Showing papers in "Justice Quarterly in 2014"
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of hot spots policing and crime were investigated and Meta-analyses were used to determine the size, direction, and statistical significance of the overall impact of hot-spaces policing strategies on crime.
Abstract: In recent years, crime scholars and practitioners have pointed to the potential benefits of focusing police crime prevention efforts on crime places. Research suggests that there is significant clustering of crime in small places or “hot spots.” A number of researchers have argued that crime problems can be reduced more efficiently if police officers focused their attention to these deviant places. In this article, we update and improve upon a previously completed Campbell Collaboration systematic review of the effects of hot spots policing and crime. Meta-analyses were used to determine the size, direction, and statistical significance of the overall impact of hot spots policing strategies on crime. The results of our research suggests that hot spots policing generates small but noteworthy crime reductions, and these crime control benefits diffuse into areas immediately surrounding targeted crime hot spots. Our analyses find that problem-oriented policing interventions generate larger mean effect sizes w...
526 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report on a randomized experiment in Sacramento, California that begins to address these gaps by testing the recommendation from prior research that police officers randomly rotate between hot spots, spending about 15 min patrolling in each.
Abstract: Hot spots policing has been shown to be an effective strategy for reducing crime across a number of rigorous evaluations, but despite this strong body of research, there still exist gaps in our knowledge of how officers can best respond to hot spots. We report on a randomized experiment in Sacramento, California that begins to address these gaps by testing the recommendation from prior research that police officers randomly rotate between hot spots, spending about 15 min patrolling in each. Our results suggest significant overall declines in both calls for service and crime incidents in the treatment hot spots relative to the controls. Additionally, the study was carried out primarily by the Sacramento Police Department without any outside funding. In an era of limited economic resources for policing, this experiment suggests a model by which police agencies can take ownership of science and oversee the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based interventions.
157 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined immigrant offending histories (prevalence, frequency, seriousness, persistence, and desistance) from early adolescence to young adulthood and found that immigrants are no more crime-prone than the native-born.
Abstract: The myth of the criminal immigrant has permeated public and political debate for much of this nation's history and persists despite growing evidence to the contrary. Crime concerns are increasingly aimed at the indirect impact of immigration on crime highlighting the criminal pursuits of the children of immigrants. Adding to extant knowledge on the immigration-crime nexus, this research asks whether immigrants are differentially involved in crime by examining immigrant offending histories (prevalence, frequency, seriousness, persistence, and desistance) from early adolescence to young adulthood. Particular attention is afforded to the influence of various sources of heterogeneity including: generational and nativity status, and crime type. Results suggest that the myth remains; trajectory analyses reveal that immigrants are no more crime-prone than the native-born. Foreign-born individuals exhibit remarkably low levels of involvement in crime across their life course. Moreover, it appears that by the seco...
146 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between one experience that may be especially consequential, inmate misconduct, and recidivism, using data on a release cohort of Florida prisoners and found that inmates who engage in misconduct, violent misconduct in particular, are more likely to recidivate.
Abstract: Recent scholarship has highlighted the potential implications of in-prison experiences for prisoner reentry and, in particular, recidivism. Few penological or reentry studies, however, have examined the relationship between one experience that may be especially consequential, inmate misconduct, and recidivism. The goal of this study is to address this gap in the literature by employing a matching design that estimates the effect of inmate misconduct on reoffending, using data on a release cohort of Florida prisoners. The results indicate that inmates who engage in misconduct, violent misconduct in particular, are more likely to recidivate. Consistent with prior scholarship, we find that this relationship holds only for adult inmates. These findings underscore the importance of prison experiences for understanding recidivism, examining youthful and adult inmate populations separately, and devising policies that reduce misconduct.
122 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared stalking and cyber-stalking victims across several dimensions, including situational features of their experiences and self-protective behaviors, and found that there are significant differences between stalking and cyberslashing victims, including their number of selfprotective behaviours adopted, duration of contact with their stalker, financial costs of victimization, and perceived fear at onset.
