Guardianship for crime prevention: a critical review of the literature

Cohen and Felson??s (Cohen and Felson American Sociological Review 44(4):588?C608, 1979) routine activity theory posits that for a crime to occur three necessary elements must converge in time and space: motivated offenders, suitable targets, and the absence of capable guardianship. Capable guardians can serve as a key actor in the crime event model; one who can disrupt, either directly or indirectly, the interaction between a motivated offender and a suitable target. This article critically reviews the literature on guardianship for crime prevention. Our specific focus is two-fold: (1) to review the way guardianship has been operationalized and measured, and (2) to review experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations and field tests of guardianship. Research on routine activities has had an uneven focus resulting in the neglect of the guardianship component (Reynald Crime Prevention and Community Safety 11(1):1?C20, 2009; Sampson et al. Security Journal 23(1):37?C51, 2010; Tewksbury and Mustaine Criminal Justice and Behavior 30(3):302?C327, 2003; Wilcox et al. Criminology 45(4):771?C803 2007). Evaluations of guardianship-related interventions demonstrate support for the theoretical construct; however, high-quality field tests of guardianship are wholly lacking. Implications for theory and research are discussed.     

Sex Offender Residential Mobility and Relegation: The Collateral Consequences Continue

Prior research (see American Journal of Criminal Justice 30 (2), 177–192, 2006a) examined the residential locations and mobility of registered sex offenders and showed a common movement into increasingly socially disorganized neighborhoods after 5 years of registration. The present study examines whether or not this downward spiral continues for these sex offenders 10 years later. We examined 212 registrants from the original study and found that since their original arrest 38 % of the registrants have moved into a more socially disorganized neighborhood than their previous address. The only variable found to influence the likelihood of move to a more socially disorganized neighborhood is race, with minority sex offenders most affected. The findings suggest that the collateral consequences of sex offender policies have long-term deleterious effects on housing for sex offenders.     

Residential location and mobility of registered sex offenders

Identifying the residential locations of registered sex offenders is a major concern for contemporary policy makers and communities. The present study seeks to identify whether registered sex offenders’ residential locations at time of arrest differ from their current addresses, if registrants move whether they tend to move to more or less socially disorganized neighborhoods, as well as what factors are associated with moving to more or less socially disorganized areas. Data are analyzed for 271 registrants on 11 measures of community social disorganization variables. Findings indicate that registrants already residing in socially disorganized areas were less likely to have a downward movement to more socially disorganized areas. Also, those who resided in less socially disorganized areas initially were more likely to have downward movement to socially disorganized areas.     

Ambiguous Measures of Unknown Constructs: The MMPI-2 Fake Bad Scale (aka Symptom Validity Scale, FBS, FBS-r)

The Fake Bad Scale (FBS; Symptom Validity Scale) has fundamental psychometric flaws, interpretive problems, and potentially adverse societal consequences that are not appreciated by Ben-Porath et al. (Psychological Injury and Law 2(1), 62–85, 2009a, b). The FBS was constructed without due consideration to scientifically based guidelines for scale development (Clark and Watson, Psychological Assessment 7, 309–319, 1995; Jackson, Psychological Review 78, 229–248, 1971; Nunnally 1978; Holden and Troister, Canadian Psychology 50, 120–130, 2009). After almost two decades in existence, its face, content, and construct validity have not been established in the empirical literature. Oft-cited discriminant studies that appear to support the FBS are premature because of the scale’s unestablished psychometric foundation. In addition, these studies have significant methodological weaknesses that preclude definitive conclusions about what the scale actually measures. We review these weaknesses and recent legal cases that challenge the scale. We recommend that the FBS’s validity and fairness be addressed in an independent scientific review by the Buros Mental Measurement Test Evaluation System, a non-profit center specializing in the evaluation of commercially available tests.     

