bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CRIME, ARRESTS, AND PRETRIAL JAIL INCARCERATION: AN EXAMINATION OF THE DETERRENCE THESIS*
Authors: D'ALESSIO STEWART J. , STOLZENBERG LISA
Published: March 2006

Using longitudinal data calibrated in daily intervals and a vector ARMA (VARMA) study design, we investigate the causal relations among the number of crimes reported to the police, the frequency of arrest, and the number of defendants held in pretrial jail confinement. Results show a lagged negative effect of frequency of arrest on reported crime. As the number of wrests made by police increases, the number of index crimes reported to authorities decreases substantially the following day. Additionally the analysis reveals a significant positive contemporaneous relationship between criminal activity and arrest levels. No feedback effects among the three variables are noted. In sum, our findings add empirical support to the thesis that the instantaneous and lagged relationship between crime and clearances are of opposite sign. That is, criminal activity increases arrest levels instantaneously, or at least relatively so, while the negative effect of arrest levels on crime levels transpires more gradually.
THE INTERACTION OF RACE, GENDER, AND AGE IN CRIMINAL SENTENCING: THE PUNISHMENT COST OF BEING YOUNG, BLACK, AND MALE
Authors: STEFFENSMEIER DARRELL , ULMER JEFFERY , KRAMER JOHN
Published: March 2006

Prior theory and research on sentencing oversimplify the role of race, gender and age in judicial decision making. In this article we present a “focal concerns” theory of judicial decision making to frame hypotheses regarding the effects on sentencing of these social statuses, both singly and in combination. Analyzing statewide sentencing outcomes in Pennsylvania for 1989–1992, we find that, net of controls: (1) young black males are sentenced more harshly than any other group, (2) race is most influential in the sentencing of younger rather than older males, (3) the influence of offender's age on sentencing is greater among males than females, and (4) the main effects of race, gender, and age are more modest compared to the very large differences in sentencing outcomes across certain age‐race‐gender combinations. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering the joint effects of race, gender, and age on sentencing, and of using interactive rather than additive models.
PREDICTING RISKS OF LARCENY THEFT VICTIMIZATION: A ROUTINE ACTIVITY ANALYSIS USING REFINED LIFESTYLE MEASURES
Authors: MUSTAINE ELIZABETH EHRHARDT , TEWKSBURY RICHARD
Published: March 2006

Routine activity theory has long been plagued by a heavy reliance on proxy measures of lifestyles, which typically include demographic variables that are regularly used as measures of lifestyle and behavior. This reliance on indirect measures forces researchers to suppose how and why these indicators are related to victimization risks. Using detailed measurements of activities and specific structural aspects of communities is clearly more desirable and beneficial when seeking to explain variances in victimization risks. This research advances theoretical understandings of victimization risks through an analysis of specific social activities, aspects of neighborhoods, and contribution of each to the risks of larceny victimization for college students. We find that greater specificity in measuring lifestyles is warranted, for it is not just leaving one's home and going out in public that increases one's risk for victimization (a typical finding of routine activity theory scholars), but where one goes and what one does that are the important larceny victimization predictors.
USING THE CORRECT STATISTICAL TEST FOR THE EQUALITY OF REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS
Authors: PATERNOSTER RAYMOND , BRAME ROBERT , MAZEROLLE PAUL , PIQUERO ALEX
Published: March 2006

Criminologists are often interested in examining interactive effects within a regression context. For example, “holding other relevant factors constant, is the effect of delinquent peers on one's own delinquent conduct the same for males and females?” or “is the effect of a given treatment program comparable between first‐time and repeat offenders?” A frequent strategy in examining such interactive effects is to test for the difference between two regression coefficients across independent samples. That is, does b1= b2? Traditionally, criminologists have employed a t or z test for the difference between slopes in making these coefficient comparisons. While there is considerable consensus as to the appropriateness of this strategy, there has been some confusion in the criminological literature as to the correct estimator of the standard error of the difference, the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of coefficient differences, in the t or z formula. Criminologists have employed two different estimators of this standard deviation in their empirical work. In this note, we point out that one of these estimators is correct while the other is incorrect. The incorrect estimator biases one's hypothesis test in favor of rejecting the null hypothesis that b1= b2. Unfortunately, the use of this incorrect estimator of the standard error of the difference has been fairly widespread in criminology. We provide the formula for the correct statistical test and illustrate with two examples from the literature how the biased estimator can lead to incorrect conclusions.
FOR A NONSPECIESIST CRIMINOLOGY: ANIMAL ABUSE AS AN OBJECT OF STUDY*
Authors: BEIRNE PIERS
Published: March 2006

