Showing papers in "Criminology in 1987"
TL;DR: In this paper, an interactional theory of delinquency is proposed, where the control, learning, and delinquency variables are seen as reciprocalIy interrelated, mutually affecting one another over the person's life.
Abstract: Contemporary theories of delinquency are seen as limited in three respects: they tend to rely on unidirectional causal structures that represent delinquency in a static rather than dynamic fashion, they do not examine developmental progressions, and they do not adequately link processual concepts to the person's position in the social structure. The present article develops an interactional theory of delinquency that addresses each of these issues. It views delinquency as resulting from the freedom afforded by the weakening of the person's bonds to conventional society and from an interactional setting in which delinquent behavior is learned and reinforced. Moreover, the control, learning, and delinquency variables are seen as reciprocalIy interrelated, mutually affecting one another over the person's life. Thus, delinquency is viewed as part of a larger causal network, affected by social factors but also affecting the development of those social factors over time.
798 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a choice-structuring properties, which refers to the constellation of opportunities, costs, and benefits attaching to particular kinds of crime, in order to improve analysis of crime displacement.
Abstract: It has been claimed that the rational choice perspective, which sees criminal behavior as the outcome of decisions and choices made by the offender, can provide a useful framework for analyzing crime control policies. By developing the concept of “choice-structuring properties,” which refers to the constellation of opportunities, costs, and benefits attaching to particular kinds of crime, this paper attempts to develop rational choice theory in order to improve analysis of crime displacement—a concept frequently invoked by the critics of opportunity-reducing measures of crime prevention.
687 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a multidimensional family interaction model was proposed to distinguish more precisely those family interaction mechanisms which are associated with delinquency, based on a sample of 824 adolescents, leading to the specification of seven distinct family interaction dimensions: control and supervision, identity support, caring and trust, intimate communication, instrumental communication, parental disapproval of peers, and conflict.
Abstract: Family interaction and attachment assume prominent roles in social control theories of delinquency. However, the degree of conceptualization and the measurement strategies generally employed arguably are inadequate to capture the real dynamic quality of such relationships and to specify their effects on delinquency involvement. The purpose of this research is to distinguish more precisely those family interaction mechanisms which are associated with delinquency. The analysis, based on a sample of 824 adolescents, leads to the specification of seven distinct family interaction dimensions: control and supervision, identity support, caring and trust, intimate communication, instrumental communication, parental disapproval of peers, and conflict. Compared with research based on a single attached-unattached dimension, this multidimensional model gives a much more complete and precise sense of the kind of relationships which exist between parents and their more or less delinquent children. In addition, the analysis shows that the family interaction variables have similar effects on delinquency in both-parent, mother-only, and mother/stepfather homes. The analysis by race, sex, and race-sex subgroups suggests, however, that while there is a core of family attachment dimensions that is important for all adolescents, there are several important subgroup differences.
535 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the problem of diverting flows of likely offenders away from streams of suitable targets (such as television sets) to provide "natural surveillance" to the offender.
Abstract: Routine activities deliver easy crime opportunities to the offender. Astute planners and managers can interfere with this delivery, diverting flows of likely offenders (such as adolescents) away from streams of suitable targets (such as television sets). They can engineer traffic to provide “natural surveillance.” Past trends encouraged crime rate increases, but the developing metropolitan facility could reverse this, privatizing substantial portions of metropolitan turf.
469 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors attempt to codify more than a century of ecological research on crime and deviance into an integrated set of 30 propositions and offer these as a first approximation of a theory of deviant places.
Abstract: It is well known that high rates of crime and deviance can persist in specific neighborhoods despite repeated, complete turnovers in the composition of their populations. That this occurs suggests that more than “kinds of people” explanations are needed to account for the ecological concentration of deviance—that we also need to develop “kinds of places” explanations. This essay attempts to codify more than a century of ecological research on crime and deviance into an integrated set of 30 propositions and offers these as a first approximation of a theory of deviant places.
