Digital Commons Network^™

“That Is Not Behavior Consistent With A Rape Victim”: The Effects Of Officer Displays Of Doubt On Sexual Assault Case Processing And Victim Participation, Laura L. King, Lisa M. Growette Bostaph

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite the prevalence and severity of sexual violence, case attrition has been identified as a significant issue. Of the cases that are reported to police, only a small portion result in arrest, prosecution, or conviction. Research has revealed that much of this attrition occurs early in the process and that a number of theoretically supported legal (e.g., physical evidence, victim participation) and extralegal (e.g., demographics, victim credibility) factors influence how and whether a case progresses through the criminal justice system. However, few researchers have directly examined the impact of officer doubt on case processing. Whereas legal and extralegal factors represent …

Crime In A Time Of Cannabis: Estimating The Effect Of Legalizing Marijuana On Crime Rates In Colorado And Washington Using The Synthetic Control Method, Alexis J. Harper, Cody Jorgensen

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The legalization of marijuana for recreational use continues to expand across America. Colorado and Washington were the first states to legalize marijuana in 2012. A primary concern regarding legalization is how these policy changes affect crime rates. Researchers have begun to estimate the effect marijuana legalization has had on crime rates. We extend this literature by using a different analytical approach. State level data covering years 2000–2019 were analyzed using the synthetic control method to find that legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Colorado and Washington was generally not associated with variations in index crime rates. These findings substantiate prior …

Examining The Effects Of Legalizing Marijuana In Colorado And Washington On Clearance Rates: A Quasi-Experimental Design, Cody Jorgensen, Alexis J. Harper

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective This study follows the lead of Makin et al. (Police Quarterly 22(1): 31–55, 2019) who found that marijuana legalization is associated with a marginal increase in clearance rates for some crimes but not for others.

Methods We build on their work attempting to replicate their findings by using the synthetic control method and fixed-effects models. A 50-state panel data set was constructed and analyzed. The dependent variables were aggregated violence and property crime rates. The independent variable was dichotomously measured recreational marijuana legislation.

Results Marijuana legalization is not a meaningful avenue of increasing clearance rates.

Conclusion The synthetic …

Further Evaluation Of The Associations Between Psychopathic Traits And Symptoms Of Ptsd And Depression In A Nonclinical Sample, Nicholas Kavish, Danielle Boisvert, Eric M. Cooke, Richard H. Lewis, Matthias Woeckener, Jessica Wells, Todd A. Armstrong

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Examining psychopathic traits at the factor or facet level has revealed that various aspects of psychopathy may be differentially related, even in opposing directions, to important outcomes (e.g., intelligence, emotion regulation). Empirical work on relations between psychopathy and internalizing disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, has provided evidence for a positive association with antisocial traits. However, findings for the affective domain have been more equivocal. The current study (N = 732) sought to replicate past findings of the positive association of antisocial psychopathic traits with higher levels of PTSD and depressive symptoms, and to further explore …

We Can Move Mountains: Engaging In State-Level Policy Work, Lisa M. Growette Bostaph, Melissa Wintrow

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

An increasing number of academic researchers are becoming involved in state-level policy work as a result of existing local partnerships or direct requests by agency directors or elected officials. Most faculty and policymakers do not receive any training in doing such collaborative work and, for each party in the partnership, it can often seem like landing on another planet or, at the very least, visiting a foreign country, with different jargon, players, and stakes. This essay provides a brief guide to navigating the world of state-level partnerships in policymaking.

“Sometimes I’M Just Wearing The Prosecutor Down”: An Exploratory Analysis Of Criminal Defense Attorneys In Plea Negotiations And Client Counseling, Jacqueline G. Lee, John W. Ropp

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

As plea bargains have proliferated in the criminal justice system, scholars have been working to better understand their mechanics. There have been a few recent examinations of plea bargaining, but the literature lacks qualitative research that gives the defense sufficient attention. Using a sample of courtroom practitioners in one large, urban county, we examine defense attorney bargaining and client counseling tactics. Results demonstrate that defense attorneys use a variety of strategies for negotiation, including sharing humanizing information about their clients with the prosecutor and utilizing delay tactics. Results also suggest that attorneys counsel their clients about plea offers in varying …

An Examination Of The Lethality Assessment Program (Lap): Perspectives On Implementation, Help-Seeking, And Victim Empowerment, Tara N. Richards, Lane Kirkland Gillespie, Katherine Kafonek, Margaret Johnson

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) aims to empower law enforcement officers to screen victims of domestic violence for potential lethality and connect them to service providers. This research surveyed domestic violence victims seeking legal services (n = 141) to assess whether LAP receipt is associated with greater rates of self-protective measures, service use, or empowerment, and to examine victims’ perspectives on the LAP process. Findings indicate no relationship between receipt of the LAP and use of self-protective measures or victim empowerment, mixed evidence between receipt of the LAP and service utilization, and room for improvement regarding how law enforcement …

