Criminology Commons^™

The Relationship Between Work–Family Conflict, Correctional Officer Job Stress, And Job Satisfaction, Gaylene Armstrong, Cassandra A. Atkin-Plunk, Jessica Wells

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Balancing demands between work and family domains can strain even the most resourceful employee. When the tipping point of conflict between the two is reached, a negative impact on employee well-being can result. Within correctional environments, the psychosocial well-being of officers is critical given the potentially significant impact of having a “bad day on the job.” This study examines work–family conflict as it relates to job stress and job satisfaction within a diverse sample of correctional officers (N = 441) employed at 13 public, adult correctional facilities in a Southern state. Findings indicate strain and behavior-based work–family conflict and …

The President's Task Force On 21st Century Policing: Final Report, Office Of Community Oriented Policing Services, Erin M. Kearns

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The task force recommendations are presented under six topics: "Building Trust and Legitimacy," Policy and Oversight," "Technology and Social Media," "Community Policing and Crime Reduction," "Officer Training and Education," and "Officer Safety and Wellness." Each of the recommendations in these topic areas include suggested action steps. One of two overarching recommendations is that the President support the establishment of a National Crime and Justice Task Force to examine all areas of criminal justice and pose reforms. As a corollary to this recommendation, the second overarching recommendation is that the President support programs that take a comprehensive and inclusive look at …

The Role Of Parenting In The Prediction Of Criminal Involvement: Findings From A Nationally Representative Sample Of Youth And A Sample Of Adopted Youth, Kevin M. Beaver, Joesph A. Schwartz, Eric J. Connolly, Mohammed Said Al-Ghamdi, Ahmed Nezar Kobeisy

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The role of parenting in the development of criminal behavior has been the source of a vast amount of research, with the majority of studies detecting statistically significant associations between dimensions of parenting and measures of criminal involvement. An emerging group of scholars, however, has drawn attention to the methodological limitations—mainly genetic confounding—of the parental socialization literature. The current study addressed this limitation by analyzing a sample of adoptees to assess the association between 8 parenting measures and 4 criminal justice outcome measures. The results revealed very little evidence of parental socialization effects on criminal behavior before controlling for genetic …

Integrating The Principles Of Effective Intervention Into Batterer Intervention Programming: The Case For Moving Toward More Evidence-Based Programming, Dana L. Radatz, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The majority of batterer intervention program (BIP) evaluations have indicated they are marginally effective in reducing domestic violence recidivism. Meanwhile, correctional programs used to treat a variety of offenders (e.g., substance users, violent offenders, and so forth) that adhere to the “principles of effective intervention” (PEI) have reported significant reductions in recidivism. This article introduces the PEI—the principles on which evidence-based practices in correctional rehabilitation are based—and identifies the degree to which they are currently integrated into BIPs. The case is made that batterer programs could be more effective if they incorporate the PEI. Recommendations for further integration of the …

Analysis Of The Nebraska Intake Risk Assessment Instrument, Sarah Moore, Anne M. Hobbs

Reports

Under current Nebraska law, a youth in Nebraska should be placed in a secure detention facility for only two reasons: (1) “immediate and urgent necessity for the protection of such juvenile or the person or property of another or (2) if it appears that such juvenile is likely to flee the jurisdiction of the court” (Rev. Stat. § 43-251.01(5)).

In the State of Nebraska, the Office of Juvenile Probation Administration screens youth using the Nebraska Juvenile Intake Screening Risk Assessment prior to making a determination whether to detain the youth. The assessment is referred to in this report as the …

Exposure To Violence, Substance Use, And Neighborhood Context, Abigail A. Fagan, Emily M. Wright, Gillian M. Pichevsky

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Adolescent exposure to violence and substance use are both public health problems, but how neighborhood context contributes to these outcomes is unclear. This study uses prospective data from 1416 adolescents to examine the direct and interacting influences of victimization and neighborhood factors on adolescent substance use. Based on hierarchical Bernoulli regression models that controlled for prior substance use and multiple individual-level factors, exposure to violence significantly increased the likelihood of marijuana use but not alcohol use or binge drinking. There was little evidence that community norms regarding adolescent substance use influenced rates of substance use or moderated the impact of …

Enlisting In The Military: The Influential Role Of Genetic Factors, Kevin M. Beaver, J. C. Barnes, Joesph A. Schwartz, Brian B. Boutwell

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Given that enlistment in the U.S. military is completely voluntary, there has been a great deal of interest in identifying the various factors that might explain why some people join the military, whereas others do not. The current study expanded on this line of literature by estimating the extent to which genetic and environmental factors explained variance in the liability for lifetime participation in the military. Analysis of twin pairs drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) revealed that 82% of the variance was the result of genetic factors, 18% of the variance was …

