Criminology Commons^™

Special Or Segregated Housing Units, Ryan M. Labrecque

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

This chapter presents a systematic review of the literature that highlights the need for the development of more effective treatment strategies and interventions that are responsive to the specific risks and needs of the population. It also reviews the use and function of segregation in the United States. The chapter summarizes the principles of effective correctional intervention to provide a framework for understanding how correctional programming might best be integrated into these restrictive housing units. It provides a systematic review of the empirical segregation literature and describes what is known about the inmates held in restrictive housing. The chapter discusses …

Public Perceptions Of Crime Maps: Considering The Impact Of Map Style On Perceptions Of Safety, Kathryn Wuschke, Kris Henning, Greg Stewart, Kaitlyn Bonn

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Presentation slides for a study that questions how people may interpret and understand the types of crime maps that are frequently publicly available. As public crime maps increase in use and distribution, researchers are beginning to explore the impacts of access.

An Analysis Of Oregon Youth Authority Populations: Who Receives Treatment And What Factors Influence Allocation Of Treatment Resources?, Rebecca Arredondo Yazzie

Dissertations and Theses

Service provision in both adult and juvenile correctional settings is an understudied phenomenon. Research has evaluated the use of evidence-based practices (EBP) in the treatment of mental health and substance abuse among adults and juveniles. Young, Farrell, Henderson and Taxman (2009) highlight the role of organizational factors including climate and culture, opportunities for staff training, resources, administrator attitudes and interagency collaboration in the application of EBP in correctional settings. The Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) aims to provide services to youth under the guise of EBP. Literature in the field of juvenile justice is limited in scope in areas of organizational …

Probation In The United States: A Historical And Modern Perspective, Ryan M. Labrecque

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Probation is a court order through which a criminal defendant is placed under the control, supervision, and care of a probation officer in lieu of imprisonment; so long as the probationer maintains certain standards of conduct. This chapter reviews the historical development of probation in the United States, and highlights how the practice is used in the 21st century. Probation has many advantages over imprisonment, including lower operational costs, increased opportunities for rehabilitation, and reduced risk of criminal socialization. However, there is increasing evidence to suggest probation strategies that focus on compliance monitoring and other law enforcement aspects of supervision …

Crime In The Built Urban Environment: Exploring The Impact Of Road Networks And Land Use On Residential Burglary Patterns, Kathryn Wuschke, Justin Song, Valerie Spicer

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

For decades, environmental criminology theory has emphasized the connections between the built urban environment and criminal activity. The urban landscape determines both the origins and destinations of everyday journeys from home to work, school, shoppingor entertainment areas, and it provides the pathways on which residents travel. As such, the built environment guides and limits the locations that offenders may search within in order to identify potential criminal opportunities. For these reasons, access and proximity to major roads, as well as key local activity nodes such as shopping malls, transit stations and schools, have been frequently found to be an important …

Developing An Alternative Juvenile Programming Effort To Reduce Detention Overreliance, Jacqueline G. Van Wormer, Christopher M. Campbell

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The assumption underlying juvenile detention alternatives is that youth on probation receiving programming or treatment are less likely to recidivate, whereas youth in detention will be more likely to recidivate. Under a coordinated justice reform effort, a juvenile justice court system serving two southeastern counties in Washington state developed a program (the FAST program) for probation violators that offered 2 sessions of accountability skill development to address targeted criminogenic needs in lieu of a formalized hearing and a subsequent stay in detention. The goal of the FAST program for participating youth was to reduce future probation violations and detention stays. …

Prevalence And Use Of Guns In Perpetration Of Intimate Partner Violence, Caroline D. Cummings

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a social problem and public health issue in the United States that various states and the federal government have taken special precautions to alleviate. Two studies were conducted to address the problem. Study 1 examined archival data from a study that administered the Revised Conflict Tactic Scale to students taking psychology courses at Portland State University. The majority of students within the sample perpetrated psychological aggression but not physical assault. It was inconclusive whether more male than female college students perpetrated in physical assault against their partners. Lastly, less than 1% of students had ever …

Does The School Day Matter? The Association Between Adolescent School Attachment And Involvement And Adult Criminal Behavior, Madeline O'Neil

Dissertations and Theses

Research with adolescence demonstrates school involvement and attachment greatly influences students' outcomes and choices outside of their school environment. Many studies have addressed whether delinquent behavior while in adolescence is associated with various aspects of schooling, but there is limited research looking at the long-term effects schooling has on criminal behavior in adulthood. The purpose of this study was to assess whether students' attachment to their school or involvement in extracurricular activities at school shapes students' outcomes in adulthood--specifically their criminality and likelihood of being arrested. In addition, this study took on a gendered relationship, examining how gender moderates the …

