bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE PRIVATIZATION OF VIOLENCE*
Authors: COONEY MARK
Published: March 2006

Norbert Elias's (1939) work on “the civilizing process” highlighted the long‐term decline in violence within Western societies. A substantial amount of more recent anthropological and historical evidence suggests that violence has evolved not just quantitatively but qualitatively as well. In particular, the social characteristics of the parties to violence have changed over time. Drawing on Donald Black's (1976, 1993a) theoretical ideas on conflict management, the present paper proposes that as intimate social ties weakened and the state strengthened, collective and nonintimate forms of (nonpolitical) violence declined significantly. Consequently, violence increasingly became less public, more private. Pockets of residual public violence can, however, still be found within modern state societies. Privatization varies, then, across time and social space.
LONG‐TERM TRENDS IN CRIMES OF VIOLENCE (COMMENT ON COONEY, 2003)*
Authors: GREENBERG DAVID F.
Published: March 2006

Empirical and theoretical issues posed by Mark Cooney's (2003) analysis of long‐term trends in crimes of violence are discussed.
THE LIFE COURSE OF CRIMINOLOGY IN THE UNITED STATES: THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIMINOLOGY 2003 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS*
Authors: LAUB JOHN H.
Published: March 2006

The field of criminology lacks a sense of its own history. To rectify this situation, I apply the concepts and framework of the life‐course perspective to the development of criminology as a discipline. Examining criminology in the United States over the last 100 years, I discuss three eras (or life‐course phases), intellectual continuities and turning points in the field. My thesis is that if we knew our history, we would realize that ideas about crime matter. I offer a revised version on how to view criminology and in doing so address the theme of the 2003 annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, “The Challenge of Practice, the Benefits of Theory.”
DOES GUN PREVALENCE AFFECT TEEN GUN CARRYING AFTER ALL?*
Authors: COOK PHILIP J. , LUDWIG JENS
Published: March 2006

Previous research suggests that American adolescents usually have ready access to guns, and that the extent of misuse of guns by adolescents is not much affected by local gun prevalence or regulation. This “futility” claim is based on one interpretation of survey data from several cities, but has not been tested directly. Here we do so using microdata from a nationally representative survey, the 1995 National Survey of Adolescent Males. Using the restricted geo‐coded version of these data, and conditioning on an extensive set of covariates, we find (among other results) that the likelihood of gun carrying increases markedly with the prevalence of gun ownership in the given community. We also analyze the propensity to carry other types of weapons, finding that it is unrelated to the local prevalence of gun ownership. The prevalence of youths carrying both guns and other weapons is positively related to the local rate of youth violence (as measured by the robbery rate), confirmatory evidence that weapons carrying by youths is motivated in part by self‐protection.
PROJECTED OFFENDING AND CONTEMPORANEOUS RULE‐VIOLATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR HETEROTYPIC CONTINUITY*
Authors: POGARSKY GREG
Published: March 2006

This study integrated two methodologies, the vignette‐based survey and the randomized laboratory experiment, to investigate the relationship between projected and actual offending behavior. Findings indicate that respondents' estimates of the likelihood they would drive drunk in a hypothetical vignette were positively correlated with whether they simultaneously cheated on a laboratory task to earn a cash bonus. Implications are discussed for both the prospective measurement and heterotypic continuity of criminal and antisocial behavior.
EXPLAINING JAPAN'S POSTWAR VIOLENT CRIME TRENDS*
Authors: ROBERTS AKI , LAFREE GARY
Published: March 2006

Japan has long been recognized for its low rates of violent crime, rates that usually seem to be declining. The most common explanation for postwar rates links unique cultural characteristics to a system of exceptionally effective informal social controls that, at the macro level, suggest low levels of social disorganization. Other common explanations include low levels of economic stress, a small proportion of young males and a criminal justice system that delivers a high certainty of punishment. In this paper we test these four explanations for Japanese trends using both an annual time‐series national analysis (1951 to 2000) and a pooled cross‐sectional time‐series analysis of the 47 Japanese prefectures from 1955 to 2000 (at 5‐year intervals). The results from the two analyses are largely congruent. They show that measures of economic stress, certainty of punishment and age structure are–compared to common social disorganization measures–more consistent predictors of Japanese postwar violent crime trends. Our results suggest that the remarkable strength of the postwar Japanese economy may play a larger role in explaining Japanese violent crime rates than is usually recognized.
THE SOCIAL ECOLOGY OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN*
Authors: LAURITSEN JANET L. , SCHAUM ROBIN J.
Published: March 2006

