantages of using novels in criminal justice classes are clear: exposing students to good writing is valuable, in part becuas they are more likely to complete the reading; disc ussions of the differences in doing science and doing fiction are pedagogically useful; and the writer’s craft probably creates a lasting impression (beyond the test day, that is). Non-fiction works like Capote’s In Cold Blood or Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song raise even more discussion points than pure fiction. Students may be asked where fiction meets fac in novels about actual crimes. What bias might exist in the author’s selection of material, and how does this compare to biases in social science investigations? Do authors take a stand or proselytize on an issue? For example, does Truman Capote use the story of the Clutter family deaths to weave an argument for or against the death penalty? Whether intended or not, readers get exposed to most of the debating points about capital punishment as Perry Smith and Dick Hickock approach the gallows in Kansas. The purpose of this paper is to recommend some guidelines for both the selection fo novels and the effective utilization of those fictional works adopted. One major factor is time frame. Non-fiction novels about events too far in the past (e.g., Compulsion, which deals with Leopold and Loeb in the twenties) may be less useful than say a crime in the fifties (e.g., Capote). Very recent events, such as the Simpson case, may be too close at hand for the novel format to work well. Time distancing also permits discussion of changes in criminal justice processing, expectations of justice, and the rest.
Using Risk Assessment to Inform Sentencing Decisions for Non-Violent Offenders
In 1944, when Virginia abolished parole and developed thruth-in-sentencing guidelines for all persons convicted of felonies, the General Assembly also required the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission (VCSC) to recommend a method for diverting 25 percent of non-violent, prison-bound offenders into alternative sanction programs, using risk assessment to identify offenders posing the lowest risk to public safety. The VCSC created a risk assessment instrument for use by judges at the sentencing stage and initiated a pilot test of the tool in four judicial circuits. The VCSC and the National Center for State Courts are conducting an evaluation of the risk assessment instrument with three primary goals: 1) to evaluate the development of an empirically based risk assessment instrument, 2) to evaluate the implementation, use, and effectiveness of the instrument, and 3) to establish a database and methodology for a study of recidivism of offenders diverted through risk assessment. Our paper addresses the following evaluation issues: 1) the validity and reliability of the instrument, 2) the way that the instrument is being used in practice, 3) selection of a threshold score differentiating those recommended for prison from those recommended for alternative sanctions, 4) the methodology for measuring recidivism, and 5) cost/benefit analysis.
Using Schools and Teachers to Identify Variables and Persons for Interventiuon: A Meta-Analysis
Preventative intervention programming is predicated on the idea that caual risk factors can be identified and their impact on future development can be ameliorated or blocked by effective social engineering. Because it is often impossible or irnmoral to randomly assign cbildren to many of the conditions thought to influence the development of displays of violent behavior, identifuing these potential mediators of violence is primarily a correlational endeavor. In this segment, the Hamilton Fish Institute will present its latest findings from an ongoing meta-analysis of over 3,000 effect sizes from over 200 reports from 68 panel studies that measured the correspondence between one or more risk factors and the display of violent interpersonal behavior. The covariation of these risk factors with the display of violent anti social behavior creates an upper-bound against which effective intervention programming would not be expected to exceed. Breaking out the relationship by its conditional interrelationships, as when clients are selected into preventive intervention, has the potential to fiurther lessen the impact of intervention.
Using Technology in Criminal Justice Education
This paper describes an innovative program of instruction that uses a variety of technological interventions to enhance students = interactive participation. These interventions include team teaching with interactive television between two institutions, online evaluative components, online discussion exercises, and the use of Email communicatioon between student and faculty and between students. The vast amount of Criminal Justice information on the Internet provides the opportunity to enhance the program of instruction beyond the traditional passive approach via lecturing. The traditional approach of bringing information and knowledge to students, may be redundant taking into consideration the easy access and the volume of information today. This innovative program sought to focus on helping students assess and utilize this volume of information. The program also challenged the students to become active participants in the learning process. The paper identifies the strengths and weaknesses of using technology in criminal justice education. The general conclusion is that while the use of technology is promising and inevitable, to be succe4ssful, the program just have strong institutional support and commitment to the use of technology.
Using the Desistance Literature to Develop Probation Work
This paper looks at the lessons from the desistance literature for the work that might be done with offenders who are supervised in the community. Offenders spend relatively short periods of time with the probation officers who supervise them. The paper therefore argues that, if probation officers are to motivate and assist the people they are supervising to move towards law-abiding lives, they need to harness the wider social processes that move people away from offending. The author’s knowledge of probation work in England, gained during a doctoral thesis on probationers’ and probation officers’ experiences and perceptions of probation, and during her subsequent research on supervisory practices, is drawn on in a discussion of two key issues. The first is how offenders can become sufficiently engaged in and committed to the supervisory process to be prompted to embark upon and to sustain the efforts required to achieve long-lasting changes in their lives. The second is how offenders’ social environments can be influenced in ways that support their decisions to give up offending. The paper concludes by suggesting that research into probation effectiveness would benefit from more sophisticated measures of reductions in recidivism than simple reconviction rates.
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Validating a Risk/Needs Assessment Instrument Used to Make Supervision Decisions for Juveniles
Risk and needs assessment is standard practice in juvenile justice systems nationwide. Standardized instruments are a primary method of assessing risk and needs, and are commonly used as tools to guide practitioner decision-making. The practice of using standardized tools is based on the principle that these tools are objective; as such, they should reduce bias in and increase the effectiveness of the system. Available research on objective risk and needs assessment instruments emphasizes the importance of validating these instruments with data from the population they will be used to assess. While this type of validation is theoretically important and empirically necessary, it is often politically and pragmatically difficult. This paper discusses the process of conducting such an evaluation, including the, planning, design, implementation, and results of the validation of one such instrument in Florida. Based on this case study, recommendations are made for facilitating the best use of these instruments by validating regularly and revising instruments when necessary.
Validity of the Uniform Crime Reports in Small Cities: Scrutinizing Mistakes in Inputted Data
Literature focusing on the validity of the UCR crime data has concentrated primarily on the narrow scope of the crimes reported to the FBI as well as the small percentage of actual crime that is accounted for by arrests and reported crime. Moreover, though inattentive handling of evidence by police departments has been a topic given significant attention in criminal justice literature, little has been written on their careless inputting and storage of crime data kept for the UCR. The present study identified the cities that reported erroneous or missing data to the UCR and used surveys to determine why their data were problematic. Particular attention was placed on the computerized UCR systems (or lack thereof) and the qualifications of the staff compiling the data in these departments. Recommendations will also be provided concerning the improvements of UCR data.
Variation in Sentencing Guidelines: The Impact on Crime Rates and Prison Populations
Impact analyses of sentencing guidelines frequently test the relationship between the enactment of guidelines in a specific jurisdiction to that jurisdiction’s crime or prison population rate. Using crime rate and prison population data from 1971 to 1996, this analysis uses an interrupted time-series panel design to examine the impact of sentencing guidelines in each state with a guideline system enacted before 1992. This examination expects to improve previous multi-state sentencing impact research (e.g., Marvell 1995, Marvell and Moody 1995) by including in the statistical model variation among different guideline systems. Specifically, a guideline’s compliance (presumptive/voluntary), design (prescriptive/descriptive), scope (felony/misdemeanor), and other identifiable characteristics will be added to the model and tested for relative contribution to overall impact.
