bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Liberation/Emancipation, Economic Marginalization, or Less Chivalry
Authors: BOX STEVEN , HALE CHRIS
Published: March 2006

The alleged criminogenic nature of female liberation/emancipation has been tested recently by numerous North American researchers. Not only did the results lead them to different conclusions, but they did not test simultaneously for the effects on female conviction rates of increasing economic marginalization or less chivalrous treatment by the public, police, or courts toward female suspects. Data relating to England and Wales for 1951‐1980 are used to test these competing explanations for changes in female criminality. The results give little support to the emancipation/liberation causes female crime hypothesis, but do provide limited support for the marginalization thesis. However, changes in social labelling appear to have a significant impact on female conviction rates, suggesting that previous researches omitting this possibility were seriously deficient. The authors suggest further research on actual women's lives and behavioral responses as a means of testing the effects of liberation/emancipation and marginalization on female criminal behavior.
Discrepancies Between Crime Reports and Crime Surveys:
Authors: COHEN LAWRENCE E. , LAND KENNETH C.
Published: March 2006

The absence of strong zero‐order associations between victimization and official crime rates for cities has been a puzzle for social scientists since the data for making such comparisons became available. Using the 26 large central cities for which data on both types of rates are available, we analyze the extent to which discrepancies between the rates can be accounted for by aspects of urban social structure that differ from city to city. After introducing such structural controls, we find a much closer correspondence between the two types of rates for motor vehicle theft, robbery, burglary, and forcible rape, but not for aggravated assault and larceny‐theft. These results are explained by citing evidence that we have identified some critical “suppressor” variables for the former crimes (i.e., variables that are positively associated with one type of rate and negatively associated with the other). By contrast, the heterogeneous nature of the phenomena subsumed by the latter two crime categories may preclude identification of a similarly parsimonious list of suppressors. One implication of these conclusions is that cross‐sectional analyses of intercity variation in official rates may produce results that are in reasonably close correspondence with what would be obtained with victimization rates for certain index crimes, provided that sufficient structural control variables are utilized.
Criminal Appeals Over the Last 100 Years:
Authors: MEEKER JAMES W.
Published: March 2006

Among the more popular “political” explanations of increased crime have been the charges that courts have been coddling criminals and handcuffing the police. These accusaticms are often coupled with the general perception that if criminal defendants appeal they will usually win. During the past 20 years there clearly has been an increase in criminal defendant due process rights that have been created largely by the courts. Notwithstanding these developments, are criminal defendants more likely to win than lose on appeal, and has the probability of winning been increasing? This article examines state courts of last resort from 1870 to 1970 to determine both the odds of winning and how they have changed. It also investigates whether these trends are different for the traditional South than for the more liberal states of the Northeast. The data indicate that, in fact, defendants today are far more likely to lose on appeal than they were 100 years ago. In addition, there appears to be little regional variation in criminal appellate outcomes over the last 100 years.
The Fall from Grace
Authors: BENSON MICHAEL L.
Published: March 2006

The processing of white collar offenders by the criminal justice system has been a subject of much controversy in criminology and criminal justice studies. In particular, debate has centered on whether these offenders are more or less stigmatized by indictment, conviction, and sentencing than ordinary offenders. Utilizing a sample of white collar offenders, the effects of conviction and sentencing on the loss of occupational status by offenders are explored. The data indicate that loss of occupational status, as a nonlegal consequence of conviction, is not spread evenly through the offender population. Professionals and those employed in the public sector or in licensed occupations are much more likely to lose occupational status than private businessmen or those employed by private businesses.
Insulation from Labelling
Authors: COVINGTON JEANETTE
Published: March 2006

Deviants have been shown to vary in their reaction to labeling. Some accept societal rejection and proceed to self‐label, while others are seemingly reconciled to their behavior. In this study, 72 heroin addicts in treatment were interviewed to determine their reaction to labeling. It was argued that their acceptance or rejection of labels would be affected by the defense mechanisms that they employed, the degree of formal/informal labelling that they experienced, and their background characteristics. The data were analyzed using multiple regression. Neutralization (externalization of blame) and politicization of the drug problem were found to be effective defenses in minimizing respondent self‐rejection. There was also evidence that formal labelling was less severe in certain treatment environments. Those enrolled in the more medicalized treatment programs (methadone maintenance) were less inclined to self‐rejection. Finally, black users were found to be better able to resist self‐labelling than whites; however, no gender differences emerged.
Urban Environment, Genetics, and Crime
Authors: GABRIELLI WILLIAM F. , MEDNICK SARNOFF A.
Published: March 2006

Gene‐environment interactions are important for the development of much human behavior. We examined the possibility that a genetic propensity to criminal behavior interacts with the type of environment in which an individual is raised. Using a cohort of adoptees, we found evidence for independent contributions of biological parent criminality (genetic influence) and urban environment rearing to prediction of adoptee criminality, but no evidence for a gene‐environment interaction involving these factors.
THE EFFECT OF DROPPING OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL ON SUBSEQUENT CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR*
Authors: THORNBERRY TERENCE P. , MOORE MELANIE , CHRISTENSON R. L.
Published: March 2006