The Study Of Torture: Why It Persists, Why Perceptions Of It Are Malleable, And Why It Is Difficult To Eradicate, Erin M. Kearns

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Why does torture persist despite its prohibition? Scholars, policymakers, and the public have heavily debated this topic in the past decade. Yet, many puzzles remain about the practice of torture. Scholarship on torture spans academic disciplines, which adds diversity in perspectives brought to these questions but also can lead to redundancy and stunted progress in research on the issue as a whole. This article assesses the state of the multidisciplinary literature on torture in counterterrorism with specific focus on why democracies torture despite prohibiting it, how public perception of torture is malleable, and why so few countries are able to …

Penny For Your Thoughts? The Protective Effect Of Youths’ Attitudes Against Drug Use In High-Risk Communities, Emily M. Wright, Abigail A. Fagan, Gillian M. Pichevsky

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Individual-level attitudes about drugs are strong predictors of substance use among adolescents, and aggregate-level community norms regarding deviancy and drug use may influence youth attitudes as well as their drug use. This study examined the direct effects of neighborhood norms about deviance, disadvantage, immigrant concentration, and residential stability on youths’ attitudes about drug harmfulness as well as their variety of past month substance use. The moderating effect of community norms on the relationship between youth attitudes and drug use was also examined. Results suggest that community norms favorable to deviance and drug use reduced youth’s attitudes that drugs were harmful. …

Learning Disabilities And Delinquent Behaviors Among Adolescents: A Comparison Of Those With And Without Comorbidity, Mary K. Evans, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard, Peter Simi

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Research is inconclusive on whether adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) engage in more delinquency than adolescents without such deficits. Mixed results may result from a failure to account for the effects of co-occurring disabilities. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examines delinquency among adolescents without disabilities to youth with LD, Attention Disorder Symptoms (ADS), and comorbid LD/ADS. Results indicate no significant differences in property offenses, or alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use; however, youth with LD reported significantly more violence than non-disabled youth. Findings illustrate the heterogeneous effects various disabilities have on delinquent behavior. Future research and …

Perceptions And Practices Of Student Binge Drinking: An Observational Study Of Residential College Students, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard, Michael A. Johnson

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Professionals have debated the use of the term binge drinking over the past couple of decades, yet little attention has been paid to college student perceptions. We explored how students at one university qualitatively defined binge drinking; whether their own definitions coincided with those adopted by researchers; and whether students' own definitions varied according to their behavior. The most common definition provided by studesnts included a description of the consumption of a large, non-specific, amount of alcohol. Only half of the students who, by standard definition, participated in binge drinking in the previous 30 days actually identified their behavior as …

Propensity, Social Ties, Friend Behavior, And Heavy Drinking Among College Students, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard, Trisha Rhodes

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The current research explores self-control, early-onset alcohol propensity, and social ties as they relate to heavy drinking on a college campus. The study draws on a survey of alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors administered to a cluster sample of 149 residential students (M age = 19.9; 51% female) at a medium-sized Midwestern university. A series of ordinary least squares regressions were conducted to explore independent and interactive effects of propensity and social ties on drinking. Propensity and antisocial ties consistently and independently predicted measures of heavy drinking and related consequences. Prosocial ties were less consistent, though they were associated with …

Perception Of Family And Community Support Among Released Felons In The State Of Texas, June Gerber, Gaylene Armstrong

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

risons. Of the currently incarcerated prisoners, more than 700,000 individuals are annually released. The probability that they will subsequently return to prison is around 50 percent. For the State of Texas, the figures are 154,656 inmates in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), 42,069 were released during Fiscal Year 2008, and about 50 percent will be re-incarcerated (TDCJ, 2009a, 2009b). We examine one of the factors that reduce the probability that released inmates recidivate: the level of support they expect to receive from family and their community upon their release. Numerous studies have been conducted on the issue of …

The Protective Effects Of Neighborhood Collective Efficacy On Adolescent Substance Use And Violence Following Exposure To Violence, Abigail A. Fagan, Emily M. Wright, Gillian M. Pichevsky

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Research has demonstrated that exposure to violence can result in many negative consequences for youth, but the degree to which neighborhood conditions may foster resiliency among victims is not well understood. This study tests the hypothesis that neighborhood collective efficacy attenuates the relationship between adolescent exposure to violence, substance use, and violence. Data were collected from 1,661 to 1,718 adolescents participating in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, who were diverse in terms of sex (51 % male, 49 % female), race/ethnicity (48 % Hispanic, 34 % African American, 14 % Caucasian, and 4 % other race/ethnicity), and …

Evidence-Based Practice In Juvenile Justice: Nebraska White Paper, Richard L. Wiener, Anne M. Hobbs, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