Variations in Age-Specific Homicide Death Rates: A Cohort Explanation for Changes in the Age Distribution of Homicide Deaths
An age-period-cohort characteristic model, similar to that used in authors (1999) to explain age-specific rates of homicide arrests for those 15 to 49 from 1960 to 1995, is applied to measures of age-specific homicide deaths. We point out some disadvantages of using age specific homicide death (or victimization data) rather than offenders data. These disadvantages, however, are ameliorated by the availability of reliable data for homicide victimization over a longer time span (1930 to 1995), a wider range of ages (10 to 79), and data disaggregated by male and females and by whites and non-whites. Despite using data generated from death reports rather than arrest reports, the longer time span, wider age range, and examining disaggregated demographic groups, we find that cohort characteristics associated with family structure and cohort size are positively and statistically significantly related to age specific homicide victimization rates. members of cohorts that are relatively large or that have larger numbers of non-marital births are at higher risk of homicide throughout the life span. These cohort characteristics can also account for the recent upturn in youth homicide deaths. These results are consistent for the total population and for race-sex subgroups.
Variations in Income Sources of Daily Crack Users and Other Hard Drug Users
This paper analyzes the various sources of income self-reported by current hard drug users and operatives in Central Harlem. Daily crack users are compared with less regular users of crack, cocaine powder, and heroin. The income sources ranged from drug sales, assisting in drug sales, various nondrug crimes, welfare transfers, support from family/relatives, informal income sources, odd jobs, and full time employment. Patterns of avoided expenditures on housing were also addressed. In 1998 and 1999, carefully selected samples of current (past 30 days) users of heroin, cocaine powder, or crack were recruited in Central Harlem (N=655) and the entire borough of the Bronx (N=352). The analyses will test the hypotheses that Daily crack users are more likely to have higher incomes from drug sales and nondrug crimes, but less employment and welfare income, than less regular hard drug users. A variety of covariates (gender, birth cohort, drug sales roles, drug consumption, etc.) are included. A logistic regression analysis will document the relative importance of various factors affecting income generating patterns.
Variations on the Gang Theme: Comparing Core Elements of American Street Gangs and English Hooligan Crews
American street gangs have become the standard to which all other youthful criminal subcultures are compared, both domestically and internationally. While these different groups may have certain core elements in common, it would be factually inaccurate to depict American street gangs as gthe original and all other groups as carbon copies of that original. One of the strongest arguments for overturning this view comes from the study of English hooligan crews. English hooligan crews and American street gangs developed during the 1960s among similar types of young adults, and while there is a great deal of similarity in the way they developed, their behavior and purpose are quite disparate. This paper critically compares the development, expression, persistence, and criminality of these groups in order to better understand how similar types of deviant subcultures can develop independently, yet still have so much in common.
Verifying Self-Reported Behavior and Biodata From a Survey of Metropolitan Police Officers: Implications for Survey Research on Sensitive Topics Within Police Populations
Researchers engaged in the study of sensitive police behaviors are faced with a challenging task. Many scholars have argued that traditional social science methods, such as the use of self-report survey instruments, are inappropriate for this type of research. Can researchers use self-report survey methodology to study sensitive topics within police populations, and expect to obtain valid information? The author investigates this question by comparing self-report survey data provided by individual police officers with official records concerning each respondent. Verifiable self-reported behaviors of a sensitive nature and biographical information are included in the analysis.
Victim’s Reporting Behavior and Police Recording Procedures in Germany
Police arrests are an important basis for measuring crime in society. The main factors influencing such statistics is the reporting behavior of victims or witnesses, and the recording behavior of the police. Especially minor crimes are not often reported by victims, or if reported, police incentive to record such crimes is not high because their clearance rates are low, i.e., these cases are rarely solved. Crime surveys offer a possibility of measuring crime independently. While absolute responses to crime surveys are not exactly comparable to police data, the number of crimes indicated by victims as reported to the police offer a comparable data source. The results of national as well as local studies in germany have shown that the number of minor crimes indicated as reported to the police is about ten times higher than the number of actually recorded crimes. Reasons for this discrepancy, such as methods of victim reporting, and police procedure are discussed in the paper.
Victimless Crime: Revenue Raising, Autonomy and Futility Models of Decriminalization
This paper compares the successful and unsuccessful efforts to remove the criminal sanction from certain prohibited activities in the United States. Taking the sociolegal concept of “victimless crimes” as its focus, the paper analyzes the nature of the efforts to initiate reform efforts, to define constituencies, to mobilize resources, to frame debates, and to connect with public opinion and parallel social movements in several reform efforts over that period. The paper will discuss these developments in comparison to American treatment of other contested activities, formerly the province of the criminal law: abortion, pornography, prostitution, illicit drugs, gay rights, and assisted suicide. The paper will also present these developments against a backdrop of comparative legal and regulatory treatment of gambling and these other activities in a range of other countries. The paper will examine the three models: a) revenue raising (gambling); b) autonomy (assisted suicide); and c) futility (drugs) by comparing the legal treatment of the comparison activities, including: reasons for changes in legal treatment; role of social movement organizations; appeal to policymakers; expressed reasons for legal change; and framing of arguments for change or continued legal treatment.
Victims of Domestic Violence and Police Satisfaction in a Mandatory Arrest Jurisdiction
Traditionally, victim satisfaction with police has been low * even lower for victims of domestic violence. Reports of police failing to arrest, attempting on-scene counseling or even ignoring serious violence abound. New York State passed the Domestic Violence Intervention Act in 1994 which among other things, required arrest in certain family offense situations and provided law enforcement training. In an effort to gather the voices of victims on the impact of this legislation in local courts, victims applying for family court orders of protection were interviewed in several NY jurisdictions. Using this data, this study examines: victim reasons for calling or not calling police, satisfaction with police, and factors that contribute to more favorable responses about police-victim interaction. Results indicate that overall, victims tend to be more favorable toward police when an arrest is made and when victims feel that their case is taken seriously.
Viewing One’s Home as Unsafe Because of Crime
This paper focuses on the degree to which persons perceived their home as being unsafe because of crime. The data is a national probability sample of 19,564 respondents. Respondents who view their home as unsafe tend to be recent victims of a crime, to have a low income to rent their housing, have a high education, to be Black or Hispanic, to be unmarried and to be young. According to interviewer rating of neighborhood characteristics, even after controls for the respondent’s socioeconomic characteristics and past victimization, perceiving one’s home as unsafe because of crime is related to a neighborhood with unkept lawns and grounds, physical incivilities, the sale/consumption of alcohol and fast food and a high level of permeability. It is concluded that neighborhood characteristics affect not only the perception of how safe one’s neighborhood is from crime, but also how safe one views one’s home.
Villain or Victim?: Social Predictors of Drug Sentencing, 1995-1996
Racial disparity and discrimination in drug offense sentencing continue to concern criminal justice policy makers, practitioners, and researchers. The growth of the drug offender population, coupled by the proliferation of new drug offenses such as methamphetamine, warrant a new investigation of federal drug offenses. Despite the potential of uniformity under determinate sentencing, some groups of offenders are subject to more severe penalties than others. During the past few years, federal policy concerning cocaine offenses has come under scrutiny, as a disproportionate number of African Americans are sentenced to a more severe penalty for crack cocaine. This research maintains that variation in sentencing, within and among different racial groups, can best be understood through an examination of who is perceived as a “villain” and who is a “victim.” This study aims to: 1) use a multivariate analysis of federal drug offenses from 1995-1996 to evaluate the effect of class, gender, case-processing, and offense-specific variables within and among different racial groups; 2) employ interaction variables of race, class, and drug type, in order to clarify sentencing disparity; and 3) discuss the symbolic role of “villain” and “victim” in drug offense sentencing variation.