Sociological theories of delinquency offer rather divergent predictions concerning the effect of dropping out of high school on subsequent delinquent and criminal behavior. For example, strain theory suggests that dropping out decreases such behavior, especially for lower class youth, while social control theory suggests that dropping out should increase the chances of criminal activity. Moreover, empirical studies provide support for each of these views with the most influential study (Elliott and Voss, 1974) presenting evidence consistent with a strain perspective. The present investigation identifies methodological shortcomings in previous studies and reexamines the link between dropout status and subsequent criminal activity. Results indicate that dropping out of high school is positively associated with later crime, an outcome that is consistent with a control perspective.
SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY AND DELINQUENCY: A LONGITUDINAL TEST
Authors: AGNEW ROBERT
Published: March 2006

Hirschi's (1969) control theory has received much empirical support and, as a consequence, has become one of the dominant theories of delinquency. Virtually all tests of the theory, however, have been conducted with cross‐sectional data. This is a serious problem since there is good reason to believe that delinquency may have a causal impact on social control. This paper describes a longitudinal test of Hirschi's theory using panel data from a national sample of adolescent boys. Data indicate that the social control variables explain only 1%‐2% of the variance in future delinquency, suggesting that cross‐sectional studies have exaggerated the importance of Hirschi's theory. Possible reasons for the small longitudinal effect of the control variables are discussed.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF FAMILIES AND PEERS TO DELINQUENCY*
Authors: PATTERSON GERALD R. , DISHION THOMAS J.
Published: March 2006

A model is presented that explains the contribution of parents and peers to adolescent delinquent behavior. It is hypothesized that during adolescence a failure in Parent Monitoring and deficits in Social Skills increase the likelihood that a youngster associates with Deviant Peers. Poor Parent Monitoring Deviant Peers, and low levels of Academic Skills are hypothesized to contribute directly to an adolescent's engagement in delinquent behavior, The present model was tested on a sample of 136 seventh and tenth grade male adolescents by using the structural modeling approach in the LISREL IV analysis program (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1978). The major revision of the model was that the correlation between Academic Skills and Parent Monitoring was set to zero. A chi square goodness‐of‐fit test for the revised model showed adequate agreement between the hypothesized model and the observed covariance structure of the data. It was suggested that a number of requirements be completed before accepting the above model: (1) replication of this model on a new set of data, (2) longitudinal analyses showing the hypothesized relations through time, and (3) experimental testing by manipulation of one or more independent variables, as is possible in clinical intervention studies.
CONSENSUS IN CRIME SERIOUSNESS: EMPIRICAL REALITY OR METHODOLOGICAL ARTIFACT?*
Authors: CULLEN FRANCIS T. , LINK BRUCE G. , TRAVIS LAWRENCE F. , WOZNIAK JOHN F.
Published: March 2006

Miethe (1982) has recently argued that the consistent findings of wide‐spread consensus in the rankings of the seriousness of crimes may be more a rejection of the methodological approaches used by past researchers than of actual public sentiments. Building on Miethe's insights, this paper examines the extent to which the nature of the techniques employed to analyze data influences seriousness evaluations. The results indicate that consensus is affected by such factors as the rating task given to the subjects, how consensus is measured, and the type of offense under investigation. In turn these methodological considerations caution against using existing research as the bask either for the verification of consensus theories of justice or for the formulation of sanctioning policy.
COURT CASELOADS, PLEA BARGAINS, AND CRIMINAL SANCTIONS: THE EFFECTS OF SECTION 17 P.C. IN CALIFORNIA*
Authors: MEEKER JAMES W. , PONTELL HENRY N.
Published: March 2006

In an effort to relieve its overburdened superior courts, California introduced a statutory amendment which allowed lesser felonies to be dealt with in lower‐level courts. Using an interrupted time‐series methodology, this study examines the impact of this change in law on caseloads, plea bargaining, conviction rates, and sentencing in the superior courts. After the statutory intervention there was a reduction in superior court caseloads, but the overall rate of plea bargaining remained relatively constant. However, there were substantial changes in types of plea bargains with a decline in fast pleas and a corresponding rise in slow pleas. It was also found that severity of sanctions was related to the changing caseload patterns. Policy and theoretical implications of these and other findings are discussed.
THE EXERCISE OF POWER IN COERCIVE ORGANIZATIONS: A STUDY OF PRISON GUARDS*
Authors: HEPBURN JOHN R.
Published: March 2006