This article considers a variety of arguments about why theory and research on animal abuse should be developed by criminologists. These include, with more or less satisfaction, the status of animal abuse as (1) a signifier of actual or potential interhuman conflict, (2) an existing object of criminal law, (3) an item in the utilitarian calculus on the avoidance of pain and suffering, (4) a violation of rights, and (5) one of several oppressions identified by feminism as an interconnected whole. The article concludes that animal abuse is an important object of study for criminology not only sui generis but also because its presence may indicate or predict situations of interhuman violence.
RECONSIDERING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SES AND DELINQUENCY: CAUSATION BUT NOT CORRELATION*
Authors: WRIGHT BRADLEY R. ENTNER , CASPI AVSHALOM , MOFFITT TERRIE E. , MIECH RICHARD A. , SILVA PHIL A.
Published: March 2006

Many theories of crime have linked low levels of socioeconomic status (SES) to high levels of delinquency. However, empirical studies have consistently found weak or nonexistent correlations between individuals' SES and their self‐reported delinquent behavior. Drawing upon recent theoretical innovations (Hagan et al., 1985; Jensen, 1993; Tittle, 1995), we propose that this apparent contradiction between theory and data may be reconciled by recognizing that SES has both a negative and a positive indirect effect upon delinquency that, in tandem, results in little overall correlation between the two. We tested this proposal with longitudinal data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. We used measures of parental SES recorded at study members' birth through age 15, social‐psychological characteristics at age 18, and self‐reported delinquency at ages 18 and 21. We found that low SES promoted delinquency by increasing individuals' alienation, financial strain, and aggression and by decreasing educational and occupational aspirations, whereas high SES promoted individuals' delinquency by increasing risk taking and social power and by decreasing conventional values. These findings suggest a reconciliation between theory and data, and they underscore the conceptual importance of elucidating the full range of causal linkages between SES and delinquency.
RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN EXPOSURE TO CRIME: THE CITY AND SUBURBS OF CLEVELAND IN 1990*
Authors: LOGAN JOHN R. , STULTS BRIAN J.
Published: March 2006

Do minorities live in higher crime neighborhoods because they lack the class resources to live in better areas, or do racial differences in exposure to crime persist even for blacks and whites of comparable backgrounds? Does living in the suburbs reduce exposure to crime equally for whites and blacks? This study analyzes the determinants of living in local areas with higher or lower crime rates in the Cleveland metropolitan region in 1990. Multivariate models are estimated for whites and blacks, with separate models for city and suburban residents and for violent crime and property crime. Within the city, exposure to both types of crime is strongly related to socioeconomic status for both races, but there are also strong independent effects of race on exposure to violent crime. In the suburbs, whites are concentrated in communities with low crime rates regardless of their social class. There are substantial class differences among suburban nonwhites, but even afluent blacks live in places with a higher violent crime rate than do poor whites.
DISTANCE DECAY REEXAMINED
Authors: RENGERT GEORGE F. , PIQUERO ALEX R. , JONES PETER R.
Published: March 2006

The “journey to crime,” or the study of the distance between an offender's residence and offense site, has been a subject of study within criminology for many years. Implications arising from such research touches the majority of criminological theories. An overriding conclusion from this line of research is that most crimes occur in relatively close proximity to the home of the offender. Termed the distance‐decay function, a plot of the number of crimes that an offender commits decreases with increasing distance from the offender's residence. In a recent paper, Van Koppen and De Keijser raise the concern that inferring individual distance decay from aggregate‐level data may be inappropriate. They assert that previous research reporting aggregated distance‐decay functions conceals individual variations in the ranges of operation, which leads them to conclude that the distance‐decay function is an artifact. We do not question the claim that researchers should not make inferences about individual behavior with data collected at the aggregate level. However, Van Koppen and De Keijser's analysis raises four important issues concerning (1) the interpretation of the ecological fallacy, (2) the assumption of linearity in offender movements, (3) the interpretation of geographic work on profiling, and (4) the assumption of random target selection within a delimited range of operation. Using both simulated and nonsimulated data, we present evidence that reaches vastly different conclusions from those reached by Van Koppen and De Keijser. The theoretical implications of our analyses and possibilities for future research are addressed.
STRUCTURAL CONDITIONS AND RACIAL HOMICIDE PATTERNS: A LOOK AT THE MULTIPLE DISADVANTAGES IN URBAN AREAS*
Authors: PARKER KAREN F. , McCALL PATRICIA L.
Published: March 2006

This research examines the differential effects of structural conditions on race‐specific victim and offender homicide rates in large U.S. cities in 1990. While structural theories of race relations and criminological explanations are reviewed, particular attention is given to those structural theories that highlight racial competition, economic and labor market opportunity, and racial segregation as essential for an examination of racially disaggregated homicide offending. The effects of these and other structural conditions are estimated for four racially distinct homicide offending models—black intraracial, white intraracial, black interracial, and white interracial homicides. The results suggest that the structural conditions that lead to race‐specific victim and offender homicide rates differ significantly among the four models. Economic deprivation and local opportunity structures are found to influence significantly the rates of intraracial homicide offending, while racial inequality contributes solely to black interracial homicide rates. In addition, our findings indicate that blacks and whites face different economic and social realities related to economic deprivation and social isolation. The differential impact of these structural conditions and other labor market factors are discussed.
AGE‐VARYING EFFECTS OF FAMILY, SCHOOL, AND PEERS ON DELINQUENCY: A MULTILEVEL MODELING TEST OF INTERACTIONAL THEORY*
Authors: JANG SUNG JOON
Published: March 2006

