Ronald D. Hunter
Former Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences President Ronald D. Hunter discusses the efforts of previous ACJS Presidents in advancing the discipline of criminal justice/criminology. He reviews their efforts in the ongoing development of criminology/criminal justice/justice studies as a separate discipline. Hunter argues that justice studies have come of age and are too large and too influential to be ignored. He concludes with recommendations regarding the nature of criminology/criminal justice as a discipline.
Rethinking the Interface between Mental Illness, Criminal Justice and Academia
William Wesley Johnson
Punishment and treatment don't occur within a vacuum. Responses in the justice system affect the mental health system, hospitals, clinics, and the welfare system. These systems are inextricably bound to each other. This paper, drawn from the 2009 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) Presidential Address, discusses issues regarding the criminalization of mental illness, fiscal crises, and three deinstitutionalization movements. Particular attention is given to the role of academia in reshaping the criminal justice system during the current fiscal crisis.
The Election of Barack Obama and Perceptions of Criminal Injustice
James D. Unnever; Shaun L. Gabbidon; George E. Higgins
Informed by a more nuanced racial threat theory, the current study investigates the relationship between the attitudes that African Americans and whites have about the election of Barack Obama as President of the USA and whether they perceive that the police and the criminal justice system are biased against blacks. We test four hypotheses using the 2008 Gallup Minority Rights and Relations/Black-White Social Audit Poll. We first hypothesize that whites and African Americans should substantially differ in their opinions about whether the police and the criminal justice system are biased against blacks. Second, we posit that African Americans and whites should express substantially different opinions regarding the impact of Obama's election on race relations. Third, we hypothesize that the relationship between perceptions of criminal justice injustices and attitudes toward Obama's election should differ among whites. We theorize that there should be a group of whites—committed racists—who deny that the criminal justice system is biased against African Americans and believe that the election of Barack Obama will worsen race relations. Fourth, we posit that African Americans should nearly unvaryingly believe that the criminal justice system is racist. And, we hypothesize that African American opinions about Barack Obama should have a negligible impact on their perceptions of whether the criminal justice system is racist. The results support these four hypotheses.
Gender, Identity, and Accounts: How White Collar Offenders Do Gender When Making Sense of Their Crimes
Paul M. Klenowski; Heith Copes; Christopher W. Mullins
When offenders are asked to explain their crimes, they typically portray themselves as decent people despite their wrongdoings. To be effective at managing the stigma of crime, motivational accounts must be believable to the social audience. Thus, variation in patterns of accounts is likely due to the social position of the actors. Here we examine whether gender constrains the way individuals describe their crimes by analyzing the motivational accounts of male and female white collar offenders. Results show that while men and women both elicit justifications when discussing their crimes, they do differ in the frequency with which they call forth specific accounts and in the rhetorical nature of these accounts. When accounting for their crime, white collar offenders draw on gendered themes to align their actions with cultural expectations of masculinity and femininity. These findings suggest that gender does constrain the accounts that are available to white collar offenders.
Considering the Effectiveness of Drug Treatment behind Bars: Findings from the South Carolina RSAT Evaluation
J. Mitchell Miller; Holly Ventura Miller
Through funding from the national Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program, the South Carolina Department of Corrections implemented the Correctional Recovery Academy in the Turbeville Medium Security Institution to treat drug-dependent offenders. The program features a cognitive-behavioral change modality delivered in a modified therapeutic community to first time, non-violent, drug-dependent, youthful male offenders. A quasi-experimental design was employed to specify impact as indicated by recidivism, relapse, and parole revocation. While analyses revealed no statistically significant difference between treatment and control group participants on these outcome measures, implications regarding the efficacy of the treatment modality are ambiguous as implementation failure masked determination of program effects. Drug testing frequency after release, however, was found to be a significant factor precluding failure, contrary to the conventional view that increased testing identifies greater use.
Talking Heads: Crime Reporting on Cable News
Natasha A. Frost; Nickie D. Phillips
In this study, we examine the extent to which criminologists and other academics participate in newsmaking criminology as guests on cable news shows. Building on earlier examinations of print media, we explore the ways in which crime is portrayed on popular cable television news programs (airing on CNN, FOX, MSNBC). Specifically, we examine 180 segments devoted to crime on cable news that aired from June to August 2006, with an emphasis on the role of the 347 guests appearing in those segments and their perspectives on crime causation and crime control. We find that criminologists and other academic experts infrequently appear on these programs, and that guests—regardless of type—only rarely address crime causation or crime control when appearing.
Confessing their Crime: Factors Influencing the Offender’s Decision to Confess to the Police
Nadine Deslauriers-Varin; Patrick Lussier; Michel St-Yves
Confessions are crucial to successful police investigations but scholars have significantly overlooked factors that contribute to an offender's decision to confess a crime. This study aims to examine a large array of factors that play a role in the offender's decision to confess a crime to the police and potential interaction effect among them. A total of 221 adult males incarcerated in a federal Canadian penitentiary were recruited. Correctional files, police reports, and offenders' self-reported data were collected and analyzed. Controlling for sociodemographic, criminological, and contextual factors, a series of logistic regression analyses were conducted. Findings highlighted the predominant role of police evidence over and above other factors analyzed. Furthermore, sociodemographic and criminological factors played a more important role in the offender's decision to confess when police evidence was weak. Findings are discussed in light of the current scientific literature on the determinants of offenders' decision to confess their crime.
Examining the Sources of Variation in Risk for Recidivism
Beth M. Huebner; Mark T. Berg
This research explores the correlates of desistance and recidivism among a modern cohort of men released from prison. Using eight years of follow-up data, we estimate a series of multivariate models to differentiate offenders who recidivate in the short term from men who failed after an extended period or who do not return to criminal behavior at all. Consistent with research of this type, the odds of recidivism increased sharply after release and leveled off over time. In addition, younger men with more extensive criminal histories were the least likely to desist and failed early in the release period. The results also reveal heterogeneity in patterns of recidivism over the short and long term, and highlight the importance of post-release context in understanding prisoner reentry.
Policies and Imprisonment: The Impact of Structured Sentencing and Determinate Sentencing on State Incarceration Rates, 1978–2004
Don Stemen; Andres F. Rengifo
Through funding from the national Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program, the South Carolina Department of Corrections implemented the Correctional Recovery Academy in the Turbeville Medium Security Institution to treat drug-dependent offenders. The program features a cognitive-behavioral change modality delivered in a modified therapeutic community to first time, non-violent, drug-dependent, youthful male offenders. A quasi-experimental design was employed to specify impact as indicated by recidivism, relapse, and parole revocation. While analyses revealed no statistically significant difference between treatment and control group participants on these outcome measures, implications regarding the efficacy of the treatment modality are ambiguous as implementation failure masked determination of program effects. Drug testing frequency after release, however, was found to be a significant factor precluding failure, contrary to the conventional view that increased testing identifies greater use.
Justice Quarterly, February 2011: Volume 28, Issue 1
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