Evidence, Arrest Circumstances, And Felony Cocaine Case Processing, Jacqueline G. Lee, Alexander Testa

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Case evidence and situational arrest characteristics are widely speculated to influence courtroom actor decisions, yet such measures are infrequently included in research. Using new data on felony cocaine cases from an urban county in a Southern non-guideline state, this study examines how physical evidence and arrest circumstances affect three stages of case processing: initial charge type, charge reduction, and sentence length. The influence of evidence appeared strongest at the early stage when prosecutors chose the appropriate charge, though certain evidentiary and arrest measures continued to influence later decisions. Charge reductions were driven mostly by legal factors, and while guilt should …

‘Not Feeling Like A Caged Animal’: Prisoner Perceptions Of A Remote Video Visitation System, Danielle J. Murdoch, Laura L. King

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

In recent years, correctional agencies have increased their use of video visitation in an effort to offset costs and increase security, among other objectives. In the present study, interviews (N = 12) and surveys (N = 58) were conducted with prisoners at a jail in the Northwestern U.S. that had replaced in-person, glass partition visitation with remote video visitation. The results suggested that while there were positive aspects of video visitation, such as the ability to visit with loved ones from afar, there were criticisms as well, including technological and access issues. The policy implications of the findings and directions …

Perceptions About Sexual Offenses: Misconceptions, Punitiveness, And Public Sentiment, Laura L. King

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Decades of research on public opinion about crime reveal varying, yet relatively punitive attitudes that are often riddled with misconceptions. Sparked by the increased media and legislative attention devoted to sex offenders beginning in the 1990s, researchers began to more closely examine public opinion about sexual offenses. Findings suggest the public adheres to several misconceptions about sexual offenses and supports harsh sanctions for offenders. However, further research is warranted to more closely examine the relationships among these variables. Thus, the goal of the present study was to survey Pennsylvania residents to examine the degree to which misconceptions about sexual offenses …

Badges And Bongs: Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward Drugs, Cody Jorgensen

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

For unknown reasons, the research investigating police officers’ attitudes toward drug use is underdeveloped. One study, by Wilson, Cullen, Latessa, and Wills, has directly investigated police officers’ perceptions toward general vice crimes (including drug use) and perceived appropriate sanctions for committing these offenses. This article built upon that study. A survey measuring officers’ attitudes toward drugs was developed and used to gather data from a large metropolitan police department in the South. Responding officers displayed fairly serious and punitive attitudes toward drug offenses. In addition, they reported an interventionist attitude, believing that more can and should be done to control …

Badges And Brothels: Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward Prostitution, Cody Jorgensen

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is a gap in the literature regarding police officers’ attitudes about vice, specifically prostitution. Scholars should study this topic because police are interacting with drug dealers and drug users, prostitutes, and Johns, and gamblers and bookies regularly. Additionally, how police perceive prostitution is likely to influence how they enforce laws prohibiting it. This paper presents survey items measuring police officers’ attitudes about prostitution related offenses and examines the relationships between officers’ attitudes toward prostitution and their personal as well as professional characteristics. Responding officers displayed fairly serious and punitive attitudes toward prostitution offenses. Respondents believed that prostitution was a …

Evolutionary Theory And Criminology, Anthony Walsh, Cody Jorgensen

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this chapter, we (a) demonstrate the relevance of evolutionary theory to criminology, (b) discuss the evolutionary origins of both prosocial and antisocial traits, and (c) show that evolutionary theory is invaluable to understanding two key issues that have been impervious to solution using the standard social science model—the sex ratio in criminal offending and the age-crime curve.

Ideology In Physics: Ontological Naturalism And Theism Confront The Big Bang, Cosmic Fine-Tuning, And The Multiverse Of M-Theory, Anthony Walsh

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The most profound questions that philosophers and scientists have asked across the centuries have been metaphysical and existential, such as “What is the meaning and purpose of life, why are we here, and why is there something rather than nothing?” There can be no definitive answers to these questions, so those who pose and propose answers to them necessarily engage ideology. Some physicists have become philosophers in that they are attempting to answer these profound questions with highly speculative theories as, for instance, Hawking and Mlodonow’s book The Grand Design (2010) which they tout as providing new answers to age-old …

The Complexity Of Public Attitudes Toward Sex Crimes, Laura L. King, Jennifer R. Roberts

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Previous research suggests that public opinion about crime is nuanced as it has been found to vary greatly depending upon the type of questions asked and the amount of information provided. Few have similarly examined the complexity of public attitudes specifically about sex crimes. A survey was administered to a sample of U. S. residents utilizing the factorial survey method. The results suggested that specific details about the offense, offender, and victim had a significant effect on perceptions. The findings point to discrepancies between policy and public opinion, as well as to the importance of educating the public about the …

