Crime & Delinquency 61(8)

Crime & Delinquency, October 2015: Volume 61, Issue 8

Do Parole Technical Violators Pose a Safety Threat? An Analysis of Prison Misconduct
Erin A. Orrick and Robert G. Morris

We examined records of males incarcerated in a large southern state to assess the risk technical violators would pose to public safety by exploring their likelihood of engaging in prison misconduct. Data from official prison records provided by a large southern state’s primary corrections agency were examined using multiple counterfactual analytic techniques. Based on the official disciplinary records from male inmates readmitted to prison for technical violations and new offenses, technical violators were found to be significantly less likely to engage in any form of prison misconduct. Implications for research and policy are discussed, including the potential for recidivism research and prison reduction policies.

Investigating the Impact of Custody on Reoffending Using Propensity Score Matching
Darrick Jolliffe and Carol Hedderman

Although a range of opinions about the impact of incarceration on later offending have been articulated, there have been very few studies of sufficient methodological quality to allow the effect to be examined empirically. Drawing on a sample of 5,500 male offenders from 1 of 10 regions in the United Kingdom, propensity score matching was used to balance the preexisting differences between two groups of offenders: those who had been incarcerated for their index offense and those who had received community orders involving supervision. Both methods of balancing the group differences (matching/stratification) suggested that 1 year after release, offenders who had been incarcerated were significantly more likely to have committed another (proven) offense. These offenders also tended to commit more offenses and started reoffending earlier than those supervised in the community. Moreover, offenders who had originally been incarcerated were much more likely to be reincarcerated. In line with other emerging evidence, it was concluded that incarceration tends to slightly increase rather than decrease the chances of future offending. Limitations of the research are considered and directions for future research are explored.

Measuring the Intermittency of Criminal Careers
Thomas Baker, Christi Falco Metcalfe, and Alex R. Piquero

The intermittency, or time gaps between criminal events, has received very little theoretical and empirical attention in developmental/life-course criminology. Several reasons account for lack of research on intermittency, including limited data sources containing information on the time between events and the prioritization of persistence—and especially desistance—in developmental/life-course criminology. This article sets out to provide a descriptive portrait of intermittency and in so doing aims to understand and explain intermittency within and between individuals, how it varies with age over the life course, and how it covaries with the seriousness of offending. Longer intermittency is characteristic of offenders with earlier onset as well as those who offend less frequently, whereas high-frequency/early-onset offenders have less intermittency. Findings suggest that intermittent gaps between offenses relate to offense seriousness. As offenders age, the gaps between offenses increase. Each of these effects is disaggregated among chronic and nonchronic (recidivist) offenders to demonstrate the intermittent patterns of different criminal careers. Implications for theoretical and empirical research on intermittency are highlighted.

Adolescent Virtual Time Spent Socializing With Peers, Substance Use, and Delinquency
Ryan C. Meldrum and Jim Clark

This study tests Osgood, Wilson, O’Malley, Bachman, and Johnston’s extension of the routine activity theory of individual deviant behavior by considering adolescent time spent socializing with peers in virtual settings in relation to estimates of delinquency and substance use. The growth in digital communication has significantly changed the ways that youth commonly communicate with one another, and such changes may therefore provide a specification of newly emerging situational inducements that precipitate antisocial behavior during adolescence. Using data from a school-based survey of adolescents, the analyses reveal that the amount of virtual time adolescents spend socializing with peers is positively related to the frequency of alcohol use, marijuana use, and a variety index of delinquent behavior. Less support was found for an association between virtual time spent with peers and individually separated property/violent offending behaviors. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The Deterrent Effect of the Castle Doctrine Law on Burglary in Texas: A Tale of Outcomes in Houston and Dallas
Ling Ren, Yan Zhang, and Jihong Solomon Zhao

From 2005 through 2008, 23 states across the nation have enacted laws generally referred to as “castle doctrine” laws or “stand your ground” laws. A castle doctrine law gives a homeowner the legal right to use force (even deadly force) to defend himself or herself and the family against an intruder. No study, however, has been conducted to evaluate its deterrent effects. The State of Texas enacted its castle doctrine law on September 1, 2007, and the subsequent Joe Horn shooting incident in Houston in November, 2007, served to publicize the Texas law to a great extent. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the deterrent effect of the Texas castle doctrine law and the subsequent Horn shooting on burglary in the two largest cities in Texas, Houston and Dallas. Daily data of residential and business burglary, over the period from January 1, 2007, to August 31, 2008, were obtained from the Houston Police Department and the Dallas Police Department. Interrupted time-series designs were employed in the study to analyze the intervention effects. The findings reported suggest a place-conditioned deterrent effect of the law and the Horn shooting; both residential and business burglaries were reduced significantly after the shooting incident in Houston, but not in Dallas.

Crime & Delinquency 61(7)

Crime & Delinquency, September 2015: Volume 61, Issue 7

The Victim-Offender Overlap, Intimate Partner Violence, and Sex: Assessing Differences Among Victims, Offenders, and Victim-Offenders
Lisa R. Muftić, Mary A. Finn, and Erin A. Marsh

This study examines the overlap between victimization and offending within officially recorded incidents of intimate partner violence (IPV). Using official police data, 1,256 individuals are initially differentiated by their role as the victim or the offender in an IPV incident and then categorized into four distinct groups (e.g., as victims, persistent offenders, desistent offenders, or victim-offenders) based on their role in further officially recorded IPV incidents during an 18-to 30-month follow-up period. Of particular interest is the victim-offender category, which involves individuals who switched roles from the original IPV incident (e.g., IPV victims who later became IPV offenders or IPV offenders who later became IPV victims). Results suggest that important distinctions exist across categories related to sex and crime exposure. Compared with victims who were predominately female and offenders who were predominately male, victim-offenders were the most gender symmetric and exhibited greater contacts with the justice process prior to and after the original IPV incident. Implications from these findings, as well as limitations and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Trajectories of Crime and Familial Characteristics: A Longitudinal National Population-Based Study
Shachar Yonai, Stephen Z. Levine, and Joseph Glicksohn

The present study primarily aims to empirically identify offender trajectory groups and their associated first-, second-, and third-degree familial characteristics. Data were extracted on all first and subsequent juvenile offenders (n = 18,915) with criminal convictions (n = 90,393) from 1996 to 2008 recorded in the National Crime Registry of the State of Israel. Semiparametric group-based modeling identified low-rate (76.88%), late-peak adolescence (3.85%), middle-peak adolescence (10.22%), early-peak adolescence (3.22%), and chronic (5.83%) offender trajectories. Compared with low-rate offenders, chronic offenders had significantly more nonviolent offenses and first-degree imprisoned relatives who were imprisoned during childhood and adolescence. In conclusion, parental imprisonment appears to act as a parent–child separation mechanism that modestly increases the likelihood of chronic offending.

Crime and the Transition to Adulthood: A Person-Centered Approach
Stacey J. Bosick

Recent studies of the transition to adulthood advocate taking a person-centered approach and modeling key transitional events simultaneously. This article advances this literature by focusing on precarious transitioning among at-risk youth and relating their transition experiences to criminal offending. I find evidence for three distinct “pathways” to adulthood. Those with juvenile convictions are equally likely to take one of two “precarious” routes to adulthood—an early family starter pathway or a stalled pathway. Importantly, early family starters are much less likely than stalled transitioners to offend as adults. The findings suggest the transition to adulthood represents a fork in the road for juvenile delinquents in which early family starting serves as an avenue out of continued offending.

The Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and Adolescent Violent Victimization
Marie Skubak Tillyer

Research has identified numerous negative consequences of childhood maltreatment, including poor academic performance, psychological distress, and delinquency. To date, studies examining childhood maltreatment and subsequent victimization have largely focused on the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and intimate partner abuse in adulthood. It is unclear, however, if maltreatment during childhood is related to subsequent violent victimization during adolescence. Theories of victimization, in combination with the existing literature on the causes and consequences of childhood maltreatment, suggest that these experiences would be correlated. This study used longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents to examine whether childhood maltreatment is empirically related to subsequent adolescent violent victimization, and if so, whether this relationship can be explained by existing victimization theories. Findings indicate that a significant relationship exists between childhood maltreatment and adolescent violent victimization, and that a risky lifestyle appears to mediate the relationship.

