Showing papers in "Criminal Justice Studies in 2006"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined how self-control theory and social learning theory come together to explain digital piracy using a nonrandom sample of 392 university undergraduates, and revealed that low self control could come together in different ways to explain the digital piracy.
Abstract: Digital piracy is an emerging white‐collar crime that requires empirical investigation. Using a nonrandom sample of 392 university undergraduates, the present study examined how self‐control theory and social learning theory come together to explain digital piracy. The findings revealed that low self‐control and social learning theory could come together in different ways to explain digital piracy. That is, out of five models examined, the findings revealed that social learning theory partially mediated the effect that self‐control had on digital piracy. Implications of these findings are also discussed.
158 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the effectiveness of Megan's law in reducing recidivism among convicted sex offenders was investigated by examining rates of return to prison for conditionally free offenders under correctional control.
Abstract: This study investigated the effectiveness of Megan’s law in reducing recidivism among convicted sex offenders. The policy of making such offenders more visible to the public through officially notifying communities when they are returned to society is based on the premise that warning potential victims increases the public’s ability to protect itself against future victimization. The community would be better protected because those undergoing extensive notification will know that they are being watched and thus will be deterred from reoffending. Effectiveness was assessed by examining rates of return to prison for conditionally free offenders under correctional control. The study used a four‐and‐a‐half‐year follow‐up period and covered all those in one state who had undergone high level notification from September 1997 to July 1999. Their recidivism patterns were matched with a similar sample in the same state who, while meeting the state’s criteria for public notification, were not dealt with in this wa...
135 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the residential proximity of sex offenders to places potential child victims congregate and the neighborhood conditions/structures present in such communities was explored. But the utility of incorporating measures of community conditions and structures to routine activities theory is somewhat limited.
Abstract: Drawing on observational data of the residential locations of a sample of convicted sex offenders in Seminole County, Florida, this study explores the residential proximity of sex offenders to places potential child victims congregate and the neighborhood conditions/structures present in such communities. Analysis draws on routine activities theory and incorporates objective measurements of neighborhood disorganization and negative attributes. Results suggest that sex offenders are only moderately likely to reside in close proximity to child congregation locations and the neighborhoods of sex offenders' residences are only fairly disorganized. Additionally, only about one‐half of the sample subject to restrictions on residential locations is in compliance. The utility of incorporating measures of community conditions/structures to routine activities theory is somewhat beneficial for the study of sex offenders.
125 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between organizational centralization and correctional staff job satisfaction and found that low levels of staff input into decision-making and low level of job autonomy both had significant negative effects on job satisfaction.
Abstract: While the amount of research on prison organizations is increasing, most of the publications in this area have focused on the relationship between organizational centralization and correctional staff job satisfaction. The impact of organizational formalization has been largely ignored. The current study utilized survey responses from 272 staff at a Midwestern high security state prison to examine various forms of centralization and formalization in an attempt to understand their impact on correctional staff job satisfaction and organizational commitment. With respect to the two major dimensions of centralization noted by previous research (i.e., decision‐making input and job autonomy), it was found that low levels of staff input into decision‐making and low levels of job autonomy both had significant negative effects on job satisfaction and organizational commitment for both the full sample of employees, as well as the subsample of correctional officers. In addition, formalization was found to have signif...
90 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined where future practitioners and policymakers (i.e., students majoring in criminal justice) fall on the punishment-rehabilitation continuum and found that support for the rehabilitation of offenders tends to be present across a number of demographic indicators.
Abstract: This study examines where future practitioners and policymakers (i.e., students majoring in criminal justice) fall on the punishment–rehabilitation continuum. A scale comprised of global measures of rehabilitation was administered to a purposive/convenience sample (N = 633) of college students at five colleges/universities in the northeastern USA. Descriptive and inferential statistics are used to compare scale and item means across gender, academic year, age, major, and other variables. Results indicate that support for the rehabilitation of offenders tends to be present across a number of demographic indicators. The policy and pedagogical implications of such attitudes are discussed.
36 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the attitudes and beliefs of 189 correctional officers at four Maryland State prisons representing various security levels regarding the control of inmates using the Correctional Control Ideology Scale (CCIS).
Abstract: The present study examined the attitudes and beliefs of 189 correctional officers at four Maryland State prisons representing various security levels regarding the control of inmates (i.e., control ideology) using the Correctional Control Ideology Scale (CCIS). Correctional officers reported moderate levels of custodialism. In the bivariate analysis, African American and female officers reported lower CCIS scores. In the multivariate analysis, being African American and working the evening shift were predictors of CCIS. These findings indicate that a more thorough understanding of race, shift, gender, and to some degree, education, are important in conceptualizing workforce motivation within the prison environment. The sampling procedure consisted of a convenience sample; thus data are not representative of all officers employed (excluding officers absent at shift because of vacation, illness, days off, court appearances) at the four sampled facilities. Finally, a more comprehensive investigation of corre...