Few criminologists have directly examined whether the importance of family, school, and peers in the etiology of delinquency changes over the developmental period of adolescence. This study tests hypotheses, derived from Thornberry's (1987) interactional theory, about the age‐varying effects of attachment to parents, commitment to school, and association with delinquent peers on delinquency by applying Bryk and Raudenbush's (1992) hierarchical linear models to analyze the first five waves of data from the National Youth Survey. Results show that the direct as well as total effects of delinquent peers and school on delinquency tend to increase from early to middle adolescence, reach a peak at the age of mid‐13 and mid‐15, respectively, and then decline. This curvilinear pattern of change is interpreted as reflective of the process of adolescent development and the age‐delinquency relationship. On the other hand, both direct and total effects of family on delinquency are found to be significant throughout the period of adolescence, but the effects do not systematically vary as hypothesized. Theoretical, methodological, and policy implications of the findings are also discussed.
IN THE COMPANY OF WOMEN: STRUCTURE AND AGENCY IN A REVISED POWER‐CONTROL THEORY OF GENDER AND DELINQUENCY*
Authors: McCARTHY BILL , HAGAN JOHN , WOODWARD TODD S.
Published: March 2006

A power‐control theory of the gender‐delinquency relationship draws attention to differences in familial control practices. We extend the theory to address how parental agency and support for dominant attitudes or schemas influence male as well as female delinquency. This extension emphasizes that differences in structure, particularly between more and less patriarchal households, result in different family practices, especially for mothers and sons. We find that variation in mothers' agency within the home affects their sons' support of conventional views, in particular, attitudes about the gendered nature of activities, risk preferences, and beliefs about impunity, as well as their involvement in delinquent activities. Thus, the agency of mothers in less patriarchal families is an underappreciated source of reduced delinquency among sons.
SOCIAL TIES AND CRIME: IS THE RELATIONSHIP GENDERED?*
Authors: ROUNTREE PAMELA WILCOX , WARNER BARBARA D.
Published: March 2006

A fundamental concept in the systemic model of social disorganization theory has been the social ties among neighbors. Theoretically, social ties among neighbors provide the foundation from which the potential for informal social control can develop. Recent research, however, has shown that not all social ties are equally effective in producing informal social control and decreasing crime rates. Warner and Rountree (1997) have shown that the neighborhood context in which ties occur is related to their crime‐fighting effectiveness, and Bellair (1997) has shown that frequent ties are not necessarily the most effective ties. Further examination of the crime‐control effectiveness of specific patterns and placements of social ties, therefore, seems a fruitful path to pursue. For example, no research to date has examined potential demographic differences in the effectiveness of ties. This study begins exploration in this area by examining the extent to which the effectiveness of ties in decreasing crime is related to the gendered nature and context of those ties. Using data from 100 Seattle neighborhoods, we find that although women and men display similar levels of local social ties, the effects of these gender‐specific ties on crime are different. In particular, female social ties are more effective in controlling crime, particularly in the community‐level gendered context of few female‐headed households.
THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER, LOW BIRTH WEIGHT, AND DISADVANTAGED ENVIRONMENT IN PREDICTING EARLY ONSET OF OFFENDING: A TEST OF MOFFITT'S INTERACTIONAL HYPOTHESIS
Authors: TIBBETTS STEPHEN G. , PIQUERO ALEX R.
Published: March 2006

Little is known about the causes of an early onset of offending. In an attempt to shed light on this issue, some theoretical models have been advanced purporting to explain the reasons for an individual's early initiation into offending. In one of these models, Moffitt (1993) predicts that early onset of offending is caused by an interaction between (1) increased risk for neuropsychological disorders and (2) disadvantaged childhood environments. This study tests Moffitt's hypothesis concerning the development of early offending. In the present analysis, low birth weight was used as a proxy for increased likelihood of neuropsychological deficits, and socioeconomic status and family structure served as indicators for disadvantaged environment. Using the Philadelphia portion of the Collaborative Perinatal Project, we find support for Moffitt's hypothesis that neuropsychological risk and disadvantaged environment interact to produce an early, but not late, onset of offending. In subsequent analysis, the interaction was observed for males but not females. The latter result, however, may be a function of the small number of cases in the female sample. Finally, we address the theoretical and policy implications arising from our analyses and provide some suggestions for future research.
THE VICTIM‐OFFENDER RELATIONSHIP AND CALLING THE POLICE IN ASSAULTS*
Authors: FELSON RICHARD B. , MESSNER STEVEN F. , HOSKIN ANTHONY
Published: March 2006