Whites’ Perceptions About Black Criminality: A Closer Look at the Contact Hypothesis
Christina Mancini, Daniel P. Mears, Eric A. Stewart, Kevin M. Beaver, and Justin T. Pickett

Scholars have documented how media accounts and policy discourse have presented Blacks and criminality as virtually synonymous, a phenomenon termed the racialization of crime. However, despite extant research on the contact hypothesis—which holds that relationships with members of other groups should reduce stereotypes—no studies have examined whether different indicators of interracial contact (IC) affect Whites’ perceptions of Black criminality; by extension, no research speaks to whether IC effects are contingent on types of racialized views, or whether the amount of IC impacts perceptions. To advance scholarship, this study uses survey data to analyze the extent to which each type of IC is associated with Whites’ views of Black criminality. It then examines whether IC differentially predicts beliefs in crime versus non-crime-related stereotypes. Finally, it assesses whether the amount of IC influences stereotype endorsement. Consistent with the contact hypothesis, results indicate a generalized stereotype-reducing impact of IC, with some caveats.

Crime & Delinquency 61(6)

Crime & Delinquency, August 2015: Volume 61, Issue 6

Race, Gender, Crime Severity, and Decision Making in the Juvenile Justice System
Michael J. Leiber and Jennifer H. Peck

Based on interpretations of an integrated focal concerns and loosely coupling framework, individual and joint relationships involving race and gender with case outcomes were examined as well as possible tempering effects by crime severity and the stage in the proceedings. The results from multiple logistic regression indicate mixed support for the theoretical framework in terms of the ability to determine at what stages race and gender effects would be most evident. Crime severity was predictive of decision making and in some cases had a conditioning effect on the discovered race/gender relationships with case outcomes. The implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Measuring the Reading Complexity and Oral Comprehension of Canadian Youth Waiver Forms
Joseph Eastwood, Brent Snook, and Kirk Luther

The reading complexity of a sample of Canadian police youth waiver forms was assessed, and the oral comprehension of a waiver form was examined. In Study 1, the complexity of 31 unique waiver forms was assessed using five readability measures (i.e., waiver length, Flesch–Kincaid grade level, Grammatik sentence complexity, word difficulty, and word frequency). Results showed that the waivers are lengthy, are written at a relatively high grade level, contain complex sentences, and contain difficult and infrequent words. In Study 2, high school students (N = 32) were presented orally with one youth waiver form and asked to explain its meaning. Results showed that participants understood approximately 40% of the information contained in the waiver form. The likelihood of the rights of Canadian youths being protected and the need to create a standardized and comprehensible waiver form are discussed.

Lifetime Benefits and Costs of Diverting Substance-Abusing Offenders From State Prison
Gary A. Zarkin, Alexander J. Cowell, Katherine A. Hicks, Michael J. Mills, Steven Belenko, Laura J. Dunlap, and Vincent Keyes

Prisons hold a disproportionate number of society’s drug abusers. Approximately 50% of state prisoners meet the criteria for a diagnosis of drug abuse or dependence; however, only 10% of prisoners receive drug treatment. Diverting offenders to community-based treatment has been shown to generate positive net social benefits. We build on a lifetime simulation model of a nationally representative state prison cohort to examine diversion from reincarceration to community-based substance abuse treatment. We find that diversion provides positive net societal benefits to the United States and cost savings to the national criminal justice system. Our study demonstrates the societal gains from improving access to the community drug treatment system as an alternative to prison.

Alcohol Outlets and Neighborhood Crime: A Longitudinal Analysis
Garland F. White, Randy R. Gainey, and Ruth A. Triplett

This article examines the relationship between the number of alcohol outlets in block groups and the number of incidents of street crimes in Norfolk, Virginia. Cross-sectional and longitudinal panel designs are used to explore the relationship. Results were corrected for spatial autocorrelation and controlled for variation in size of population, socioeconomic disadvantage, and a dummy variable for being the downtown area. The cross-sectional analysis revealed a strong relationship between the number of alcohol outlets and the number of street crimes for on-premises and off-premises outlets. A panel design was then used to examine the effects of newly established outlets on the change in the number of street crime events over three periods. All three panels showed significant relationships between the number of alcohol outlets and the number of street crime events controlling for prior levels of crime, socioeconomic disadvantage, population size, and a spatial lag.

Assessing the Cost of Electronically Monitoring High-Risk Sex Offenders
Marisa K. Omori and Susan F. Turner

In addition to housing, employment, and registration restrictions, sex offenders have been subjected to electronic monitoring with the idea that they may be either surveilled or deterred from committing additional crime. This study evaluated the supervision costs of placing high-risk sex offender parolees on Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) monitoring as part of a pilot program by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Using a quasiexperimental design, the study tracked parolees’ costs of supervision and their parole violations for 1 year. GPS was not cost-effective; the overall cost of parolees on GPS was greater than parolees not on the monitoring, the two groups committed similar parole violations, and parolees on GPS were retained on parole longer.

Crime & Delinquency 61(5)

Crime & Delinquency, June 2015: Volume 61, Issue 5

Organizational-Level Police Discretion: An Application for Police Use of Lethal Force
Jeffrey S. Nowacki

Research on police behavior suggests that discretion is vital to police decision making. Although discretion can originate from many sources (e.g., officers, situations, structure), relatively few studies examine how organizational variables affect officer discretion. Of the studies that test whether organizational level influences shape discretion, even fewer examine their influence on lethal force. This oversight is notable in light of the overrepresentation of Blacks in lethal force incidents because organizational characteristics and policies may reduce racial disparities in the application of lethal force. Using administrative policy and police department size as proxies for organizational variables, this study tests for organizational effects and examines whether these effects vary by race. Using city-level data from 1980 to 1984, this research examines how organizational limits on discretion affect the volume of lethal force incidents. Negative binomial regression results indicate that administrative policy predicts lethal force incidents for total and Black-specific population models but not White-specific models, and department size predicts lethal force incidents for total and White-specific models but not Black-specific models. Organizational correlates of police discretion seem crucial for understanding officer behavior.

Unknown, Unloved? Public Opinion on and Knowledge of Suspended Sentences in the Netherlands
Jean-Louis van Gelder, Pauline Aarten, Willemijn Lamet, and Peter van der Laan

Public opinion research shows that the general public tends to perceive noncustodial sanctions, such as suspended sentences, as too lenient while being largely ignorant about their nature. In two studies among representative samples of the Dutch population, the authors examine public opinion about and knowledge of suspended sentences in the Netherlands. Findings suggest that knowledge of suspended sentences is positively related to their perceived punitiveness and beliefs in their effectiveness. Furthermore, opinions about suspended sentences are related to general penal attitudes. More punitive attitudes translate into less favorable opinions. Finally, providing information about suspended sentences can lead to more positive attitudes and greater belief in their effectiveness.

Abstainers in Adolescence and Adulthood: Exploring the Correlates of Abstention Using Moffitt’s Developmental Taxonomy
Jennifer Gatewood Owens and Lee Ann Slocum

Moffitt’s developmental taxonomy describes a small group of adolescents who abstain from all forms of delinquency because they are isolated from peer groups or because, unlike most adolescents, they lack the desire to engage in “adult-like” behaviors, such as drinking and smoking. Based on Moffitt’s work, this study examines the correlates of abstention for males and females, focusing on negative personal characteristics that may isolate youth from their peers. Using a sample followed from birth through adulthood, the authors found that although many prosocial characteristics are associated with abstention, individuals who refrain from delinquency are also more likely than offenders to possess undesirable personal characteristics. Still, abstainers are more likely than other youth to become successful, well-adjusted adults.

The Unintended Effects of Penal Reform: African American Presence, Incarceration, and the Abolition of Discretionary Parole in the United States
Andres F. Rengifo and Don Stemen

The authors use a pooled-time series design to examine the interplay between state incarceration rates, determinate sentencing, and the size of the African American population between 1978 and 2004. Consistent with prior research, findings show that larger Black populations are associated with higher incarceration rates but that this association has weakened over time. Results also indicate that determinate sentencing is associated with lower imprisonment rates. The interaction between a higher proportion of African American residents and determinate sentencing, however, is associated with higher incarceration rates, suggesting that in states with greater minority presence the abolition of discretionary parole amplifies the impact of punitive responses linked to racial threat. It is argued that this unintended effect reflects the fact that formal constraints on release decision making reduce the ability of justice systems to administer greater punishments to specific subpopulations.

Principles in Practice: A Multistate Study of Gender-Responsive Reforms in the Juvenile Justice System
Sarah Cusworth Walker, Ann Muno, and Cheryl Sullivan-Colglazier

There is currently widespread interest in gender-responsive programming within the juvenile justice system. The research literature currently provides critical information about the needs of girls and pathways into the justice system through epidemiology or program evaluation studies; however, the experience of practitioners implementing reforms is less represented. This perspective is essential given the nascent stage of research on gender-specific best practices and the widespread adoption of gender-specific principles. In this article, the authors review the policy and research literature relevant to the gender-responsive movement and present the results of their multistate study of how principles are being translated into practice, including how reforms are being initiated and sustained. They discuss these findings in light of their implications for practice and research.

