bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A POLICE GANG UNIT: AN EXAMINATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS*
Authors: KATZ CHARLES M.
Published: March 2006

Although researchers have begun to document the programs and activities performed by police gang units, little research has examined why police gang units are created and why they have responded to local gang problems in the way they have over the past 10 years. Using a multimethodological research design, the present study examines the factors that shaped a Midwestern police department's response to its community's gang problem. The results from the present study lend support for the institutional perspective. The data suggest that the gang unit was created as a consequence of pressures placed on the police department from various powerful elements within the community and that, once created, the unit's response was largely driven by its need to achieve and maintain organizational legitimacy.
MODELING MEDIATION IN THE ETIOLOGY OF VIOLENT BEHAVIOR IN ADOLESCENCE: A TEST OF THE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT MODEL*
Authors: HUANG BU , KOSTERMAN RICK , CATALANO RICHARD F. , HAWKINS J. DAVID , ABBOTT ROBERT D.
Published: March 2006

The social development model seeks to explain human behavior through specification of predictive and mediating developmental relationships. It incorporates the effects of empirical predictors (“risk factors” and “protective factors”) for antisocial behavior and seeks to synthesize the most strongly supported propositions of control theory, social learning theory, and differential association theory. This article examines the fit of the social development model using constructs measured at ages 10, 13, 14, and 16 to predict violent behavior at age 18. The sample of 808 is from the longitudinal panel of the Seattle Social Development Project, which in 1985 surveyed fifth‐grade students from schools serving high crime neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to examine the fit of the model to the data. The model fit the data (CFI ≥.90, RMSEA ≤.05). We conclude that the social development model adequately predicts violence at age 18 and mediates much of the effect of prior violence. Implications for theory and for prevention are discussed.
NEIGHBORHOOD DISORDER, INDIVIDUAL RELIGIOSITY, AND ADOLESCENT USE OF ILLICIT DRUGS: A TEST OF MULTILEVEL HYPOTHESES*
Authors: JANG SUNG JOON , JOHNSON BYRON R.
Published: March 2006

We hypothesize about the relationships among perceived neighborhood disorder, individual religiosity, and adolescent use of illicit drugs, marijuana and hard drugs; and the age‐varying effects of religiosity on illicit drug use. Applying hierarchical linear models to analyze the National Youth Survey data, we first find that neighborhood disorder and religiosity have hypothesized effects on illicit drug use independent of social bonding and social learning variables that partly mediate the effects. Second, religiosity buffers the effects of neighborhood disorder on illicit drug use. Third, the effects of religiosity on illicit drug use become stronger throughout adolescence. The implications of the findings are discussed.
ETHNICITY AND JUDGES' SENTENCING DECISIONS: HISPANIC‐BLACK‐WHITE COMPARISONS
Authors: STEFFENSMEIER DARRELL , DEMUTH STEPHEN
Published: March 2006

This study uses data on Pennsylvania sentencing practices to compare the sentence outcomes of white, black, and Hispanic defendants. Besides the overall more lenient treatment of white defendants, our main finding is that Hispanic defendants are the defendant subgroup most at risk to receive the harshest penalty. This pattern is held across all comparisons—i.e., for both the in/out and term‐length decisions and for both drug and nondrug cases. These findings are consistent with the “focal concerns” framework on sentencing and with hypotheses drawn from the writings on prejudice and inter group hostility suggesting that the specific social and historical context facing Hispanic Americans will exacerbate perceptions of their cultural dissimilarity and the “threat” they pose.
THE IMPACT OF FLORIDA'S HABITUAL OFFENDER LAW ON CRIME*
Authors: KOVANDZIC TOMISLAV V.
Published: March 2006

Research examining the impact of habitual offender laws on crime has suffered from numerous methodological problems, including failure to consider incapacitation effects that may be responsible for most of the laws' impact but that may not appear until years after the law is passed; not addressing simultaneity issues; and omitting needed control variables to avoid spurious or suppressed results. The present study specifies procedures that can be used to mitigate these problems. These procedures are used in the current study to estimate the impact of Florida's habitual offender law on crime using a multiple time series design, with data for 58 counties from 1980–1998.
POLICING MENTALLY DISORDERED SUSPECTS: A REEXAMINATION OF THE CRIMINALIZATION HYPOTHESIS*
Authors: ENGEL ROBIN SHEPARD , SILVER ERIC
Published: March 2006

The criminalization hypothesis is based on the assumption that police inappropriately use arrest to resolve encounters with mentally disordered suspects. The current study uses data collected from two large‐scale, multisite field studies of police behavior‐the Project on Policing Neighborhoods (POPN) conducted in 1996–1997 and the Police Services Study (PSS) conducted in 1977‐to examine the relationship between suspect mental health and use of arrest by police. Multivariate results show that police are not more likely to arrest mentally disordered suspects. Implications for future research on the criminalization hypothesis are discussed.
“REPATRIATING” LOW‐WAGE WORK: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF PRISON LABOR REPRIVATIZATION IN THE POSTINDUSTRIAL UNITED STATES*
Authors: WEISS ROBERT P.
Published: March 2006

