Showing papers in "Justice Quarterly in 2004"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the gender differences in general strain theory (GST) and found that the results support Broidy and Agnew's gender/general strain hypotheses and, at the same time, offer modifications and extensions for future research.
Abstract: Some scholars argue for sex-specific explanations of criminal behavior, while others opt for more general theories of crime. In this article, we elaborate on recent explorations of gender differences in general strain theory (GST). Using data obtained from self-report interviews of delinquent youths, we implemented measures of strain, negative emotions, and coping resources to examine sex differences in GST-related processes across both interpersonal and property offending. The results offer some support for Broidy and Agnew's gender/general strain hypotheses and, at the same time, offer modifications and extensions for future research on GST.
284 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the relationship between youth gang membership and violent victimization in a general sample of adolescents and found that gang member victimization rates are higher than nongang member rates, not only during membership, but before and after as well.
Abstract: Extant gang research supports an enhancement effect of membership on delinquency; that is, while delinquent youths may be attracted to gangs, it is also true that gang membership increases delinquency among youths and that while delinquency levels decrease after gang membership, they do not decrease to nongang levels. In this paper, we build on this research, examining the relationship between youth gang membership and violent victimization in a general sample of adolescents. We find that gang member victimization rates are higher than nongang member rates, not only during membership, but before and after as well. Thus an enhancement model of gang membership appears to best fit both offending and victimization rates. This effect of gang affiliation on victimization goes beyond gang members' involvement in violent offending; violence and gang status equate with cumulative disadvantage in terms of violent victimization. Additionally, contrary to gang youths' perceptions, gangs appear to offer no protective ...
256 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the structural dimensions of peer networks have been investigated to understand how the characteristics of networks may influence individual delinquent behavior in a peer-to-peer network, and the authors extended the network analysis to include the structural characteristics of the network itself.
Abstract: Haynie's (2001) work on the structural dimensions of peer networks demonstrated how the characteristics of networks may influence individual delinquent behavior. This study extends the network appr...
237 citations
TL;DR: The factors that influence officer decision making after a traffic stop is examined using the Police-Public Contact Survey data collected in 1999 as mentioned in this paper, and the findings show that young black and Hispanic males are at increased risk for citations, searches, arrests and uses of force after other extralegal and legal characteristics are controlled.
Abstract: The factors that influence officer decision making after a traffic stop is initiated are examined using the Police-Public Contact Survey data collected in 1999. This investigation of police behavior is framed with an understanding of the organizational roots of racial profiling tactics and policies. The findings show that young black and Hispanic males are at increased risk for citations, searches, arrests, and uses of force after other extralegal and legal characteristics are controlled. Additional analyses show that minority drivers are not, however, more likely to be carrying contraband than are white drivers. The implications for policy and future research are discussed.
228 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors build on Shreck's work by assessing whether low self-control contributes to victimization among a sample of female offenders while controlling for routine activities/lifestyle behaviors.
Abstract: In 1999, Schreck extended Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) self-control theory to explain victimization and the victim-offender overlap. His analysis of college students revealed that low self-control was significantly associated with victimization. We build on Shreck's work by assessing whether low self-control contributes to victimization among a sample of female offenders while controlling for routine activities/lifestyle behaviors. We advanced two research questions: (1) Can self-control theory account for variations in victimization? (2) Do risky lifestyle behaviors mediate the effects of self-control? The results were consistent with the hypothesis that low self-control is a risk factor for victimization, even after lifestyle behaviors were controlled.
204 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the perceptions of girls held by juvenile probation officers, psychologists, and others involved in juvenile court decision making through qualitative analysis of girls' probabilistic assessment of their behavior.
Abstract: This study examines the perceptions of girls held by juvenile probation officers, psychologists, and others involved in juvenile court decision making. Through qualitative analysis of girls' probat...
181 citations
TL;DR: One frequently cited source of this fear is the mass media, and local television news in particular, often report on incidents of crime as mentioned in this paper, which can be seen as a form of harassment.
Abstract: Many Americans report that they are fearful of crime. One frequently cited source of this fear is the mass media. The media, and local television news in particular, often report on incidents of cr...
181 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of associating with prosocial coworkers on changing delinquent peer networks and on criminal behavior and drug use were examined using data from the National Youth Survey (NYS).
