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Offenses
Kinds of Offenses Selected AbstractsMODEL MISSPECIFICATION: WHY AGGREGATION OF OFFENSES IN FEDERAL SENTENCING EQUATIONS IS PROBLEMATICCRIMINOLOGY, Issue 4 2003CELESTA A. ALBONETTI This paper addresses two concerns that arise from Steffensmeier and Demuth (2001) analysis of federal sentencing and their misrepresentation of my analyses of sentence severity (Albonetti, 1997). My primary concern is to alert researchers to the importance of controlling for the guidelines offense that drives the sentencing process under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. My second concern is to correct Steffensmeier and Demuth's (2001) errors in interpretation of my earlier findings of the effect of guidelines offense severity on length of imprisonment. [source] Understanding the Threat of Biological WeaponsINTERNATIONAL STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 1 2000Susan B. Martin Books reviewed: Lederberg, Joshua (ed.), Biological Weapons: Limiting the Threat Zilinskas, Raymond A. (ed.), Biological Warfare: Modern Offense and Defense [source] Taking Offense: Effects of Personality and Teasing History on Behavioral and Emotional Reactions to TeasingJOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 4 2003Julie M. Bollmer College undergraduates (N=108) worked on a task with a same-sex confederate. While interacting, the confederate either teased participants about how slowly they were working on the task or made a benign comment about the nature of the task. Analyses revealed that even mild teasing can generate negativity towards the teaser and interaction. More interestingly, however, personality moderated reactions to teasing, as teasing condition interacted with each of the Big Five personality domains in theoretically meaningful ways. Childhood teasing history also moderated reactions to teasing, as frequent victims and frequent teasers responded in different ways. [source] Physician Responses to the Malpractice Crisis: From Defense to OffenseTHE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 3 2005Allen Kachalia First page of article [source] Examining the Sexual Offenses of Female Juveniles: The Relevance of Childhood MaltreatmentAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 4 2008Dominique Roe-Sepowitz MSW Research on female juvenile sex offenders is limited by small clinical samples. Little is known about the characteristics of female sexual offending and how it is related to child maltreatment. This study examines data from the case histories of 118 female juvenile sex offenders. In contrast to portrayals in previous research, this study shows that female sex offenders are not a homogeneous group. Findings also included differentiation between female juvenile sexual offenders with a history of child maltreatment and those without a history of child maltreatment. Female juvenile sex offenders who had a history of child maltreatment were more likely to have a current mental health diagnosis and experience clinical levels of anger-irritability and depression-anxiety than those without a history of child maltreatment. The impact of a history of sexual abuse for female juvenile sex offenders was found to be important with regard to higher levels of coercion of their sexual abuse victims. Important distinctions are highlighted that have implications for female-specific assessment, treatment, and prevention. [source] THE NARROWING GENDER GAP IN ARRESTS: ASSESSING COMPETING EXPLANATIONS USING SELF-REPORT, TRAFFIC FATALITY, AND OFFICIAL DATA ON DRUNK DRIVING, 1980,2004,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 3 2008JENNIFER SCHWARTZ We evaluate two alternative explanations for the converging gender gap in arrest,changes in women's behavior versus changes in mechanisms of social control. Using the offense of drunk driving and three methodologically diverse data sets, we explore trends in the DUI gender gap. We probe for change across various age groups and across measures tapping DUI prevalence and chronicity. Augmented Dickey-Fuller time-series techniques are used to assess changes in the gender gap and levels of drunk driving from 1980 to 2004. Analyses show women of all ages making arrest gains on men,a converging gender gap. In contrast, self-report and traffic data indicate little or no systematic change in the DUI gender gap. Findings support the conclusion that mechanisms of social control have shifted to target female offending patterns disproportionately. Little support exists for the contention that increased strain and liberalized gender roles have altered the gender gap or female drunk-driving patterns. [source] A NEW METHOD FOR STUDYING THE EXTENT, STABILITY, AND PREDICTORS OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIALIZATION IN VIOLENCE,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 2 2007D. WAYNE OSGOOD Specialization in violence is an important scientific and policy topic, and over the past several decades, many analysis techniques for studying specialization have