Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency recent issues

Controlling Violent Offenders Released to the Community: An Evaluation of the Boston Reentry Initiative

Braga, A. A., Piehl, A. M., Hureau, D. — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:19:37 PDT

Despite the high level of funding and policy interest in prisoner reentry, there is still little rigorous scientific evidence to guide jurisdictions in developing reentry programs to enhance public safety, particularly for managing those who pose the greatest safety risks. The Boston Reentry Initiative (BRI) is an interagency initiative to help transition violent adult offenders released from the local jail back to their Boston neighborhoods through mentoring, social service assistance, and vocational development.This study uses a quasi-experimental design and survival analyses to evaluate the effects of the BRI on the subsequent recidivism of program participants relative to an equivalent control group. The authors find that the BRI was associated with significant reductions—on the order of 30 percent—in the overall and violent arrest failure rates.

Individual and Environmental Effects on Assaults and Nonviolent Rule Breaking by Women in Prison

Steiner, B., Wooldredge, J. — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:19:37 PDT

Drawing from micro- and macro-level theories of social control, the authors examined inmate and facility effects on the prevalence of assaults and nonviolent rule infractions committed by female inmates housed in state correctional facilities during 1991 and 1997. Analyses of national samples of more than 2,200 women confined in roughly 40 facilities produced results favoring a control perspective. Characteristics of both inmates (e.g., family status, history of physical or sexual abuse, drug use immediately prior to incarceration, and mental ill health) and facilities (e.g., crowding and security level) were relevant for understanding differences among female inmates in the odds of both assault and nonviolent misconduct.

Predicting Trajectories of Offending over the Life Course: Findings from a Dutch Conviction Cohort

Bersani, B. E., Nieuwbeerta, P., Laub, J. H. — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:19:37 PDT

Distinguishing trajectories of criminal offending over the life course, especially the prediction of high-rate offenders, has received considerable attention over the past two decades. Motivated by a recent study by Sampson and Laub (2003), this study uses longitudinal data on conviction histories from the Dutch Criminal Career and Life-Course Study (CCLS) to examine whether adolescent risk factors predict offending trajectories across the life span. The CCLS is particularly well suited to study developmental offending trajectories as it contains detailed information on individual criminal offending careers for a representative sample of all individuals convicted in the Netherlands in 1977 (n = 4,615) beginning at 12 years of age and continuing into late adulthood. To assess predictive ability, the authors employ two different analytical approaches. First, the authors examine whether offending trajectories can be prospectively differentiated by risk factors identified in adolescence. Second, the authors use group-based trajectory analysis to retrospectively identify distinct developmental offending trajectories and employ a cross-validation technique to examine the ability to predict the probability of an individual’s membership in a particular trajectory group. Overall, the results support the notion that it is difficult to predict long-term patterns of criminal offending using risk factors identified early in the life course.

Household Structure, Coupling Constraints, and the Nonpartner Victimization Risks of Adults

Yule, C., Griffiths, E. — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:19:37 PDT

Victimization studies consistently find that household structure influences the risk of personal and property victimization among adult household members, with those in "traditional" homes enjoying the most protection from victimization and lone parents experiencing the greatest vulnerability. Drawing on the concept of coupling constraints , which represents space-time limitations on adults’ routine activities, this study builds upon and extends research on the household structure— victimization relationship by considering how the presence and age of children shapes adult victimization risk. Data from 11,952 urban respondents in the Canadian General Social Survey (1999) confirm that adults’ life course stage, captured in age-graded responsibilities to children, has an independent and direct influence on nonpartner victimization. The heightened victimization risk experienced by lone parents relative to other types of households is largely explained by their parental coupling constraints.

Whites' Concern about Crime: The Effects of Interracial Contact

Mears, D. P., Mancini, C., Stewart, E. A. — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:19:37 PDT

In recent decades, crime has emerged as a prominent policy focus nationally. Accordingly, a large literature on public views about crime has developed, one strand of which highlights the racialization of crime as a factor central to public opinion and policy discourse. Drawing on this work and studies on the effects of interracial contact, the authors seek to advance theory and research on public opinion about crime.To this end, they draw on data from an ABC News and Washington Post poll to test competing hypotheses about the effects of interracial friendship among Whites on concern about local and national crime. The results suggest that interracial contact increases concern about crime among urban Whites.The authors discuss the implications of these findings for theory, research, and policy.