A Sensitivity Analysis of Egocentric Measures of Peer Delinquency to Latent Homophily: A Research Note

Objectives

Egocentric measures of peer delinquency, obtained through a census of a social network, have become the preferred operationalization for examining the relationships between social influence and delinquency. Studies regressing ego’s delinquency on the delinquency of nominated friend/s (i.e. alter/s) conclude that a statistically significant coefficient provides evidence of social influence. However, the inferences drawn from these studies may be biased by the introduction of artificial statistical dependence as a consequence of using social network data in a regression framework. Recent work (Shalizi and Thomas Sociol Methods Res 40:211–239, 2011) shows that latent homophily, or unmeasured confounding of observables, may lead to nonzero estimates of social influence, even if there is no causal significance. To examine this possibility, sensitivity analyses have been created (e.g. VanderWeele and Arah Epidemiology 22:42–52, 2011; VanderWeele Sociol Methods Res 40:240–255, 2011) to determine the robustness of an estimated coefficient to latent homophily.

Methods

In this research note, I examine the robustness of estimates for social influence from two articles (Haynie Am J Sociol 106:1013–1057, 2001; Meldrum et al. J Res Crime Delinq 46:353–376, 2009) using egocentric measures of peer delinquency.

Results

Findings indicate that for large, precise point estimates, highly improbable conditions are needed to explain away the effects of social influence. However, less precise point estimates (i.e. large standard errors) are more sensitive to latent homophily.

Conclusions

The analyses indicate that studies using egocentric measures should conduct sensitivity tests, particularly when the estimated effect is weak and/or has a relatively large standard error. Scripts written in the free programming language R (R Core Team R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, 2012) are provided for researchers to conduct such analyses.     

Early Intervention with Compensated Lower Back-Injured Workers at Risk for Work Disability: Fixed versus Flexible Approach

Low back pain (LBP), a leading cause of disability, has been linked with profound economic, personal, and social costs (Hills 2006; World Health Organization 2003). This significant effect propels research in identifying modifiable risk factors that protract LBP; these factors can be targeted in early intervention (EI) (Pransky, Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 49(3):249–251, 2007; Schultz et al., Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 17:327–352, 2007, Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 18(2), 140–151, 2008; White et al. 2013). This randomized controlled study evaluated the effectiveness of two approaches, fixed versus flexible, in delivering proactive, interdisciplinary EI with 63 workers within a workers' compensation interdisciplinary case management setting (i.e., WorkSafeBC, Canada). Off-work 4 to 10 weeks post-back injury, the workers were also at risk of protracted work disability (N?=?24 at high risk; N?=?39 at moderate risk). Fixed, protocol-driven, interdisciplinary, multimodal, clinical, occupational, and case management-based EI was compared with a flexible, individual need-driven EI with the same modalities as the fixed approach. Results showed a significant narrowing of the outcome gap between the two interventions. High-risk injured workers tended to benefit more from a fixed, protocol-driven approach, as shown in the pilot study (Schultz et al. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 18(2), 140–151, 2008). The results indicated that moderate-risk workers benefitted from a more flexible, need-based, individual, and low-intensity approach as compared with a fixed approach. The flexible approach for moderate-risk workers was also less costly and consumed fewer rehabilitation and health care resources. Recommendations for future research and practice included larger sample sizes, controllability of research interventions, risk for disability-EI matching, and conditions under which a flexible delivery of multimodal EI is more efficacious than a fixed approach, and vice versa.     

Sibling Sexual Abuse: An Exploratory Study of Long-term Consequences for Self-esteem and Counseling Considerations

Great advances have been made regarding the study of child sexual assault since the 1970’s. In spite of these advances, the gravity of sibling sexual abuse has largely been overlooked in sexual abuse literature. This paper uses peer reviewed research to highlight some of the major issues and unique long-term consequences associated with sibling sexual abuse. Specifically, an altered version of the Conflict Tactics Scale Straus (Journal of Marriage and the Family 41:75-88, 1979) and The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Rosenberg (1965) were used to explore the long-term impact on self-esteem for those having experience with sibling sexual abuse as a child. In addition, clinical considerations for working with survivors, offenders, and families are provided.     