Crime & Delinquency 61(4)

Crime & Delinquency, May 2015: Volume 61, Issue 4

Arab Americans’ Confidence in Police
Ivan Y. Sun and Yuning Wu

Although the September 11 attacks have drawn much law enforcement attention to Arab Americans, research on Arab Americans’ perceptions of police is almost nonexistent. Using survey data collected from 850 Arab Americans who resided in the Detroit metropolitan area, this study empirically examined the effects of demographic characteristics, personal experience, social attitudes and values, and social trust, of confidence in local police. The results indicated that the majority of Arab Americans had a great deal or a lot of confidence in police. Arab Americans’ confidence in police was significantly related to their social attitudes and trust, such as conservative outlook, confidence in the legal system, respect for authority, and trust in neighbors. Arab Americans’ background characteristics and experience had a weak effect on their confidence in police. More empirical research is warranted to assess Arab Americans’ evaluations of local police along more indicators of police performance.

Explaining Leniency: Organizational Predictors of the Differential Treatment of Men and Women in Traffic Stops
Amy Farrell

Scholars have devoted significant attention to measuring the degree to which a driver’s personal characteristics affect police decisions to stop and sanction motorists. Following the pattern of research on gender and enforcement practices more broadly, traffic stop studies show that female drivers are less likely to receive formal sanctions such as a citation following routine traffic stops. Despite the consistency of these findings across places and times, we know little about the conditions under which female traffic violators are granted leniency. This article extends research on the effect of driver and stop characteristics on gender disparities in traffic enforcement decisions by examining 149,888 stops from across 37 communities in Rhode Island with different local needs and variation in police organizational culture and structure. The findings confirm that although women are less likely to be cited than men, community-level variation in police agency culture and structure, particularly the proportion of female officers in an agency, moderates the effect of driver sex on stop outcomes.

Substance Use, Personality, and Inhibitors: Testing Hirschi’s Predictions About the Reconceptualization of Self-Control
Shayne Jones, Donald R. Lynam, and Alex R. Piquero

Hirschi argues that self-control has not been properly measured or conceptualized in previous research. He insists that personality-based notions of self-control should be replaced with inhibitors/social bonds as the key construct, which in turn influence whether an individual considers the full range of costs associated with an antisocial behavior. This analysis supplements a small literature exploring this new conceptualization of self-control, specifically by examining substance use. The findings indicate that inhibitors/bonds do exert an effect on substance use but are not mediated by perceived costs. Furthermore, different variants of impulsivity continue to exert independent influences, with some mediated by perceived costs. Finally, perceived rewards not only influenced substance use directly but were also the most consistent mediator of inhibitors/bonds and impulsivity.

The Benefits of Keeping Idle Hands Busy: An Outcome Evaluation of a Prisoner Reentry Employment Program
Grant Duwe

This study evaluated the effectiveness of EMPLOY, a prisoner reentry employment program, by examining recidivism and postrelease employment outcomes among 464 offenders released from Minnesota prisons between 2006 and 2008. As outcome data were collected on the 464 offenders through the end of June 2010, the average follow-up period was 28 months. Observable selection bias was minimized by using propensity score matching to create a comparison group of 232 nonparticipants who were not significantly different from the 232 EMPLOY offenders. Results from the Cox regression analyses revealed that participating in EMPLOY reduced the hazard ratio for recidivism by 32% to 63%. The findings further showed that EMPLOY increased the odds of gaining postrelease employment by 72%. Although EMPLOY did not have a significant impact on hourly wage, the overall postrelease wages for program participants were significantly higher because they worked a greater number of hours. The study concludes by discussing the implications of these findings.

A Test of the Routine Activities and Neighborhood Attachment Explanations for Bias in Disorder Perceptions
Danielle Wallace

“Neighborhood disorder” refers to how people perceive neighborhoods as unsafe and disorganized. However, certain disorder cues may indicate disorder to some residents but not to others. There are many explanations for disorder perception bias, though few have been tested. This article uses data on 4,721 residents in 100 neighborhoods in Seattle to assess two explanations for biases: neighborhood attachment and routine activities. Using fixed-effect models, this article shows that neighborhood attachment and routine activities provide additional insight into disorder perceptions. Hanging out with teens and engaging in protective neighborhood activities, like watching neighbors’ property, have a strong positive influence on disorder perceptions. This study concludes by discussing alternative explanations for disorder perception bias and their impact on disorder theory as a whole.

Trust in the Police: The Influence of Procedural Justice and Perceived Collective Efficacy
Justin Nix, Scott E. Wolfe, Jeff Rojek, and Robert J. Kaminski

Tyler’s process-based model of policing suggests that the police can enhance their perceived legitimacy and trustworthiness in the eyes of the public when they exercise their authority in a procedurally fair manner. To date, most process-based research has focused on the sources of legitimacy while largely overlooking trust in the police. The present study extends this line of literature by examining the sources of trust in the police. In particular, emerging research has revealed that neighborhood context influences attitudes toward the police but much less attention has been given to exploring the role individuals’ perceptions of their neighborhood play in shaping such evaluations. Therefore, the present study considers whether individuals’ perceptions of collective efficacy serve as a social-psychological cognitive orientation that influences levels of trust in the police. Using data from a recently conducted mail survey of a random sample of 1,681 residents from a metropolitan city, we find that procedural justice evaluations are a primary source of trust in the police. At the same time, however, level of perceived collective efficacy is positively associated with trust even after accounting for procedural justice. The findings suggest that police procedural fairness is vitally important to establishing trust from the public but peoples’ cognitive orientation toward their neighborhood context partially shapes the level of trustworthiness they afford to the police.

Crime & Delinquency 61(3)

Crime & Delinquency, April 2015: Volume 61, Issue 3

Race, Ethnicity, and School-Based Adolescent Victimization
Anthony A. Peguero, Ann Marie Popp, and Dixie J. Koo

Opportunity theory enhances one’s understanding of school-based adolescent victimization. Race and ethnicity plays a significant role in school-based victimization. What is uncertain is how opportunity is linked to the school-based victimization of racial and ethnic minority adolescents. This study explores how race and ethnicity interact with opportunity and victimization. Analyses, which are drawn from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 and employ hierarchal generalized logistic model analyses, suggest some important results. Most notably, the relationships between opportunity and victimization vary across racial and ethnic groups. For instance, athletic extracurricular activity involvement is an insulating factor for White Americans but a potential risk factor for Latino Americans and Asian Americans. Besides discussing the findings of this study, this article underscores the importance of understanding racial and ethnic minority school-based adolescent victimization.

The Impact of Race/Ethnicity and Quality-of-Life Policing on Public Attitudes Toward Racially Biased Policing and Traffic Stops
Jihong Solomon Zhao, Yung-Lien Lai, Ling Ren, and Brian Lawton

This article examines the impact of race/ethnicity and quality-of-life (QOL) policing on citizens’ perceptions of racial bias and traffic stops. Using data obtained from a random-sample telephone survey of Houston citizens, respondents were asked whether they felt that the police treated citizens “equally” based on the race/ethnicity of the citizen as well as the race/ethnicity of the officer. These variables were then recoded to construct a nominal measure ranging from racially biased policing to absence of racially biased policing, with a middle category of “semiracially” biased policing. Results indicated that race/ethnicity was a significant predictor. In addition, the results strongly suggested that QOL policing was significantly associated with a decrease in respondents’ perceptions of racially biased policing. Finally, there was a significant relationship between racially biased policing and expected treatment of traffic stops made by the police.

Examining the Effects of Residential Situations and Residential Mobility on Offender Recidivism
Benjamin Steiner, Matthew D. Makarios, and Lawrence F. Travis III

Drawing from theories of social control, this study involved an examination of the time-varying effects of six different residential situations and residential mobility on offenders’ odds of recidivism during the year immediately following their release from prison. Analyses of data collected on a statewide sample of offenders released under supervision in Ohio generated results favoring a control perspective. Both residential mobility and residential situations such as living with a spouse or parent were relevant for understanding differences among offenders in their odds of recidivism. Stable characteristics of offenders such as gender and prior criminal history were also linked to recidivism.

A Comparison of Chinese Immigrants’ Perceptions of the Police in New York City and Toronto
Doris C. Chu and John Huey-Long Song

During the past several decades, research on immigrant adaptation and incorporation experience within different host societies has proliferated. Nevertheless, studies comparing how immigrants interact with law enforcement in the largest cities, respectively, in the United States and Canada do not seem to exist. In an attempt to bridge the gap in past literature, this study examines the differences of Chinese immigrants’ perceptions of the police in New York City and Toronto. Analyzing data gathered from 444 Chinese immigrants (151 from New York City and 293 from Toronto), this study compared Chinese immigrants’ attitudes toward police efficacy and their overall perceptions in both cities. The findings indicated that Chinese immigrants in Toronto held more positive overall perceptions of the police than did their counterparts in New York City. With regard to police efficacy in dealing with crime, there were no significant attitudinal differences in Chinese immigrants between New York City and Toronto. Policy implications were discussed.

