Showing papers in "Justice Quarterly in 2010"
TL;DR: The empirical status of social learning theory in its entirety is still unknown as discussed by the authors, although a large body of empirical literature has emerged testing various propositions specified by the theory, the empirical status in its entire body of work has been subject to a metaanalysis to assess its empirical status.
Abstract: Social learning theory has remained one of the core criminological paradigms over the last four decades. Although a large body of scholarship has emerged testing various propositions specified by the theory, the empirical status of the theory in its entirety is still unknown. Accordingly, in the present study, we subject this body of empirical literature to a meta‐analysis to assess its empirical status. Results reveal considerable variation in the magnitude and stability of effect sizes for variables specified by social learning theory across different methodological specifications. In particular, relationships of crime/deviance to measures of differential association and definitions (or antisocial attitudes) are quite strong, yet those for differential reinforcement and modeling/imitation are modest at best. Furthermore, effect sizes for differential association, definitions, and differential reinforcement all differed significantly according to variations in model specification and research designs acr...
573 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined young men's self-described experiences with this style of proactive policing and found that order maintenance policing strategies have negative implications for police legitimacy and crime control efforts via their potential to damage citizens' views of procedural justice.
Abstract: There is tension between the core tenets of procedural justice and those of order maintenance policing. Research has shown that citizens’ perceptions of procedural justice influence their beliefs about police legitimacy, yet at the same time, some order maintenance policing efforts stress frequent stops of vehicles and persons for suspected disorderly behavior. These types of programs can threaten citizens’ perceptions of police legitimacy because the targeted offenses are minor and are often not well‐defined. Citizens stopped for low‐level offenses may view such stops as a form of harassment, as they may not believe they were doing anything to warrant police scrutiny. This paper examines young men’s self‐described experiences with this style of proactive policing. Study findings highlight that order maintenance policing strategies have negative implications for police legitimacy and crime control efforts via their potential to damage citizens’ views of procedural justice.
461 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the independent and joint effects of race/ethnicity, gender, and age on sentencing decisions in U.S. federal courts and found that young Hispanic male defendants have the highest odds of incarceration and young black male defendants receive the longest sentences.
Abstract: Using data compiled by the United States Sentencing Commission, we examine the independent and joint effects of race/ethnicity, gender, and age on sentencing decisions in U.S. federal courts. We find that Hispanics and blacks, males, and younger defendants receive harsher sentences than whites, females, and older defendants after controlling for important legal and contextual factors. When these effects are examined in combination, young Hispanic male defendants have the highest odds of incarceration and young black male defendants receive the longest sentences. The findings show considerable variation in the sentencing outcomes of defendants depending on their relative social‐structural position in society, and that particularly harsh punishments are focused disproportionately on the youngest Hispanic and black male defendants. Our results reinforce the idea that researchers need to consider the combined impact of multiple defendant statuses on sentencing outcomes because joint effects are considerably l...
242 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluated the effectiveness of programs designed to improve self-control up to age 10 among children and adolescents, and assesses the effects of these programs on selfcontrol and delinquency/crime.
Abstract: Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime has generated significant controversy and research, such that there now exists a large knowledge base regarding the importance of self‐control in regulating antisocial behavior over the life‐course. Reviews of this literature indicate that self‐control is an important correlate of antisocial activity. Some research has evaluated programmatic efforts designed to examine the extent to which self‐control is malleable, but little empirical research on this issue has been carried out within criminology, largely because the theorists have not paid much attention to policy proscriptions. This study evaluates the extant research on the effectiveness of programs designed to improve self‐control up to age 10 among children and adolescents, and assesses the effects of these programs on self‐control and delinquency/crime. Meta‐analytic results indicate that (1) self‐control programs improve a child/adolescent’s self‐control, (2) these interventions also reduce delinqu...
231 citations
TL;DR: This article found that women who are drug dependent, have less education, or have more extensive criminal histories are more likely to fail on parole and to recidivate more quickly during the eight year follow-up period.
Abstract: Drawing on recent scholarship on prisoner reentry and gendered pathways to crime, this research explores how social relationships, incarceration experiences, and community context, and the intersection of these factors with race, influence the occurrence and timing of recidivism. Using a large, modern sample of women released from prison, we find that women who are drug dependent, have less education, or have more extensive criminal histories are more likely to fail on parole and to recidivate more quickly during the eight year follow‐up period. We also observe racial variation in the effect of education, drug use, and neighborhood concentrated disadvantage on recidivism. This study highlights the importance of an intra‐gender, theoretical understanding of recidivism, and has import for policy aimed at female parolees.
