Attachment and social bonding in maximum and minimum security prison inmates

Attitudes towards social attachment and bonding were evaluated in groups of maximum (N=48) and bonding were evaluated in groups of maximum (N=46) security prison inmates and compared with the attitudes of a group of 49 noncriminal college students. Three primary styles of attachment were considered: avoidant, ambivalent/anxious, and secure. It was predicted that the maximum security condition, a group hypothesized to contain a large number of lifestyle criminals, would evidence more of an avoidant style of attachment compared to minimum security inmates or a group of college student controls. Consistent with this hypothesis, the maximum security inmates exhibited greater avoidance in their attitudes towards relationships than subjects in the other two conditions. The implications of these results are discussed.     

Lifestyle criminality from a developmental standpoint

A theory which details the development of lifestyle criminality is discussed. The necessary (but not sufficient) early conditions for the development of later criminality involve improper resolution of three early developmental tasks which confront all children (social attachment, stimulus modulation, self-image). A child predisposed to later criminality by weak social bonding, a high need for excitement, and a negative self-image is made even more vulnerable when exposed to such additional influences as low verbal intelligence, a chaotic home environment, or antisocial peers. Despite the importance of these variables, however, it is the lifestyle choices one makes which determine later criminality.     

After the War was over: The civilian return to Leningrad

This article focuses on the civilian return to Leningrad after the end of the Blockade and in the immediate post-war period. It examines how the authorities tried to control movement back to the city but proved to be overwhelmed by vast numbers of civilians returning with or without permission. It describes post-war living conditions, explores the official historical narrative of resilience and recovery, and provides a critique of the alternative historical narrative that claimed there was no post-war ‘return to normalcy’ and that Leningrad became a different city after the war.     

Women and Men in Jail: Attitudes Towards and Experiences of Domestic Violence

This study explores the pre-arrest domestic violence victimization and attitudes towards domestic violence reported by women and men confined in a Midwestern metropolitan jail. Results indicated that women in the jail sample had more fear for the safety of battered women than men in the jail sample. Women in jail were more likely than men in jail to view the legal system as a deterrent to domestic violence. Logistic regression models were constructed to explore associations between jail detainees’ pre-arrest experiences of domestic violence and their gender, age, education, race, parental status and other violent victimizations. The variables associated with pre-arrest domestic violence victimization were being a woman, a parent, a victim rape and a victim of threats with a deadly weapon.