Assessing the Impact of Changes in Gender Equality on Female Homicide Victimization: 1980-2000
Lynne M. Vieraitis, Sarah Britto, and Robert G. Morris

Numerous studies have tested the feminist hypothesis that gender inequality affects homicide rates by analyzing Census and Uniform Crime Report data for a single time period. Although these “snapshot” tests are important, they do not capture the “change” element that is implied by these hypotheses. According to feminist perspectives, gender inequality and gender equality could increase homicide rates, the former increasing the structural disadvantage of women relative to men and the latter representing a “backlash” effect. Women’s absolute status may also be an important predictor of homicide victimization. Furthermore, it is quite possible that this process is dynamic and therefore the change in equality over time may be more important than the actual level of equality at any given time. The present study measures the impact of gender equality and women’s absolute status on female homicide victimization using city-level data from 1980 to 2000. In general, the results suggest that changes in gender equality and women’s absolute status have decreased women’s rate of homicide victimization, and the negative effect of gender equality appears to have grown stronger over time; however, these results are not uniform across victim–offender relationships.

Testing Ecological Theories of Offender Spatial Decision Making Using a Discrete Choice Model
Shane D. Johnson and Lucia Summers

Research demonstrates that crime is spatially concentrated. However, most research relies on information about where crimes occur, without reference to where offenders reside. This study examines how the characteristics of neighborhoods and their proximity to offender home locations affect offender spatial decision making. Using a discrete choice model and data for detected incidents of theft from vehicles (TFV), we test predictions from two theoretical perspectives—crime pattern and social disorganization theories. We demonstrate that offenders favor areas that are low in social cohesion and closer to their home, or other age-related activity nodes. For adult offenders, choices also appear to be influenced by how accessible a neighborhood is via the street network. The implications for criminological theory and crime prevention are discussed.

Crime & Delinquency 61(2)

Crime & Delinquency, March 2015: Volume 61, Issue 2

How do Former Inmates Perform in the Community? A Survival Analysis of Rearrests, Reconvictions, and Technical Parole Violations
Michael Ostermann

This study provides insight into the postrelease performance of all former inmates with available data who were released from a prison in New Jersey in 2006 (N = 12,187). Three indicators of recidivism are considered: (a) an arrest for a new crime, (b) a conviction for a new crime, and (c) a technical parole violation. Individuals are categorized into groups according to the release mechanism that they experienced: discretionary parole, mandatory parole, or unconditional release. Multivariate analyses utilize Cox proportional hazards survival tests. Results indicate that after approximately 3 years of follow-up time, those released to supervision were generally less involved in new crimes when compared with those who were released unconditionally. However, a high proportion of those who were paroled recidivated shortly after release, and the predicted probability that a former inmate would recidivate did not substantially differ between release groups in the presence of statistical controls.

Participation in the Community Social Control, the Neighborhood Watch Groups: Individual- and Neighborhood-Related Factors
Ji Hyon Kang

Studies confirm differences between participants and nonparticipants in voluntary organizations in general as well as those for crime prevention. Participants are more stable, longer residents, and attached residents with better socioeconomic status. Yet, previous studies have not thoroughly considered neighborhood conditions. A few studies show the overall participation-rate differences across neighborhoods without considering whether individuals residing in neighborhoods with different conditions show dissimilar patterns of participation. In addition, studies rarely consider the crime-related problems of communities. This study examines the differences between participants and nonparticipants in neighborhood crime-prevention associations with particular attention paid to the neighborhood-related factors, including crime problems. In addition, whether individual-related characteristics show the same or similar impact on participation when the community social context is in consideration is another question to be answered. It is revealed that individual- and neighborhood-related factors differentiate the residents’ participation. In particular, crime problems of the neighborhood affect participation in crime-prevention associations.

Officer Race Versus Macro-Level Context: A Test of Competing Hypotheses About Black Citizens’ Experiences With and Perceptions of Black Police Officers
Rod K. Brunson and Jacinta M. Gau

It has been proposed that hiring more Black police officers is an effective way to alleviate long-standing tensions between police and African Americans because Black officers will connect with Black citizens and treat them well. This hypothesis, however, fails to account for the macro-level context of the troubled locations in which African Americans disproportionately reside and wherein police–minority citizen problems are deep seated. The present study examines two competing hypotheses concerning the influence ofofficer race relative to that of ecological context in shaping African Americans’ experiences with and perceptions of local police. These hypotheses are testedusing in-depth interview data with Black residents of a majority-Black, high-crime, economically troubled city. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Inside the Black Box: Identifying the Variables That Mediate the Effects of an Experimental Intervention for Adolescents
Carter Hay, Xia Wang, Emily Ciaravolo, and Ryan C. Meldrum

In recent decades, researchers have identified many programs that successfully reduce juvenile delinquency. Evaluations of these programs generally do not, however, assess the mediating variables that intervene between program participation and reduced delinquency. Thus, although much insight has been gained on which programs are effective, the question of why they are effective is often neglected. This study addresses this issue by considering the risk factors that mediate the effects of a comprehensive intervention on juvenile offending. This was considered with data from the Children at Risk program, a 2-year multimodal intervention with random assignment that has been shown to reduce delinquency among high-risk early adolescents.

Reconceptualizing Victimization and Victimization Responses
Heather Zaykowski

Research consistently demonstrates that severity, often measured by victim injury, is the most influential factor to predict reporting crimes to the police. However, less is known with regard to how the victim’s perception of the incident or their involvement in offending behavior inhibits this decision. The current study examines how traditional indicators (i.e., victim, offender and incident characteristics), the victim’s offending behavior, and perceptual measures influence police awareness of criminal victimization. Results suggest that victim injury and offending status does not significantly predict police awareness when subjective measures are controlled. However, multiple offenders, community crime, and parental knowledge significantly increased the odds that the police were aware that the victimization occurred.

The Triangulation Effects of Family Structure and Attachment on Adolescent Substance Use
Tiffiney Barfield-Cottledge

Travis Hirshi’s control theory hypothesizes that weak attachment to social control mechanisms increase the likelihood of crime and delinquency commission. The current study examined the effect of family structure and attachment on adolescent substance use, specifically hard liquor and drug use. Youth respondents between the ages of 15 and 18 years from the National Survey of Youth were included in the analyses (N = 1,036). The sample on which analyses were conducted comprised female (n = 498) and male (n = 538) respondents. For both male and female respondents, findings revealed that the family attachment variable emerged as a more significant predictor of adolescent alcohol and marijuana use (p < .05) when compared with the family structure variable.

Crime & Delinquency 61(1)

Crime & Delinquency, February 2015: Volume 61, Issue 1

An Examination of the Interaction Between Morality and Deterrence in Offending: A Research Note
Robert Svensson

This study examines whether deterrence and morality interact in the explanation of adolescent offending. On the basis of the Situational Action Theory, the author hypothesizes that deterrence is more effective in preventing offending among individuals with low levels of morality than among individuals with high levels of morality. To test this hypothesis, self-report data are used from a sample of young adolescents in Halmstad, Sweden (N = 891). The findings provide strong support for the hypothesis that the effect of deterrence (measured as the perceived risk of getting caught, that is, “certainty”) on offending is dependent on the individual’s level of morality, indicating that deterrence has a significantly stronger effect on offending for individuals with low levels of morality than for individuals with higher levels of morality.

An Examination of the Micro-Level Crime–Fear of Crime Link
Jihong Solomon Zhao, Brian Lawton, and Dennis Longmire

Since the late 1960s, crime has been hypothesized to be associated with fear of crime. However, little research has been available to test this assumption at the individual level of analysis. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between crime and fear of crime using data collected from a random telephone survey of local residents in the city of Houston. The authors investigate if there is an impact of an individual’s spatial proximity to crime on fear of crime also measured at the individual level. To be more specific, the authors examine the crime–fear of crime link using three types of crime—violent crime, property crime, and disorder crime. Both the residence of respondents and crime events are spatially located, allowing the authors to construct a buffer surrounding the respondent’s residence to obtain the number of crime incidents that occur within a 528-foot (1/10th of a mile) radius of the residence. In addition, the authors explore the relationship between spatial distribution of actual crime events and individual fear of crime at 0.5-mile radius and 1.0-mile radius of each respondent who participated in the telephone interview. The findings suggest that a person’s proximity to crime incidents has a significant impact on fear of crime among respondents interviewed. Furthermore, the magnitudes of coefficients show that different types of crime (violent crime, property crime, and disorder crime) have similar impacts on fear of crime.