174 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined charging and sentencing outcomes in federal courts by combining charging data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts with sentencing data from federal district courts.
Abstract: The role of the prosecutor in criminal punishments remains a fervent topic of criminal justice discourse, yet it has received limited empirical attention, particularly for U.S. Attorneys in federal district courts. The present study examines charging and sentencing outcomes in federal courts by combining charging data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts with sentencing data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. The merger of these data sources overcomes limitations of each and provides for an investigation of the causes and consequences of federal prosecutorial charging decisions. Our investigation focuses on the subtle but important influences that extralegal offender characteristics exert in this process. Results indicate that some extralegal characteristics are intricately tied to the likelihood of charge reductions. Moreover, these effects sometimes interact to produce compound disadvantages for some groups of offenders. Our analyses are guided by contemporary theoretical perspectives on ...
153 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the differential sentencing of those who plead guilty and those convicted by trial in U.S. District Courts and find that meaningful trial penalties exist after accounting for Guidelines-based rationales for differentially sentencing those guilty by guilty plea versus trial.
Abstract: The guarantee of the right to a jury trial lies at the heart of the principles that underlie the American criminal justice system's commitment to due process of law. We investigate the differential sentencing of those who plead guilty and those convicted by trial in U.S. District Courts. We first investigate how much of any federal plea/trial sentencing differences are accounted for by substantial assistance to law enforcement, acceptance of responsibility, obstruction of justice, and other Guideline departures. Second, we investigate how such differences vary according to offense and defendant characteristics, as well as court caseloads and trial rates. We use federal sentencing data for fiscal years 2000–02, along with aggregate data on federal district court caseload features. We find that meaningful trial penalties exist after accounting for Guidelines‐based rationales for differentially sentencing those convicted by guilty plea versus trial. Higher district court caseload pressure is associated with ...
117 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined lifestyle-routine activities and first-incident characteristics that could place women at risk of being recurrent sexual victims during an academic year and found that none of the lifestyle variables differentiated single and recurrent victims.
Abstract: An unsettling reality is that a substantial proportion of women who have been sexually victimized are recurrent victims who experience more than one sexual victimization while young adults. What is not well understood is why some women experience a single sexual victimization whereas others experience recurrent sexual victimizations. Using a sample of 4,399 college women from the National College Women Sexual Victimization study, we examine lifestyle‐routine activities and first‐incident characteristics that could place women at risk of being recurrent sexual victims during an academic year. Our results show that none of the lifestyle‐routine activities variables differentiated single and recurrent victims; the factors that predicted being a single victim are similarly predictive of being a recurrent victim. However, women who used self‐protective action during the first incident reduced their likelihood of being a recurrent victim. Implications for the development of sexual victimization risk‐reduction a...
106 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the association between criminal network and cost avoidance specifically for the crime of cannabis cultivation in a rural region in Quebec, Canada, and found that who you know was an important independent predictor of arrest: very few young growers who were embedded in adult networks were apprehended.
Abstract: The aim of the current study is to assess whether criminal networks can help young offenders avoid contacts with the criminal justice system. We examine the association between criminal network and cost avoidance specifically for the crime of cannabis cultivation in a rural region in Quebec, Canada. A self‐report delinquency survey, administered to the region's quasi‐population of high‐school students (N = 1,166), revealed that a total of 175 adolescents had participated in the cannabis cultivation industry (a 15% lifetime prevalence rate). Forty‐seven respondents (27%), including 29 who were arrested, reported having participated in a cultivation site that was detected by the police. Results indicate that “who you know” matters in the cultivation industry, and is an important independent predictor of arrest: very few young growers who were embedded in adult networks were apprehended. Conversely, embeddedness in a youth network emerged as an independent risk factor, especially embeddedness in larger networks.
87 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined violent sexual assaults and the factors associated with those assaults with lethal outcomes, using a criminal events perspective in conceptualizing the nature of these assaults and dividing the event into three domains: victim characteristics, situational characteristics, and crime characteristics.
Abstract: This paper examines violent sexual assaults and the factors associated with those assaults with lethal outcomes. It utilizes a criminal events perspective in conceptualizing the nature of these assaults and divides the event into three domains: victim characteristics, situational characteristics, and crime characteristics. Using a method developed by Miethe, Hart, and Regoeczi, conjunctive analysis of case configurations, we find that certain characteristics of the crime itself and certain characteristics of the victim appear strongly associated with fatal outcomes in sexual assaults, while situational characteristics appear relatively weakly associated with lethality.
