Criminology Commons^™

Neighborhood Parks And Playgrounds: Risky Or Protective Contexts For Youth Substance Use?, Marijana Kotlaja, Emily M. Wright, Abigail A. Fagan

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Neighborhood parks and playgrounds are thought to reduce the stressors of disorganized urban environments by adding greenspace and fostering community cohesion, and, in doing so, may reduce crime and delinquency. Yet, they may also foster criminal behaviors, including substance use, as they can provide areas for would-be offenders to gather without surveillance or fear of being caught. This study provides one of the first examinations of the relationship between the number of parks and playgrounds in a neighborhood and adolescent substance use. To do so, we analyze data from 1,584 youth living in 76 neighborhoods in Chicago. Using multivariate, multilevel …

Examining The Association Between Massage Parlors And Neighborhood Crime, Jessica Huff, Danielle Wallace, Courtney Riggs, Charles M. Katz, David Choate

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Although massage parlors have been associated with illicit activities including prostitution, less is known about their association with neighborhood crime. Employing the Computer Automated Dispatch/Record Management System (CAD/RMS), online user review, licensing, Census, and zoning data, we examine the impact of massage parlors on crime in their surrounding neighborhoods. Using spatial autoregressive models, our results indicate the total number of massage parlors was associated with increased social disorder. The presence of illicit massage parlors in adjacent neighborhoods was associated with crime and physical disorder in the focal neighborhoods. This study has consequences for how police address crime associated with massage …

Understanding Police Officer Resistance To Body-Worn Cameras, Jessica Huff, Charles M. Katz, Vincent J. Webb

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have been adopted in police agencies across the USA in efforts to increase police transparency and accountability. This widespread implementation has occurred despite some notable resistance to BWCs from police officers in some jurisdictions. This resistance poses a threat to the appropriate implementation of this technology and adherence to BWC policies. The purpose of this paper is to examine factors that could explain variation in officer receptivity to BWCs.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors assess differences between officers who volunteered to wear a BWC and officers who resisted wearing a BWC as part of a larger randomized controlled …

Risk Factor Profile Of Youth Incarcerated For Child To Parent Violence: A Nationally Representative Sample, Gaylene Armstrong, Calli Cain, Lindsey Wylie, Lisa Muftic, Leana A. Bouffard

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

Intra-familial violence occurs in many forms yet few researchers examine child to parent violence (CPV), which occurs in almost 20% of single parent homes. Studies have neither developed a risk factor profile for youth involved in the most severe cases of CPV resulting in incarceration, nor included a comparison of gender-specific correlates.

Methods

Data from the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement (SYRP) 2003, a large-scale, nationally representative sample of justice-involved youth between the ages of 10 and 20 who were survey using a multi-stage cluster sampling procedure is utilized.

Results

Youth incarcerated for CPV are typically white and …

Organizational Correlates Of Police Deviance: A Statewide Analysis Of Misconduct In Arizona, 2000-2011, Jessica Huff, Michael D. White, Scott H. Decker

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

Many examinations of police misconduct involve case study methodologies applied to a single agency, or a handful of agencies. Consequently, there is little evidence regarding the types of misconduct across agencies, or the impact of department-level characteristics on the nature and prevalence of officer deviance. The purpose of this paper is to address this research gap using statewide data of over 1,500 charges of police misconduct filed with the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (AZPOST) from 2000 to 2011.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines variation in the prevalence and forms of misconduct across 100+ agencies based on agency …

Programming In Restrictive Housing: Considerations For Improving Outcome Evaluations, H. Daniel Butler, Starr Solomon, Ryan E. Spohn

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

A number of studies have identified “what works” in regard to the successful implementation of correctional programming over the past several decades. Few studies, however, have examined the complexities associated with programming in restrictive housing. Using data from a Midwestern department of corrections, we examined whether the provision of programming in restrictive housing achieved desired outcomes (e.g., reductions in inmate misconduct). The findings revealed the amount of time served in restrictive housing and confinement in different types of restrictive housing may influence estimations of a treatment effect. As a growing number of states seek to reform the use of restrictive …