Abstract: Cyberstalking is a relatively understudied area in criminology, with no consensus among scholars as to whether it represents a modified form of stalking or whether it is an entirely new and emerging criminal phenomenon. Using data from the 2006 Supplemental Victimization Survey (SVS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), this study compares stalking and cyberstalking victims across several dimensions, including situational features of their experiences and self-protective behaviors. Results indicate that there are significant differences between stalking and cyberstalking victims, including their number of self-protective behaviors adopted, duration of contact with their stalker, financial costs of victimization, and perceived fear at onset. Perceived fear over time, the occurrence of a physical attack, and sex of the victim were all associated with a higher number of self-protective behaviors for cyberstalking victims compared to stalking victims, net of the effect of the control variables. ...
114 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined whether innovations implemented in New York fit with what the city's crime decline was based on, and concluded that the role of policing in crime decline in the city was not strong.
Abstract: Available data make it impossible to reach strong conclusions about the role of policing in the New York crime decline. Instead, we examine whether innovations implemented in New York fit with what...
101 citations
TL;DR: New York City experienced a dramatic reduction in crime during the 1990s and continuing through the first decade of the current century as discussed by the authors, and researchers and commentators have debated the role of polici...
Abstract: New York City experienced a dramatic reduction in crime during the 1990s and continuing through the first decade of the current century. Researchers and commentators have debated the role of polici...
97 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared self-report and official data on inmate assaults, property thefts, and drug offenses for samples of inmates from 46 correctional institutions for adults in Ohio and Kentucky.
Abstract: Studies have revealed systematic measurement errors in self-report data on crime and deviance resulting from poor recall and/or underreporting by certain groups of respondents. Official crime data have also been criticized, but for different reasons (e.g. gross underestimations of less serious offenses). Very similar observations have been made in studies of inmate crime (misconduct committed by prison inmates). Despite these criticisms, official data on inmate misconduct continue to be the most frequently used data in related studies. This study compared self-report and official data on inmate assaults, property thefts, and drug offenses for samples of inmates from 46 correctional institutions for adults in Ohio and Kentucky. Findings revealed that officially recorded misconduct underestimates the total volume of inmate crime. Analyses designed to uncover sources of the divergence between self-reported misconduct and officially recorded misconduct revealed far more consistencies than differences in the m...
93 citations
TL;DR: The authors consider what we have come to know about the police, how multiple theoretical and methodological vantage points add value to understanding policing, and calls for a broader and more ecumenical approach to police research, including the use of mixed methods to enhance research on the police.
Abstract: Police research has developed and matured over the past 100 years. The richness of the police research tapestry gives it gravitas precisely because of its many underlying theoretical linkages as well as differing ways of understanding the police and policing. In recent years, police research has become tied to ideas of evidence; rooted in experimental methods and addressing instrumental questions. The rise of the “medical model” in police research has important implications for what we know, yet adoption of this model has shifted the discourse on police research creating a narrow “cognitive lens” through which to judge policing and police research. This essay considers what we have come to know about the police, how multiple theoretical and methodological vantage points add value to understanding policing, and calls for a broader and more ecumenical approach to police research, including the use of mixed methods to enhance research on the police.
93 citations
TL;DR: The results revealed spatio-temporal patterns of expansion diffusion: overall, firearm and gang homicide clusters in Newark evolved from a common area in the center of the city and spread southward and westward over the course of two decades.
Abstract: This study examined the spatial and temporal movement of homicide in Newark, New Jersey from January 1982 through September 2008. We hypothesized that homicide would diffuse in a similar process to an infectious disease with firearms and gangs operating as the infectious agents. A total of 2,366 homicide incidents were analyzed using SaTScan v.9.0, a cluster detection software. The results revealed spatio-temporal patterns of expansion diffusion: overall, firearm and gang homicide clusters in Newark evolved from a common area in the center of the city and spread southward and westward over the course of two decades. This pattern of movement has implications in regards to the susceptibility of populations to homicide, particularly because northern and eastern Newark remained largely immune to homicide clusters. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings, as well as recommendations for future research, are discussed.