Applying Rusche and Kirchheimer's theory regarding labor markets and penal change, this paper examines recent initiatives to expand the labor force participation of federal and state prisoners. Globalization and labor market transformation have increased the potential value of prison labor as a subcontracting component of post‐Fordist production systems. We examine privatization's ideological rationale (economic “cost benefits”) and its political strategy of foreign job repatriation. Based on cultural and economic factors, the South is identified as the probable locale for “repatriation.” A case study of Escod Industries reveals the emerging elements of a post‐Fordist penology, involving a fundamental transformation in prison discourse, techniques, and management objectives.
TESTING MOFFITT'S ACCOUNT OF ADOLESCENCE‐LIMITED DELINQUENCY*
Authors: PIQUERO ALEX R. , BREZINA TIMOTHY
Published: March 2006

Much of the research testing Moffitt's taxonomy of antisocial behavior has concentrated on life‐course‐persistent as opposed to adolescence‐limited offending. For Moffitt, adolescence‐limited delinquency occurs near puberty as a function of factors endemic to the peer social context of adolescence, including the realization that adolescents are physically mature enough to engage in adult‐like behaviors, but are forbidden to engage in such acts because of their biological age. Using data from the Youth‐In‐Transition survey, we find that adolescence‐limited delinquency is characterized by involvement in rebellious but not aggressive delinquency. Further, rebellious delinquency is accounted for by the interaction between early maturity and the autonomy aspects of peer activities.
SNAKES AND LADDERS: UPPER‐MIDDLE CLASS MALE OFFENDERS TALK ABOUT ECONOMIC CRIME*
Authors: WILLOTT SARA , GRIFFIN CHRISTINE , TORRANCE MARK
Published: March 2006

This paper explores the ways in which male offenders in professional‐status occupations prior to conviction construct and justify money‐related crime. We report a detailed analysis, based in grounded theory and critical social‐psychological discourse analysis, of a loosely‐structured group interview with four offenders. The men constructed justifications for their offenses in terms of “breadwinning” for their immediate family and economic responsibility toward their extended “family” of employees and creditors. They represented their post‐conviction decline in social status as being “dragged down” by envious “boys” in the state apparatus. They positioned themselves on moral high ground, despite having been inappropriately sent to the working class world of prison (“Dante's Inferno”). We contrast these accounts with those of less privileged male offenders.
ASSESSING THE RACE‐VIOLENCE RELATIONSHIP AT THE MACRO LEVEL: THE ASSUMPTION OF RACIAL INVARIANCE AND THE PROBLEM OF RESTRICTED DISTRIBUTIONS*
Authors: McNULTY THOMAS L.
Published: March 2006

Macrolevel research on the race‐violence relationship has focused on the assumption of racial invariance in the effects of structural disadvantage measures on violence. Yet in most urban areas black and white disadvantage distributions only partially overlap, which precludes a critical empirical test of the assumption. I refer to this as the problem of “restricted distributions.” Using block group data for Atlanta, results show that the effect of a disadvantage index on violence is similar in black and white neighborhoods within the low range of the disadvantage distribution, but diminishes significantly at the higher levels prevalent in black areas. I discuss the implications of the findings and suggest avenues for future research.
AN EMPIRICAL FRAMEWORK FOR STUDYING DESISTANCE AS A PROCESS*
Authors: BUSHWAY SHAWN D. , PIQUERO ALEX R. , BROIDY LISA M. , CAUFFMAN ELIZABETH , MAZEROLLE PAUL
Published: March 2006

Recent reviews of the desistance literature have advocated studying desistance as a process, yet current empirical methods continue to measure desistance as a discrete state. In this paper, we propose a framework for empirical research that recognizes desistance as a developmental process. This approach focuses on changes in the offending rate rather than on offending itself. We describe a statistical model to implement this approach and provide an empirical example. We conclude with several suggestions for future research endeavors that arise from our conceptualization of desistance.
NEIGHBORHOOD INEQUALITY, COLLECTIVE EFFICACY, AND THE SPATIAL DYNAMICS OF URBAN VIOLENCE*
Authors: MORENOFF JEFFREY D. , SAMPSON ROBERT J. , RAUDENBUSH STEPHEN W.
Published: March 2006

Highlighting resource inequality, social processes, and spatial interdependence, this study combines structural characteristics from the 1990 census with a survey of 8,872 Chicago residents in 1995 to predict homicide variations in 1996–1998 across 343 neighborhoods. Spatial proximity to homicide is strongly related to increased homicide rates, adjusting for internal neighborhood characteristics and prior homicide. Concentrated disadvantage and low collective efficacy—defined as the linkage of social control and cohesion—also independently predict increased homicide. Local organizations, voluntary associations, and friend/kinship networks appear to be important only insofar as they promote the collective efficacy of residents in achieving social control and cohesion. Spatial dynamics coupled with neighborhood inequalities in social and economic capacity are therefore consequential for explaining urban violence.
STRUCTURAL COVARIATES OF U.S. COUNTY HOMICIDE RATES: INCORPORATING SPATIAL EFFECTS*
Authors: BALLER ROBERT D. , ANSELIN LUC , MESSNER STEVEN F. , DEANE GLENN , HAWKINS DARNELL F.
Published: March 2006