425 citations
TL;DR: Hirschi and Gottfredson concluded in their 1983 article on Age and Crime (in Chapter 9 following) that an invariant age distribution of crime would make longitudinal research unnecessary, and this idea appears again and again in their writings.
Abstract: Hirschi and Gottfredson concluded in their 1983 article on Age and Crime (in Chapter 9 following) that an invariant age distribution of crime would make longitudinal research unnecessary, and this idea appears again and again in their writings. A companion piece to this article is Hirschi's review essay of Explaining Delinquency and Drug Use by Delbert Elliott, David Huizinga, and Suzanne S. Ageton ( Criminology 25, 1987:193-201), where some of the principles discussed here are applied to an ongoing longitudinal research project. At the time Gottfredson and Hirschi wrote, several large-scale longitudinal studies were in progress or just getting underway. It seems fair to say that by now we should have a better sense of the accuracy of their predictions about the costs and benefits of such efforts. If the answer is that we now need more and better longitudinal research, which sometimes seem to be the case, it would appear that Gottfredson and Hirschi were onto something!—JHL/TH
211 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of age, race, and gender on fear of crime are investigated in eight Chicago neighborhoods and found that significant interactions are present, and the relevance of these findings are discussed in terms of actual and perceived risks of victimization and of subcultural interpretations of crime and fear.
Abstract: While the literature on fear of crime is not wholly consistent, results generally indicate that blacks, women, and the elderly are the groups most fearful. In those instances where race, gender, and age have been simultaneously taken into account, studies have generally assumed that the relationships are additive. However, the gerontological literature suggests that age ofen interacts with other status characteristics in producing quality of life differences. Multiple regression techniques are used on survey data from eight Chicago neighborhoods to assess whether or not the effects of age, race, and gender on fear of crime are interactive. Findings indicate that significant interactions are present, and the relevance of these findings are discussed in terms of actual and perceived risks of victimization and of subcultural interpretations of crime and fear of crime.
162 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors test the validity of a common-cause model in explaining both serious substance use and serious delinquent behavior among youths and find that there is a degree of etiological independence in serious adolescent substance use.
Abstract: The present study tests the validity of a common-cause model in explaining both serious substance use and serious delinquent behavior among youths. Longitudinal data on 441 male and 441 female adolescents are analyzed. Youths originally tested at Time 1 when they were 12, 15, or 18 years old were retested three years later when they were 15, 18, or 21 years old. The results provide modest support for a common-cause model. While a number of predictor variables drawn from control theory and differential association theory are related to both behaviors, those drawn from the literature on psychological correlates of adolescent deviance tend to be more strongly related to subsequent serious substance use than to serious delinquency. The findings suggest that there is a degree of etiological independence in serious adolescent substance use and serious forms of delinquency. The implications of these results for theory development and policy implementation are discussed.
160 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the issue of pretrial discrimination by focusing on the prosecutor's decision to reject or dismiss charges against black, Anglo, and Hispanic male and female defendants in Los Angeles, revealing a pattern of discrimination in favor of female defendants and against black and Hispanic defendants.
Abstract: While social scientists have long been interested in the issue of racial and sexual discrimination within the criminal justice system, they have concentrated on the decisions to convict and sentence and have paid relatively little attention to the decision to prosecute. This study examines the issue of pretrial discrimination by focusing on the prosecutor's decision to reject or dismiss charges against black, Anglo, and Hispanic male and female defendants in Los Angeles. The data reveal a pattern of discrimination in favor of female defendants and against black and Hispanic defendants. Hispanic males are most likely to be prosecuted fully, followed by black males, Anglo males, and females of all ethnic groups.
158 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual analysis of white-collar crime is presented, and a general theory of crime explicitly applicable to both ordinary and white-collusion crime is discussed. But the analysis is limited to white-collar crime.
