American Journal of Criminal Justice最新文献

Given its empirical and public support, increasing police presence seems to be a viable preventive policy option for police agencies. However, the theoretical and empirical literature is not clear on whether this support would vary along race/ethnicity and perceived neighborhood disadvantage, which is relevant given that policies of this kind would likely have a greater impact on disadvantaged communities of color. Using survey data from a national sample, we found that racial and ethnic identity were unrelated to support for increased police presence, while perceived neighborhood disorder was related to greater support for police presence. We also found that neighborhood disorder, social cohesion, and informal social control were indirectly related to support for increased police presence through perceptions of police legitimacy and fear of crime, demonstrating some evidence of the overpolicing-underpolicing paradox in disadvantaged communities. Policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Research has begun to document the impact of COVID-19, and corresponding restrictions associated with the pandemic, to several unintended consequences including increased rates of family violence. Given these findings, there have been calls for research to understand predictors of family violence, and how such predictors may shift during differing periods of the pandemic. Rooted in the family stress model and social disorganization theory, this study used call for service data from two police departments located in the Midwest of the United States, to examine whether the relationship between sociostructural indices on the number of family violence incidents varied in the times before, during, and after COVID-19 Safer-at-Home orders. Based on a series of negative binomial regression models, results show that the association between neighborhood (i.e., Census block group) concentrated poverty, the percentage of the population between 15 and 24 years of age, and the percentage of the population that identify as male on family violence was amplified during and/or after the adoption of the Safer-at-Home order. Results also indicated that the Safer-at-Home order eradicated the once significant effect of residential mobility and family violence incidents. Lastly, although neighborhoods located within the more populous and metropolitan city experienced fewer family violence incidents, compared to the mixed rural-suburban city, the gap in the number of incidents per neighborhood decreased in the times following the enactment of the Safer-at-Home order. Based on these findings, proactive and reactive policies regarding resource dissemination and increasing neighboring activities are discussed.

While prior studies find that media attention influences how prosecutors handle a specific case, there is a dearth of research examining the impact of media attention on prosecutors’ decision-making in less publicized criminal cases analogous to the publicized case. Using 10 years of data (January 2011 to December 2020) calibrated in monthly intervals obtained from the Broward County State Attorney’s Office and an interrupted time series research design, we investigate the effect of the Parkland mass shooting on prosecutor discretion in firearm-related cases eligible for mandatory minimum sentencing under Florida’s 10–20-Life law. Results show that while the Parkland mass shooting was not associated with the filing of firearm cases or with negotiated plea deals, it had a noteworthy effect on attenuating nolle prossed cases. Firearm defendants were also less apt to have their arrest to filing charge reduced, their arrest to disposition filing charge reduced, and their filing to dispositional charge lessened. Overall, these findings suggest that prosecutors became more punitive in their handling of firearm cases after the Parkland mass shooting.

Past research shows mixed results regarding the effects of solitary confinement on individuals’ mental health and recidivism. This paper aims to add to the existing literature by examining the relationships between 1) solitary confinement and mental health, and 2) solitary confinement and recidivism for individuals with mental illnesses. Utilizing administrative data from corrections facilities in a large Southeastern state, a series of linear regressions were used to examine the effects of solitary confinement on the need for mental health services, while a logistic regression was used to examine the effects of duration of time spent in solitary confinement on recidivism. Results show that need for mental health services differed for those with and without mental illness after time spent in solitary confinement. Results also indicated that longer placements in solitary confinement were associated with need for mental health services after return to the general population. Finally, a small but significant relationship emerged between solitary confinement and recidivism showing longer stays in solitary confinement increased recidivism. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Americans take a myriad of safety precautions each day to prevent victimization, a costly and often time-consuming practice. Most of what we know about precautionary measures comes from the fear of crime literature. Previous studies typically examine precautionary measures in relation to fear of crime and ask respondents about behaviors they engaged in or avoided retroactively. Our research team put precautionary measures at the forefront by creating a virtual reality (VR) subway station where 105 participants entered a subway station, selected items to take with them on a train and selected a bench to wait for their train. The items included traditional precautionary measures (pepper spray, knife) and everyday items (cell phone, book, headphones, car keys). We also placed VR characters on a bench and asked participants to select a bench near or far from the characters. Participants were asked to explain their decision-making process. We learned that individuals engaged in avoidance and protective behaviors and our results found the decision-making process in the selection of these measures were complex and unique. The results of our study can help public safety agencies design public spaces so that individuals feel safer in these spaces.