86 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe and evaluate some fundamental facts about the contemporary crime drop, summarizes the major explanations that have been offered for it, and assesses the validity of these expl...
Abstract: This paper describes and evaluates some fundamental facts about the contemporary crime drop, summarizes the major explanations that have been offered for it, and assesses the validity of these expl...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a two-step process: first, using risk terrain modeling, they operationalized the "environmental backcloth" (the risk heterogeneity of an area) to forecast locations of residential burglaries in the urban city of Newark, New Jersey.
Abstract: Research has shown that mapping techniques are useful in forecasting future crime events. However, the majority of prospective mapping techniques has focused on the event-dependent influence of instigator incidents on subsequent incidents and does not explicitly incorporate the risk heterogeneity of the setting. The study here discussed is a modest attempt to address this issue by using a two-step process: first, using risk terrain modeling, we operationalized the “environmental backcloth,” (the risk heterogeneity of an area) to forecast locations of residential burglaries in the urban city of Newark, New Jersey. Second, using the near repeat calculator, we assessed the variability of underlying risk between different types of residential burglaries. A discussion of the findings and the joint utility of these approaches is provided.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the strengths and weaknesses of a time series analysis of data for New York alone, a panel analysis for the city's precincts, and a sample analysis for a sample of cities, for studying the drop.
Abstract: Methodological issues that must be considered in doing research on the New York City crime drop include the choice of a spatial unit of analysis, the choice of a mathematical representation of the processes responsible for the drop, and the choice of estimators. This paper considers the strengths and weaknesses of a time series analysis of data for New York alone, a panel analysis for the city’s precincts, and a panel analysis for a sample of cities, for studying the drop. The possibilities and limitations of precinct-level data are illustrated with annual precinct data for New York between 1988 and 2001. The paper considers static and dynamic fixed effects panel models estimated in various ways, including difference and systems generalized method of moments. These analyses find no evidence that misdemeanor arrests reduced levels of homicide, robbery, or aggravated assaults. Felony arrests reduced robberies, but only to a modest degree. Most of the decline in these three felonies had other causes.
TL;DR: In this paper, a quasi-experimental design was used to evaluate a saturation foot-patrol initiative in Newark, New Jersey, for one year prior and during the initiative within the target area, a surrounding catchment area, and two separate control areas.
Abstract: This study incorporates a quasi-experimental design to evaluate a saturation foot-patrol initiative in Newark, NJ. Violent crime was measured for one year prior and during the initiative within the target area, a surrounding catchment area, and two separate control areas. The overall findings provide further support for foot-patrol as a crime prevention tactic. Total street violence as well as the disaggregate categories of murder, shootings, and nondomestic aggravated assault decreased within the target area absent of any displacement effects. However, robbery suffered from substantial levels of both temporal and spatial displacement, showing saturation foot-patrol to have varying impact on different types of street violence. This finding suggests that police should design large-scale foot-patrol initiatives in a manner that does not allow offenders, particularly robbers, to easily gauge the scope of the intervention and identify alternate crime opportunities.
TL;DR: No significant association is found between simply being in a romantic relationship and desistance from offending and the mediating effect of change in affiliation with deviant peers was not significant once the contribution of criminogenic knowledge structure was taken into account.
Abstract: Although research regarding the impact of marriage on desistance is important, most romantic relationships during early adulthood, the period in the life course when involvement in criminal offending is relatively high, do not involve marriage. Using the internal moderator approach, we tested hypotheses regarding the impact of non-marital romantic relationships on desistance using longitudinal data from a sample of approximately 600 African American young adults. The results largely supported the study hypotheses. We found no significant association between simply being in a romantic relationship and desistance from offending. On the other hand, for both males and females quality of romantic relationship was rather strongly associated with desistance. Partner antisociality only influenced the offending of females. Much of the effect of quality of romantic relationship on desistance was mediated by a reduction in commitment to a criminogenic knowledge structure (a hostile view of people and relationships, ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the risk of early death among 411 South London males in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development followed into their late 50s, and found that high-rate chronic offenders evince the highest risk of death, an effect that continues even after controlling for childhood individual and environmental risk factors as well as participation in a range of analogous behaviors.