Abstract: This paper begins with a conceptual analysis of the idea of white-collar crime. It considers data relevant to popular images of white-collar crime and outlines a general theory of crime explicitly applicable to both ordinary and white-collar crime. This theory is compared with traditional explanations of white-collar crime, and several explicit empirical tests of rival views are described.
156 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the relationship between the religious factor and adolescent marijuana use using panel data from a sample of 264 high school youth, several three-wave, four-variable models derived from social learning theory and social control theory are estimated.
Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between the religious factor and adolescent marijuana use. Using panel data from a sample of 264 high school youth, several three-wave, four-variable models derived from social learning theory and social control theory are estimated. Each model specifies causal links between measures of religious attitude and predispositions (religious commitment and an act-specific religious belief), involvement with marijuana-using friends, and self-reported marijuana use. The results provide evidence that the impact of religion is indirect through its influence on the variable Peer Associations. The findings also show the emergence of a direct effect of the act-specific belief on behavior over time. This effect is interpreted to be more a function of within-group attitude-behavior similarity due to social selection than to socialization to peer group standards. These findings extend rather than refute previous research which fails to control for the effects of peer influences.
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of peers in adolescent drug use was analyzed by integrating differential association and situational group pressure notions with propositions derived from social bond theory, and the resultant causal model was tested for self-reported use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, amphetamines, and depressants.
Abstract: The role of peers in adolescent drug use is analyzed by integrating differential association and situational group pressure notions with propositions derived from social bond theory. The resultant causal model is tested for self-reported use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, amphetamines, and depressants. The model explains 49% of the variation in combined drug use among 768 adolescents. The variables from social learning traditions have the strongest effects in the model, but associations with drug-using parents or with prodrug definitions received from parents or friends have far less impact on drug use than do associations with drug-using friends per se. It is argued that differential association with situational pressure to join others in drug use may be more relevant to adolescent drug use than are social bonds or differential association with a ratio of prodrug to antidrug definitions.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the extent of missing data within the Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR), collected as part of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the FBI, and propose computational procedures designed to compensate for missing data and empirically evaluate the impact of these procedures on comparative analyses of homicide rates.
Abstract: This paper describes the extent of missing data within the Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR), collected as part of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the FBI. The yearly SHR provides coded information on the victim, the offender, and the circumstances of all reported homicides in the United States. Thus, the data allow the computation of specific kinds of homicide rates, such as those involving family members, acquaintances, and strangers. However, missing data within reported events, primarily on offender characteristics and thus the victim/offender relationship, present a serious obstacle to the accurate calculation of such rates. The authors propose computational procedures designed to compensate for missing data and empirically evaluate the impact of these procedures on comparative analyses of homicide rates for cities, metropolitan areas, and states.
TL;DR: A new experimental evaluation of a school-based intervention based on a Guided-Group Interaction (GGI) derivative implies that it increased delinquent behavior among students exposed to it as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Evaluations of correctional treatment programs for criminal offenders and of school-based delinquency prevention programs based on Guided-Group Interaction (GGI) and similar interventions are critically reviewed. One study—the Provo Experiment—provided convincing evidence for the superiority of a community treatment program involving GGI over incarceration (for persons who would otherwise be incarcerated) and modest superiority over probation (for persons who would otherwise be assigned probation). Some evaluations of school-based prevention programs involving GGI derivatives that have been cited as supporting the efficacy of these programs are flawed and may be misleading. A new experimental evaluation of a school-based intervention based on a GGI derivative implies that it increased delinquent behavior among students exposed to it.
TL;DR: The divergence between social control and rational choice is discussed in this article, where the authors attempt to remove the barrier found by Hirschi by providing improved measurement of specialization, such as has been proposed by Farrington (1986), and by placing the results in a more realistic criminal careers perspective than has been done in previous studies.