Spatial analysis is statistically and substantively important for macrolevel criminological inquiry. Using county‐level data for the decennial years in the 1960 to 1990 time period, we reexamine the impact of conventional structural covariates on homicide rates and explicitly model spatial effects. Important findings are: (1) homicide is strongly clustered in space; (2) this clustering cannot be completely explained by common measures of the structural similarity of neighboring counties; (3) noteworthy regional differences are observed in the effects of structural covariates on homicide rates; and (4) evidence consistent with a diffusion process for homicide is observed in the South throughout the 1960–1990 period.
ECONOMIC DEPRIVATION AND CHANGES IN HOMICIDE ARREST RATES FOR WHITE AND BLACK YOUTHS, 1967–1998: A NATIONAL TIME‐SERIES ANALYSIS*
Authors: MESSNER STEVEN F. , RAFFALOVICH LAWRENCE E. , McMILLAN RICHARD
Published: March 2006

Using time‐series techniques with national data for 1967–98, we model the effects on changes in age‐race‐specific arrest rates of changes in indicators of economic deprivation. A measure of child poverty is positively related to juvenile arrest rates for both races, whereas changing unemployment (lagged) yields a surprising negative effect on youth offending. Measures of intraracial income inequality are also associated with changes in juvenile arrest rates, but the effects differ by race. Between‐race inequality is unrelated to changes in arrest rates for both races. Our general conclusion is that fluctuations in juvenile homicide offending over recent decades can be understood, at least in part, with reference to the macro‐economic environment confronting young people and their families.
PARENTAL EFFICACY AND DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR: DO CONTROL AND SUPPORT MATTER?
Authors: WRIGHT JOHN PAUL , CULLEN FRANCIS T.
Published: March 2006

Recently, the concept of “collective efficacy” has been advanced to understand how communities exert control and provide support to reduce crime. In a similar way, we use the concept of “parental efficacy” to highlight the crime reducing effects associated with parents who support and control their youth. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), we examine the inter‐relationship between parental controls and supports and their joint influence on youthful misbehavior. The results show that (1) support and control are intertwined, and (2) that parental efficacy exerts substantive effects on adolescent delinquency for the sample as a whole and across varying age groups.
PARENTING, SELF‐CONTROL, AND DELINQUENCY: A TEST OF SELF‐CONTROL THEORY*
Authors: HAY CARTER
Published: March 2006

Self‐control theory has received extensive empirical attention in the past decade, but most studies have not tested its arguments about the effects of parenting on self‐control and delinquency. Using data collected from a sample of urban high school students, this study addresses this void by examining two parenting‐related hypotheses derived from the theory. For one of the hypotheses, the results with self‐control theory are contrasted with those obtained with Baumrind's theory of authoritative parenting, a theory that also is concerned with the link between parenting and self‐control. Results generally support self‐control theory's two hypotheses, but also point to empirical limitations of the theory.
OPPORTUNITIES AND DECISIONS: INTERACTIONAL DYNAMICS IN ROBBERY AND BURGLARY GROUPS*
Authors: HOCHSTETLER ANDY
Published: March 2006

Street offenders more often than not are co‐offenders. The theoretical importance of understanding how co‐offending shapes conduct has been recognized for decades but is often ignored by investigators. Drawing from interviews with 50 male robbers and burglars who committed their crimes with others, this paper examines how interactional dynamics modify both the perception of criminal opportunities and criminal decision making. Offenders construct opportunity by improvising situational interpretations, communicating expectations and negotiating shared meanings. As opposed to many prevailing notions of criminal decision making, decisions in groups are incremental, con‐textually situated, and affected significantly by variation in members’influence. The findings, therefore, highlight shortcomings of decision‐making investigations that obscure marked variation in choice by focusing narrowly on individual assessments of risks and utilities.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW VIOLATION AND DEPRESSION: AN INTERACTIONS ANALYSIS*
Authors: COSTER STACY DE , HEIMER KAREN
Published: March 2006

This paper integrates arguments from differential social control theory with sociological research on mental health to develop an interactionist explanation of the relationship between law violation and depression. We focus on the possibility that law violation and depression are related because they share common antecedents, as well as the possibility that these problems mutually influence one another over time. We test hypotheses derived from our theoretical perspective using covariance structure analysis and panel data. Our results show that the relationship between law violation and depression can be explained largely by common antecedents—social‐structural positions, stressful life events, and adolescent problems shape social relationships and identities, which together influence the likelihood of both early adulthood crime and depression. We also find limited support for mutual influence.
THE ROLE OF PUBLIC SOCIAL CONTROL IN URBAN NEIGHBORHOODS: A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS OF VICTIMIZATION RISK*
Authors: VÉLEZ MARÍA B.
Published: March 2006

This study introduces public social control into multilevel victimization research by investigating its impact on household and personal victimization risk for residents across 60 urban neighborhoods. Public social control refers to the ability of neighborhoods to secure external resources necessary for the reduction of crime and victimization. I find that living in neighborhoods with high levels of public social control reduces an individual's likelihood of victimization, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Given the important role that residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods can play in securing public social control, this contingent finding suggests that disadvantaged neighborhoods can be politically viable contexts.
INTEGRATING CELERITY, IMPULSIVITY, AND EXTRALEGAL SANCTION THREATS INTO A MODEL OF GENERAL DETERRENCE: THEORY AND EVIDENCE*
Authors: NAGIN DANIEL S. , POGARSKY GREG
Published: March 2006