emerged. Research in this area continues to be hampered, however, by remaining methodological problems. To overcome these problems, we propose a new method for studying specialization in violence based on an item-response theory measurement approach that is implemented through a multilevel regression model. Our approach defines specialization as an individual level latent variable, takes into account the inherent confounds between specialization and overall level of offending, and gauges specialization relative to the population base rates of each offense. Our method also enables researchers to 1) estimate the extent and statistical significance of specialization, 2) assess the stability of specialization over time, and 3) relate specialization to explanatory variables. Using data from three studies, we found substantial levels of specialization in violence, considerable stability in specialization over time, and several significant and relatively consistent relationships of specialization to explanatory variables such as gender, parental education, and risk-seeking. [source] POLICE INTERVENTION AND THE REPEAT OF DOMESTIC ASSAULTCRIMINOLOGY, Issue 3 2005RICHARD B. FELSON We use the National Crime Victimization Survey to examine whether domestic violence is less likely to be repeated if it is reported to the police and if the offender is arrested. Our longitudinal analyses suggest that reporting has a fairly strong deterrent effect, whereas the effect of arrest is small and statistically insignificant. We find no support for the hypothesis that offenders retaliate when victims (rather than third parties) call the police or when victims sign complaints. We also find no evidence that the effects of reporting or arrest depend on the seriousness of the offense, a history of violence by the offender or sociodemographic characteristics. Our results suggest that the best policies for deterrence will be those that encourage victims and third parties to report violence by intimate partners to the police. [source] MODEL MISSPECIFICATION: WHY AGGREGATION OF OFFENSES IN FEDERAL SENTENCING EQUATIONS IS PROBLEMATICCRIMINOLOGY, Issue 4 2003CELESTA A. ALBONETTI This paper addresses two concerns that arise from Steffensmeier and Demuth (2001) analysis of federal sentencing and their misrepresentation of my analyses of sentence severity (Albonetti, 1997). My primary concern is to alert researchers to the importance of controlling for the guidelines offense that drives the sentencing process under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. My second concern is to correct Steffensmeier and Demuth's (2001) errors in interpretation of my earlier findings of the effect of guidelines offense severity on length of imprisonment. [source] INJUSTICE AND IRRATIONALITY IN CONTEMPORARY YOUTH POLICYCRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 4 2004DONNA M. BISHOP Lionel Tate was 12 years old when he killed 6-year-old Tiffany Eunick. Tiffany had been staying at the Tate home and, by all accounts, got along well with Lionel. The two were playing at "wrestling" when Lionel decided to try out some moves that he had seen on television. He threw Tiffany across the room, inflicting fatal injuries. Despite the boy's tender age, the prosecutor transferred Lionel to criminal court on a charge of first-degree murder, an offense carrying a mandatory penalty of life without parole. The boy was given an opportunity to plead guilty to second-degree murder in return for a sentence of three years incarceration, but he rejected the offer. A jury subsequently convicted him of first-degree murder. At sentencing, the prosecution recommended leniency, which drew an angry response from the judge: If the state believed the boy did not deserve to be sent to prison for life, why hadn't it charged him with a lesser offense? Without any inquiry into the boy's cognitive, emotional, or moral maturity, the judge imposed the mandatory sentence.1 Raymond Gardner was 16 years old when he shot and killed 20-year-old Mack Robinson.2 Raymond lived in a violent urban neighborhood with his mother, who kept close watch over him. He had no prior record. He was an A student and worked part-time in a clothing store to earn money for college. On the day of the shooting, a friend came into the store to tell Raymond that Mack had a beef with him about talking to a girl, and was "looking to get him." The victim was known on the street as "Mack the Knife" because he always carried a small machete and was believed to have stabbed several people. To protect himself on the way home, Raymond took the gun kept under the counter of the shop where he worked. As he neared home, Mack and two other men approached and blocked his path. According to eyewitness testimony, Raymond began shaking, then pulled out the gun and fired. Mack ran into the street and fell. Raymond followed and fired five more shots into the victim's back as he lay dying on the ground. Raymond did not run. He just stood there crying. The prosecutor filed a motion in juvenile court to transfer Raymond on a