If the power of prison guards has been altered and reduced by recent social, legal, and bureaucratic instructions in American prisons, as has been reported by many observers, then what is the base of power by which guards currently exert control over prisoners? Following a discussion of the bases of power in prison, data from a survey of guards in five prisons are examined to determine the extent to which each power base is viewed as a resource to gain prisoner compliance. The results are discussed in terms of the guards’exercise of control within the increasingly bureaucratic structure of coercive organizations.
REEVALUATING THE CUSTODY‐THERAPY CONFLICT PARADIGM IN CORRECTIONAL MENTAL HEALTH SETTINGS*
Authors: STEADMAN HENRY J. , MORRISSEY JOSEPH P. , ROBBINS PAMELA CLARK
Published: March 2006

It has become almost axiomatic in sociological analyses of interactions between mental health and criminal justice personnel that their respective ideologies are inherently contradictory and produce conflict within organizations in which both groups are working. Because key components of the mental health system have changed dramatically since the seminal research in this area was conducted and because these concepts were never tested in certain criminal justice organizations, many commonly accepted generalizations about custody‐therapy conflicts warrant new examination. Interview and questionnaire data from a national sample of 43 county jails with mental health programs were analyzed. In contrast to earlier research, fundamental conflicts between mental health and correctional staff were not frequent. Rather, Pondy's concept of frictional Conflicts, which are not fundamental to either individual interactions or organizational operations, were more typical. Jails, as short‐term people‐processing organizations, cannot be assumed to fit organizational research results generated from state prisons.
OVERCOMING THE CRISIS IN CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY: TOWARD A GROUNDED LABELING THEORY*
Authors: MELOSSI DARIO
Published: March 2006

It has been said that critical criminology is in a state of crisis The author contends that the theoretical roots of this crisis lie in the failure of critical criminology to come to terms with the interactionist tradition from within which it developed. He shows how the traditional critical‐Marxist critiques of interactionism have failed to comprehend the substance of this approach. Such substance is rooted in the social philosophy of pragmatism, especially in the thought of Mead, and in the reality of 20th‐century social relationships The author proposes that the renewed critical criminology should be based in a grounded labeling theory which is able to foster consideration of both practical and discursive forms of interaction.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GANG AND NONGANG HOMICIDES*
Authors: MAXSON CHERYL L. , GORDON MARGARET A. , KLEIN MALCOLM W.
Published: March 2006

Does gang‐related homicide direr sufficiently from nongang homicide to warrant specialized law enforcement response? Both cross‐tabular and discriminant analyses of data from over 700 homicide investigation files reveal substantial differences in ethnicity, age, number of participants, and relationship between participants. Gang homicides are also more likely to involve public areas, automobiles, firearms, and, in one jurisdiction, associated offenses and injury to other victims. Gang incidents present unique problems to investigators, who may well benefit from specialized skills of experienced gang experts.
SIBLING INTERACTION AND SELFREPORTED DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR: A STUDY OF 265 TWIN PAIRS*
Authors: ROWE DAVID C.
Published: March 2006

The relationship between the quality of twins’mutual attachment and delinquency is examined in a study of 265 twin pairs. It is predicted that twins with stronger mutual attachments will have lower rates of delinquent behavior. Contrary to this prediction, twins’mutual attachment (that is, the frequency with which the twins saw each other in teenage activities) is found to be unrelated to delinquent behavior. The twins often cooperated, however, in their delinquent acts: 61 % of the girls and 79% of the boys reported committing one or more delinquent acts with their twins. In accord with social control theory, social bonds (normlessness, perceived parental acceptance‐rejection, and value placed on academic achievement) are strongly associated with delinquent behavior. Except for male DZ twins, however, these same variables are only weakly associated with twins’mutual attachments. A behavioral genetic analysis of the social bonds indicate both genetic and specific environmental components to their variation but fail to show evidence of a shared environmental component. Implications of these findings are discussed.
THE SOCIAL ECOLOGY OF URBAN HOMICIDE: AN APPLICATION OF THE “ROUTINE ACTIVITIES” APPROACH
Authors: MESSNER STEVEN F. , TARDIFF KENNETH
Published: March 2006

The purpose of this paper is to use the recently developed “routine activities” approach to help interpret patterns of homicide in a major metropolitan area—Manhattan, New York We argue that the routine activities perspective suggests several distinctive hypotheses about the relationships among sociodemographic characteristics of victims, temporal features of the situation, and the probability of being involved in different kinds of homicide. More specifically, we hypothesize that the sociodemographic characteristics of age, sex, race, marital status, and employment status, along with temporal factors such as time of day, day of week and time of year, will be related systematically to the location of homicide (that is, The geographical proximity to the victim's household) and to the victim‐perpetrator relationship (that is, the social proximity of participants: family members, friends, strangers). Detailed data on all recorded homicides occurring in Manhattan during 1981 are examined to evaluate the hypotheses. The results are generally consistent with expectations, indicating that the routine activities approach does indeed provide a useful framework for interpreting the social ecology of urban homicide.
AN ERRORS‐IN‐VARIABLE MODEL OF THE EFFECT OF POVERTY ON URBAN HOMICIDE RATES
Authors: LOFTIN COLIN , PARKER ROBERT NASH
Published: March 2006