Ideology, Race, And The Death Penalty: “Lies, Damn Lies, And Statistics” In Advocacy Research, Anthony Walsh, Virginia Hatch

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

We use the literature on race in death penalty to illustrate the hold that ideology has on researchers and journalists alike when a social issue is charged with emotional content. We note particularly how statistical evidence become misinterpreted in ways that support a particular ideology, either because of innumeracy or because—subconsciously or otherwise—one’s ideology precludes a critical analysis. We note that because white defendants are now proportionately more likely to receive the death penalty and to be executed than black defendants that the argument has shifted from a defendant-based to a victim-based one. We examine studies based on identical data …

Corrections Reform In Kosovo: A Qualitative Study Of Canadian Corrections Advisers’ Experiences In A Post-Conflict Environment, Danielle Murdoch

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

This case study of corrections reform in Kosovo contributes to the growing academic literature on corrections reform during peacebuilding missions in post-conflict environments. Fourteen Canadian corrections advisers who were deployed to Kosovo between 1999 and 2006 were interviewed about the dynamics and challenges they experienced abroad. Interview transcripts were coded and analysed using NVivo10. Five key themes emerged from the data: the importance of understanding the local context; the prevalence of corruption; the lack of attention and resources devoted to corrections reform in post-conflict Kosovo; the challenges of providing safe and secure confinement for prisoners detained in facilities staffed by …

University Student Beliefs About Sexual Violence In Prison: Rape Myth Acceptance, Punitiveness, And Empathy, Laura L. King, Kathleen J. Hanrahan

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although prison rape has been recognised for years, it began to receive increased attention in the USA following the passage of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). In addition to prevalence and victimisation estimates, several researchers have examined the attitudes of correctional personnel towards prison rape. However, few have surveyed the opinions of those not currently working in the criminal justice system. Drawing from the body of research on rape myths, our goal was to examine prison rape myth acceptance among a university student sample to describe these beliefs, as well as examine attitudinal correlates. The findings indicated that prison …

Tragic Choices In Ideological Battles: Gay Rights Versus Religious Freedom, Anthony Walsh

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

A major domestic issue in the United States today is the battle between gay rights and religious liberty. It is an issue often framed as a zero-sum battle where one side must lose and be faced with a tragic choice. Thus far, it has only been religious individuals who believe marriage is only supposed to be between men and women, and who act on this belief who have been made to make this choice. Religious believers connected to the wedding industry who refuse to facilitate gay weddings have been faced with the tragic choice of either abandoning their faith or …

Schizophrenia: Causes, Crime, And Implications For Criminology And Criminal Justice, Anthony Walsh, Ilhong Yun

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper is aimed at criminologists and criminal justicians seeking to understand their role in educating law enforcement and correctional personnel who must deal with the mentally ill. It is motivated by William Johnson's (2011) recent call for rethinking the interface between mental illness, criminal justice, and academia, and his call for advocacy. We concur with his concerns, and insist that this rethinking must necessarily include grounding in the etiology of mental illness (specifically, with schizophrenia) as it is currently understood by researchers in the area. Advocacy must go hand in hand with a thorough knowledge of the condition of …

Drugs, Crime, And The Epigenetics Of Hedonic Allostasis, Anthony Walsh, Hailey Johnson, Jonathan D. Bolen

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Researchers have found staggering numbers of drug addicts among incarcerated populations and have conceded that drug abuse is an important correlate of deviant behavior, but few included an understanding of the biological process leading to drug addiction. Chronic drug abuse and criminality are housed within a much broader propensity of some individuals to engage in a variety of antisocial behaviors, and this article clarifies the link and proposed shared mechanisms between criminal behavior and drug abuse through a molecular-genetic and neurobiological lens. Multiple genes, enzymes, and transcription factors are involved in drug addition, with over 100 genes known to be …

The Stability Of Self-Control Among South Korean Adolescents, Ilhong Yun, Anthony Walsh

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime has been widely tested. Yet, one of their key hypotheses—the stability of self-control hypothesis—has received little attention from researchers, and no known study has examined the applicability of the stability hypothesis in a non-western context. Given Gottfredson and Hirschi’s claim that their low self-control theory transcends cultural and national boundaries, we tested the hypothesis with a nationally representative sample of South Korean adolescents using five year panel data. Consistent with studies conducted in the U.S., our results offer partial support for Gottfredson and Hirschi’s stability hypothesis. We also provide comparative interpretations of our …

Genetic And Environmental Influences In Delinquent Peer Affiliation: From The Peer Network Approach, Ilhong Yun, Jinseong Cheong, Anthony Walsh