charge of first-degree murder. The judge ordered a psychological evaluation, which addressed the boy's family and social background, medical and behavioral history, intelligence, maturity, potential for future violence and prospects for treatment. The judge subsequently denied the transfer motion. He found Raymond delinquent and committed him to a private psychiatric treatment facility.3 [source] A Defense of Stiffer Penalties for Hate CrimesHYPATIA, Issue 2 2006CHRISTOPHER HEATH WELLMAN After defining a hate crime as an offense in which the criminal selects the victim at least in part because of an animus toward members of the group to which the victim belongs, this essay surveys the standard justifications for state punishment en route to defending the permissibility of imposing stiffer penalties for hate crimes. It also argues that many standard instances of rape and domestic battery are hate crimes and may be punished as such. [source] Reactions to a Motor-Vehicle Accident in Relation to Mitigating Circumstances and the Gender and Moral Worth of the Driver,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2000NORMAN T. FEATHER Male and female students (N= 153) at the Flinders University of South Australia read scenarios describing a motor-vehicle accident that varied mitigating circumstances (driving on a slippery road vs. driving at high speed), gender of driver, and the moral worth of the driver (very dependable and trustworthy vs. not dependable and a bit untrustworthy). Results showed that mitigation affected judgments about the driver's responsibility, seriousness of the offense, driver's deservingness of penalty imposed, harshness of penalty, positive affect about the penalty, and sympathy for the driver, consistent with a social cognitive process model (Feather, 1996c, 1998). Moral worth affected judgments about the driver's moral character, harshness of penalty, and liking and sympathy for the driver. Participants attributed higher moral character to the female driver and also reported more liking for the female driver. There was some limited evidence for an in-group gender bias. [source] Priming Crime and Activating Blackness: Understanding the Psychological Impact of the Overrepresentation of Blacks as Lawbreakers on Television NewsJOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 2 2007Travis L. Dixon Two experiments examined the extent to which U.S. viewers' perceptions that Blacks face structural limitations to success, support for the death penalty, and culpability judgments could be influenced by exposure to racialized crime news. Participants were exposed to a majority of Black suspects, a majority of White suspects, unidentified suspects, and noncrime news stories. In addition, participants' prior news viewing was assessed. In Study 1, heavy news viewers exposed to unidentified perpetrators were less likely than heavy news viewers exposed to noncrime stories to perceive that Blacks face structural limitations to success. In addition, heavy news viewers exposed to unidentified perpetrators were more likely than heavy news viewers exposed to noncrime stories to support the death penalty. In Study 2, participants exposed to a majority of Black suspects were more likely than participants exposed to noncrime stories to find a subsequent race-unidentified criminal culpable for his offense. In addition, heavy news viewers were more likely to exhibit the above effect than light news viewers. The methodological and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed in light of chronic activation and the priming paradigm. [source] When a man hits a woman: moral evaluations and reporting violence to the policeAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 6 2009Richard B. Felson Abstract We use experimental data from a nationally representative sample to examine whether gender and the victim's relationship to the offender affect attitudes about the seriousness of the offense and whether the offense should be reported to the police. We find that respondents are particularly likely to condemn men's assaults on women, and to favor reporting them. The pattern appears to reflect both greater moral condemnation of men's assaults on women and the belief that the victims of these assaults are in greater danger. In general, moral judgments and attitudes toward reporting do not depend on the gender, age, level of education, or political ideology of the respondent. Condemnation of men's violence against women, and support for police intervention when it occurs, are apparently widespread across different segments of the population. Aggr. Behav. 