The revised National Crime Victimization Survey is used to examine the effects of the victim's relationship to the offender on whether assaults are reported to the police by either the victim or by third parties. The results indicate that the offender‐victim relationship affects third‐party but not victim reporting. The former effect occurs in part because third parties are unlikely to witness assaults involving people in ongoing relationships, particularly couples, and in part because third parties are reluctant to report minor assaults (i.e., those assaults that involve a threat but no actual attack and no weapon). We discuss possible explanations for why no effect of relationship on victim reporting was found.
EXPLAINING AND PREVENTING CRIME: THE GLOBALIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE—THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIMINOLOGY 1999 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS*
Authors: FARRINGTON DAVID P.
Published: March 2006

During the 1990s, there has been an enormous increase in influence in criminology of the risk factor prevention paradigm. This aims to identify the key risk factors for offending (in longitudinal studies) and implement prevention methods designed to counteract them (in experiments). In addition, protective factors are identified and enhanced. This paradigm has fostered linkages between explanation and prevention, between fundamental and applied research, and between scholars, practitioners, and policy makers. It has encouraged the globalization of knowledge, cross‐national comparative studies, and the application of similar strategies for research and action in several different countries. The main challenges for the paradigm are to determine which risk factors are causes, to establish what are protective factors, to identify the active ingredients of multiple component interventions, to evaluate the effectiveness of area‐based intervention programs, and to assess the monetary costs and benefits of interventions. The paradigm can be improved using longitudinal and experimental studies, which aim to retain its advantages while overcoming its problems. Ideally, an international network of researchers should collaborate in investigating and explaining results in different countries.
THE CONTAGIOUS NATURE OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR
Authors: JONES MARSHALL B. , JONES DONALD R.
Published: March 2006

Attention is called to several recently advanced lines of evidence underscoring the role of contagion in antisocial behavior. One line of evidence consists of findings that the onset of antisocial behavior in one sibling increases the risk to other siblings. A second line of evidence shows that the tendency of monozygotic twins to be more concordant for antisocial behavior than dizygotic twins can be explained by contagion as well as heredity. In addition, there are differences in prevalence between same‐sexed and opposite‐sexed twins that contagion can explain, but heredity cannot, at least not without numerous ad hoc auxiliary suppositions. Third, behavioral contagion is also able to explain, and very precisely, the temporal course of aggregate delinquency through adolescence. Fourth, evidence has been presented that antisocial behavior is an equilibrial phenomenon, that is, that it depends on a balance between antisocial and prosocial forces, a balance (or imbalance) that would explain the sudden leaps and falls that crime statistics sometimes take. Finally, programs to combat drug use are often modestly successful and almost all such programs presuppose that drug use is contagious. The paper closes with two sections on the implications of these findings, first for theory and research and then for policy and practice.
SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION OUTSIDE THE METROPOLIS: AN ANALYSIS OF RURAL YOUTH VIOLENCE*
Authors: OSGOOD D. WAYNE , CHAMBERS JEFF M.
Published: March 2006

In order to extend the study of community social disorganization and crime beyond its exclusive focus on large urban centers, we present an analysis of structural correlates of arrest rates for juvenile violence in 264 nonmetropolitan counties of four states. Findings support the generality of social disorganization theory: Juvenile violence was associated with rates of residential instability, family disruption, and ethnic heterogeneity. Though rates of poverty were not related to juvenile violence, this is also in accord with social disorganization theory because, unlike urban settings, poverty was negatively related to residential instability. Rates of juvenile violence varied markedly with population size through a curvilinear relationship in which counties with the smallest juvenile populations had exceptionally low arrest rates. Analyses used negative binomial regression (a variation of Poisson regression) because the small number of arrests in many counties meant that arrest rates would be ill suited to least‐squares regression.
RELATIVE COHORT SIZE AND AGE‐SPECIFIC ARREST RATES: A CONDITIONAL INTERPRETATION OF THE EASTERLIN EFFECT*
Authors: SAVOLAINEN JUKKA
Published: March 2006

The demographic theory formulated by Richard Easterlin (1980) predicts a positive relationship between the relative size of birth cohorts and their rates of criminal offending. Extensive testing of this hypothesis has produced scant support in the literature. Drawing on the emerging conditional interpretation of the Easterlin effect, we propose that the impact of fertility decline on the criminal behavior of the Baby Bust generation may have been suppressed by changes in family structure and racial differences in fertility. Although finding support for this argument, particularly in models explaining property crime, in the final analysis, our research underscores the marginal nature of the Easterlin effect as an explanation of criminal behavior.
GENDER, RACE, AND HABITUAL OFFENDER SENTENCING IN FLORIDA*
Authors: CRAWFORD CHARLES
Published: March 2006