We propose a model that integrates the extralegal consequences from conviction and impulsivity into the traditional deterrence framework. The model was tested with 252 college students, who completed a survey concerning drinking and driving. Key findings include the following: (1) Although variation in sanction certainty and severity predicted offending, variation in celerity did not; (2) the extralegal consequences from conviction appear to be at least as great a deterrent as the legal consequences; (3) the influence of sanction severity diminished with an individual's “present‐orientation”; and (4) the certainty of punishment was far more robust a deterrent to offending than was the severity of punishment.
SOCIAL PRACTICES OF GENDER: HOW GENDER RELATES TO DELINQUENCY IN THE EVERYDAY LIVES OF HIGH‐RISK YOUTHS*
Authors: BOTTCHER JEAN
Published: March 2006

Conceptualizing gender as social practices and using those practices as the unit of analysis, I reanalyzed data from a study on gender and delinquency. The analysis disclosed six social practices that intertwined with delinquent activities, constraining female delinquency while enabling and rewarding male delinquency. Only a few differences emerged among three ethnic groups. This analysis suggests that the salient dimensions of gender as a correlate of delinquency include male dominance, differences in routine daily activities, variations in sexual interests and transition to adulthood, and an ideology defining crime as male activity and childcare as female activity. The conclusion presents implications for general theoretical work on delinquency.
YOUNG GUNS: EXAMINING ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS OF JUVENILE FIREARM HOMICIDE RATES*
Authors: OUSEY GRAHAM C. , AUGUSTINE MICHELLE CAMPBELL
Published: March 2006

In recent years, youth firearm homicide has become a topic of great public concern in the United States. However, few macrolevel studies have examined intercity variation in juvenile firearm homicide. In the current study, we address this gap in the literature by examining whether intercity variation in firearm‐related homicide rates among black and white juveniles is explained by three prominent structural factors: concentrated disadvantage, racial inequality, and the youth illicit drug market activity. Our findings suggest partial support for the concentrated disadvantage and juvenile drug market explanations of homicide. However, contrary to expectations, these relationships are only significant in models for white juveniles.
COERCION, SOCIAL SUPPORT, AND CRIME: AN EMERGING THEORETICAL CONSENSUS*
Authors: COLVIN MARK , CULLEN FRANCIS T. , VEN THOMAS VANDER
Published: March 2006

Two themes, coercion and social support, have emerged over the past two decades in criminology that can be used to build a new integrated theory of crime. The authors provide a review of recent theoretical developments in criminology to demonstrate that two interconnected themes provide the basis for a new consensus in theory and crime policy. With some important exceptions, coercion causes crime and social support prevents crime. The authors develop a theory of differential social support and coercion that integrates concepts from a broad range of criminological theories. Implications of this integrated theory for public policy are explored.
A COMPARISON OF CHANGES IN POLICE AND GENERAL HOMICIDES: 1930–1998*
Authors: KAMINSKI ROBERT J. , MARVELL THOMAS B.
Published: March 2006

This paper presents a new data series for homicides of law enforcement officers. Available for more than two centuries, it is much longer than series previously examined. Police killings had two extreme peaks, one in the 1920s and another in the 1970s. We use the post‐1930 part of the series in a time‐series regression to explore structural conditions that affect police killings in the short term. Economic conditions, prison populations, and World War II have considerably larger impacts on police killings than on homicide generally. Police killings are less affected by demographic changes and by the crack epidemic.
MENTAL DISORDER AND VIOLENT VICTIMIZATION: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF INVOLVEMENT IN CONFLICTED SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS*
Authors: SILVER ERIC
Published: March 2006

This study examines whether the relationship between mental disorder and violent victimization is attributable to the disproportionate involvement of mentally disordered people in conflicted social relationships. The data consist of a sample of discharged psychiatric patients (N= 270) and a sample of nonpatients (N= 477) drawn from the same neighborhoods. Results show that mentally disordered patients were more likely to be victimized by violence and to be involved in conflicted social relationships. Moreover, involvement in conflicted social relationships mediated the effect of mental disorder on violent victimization, a result that held when illegal drug use by the patients was taken into account. Implications for research and theory are discussed.
DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES IN THE IMPACT OF CHILD MALTREATMENT ON LATER DELINQUENCY AND DRUG USE*
Authors: IRELAND TIMOTHY O. , SMITH CAROLYN A. , THORNBERRY TERENCE P.
Published: March 2006

Developmental psychopathology emphasizes the impact that early childhood maltreatment has on adolescent and early adult development. The life‐course perspective, however, emphasizes more proximal events—adolescent maltreatment, for example—as developmentally disruptive. Prior research suggests that childhood maltreatment is a risk factor for adolescent delinquency and drug use. However, the results appear to depend on a loose definition of childhood. This study utilizes a four‐category maltreatment classification—never, childhood‐only, adolescence‐only, and persistent—to re‐examine the maltreatment‐delinquency relationship. Using data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, we find no relationship between childhood‐only maltreatment and adolescent delinquency or drug use; yet, we do find a consistent impact of adolescence‐only and persistent maltreatment on these outcomes.
CRIMINAL CHARGE OR PROBATION VIOLATION? PROSECUTORIAL DISCRETION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH IN CRIMINAL COURT PROCESSING*
Authors: KINGSNORTH RODNEY F. , MacINTOSH RANDALL C. , SUTHERLAND SANDRA
Published: March 2006