Neighborhood Conditions and Fear of Crime: A Reconsideration of Sex Differences
Karen A. Snedker

Research indicates that men and women commonly express different amounts of fear about crime. This article explores the sex difference in fear of crime levels by assessing differences in fear of crime in relation to urban environments. Using data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics Criminal Victimization and Perceptions of Community Safety, the present analysis employs multinomial logistic regressions to examine gradations in two measures of fear of crime. Some aspects of the neighborhood environment do differentially influence men and women’s fear of crime levels, including serious crime in the neighborhood, physical and social disorder. Findings highlight that women’s greater fear of crime is partially due to higher perceived risks through signals of neighborhood conditions.

Problem-Oriented Policing in Colorado Springs: A Content Analysis of 753 Cases
Edward R. Maguire, Craig D. Uchida, and Kimberly D. Hassell

Problem-oriented policing (POP) has generated substantial attention from practitioners, scholars, and policy makers. A growing body of research is beginning to cast doubt on the extent to which this reform has been implemented in police agencies as prescribed by reformers. This study presents findings from an analysis of POP in the Colorado Springs Police Department, one of the national leaders of POP in the United States. The principal form of evidence is a systematic content analysis of case summaries and reports completed by police officers in 753 POP cases in Colorado Springs. The results point to a set of common roadblocks in the implementation of POP, as well as more general patterns that seem to influence the implementation of police reform.

Sentencing Asian Offenders in State Courts: The Influence of a Prevalent Stereotype
Travis W. Franklin and Noelle E. Fearn

A significant body of literature has developed to explain the controversial issue of sentencing disparity among various racial/ethnic groups. According to the focal concerns perspective, judges may rely on race-based stereotypes, among other factors, in reaching sentencing outcomes. This contention has received support by the empirical literature when examining sentencing differences that emerge between similarly situated White, Black, and Hispanic offenders. Unfortunately, very little research has addressed the relative treatment of Asian offenders to determine whether stereotypes that commonly target these individuals—particularly the “model minority” stereotype—emerge as a potential extralegal factor in judicial sentencing decisions. To address this shortcoming, the current study employs a large sample of offenders processed by state courts to examine the sentencing of Asians relative to White, Black, and Hispanic offenders. Findings are consistent with a focal concerns/model minority perspective and indicate that Asians are, in fact, treated more leniently than other racial/ethnic groups at the incarceration decision. This extralegal disparity, however, does not emerge during the sentence length decision. Implications for theory, policy, and future research are discussed.

The Relationship Between Citizen Perceptions of Collective Efficacy and Neighborhood Violent Crime
Todd A. Armstrong, Charles M. Katz, and Stephen M. Schnebly

The current work assesses the relationship between respondent perceptions of collective efficacy and neighborhood violence. Data used in the analysis combined a community survey from Mesa, Arizona, with census data. Factor analysis provided mixed evidence regarding the factor structure of collective efficacy; therefore, separate regression models were used to test the influence of collective efficacy, social cohesion, and willingness to intervene on levels of neighborhood violence. Analyses found that community structural characteristics including concentrated disadvantage and residential instability significantly predicted perceptions of collective efficacy, social cohesion, and willingness to intervene. In turn each of these variables was related to violent crime after controlling for levels of concentrated disadvantage, residential instability, and individual demographic characteristics. When social cohesion and willingness to intervene were included in a single regression model, only social cohesion was predictive of neighborhood violence. Social cohesion and violent crime had reciprocal effects that were both negative and statistically significant.

Adjusting for Unit Non-Response in Surveys Through Weighting

Danielle Marie Carkin and Paul E. Tracy

Unit non-response is a serious problem in survey research. This article validates the necessity of adjusting for unit non-response in disproportionate stratified sampling designs through the use of sample weights. Using data from the 1958 Birth Cohort study, we demonstrate that sample data which are affected by unit non-response can be a poor representation of population parameters. These non-response effects can be addressed through the application of sample weights.

Crime & Delinquency 60(8)

Crime & Delinquency, December 2014: Volume 60, Issue 8

Restorativeness, Procedural Justice, and Defiance as Predictors of Reoffending of Participants in Family Group Conferences
Natalie Kroovand Hipple, Jeff Gruenewald, and Edmund F. McGarrell

Prior research has suggested that family group conferences (FGCs), a particular form of restorative justice, hold promise in reducing reoffending among youths, at least for some types of offenses. Most prior research, however, has simply assessed whether participation in a FGC resulted in reduced rates of reoffending compared with control or comparison groups in court or diversion programs. These prior recidivism studies have largely left unaddressed the characteristics of the FGCs that may produce differences in reoffending. The exceptions are two studies, from New Zealand and Australia, respectively, that relied on variation analyses to assess whether differences in the FGC processes affected future offending. This research builds on these two studies and tests as to whether FGC characteristics derived from reintegrative shaming, procedural justice, and defiance theory account for variations in reoffending. The data have been obtained from a sample of youths (N = 215) who participated in a FGC as part of the Indianapolis Juvenile Restorative Justice Experiment (IJRJE). The findings suggest that the more the FGC appeared to follow principles of restorativeness and procedural fairness and avoided defiance, the less reoffending occurred. Specifically, offense type and conference restorativeness influenced the probability of recidivism at 6 months, whereas offense type and race influenced the probability of recidivism at 24 months.

Toward a Comprehensive Model on Stalking Acknowledgment: A Test of Four Models
Fawn T. Ngo

Using a sample of national stalking victims, this study draws from four general models applied in previous works on sexual harassment acknowledgment to propose a comprehensive model of stalking acknowledgment. The results indicate that the type of stalking behaviors, personal characteristics of victims, negative emotions experienced by victims, and changes in perceptions due to the intrusive behaviors are significant correlates of stalking acknowledgment. Implications of findings relating to the qualification of legal definitions of stalking and stalking reportage are also discussed.

Things Change: An Intergenerational Examination of the Correlates of Police Contact
Wendi Pollock

From demographics, to technology, to attitudes, the U.S. population has changes since the 1970s. Over the past 40 years, policing has also changed to include more individuals who are female and non-White. Despite all of the changes, no study has yet been conducted to determine whether predictors of police contact, including factors such as race and gender, are consistent over time. The current study used multilevel Bernoulli models and logistic regression to examine two generations of respondents from the National Youth Survey Family Study. Results indicate some consistency in predictors of police contact between the two generations, with two notable exceptions: gender and socioeconomic status. Implications for police policy and practice are discussed.

Criminality and Family Formation: Effects of Marriage and Parenthood on Criminal Behavior for Men and Women
Mioara Zoutewelle-Terovan, Victor van der Geest, Aart Liefbroer, and Catrien Bijleveld

In this article, the authors study the effects of family formation on criminal careers for 540 high-risk men and women in the Netherlands. In a prospective design, spanning 21 years, the authors analyzed complete data on offending, marriage, parenthood, and a large set of background information. Random effects were used to model the relation between family-life events and offending, controlling for possible confounders. Findings for men support the hypothesis that marriage promotes desistance from serious offending. Males additionally benefit from parenthood, and from having a first child in particular. Furthermore, although parenthood reduces offending more strongly than marriage, the “full family package” brings the most benefit. Female offending patterns were not significantly influenced by marital status or motherhood.

Probation Supervision and the Control of Crime Opportunities: An Empirical Assessment
Joel Miller

Mainstream accounts of community corrections supervision emphasize rehabilitation on the one hand, and surveillance and control on the other.This article, however, examines whether probation supervision is used to reduce the exposure of offenders to crime opportunities. Using data from a national community corrections survey, it finds that opportunity-focused supervision (OFS) practices are, to varying degrees, common. Most OFS activities coalesce around a distinct strategy that involves harnessing efforts of potential handlers, place managers, and capable guardians to help steer offenders away from crime opportunities, deployed somewhat independently of conventional supervision strategies. Predictors of the OFS strategy are different from other supervision approaches, and include low caseloads, juvenile supervision, and working in an office serving a rural area.

The Effect of Sanctions on Police Misconduct
Christopher J. Harris and Robert E. Worden

Police disciplinary systems are predicated on the notion of deterrence, particularly that officers more severely sanctioned for misconduct will be less likely to repeat those behaviors compared with less severely or unsanctioned officers. Using retrospective, longitudinal data from a large police department in the northeastern United States, we explore whether this fundamental assumption of police disciplinary systems is supported. Specifically, we examine both the likelihood and timing of complaints filed against officers who had obtained at least one complaint in their career that was sustained (i.e., upheld in an investigation), and compare outcomes of sanction severity on future sustained complaints. The results demonstrate that while a few demographic and complaint characteristics significantly affect the likelihood and timing of future misconduct in expected ways, officers who received more severe sanctions were actually more likely to obtain an additional sustained complaint when compared with nonsanctioned officers. Why this is the case is unclear from the data, but the most plausible explanation is that the perceived injustice of the disciplinary system may actually promote officer deviance.