Despite more than three decades of research on the topic of violence against women, the relative contribution of individual, family and community factors to victimization risk remains unknown. We use self‐report data from the Area‐Identified National Crime Victimization Survey to study the correlates of stranger, nonstranger and intimate‘partner violence against women. Regardless of victim‐offender relationship, we find that the risk for victimization is highest among young, single women with children, particularly those who have lived in the current home for relatively shorter periods. Area family and age composition appear to have stronger direct relationships with women's violence than poverty or racial composition measures. We also find there to be more similarities than differences in the individual, family, and community correlates of stranger, nonstranger and intimate partner violence. We discuss these findings as part of the growing body of multilevel literature on violence and on violence against women.
RACIAL TYPIFICATION OF CRIME AND SUPPORT FOR PUNITIVE MEASURES
Authors: CHIRICOS TED , WELCH KELLY , GERTZ MARC
Published: March 2006

This paper assesses whether support for harsh punitive policies toward crime is related to the racial typification of crime for a national random sample of households (N=885), surveyed in 2002. Results from OLS regression show that the racial typification of crime is a significant predictor of punitiveness, independent of the influence of racial prejudice, conservatism, crime salience, southern residence and other factors. This relationship is shown to be concentrated among whites who are either less prejudiced, not southern, conservative and for whom crime salience is low. The results broaden our understanding of the links between racial threat and social control, beyond those typically associated with racial composition of place. They also resonate important themes in what some have termed modern racism and what others have described as the politics of exclusion.
BILEVEL DISPARITIES IN COURT DISPOSITIONS FOR INTIMATE ASSAULT*
Authors: WOOLDREDGE JOHN , THISTLETHWAITE AMY
Published: March 2006

Using data on cases of intimate assault, we offer a relatively rare examination of disparities in court dispositions across multiple stages of case processing. In this context we introduce the theoretical and empirical relevance of considering the characteristics of defendants' neighborhoods as possible extralegal influences on disposition severity. Bilevel analyses of 2,948 males arrested for misdemeanor assaults on intimates in Cincinnati reveal significant disparities based on neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) in decisions related to charging, full prosecution, conviction, and incarceration, even when adjusting for compositional differences in defendant's race and SES across neighborhoods. Implications are discussed for the broader literature on extralegal disparities.
GENERAL STRAIN, STREET YOUTH AND CRIME: A TEST OF AGNEW'S REVISED THEORY*
Authors: BARON STEPHEN W.
Published: March 2006

Using a sample of homeless street youth, this research examines how specific forms of strain–emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, homelessness and being a victim of robbery, violence or theft, relative deprivation, monetary dissatisfaction and unemployment–lead to crime and drug use. It also explores how strain is conditioned by deviant peers, deviant attitudes, external attributions, self‐esteem and self‐efficacy. The results reveal that all ten types of strain examined can lead to criminal behavior either as main effects or when interacting with conditioning variables. The results are discussed in light of general strain theory and suggestions are offered for future research on this topic.
UNSTRUCTURED SOCIALIZING AND RATES OF DELINQUENCY
Authors: OSGOOD D. WAYNE , ANDERSON AMY L.
Published: March 2006

This article applies an individual‐level routine activities perspective to explaining rates of delinquency. The theoretical analysis also links the opportunity processes of that perspective to key themes of social disorganization theory. Multilevel analyses of 4, 358 eighth‐grade students from thirty‐six schools in ten cities support the central hypothesis: Time spent in unstructured socializing with peers has both individual and contextual effects that explain a large share of the variation in rates of delinquency across groups of adolescents who attend different schools. In addition, parental monitoring has a very strong contextual effect on unstructured socializing, which supports the proposed integration of routine activity and social disorganization perspectives.
SOURCES OF INFORMAL SOCIAL CONTROL IN CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS*
Authors: SILVER ERIC , MILLER LISA L.
Published: March 2006

Why do youth in structurally disadvantaged neighborhoods experience lower levels of informal social control? To answer this question, we examined multilevel data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Using hierarchical regression, we found that (1) neighborhood attachment and satisfaction with police contributed significantly to neighborhood levels of informal social control; and (2) neighborhood attachment and satisfaction with police mediated a substantial portion of the association between informal social control and neighborhood levels of concentrated disadvantage and immigrant concentration.
DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF ASSAULTS MOTIVATED BY BIAS*
Authors: MESSNER STEVEN F. , MCHUGH SUZANNE , FELSON RICHARD B.
Published: March 2006

This research examines the ways in which assaults motivated by bias are similar to and different from other types of assault. Analyses are based on data from the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS), pooled across eleven states. We find evidence suggesting that offenders motivated by racial and ethnic bias are more likely to be versatile offenders than specialists: they are more (not less) likely to be using drugs and alcohol during the crime than conventional offenders. Bias offenders are also more likely to seriously injure the victim. Finally, we find that the risks of bias crime victimization (relative to the risk of assault victimization generally) are similar for blacks and other racial minorities.
STRUCTURAL FACTORS AND BLACK INTERRACIAL HOMICIDE: A NEW EXAMINATION OF THE CAUSAL PROCESS*
Authors: WADSWORTH TIM , KUBRIN CHARIS E.
Published: March 2006

