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Alfred Blumstein

Other affiliations: American Society of Criminology
Bio: Alfred Blumstein is an academic researcher from Carnegie Mellon University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Poison control & Criminal justice. The author has an hindex of 42, co-authored 113 publications receiving 10889 citations. Previous affiliations of Alfred Blumstein include American Society of Criminology.


Papers
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Book
01 Jan 1986
TL;DR: This article developed a framework for collecting information about individual criminal careers and their parameters, reviews existing knowledge about criminal career dimensions, presents models of offending patterns, and describes how criminal career information can be used to develop and refine criminal justice policies.
Abstract: By focusing attention on individuals rather than on aggregates, this book takes a novel approach to studying criminal behavior. It develops a framework for collecting information about individual criminal careers and their parameters, reviews existing knowledge about criminal career dimensions, presents models of offending patterns, and describes how criminal career information can be used to develop and refine criminal justice policies. In addition, an agenda for future research on criminal careers is presented.

1,273 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A variety of theoretical, empirical, and policy issues have surfaced. as mentioned in this paper identified important methodological issues, including the relationship between past and future criminal activity, and potential explanations for this relationship: state dependence and persistent heterogeneity.
Abstract: Criminal careers have long occupied the imaginations of criminologists. Since the 1986 publication of the National Academy of Sciences report on criminal careers and career criminals, a variety of theoretical, empirical, and policy issues have surfaced. Data on key criminal career dimensions of prevalence, frequency, specialization, and desistance have raised theoretical questions regarding the patterning of criminal activity over the life course. Recent research has identified important methodological issues, including the relationship between past and future criminal activity, and potential explanations for this relationship: state dependence and persistent heterogeneity. Advanced statistical techniques have been developed to address these challenges. Criminal career research has identified important policy issues such as individual prediction of offending frequency and career duration, and has shifted the focus toward the interplay between risk and protective factors.

810 citations

Book
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: The recent rise and fall of American violence has been discussed in this article, where the authors present an economic model of recent trends in violence in the US, including the rise and decline of hard drugs, drug markets, and violence in inner-city New York.
Abstract: 1. The recent rise and fall of American violence 2. Some recent trends in US violence 3. Guns and gun violence 4. The limited importance of prison expansion 5. Patterns in adult homicide 6. The rise and decline of hard drugs, drug markets, and violence in inner-city New York 7. Have changes in policing reduced violent crime 8. An economic model of recent trends in violence 9. Demographics and US Homicide.

590 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
15 Aug 1997-Science
TL;DR: Multilevel analyses showed that a measure of collective efficacy yields a high between-neighborhood reliability and is negatively associated with variations in violence, when individual-level characteristics, measurement error, and prior violence are controlled.
Abstract: It is hypothesized that collective efficacy, defined as social cohesion among neighbors combined with their willingness to intervene on behalf of the common good, is linked to reduced violence. This hypothesis was tested on a 1995 survey of 8782 residents of 343 neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois. Multilevel analyses showed that a measure of collective efficacy yields a high between-neighborhood reliability and is negatively associated with variations in violence, when individual-level characteristics, measurement error, and prior violence are controlled. Associations of concentrated disadvantage and residential instability with violence are largely mediated by collective efficacy.

10,498 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that delinquency conceals 2 distinct categories of individuals, each with a unique natural history and etiology: a small group engages in antisocial behavior of 1 sort or another at every life stage, whereas a larger group is antisocial only during adolescence.
Abstract: This chapter suggests that delinquency conceals two distinct categories of individuals, each with a unique natural history and etiology: A small group engages in antisocial behavior of one sort or another at every life stage, whereas a larger group is antisocial only during adolescence. According to the theory of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior, children's neuropsychological problems interact cumulatively with their criminogenic environments across development, culminating m a pathological personality. According to the theory of adolescence-limited antisocial behavior, a contemporary maturity gap encourages teens to mimic antisocial behavior in ways that are normative and adjustive. There are marked individual differences in the stability of antisocial behavior. The chapter reviews the mysterious relationship between age and antisocial behavior. Some youths who refrain from antisocial behavior may, for some reason, not sense the maturity gap and therefore lack the hypothesized motivation for experimenting with crime.