This study explores the effects of race and gender on habitual offender sentencing in Florida. The sample consists of 1,103 female offenders admitted to the Florida Department of Corrections in fiscal year 1992–1993 who were eligible for sentencing under the habitual offender statute. Controlling for prior record, crime seriousness, crime type, and sentencing county contextual variables through logistic regression analysis, defendant race was found to be a relevant and statistically significant factor in the enhanced sentencing of female offenders. This factor was most noticeable with black female drug offenders and under structural contexts that were “high,” i.e., the percent of the population black, drug arrest rates, and violent crime rates. The race effects found with this sample of female offenders were often stronger than those in the Crawford et al. 1998 study of 9,960 eligible male offenders in Florida. The relevance of these findings is discussed.
THE IMPRISONMENT PENALTY PAID BY YOUNG, UNEMPLOYED BLACK AND HISPANIC MALE OFFENDERS
Authors: SPOHN CASSIA , HOLLERAN DAVID
Published: March 2006

A recent study of sentencing decisions in Pennsylvania (Steffensmeier et al., 1998) identified significant interrelationships among race, gender, age, and sentence severity. The authors of this study found that each of the three offender characteristics had significant direct effects on sentence outcomes and that the characteristics interacted to produce substantially harsher sentences for one category of offenders—young black males. This study responds to Steffensmeier et al.'s (1998:789) call for “further research analyzing how race effects may be mediated by other factors.” We replicate their research approach, examining the intersections of the effects of race, gender, and age on sentence outcomes. We extend their analysis in three ways: We examine sentence outcomes in three large urban jurisdictions; we include Hispanics as well as blacks and test for interactions between ethnicity, age, and gender; and we test for interactions between race/ethnicity, gender, and employment status. Our results are generally—although not entirely—consistent with the results of the Pennsylvania study. Although none of the offender characteristics affects the length of the prison sentence, each has a significant direct effect on the likelihood of incarceration in at least one of the jurisdictions. More importantly, the four offender characteristics interact to produce harsher sentences for certain types of offenders. Young black and Hispanic males face greater odds of incarceration than middle‐aged white males, and unemployed black and Hispanic males are substantially more likely to be sentenced to prison than employed white males. Thus, our results suggest that offenders with constellations of characteristics other than “young black male” pay a punishment penalty.
THE HELPING HAND OF THE LAW: POLICE CONTROL OF CITIZENS ON REQUEST*
Authors: MASTROFSKI STEPHEN D. , SNIPES JEFFREY B. , PARKS ROGER B. , MAXWELL CHRISTOPHER D.
Published: March 2006

This study examines how patrol officers respond to citizens' requests that officers control another citizen—by advising or persuading them, warning or threatening them, making them leave someone alone or leave the scene, or arresting them. Data are drawn from field observations conducted in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1996 and St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1997. Officers granted the request for the most restrictive form of control requested by the citizen in 70% of the 396 observed cases. Several factors were modeled to determine their influence on officers' decisions to grant or deny the most restrictive request. These factors include legal considerations, need, factors that attenuate the impact of law or need, the social relationship between the requester and target of control, and personal characteristics of the officer. Multivariate analysis shows that the most influential factors were legal considerations. When citizens requested an arrest, the likelihood that the police would be responsive dropped considerably. However, as the evidence of a legal violation against the targeted citizen increased, so did the odds of an arrest. Officers were less likely to grant the requests of citizens having a close relationship with the person targeted for control, disrespectful of the police, or intoxicated or mentally ill. The race, wealth, and organization affiliation of citizen adversaries had little impact on the police decision. Male officers, officers with fewer years of police experience, and officers with a stronger proclivity to community policing, had significantly greater odds of giving citizens what they requested. The implications of the findings for research and policy are discussed.
MINORITY THREAT AND POLICE BRUTALITY: DETERMINANTS OF CIVIL RIGHTS CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS IN U.S. MUNICIPALITIES
Authors: HOLMES MALCOLM D.
Published: March 2006

The conflict theory of law stipulates that strategies of crime control regulate threats to the interests of dominant groups. Aggregate‐level research on policing has generally supported this proposition, showing that measures of minority threat are related to legal mechanisms of crime control. Police brutality (i.e., use of excessive physical force) constitutes an extra‐legal mechanism of control that has yet to be examined in this theoretical framework. This study extends research in the area theoretically and substantively by testing the hypothesis that the greater the number of threatening acts and people, the greater the number of police brutality civil rights criminal complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Justice. The findings show that measures of the presence of threatening people (percent black, percent Hispanic [in the Southwest], and majority/minority income inequality) were related positively to average annual civil rights criminal complaints.
VOICES FROM THE BARRIO: CHICANO/A GANGS, FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITIES*
Authors: ZATZ MARJORIE S. , PORTILLOS EDWARDO L.
Published: March 2006

Based on in‐depth interviews with 33 youth gang members and 20 adult neighborhood leaders and youth service providers, we explore the complicated relationships among gang members, their families, and other residents of poor Chicano/a and Mexicano/a barrios in Phoenix. Listening to the multiple voices of community members allows for a multifaceted understanding of the complexities and contradictions of gang life, both for the youths and for the larger community. We draw on a community ecology approach to help explain the tensions that develop, especially when community members vary in their desires and abilities to control gang‐related activities. In this exploratory study, we point to some of the ways in which gender, age, education, traditionalism, and level of acculturation may help explain variation in the type and strength of private, parochial, and public social control within a community.
GENDER, STRUCTURAL DISADVANTAGE, AND URBAN CRIME: DO MACROSOCIAL VARIABLES ALSO EXPLAIN FEMALE OFFENDING RATES?*
Authors: STEFFENSMEIER DARRELL , HAYNIE DANA
Published: March 2006

