Self-Talk: A New Criminological Theory

A new theory on the causes of criminal behavior is presented in which the authors assert that the reasons for any criminal act can be determined by identifying what the offender was telling him/herself prior to and during the time when the crime was committed. This theory has direct rehabilitative implications as the authors assert that the only way to curb future criminal activity is to change the underlying self-talk of the offender.     

DELINQUENCY AMONG WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION YOUTH

Little research has been conducted on delinquency among American Indian youth. The present study reports the results of an intensive investigation of the officially recognized and recorded delinquency involvement of Indian youth living on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Findings indicate: (1) a relatively high rate of official delinquency involvement; (2) that a high percentage of charges were for rather minor offenses; and (3) that a high percentage of charges were for alcohol-related offenses     

SHORT‐TERM CHANGES IN ADULT ARREST RATES INFLUENCE LATER SHORT‐TERM CHANGES IN SERIOUS MALE DELINQUENCY PREVALENCE: A TIME‐DEPENDENT RELATIONSHIP*

The impacts of quarterly adult arrest rates on later male serious delinquency prevalence rates were investigated in Philadelphia police districts (N = 23) over several years using all male delinquents aged 10–15 years who were mandated to more than “straight” probation. An ecological deterrence model expects more arrests to lead to less delinquency later. A community justice or mass incarceration model, the ecological version of general strain theory, and an ecologized version of the procedural justice model, each anticipates more arrests lead to more delinquency later. Investigating quarterly lags from 3 to 24 months between adult arrests and later delinquency, the results showed a time‐dependent relationship. Models with short lags showed the negative relationship expected by ecological deterrence theory. Models with lags of about a year and a half showed the positive relationship expected by the other three theories. Indicators needed so future works can gauge the relative merits of each theoretical perspective more accurately are described. The spatial distributions of current and 1920s delinquency rates were compared.     

EVALUATION OF POLICE SERVICES IN MEDIUM-SIZED CITIES

Citizen evaluations of police services in four medium-sized cities are investigated in this article. Socioeconomic characteristics as well as police attitudes and political attitudes were found not to be good predictors of citizen evaluation. Complaint efficacy was found to be the best predictor of citizen satisfaction with police services.     

NATIONAL PROJECTS IN CIVILIAN TECHNOLOGY

National projects in civilian technology initiated and implemented by the federal government generally cost in excess o f $1 billion and often extend beyond the political lifetime of a particular presidential administration. The authors explore the consequences of the U.S. political and administrative system on government-sponsored technology development by examining four such national projects: the SST, civilian nuclear power, synfuels, and the supercomputer. They relate the absence of planning and often tortuous course that characterizes these cases to the functioning–for better or worse–of American pluralistic politics.