Feeney et al. (1983) observe that arrests not resulting in convictions may nonetheless receive substantial punishment through reliance on alternative, less formal, means of imposing sanctions. Utilizing a sample of 1427 domestic violence cases supplemented by interviews with prosecutors, we analyze this phenomenon. We conclude that the majority of cases disposed by such means originate as new criminal charges, which are then rejected or dismissed in favor of resolution through use of the prosecutor's power to initiate probation violation hearings. In almost all instances, these cases result in a jail or prison sentence, underlining that outcomes such as “rejection” and “dismissal” are not synonymous with case termination. Failure to appreciate this distinction can lead to serious measurement error.
NEIGHBORHOOD DISADVANTAGE AND POLICE NOTIFICATION BY VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE*
Authors: BAUMER ERIC P.
Published: March 2006

This research uses data from the Area‐Identified National Crime Victimization Survey to examine the influence of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage on the likelihood of police notification by victims of violence. The results indicate that neighborhood disadvantage does not significantly affect the likelihood of police notification among robbery and aggravated assault victims. However, a significant curvilinear effect of neighborhood disadvantage is observed for simple assault victims. The implications of these results for community‐level crime research and for theoretical perspectives on police notification are discussed.
REASONS FOR REPORTING AND NOT REPORTING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE TO THE POLICE*
Authors: FELSON RICHARD B. , MESSNER STEVEN F. , HOSKIN ANTHONY W. , DEANE GLENN
Published: March 2006

The National Crime Victimization Survey is used to examine factors that encourage and inhibit victims of domestic violence from calling the police. Victims of domestic violence are less likely than victims of other types of violence to call the police because of their privacy concerns, their fear of reprisal, and their desire to protect offenders, but they are more likely to call for self‐protection and because they perceive domestic assaults as more serious. As a result of these and other offsetting factors, victims of domestic violence are just as likely as other victims of assault to call the police.
UNEMPLOYMENT AND PROPERTY CRIME: A TARGET‐SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT OF OPPORTUNITY AND MOTIVATION AS MEDIATING FACTORS*
Authors: KLECK GARY , CHIRICOS TED
Published: March 2006

Most recent unemployment‐crime (U‐C) research is informed by the possibility that unemployment could both increase motivation for crime and decrease criminal opportunities. The mediating links of motivation and opportunity, though often assumed, have almost never been measured. We directly test for the potential mediating effects of opportunity and motivation using county‐level data for target‐specific crime rates such as convenience store robberies, motorcycle thefts, etc. We link these with data on the supply and value of corresponding crime targets (e.g., number and annual sales of convenience stores). Opportunity levels were generally unrelated to property crime rates and do not appear to mediate the U‐C relationship.
ENTER THE DRAGON: INSIDE CHINESE HUMAN SMUGGLING ORGANIZATIONS*
Authors: ZHANG SHELDON , CHIN KO‐LIN
Published: March 2006

This paper examines the inner workings of Chinese human smuggling organizations. Contrary to widely held conceptions about Chinese organized crime, most alien smugglers are otherwise ordinary citizens whose familial networks and fortuitous social contacts have enabled them to pool resources to transport human cargoes around the world. They come from diverse backgrounds and form temporary alliances to carry out smuggling operations. With the exception of a shared commitment to making money, little holds them together. The smuggling organizations mostly resemble ad hoc task forces and are assembled for specific operations. These organizations have clear divisions of labor with limited hierarchical structures. We discuss the theoretical implications of their unique organizational characteristics.
THE SOCIAL ECOLOGY OF POLICE MISCONDUCT*
Authors: KANE ROBERT J.
Published: March 2006

The present study examined whether variations in social ecological conditions in New York City police precincts and divisions have predicted patterns of police misconduct from 1975 to 1996. The study included misconduct cases involving bribery, extortion, excessive force, and other abuses of police authority, as well as certain administrative rule violations. Using a longitudinal framework, the analyses found that dimensions of structural disadvantage and population mobility— drawn from the social disorganization literature—as well as changes in Latino population—drawn from the racial conflict perspective— explained changes in police misconduct over time. Further, most of the variations occurred within, as opposed to between, precincts and divisions over time, strengthening the case for a longitudinal examination.
DOWNWARD DEPARTURES FOR SERIOUS VIOLENT OFFENDERS: LOCAL COURT “CORRECTIONS” TO PENNSYLVANIA'S SENTENCING GUIDELINES*
Authors: KRAMER JOHN H. , ULMER JEFFERY T.
Published: March 2006