Building on prior macrosocial‐crime research that sought to explain either total crime rates or male rates, this study links female offending rates to structural characteristics of U.S. cities. Specifically, we go beyond previous research by: (1) gender disaggregating the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) index‐crime rates (homicide, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny‐theft) across U.S. cities; (2) focusing explicitly on the effects of structural disadvantage variables on the index‐offending rates of females; and (3) comparing the effects of the structural variables on female rates with those for male rates. Alternative measures of structural disadvantage are used to provide more theoretically appropriate indicators, such as gender‐specific poverty and joblessness, and controls are included for age structure and structural variables related to offending.

The main finding is consistent and powerful: The structural sources of high levels of female offending resemble closely those influencing male offending, but the effects tend to be stronger on male offending rates.
OFFENDING TRAJECTORIES IN A NEW ZEALAND BIRTH COHORT*
Authors: FERGUSSON DAVID M. , HORWOOD L. JOHN , NAGIN DANIEL S.
Published: March 2006

In this paper, we develop a latent class modeling method to examine variation in offending trajectories. This model is applied to test the predictions of the trajectory theories developed by Moffitt and Patterson that offending history data can be classified into early onset/life‐course‐persistent offending and late onset/adolescent‐limited offending trajectories, with these trajectory groups being related to different etiological factors. The approach was applied to data gathered over the course of a longitudinal study of more than 900 New Zealand children studied from birth until the age of 18. The analysis identified four trajectory groups, with these trajectory groups corresponding to nonoffenders, moderate risk offenders, adolescent onset offenders, and chronic offenders. The adolescent onset and chronic offender groups were similar to the trajectory groupings predicted by the Moffitt/Patterson theories. Examination of social, family, childhood, and peer factors associated with these offending trajectories suggested the presence of a series of common etiological factors relating to family functioning and early adjustment that discriminated between the trajectory groups. However, evidence of trajectory‐specific etiology also existed, in which the formation of deviant peer affiliations for young people from moderate risk backgrounds led to the rapid onset of offending in adolescence.
THE MYTH OF SOCIAL CLASS AND CRIME REVISITED: AN EXAMINATION OF CLASS AND ADULT CRIMINALITY*
Authors: DUNAWAY R. GREGORY , CULLEN FRANCIS T. , BURTON VELMER S. , EVANS T. DAVID
Published: March 2006

Although recent empirical research questions the conclusion that crime is highest in the lower class, this empirical literature is plagued by limited measures of social class or of crime and by a failure to study systematically the effect of social class on crime in the adult general population. The present work was undertaken in an attempt to rectify many of the inadequacies of the class‐crime research. Self‐report data were collected from a general population of adult residents in a large, midwestern city and were analyzed to assess the effects of a wide range of class measures on crime measures. The overall results produced from a sample of 555 adults demonstrated that regardless of how class or crime were measured, social class exerted little direct influence on adult criminality in the general population. Consistent with research findings from nonself‐report studies, social class was related to criminal involvement for nonwhites.
INTIMACY AND HOMICIDE: COMPENSATING FOR MISSING DATA IN THE SHR*
Authors: PAMPEL FRED C. , WILLIAMS KIRK R.
Published: March 2006

The Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program remains the most accessible and widely used database on lethal violence in the United States. However, researchers using this database must address the problem of missing data, which typically is the result of the failure to file, inconsistent filing of reports to the FBI by local police agencies, or incomplete records about the characteristics of specific incidents of homicide (particularly, missing information about perpetrators), even when reports are filed. Williams and Flewelling (1987) proposed methods of compensating for missing information, and this paper revisits their assessment by again determining the extent of the problem and the consequences of adjusting for it. Alternative methods are proposed and analyzed, with a focus on relationship‐specific rates (i.e., rates of family, intimate nonfamily, acquaintance, and stranger homicide). The implications of the results for further use of the SHR are discussed.
DOING HER OWN TIME? WOMEN'S RESPONSES TO PRISON IN THE CONTEXT OF THE OLD AND THE NEW PENOLOGY*
Authors: KRUTTSCHNITT CANDACE , GARTNER ROSEMARY , MILLER AMY
Published: March 2006