35:477,488, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Comparison by crime type of juvenile delinquents on pornography exposure: The absence of relationships between exposure to pornography and sexual offense characteristics1JOURNAL OF FORENSIC NURSING, Issue 3 2010David L. Burton MSW Abstract Previous literature on pornography indicates that pornography use for men at risk for aggression may result in sexually aggressive behavior, but very little research has been reported on juvenile sexual abusers' exposure to pornography. The current study compared pornography exposure between male adolescent sexual abusers (n= 283) and male nonsexually offending delinquent youth (n= 170). Sexual abusers reported more pre- and post-10 (years of age) exposure to pornography than nonsexual abusers. Yet, for the sexual abusers, exposure is not correlated to the age at which the abusers started abusing, to their reported number of victims, or to sexual offense severity. The pre-10 exposure subscale was not related to the number of children the group sexually abused, and the forceful exposure subscale was not correlated with either arousal to rape or degree of force used by the youth. Finally, exposure was significantly correlated with all of the nonsexual crime scores in the study. Implications for forensic nursing are discussed. [source] Study: The Lack of Significant Association of the Catechol- O -Methyl Transferase (COMT) Gene Polymorphism in Violent Offenders with Mental RetardationJOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, Issue 1 2010Aysun Baransel Isir M.D. Abstract:, Little is known about criminality of cognitively impaired people and also there have been no reports on the relationship between catechol- O -methyl transferase (COMT) and committed Mental Retardation (MR) subjects. In the present study, the association between committed (violent offences) MR subjects and genetic variants of COMT were investigated by using polymerase chain reaction and based restriction fragment length polymorphism methods. During 6 years of follow-up, 36 violent offenders with mild MR were investigated. Thirty-six control volunteers were included in the study as a control group. H/L polymorphism of the COMT gene was investigated in these two groups. In conclusion, the COMT gene genotype distribution and allele frequency is not significantly different between the two groups (p > 0.05). This result suggests that the H/L polymorphism of the COMT gene does not show an association with the potential of "commits-violent offense" of Turkish subjects with mental retardation, compared with control group. [source] DUI Offenders Delay License Reinstatement: A Problem?ALCOHOLISM, Issue 7 2010Robert B. Voas Background:, We examined the extent to which driving under the influence (DUI) offenders delay reinstatement, the reasons for that delay, and the relationship of the delay to recidivism. Analyzed were the driving records of 40 million drivers (3 million convicted of DUI) from 7 of the largest states spanning 7 to 14 years. License suspension effectively reduces, but does not eliminate, impaired driving. Apparently, many feel they can avoid apprehension for unlicensed driving; the limited research to date suggests that up to 75% of convicted offenders continue to drive and up to 84% delay reinstatement for 3 or more years. Methods:, ANOVA and regression procedures were used to determine the relationship of prior driving record and sentence length to the DUI offender's delay in reinstatement. Meta-analysis was used to summarize results across the 7 states and survival analysis to determine the effect of the delay on recidivism. Results:, Forty-two percent of first offenders and 55% of multiple offenders convicted for DUI delay reinstatement for more than a year. For a third of the offenders, there were no records of their having reinstated within 5 years of becoming eligible. Both factors,more than one prior offense and the length of suspension imposed,were related to delay in reinstatement. Offenders who delayed reinstatement were more likely to recidivate both while they delayed before reinstating and after they reinstated. Conclusions:, DUI offenders who delay reinstatement after they become eligible are high-risk drivers. Offenders who reinstate, however, have lower recidivism rates than those who do not. This suggests that encouraging reinstatement but with continued controls, as some states have provided through laws requiring interlocks as a condition of reinstatement, may be effective if they do not motivate extended delays. [source] Gender and the Likelihood of Being Securely Detained for ContemptJUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2003M. DYAN MCGUIRE PH.D. J.D. ABSTRACT Several theorists have hypothesized that juvenile court judges are circumventing the proscription contained in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act ("JJDPA"), which prohibits the secure confinement of status offenders by securely detaining status offenders for contempt. It has also been suggested that girls may be especially likely to be securely detained as a result of violating a valid court order. This study uses descriptive and multivariate techniques to examine the demographic, legal, and jurisdictional variables associated with receiving secure detention for violating a valid court order and to evaluate the degree to which the spirit, if not the letter, of the JJDPA's core requirement of deinstitutionalizing status offenders is being violated because