Abstract: Criminal offending has many negative outcomes. Researchers have recently begun to consider the impact offending has on offenders' health, with a few studies focusing on differential mortality risk. Yet, prior research has been limited due to selective samples, restricted range of follow-up time period, limited set of explanatory variables, and lack of theoretical guidance. This paper examines the risk of early death among 411 South London males in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development followed into their late 50s. Attention is paid not only to differential risk of death between nonoffenders and offenders, but also to the risk within the population of offenders and through consideration of theoretical frameworks and associated predictor variables. Results show that high-rate chronic offenders evince the highest risk of death, an effect that continues even after controlling for childhood individual and environmental risk factors as well as participation in a range of analogous behaviors.
TL;DR: For example, this article found that auto thieves' restrictively deterrent decision-making strategies fell into three broad categories: discretionary target selection, normalcy illusions, and defiance, and discussed the data's conceptual implications for restrictive deterrence and offender decision making.
Abstract: Although researchers have examined the attributes that make offenders more or less responsive to sanction threats, far less attention has centered on the manner in which responsiveness can lead to less detectible crime, or perhaps even more overall crime. Restrictive deterrence is the concept that explains this paradox. We explore it here using qualitative interviews with 35 active auto thieves. Findings suggest that auto thieves' restrictively deterrent decision-making strategies fell into three broad categories: discretionary target selection, normalcy illusions, and defiance. Discussion focuses on the data's conceptual implications for restrictive deterrence and offender decision-making.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relationship between disorder crime incidents reported to the police, residents' perceptions of disorder, and citizen satisfaction with police performance on order maintenance, and found that the actual incidence of disorder crime had no direct impact on residents' perception of police performance.
Abstract: This study expands the research on public satisfaction with the police by attempting to disentangle the relationships among disorder crime incidents reported to the police, residents' perceptions of disorder, and citizen satisfaction with police performance on order maintenance. The police accountability model and the demographic model are utilized to predict the variation of public satisfaction with police control of disorder (SWPD). The data used in this analysis were derived from a random-sample telephone survey of 1,215 Houston residents. Crime data were provided by the Houston Police Department and further extracted from the area surrounding each individual respondent's residence surveyed by using Geographic Information Systems technology. The main findings are that while the actual incidence of disorder crime had no direct impact on residents' perceptions of police performance on order maintenance, it did have a significant direct impact on their perceptions of disorder. This shows the utility of th...
TL;DR: In this paper, CCTV and 9-1-1 calls-for-service case processing times and enforcement rates are compared through Mann-Whitney U and Fisher's Exact tests, respectively, with a Holm-Bonferroni procedure correcting for multiple comparisons.
Abstract: The primary preventive mechanism of CCTV is considered to be deterrence. However, the relationship between CCTV and deterrence has been left implicit. Empirical research has yet to directly test whether CCTV increases the certainty of punishment, a key component of the deterrence doctrine. This study analyzes CCTV’s relation to punishment certainty in Newark, NJ. Across eight crime categories, CCTV and 9-1-1 calls-for-service case processing times and enforcement rates are compared through Mann-Whitney U and Fisher’s Exact tests, respectively, with a Holm-Bonferroni procedure correcting for multiple comparisons. ANOVA and negative binomial regression models further analyze the frequency of CCTV activity and the impact of various factors on the (downward) trend of detections and enforcement. Findings suggest that CCTV increases punishment certainty on a case-by-case basis. However, a reduction of CCTV activity caused by specific “surveillance barriers” likely minimized the effect of the enhanced enforcement.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors determine the importance of concentrated immigration (net of individual-level factors) in reoffending for a sample of previously arrested youth in the state of Arizona.