We examine downward departures for serious violent offenders, using quantitative and qualitative data from Pennsylvania. We find that offense severity and prior record have negative direct effects on downward departures, but a positive interaction effect on them. Offenders convicted of aggravated assault, those who plead guilty, young black women, and offenders sentenced in large urban courts are more likely to receive downward departures, whereas those convicted by trial, young Hispanic males, and offenders sentenced in small rural courts are less likely to receive them. We argue that downward departures represent local “corrections” to guideline recommendations when there is a mismatch between guidelines and local court actors' definitions of key focal concerns of sentencing for serious violent offenders.
REASON FOR EMOTION: REINVENTING JUSTICE WITH THEORIES, INNOVATIONS, AND RESEARCH—THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIMINOLOGY 2002 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS*
Authors: SHERMAN LAWRENCE W.
Published: March 2006

Criminology was born in the age of reason to apply “reason” to justice, tempering the expression of moral indignation with the economics of deterrence. Modern criminology is now poised for reinventing justice around the emotions of victims, offenders, and society. One prime example is restorative justice. Others include wider use of biomedical mental health treatments for offenders, programs to make justice officials more aware of the emotional impact of their words on citizens, and programs to help justice officials manage their own emotions. Research can advance theory and innovations as a basis for a new paradigm of “emotionally intelligent justice.”
THE ROLE OF ATTENUATED CULTURE IN SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY*
Authors: WARNER BARBARA D.
Published: March 2006

Current criminological research rooted in social disorganization theory has primarily focused on structural disorganization and has largely ignored the role of cultural disorganization. This paper develops the theoretical role of cultural disorganization in the contemporary social disorganization model, integrating aspects of both the systemic model and a cultural attenuation model. This model is empirically examined using structural equation modeling. Survey data from residents in 66 neighborhoods in a Southern state provide the primary data. In part, the findings show that concentrated disadvantage and the level of social ties affect cultural strength, which in turn significantly affects informal social control. These findings demonstrate the relevance of weakened culture in explaining informal social control and call for further theoretical expansion of social disorganization models to include cultural disorganization.
DISCRETION AND DISPARITY UNDER SENTENCING GUIDELINES: THE ROLE OF DEPARTURES AND STRUCTURED SENTENCING ALTERNATIVES*
Authors: ENGEN RODNEY L. , GAINEY RANDY R. , CRUTCHFIELD ROBERT D. , WEIS JOSEPH G.
Published: March 2006

This article examines the use of alternative sentencing provisions as mechanisms for departing from sentencing guidelines in Washington State and as structural sources of unwarranted sentencing disparity. The authors argue that these structural features of guidelines not only serve as “windows of discretion” through which disparities arise, but they also may encourage disparities by requiring consideration of substantive criteria that disadvantage certain offender groups. The analyses find that males and minority offenders are less likely to receive alternative sentences below the standard range, but that race‐ethnicity and gender have inconsistent effects on departures above the standard range. Theoretical implications of the study are discussed.
POLICE OFFICERS' ATTITUDES, BEHAVIOR, AND SUPERVISORY INFLUENCES: AN ANALYSIS OF PROBLEM SOLVING*
Authors: ENGEL ROBIN SHEPARD , WORDEN ROBERT E.
Published: March 2006

This paper examines the influence of officers' and supervisors' attitudes and priorities toward community policing and problem solving over the time officers spend conducting problem‐solving activities. Analyzing data collected for the Project on Policing Neighborhoods, a multi‐method study of police patrol in two police departments, results show that officers' perceptions of their supervisors' priorities for problem solving affect the amount of time they spend conducting these activities, although their own attitudes toward community policing are unrelated to their behavior. We also find that officers' attitudes regarding problem solving are weakly correlated with their supervisors' attitudes and, further, that officers' perceptions of their supervisors' attitudes are often inaccurate.
DRIVING WHILE BLACK: EFFECTS OF RACE, ETHNICITY, AND GENDER ON CITIZEN SELF‐REPORTS OF TRAFFIC STOPS AND POLICE ACTIONS*
Authors: LUNDMAN RICHARD J. , KAUFMAN ROBERT L.
Published: March 2006

Are African‐American men, compared with white men, more likely to report being stopped by police for traffic law violations? Are African‐American men and Hispanic drivers less likely to report that police had a legitimate reason for the stop and less likely to report that police acted properly? This study answers these questions using citizen self‐reports of their traffic stop encounters with the police. Net of other important explanatory variables, the data indicate that police make traffic stops for Driving While Black and male. In addition, African‐American and Hispanic drivers are less likely to report that police had a legitimate reason for the stop and are less likely to report that police acted properly. The study also discusses the validity of citizen self‐report data and outlines an agenda for future research.
PATHWAYS TO SEX‐BASED DIFFERENTIATION IN CRIMINAL COURT SENTENCING
Authors: JEFFRIES SAMANTHA , FLETCHER GARTH J.O. , NEWBOLD GREG
Published: March 2006

Using a matched sampling method, this research examined the process of sex‐based differentiation in sentencing outcomes for 194 men and 194 women, sentenced over a seven‐year period in Christchurch, New Zealand. Consistent with past research, our results showed that judicial processing treated women more leniently than men. Path analyses revealed that judges were less likely to sentence women than men to imprisonment terms because of gendered information and decisions made earlier in the judicial process, such as criminal history, length of custodial remands, and pre‐sentence recommendations by probation officers. In contrast, judges exercised considerable leniency towards women (compared with men) in setting the length of prison terms, even after statistically controlling for all sex‐differentiated factors such as criminal history. Explanations and implications are discussed.
RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN SENTENCING DEPARTURES ACROSS MODES OF CONVICTION*
Authors: JOHNSON BRIAN D.
Published: March 2006

