Research With Considerations of Use

The August Vollmer Award Address is intended to focus on contributions to justice and the recipient's research and policy experiences. This is a story of one person's career focusing mainly on research with “considerations of use.” After receiving a formal education in psychology, social work, and sociology, as well as experience as a practitioner, the author's academic career has primarily focused on the link between research and criminal justice policy and practice. This is the story of that journey and how it was aided by events that could not have been foreseen.     

Revisiting Dynamic Social Impact Theory: Extensions and Applications for Political Science

Traditional social science research tends to regard political attitudes as the product of individuals’ internal processes. This approach ignores the existence of external influences on individual attitudes, particularly that of social communication. We argue that political attitudes are neither confined to the individual, nor are they wholly social constructions. This study examines how political information is structured and communicated through a social medium. We employ multi-agent simulation to replicate and extend a previous simulation of attitude formation based on Latané’s (American Psychologist 36:343–356, 1981) theory of social impact. Specifically, our extension of the previous model incorporates motivated reasoning processes, attitude persuasiveness, and agent uncertainty in order to more accurately capture the pervasiveness of social communication. These changes allow us to model effects not previously possible, such as attitude polarization and information cascades. Results from this study show that realistic structures in the distributions of attitudes can be recreated using prevailing aggregate- and individual-level models of attitude formation. By formally modeling the dynamics of social impact, researchers gain insight into social influences on individuals’ attitudes and the consequences for public opinion.     

Post-Separation Abuse of Women and their Children: Boundary-Setting and Family Court Utilization among Victimized Mothers

Continued abuse of themselves and their children is a concern for many mothers leaving intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrating husbands. This research examines women’s responses to abuse committed by ex-husbands with whom they had undergone custody disputes. In-depth, qualitative interviews were conducted with 19 mothers who had divorced IPV-perpetrating husbands between 1 and 3 years prior. Participants were located through publicly available family court divorce records and interviews were examined using analytic induction. Women’s strategies to protect themselves and their children from abuse involved setting boundaries to govern their interactions with ex-husbands. Mothers often turned to family court for assistance in setting boundaries to keep children safe, but found that family court did not respond in ways they believed protected their children. Conversely, when women turned to the justice system for restraining orders or called the police for help against IPV, they generally found the justice system responsive.     

An Optimized DNA Analysis Workflow for the Sampling,Extraction, and Concentration of DNA obtained from Archived Latent Fingerprints

DNA profiles have been obtained from fingerprints, but there is limited knowledge regarding DNA analysis from archived latent fingerprints—touch DNA “sandwiched” between adhesive and paper. Thus, this study sought to comparatively analyze a variety of collection and analytical methods in an effort to seek an optimized workflow for this specific sample type. Untreated and treated archived latent fingerprints were utilized to compare different biological sampling techniques, swab diluents, DNA extraction systems, DNA concentration practices, and post‐amplification purification methods. Archived latent fingerprints disassembled and sampled via direct cutting, followed by DNA extracted using the QIAamp® DNA Investigator Kit, and concentration with Centri‐Sep? columns increased the odds of obtaining an STR profile. Using the recommended DNA workflow, 9 of the 10 samples provided STR profiles, which included 7–100% of the expected STR alleles and two full profiles. Thus, with carefully selected procedures, archived latent fingerprints can be a viable DNA source for criminal investigations including cold/postconviction cases.     

Self-esteem of young adults experiencing interparental violence and child physical maltreatment: parental and peer relationships as mediators

This study examined the joint impact of experiencing both interparental violence and child physical maltreatment on young adults' self-esteem. It also tested the hypothesis of parental and peer relationship qualities as mediators in the relationship between childhood histories of family violence and adult self-esteem. Data were collected from a national probability sample of 1,924 college students in Taiwan. Research results demonstrated that experiencing both interparental violence and physical maltreatment during childhood have long-term and detrimental impact on adult self-esteem. This impact was statistically independent of other potential confounding factors. Moreover, participants experiencing dual violence during childhood reported lower self-esteem than those experiencing only one type of family violence or none at all. Male participants who experienced dual violence reported lower self-esteem than female participants who experienced dual violence. Further analyses revealed that parental and peer relationship qualities mediated the joint impact of interparental violence and physical maltreatment on adult self-esteem.     

International Trends in Prison Upsizing and Downsizing: In Search of Evidence of a Global Rehabilitation Revolution

Abstract

Our review of global trends in the use of incarceration reveals that both the number of people incarcerated worldwide and the global rate of incarceration continue to increase in every global region. In addition, there have been sizable global increases in the use of pretrial detention, the proportion of female prisoners, the proportion of foreign prisoners, prison privatization, and prison crowding. After reviewing these global trends, we examine the available data on correctional performance, focusing on global crime trends in the subgroup of countries (n = 20) where three-quarters of the world’s prison population is currently located. While most (17/20) of these countries continued to increase their prison population despite decreases in most crime categories, three countries—the Russian Federation, South Africa, and Pakistan—have reduced their reliance on incarceration (number and rate) while also reducing their crime rates. Compared to other countries with large prison populations, the United States’ overall increase in both the prison population (+14.4% since 2000) and incarceration rate (+2.2) can be described as modest. Our review of global trends in corrections and sentencing policy reforms revealed an emerging focus on offender rehabilitation in both prison and community corrections settings and a growing recognition of the link between community development and crime. Focusing on the potential impact of rehabilitation-rich policy reforms in the United States, we highlight the results of a recent simulation modeling study (Taxman & Pattavina, 2013 Pattavina, A., & Taxman, F. S. (2013). Using discrete-event simulation modeling to estimate the impact of RNR program implementation on recidivism levels. In F. S. Taxman & A. Pattavina (Eds.), Simulation strategies to reduce recidivism (pp. 267–281). New York, NY: Springer.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) designed to estimate the impact of expanding our institutional corrections treatment infrastructure. This study reported significant, but relatively small, long-term reductions in prison populations when treatment capacity and treatment quality are increased. These findings suggest that even major improvement in the quantity and quality of prison programming—by itself—will not fundamentally change the life course of prisoners, resulting in continued high return-to-prison rates for these offenders. We conclude that for the United States to significantly reduce its reliance on incarceration, we will need to rethink our approach to crime and punishment. Our global review of corrections and sentencing strategies identified a number of possibilities. Using the global incarceration rate and the global crime rate as benchmark performance “tipping points,” we call for the development of corrections and sentencing policies—and the hiring of corrections personnel—based on the new goal of corrections: individual and community rehabilitation.