Pub Date : 2021-08-23DOI: 10.1146/annurev-criminol-030920-113250
B. J. Casey, Cortney Simmons, L. Somerville, A. Baskin-Sommers
Youthful offenders convicted of serious crimes continue to be sentenced to death and life without parole in the United States based on legal arguments that cast them as incorrigible and permanent dangers to society. Yet psychological and neuroscientific evidence contradicts these arguments and unequivocally demonstrates significant changes in brain, behavior, and personality throughout the life course, especially during adolescence as it extends into the early twenties. This article ( a) clarifies the current state of the science on typical behavioral and brain development showing robust changes into the twenties; ( b) demonstrates that behavior, personality, and psychopathic traits are dynamic and change over time; and ( c) underscores that reliance on prior criminal behavior only to predict later recidivism is tenuous at best. Together, these scientific insights make a case for extending juvenile protections to youthful offenders sentenced for crimes committed in their teens and early twenties. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 5 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
{"title":"Making the Sentencing Case: Psychological and Neuroscientific Evidence for Expanding the Age of Youthful Offenders","authors":"B. J. Casey, Cortney Simmons, L. Somerville, A. Baskin-Sommers","doi":"10.1146/annurev-criminol-030920-113250","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-030920-113250","url":null,"abstract":"Youthful offenders convicted of serious crimes continue to be sentenced to death and life without parole in the United States based on legal arguments that cast them as incorrigible and permanent dangers to society. Yet psychological and neuroscientific evidence contradicts these arguments and unequivocally demonstrates significant changes in brain, behavior, and personality throughout the life course, especially during adolescence as it extends into the early twenties. This article ( a) clarifies the current state of the science on typical behavioral and brain development showing robust changes into the twenties; ( b) demonstrates that behavior, personality, and psychopathic traits are dynamic and change over time; and ( c) underscores that reliance on prior criminal behavior only to predict later recidivism is tenuous at best. Together, these scientific insights make a case for extending juvenile protections to youthful offenders sentenced for crimes committed in their teens and early twenties. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 5 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.","PeriodicalId":51759,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Criminology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2021-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47710867","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
An estimated 60 million Americans encounter police annually and Black and Brown Americans over more than one millionmore than one million are disproportionately threatened or subjected to police use of force during these encounters. Much research exists on the efficacy for crime control of the policing practices that produce those encounters for crime control, but outside of formal consequences such as incarceration, the criminology of police harms has been slower to emerge. In this review, we describe the slow violence that contemporary policing practices disproportionately inflict on people of color. These wide-ranging harms constitute cultural trauma, shaping health, well-being, academic performance, government participation, community membership, and physical space. As a result, routine policing practices help create and maintain the racial and class status quo. We close by considering the limits of popular reforms given those harms and urge researchers to take a broader approach by studying nonpolicing alternatives to public safety alongside crime control efficacy and incorporating more critical perspectives to build a more comprehensive assessment of modern policing practices.
{"title":"The Slow Violence of Contemporary Policing","authors":"Rory Kramer, Brianna Remster","doi":"10.31235/osf.io/zuych","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/zuych","url":null,"abstract":"An estimated 60 million Americans encounter police annually and Black and Brown Americans over more than one millionmore than one million are disproportionately threatened or subjected to police use of force during these encounters. Much research exists on the efficacy for crime control of the policing practices that produce those encounters for crime control, but outside of formal consequences such as incarceration, the criminology of police harms has been slower to emerge. In this review, we describe the slow violence that contemporary policing practices disproportionately inflict on people of color. These wide-ranging harms constitute cultural trauma, shaping health, well-being, academic performance, government participation, community membership, and physical space. As a result, routine policing practices help create and maintain the racial and class status quo. We close by considering the limits of popular reforms given those harms and urge researchers to take a broader approach by studying nonpolicing alternatives to public safety alongside crime control efficacy and incorporating more critical perspectives to build a more comprehensive assessment of modern policing practices.","PeriodicalId":51759,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Criminology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2021-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43113337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-16DOI: 10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-030920-122540
D. Elliott
A brief autobiographical history is presented covering my 57-year career as a criminologist. I begin with my early childhood experiences, growing up during World War II, my undergraduate and graduate school experiences, and my early career years at San Diego State University and the University of Colorado, Boulder. I then discuss two of the major themes in my research developed during these early career years: self-report measures of delinquent behavior and the Integrated Theory of delinquency. My later career years are described, and the third major theme of my work, the identification and promotion of effective delinquency prevention programs, is discussed. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 5 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
{"title":"Reflections on Six Decades of Research","authors":"D. Elliott","doi":"10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-030920-122540","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-030920-122540","url":null,"abstract":"A brief autobiographical history is presented covering my 57-year career as a criminologist. I begin with my early childhood experiences, growing up during World War II, my undergraduate and graduate school experiences, and my early career years at San Diego State University and the University of Colorado, Boulder. I then discuss two of the major themes in my research developed during these early career years: self-report measures of delinquent behavior and the Integrated Theory of delinquency. My later career years are described, and the third major theme of my work, the identification and promotion of effective delinquency prevention programs, is discussed. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 5 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.","PeriodicalId":51759,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Criminology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2021-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44441305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-02DOI: 10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-030620-023027
