Showing papers in "Crime & Delinquency in 1990"

A Critical Look at the Idea of Boot Camp as a Correctional Reform

Abstract: There is growing interest in modeling a military boot camp experience in correctional settings. Prior research on the history of military approaches in correctional settings and military basic training and on the images of masculinity that are encouraged in correctional boot camps raises questions about the efficacy of the correctional boot camp reform. The military model may set the stage for abuse of power and encourage increased aggression by both staff and offenders. Research does not provide indications that there will be beneficial effects. The potential for negative outcomes has clear implications for the design and evaluation of correctional boot camps.

Comparing Intensive and Regular Supervision for High-Risk Probationers: Early Results from an Experiment in California

Abstract: This article reports on the six-month outcomes of a randomized experiment testing the effects of Intensive Supervision Programs (ISPs) in three California Counties (Contra Costa, Ventura, and Los Angeles). The findings show that ISP officers were able to intensify the monitoring of ISP offenders but were less successful at increasing services (e.g., counseling, employment) provided to clients. The program outcomes in Los Angeles and Contra Costa show that offenders on ISP were significantly more likely than their counterparts on regular probation to incur technical violations but were not more likely to incur new arrests or incarcerations. In Ventura, in which the control program was a different type of ISP, no differences were evident in any outcome measure. The article discusses the implications of these findings for the future of Intensive Supervision programs.

“Heads I Win, Tails You Lose”: Deregulation, Crime, and Crisis in the Savings and Loan Industry

Abstract: This study examines fraud in the savings and loan industry as a case study of white-collar crime. Drawing from extensive government reports, Congressional hearings, and media accounts, the study categorizes three types of savings and loan crime and traces them to the competitive pressures unleashed by deregulation in the early 1980s, within the context of a federally protected, insured industry. In addition, the study delineates the limitations of the enforcement process, focusing on the ideological, political, and structural forces constraining regulators. Although savings and loan crime is in many respects similar to corporate crime in the manufacturing sector, a relatively new form of white-collar crime, referred to as “collective embezzlement,” permeates the thrift industry. The study links the proliferation of collective embezzlement and other forms of thrift crime, as well as the structural dilemmas that constrain the enforcement process, to the distinctive qualities of finance capitalism.

Viable Options: Intensive Supervision Programs for Juvenile Delinquents

Abstract: The Wayne County Juvenile Court in Detroit, Michigan, recently developed and evaluated three in-home, intensive supervision programs as alternatives to commitment for adjudicated delinquents. More than 500 youths were randomly assigned to either intensive supervision or a control group that was committed to the state for placement. The evaluation found the in-home programs to be as effective as commitment for about one-third the cost. Two years after random assignment, the experimental and control group cases showed few differences in recidivism, either in official charges or by self-report. The study suggests that in-home programs are a viable option for many youths who would otherwise be committed.

The New Intensive Supervision Movement

Abstract: In the face of severe institutional crowding across the United States, the 1980s has seen a revitalization of probation and parole through reliance on intensive supervision programs (ISPs). The ISPs of the 1980s are different from their predecessors of two decades earlier. Experiences with the new ISP movement identifies four areas of concern: stated goals may be difficult to achieve, confusion exists in the identification of appropriate target groups, supervision methods may be inappropriate to some clients, and the operating contexts are sometimes hostile to the ISP movement.

Conditions That Permit Intensive Supervision Programs to Survive

Abstract: The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has provided funding to jurisdictions across the nation to participate in an Intensive Supervision Probation/Parole Demonstration Project. The demonstration project is designed to be a field test of a model based on the Georgia Intensive Supervision Program (ISP), which essentially requires much closer control and monitoring of serious offenders than regular supervision imposes. Sites were instructed to implement the basic Georgia ISP model but to tailor the program specifics to their local needs, resources, and clientele. Over two years have passed since the initial demonstration projects were funded. Some of these have fared well; others have been or are being phased out; and some are surviving, but with uncertain futures. This article identifies the nine conditions that seem to have been critical to the implementation and viability of ISPs. It further argues that how the ISP was developed and implemented affects its survival (and ultimate success) as much or more ...