Assumptions about gender role socialization dominated explanations for gender differences in responses to incarceration. We suspend these gender comparisons, which produced the focus on homosexuality and kinship networks in women's prisons, to determine how women's pre‐prison experiences, in the context of two different institutions, influence the way they “do time.” We analyze in‐depth interviews with a diverse sample of 70 female inmates housed in the California Institution for Women (CIW)—the oldest prison for women in the state—and Valley State Prison (VSP)—the newest prison for women. These two institutions differ in structure, size, and management philosophy, and accordingly necessitate the consideration of moderating situational effects. We use qualitative analysis to examine how women do time and to determine whether individual variations in doing time are similar across very different institutions.
FORGIVENESS AND FUNDAMENTALISM: RECONSIDERING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CORRECTIONAL ATTITUDES AND RELIGION*
Authors: APPLEGATE BRANDON K. , CULLEN FRANCIS T. , FISHER BONNIE S. , VEN THOMAS VANDER
Published: March 2006

Although research typically has failed to establish a relationship between religious affiliation and correctional attitudes, recent assessments have revealed that fundamentalist Christians tend to be more punitive than are nonfundamentalists. These studies have advanced our understanding considerably, but their conceptualization of religion and correctional attitudes has been limited. Using a statewide survey, the present study demonstrates that compassionate as well as fundamentalist aspects of religious beliefs are related to public correctional preferences. Further, our results reveal that religion influences support for rehabilitation as well as punitiveness. These findings suggest the need for scholars to think more broadly about the role of religion in criminology.
FACTORS INFLUENCING GUN CARRYING AMONG YOUNG URBAN MALES OVER THE ADOLESCENT‐YOUNG ADULT LIFE COURSE*
Authors: LIZOTTE ALAN J. , KROHN MARVIN D. , HOWELL JAMES C. , TOBIN KIMBERLY , HOWARD GREGORY J.
Published: March 2006

This paper uses data from an ongoing panel study of urban youth to examine the causes and correlates of hidden gun carrying among young urban males. The analysis assesses the changing impact of gang membership, drug sales, and peer gun ownership for protection on gun carrying at nine separate points over the early adolescent to young adult life course. In early adolescence, gang membership is a strong motivation for gun carrying. At somewhat older ages, drug dealing, particularly high drug sales, and illegal peer gun ownership replace gang membership as the primary determinants of illegal gun carrying.
CLASS, GENDER, AND ARREST: AN INTERGENERATIONAL ANALYSIS OF WORKPLACE POWER AND CONTROL*
Authors: UGGEN CHRISTOPHER
Published: March 2006

Power‐control theory posits that parental workplace positions affect adolescent law violation. To date, however, no test of the theory has directly measured occupational power and control. This paper tests whether parental and adolescent workplace freedom and control affect criminal behavior and arrest as the theory predicts, using data from a prospective longitudinal survey of 1, 000 adolescents and their parents. The results suggest sex differentials in the effects of maternal authority position and parental freedom and control. In particular, daughters whose mothers hold authority positions are more likely to be arrested than are daughters whose mothers do not hold such positions. The effects of adolescent employment also differ by sex, with perceived workplace power and control reducing rates of arrest among females but increasing them among males.
DOES SELF‐CONTROL AFFECT SURVEY RESPONSE? APPLYING EXPLORATORY, CONFIRMATORY, AND ITEM RESPONSE THEORY ANALYSIS TO GRASMICK ET AL.'S SELF‐CONTROL SCALE*
Authors: PIQUERO ALEX R. , MacINTOSH RANDALL , HICKMAN MATTHEW
Published: March 2006

Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) A General Theory of Crime has sparked a great deal of theoretical debate and empirical investigation. Tests of the theory have focused on measuring the core element, the latent trait of self‐control. The majority of this research has used the 24‐item scale developed by Grasmick et al. (1993), and a great deal of attention has been directed at the validity of this scale. Empirical debate revolves around the unidimensionality of the scale as established using conventional factor analytic techniques [exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)]. In this paper, we provide the first application of an item response theory (IRT) Rasch model to the validation of the Grasmick et al. scale. IRT models focus on the interaction between the human subject and survey items, and the extent to which cumulative scales fail to provide fundamental measurement. Our results suggest that although conventional factor analyses yield results similar to those previously reported, IRT analysis reveals that one's level of self‐control influences self‐report responses, a finding consistent with Hirschi and Gottfredson.
THE EMPIRICAL STATUS OF GOTTFREDSON AND HIRSCHI'S GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME: A META‐ANALYSIS
Authors: PRATT TRAVIS C. , CULLEN FRANCIS T.
Published: March 2006

To determine the empirical status of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) “general theory of crime,” we conducted a meta‐analysis on existing empirical studies. The results indicate that, regardless of measurement differences, low self‐control is an important predictor of crime and of “analogous behaviors.” Also, low self‐control has general effects across different types of samples. Contrary to Gottfredson and Hirschi's position, however, the effect of low self‐control is weaker in longitudinal studies, and variables from social learning theory still receive support in studies that include a measure of low self‐control. Finally, we argue that meta‐analysis is an underutilized tool in discerning the relative empirical merits of criminological theories.
EXTENDING SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY: A MULTILEVEL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF VIOLENCE AMONG PERSONS WITH MENTAL ILLNESSES*
Authors: SILVER ERIC
Published: March 2006