A. Baskin-Sommers, Shou-An A Chang, Suzanne Estrada, L. Chan
Youthful offending is a complex behavior that develops from an interaction between social experiences and individual differences in thinking patterns and emotional reactions favoring antisociality. The combination of factors associated with offending varies across individuals and influences the ways in which youth perceive, interpret, and respond to a wide range of experiences. Programs must consider the specific environmental (e.g., community), institutional (e.g., schools, parents, peers), and individual factors impacting youth as essential targets for intervention. We synthesize research on family-focused, school-focused, peer- and community-focused, trauma-focused, cognitive-behavioral, and multisystem interventions in terms of their targets and note variability in their effectiveness. Furthermore, we highlight the continued need for developmentally appropriate interventions that accurately target the mechanisms of action, do no harm, are delivered with fidelity, and encourage active engagement by both interveners and youth. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 5 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
{"title":"Toward Targeted Interventions: Examining the Science Behind Interventions for Youth Who Offend","authors":"A. Baskin-Sommers, Shou-An A Chang, Suzanne Estrada, L. Chan","doi":"10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-030620-023027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-030620-023027","url":null,"abstract":"Youthful offending is a complex behavior that develops from an interaction between social experiences and individual differences in thinking patterns and emotional reactions favoring antisociality. The combination of factors associated with offending varies across individuals and influences the ways in which youth perceive, interpret, and respond to a wide range of experiences. Programs must consider the specific environmental (e.g., community), institutional (e.g., schools, parents, peers), and individual factors impacting youth as essential targets for intervention. We synthesize research on family-focused, school-focused, peer- and community-focused, trauma-focused, cognitive-behavioral, and multisystem interventions in terms of their targets and note variability in their effectiveness. Furthermore, we highlight the continued need for developmentally appropriate interventions that accurately target the mechanisms of action, do no harm, are delivered with fidelity, and encourage active engagement by both interveners and youth. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 5 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.","PeriodicalId":51759,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Criminology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2021-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49008774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-26DOI: 10.21428/cb6ab371.322ebfb5
Mark T. Berg, Christopher J. Schreck
Criminological theory developed without an expectation of a victim–offender overlap. Among most crime theorists and policymakers, to solve crime it is necessary to solve the criminal offender. Modern choice theories took a different view by evolving from victim data, treating target vulnerability as essential to the criminal act and with full awareness of the overlap. Here, we discuss the emphasis on offenders in criminology as being inconsistent with the facts of the overlap. The evidence shows that the victim–offender overlap is consistently found, implying that offending and victimization arise for similar substantive reasons and that offenders act principally in response to targets. This conclusion has important implications. First, any theory of crime that cannot logically predict the overlap as a fact may be subject to falsification. Second, the choice perspective suggests a theory of precautionary behavior, which urges a policy agenda that encourages actions against crime by potential targets. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 5 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
{"title":"The Meaning of the Victim-Offender Overlap for Criminological Theory and Crime Prevention Policy","authors":"Mark T. Berg, Christopher J. Schreck","doi":"10.21428/cb6ab371.322ebfb5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21428/cb6ab371.322ebfb5","url":null,"abstract":"Criminological theory developed without an expectation of a victim–offender overlap. Among most crime theorists and policymakers, to solve crime it is necessary to solve the criminal offender. Modern choice theories took a different view by evolving from victim data, treating target vulnerability as essential to the criminal act and with full awareness of the overlap. Here, we discuss the emphasis on offenders in criminology as being inconsistent with the facts of the overlap. The evidence shows that the victim–offender overlap is consistently found, implying that offending and victimization arise for similar substantive reasons and that offenders act principally in response to targets. This conclusion has important implications. First, any theory of crime that cannot logically predict the overlap as a fact may be subject to falsification. Second, the choice perspective suggests a theory of precautionary behavior, which urges a policy agenda that encourages actions against crime by potential targets. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 5 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.","PeriodicalId":51759,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Criminology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2021-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44906312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-13DOI: 10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-011419-041436
C. Uggen, Ráchael A. Powers, H. McLaughlin, A. Blackstone
Public attention to sexual harassment has increased sharply with the rise of the #MeToo movement, although the phenomenon has sustained strong scientific and policy interest for almost 50 years. A large and impressive interdisciplinary scholarly literature has emerged over this period, yet the criminology of sexual harassment has been slow to develop. This review considers how criminological theory and research can advance knowledge on sexual harassment—and how theory and research on sexual harassment can advance criminological knowledge. We review classic and contemporary studies and highlight points of engagement in these literatures, particularly regarding life-course research and violence against women. After outlining prospects for a criminology of sexual harassment that more squarely addresses perpetrators as well as victims, we discuss how criminological insights might contribute to policy efforts directed toward prevention and control.
