Law Commons^™

Prior Discipline And Performance Among Police Officers: Does Organizational Fairness Matter?, Richard Helfers, Paul D. Reynolds, Jon Maskaly

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using a survey of police officers (n=1080) in a southern state of the USA, this study examines how overall performance is influenced by organizational fairness and prior disciplinary actions. In particular, this study focuses on the relationship between organizational treatment and officers’ self-acknowledged engagement in more innocuous forms of negative workrelated behaviors, general task performance, and extra-role behaviors. Results suggest prior disciplinary actions and organizational treatment are related to officer performance. Our findings highlight fair treatment’s relationship to enhanced prosocial activities and reduced negative work behaviors. Of importance to police administrators, police officers’ fairness perceptions of the police organization appear …

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 …

The Only Thing That Stops A Guy With A Bad Policy Is A Guy With A Good Policy: An Examination Of The Nra’S “National School Shield” Proposal, Gordon A. Crews, Angela D. Crews, Catherine E. Burton

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

With the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT, the public and the government are looking for solutions to school violence. The National Rifle Association (NRA), a Second Amendment, pro-gun advocacy group, has proposed an “education and training emergency response program” called The National School Shield, which advocates the placement of armed security in schools. Although the program sounds provocative, serious questions complicate its plausibility, necessity, motive, and effectiveness. Furthermore, the potential policy and practical ramifications of encouraging armed security forces in U.S. schools are complex. The authors examined the proposal’s key elements from a public policy …

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 …

The Effect Of Blakely V. Washington On Upward Departures In A Sentencing Guideline State, Brian Iannacchione, Jeremy Ball

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

One of the problems facing the criminal justice system is unwarranted disparity as a result of unbridled discretion. Although disparity, by itself, does not necessarily indicate a problem in the criminal justice system, disparity unwarranted does present a problem. Disparity becomes unwarranted when, controlling for legal factors, extralegal factors such as race/ethnicity, gender, and age influence court processing decisions. The greater the discretion one possesses, the higher the likelihood of unwarranted disparity in one’s decisions (Albonetti, 1991; Meeker, Jesilow, & Aranda, 1992; Bushway & Piehl, 2001). Within the criminal court system, judicial discretion in sentencing has received the most scrutiny.

The Prosecution Of Child Sexual Abuse In Idaho: July 1, 2006 - June 30, 2007, Robert L. Marsh, Steven Patrick, Ted Hopfenbeck, Beth Doane, Nate Hopfenbeck, Michelle Morrison

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

House Bill 362, passed in 1989 (adding section 67-1405 to the Idaho Code), expanded the Attorney General's duties to require preparation of an annual report to be submitted to the legislature reporting the incidence of felony child sex abuse charges filed in adult and juvenile courts in the state. A research team from Research, Training, and Evaluation Associates worked in conjunction with the Offices of the Governor and the Attorney General to collect data and prepare the report to comply with this legislation. This team has collected data for the past seventeen reports. Specifically, data were collected on site on …

Predicting Public Opinion About Juvenile Waivers, I-Fang Jan, Jeremy Ball, Anthony Walsh

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The accountability movement of the juvenile justice system in the late 1980s and early 1990s encouraged more punitive practices by juvenile justice professionals. Public opinion was strong during this time. The attitudes about the juvenile justice system are a product of individual demographic, cultural, and political characteristics. This study addresses opinions about juvenile waivers–a punitive sanction–examining data from the National Opinion Survey of Crime and Justice in the 1990s (see Flanagan, 1996). This study analyzes attitudes about juvenile waivers, using multivariate quantitative methods. The results indicate a consistent relationship between the perception of the sentencing goals of the juvenile court …

A Gene × Gene Interaction Between Drd2 And Drd4 Is Associated With Conduct Disorder And Antisocial Behavior In Males, Kevin M. Beaver, John Paul Wright, Matt Delisi, Anthony Walsh, Michael G. Vaughn, Danielle Boisvert, Jamie Vaske

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Antisocial behaviors are complex polygenic phenotypes that are due to a multifactorial arrangement of genetic polymorphisms. Little empirical research, however, has been undertaken that examines gene × gene interactions in the etiology of conduct disorder and antisocial behavior. This study examined whether adolescent conduct disorder and adult antisocial behavior were related to the dopamine D2 receptor polymorphism (DRD2) and the dopamine D4 receptor polymorphism (DRD4).

Methods: A sample of 872 male participants from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) completed self-report questionnaires that tapped adolescent conduct disorder and adult antisocial behavior. DNA was genotyped for DRD2 …

Effects Of Individual Characteristics On Plea Negotiations Under Sentencing Guidelines, Erika Davis Frenzel, Jeremy Ball

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research conducted on the decision points between arrest and sentencing is scarce. The current study attempts to fill this gap by focusing on plea negotiations, examining the effects of individual characteristics on plea bargaining decisions by using two dependent variables – a two-category dependent variable analyzing negotiated pleas vs. non-negotiated pleas and a three-category dependent variable analyzing negotiated pleas, non-negotiated pleas, and bench/jury trial convictions. The results from the multinomial logistic regression indicate that individual characteristics are predictors of negotiated guilty pleas compared to a trial conviction. Black offenders were more likely than white offenders to have their case go …

Is It A Prosecutor’S World?: Determinants Of Count Bargaining Decisions, Jeremy Ball

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Scholars agree that the American prosecutor possesses a great amount of discretion (see Albonetti, 1987; Kersetter, 1990; Thomas & Fitch, 1976). Scholars also agree that such discretion has the potential to result in discrimination in the form of unwarranted disparity (Walker, Spohn, & DeLone, 2000). American prosecutors use their discretion to make initial charging decisions, to seek the death penalty, and to negotiate plea agreements.

One of the most profound and frequently studied issues in the American criminal justice system is racial discrimination. Research indicates that Black offenders are disproportionately represented in prison populations (Blumstein, Cohen, Martin, & Tonry, 1983; …

Placebo Justice: Victim Recommendations And Offender Sentences In Sexual Assault Cases, Anthony Walsh

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

After many years of neglect, crime victims have recently been rediscovered, and concern for them has become an important item on the agenda of the criminal justice system.¹ Feminist activists have exerted particular pressure on the criminal justice system to reform its attitudes and practices relating to the concerns of sexual assault victims.² One might reasonably expect that this upsurge of concern will result in sexual assault victims exerting greater influence on decision-making at all stages of the processing of offenders.

Differential Sentencing Patterns Among Felony Sex Offenders And Non-Sex Offenders, Anthony Walsh

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

More than thirty years ago, commentators noted that "there is doubtless no subject on which one can obtain more definite opinions and less definite knowledge" than in the area of the sentencing of sex offenders.¹ The literature is no less deficient today. There are numerous assertions to the effect that sex offenders receive draconian penalties² while certain feminist theorists maintain that sex offenders receive overly lenient treatment.³ In both cases, however, the unanswered question is, "In relation to what?"