Violence, Rurality and Civic Context
In treating crime as a predominantly urban phenomenon, shaped by the social ecological factors of the modem city, much criminology has assumed that rural communities are naturally cohesive, relatively crime free environments because they more closely conform to the gemeinschaft type of community. Urban environments are seen to be criminogenic because of their more impersonal social fabric and ‘weakened social bonds’. This paper consciously avoids privileging the urban community as the social laboratory of criminological research. A review of the available empirical evidence regarding crime in rural Australia and America raises some doubts about the urban-centric focus of much criminology and opens up a range of other interesting questions concerning the differential social construction of crime problems in some rural localities. Our interest in this topic stems from a two-year study of the historical, cultural and socio-economic dimensions of violence in five rural communities. The paper draws upon the findings of this original empirical research to construct an analysis that avoids reproducing a simplistic rural/urban dichotomy as the guiding conceptual framework.
Violence Against Professionals in the Community
This paper will draw upon ESc funded resarch which is part of the UK Violence Research Programme. The paper will describe the kinds of violence perpetrated by service users against three professions working in the community. Survey questionnaires have beem returned by 968 members of the Anglican Clergy, 623 probation officers and 698 general practitioners which sonstitutes an overall 70% response rate. Qualitative interviews are currently being conducted in order to understand the impact of violence on professionals who have been assaulted. Particular attention will be given to the meanings which these professionals ascribe to violent behaviour in different types of communities from urban to rural and coastal. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be drawn upon in attempting to understand the possible variations in the nature of violence occurring in communities.
Violence Against Urban African American Girls
This paper examines the nature and contexts of violence against urban African-American adolescent girls in St. Louis Missouri. Based on survey and in-depth interviews with 90 youths (45 young women and 45 young men), we examine the following aspects of violence: (1) the extent and nature of their experiences of victimization by their peers, including battering, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and involvement with adult men; (2) the extent and nature of young men’s participation in the victimization of young women; (3) the social contexts and belief systems that surround this violence, and how race and racism may mediate youths’ responses to violence against African-American women; and (4) indicators of resistance to victimization among young women and resistance to committing violence against women among young men. The goal of the research is to improve research knowledge and efforts to prevent and intervene on violence against urban African-American girls.
Violence Against Women Policy: A Cross-National Ethnography of Magistrates
This study in cross-national qualitative policy research explores administrative procedures and frameworks for analysis practiced by magistrates in case of domestic violence. Interview, survey, observational, and textual research of justice system officials from Magistrates Courts in Rockland County, New York and Barbados, West Indies examines the theoretical influences of feminism verus familism in judicial decision making. An analysis of judicial action on violence against women associated with the recent passage of related criminal justice policies tests the classic sociological paradigm, that when legal codes that guide behavior are conflicting and enforcement is weak, violence against women garners social reinforcement. In a period, such as the present, where normative assumptions about women, men, violence, and the state are changing, indications of conflicting social norms emerge (anomie) before new norms embed in the culture. This study assesses how gendered assumptions–historically constituted (familism), or legislatively framed (feminism)–are evident in the official response to violence against women and what significance such assumptions have. Narrative content, derived from survey and interview data, is ethnograhically coded to examine the frequency and relationship of three themes: familism; anomie; and feminism in judgments of the courts regarding cases of domestic violence. Through an ethnography of magistrates courts, this inquiry examines some of the consequences that result from giving the criminal justice system primary responsibility for reducing domestic violence, and explores what lessons there are, if any, to be gained from cross-national exploration of judicial responses to the regular violence in women’s lives. The stakes are high. Women are much more likely to return to batterers if men cooperate with the courts. Protective initiatives, while attempting to eliminate violence, without coordinated community resources, put the same women at risk.
Violence Against Women With Developmental Disabilities: An Examination of the Nature, Extent, and Vulnerability
Women with developmental disabilities, as a group, experience a greater range of victimization (e.g. froim petty theft to sexual and physical abuse to financial fraud) than the average person without disabilities. In addition, research indicates that they experience greater amounts of both initial and repeat victimization. Their victimization is further complicated because these women often have a more difficult time reporting the crime and working with justice system officials to identify and prosecute the perpetrator. This paper reviews what is known about the scope and nature of violence against women with developmental disabilities. In addition, the paper outlines the victimization risks faced by women with developmental disabilities and concludes with a discussion on what could and should be done for victims with developmental disabilties.
Violence and Injury Information in National Youth Surveys: A Comparison of Four Data Sources
This paper will compare and contrast information from recent national surveys that collect information about youth violence and injuries. The primary purpose is to describe the study methodologies, differences and similarities in the available information, and uses for the information. Our discussion will focus on publicly available surveys including the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), the Monitoring the Future Study (MTF), the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). These surveys vary in their methodologies, the amount and types of information collected, and in their design (cross-sectional or longitudinal). The YRBS, and the MTF surveys are ongoing surveillance systems that collect brief information with regular intervals to assess students health. The NLSY and the Add Health Study are longitudinal studies that collect more in-depth information through repeated interviews with the same adolescents. The different methodologies of the surveys and the information collected have implications for how the data can be used.
Violence in Schools: Insecurity and Feelings of Insecurity
The growing number of complaints about violence at school can adversely affect the quality of education as well as the performance and the behaviour of pupils. Such complaints may result from an actual increase in violence, from growing feelings of insecurity among teachers, or from a combination of both. Objective data are required, but this presupposes a fine-tuning of the conceptual framework at the European level first. In a next stage, antisocial behaviour and feelings of insecurity will be charted in some 100 secondary schools in Flanders (Flemish part of Belgium). It will be examined to what extent both elements correlate with each other on the one hand, and with pupil, teacher, school and environmental factors on the other. An in-depth study in 12 selected schools is to provide qualitative information on the development of these phenomena and the way they are managed by schools (good practices). The first results of this research, which will be finished in December 2000, will be presented.
Violence in the Workplace
This paper will provide an overview of the literature addressing workplace violence. Specifically, workplace violence will be defined, as well as the different types of situations in which violence may occur. In addition, offender, victim, and industry profiles will be discussed, followed by a discussion of reporting practices within particular industries. Factors associated with workplace violence will be examined followed by prevention strategies suggested to reduce violence in the workplace.
Violent Crime in Washington, D.C. 1960-1998: A Peliminary Discussion of Peaks and Valleys
The present paper describes violent crime trends in Washington, D.C. over a 38-year period and a preliminary attempt will be made to discuss some of the peaks and valleys that occurred during that time. Demographic shifts, the addition of police officers, and other factors will be examined. The data presented have been aggregated as party of the Trends in Crime and Justice in Washington, D.C. Project being conducted by the Policy Trends Research Group based at American University. The analysis will be informed by qualitative data obtained through interviews with local policymakers and related historical information.
Violent Prison Inmates: Executive Cognitive Deficits and Intervention Enhancements
It has been argued that contemporary police interrogation techniques can lead to false confessions. Current police interrogation methods rely primarily on psychological manipulation, and include such tactics as feigning sympathy and friendship, deceiving suspects, and overall intimidation. Certain personality traits may place some individuals at increased susceptibility of making a false confession. For example, suggestible and impulsive people may be more likely to falsely confess because of decreased resistance to authority and to psychologically manipulative techniques. In the present study, suggestibility and personality were examined in relation to likelihood for false confession. Accusations about a mock crime were introduced into a laboratory experiment. Participants from three age groups were tested, half of whom received false evidence indicating culpability. Results revealed that more suggestible participants were more likely to falsely confess. Additionally, participants with low levels of restraint (e.g., impulsivity, suppression of aggression) were highly likely to falsely confess. Findings will be discussed in terms of their relevance to the personality traits of people who are likely to come into contact with the police.