This White Paper is the product of the collaborative effort of the University of Nebraska/Lincoln (UNL) Law and Psychology Program, the University of Nebraska/Omaha (UNO) Consortium for Crime and Justice Research and the UNO Juvenile Justice Institute. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview for understanding, testing, and developing Evidence Based Practice (EBP) interventions that make rehabilitative services available to children in the juvenile justice system. The paper begins with a summary of a proposal for a classification system of EBP programs in the Juvenile Justice System in Nebraska and then goes on to explain the logic …

Lying About Terrorism, Erin M. Kearns, Brendan Conlon, Joseph K. Young

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Conventional wisdom holds that terrorism is committed for strategic reasons as a form of costly signaling to an audience. However, since over half of terrorist attacks are not credibly claimed, conventional wisdom does not explain many acts of terrorism. This article suggests that there are four lies about terrorism that can be incorporated in a rationalist framework: false claiming, false flag, the hot-potato problem, and the lie of omission. Each of these lies about terrorism can be strategically employed to help a group achieve its desired goal(s) without necessitating that an attack be truthfully claimed.

A Quantitative Genetic Analysis Of The Associations Among Language Skills, Peer Interactions, And Behavioral Problems In Childhood: Results From A Sample Of Twins, Kevin M. Beaver, Brian B. Boutwell, J. C. Barnes, Joesph A. Schwartz, Eric J. Connolly

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

A body of empirical research has revealed that there are associations among language skills, peer interactions, and behavioral problems in childhood. At the same time, however, there has been comparatively less research devoted to exploring the mutual unfolding of these factors over the first few years of life. The current study is designed to partially address this gap in the literature by examining how language skills, negative peer interactions, and behavioral problems are interrelated in a sample of twins drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). Employing a quantitative genetic framework, the results of the current study revealed …

The Moderating Effects Of Peer And Parental Support On The Relationship Between Vicarious Victimization And Substance Use, Riane N. Miller, Abigail A. Fagan, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

General strain theory (GST) hypothesizes that youth are more likely to engage in delinquency when they experience vicarious victimization, defined as knowing about or witnessing violence perpetrated against others, but that this relationship may be attenuated for those who receive social support from significant others. Based on prospective data from youth aged 8 to 17 participating in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), this article found mixed support for these hypotheses. Controlling for prior involvement in delinquency, as well as other risk and protective factors, adolescents who reported more vicarious victimization had an increased likelihood of alcohol …

The Lancaster County Juvenile Reentry Project, Anne M. Hobbs, Ryan E. Spohn, Jenna Strawhun, Timbre Wulf-Ludden, Johanna Peterson, Sommer Fousek

Reports

In order to establish a best practice model for juveniles reentering the community, Lancaster County brought multiple agencies together in 2012 and began to develop a systematic juvenile reentry approach, which became known as the “Reentry Project.” By January 2013, Lancaster County had contracted with multiple agencies to ensure this new approach was used when youth were returning to the community.

State Of Juvenile Justice Report: 2014, Anne M. Hobbs, Sommer Fousek

Reports

The 2014 State of Juvenile Justice Report provides a snapshot of the juvenile justice system in Nebraska, with a specific focus on the current legislative context and an examination of three key points in the system: diversion, probation, and detention.

Trends within the juvenile justice system should be analyzed against the backdrop of statewide shifts that are a result of legislative mandates. In particular, Legislative Bill 561 has altered the juvenile justice landscape. Passed in 2013, LB 561 required communities to use programs aligned with evidence-based practices or best practices, with the goal of diverting youth out of the formal …

Te Efect Of Experiencing Child Physical Abuse On Violence In Adolescence Is Weakest In The Most Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

It is reasonably well established that those who suffer physical abuse as children are more likely to be violent as adolescents and young adults. It is less well known, however, whether the effects of abuse are amplified or made weaker by the social circumstances in which a child lives.

Spare The Rod, Endanger The Child? Strain, Race/Ethnicity, And Serious Delinquency, Ryan E. Spohn

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

General strain theory has evolved into a comprehensive theory of delinquency by incorporating factors that condition the relationship between strain and delinquency as well as acknowledging the subjective nature of strain. This study advances general strain theory by examining the conditioning role of race and the manner in which race influences the subjective experience of strain. Examining a nationally representative sample of adolescents, this study finds that ethnic minorities generally experience greater strain. However, the effect of strain is not consistently more criminogenic for ethnic minorities. Our research suggests that the impact of strain on delinquency is conditioned by the …

