Reading for Life and Adolescent Re‐Arrest: Evaluating a Unique Juvenile Diversion Program

We present results of an evaluation of Reading for Life (RFL), a diversion program for nonviolent juvenile offenders in a medium‐sized Midwestern county. The unique program uses philosophical virtue theory, works of literature, and small mentoring groups to foster moral development in juvenile offenders. Participants were randomly assigned to RFL treatment or a comparison program of community service. The RFL program generated large and statistically significant drops in future arrests. The program was particularly successful at reducing the recidivism of more serious offenses and for those groups with the highest propensity for future offenses.     

Patterns of Violence Exposure and Substance Use among Child Welfare Involved Youth

Journal of Family Violence - Emerging research suggests an association between exposure to violence, specifically indirect forms, and substance use among youth involved in the child welfare (CW)...     

Defining workplace bullying behaviour professional lay definitions of workplace bullying

As is commonly the case in new areas of research, workplace bullying researchers and practitioners have struggled to establish a single agreed-upon definition of this phenomenon. As a consequence, there are numerous definitions of workplace bullying currently in use around the world to investigate this serious workplace issue, to educate the workforce about this form of harassment and to assess claims involving allegations of workplace bullying. Additionally, little is known about how employees and people in general define workplace bullying behaviour, and whether current researcher, practitioner and legal definitions coincide with lay definitions of bullying. To compare researcher, practitioner and legal definitions of workplace bullying with lay definitions, the content of definitions composed by adults from diverse personal and professional backgrounds (N=1095) was analysed. Results confirmed that components commonly used by researchers and practitioners, including the occurrence of harmful and negative workplace behaviours, were frequently cited by participants as central defining components of bullying behaviour. In addition, lay definitions often included themes of fairness and respect. The emergence of these themes has important consequences for organisations responding to, and attempting to prevent the occurrence of workplace bullying behaviour in that organisations in which bullying is tolerated may violate both local laws as well as their ethical responsibility to provide employees with a safe, professional and respectful workplace.     

Behind the Blue Line: Investigating Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward Rape

The current study contributes to what is known about police officers’ attitudes toward rape. A survey was administered to 891 sworn police officers in two states in the southeastern United States. The surveys were designed to assess police officers’ acceptance of rape myths. It was hypothesized that police officers would be accepting of rape myths, which are inherently misogynistic. Attitudes toward rape were expected to vary according to educational attainment and experience with rape investigations, such that higher levels of education and more experience with rape investigations would lead to the rejection of rape myths. There was a significant difference in the acceptance of rape myths with varying levels of educational attainment and experience with rape investigations.

Assessing the Impact of State Human Trafficking Legislation on Criminal Justice System Outcomes

Since 2003, state legislatures in the United States have been active in passing legislation aimed at combating human trafficking. To date, all states have passed laws that criminalize acts of human trafficking, though with significant variation in the penalty structure and associated legal provisions. This article examines what aspects of state human trafficking laws are most impactful at increasing the arrest and prosecution of human trafficking suspects. Using panel data on state laws and associated enforcement actions from 2003 to 2012, this study confirms that more comprehensive state laws that invest in antitrafficking resources are most strongly associated with human trafficking arrests and prosecutions. States that make legislative provisions for victim assistance, law enforcement training, statutory task forces, and mandatory reporting have higher antitrafficking criminal enforcement. The political environment in which state human trafficking laws are enacted also influences their enforcement.