Authors:George W. Burruss; Thomas J. Holt; April Wall-Parker Pages: 433 - 447 Abstract: Abstract Over the last two decades there has been a substantive increase in the number of cybercrime and digital forensic units in local and state police agencies across the US. There is, however, little research on the occupational responses of individuals serving in specialized roles within criminal justice agencies. Individuals tasked to these units are likely to encounter psychologically harmful materials on a regular basis due to the number of child pornography and sexual exploitation cases they are assigned. As a result, this study examined the experiences of vicarious trauma and coping behaviors of digital forensic examiners in a sample culled from across the country. The findings suggest that exposure to content involving crimes against children directly and indirectly increases the likelihood of trauma and incidence of coping strategies employed. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-017-9417-3 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Joseph M. McKenna; Shawna R. White Pages: 448 - 470 Abstract: Abstract Prior research has suggested that the use of police in schools has resulted in negative outcomes for students; however, this line of research has failed to consider other factors that may influence an officer’s response outside of their mere presence. Over time, the roles and duties of police in a school setting have continued to expand as a result of social and political shifts in criminal justice and education policy. Paralleling this expansion has been the development of a more punitive school discipline environment where students are more likely to be suspended, expelled, a ticketed, and/or arrested. As these two separate bodies of research have been tangentially related, in this study, we use role theory as a guiding framework to connect these two bodies of research and examine how officers’ roles may influence their responses to student misconduct. Data was collected via an online survey distributed to a sample of commissioned law enforcement officers working in Texas schools. The survey included measures of officer roles as well as vignettes to assess how officers would respond to specific situations involving students. Results of this study suggest that an officer’s role may influence how they respond to student misconduct, and therefore, may be an important piece of information for both researchers and practitioners when looking to minimize the potential negative impacts of using police in schools. These findings related to officer roles are discussed in terms of both practice and future research, while considering the larger discipline environment of schools. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-017-9426-2 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Abenaa Acheampong Jones; Travis Gerke; Catherine W. Striley; Nicole Whitehead; Vicki Osborne; Linda B. Cottler Pages: 471 - 485 Abstract: Abstract The aim of this analysis is to identify latent subgroups of women based on substance use, exposure to violence, and risky sexual behaviors and quantify discrete stages of behavior change over time. Data comes from 317 women recruited from a Municipal Drug Court System in the Midwest. All participants were interviewed regarding their substance use and sexual behaviors, as well as their exposure to violence at baseline, a 4th-month follow-up, and an 8th-month follow-up. A latent transitional analysis (LTA), a longitudinal extension of a latent class analysis (LCA), was used to quantify discrete stages of behavior change. The results of our analyses revealed 4 distinct behavioral profiles in our sample: 1) women with high probabilities of risky sexual behaviors, exposure to violence, and crack/cocaine use, 2) women with a high probability of exposure to violence, and moderate sexual risk taking, 3) women characterized solely by a high probability of crack/cocaine use, 4) women with low probabilities of all factors. The proportion of women in latent statuses characterized by a high probability of crack/cocaine use did not substantially decrease over time. Women who experienced child sexual abuse, had a greater number of lifetime arrests, were older, and believed they had risky drug using behavior that needed changing at baseline were significantly more likely to be in higher-risk latent statuses. Targeted interventions tailored to crack/cocaine users, as well as a wide-spread need for trauma-informed interventions among females involved in the criminal justice system, are needed. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-017-9419-1 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Paul C. Archibald Pages: 486 - 508 Abstract: Abstract Criminal justice contact—defined as lifetime arrest, parole, or incarceration is associated with higher odds of experiencing depressive symptoms. Findings from this study suggest that there is a mechanism that links family, neighborhood, and financial stressors among Black adults with criminal justice contact to depressive symptoms. Using the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), modified poisson regression analyses were used to determine the association between criminal justice contact, stressors, and depressive symptoms among a national sample of Black adults (n = 3570). In the full model, the odds of experiencing depressive symptoms for Black adults who had criminal justice contact was reduced (PR: 