This study evaluates the assumption that deprivation among African Americans and racial inequality lead to black interracial homicide due to racial conflict and antagonism. Using refined race‐adjusted Supplemental Homicide Report data, Uniform Crime Report data and census data, we test an alternative hypothesis that draws on the macrostructural opportunity theory to assess and more accurately specify the relationship between structural characteristics and black interracial homicide. We find that first, the relationship between economic factors and black interracial homicide can be explained in large part by high rates of financially motivated crime such as robbery, and second, that economic factors are associated with financially motivated but not expressive black interracial killings. Analyses of black intraracial killings are performed for comparison purposes. Collectively, the findings suggest that conflict‐based explanations rooted in racial antagonism and frustration aggression may be premature.
EARNEST A. HOOTON AND THE BIOLOGICAL TRADITION IN AMERICAN CRIMINOLOGY*
Authors: RAFTER NICOLE
Published: March 2006

Biological explanations shaped criminology at its inception, and today they are reemerging with fresh vigor and increased potential. But many criminologists do not understand how biological theories developed, what they contributed to criminology generally and where they went astray. This paper focuses on the work of Earnest A. Hooton, whose criminological studies, published in 1939, met with decidedly mixed reviews but were nonetheless discussed for decades in criminological textbooks. Information about a now half‐forgotten and misunderstood figure like Hooton, in addition to being useful in and of itself, contributes to the history of criminology as a discipline—a project essential to the field's ultimate maturity. It helps build a history of criminological knowledge.
CRIMINAL ACHIEVEMENT, OFFENDER NETWORKS AND THE BENEFITS OF LOW SELF‐CONTROL
Authors: MORSELLI CARLO , TREMBLAY PIERRE
Published: March 2006

This study follows recent research on criminal earnings and examines the impact of underlying traits (low self‐control) and personal organization features (nonredundant networking) on the criminal earnings of a sample of incarcerated offenders previously involved in market and predatory crimes. Controlling for various background factors (age, noncriminal income, lambda and costs of doing crime), both low self‐control and nonredundant networking independently explain why some offenders are more successful than others in achieving higher monetary standards through crime. Although efficient, brokerage‐like networking enhances market offenders' earnings, low self‐control emerges as an asset for predatory offenders: the lower their self‐control, the higher their criminal earnings. For market offenders, however, low self‐control has no direct effect, but it does mitigate the impact of effective networking on criminal earnings. The results emerging from this study have implications for Gottfredson and Hirschi's theory of crime and the advent of a criminal network perspective. Extensions are also made toward the conventional/criminal embeddedness framework and deterrence research.
ALCOHOL AND THE RISK OF PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMIZATION*
Authors: FELSON RICHARD B. , BURCHFIELD KERI B.
Published: March 2006

We examine the effect of alcohol consumption on an individual's risk of victimization for physical and sexual assault. Analyses of the National Violence Against Women Survey suggest that the frequency and amount of alcohol people consume has strong effects on their risk of victimization when drinking, but is not associated with their victimization while sober. This evidence suggests that drinking has a situational causal effect on victimization, and cannot be attributed to opportunity factors associated with drinking. This effect is particularly strong for men and young adults, who may be more likely to behave provocatively when under the influence. Victims of sexual assaults and men assaulted by their female partners are also particularly likely to be drinking.
GENDER, STREETLIFE AND CRIMINAL RETALIATION*
Authors: MULLINS CHRISTOPHER W. , WRIGHT RICHARD , JACOBS BRUCE A.
Published: March 2006

Recent work in criminology has highlighted the central role of retaliation in shaping criminal violence in America's inner cities. Most of this work, however, has been based on male offenders. It has also failed to consider whether and how gender structures payback in real‐life settings and circumstances. In this paper, we analyze in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews with forty men and twelve women who recently engaged in one or more episodes of retaliatory violence to examine the ways in which gender shapes vengeance. We hope to provide an insider's view of how gender frames the context and dynamics of retaliatory events for both men and women.
CRIMINOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE: PERIOD AND COHORT EFFECTS IN SCHOLARSHIP
Authors: SAVELSBERG JOACHIM J. , FLOOD SARAH M.
Published: March 2006

Period and cohort effects are explored in regard to criminological knowledge. Hypotheses are inspired by biographies and by research in the sociology of knowledge, based on Karl Mannheim's essay on generations, Maurice Halbwachs' partly conflicting arguments about the presentist orientation of collective memory and newer ideas about the institutional context of knowledge production. The data set results from content analysis of 1, 390 articles in leading American sociology, criminology, and law and society journals from 1951 to 1993, supplemented by information on the authors' “academic age.” Results show that cohort membership has some effect and periods have considerable impact on topic, type of theory examined and data used by criminologists. These effects are interpreted against the background of post‐World War II history: dominant ideological currents of different eras, historic events, changing academic institutions, and the ebb and flow of influential schools. Multivariate analyses indicate that period effects are largely but not fully explained by shifts in research funding and by the emergence of specialized fields with their own institutions.
THE TIMING OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR AFTER‐SCHOOL PROGRAMS*
Authors: GOTTFREDSON DENISE C. , GOTTFREDSON GARY D. , WEISMAN STEPHANIE A.
Published: March 2006

Research Summary: This study examines self‐reports from two samples to assess the timing of delinquency. Results imply that the after‐school hours are a time of elevated delinquency, but that the peak is modest compared with that observed in official records. Additionally, children who are unsupervised during the after‐school hours ‐ the primary target population for after‐school programs ‐ are found to be more delinquent at all times, not only after‐school.