Vision and Division — Technologies of Control and Resistance in Canada’s Poorest Neighborhoods
Closed circuit television (CCTV) has been one of the most rapidly embraced tools in the fight against crime in the United Kingdom. While steps have been taken in that direction in Canada and the United States, these countries have yet to see a comparable widespread electronic surveillance of public space. This paper concentrates on one neighborhood in Canada where CCTV was introduced, and then quickly withdrawn. Vancouver’s Downtown East Side, has a reputation as Canada’s poorest urban neighborhood, and a long history of drugs and crime. Surveillance cameras were proposed as a solution to some of these problems, but were withdrawn in 1999 in the face of public protest. However, there continues to be the proliferation of other forms of electronic surveillance in this area, including the use of police use of and-held video-cameras which ultimately resulted in the production of a nationally televised, police-produced documentary on the Downtown East Side. Individuals concerned about unfair policing practices have also adopted some of these technologies, and have produced their own video documentary about questionable practices by private security agents, and ‘wired’ panhandlers to audio record instances of police harassment.
Visiting Prostitutes: The Social Contexts and Motives of Clientele in Sri Lanka
Based on a long-term field study in Sri Lanka, this paper draws from interviews, focus groups and informal conversations with men who visit commercial sex workers. Framed in the context of the gendered social organization of Sri Lankan society, the goal is to examine the social contexts and motives behind men’s decisions to solicit and engage in commercial sex, as well as their attitudes about the industry. Prostitution is prohibited in Sri Lanka; a portion of respondents are police officers who simultaneously raid brothels and arrest street-level prostitutes, and engage in sexual exchanges with sex workers. Their justifications and resolution of these contradictions will be examined as well.
Vulnerable Victim Populations: New Identities and New Findings
Violence and abuse against persons with disabilities occur in all disabled populations, presumably some more than others, but research is limited int erms of empirical evidence determining the extent of the problem. This study represents a preliminary attempt to quantify the issue of violence against persons with disabilities using questions to identify and describe the target population. It was designed to provide answers to three main questions which in turn, it was hoped, would guide and justify further research in this area. The presentation will report the findings of the survey (modeled after the National Crime Victimization Survey) that targeted disabled populations, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, in an attempt to gather empirical data regarding their experiences with criminal victimization. The findings will report on issues such as prevalence, victim-offender relationships and victim perceptions of offender motivations.
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Waiting for the Out’s: Voices From Inside a Juvenile Institution
The relatively recent interest in juvenile crime has failed to produce qualitative studies of juveniles detained in institutions for various delinquencies and while the role of race and ethnicity in the justice system has come under increasing scrutiny there has been little attention given to the situation of Alaskan Native juvenile offenders. This paper is concerned with the experience of Alaskan Native youth detained for juvenile crimes in an institution in Fairbanks, Alaska. It explores the articulation between the lives of the youth, their cultural specificity and their ‘criminality’. The disciplinary discourse and treatment regime in the institution and the language of treatment and the reifying of that grammar are explored to illuminate the processes through which the youth regain their freedom.
Waiting to be Caught: Processes of Devolution for Women Newly Released From Jail
This report desribes a study designed to examine women’s transition into community after release from jail. Using a participative action design for data generation, and critical hermeneutic techniques for data analysis, 14 women were followed weekly while in jail, and on a regular basis for at least two months after release, though many have been followed for more than a year. Participants largely did not transition well back into their communities in ways that supported themselves, their families, or their larger communities. Rather, the women in the study experienced an onward and downward momentum of procxesses, or devolution, of their economic status, health status, intimate and family relationships, and general social functioning. Ultimately, the participants lives after jail were largely an exercise in waiting to be caught–again. The varagies of conducting participatory action research with this population are discussed.
Wake-Up Call: Changes in Patterns of Drug Abuse After Testing HIV Positive
Background: The concept of “windows of opportunity” in drug abuse treatment has received some attention but has yet to be fully explored. Some research suggests that major life transitions such as pregnancy, incarceration, or diagnosis of terminal illness provide an opening for effective drug abuse intervention. This study examines the changes in patterns of drug use following the window of opportunity for making life changes provided by testing HIV positive. Methods: Using snowball sampling techniques, street outreach was used to recruit 1151 active injection drug users (IDUs) not-in-drug treatment and their sex and needle partners for HIV counseling, testing, and partner notification. Of the sample, 166 tested HIV sero-positive. 100 were re-interviewed in-depth after 3 or more months concerning their drug use, sexual practices, and interpersonal relationships. Findings: Testing HIV positive can pose a wake-up call for change. After initial increase, illicit drug use among IDUs tends to decrease or even cease. HIV risk behavior including injection drug use, needle sharing, and unprotected sexual activity typically diminish. Conclusions: The period following HIV sero-conversion seems to provide an opportunity for treatment intervention. Coping with a positive HIV status can produce lifestyle changes that facilitate effective treatment.
“Wall-Shootings” in the GDR as Social Phenomenon and Manufacturing Guilt: “False Truth”?
Human rights violation by the state has become a significant issue, especially since the breakdown of state socialism and recently during the Kosovo conflict. Despite the distinction between the social phenomenon on the one hand, and its legal and juridical definition on the other, the implications of state crime as a normative construct are usually denied when it comes to practical cases: Definitions created by courts are accepted as “truth”. This contradiction is exposed in the so-called “Wall-shooting trials”. East German border guards were convicted for injuring and killing persons in an attempt to prevent them from departing East Germany. Empirical research concerning the practice of GDR border control is analyzed covering more than 1,600 confrontations between guards and individuals trying to cross the Berlin Wall without permission between 1979 and 1989. In contrast to this empirically-based analysis about conditions at the border, German Criminal Courts through their evidentiary proceedings during the past decade, have produced a different, even contradictory, portrayal of these events. For example, despite a significantly declining risk of harm to escapers and a large-scale increase in illegal border-crossings during 1979-89, the courts have made legal ‘findings’ that a rigid order “to shoot to kill” was in force.
Watching the Dectectives
This paper describes an ethnographic study on ‘Training the Effective Detective’. This research involves observing and interviewing detectives through their foundation training in crime investigation and how their training influences their detective practice. This paper focuses on research methods, the dilemmas of participant observation and the ethnical dilemmas of researching detectives, their training and practice. These dilemmas include a reflexive discussion of issues around objectivity and responsibility and how my own experience and socialisation as a police officer and work with NCIS impacts upon my research.
We Know the Problems, Now We’re Looking for Solutions: The Application of Focus Groups to Study Systemic Problems Within Correctional Agencies
During 1998, the Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC) and the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock entered into a partnership to research the issue of correctional officer retention. This initiative was in response to a 42.4% departure rate among ADC’s line-level correctional officers during that year. The study, Arkansas Correctional Officer Retention Study, is now complete and involved a total population survey and a series of focus groups. This paper reports the results of the second phase of this study, the conduct of a series of focus groups involving nearly 200 correctional officers from across the state. Participants were empowered to identify problem areas, prioritize their importance to correctional officers, and to seek practical solutions to these same problems. Discussed are the appropriateness of this methodology, conduct of the study and potential benefits of using focus groups to study correctional officers and other populations within a ‘closed’ environment.
What are the ‘Risks’? Gender, Diversity and Risk/Needs Assessments With Women in Prison
Over the past ten years, correctional authorities have become increasingly concerned with the risk and needs assessment. This is particularly true of federal corrections in Canada and related government-based correctional research. The proliferation of risk assessment techniques is one of several characteristics of an increasingly technocratic and calculated system of penal governing. The desire or “need” for risk assessment in current correctional practice is pressing. However, there is often little consensus on the meaning or type of risk to be predicted and managed. Our paper summarizes the findings of a two-year study that examined some of the theoretical, methodological, and practical difficulties linked to current efforts to create gender and ethno-culturally sensitive risk assessment tools for Canadian federally sentenced women. We argue that while the methods used for male populations for assessing risk may also be of concern (especially in relation to ethno-cultural diversity, mental health and social disadvantage), they should not be generically incorporated into women’s corrections. Furthermore, in spite of existing legislative criteria, it remains questionable as to whether or not a risk-based approach to the management of the female offender is the most suitable. Some of the concerns we address include: the purpose and context of assessment, and lega, operational and training issues linked to the development and implementation of such assessments.