1.14 to PR: 1.07). Black adults who reported experiencing family stressors (PR: 1.10, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.16), neighborhood stressors (PR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.13), and financial stressors (PR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.19) were statistically significant and higher than those who reported not experiencing any of these stressors. Stressors partially mediates the relationship between criminal justice contact and depressive symptoms (OR: 1.05, Bias-corrected 95% CI: 1.04, 1.07); causing the effect of criminal justice contact to reduce to 1.06, leaving a significant indirect effect of 1.05. The total effect is 1.93 times larger than the direct effect, and 48.3% of the total effect is due to stressors. These findings emphasize the need to further explore the family, neighborhood, and financial stressors for Black adults with criminal justice contact in order to further our understanding of their depressive symptoms. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-017-9421-7 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Mathew D. Gayman; Nicholas K. Powell; Mindy S. Bradley Pages: 509 - 529 Abstract: Abstract Although supervising persons with mental illness can pose special challenges for community parole/probation officers (PPOs), few studies have investigated whether the number of supervisees on an officer’s caseload increases risk for poor mental health for PPOs and whether this link is due to emotional exhaustion. Using statewide survey data from 798 PPOs, we examine whether the number of supervisees on an officer’s caseload with mental health problems is associated with depressive symptoms reported the PPOs and whether this relationship is mediated by emotional exhaustion. In addition, we evaluate the potential mitigating role of both mental health services received by supervisees and officer training in mental health in the relationship between the number of supervisees on an officer’s caseload with mental health problems and emotional exhaustion experienced by PPOs. Findings reveal that PPOs with more supervisees on their caseload report significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and that this relationship is completely explained away by emotional exhaustion. Neither mental health services received by supervisees nor officer training in mental health mitigated the link between the number of supervisees on an officer’s caseload with mental health problems and officer emotional exhaustion. This study underscores the importance of the psychological well-being of those on parole/probation for the emotional and mental health of the officers who supervise them. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-017-9422-6 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Kimberly L. Barrett; Michael J. Lynch; Michael A. Long; Paul B. Stretesky Pages: 530 - 550 Abstract: Abstract Studies that assess the impact of monetary penalties on environmental compliance have yielded mixed results. While some studies suggest fines deter future violations other studies find that fines do little to encourage compliance. This longitudinal study examines the impact of the dollar amount of fines on compliance with environmental laws among major facilities in the state of Michigan (n = 37). Results from a mediation analysis suggest that while noncompliance may slightly decrease immediately following a fine there are few changes to a firm’s long term compliance behavior. Furthermore, analyses of these data suggest that total fines levied prior to the most recent fine actually have a positive relationship with noncompliance. We suggest these results imply a decaying effect of deterrence that is perhaps connected to the organizational structure of the treadmill of production. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-017-9428-0 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Danielle Tolson Cooper; Jennifer L. Klein Pages: 551 - 569 Abstract: Abstract This research partially tests Akers’ social structure-social learning theory (SSSL). The data was collected online through a self-report questionnaire and nearly half (48.8%) of the sample of 812 college students reported visiting a porn site. To better understand this self-report behavior, bivariate correlations and three binary logistic regression analyses were conducted. In Model A, participants who were male, Hispanic, had more years in college, and more inclined toward homosexuality had an increased likelihood of visiting a porn site. In Model B, again, gender, ethnicity, year in school, and the sexuality scale were significant predictors. However, race appeared as significant for the first time along with number of sex partners, and frequency of masturbation, indicating that participants who were Black, had a greater number of sexual partners, and masturbated more frequently had an increased likelihood of visiting porn site. As with the first and second models, gender, race, sexuality scale, and frequency of masturbation were significant predictors in Model C. Additionally, differential peer association, differential reinforcement, and definitions favorable were significant, indicating that participants who had greater association with peers who viewed porn, who had observed someone watching porn and decided to mimic their behaviors, and who had defined visiting porn sites favorably had an increased likelihood of visiting a porn site. Overall, Akers’ SLT variables fully mediated ethnicity, year in school, and number of sex partners, but it only partially mediated gender, race, and sexuality scale. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-017-9424-4 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Wendy C. Regoeczi; Dana J. Hubbard Pages: 570 - 590 Abstract: Abstract This study involves an evaluation of an innovative approach to the handling of domestic violence (DV) cases in the city of Cleveland, Ohio that includes (1) a DV Project composed of specially trained police detectives, prosecutors and victim advocates for investigating and prosecuting domestic violence cases involving adult female victims who are married to, cohabitating with, or have a child with the defendant; and (2) a Dedicated Domestic Violence Docket that involves two Municipal Court judges hearing all of the domestic violence cases that are handled by the DV Project. We collected data on six months of domestic violence cases occurring in the latter half of 2008 (N = 1388), by linking records from the Cleveland Police Department, the Prosecutor’s Office, and the Municipal Court. We found that very few victims in police districts lacking the DV Project follow up with a prosecutor to pursue the case further, indicting that specialized DV units in police departments can have a significant impact on the number of DV cases that move forward through the criminal justice system. DV Project cases were slightly less likely to result in charges issued by prosecutors (OR = .499) but more likely to result in dismissals (OR = 2.545) and referrals to DV treatment programs (χ2 = 3.88). PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-018-9435-9 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Jennifer M. Reingle Gonzalez; Katelyn K. Jetelina; Madeline Roberts; Michiko Otsuki Clutter; Corron Sanders; Sweety Baidhya; Ray Tsai Pages: 591 - 602 Abstract: Abstract This study sought to examine the relationship between homelessness and behavior problems among a community-based sample of youth in North Texas. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional, probability sample of households and a targeted sample of homeless families in Dallas, Texas, with children older than 5 years old (N = 5232). Parents were asked to report five behavior problems on behalf of their children including arrest or trouble with police, academic problems, behavior problems at school, suspension, and suicide attempts. Logistic and negative binomial regression procedures were used to examine the relationship between homelessness and behavior problems. Youth exposed to homelessness were 36% (OR = 1.63; 95% CI 1.00–1.85) more likely to exhibit any kind of behavior problems than youth who had never experienced homelessness. Homeless youth had 5.51 times the odds of arrest (95% CI 2.60–11.68), 1.74 times the odds of academic problems (95% CI 1.24–2.43), and more than 3 times the odds of suicide attempts (95% CI 1.46, 7.61) than youth who had never been homeless. Homelessness was associated with higher rates of problem behavior, including arrests, academic problems, and suicide attempts. Because homeless youth are commonly enrolled in school and present at health care clinics and emergency departments, clinics and schools may aid in the identification of homeless youth, as well as referral to care. In this way, clinicians may help reduce the burden of behavioral problems that disproportionately affect homeless youth. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-017-9427-1 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Ojmarrh Mitchell; Monica Landers; Melissa Morales Pages: 603 - 626 Abstract: Abstract A growing body of research assesses the relationship between fatherhood and desistance. Qualitative studies typically find fatherhood reduces offending, especially substance use; yet, quantitative studies have produced mixed findings. Guided by life-course theory, this study hypothesizes that fatherhood affects certain kinds of offending and fatherhood’s effects on offending are most pronounced among fathers who reside with their child. To test our hypotheses, NLSY97 data are employed along with fixed-effects regression analyses to estimate the relationship between fatherhood and offending, while controlling for time-varying and time-stable competing factors. Periods of fatherhood are associated with reductions in licit and illicit substance use but not other kinds of offending, and these effects are considerably stronger in periods in which fathers resided in the same household as their child. By contrast, residential fatherhood is associated with reductions in property offending and arrest. These results confirm the findings of qualitative research in that fatherhood, particularly residential fatherhood, reduces substance use but has weaker effects on other kinds of deviance. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-017-9418-2 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Dara C. Drawbridge; Sema A. Taheri; Natasha A. Frost Pages: 627 - 640 Abstract: Abstract Bringing researchers and practitioners together in partnerships has substantial benefits. Partnerships can inform research questions and provide researchers with data to further their academic dialogues. Collaborative research provides practitioners with a better appreciation for research, and its integration into the provision of service. Published examples of successful partnerships in the criminological field offer insight into navigating the relationship building and maintenance process. The current paper discusses a partnership between researchers and practitioners at a corrections institution. The benefits and challenges to partnerships and recommendations for building and sustaining researcher-practitioner partnerships are discussed. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-018-9432-z Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Danielle J. S. Bailey Pages: 641 - 667 Abstract: Abstract In criminal justice, researchers have identified disenfranchised grief, or the denial of empathy and social support during the grieving process, in family members who have lost relatives through imprisonment and execution. Although both of these situations involve the physical removal of the offender from the family members’ lives, non-physical losses may also prompt the grieving process. One of these non-physical losses is a psychosocial loss, in which the person the family members knew is now gone. Given the public stigma of the label “sex offender” and the collateral consequences that occur as a result of that label, it is possible that sex offender significant others experience a psychosocial loss. The current research is an exploratory study that used qualitative interviews with 29 spouses and significant others of convicted sex offenders to explore if and how disenfranchised grief impacts sex offender partners. Findings support both the existence of and the detrimental impact of disenfranchised grief on sex offender partners. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-017-9416-4 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Stephen S. Owen; Tod W. Burke; April L. Few-Demo; Jameson Natwick Pages: 668 - 693 Abstract: Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore how lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities perceive the police. Historically, relationships between LGBT communities and the police have been strained due to a legacy of discriminatory actions, although some police agencies have more recently taken steps to build relationships with LGBT communities. A survey was administered to a sample of LGBT and heterosexual respondents (n = 787) to measure perceptions regarding police fairness, policing qualities, policing outcomes, and police interactions with LGBT communities. Across a number of measures and scales, the perceptions of LGBT participants were significantly more negative than those of other participants, including when the variables of race, income, location type (e.g., rural, small town, suburban, urban), prior service as a police officer, and quality of prior interactions with the police, are controlled in multivariate modeling. Implications for police training and policy are discussed, as well as theoretical contexts that frame the results. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-017-9420-8 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Andrew S. Denney Pages: 694 - 723 Abstract: Abstract Through performing a content-analysis on 19 interview transcriptions with full-time prison chaplains employed by a Midwestern state department of corrections, this study examines the beliefs of prison chaplains regarding causes of criminal offending and views on rehabilitation. Specifically, this study examines three research questions of (1) what factors do prison chaplains perceive to be causative for criminal offending; (2) what characteristics, treatment, and/or programming do prison chaplains view as essential for offenders turning away from a life of crime; and (3) what role, if any, does religion/ faith factor into one desisting from crime. For perceived reasons for criminal offending, four individual themes emerged of illicit drug-use, poor social support, a ‘criminal mind,’ and low impulse-control. For effective prison programming practices, a total of three themes emerged being programming that emphasized altering ‘criminal thinking,’ strong social support, and emphasizing morality. For the role of religion/faith in the desistance from crime, three unique themes emerged of religion/faith provides moral accountability and a sense of purpose, offers community, and that religion/faith is not necessary. Policy implications, limitations, and future directions for research are discussed. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-017-9425-3 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Natalie Goulette; James Frank Pages: 724 - 744 Abstract: Abstract With the recent emphasis on reentry and the reintegration of offenders back into society, both academics and policy makers have voiced concern over both the process of applying collateral consequences in a particular case and the expanding number of collateral restrictions, some of which are quite severe. Many of these restrictions create significant barriers to reintegration for offenders released from incarceration. While reforms have been proposed, there is a lack of research examining the perceptions of criminal justice actors about collateral consequences of conviction. As parties most familiar with the application of consequences in cases, and the burdens they place on involved parties, the present study surveyed practitioners in a large Midwestern state. The findings suggest that judges, defense attorneys, probation and parole supervisors, and prosecutors are troubled by the role of collateral consequences in offender reentry and are not opposed to repealing or reforming some of these policies. Further, there are significant differences between practitioner groups as to reforms that should be implemented within the state’s criminal justice system. PubDate: 2018-09-01 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-017-9423-5 Issue No:Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018)