of the exemption permitting juvenile court judges to securely detain children found in contempt. The findings from this study indicate that being female does not contribute to detention for contempt but being accused of a status offense does. Implications of these findings are discussed. [source] The (Mis)Uses of Detention and the Impact of Bed Space in One JurisdictionJUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 3 2002LISA J. BOND-MAUPIN PH.D ABSTRACT Analysis of booking data prior to and following the opening of a new facility doubling available bed space reveals that 53.0% of detentions end prior to or at a detention hearing, charges for 48.8% of bookings are for technical violations of probation or status offenses only, and that 62.5% of bookings are for a combination of the prior two offense and other minor offenses. These trends as well as the actual number of youths detained increased with the move into a new facility with twice the bed space. The data suggest that detention is frequently used as shelter and/or punishment even though a juvenile does not technically represent a threat to self, community, or of absconding. [source] Influences on Detention Decisions in the Juvenile Justice SystemJUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2002BRIAN F. O'NEILL MSW, PH.D. ABSTRACT This paper examines the pretrial detention of juveniles in County X located in a northeastern state. The sample (N=642) included Black, White, and Hispanic males and females adjudicated delinquent in the summer of 2000. The following independent variables were analyzed with respect to the dependent variable of pretrial detention: age, sex, address, race, current offense (misdemeanors, violent misdemeanors, felonies, violent felonies, and probation violations), prior offense (misdemeanors, violent misdemeanors, felonies, and violent felonies), and previous dispositions (community or placement). Several variables were found to be significant in increasing the odds of pretrial detention: probation violations, prior misdemeanors, prior residential placements, prior community interventions, age, sex, urban address, felonies, prior violent misdemeanors, and prior violent felonies. It was expected that minority youths would be more likely to be detained, but race was only significant in the absence of the variable of address. Urban youths were more likely to be detained resulting in an over-representation of minorities in detention, since most of the minority population resides in the urban area. Also included is supplemental material based on interviews with defense lawyers, judges, masters, and juvenile probation officers. [source] Criminal Behavior in Antisocial Substance Abusers between Five and Fifteen Years Follow-UpTHE AMERICAN JOURNAL ON ADDICTIONS, Issue 1 2007Mats Fridell PhD Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is one of the most common co-occurring disorders in substance abusers, characterized among other things by a high propensity for criminal actions. A cohort of 125 substance abusers were followed in a longitudinal design. Patients were diagnosed with ASPD at an index treatment episode, interviewed at five-year follow-up, and followed-up through the Swedish criminal justice register by 2005 for the years 1995,2003. ASPD and non-ASPD subjects were compared using Mann Whitney U test for ordinal variables (number of offenses and months in prison) and chi-square tests for categorical variables. A total of 107 were alive by 1995, when the period of observation began. ASPD diagnosed at baseline was related to criminal offenses and incarceration during the follow-up from 5 to 15 years. For most categories, ASPD diagnosis was associated with higher frequency of offense. An ASPD diagnosis based on SCID-II interview made at five-year follow-up was related to the number of offenses but unrelated to incarceration. In a sample of drug abusers, ASPD was associated with high levels of criminal behavior, even years after the diagnosis was given. A diagnosis based on clinical observation during treatment was at least as predictive of criminal behavior as a diagnosis based on a SCID-II interview. [source] Workplace Sexual Harassment Perceptions in the Turkish Context and the Role of Individual DifferencesAPPLIED PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2010Yonca Toker The major purpose of this study was to examine perceptions of workplace sexual harassment in the Turkish context. In Study 1, 53 working women were interviewed to identify culture-relevant behaviors that are considered to be sexual harassment. In Study 2, the factor structure of perceptions was explored. In addition, the way in which these perceptions are related to personal variables (i.e. gender role attitudes, self-esteem, and negative affectivity) was investigated. Participants were 353 women currently employed at various organisations. Five factors were identified: sexist hostility, insinuation of interest, sexual hostility, physical sexual offense, and sexual bribery and coercion. Each factor was regressed on the personal