Abstract: Hirschi recently (1985) attempted to show the compatibility of social control with rational choice theory. This effort by Hirschi is noteworthy because, if successful, he could provide a connection between positive and classical sentiments which have traditionally appeared in contention. Hirschi fails, however, to achieve his objective and is hindered by what he views as the incompatible objectives of the two theories. Hirschi uses the recently accepted findings which indicate lack of specialization among persons involved in illegal behavior to illustrate the difference he sees between criminality and crime and, thus, the divergence between social control and rational choice. This paper attempts to remove the barrier found by Hirschi by providing improved measurement of specialization, such as has been proposed by Farrington (1986) and Klein (1984), and by placing the results in a more realistic criminal careers perspective than has been done in previous studies. This study utilizes data from the 1958 Philadelphia Birth Cohort. With information to age 26 for 27,160 persons, these data are perhaps better suited to investigate this topic than any available.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focused on the characterization of the criminal careers of youthful offenders and found that these criminal careers could be modeled with parameters rejecting constant individual rates of offending and constant probability of career termination; population heterogeneity could be adequately represented by two distinct groups, termed as "frequents" and "occults".
Abstract: This paper focuses on the characterization of the criminal careers of youthful offenders. It was found that these criminal careers could be modeled with parameters rejecting constant individual rates of offending and constant probability of career termination; population heterogeneity could be adequately represented by two distinct groups—designated here as “frequents” and occasionals.” These parameters were estimated for the multiple offenders in a London cohort studied from their first convictions until age 25. In that cohort, the frequents were estimated to have an annual conviction rate of 1.14 convictions per year (constant with age) and a probability of career termination of .10 following each conviction; the occasionals had an annual conviction rate of .41 and termination probability of .33 following each conviction; the frequents were estimated to comprise 43% of the population, and the occasionals the others 57%. While this parsimonious model structure was adequate for the London cohort, it must still be tested with other offender populations.
TL;DR: The relationship between women's narcotics use and crime was examined among Anglo and Chicana methadone maintenance clients as mentioned in this paper, and three types of analyses were employed: (1) the temporal ordering between narcotics involvement and criminal activities; (2) comparisons of crime levels before and after critical events in the addiction career including narcotic initiation, addiction, last daily use, first treatment entry, and first treatment discharge; and (3) crime levels as a function of increasing narcotics use.
Abstract: The relationship between women's narcotics use and crime is examined among Anglo and Chicana methadone maintenance clients. Three types of analyses are employed: (1) the temporal ordering between narcotics involvement and criminal activities: (2) comparisons of crime levels before and after critical events in the addiction career including narcotic initiation, addiction, last daily use, first treatment entry, and first treatment discharge; and (3) crime levels as a function of increasing narcotics use. Women in this study demonstrate extensive criminal involvement and some also engage in dealing and/or prostitution. Property crime activities precede the addiction career for many women but, once addicted, the amount of property crime committed appears to be generally regulated by narcotics use levels. After the addiction career, property crime decreases substantially. Chicanas, in general, display higher baseline pretreatment criminal activity and show fewer changes in crime levels than Anglo women in reaction to events such as treatment or termination of addiction career.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the effect that community setting, relative to other factors, has on victimization and fear of crime among the elderly, and found that the greater the age density of the community (greater concentration of elderly), the less crime and less fear.
Abstract: The central issue examined here is the effect that community setting, relative to other factors, has on victimization and fear of crime among the elderly. Findings are from 1,410 in-home interviews in two retirement communities (age homogeneous) and two age-heterogeneous communities. Victimization of elderly is low in all communities, and although nearly half of the respondents have some fear of crime, the percentage reporting great fear of crime is low. Victimization and fear of crime are only weakly related to one another, and the regression model for each does not account for much variance. But both are significantly related to the type of community, and fear of crime is also related to other variables. The greater the age density of the community (greater concentration of elderly), the less crime and less fear of crime. Living arrangements, sociodemographic variables, and health status of the elderly as indicators of personal vulnerability to crime are not related to victimization, but are related to fear of crime, and effects of community setting on fear of crime are reduced when these other variables are taken into account. Suggestions for other, unmeasured, sources of variations and implications for future research are presented.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors employ a longitudinal data base on criminal histories to estimate the prevalence of arrest and the incidence of arrest for an age cohort of young adults between the ages of 18 and 29.