A growing body of literature has explored the ‘life course’ of crime guns, with particular focus on the time between initial point of sale of firearms and their eventual recovery by police following a crime. We contend that this examination is incomplete, with limited consideration given to the period between a firearm’s first known use in a criminal offense and its recovery by police—which we refer to as time in crime. Increased understanding of this time frame is important given that crime guns are frequently recirculated among criminally involved groups and the recent finding that time in circulation following first known use in a crime is a significant predictor of multiple uses of crime guns. We add to the literature through application of negative binomial regression to a sample of 310 crime guns used in offenses in a city in the Southeastern United States to examine how neighborhood context and initial incident characteristics influence the number of days that firearms remain in circulation after their first known use in a crime. We find that increased levels of concentrated disadvantage and gang involvement during the original incident correspond with significant increases in time in crime, while increased levels of residential stability and the ability of police to identify suspects are linked with more rapid recovery of crime guns. Notably, these findings hold even after inclusion of popular time to crime covariates, including firearm quality, caliber, and status as a stolen gun.

Research indicates that a majority of serious crime events are committed by a small proportion of repeat offenders. Many chronic offenders collaborate with others, co-offending on an irregular basis or as part of an organized gang. Understanding the characteristics of these offenders and their criminality has significant implications for our understanding of chronic violence and the implementation of successful, evidence-based crime prevention efforts. To contribute to this ongoing effort, we apply social network analysis (SNA) to a sample of 2,217 people arrested more than once for a violent crime between 2014 and 2022. We explore co-offending relationships, investigating differences in demographics and crime characteristics between networked and non-networked chronic violent offenders. The results of this exploratory study indicate significant differences in age and crime type by network status. This analysis also indicates that SNA is an effective method for exploring co-offending in a general-purpose crime dataset. Implications for policymakers and future directions for research are presented.

This study examined factors that distinguish adolescent weapon carrying in school compared to only in the community. We look at how experiences (offending, victimization, and gang-involvement) and perceptions (school, neighborhood, individual) toward violence are associated with self-reported weapon carrying in these two locations. Data came from two waves of the University of Missouri – St. Louis Comprehensive School Safety Initiative, a longitudinal study on the causes and consequences of school violence. Multinomial logistic regression was used to predict weapon carrying among three mutually exclusive categories: those who do not carry, those who carry only in the community, and those who carry both in school and in the community. We find that victim/offenders are more likely to carry weapons regardless of context, but school weapon carrying is positively associated with fatalism and gang-involvement. One school factor, school commitment, impacted carrying both inside and outside of school. Our results identify unique factors that can reduce adolescent weapon carrying in general and specifically in school.

Concerns have been raised that cross-agency differences in the definition and measurement of juvenile recidivism may hamper the generalizability of knowledge and comparisons across jurisdictions. However, it is unclear whether measurement choices do impact the conclusions of studies of juvenile recidivism. This study examined whether the rates and the demographic, risk, and contextual predictors of juvenile recidivism varied by the operationalization of recidivism. The sample included 14,537 terms of probation of youths who completed probation in Florida between 2012 and 2016. Recidivism rates differed depending on the type of system contact and the follow-up length. Rates were comparable when adult system data were and were not included. Three-level multivariate multilevel models showed that the predictors were more strongly associated with commitment than with referral or adjudication. The directions and significance of the predictors’ effects were consistent across types of system contact, follow-up lengths, and data sources. Researchers should use varied measurement strategies, clearly describe their approach, and test for robustness across measures.