The Role Of Police Officer Race/Ethnicity On Crime Rates In Immigrant Communities, Joselyne Chenane, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Few studies have examined the role of city police officer racial/ethnic representation on violent crime in immigrant neighborhoods. Yet police officer race/ethnicity might play a significant role in bolstering or weakening the relationship between immigration and violent crime rates. Researchers have posited that increasing the representation of minority officer would be an important avenue for making police departments more accountable to the communities they serve. The current study contributes to existing research by using national (i.e., 89 cities and 8,980 neighborhoods) data on violent crime from large U.S. cities. We examine the relationship between immigration, violent crime rates, and minority …

Disentangling The Relationship Between Social Ties, Prison Visitation, And Recidivism, Cassandra A. Atkin-Plunk, Gaylene Armstrong

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Studies find inmates who receive visits while incarcerated are less likely to recidivate upon release, especially when visits are from spouses and occur frequently throughout incarceration. Absent from these studies is measurement of the quality of an inmate’s relationships prior to incarceration, which may play a more significant role in criminal desistance than visitation itself. Longitudinal data from 205 incarcerated male and female adult offenders were used to test the mediating effects of visitation for offenders with varying levels of preincarceration relationships on recidivism. Findings indicate that quality of an inmate’s preincarceration relationships is more important in reducing the odds …

The Other Side Of The Coin: Exploring The Effects Of Adolescent Delinquency On Young Adult Self-Control, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard, Tim Barnum, Trisha Rhodes

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

Although there is robust support for low self-control as a predictor of delinquent behavior, the question of whether delinquent behavior impacts self-control has been largely ignored. We ask, after accounting for baseline group differences in impulsivity and self-control, can delinquency be associated with later group differences in self-control?

Methods

Utilizing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health we employed propensity score matching to create comparable groups (i.e., on self-control and other delinquency correlates) of youth who did and did not participate in delinquent behavior in adolescence and compared them on self-control and impulsivity in …

Testing A Social Schematic Model Of Police Procedural Justice, Justin T. Pickett, Justin Nix

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Procedural justice theory increasingly guides policing reforms in the United States and abroad. Yet the primary sources of perceived police procedural justice are still unclear. Building on social schema research, we posit civilians’ perceptions of police procedural justice only partly reflect their personal and vicarious experiences with officers. We theorize perceptions of the police are anchored in a broader “relational justice schema,” composed of views about how respectful, fair, and unbiased most people are in their dealings with others. Individuals’ experiences with certain nonlegal actors and neighborhood environments should directly affect their relational justice schema and indirectly affect their evaluation …

Patriarchy And The Structure Of Employment In Criminal Justice: Differences In The Experiences Of Men And Women Working In The Legal Profession, Corrections, And Law Enforcement, Candice Batton, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Feminist scholars have long argued that patriarchy affects the structure and organization of society as well as the lived experiences of men and women. Although often referenced in discussions of gender differences in crime and justice, few have articulated more specifically the link between patriarchy and gender differences in the experiences of men and women as victims, offenders, or workers. We take up the challenge to theorize patriarchy and examine the extent to which it operates as an organizing principle with regard to employment in the criminal justice system. We consider differences in the representation of men and women working …

Management-Level Officers’ Experiences With The Ferguson Effect, Justin Nix, Scott E. Wolfe

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors associated with management-level officers’ sensitivity to various manifestations of the “Ferguson effect.”

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was administered to police officers attending an advanced training institute in the Southeastern USA in the fall of 2015. Specifically, a series of items first inquired about negative attitudes attributable to deadly force incidents throughout the country, followed by items tapping into theoretically relevant concepts including self-legitimacy, audience legitimacy, and peer attachment.