87 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors measured group differences in recidivism before and after the implementation of the Megan's Law and found significant group differences on levels of general recidivisitc; however, no significant differences were identified on measures of sex offense recidivist.
Abstract: This research measures group differences in recidivism before and after implementation of Megan’s Law. The pre–post study consists of a total of 550 male sex offenders released during the years 1990 and 2000, of which 250 offenders were released during 1990 and 1994 (i.e., the pre‐Megan’s Law group) and 300 offenders were released between 1995 and 2000 (i.e., the post‐Megan’s Law group). Offenders were released from a general population setting and a sex offender specific treatment facility. The main variables of concern include: (1) recidivism levels, (2) days to first re‐arrest, and (3) level of harm (i.e., number of sex offenses, violent offenses, and number of child victims). Statistical findings from chi‐square and survival analysis testing indicate significant group differences on levels of general recidivism; however, no significant differences were identified on measures of sex offense recidivism. Implications of these findings on sex offender specific policies are discussed.
TL;DR: This article used hierarchical linear modeling, nesting the offenders in the judges that sentenced them in order to examine the sentencing decisions of federal judges in three U.S. District Courts and found that significant variation between judges in sentencing is largely accounted for by their level 1 characteristics, while judges arrive at decisions regarding the appropriate sentence in different ways, by attaching differential weights to several of the legally relevant case characteristics and legally irrelevant offender characteristics.
Abstract: One of the important goals of the federal sentencing guidelines was to reduce inter‐judge disparity in sentencing. In this paper, we test the assumption that structuring discretion produced uniformity in federal sentencing and consistency in the process by which judges arrive at the appropriate sentence. We also examine whether background characteristics of judges affect the sentences they impose on similarly situated offenders. We used hierarchical linear modeling, nesting the offenders in the judges that sentenced them in order to examine the sentencing decisions of federal judges in three U.S. District Courts. While we found that significant variation between judges in sentencing is largely accounted for by our level 1 characteristics, we also found that judges arrive at decisions regarding the appropriate sentence in different ways, by attaching differential weights to several of the legally relevant case characteristics and legally irrelevant offender characteristics.
TL;DR: This article provided the first empirical portrayal of a prison population in California that is unique by virtue of being both transgender and incarcerated, revealing that transgender inmates are marginalized in heretofore undocumented ways.
Abstract: Drawing on official data and original interview data on 315 transgender inmates in California prisons for men, this research provides the first empirical portrayal of a prison population in California that is unique by virtue of being both transgender and incarcerated. Situated at the nexus of intersecting marginalities, transgender inmates fare far worse on standard demographic and health measures than their non‐transgender counterparts in the US population, the California population, the US prison population, and the California prison population. With the possible exceptions of partnership status and educational attainment, these factors combine to reveal that transgender inmates are marginalized in heretofore undocumented ways. At a time in which an evidence‐based approach to corrections is increasingly embraced by corrections officials in the US, this article provides the first systematic profile of transgender prisoners. It reveals they can be regarded as a special population that, from a policy poin...
TL;DR: This article found that the American public tends to be not ideological but pragmatic in its view of crime causation and, ultimately, in the crime control policies it is willing to endorse in the state of Florida.
Abstract: Attribution theory argues that a “hydraulic relation” exists between dispositional and situational attribution styles, causing people to endorse one style at the expense of the other. That is, attribution theorists predict that there should be a strong negative relationship between attribution styles. We test this prediction using data collected in Hillsborough County (Tampa), Florida, and two national polls. Our investigation shows that, rather than a bifurcated view of crime causation, Americans manifest a complex attributional style that views crime emerging from multiple sources. We discuss how these findings reveal that the American public tends to be not ideological but pragmatic in its view of crime causation and, ultimately, in the crime control policies it is willing to endorse.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors contribute to criminology by drawing on the necessary conditions perspective and qualitative data obtained from drug dealers to provide the conceptual and theoretical foundation for future criminological work, including the development of theories that explain variability in retaliatory forms.