Assessing the Relationship between Violent and Nonviolent Criminal Activity among Serious Adolescent Offenders

MacDonald, J. M., Haviland, A., Morral, A. R. — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:19:38 PDT

Understanding the progression of violent and nonviolent criminal activity remains a matter of theoretical debate. In the present study, the authors build on criminological theory and assess the extent to which the progression of violent and nonviolent criminal behaviors follows different trajectories. The authors rely on semiparametric mixture models to examine these comorbidities of offending in a longitudinal sample of delinquent adolescents. The results suggest that the trajectories of violent and nonviolent criminal offending follow similar paths over time and that membership in the chronic violent and nonviolent offender groups are associated with overlapping sets of risk factors. However, the results also indicate that at the individual level, membership in a particular nonviolent offending group does not share high concordance with membership in a particular violent offender group. These findings raise questions about the adequacy of general theories of crime progression and suggest the need to continue investigating behavioral theories that discriminate between different forms of offending.

Reviewer Acknowledgments for 2008

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:19:38 PDT

The Heritage of Herding and Southern Homicide: Examining the Ecological Foundations of the Code of Honor Thesis

Baller, R. D., Zevenbergen, M. P., Messner, S. F. — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:00:34 PDT

The authors examine the ecological foundations of the thesis of a "code of honor" as an explanation for southern homicide. Specifically, they consider the effects of indicators of ethnic groups that migrated from herding economies (the Scotch-Irish), cattle and pig herding, and the relative importance of agricultural production across different areas in the Old South. Using county-level data on argument-related White male homicide offenders (1983 to 1998) from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Supplementary Homicide Reports, the authors observe the theoretically expected positive interaction between the proxy measure of the presence of Scotch-Irish communities, namely, the percentage of churches that were Presbyterian in 1850, and the number of cattle and pigs per capita in 1850. They also find a negative effect of an index of crop production in 1850 on argument-related offending. The overall pattern of these findings is highly consistent with the herding thesis advanced by Nisbett and Cohen.

Victim-Offender Racial Dyads and Clearance of Lethal and Nonlethal Assault

Roberts, A., Lyons, C. J. — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:00:34 PDT

Previous clearance research provides an incomplete test of theories emphasizing the role of both victim and offender status in police discretion. Using National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data, we investigate the impact of both victim's and offender's race, and, in particular, victim— offender racial dyads on homicide clearance by arrest, using event history (survival) analysis, so that time to clearance and censoring are considered. We also compare models for homicide clearance with those for aggravated assault. For homicides, results indicate that incidents with non-white offenders are more likely to be cleared by arrest than those with white offenders, regardless of victim's race. In contrast, for aggravated assault, dyads are important: incidents involving white victims and offenders are most likely to be cleared, with incidents involving non-white parties least likely to be cleared. Furthermore, the impact of victim—offender racial dyads on clearance is smaller for homicide than for aggravated assault.

Reconsidering the Relationship between Race and Crime: Positive and Negative Predictors of Crime among African American Youth

Wright, B. R. E., Younts, C. W. — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:00:34 PDT

Studies of race and crime have emphasized the effects of social disadvantage and discrimination on increasing crime among African Americans. The authors extend this literature by examining various beliefs and institutions that have developed within African American communities that, in contrast, decrease criminal behavior. A model of cross-canceling, indirect effects between race and crime was developed and tested with data from the National Youth Survey. The results demonstrate that some factors, such as single-parent families, lowered educational attainment, and crime-ridden neighborhoods, increase criminal behavior among African American respondents relative to Whites. However, other factors, such as increased religiosity, strong family ties, and lowered alcohol consumption, decrease crime. These findings highlight the complex effects of race on crime.

Reconsidering the Effect of Self-Control and Delinquent Peers: Implications of Measurement for Theoretical Significance

Meldrum, R. C., Young, J. T. N., Weerman, F. M. — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:00:34 PDT

Prior research examining the effect of self-control and delinquent peers on crime suggests that both variables are strong correlates and that controlling for one fails to eliminate the effects of the other. Yet prior research was based on indirect and possibly biased indicators of peer delinquency. Recent research using direct measures of delinquent peers, as reported by respondents' peers themselves, indicates that the relationship between peer delinquency and self-reported delinquency is smaller than when respondents report on their peers' behavior. The present study extends this line of work by examining the effect of self-control on delinquency when controlling for these two measures of delinquent peers. The results indicate that the effect of self-control is greater in magnitude in models using the direct measure of peer delinquency relative to models that rely on the traditional measure of delinquent peers. An interaction between self-control and the direct measure of peer delinquency was also found. Implications for future theory testing are discussed.