Findings

Findings suggest that like line-level officers, police managers may also harbor various attitudes attributable to a Ferguson effect – including less …

Fear Of Victimization Among Incarcerated Youths: Examining The Effects Of Institutional “Neighborhood” Characteristics And Gang Membership, Jodi Lane, Gaylene Armstrong, Kathleen A. Fox

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This study examines whether neighborhood factors found to predict fear of crime among the general population can be adapted to explain inmate fear of victimization inside juvenile correctional institutions. We test (a) whether institutional physical disorder, resident trust, and formal social control can predict fear of victimization, and (b) whether the importance of these factors for fear of victimization varies based on preincarceration street gang status. Using data from a large national sample of incarcerated youths, findings indicate non-gang members are more afraid of institutional victimization than gang members, confirming findings about levels of fear between these groups on the …

Up In Flames: Criminal Expertise And Far-Left Extremism, Michael K. Logan

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

This paper examines the decision-making processes of far-left extremists involved in arson and incendiary violence. The paper pays specific attention to the manner in which offenders draw upon prior knowledge and ‘expertise’ in planning and/or execution the attack. Drawing upon a sample of 195 self-reported communiques, the results suggest offenders rely on two types of criminal expertise to inform their decision to become involved in a violent act. First, perceptual expertise describes differential thinking patterns related to the crime setting. Second, procedural expertise involves the knowledge and skills aimed at enacting the offense itself. Overall, findings from this study suggest …

Exploring Officer Views Of Community Policing In Counterterrorism, Erin M. Kearns

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Recently there has been increased emphasis on actionable intelligence in counterterrorism. Building from the process-based model of regulation, police chiefs and scholars generally agree that community policing has promise in this regard. Yet, it is not clear the extent to which police officers concur. Since officers are in a position to implement community policing practices, it is important to understand variants in officer-level support. Using data collected from 741 officers in three departments, this project explores officer-level views of community policing’s utility to address terrorism and more common crimes. Overall, officers view community policing as appropriate to address both common …

Investigating Perceptions Of Race And Ethnic Diversity Among Prospective Police Officers, Natalie Todak, Jessica Huff, Lois James

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Many have suggested police diversity will improve police-community relations, but research testing this hypothesis is inconclusive. We investigated perceptions of police race, ethnicity, and diversity in a heterogeneous sample of prospective police officers. Data are drawn from interviews with 42 criminal justice college students in the Southwestern United States, of which 15 were Hispanic, and who each wanted to become a police officer. Participants supported diversity in policing, and collectively expressed a belief that race plays a central role in policing today. Furthermore, participants expressed support for the ideals of both passive and active representative bureaucracy. Hispanics in the sample …

When Bad News Arrives: Project Hope In A Post-Factual World, Francis T. Cullen, Travis C. Pratt, Jillian J. Turanovic, Leah C. Butler

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

On the basis of limited empirical evidence, advocates of Project HOPE (Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement) have succeeded in spreading the model to a reported 31 states and 160 locations. A recent randomized control experiment across four sites has revealed negative results: no overall effect on recidivism. In this context, we examine how prominent advocates of Project HOPE have coped with the arrival of this “bad news.” Despite null findings from a “gold standard” evaluation study, advocates continue to express confidence in the HOPE model and to support its further implementation. The risk thus exists that Project HOPE is entering …

Contents Full Article Content List Abstract Introduction How Media Affects Attitudes Media And Law Enforcement Public Perception Of And Support For Torture Linking Public Opinion And Policy Experimental Design Participants Results Discussion Future Directions Policy Implications Acknowledgements Notes References Did You Struggle To Get Access To This Article? This Product Could Help You Lean Library Figures & Tables Article Metrics Related Articles Cite Share Request Permissions Explore More Download Pdf Open Epub “If Torture Is Wrong, What About 24?” Torture And The Hollywood Effect, Erin M. Kearns, Joseph K. Young