Diversion In Nebraska: Fy 2012/2013, Amy Hoffman, Anne M. Hobbs

Reports

Among the many initiatives created with the passage of LB 561, the position of the Juvenile Diversion Program Administrator was established within the Nebraska Crime Commission. The Diversion Administrator is tasked with assisting in creating and maintaining juvenile pretrial diversion programs to divert juveniles away from the judicial system and into community-based services. That process includes creating a statewide steering committee to assist in regular strategic planning related to supporting, funding, monitoring, and evaluating the effectiveness of plans and programs receiving funds from the Community-Based Juvenile Services Aid Program, as well as provide best practice recommendation guidelines and procedures used …

Victimization Experiences And Adolescent Substance Use: Does The Type And Degree Of Victimization Matter?, Gillian M. Pichevsky, Abigail A. Fagan, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Evidence indicates an association between victimization and adolescent substance use, but the exact nature of this relationship remains unclear. Some research focuses solely on the consequences of experiencing indirect victimization (e.g., witnessing violence), others examine direct victimization (e.g., being personally victimized), and still others combine both forms of victimization without assessing the relative impact of each on substance use. Furthermore, many of these studies only assess these relationships in the short-term using cross-sectional data. This study uses data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) to explore the impact of experiencing only indirect victimization, only direct victimization, …

Assessing Youth Early In The Juvenile Justice System, Anne M. Hobbs, Timbre Wulf-Ludden, Jenna Strawhun

Academic Publications

Unnecessary involvement in the juvenile justice system generally results in negative long-term outcomes (Annie E. Casey Foundation Website, 2008). The problem lies in determining when involvement is unnecessary and when it is necessary. A juvenile’s path to detention often begins years prior. Research indicates that unnecessary court involvement may contribute to worse outcomes, which can ultimately culminate in detention (Holman & Ziedenberg, 2006). Youth who are formally processed through court are more likely to be under closer supervision, which, in turn, increases their chances of being caught violating curfew, missing school, or committing another technical violation. To test the effect …

What Lies Ahead: An Exploration Of Future Orientation, Self-Control, And Delinquency, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Self-control has been consistently linked to antisocial behavior and though low self-control makes delinquency more likely, neither the findings nor the theory suggests that low self-control necessitates participation in such behavior. There remains a shortage of research on those situational factors or individual characteristics that might lessen the effects of low self-control on antisocial behavior. Future orientation is one such characteristic that can have implications for the control of behavior. The purpose of the current study was to explore the independent and interactive effects of future orientation and low self-control on delinquency using data from Wave 1 of the National …

Nebraska Sex Offender Registry Study, Ryan E. Spohn

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The Consortium for Crime and Justice Research at the University of Nebraska Omaha was charged by the Nebraska Legislature’s Judiciary Committee to undertake a study of the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry. The primary goal of the study was to compare sex offender recidivism under the pre-LB 285 classification system that utilized risk levels derived from a psychological risk assessment instrument to sex offender recidivism under the post-LB 285 classification system utilizing Adam Walsh Act Tier Levels derived from offense severity. Additional goals include an overall examination of offender characteristics, victim characteristics, and offense characteristics among all individuals on the registry, …

Testing The Influence Of Community Characteristics On School Misconduct, Todd A. Armstrong, Gaylene Armstrong, Charles M. Katz

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This study examines the effect of dynamic and structural community characteristics on school misconduct. Data include over 45,000 students in the eighth, tenth, or twelfth grade in 237 schools. Hierarchical linear models tested the direct and interactive effects of community measures, while accounting for student and school characteristics. Community substance abuse norms as well as perceptions of community crime and disorder mediated the influence of concentrated disadvantage on school misconduct. Interaction effects demonstrated that community substance abuse norms were more influential for students enrolled in schools that had a less positive school climate although individual and school characteristics remained robust …

The Effects Of Exposure To Violence And Victimization Across Life Domains On Adolescent Substance Us, Emily M. Wright, Abigail A. Fagan, Gillian M. Pinchevsky

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This study uses longitudinal data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) to examine the effects of exposure to school violence, community violence, child abuse, and parental intimate partner violence (IPV) on youths’ subsequent alcohol and marijuana use. We also examine the cumulative effects of being exposed to violence across these domains. Longitudinal data were obtained from 1,655 adolescents and their primary caregivers participating in the PHDCN. The effects of adolescents’ exposure to various forms of violence across different life domains were examined relative to adolescents’ frequency of alcohol and marijuana use three years later. Multivariate …

College Students And Binge Drinking: Exploring The Relationship Between Control And Intention On Behavior, Trisha Rhodes, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The present study draws on Ajzen's (1985, 1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explore the relationships between students' intentions to drink responsibly, students' perceptions of control over their behavior, and their reported levels of drinking. We relied on a randomly selected and surveyed sample of 149 students at a Midwestern university. We hypothesized students who reported stronger intentions and greater perceived control would report reduced levels of drinking. Our findings indicated that respondents who intended to drink responsibly and scored higher on two measures of perceptions of control consumed less alcohol 10 days prior to the survey and binged …