Using State Child Labor Laws to Identify the Causal Effect of Youth Employment on Deviant Behavior and Academic Achievement

On the basis of prior research findings that employed youth, and especially intensively employed youth, have higher rates of delinquent behavior and lower academic achievement, scholars have called for limits on the maximum number of hours per week that teenagers are allowed to work. We use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to assess the claim that employment and work hours are causally related to adolescent problem behavior. We utilize a change model with age-graded child labor laws governing the number of hours per week allowed during the school year as instrumental variables. We find that these work laws lead to additional number of hours worked by youth, which then lead to increased high school dropout but decreased delinquency. Although counterintuitive, this result is consistent with existing evidence about the effect of employment on crime for adults and the impact of dropout on youth crime.

Social Integration, Self-control, and Conformity

Evidence relevant to claims of self-control theory concerning the connection between social integration and crime/deviance is offered. Using data from a survey of the population of a southwestern city that permit measurement of two types of social integration, including socially supportive networks, we (1) investigate the association between self-control and social integration, and (2) attempt to ascertain if social integration is associated with misbehavior independently of self-control. Results suggest that self-control is a persistent predictor of misconduct that operates independently of social integration. Although interpersonal social integration appears to stand alone in its association with deviance, community integration shows no relationship with self-control or misbehavior.

Researching the use of force: the background to the international project

This article provides the background to an international project on use of force by the police that was carried out in seven countries. Force is often considered to be the defining characteristic of policing and much research has been conducted on the determinants, prevalence and control of the use of force, particularly in the United States. However, little work has looked at police officers’ own views on the use of force, in particular the way in which they justify it. Using a hypothetical encounter developed for this project, researchers in each country conducted focus groups with police officers in which they were encouraged to talk about the use of force. The results show interesting similarities and differences across countries and demonstrate the value of using this kind of research focus and methodology.

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Thinking Critically About Rural Gender Relations: Toward a Rural Masculinity Crisis/Male Peer Support Model of Separation/Divorce Sexual Assault

After decades of neglect, a growing number of scholars have turned their attention to issues of crime and criminal justice in the rural context. Despite this improvement, rural crime research is underdeveloped theoretically, and is little informed by critical criminological perspectives. In this article, we introduce the broad tenets of a multi-level theory that links social and economic change to the reinforcement of rural patriarchy and male peer support, and in turn, how they are linked to separation/divorce sexual assault. We begin by addressing a series of misconceptions about what is rural, rural homogeneity and commonly held presumptions about the relationship of rurality, collective efficacy (and related concepts) and crime. We conclude by recommending more focused research, both qualitative and quantitative, to uncover specific link between the rural transformation and violence against women. This paper was presented at the 2006 annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Los Angeles, California. Some of the research reported here was supported by National Institute of Justice Grant 2002-WG-BX-0004 and financial assistance provided by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Vice President for Research at Ohio University. Arguments and findings included in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the official position of the US Department of Justice or Ohio University. Please send all correspondence to Walter S. DeKeseredy, e-mail: walter.dekeseredy@uoit.ca. All of the names of the women who participated in DeKeseredy and colleagues’ rural Ohio study and who are quoted have been changed to maintain confidentiality.

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Romantic Relational Aggression: What about Gender?

This study examined the relations among romantic relational aggression, social anxiety, loneliness, depressive symptoms, and alcohol and drug use in a sample of 215 undergraduate college students. Consistent with prior work, no gender differences were found in the experience of romantic relational aggression. Results indicated that romantic relational aggression was positively associated with social anxiety (for women only), loneliness, depressive symptoms, and alcohol use and drug use. Implications of these findings for the role of aggression within the context of intimate relationships during college are discussed.

Policing Gender at Work: Intersections of Harassment Based on Sex and Sexuality

Theorists have suggested that oppressions based on gender and sexual orientation are inherently linked. The present study aims to operationalize and test this proposition, by modeling relationships between sexual harassment and heterosexist harassment. Based on prior research in organizational and feminist psychology, we hypothesized a three-factor model of workplace harassment, comprising sexualized harassment, gender harassment, and heterosexist harassment. We then factor-analyzed data from 629 employees (both female and male, sexual minority and heterosexual) in higher education, finding this hypothesized model to be superior to three competing alternatives. Next came multiple-group analyses, which suggested this model to be invariant by gender, but not sexual orientation. Implications of these findings for research, theory, and practice are discussed.