What Can Real Police Officers Learn in 30 Minutes of ‘Cops’?”
Anecdotes and “war stories” of “life on the beat” have been a commonly found practice in police training, as police scholars have long recognized-and lamented. It has been suggested that “learning the skills of policing” would do well to move away from the impressionistic characterizations of police-citizen interactions, and incorporate more “realistic” training into police pedagogy. In this paper, using a reality based TV program, I offer a sequential way of teaching the skills of policing.
What CyberCops Need to Know
The information age has exploded on to the scene in most nations. With it has come a steadily growing baseline of data that suggests high technology crime and industrial espionage are more than an anomaly perpetrated by misfit teens. So too is the unsettling indication that those responsible for protecting critical information infrastructures, are severely disadvantaged in terms of human and other resources to deal with the myriad of problems. As an academic discipline, computer science degrees have been offered at all four degree levels of academic institutions. A growing number of criminology and criminal justice degree programs now offer both undergraduate and graduate courses with titles such as “Computer Applications in Criminal Justice,” and the like. Are such offerings enough? Are criminology and criminal justice students being adequately prepared to be competitive candidates as “cybercops” in government and the private sector?
What Did They Expect? What Did They Find? A Study of Women Prisoners Released From Custody in Louisiana
This research concerns women released from secure custody in Louisiana. It includes a sample of sentenced inmates processed through a large urban jail and a sample of former inmates now discharged from custody. Using a detailed survey instrument applicable to both in-custody and out-of-custody populations, women in custody were questioned about the problems they expected to encounter after discharge, and women out of custody were questioned about the problems they had actually encountered. The research is intended to determine how women in custody see their own needs, and to see if the problems they expect to encounter in custody are the real problems they in fact encounter on the street later. The survey instrument also included a narrative section for responses to interviews conducted by the researchers.
What Do We Know About Gun Use Among Adolescent Males
The current generation of American teenagers has grown up surrounded by gun violence. Guns have played a significant role in shaping the developmental trajectories and behaviors of many inner-city youths. In this essay, we examine the role of guns in the lives of young people, and especially in the social and symbolic construction of violent events among adolescents, primarily focusing on males. First, we review studies of gun attitudes and behaviors, as well as several epidemiological studies of firearm experiences and risk factors for violence among youth. Second, we summarize several recent studies on the trends in youth violence in relation to firearms. Next, we present new findings from our original research based on in-depth interviews with 377 active gun offenders from two socially isolated inner-city neighborhoods. We present descriptive counts for the sample on several previously measured variables relating to gun acquisition and use. As specified earlier, data on the use of guns in violent events among adolescents is generally lacking in prior research. We attempt to fill that knowledge gap by presenting a summary of our more detailed analysis of gun and non-gun use in violent events reported by our respondents.
What is Community Policing?: Empirical Findings From LEMAS
Amid large volumes of work on theoretical aspects of community policing, and studies of particular cases and departments, there are relatively few studies portraying the overall picture of community policing in America. Notable exceptions include the work of Maguire et al. 1998. This paper presents an empirical portrait of the nature of community policing and variations in it for police departments with different characteristics, using data from the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Survey.
What Police Do in Response to Reports of Violence
Research on police decision making in violent crime incidents has often examined whether or not an arrest was made as a result of the incident. In this paper, we examine a variety of police responses to reports of violent crime that may be offender and/or victim oriented. For example, offender-oriented responses include arrest and the removal of the violent offender. In contrast, victim-oriented responses may include police referral of victims to the court or prosecutor’s office, the provision of information on victim services, suggestions on how victims might protect themselves from further victimization and/or taking the victim to a safe environment away from the offender. Using victimization data from the recently released, Violence and Threats of Violence Against Women and Men in the United States, 1994-1996 we examine what characteristics predict how police respond to violent incidents. For example, do specific victim-offender relationships or racial combinations predict whether police officers refer victims to services such as shelters and/or medical clinics? Do such referrals occur along with or in place of the arrest of the perpetrators? Using multivariatee statistical procedures to control for various incident characteristics, we examine police responses to violence, generally, and more specifically, for rape, assault, stalking and threats.
What Works for Girls? Gender Specific Programming for Female Delinquents
The unique problems that at-risk adolescent girls face are seldom addressed in general delinquency programs which were designed based on the needs of adolescent boys. While at-risk girls and boys share characteristics such as a history of sexual and physical abuse, failure in school, substance abuse, and dysfunctional families, these factors often have a different impact for girls. In young women, emotional problems frequently manifest themselves through eating disorders, self-mutilation, low self esteem, depression, and suicide attempts. Teen pregnancy and poor relations with other girls and women are other gender specific issues that need to be addressed in programs for girls. Successful gender competent programs have demonstrated that troubled young women progress in caring, therapeutic environments where they are given time to talk and process their feelings, and develop partnerships with other women and girls. This paper gives an overview of female adolescent theory and a review of current programs for girls, with a focus on what works for girls. Model gender specific programs such as the Florida based PACE Center for Girls are described as well
What Works in Sentencing? An Examination of the Deterrent Effects of Different Types of Punishment on Drug Offenders, Drug-Involved Offenders, and Non-Drug Offenders
Since 1980 the number of persons incarcerated in state and federal prisons has more than tripled. Many attribute this outcome to the War on Drugs and the concomitant belief that sentencing drug offenders to prison for long periods of time will deter current and prospective drug offenders, leading eventually to a reduction in drug use and drug-related crime. Critics of this crime control approach contend that there is little evidence to support the argument that increasing criminal penalties will deter criminal behavior; they also argue that there is substantial evidence in support of the efficacy of drug treatment programs. In essence, then, those who support the incarceration of drug offenders contend that incarceration will. have a. deterrent effect, while those who oppose it contend that drug treatment is a more effective punishment. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the validity of these two competing arguments regarding the sentencing of drug offenders. Using data on offenders convicted of felonies in Kansas City in 1993, we compare recidivism rates for offenders who receive different types of sentences. Using multiple operational definitions of recidivism, we examine recidivism rates for drug offenders, drug-involved offenders, and offenders convicted of non- drug offenses.
When Domestic Violence Kills: An Examination of Denver, Colorado Data
The Denver Fatality Review Committee started in 1996 in an attempt to determine risk factors for domestic violence cases that ended in deaths. Several members of Denver’s courts, policing, and victim advocacy agencies came together and collected detailed data on domestic violence cases where someone was killed. Most of these cases involve men killing their current of former intimate female partners, but they also include cases where police officers, children, or other family members were killed in the context of intimate partner violence. This paper is a presentation of the patterns in 37 such cases.
Where Did All the Convicts Go?
Tying the changing prison culture to contemporary methods of penal efficiency and control of inmates, evidence will be presented illustrating how the convict, a respected public figure behind bars, seems to be on the decline.
Where’s the Beef? Reflections on the Absence of Race Theory in Research on Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System
This paper examines the extent to which race theory has been integrated into criminological research on racial disparity in the criminal justice system. By race theory we refer to those theories that address the themes of privilege, prejudice, and stereotyping in a larger social context, seeing social institutions — the justice system(s) among them — as significant conduits of “white skin privilege.” Data from an analysis of the major criminological journals for the past ten years provide estimates of the extent of serious theorizing on these themes and reveal gaps in our thinking and the need for ongoing theory development. We suggest an interdisciplinary theoretical approach that borrows from other social and behavioral sciences as well as from new and emerging perspectives (e.g., post modernism, cultural studies, and whiteness studies).