Inconsistent findings on the relationship between poverty and violent crime have led some authors to question the presence of a structural relationship. There is reason, however, to believe that many of the existing estimates are biased because measures of poverty contain errors which are confounded with disturbances in the estimated models. In this paper we specify and estimate a model which accommodates the measurement error and provides an instrumental variable estimate of the effects of poverty on homicide rates in the 49 largest cities in the U.S. Compared to similar OLS estimates, the instrumental variable estimates are much larger and fit a model in which poverty increases the homicide rate. The results are similar when homicides are divided into four types: family homicides, other primary homicides, robbery homicides, and other‐felony homicides
THE TIMING OF COURT PROCESSING: TOWARDS LINKING THEORY AND METHOD*
Authors: ZATZ MAJORIE S. , LIZOTTE ALAN J.
Published: March 2006

The time required for a case to traverse the criminal justice system is of central importance to participants. Time translates into issues of efficiency and is likely to be closely related to the cost of a case. The role of time has, however, largely been ignored in studies of court processing, though it has a history in the sociology of law. This research uses event‐history data from California to model the effects of offense, offender, and processing factors on the time it takes to move a case from entrance into the system at arrest to disposition by guilty plea or trial. A model that mirrors the dynamics of case processing is used to assess the dependencies of inertial forces on case and defendant characteristics This focus on the processing time to each of the potential outcomes allows for the linking of theories and methods of processing.
RANDOM ASSIGNMENT, THE LEAST FAIR OF THEM ALL: PRISONERS’ATTITUDES TOWARD VARIOUS CRITERIA OF SELECTION*
Authors: EREZ EDNA
Published: March 2006

This study examines perceptions of fairness and attitudes of offenders toward random assignment as compared to other selection methods used in evaluation research for allocating benefits or assigning inmates to programs. Three hundred and forty‐eight inmates in three federal institutions were randomly selected and presented questionnaires which surveyed their attitudes toward four selection procedures: random assignment; need; merit; and first come, first served. By a large margin, selection according to need was chosen most frequently as the fairest method, followed in order by merit; first come, first served; and random assignment. In addition, all groups who did not choose random assignment as the fairest selection method consistently rated it as the least fair of the four. The results and analysis suggest that researchers who wish to test innovative programs using randomized experiments need to in form the participants of the meaning and value of randomization.
CRIMES, CRIME RATES, ARRESTS, AND ARREST RATIOS: IMPLICATIONS FOR DETERRENCE THEORY*
Authors: DECKER SCOTT H. , KOHFELD CAROL W.
Published: March 2006

The relationship between crimes and arrests is one of the central issues in deterrence theory. There are several conceptual difficulties in attempting to assess whether arrests deter crimes or the number of crimes determine the number of arrests. These problems are compounded when rates are used to measure both variables. The issue is whether criminals respond to arrests or the police respond to changes in crime. The present analysis compares regression results when the variables are measured both as rates and raw numbers for three offenses: homicide, robbery, and burglary. The results indicate that arrests follow crimes. This suggests the need to reexamine some studies that argue that criminals’perceptions of arrest rates are an indication of deterrence.
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL SUPPORTS ON POLICE STRESS*
Authors: CULLEN FRANCIS T. , LEMMING TERRENCE , LINK BRUCE G. , WOZNIAK JOHN F.
Published: March 2006

Utilizing a theoretical perspective (the “social supports model”) increasingly applied by stress researchers in other fields, the present endeavor explores whether social supports operate to shield officers from the stresses emanating from police work To investigate this issue, 91 suburban officers were administered a questionnaire that contained scales measuring four job‐related stressors, four types of social supports, and two forms of psychological stress—work and life. With regard to the stressors, the data analysis revealed that feelings of dangerousness were significantly and positively related to both stress scales, while shift change and court problems increased only general lye stress. It was also found that supervisory support mitigates work stress while family support helps to reduce more general psychological discomfort. These latter results rein force the assertion that future research could profit by systematically exploring the circumstances, such as social supports, which enable police to cope effectively with the more stressful features of their work.
INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF CORRECTIONAL OFFICER ATTITUDES TOWARD INMATES*
Authors: JURIK NANCY C.
Published: March 2006

This paper analyzes the impact of individual attributes and organizational influences in the determination of correctional officers’attitudes toward inmates. Drawing on survey data from 179 line‐level correctional officers, the analysis evaluates the expectations of prison reformers that more highly educated, female, and minority officers will hold more positive attitudes toward their inmate clientele. Contrary expectations drawn from the sociology of work literature suggest that the work‐role socialization will overshadow the effect of individual attributes in the determination of officer attitudes. The analysis reveals that minority officers hold more positive orientations toward inmates, while education and gender exert no impact. In addition, organizational‐level characteristics are also important in the prediction of officer views of inmates. These findings suggest that correctional reforms that focus primarily on changing the demographic composition of correctional officers are quite unlikely to ameliorate significantly the tension in today's prisons. It is necessary for both reformers and social scientists to develop more sophisticated analyses of the interplay between individual attributes and work organization characteristics and their joint effects on behavior in the prison setting.
GENDER, FEAR, AND PROTECTIVE HANDGUN OWNERSHIP*
Authors: HILL GARY D. , HOWELL FRANK M. , DRIVER ERNEST T.
Published: March 2006