25 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the effects of welfare spending on crimes beyond index crimes beyond crime-related crimes beyond the index crime category, and found a significant inverse relationship between welfare spending and index crimes.
Abstract: In 1996, Congress modified the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) welfare program by passing The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. This act limited lifetime benefits to eligible recipients and called for states to design and implement their own programming to shift the welfare‐receiving population to wage earners. Past studies have found a significant inverse relationship between welfare spending and index crimes. This study builds upon the existing research by examining spending in AFDC’s replacement program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), by focusing on the effects TANF spending has on crimes beyond index offenses.
22 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors suggest that high recidivism rates for parolees might be reduced with the provision of a stable, drug-free living environment, and suggest that Sober Living Houses (SLHs) have been overlooked as housing options for alcohol and drug abusing parolees.
Abstract: High recidivism rates for parolees might be reduced with the provision of a stable, drug‐free living environment. This paper suggests that Sober Living Houses (SLHs) have been overlooked as housing options for alcohol and drug abusing parolees. Some of the strengths of these programs include: (1) they are financially self‐supporting, (2) they mandate abstinence from substances, (3) they provide social support for recovery, (4) they mandate or strongly encourage attendance at 12‐step mutual help programs, and (5) they have no maximum lengths of stay. A description of SLHs, their potential roles in criminal justice systems, and preliminary data on longitudinal outcome are presented. It is suggested that SLHs could provide drug‐free living arrangements for parolees and facilitate the receipt of services for other problems as well.
19 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose the use of police as mentors as the next logical step in the community policing continuum and can function as an effective and efficient method of instilling legitimacy to police officers, departments, and the law enforcement profession.
Abstract: Children who lack appropriate role models in their lives are more likely to fail academically, more likely to become involved in the criminal justice system, and less likely to achieve vocationally and emotionally. Mentoring programs have shown effective results in overcoming many of the risk factors that plague today’s youth. Community policing has provided the bedrock upon which innovative and life‐changing programs can be funded and implemented to focus on solutions to real world problems, while providing intervention where it is needed the most. Police as mentors is the next logical step in the community policing continuum and can function as an effective and efficient method of instilling legitimacy to police officers, departments, and the law enforcement profession.
17 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine current statutes relating to voyeurism to determine if these laws are adequate or if new legislation is required to combat video voyeurisms, which involves the use of video cameras in public areas to record underneath women's clothing.
Abstract: Video voyeurism is a relatively new crime that involves the use of video cameras in public areas to record underneath women’s clothing. Recently, several courts have determined that this form of voyeurism is not covered under existing criminal statutes dealing with voyeurism. This paper examines current statutes relating to voyeurism to determine if these laws are adequate or if new legislation is required to combat video voyeurism. Some of the areas covered include: the nature of video voyeurism, challenges faced by law enforcement, and the challenges faced by lawmakers attempting to write legislation which will clearly criminalize the behavior.
16 citations
TL;DR: The role drugs play in criminalized women’s lives through the narratives of 30 incarcerated women is examined.
Abstract: Throughout feminist criminological scholarship, a concerted effort has been focused on understanding the backgrounds, criminal contexts, and programming needs of criminalized women. It is clear that criminalized women enter the justice system with a host of interconnected experiences and issues, ranging from childhood victimization, sexual assault, and intimate partner abuse, to homelessness, poverty, and illness. While these contribute to the motivations and rationales of women’s criminality, they are often aggravated by drug addiction. In a variety of ways, drug use is interlaced with women’s efforts to survive on a daily basis. This article examines the role drugs play in criminalized women’s lives through the narratives of 30 incarcerated women.
TL;DR: This paper reviewed Hartung's early observations on the use of capital punishment and added to his observations using more current death penalty inventories, and supplements Hartungs concerns with the most recent research findings.
Abstract: In 1952, Professor Frank E. Hartung recognized several trends in capital punishment suggesting a movement away from its use in the USA including abolition of the penalty, reduction in capital offenses, permissive death sentences, reduction in the number of executions, selective enforcement of the death penalty, private executions, and swift and painless executions. Hartung’s observations on the use of capital punishment were remarkably insightful given the infancy of death penalty research at the time. The present work reviews Hartung’s observations, adds to his observations using more current death penalty inventories, and supplements Hartung’s concerns with the most recent research findings. The research record on capital sentencing in the USA reveals that Professor Hartung’s early observations remain strikingly relevant more than a half‐century later.