{"title":"Toward a Criminology of Sexual Harassment","authors":"C. Uggen, Ráchael A. Powers, H. McLaughlin, A. Blackstone","doi":"10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-011419-041436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-011419-041436","url":null,"abstract":"Public attention to sexual harassment has increased sharply with the rise of the #MeToo movement, although the phenomenon has sustained strong scientific and policy interest for almost 50 years. A large and impressive interdisciplinary scholarly literature has emerged over this period, yet the criminology of sexual harassment has been slow to develop. This review considers how criminological theory and research can advance knowledge on sexual harassment—and how theory and research on sexual harassment can advance criminological knowledge. We review classic and contemporary studies and highlight points of engagement in these literatures, particularly regarding life-course research and violence against women. After outlining prospects for a criminology of sexual harassment that more squarely addresses perpetrators as well as victims, we discuss how criminological insights might contribute to policy efforts directed toward prevention and control.","PeriodicalId":51759,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Criminology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2021-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-011419-041436","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42004969","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-13DOI: 10.1146/annurev-criminol-093020-023221
C. Lum
The Editorial Committee of the Annual Review of Criminology has launched a new section within the journal in which we invite one or more authors to write a more personal and yet scholarly article that puts forth their perspective on an important and timely topic. For Volume 4, we asked Dr. Cynthia Lum and Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff to provide their perspectives on policing. We hope our readers enjoy this new and exciting series of “Perspectives.”
{"title":"Perspectives on Policing: Cynthia Lum","authors":"C. Lum","doi":"10.1146/annurev-criminol-093020-023221","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-093020-023221","url":null,"abstract":"The Editorial Committee of the Annual Review of Criminology has launched a new section within the journal in which we invite one or more authors to write a more personal and yet scholarly article that puts forth their perspective on an important and timely topic. For Volume 4, we asked Dr. Cynthia Lum and Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff to provide their perspectives on policing. We hope our readers enjoy this new and exciting series of “Perspectives.”","PeriodicalId":51759,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Criminology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2021-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1146/annurev-criminol-093020-023221","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46324522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-13DOI: 10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092255
M. Langer
This article documents the diffusion of plea bargaining and other mechanisms to reach criminal convictions without a trial and argues that their spread implies what this article terms an administratization of criminal convictions in many corners of the world. Criminal convictions have been administratized in two ways: ( a) Trial-avoiding mechanisms have given a larger role to nonjudicature, administrative officials in the determination of who gets convicted and for which crimes, and ( b) these decisions are made in proceedings that do not include a trial with its attached defendants’ rights. The article also proposes a way this phenomenon could be quantitatively measured by articulating the rate of administratization of criminal convictions, a metric to allow for comparison among different jurisdictions. The article then presents cross-national data from 26 jurisdictions on their rate of administratization of criminal convictions and different hypotheses that may help explain variation across jurisdictions on this rate.