Abstract: The bulk of existing research on immigration and crime suggests that, counter to a number of theoretical perspectives and overall public and political opinion, indicators of immigration are either unrelated or negatively related to criminal behavior. Notably absent from this line of research is assessments of the impact of immigration on the social outcomes of ex-offenders and youth. Youthful ex-offenders in particular represent a vulnerable population that could be expected to benefit most from the protective effects of immigration as identified in the literature. Accordingly, in the present study we determine the importance of concentrated immigration (net of individual-level factors) in reoffending for a sample of previously arrested youth in the state of Arizona. In addition, we examine whether the effects of immigration on reoffending behavior are contingent on the individual characteristics (e.g. race, ethnicity, and gender) of youth. The implications for the ongoing theoretical, empirical, and poli...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the short-term consequences of victimization, such as physical injury, fear and anxiety, of crime victims in the USA, despite a trend of decreasing crime rates.
Abstract: Victimization in the USA is a substantial concern, despite a trend of decreasing crime rates. Victims of crime face a number of short-term consequences such as physical injury, fear and anxiety, an...
TL;DR: In the last two decades, New York City has witnessed historic drops in crime. Numerous explanations for this crime decline have been discussed, and the New York city Police Department (NYPD) has been criticised as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Over the last two decades, New York City has witnessed historic drops in crime. Numerous explanations for this crime decline have been discussed, and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has ...
TL;DR: The authors examined geographic differences and temporal trends in crime reporting in New York and other metropolitan areas for the period 1979-2004 and found that net of crime characteristics and survey methodology, the New York metropolitan area showed fewer increases in reporting than did other metropolitan area.
Abstract: Police measures of crime are shaped by victims’ decisions to notify the police. To obtain a better understanding of US crime trends, this study uses the National Crime Victimization Survey to examine geographic differences and temporal trends in crime reporting in New York and other metropolitan areas for the period 1979-2004. We find that net of crime characteristics and survey methodology, the New York metropolitan area showed fewer increases in crime reporting than did other metropolitan areas. These divergent trends suggest that the real differences in the drop of nonlethal violence between New York and other areas may have been smaller than those indicated by police-based crime statistics. We also find that from the early 1990s to 2004, New York showed a sharp decrease in the likelihood of victims perceiving that “police wouldn’t help.” This trend suggests that police reforms in New York City have not resulted in more victims using police-related reasons to explain their nonreporting behavior. Instea...
TL;DR: This paper found that exposure to violence has both an acute and enduring effect on aggression, yet no effect on anxiety-depression, net of individual, family, peer, and neighborhood influences.
Abstract: The bulk of “neighborhood effects” research examines the impact of neighborhood conditions cross-sectionally. However, it is critical to understand whether the effects of neighborhood context are situational and whether they endure over time. In this study, we take seriously the notion that there are enduring consequences of exposure to deleterious neighborhood conditions. Using a rich set of longitudinal data on adolescents from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, we estimate the effect of exposure to violence on both internalizing (depression and anxiety) and externalizing problems (aggression). We find that exposure to violence has both an acute and enduring effect on aggression, yet no effect on anxiety-depression, net of individual, family, peer, and neighborhood influences. Part of the enduring effect of violence exposure is explained by changes in social cognitions brought on by the exposure, yet much of the relationship remains to be explained by other causal mechanisms.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore how the intersection of offenders' mental health (MH) problems and release statuses impacts recidivism and conclude that parole supervision can aid those with MH concerns in making a successful transition into the community.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore how the intersection of offenders' mental health (MH) problems and release statuses impacts recidivism. We examined three-years of postrelease recidivism data for former inmates that reintegrated into New Jersey communities in 2006 (n = 10,777). We constructed Cox regression models predicting various forms of criminal and non-criminal recidivism including rearrests, reconvictions, parole revocations, and a combined measure of rearrests and parole revocations. In addition to models that included all returning offenders, we constructed smaller models that isolated the impact of MH problems for parolees and unconditionally released inmates as well as the impact of supervision status for inmates with and without MH problems. Our results indicate that parole supervision can aid those with MH concerns in making a successful transition into the community. Parole decreased the likelihood of experiencing a new arrest by 30% while controlling for MH problems and MH problems ...
