American Journal of Criminal Justice最新文献

The use of deadly force by police has garnered significant public and academic attention, yet the absence of comprehensive national data remains a substantial obstacle to accountability, transparency, and research. The current study evaluates key unofficial databases that document deadly police force, examining their inclusion criteria, strengths, and limitations. While unofficial sources are more comprehensive than official datasets, particularly those that include non-fatal events, they each vary in their inclusion criteria. These discrepancies hinder efforts to accurately assess the prevalence and correlates of deadly police force, particularly at the national level. This report outlines best practices for researchers, underscoring the importance of aligning data selection with research objectives and acknowledging data limitations.

This short report introduces the Tripartite Moral Spectrum Theory, a heuristic model that clarifies how individuals vary in their likelihood to comply with or violate legal and moral norms. The framework identifies three orientations: (1) the intrinsically moral, who avoid wrongdoing regardless of risk; (2) the intrinsically amoral, who pursue wrongdoing regardless of sanctions; and (3) the conditionally moral, who comply only when detection appears likely. By drawing on established criminological and psychological perspectives—including deterrence, control, moral development, and psychopathy—this model integrates diverse insights into a concise typology. The spectrum provides criminal justice professionals with a practical means for anticipating when deterrence will be effective, when moral reinforcement suffices, and when containment is necessary. Its contribution lies in offering a focused, practice-oriented lens that can inform policy design, enforcement strategies, and institutional planning.

Existing research shows detrimental mental health effects of incarceration for youth, suggesting that the lived reality of confinement results in higher levels of depression and anxiety (Fagan & Kupchik, 2011; Forrest et al., 2000). A growing body of empirical work has explored the vicarious health effects of parental and sibling incarceration (Lee & Wildeman, 2021; Haskins, 2015). However, such inquiries have generally not included system-linked youth nor other modes of confinement. Using data from the Northwest Juvenile Project (NWP), this exploratory study explores the ways that early parental and sibling confinement, including incarceration and mental health hospitalization, affects the mental health outcomes of more than 1,800 system-involved youth in Cook County, Illinois. Our findings dovetail with existing empirical results, which suggest that the impacts of incarceration and mental health hospitalization are complex, finding other contextual factors can be more influential on levels of depression and anxiety for youth. Such an investigation adds to the emerging scholarship on the complex ways early familial incarceration can impact youth as they navigate their own contact with the criminal legal system and incarceration.

Although the majority of people in the criminal justice system are serving their sentences in the community, research has primarily examined the collateral consequences of mass incarceration. Considering the pervasiveness of probation, it is critical to understand how being on misdemeanor probation impacts life outcomes, including mental health. We examine the influence of misdemeanor probation on mental health in Florida according to probation officers through a survey (N = 46 officers). Findings indicate that there is significant variation in officer perceptions of client mental health by political orientation, incarceration of family and friends, officer style, and perceived difficulty of client supervision. Findings from the study shed light on one perspective of this understudied population and may provide useful information to Florida misdemeanor probation agencies to enhance the processes and increase understanding among stakeholders about the experiences of people on probation.

This study evaluated the planning, implementation, and preliminary outcomes of a US Bureau of Justice Assistance funded justice mental health focused reentry program for offenders with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders detained in a county jail in central coastal Florida, the Flagler County Detention Center’s award-winning SMART Program. A mixed methods evaluation strategy included qualitative data collection through site-based interviews and observation to assess services delivery toward program fidelity demonstration and statistical analysis of program outcomes using a quasi-experimental design. Qualitative data revealed structural and contextual variables that presented program implementation and fidelity challenges and quantitative analysis revealed that treatment group participants were significantly less likely than the comparison group to be re-arrested during the follow-up period and less likely that rearrest was due to a new charge. Multivariate logistic regression findings indicated that none of the demographic (e.g., sex, age, race), diagnostic (i.e., MI, SUD, COD), or criminal history variables (e.g., prior felony convictions, current charge) significantly impacted the odds of recidivism. Results also revealed that opiates, heroin, and fentanyl and then methamphetamine were the most common self-reported drugs of choice among both the treatment and comparison groups.