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Singing the same tune? International continuities and discontinuities in how police talk about using force

This article focuses on a research project conducted in six jurisdictions: England, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Venezuela, and Brazil. These societies are very different ethnically, socially, politically, economically, historically and have wildly different levels of crime. Their policing arrangements also differ significantly: how they are organised; how their officers are equipped and trained; what routine operating procedures they employ; whether they are armed; and much else besides. Most relevant for this research, they represent policing systems with wildly different levels of police shootings, Police in the two Latin American countries represented here have a justified reputation for the frequency with which they shoot people, whereas at the other extreme the police in England do not routinely carry firearms and rarely shoot anyone. To probe whether these differences are reflected in the way that officers talk about the use of force, police officers in these different jurisdictions were invited to discuss in focus groups a scenario in which police are thwarted in their attempt to arrest two youths (one of whom is a known local criminal) by the youths driving off with the police in pursuit, and concludes with the youths crashing their car and escaping in apparent possession of a gun, It might be expected that focus groups would prove starkly different, and indeed they were, but not in the way that might be expected. There was little difference in affirmation of normative and legal standards regarding the use of force. It was in how officers in different jurisdictions envisaged the circumstances in which the scenario took place that led Latin American officers to anticipate that they would shoot the suspects, whereas officers in the other jurisdictions had little expectation that they would open fire in the conditions as they imagined them to be.

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Costs and recovery rates in the Dutch liquidation-based bankruptcy system

We present evidence on the efficiency of the resolution of financial distress in bankruptcy in The Netherlands. Direct costs average 16%, firm recovery 37% and bank debt recovery 80%. The direct costs are lower in larger firms and in firms with more bank debt. Costs increase with the time it takes to sell assets. Firm recovery is influenced by asset structure, capital structure and to a lesser extent Dutch legal variables. However, the opportunity to continue operations in bankruptcy is chosen by about half the firms and this has a positive effect on recoveries.

Body Disposal Patterns of Sexual Murderers: Implications for Offender Profiling

Offender profiling postulates that crime scene behavior should predict certain offender characteristics. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between offender characteristics, situational factors, and body disposal patterns. Sequential logistic regression analysis on a sample of 85 sexual murderers shows that those who were in a relationship at the time of the crime and who present organized psychological characteristics are more likely to move the victim’s body after the homicide. However, when the victim is older and a conflict with the offender occurred prior to the crime, the body is more likely to be left at the crime scene. Implications for offender profiling are discussed in light of the results.

A Website Content Analysis of Women’s Resources and Sexual Assault Literature on College Campuses

In an effort to examine how higher education institutions have provided women with resources to handle issues that disproportionately affect them, this study assessed the availability of women’s resource centers on college campuses within the United States, with a particular focus on sexual assault-related resources. A website content analysis was conducted, through which we coded to assess ease of use, clarity, and comprehensiveness of the programs and information made available to women. Although many universities had sexual assault literature, few had women’s resource centers. In addition, the quality of literature and programs varied greatly among the universities. Future research should attempt to explain organizational differences in college responses to the call for resources, as well as examine women’s experiences with resources on campus. Portions of this research were presented at the 2006 meetings of the American Society of Criminology in Los Angeles, CA and at the 2006 meetings of the Midwest Sociological Society in Omaha, NE.

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Correlates of Joining a Sexual Harassment Class Action

Researchers have proposed a variety of factors that influence the decision to seek legal relief in response to sexual harassment, but have generally failed to test these proposals empirically. The present study aims to address this gap by investigating the decision to join a class-action lawsuit. Participants were female professionals at a nationally based financial services firm, who either participated in or opted out of a sexual harassment class-action proceeding against the company. Five variables emerged as significant correlates of joining the class: organizational climate, turnover, financial dependence, PTSD, and primary appraisal. Dominance analysis identified contextual factors as the most important correlate. Theoretical and practical implications for the role of these factors in joining a class action are discussed.

Criminal victimization in contemporary China: a review of the evidence and challenges for future research

The rapid economic growth in China over recent decades has been accompanied by higher levels of crime, but there have been few studies of the Chinese experience of criminal victimization. A recent victimization survey of a representative sample of households in Tianjin represents a major effort to fill this gap in the literature. The present paper reviews the research based on the Tianjin survey along with other studies of crime and criminal victimization in China that have been published since 1990. We summarize the major findings, discuss the theoretical perspectives and methodological strategies that have been applied, identify the limitations of the research to date, and offer suggestions for future research.