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Since 9/11, entertainment media has focused on depictions of terrorism and counterterrorism. How do dramatic depictions of counterterrorism practices—specifically torture—affect public opinion and policy? Using a mixed within-subjects and between-subjects experimental design, we examine how framing affects support for torture. Participants (n = 150) were randomly assigned to a condition for dramatic depictions showing torture as (a) effective, (b) ineffective, or (c) not present (control). Participants who saw torture as effective increased their stated support for it. Participants who saw torture—regardless of whether or not it was effective—were more likely to sign a petition on …

Police Research, Officer Surveys, And Response Rates, Justin Nix, Justin T. Pickett, Hyunin Baek, Geoffrey P. Alpert

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

In recent years, policing scholars have increasingly used survey methods to gain insight into officers’ attitudes and behaviours. Yet, surprisingly, methodological research analysing surveys of police officers is rare. We analysed the extent and correlates of response rates in police surveys, providing insights about the survey design features and study characteristics associated with higher rates of officer participation. We examined the response rates to 497 police surveys reported in 390 articles published in 15 journals from 2008 to 2017. Findings included the following: (1) the average response rate was 64%, but there was a great deal of variation, (2) in-person …

Why Are Some Officers More Supportive Of Community Policing With Minorities Than Others?, Erin M. Kearns

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Officers are not equally supportive of community policing despite its potential for improving police–citizen relationships. Research has yet to identify and explain variations in officer support for community policing with racial minorities. Using roll-call surveys with 741 officers in three departments, this project addressed two questions: Do officers differ in their support for community policing across racial groups? And, if so, why? Officers are less supportive of community policing with racial minorities and perceive greater social distance from minority groups. General support for community policing and lower perceived social distance from a minority community are linked with greater support for …

Factors Associated With Reporting Of Sexual Assault Among College And Non-College Women, Ryan E. Spohn, Abby L. Bjornsen-Ramig, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine factors impacting college and non-college women reporting sexual assault to police. The goal is to increase knowledge regarding differences in the rates of reporting and reasons for reporting across these two groups.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants were drawn from a national telephone survey of US women and a sample of US college women. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine factors influencing the reporting of sexual assault to police.

Findings

Non-college women were more likely than college women to report to police. Women who perceived their victimization as rape were much more …

Support For Political Mobilization And Protest In Egypt And Morocco: An Online Experimental Study, Anthony F. Lemieux, Erin M. Kearns, Victor Asal, James Igoe Walsh

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Why do individuals engage in or support acts of contentious politics? Building from previous work, this article uses a 2 (high/low grievance) × 2 (high/low risk) × 2 (high/low opportunity) online experimental design to examine the impact of these factors on political action with participants from Egypt (n = 517) and Morocco (n = 462). Participants assumed a first-person perspective as a member of a fictional oppressed ethnic minority group in one of eight vignettes. Participants then indicated the extent to which they would engage in various forms of protest and violence, and how justified such actions were. …

Command-Level Police Officers’ Perceptions Of The “War On Cops” And De-Policing, Justin Nix, Scott E. Wolfe, Bradley A. Campbell

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Policing has been the subject of intense public scrutiny for the better part of two years after several high-profile police killings of unarmed African Americans across the United States. The scrutiny has been so extreme that some contend there is currently a “war on cops”—whereby citizens are emboldened by protests and negative media coverage of the police, and are lashing out by assaulting police officers more frequently. In response, it is argued that officers are de-policing (i.e. avoiding proactive stops). We surveyed command-level police officers from a southeastern state about their attitudes concerning the war on cops and de-policing. The …

Third-Person Perceptions, Hostile Media Effects, And Policing: Developing A Theoretical Framework For Assessing The Ferguson Effect, Justin Nix, Justin T. Pickett

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Objectives

Policing in the United States has come under intense scrutiny following numerous deadly force incidents involving unarmed black citizens, which dominated the news media. Some have argued that consequently, a “chill wind” has blown through law enforcement, such that officers have become more distrustful of civilians, fearful of scandal, and are de-policing. To date, however, scholars have given insufficient theoretical and empirical attention to why and how media coverage of policing may lead to such outcomes.

Methods

We addressed this literature gap using data from a survey of officers in a metropolitan police department in the southeast.