Crime & Delinquency 60(7)

Crime & Delinquency, October 2014: Volume 60, Issue 7

Magnetic Facilities: Identifying the Convergence Settings of Juvenile Delinquents
Gisela Bichler, Aili Malm, and Janet Enriquez

Facilities that draw youth from different communities are prone to become offender convergence settings and intercity crime generators. Applying network analysis to self-nominated hangouts of 5,082 delinquent youth residing in Southern California revealed specific facilities acting as regional convergence settings. A small number of magnetic locations (measured by popularity and breadth of appeal) enable the congregation and interaction of youth that would otherwise not be exposed to each other. As predicted, the sociocirculatory structure of place networks remains relatively constant over time. In-degree and betweenness centrality statistics offer a viable analytic strategy to identify facilities operating as stable regional convergence locations. Crime prevention programs invoking effective place management through ordinances may offer a way to publicly govern these private facilities.

Policing Domestic Violence in the Post-SARP Era: The Impact of a Domestic Violence Police Unit
M. Lyn Exum, Jennifer L. Hartman, Paul C. Friday, and Vivian B. Lord

During the Spousal Assault Replication Program, the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, was identified as a site where arrest did not deter misdemeanor domestic violence. Shortly after these findings were published, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department developed a Domestic Violence (DV) unit to combat the problem of intimate partner violence. The mission of the Charlotte DV unit is to reduce future offending through intensive investigation and victim assistance. The current study evaluates the impact of the Charlotte DV unit versus standard patrol on official accounts of offender recidivism in a random sample of 891 domestic violence cases. Controlling for offender demographics, prior criminal history, case severity, and additional criminal justice responses, suspects processed through the DV unit had significantly lower rates of re-offending across an 18- to 30-month follow-up period. Theoretical explanations for the DV unit effect are proposed.

Risk Assessment of Girls: Are There Any Sex Differences in Risk Factors for Re-offending and in Risk Profiles?
Claudia E. van der Put, Maja Deković, Machteld Hoeve, Geert Jan J. M. Stams, Peter H. van der Laan, and Femke E. M. Langewouters

The aims of this study were (a) to investigate sex differences in risk factors for re-offending and (b) to provide a risk assessment model for girls. The data of 1,396 adolescents who committed a criminal offense were examined. Both generic and sex-specific risk factors for re-offending were found. The girl-specific risk factors are located mainly in the family domain. These girl-specific risk factors turn out to be by far the most important predictors for re-offending for girls. The risk assessment model divides girls into four different risk groups: a low risk group (containing 65% of the girls) and three high risk groups (girls with delinquent parents, victims of abuse, and repeat offenders), each showing a specific set of risk factors, which suggests the need for specific interventions.

A Sociological Theory of Drug Sales, Gifts, and Frauds
Scott Jacques and Richard Wright

The transfer of drugs from one person to another does not always involve a fair sale. Gifts and frauds are also common. Although the rationality perspective has dominated and made important contributions to the study of drug transfer, this article proposes a new theory of drug sales, gifts, and frauds. The theoretical lens of pure sociology is used to find social structural patterns in qualitative data obtained from a study of middle- and lower class drug dealers. Based on that data, the authors suggest that the social status of drug procurers and their social distance from drug dealers affect (a) whether the transfer is a gift, sale, or fraud and (b) the size of the gift, the price of the sale, and the seriousness of the fraud. Implications for future research are discussed.

Prison Architecture and Inmate Misconduct: A Multilevel Assessment
Robert G. Morris and John L. Worrall

Researchers have not yet devoted sufficient attention to the effect of prison architecture on inmate misconduct. Using data from the population of male prisoners in Texas, the authors explored the association between two prison architectural design types (as determined by satellite imagery) and inmate misconduct. The results from multilevel statistical analyses suggest that architectural design is associated with nonviolent misconduct but not violent misconduct. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Rape and Gender Conflict in a Patriarchal State
Richard R. Johnson

The handling of rape by the criminal justice system may be intimately intertwined with the gender inequality found in patriarchal communities. The present study examined the empirical relationship between female sociopolitical power and the rape rates and rape case clearance rates of 105 counties in an agrarian state with a reputation for patriarchal culture. The results suggested that, after controlling for contextual variables, counties with higher levels of female sociopolitical power also experienced higher rates of rape, and lower proportions of rape cases cleared by an arrest. The findings suggested that women in patriarchal communities experience a backlash effect as they achieve progress toward gender equality.

Crime & Delinquency 60(6)

Crime & Delinquency, September 2014: Volume 60, Issue 6

Recidivism Among Released State Prison Inmates Who Received Mental Health Treatment While Incarcerated
William H. Fisher, Stephanie W. Hartwell, Xiaogang Deng, Debra A. Pinals, Carl Fulwiler, and Kristen Roy-Bujnowski

This study assesses the likelihood of rearrest among a cohort of all adults (N = 1,438) released from the Massachusetts state prison system who received mental health services while they were incarcerated. All individuals were followed for 24 months. The analysis focused on four classes of variables: demographic characteristics, clinical history, criminal justice history, and postrelease supervision. These analyses showed that criminal history factors—a juvenile record and a history of multiple previous incarcerations—were significant risk factors, but that clinical factors, including a history of substance abuse, were not. Overall, the models developed here look much like the ones that would be observed in the general offender population. The implications of these findings for criminal justice and mental health policy are discussed.

Using a Criminally Involved Population to Examine the Relationship Between Race/Ethnicity, Structural Disadvantage, and Methamphetamine Use
Andrew M. Fox and Nancy Rodriguez

Limited empirical focus has been given to identifying individual and structural correlates of methamphetamine use. Although race (i.e., being White) is one of the most distinguishing characteristics of methamphetamine users, few studies have examined whether race/ethnicity is a significant predictor of such illicit drug use. Research has also shown that cocaine and opiate use is associated with disadvantage; however, studies have yet to examine the relationship between structural disadvantage and methamphetamine use. Using national data from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program, this study examines the prevalence of methamphetamine and explores the relationship between race/ethnicity, structural disadvantage, and methamphetamine use. Findings reveal that race/ethnicity and structural disadvantage are significant predictors of methamphetamine use. Additionally, findings show an interactive effect between race/ethnicity, structural disadvantage, and methamphetamine use. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Period Effects in the Impact of Vietnam-Era Military Service on Crime Over the Life Course
Leana Allen Bouffard

Many life course studies are based on a few cohorts of individuals born in the early part of the 20th century. Despite the significance of military service in the life course, few studies have addressed the consequences of military service on offending trajectories. This study explores the relationship between military service and patterns of offending in three cohorts of men. Analyses examine both the impact of military service as well as the potential period effects of service during different periods of the Vietnam War. Results suggest that between-individual differences in military service significantly affect criminal behavior. However, the specific direction of the effect depends on when during the Vietnam era these men entered the military. Implications of these results are discussed.

The Subjective Impact of Contact With the Criminal Justice System: The Role of Gender and Stigmatization
Andrew James McGrath

Labeling theory suggests that contact with the criminal justice system leads to feelings of stigmatization, which will consequently have the counterproductive effect of increasing offending. The current study investigated this phenomenon by (a) interviewing 394 young people sentenced in the New South Wales Children’s Court about their emotional reactions to the experience and (b) testing whether differences in these emotional reactions were related to increases or decreases in reoffending. It was found that feeling stigmatized after the hearing was a significant predictor of reoffending for the young women, but not the young men, in the sample. In addition, young men with previous convictions who reported feeling stigmatized were less likely to reoffend. The implications of these findings for the way in which young offenders are treated are discussed.

Comparative Effectiveness of California’s Proposition 36 and Drug Court Programs Before and After Propensity Score Matching
Elizabeth Evans, Libo Li, Darren Urada, and M. Douglas Anglin

California’s voter-initiated Proposition 36 (Prop 36) program is often unfavorably compared with drug courts but little is empirically known about the comparative effectiveness of the two approaches. Using statewide administrative data, analyses were conducted on all Prop 36 and drug court offenders with official records of arrest and drug treatment. Propensity score matching was used to create equivalent groups, enabling comparisons of success at treatment discharge, recidivism over 12 months posttreatment entry, and the magnitude of behavioral changes. Significant behavioral improvements occurred for both Prop 36 and drug court offenders, but although more Prop 36 offenders were successful at discharge, more recidivated over a period of 12 months. Core programmatic differences likely contributed to the differences in outcomes. Policy implications are discussed.