Abstract: One of Sampson and Laub's central findings from their analysis of the Gluecks' data was that reductions in adult criminal behavior were associated with stable employment In support of their theory of informal social control, they maintained that employment builds social capital that, in turn, bonds young adults to social institutions Using data from the National Youth Survey we examine the effects of associating with prosocial coworkers on changing delinquent peer networks and on criminal behavior and drug use The results demonstrate that prosocial coworkers disrupt previously established delinquent peer networks and are associated with reductions in adult criminal behavior
161 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of macro-level social context on reporting of crime is investigated, focusing on the perceived competence of the police, institutionalization of insurance, and social context of the crime event.
Abstract: One of the most consistent findings in empirical studies using victimization data is that the decision to report victimization to the police is determined in large part by the seriousness of the crime. The police will be notified more often of crimes that involve more serious injury or greater monetary loss. These findings, however, may be due to the fact that most studies on reporting have been conducted using victimization surveys that devote a great deal of attention to the crime event and victim characteristics and much less to the social context of that event. As a result, influences on reporting operating at the neighborhood, jurisdiction, or nation level have been neglected. The aim of this paper is to bring social context into the discourse on reporting to the police by presenting a much more inclusive model of crime reporting. In addition, the influence of four aspects of macro-level social context on reporting are tested—the perceived competence of the police, institutionalization of insurance b...
150 citations
TL;DR: For example, this paper found that participants with higher levels of participation in Bible studies were significantly less likely to be arrested during a 1-year follow-up period compared to non-participants.
Abstract: In the mid-1990s, Prison Fellowship (PF), a nonprofit religious ministry to prisoners, commissioned a study to determine the relationship, if any, between religious programming and recidivism. Subsequent research found no difference between PF and non-PF inmates on measures of recidivism. Inmates most active in PF Bible studies, however, were significantly less likely to be arrested during a 1-year follow-up period. This study extends and improves on previous research by: (1) increasing the recidivism window from 1 to 8 years; (2) incorporating new approaches to measuring program participation; (3) including two measures of recidivism—rearrest and reincarceration; and (4) using survival analysis and proportional hazards modeling to present and analyze the data. Results from survival analyses indicate: (1) no difference in median time to rearrest or reincarceration between PF and non-PF groups throughout the 8-year study period; (2) participants with higher levels of participation in Bible studies were les...
148 citations
TL;DR: For instance, this paper found that those who are disrespectful to the police are more likely to have that behavior reciprocated and that the size of the audience observing the encounter also influences whether a suspect will behave disrespectfully.
Abstract: Research shows that suspects' behavior influences police officers' decisions. Those who are disrespectful to the police are more likely to have that behavior reciprocated. To date, the factors influencing whether suspects will show deference remain largely unexamined. Guided by social interactionist theory and recent developments in urban sociology, we use systematic social observations and census data to investigate. We find that elevated levels of police force can induce suspect disrespect, but more subtle forms tend to have the opposite effect. The size of the audiences observing the encounter also influences whether suspects behave disrespectfully. Hypothesized links between disinhibiting factors such as intoxicants and disrespect are confirmed. Excluding traffic encounters, suspects in disadvantaged neighborhoods are less likely to show defference. This finding helps explain why officers encountering African Americans are the targets of disrespect.
TL;DR: This paper analyzed 909 mass killings that took place between 1900 and 1999 and found that mass killers were older, more suicidal, and less likely to use guns in the first two-thirds of the 20th century.
Abstract: Even though previous research has not examined mass murder prior to 1965, scholars have asserted that the mid-1960s marked the onset of an unprecedented and ever-growing mass murder wave. Using news accounts and the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) as sources of data, this study analyzes 909 mass killings that took place between 1900 and 1999. Although the mid-1960s marked the beginning of a mass murder wave, it was not unprecedented, because mass killings were nearly as common during the 1920s and 1930s. The results also show that familicides, the modal mass murder over the last several decades, were even more prevalent before the 1970s. Moreover, mass killers were older, more suicidal, and less likely to use guns in the first two-thirds of the 20th century. Although some have claimed that workplace massacres represent a new “strain” in mass murder, the findings suggest that the only new type of mass killing that emerged during the 20th century was the drug-related massacre.