Abstract: Research provides strong support for the theory that drug market participants are often involved in violent retaliation because they lack access to formal mediation. Yet retaliation is not always violent. The existing drug market literature offers few counts, estimates, or stories of non‐violent retaliation, and no single theory specifies the variable conditions that determine which form of retaliation occurs. This paper contributes to criminology by drawing on the necessary conditions perspective and qualitative data obtained from drug dealers to provide the conceptual and theoretical foundation for future criminological work, including the development of theories that explain variability in retaliatory forms, research that demonstrates whether any given theory is supported by data, and criminal justice policies that draw on theoretical and empirical knowledge to reduce all forms of drug market retaliation—violent and non‐violent.
TL;DR: This article found that exposure to the video clip was not related to differences in residents' beliefs about the causes of profiling, but was related to their perceptions of the dangerousness of traffic stops, indicating that attitudes about the prevalence of racial profiling are susceptible to the manner in which the media construct incidents of police misconduct.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was: (1) to assess the impact of an incident of racial profiling on residents’ attitudes about profiling; and (2) to examine the effects of exposure to a video clip of deliberation about the incident on residents’ beliefs about the causes of profiling. All residents, White and minority, were less likely to believe that Chicago police officers engaged in profiling after the incident. These findings suggest that attitudes about the prevalence of racial profiling are susceptible to the manner in which the media construct incidents of police misconduct. Exposure to the video clip was not related to differences in residents’ beliefs about the causes of profiling, but was related to differences in perceptions of the dangerousness of traffic stops. The findings highlight the need for more research on how media constructions of police misconduct influence attitudes about profiling and impact community–police relations.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the processes by which offenders who engage in violent crimes resist being labeled as authentically violent, and analyze contrastive statements they employed to resist a violent self-concept and label.
Abstract: Participation in contemporary street cultures often exposes individuals to a world characterized by violence. The participants in this study admitted to frequent experience with violence and regular use of it. Many viewed violence as an appropriate response to some situations, though they often worked to avoid negative connotations of such behavior, especially ascriptions of an “authentically” violent self. Using an interactionist framework, we explore the processes by which offenders who engage in violent crimes resist being labeled as authentically violent. Drawing from data from semi-structured interviews with 30 offenders who engaged in carjackings, we analyze contrastive statements they employed to resist a violent self-concept and label. Offenders differentiated their own violent behaviors, as situational and excusable, from behaviors that characterize authentically violent others. Understanding these processes sheds light on criminal identities and gives insights into attempts to change offender behavior by altering self-conceptions.
TL;DR: In this article, the interactive effect of susceptibility to peer influence and differential association with delinquent peers on delinquent outcomes was explored using data from a multi-wave survey of Mexican-American adolescents.
Abstract: Association with delinquent peer groups is one of the most salient predictors of delinquent behavior. Despite the widespread documentation of these effects, little is known about whether the delinquent peer effect is conditioned by individual‐level characteristics. Using data from a multi‐wave survey of Mexican‐American adolescents, this study explored the interactive effect of susceptibility to peer influence and differential association with delinquent peers on delinquent outcomes. Results suggested that the delinquent peer effect on self‐reported delinquency is amplified when an adolescent is highly susceptible to peer influence. Analyses also indicated that this moderating effect varies according to offense seriousness. Specifically, the conditioning effect is most important when considering acts of serious delinquency.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relationship between failure to register (FTR) as a sex offender and subsequent recidivism (N = 2,970) and found no significant differences between the sexual recidivists and compliant registrants (11% vs. 9% respectively).
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between failure to register (FTR) as a sex offender and subsequent recidivism (N = 2,970). No significant differences were found between the sexual recidivism rates of those who failed to register and compliant registrants (11% vs. 9%, respectively). There was no significant difference in the proportion of sexual recidivists and nonrecidivists with registration violations (12% vs. 10%, respectively). FTR did not predict sexual recidivism, and survival analyses revealed no significant difference in time to recidivism when comparing those who failed to register (2.9 years) with compliant registrants (2.8 years). Results fail to support the supposition that sexual offenders who fail to register are more sexually dangerous than those who comply with registration requirements. The punitive emphasis on registration enforcement may not be justified and might divert limited resources away from strategies that would better facilitate public protection fr...
TL;DR: In this paper, a series of weighted least-squares regression models are estimated, finding that both economic disadvantage and racial and ethnic heterogeneity exhibit independent and additive effects on gang membership.
