Crime & Delinquency 58(3)

Crime & Delinquency, May 2012: Volume 58, Issue 3

Men, Women, and Postrelease Offending: An Examination of the Nature of the Link Between Relational Ties and Recidivism
Jennifer E. Cobbina, Beth M. Huebner, and Mark T. Berg

Numerous studies have examined the postrelease behaviors of men and women, highlighting the importance of social bonds in understanding positive reentry. However, there is evidence that the effect of social bonds on recidivism may vary by gender. Furthermore, research suggests that an individual’s propensity for criminality, including prior criminal history, may hinder the development and maintenance of positive social bonds and subsequently affect reentry transitions. The current study extends previous research in two ways. First, the authors examine gender differences in the sources of recidivism and focus on the role of social ties and criminal history in shaping recidivism risk. Next, the authors consider if the influence of parolees’ ties to their parents and intimate partners is conditioned by their criminal history. The results reinforce the importance of social ties, particularly to parents, for parolees; however, the results also suggest that male relationships with parents and intimate partners may be influenced by prior criminal involvement.

The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself: Investigating the Relationship Between Fear of Falling and White-Collar Crime
Nicole Leeper Piquero

Criminologists have long been interested in understanding why people commit crime. Perhaps an even more interesting question is what accounts for the offending of individuals who occupy white-collar positions. Most explanations of white-collar offending have relied on extant criminological theories that have been developed to account for street or juvenile offending. One theoretical explanation that was specifically developed to explain white-collar crime is the fear of falling hypothesis or the notion that the motivation for crime is the fear of losing what one has worked so hard to obtain. This study presents the results of an original data-collection effort designed to test this hypothesis. Data collected among business-experienced adults indicate that the fear of falling is inversely related to intentions to price-fix but positively related to internal and legal constraints against price-fixing. Taken together, these results suggest that the fear of falling may serve as a reminder of the attainments that could be lost, should the illegality be committed.

The Effect of Correctional Education on Postrelease Employment and Recidivism: A 5-Year Follow-Up Study in the State of Indiana
Susan Lockwood, John M. Nally, Taiping Ho, and Katie Knutson

Research has consistently revealed that released offenders, if unemployed and uneducated, would likely become recidivist offenders. This study was a 5-year follow-up study (2005-2009) of 6,561 offenders who were released from the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) to five metropolitan counties during the calendar year 2005. It examined the effect of education and postrelease employment on recidivism among those released offenders. Results of this study revealed that an offender’s education and employment were the most important predictors of postrelease recidivism. In other words, offenders would likely return to the IDOC custody if they were unemployed. This study’s results provided evidence that offenders who had not completed high school were likely to become recidivist offenders. This study also revealed that younger offenders were likely to become recidivist offenders after their release from the IDOC custody. In addition, African American offenders, rather than Caucasian offenders, were likely to become recidivist offenders. The recidivism rate among the offenders who had a college education was 31.0%, but the recidivism rate increased to 55.9% among the offenders who had an education below high school.

Determinants of Police Strength in Large U.S. Cities During the 1990s: A Fixed-Effects Panel Analysis
William P. McCarty, Ling Ren, and Jihong “Solomon” Zhao

The 1990s represented a unique decade in which to analyze the determinants of police strength in the United States. This decade was a time in which crime initially increased, then substantially decreased. Furthermore, this decade also was characterized by increases in the minority population throughout large American cities. Finally, the 1990s were characterized by increasing police budgets. These realities have direct implications for the competing theories of police growth. This research examines the determinants of police strength in large U.S. cities from 1990 to 2000. A fixed-effects panel analysis was used to assess the number of sworn police officers per 100,000 population. The findings support the resource dependency and social conflict perspectives. Additionally, no support was found for the rational public choice perspective.

Lethal and Other Serious Assaults: Disentangling Gender and Context
Carol E. Jordan, James Clark, Adam Pritchard, and Richard Charnigo

Women represent a relatively small percentage of known violent offenders, a disproportionality in offending that increases as the severity of the crime increases. The exception is intimate partner homicide where some studies find U.S. rates of offending by women approach those of men. Although the literature makes clear that significant gender differences exist in the commission of homicide, a more contextualized picture of the female offenders and the pathways leading to criminal offending does not exist. This study uses data from one state’s correctional system to examine the circumstances under which females kill or seriously assault intimate partners and, in particular, assesses the tenability of a prevailing stereotype that has been invoked to describe female intimate partner violence.

Labeling and Cumulative Disadvantage: The Impact of Formal Police Intervention on Life Chances and Crime During Emerging Adulthood
Giza Lopes, Marvin D. Krohn, Alan J. Lizotte, Nicole M. Schmidt, Bob Edward Vásquez, and Jón Gunnar Bernburg

Research in labeling theory has been revived recently, particularly in relation to the effect of labeling on critical noncriminal outcomes that potentially exacerbate involvement in crime. This study partakes in that revitalization by examining direct and indirect effects of police intervention in the lives of adolescents who were followed into their 30s. The authors find that early police intervention is indirectly related to drug use at the ages of 29 to 31, as well as unemployment and welfare receipt. Given that such effects were found some 15 years after the labeling event, on criminal and noncriminal outcomes, and after controlling for intraindividual factors, the authors conclude that the labeling perspective is still relevant within a developmental framework.