Results

We …

Neighborhoods And Intimate Partner Violence Against Women: The Direct And Interactive Effects Of Social Ties And Collective Efficacy, Emily M. Wright, Marie Skubak Tillyer

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This study examines the impact of several indicators of neighborhood social ties (e.g., residents’ interactions with each other; residents’ ability to recognize outsiders) on intimate partner violence (IPV) against women as well as whether neighborhood collective efficacy’s impact on IPV is contingent upon such ties. This study used data from 4,151 women (46% Latina, 33% African American, 17% Caucasian, on average 32 years old) in 80 neighborhoods from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. We estimated a series of random effects hierarchical Bernoulli models to assess the main and interactive effects of neighborhood social ties and collective efficacy …

Demeanor, Race, And Police Perceptions Of Procedural Justice: Evidence From Two Randomized Experiments, Justin Nix, Justin T. Pickett, Scott E. Wolfe, Bradley A. Campbell

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing recently endorsed procedural justice as a way to restore trust between police and communities. Yet police–citizen interactions vary immensely, and research has yet to give sufficient consideration to the factors that might affect the importance officers place on exercising procedural justice during interactions. Building on research examining “moral worthiness” judgments and racial stereotyping among police officers, we conducted two randomized experiments to test whether suspect race and demeanor affect officers’ perceptions of the threat of violence and importance of exercising procedural justice while interacting with suspicious persons. We find that suspect race …

Empirical Challenges To Studying Terrorism And Homicide, Joseph K. Young, Erin M. Kearns

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The study of terrorism has bridged multiple scholarly domains. Terrorism is discussed within political science as a form of political violence (Crenshaw 1981) related to civil conflict (Findley and Young 2012) and interstate war (Findley, Piazza, and Young 2012). Terrorism is studied within criminology as a form of criminal violence along with homicide and assault, and under political crime as a form of oppositional action put alongside sedition and treason (J.I. Ross 2006). In scholarly work, it is becoming increasingly more common to see works on terrorism connected to political violence (e.g., Thomas 2014) or political crimes (e.g., Chermak, Freilich, …

Intimate Partner Violence And The Overlap Of Perpetration And Victimization: Considering The Influence Of Physical, Sexual, And Emotional Abuse In Childhood, Tara N. Richards, Marie Skubak Tillyer, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Using data from Wave 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study examined the independent relationship of childhood maltreatment type (emotional, sexual, physical) on IPV victimization and perpetration; then mutually exclusive categories of IPV involvement (victimization, perpetration, and victimization/perpetration) were investigated. IPV victimization and perpetration were assessed using items from the revised Conflict Tactics Scales. A series of binary regression models and multinomial regression models were estimated. Models were stratified across gender. Results uncovered significant relationships between child physical abuse and IPV victimization as well as IPV perpetration for males and females, but this effect …

An Examination Of Within And Between Family Influences On The Intergenerational Transmission Of Violence And Maltreatment, Bradon A. Valgardson

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant problem that results in long-term mental and physical health issues. Previous research has identified a wide range of factors that potentially contribute to IPV perpetration, with childhood and adolescent maltreatment being some of the more commonly examined sources of influence. Despite these contributions, maltreatment has not been adequately distinguished from additional sources of influence that tend to cluster within families, such as other adverse family experiences and genetic influences. The current study attempts to better isolate the influence of maltreatment on IPV perpetration through the use of a sibling sample from the National …

Book Review: Peer Pressure, Peer Prevention: The Role Of Friends In Crime And Conformity, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Barbara Costello and Trina Hope contribute to the literature on peer influence in the areas of crime and conformity by exploring questions and using simple methodologies that have been long overlooked by criminologists. The authors argue that despite decades of work confirming that delinquent youth often have delinquent friends and a lot of deviant behavior happens in groups, we still know little about the mechanisms of peer influence. The authors note that because criminologists have long operated based on the assumption that peer influence is negative, the field has ignored the potentially positive effects that peers can have on one …