Abstract: There is a lack of macro‐level gang research. The present study addresses this shortcoming by providing a theoretically informed analysis of gang membership in large US cities. More specifically, our goal is to determine whether racial and ethnic heterogeneity conditions the relationship between economic disadvantage and gang membership. Three separate sources of data are used in this study: U.S. Census 2000, Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Services 2000, and National Youth Gang Survey 2002–2006. A series of weighted least‐squares regression models are estimated, finding that both economic disadvantage and racial and ethnic heterogeneity exhibit independent and additive effects on gang membership. In addition, the results show that racial and ethnic heterogeneity has a conditioning relationship with economic disadvantage. Furthermore, our expanded operationalization of the Blau heterogeneity measure indicates that prior research may have underestimated the effects of heterogeneity. The autho...
TL;DR: The authors employed both ethnographic field research and quantitative content analysis to investigate the nature of the illicit industry of anabolic androgenic steroids and human growth hormone use by professional athletes, and found that the trafficker established an apartment-based manufacturing operation, converting raw steroid chemical compounds ordered off the Internet into injectable solutions.
Abstract: Illicit steroid and human growth hormone use by professional athletes has received significant media and political attention in the last five years. The resulting political pressure has compelled federal law enforcement to prosecute serious new control initiatives. To date, no academic research inquiring into the nature of this illicit industry exists. This study fills this void through the mixed methods approach—employing both ethnographic field research and quantitative content analysis. The ethnographic data demonstrate a fascinating late‐modern trafficking scheme where the central informant established an apartment‐based manufacturing operation, converting raw steroid chemical compounds ordered off the Internet into injectable solutions. Content analysis of 186 websites that supply anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) demonstrates that these grounded findings are indicative of a much larger phenomenon. Our final analysis examines the broader theoretical relevance of the ethnographic findings through con...
TL;DR: This paper examined the effectiveness of one such program, the Auglaize County Transition (ACT) Program, using a quasiexperimental design, to determine if participation in the ACT Program was predictive of successful reentry.
Abstract: Offenders face a number of significant challenges upon reentry into the community, including securing employment, locating housing, and accessing adequate substance abuse and mental health treatment. These and related issues, if neglected, only bolster rising recidivism rates which have prompted renewed interest in rehabilitation initiatives such as inmate reentry. Many jurisdictions have implemented programs designed to improve offenders' success after prison, but jail reentry programs are far less common. This study examined the effectiveness of one such program, the Auglaize County (OH) Transition (ACT) Program. Using a quasiexperimental design, recidivism was measured a year after release to determine if participation in the ACT Program was predictive of successful reentry. Findings suggest that program participation is strongly related to outcome success as was criminal history. Implications for correctional policy and suggestions for additional jail reentry research are considered.
TL;DR: The authors explored how officers orient to and internalize various dimensions of the Compstat model and identified a series of potential pitfalls associated with the CompStat model, including bias, bias, and bias.
Abstract: Much has been written about the design, implementation, and crime‐related outcomes of the Compstat model of policing. However, there exists a paucity of literature investigating the operational realities of this approach. Drawing on 350 hours of ethnographic work conducted in a single geographic command within a metropolitan police department, this paper seeks to explore how officers orient to and internalize various dimensions of the Compstat model. The results identify a series of potential pitfalls associated with the Compstat model.
TL;DR: This article examined the effects of institutional pressures on homeland security preparedness among law enforcement agencies in Illinois and found that institutional pressures will lead to isomorphism as agencies attempt to conform to institutional expectations about appropriate activities in a homeland security era.
Abstract: The present study examined the effects of institutional pressures on homeland security preparedness among law enforcement agencies in Illinois. The data come from the Illinois Homeland Security Survey (IHSS). Specifically, the study employed three theories to explain homeland security preparedness: contingency theory, resource dependence theory, and institutional theory. We hypothesized that institutional pressures will lead to isomorphism as agencies attempt to conform to institutional expectations about appropriate activities in a homeland security era. To evaluate these theories and their impact on homeland security practices, the authors used confirmatory factor analysis. The IHSS data lend strong support to the application of organizational theory as a lens through which homeland security preparedness can be understood. Institutional pressures, such as professional and government publications, training, professional associations, and the actions of peer agencies, significantly influenced municipal an...
TL;DR: In this paper, a survey was conducted to disentangle the individual, institutional, and individual level variables which contribute to the rationales behind inmates choosing to report or not report sexually assaultive behavior.
Abstract: Although sexual assault behind bars is recognized as problematic, very few of the sexual assaults that occur behind bars are officially reported. Many researchers have examined the individual and institutional variables which can help predict an inmate’s probability of being victimized by his fellow inmates. With a sample obtained from a sample of eight Texas prisons, the current survey will disentangle the individual, institutional, and individual–institutional level variables which contribute to the rationales behind inmates choosing to report or not report sexually assaultive behavior. The findings somewhat mirror the findings of sexual assaults in the free community, with inmates indicating that the primary reasons to not report include embarrassment, fear of harassment, and retaliation from the perpetrator.