Authors:Bradford W. Reyns; Bonnie S. Fisher; Adam M. Bossler; Thomas J. Holt Abstract: Abstract This study investigates the predictors of four types of cybercrime victimization/experiences: online harassment, hacking, identity theft, and receiving nude photos or explicit content. The effects of victimization opportunity and low self-control are examined as the primary independent variables in logistic regression analyses of data collected from a large sample of undergraduates enrolled at two universities in the United States. Results suggest that opportunity is positively related to each of the four types of online victimization, and that low self-control is associated with person-based, but not computer-based, forms of cybercrime. These findings speak to the utility, and also the limitations, of these perspectives in understanding cybercrime victimization risk among college students, and to the potentially criminogenic nature of the Internet. PubDate: 2018-07-28 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-018-9447-5
Authors:Christine L. Arazan; William D. Bales; Thomas G. Blomberg Abstract: Abstract This study provides an evaluation of the major policy shift in sentencing practices over the past half-century – namely the shift from indeterminate to determinant sentencing policies and the use of sentencing guidelines. The theoretical literature on courtroom organization and focal concerns informs this evaluation of determinate sentencing practices in Florida. Drawing from prior theoretical and empirical research, hierarchical linear and generalized linear models are estimated to assess courtroom effects on individual level sentencing outcomes. The findings document that location matters when sentenced in Florida. Specifically, the likelihood of being sentenced to prison and the length of sentence varies across counties, even after controlling for individual case and offender characteristics and a variety of contextual characteristics. Additionally, the influence of legal and extra-legal factors on prison in/out and sentence length decisions varies significantly across counties. Several court characteristics, including court size, caseload pressure and trial rate assert direct influence on a county’s likelihood of prison in/out and mean sentence length decisions. PubDate: 2018-07-11 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-018-9444-8
Authors:Michele Stacey Abstract: Abstract Researchers have examined the correlates of inter-group relationships, relying heavily on Blau’s (The American Journal of Sociology, 83, 26–54, 1977) macrostructural opportunity theory. The results of these studies have given mixed support for the relationship between social structure and inter-racial violence. This study builds on existing research on inter-group violence by examining what social structural correlates may influence intra- and inter-group violence using the macrostructural opportunity theory as a guiding framework. Data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System as well as the American Community Survey are utilized to construct a large sample of counties across the United States. The findings provide mixed support for Blau’s hypotheses, with heterogeneity and segregation showing some effects on inter-group violence, while racial inequality remains largely a non-significant predictor. PubDate: 2018-07-05 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-018-9446-6
Authors:John H. Boman; Thomas J. Mowen; George E. Higgins Abstract: Abstract While it is generally understood that people tend not to specialize in specific types of deviance, less is understood about offending specialization and versatility in the context of friendships. Using a large sample of persons nested within friendship pairs, this study’s goal is to explore how self-control and social learning theories contribute to an explanation for specialization and versatility in offending among friends. We estimate a series of multilevel, dyadic, mixed-effects models which regress offending versatility onto measures of perceptual peer versatility, self-reported peer versatility, attitudinal self-control, behavioral self-control, and demographic controls. Results indicate that higher amounts of perceptual peer versatility and peer self-reported versatility are both related to increases in versatility among friends. Lower levels of the target respondent’s attitudinal and behavioral self-control are also related to higher amounts of offending versatility. However, the peer’s self-control shares no relationship with offending versatility – a point which both supports and fails to support self-control theory’s expectations about how peer effects should operate. Learning and self-control perspectives both appear to explain offending versatility among friends. However, self-control theory’s propositions about how peer effects should operate are contradictory. The concept of opportunity may help remediate this inconsistency in Gottfredson and Hirschi’s theory. PubDate: 2018-07-03 DOI: 10.1007/s12103-018-9445-7
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