Recent analyses of guideline sentencing practices have demonstrated that sentences departing from guidelines serve as a significant locus of racial/ethnic and other extralegal disparity. Little is known, however, about the ways that different courtroom processes, such as modes of conviction, condition these effects. Using recent data from the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing (PCS), I analyze the overall effects of race/ethnicity and other factors on judicial decisions to depart from the sentencing guidelines, and then I reexamine these relationships according to four modes of conviction (non‐negotiated pleas, negotiated pleas, bench trials, and jury trials). I argue that the mode of conviction provides a useful indicator of the differential exercise of discretion by different courtroom actors in the sentencing process. As such, it is likely to condition the use of stereotypical patterned responses, thus moderating the effects of race/ethnicity and other relevant sentencing factors. Findings support this expectation, demonstrating that extralegal effects vary considerably across modes of conviction. These results raise important questions about the role of different courtroom actors in contributing to racial and ethnic disparities under sentencing guidelines.
CRIME BY COMMITTEE: CONSPIRATORS AND COMPANY MEN IN THE ILLEGAL ELECTRICAL INDUSTRY CARTEL, 1954–19591
Authors: FAULKNER ROBERT R. , CHENEY ERIC R. , FISHER GENE A. , BAKER WAYNE E.
Published: March 2006

We show how cartels rely on the adaptive social structure of committee meetings to ameliorate the competitive difficulties of markets. We distill the structure of the cartel committee and test hypotheses relating market structure to committee structure and ultimately to the efficacy of cartel price‐fixing. Cartel continuity and the corporate authority of the cartel are strong predictors of cartel effectiveness. Cartel continuity is responsive to market conditions that favor cartel formation. Centralization of cartel authority in decision making results in improved collusive pricing effectiveness. Centralization of cartel authority responds to expanding industry volume that bring about incentives to increase firm level market share at the expense of other cartel members.
LIFE‐COURSE DESISTERS? TRAJECTORIES OF CRIME AMONG DELINQUENT BOYS FOLLOWED TO AGE 70*
Authors: SAMPSON ROBERT J. , LAUB JOHN H.
Published: March 2006

Linking recently collected data to form what is arguably the longest longitudinal study of crime to date, this paper examines trajectories of offending over the life course of delinquent boys followed from ages 7 to 70. We assess whether there is a distinct offender group whose rates of crime remain stable with increasing age, and whether individual differences, childhood characteristics, and family background can foretell long‐term trajectories of offending. On both counts, our results come back negative. Crime declines with age sooner or later for all offender groups, whether identified prospectively according to a multitude of childhood and adolescent risk factors, or retrospectively based on latent‐class models of trajectories. We conclude that desistance processes are at work even among active offenders and predicted life‐course persisters, and that childhood prognoses account poorly for long‐term trajectories of offending.
INDIVIDUAL STABILITY OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADULTHOOD: TESTING THE STABILITY POSTULATE OF MOFFITT'S DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY*
Authors: DONKER ANDREA G. , SMEENK WILMA H. , van der LAAN PETER H. , VERHULST FRANK C.
Published: March 2006

This paper presents a test of Moffitt's (1993) prediction on the stability of longitudinal antisocial behavior, using data from the South‐Holland Study. Aggressive (overt) and non‐aggressive antisocial (covert) behaviors were measured when subjects were 6–11 years old, and at follow‐ups when they were 12–17 years old and 20–25 years old. In accordance with the postulate, we did find a higher level of stability of overt behavior from childhood to adulthood, compared with childhood to adolescence, especially in combination with early manifestations of status violations and/or covert behavior in childhood. Results related to the stability of covert behavior were not in accordance with the prediction, but did support the recently proposed adjustment to the starting age of the adult phase.
THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF VENGEANCE: A TEST OF BLACK'S MODEL*
Authors: PHILLIPS SCOTT
Published: March 2006

The current research tests Black's (1990) model of vengeance through interviews with prison inmates. Drawing on a case‐control method, each respondent describes a matched pair of conflicts: the crime of vengeance and a similar nonviolent conflict from the same time period. The quantitative data are used to estimate the impact of conflict structure on conflict management. Conditional logistic regression models offer mixed support: relational distance and functional independence increase the odds of vengeance, but the remaining theoretical variables do not. The qualitative data are used to illustrate the quantitative patterns and unearth parallels between premodern and modern violence.
BEYOND COMMUNITY: REACTIONS TO CRIME AND DISORDER AMONG INNER‐CITY RESIDENTS
Authors: CARVALHO IRENE , LEWIS DAN A.
Published: March 2006