An Evaluation Of The Federal Legal Services Program: Evidence From Crime Rates And Property Values, Jamein P. Cunningham

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper uses the city level roll-out of legal service grants to evaluate their effects on crime. Using Uniform Crime Reports from 1960 to 1985, the results show that there is a short run increase of 7 percent in crimes reported and also a 13 percent increase in crimes cleared by arrest. Results show an increase in the staffing of police officers in cities that received legal services. These cities are also associated with having higher median property values 10 years later. This supports the narrative that legal services changed police behavior through litigation or threats of litigation.

Beyond The Hotspot: Exploring The Impact Of Land Use And Transportation Networks On The Spatial Crime Distribution, Kathryn Wuschke, Martin A. Andresen, Allison Campbell

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Slides from a presentation delivered to the Western Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, Vancouver, February 2016. Investigates the impact of land use and transportation networks on crime, and how the spatial distribution of crime is impacted by the built environment.

Perceptions Regarding Public Safety In Portland’S King Neighborhood, Kris R. Henning, Greg Stewart

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Research Briefs

The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) is partnering with Portland State University (PSU) and neighborhood groups to develop new strategies for improving police-community relations and reducing crime. Our most recent initiative seeks to provide residents with greater voice in where PPB officers work in their neighborhood and what steps the City takes there to address public safety concerns.

The King neighborhood in Northeast Portland was chosen as the starting point for this work following a recent gang related shooting at King School Park. Officers from North Precinct had already begun outreach to the community and they wanted additional input from the …

Evaluation Of Washington State Department Of Corrections (Wadoc) Swift And Certain (Sac) Policy Process, Outcome And Cost-Benefit Evaluation, Zachary Hamilton, Jacqueline G. Van Wormer, Alex Conrad Kigerl, Christopher M. Campbell, Brianne Posey

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

In 2012, the Washington State Department of Corrections (WADOC) embarked on an ambitious effort to restructure their community supervision model. These changes were driven by the passage of Senate Bill 6204, which created substantial operating changes to the Community Corrections Division (CCD) of the WADOC, including matching the level of supervision to offender’s risk level, utilizing evidence-based treatment and implementing swift and certain (yet moderate) jail sanctions for community supervision violations (Washington State Department of Corrections 2008; 2014). The Swift and Certain (SAC) policy was implemented in May of 2012, with the intent of expanding the HOPE model to a …

Is Downsizing Prisons Dangerous? The Effect Of California’S Realignment Act On Public Safety, Jody Sundt, Emily Salisbury, Mark G. Harmon

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research Summary: Recent declines in imprisonment raise a critical question: Can prison populations be reduced without endangering the public? This question is examined by testing the effect of California’s dramatic efforts to comply with court-mandated targets to reduce prison overcrowding using a pretest-posttest design. The results showed that California’s Realignment Act had no effect on violent or property crime rates in 2012, 2013, or 2014. When crime types were disaggregated, a moderately large, statistically significant association between Realignment and auto theft rates was observed in 2012. By 2014, however, this effect had decayed and auto theft rates returned to pre-Realignment …

Building The 21st Century Legal Resource Center & Law Library, Portland State University. Hatfield School Of Government. Center For Public Service, Mark G. Harmon, Shannon Grzybowski, Bryan Matthew Thompson, Stephanie Cross

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

A Report on the Current Status of the Multnomah County’s Law Library and Recommendations for Addressing the Needs of Current Patrons.

Trends In Crime Measures: British Columbia, 1999-2013, Paul J. Brantingham, Kathryn Wuschke, Silas Melo

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Three different measures of crime intensity are available in British Columbia: the Standard Crime Rate (SCR) which measures the number of crimes per 100,000 population; the Crime Severity Index (CSI) which measures the weighted risk to residents of a police jurisdiction; and the Crime Gravity Score (CGS) which measures the seriousness of the set of crimes handled by police in a particular jurisdiction.

