Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency current issue

A Comparison of Victim, Offender, and Event Characteristics of Alcohol- and Non-Alcohol- Related Homicides

Pridemore, W. A., Eckhardt, K. — 2008-07-28

The authors used narrative data from court and police records of homicides in Russia to compare alcohol- and non-alcohol-related incidents on victim, offender, and event characteristics. Binary logistic regression models were estimated for neither participant drinking, offender drinking, victim drinking, and both drinking. Consistent differences were found between alcohol- and non-alcohol-related homicides across the models. Alcohol-related homicides were significantly more likely to occur overnight, to occur on weekends, and to result from acute arguments and significantly less likely to occur between strangers, to be profit motivated or premeditated, and to be carried out to hide other crimes. No significant differences between the drinking and nondrinking samples were found for victim's gender, primary weapon used, or event location. The authors place these findings into the literature on the situational context of crime and create a tentative typology of homicide events, grounded in the results of their inductive approach, based on alcohol use by homicide offenders and victims.

Mortality Rates and Causes of Death of Convicted Dutch Criminals 25 Years Later

Nieuwbeerta, P., Piquero, A. R. — 2008-07-28

Extant theory hypothesizes that offenders have greater risk of premature and unnatural death than nonoffenders, but few studies have assessed this hypothesis; those doing so have relied on U.S. samples of male offenders typically followed until midlife. This article examines the relation between criminal conduct and mortality rates in the Netherlands using data from the Criminal Careers and Life Course Study, which traces the life course and criminal careers of 4,615 males and females convicted in 1977 up until 2002. The causes of deaths that occurred during this 25-year period are examined using data from the Netherlands Statistics. Results show that criminal conduct increases the chance of premature death due to natural and unnatural causes. Convicted persons run greater risks of dying of unnatural causes such as accidents, homicide, and suicide. Additionally, risk of premature, unnatural death varies, with high-rate, persistent offenders evincing higher risks than other types of offenders.

Inmate Social Ties and the Transition to Society: Does Visitation Reduce Recidivism?

Bales, W. D., Mears, D. P. — 2008-07-28

Despite increased scholarly and policy attention to prisoner reentry, much remains unknown about the factors that contribute to a successful transition from prison to society. The authors focused on a neglected but potentially critical factor, inmate visitation, that may reduce recidivism. The expectation of such an effect stems from prominent crime theories and an increasing body of work that stresses the importance of social ties to the reentry process. Using data from the Florida Department of Corrections, the authors tested hypotheses about the effects of visitation on recidivism. The measures of visitation included whether any visits occurred, the frequency and recency of visitation, and the type of visitor received (e.g., family member, friend). The authors also examined whether visitation effects varied by age, sex, race, type of instant offense, and prior incarceration. The findings indicate that visitation reduces and delays recidivism. Their implications for theory, research, and policy are discussed.

Racial Disparity in Formal Social Control: An Investigation of Alternative Explanations of Arrest Rate Inequality

Ousey, G. C., Lee, M. R. — 2008-07-28

Prior research on racial disparities in arrest rates has been limited by an almost exclusive focus on two explanatory models, an inattention to the mediating processes identified in leading theories, and a relative neglect of nonindex crimes, for which police discretion is greater. This analysis contributes to research on race differences in social control by more comprehensively evaluating mediating factors in the racial threat and benign neglect models and by testing explanatory frameworks that link racial disparities to opportunities for bias that result from residential segregation and variations in police discretionary authority across crime types. Analyses of data from 136 cities reveal two key findings. First, an uneven distribution of Blacks and Whites is associated with higher arrest disparities for drug and weapons arrests, but not with violent or property crime arrest disparities. Second, there is little evidence in support of the venerable racial threat or benign neglect explanatory frameworks.