Journal of Criminal Justice 41(4)

Journal of Criminal Justice, July 2013: Volume 41, Issue 4

The effectiveness of public defenders in four Florida counties
Marian R. Williams

Purpose: The present study utilizes data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics to examine the effectiveness of public defenders in Florida to assess whether the case outcomes of defendants with public defenders are similar to the case outcomes of defendants with retained attorneys, controlling for legally-relevant variables.Methods: The present study utilizes both logistic and OLS regression analysis to examine differences between attorneys for seven different case outcomes. Results: Results indicate that defendants with public defenders are more likely to be detained pretrial, more likely to be convicted, and less likely to have their cases dismissed. The results dispute previous research which found few, if any, differences between public defenders and retained counsel. Conclusion: Results suggest that, at least in the counties examined, defendants with public defenders suffer from a lack of quality counsel.

Does resting heart rate at age 18 distinguish general and violent offending up to age 50? Findings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development
Wesley G. Jennings, Alex R. Piquero, David P. Farrington

Purpose: There is a sizable literature documenting the relationship between resting heart rate and antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. Absent from the literature is the extent to which heart rate has long-term prediction into late middle adulthood and the extent to which such effects are specific to certain crime types, such as violence, or whether heart rate effects are more general.Methods: This study uses data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, a longitudinal study of 411 South London males followed through age 50 in order to examine these two research questions. Results: Results suggest that lower heart rates are significantly associated with total conviction frequency and involvement in violence. This pattern of relationships is not altered by the inclusion of additional risk factors such as early childhood risk factors, adolescent involvement in smoking, body mass index, participation in team sports, binge drinking, or a measure of impulsivity. Conclusions: Heart rate was found to be a significant correlate of criminal offending. Study limitations and implications are discussed.

Unemployment, business cycles, crime, and the Canadian provinces
Martin A. Andresen

Purpose: Test the model using multiple measures of the state of the economy.Methods: A panel data set of the 10 Canadian provinces, 1981 – 2009, is analyzed using a hybrid modeling approach called a decomposition model. Rather than one economy-related model, four are included in the analysis: gross provincial product, gross provincial product per capita, unemployment rate, and low income. Results: All economy-related variables matter for property and violent crime, but the sign and magnitude of the estimated parameters vary based on context. Conclusions: The relationship between the economy and crime is complex. Only including one economy-related variable appears to result in omitted variable bias. As such, any evaluation of the relationship between the economy and crime must consider multiple measures of the economy.

Keeping promises: A systematic review and a new classification of gang control strategies
Jason Gravel, Martin Bouchard, Karine Descormiers, Jennifer S. Wong, Carlo Morselli

Purpose: We argue that inadequate frameworks to compare similar gang control strategies, and the scarcity of well-designed evaluations have hindered our ability to determine the effectiveness of existing programs. This article proposes a new typology of gang control strategies to use with logic models as tools to improve gang program evaluation.Methods: We conducted a systematic review of gang control strategy evaluation reports and created a typology from the studies identified. Studies were selected on the basis of methodological quality in order to reflect only rigorous evaluations with credible research findings. Results: Forty-five studies were selected and reviewed. Studies were classified in homogeneous categories based on the targeted population and the objective of the strategy. We infer logic models that consider the activities, outputs, and outcomes of each type of strategy. Conclusion: A better framework for the comparison of similar studies may allow meta-analyses to be conducted, thereby improving our knowledge of what works. Logic models can move the field forward by allowing researchers to understand why some programs work and others do not. The improvement, both in quality and quantity, of program evaluation in gang research is crucial in order to move beyond claims of promising approaches.

The influence of neuropsychological deficits in early childhood on low self-control and misconduct through early adolescence
Dylan B. Jackson, Kevin M. Beaver

Purpose: Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) contend that low self-control is the result of parental management techniques. However, an emerging line of research has revealed that neuropsychological deficits influence the development of low self-control (Beaver et al., 2007 and Cauffman et al., 2005). Nevertheless, these studies have largely tested the effects of neuropsychological deficits on low self-control cross-sectionally or in the short term. This study addresses an important void in the literature by examining the influence of neuropsychological deficits in early childhood on levels of self-control and misconduct through early adolescence. Methods: Data come from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, Kindergarten (ECLS-K), the largest nationally representative sample of U.S. children. Results: We found that deficits in neuropsychological functioning during kindergarten were consistently predictive of lower levels of self-control during the third, fifth, and eighth grade as well as higher levels of conduct problems during the eighth grade. These effects remained significant after accounting for demographic variables, features of the neighborhood, and a number of parenting variables. Conclusions: Neuropsychological deficits during early childhood play an important role in the development of low self-control through early adolescence and misconduct during early adolescence.

Social isolation and inmate behavior: A conceptual framework for theorizing prison visitation and guiding and assessing research
Joshua C. Cochran, Daniel P. Mears

Purpose: Scholarship suggests that prison visitation is important because it allows inmates access to social ties that, in turn, can offset social isolation and help inmates cope with the transition back into society upon release. Only a small number of empirical assessments of visitation exist, however, and existing studies have typically overlooked how the heterogeneity inherent in visitation may influence whether visitation is beneficial, harmful, or has no effect. The goal of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for theorizing this heterogeneity and its impacts, evaluating visitation research, and guiding future research aimed at estimating visitation effects. Methods: The paper reviews theory and research on inmate visitation. In so doing, it systematically examines heterogeneity in visitation and the implications of this heterogeneity.Results: The paper identifies five dimensions—visitation timing, longitudinal patterns in visitation, visitor type, visitation experiences, and inmate characteristics—that can be used to characterize visitation events or patterns that, themselves, may have varied effects on in-prison outcomes and reentry outcomes. Conclusions: More nuanced theories of, and empirical research on, inmate visitation are needed both to understand better the implications of visitation, and inmate social ties more broadly, and to advance theory, research, and policy.

Genetic and environmental influences underlying the relationship between low self-control and substance use
Danielle Boisvert, Brian B. Boutwell, J.C. Barnes, Jamie Vaske

Purpose: The current study seeks to examine the relationship between low self-control and cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and marijuana use in adolescence and adulthood using behavioral genetic methodology. Methods: Using a subsample of twin pairs from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), the current study estimates the genetic and environmental overlap between low self-control and substance use (or problems associated with substance use) across four waves of data collection. Results: The overall pattern of results suggests that genetic factors explain a moderate proportion of the variance in low self-control and substance use in both adolescence and adulthood. Furthermore, bivariate genetic analyses reveal that the correlation between low self-control and substance use is due, for the most part, to common genetic and nonshared environmental factors. Conclusions: The current study adds to a growing body of biosocial research on self-control and its relationship to criminal and analogous behaviors. The implications of our findings for the general theory of crime are discussed.