The electoral consequences of corruption scandals in Spain

Previous studies of the electoral consequences of corruption in Spanish local elections (Jiménez Revista de Investigaciones Políticas y Sociológicas, 6(2):43–76, 2007; Fernández-Vázquez and Rivero 2011, Consecuencias electorales de la corrupción, 2003–2007. Estudios de Progreso, Fundación Alternativas; Costas et al. European Journal of Political Economy: 28(4):469-484, 2012) have found that voters do not necessarily punish corrupt mayors. As has been pointed out in the comparative literature, the average loss of electoral support by corrupt incumbents is small and does not prevent their reelection most of the times (Jiménez and Caínzos 2006, How far and why do corruption scandals cost votes? In Garrard, J. and Newell, J. (eds.) Scandals in past and contemporary politics. Manchester: Manchester University Press). What remains unsolved, however, is the remarkable variability in this pattern. This article explores some of the micro-level variables that may mediate the effect of corruption scandal on the votes. We focus on three factors: ideological closeness to the incumbent party, political sophistication, and employment status. Our results provide only partial support for our hypotheses, suggesting that the effects of corruption are much more complex than what may seem at first sight.     

Evaluating Restorative Justice Programs in Taiwan

This paper aims to evaluate four restorative justice programs in Taiwan: (1) a mediation system; (2) deferred prosecution and conditional suspended sentence; (3) a youth justice system; and (4) the Taiwan Restorative Justice Initiative. In this paper, models proposed in Marshall (Restorative justice: An overview. London: Home Office, 1999) and Braithwaite (British Journal of Criminology 42:563–577, 2002b) are used as criteria to evaluate the four programs. Based on governmental documents, official statistics, and the findings of previous empirical studies, this paper will examine whose needs and power is focused and what types of value are highlighted in those four programs. This paper finds that current restorative justice programs in Taiwan place greater emphasis on offenders than on other parties such as victims and communities. In addition, maximizing and emergent standards that Braithwaite identifies are implemented more in Taiwan’s restorative justice programs than constraining standards. This paper suggests that restorative justice practices in Taiwan need to be more concerned with victims’ needs and interests, and to strengthen constraining types of restorative justice values.     

The Admissibility of the R-PAS in Court

The admissibility of the Rorschach has been a concern of forensic psychologists for many years. The focus of this debate has been the Comprehensive System, which is the most researched of the current Rorschach Systems available in the USA. However, recently, a new, competing system has been published: the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS; Meyer et al., Rorschach Performance Assessment System: Administration, Coding, Interpretation, and Technical Manual, 2011). Using Heilbrun’s (Law and Human Behavior 16:257–272, 1992) guidelines as a framework, we examine the admissibility of this new system according to the standards outlined in Daubert (1993) and Frye (1923). We conclude that we have reservations about the admissibility of the R-PAS in court at the present time, notwithstanding ongoing work on this system.     

Breaking Bad: DSM-5 Description, Criticisms, and Recommendations

The special issue on the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, American Psychiatric Association, 2013) in the journal Psychological Injury and Law has considered its changes relative to the DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, text revision, American Psychiatric Association, 2000) from both a clinical utility and scientific point of view. Although the manual did not undergo wholesale change, the changes to diagnostic categories relevant to the area of psychological injuries (especially posttraumatic stress disorder, mild traumatic brain injury, and chronic pain) present both practical and forensic conundrums, complicating clinical and legal work in the area. The articles in the special issue number nine (including the present one), and involve ones on the major psychological injuries, as well as personality. Separate articles deal with forensics and ethics, with a final one considering forensic psychiatric work using the DSMs. The authors collectively indicate that the DSM-5 is rife with utility and scientific difficulties, although it still might be used in practice and for court in the context of careful, comprehensive assessments and critical analysis. More importantly, ongoing and future research should be considered in revising the DSM-5. Some of the articles review in depth the extant research on their topics and all make recommendations that are useful. The articles include those (in order in the special issue) by: Zoellner et al. (Psychological Injury and Law, 6, 2013); Biehn et al. (Psychological Injury and Law, 6, 2013); Schultz (Psychological Injury and Law, 6, 2013); Young (2013); Hopwood and Sellbom (Psychological Injury and Law, 6, 2013); Thomas (Psychological Injury and Law, 6, 2013); Gordon and Cosgrove (Psychological Injury and Law, 6, 2013); and an opinion piece by Frances and Halon (Psychological Injury and Law, 6, 2013), the chief chair of the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, American Psychiatric Association 1994).     