All three measures show declines over the past decade. British Columbians are safer now than they were in the early 2000’s. Police resource implications of the measures are different. The SCR and CSI have both declined by …

Prevention And Management Of Stress In Policing: A Review Of The Literature, Portland State University. Criminology And Criminal Justice Senior Capstone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Senior Capstone Project

Working as a police officer can be a rewarding job, but it can also be a stressful one. Policing is one of the few professions where individuals deal with many stressors, which exceed the usual expectations of society. Although there is no way to eliminate stress and the burnout it can cause, there are methods law enforcement agencies can utilize to help officers prevent stress from worsening and to make it more manageable. This literature review contains information to help police agencies train officers about prevention and management of stress in the workplace. It is based on 29 studies from …

The Effects Of Offender Age And Offender-Victim Relationship On Modus Operandi Strategies To Lure The Victim, Hayley Lauren Tews

Dissertations and Theses

Research on the modus operandi (“method of operation”) of child sexual abuse (CSA) offenders has been useful in informing successful prevention programs (LeClerc, 2009). However, a gap in the literature regarding the strategies offenders use to lure potential CSA victims still remains. The present study seeks to examine the effects of offender-victim relationship and offender age on the use of strategies to lure victims for the purpose of committing CSA. Data for this study is taken from a larger investigation which included 854 identified adolescent and adult CSA offenders from nine different states. A 2 X 2 MANCOVA analysis revealed …

Public Perceptions Regarding The Police Bureau And Crime In Portland, Oregon, Brian Renauer, Kimberly Barsamian Kahn, Kris R. Henning, Greg Stewart

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Research Briefs

On September 12, 2012 the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint in the Federal District Court for Oregon asserting that the City of Portland has engaged in a pattern and practice of unnecessary or excessive force against persons experiencing a mental health crisis. This survey is the result of a settlement agreement between Portland’s City Council and the DOJ which specified the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) develop a means of assessing public perceptions.

This report examines public perceptions of PPB across four content areas that are highlighted in the DOJ settlement agreement. Data for the report were …

Predictive Policing: A Review Of The Literature, Portland State University. Criminology And Criminal Justice Senior Capstone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Senior Capstone Project

Improving knowledge of crime and crime causation is an important focus for many law enforcement agencies. Many believe such knowledge can be used to predict crime and criminal behavior. Predictive policing is one of a variety of strategies developed by law enforcement personnel and researchers. The practice of law enforcement is frequently reactive, in nature, where police officers respond to crimes after they have been committed. In an effort to prevent future crimes, however, those with an interest in prevention have also added the strategy of proactive policing, where information and advanced analyses are added to their repertoire of approaches. …

Crime Emergence And Simulation Modeling: Modeling Crime Space, Patricia Brantingham, Kathryn Wuschke, Richard Frank, Paul J. Brantingham

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

This chapter explores several new modeling approaches and research findings, showing how they may be used to explore and enhance theory. There is a special emphasis on Target Choice Selection, focusing on Crime Pattern Theory and the Geometry of Crime (Brantingham and Brantingham, 1978a, 1984, 1991; Brantingham and Brantingham, 1981, 1993a, 2008). This exploration is described through a series of research examples and a case study of the target choice behavior of high repeat offenders. The goal is to explore the emergence of patterns better understood against the urban backcloths for high repeat offenders. Emphasis is in this case study …

Child Welfare And Delinquency: Examining Differences In First-Time Referrals Of Crossover Youth Within The Juvenile Justice System, Courtney Nicole Shrifter

Dissertations and Theses

The link between child welfare and juvenile justice is well established, with over forty years of research that focuses on the increased risk of delinquency associated with child maltreatment. However, with over 700,000 children in the United States being victims of abuse and/or neglect in 2010 (DHHS, 2011), it is important to continue investigating this connection. Few studies are able to identify the same youth in both systems, therefore this study provides the unique opportunity using child welfare and juvenile justice administrative data from Oregon, to compare juvenile offenders that have been in the child welfare system, otherwise known as …

The Influence Of Parental Gender On The Type Of Communication Between Incarcerated Parents And Their Children, Sarah Renee Lazzari

Dissertations and Theses

The number of children in the United States with an incarcerated parent continues to rise. Currently, more than 1.7 million children have at least one incarcerated parent. In addition, research has found that children with criminally involved parents are at a higher risk of also becoming offenders (Glaze & Maruschak, 2010). Research has shown that incarcerated parents' abilities to maintain communication with their children may decrease negative behaviors while incarcerated and may decrease the negative effects of being removed from their families. The current study utilizes secondary data to explore the types of communication incarcerated parents use in order to …

Police Community Partnerships: A Review Of The Literature, Portland State University. Criminology And Criminal Justice Senior Capstone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Senior Capstone Project

To better understand community/police collaborations, this study researched several different types of successful partnerships. Our objective was to learn why the partnerships were formed and who was involved. Our research also sought to determine the goals of the partnerships, and the methods used to achieve those goals. The study also highlights several practices used by police agencies successfully to solve community problems.