TL;DR: This article pointed out the vast chasm that existed between criminal justice and public health approaches to understanding and controlling interpersonal violence, and pointed out that criminal justice was not the best approach to understand and control interpersonal violence.
Abstract: It was not so long ago that scholarly writings pointed to the vast chasm that existed between criminal justice and public health approaches to understanding and controlling interpersonal violence. ...
TL;DR: The authors examined the effect of changes in labor market conditions on the recidivism of ex-prisoners and found that recidivitis among black and white ex-convicts is differentially affected by changes in labour market conditions in areas to which they return.
Abstract: The dramatic growth in incarceration nationally has increased attention to the factors that influence recidivism among ex-prisoners. Accordingly, scholars have called for research that identifies factors, such as employment opportunities, that may influence reentry experiences. Few studies, however, have examined how changes in labor market conditions affect ex-prisoner offending. Drawing on prior scholarship, this study examines the effect of such changes on the recidivism of ex-prisoners and, in particular, how the recidivism among blacks and whites may be differentially affected by changes in labor market conditions in the areas to which they return. The analyses indicate that, among black male ex-prisoners, labor market declines increase violent recidivism. They also indicate that, among white male ex-prisoners, the effects are more tenuous, influence only property recidivism, and are moderated by prior labor market conditions and criminal history. Implications of the study are discussed.
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between violent offending and chronic diseases among a nationally representative longitudinal sample of young adults and found that variation across offender typologies (i.e., adolescence-limited, adult-onset, and consistent violence during youth and young adulthood) significantly predicts experiencing chronic disease in early adulthood, with the risk being the most pronounced among those individuals, who demonstrate violence continuity.
Abstract: Longitudinal offending research has grown substantially in the last two decades. Despite this increased scholarly attention, longitudinal investigations of the effects of offending on physical health have not kept pace. Acknowledging the intersections of criminology, criminal justice, and public health, this study examines the relationship between violent offending and chronic diseases among a nationally representative longitudinal sample of young adults. Results suggest that variation across offender typologies (i.e. adolescence-limited, adult-onset, and consistent violence during youth and young adulthood) significantly predicts experiencing chronic disease in early adulthood, with the risk being the most pronounced among those individuals, who demonstrate violence continuity. Study limitations and policy implications are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, a cross-lagged path model and a reciprocal effects model were proposed to examine the contemporaneous influence of marriage on criminal activity while also estimating the influence of criminal behavior on marriage.
Abstract: Some theories contend that marriage leads to desistance from crime. Indeed, many studies have reported married persons are less involved in crime. Research has developed under the testable assumption that marriage affects criminal behavior but that criminal involvement does not affect marital propensity (i.e. no selection effect). The current study tests this assumption in two ways. First, we examine a cross-lagged path model where prior marital status is allowed to influence future crime and prior crime is allowed to influence future marital status. Second, we analyze a reciprocal effects model where the contemporaneous influence of marriage on criminal activity is examined while also estimating the influence of criminal behavior on marriage. The findings reveal mixed support for the effect of marriage on crime. The marriage effect is observed in one of the cross-lagged models but not in the reciprocal effects models. Implications for both theory and policy are considered.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the effect of statewide residency restriction policies on housing mobility using a unique sample of male sex offenders released in a Midwestern state and found that offenders released after the implementation of residency restrictions moved more often and had relatively high degrees of housing mobility compared to offenders released prior to the legislation.
Abstract: Securing stable housing may be difficult for returning offenders in general, and these concerns may be exacerbated for sex offenders. In addition to the barriers faced by other returning offenders, sex offenders face intense stigma and once released to the community, they are also subject to additional legal restrictions. The current study explores the effect of statewide residency restriction policies on housing mobility using a unique sample of male sex offenders released in a Midwestern state. The research is based on a quasi-experimental cohort control group design and it describes the frequency and correlation of movement for pre- and post-statewide residency restriction legislation samples. Sex offenders released after the implementation of residency restrictions moved more often and had relatively high degrees of housing mobility compared to offenders released prior to the legislation. The results have important implications for reentry programming and post-release services for sex offenders.