Where Should We Be Afraid? The Distribution of Delinquency and Victimization by Place and Age
This presentation examines the different locations where delinquency and victimization occur. What proportion of juvenile offenders commit offenses at school, at home, at shopping centers, or on the street? Does the location of crime vary by type of offense or by age, gender, or other characteristics of the offender? Similarly, what are the chances of being a victim in these different environments, and do these chances vary by age or gender? Data from the Denver Youth Survey, a 12 year longitudinal study, is used to provide partial answers to these questions across the child and adolescent years, and to examine the relationship of reported crime to victimization in various settings.
Where the Windows are Unbroken: Mapping the Risk and Marketing the Fear of Crime
Under the contemporary emerging order of globalism, there has been a proliferation of new, overlapping topologies of enclosure and exclusion; there has been a remapping of carceral spaces onto spatial regimes of risk management (e.g., the red-lining by banks, zip-codified insurance actuarial tables, and the marketing of “security”). These include homeowners associations, fortified lifestyle enclaves, “business improvement districts” and other “broken windows” regimes of “quality of life” nuisance ordinances and “community policing” practices into zoning and other legal practices of urban governance (including prostitution-free zones and gang abatement injunctions). These strategies for managing and marketing the risk and fear of crime are among the most explicit manifestations of the spatial turn in which quite specific “arts of government” have been busily passing back and forth across the membranes between state and civil society, between public and private law.
Which Aspects of Child Abuse Predict Later Juvenile Violence?
Very few studies have documented prospectively a relation between child abuse and later juvenile violence. Prospective data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study are used to link different aspects of child abuse (type, age of first abuse, frequency) to later violence. The analyses were based on data from a longitudinal sample of 1500 boys, divided over three samples (youngest, middle, and oldest), which were first studied when the boys were in first, fourth, and seventh grades, respectively. Ten waves of data are used to carefully map out the boys’ delinquency careers. Record searches on early child abuse were undertaken for the youngest sample at age 12, for the middle sample at age 15, and for the oldest sample at age 18. About 30% of the participant families had been in contact with Child Welfare Services and about 20-25% of the boys in the total sample reached the highest level in the developmental pathway of overt antisocial behavior (i.e., violence). Having a record of child abuse was related to other risk factors for violent delinquency, but nevertheless made an independent contribution to the prediction of violent delinquency. In addition, the relationship of child abuse to a series of maladaptive outcomes in addition to violent delinquency was examined.
White Collar Crime: Bribery and Corruption in China
“White collar crime” is becoming a major public concern since China implemented economic reform and “open door” policy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. A 1995 international survey ranked China as the second most corrupted nation in the world. This study describes the reality of bribery and corruption at both individual and organizational levels, especially among governmental officials and governments as organizations in China. Further, the study explores the sources of bribery and corruption. Several sources are analyzed, including cultural, political, economic, social, and ideological sources. Traditionally, people in power have been highly expected to make assets by using their positions for their family and relatives no matter how the assets are collected. Politically, the communist system lacks powerful mechanisms to prevent and control bribery and corruption, and the “face” of the system is generally believed more important than punishment of any corrupt officers. Low income and poor living condition is another force that pushes governmental officers to use illegitimate and illegal means to make assets when getting rich becomes a basic tenet of the nation during the course of economic reform The “social anomie” during the transition of China is creating many illicit opportunities to get rich and people who are losing the communist ideology and self-control are likely to catch these opportunities. Finally, the study reviews how Chinese authorities deal with the problem of bribery and corruption through formal and informal controlling measures.
Who Becomes the Victim and Who the Offender in Chicago Intimate Partner Homicides?
To help a broad array of practitioners identify women at greatest risk, the Chicago Women’s Health Risk Study (CWHRS) explored factors indicating significant danger of death or life-threatening injury in intimate violence situations. A collaboration of Chicago medical, public health and criminal justice agencies, and domestic violence advocates, the CWHRS compared longitudinal interviews with physically abused women sampled at hospital and health centers with similar interviews of people who knew intimate partner homicide victims. Some strong and consistent differences point to different risk factors for a woman becoming the offender versus a woman becoming the victim in an intimate partner homicide. Compared to women victims or to sampled abused women, women who killed their intimate partner had experienced more severe violence in the past year, and the violence was more likely to have been increasing in frequency. In addition, the women offenders were more likely to be in long-term, legally sanctioned relationships with children, had strikingly fewer material resources, and were much more likely to be older than were the other women. The circumstances of the fatal incidents were similar for the women victims and women offenders in many ways, except for the person who died. However, women offenders were less likely to use a firearm, less likely to commit suicide, and less likely to have pursued the victim.
Who Guards Us From the Guards?
This paper will address the potential challenges to individual citizens’ civil liberties that derive from the activities of private security guards. It draws on empirical research in a British residential community where foot and vehicle patrols are provided by a commercial security firm. Drawing on ethnographic and survey evidence, the paper will explore the extent to which the activities of the guards are targetted at particular citizen groups. It will consider whether some individuals receive unequal attention from security personnel, undermining the potential for policing to serve as a social good. In the largely unregulated world of the British private security industry, residents’ attitudes to the powers and interventions of the guards will be reviewed. Finally, the impact of the guards’ activities on community cohesion and the potential for their input to reinforce social exclusion effects will be considered
Who’s Responsible? An Examination of the Consequences of Exposure to Community Violence on Violent Behavior Among At-Risk Youth
Building on original work entitled “It takes a village to raise a criminal” (paper presented at ASC, November 1999), paper presents the findings of a multiple linear regression models examining the correlation of exposure to community violence on violent behavior among juvenile detainees, and the moderating influence of parental attachment on the aforementioned relationship. Policy directives call for a coordinated initiative between community mental health and social services, law enforcement, and juvenile justice agencies.
Whose Problem Is It Anyway? Women Prisoners and HIV/AIDS
In the last decade, both the number of female inmates and the average length of their sentences have increased dramatically. A by-product of the recent “confinement era” within criminal justice is the influx of ill and generalloy unhealthy female offenders into this nation’s correctional institutions. Administrators are concerned about the potential spread of infectious diseases in their facilities due to the close living in often overcrowded conditions, the cost of medical care, and the potential spread of such diseases to a community upon an inmate’s release In addition to tuberculosis (TB), one of the pressing public health concerns facing correctional systems today is human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)_/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). While no segment of the incarcerated popilation is immune to this infection, an alarming number of female inmates have been shown to test positive for HIV at higher rates than male inmates. According to Maruschak (1997): “From 1991 to 1995 the number of male State inmates infected with HIV increased 28%, while the number of female inmates infected increased at a much faster rate – 88%” (p. 6). Numerous other studies support this trend. As women in prison have different treatment needs and problems than their male counterparts, there is a need for gender-appropriate programs. The impact of such inmates on correctional health care services represents a potentially critical issue confronting correctional managers and correctional health service administrators. This paper highlights the need for correctional policy to address the health care needs of the various options designed to minimize the impact of HIV/AIDS on imprisoned women in the United States.
Why Appear at Immigration Court Hearings: A Survey of AAP Participants
Seeking alternatives to detention for “aliens” facing removal (deportation), the Immigration and Naturalization Service asked the Vera Institute of Justice to conduct a 3-year pretrial supervised release demonstration program in New York City. In this Appearance Assistance Program (AAP), which ended March 2000, 90% of participants appeared and completed hearings compared to 70 % of controls. Literature on criminal pretrial release tends to be quantitative, focuses on failure to appear, and lacks defendants’ perspectives. In 40 in-depth interviews, we elicited immigrants’ explanations for why they appeared, and we identified factors relevant to shaping future policies. Our survey analysis, using concepts from anthropology (Chavez) and demography (Massey), shows that information provided by the AAP contributes to participants’ evolving awareness of laws, options, and consequences of noncompliance. Additionally the sense of belonging to a program and respectful attention from AAP staff members serve to ease fears and feelings of alienation and motivate noncitizens to comply. Thus the reasons for compliance were a combination of knowing the right thing to do and wanting to do it. Current findings have immediate public policy implications for the INS. They also apply to criminal pretrial programs, which might benefit from a similar qualitative evaluation component.
