In and out of prison: Do importation factors predict all forms of misconduct or just the more serious ones?

Purpose

This study was designed to investigate whether importation factors predict all forms of prison misconduct and recidivism or just the more serious forms.

Methods

Six importation factors were examined: age, marital status, street gang affiliation, criminal thinking, prior drug abuse, and criminal history. Count data for two high severity infractions (assault, escape), two high-moderate severity infractions (fighting, possession of intoxicants), two moderate severity infractions (refusing programs, stealing), two high severity crimes (assault, robbery), and two moderate severity crimes (DUI, failure to appear) were regressed onto these six importation variables in samples of 2488 (prison infractions) and 1101 (recidivism) male inmates.

Results

The importation variables successfully predicted the four infractions that were rated high and high-moderate in severity and the two crimes that were rated high severity but not the two infractions or two crimes that were rated as moderate in severity.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that importation factors are differentially predictive of more serious forms of infraction and recidivism and that the importation model may have as much to offer the study of community adjustment and recidivism as it does the study of institutional adjustment and disciplinary infractions as part of the more general theoretical construct of criminal propensity.     

The custody orientation of correctional officers: An international comparison

Correctional officers are the most numerous of staff in correctional institutions, and thus an important component in the functioning of the prison. Previous research has identified a subgroup of correctional officers who have been termed “custody oriented.” These officers value the security and supervison aspect of corrections work, and many times hold negative attitudes towards inmates. In order to ascertain the variables that may give rise to a custody orientation and to determine if these variables operate cross‐culturally, the attitudes of American (n = 229) and Canadian (n = 339) correctional officers were examined. The custody orientation of both groups was virtually identical, but the determinants of this custody orientation were quite different for the two groups of officers.     

Behavioral and Attitudinal Factors Differentiating Male Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators With and Without a History of Childhood Family Violence

This study utilized a sample of men (N?=?340) charged with assault against a female partner to assess differences among IPV perpetrators with and without a history of childhood family violence on factors such as angry, controlling and violent behaviors, substance use related behaviors, and attitudes towards women. Over two-thirds of the sample reported childhood exposure to maltreatment or witnessing IPV. Chi-square analyses and t-tests indicated significant differences between perpetrators with and without a history of family violence on eight of eleven measures. Findings suggest perpetrators with a family violence history more strongly endorse ideas that present women and feminine attributes in a negative light. This research demonstrates that while exposure to family violence during childhood is not necessary for IPV to occur, its presence may be a marker for more severe attitudinal and behavioral problems. Findings highlight the need for primary prevention efforts and can inform secondary prevention strategies.     

Criminal Social Identity of Recidivistic Prisoners: The Role of Self-Esteem, Family and Criminal Friends

The aim of this paper is to focus on the factors that can significantly contribute to the presence of criminal social identity within a sample of recidivistic prisoners (N?=?312) using structural equation modelling. Six latent variables were identified: criminal associations with close friends, positive self-esteem, negative self-esteem, cognitive centrality, in-group affect, and in-group ties. Results suggest that criminal social identity is characterized by various internal and external factors including the direct effects of associations with criminal friends, which is influenced by insufficient or absent parental supervision at an early stage of development. It was also found that early peer rejection is not a sufficient predictor of associations with criminal friends and the criminal social identity. This study also provides further support for Social Identity Theory with regards to the role of self-esteem in the development of criminal social identification.     

Child molestation and psychopathy: a taxometric analysis

ABSTRACT

Prior taxometric research on child molesters and general sex offenders has produced inconsistent and contradictory results. There are theoretical, practical, and policy reasons, however, to assume that a psychopathy taxon may exist in sex offenders and that a taxometric study might shed light on this issue. The mean above minus below a cut (MAMBAC), maximum covariance (MAXCOV), and latent-mode factor analysis (L-Mode) taxometric procedures were employed in three overlapping samples: 188 sex offenders with non-relative child victims, 555 sex offenders with non-relative child or adolescent victims or child incest victims, and a mixed sample of 1404 sex offenders. The taxometric analyses revealed evidence of continuous latent structure in all three samples. These results suggest that psychopathy in sex offenders, child molesters in particular, is organised quantitatively (continuous) rather than qualitatively (categorical).     

The wild mammals (protection) bill: A parliamentary white elephant?

Examining one unsuccessful private members’ bill (PMB) ‐ Kevin McNamara's Wild Mammals (Protection) Bill which would have prohibited hunting ‐ this case study examines many of the non‐legislative functions of the British Parliament. Even unsuccessful PMBs ‐ and this was a PMB whose failure was preordained ‐ have many consequences for both parliament and the wider political system of which it is an integral part. PMBs can perform an important ‘exit’ function, taking the decision away from a reluctant executive. They can help to set the agenda of political debate, generating publicity for parliament (as a body), the issue itself and the member promoting the bill. They generate correspondence between represented and representatives, helping to inform and educate. They can be used as a party‐political weapon and may have electoral consequences. They may also affect the legitimacy of the political system. PMBs are far from parliamentary white elephants.     

The Policy Power of the Westminster Parliament: The “Parliamentary State” and the Empirical Evidence

Drawing on several large research projects, and using both quantitative and qualitative evidence, this article assesses the policy influence of the Westminster parliament. Frequently dismissed as powerless in both academic and more popular accounts, we instead show evidence of an institution with significant policy influence, at successive stages of the policy process. Conventional accounts have focused too much on the decision‐making stage, to the exclusion of parliament's role at earlier and later policy stages. Critics have also focused disproportionately on visible influence, overlooking behind‐the‐scenes negotiations and the role of anticipated reactions. Based on analysis of over 6,000 parliamentary votes, 4,000 legislative amendments, 1,000 committee recommendations, and 500 interviews, we conclude that Westminster's influence is both substantial and probably rising.     

Gender ‘Hostility’, Rape,and the Hate Crime Paradigm

This article examines whether crimes motivated by, or which demonstrate, gender ‘hostility’ should be included within the current framework of hate crime legislation in England and Wales. The article uses the example of rape to explore the parallels (both conceptual and evidential) between gender‐motivated violence and other ‘archetypal’ forms of hate crime. It is asserted that where there is clear evidence of gender hostility during the commission of an offence, a defendant should be pursued in law additionally as a hate crime offender. In particular it is argued that by focusing on the hate‐motivation of many sexual violence offenders, the criminal justice system can begin to move away from its current focus on the ‘sexual’ motivations of offenders and begin to more effectively challenge the gendered prejudices that are frequently causal to such crimes.     

Analysis of Ecstasy Tablets Using Capillary Electrophoresis with Capacitively Coupled Contactless Conductivity Detection

A method for the identification of 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and meta‐chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP) was developed employing capillary electrophoresis (CE) with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C⁴D). Sample extraction, separation, and detection of “Ecstasy” tablets were performed in <10 min without sample derivatization. The separation electrolyte was 20 mm TAPS/Lithium, pH 8.7. Average minimal detectable amounts for MDMA and mCPP were 0.04 mg/tablet, several orders of magnitude lower than the minimum amount encountered in a tablet. Seven different Ecstasy tablets seized in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were analyzed by CE‐C⁴D and compared against routine gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). The CE method demonstrated sufficient selectivity to discriminate the two target drugs, MDMA and mCPP, from the other drugs present in seizures, namely amphepramone, fenproporex, caffeine, lidocaine, and cocaine. Separation was performed in <90 sec. The advantages of using C⁴D instead of traditional CE‐UV methods for in‐field analysis are also discussed.