Abstract: The recent emphasis in criminological theory and research on “chronic offenders” assumes that involvement in crime is concentrated among a small group of offenders rather than being widespread in the population. To address this question, this study employs a longitudinal data base on criminal histories to estimate the prevalence of arrest—defined as the proportion of a population ever arrested—and the incidence of arrest—defined as the number of arrests incurred by those ever arrested—for an age cohort of young adults between the ages of 18 and 29. The results show that being arrested is a relatively common experience for young adults: nearly one-quarter of the entire cohort and one-third of the males in the cohort were arrested at least once. One of six males and two of five black males were arrested for an index offense. The data on incidence reveal the presence of a subset of “chronic offenders” who are responsible for a disproportionate number of arrests. However, defined in terms of three or more arrests for any offense, their numbers are smaller, but the data suggest it may be difficult to distinguish “chronic offenders” from “one-time” offenders because 60% do not recidivate. These findings suggest that the current preoccupation with chronic offenders may obscure the broader social structural factors that cause very large segments of the population to come into conflict with the law.
Abstract: Family is central to contemporary theories of delinquent and violent behavior. Yet, the processes by which families shape violent behavior in their children are not well understood. In the past, structural views posited that a weak family exposed a child to the evils of the street. More recently, functionalists have suggested that the family plays an active role in socializing youths to violent behaviors through supervision and discipline practices and modeling and reinforcement of antisocial behaviors. Integrated theories presume that socially disorganized families weaken children's conventional bonds and attachments, leading to associations with delinquent peers and in turn antisocial behavior. However, the influence of the family as a socializing environment may shift over time, and some suggest that its influence is overshadowed during adolescence by that of other social domains—schools, neighborhoods, peers, and work. This study describes the family processes and environments of (n = 98) chronically violent delinquents. Interviews with youths and their mothers assessed family social process and environments and the social domains and institutions with which they interact.
Analyses of youth reports of family environments and processes yield three family types: “interactionist” families exhibiting a high degree of internal interaction and bonding; “hierarchical” families characterized by parental dominance and the presence of family bond and interaction patterns; and “antisocial” families marked by criminality and family violence. Family variables have weaker explanatory power than do other social influences on violent delinquency. The relative contributions of family supervision practices and school environment varied by crime type. Social influences outside the family appear as stronger contributors to delinquency and violence during adolescence, regardless of early childhood experiences. The results underscore the importance of integrating social policies regarding family, crime, and neighborhood.
TL;DR: This article performed a limited test of the sexual stratification hypothesis which asserts that various degrees of opprobrium are attached to sexual assaults depending on the racial composition of the offender/victim dyad.
Abstract: Recent research examining race-based sentencing has reported anomalous results. It has been argued by Heck (1981) and Peterson and Hagan (1984) that these anomalies would not be perceived as such given a greater sensitivity to the “changing conceptions of race” in American society. This study performs a limited test of the sexual stratification hypothesis which asserts that various degrees of opprobrium are attached to sexual assaults depending on the racial composition of the offender/victim dyad. This hypothesis is tested with an additive and a race-specific model. The additive model fails to reveal any significant differences in severity of penalties based on either offender or victim race. The race-specific model reveals that significantly harsher penalties were imposed on blacks who sexually assaulted whites than were imposed on blacks who sexually assaulted blacks. The additive model suppresses this differential sentencing severity because blacks who assaulted blacks received the most lenient penalties, thus moving the black grand mean to one which was not significantly different from the white grand mean. Thus, both differential leniency and harshness are possible for blacks depending on the race of the victim.