Why Johnny Can’t be Kind: The Gendered Nature of School Violence
Although the school violence literature is extensive, little criminological work has explored the relationship between gender and violence within school settings. This paper employs a feminist theoretical perspective to analyze the gendered nature of school violence. Despite the widespread attention recent school shootings have received, the cumulative research on school violence suggests that the more pervasive forms of violence within school settings include teasing, bullying, harassment, and minor acts of physical injury, such as hitting and pushing. In each of these forms of violence, including the rare incidents of school shootings, boys are overwhelmingly perpetrators of physical harm or threats of harm, a pattern that reflects patterns of interpersonal harm in adulthood. I argue that gender is both one of the most overlooked and one of the most critical explanatory variables in understanding the incidence of school violence. In particular, I employ a variety of new research findings to link differential neurological development in children, early childhood gender socialization, weaknesses in social bonding, and physiological and psychological responses to fear to patterns of aggression in boys. In closing, I suggest logical policy implications that emerge from a gendered analysis of school violence.
Wither Punitive Policies: An Examination of the Impact of Punishment on Society
At present, there is a growing victim constituency that includes not just actual victims but those who can identify with victims by seeing themselves as being similarly harmed. Therefore, if it is true that a “norm of reciprocity” is fundamental to human interaction (Gouldner, 1960), the greater the victim constituency, the greater the opposition to a non-punitive reaction (Toby, 1962). The past two decades have also witnessed a growing offender constituency. Exponential growth in correctional populations and the war on drugs/crime has spawned a culture of control that subjects even the general population to the disciplinary gaze of the state, not to mention the private sector. Therefore, as more people begin to identify with offenders because they are directly affected by their punishment or because they can envisage the same being done to therngiven the prevailing culture of control- then the urge to be punitive should decline. Most speculate that more punitive times lie ahead because of the emotionalism, irrationalism, and populism that is driving penal policy. However, what this forecast fails to take into account is the potential counter effects (i.e., backlash) of a growing offender constituency. An expanding share of the population now finds themselves members of both constituencies, but it is not clear which similarity of experience” will prevail upon policy. In short, is a withering of punitiveness possible, given the scope of punitive control in society? This paper will examine the theoretical and empirical dimensions associated with this argument.
Wolfgang Legacy on the Intersection of Race, Rape, and the Death Penalty
Marvin Wolfgang’s seminal work on rape, race, and the death penalty introduced into court evidentiary statistical data which showed a clear pattern of racial discrimination in the sentencing of convicted rapists in the U.S. South between 1945 and 1965. The court in Maxwell v. Bishop set aside Wolfgang’s findings on the argument that the data obtained through random sampling did not apply to the specific case. Research inclusive of and subsequent to Wolfgang’s work is reviewed. Ongoing more sophisticated multivariate analyses continue to find a disproportionate presence, in the U.S. prison system, of black men convicted of raping and/or murdering white women. The effort to introduce quantitative social science data in court proceedings reveals an obstinante pattern of rejection and dismissal.
Woman Abuse: Learing From Intimate Femicide and Attempted Femicide
Violence against women research demonstrates that women are most at risk of male violence from their intimate partners, family members, friends, dating partners, and acquaintances (O’Sullivan 1998; DeKeseredy and Kelly 1993; Koss et al. 1987). Although youth violence has recently received increased Canadian attention, one area that continues to be neglected is male-to-female youth dating violence. While research has demonstrated “the marriage license as a hitting license” (Straus et al. 1981), it has been remiss in addressing the reality of many males; violence against female intimate soften begins before marriage. Drawing on a sample of Canadian adult male federal offenders convicted of female partner homicide
Women Abuse on the College Campus and the Role of Pro-feminist Men Women Abuse on the College Campus and the Role of Pro-feminist Men
Stopping woman abuse on the North American college campus has not been very successful thus far. There is a major backlash, where students, faculty and administrators too often either feel that the problems is not very significant, or else support the patriarchal rights of men. Programs begun by many campuses have not worked very well either, partially because they depend on women to police the actions of men, and partially because so few men come under form social control that most offenders know that they can get away with their actions. Building on empirical research that suggests that male peer support is the most important factor on whether or not a male will be abusive, the authors here suggest ways in which pro-feminist men can begin to tilt the balance against male aggression. This can include shaming or working with bullies of those who are abusive, protesting pornography, education programs, and support groups.
Women in Leadership in Justice Education, Policy, and the Profession: Creating Opportunities for Success
The increasing presence of women in criminal justicer academia, the profession, and policy-making positions are discussed and examined for the purpose of identifying promising strategies to retain women in the areas. Persistent practices that limit the full inclusion of women are described, and strategies for overcoming these obstacles are suggested.
Women in Policing in Texas
The purpose of this paper is to present findings of a study of sworn females In Texas local police agencies. It Includes information from the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) program and findings from a statewide survey. The paper will analyze trends in employment and focus on sworn females’ perceptions of (a) their roles, (b) treatment by male and female officers, partners, and supervisors, (c) stress and (d) community policing. It will also compare perceptions of sworn females in agencies of varying aim and with different levels of female representation.
Women in Prison: A Legal Perspective
The providing of services and programs is all part of good detention practice for women in prison. It ensures that those inmates returning to society can be reintegrated into society. Equality or parity of treatment between men and women still does not exist in correctional institutions. How women prisoners have sued and have taken their cases to court will be discussed in this paper. It will be demonstrated that services legally mandated by the states have yet to be fully delivered. Litigation is but a catalyst for change, but does not guarantee results. In the legal realm, more specifically in the imprisonment of the female, women have been forced into the status of being less than equal.
Women’s Accounts of Their Prison Experiences and Post-Institutional Adjustments: A Retrospective View
This study examines the pains of imprisonment and problems of post-institutional adjustment for a sample of 54 women paroled from the Colorado Women’s Correctional Facility during 1997-1998. Based on in-depth, semi-structured interview data, we identified major conceptual domains of the lived experiences of women as inmates and as parolees, focusing on identity transformation associated with prisonization and post-release stigmatization. Specific institutional concerns with drugs, sex and violence are explored as part of an exploitation-victimization matrix reflecting differential power and resources. Post-instituional concerns are examined within a collateral damage perspective, with an assessment of the impact on spousal relations, children, employment, and mental and physical health.
Women’s Fear of Crime: Is it Fear of Rape?
Research on the fear of crime has consistently shown that women have higher levels of fear than men (Warr, 1984; Parker & Ray, 1990; Parker et al., 1993; Ferraro, 1995). Women’s higher fear seems paradoxical, however, in that women have much lower rates of criminal victimization for all crimes other than rape (Stafford & Galle, 1984; Ferraro, 1996). It has been argued that rape is a perceptually contemporaneous offense and, hence, may be an explanatory variable for women’s higher fear of crime (Warr, 1984). This paper will examine the relationship between fear of rape and fear of crime.
Working Together in the Field: Implementing and Evaluating the South Oxnard Challenge Project
Since the early 1990s, OJJDP and influential juvenile justice researchers have recommended interagency collaboration as an ideal method for working with juvenile offenders. In 1996, the California legislature funded interagency juvenile justice collaborations in fourteen counties and required an evaluation component for each project. Based upon the Ventura County, California experience, this paper discusses the unique payoffs and challenges involved in developing, implementing, and evaluating interagency collaborations. We will discuss issues such as collaborative arrangement and leadership, creating and maintaining project vision, daily decision-making, and incorporating evaluation components and data collection into daily program practices.
