American Journal of Criminal Justice最新文献

Biosocial research has examined intergenerational transmission of criminality and genetic explanations underpinning the link between parent and offspring criminality. Less research has examined parent criminal history as a predictor of offspring recidivism risk and the limited research on this topic has yielded mixed findings. Further, there is a dearth of research that has examined potential age-graded differences in salience of this relationship. A positive interaction between age and parent criminal history for predicting recidivism may then be indicative of evidence of intergenerational transmission helping to explain divergence between adolescence-limited and chronic offenders. The Pathways to Desistance data were analyzed. Mixed effects modeling was used to test for direct and interactive effects for predicting re-offending frequency. Results indicated that having a parent with a history of being arrested/jailed was associated with increased re-offending frequency. A significant positive interaction between age and parent criminal history was also observed. Findings indicated that identification of justice-involved youth with parents who similarly have a criminal history are at-risk for recidivism. Prioritizing youth who are exiting adolescence treatment may help to reduce recidivism in particular.

George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis Police Department officer on May 25, 2020, was arguably one of the most impactful events in modern policing in the United States. However, several controversial and highly publicized use-of-force events preceded it during the 2010s, leading to this entire period being labeled a “crisis of legitimacy” or “reckoning” for the police. Nationally, perceptions of the police declined during this period, especially after Floyd’s death, prompting a great deal of debate, protest, and discussion about police reform (including arguments about defunding the police). However, a great deal of variation exists in these perceptions at the local level. This study presents a rare insight into this issue, pooling two random-sample household mail surveys that researchers collected in 2015 and 2021 in a large urban-suburban county. It seeks to determine whether changes in specific measures of perceived police legitimacy and effectiveness found in national-level polls were also found in this jurisdiction, and more specifically, across different racial groups. Although this racially and ethnically diverse county is also a progressive Democratic stronghold, the results suggest that local views about police—even when disaggregated by race—may not align with national perspectives or events as expected, which, in turn, may impact support for police reforms at the local and national levels.

Over the past decade, efforts have been made to reform the way in which law enforcement responds to child sex trafficking (CST). Law enforcement agencies are being urged or required to use victim-centered approaches that provide exploited youth with support and services. However, researchers have yet to empirically examine law enforcement’s recognition of CST at the agency-level, their arrest practices, or the services that are being offered to CST victims. We have little information about the utilization and effectiveness of various law enforcement agency policies, practices and training programs related to CST. The National Law Enforcement Agency Child Sex Trafficking (LEA-CST) Study aimed to address these gaps through a national survey of law enforcement agencies around the U.S. The current study reports on mail survey data collected from a sample of 1,306 agencies that provided feedback on the use of up to nine victim-centered approaches to CST at their agency. Data were analyzed along with information about whether their agency investigated at least one case of CST in the year 2021. Almost all agencies (97.5%) said they used or had access to at least one victim-centered approach to CST investigations, with larger agencies reporting a greater number of approaches. Two policies were significantly related to a greater likelihood of investigating at least one case of CST in 2021: Access to a CST-specific task force and access to a CST-specific victim service agency. Findings document a growing orientation to these cases by law enforcement that recognizes youth victimization, with innovative approaches to identification and support. Community collaboration appears to be critical to helping to identify, support and provide justice to CST victims.

Research Summary This study examined law enforcement’s recognition of CST at the agency-level, their arrest practices, and the services that are being offered to CST victims. Among 1,306 agencies across the United States, almost all (97.5%) said they used or had access to at least one victim-centered approach to CST investigations, with larger agencies reporting a greater number of approaches. Two policies were significantly related to a greater likelihood of investigating at least one CST case in 2021: Access to a CST-specific task force and access to a CST-specific victim service agency.

Policy Implications Findings from the current study underscore the importance of victim-centered approaches to CST that feature connections and collaborations across communities. These collaborations champion the wellness of youth who have experienced this unique and egregious form of sexual victimization while simultaneously allowing for criminal investigations to proceed, ideally with minimal re-traumatization of the victim.

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.