TL;DR: Based on differential association theory and Becker's early research on marijuana use, a contingency model estimating the exact probability of getting high on marijuana under various associational and motivational conditions is specified and tested as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Based on Sutherland's differential association theory and Becker's early research on marijuana use, a contingency model estimating the exact probability of getting high on marijuana under various associational and motivational conditions is specified and tested. Data from surveys at two universities fit this model closely. Predicted first-order interactions and nonlinear effects of motivational balance and peer association are statistically significant and generate highly precise estimates of the probability of getting high. These results suggest that linear main-effects models employed in previous research on differential association processes do not adequately reject the complex casual structure of Sutherland's theory. In addition, this study raises serious questions about claims that differential association theory is untestable and has been made outdated by social learning theory.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present prevalence estimates of illegal and serious conduct problems occurring prior to high school, such as fighting, the), truancy, firesetting, vandalism, marijuana use, and delinquency.
Abstract: Police and court records rarely reject the prevalence of delinquent acts of elementary school-aged children. Data are presented on conduct problems during the elementary school years in regard to how well they predict adult delinquency and chronic offending. In addition, the paper presents prevalence estimates of illegal and serious conduct problems occurring prior to high school, such as fighting, the), truancy, firesetting, vandalism, marijuana use, and delinquency. Policy implications are discussed in view of the fact that early onset of serious conduct problems is ominous for chronic offending to develop at an age when children are not yet judged to be criminally responsible.
TL;DR: The authors identify systematic sources of discrepancies in the macro-level research on racial inequality and rates of violent crime and identify three likely sources of discrepant results across previous studies: differing operationalizations of racial inequality, differing samples, and differing specifications.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to identify systematic sources of discrepancies in the macro-level research on racial inequality and rates of violent crime. A review of the literature suggests three likely sources of discrepant results across previous studies: differing operationalizations of racial inequality, differing samples, and differing specifications. The analyses reveal that while sample composition appears to be relatively unimportant, operationalization of racial inequality in terms of socioeconomic status (SES) rather than income can lead to very different conclusions. For certain models, SES-based measures are clearly superior to income-based measures. However, slight modifications of the regression models can render the effects of racial inequality in SES nonsignificant. These results call for a skeptical assessment of previous evidence indicating a positive relationship between racial inequality and rates of violent crime.
TL;DR: The authors examined the conditions under which normlessness leads to trouble with the law and the mechanisms through which social structure affects the tendency of low socioeconomic positions to lead to normlessness, and showed that the association of normlessness and trouble with law depends on whether normlessness is combined with a sense of powerlessness or with an instrumentalism.
Abstract: This paper examines the conditions under which normlessness leads to trouble with the law and the mechanisms through which social structure affects trouble with the law. Objective conditions of structural inconsistency, common in low socioeconomic positions, can lead to normlessness. The results presented here show that the association of normlessness and trouble with the law depends on whether normlessness is combined with a sense of powerlessness or with one of instrumentalism. Among persons who see themselves as powerless, normlessness is not associated with trouble with the law. Among persons who see themselves as instrumental, normlessness is associated with greater trouble with the law.
TL;DR: This article examined the hypothesis that people purchase firearms for protection when confidence in collective institutions of justice and security declines and found that gun ownership for protection is inversely related to confidence in the police and in the courts, and that these relationships are independent of demographic and socioeconomic variables and fear of crime.
Abstract: This paper examines the hypothesis that people purchase firearms for protection when confidence in collective institutions of justice and security declines. Analysis of survey data from Detroit indicates that gun ownership for protection is inversely related to confidence in the police and in the courts, and that these relationships are independent of demographic and socioeconomic variables and fear of crime.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors found that ethnicity, living with boyfriends or husbands, high levels of crime commission, particularly while carrying weapons, and participating in vice and predatory crimes are common factors that are shared by a number of crime partnerships; therefore, these factors are unique considerations that relate to the likelihood that criminal partnerships will develop.