TL;DR: The authors empirically test the hypothesis that defendants convicted of killing white females are significantly more likely to receive death sentences than killers of victims with other race-gender characteristics and find that homicides with white female victims were more likely than other victim racegender dyads.
Abstract: Empirical studies of the death penalty continue to find that the race and gender of homicide victims are associated with the severity of legal responses in homicide cases even after controlling for legally relevant factors. A limitation of this research, however, is that victim race and gender are examined as distinct and independent factors in statistical models. In this study, we explore whether the independent examination of victim race and gender masks important differences in legal responses to homicides. In particular, we empirically test the hypothesis that defendants convicted of killing white females are significantly more likely to receive death sentences than killers of victims with other race-gender characteristics. Findings indicate that homicides with white female victims were more likely to result in death sentences than other victim race-gender dyads. We posit that this response may be unique and result in differential sentencing outcomes.
TL;DR: A typology of comparative studies for comparative criminology and criminal justice can be found in this paper, where the benefits of comparative research as well as the impediments to the comparative approach are explored.
Abstract: The events of September 11, 2001 fueled interest in cross-national and especially transnational crime. What had been relegated to isolated interest sections in scholarly organizations suddenly became front page copy in the news media. Is this heightened interest in comparative research only a fleeting reaction to the immediacy of the terrorist attacks or will interest and research continue to grow and expand the comparative field in criminology and criminal justice? This presidential address attempts to help formalize the field of cross- and multinational research by presenting a typology of comparative studies. The benefits of comparative research as well as the impediments to the comparative approach are then explored. Finally, the future of comparative criminology and criminal justice is addressed through an examination of the role of professional organizations, university curricula, funding agencies and individual scholars in advancing the field.
TL;DR: Criminological research has consistently demonstrated a relationship between IQ and delinquency, yet scholars continue to debate the precise mechanisms by which IQ should have an effect on delinquency as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Criminological research has consistently demonstrated a relationship between IQ and delinquency, yet scholars continue to debate the precise mechanisms by which IQ should have an effect on delinque...
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of victim and offender characteristics, situational variables, and official behavior on whether it was the victim or some third party who called for assistance, whether the victim desired the arrest, and whether she was willing to prosecute.
Abstract: In this paper, using a sample of 5,272 domestic violence cases processed through the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office between July 1, 1999 and December 31, 2000, we analyze the predictors of victim support for official action. We test the impact of victim and offender characteristics, situational variables, and official behavior on whether it was the victim or some third party who called for assistance, whether the victim desired the arrest, and whether the victim was willing to prosecute. The multiple significant effects found include race/ethnicity, gender, cohabitation, co-parenthood, attack severity, victim injury, prior incidents, reporting of prior incidents, presence of a protective order, provision of victim services, victim substance use, and suspect injury. Especially important from a policy perspective is that prosecutor charging practice (i.e., filing as a felony rather than a misdemeanor or violation of probation) was negatively associated with levels of victim support for prosecu...
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between population heterogeneity and the use of punishment, measured in terms of abolition of the death penalty and imprisonment rates in 140 nations and found that population heterogeneity was positively associated with imprisonment.
Abstract: There has been considerable recent interest in understanding how changes within the racial and ethnic landscape contribute to both the increased segregation of minority populations and their punishment. The minority group-threat hypothesis proposes that punishment is one outcome of the regulation of groups that are racially, culturally, or ethnically different. This study examined the relationship between population heterogeneity and the use of punishment, measured in terms of abolition of the death penalty and imprisonment rates in 140 nations. Controlling for modernization, political repression, violent crime, and economic stress, the findings indicate that population heterogeneity was positively associated with imprisonment. Likewise, lesser diversity was associated with the abolition of capital punishment. Our results suggest that definitions of minority threat be expanded to include indicators of language and religion as well as race and ethnicity.
TL;DR: Work-redesign theory is used as a conceptual framework to explain officer functioning in both community policing and traditional motorized policing settings as mentioned in this paper, finding key similarities between community policing officers and officers assigned to traditional motorised patrol, despite differences in job satisfaction, perception of impact, and policing style.