Prior studies of violence among individuals with mental illnesses have focused almost exclusively on individual‐level characteristics. In this study, I examine whether the structural correlates of neighborhood social disorganization also explain variation in violence. I use data on 270 psychiatric patients who were treated and discharged from an acute inpatient facility combined with tract‐level data from the 1990 U.S. Census. I find that living in a socially disorganized neighborhood increased the probability of violence among the sample, an effect that was not mediated by self‐reported social supports. Implications for future research in the areas of violence and mental illness are discussed.
BEHAVIOR GENETICS AND ANOMIE/STRAIN THEORY
Authors: WALSH ANTHONY
Published: March 2006

Criminology is in need of conceptual revival, and behavior genetics can provide the concepts and research design to accomplish this. Behavior genetics is a biologically‐friendly environmental discipline that often tells us more about environmental effects on individual traits than about genetic effects. Anomie/strain theory is used to illustrate the usefulness of behavior genetics to criminological theories. Behavior genetics examines the individual differences that sort people into different modes of adaptation and that lead them to cope constructively or destructively with strain. Behavior genetics and other biosocial perspectives have the potential to help illuminate Agnew's (1997) extension of General Strain Theory (GST) into the developmental realm.
DO DISADVANTAGED NEIGHBORHOODS CAUSE WELL‐ADJUSTED CHILDREN TO BECOME ADOLESCENT DELINQUENTS? A STUDY OF MALE JUVENILE SERIOUS OFFENDING, INDIVIDUAL RISK AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS, AND NEIGHBORHOOD CONTEXT*
Authors: WIKSTRÖM PER‐OLOF H. , LOEBER ROLF
Published: March 2006

This paper presents a study of the relationship between type of neighborhood socioeconomic context, individual characteristics (individuals are classified by a set of selected key measures of individual dispositions and social situation) and serious male juvenile offending (prevalence and early and late onsets) in the city of Pittsburgh. The analytical strategy may best be described as holistic and epidemiological. The key research question is whether onset and prevalence of juvenile serious offending is invariant by neighborhood socioeconomic context when controlling for individual sets of risk and protective characteristics. The results do not support the notion that neighborhood socioeconomic context has any greater direct impact on the early onset of serious offending. However, neighborhood socioeconomic context appears to have a direct impact on the late onset of offending for those juveniles who score high on protective factors, or who have a balanced mix of risk and protective factors. No support was found for the notion that individual risk characteristics and neighborhood risk are additive. Children and adolescents with high scores on risk characteristics offend in serious crime at a similar high rate regardless of the socioeconomic context of their neighborhood.
FEAR OF CRIME AMONG KOREAN AMERICANS IN CHICAGO COMMUNITIES
Authors: LEE MIN SIK , ULMER JEFFERY T.
Published: March 2006

This study examines Korean Americans' perceived incivilities, perceived crime risk, and fear of crime using an explanatory model combining group threat theory of racial hostility and risk interpretation theory of fear of crime. In particular, our hierarchical linear models show strong effects on fear of crime for English proficiency, length of U.S. residence, preference for ethnic Korean media, perceived risk of future black rioting, and anti‐black prejudice. We discuss the importance of cultural factors and the dynamics of race and ethnic conflicts in explaining fear of crime, and suggest directions for future research on race relations, perceived victimization risks, and fear of crime.
MODELING THE EFFECTS OF LEGALLY RELEVANT AND EXTRALEGAL FACTORS UNDER SENTENCING GUIDELINES: THE RULES HAVE CHANGED*
Authors: ENGEN RODNEY L. , GAINEY RANDY R.
Published: March 2006

Studies of sentencing in jurisdictions with sentencing guidelines have generally failed to specify adequately the effects of offense seriousness and criminal history—the principal factors that, by law, should determine sentencing decisions. As a result, the explanatory power of those models is seriously limited, and regression coefficients representing both legal and extralegal factors may be biased. We present an alternative approach to specify more precisely the effects of legally relevant factors on sentencing outcomes and test the approach using felony sentencing data from Washington State. We find that controlling for the presumptive sentence substantially improves the fit and explanatory power of models predicting sentencing decisions, and that the estimated effects of extralegal factors, specifically sex and race, reduce considerably. The findings have both substantive and methodological implications.
A TEST OF GENERAL STRAIN THEORY*
Authors: BROIDY LISA M.
Published: March 2006

Tests of general strain theory (Agnew, 1992) have focused primarily on the relationship between strain and crime, ignoring the intervening role of negative emotions and legitimate coping strategies. This research provides a more comprehensive test of general strain theory, including measures of both anger and other expressions of negative affect, as well as a measure of legitimate coping. Results suggest that strain, negative emotions, and legitimate coping are all related, although not always in the expected direction. Moreover, results indicate that the nature of the link among these three variables and criminal outcomes are shaped by the types of strain and negative affect individuals experience, and by sex differences in the links among central variables.