Journal of Experimental Criminology最新文献

Abstract

Objectives

We examine the potential effects of gunshot detection technology longitudinally in Chicago through a synthetic control quasi-experiment.

Methods

Police districts receiving gunshot detection technology were compared to a synthetic control unit via a staggered difference-in-difference design. Across eleven unique gunshot detection technology deployment phases, the analyses produce results for aggregate, initial versus expanded, and phase-specific deployment effects across five gun violence outcome measures.

Results

Gunshot detection technology had no effect on fatal shootings, non-fatal shootings, general part I gun crimes, or shots fired calls for service. Gun recoveries significantly increased in the aggregate, initial, and expanded models, and in several individual phases relative to controls.

Conclusions

The results align with prior literature that has found a procedural benefit, but not a crime prevention benefit, of gunshot detection technology. Law enforcement agencies seeking crime prevention or reduction solutions may be better served by investing in other options.

Objectives

This study investigates the effectiveness of immersive 360° video technology in evoking and manipulating two emotions, anger, and sexual arousal, relevant to criminal decision-making. Additionally, we provide a focused review of emotions in decision-making research in criminology, offering a comprehensive foundation for our study.

Methods

We conducted immersive 360° video experiments emulating real-world situations (n = 101). We measured self-reported emotions before and after exposure to the virtual scenarios, considering both between- and within-person effects.

Results

The scenarios effectively elicited the criminogenic emotions in the controlled virtual environments.

Conclusions

Immersive technologies, such as 360° video and virtual reality, can serve as a bridge between laboratory-based investigations and real-world criminogenic situations, offering an ecologically effective tool for exploring the intricate relationship between state affect and decision-making processes.

Objectives

This study examines how sexuality, gender, and severity affect the willingness of third parties to mobilize facets of the criminal justice system in response to witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV).

Methods

An M-Turk online sample of 803 adults in the USA completed a factorial vignette survey. Participants were presented with an incident of intimate partner violence and asked to report how likely they would be to notify police and select jail as punishment for the perpetrator.

Results

Results of the study uncover no clear evidence of heteronormative bias. Rather, female victims of IPV garner the most support from third parties. Furthermore, respondents were more likely to favor a jail sentence for male perpetrators. Patterns were amplified in severe incidents.

Conclusion

The current study suggests that gender and violence severity, rather than sexuality, are the most salient predictors of the third-party’s decision to notify the police and prefer strong criminal justice punishments.

Abstract

Objective

This study sought to understand how the public perceived new offenses in a time of public health crisis—social distancing deviance in the COVID-19 pandemic—and what factors influenced their perceptions. We also explored whether the correlates of crisis-related punitiveness changed over time, as the pandemic became more politicized.

Data and methods

Our data came from two national surveys administered one year apart, in March 2020 (n = 995) and March 2021 (n = 1,030). To measure sanction preferences, we used experimental vignettes randomizing the characteristics of the offense (e.g., victim harm) and offender (e.g., individual vs. business owner).

Results

As with other types of deviance, just desert concerns predominated. Respondents preferred harsher penalties when offenders violated social distancing directives (versus guidelines) and caused more harm. Certain political/ideological factors (e.g., binding foundations, libertarianism, racial resentment) became more predictive one year into the pandemic, after controlling for personal fear of the virus and demographic factors.

Conclusions

The findings illustrate how public punitiveness toward antisocial behavior develops over time. When new offenses emerge, the public initially evaluates them mostly based on moral culpability and harm. With politicization, however, other factors (e.g., racial and political beliefs) play a role as well. It appears, then, that public reactions to new offenses initially reflect intuitions of justice and are later updated to incorporate cultural and political concerns.

Objectives

Criminology has begun to use virtual reality (VR) as a tool to understand criminal behaviour. There have been many advances in VR that open up the possibility of novel research designs, in addition to the inclusion of augmented reality (AR) as a potential research tool. A review of the efficacy of the use of AR and VR (together known as XR) within criminology is now required to guide the further development of this field.

Methods

We employed a scoping review, which after screening, incorporated 41 papers for review.

Results

We uncovered three important characteristics for the papers: research topics for which XR is employed, the prominence of VR research over AR and XR and methodological rigour. VR is mostly employed for creating scenarios, in particular in research on memory and aggression. Studies vary greatly in their use of interaction within VR scenes, description of technical specifications and sample sizes.

Conclusions

Despite the identification of some methodological limitations in the existing literature, VR has found its place in criminological research. With technological advancement, AR may also find its place in the future, allowing for the ongoing development of research applications. Creating comprehensive guidelines on how to use XR technology in criminology remains necessary.

Objectives

This study examined the long-term effects of the Better Start program, an adaptation of Incredible Years parent training enhanced with home visits, for families with mothers being released from incarceration.

Methods

Participants in this quasi-experimental longitudinal study were 224 mothers, of whom 145 (64.7%) received intervention and the other mothers constituted a no intervention group. Official criminal justice records and mother reports of parenting behaviors and child behavior were collected up to 10 years after intervention. Mixed effects models, Cox regression analyses, and latent linear growth models were used to test potential intervention effects on adolescent delinquency, maternal recidivism, parenting behaviors, and disruptive child behaviors.

Results

Outcomes favoring participants in the intervention condition were found for adolescent delinquency, maternal recidivism, and the number of disruptive child behaviors.

Conclusions

Effects on maternal recidivism and delinquency in their children indicate that the Better Start program contributes to preventing the intergenerational transmission of delinquency.

Objectives

In this study, we investigate the mechanisms, timing, and types of the relationship between paternal criminal justice involvement and children’s health.

Methods

Utilizing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 5622), we leverage the natural experiment embedded in a sibling-comparison design that adjusts for all confounding factors shared by siblings.

Results

The results show a significant association between paternal criminal justice involvement and poorer children’s health, even when such involvement occurred before children’s birth. This association becomes more pronounced when paternal criminal justice involvement took place close to children’s birth. Furthermore, the association varies depending on the type of paternal criminal justice involvement.

Conclusion

These findings contribute to our understanding of the collateral consequences of criminal justice involvement, revealing that the impact can commence as early as the initial arrest and is exacerbated by subsequent conviction and incarceration.

Objective

To test the process and impact of a complaints handling prototype to enhance the practical application of procedural justice (PJ) principles in a prison setting.

Methods

A randomised control trial and process evaluation involving 50 staff participants and 120 of their complaint responses. Complaint responses were quantitatively assessed for their PJ content, sentiment, and readability. Perceptions of the value of the prototype and how it had been implemented were examined qualitatively, through interviews or focus groups with six staff and five prison residents.

Results

The complaints prototype brought about statistically significantly improved PJ practice overall, and the impact was maintained over the 6-month follow-up. The prototype resulted in no change in the sentiment of words used. Concerningly, a statistically significant increase in the required reading age was observed.

Conclusions

The prototype improves prison staff’s use of PJ principles when responding to complaints. The approach is experienced as feasible and worthwhile.