Gendered Transitions: Within-Person Changes in Employment, Family, and Illicit Drug Use

Thompson, M., Petrovic, M. — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:00:34 PDT

Although contributing greatly to current criminological theory and research on crime and desistance, Sampson and Laub's theory of age-graded informal social control is limited in explaining gender differences in desistance. The authors addressed this limitation by comparing how adult institutions such as marriage, family, and employment affect illicit drug use for women compared with men. The authors analyzed logistic panel models with fixed effects using National Youth Survey data and found gender differences in the predictors of changes in illicit substance use. Although marriage reduced the odds of drug use for men, it was the importance or strength of a relationship that altered illicit drug use for women. The authors also found other gender differences regarding children and the emphasis placed on employment and family by respondents. This research adds to the existing literature on desistance and furthers knowledge about the gendered nature of Sampson and Laub's theory.

Delinquent Development in a Sample of High-Risk Youth: Shape, Content, and Predictors of Delinquent Trajectories from Age 12 to 32

van der Geest, V., Blokland, A., Bijleveld, C. — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:09:43 PDT

The authors analyzed delinquent development from age 12 to 32 in 270 male offenders who underwent residential treatment for problematic behavior and delinquency in a Dutch juvenile justice institution. Stable personality and background characteristics were measured on admission. The development of offending was examined on the basis of conviction data from age 12 to 32, constituting an average 13-year follow-up after release. Trajectory analysis distinguished five groups of serious offenders. Using nonlinear canonical correlation analysis, these offending groups were characterized on personality, behavioral, and background characteristics. Although delinquent activity declined for most juveniles, two groups, high-frequency chronic offenders and late bloomers, showed nontrivial levels of serious criminality until their late 20s and early 30s. High-frequency chronic offenders were characterized mainly by a criminogenic social environment. Late bloomers combined psychopathology with risk-taking behavior and poor social skills. Examining the nature of the offenses committed within each trajectory revealed that late emerging offending became increasingly violent over time.

Trajectories of Delinquency among Puerto Rican Children and Adolescents at Two Sites

Maldonado-Molina, M. M., Piquero, A. R., Jennings, W. G., Bird, H., Canino, G. — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:09:43 PDT

This study examined the trajectories of delinquency among Puerto Rican children and adolescents in two cultural contexts. Relying on data from the Boricua Youth Study, a longitudinal study of children and youth from Bronx, New York, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, a group-based trajectory procedure estimated the number of delinquency trajectories, whether trajectories differed across contexts, and the relation of risk and protective factors to each. Five trajectories fit the Bronx sample, and four fit the San Juan sample. Differences and similarities were observed. The Bronx sample had a higher rate of delinquency and sensation seeking and violence exposure strongly discriminated offender trajectories. In San Juan, the results were substantively the same. Thus, while the youth lived in different contexts, and the nature and level of delinquency varied across the sites, the effects of most risk factors were more similar than different.

A Comprehensive Test of General Strain Theory: Key Strains, Situational- and Trait-Based Negative Emotions, Conditioning Factors, and Delinquency

Moon, B., Morash, M., McCluskey, C. P., Hwang, H.-W. — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:09:43 PDT

Using longitudinal data on South Korean youth, the authors addressed limitations of previous tests of general strain theory (GST), focusing on the relationships among key strains, situational- and trait-based negative emotions, conditioning factors, and delinquency. Eight types of strain previously shown most likely to result in delinquency, including delinquency in the South Korean context, were measured. To better understand how trait- and situational-based negative emotions mediate the connection of strains to delinquency, trait and situational measures were used for anger and depression, emotions commonly expected to promote delinquency. Overall, the findings support GST's key propositions. Most of the eight strains and some interaction terms between strains and conditioning variables had significant effects on various types of delinquency. Furthermore, situational-based negative emotions operated differently than trait-based negative emotions in mediating the relationship between strain and delinquency. These findings raise questions about the assumption that trait-based negative emotions accurately represent situational-based negative emotions in response to strains.