Prevention Of Human Trafficking: A Review Of The Literature, Portland State University. Criminology And Criminal Justice Senior Capstone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Senior Capstone Project

A review of the literature pertaining to human trafficking reveals that human trafficking is a difficult crime to detect and prevent. Human trafficking involves the trafficking of human beings for the purpose of commercial sexual activities as well as forced labor. These crimes are occurring worldwide. Research indicates organized crime, prostitution, massage parlors, and brothels are closely linked to the crime of human trafficking. Government corruption and transnational criminal organizations contribute significantly to this crime and financial profit is usually the primary motivation. The objective of this report is to examine the various elements of human trafficking including the recognized …

Land Use And Crime Patterns In Coquitlam Detachment, Kathryn Wuschke, Patricia Brantingham, Jordan Ginther

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Poster presented to the Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies in 2009. Examines land use and crime patterns in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam. Data shows that commercial and civic, institutional, and recreational land uses display the highest rates of all crime types under investigation in both Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam.

Cartograms, Crime And Location Quotients, Martin A. Andresen, Kathryn Wuschke, J. Bryan Kinney, Patricia Brantingham, Paul J. Brantingham

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Visualizing spatial information has a long history in the field of cartography. Though there are generally accepted forms of spatial data visualization to represent different types of spatial data, the interpretation of the resulting maps tends to be subjective at best and incorrect, at worst. Cartograms are an increasingly popular form of spatial data visualization, recently applied in political and epidemiological analyses in an attempt to better represent the spatial data under analysis. We use the cartogram procedure to map crime rates and location quotients. Using this visualization approach, we are able to show the usefulness of cartograms to represent …

Land Use Based Crime Rates: Exploring Patterns Of Land Use And Crime Rates In Coquitlam And Port Coquitlam, Kathryn Wuschke

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

While it is certainly valuable to understand the counts of specific crime types by location, in order to contextualize the relationships between these features, rates are needed. Table 1 further explores this relationship by calculating the rate of each crime by land use. While rates are often employed using population as a denominator, such a measure is not practical when exploring crime at the parcel level. In this case, rates have been calculated according to crimes per 100 lots, producing an understandable and comparable value across all categories of land use and crime.

Land Use & Crime: Coquitlam/Port Coquitlam: Exploring How Violent, Property, Mischief And Drug Offences Relate To Land Uses, Kathryn Wuschke

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam are two suburban cities that are currently undergoing rapid physical changes. In order to accommodate growing urban populations both within these locations, and in the wider surrounding region, Coquitlam Centre area has been designated as a Regional City Centre. It is intended to act as a downtown core for the neighbouring municipalities, and as such, is experiencing rapid redevelopment, focusing on mixed land uses and dense residential/commercial mixes. In an effort to understand and model the shifts in crime types and densities that may be associated with this redevelopment, ICURS has begun exploration of the relationship …

Evaluation Design For The District Of Columbia Department Of Corrections' Use Of Radio Frequency Identification (Rfid) Technology With Jail Inmates, Laura J. Hickman, Mel Eisman, Lois Davis

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

In consultation with the District of Columbia Department of Corrections (DC DOC), researchers developed an evaluation design oriented around five objectives. One objective is to provide timely feedback to the U.S. Justice Department’s National Institute of Justice (the funder of the evaluation), DC DOC, and other interested jurisdictions on RFID’s implementation. A second objective is to provide feedback on the process of implementing RFID. A third objective is to assess the impact of RFID’s implementation on identified outcome measures. A fourth objective is to compare costs to the facilities against the cost of implementing RFID technology, including direct and indirect …

Major Arteries And Motor Vehicle Theft: Investigating The Spatial Distribution Of Mvt In The Lower Mainland District, Kathryn Wuschke

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Vehicle theft, like most crime types, is spatially concentrated, with more than one quarter of these crimes occurring within fifty meters of a major roadway. Spatial analysis and mapping of all motor vehicle thefts (MVT) occurring in the PIRS system for the Lower Mainland District in 2004 and 2005 emphasize clear clustering around major roads. This map also reveals hotspots of MVT intensity occurring in specific point locations across the landscape. Future fact sheets will analyze these activity nodes to determine the specific land uses around which MVT events tend to cluster.