Policy Implications: This finding suggests that factors (including social competencies and social bonding) in addition to inadequate supervision produce delinquency during the after‐school hours and that the effectiveness of after‐school programs for reducing delinquency will depend upon their ability to address these other factors through appropriate and high quality services.
HOW GREAT IS G.R.E.A.T.? RESULTS FROM A LONGITUDINAL QUASI‐EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN*
Authors: ESBENSEN FINN‐AAGE , OSGOOD D. WAYNE , TAYLOR TERRANCE J. , PETERSON DANA , FRENG ADRIENNE
Published: March 2006

Research Summary: This manuscript presents results from the National Evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program, a school‐based prevention program targeting middle‐school students. A longitudinal quasi‐experimental research design was conducted from 1995 through 1999. Beneficial program effects emerged gradually over time so that there was, on average, more pro‐social change in the attitudes of G.R.E.A.T. students than the non‐G.R.E.A.T. students four years following program exposure.

Policy Implications: Two specific policy recommendations stem from this research. First, law enforcement officers can be effective providers of school‐based prevention programs. Second, to better assess program effectiveness, evaluations should include design features that allow for assessment of long‐term or delayed program effects.
FEDERAL LEGISLATION AND GUN MARKETS: HOW MUCH HAVE RECENT REFORMS OF THE FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSING SYSTEM REDUCED CRIMINAL GUN SUPPLIERS?*
Authors: KOPER CHRISTOPHER S.
Published: March 2006

Research Summary: Following reforms of the federal firearms licensing system, nearly 70% of the nation's retail gun dealers active in 1994 dropped out of business by 1998. Dropout dealers supplied one‐third of guns recovered and traced by police but were linked to fewer crime guns than were other dealers, most likely because dropouts tended to be lower volume dealers. It is not clear if guns sold by dropouts had a higher probability of being used in crime, but guns supplied by dropouts did not move into criminal channels more quickly.

Policy Implications: If federal reforms have reduced the availability of guns to criminals, the effect has probably been more modest than suggested by the overall reduction in dealers. Producing further reductions in the flow of guns to criminals through oversight of gun dealers will require refinement in the identification of problematic gun dealers.
BREAKING THE CYCLE OF DRUGS AND CRIME: FINDINGS FROM THE BIRMINGHAM BTC DEMONSTRATION
Authors: HARRELL ADELE , MITCHELL OJMARRH , HIRST ALEXA , MARLOWE DOUGLAS , MERRILL JEFFREY
Published: March 2006

Research Summary: We compared 137 felony defendants arrested before the implementation of Breaking the Cycle, a pretrial intervention with felony defendants that included drug testing, supervision, and drug treatment as needed, to 245 BTC participants. We found Significant lower rates of arrest and self‐reported drug use and crime among BTC participants during the next year.

Policy Implications: Systematic intervention aimed at all drug‐involved felony defendants, not just selected defendants, is effective, but may encounter substantial challenges in achieving collaboration across criminal justice agencies, services providers, and levels/branches of government.
DRUG TESTING FOR YOUTHFUL OFFENDERS ON PAROLE: AN EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION*
Authors: HAAPANEN RUDY , BRITTON LEE
Published: March 2006

Research Summary: The present experimental study examined parole outcomes and arrests for 1,958 California Youth Authority parolees, randomly assigned to levels of routine drug testing ranging from “no testing” to two tests per month. Results showed no improved outcomes from more frequent drug testing. Early positive drug tests, however, indicated increased risk of recidivism.

Policy Implications: Although limited in its scope, this study provided experimental evidence that little crime‐reduction benefit of routine drug testing above a minimum level exists for regular parolees. However, drug testing may serve as a relatively straightforward risk assessment procedure for future criminal behavior.
BEING PURSUED: STALKING VICTIMIZATION IN A NATIONAL STUDY OF COLLEGE WOMEN*
Authors: FISHER BONNIE S. , CULLEN FRANCIS T. , TURNER MICHAEL G.
Published: March 2006

Research Summary:We provide the results of a 1997 national‐level study of stalking among college women. Over an approximately seven‐month period, 13.1% of the women reported being stalked. Although physical harm was not common, the incidents typically lasted two months, involved frequent contact by offenders, and prompted victims to take protective actions. Lifestyle‐routine activities, prior sexual victimization, and demographic characteristics affected the risk of victimization.