Nonrecursive models which have been used to assess the potentially reciprocal relationship between fear of crime and handgun ownership may suffer on two accounts: (a) the use of “weak” instrumental variables: and (b) the measurement of household (versus personal) handgun ownership. Data from the 1980 NORC General Social Survey are used in this study to minimize these problems in examining the relationships among fear of crime, victimization, and protective handgun ownership among males and females. Significant effects of fear and victimization on personal gun ownership are found among men but not among women. These results are discussed in light of two concerns. First, earlier research is confirmed that finds gender differences in the factors influencing gun ownership. Second, a clear need is emphasized for further research addressing questions of both conceptualization and measurement in the study of fear of crime and its effects on protective handgun ownership.
FAMILY AND DELINQUENCY: STRUCTURE OR FUNCTION?*
Authors: ROSEN LAWRENCE
Published: March 2006

Although much debate and research have been centered on the relative importance of familial structure (for example, presence of parents) and functions (for example, relationship with parents) for delinquency, the discipline has failed to come to terms, both theoretically and empirically, with the inherent complexity of the issues. Recognizing that structure necessitates some functional consequences, the complexity of the issues is explored. Utilizing a city‐wide representative sample of black youths and a somewhat systematic sample of white youths, an Automatic Interaction Detection (AID) analysis is used to uncover unsuspected interaction patterns of six independent variables. Interaction with the father emerged as the single most important variable for blacks. However, AID did uncover for blacks important interactions with family size, presence of father, and social class. A somewhat different and more tenuous pattern was found for whites, with social class being the most important variable and father–son interaction showing very little relationship with delinquency. It seems evident, therefore, that structure and function, especially for blacks, are both of importance for delinquency.
GENERAL DETERRENCE AND TELEVISION CABLE CRIME: A FIELD EXPERIMENT IN SOCIAL CONTROL*
Authors: GREEN GARY S.
Published: March 2006

This research examines the deterrent effect of a written legal threat on a group of persons who are known to be receiving an unauthorized premium cable television signal. The experiment attempts to determine (1) the overall violation rate: (2) the extent to which violators direr from a systematic random sample of cable signal customers (according to age, total household income, and gender); and (3) the deterrent effect of the threat of intervention. Additionally, a six‐month follow‐up was conducted to assess the duration of the threat's effect.

Overall, two thirds of the subjects (n=67) reacted to the threat; the major reaction to the threat was an attempt to hide the violation. There were some differences found regarding participation in cable crime and deterrence, but none reached a reliable level of statistical significance. Regarding deterrence, the findings that males heeded the threat least and that the youngest and richest also showed low desistance rates after exposure to the threat are consistent with previous research. Regarding participation in cable crime, the youngest and richest seem to be involved more often in the pilfering of signals. The follow‐up revealed that the deterrent effect of the intervention lasted at least six months. The benefits of using experimentation as a general deterrence research strategy are emphasized throughout.
REVIEWS
Authors: MYERS MARTHA A.
Published: March 2006

Past or Future Crimes: Deservedness and Dangerousness in the Sentencing of Criminals by Andrew von Hirsch.

Confronting Crime: An American Challenge by Elliot Currie.

The Great American Crime Myth by Kevin N. Wright. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985.
THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF DISCRIMINATION IN THE JUVENILE JUSTICE PROCESS: THE IMPACT OF ADMINISTRATIVE FACTORS AND SCREENING DECISIONS ON JUVENILE COURT DISPOSITIONS
Authors: McCARTHY BELINDA R. , SMITH BRENT L.
Published: March 2006

Research on race, sex, and social class discrimination in the juvenile justice process has yielded mixed results. These conflicting findings have been attributed to the use of diverse research strategies and various methodological shortcomings. There are, however, two potentially important issues that have not been previously addressed: the need to examine the juvenile justice system as a process, rather than as a series of separate and unrelated decision points, and the failure to control for the impact of administrative factors such as pretrial detention. The purpose of the research reported here is to examine the impact of race, sex, and social class on juvenile court dispositions while controlling for pretrial detention and appropriate legal factors. The analytical strategy employed permits an examination of the impact of these factors over three stages of the juvenile justice process: referral, adjudication, and disposition.