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<Emphasis Type="Italic">Dura lex,sed lex</Emphasis>? Insights from the subjective theory of opportunity cost

Seeking a grounding in Buchanan (Cost and choice: an inquiry in economic theory, 1969) subjective theory of opportunity cost, this paper sets out to fix a notional locus of the law in order to determine the cost of law enforcement. The paper also explores the impact of unlawful activities on the economy and analyses the evolution of individual criminal activities in collective criminal organizations such as the mafia.

Subterranean Sources of Juvenile Delinquency in China: Evidence from Birth Cohort Surveys

This article examines possible reasons for the dramatic rise in Chinese juvenile delinquency rates that have occurred since the start of economic reform. The article focuses on the degree to which relatively recent modifications in the ideology and practice of Chinese communism have engendered new social pressures and strains on young people. Delinquents’ social values are compared with those of non-delinquent youth, drawing heavily from data collected in a longitudinal birth cohort study. The dataset is assessed for evidence of subterranean values; i.e., subculture-based reflections of principles found within the dominant political culture; based on the theory that youthful deviance and delinquency in China are fueled primarily by the relatively rapid diffusion of often-contradictory market-based precepts. The lingering impact of Maoism is also assessed, particularly with regard to incongruous ideological influences on youth.

Making the Sexual Harassment of Others Self-Relevant: The Roles of Identity Salience and Value Affirmation

In three experiments, female participants were primed to think of themselves as female university students or unique individuals. We predicted that group-primed participants would find reading about the sexual harassment of a female student threatening to their self-concepts. However, if these participants could affirm an important value, the threat to their personal self-esteem might be resolved. Group-primed participants who wrote about an important individual value reported higher personal self-esteem in comparison with group-primed participants who did not. However, when group-primed participants wrote about a value important to their group, they did not report higher personal self-esteem in comparison to group-primed participants who lacked this opportunity. The results suggest that group-primed participants who affirmed an important individual value reported higher personal self-esteem because it allowed them to re-categorize themselves as unique individuals who were different from the female victim.

Does Acceptability of Violence Impact the Relationship Between Satisfaction,Victimization, and Commitment Levels in Emerging Adult Dating Relationships?

This study examined the impact of acceptability of violence on dating violence victimization, relationship satisfaction, and relationship commitment. A survey administered to a sample of 155 male and 417 female college students showed that relationship satisfaction was significantly associated with relationship commitment, but that dating violence victimization was not. Moreover, acceptability of violence emerged as a significant moderator of the relationship between satisfaction and commitment in dating relationships when gender differences were assessed. Discussion of these findings and future research are included.

The positive effects of cognitive–behavioral programs for offenders: A meta-analysis of factors associated with effective treatment

A meta-analysis of 58 experimental and quasi-experimental studies of the effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on the recidivism of adult and juvenile offenders confirmed prior positive findings and explored a range of potential moderators to identify factors associated with variation in treatment effects. With method variables controlled, the factors independently associated with larger recidivism reductions were treatment of higher risk offenders, high quality treatment implementation, and a CBT program that included anger control and interpersonal problem solving but not victim impact or behavior modification components. With these factors accounted for, there was no difference in the effectiveness of different brand name CBT programs or generic forms of CBT.

The impact of the US legislation on company measures of control and prevention

The spectacular business scandals in recent years have led both the legislative and business companies to rethink and redesign their strategies. This article analyzes the worldwide impact of reforms in economic crime legislation emanating from the USA. Empirical data are reported showing that the US regulations are generating a spillover effect spreading beyond its sphere of operation. It is particularly notable that international stock-exchange-listed companies are orienting themselves increasingly toward the legal standards of the USA. Translated from the German by Jonathan Harrow, Bielefeld.

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Discovering sources of inequality in transition economies: a case study of rural Vietnam

Applying the recently developed inequality accounting framework, we quantify contributions of fundamental variables to consumption inequality in rural Vietnam. It is found that major determinants of the inequality include location, education, infrastructures. From 1993 to 1998, the contributions of education, physical capital, labour and community infrastructure to total inequality increased while those of land and credit access declined. Ethnicity is found to play a decreasing role in composing total inequality. Policy implications are discussed.

Does illegality breed violence? Drug trafficking and state-sponsored protection rackets

Illegality does not necessarily breed violence. The relationship between illicit markets and violence depends on institutions of protection. When state-sponsored protection rackets form, illicit markets can be peaceful. Conversely, the breakdown of state-sponsored protection rackets, which may result from well-meaning policy reforms intended to improve law enforcement, can lead to violence. The cases of drug trafficking in contemporary Mexico and Burma show how a focus on the emergence and breakdown of state-sponsored protection rackets helps explain variation in levels of violence both within and across illicit markets.

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