9,425 citations

Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a theory of intergroup relations from visiousness to viciousness, and the psychology of group dominance, as well as the dynamics of the criminal justice system.
Abstract: Part I. From There to Here - Theoretical Background: 1. From visiousness to viciousness: theories of intergroup relations 2. Social dominance theory as a new synthesis Part II. Oppression and its Psycho-Ideological Elements: 3. The psychology of group dominance: social dominance orientation 4. Let's both agree that you're really stupid: the power of consensual ideology Part III. The Circle of Oppression - The Myriad Expressions of Institutional Discrimination: 5. You stay in your part of town and I'll stay in mine: discrimination in the housing and retail markets 6. They're just too lazy to work: discrimination in the labor market 7. They're just mentally and physically unfit: discrimination in education and health care 8. The more of 'them' in prison, the better: institutional terror, social control and the dynamics of the criminal justice system Part IV. Oppression as a Cooperative Game: 9. Social hierarchy and asymmetrical group behavior: social hierarchy and group difference in behavior 10. Sex and power: the intersecting political psychologies of patriarchy and empty-set hierarchy 11. Epilogue.

3,970 citations

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: Overweight or obesity in adolescents has reache epidemic proportions in the USA and other industr alized countries and these conditions, although lumped together in research and in commentarie reflect adolescents’ being toward the heavier point a continuum that would range from underweight morbidly obese.
Abstract: e w id r as e, se er t st al h r Overweight or obesity in adolescents has reache epidemic proportions in the USA and other industr alized countries. These conditions, although ofte lumped together in research and in commentarie reflect adolescents’ being toward the heavier point a continuum that would range from underweight morbidly obese. The terms may be used interchang ably, but there is no doubt that, in the US a considerable percentage of adolescents suffer fro too much body fat. The prevalence of obesity (bod mass index [BMI] >95th percentile) among adole cents aged 12–19 years is now one in six (17.6%); an one in three (34.9%) US adolescents are overweight obese (BMI>85th percentile) (Story et al. 2009). Oth industrialized countries, such as Canada, Japa Germany, and China also are beginning to experien increasing problems related to obesity (Cornette 2008 Being on the overweight side of the weight continuu means being afflicted with a serious, chronic disea that can cause substantial harm to adolescents’ curre and future health. Although terms may be used loosely, individua only are formally deemed obese by physicians. The are some rules of thumb and formulas that often a used, especially in social science studies, but physician diagnose whether adolescents are obese. Discussion measurements tends to focus on that diagnos A diagnosis of obesity typically involves using a bod mass index (BMI). BMI is a measure of weight propo tionate to height, which is deemed a useful measure the amount of body fat. Although there are other mo precise ways to measure excess fat, experts now recom mend using BMI because it is easily obtained, strong

2,963 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Evidence is presented in support of the hypothesis that the route to chronic delinquency is marked by a reliable developmental sequence of experiences, which assumes that children following this developmental sequence are at high risk for engaging in chronic delinquent behavior.
Abstract: A developmental model of antisocial behavior is outlined. Recent findings are reviewed that concern the etiology and course of antisocial behavior from early childhood through adolescence. Evidence is presented in support of the hypothesis that the route to chronic delinquency is marked by a reliable developmental sequence of experiences. As a first step, ineffective parenting practices are viewed as determinants for childhood conduct disorders. The general model also takes into account the contextual variables that influence the family interaction process. As a second step, the conduct-disordered behaviors lead to academic failure and peer rejection. These dual failures lead, in turn, to increased risk for depressed mood and involvement in a deviant peer group. This third step usually occurs during later childhood and early adolescence. It is assumed that children following this developmental sequence are at high risk for engaging in chronic delinquent behavior. Finally, implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.

2,889 citations