Reactions to Mandatory Sentences in Relation to the Ethnic Identity and Criminal History of the Offender

This study investigated the responses of 181 participants (87 men, 94 women), from Adelaide, South Australia, to scenarios describing mandatory sentences for perpetrators of a property offense committed in the Northern Territory, Australia. Four scenarios that were randomly distributed varied ethnic identity (White Australian, Aboriginal Australian) and criminal history (first-time offender, third-time offender). Participants completed attitude measures for both mandatory sentencing and capital punishment, a right-wing authoritarianism scale, and a scale concerned with sentencing goals (retribution, deterrence, protection of society, and rehabilitation). Results showed strong effects of attitude toward mandatory sentencing on scenario responses for variables such as perceived responsibility, deservingness, leniency, seriousness, anger and pleasure, and weaker effects of ethnic identity and criminal history. Participants were generally more sympathetic when the offender was an Aboriginal Australian. Results of a multiple regression analysis showed that attitude toward mandatory sentence was predicted by right-wing authoritarianism and by sentencing goals relating to deterrence and the protection of society.     

Niche crime: The Columbus gangs study

Even though researchers have studied gangs for many years now, very little is known about the criminal activity of gang leaders. The purpose of this study is to examine the types of criminal activities in which gang leaders participate. Analysis of the criminal histories of 83 gang leaders from Columbus, Ohio, suggests that gangs there specialize in certain types of crime. These data imply that gang suppression policies might be more effective if they target specific niches of the crime market. The Office of Criminal Justice Services of the State of Ohio funded this research under Grant No. 91-JJ-C010682. The author wishes to thank Dr. Michael R. Sutton of Nottingham Trent University for his contributions to this article.     

Racial disparities in access to long-term care: the illusive pursuit of equity

While nursing homes were insulated from civil-rights enforcement at the time of the implementation of the Medicare program and lagged behind other parts of the health sector in providing comparable access to minorities, they are the only providers for which current reporting requirements make it possible to fully assess racial disparities in use and quality of care. We find that African Americans' use of nursing homes in 2000 in the United States was 14 percent higher than Caucasians' use. The largest relative African American use of nursing homes in 2000 took place in the South and West. Average nursing-home case-mix acuity for African Americans and Caucasians were essentially identical, suggesting that shifts in payment incentives have eliminated the selective admission of easy-care private-pay (predominantly Caucasian) patients and helped fuel the growth of private pay home care and assisted living for this segment of the population. While these shifts in incentives helped increase the use of nursing homes by African Americans, a high degree of segregation and disparity in the quality of the nursing homes used by African Americans persists. Parity in use is an illusive benchmark for measuring progress in assuring equity in treatment.     

Children Wow in Talent Show

正This winter I had the pleasure of being invited to be a judge at a youth winter camp activities talent show as part of a four-member panel and the only foreigner.We were allowed to score up to50 points for each performer;there were some 150 children of middle-school age.The judging spanned two sessions in the course of a morning and afternoon.     

A Geospatial Analysis of the Impact of Sex Offender Residency Restrictions in Two New York Counties

The efficacy of sex offender residence restriction laws in enhancing public safety is controversial and further complicated by evidence that adverse collateral effects may negate or even outweigh whatever benefits they achieve. Based on the theory of “distance decay” that postulates that offenders are more likely to recidivate closer to home, the statutes seek to distance offenders from potential child victims. However, to the extent that such statutes preclude residence in large portions of covered jurisdictions, it has been argued that they contribute to social instability, relegation of offenders to rural or undesirable locations, and even homelessness. A small number of studies have demonstrated the impact of restrictions on residential availability and compliance with the laws, but methodologic issues make it difficult to compare findings. This study uses parcel geocoding, a computerized mapping method, to examine the impact of the sex offender residency restrictions enacted in Erie and Schenectady Counties, NY. Identification and mapping of restricted locations revealed that in nonurban areas, available residential locations were drastically reduced by the restrictions (89.46% and 73.16% restricted in the two counties) and in urban areas almost completely eliminated (95.45% and 97.21%). Unexpectedly, however, when the registered sex offenders in each county were matched to their addresses in the state database, analysis revealed that residence restrictions had no demonstrable effect on where offenders live. More than 85% of offenders in each of the counties were found living in the urban centers, the vast majority of whom (91.89% and 100%) were matched to addresses in restricted locations. These findings may have important policy and procedural implications in the creation and enforcement of sex offender statutes, as well as in the evaluation of those presently in place.     

Correction to: Right method,right price: the economic value and associated risks of experimentation

Journal of Experimental Criminology - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The DOI given for the reference Bennett et al. 2008 is incorrect.     

Birthplace of Kungfu

正Summer is tourism season,and many foreigners flock to see Beijing’s historic sights and Shanghai’s sparkling lights,and maybe even the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an,capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province.But another attraction merits mention—the Shaolin     

The Relation of Parenting Styles and Inconsistencies to Adaptive Functioning for Children in Conflictual and Violent Families

Research of parenting in conflictual and violent families suggests that battered mothers (i.e., those experiencing verbal and/or physical abuse by their partner) may not parent very differently from demographically similar nonbattered mothers. However, battered mothers do report being less consistent in their discipline. In the present study, 104 mothers and their children from community nonviolent and violent families and shelter violent and violent abusive families participated in interviews to obtain information about child functioning and authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parental practices. It was the case that authoritative practices were associated with more positive child functioning and that parental inconsistency, defined in terms of endorsing conflictual parenting practices, was associated with poorer child outcome. Groups of mothers were identified that fit different patterns of parenting practices, and these patterns were differentially related to children's functioning.