Toward a Green-Cultural Criminology of “the Rural”

There are many connections between the various strands of critical criminology. Previously, we highlighted common issues between green and cultural criminology, while also noting some of the ways that each perspective could potentially benefit from cross-fertilization (Brisman and South in Crime Media Cult 9(2):115–135, 2013, Green cultural criminology: constructions of environmental harm, consumerism and resistance to ecocide. Routledge, Oxford, 2014; McClanahan in Crit Criminol. doi:10.1007/s10612-014-9241-8, 2014). In this article, we extend our analysis to consider green, cultural and rural criminologies through the exposition of several key issues, including “the rural” as local context in which exploitative global forces may exercise power; agribusiness and the food/profit chain; farming and the pollution of land, water and air; and finally, cultural/media images and narratives of rural life. We focus more specifically on this final intersectionality through an analysis of Jonathan Franzen’s novel Freedom (2010), analyzing his depictions of rural people, environmental activists, and the rural environment through the issue of mountaintop removal. We conclude our article by identifying several examples of key directions in which the intersectionality of green, cultural and rural criminologies might proceed, including trafficking and abuse of farmworkers, harms associated with the cultivation of quinoa, and a critical interpretation of media and popular narrative depictions of environmental issues within rural contexts.     

An Overview of the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS)

We provide an overview of the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS; Meyer, Viglione, Mihura, Erard, & Erdberg, 2011). After providing a general introduction to Rorschach-based assessment, the rationale and features of R-PAS are outlined. As part of this discussion, some of the ways in which R-PAS differs from the Comprehensive System (CS) (Exner, 2003) are delineated.     

Surviving the Trenches: The Personal Impact of the Job on Probation Officers

The purpose of this study was to assess traumatic stress and burnout in probation officers who work with criminal offenders. Adult probation officers from five departments in three states (Arizona, California, and Texas) participated in this study (N?=?309). Officers completed several survey instruments including the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (Weiss & Marmar, 1997), the Compassion Satisfaction/Fatigue Self-Test for Helpers (Steed & Bicknell, 2001), and the Probation Personal Impact Scale (PPI). The results indicated officers who reported violent and sexual recidivism on their caseloads, offender suicide, and threats and/or assaults in the line of duty scored significantly higher on measures of traumatic stress and burnout than officers who did not experience these caseload events. Assessments, education, training, and stress management programs are discussed as options to mitigate negative impacts, enhance the resiliency of officers, and improve the quality of evidence-based practices.     

Can the Body Change the Score? Application of Sensory Modulation Principles in the Treatment of Traumatized Adolescents in Residential Settings

There is a compelling need for varied “trauma specific” treatment models for children and adolescents with complex trauma in residential treatment whose affect and behavioral dysregulation disrupts daily living and impedes treatment engagement. This conceptual paper introduces exploratory applications of sensory motor approaches to the treatment of affect and behavioral dysregulation. Sensory Integration, a specialization within occupational therapy (Ayres 1972, 2004) provides knowledge of the sensory motor systems and strategies for sensory modulation that addresses arousal regulation, which underlies this dysregulation. The article describes three clinically supported approaches to the use of sensory modulation in residential treatment sites: use of sensory rooms; use of sensory integration occupational therapists at residential treatment sites; and a trauma psychotherapy that utilizes sensory motor strategies to improve regulation and support trauma processing.     

