RECIDIVISM AMONG OFFENDERS AND EX-MENTAL PATIENTS: A Comparative Analysis

Prior work has demonstrated a consistently higher rate of arrest for ex-offenders than for ex-mental patients. although as a group ex-patients are more often arrested than the general population. From 1968 and 1975 data, the current study examines some of the possible explanations for the higher rates of offenders as compared to ex-mental patients. Even when age and prior arrests are controlled, the variables with the strongest association with subsequent arrest, a higher proportion of offenders are arrested after release than ex-patients.     

IMPROVING OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES OF POLICE

Despite advances in measurement and the sophistication of statistical technique, quantitative studies of police behavior seems to have reached the limits of their capacity to explain variance, develop and test theory, and inform policy choices. This paper suggests that further advances in observational studies of police behavior require that researchers account for the cognitive decision processes police use in exercising their discretion. A method for debriefing officers after encounters with the public is described. The results of a preliminary test of the method indicate that valuable in formation can be obtained with quite limited reactivity effects.