Findings indicate that while legal factors and pretrial detention decline in importance as predictors of disposition as one moves from an examination of all referred to adjudicated youth, race and social class become more important. These results are discussed in terms of their methodological significance and their implications for the conceptualization of discrimination in the juvenile justice process.
FAMILY STRUCTURE AND DELINQUENCY: GENERAL PATTERNS AND GENDER DIFFERENCES
Authors: JOHNSON RICHARD E.
Published: March 2006

In a sample of over 700 high‐school sophomores, a jive‐category measure of family structure is found to be not related to either frequency or seriousness of self‐reported illegal behavior, except for unusually high delinquent behavior by boys from mother/stepfather homes. On the other hand, family structure does show an overall association with self‐reported trouble with police, school, and juvenile court officials. Specifically, while boys (not girls) with stepfathers admit the most delinquent acts, controlling for the amount of admitted delinquency shows that officials are more likely to respond to the misbehavior of children (especially girls) from mother‐only families. None of these findings are accounted for by race, social class, the quality of parent‐child relationships, or the quality of school experiences.
SELF‐ESTEEM AND DEVIANCE: THE EFFECTS OF RACE AND GENDER*
Authors: COVINGTON JEANETTE
Published: March 2006

Provision of occupational and educational opportunities has been the accepted means of reintegrating offenders into society because, with assumption of conventional roles, they are believed to experience improved economic conditions and renewed feelings of respectability. However, given the limited legal options available to them, offender self‐esteem may continue to depend on immersion in deviant subcultures. To examine the effects of subcultural and conventional life‐styles on offender self‐esteem, a sample of 372 heroin addicts in treatment was surveyed. Employment had a positive effect on the self‐esteem of white male addicts only; the self‐evaluations of black male, black female, and white female addicts were unaffected by employment because these users were subjected to less stable working conditions. Subcultural integration had no impact or negative impact on the self‐esteem of black male, black female, and white female addicts while subcultural involvement was associated with higher self‐esteem in white males. The fact that white male addicts experienced favorable self‐evaluations with involvement in both conventional and deviant life‐styles is inconsistent with research which suggests an antagonism between crime and work: rather, these data seem to indicate that the join pursuit of legal and illegal professions may be more common.
A STRUCTURAL MODEL OF DRINKING AND DRIVING: ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION, SOCIAL NORMS, AND MORAL COMMITMENTS*
Authors: BERGER DALE E. , SNORTUM JOHN R.
Published: March 2006

A structural model based upon data from a random sample of 1,000 U.S. drivers accounted for 56% of the variation in alcohol‐impaired driving, with total monthly alcohol consumption as the strongest predictor. Significant contributions of age, sex, peer group values, and preference for beer suggested the operation of socialization to group norms. There was a substantial contribution of personal moral commitment against drinking and driving. However, there was no significant inhibitory influence of legal knowledge and perceived arrest risk. These findings are consistent with Andenaes's view that general deterrence should be more broadly construed to include the moral component as well as the fear component of the law
SELECTIVE APPREHENSION: A POLICE STRATEGY FOR REPEAT OFFENDERS*
Authors: MARTIN SUSAN E. , SHERMAN LAWRENCE W.
Published: March 2006

This study examines the effectiveness of the Repeat Offender Project (ROP), a specialized police unit in Washington, D.C. It documents how the ROP unit operated, what it cost, and how well it achieved its goal of “selecting, apprehending, and contributing to” the conviction of persons believed to be committing jive or more Part I offenses per week. A controlled experiment showed that the ROP substantially increased the likelihood of arrest for the persons it targeted. Quasi‐experimental data indicated that ROP arrestees had longer and more serious histories of prior arrests than a comparison sample of arrestees of officers in other police units. The former arrestees were also more likely to be prosecuted and convicted on felony charges and more likely to be incarcerated. ROP officers’arrest productivity was cut in half; but this cost appears to have been offset by the greater seriousness of the current and prior offenses of its arrestees. The study concludes that the creation of selective apprehension units provides a promising new strategy for major urban police departments.
VIOLENT DELINQUENTS AND URBAN YOUTHS*
Authors: FAGAN JEFFREY , PIPER ELIZABETH , MOORE MELINDA
Published: March 2006

Violent juvenile crime is disproportionately concentrated in urban neighborhoods, and accordingly an understanding of the sources of serious delinquency is con founded by components of urbanism. These milieus usually have high rates of absolute poverty and relative economic deprivation, as well as weak social institutions. The persistent findings of delinquent peer contributions to delinquency have yet to be tested under conditions where social class and milieu effects are controlled. There is little empirical evidence to determine how adolescents in high‐crime neighborhoods avoid delinquency despite frequent contact with delinquent peers. The differences between violent delinquents and other youths from comparable neighborhoods are little understood. This study contrasts a sample of chronically violent male juvenile offenders with the general male adolescent population (students and school dropouts) from inner‐city neighborhoods in four cities.

