Showing papers by "Francis T. Cullen published in 2008"

The Violent and Sexual Victimization of College Women Is Repeat Victimization a Problem

Abstract: Little attention has been given to repeat violent and sexual victimization among college women. Using two national-level data sets, the authors find that a small proportion of college women experience a large proportion of violent and sexual victimizations. Women are more likely to experience repeat sexual victimization than repeat violence incidents. Repeat victimization tends to happen in the same month of the initial victimization, and the most likely next type of victimization is by far the same type of victimization. Comparing incident-level characteristics of repeat incidents to single incidents, there are few differences, with the exception that, in a larger proportion of single incidents, women took self-protective action. Implications for prevention and educational programs are discussed.

Gender, Bullying Victimization, and Juvenile Delinquency: A Test of General Strain Theory

Abstract: Bullying has emerged as a salient problem in the school environment. Using a sample of 2,437 middle-school students from a metropolitan Virginia area, we explore the impact of school bullying victi...

Race, Racism, and Support for Capital Punishment

Abstract: There is a clear racial divide in support for the death penalty, with whites favoring and blacks opposing this sanction. This divide has persisted for decades and remains statistically and substantively significant even when controls are introduced for the known correlates of death penalty attitudes. A meaningful portion of this chasm is explained, however, by racism, with whites who manifest animus to blacks being more likely to embrace the lethal punishment of offenders. This relationship likely exists cross‐nationally. Data from Great Britain, France, Spain, and Japan show that animosity to racial or ethnic minorities predicts support for capital punishment in these nations. In the United States, the greater support for capital punishment among whites, particularly those who harbor racial or ethnic resentments, undermines the legitimacy of the state and its use of the ultimate penalty. Consistent with conflict theory, white support of the death penalty is likely based on the perceived “social ...

Public Support for Getting Tough on Corporate Crime: Racial and Political Divides

Abstract: The recent wave of corporate wrongdoing has raised the issue of whether the public is concerned about the control of lawlessness in the business world. Using a national probability sample, we explore whether Americans want to enact stricter regulations of the stock market and advocate more punitive criminal sanctions for corporate executives who conceal their company's true financial condition. The findings reveal that Americans generally favor getting tough on corporate illegality. The analysis also indicates, however, that group differences exist in public support for punitive corporate crime control policies. Although liberals and conservatives equally support punishing corporate criminals more harshly, African Americans are more likely than Whites to endorse more restrictive and more punitive policies toward corporate criminals. We conclude that punitive attitudes are socially constructed beliefs that reflect the dynamics of conflicted class and racial relations.

Cracks in the penal harm movement: evidence from the field*

Abstract: Research Summary For more than three decades, the penal harm movement, which involves “get tough” ideology and policies, has held sway over U.S. corrections. Scholars have justifiably detailed and decried this movement, but in so doing, they have also inadvertently contributed to the view that a punitive worldview is hegemonic. In contrast, we detail four major “cracks” in the penal harm movement's dominance: the persistence of rehabilitative public attitudes, the emergence of second thoughts about the wisdom of harsh sanctions, the implementation of progressive programs, and the increasing legitimacy of the principles of effective intervention for guiding correctional practices. Policy Implications Taken together, these “cracks” comprise evidence that ideological space and political will exist to fight the penal harm movement and to map out a more efficacious and progressive response to crime. Because of the persistence of social welfare sentiments and growing challenges to the legitimacy of “get tough” policies, the potential to continue, if not expand, this countermovement is present. Taking advantage of this opportunity, however, will require forfeiting the belief that there is no escape from a punitive future and undertaking systematic efforts to devise correctional strategies that are based on solid science, improve offenders' lives, and protect public safety.

Public Support for Attacking the “Root Causes” of Crime: The Impact of Egalitarian and Racial Beliefs

Abstract: Based on a sample drawn from the 2000 American National Election Survey, we explore the sources of public support for policies aimed at punishing individual offenders as opposed to attacking the social structural sources of crime. The analysis revealed that support for attacking “root causes” was less pronounced among those who perceived crime rates to be rising and who were less educated, Southern, authoritarian, and unfavorable to welfare recipients. The data also suggested, however, that crime-policy views are embedded in the public's broader understandings about stratification and race in American society. Thus, individuals who more strongly held “egalitarian” beliefs were more supportive of policies that were structurally oriented, whereas those manifesting racial resentments were more likely to favor a more punitive, individualistic approach to crime reduction. These results indicate that, if left unaddressed, these underlying beliefs may serve to inhibit public acceptance of more progressi...

Rape Against Women What Can Research Offer to Guide the Development of Prevention Programs and Risk Reduction Interventions

Abstract: Although a pervasive problem that confronts females of all races and ages, studies show that some women are more likely to be rape victims than are others. Research reveals that certain behavioral and situational factors increase the risk of rape. To be most effective at reducing victimization, rape prevention programs and risk reduction interventions should target these behavioral and situational factors. A growing understanding of the relationships among these factors is evident, but to date what works to reduce vulnerability to rape remains somewhat obscure because of methodological weaknesses inherent in the limited number of published evaluations. Based on the current body of research, the authors offer suggestions regarding who should be targeted and what content should be included in rape prevention programs and risk reduction interventions to effectively reduce rape and its negative consequences.

Studying and Teaching White‐Collar Crime: Populist and Patrician Perspectives

Abstract: White‐collar crime is both an integral part of undergraduate criminology courses and textbooks and the subject of enduring analytic controversy. Much of the latter can be traced to two conflicting but unrecognized conceptual paradigms employed by investigators and teachers when they examine white‐collar crime: Populist and Patrician. These perspectives differ in definitional approach to the concept, explicit recognition of the criminality of offenses committed by respectable citizens, how much attention is paid to the victims and costs of white‐collar crime, the analytic centrality of criminalization, and the variables and dynamics that purportedly explain variation in offending. Preference for one or the other analytic paradigm to some extent is predictable on the basis of a scholar’s educational background, type of institutional placement and disciplinary training. Explicit acknowledgment and pedagogical use of conflicting paradigms hold the potential to enhance students’ ability to think critically abo...