DIFFERENTIAL POLICE TREATMENT OF MALE-ON-FEMALE SPOUSAL VIOLENCE*

Recent studies of police response to violence in which men attack women with whom they have a history of shared intimacy have not addressed the issue that inspired research in the first place: the “leniency thesis” that police treat men who beat their spouses less punitively than other violent offenders. In addition, research examining the deterrent effects of various police treatments of misdemeanor domestic violence is not responsive to complaints that abused women are denied protection of law when they have been victims of serious, felony-grade, abuse by their spouses. This research analyzes the response of the Chester, Pennsylvania, police to 392 consecutively reported felony-grade assaults by persons whose identities were known to victims and police. Results confirm the leniency thesis. Tabular analysis demonstrates that arrests occurred in 13% of male-on-female spousal assaults and 28% of other assaults. Logit analysis indicates that this difference in police response is not attributable to other variables that might be expected to result in differential treatment. We conclude that the practices and results reported by research conducted in progressive police jurisdictions that volunteer to participate in studies of police response to violence against women may not be generalizable to the great majority of U.S. police agencies that have not welcomed such study.     

From rehabilitation to retribution: Examining public policy paradigms and personnel education patterns in corrections

The literature is saturated with discussions of how public policy paradigm shifts over the past several decades have affected everything from escalating prison populations to accelerating tax burdens. However, observers have not examined whether the transition from the medical model to the justice model has influenced the educational qualifications of custodial staff. Theoretically, one might assume that a treatment focus demands higher educational standards than a control orientation. The evidence presented herein largely refutes that assumption. In addition, there is some doubt as to whether advancing educational achievements will continue. Reasons for the dissonance between public policies and the educational credentials of line-level operational personnel are discussed, along with potential future implications.     

Recruiting the Next Generation of Jail Employees: Does Generational Relevance or Agency Size Make a Difference?

Given their multiple functions, inadequate funding, and generally low visibility, America??s jails have sustained an ongoing struggle to recruit a sufficient quantity and quality of applicants to effectively fulfill their mission. Although the current economic downturn has temporarily curtailed turnover, postponed retirements, and intensified job competition, the cyclical nature of economic developments assures that jails will once again be forced into aggressive recruitment rivalry. To proactively address such upcoming challenges, it is essential to determine how jails can most productively target and select the best candidates. Providing information to assist jail administrators in that regard, a national survey was conducted to identify what attracted various age groups to jail employment, in order to ascertain whether a differential recruitment focus is needed to attract the new generation of workers. Jail size was also considered in terms of whether the ease or difficulty of progression through the selection screening process made a difference. Most revealing, however, was the lack of statistically-significant differences between various generational cohorts. Virtually all age groups were in substantial agreement that the extrinsic attractions of jail employment??such as salary, benefits, pension plan, and job stability--were their most important job consideration factors. Overall, findings point toward the recruitment benefit that jails may potentially derive from capitalizing on the advantages of being a steady rock of dependable employment, especially in times that are characterized by job insecurity and economic hardships.     

Toward an Interpretive Criminal Justice

This paper presents the academic field of criminal justice as an interpretive social science. The opening section discusses academic criminal justice from scientific and interpretive perspectives, arguing that the terminology of “justice” is essentially contested. The second section presents the key implication of a contested core terminology: that an interpretive approach is the best way to develop the academic field of criminal justice. Section three reviews central elements of the Gadamerian tradition, with an eye towards its application to the field of criminal justice. The fourth section considers two issues pertinent to an interpretive criminal justice—the problem of interpretation in a field where professional practice is destructive to other normative systems, and the contribution of an interpretive criminal justice to public policy.     

Associations Between Menarcheal Timing and Behavioral Developmental Trajectories for Girls from Age 6 to Age 15

Substantial evidence from cross-sectional and short time-span longitudinal studies exists about negative associations between early pubertal maturation on a number of psychological outcomes. The objective of the present study was to assess the association between early maturation and developmental trajectories of social skills and internalizing and externalizing problems in girls from grades 1 through 9, including pre- and post-pubertal periods. The sample came from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development and included 398 Caucasian and 60 African American girls. Multilevel modeling revealed early maturing Caucasian girls were at risk for higher internalizing and externalizing problems and experiencing higher levels of problems pre-pubertally. African American youth had lower social skills and internalizing problems with no group differences due to early pubertal development. Findings are discussed in light of literature on continuity of girls' psychosocial development before and during the pubertal transition.     

La construction institutionneIIe des reagions du Québec

Sommaire: En visant le développement régional, l'État québécois est passé dune phase d'aménagement du territoire à une phase de management régional de programmes nationaux ainsi que de biens et de services collectifs. L'émergence ou la localisation d'organisations publiques, parapubliques et collectives entre l'État et les municipalités traditionnelles ont occasionné, en fait, la construction institutionnelle des régions. Douze composantes caractérisent cette construction et offrent des criteres de différenciation entre les deux écheions que sont les régions administratives et les régions mrc. Grke à la mesure de l'occupation institutionnelle de ces deux niveaux régionauu, l'article illustre plusieurs phénomènes, dont le degré de construction de cliaque région du Québec. Les auteurs exposent les causes des inégalités ainsi que les tendances actuelles. Abstract: In its efforts towards regional development, Quebec has gone from a phase of physical planning to a phase of regional management of national programs as well as collective goods and services. The emergence or the placing of public organizations at the levels between local municipalities and the state has in fact given rise to the institutional organization of regions. This concept is characterized by twelve components which differentiate between the tier of administrative regions and the tier of the mrc regions. With the degree of the institutional occupation of these two regional levels, this ptper illustrates several phenomena, in particular the degree of achievement in the organization of Quebec regions. The authors expose some causes of inequalities in the achievement of organizations in these regions and the actual tendencies.