Sedentary Activities, Peer Behavior, and Delinquency Among American Youth
Robert G. Morris and Matthew C. Johnson

Delinquent behavior of one’s peers is one of the most robust predictors of adolescent delinquency. However, no study to date has explored the role of this relationship among those who engage in high rates of nonproductive sedentary activities (e.g., video gaming, TV viewing, and watching movies); a growing public health concern. Here, this issue is explored using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Findings support a direct relationship between certain sedentary behaviors and most types of delinquency. Furthermore, results indicate that the impact of peer delinquency on adolescent delinquency is partially confounded by above-average participation in computer gaming. Implications for research on sedentary behavior and delinquency (regarding both policy and theory development) are discussed in the context of cultural evolution into the digital age.

Crime & Delinquency 60(5)

Crime & Delinquency, August 2014: Volume 60, Issue 5

Using Cognitive Interviewing to Explore Causes for Racial Differences on the MAYSI-2
Henrika McCoy

Prior research indicated that African American and Caucasian youth respond differently to items on the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument–Version 2 (MAYSI-2), a mental health screening tool used nationwide in juvenile justice systems, thus possibly affecting mental health need identification. To explore the cause for the differences, cognitive interviews were conducted with eight African American and eight Caucasian male juvenile detainees, aged 12 to 16 years, from two Midwestern detention facilities. Results indicate differences in how both groups interpreted certain mental health symptoms and the dimension of time. Both groups also similarly misinterpreted and were suspicious of some items. To address these issues, the MAYSI-2 could benefit from further examination and development.

Organizational Failure and the Disbanding of Local Police Agencies
William R. King

Police organizations are a ubiquitous aspect of the landscape of criminal justice in the United States. Yet, little attention has been paid to the failure of police agencies and the consequences of such failure. This article uses structural contingency theory and organizational institutional theory to explore why 31 police agencies were disbanded during the 1990s. The findings indicate that agencies disband because they face significant environmental changes in their contingency and institutional environments. Contingency reasons for disbanding are mostly related to budgetary constraints. Institutional reasons usually involve agencies that engage in behaviors that violate the expectations of powerful sovereigns. Overall, police agencies disband because they cannot adapt to changes in their contingency and institutional environments or they change in inappropriate ways, and their small organizational size does not provide a sufficient buffer against external intrusion from the institutional environment, which results in disbanding.

Indeterminate and Determinate Sentencing Models: A State-Specific Analysis of Their Effects on Recidivism
Yan Zhang, Lening Zhang, and Michael S. Vaughn

This article compares the effects of indeterminate and determinate sentencing models on recidivism using a measure of parole board discretionary release and mandatory parole release under each sentencing model. Data collected from Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994: United States are used to conduct a state-specific comparison of the two release programs in six mixed-sentencing states. The results indicate that the effects of different sentencing models significantly vary across the six states. Whereas mandatory parole release was more likely to have a deterrent effect on recidivism in Maryland and Virginia, parole board discretionary release was more effective in New York and North Carolina. Release programs in Oregon and Texas showed no significant differences in their effects on recidivism.

Do More Police Lead to More Crime Deterrence?
Gary Kleck and J. C. Barnes

Does increasing police strength deter more crime? Some studies have found apparent negative effects of police manpower levels on crime rates, and the most common explanation of such findings is that greater police strength increases perceptions of arrest risk, thus reducing crime via general deterrence mechanisms. The authors directly tested this hypothesis by estimating the association between survey respondents’ perceptions of arrest risk and the level of police strength prevailing in the counties where they live. No relationship between the number of police officers per capita and perceptions of the risk of arrest was found, suggesting that increases in police manpower will not increase general deterrent effects and decreases will not reduce these effects. The authors also considered the possibility that police manpower levels influence the number of criminals incarcerated, and thus affect crime rates via the incapacitative effects of incarceration, but concluded that such an effect is unlikely. These findings point to a need to reconsider previous interpretations of findings as supportive of a deterrent effect of increased police manpower on crime rates.

Placing the Neighborhood Accessibility–Burglary Link in Social-Structural Context
Jeffrey T. Ward, Matt R. Nobles, Tasha J. Youstin, and Carrie L. Cook

Foundational research on the link between neighborhood accessibility and burglary has consistently shown a positive association. However, recent research has found that less accessible neighborhoods have higher burglary rates. Geographically referenced data from 401 neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Florida, are used to determine whether these inconsistencies can be explained by a conditioning effect of neighborhood social-structural context. Results from spatially lagged regression models indicate that neighborhood accessibility fails to have a direct effect on burglary rates after social-structural variables are controlled; rather, the effect of neighborhood accessibility on burglary rates is conditioned by the level of concentrated disadvantage of the neighborhood. Two potential explanations for the empirical findings are offered, and implications of the results for “designing out” crime are discussed.

Violent Video Games, Catharsis Seeking, Bullying, and Delinquency: A Multivariate Analysis of Effects
Christopher J. Ferguson, Cheryl K. Olson, Lawrence A. Kutner, and Dorothy E. Warner

The effects of violent video game exposure on youth aggression remain an issue of significant controversy and debate. It is not yet clear whether violent video games uniquely contribute to long-term youth aggression or whether any relationship is better explained through third variables such as aggressive personality or family environment. The current study examines the influence of violent video game exposure on delinquency and bullying behavior in 1,254 seventh- and eighth-grade students. Variables such as parental involvement, trait aggression, stress, participation in extracurricular activities, and family/peer support were also considered. Results indicated that delinquent and bullying behavior were predicted by the child’s trait aggression and stress level. Violent video game exposure was not found to be predictive of delinquency or bullying, nor was level of parental involvement. These results question the commonly held belief that violent video games are related to youth delinquency and bullying.

The Criminal Victimization–Depression Sequela: Examining the Effects of Violent Victimization on Depression With a Longitudinal Propensity Score Design
Andy Hochstetler, Matt DeLisi, Gloria Jones-Johnson, and W. Roy Johnson

Drawing on three waves of survey data, the authors examined the effects of criminal victimization on depression. First, the authors developed a structural equation model to determine whether criminal victimization predictsdepression. Second, recognizing that victimization is contingent on background factors, they tested whether victimization, conceptualized as an assigned treatment, has significant effects on depression, using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW). In structural equation modeling equations, victimization predicts initial levels of depression and change in depression across waves. In the IPTW regression models, victimization had significant effects on levels of depression. There is considerable evidence to suggest that victimization influences depression, and investigators must be cautious when examining the temporal and selection issues surrounding the effects.

Crime & Delinquency 60(4)

Crime & Delinquency, June 2014: Volume 60, Issue 4

The Ties That Bind: Desistance From Gangs
David C. Pyrooz, Scott H. Decker, and Vincent J. Webb

The present study conceptualizes gang membership in a life-course framework. The authors focus specifically on an understudied aspect of gang membership—desistance. This study’s goal is to further develop our understanding of the process of desisting from gangs. This is done by examining the social and emotional ties that former gang members maintain with their previous gang network. Using a detention sample of juvenile arrestees, the authors first compare differences between 156 current and 83 former gang members at a bivariate level. This is followed by a multivariate analysis of former gang members that (a) examines factors that predict increases of ties to the former gang network and (b) illustrates the importance of gang ties by exploring their effects on victimization. The findings shed light on the correlates and consequences of persisting gang ties. In particular, it is found that ties have direct positive effects on recent victimizations. More important, it is found that longer lengths of desistance matter to the extent that ties are diminished; that is, length of desistance operates indirectly through gang ties to reduce victimization. The study concludes with a discussion of the conceptual and policy implications surrounding gang desistance and how lingering ties to the former gang network are crucial to understanding the desistance process.

It’s Gang Life, But Not As We Know It: The Evolution of Gang Business
James A. Densley

Based on fieldwork with gangs and interviews with gang members in London, United Kingdom, this article illustrates how recreation, crime, enterprise, and extralegal governance represent sequential actualization stages in the evolutionary cycle of street gangs. Gangs evolve from adolescent peer groups and the normal features of street life in their respective neighborhoods. In response to external threats and financial commitments, they grow into drug-distribution enterprises. In some cases, gangs then acquire the necessary special resources of violence, territory, secrecy, and intelligence that enable them to successfully regulate and control the production and distribution of one or more given commodities or services unlawfully. Territory is first claimed then controlled. Likewise, violence is first expressive then instrumental. With each step, gangs move further away from “crime that is organized” and closer to “organized crime.”