TL;DR: In this article, exploratory and confirmatory analysis of perceived incivilities measures and measures of perceptions of crime provided equivocal results, and they did not meet the specified thresholds for good model fit across all fit criteria.
Abstract: Exploratory factor analysis tested the extent to which measures of incivilities and measures of both crime perceptions and victimization had distinct factor loadings in one‐ and two‐factor models. Confirmatory factor analysis tested the fit of one‐ and two‐factor structural equation models. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed that perceptual incivilities measures and victimization reports tended to load on distinct factors, offering evidence of the discriminant validity of perceptual incivilities measures relative to victimization reports. Exploratory and confirmatory analysis of perceived incivilities measures and measures of perceptions of crime provided equivocal results. In exploratory factor analysis, perceived incivilities measures and measures of crime perceptions did not always load on distinct factors and confirmatory factor analysis models did not meet the specified thresholds for good model fit across all fit criteria.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the effect of having mitigation with alcohol and drug themes accepted in a large sample (n = 804) of capital murder trials in North Carolina.
Abstract: Analyses of the impact on sentencing when alcohol and drug‐related mitigation is used in the sentencing phases of capital murder trials is virtually absent from the existing literature. The present study addresses this by exploring the effect of having mitigation with alcohol and drug themes accepted in a large sample (n = 804) of capital murder trials in North Carolina. Logistic regression analyses that include a number of relevant control variables reveal no substantive impacts of having alcohol mitigation accepted by capital murder juries, but drug mitigators that were either accepted or rejected by juries were associated with an increased risk of receiving a death sentence. Possible reasons for the results and their implications are discussed and suggestions are made for further study of the effects of alcohol/drug mitigation in capital trials.
TL;DR: This article found that cognitive skill is inversely associated with violence and that the relationship is strongest in non-disadvantaged neighborhoods, however, the cognitive skills-violence relationship is indistinguishable from zero in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Abstract: Numerous studies uncover a link between cognitive skills and adolescent violence. Overlooked is whether the relationship changes at varying levels of neighborhood disadvantage. We examine the issue by contrasting two models that place individual difference in cognitive skill within a social‐structural framework. Using five waves of the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and a three‐level hierarchical model, results indicate that cognitive skill is inversely associated with violence and that the relationship is strongest in non‐disadvantaged neighborhoods. However, the cognitive skills–violence relationship is indistinguishable from zero in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods. The findings are therefore consistent with the hypothesis that social expression of developed ability is muted in disadvantaged contexts.
TL;DR: This paper investigated the possibilities that this null result was a statistical anomaly due to sampling vagaries or that a regional difference has emerged since 1990 and found that a Northeast/non-Northeast difference among whites has also existed during this same period.
Abstract: Despite good theoretical reasons to expect strong differences between Southern whites and non‐Southern whites in death penalty support, prior research with 1990 General Social Survey (GSS) data found only a small difference that lacked statistical significance. This paper investigates the possibilities that this null result was a statistical anomaly due to sampling vagaries or that a regional difference has emerged since 1990. Examining GSS data from 1974 through 2006, we initially found that a South/non‐South regional difference among whites did not exist before 1993 but has existed since then. However, further analysis revealed that a Northeast/non‐Northeast difference among whites has also existed during this same period. These findings suggest that future research on death penalty opinion should use both such differences as regional controls rather than just the customary South/non‐South division.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used a sample of 127 elder sexual abuse cases and 314 elder physical abuse cases to shed some light on the dynamics of elder abuse and the way the justice system processes these cases.
Abstract: A great deal of research has considered the dynamics of sexual assault and the way that sexual assault cases are processed and handled in the criminal justice system. Most of this research has focused on sexual assault cases involving younger victims. Very little criminological research has considered the dynamics of elder sexual abuse. To fill this void, the current study uses a sample of 127 elder sexual abuse cases and 314 elder physical abuse cases to shed some light on the dynamics of elder sexual abuse and the way the justice system processes these cases. Attention is also given to the way that the processing of elder sexual abuse cases can be distinguished from the processing of elder physical abuse cases. Results show that a wide range of elder sexual abuse cases are committed and these cases are processed differently than elder physical abuse cases. Implications are provided.