White-Collar Crime and Criminal Careers: Some Preliminary Findings

Abstract: The criminal career paradigm has become an increasingly important perspective in the study of street crimes, but it has generated little interest among scholars concerned with white-collar criminality. Behind this neglect lies a common assumption about white-collar criminals. Although street criminals are assumed highly likely to recidivate, white-collar offenders are thought to be “one-shot” criminals unlikely to be processed in the justice system after their initial brush with the law. This article examines the extent to which this image of white-collar criminals is reflected in the criminal records of defendants convicted under white-collar crime statutes. Findings show that white-collar criminals are often repeat offenders. The data also suggest that such offenders are likely to begin their “careers” later, and evidence lower frequency of offending than do street criminals. The article concludes by examining the implications of these findings for white-collar crime research and policy.

The Punitive Juvenile Court and the Quality of Procedural Justice: Disjunctions Between Rhetoric and Reality

Abstract: The quality of procedural justice is especially relevant to recent changes in juvenile courts' sentencing policies. Punitiveness is reflected in (a) changes in juvenile code purpose clauses and court decisions endorsing punishment; (b) juvenile sentencing statutes and correctional guidelines that employ proportional, determinate, or mandatory sentences; and (c) evaluations of dispositional decision making and conditions of institutional confinement. The shift from treatment to punishment raises basic issues of procedural justice, especially the delivery of legal services. As juvenile courts' sentencing practices resemble increasingly those of their criminal counterparts, does any reason remain to maintain a separate court whose sole distinguishing characteristic is its persisting procedural deficiencies?

The Future of Intensive Probation Supervision and the New Intermediate Sanctions

Abstract: No abstract available. Intensive Probation Supervision Intensive Supervision Intermediate Sanctions Correctional Decision Making Offender Sentencing Adult Crime Adult Offender Criminal Justice System 06-07

Stated and Latent Functions of ISP

Abstract: The available evidence suggests that intensive supervision probation (ISP) programs do not achieve their stated goals of substantially reducing prison crowding, saving public monies, or reducing recidivism. Many probation officers and departments support ISP enthusiastically, however, and its more punitive features are strictly enforced in many jurisdictions. The proliferation of ISP in the United States in the last decade appears to have had less to do with its stated goals than with its effectiveness at achieving latent bureaucratic, organizational, political, professional, and psychological goals of probation departments and officers.

The Ethics of Community-Based Sanctions

Abstract: The reviving interest in noncustodial penalties makes it urgent to explore the ethical limits on their use. This article explores three kinds of limits: proportionality (desert) constraints, restrictions against humiliating or degrading punishments, and concerns about intrusion into the rights of third parties. In connection with the second of these limits, the concept of “acceptable penal content” is developed.

The Neglected Victims and Unexamined Costs of White-Collar Crime:

Abstract: In recent years research has documented the victim costs of criminal acts, and a victims' movement has produced federal and state programs to alleviate some of these costs Although no one disputes that aggregate fiscal costs of white-collar crime dwarf comparable losses from street crime, victimization researchers and the victims' movement have ignored entirely the victims of white-collar crime This legacy of neglect can be attributed to conservative domination of the victims' agenda and the ambiguous moral character of white-collar victims This article distinguishes primary and secondary costs of white-collar crime and calls for more research to describe and document them

Cooperative Models and Corporate Crime: Panacea or Cop-Out?:

Abstract: This article critiques the new “cooperative” models of regulatory reform, arguing that they will weaken the process of regulation. After documenting some of the problems of criminalization models, the article describes the major cooperative schemes that have been offered. The roots of their current popularity are examined and traced to the fiscal and ideological crises that beset capitalist economies in the 1980s. The consequences of adopting a cooperative model are set out. Last, the unlikely prospects for achieving more effective enforcement by cooperative regulation are discussed.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Factors That Influence the Legal Disposition of Child Sexual Abuse Cases

Abstract: The prosecution files of 350 child sexual abuse cases in Ector County (Odessa), Texas, were examined to determine the influence the child's age, relationship to the alleged offender, interval between initial occurrence and reporting of abuse, presence or absence of medical evidence, and presence or absence of a statement by the accused had on the subsequent prosecution and conviction of offenders. The victim's age and relationship to the suspect had no impact on the legal outcome. There was a greater likelihood of prosecution and conviction in cases in which medical evidence and/or a statement by the offender were available and a shorter interval existed between occurrence and reporting.

