Showing papers in "Crime and Justice in 2009"

Imprisonment and Reoffending

Abstract: Imprisonment is the most severe punishment in democratic societies except for capital punishment, which is used only in the United States Crime prevention is its primary rationale Imprisonment may affect reoffending in various ways It may be reduced by some combination of rehabilitation and what criminologists call specific deterrence Sound arguments can be made, however, for a criminogenic effect (eg, due to antisocial prison experiences or to stigma endured upon release) Remarkably little is known about the effects of imprisonment on reoffending The existing research is limited in size, in quality, in its insights into why a prison term might be criminogenic or preventative, and in its capacity to explain why imprisonment might have differential effects depending on offenders’ personal and social characteristics Compared with noncustodial sanctions, incarceration appears to have a null or mildly criminogenic effect on future criminal behavior This conclusion is not sufficiently firm t

The Mostly Unintended Effects of Mandatory Penalties: Two Centuries of Consistent Findings

Abstract: Policy and knowledge concerning mandatory minimum sentences have long marched in different directions in the United States. There is no credible evidence that the enactment or implementation of such sentences has significant deterrent effects, but there is massive evidence, which has accumulated for two centuries, that mandatory minimums foster circumvention by judges, juries, and prosecutors; reduce accountability and transparency; produce injustices in many cases; and result in wide unwarranted disparities in the handling of similar cases. No country besides the United States has adopted many mandatory penalty laws, and none has adopted laws as severe as those in the United States. If policy makers took account of research evidence (and informed practitioners’ views), existing laws would be repealed and no new ones would be enacted.

Research on Terrorism and Countering Terrorism

Abstract: Social and behavioral research on terrorism has expanded dramatically. However, theoretical work that incorporates terrorism and collection of valid data on it has lagged behind theoretical work on other criminological subjects. Theorizing has been dominated by deterrence perspectives. Threats of severe consequence for terrorist acts in general show little promise, but there is evidence that increasing the certainty of consequences works in some situations. Research on terrorism will be improved if it moves beyond deterrence to include concepts drawn from legitimacy, strain, and situational perspectives. Limitations of traditional criminology data sources for studying terrorism have encouraged the development of open‐source‐event databases. The most comprehensive, created by combining the Global Terrorism Database with RAND‐MIPT data, documents more than 77,000 terrorist incidents from 1970 to 2006. Attacks peaked in the early 1990s and then declined substantially until 9/11. They have since subs...

Reducing School Bullying: Evidence‐Based Implications for Policy

Abstract: School bullying is an important social problem with serious short‐term and long‐term implications for physical and mental health. Bullies tend to be aggressive and delinquent, whereas victims tend to be anxious and depressed. School‐based antibullying programs are effective in reducing bullying and being bullied. On average, bullying was reduced by 20–23 percent in experimental schools compared with control schools. The most important program components associated with a decrease in bullying are parent training, improved playground supervision, disciplinary methods, school conferences, videos, information for parents, classroom rules, and classroom management. The most important program elements associated with a decrease in being bullied are videos, disciplinary methods, work with peers, parent training, and cooperative group work. New antibullying programs should be designed, tested, and accredited on the basis of the most effective intervention components.

Listening to the Crime Victim: Evaluating Victim Input at Sentencing and Parole

Abstract: Crime victims play an increasingly important role in the criminal process. One manifestation of this is the proliferation in the use of victim impact statements at sentencing and parole hearings. Across the common‐law world victims are allowed to submit an impact statement to a sentencing court or parole board. Many U.S. states go further and encourage (or allow) victims to recommend a specific sentence to the court or to express their views on the release of the offender on parole. Research into the use of impact evidence at sentencing suggests that victims can benefit from the experience, and most who submit impact statements affirm that they would do so again. However, few victims participate in impact statement regimes, which tend to be poorly administered. There is no systematic evidence that impact statements make sentencing harsher, and research suggests that victim impact evidence is perceived by judges to be beneficial to the sentencing process. There is less justification for allowing v...

What Explains Persistent Racial Disproportionality in Minnesota’s Prison and Jail Populations?

Abstract: Racial disparity in prison and jail populations, measured by the ratio of black to white per capita incarceration rates, varies substantially from state to state. To understand these variations, researchers must examine disparity at earlier stages of the criminal process and also racial differences in socioeconomic status that help explain disparity in cases entering the system. Researchers must adjust disparity ratios to correct for limitations in available data and in studies of prior incarceration rates. Minnesota has one of the highest black/white incarceration ratios. Disparities at the earliest measurable stages of Minnesota’s criminal process—arrest and felony conviction—are as great as the disparity in total custody (prison plus jail) populations. Disparities are substantially greater in prison sentences imposed and prison populations than at arrest and conviction. The primary reason is the heavy weight sentencing guidelines give to offenders’ prior conviction records. Highly disparate ar...

Abolishing the Death Penalty Worldwide: The Impact of a “New Dynamic”

Abstract: The number of countries to abolish capital punishment has increased remarkably since the end of 1988. A “new dynamic” has emerged that recognizes capital punishment as a denial of the universal human rights to life and to freedom from tortuous, cruel, and inhuman punishment, and international human rights treaties and institutions that embody the abolition of capital punishment as a universal goal have developed. We pay attention to the political forces important in generating the new dynamic: the emergence of countries from totalitarian and colonial repression, the development of democratic constitutions, and the emergence of European political institutions wedded to the spread of human rights. Where abolition has not been formally achieved in law, we discuss the extent to which capital punishment has been bridled and by what means. Finally, we examine the prospects for further reduction and final abolition in those countries that hang on to the death penalty. More and more of these countries ar...