Sex industry exposure over the life course on the onset and frequency of sex offending

Purpose

Research has examined pornography use on the extent of offending. However, virtually no work has tested whether other sex industry experiences affect sex crime. By extension, the cumulative effect of these exposures is unknown. Social learning theory predicts that exposure should amplify offending. Separately, the developmental perspective highlights that the timing of exposure matters.

Methods

Drawing on retrospective longitudinal data, we first test whether exposure during adolescence is associated with a younger age of onset; we also examine whether adulthood exposure is linked with greater frequency of offending.

Results

Findings indicate that most types of adolescent exposures as well as total exposures were related to an earlier age of onset. Exposure during adulthood was also associated with an overall increase in sex offending, but effects were dependent on “type.”

Conclusion

There are nuances in the effect of sex industry exposure on offending patterns. Implications of results are discussed.     

Packing Heat in the Classroom: Public Support for “Armed Teacher” Policy

ABSTRACT

Recently, states have enacted teacher-carry laws. While controversial, little scholarship has tapped public attitudes toward such reforms. Because public opinion shapes policy, the public is an important stakeholder in this debate. Thus, we investigated three questions. First, how supportive is the public of arming teachers? Second, what demographic and social divides exist, if any, for reform approval? Finally, do crime-related perceptions, concerning views about public safety, and criminogenic influences shape policy preferences? We test these questions using a 2018 poll of Virginia residents (N = 521). Overall, approval for teacher-carry is split. Crime-related perceptions mediate some of the initial social and demographic divides in opinion but other correlates, such as parental status, remain salient predictors of views. Implications are discussed.     

The Recurring Victimization of Individuals with Mental Illness: A Comparison of Trajectories for Two Racial Groups

Objective

This study explores whether the trajectories of recurring victimization of Black persons diagnosed with major mental illnesses vary from the trajectories of their White counterparts. Further, the study examines whether the risk factors for recurring victimization among persons with major mental illness vary by race.

Methods

Using data from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study (MacRisk), two separate hierarchical binomial regression models were estimated to compare the recurring victimization trajectories of Black and White MacRisk participants. Cross-level interaction terms were also estimated to determine if the coefficients for each of the time-varying covariates included in the analyses were significantly different across race.

Results

The findings indicate that the trajectories of recurring victimization for Black persons with serious mental illness are significantly different from those of White persons with serious mental illness. Specifically, Black persons’ trajectories remain relatively stable over time, while the risk of recurring victimization declines for Whites as time since release from the hospital increases. Further, the effects of alcohol abuse on revictimization risk vary by race.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that the life experiences of Black persons with mental illness may be different from their White counterparts, which is likely to contribute to distinct patterns of recurring victimization over time. Future research should continue to explore recurring victimization among diverse samples to identify potential sources of the variation in revictimization trajectories across race.

     

Who Pollutes? Ownership type and environmental performance of Chinese firms

What is the relationship between ownership type and environmental performance in Chinese firms? Using a survey of over 1,000 industrial firms in 12 Chinese cities in 2006, this article tests a number of competing hypotheses linking ownership type to environmental performance. The results show that small and medium state-owned enterprises (SOEs) on average spend less on pollution abatement technologies and are less likely to meet national emissions standards, compared to privately owned enterprises (POEs) and foreign invested enterprises (FIEs). However, the environmental performance of the largest SOEs matches that of their private and foreign counterparts. These findings are complemented by qualitative interviews and archival research conducted in 2012.     

Ein Schlüssel zum Erfolg?

Between 1990 and 2005, eleven referenda took place in the German Länder. Of these initiatives, seven were accepted by the voters, while the remaining four were unsuccessful. This pattern raises the question as to whether certain factors lead to increased likelihood of success at the ballot-box. Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), the following analyses demonstrate that, taken separately, none of the conditions examined in this article have positive effects on the chances of popular endorsement. Instead, a certain combination of conditions seems to be associated with successful initiatives.     

Taking Threat Seriously: Prejudice,Principle, and Attitudes Toward Racial Policies

Drawing from group theories of race-related attitudes and electoral politics, we develop and test how anxiety influences the relative weight of prejudice as a determinant of individuals’ support for racial policies. We hypothesize that prejudice will more strongly influence the racial policy preferences of people who are feeling anxious than it will for people who are not. Using an experimental design we manipulate subjects’ levels of threat and find significant treatment effects, as hypothesized. We find that individuals’ racial policy attitudes are partially conditional on their affective states: individuals who feel anxious report less support for racial policies than those individuals who do not feel anxious, even when this threat is stimulated by non-racial content. More broadly, we conclude that affect is central to a better understanding of individuals’ political attitudes and behaviors.