variables. After controlling for relevant demographic and organisational variables, gender role attitudes, self-esteem, and negative affectivity predicted sexual harassment perceptions. Specifically, negative affectivity predicted milder forms of harassment, attitudes predicted factors that are considered more severe, and self-esteem predicted all factors but sexist hostility. The extent to which sexual harassment manifestations are universal and how certain manifestations that appeared in the Turkish context broaden the scope of sexual harassment are discussed by referring to the US literature. L'objectif central de cette recherche était l'étude de la perception du harcèlement sexuel au travail en Turquie. Dans une première phase, on a interviewé 53 salariées pour déterminer les comportements relevant du harcèlement sexuel dans ce contexte culturel. Dans une deuxième phase, on a recherché la structure factorielle des perceptions. On a aussi étudié les liens de ces perceptions avec des variables personnelles (Attitudes en rapport avec le rôle découlant du genre, estime de soi et affectivité négative). Les sujets étaient 353 femmes employées dans diverses organisations. Cinq facteurs sont apparus : hostilité sexiste, attirance sous-entendue, hostilité sexuelle, agression sexuelle physique, coercition et corruption sexuelles. Chaque facteur a subi une analyse de régression sur les variables personnelles. En contrôlant de façon appropriée les variables démographiques et organisationnelles, les attitudes en rapport avec le rôle découlant du genre, l'estime de soi et l'affectivité négative prédisent la perception du harcèlement sexuel. En particulier, l'affectivité négative prédit les formes légères de harcèlement, les attitudes prédisent les facteurs considérés comme plus graves et l'estime de soi prédit tous les facteurs sauf l'hostilité sexiste. On discute à partir de la littérature américaine de l'universalité du harcèlement sexuel et du fait que certaines manifestations propres à la Turquie élargissent le champ de ce harcèlement. [source] Professional Basketball's Unsportsmanlike Fouls in the Eyes of the BeholdersAPPLIED PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2010Michael Bar-Eli A series of three experiments, based on the method of Functional Measurement, has explored the importance assigned by professional basketball players to relevant dispositions of defense and offense players, as determinants of unsportsmanlike fouls. The 106 participants were leading male players in the premier basketball league in Israel. Experiment 1 was based on a 16 (24)-cell model. In an individual meeting, each participant estimated the likelihood that a defense player would commit an unsportsmanlike foul on an offense player. In each of the 16 to-be-judged incidents, specific information on a specific combination of aggressiveness and susceptibility to victimisation of two imaginary protagonists in an offense,defense on-the-court incident was given to the participant. Experiment 2 was a replication of Experiment 1. There, however, names of 16 well-known players were mentioned, the aggressiveness and susceptibility to victimisation of each fitting the model requirements. In Experiment 3, a partial replication of Experiment 2, likelihood estimations were made from two perspectives,potential perpetrator and potential victim. Overall, meaningful importance was assigned especially to the dispositions of the perpetrator, not the victim. The findings are conceived as reflections of players' cognitive schemata of on-the-court violence. Basée sur la méthode de la mesure fonctionnelle, une série de 3 expérimentations a exploré l'importance que des joueurs de basket professionnels attribuent aux dispositions de joueurs attaquant ou défenseur à commettre des fautes anti sportives. Les 106 sujets sont des joueurs de sexe masculin de la ligue 1 de basket israélienne. L'expérience 1 est basée sur un modèle à 16 (24) cases. Lors de passation individuelle, chaque participant estime la probabilité qu'un joueur arrière commette une faute anti sportive sur un joueur avant. Pour chacun des 16 incidents à juger, une information spécifique a été donnée aux participants. Il s'agissait d'une combinaison particulière de l'agressivité et de la propension à la victimisation des deux protagonistes imaginaires dans une situation d'incident soit offensif soit défensif sur le terrain. L'expérimentation 2 est une réplique de la première. Cependant, les noms de 16 joueurs connus sont mentionnés, l'agressivité et la propension à la victimisation étaient appropriées aux exigences du modèle. Dans l'expérience 3, réplique partielle de la deuxième, la probabilité des estimations a été faite selon deux perspectives: auteur potentiel et victime potentielle. Globalement, une importance significative a été assignée aux dispositions de l'auteur et non de la victime. Les résultats sont conçus comme reflétant le schéma cognitif des joueurs lors de violence sur le terrain. [source] When is profiling possible?BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 