Trauma and subsequent mental illness have been described as a “pathway to prison” for women given their near ubiquity among those who become incarcerated. Less research has investigated women’s pathways within prison including 1) how posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) may influence women’s behaviors in prison and 2) how receiving trauma-focused therapy (TFT) may alter within-prison behavioral trajectories. In this study, we examined these questions using treatment and administrative data on PTSS and infractions, with particular focus on infractions possibly motivated by avoidance (e.g., those related to substance use, medication misuse, and aggression), among women who did and did not complete TFT while incarcerated. All individuals incarcerated in the Washington Correctional Center for Women (WCCW) between January 2015 through December 2021 (N = 5,775) were considered for inclusion. Of these individuals, 159 received a TFT for PTSS and were matched to a control group using propensity score matching. Results revealed a decrease in infractions after therapy, with treatment predicting change over and above other infraction factors. Overall decreases in PTSS severity were correlated with a decrease in total, fighting/assault, and substance use infractions. PTSS analysis of specific symptom clusters reflected that a decrease in intrusive symptoms had the most robust correlation with reduction in infractions. Findings underscore the importance of providing TFTs for PTSS in prisons to reduce infraction behaviors and bolster facility safety.

Although US courts regularly sentence individuals with mental health problems, to date, there has been little research on whether mental health indicators are related to sentencing decisions. The focal concerns perspective suggests that sentencing decisions reflect perceptions of the blameworthiness of the defendant, concerns about protecting the community, and practical considerations. Potentially, mental health issues could serve as a mitigating factor in sentencing decisions by making defendants seem less culpable for their actions and more deserving of assistance rather than punishment, and/or due to concerns about practical considerations related to higher costs of incarceration or of exacerbating current mental health conditions. However, mental health could also serve as an aggravating factor, making defendants appear less in control of their actions, and thus more likely to recidivate. Using the lens of intersectionality, it is likely that whether mental health issues mitigate or aggravate sentences will vary by the race and sex of the individual. We use weighted negative binomial regression modeling to measure whether mental health indicators predict sentence length in US federal courts, and whether these outcomes vary based on the race and/or sex of the defendant across different crime types. Results indicate support that mental illness is related to sentencing and this relationship does vary by race, and the combination of both race and sex. However, the form of this relationship varies by offense type, suggesting that mental health, race and sex could be perceived differently by sentencing actors based on the offense.

Policing mental health crises presents unique risks and challenges that require innovative strategies extending beyond traditional law enforcement approaches. Co-response models, which pair police officers with mental health clinicians, aim to address these challenges by integrating specialized expertise into crisis interventions. This study examines how officers make key decisions in integrating co-responders during mental health crises, such as determining the co-responder’s proximity to subjects, controlling access to critical information, and assigning specific roles during interventions. To investigate these decision-making processes, we employed virtual reality (VR) simulations, think-aloud protocols, and semi-structured interviews with police officers and a co-responder. Findings illustrate how officers balance safety and collaboration in policing situations, revealing how officers’ discretionary practices influence co-responders’ performance and program outcomes. Themes of authority, trust, and identity highlight both the potential for co-response models to de-escalate crises and the barriers imposed by traditional enforcement practices. Overcoming these barriers requires policies that clarify roles, collaborative training that build trust, and equitable integration that enhances coordination and community representation. Together, these measures can strengthen officers' ability to ensure safety while empowering co-responders to apply their expertise in crisis intervention.

In the constellation of psychiatric diagnoses and psychological features associated with clinical conduct problems, forensic mental health is an important conceptual area largely missing from criminological research. Here, we 1) review the p Factor theory as a general psychopathology model for forensic mental health and antisocial behavioral development, 2) synthesize research about mental health morbidity among various correctional clients, 3) explicate mental health barriers that impede rehabilitation efforts and desistance from crime, and 4) provide candidate constructs (conduct disorder and antisocial personality disorder) in forensic mental health to inform data collection and model specification. Criminologists should prioritize forensic mental health to bolster the interdisciplinary scope and scientific reach of criminology and criminal justice.