TL;DR: In 1998, Grisso et al. as mentioned in this paper compiled a set of instruments to measure an individual's understanding of the rights afforded under Miranda v. Arizona (1966), and each of the Miranda warnings was researched to see whether or not they significantly differed in relation to one another.
Abstract: In 1998 Grisso compiled a set of instruments to measure an individual's understanding of the rights afforded under Miranda v. Arizona (1966). Utilizing one of these instruments, each of the Miranda warnings was researched to see whether or not they significantly differed in relation to one another. Results indicate that the warning regarding the appointment of an attorney for indigent defendants is significantly less understood when compared to the other warnings. Implications of the results confirm that a partial understanding (potentially caused by a more difficult to understand prong of the warnings) and a unimodal assessment of understanding are insufficient given the necessity of a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent waiver.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors defined police investigation units as value shops, where primary detective activities occur, and found that knowledge sharing is a key process in knowledge activities, including the capture, transfer, and creation of knowledge.
Abstract: Police investigation units represent a knowledge-intensive and time-critical environment. The amount of information that detectives come into contact with in the course of their work is astounding. This and the vast knowledge that police officers need, suggest that police officers are knowledge workers. Knowledge sharing is a key process in knowledge activities, including the capture, transfer, and creation of knowledge. Both tacit and explicit knowledge are of critical importance to solve criminal cases. In this paper, police investigation units are defined as value shops, where primary detective activities occur. Knowledge sharing is found to have a significant influence on all primary activities of the police investigation value shop.
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of social skill training (SST) and problem-solving skills training (PST) on police interpersonal relationships was investigated and the interaction effects revealed that participants treated with SST and PST showed significant improvement in their interpersonal relationships.
Abstract: This study investigated the effect of two interactions—Social Skill Training (SST) and Problem‐Solving Skills Training (PST)—on police interpersonal relationships. Ninety police officers (whose consents were sought through the Commissioner of Police (CP) Osun State Police Command, Nigeria) participated in the study. Participants who ranged in age between 28 and 47 years (mean = 37.8 years) were randomly and evenly distributed into two experimental and control groups. The interaction effects revealed that participants treated with SST and PST showed significant improvement in their interpersonal relationships. The relative effectiveness of the interaction effects also revealed that the SST was more effective than the PST in the improvement of police interpersonal relationships. These findings were discussed and implications for counselling and police practice stressed.
TL;DR: The promotion of restorative justice as a new paradigm of criminal justice, while bringing attention to its originality, has also resulted in some unfortunate consequences, including the creation of unnecessary dichotomies as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The promotion of restorative justice as a new ‘paradigm’ of criminal justice, while bringing attention to its originality, has also resulted in some unfortunate consequences, including the creation of unnecessary dichotomies. Because restorative justice must retain reliance on the conventional system to achieve the essential goals of criminal justice, however, restorative justice does not manifest the ‘incommensurability’ with the prevailing model that would qualify it as a genuine ‘paradigm’ consistent with Kuhnian analysis. Understood as a new criminal justice goal rather than as a new paradigm, however, restorative justice may fulfill its potential for significant change throughout the criminal justice system.
TL;DR: Alcohol prevention should begin at a young age and should include educating parents and community members about the impact of their attitudes and behaviors toward alcohol use, as well as more traditional efforts, which concentrate on preventing alcohol use by targeting relationships with peers and friends.
Abstract: The impact of adolescents’ exposure to alcohol use and perceived disapproval of underage drinking on age of first alcohol use and subsequent frequency and level of alcohol use is examined using data from a cross‐sectional, nationally representative sample. All respondents ages 12–20 were selected for analysis. Higher levels of exposure and lower levels of perceived disapproval were associated with lower age of onset, greater frequency of alcohol use, and higher levels of alcohol use among adolescents. Furthermore, the average age of onset of alcohol use for the entire sample was 13.8 years. These findings suggest that alcohol prevention should begin at a young age and should include educating parents and community members about the impact of their attitudes and behaviors toward alcohol use, as well as more traditional efforts, which concentrate on preventing alcohol use by targeting relationships with peers and friends.
TL;DR: The authors examined whether parental support can mediate the link that low self-control has with deviance, using multiple measures of low selfcontrol and parental support and item parcels of deviance.