Violent delinquents differ from other male adolescents in inner cities in their attachments to school, their perceptions of school safety, their associations with officially delinquent peers, their perceptions of weak maternal authority, and the extent to which they have been victims of crime. Peer delinquency and drug“problems” predict the prevalence of three delinquency offense types for both violent offenders and neighborhood youths. Among violent delinquents, there appear to be different explanatory patterns, with one type better described by internal controls (locus of control), a developmental measure. Overall, there is strong support for integrated theory including control and learning components, and similar associations exist among inner‐city youths as in the general adolescent male population. Despite the generally elevated rates of delinquency in inner cities, the explanations of serious and violent delinquency appear the same when subjects are sampled at the extremes of the distribution of behavior.
INTERFACING INDICATORS AND CONSTRUCTS IN CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH: A NOTE ON THE COMPARABILITY OF SELF‐REPORT VIOLENCE DATA FOR RACE AND SEX GROUPS
Authors: SMITH DOUGLAS A. , DAVIDSON LAURA A.
Published: March 2006

This paper examines issues in using self‐reports of involvement in violent acts to measure a latent construct (propensity toward violence). Three issues are addressed. First, the meaning of latent variables and the factor‐analytic approach to modeling latent constructs are discussed. Second, the comparability of self‐report violence measures across race and sex groups is assessed. Third, the consequences are discussed of estimating factor analytic models on pooled samples of data where the measurement component of the model does not apply equally for different subsets of the sample.
RESTITUTION AND RECIDIVISM RATES OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS: RESULTS FROM FOUR EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES*
Authors: SCHNEIDER ANNE L.
Published: March 2006

One of the major changes in juvenile justice during the past decade has been the increased reliance on restitution as a sanction for juvenile offenders. Although a great deal has been learned during the past 10 years about the operation of restitution programs, much remains unknown regarding its impact on recidivism rates. This report contains the results from four random‐assignment experiments conducted simultaneously in four communities: Boise, Idaho, Washington, D. C., Clayton County, Georgia, and Oklahoma County, Oklahoma.

In all four studies, youths were randomly assigned into restitution and into traditional dispositions. On the whole, the results show that restitution may have a small but important effect on recidivism. However, not all programs will be able to achieve this effect, either because of program management and strategy, community circumstances, or other factors.

Youths in the restitution groups never had higher recidivism rates than those in probation or detention conditions. In two of the four studies, the juveniles in restitution clearly had fewer subsequent recontacts with the court during the two‐to‐three‐year follow‐up.
INDUSTRY CULTURE AND INDUSTRY ECONOMY: CORRELATES OF TAX NONCOMPLIANCE IN SWEDEN*
Authors: BARNETT HAROLD C.
Published: March 2006

Industry culture and industry economy have been used, with mixed results, to explain violations of law by corporate enterprise. The purpose of this paper is to use these theoretical concepts to examine differential noncompliance with tax law across Swedish industry in the early 1980s. A measure of noncompliance by industry is developed using tax audit data. The impact of audit policy on measured noncompliance is evaluated. Differences in industry culture are indicated by information on the presence and diffusion of techniques for noncompliance. Differences across industries in incentives to violate are indicated by bankruptcy rates and opportunities to gain through noncompliance. A hypothetical model is offered that explains the dynamic interaction of these factors and that could generate the static results reported. The paper concludes with a discussion of industry‐level analysis in predicting corporate violations.
LIBERALISM AND FEAR AS EXPLANATIONS OF PUNITIVENESS
Authors: LANGWORTHY ROBERT H. , WHITEHEAD JOHN T.
Published: March 2006

This paper explores the relationship between liberalism, victimization experience (both direct and vicarious), fear of victimization, and attitudes towards purposes of incarceration. The study makes use of a national public opinion poll conducted for ABC News in 1982. The major findings are that both fear and liberalism contribute to punitiveness but, more importantly, individual demographic characteristics are ambiguously related to punitiveness. It appears that demographic characteristics are related to punitiveness through a complex of other attitudinal associations—in this instance, fear and liberalism. Neither direct nor vicarious victimization had a direct effect on punishment attitudes. To the extent that victimization experience affects punitiveness, the effects are indirect through fear.
THE TRUE VALUE OF LAMBDA WOULD APPEAR TO BE ZERO: AN ESSAY ON CAREER CRIMINALS, CRIMINAL CAREERS, SELECTIVE INCAPACITATION, COHORT STUDIES, AND RELATED TOPICS*
Authors: GOTTFREDSON MICHAEL , HIRSCHI TRAVIS
Published: March 2006

The idea of selective incapacitation and the distinction between prevalence and incidence (participation and lambda) justify the search for a group of offenders whose criminality does not decline with age and who may be identified solely on the basis of legally relevant variables. This paper questions such research, arguing that the decline in age with crime characterizes even the most active offenders. and that the distinction between incidence and prevalence does not deserve the theoretical, research, or policy attention it has been claimed to merit (Farrington, 1985; Blumstein and Graddy, 1981–1982). In doing so, it relies on research results widely accepted in criminology. Thus, the current focus of criminological research on the “career criminal,” on selective incapacitation, and on longitudinal research remains unjustified.
FAMILY VIOLENCE, TELEVISION VIEWING HABITS, AND OTHER ADOLESCENT EXPERIENCES RELATED TO VIOLENT CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR*
Authors: KRUTTSCHNITT CANDACE , HEATH LINDA , WARD DAVID A.
Published: March 2006