Registered Sex Offenders,Residence, and the Influence of Race

ABSTRACT

The current research assesses the characteristics of neighborhoods where registered sex offenders (RSOs) reside and whether or not race influences the locations of these RSOs. Drawing on data from 2,290 RSOs in five urban counties, analysis focuses on assessing the characteristics of census tracts where Black and White RSOs reside, as well as assessing characteristics of census tracts with high concentrations of RSOs in residence. Findings show that census tracts where sex offenders reside display more social disorganization than communities and the nation as a whole. Census tracts where Black RSOs reside are generally more socially disorganized than those where White RSOs reside. Additionally White RSOs are more likely to reside in census tracts with high concentrations of RSOs.     

The MMPI-2 Symptom Validity Scale (FBS) is an Empirically-Validated Measure of Over-reporting in Personal Injury Litigants and Claimants: reply to William et al. (2009)

We respond briefly to Williams et al.'s (Psychological Injury and the Law 2:182–197, 2009) most recent effort to critique the MMPI-2 Symptom Validity scale, noting that the authors repeat many of the unfounded claims and conclusions of Butcher et al. (Psychological Injury and the Law 1:191–209, 2008) while ignoring and/or reflecting a misunderstanding of many of the points raised in our rebuttal. Rather than repeat our detailed responses to their initial review, we limit this comment to addressing new points Williams et al. (Psychological Injury and the Law 2:182–197, 2009) bring up and offer a succinct summary of the issues raised in this exchange.     

Testing the Precision of Legal Translation: The Case of Translating Islamic Legal Terms into English

Legal translation is viewed as “a category in its own right” (Weston in An English reader’s guide to the French legal system. Berg, Oxford, (1991, p. 2). It is a kind of translation of the language used for specific purposes (Zhao in J Transl Stud 4:28, 2000). Legal translation requires accuracy in relaying the substance of the message, while respecting the form thereof as well as the genius of the target language (Zhao in J Transl Stud 4:19, 2000; Sarcevic in New approach to legal translation. Kluwer Law International, Hague, 1997, p. 52). As generally accepted worldwide, precision is deemed of paramount importance in legal translation. With this in mind, the present paper deals chiefly with the concept of how legal translation can correctly be tested in order to ensure precision and validity for application and implementation. The paper will argue that the main goal of legal translation and the major criterion against which the precision of legal translation should be tested is to reproduce the same legal effect in the target text as that conveyed in the source text regardless of the method(s) used in the translation process.     

Assessing the Latent Factor Association Between the Dysphoria Model of PTSD and Positive and Negative Affect in Trauma Victims from India

The recent release of the DSM-5 comes with the division of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms across four symptom clusters (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This division is based on the support garnered by two four-factor models; Emotional Numbing (King et al., 1998) and Dysphoria (Simms et al., 2002) and a five-factor model; Dysphoric Arousal (Elhai et al., 2011). Much debate centered on the validity of the Dysphoria factor as a non-specific factor of PTSD within the Dysphoria model. In line with this, we assessed relations between the four factors of the Dysphoria model (Simms et al., 2002) and positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) in natural disaster victims (N?=?200) from Leh, India, using the PTSD checklist (PCL-S) and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS short form). Confirmatory factor analysis was implemented to assess the best-fitting model for both the PCL (PTSD) and the PANAS (affect). Two optimal models (the Dysphoria model and a two-factor model for affect) were subsequently used to assess latent variable associations across constructs. It was hypothesized that differential associations between latent factors would be evident with the Dysphoria factor being highly correlated with negative affect compared to alternative PTSD factors. Significant correlations were found between factors of the Dysphoria model and NA (0.52–0.65, p?<?0.001). Comparing the association of pairs of PTSD factors with NA and PA, Wald’s tests revealed that no single PTSD factor was more related to NA than the other. Avoidance and Hyperarousal factors were correlated with PA. Results are discussed in line with literature questioning Dysphoria factor’s unique association with general distress.