6 2007Offense planning, aggression as moderators in predicting offender age from victim age in stranger rape Debate continues with regard to the possibility of inferring an offender's characteristic features from crime scene details (the process of so-called "offender profiling"). We argue that psychology generally has benefited from appreciating context in predicting behavior. In the same way, profiling would benefit from an appreciation of context in predicting characteristics. This "reverse" process is contingent on various "if,then" relationships. As one example, this paper demonstrates how profiling offender age from victim age is contingent on (i) the level of planning and (ii) the level of aggression displayed during the offense. Eighty-five stranger rape case records formed the data set. Moderated regression analysis revealed that victim age is a significant predictor of offender age only in cases where the offender has (i) shown evidence of planning the attack and/or (ii) acts in a gratuitously aggressive manner. The theoretical bases for these findings may lie in the extent to which offenders disparately plan and target victims and how extreme aggressiveness in stranger rapes may relate to a near-peer proxy for an offender's anger. The implications of the results for the processes and methods involved in offender profiling suggest that certain crime scene factors can have differential moderating effects on predictive outcomes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Are release recommendations for NGRI acquittees informed by relevant data?BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 1 2007Gina M. Manguno-Mire Ph.D. We conducted a retrospective review of factors involved in clinical recommendations for release of patients adjudicated not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI). Medical records from 91 patients in a maximum security forensic hospital who participated in a formal hearing process to determine suitability for release were reviewed. The purpose of the study was twofold: (1) to examine the process involved in day to day clinical decision-making regarding release from a maximum security forensic hospital and (2) to determine what factors in a patient's clinical and legal history were related to recommendation decisions. Multivariate statistical methods revealed that among the clinical, demographic, and legal information available to clinicians at the time a formal release recommendation was made two factors emerged that were significantly related to release recommendations: PCL-R score and the age at which the patient committed his first criminal offense. Patients with high levels of psychopathy and those who engaged in criminal behavior at a younger age were less likely to be recommended for release from a maximum security forensic hospital. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] USING RANDOM JUDGE ASSIGNMENTS TO ESTIMATE THE EFFECTS OF INCARCERATION AND PROBATION ON RECIDIVISM AMONG DRUG OFFENDERS,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 2 2010DONALD P. GREEN Most prior studies of recidivism have used observational data to estimate the causal effect of imprisonment or probation on the probability that a convicted individual is rearrested after release. Few studies have taken advantage of the fact that, in some jurisdictions, defendants are assigned randomly to judges who vary in sentencing tendencies. This study investigates whether defendants who are assigned randomly to more punitive judges have different recidivism probabilities than defendants who are assigned to relatively lenient judges. We track 1,003 defendants charged with drug-related offenses who were assigned randomly to nine judicial calendars between June 1, 2002 and May 9, 2003. Judges on these calendars meted out sentences that varied substantially in terms of prison and probation time. We tracked defendants using court records across a 4-year period after the disposition of their cases to determine whether they subsequently were rearrested. Our results indicate that randomly assigned variations in prison and probation time have no detectable effect on rates of rearrest. The findings suggest that, at least among those facing drug-related charges, incarceration and supervision seem not to deter subsequent criminal behavior. [source] A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY TO CRIME: EFFECTS OF RESIDENTIAL HISTORY ON CRIME LOCATION CHOICE,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 2 2010WIM BERNASCO Many offenses take place close to where the offender lives. Anecdotal evidence suggests that offenders also might commit crimes near their former homes. Building on crime pattern theory and combining information from police records and other sources, this study confirms that offenders who commit robberies, residential burglaries, thefts from vehicles, and assaults are more likely to target their current and former residential areas than similar areas they never lived in. In support of the argument that spatial awareness mediates the