Research on fear of crime has been primarily quantitative, focused mostly on “fear,”“crime,” and “disorder.” Little work has investigated alternative reactions, including “safety,” when crime/disorder are prevalent. With the purpose of exploring reactions to crime and underlying processes, this study applies a grounded theory approach to in‐depth interviews and field observations with a group of 69 disadvantaged urban residents, randomly selected from a sample of Chicago welfare recipients. Results suggest that fear, absent in neighborhoods with incivilities and in many violent areas, is not the prevalent response to local crime/disorder; “cues” other than crime/disorder trigger fears; fear may not be of crime/disorder; and neighborhood problems elicit precautions, which neither influence fear nor “paralyze” respondents. The processes underlying these reactions are discussed.
EFFECTS OF ATTRACTIVENESS, OPPORTUNITY AND ACCESSIBILITY TO BURGLARS ON RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY RATES OF URBAN NEIGHBORHOODS
Authors: BERNASCO WIM , LUYKX FLOOR
Published: March 2006

This study assesses the effects of attractiveness, opportunity and accessibility to burglars on the residential burglary rates of urban neighborhoods, combining two complementary lines of investigation that have been following separate tracks in the literature. As a complement to standard measures of attractiveness and opportunity, we introduce and specify a spatial measure of the accessibility of neighborhoods to burglars. Using data on about 25, 000 attempted and completed residential burglaries committed in the period 1996–2001 in the city of The Hague, the Netherlands, we study the variation in burglary rates across its 89 residential neighborhoods. Our results suggest that all three factors, attractiveness, opportunity and accessibility to burglars, pull burglars to their target neighborhoods.
POLICE CULTURE AND COERCION*
Authors: TERRILL WILLIAM , PAOLINE EUGENE A. , MANNING PETER K.
Published: March 2006

Researchers have long noted the link between police culture and coercion. To date, however, there have been no empirical studies of this relationship. Using data collected as part of a systematic social observation study of the police in Indianapolis, Indiana, and St. Petersburg, Florida, this research examines the relationship between traditional views of police culture—from an attitudinal perspective‐and coercion—from a behavioral perspective. After developing a classification scheme of officers' outlooks in the context of police culture, we examine the extent to which officers' alignment with cultural attitudes translates into differences in coercive behavior. The findings indicate that those officers who closely embody the values of the police culture are more coercive compared with those that differentially align with the culture, suggesting that police use of force is a function of officers' varying attitudinal commitments to the traditional view of police culture. The implications of these findings for policy and future research are considered.
COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABILITY, MINORITY THREAT, AND POLICE BRUTALITY: AN EXAMINATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS*
Authors: SMITH BRAD W. , HOLMES MALCOLM D.
Published: March 2006

A growing body of evidence shows that minorities are disproportionately the targets of police brutality, but important theoretical questions about the causes of that inequity remain unanswered. One promising line of research involves structural‐level analyses of the incidence of police brutality complaints; however, existing studies do not incorporate variables from alternative theoretical explanations. Drawing on the community accountability hypothesis and the threat hypothesis, we tested the predictions of two prominent structural‐level explanations of police brutality in a study of civil rights criminal complaints. The study included cities of 150,000+ population (n = 114). The findings reveal that two community accountability variables—ratio percent Hispanic citizens to percent Hispanic police officers and the presence of citizen review—were related positively to police brutality complaints, partially supporting that perspective. Two threat hypothesis measures of threatening people—percent black and percent Hispanic (in the Southwest)—were related positively to complaints, as predicted. The relative degree of support for the two hypotheses is assessed.
GENDER AND ADOLESCENT RELATIONSHIP VIOLENCE: A CONTEXTUAL EXAMINATION*
Authors: MILLER JODY , WHITE NORMAN A.
Published: March 2006

A growing body of research examines the problem of adolescent dating violence. In these studies, fairly high rates of female‐to‐male violence have been documented, leading to considerable debate about the role of gender in dating and other partner violence. Drawing from a broader qualitative study of violence in the lives of African‐American youths from a distressed urban community, we weigh in on this debate by providing a contextual examination of the nature, circumstances, and meanings of adolescent dating violence. Our research shows that the meanings and consequences of girls ‘violence are strikingly different than those of boys’, and that both are grounded in gender inequalities. We conclude by discussing the significance of these findings for both feminist and general research on dating violence.
THE EFFECT OF VICTIM IMPACT PANELS ON DUI REARREST RATES: A FIVE‐YEAR FOLLOW‐UP*
Authors: ROJEK DEAN G. , COVERDILL JAMES E. , FORS STUART W.
Published: March 2006

Victim Impact Panels (VIPs) were introduced by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in 1982 and have since spread throughout the United States in an attempt to reduce drunk driving. The objective of a VIP is to expose DUI offenders to the pain and suffering caused by drunk driving without necessarily condemning the DUI offender. The few scientific evaluations of the effectiveness of VIPs have produced mixed results. The present investigation draws on evidence from a quasi‐experimental design and a five‐year follow‐up to probe further the effects of VIPs on DUI recidivism. Results show that 33.5% of the comparison group, but only 15.8% of the VIP group, were rearrested over the five‐year period. Discrete‐time event history analyses suggest that VIPs are associated with a 55.7% overall decrease in the hazard of rearrest; the VIP effect is strong in the first two years but then wanes dramatically. Methodological threats stemming from the study's design are considered. The implications of the differing styles of VIP and the resultant outcomes are also discussed.