Policy Implications:Due to its prevalence, college and university administrators need to rectify their current neglect of stalking. Interventions may include educational programs, crime prevention seminars, reducing opportunities for stalking, and increasing informal and formal controls over stalkers.
SELECTIVE INCAPACITATION, THREE STRIKES, AND THE PROBLEM OF AGING PRISON POPULATIONS: USING SIMULATION MODELING TO SEE THE FUTURE*
Authors: AUERHAHN KATHLEEN
Published: March 2006

Research Summary: The growth of prison populations over the last three decades is a great source of concern for policy makers and observers. One mechanism by which this growth occurs is via sentencing reforms that extend length of stay for certain categories of offenders. This has the effect of aging prison populations, which is problematic for many reasons. Apart from the increased financial burdens entailed in caring for older prisoners, it is also important to consider the intent of reforms in evaluating them. Of late, sentencing reform has become increasingly focused on the selective incapacitation of dangerous offenders. Policies that have the effect of aging the prison population are problematic from this perspective due to the diminishing returns realized with respect to incapacitation as offenders age. Dynamic systems simulation analysis is employed to investigate the likely consequences of recent sentencing reforms that increase length of stay for some offenders. These analyses indicate that the effects of recent reforms may not be as dramatic as some observers have predicted, but they suggest that the consideration of alternatives to incarceration for elderly offenders is warranted from the standpoint of cost considerations as well as that of selective incapacitation.

Policy Implications: The results indicate that California's Three Strikes law will not accelerate the rate of growth of the elderly prison population. However, even without increasing the proportional representation of elderly prisoners, the number of elderly prisoners is expected to grow substantially over the next three decades. These prisoners will strain criminal justice system resources while presenting little public safety threat. State criminal justice policy makers and their constituents should closely examine laws that impose very long stays without discretionary release, as these statutes may contribute to the production of elderly prisoners. This problem is particularly pronounced in Three Strikes and other habitual offender laws that use retrospective methods to identify habitual offenders. Additionally, the effects of reforms lengthening stay for some offenders must be considered in light of cumulative effects of sentencing reform resulting in changes to the demographic structure of the prison population overall. Dynamic systems simulation modeling is presented as a valuable policy‐making tool, as it allows the policy analyst to examine the potential impacts of laws in the absence of data suitable for conventional statistical analyses.
GROWTH AND QUALITY OF U.S. PRIVATE PRISONS: EVIDENCE FROM A NATIONAL SURVEY*
Authors: CAMP SCOTT D. , GAES GERALD G.
Published: March 2006

Research Summary: Private prisons incarcerate 5.3% of the sentenced, adult population in the United States. The present study presents selected results from a 1999 survey of administrators who monitored private prisons in the United States (or U.S. territories). Among the findings of interest, the private sector experienced significant problems with staff turnover, escapes, and drug use. Where possible, private prison operations were compared with those of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Policy Implications: Given the issues raised here with public safety, public sector agencies contracting for private prisons need to develop incentives or other means to ensure that private sector operators retain experienced custody staff.
FUNDING COMMUNITY POLICING TO REDUCE CRIME: HAVE COPS GRANTS MADE A DIFFERENCE?*
Authors: ZHAO JIHONG “SOLOMON” , SCHEIDER MATTHEW C. , THURMAN QUINT
Published: March 2006

Research Summary: This research examines how funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), has affected violent and property crime rates in the United States from 1995 to 1999. Drawing on six years of panel data, we examine the effects of three types of awards made by COPS to 6,100 law enforcement agencies serving more than 145 million citizens. We estimate their impact on crime reduction over time in jurisdictions receiving funding and controlling for baseline levels of crime, socioeconomic characteristics, city size, and population diversity and mobility. Our analyses suggest that COPS hiring and innovative grant programs have resulted in significant reductions in local crime rates in cities with populations greater than 10,000 for both violent and nonviolent offenses. Multivariate analysis shows that in cities with populations greater than 10,000, an increase in one dollar of hiring grant funding per resident contributed to a corresponding decline of 5.26 violent crimes and 21.63 property crimes per 100,000 residents. Similarly, an increase in one dollar of innovative grant funding per resident has contributed to a decline of 12.93 violent crimes and 45.53 property crimes per 100,000 persons. In addition, the findings suggest that COPS grants have had no significant negative effect on violent and property crime rates in cities with less than 10,000 population.

Policy Implications: The findings of this study imply that COPS program funding to medium‐ and large‐size cities has been an effective force in reducing both violent and property crime. Federal government grants made directly to law enforcement agencies to hire additional officers and promote innovations may be an effective way to reduce crime on a national scale.
THE PREVENTIVE EFFECTS OF ARREST ON INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: RESEARCH, POLICY AND THEORY*
Authors: MAXWELL CHRISTOPHER D. , GARNER JOEL H. , FAGAN JEFFREY A.
Published: March 2006

Research Summary:This research addresses the limitations of prior analyses and reviews of five experiments testing for the specific deterrent effect of arrest on intimate partner violence by applying to individual level data consistent eligibility criteria, common independent and outcome measures, and appropriate statistical tests. Based on 4,032 cases involving adult males who assaulted their female intimate partners, multivariate regression analyses show consistent but modest reductions in subsequent offenses targeting the original victim that is attributable to arresting the suspect. Although the reductions attributable to arrest are similar across all five studies, other factors, such as the suspect's prior arrest record, are stronger predictors of subsequent offenses. The effect of arrest is also modest compared with the general decline in offenses toward the same victim during the follow‐up period.