Gang Involvement: Social and Environmental Factors
Emma Alleyne and Jane L. Wood

This study examines some of the individual, social, and environmental factors that differentiate gang-involved youth (both gang members and peripheral youth) and nongang youth in a British setting. The authors found that gang-involved youth were more likely than nongang youth to be older, and individual delinquency and neighborhood gangs predicted gang involvement. Using structural equation modeling, the authors examined the relationships between social/environmental factors and gang involvement. As a result, this article found that parental management, deviant peer pressure, and commitment to school had indirect relationships with gang involvement. These findings are discussed as they highlight a need to address the mechanisms in which protective and risk factors function collectively.

The Influence of Gentrification on Gang Homicides in Chicago Neighborhoods, 1994 to 2005
Chris M. Smith

In this study, the author examines the effects of three forms of gentrification—demographic shifts, private investment, and state intervention—on gang-motivated homicides in Chicago from 1994 to 2005 using data from the U.S. Census, the Chicago Police Department, business directories, and the Chicago Housing Authority. The findings suggest that demographic shifts have a strong negative effect on gang homicide. Private investment gentrification, measured here as the proliferation of coffee shops, has a marginally significant and negative effect on gang homicide. In contrast, state-based gentrification, operationalized as the demolition of public housing, has a positive effect on gang homicide.

Latino Street Gang Emergence in the Midwest: Strategic Franchising or Natural Migration?
Mike Tapia

This article explores the role of migration in the recent emergence of Latino street gangs in a large, Midwestern city. Like many other places in the region, Indianapolis, Indiana, has witnessed the growing presence of Latino street gangs over the past decade. Seizing on the opportunity to document and analyze the early stages of formation, competing theoretical perspectives on how and why these gangs emerged are evaluated. The work is supplemented by insights gained in ethnographic work with Latino gang members, nongang Latino residents, public school employees, and police. The result is a contemporary historiography of Latino gang emergence, framed by a description of the social and structural context in which these groups are situated.

Gang Participation
Ho Lam (Eva) Yiu and Gary D. Gottfredson

Schools that require the most help are often those that have difficulty staffing qualified teachers. Data suggest that many teachers who leave their schools or the profession cite student misbehavior and an unsafe work environment as reasons. Although public attention is not at present focused on problems of gang delinquency in schools—focusing instead on educational funding, teacher quality, and achievement levels—there is every reason to anticipate that gangs, school disorder, and teaching quality are closely linked. This research involves a large probability sample of secondary schools surveyed in 1998 merged with U.S. census data on community characteristics. Multilevel models imply that community demographic influences on individual gang involvement (GI) are largely mediated by school and personal variables. School safety and students’ personal sense of safety emerged as important variables that predicted GI.

Crime & Delinquency 60(3)

Crime & Delinquency, April 2014: Volume 60, Issue 3

Modeling Isomorphism on Policing Innovation: The Role of Institutional Pressures in Adopting Community-Oriented Policing
George W. Burruss and Matthew J. Giblin

Recent research on innovation diffusion points to a number of key factors that stimulate the need for change or facilitate the adoption of innovations. Empirical studies examining the process of innovation—that is, how ideas are spread—are less common and often lack a theoretical foundation. The present study uses institutional theory to develop a model of community-policing adoption in municipal law enforcement agencies. The fit of the institutional model is assessed using secondary data and structural equation modeling. The results show that centrist forces—including publications, the professionalization of law enforcement, and other law enforcement agencies—shape the organizational adoption of community-policing reforms. The implications of the research for communicating innovations are addressed.

The Lost Cause? Examining the Southern Culture of Honor Through Defensive Gun Use
Heith Copes, Tomislav V. Kovandzic, J. Mitchell Miller, and Luke Williamson

This article reconsiders the “Southern culture of honor” thesis, which has enjoyed prevalence in the social sciences since the first half of the 20th century. The bulk of researchers investigating the link among Southern residence, culture of honor, and violence have focused on attitudinal measures of violence through surveys and ethnographic experiments indicating preferences and opinions toward engaging in hypothesized violence. The current research measures respondents’ actual violent behaviors in a national survey of defensive gun use (DGU). Although the results failed to support a relationship between Southern residence and defensive gun use, respondents’ age and victimization were significant. This finding is dissonant with the historical literature that suggests that the rural Southern White male is prone to a violent defense of honor; as such, the article orients discussion around the further theoretical advancement of the culture-of-honor perspective.

Shelter During the Storm: A Search for Factors That Protect At-Risk Adolescents From Violence
Marvin D. Krohn, Alan J. Lizotte, Shawn D. Bushway, Nicole M. Schmidt, and Matthew D. Phillips

Using data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, the authors show that trajectories of past violence predict future violence better than other more traditional measures of risk. The authors then evaluate whether factors that can be manipulated during this time can both promote less violence for all individuals as well as protect against violence among those who are most at risk for more violence. This article finds that several factors protect youth from violent behavior but not from gun or weapon carrying. Implications of these findings for future research on risk and protective factors of youth violence and for strategies for preventing such behavior are discussed.

Do State Policies Matter in Prosecutor-Reported Juvenile Marijuana Case Disposition?
Yvonne M. Terry-McElrath, Jamie F. Chriqui, Hannalori Bates, and Duane C. McBride

This article examines outcomes for first-time juvenile marijuana possession offenders based on relationships between state policy and local prosecutor self-reported decision making. Specifically, relationships between state statutory penalty data for low-level marijuana possession offenses and prosecutor-reported case outcomes for first-offender juvenile marijuana possession cases are examined. A national sample of prosecutors was interviewed in 2000. Analyses included state statutory policy data in effect as of January 1, 1999, as well as community sociodemographic controls. Results indicated that state statutory policy significantly related to prosecutor-reported juvenile court processing as well as diversion and transfer to criminal court. State statutory policy appears to play a significant role among the legal, resource, and extralegal factors that affect prosecutorial discretion regarding juvenile substance offenders.

Policing Juveniles: Domestic Violence Arrest Policies, Gender, and Police Response to Child–Parent Violence
Kevin J. Strom, Tara D. Warner, Lisa Tichavsky, and Margaret A. Zahn

This study analyzed the National Incident Based Reporting System data from 2000 to 2004 to determine how domestic violence arrest policies, along with incident, offender, and victim characteristics, influence arrest outcomes in violent incidents committed by juveniles against their parents. The authors’ primary interest was to assess whether the enforcement of domestic violence arrest laws, coupled with increased police involvement in familial disputes, has contributed to the decreasing gender gap in juvenile arrests for violent offenses. Results indicated that domestic violence arrest policies had positive effects on arrest outcomes both for juvenile females and males accused of assaulting a parent, as juveniles were more likely to be arrested in states with mandatory or pro-arrest policies than in states with discretionary arrest policies. However, there was also evidence that, beyond the effects of the domestic arrest laws, girls became increasingly more likely to be arrested for assaults against parents over the 5-year study period relative to boys. The implications for these findings are discussed, including the importance of a better understanding of how police respond to domestic violence incidents involving juveniles.

A Systematic Review of the Juvenile Justice Intervention Literature: What It Can (and Cannot) Tell Us About What Works With Delinquent Youth
Michelle Evans-Chase and Huiquan Zhou

A pool of 141 juvenile justice intervention studies conducted in the United States, utilizing a control group, reporting quantitative outcomes and spanning the years 1996 to 2009 were identified via electronic searches. Study inclusion into the summary of best practices was based on the demonstrated equivalence of study groups (treatment and control) at the start of the study, the equivalence of the study groups at posttest, and the degree to which fidelity to treatment procedures was demonstrated. Of the 141 studies, 120 failed quality review, mostly due to fidelity issues. Of the 21 articles that passed, 76% used a therapeutic approach (vs. behavioral control) to behavioral change, with the treatment group outperforming the control group in 88% of the therapeutic intervention studies.

Demographic Patterns of Cumulative Arrest Prevalence by Ages 18 and 23
Robert Brame, Shawn D. Bushway, Ray Paternoster, and Michael G. Turner

In this study, we examine race, sex, and self-reported arrest histories (excluding arrests for minor traffic violations) from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97; N = 7,335) for the period 1997 through 2008 covering cumulative arrest histories through ages 18 and 23. The analysis produces three key findings: (a) males have higher cumulative prevalence of arrest than females and (b) there are important race differences in the probability of arrest for males but not for females. Assuming that the missing cases are missing at random (MAR), about 30% of Black males have experienced at least one arrest by age 18 (vs. about 22% for White males); by age 23 about 49% of Black males have been arrested (vs. about 38% for White males). Earlier research using the NLSY97 showed that the risk of arrest by age 23 was 30%, with nonresponse bounds [25.3%, 41.4%]. This study indicates that the risk of arrest is not evenly distributed across the population. Future research should focus on the identification and management of collateral risks that often accompany arrest experiences.