Routine activity and labor market segmentation An empirical test of a revised approach

This article contends that routine activity theory has virtually ignored the motivated offender construct in terms of its measurement. We extend previous research testing routine activity theory by more accurately modeling the effects of labor market segmentation and other structural sources of offender motivation on variation in crime rates. A revised routine activity model is tested using data for the 100 largest cities in the US in 1980. The findings suggest that as secondary labor markets grow, urban crime can be expected to rise.     

Barriers to evaluating the effectiveness of drug treatment behind bars

The delivery of substance abuse treatment within correctional settings marks one of the criminal justice system's primary opportunities to disrupt the drugs-crime nexus. Federally funded residential substance abuse treatment programs were rapidly introduced across the nation, although implementation problems increased their operational variability. This article examines how implementation barriers interrelate with other types of obstacles and multiply to hinder determinations of program effectiveness. Specific barriers were identified from a case study of process and outcome evaluations of the South Carolina Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program. A conceptual framework groups barriers by type into four interrelated domains wherein additive effects and reciprocal consequences that can undermine effective program assessment are illustrated.     

Effects of victims' characteristics on attitudes toward hate crimes

Hate crimes are motivated by perpetrators' prejudice toward targets' group. To examine individuals' attitudes toward hate crime perpetrators and targets, participants responded to vignettes of court cases in which the victim's group membership was varied. Results showed that participants recommended more severe sentences for perpetrators when the targets of their crimes were not White males or White females and reported those crimes as more closely fitting the definition of "hate crime." These results show that participants consider penalty enhancements appropriate for hate crimes and that they do not consider crimes against women to be hate crimes, consistent with present hate crime legislation. These results have implications for the utility and support of hate crime legislation but may showcase the resistance to expanding the legislation to protect individuals of other groups, especially women.