This study employs multivariate analyses with retrospective self‐report data to assess the relative importance of certain childhood and adolescent experiences to the commission of violent crimes as an adult. Specifically, the relationship is examined between violent criminal behavior and exposure to family violence, exposure to television violence, school performance, other adolescent activities, and differential reinforcement for previous illegal acts. The exploratory model is based on data collected on 100 male inmates incarcerated for violent crimes and 65 nonincarcerated, nonviolent males matched in terms of age, race, and neighborhood. Findings, from analyses which estimate both additive and interactive effects, indicate that the background experiences associated with violent crime vary depending upon an individual's race. The discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for further research on the causes of violent criminal behavior.
INCOME INEQUALITY AND HOMICIDE RATES: CROSS‐NATIONAL DATA AND CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES
Authors: KRAHN HARVEY , HARTNAGEL TIMOTHY F. , GARTRELL JOHN W.
Published: March 2006

Previous studies have identified but failed to explain satisfactorily the positive relationship between income inequality and homicide rates. This paper proposes an explanation based on the concept of relative deprivation, but also reviews the criminological literature in a search for other theoretically relevant variables. After assessing problems of sampling and measurement, and using a considerably larger sample than used in previous studies, multiple regression analyses reveal positive net effects of both inequality and population growth (reflecting a higher proportion of young people) on homicide rates. Further analyses show that the effects of inequality on homicide are more pronounced in more democratic nations, a finding supporting the relative deprivation explanation. Income inequality also has stronger effects in more densely populated countries, in wealthier nations, and in countries with larger internal security forces.
STITCH AND SEW: THE IMPACT OF MEDICAL RESOURCES UPON CRIMINALLY INDUCED LETHALITY
Authors: DOERNER WILLIAM G. , SPEIR JOHN C.
Published: March 2006

One theoretical explanation for the consistently high Southern homicide rates is that the South constitutes a “regional culture of violence.” Although this perspective has not garnered much empirical support, sound theoretical alternatives have not emerged. The present study attempts to fill this gap by suggesting that emergency medical services are an overlooked intervening influence in the production of homicide and aggravated battery rates. Analysis of data from the 67 counties in Florida provides some support for the notion that the differential distribution of medical resources is partially responsible for variation in criminally induced lethality rates
STRESS IN PRISON STAFF: AN OCCUPATIONAL STUDY*
Authors: LONG NIGEL , SHOUKSMITH GEORGE , VOGES KEVIN , ROACHE SHANNON
Published: March 2006

A survey was conducted into the sources of occupational stress and their effects on levels of health for a group of New Zealand prison staff: Staff were categorized into three groups: Prison Officers. Ranking Prison Officers, and Instructors In addition, a control group of noncommissioned Army personnel was used as a comparison sample. Subjects were administered a job‐specific “sources of stress” questionnaire, a life events measure, a personality measure (the Neuroticism Scale Questionnaire), and three health measures‐the General Health Questionnaire, a medical visit checklist, and a psychosomatic symptom checklist. Factor analysis of the stress questionnaire revealed six job‐specific sources of stress factors These were identified as staff relationships, task pressures, relationships with inmates, promotion, the work environment, and the impact on family life of living in a prison village. Results showed that the levels of stress experienced by staff varied across the three groups. In addition, on the three health measures all staff groups were found to score significantly higher than the control group. Further analysis showed that the variables isolated could be related to a general model of stress.
URBAN JUSTICE, RURAL INJUSTICE? URBANIZATION AND ITS EFFECT ON SENTENCING*
Authors: MYERS MARTHA A. , TALARICO SUSETTE M.
Published: March 2006

Using a sample of felons convicted in Georgia between 1976 and June 1982, this study examines rural‐urban diyerences in sentencing. Consistent with previous research, it is found that ostensibly similar oflenders are punished diflerently, depending on whether they were convicted in urban rather than rural counties. Diyerences in outcomes are based both on social background and on factors of explicit legal relevance. They occur for decisions about the type and duration of punishment. Finally, they persist even when selected correlates and consequences of urbanization are controlled. Unlike earlier research, however, this study finds that urbanization usually intensijes rather than reduces differential treatment. The paper concludes with possible explanations for the particularism that appears to characterize urban rather than rural courts. Also considered are the theoretical and empirical implications of the findings.
AN ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD THE INSANITY DEFENSE*
Authors: HANS VALERIE P.
Published: March 2006

Results from a public opinion survey of knowledge, attitudes, and support for the insanity defense indicate that people dislike the insanity defense for both retributive and utilitarian reasons: they want insane lawbreakers punished, and they believe that insanity defense procedures fail to protect the public. However, people vastly overestimate the use and success of the insanity plea. Several attitudinal and demographic variables that other researchers have found to be associated with people's support for the death penalty and perceptions of criminal sentencing are also related to support for the insanity defense. Implications for public policy are discussed.