Home Detention with Electronic Monitoring: Comparing Pretrial and Postconviction Programs

Abstract: Since its introduction, electronically monitored home detention has become a common disposition throughout the United States. At the present time individuals at virtually every point in the criminal justice process are being monitored. This article describes studies of two populations. Preliminary results are presented from an evaluation of a pretrial home detention program. Salient differences are noted between the pretrial program and a similar program for convicted offenders delivered by the same agency, in the same jurisdiction. It is concluded that the nature of the client population significantly affects the design, delivery, and impact of electronically monitored home detention programs.

Contingent Intermediate Sentences: New Jersey's Intensive Supervision Program

Abstract: New Jersey's Intensive Supervision Program (ISP) provides substantially higher levels of punishment, supervision, and counseling than are provided under ordinary probation or parole. These three correctional elements are contingently administered. Based on the nature of the offense and the offender's conformity to the rules of ISP, the counseling and the punitive and supervisory constraints are gradually lessened over the 18-month program. The most recent data on participants' terminations and recidivism rates are presented. The cost-effectiveness of the program and some practical lessons learned are also discussed.

Measuring Diversion: The Florida Community Control Program

Abstract: The prison crowding crisis has caused many states to implement intensive community supervision programs in an attempt to divert convicted offenders from prison The Florida Community Control Program (FCCP), which places offenders under house arrest or electronic survelliance, is the largest, best-established prison diversion effort in the United States During the last six years, Florida courts have used objective guideline criteria to sentence more than 25,000 offenders to the community control program This article describes an effort to evaluate the impact of the FCCP on prison crowding in Florida The research compares the characteristics of offenders sentenced to prison before and after the FCCP implementation and attempts to account for changes in sentencing policy in order to measure the diversionary effect of the program

Local Prosecutors and Corporate Crime

Abstract: Based on a national survey and interviews, this article describes the attitudes and practices of local prosecutors regarding corporate crime. Although most local prosecutors did not regard corporate crime as a serious problem, their willingness to prosecute increases if an offense causes substantial harm and other agencies fail to act. Despite repeated calls for coordinated responses to corporate crime, relatively few local prosecutors participate in interagency control networks. Those in control networks, however, conducted more prosecutions and expressed greater concern over corporate crime. The commitment of organizational resources and resulting career opportunities thereby created may explain differences between network and nonnetwork districts.

Gender and Delinquency in White-Collar Families: A Power-Control Perspective

Abstract: This article expands the understanding of a kind of white-collar delinquency: youthful violations of patents and copyrights through the copying of audio- and videotapes and computer software. Class and gender variations in these kinds of activities are considered using a power-control perspective that focuses on parental controls and attitudes toward risk-taking. A power-control perspective treats childhood and adolescent socialization as a systemic process of social reproduction that links the family and work spheres, with implications for the understanding of “pink” as well as white-collar crimes.

Old and New Tools for the Modern Probation Officer

Abstract: This article presents an overview of the Georgia evaluation of intensive supervision, along with early results from a subsequent pilot study that added electronic monitoring as a special enhancement for drug offenders. While the findings are preliminary, the article includes a discussion of the electronic monitoring experiment as seen through the eyes of project staff. From a broader perspective of general management and literature, the author makes some analogies to changes in the field of criminal justice. The article concludes with some thoughts about future directions in the role of the modern probation officer, blending technological advances with human skills.

Does a Threatening Letter Increase Compliance with Restitution Orders?: A Field Experiment

Abstract: This study investigates a notification procedure to increase the payment of victim restitution. A sample of 223 adult probationers owing restitution in Cook County, Illinois, was randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Offenders in the treatment group received a notification letter; offenders in the control group did not. The letter reminded defaulters of the amount owed, told them how to make payment, and threatened serious sanctions if they did not comply. Offenders receiving a notification letter were significantly more likely to pay restitution. The procedure was more effective with offenders who were employed and who had fewer prior arrests and prior probations.

Federal Juvenile Justice Policy and the Incarceration of Girls

Abstract: This study examines the impact of federal juvenile justice policy on the incarceration of girls in U.S. public training schools and detention centers. Far fewer girls and boys were confined for status offenses in public training schools and detention centers in 1987 than in 1977. Girls were more likely than boys to be confined for status offenses and less serious delinquency offenses in 1987. The study also reveals striking state by state differences in incarceration practices by gender. The authors present suggestions for juvenile justice policy and research development.