Abstract: Over the past 20 years, police departments across America have adopted a community—or problem-oriented—policing philosophy. Community policing has not been implemented wholesale, however. Most departments have assigned some officers to community policing roles but kept the majority in traditional motorized patrol assignments. Pertinent literature suggests that these two groups do not see eye to eye on their respective roles and duties. In this study, work-redesign theory is used as a conceptual framework to explain officer functioning in both community policing and traditional motorized policing settings. Findings indicate key similarities between community policing officers and officers assigned to traditional motorized patrol, despite differences in job satisfaction, perception of impact, and policing style.
TL;DR: The authors found that three strikes laws are positively associated with homicide rates in cities in three strikes states and, however, no significant reduction in crime rates in the cities in 3 strikes states.
Abstract: During the 1990s, in response to public dissatisfaction over what were perceived as ineffective crime reduction policies, 25 states and Congress passed three strikes laws, designed to deter criminal offenders by mandating significant sentence enhancements for those with prior convictions. Few large-scale evaluations of the impact of these laws on crime rates, however, have been conducted. Our study used a multiple time series design and UCR data from 188 cities with populations of 100,000 or more for the two decades from 1980 to 2000. We found, first, that three strikes laws are positively associated with homicide rates in cities in three strikes states and, second, that cities in three strikes states witnessed no significant reduction in crime rates.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined shoplifting by covert observation with a camera system installed in a typical suburban retail drug store and found that significant numbers of shoppers (8.5%) were observed shoplifting.
Abstract: Shoplifting is one of the most common and costly crimes, yet little data exist to determine reliably characteristics of the typical shoplifter or the modus operandi of the crime. It is a crime that has most often been studied using official, secondary data provided by either retail security personnel or law enforcement officers. Reliability issues plague these official data. Continuing the “dark figure of crime” tradition, this study examines shoplifting by covert observation with a camera system installed in a typical suburban retail drug store. A standardized data template was used to record the demographic and behavioral characteristics of shoppers. Significant numbers of shoppers (8.5%) were observed shoplifting. Logistic regression analysis reveals that, while members of some demographic groups shoplifted more often than others, behavioral indicators carried far more predictive power. The methodology and findings are considered within the larger context of the law enforcement and “profiling” literatures.
TL;DR: Results suggest that offering treatment in prison and then directing offenders into community-based aftercare treatment is cost-effective policy tool.
Abstract: This paper extends previous research that performed a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of the Amity in-prison therapeutic community (TC) and Vista aftercare programs for criminal offenders in sout...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that the implementation of COMPSTAT presents police departments with a set of opportunities and challenges, and that its implementation presents police agencies with several challenges and opportunities.
Abstract: COMPSTAT has been heralded as an innovative and rational crime control program, but our research shows that its implementation presents police departments with a set of opportunities and challenges...
TL;DR: Analysis of the impact of a drug treatment court on nonviolent felony offenders suggested that compliance with various drug court components, particularly early and continued drug treatment attendance, reduced the risk of failure among this sample.
Abstract: This study uses an experimental design to assess the impact of a drug treatment court on nonviolent felony offenders. The drug court program combines intensive supervision, judicial monitoring, dru...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between poverty clustering and violent crime rates across 236 cities and found that disadvantage has a much stronger relationship to homicide in cities with high levels of poverty.
Abstract: While numerous criminological theories emphasize the theoretical importance of the spatial distribution of poverty, few studies specifically examine the empirical relationship between the spatial clustering of high poverty areas and violent crime rates. In this analysis we examine the association between poverty clustering and violent crime rates across 236 cities. For each city we compute a poverty cluster score that measures the proportion of contiguous high poverty census tracts. We find little support for a direct relationship between the spatial clustering of high poverty tracts and murder, rape, robbery, and assault. However, variables that measure city disadvantage (e.g., poverty) interact with poverty clustering scores in the case of homicide rates. Specifically, disadvantage has a much stronger relationship to homicide in cities with high levels of poverty clustering. Such an interaction effect is strongly supported by the literature.
TL;DR: A number of issues surrounding the death penalty have been raised in recent media and political attention as discussed by the authors, including questions regarding innocence, fair trials, and equitable access to counsel and justice.
Abstract: Recent media and political attention has raised public awareness of a number of issues surrounding the death penalty. Questions regarding innocence, fair trials, and equitable access to counsel and...