Working With Multiple Segments in NIBRS
The presentation will focus on a Web-based utility for working with NIBRS data. NIBRS presents a number of opportunities for analysis of crime data that are not available with other data sets. However, it also presents challenges in terms of data management and statistical programming that may deter analysts from working with the data. In order to encourage the use of NIBRS data, NACJD is implementing a Webbased utility that automates much of the statistical programming. There will also be a discussion of how to access NIBRS data and the format that it will be available in from the NACJD.
World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund as Criminal Enterprises: A Case Study
The second half of the twentieth century generated many cases of transitional justice, or challenges faced by new, democratic regimes in addressing the crimes of the old regime. In the new century many cases of transitional justice are likely to arise, as well. Approaches adopted in such cases have ranged from those emphasizing avenging of past wrong-doing to those emphasizing reconciliatio for the future. The dilemmas involved in such choices parallel perennial issues confronting criminal justice systems. A number of twentieth century transitional justice cases are examined here in the interest of identifying key factors determining the choices made and identifiable consequences of these choices. A critical criminological framework is formulated that contributes to an understanding of transitional justice and in turn identifies some of the lessons of transitional justice for criminal justice policy.
Wrongfulness and Harmfulness as Components of Seriousness of White-collar Offenses
The study of crime seriousness has long been an area of interest within criminology and criminal justice. Sellin and Wolfgang (1964) lead the way in terms of studies of crime seriousness, by finding that people tend to agree on a broad concepts of the seriousness of most crimes. More recently, studies have tried to isolate those concepts that enter into an individual’s definition of crime seriousness (i.e. wrongfulness and harmfulness). Wrongfulness deals with the immorality of crimes while harmfulness refers to the general costs of crimes. Most studies that have been done have concentrated on those crimes that are most physically threatening. Few studies have focused on the seriousness of white-collar offenses which evidence indicates can be more harmful and costly than street crimes. The present study intends to fill this void in the previous research into crime seriousness by evaluating how individuals rate the wrongfulness and harmfulness of white-collar offenses compared to the more common street crimes. The sample consists of 268 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory sociology courses in a medium-sized, mid-western university. The analysis examined student responses to a questionnaire asking subjects to rate the seriousness, wrongfulness and harmfulness of a list of offenses.
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Young People’s Victimisation From Crime in Belfast, Northern Ireland
This paper presents preliminary findings on youth victimisation from a sample of 1,457 young people aged 12-15 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Self-completion surveys were utilised with the sample, which consists of roughly equal numbers of males/females and Catholic/Protestants, obtained from 6 secondary level schools in Belfast city. This is the first large-scale youth victimisation study to be done in the province. It examines both personal and family victimisation and also witnessing of crime. In addition it reports on victimisation from both ordinary and paramilitary/sectarian related crimes. The paper relates the key findings to those from youth victimisation studies in mainland Britain.
Youth Crimes and Biochemical Research
Under the United States system of rule of law individual who are of a certian age, are responsible for their actions. However, there is evidence that treatment for certain biological and genetic deficiencies can be important in preventing and correcting delinquent behavior. During the 1970s, research found 613 “hard core” juvenile delinquents accounted for 9,287 arrests in the Los Angeles area. Averaging 15.2 official police contacts each, many juveniles had 20 to 30 arrests; one had a record of 62 arrests. In analyzing the history of these delinquents, it was found that the lack of early treatment was a major contributor to the continuing delinquency. The juveniles’ first arrest could be considered a deterring experience. However, after they were counseled and released several times, they began to learn that no action would be taken. This process is sometimes succesfful with first time offenders, but repeated use on subsequent arrests only reinforces what the subjects had often learned at home and in school — no action will be taken when they commit delinquent acts (Cronkhite 1997). Since the early 1970s, consideratle research into factors that contribute to delinquency has been conducted. This resarch is promising in that the results are quite suggestive that treatment for biochemical, genetic and nutritional deficiencies should be pursued as an effective approach to controlling juvenile delinquency.
Youth Custody and Community Services in Canada, 1998-99
The most recent round of legislative reform aimed at the youth criminal justice system in Canada serves as a reminder of the importance of developing and maintaining mechanisms to collect data on young offenders. While there are a number of official data sources which may inform legislators, researchers, policy makers, and individuals responsible for the administration of youth justice, the focus of this paper will be youth custody and community services in Canada. The paper will focus on the findings of the Youth Custody and Community Services (YCCS) survey maintained by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics at Statistics Canada. In particular, it will highlight the number of youth admissions into remand, secure custody, open custody and to probation occurred during the fiscal year 1998-99. In addition, the paper will examine the characteristics of youth admissions including offences committed, sex, age, Aboriginal status, length of sentence ordered by the youth court and the actual time served at the time of release- Although most of these findings will be presented at the national level, some provincial and territorial comparisons will be provided as well.
Youth Gangs: Definitions and the Age-Old Issue
The annual National Youth Gang Survey data for 1996-1998 are used to examine the definitions and criteria law enforcement agencies use to define gangs, the demographic characteristics, and criminal involvement of the gangs they report in their jurisdictions. Profiles of gangs as defined by law enforcement agencies are contrasted with the gangs Esbensen and colleagues describe in the G.R.E.A.T. evaluation, Curry’s analysos of Chicago gangs as represented in student surveys and police arrest data, and the gangs students report seeing at school in the National Crime Victim Survey data (the School Crime Supplement).
Youth Justice Reforms: Implications for a Youth Offending Team in England
This paper will consider the implications for young offenders of the Government’s youth justice reforms arising out of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. It will comment on findings arising out of a qualitative analysis of a Youth Offending Team (YOT) in central England which has a strong tradition of pre-court diversionary work with young offenders. The research methodology included observation of the work of caseworkers involved in the YOT, attending on visits and interviewing offenders and victims. There were also interviews with management, caseworkers and the police. The likely implications of the youth justice reforms and the potential for ‘punishment, justice and social control’ will be explored by examining three key themes: 1. The decision-making process – considering implications for the system of reprimands and warnings which will introduce a ‘3-strikes’ policy with all third-time young offenders being prosecuted. 2. Formal control – implications of moving away from a ‘voluntary’ system to a formal system of justice will be considered. 3. Multi-agency partnerships – examining the potential for tensions and conflicts involved in bringing together a court based and former pre-court team.
Youth Victims of Physical Assaults: When do Parents Call the Police?
This presentation will describe factors associated with police reporting of assaults against youth in a national sample of parents. The data is from the “Survey of Police Reporting and Help-Seeking in Families of Child Assault Victims,” a study involving follow-up interviews of a group of parents who reported that a child in their household had been assaulted in the previous year when they were contacted in a recent national telephone survey. Findings indicate that factors associated with police reporting include social influence, beliefs about how the police view crimes with youth victims, a sense of duty, familiarity with police and a desire for protection. Factors associated with decreated reporting include perceiving that the victim is culpable in the assault and fearing retaliation. This survey was conducted by the Crimes Against children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.
Youth Youth Gangs, Former Inmates, and the Community :An Analysis of the 1998 NYGS
This study looks at the youth gang problem and the effects of adult gang-involved inmates returning into the community. The research is conducted by analyzing part of the 1998 National Youth Gang Survey results. The data are derived from law enforcement agencies’ responses to a question regarding what impact, if any, the return of gang-involved inmates into their community has affected the youth gang problem. This study examines several issues concerning the relationship between youth gang activity and formerly incarcerated adults reentering the community. Particular attention is given to the characteristics of jurisdictions effected by the returning population.