Policy Implications:These results lend limited support for policies favoring arrest over informal police responses to intimate partner violence. However, the analyses also show that despite police intervention, a minority of suspects repeatedly victimize their partners and that factors other than formal sanctions play larger roles in explaining the cessation or continuation of aggressive behavior between intimates. These findings suggest that new policies replacing or enhancing arrest that target potential repeat offenders might produce larger reductions in intimate partner violence.
MANAGING CITIZEN CALLS TO THE POLICE: THE IMPACT OF BALTIMORE'S 3‐1‐1 CALL SYSTEM*
Authors: MAZEROLLE LORRAINE , ROGAN DENNIS , FRANK JAMES , FAMEGA CHRISTINE , ECK JOHN E.
Published: March 2006

Research Summary: Our paper explores the impact of implementing a nonemergency 3‐1‐1 call system in Baltimore, Maryland. We found a large (34.2%) reduction in 9‐1‐1 calls following the introduction of the 3‐1‐1 nonemergency call system. Many, but not all, of these calls simply migrated over to the 3‐1‐1 call system. Overall, we identified a 7.7% reduction in recorded citizen calls to the police post 3‐1‐1 intervention. This recorded reduction in citizen calls was confounded by an increase in high priority calls to the 9‐1‐1 system (27.5%), a large overall reduction in low priority calls (54.3%), and an estimated increase (perhaps 8%) in unrecorded calls to the police. We also note a small increase in response times to high priority 9‐1‐1 calls following the implementation of the 3‐1‐1 call system and virtually no change in the amount of officer time available for community policing or problem‐oriented policing activities.

Policy Implications: Our findings suggest that nonemergency call systems, such as 3‐1‐1, can greatly facilitate police efforts to better handle citizen calls for police service. However, the intrinsic value of nonemergency call systems is tightly woven with a police department's willingness to change dispatch policies (especially for those calls received via the 3‐1‐1 system), reallocate patrol resources, and adopt organizational reforms to support alternative methods (apart from dispatch) for handling nonemergency calls for service.
RIGHT‐TO‐CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS AND VIOLENT CRIME: CRIME CONTROL THROUGH GUN DECONTROL?*
Authors: KOVANDZIC TOMISLAV V. , MARVELL THOMAS B.
Published: March 2006

Research Summary:

“Right‐to‐Carry” (RTC) concealed‐handgun laws mandate that authorities issue concealed handgun permits to qualified applicants. The supposition by those supporting the laws is that allowing private citizens to carry concealed handguns in public can reduce violent crime by deterring prospective criminals afraid of encountering armed civilians. Critics of the laws argue that violent altercations are more likely to turn deadly when more people carry guns. Whether the laws cause violent crime to increase or to decrease has become an important public policy question, as most states have now adopted such legislation. The present study evaluates Florida's 1987 RTC law, which prior research suggests plays a key role in the RTC debate. Specifically, we use panel data for 58 Florida counties from 1980 to 2000 to examine the effects on violent crime from increases in the number of people with concealed‐carry permits, rather than before‐after dummy and time‐trend variables used in prior research. We also address many of the methodological problems encountered in earlier RTC studies. We present numerous model specifications, and we find little evidence that increases in the number of citizens with concealed‐handgun permits reduce or increase rates of violent crime.

Policy Implications:

The main policy implication of this research is that there appears to be little gained in the way of crime prevention by converting restrictive gun carrying laws to “shall‐issue” laws, although the laws might still prove beneficial by (1) eliminating arbitrary decisions on gun permit applications, (2) encouraging gun safety, (3) making permit holders feel safer when out in public, (4) providing permit holders with a more effective means of self‐defense, and (5) reducing the costs to police departments of enforcing laws prohibiting unlicensed gun carrying.
VIOLENCE AMONG ADOLESCENTS LIVING IN PUBLIC HOUSING: A TWO‐SITE ANALYSIS*
Authors: IRELAND TIMOTHY O. , THORNBERRY TERENCE P. , LOEBER ROLF
Published: March 2006

Research Summary:

Current knowledge about violence among public housing residents is extremely limited. Much of what we know about violence in and around public housing is derived from analysis of Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data or victimization surveys of public housing residents. The results of these studies suggest that fear of crime among public housing residents is high and that violent offense rates may be higher in areas that contain public housing compared with similar areas without public housing. Yet, “[r]ecorded crime rates (and victimization rates) are an index not of the rate of participation in crime by residents of an area, but of the rate of crime (or victimization) that occurs in an area whether committed by residents or non‐residents” (Weatherburn et al., 1999:259). Therefore, neither UCR nor victimization data measurement strategies address whether crime in and around public housing emanates from those who reside in public housing. Additionally, much of this research focuses on atypical public housing—large developments with high‐rise buildings located in major metropolitan areas. To complement the existing literature, we compare rates of self‐reported crime and violence among adolescents who reside in public housing in Rochester, N.Y., and Pittsburgh, Pa., with adolescents from the same cities who do not live in public housing. In Rochester, property crime and violence participation rates during adolescence and early adulthood among those in public housing are statistically equivalent to participation rates among those not in public housing. In Pittsburgh, living in public housing during late adolescence and early adulthood— particularly in large housing developments—increases the risk for violent offending, but not for property offending. The current study relies on a relatively small number of subjects in public housing at any single point in time and is based on cross‐sectional analyses. Even so, there are several important policy implications that can be derived from this study, given that it moves down a path heretofore largely unexplored.

Policy Implications:

If replicated, our findings indicate that not all public housing is inhabited disproportionately by those involved in crime; that to develop appropriate responses, it is essential to discover if the perpetrators of violence are residents or trespassers; that policy should target reducing violence specifically and not crime in general; that a modification to housing allocation policies that limits, to the extent possible, placing families with children in late adolescence into large developments might reduce violence perpetrated by residents; that limited resources directed at reducing violence among residents should be targeted at those developments or buildings that actually have high rates of participation in violence among the residents; and that best practices may be derived from developments where violence is not a problem.
EFFECTIVENESS OF DRUG TREATMENT COURTS: EVIDENCE FROM A RANDOMIZED TRIAL*
Authors: GOTTFREDSON DENISE C. , NAJAKA STACY S. , KEARLEY BROOK
Published: March 2006

Research Summary: Study randomly assigned 235 offenders to drug treatment court (DTC) or “treatment as usual.” Analyses of official records collected over a two‐year follow‐up period show that DTC is reducing crime in a population of drug‐addicted offenders. DTC subjects who participated in treatment were significantly less likely to recidivate than were both untreated drug court subjects and control subjects.

Policy Implications: Continued enthusiasm for DTCs is warranted. Both sanctions and treatment are important elements of the DTC model. However, DTCs will not necessarily result in cost reductions because DTC and control cases are incarcerated for approximately equal numbers of days. Implementation fidelity is important, and DTCs can be strengthened if they engage a higher percentage of their clients in drug treatment.
A RANDOMIZED EXPERIMENT TESTING INMATE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS*
Authors: BERK RICHARD A. , LADD HEATHER , GRAZIANO HEIDI , BAEK JONG‐HO
Published: March 2006

Research Summary: In California, incarceration in the state prison system is in part organized by security level. The higher the security level, the more restrictive the setting. Upon arrival at a reception center, new inmates are scored within a classification system that is used to determine the appropriate level of security. In this paper, we report on the development and testing of a new inmate classification scoring system. Over 20,000 inmates took part in a randomized experiment in which half were assigned to their housing using the existing scoring system and half were assigned to their housing using the new scoring system. There were two key outcomes: (1) potential mismatches between the number of inmates assigned to different security levels and the available beds and (2) reports of inmate misconduct.

Policy Implications: We conclude there to be some potential crowding problems, but that the new scoring system is much better than the old scoring system in sorting inmates by the likelihood of misconduct. We also conclude that some predictors popular in the past are no longer effective (e.g., marital status), while some new predictors are extremely powerful (e.g., gang activity), and that one can build in a number of mandatory housing placements (e.g., for sex offenders) and not degrade the overall effectiveness of the new classification system. Finally, the new classification system is shown to be more user‐friendly than the existing classification system and well received by the staff responsible for implementing it.
FAITH, PUBLIC POLICY, AND THE LIMITS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE*
Authors: KNEPPER PAUL
Published: March 2006

Recent interest on the part of criminologists in the “faith factor” has made possible a contemporary argument for faith‐based interventions in crime prevention: if faith “works,” then government should support faith‐based initiatives because in doing so, government is not endorsing religion, but science. Drawing on the ideas of Karl Popper, Michael Polanyi, and others, this essay reviews this argument within the framework of the philosophy of social science. The discussion reviews such concepts of falsification, structural causality, objectivity, and evidence‐based policy making to affirm the place of both faith and science in public life.
POVERTY, STATE CAPITAL, AND RECIDIVISM AMONG WOMEN OFFENDERS*
Authors: HOLTFRETER KRISTY , REISIG MICHAEL D. , MORASH MERRY
Published: March 2006

Research Summary:

This research investigates the effects of poverty and state capital (i.e., state‐sponsored support) on recidivism among women offenders. We seek also to determine whether criticisms directed at actuarial risk tools, such as the failure to take into account gender‐related factors (e.g., poverty status), have merit. A community corrections sample of 134 female felony offenders from one county in the State of Oregon and in the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota is used to examine self‐reports of rearrest and probation or parole violations over a six‐month time period. Results from the logistic regression analyses show poverty status increases the odds of rearrest by a factor of 4.6, and it increases the odds of supervision violation by a factor of 12.7. In contrast, risk scores failed to predict recidivism once poverty status was taken into account. Among poor women offenders specifically, we find providing state‐sponsored support to address short‐term needs (e.g., housing) reduces the odds of recidivism by 83%. Not only do community corrections officers who make available state capital promote women's empowerment, they are also less likely to have clients who reoffend.