Abstract: Research findings on the crime patterns of women suggest that social changes in gender roles are associated with increased female criminality. Some researchers note that the increasing participation of women in established criminal organizations increases female crime levels in general, Other researchers demonstrate that involvement with deviant boyfriends or husbands in particular not only introduces women to addictive drugs, but also contributes to greater crime participation. Measures of the domestic network, crime commitment, drug use, ethnicity, and participation in vice and predatory crimes are used to focus on women's formation and participation in crime partnerships. Findings reveal that ethnicity, living with boyfriends or husbands, high levels of crime commission, particularly while carrying weapons, and participating in vice and predatory crimes are factors that are shared by a number of crime partnerships. On the other hand, having children raised by others, a history of incarceration and arrest, and opiate use are factors that are important for specific crime partnerships; therefore, these factors are unique considerations that relate to the likelihood that criminal partnerships will develop.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the discretionary judgments and reporting practices of police officers, in their apprehension of 528 defendants subsequently remanded for psychiatric assessment in a forensic unit located in Toronto, Canada.
Abstract: This article examines the discretionary judgments and reporting practices of police officers, in their apprehension of 528 defendants subsequently remanded for psychiatric assessment in a forensic unit located in Toronto, Canada. Analysis of arrest documents indicated that police routinely invoked labels of mental illness and dangerousness, and that they recommended psychiatric assessment in over a third of cases that eventuated in clinical remands. A significant relationship was yielded between police judgments and clinical assessments concerning the dangerousness of defendants. The police reports of forensic patients demonstrated the tendency of arresting officers to recommend psychiatric assessment as a vehicle for ensuring the dual application of judicial and therapeutic interventions. These police records were replete with moral assessments about mentally disordered defendants and with a number of strategies designed to influence the subsequent decisions of other legal and psychiatric authorities. In this study the police functioned as forensic gatekeepers, alerting clinicians and other officials to signs of mental disorder and criminality and to appropriate courses of action. At the initial point of arrest, the police assisted in laying the groundwork for the subsequent institutional careers of medicolegal subjects.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the reactive conception of criminality is the most intractable issue in criminology and that it can be circumvented only if criminologists use official data to compute crime rates and to identify criminals or delinquents.
Abstract: After nearly 20 years of ferment in criminology, the reactive conception of criminality is the most intractable issue. It can be circumvented only if criminologists use official data to compute crime rates and to identify criminals or delinquents. That proposed strategy does not necessarily entail acceptance of the reactive conception, especially in light of an argument about etiological theories that purport to answer two of the four major criminological questions, those having to do with variation in the crime rate and with individual differences as regards criminality. Any such theory will be empirically indefensible unless it encompasses (1) some etiological condition as the independent variable; (2) the frequency of some type of behavior as an intervening variable; (3) an official criminality variable (for example, an official crime rate); and (4) a reactive variable, one which pertains to the behavior of legal officials and supposedly determines the connection between the intervening variable and the dependent variable. The argument bears on Marxist and conflict criminology only insofar as advocates of those perspectives genuinely pursue etiological theories about crime. Finally, apart from any substantive consideration, criminological theories will remain defective until criminologists adopt formal theory construction. The more general and important point is that some 20 years of ferment will not culminate in a new theory without some special strategy—if not the one proposed here, then another.
TL;DR: This paper examined the extent of agreement about complex perceptions of crime, including crime stereotypes, and concluded that agreement about any single crime perception, including seriousness, does not imply agreement about other features such as level of violence, amount of property harm, level of sex relatedness, and perhaps others.
Abstract: This paper examines the extent of agreement about complex perceptions of crime—crime stereotypes. The literature addresses crime seriousness. Crime perception is a complex phenomenon including much more than judged seriousness. Crime stereotypes are shown to be coherently organized around a few basic perceptions such as level of violence, amount of property harm, level of sex relatedness, and perhaps a few others. While the data affirm that there is agreement about judged seriousness, it suggests significant disagreement regarding crime stereotypes. Different people adopt different crime stereotypes. These differences are related to social variables. The most important theoretical conclusion is that agreement about any single crime perception, including seriousness, does not imply agreement about other features.