{"title":"Plea Bargaining, Conviction Without Trial, and the Global Administratization of Criminal Convictions","authors":"M. Langer","doi":"10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092255","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092255","url":null,"abstract":"This article documents the diffusion of plea bargaining and other mechanisms to reach criminal convictions without a trial and argues that their spread implies what this article terms an administratization of criminal convictions in many corners of the world. Criminal convictions have been administratized in two ways: ( a) Trial-avoiding mechanisms have given a larger role to nonjudicature, administrative officials in the determination of who gets convicted and for which crimes, and ( b) these decisions are made in proceedings that do not include a trial with its attached defendants’ rights. The article also proposes a way this phenomenon could be quantitatively measured by articulating the rate of administratization of criminal convictions, a metric to allow for comparison among different jurisdictions. The article then presents cross-national data from 26 jurisdictions on their rate of administratization of criminal convictions and different hypotheses that may help explain variation across jurisdictions on this rate.","PeriodicalId":51759,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Criminology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2021-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092255","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49385762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-13DOI: 10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-061020-125715
J. Caulkins, A. Gould, Bryce Pardo, P. Reuter, B. Stein
The traditional US heroin market has transformed into a broader illegal opioid market, dominated first by prescription opioids (PO) and now also by fentanyl and other synthetic opioids (FOSO). Understanding of opioid-use disorder (OUD) has also transformed from being seen as a driver of crime to a medical condition whose sufferers deserve treatment. This creates new challenges and opportunities for the criminal justice system (CJS). Addressing inmates’ OUD is a core responsibility, including preventing overdose after release. Treatment can be supported by diversion programs (e.g., drug courts, among others) and by providing medication-assisted treatment in prison, not only as a crime-control strategy but also because of ethical and legal responsibilities to provide appropriate healthcare. The CJS also has opportunities to alter supply that were not relevant in the past, including deterring pill-mill doctors and disrupting web sites used to distribute FOSO.
{"title":"Opioids and the Criminal Justice System: New Challenges Posed by the Modern Opioid Epidemic","authors":"J. Caulkins, A. Gould, Bryce Pardo, P. Reuter, B. Stein","doi":"10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-061020-125715","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-061020-125715","url":null,"abstract":"The traditional US heroin market has transformed into a broader illegal opioid market, dominated first by prescription opioids (PO) and now also by fentanyl and other synthetic opioids (FOSO). Understanding of opioid-use disorder (OUD) has also transformed from being seen as a driver of crime to a medical condition whose sufferers deserve treatment. This creates new challenges and opportunities for the criminal justice system (CJS). Addressing inmates’ OUD is a core responsibility, including preventing overdose after release. Treatment can be supported by diversion programs (e.g., drug courts, among others) and by providing medication-assisted treatment in prison, not only as a crime-control strategy but also because of ethical and legal responsibilities to provide appropriate healthcare. The CJS also has opportunities to alter supply that were not relevant in the past, including deterring pill-mill doctors and disrupting web sites used to distribute FOSO.","PeriodicalId":51759,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Criminology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2021-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1146/ANNUREV-CRIMINOL-061020-125715","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47369086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-13DOI: 10.1146/annurev-criminol-051520-012342
R. Berk
There are widespread concerns about the use of artificial intelligence in law enforcement. Predictive policing and risk assessment are salient examples. Worries include the accuracy of forecasts that guide both activities, the prospect of bias, and an apparent lack of operational transparency. Nearly breathless media coverage of artificial intelligence helps shape the narrative. In this review, we address these issues by first unpacking depictions of artificial intelligence. Its use in predictive policing to forecast crimes in time and space is largely an exercise in spatial statistics that in principle can make policing more effective and more surgical. Its use in criminal justice risk assessment to forecast who will commit crimes is largely an exercise in adaptive, nonparametric regression. It can in principle allow law enforcement agencies to better provide for public safety with the least restrictive means necessary, which can mean far less use of incarceration. None of this is mysterious. Nevertheless, concerns about accuracy, fairness, and transparency are real, and there are tradeoffs between them for which there can be no technical fix. You can't have it all. Solutions will be found through political and legislative processes achieving an acceptable balance between competing priorities.
{"title":"Artificial Intelligence, Predictive Policing, and Risk Assessment for Law Enforcement","authors":"R. Berk","doi":"10.1146/annurev-criminol-051520-012342","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-051520-012342","url":null,"abstract":"There are widespread concerns about the use of artificial intelligence in law enforcement. Predictive policing and risk assessment are salient examples. Worries include the accuracy of forecasts that guide both activities, the prospect of bias, and an apparent lack of operational transparency. Nearly breathless media coverage of artificial intelligence helps shape the narrative. In this review, we address these issues by first unpacking depictions of artificial intelligence. Its use in predictive policing to forecast crimes in time and space is largely an exercise in spatial statistics that in principle can make policing more effective and more surgical. Its use in criminal justice risk assessment to forecast who will commit crimes is largely an exercise in adaptive, nonparametric regression. It can in principle allow law enforcement agencies to better provide for public safety with the least restrictive means necessary, which can mean far less use of incarceration. None of this is mysterious. Nevertheless, concerns about accuracy, fairness, and transparency are real, and there are tradeoffs between them for which there can be no technical fix. You can't have it all. Solutions will be found through political and legislative processes achieving an acceptable balance between competing priorities.","PeriodicalId":51759,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Criminology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2021-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1146/annurev-criminol-051520-012342","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46486742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}