Policy Implications:

Our findings suggest that a commonly used actuarial risk assessment tool (i.e., the LSI‐R) does not sufficiently take into account the economic marginality of women offenders. At a minimum, existing tools should be refined or supplemented with other sources of information. During the early stages of supervision, community corrections agencies should encourage their officers to refer and advocate for poor women to receive available sources of state capital (e.g., subsidized housing) to address critical short‐term needs, which can improve their economic circumstances, help move them out of poverty, and reduce the likelihood of recidivism. More broadly, recent changes in welfare policy, such as “Working Toward Independence,” will experience (at best) limited success because the impetus behind these reforms is narrow (i.e., assigning personal responsibility for poverty). Welfare policy reforms can be improved by providing state‐sponsored resources in the areas of childcare, education, health care, and job training, which address the causes of economic marginalization (e.g., deficient reserves of social and human capital) among women in general.
KINGPINS OR MULES: AN ANALYSIS OF DRUG OFFENDERS INCARCERATED IN FEDERAL AND STATE PRISONS
Authors: SEVIGNY ERIC L. , CAULKINS JONATHAN P.
Published: March 2006

Research Summary:

Drug policy reformers and defenders contest the extent to which low‐level drug offenders are being sent to prison and for how long. Using data from the Survey of Inmates in Federal and State Correctional Facilities, 1997 (BJS, 2000), we assess the seriousness of incarcerated drug offenders along dimensions of dangerousness, culpability, and harm—specifically, functional role and drug group participation, type and amount of drugs, firearms involvement, and criminal conviction and arrest history. We find that only about 1.6% of federal and 5.7% of state inmates can be described as “unambiguously low‐level.” Alternatively, not many are “kingpins.” Rather, most fall into a middle spectrum representing different degrees of seriousness that depend on what factors are emphasized.

Policy Implications:

Our findings dampen hopes of dramatically reducing prison populations by getting out of prison those who are unambiguously low‐level drug offenders. They simply do not represent the majority of incarcerated drug offenders. In particular, most played some role in distribution, so eliminating prison terms for users (decriminalization) would not have affected many now in prison. Indeed, if decriminalization increased demand, it could plausibly increase prison populations by increasing the number of suppliers still subject to imprisonment. On the other hand, “drug courier exceptions” to sentencing laws that apply to minor role offenders possessing large quantities could have a greater prison reduction impact.
INJUSTICE AND IRRATIONALITY IN CONTEMPORARY YOUTH POLICY
Authors: BISHOP DONNA M.
Published: March 2006

Lionel Tate was 12 years old when he killed 6‐year‐old Tiffany Eunick. Tiffany had been staying at the Tate home and, by all accounts, got along well with Lionel. The two were playing at “wrestling” when Lionel decided to try out some moves that he had seen on television. He threw Tiffany across the room, inflicting fatal injuries. Despite the boy's tender age, the prosecutor transferred Lionel to criminal court on a charge of first‐degree murder, an offense carrying a mandatory penalty of life without parole. The boy was given an opportunity to plead guilty to second‐degree murder in return for a sentence of three years incarceration, but he rejected the offer. A jury subsequently convicted him of first‐degree murder. At sentencing, the prosecution recommended leniency, which drew an angry response from the judge: If the state believed the boy did not deserve to be sent to prison for life, why hadn't it charged him with a lesser offense? Without any inquiry into the boy's cognitive, emotional, or moral maturity, the judge imposed the mandatory sentence.1

Raymond Gardner was 16 years old when he shot and killed 20‐year‐old Mack Robinson.2 Raymond lived in a violent urban neighborhood with his mother, who kept close watch over him. He had no prior record. He was an A student and worked part‐time in a clothing store to earn money for college. On the day of the shooting, a friend came into the store to tell Raymond that Mack had a beef with him about talking to a girl, and was “looking to get him.” The victim was known on the street as “Mack the Knife” because he always carried a small machete and was believed to have stabbed several people. To protect himself on the way home, Raymond took the gun kept under the counter of the shop where he worked. As he neared home, Mack and two other men approached and blocked his path. According to eyewitness testimony, Raymond began shaking, then pulled out the gun and fired. Mack ran into the street and fell. Raymond followed and fired five more shots into the victim's back as he lay dying on the ground. Raymond did not run. He just stood there crying. The prosecutor filed a motion in juvenile court to transfer Raymond on a charge of first‐degree murder. The judge ordered a psychological evaluation, which addressed the boy's family and social background, medical and behavioral history, intelligence, maturity, potential for future violence and prospects for treatment. The judge subsequently denied the transfer motion. He found Raymond delinquent and committed him to a private psychiatric treatment facility.3