Toward a Life-Course Perspective of Police Organizations

King, W. R. — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:09:43 PDT

The author prescribes and describes a new, temporally rich organizational perspective: a life-course perspective of police organizations. This perspective will contribute to more informative tests of existing organizational theories by improving understanding of how police agencies change and resist change, and the role of process. The author describes the life-course perspective and how a life-course perspective yields more informative tests of existing organizational theories and advances understanding of police organizations. Six events along the organizational life course are reviewed (creation, early founding effects, growth periods, declining periods, crisis, and organizational disbanding). Finally, two advantages of this perspective are discussed, as well as the temporal orientations of life-course research.

Gendered Opportunity?: School-Based Adolescent Victimization

Wilcox, P., Tillyer, M. S., Fisher, B. S. — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:09:43 PDT

Researchers have shown that criminal opportunity significantly predicts school-based adolescent victimization. However, little is known about the extent to which opportunity for school-based victimization might be gendered. In this study, the authors drew from criminal opportunity and feminist research and extended the principle of homogamy to explore how gender interacts with opportunity and school-based victimization. Data collected from 2001 to 2004 from 10,522 students in 111 middle and high schools throughout Kentucky were used to examine whether indicators of criminal opportunity placed students, particularly girls, at heightened risk for school-based theft and physical assault victimization. The results of gender-specific hierarchical logistic regression models indicated that measures of criminal opportunity were significantly related to theft and assault for both sexes. Equality-of-coefficient tests supported gendered effects for some opportunity indicators, with differences indicating that the effects of risk and protective factors for victimization were heightened for girls.

From the Editor

Maxfield, M. — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:27:19 PST

Exposure to Situations Conducive to Delinquent Behavior: The Effects of Time Use, Income, and Transportation

Anderson, A. L., Hughes, L. A. — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:27:19 PST

Multilevel cross-sectional data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were used to test predictions based on Osgood and colleagues' extension of routine activity theory to individual offending. Specifically, the authors examined the associations between delinquent behavior and three variables hypothesized to increase exposure to situations conducive to such behavior: unstructured socializing (time use), income, and private transportation. Findings are generally supportive, showing that differences in individual offending among youth reflect varying degrees of criminal opportunities associated with diverse daily life patterns and routines.

Self-Control and Deviant Peer Network Structure

McGloin, J. M., O'Neill Shermer, L. — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:27:19 PST

From learning and opportunity perspectives, peer group structural dimensions shed light on social processes that can amplify or ameliorate the risk of having delinquent friends. Previous research has not accounted for a primary criminological variable, self-control, limiting theoretical clarity. The authors developed three hypotheses about self-control's potential role in deviant peer structure: it may underlie and explain the (spurious) relationship between deviant peers or peer structure and delinquency, be partially exogenous to deviant peers and deviant peer structure, and moderate the effects of deviant peers and deviant peer structure. To test these hypotheses, the authors used data from a longitudinal sample of adolescents containing peer self-reports of delinquency. The results suggest that self-control and deviant peers are complementary. This is the first study demonstrating this relationship with self-reports of deviance rather than perceptions. Less support was found for the conditioning impact of deviant network structure than in previous work. Some differential patterns also emerged by gender and race. Implications of these findings are discussed.

An Assessment of Scales Measuring Constructs in Tests of Criminological Theory Based on National Youth Survey Data

Armstrong, T. A., Lee, D. R., Armstrong, G. S. — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:27:19 PST

Researchers have utilized the National Youth Survey (NYS) data to test a variety of theoretical explanations of criminal behavior. Here, the authors offer an assessment of scales used in tests of criminological theory based on NYS data. The authors conducted this assessment to provide results informing future tests of theory. Their analyses focus on understanding the extent to which scales representative of different theories are actually based on the same item content. They test for two distinct processes that may explain this phenomenon. In the first process, scales measuring a given construct are attributed to different theories. In the second process, scales measuring different constructs are based on the same items. Results show that both of the processes described above contribute to the use of the same NYS items in scales that are attributed to different theories. To inform future tests of theory, the authors identify the sections of the NYS where each of these processes are most prevalent, in effect identifying the areas of the NYS that future tests of theory should treat with the greatest care. Based on the implications of each process identified above, the authors also offer some suggestions to strengthen future tests of theory using NYS data.