Abstract: Drawing on self‐report survey data from a sample of 425 college students in 2001, this study examines whether parental support can mediate the link that low self‐control has with deviance. Using multiple measures of low self‐control and parental support and item parcels of deviance, structural equation models are developed to arrive at the results. Results reveal that parental support does not completely mediate the link between low self‐control and deviance. Importantly, we find that parental support can reduce the link that low self‐control has with deviance, suggesting that this is a measure that may be manipulated to reduce instances of deviance.
TL;DR: In this article, 300 commissioned officers of a North Texas police department were asked to offer their opinions on the nature, relevance, and utility of studying criminology and criminal justice as it relates to a career in law enforcement.
Abstract: This study examines the attitudes of law enforcement officers regarding the academic study of crime. Specifically, 300 commissioned officers of a North Texas police department were asked to offer their opinions on the nature, relevance, and utility of studying criminology and criminal justice as it relates to a career in law enforcement. Respondents were demarcated into Criminology/Criminal Justice (CRCJ) and Non‐Criminology/Criminal Justice (Non‐CRCJ) education orientation or degree holders and comparisons of responses made. There were differences in responses between CRCJ and Non‐CRCJ but not statistically significant. The findings produced in this study are of particular relevance to educators, administrators, and all others concerned with how criminal justice practitioners value the academic study of crime and criminals. The underlying principle is that the perception of the law enforcement community has direct implication on the marketability, growth, and integrity of criminology and criminal justice...
TL;DR: In this paper, the social psychological issues behind the construction of a hostile work environment, and how such a milieu transcends workplace settings, are examined and strategies and policy implications are explored.
Abstract: Sexual harassment in academia remains a lively topic of discussion. One of the reasons for this is the multidimensionality of the conduct. Academic sexual harassment encompasses all the combinations of male/female, professor/student scenarios. This work examines the social psychological issues behind the construction of a hostile work environment, and how such a milieu transcends workplace settings. Strategies and policy implications will also be explored.
TL;DR: This research examines the impact of domestic violence on women, children, families, and communities around the world and investigates the causes and consequences of abuse and its impact on women and children.
Abstract: Domestic violence is often referred to as an ‘invisible crime’ and is an epidemic of global proportions. It occurs irrespective of religion, race or ethnicity, sexuality, age, or disability. It has devastating physical, emotional, financial, and social effects on women, children, families, and communities around the world. The economic cost to society is also immense.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluated Zimring and Hawkins' claim that crime was not an important determinant of levels of lethal violence in the USA using multiple regression analyses of homicide using state, city, and county level data.
Abstract: In a popular statement in 1997, Zimring and Hawkins argued that crime was not an important determinant of levels of lethal violence in the USA. Zimring and Hawkins’ proposition is evaluated using multiple regression analyses of homicide using state‐, city‐, and county‐level data. The results indicate that there is a consistent crime effect on homicide rates at all three levels of analysis. More important than falsifying their hypothesis, we contend that overly simplistic notions about crime and justice distract the public and policy‐makers from the complex economic and structural conditions that contribute to high levels of homicide.
TL;DR: In the post 9/11 era, with radical Islam attempting to influence various governments, will gangs continue to furnish the ‘workers' for terrorist groups? And will the Patriot Act be used to go after gangs and gangsters based on their criminal behavior.
Abstract: From El Rukns in the 1980s to Jose Padilla in 2002, gangs, and hence organized crime, have been at least tangentially associated with terrorism and/or terrorist groups In the post 9/11 era, with radical Islam attempting to influence various governments, will gangs continue to furnish the ‘workers’ for terrorist groups? Will the Patriot Act be used to go after gangs and gangsters based on their criminal behavior? What are the implications of using the Patriot Act in this manner? This paper will look into the inter‐relationships between gangs, terrorists, and the Patriot Act in the fight against both terrorism and organized crime
TL;DR: A recent Supreme Court case, Hiibel v. The Sixth Judicial District of the State of Nevada (2004), focuses upon when a citizen must comply with a statutorily created obligation to provide a police officer with identification as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: A recent Supreme Court case, Hiibel v. The Sixth Judicial District of the State of Nevada (2004), focuses upon when a citizen must comply with a statutorily created obligation to provide a police officer with identification. The holding indicates that a statute that requires a person stopped with reasonable suspicion of criminality to provide his or her name under penalty of arrest is in accordance with the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. The holding also indicates that in most instances such a statute would be in compliance with the Fifth Amendment. Therefore, in most cases, carefully drafted ‘stop and identify’ statutes will be valid and enforceable.
TL;DR: In the latter part of the twentieth century, a new emphasis was placed on the prevention of juvenile delinquency, and the passage of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 and the...
Abstract: In the latter part of the twentieth century, a new emphasis was placed on the prevention of juvenile delinquency. The passage of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 and the ...