effects of past and current residence, it also is shown that areas of past and present residence are more likely to be targeted if the offender lived in the area for a long time instead of briefly and if the offender has moved away from the area only recently rather than a long time ago. The theoretical implications of these findings and their use for investigative purposes are discussed, and suggestions for future inquiry are made. [source] PROACTIVE POLICING AND ROBBERY RATES ACROSS U.S. CITIES,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 1 2010CHARIS E. KUBRIN In recent years, criminologists, as well as journalists, have devoted considerable attention to the potential deterrent effect of what is sometimes referred to as "proactive" policing. This policing style entails the vigorous enforcement of laws against relatively minor offenses to prevent more serious crime. The current study examines the effect of proactive policing on robbery rates for a sample of large U.S. cities using an innovative measure developed by Sampson and Cohen (1988). We replicate their cross-sectional analyses using data from 2000 to 2003, which is a period that proactive policing is likely to have become more common than that of the original study,the early 1980s. We also extend their analyses by estimating a more comprehensive regression model that incorporates additional theoretically relevant predictors. Finally, we advance previous research in this area by using panel data, The cross-sectional analyses replicate prior findings of a negative relationship between proactive policing and robbery rates. In addition, our dynamic models suggest that proactive policing is endogenous to changes in robbery rates. When this feedback between robbery and proactive policing is eliminated, we find more evidence to support our finding that proactive policing reduces robbery rates. [source] ESCAPING CRIME: THE EFFECTS OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT VICTIMIZATION ON MOVING,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 4 2008MIN XIE This article investigates the impact of criminal victimization on household residential mobility. Existing research finds that direct experiences with crime influence mobility decisions, such that persons who suffer offenses near their homes are more likely to move. The current study extends this line of inquiry to consider whether indirect victimization that involves neighbors also stimulates moving. The analysis uses the National Crime Survey to estimate multilevel models that incorporate data from individual households and their spatially proximate neighbors. The results show that the link between direct victimization and moving continues to hold after controlling for neighborhood context. Indirect property victimization also leads to moving, with effects about equal in size to those of direct victimization. In contrast, no evidence is found that violent victimization that occurs in neighboring homes influences mobility, probably because most of these events are nonstranger violence that provokes less anxiety for neighbors. [source] FUNDING COMMUNITY POLICING TO REDUCE CRIME: HAVE COPS GRANTS MADE A DIFFERENCE?,CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2002JIHONG "SOLOMON" ZHAO Research Summary: This research examines how funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), has affected violent and property crime rates in the United States from 1995 to 1999. Drawing on six years of panel data, we examine the effects of three types of awards made by COPS to 6,100 law enforcement agencies serving more than 145 million citizens. We estimate their impact on crime reduction over time in jurisdictions receiving funding and controlling for baseline levels of crime, socioeconomic characteristics, city size, and population diversity and mobility. Our analyses suggest that COPS hiring and innovative grant programs have resulted in significant reductions in local crime rates in cities with populations greater than 10,000 for both violent and nonviolent offenses. Multivariate analysis shows that in cities with populations greater than 10,000, an increase in one dollar of hiring grant funding per resident contributed to a corresponding decline of 5.26 violent crimes and 21.63 property crimes per 100,000 residents. Similarly, an increase in one dollar of innovative grant funding per resident has contributed to a decline of 12.93 violent crimes and 45.53 property crimes per 100,000 persons. In addition, the findings suggest that COPS grants have had no significant negative effect on violent and property crime rates in cities with less than 10,000 population. Policy Implications: The findings of this study imply that COPS program funding to medium- and large-size cities has been an effective force in reducing both violent and property crime. Federal government grants made directly to law enforcement agencies to hire additional officers and promote innovations may be an effective way to reduce crime on a national scale. 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