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Mainstream criminologists have long maintained that delinquent peer group formation is largely a function of family-environmental variables, and have ignored self-selection into peer groups because of genetic proclivities. A small number of recent studies, however, suggest that genes are implicated in delinquent peer affiliation. Given the potentially far-reaching implication of such research findings, the authors replicate Beaver, Wright, & DeLisi's (2008) study, among others, using a direct measure of peer delinquency. That is, the authors analyze the Add Health genetic data employing a measure of peer delinquency which is based on the delinquency counts reported by peers themselves rather than …

Disentangling The Relationship Between Child Maltreatment And Violent Delinquency: Using A Nationally Representative Sample, Ilhong Yun, Jeremy D. Ball, Hyeyoung Lim

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study uses the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents (Add Health) data, a nationally representative sample of adolescents, to disentangle the relationship between child maltreatment and violent delinquency. Also examined are potential moderating effects of gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and religiosity on the association between child maltreatment and violent delinquency. Contrary to prior research findings, the current analyses reveal that physical abuse is not associated with future violent delinquency, whereas sexual abuse and neglect predict violent delinquency significantly. The current study also did not reveal any moderating effects of gender, SES, and religiosity on the association between maltreatment and violent …

Adhd And Criminality: A Primer On The Genetic, Neurobiological, Evolutionary, And Treatment Literature For Criminologists, Catrina M. Schilling, Anthony Walsh, Ilhong Yun

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper is a primer on ADHD and its major comorbidities for criminologists unfamiliar with the genetic, neurobiological, and evolutionary literature on the subject. With Unnerver, Cullen & Pratt (2003) we are surprised that criminologists do not pay sufficient attention to a disorder that is found at rates in prisons around the world greatly exceeding in prevalence in the general population. Unnerver, Cullen & Pratt (2003) believe that it is because ADHD research has been carried out primarily by biomedical researchers and that criminologists tend to shy away from anything smacking of biology. We believe that the special expertise of …

An Examination Of Contextual And Organizational Factors Influencing Police Use Of Force: A Multilevel Model, Hoon Lee, Hyunseok Jang, Ilhong Yun, Hyeyoung Lim, David W. Tushaus

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The current study attempts to bridge this gap in research between contextual factors and police use of force. It also deepens our understandings of the association between organizational factors and use of force by incorporating police training into the analytical model. Finally, this study expands prior research by including multiple police agencies in the sample, thus producing research findings that can be more easily generalized.

Is Criminology Moving Toward A Paradigm Shift?: Evidence From A Survey Of The American Society Of Criminology, Jonathon A. Cooper, Anthony Walsh, Lee Ellis

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Ideology forms and colors our attitudes and values in ways that lead to a tendency to accept or reject data according to how well or how poorly they cohere with that ideology. Previous research has suggested that the ideological divide in criminology is between criminologists who focus on strictly environmentalist theories that give short shrift to individual differences, and those who focus on individual differences and are favorably disposed to the biological sciences (Wright & Miller, 1998; Walsh & Ellis, 2004). The former tend to be radicals and liberals and the latter tend to be conservatives and moderates, although there …

Fear Of Crime Among Chinese Immigrants, Ilhong Yun, Glen Kercher, Sam Swindell

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Western scholars implicitly assume that the correlates of fear of crime discovered in the extant literature are also applicable to populations of different culture and ethnic backgrounds. The current study investigates whether such an assumption is valid, drawing on survey data of Chinese immigrants in Houston. Among other findings, this study reveals that the effect of age on fear of crime is negative among Chinese immigrants, contrary to the previous research findings on the general population. We discuss the social and cultural process that produces this interesting pattern. The study also finds that consistent with previous research that acculturation is …

He Versus She: A Gender Specific Analysis Of Legal And Extralegal Effects On Pretrial Release For Felony Defendants, Jeremy Ball, Lisa Growette Bostaph

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The current study seeks to identify significant predictors of pretrial processing for both male and female defendants in an aggregate sample. The data used in this study is taken from the State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS), 1990-2000: Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2004). The original sample included a total of 87,437 felony cases. The relationship between relevant independent variables and five separate dependent variables (denial of bail, non-financial release, amount of bail set, making bail, and pretrial incarceration) were analyzed using both multivariate regression and Z-score comparisons within gender-specific models. Findings suggest that effects of …

Intergenerational Transmission Of Abuse Of Incarcerated Fathers: A Study Of The Measurement Of Abuse, Jeremy Ball

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research on the intergenerational transmission of abuse hypothesis often only examined the existence of abuse. The current study utilizes retrospective recalls of incarcerated male defendants (N = 414), using questions formulated from the modified Conflict Tactics Scales (Straus, 1974). Five logistic regression models are ran, representing a different physical abuse measure, including incidence of physical abuse, severity of physical abuse, and three composite measures: total frequency, total severity, and total frequency/severity. Although social desirability is a limitation in any study relying on self-report data, the comparison of the chi-square (x²) values of each model may give indication …