Constructing Felony Sentencing Guidelines in an Already Crowded State: Oregon Breaks New Ground

Abstract: A dozen states and the federal government now use systems for the sentencing of felony offenders which they call sentencing guidelines. The guidelines vary considerably: Many are voluntary rather than mandatory, some cover a limited group of felonies only, and most are developed independently of any consideration of existing state correctional capacity. In 1989, Oregon, one of the newest of the sentencing guidelines states, borrowed some ideas from Minnesota, one of the oldest guidelines states, to develop felony sentencing guidelines for a state with already overcrowded corrections facilities. Crime & Delinquency asked the director of Oregon's Criminal Justice Council to share her state's experiences.

Public Support for the Victims' Rights Movement: Results of a Statewide Survey

Abstract: The literature on the victims' rights movement has been largely anecdotal, and little empirical evidence has been produced about who supports victims' rights. This article examines the extent of public support for several programs regularly appearing in proposed victim legislation. Path analytic procedures were used to test variation in support by age, race, sex, education, income, and victimization experience. The results indicate that victimization experience and education were most strongly associated with support for the victims' rights programs examined. Race, on the other hand, was not significantly related to support for victims' rights when other variables were controlled.

Revitalizing the Drug Decriminalization Debate

Abstract: In spite of some skepticism regarding their efficacy, strategies that rely on expanded criminalization and law enforcement activities have been at the forefront of U.S. drug control policy within the last decade. In this “get-tough” climate, the drug decriminalization debate has withered. Called for in this article is a revitalization of the debate. To this end, drug decriminalization arguments are categorized and reviewed. Arguments that emphasize citizens' rights are distinguished from those that utilize a “least harm” approach. Suggestions for further considerations in the criminalization/decriminalization debate are offered.

Private and Public Juvenile Placements: Is there a Difference?:

Abstract: This study examines the patterns of public and private juvenile placements in one of the larger probation departments in Southern California. About two-thirds of the juveniles sent to institutional placements were placed in a private setting, and one-third were assigned to public institutions. This pattern was due to financial arrangements between the state and the county government. There were indications that more juveniles with the traditional “delinquent” background were placed in public institutions, while juveniles with individual problems were more likely to be sent to private placements. The policy implications of these patterns are analyzed in the article.

How Plea Bargaining Shapes Intensive Probation Supervision Policy Goals

Abstract: The typical primary goal of recent intensive probation supervision (IPS) programs is to serve as an alternative to incarceration (ATI) in response to prison crowding. Yet the history of such alternative efforts reveals that they generally underachieve in terms of that goal. This study suggests that this finding applies to IPS initiatives as well. Drawing on focused interviews with court officials in Illinois, it offers an organizational explanation for the shortfall. ATI initiatives have not adequately attended to the decision-making dynamics and organizational contexts that produce criminal sentences. In particular, they have not taken account of either the resilience of courtroom work groups in resisting external influences on their choices or their resourcefulness in incorporating new sentencing options into the local culture of plea negotiation and sentencing.

Controlling Juvenile Delinquency: An Evaluation of an Interagency Strategy

Abstract: This article presents the findings of a two-year assessment of the impact of the San Diego County Interagency Agreement upon delinquent behavior. The goals of this systemwide strategy are to reduce juvenile delinquency through consistent, early intervention and graduated sanctions, based on the nature of the arrest offense and prior offense history, and to hold youth accountable for their acts. The findings suggest that a strategy such as the Interagency Agreement may be successful in reducing juvenile crime if implemented carefully over an extended time period. Based upon the results of this evaluation, recommendations for other jurisdictions are offered.

Jailing Juveniles in Florida: The Dynamics of Compliance with a Sluggish Federal Reform Initiative

Abstract: Compliance with the jail removal mandate of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 has been slow and incomplete. The present study examines obstacles to full compliance with requirements of the mandate. Data include interviews with justice officials, direct observations of jail admissions procedures, and individual-level data on all juvenile jail admissions for calendar year 1987. Although there is evidence that commonly recognized impediments to policy reform played a part in Florida's failure to achieve full compliance by the 1988 deadline, our analyses suggest that social conditions neglected by other researchers are of equal or greater importance.