TL;DR: This paper found that delinquency serves to increase romantic involvement and that romantic involvement may provide vicarious, but not necessarily direct, reinforcement for delinquency among both male and female adolescents using data from the first and third waves of the National Youth Survey.
Abstract: Drawing on Zahavi's (1975) handicap principle, we suggest that delinquency and other risk-taking behavior might be seen as evidence of positive, adaptive qualities such as nerve and bravery Drawing on Akers' (1998) social learning theory, we also suggest that potential romantic partners might be attracted to such traits and that this romantic attention might reinforce delinquency and other risk-taking behavior Using data from the first and third waves of the National Youth Survey, we test these assertions with a series of longitudinal OLS and contemporaneous-effects covariance structure models Results suggest that delinquency serves to increase romantic involvement and that romantic involvement may provide vicarious, but not necessarily direct, reinforcement for delinquency among both male and female adolescents
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present evaluation results from a recent study of a truancy intervention collaborative initiated and administered by a local sheriff's department in a large urban county in the southeastern United States.
Abstract: Student truancy in secondary schools has increasingly been identified as an issue that merits the attention of the criminal and juvenile justice systems. This paper presents evaluation results from a recent study of a truancy intervention collaborative initiated and administered by a local sheriff's department in a large urban county in the southeastern United States. Findings provide a provisional test of a deterrence approach to truancy intervention. Implications are considered in the context of expanded criminal justice boundaries and an increasingly dominant role for law enforcement in what has traditionally been considered the informal responsibility of public educators.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use data on traced firearms to examine one aspect of the illegal gun market that holds the most immediate promise for focused supply-side enforcement efforts and find that almost one third of traceable crime guns were recently diverted from legitimate retail firearms commerce and that nearly one third had two or more indicators of gun trafficking involving dealers, purchasers, and possessors.
Abstract: The question of whether the illegal firearms market serving criminals and juveniles can be disrupted has been vigorously debated. Recent research suggests that illegal gun markets consist of both “point sources” (ongoing diversions through scofflaw dealers and trafficking rings) and “diffuse sources” (acquisitions through theft and informal, voluntary sales). To the extent that systematic gun trafficking is an important source of weapons for criminals and youth, focused regulatory and investigative resources may be effective in disrupting the illegal flow. In this research, we use data on traced firearms to examine one aspect of the illegal gun market that holds the most immediate promise for focused supply-side enforcement efforts—close-to-retail diversions. We find that almost one-third of traceable crime guns were recently diverted from legitimate retail firearms commerce and that nearly one-third had two or more indicators of gun trafficking involving dealers, purchasers, and possessors. We discuss th...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate whether adolescent correlates of criminal behavior also serve as correlates of specialization and escalation in the criminal career and find evidence of escalation comparable to that found in prior research.
Abstract: The primary goal of this research is to investigate whether adolescent correlates of criminal behavior also serve as correlates of specialization and escalation in the criminal career. Prior research on offense sequences has focused on (1) establishing the existence of specialization and escalation and on (2) testing whether observed patterns of offense sequences differ across age and race of offender. We use data on 2,294 offenders from the Predicting Parole Performance in the Era of Crack Cocaine study (Haapanen & Skonovd, 1999). A series of multinomial logit models test for significant behavioral, social, and psychological correlates of the likelihood of offender specialization and escalation. The results show that without taking into account offender characteristics, there is evidence of specialization and escalation comparable to that found in prior research. Once offender background characteristics are controlled statistically, overall evidence of specialization and escalation is significantly reduc...
TL;DR: In this article, social control and general strain theory (GST) both predict that parental and teacher attachment will affect delinquency, but differ in their predictions about the form of this effect.
Abstract: Social control and general strain theory (GST) both predict that parental and teacher attachment will affect delinquency, but differ in their predictions about the form of this effect. Social control theory predicts that positively attached individuals will be much less deliquent than neutral and negatively attached individuals, with there being little difference in delinquency between the neutral and negatively attached individuals. GST predicts that negatively attached individuals will be much more delinquent than neutral and positively attached individuals, with there being little difference in delinquency between the neutral and positively attached individuals. These competing predictions are tested with data from a national sample of adolescent males. Results support the GST prediction, and thereby shed important light on the relationship between two of the central variables in the field and delinquency. This study also questions the tendency for criminologists to assume that effects are linear, and ...