The influence of race,gender, family,and employment status on probationer sanctioning for noncompliance

Abstract

Although there is substantial attention to judicial decision-making during sentencing, fewer studies have examined decision-making post sentencing. Further, the interactions of probationer race and additional background factors have been under studied in post-sentencing decision-making. This study utilizes the focal concerns perspective to examine whether race interacts with gender, family status, and employment status in predicting sanctioning probationers for noncompliance. A sample of probation review hearings within an eight-month period in three domestic violence courts were selected. Results demonstrate that race does not interact with other background factors in influencing a jail sanction, while non-compliant behaviors are the strongest predictors.     

Guardianship and crime: an international comparative study of guardianship in action

An observational tool was developed to measure guardianship potential and guardianship in action in residential areas in The Hague, the Netherlands by Reynald (Crime Prevention and Community Safety 11(1):1?C20, 2009; Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 47(3):358?C390, 2010). Guardianship potential was measured using the defensible space-based measures from the Block Environment Inventory (BEI), while Guardianship in Action (GIA) was observed by recording whether or not guardians (1) were visibly available, (2) were monitoring, and (3) intervened when necessary. This article reports on an international comparison of GIA in The Hague and in an American city. A comparative understanding will help advance knowledge on the measurement of active guardianship and related defensible space dimensions and identify socio-cultural differences in the application and meaning of the guardianship concept. Key results include that the observable dimensions of guardianship in action were reliable and valid, but some differences existed between the two sites including significant differences related to the social interaction measure. Similarities and differences across the two sites are examined, and implications for theory and research are explored.     

Toward a typology of sexual burglary: Latent class findings

Purpose

To understand fully the nature of residential burglary one must examine the situational context, and offender's behavior during the burglary. Although several behaviors appear to be distinctly related to sexual burglaries, including voyeurism, fetishism, sexual violence, and sexual murder, a systematic typology of the characteristics of residential sexual burglary is lacking. The purpose of the study was to develop a typology of residential sexual burglary.

Methods

The present study investigated 224 incidents of residential burglary with recorded sexual components. A typology classifying these incidents was developed using Latent Class Analysis.

Results

Three types of sexual burglary were identified. Fetishistic noncontact burglaries typically occurred in unoccupied houses and involve fetishistic behavior, but no theft, violence, and weapon. Versatile contact burglaries were characterized by rapes occurring in apartments and involving theft, violence, and weapon. Finally, perpetrators of sexually oriented contact burglaries raped their victim in houses but these incidents rarely involved theft, violence, or weapon. Previous offenses were also analyzed; the three distinct types of burglary appear to be embedded in different prior offense histories. The practical implications are discussed.

Conclusions

This research underscores the importance of examining the situational context and offender's behavior during a residential burglary with sexual components.     

Fault,Gender Politics and Family Law Reform

Recent public debates about family law reform have revealed both support for and criticism of legislative policies that seek to shape social norms. Amidst this debate was a suggestion from some quarters that the Whitlam Government's removal of fault‐based divorce is responsible for the gendered tensions that characterise modern reform debates. This article draws on archival records and interviews conducted with family law professionals who worked in the system in the 1970s and experienced the transition to the no‐fault system, to explore the principles underlying the introduction of the Family Law Act of 1975 and to identify the sources of continuing dissension about its impact.     

Visible and invisible trauma: locating AIDS within a gendered framework in Darrell James Roodt’s Yesterday

Darrell James Roodt's Academy Award Nominated 2006 movie Yesterday explores how problematic gender dynamics in contemporary South Africa can influence the ways in which the issue of HIV/AIDS is perceived and dealt with socially. The film portrays the complex relationship between HIV/AIDS and identity as one that is both personal and public. Through the dramatization of a couple's experience of living with HIV/AIDS, Roodt's film considers a way in which the epidemic can be structured – through the framework of a gendered narrative. The film's portrayal of Yesterday's journey underlines how this narrative is filled with silences, a fear to disclose, and the blaming and punishment of the female as a scapegoat for HIV/AIDS.     

Is Investor Purchasing of Foreclosures Related to Neighborhood Crime? Evidence From a Phoenix Suburb

Little is known about how investors purchasing foreclosures during the recent U.S. housing crisis are affecting neighborhood crime. While they may decrease crime by reducing vacancies or bettering neighborhood conditions, they may increase it by escalating neighborhood turnover. Combining local police department data on calls for service with foreclosure, home sales, and sociodemographic data, this research uses longitudinal modeling to assess the relation between the purchasing of foreclosures by investors and calls for service in neighborhoods in Chandler, Arizona, a Phoenix suburb where investors are renting former foreclosures. Neighborhoods where foreclosures were more often purchased by investors had more calls for service about violent crime the following year.     

Racial Discrimination and Alcohol Problems: Examining Interactions with Genetic Risk and Impulsivity among African American Young Adults

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Experiences of racial discrimination have been shown to increase risk for alcohol problems. Some individuals may be particularly vulnerable to the negative...     

La vie après une mission de verification de I'optimisation des ressources:le point de vue des gestionnaires

Sommaire: L'opinion des vérificateurs généraux sur la gestion des affaires publiques est bien connue. En fait, grâce aux rapports qu'ils publient régulièrement à la suite des missions de vérification de l'optimisation des ressources (vor), ils peuvent révéler au grand jour les lacunes qu'ils ont relevées dans la gestion des différentes organisations qu'ils visitent. Par contre, du côté des gestionnaires, on ne peut pas dire qu'ils se bousculent aux portes pour exprimer leur opinion sur le travail des vérificateurs généraux. La recherche que nous avons effecbée permet de lever le voile sur la face cachée de la vor, sur le point de vue des gestionnaires qui ont eu à vivre une telle expérience. En quoi le quotidien des gestionnaires publics est‐il touché par la visite des vérificateurs dans le cadre de missions de vor ? Comment les gestionnaires perçoivent‐ils le rôle des vérificateurs ? Que pensent‐ils de la performance des vérificateurs et qu'est‐ce qui les irrite lorsqu'ils interagissent avec eux ? Quels changements note‐t‐on dans les pratiques de management après une mission de vor ? Qu'en est‐il des relations de ces gestionnaires avec leurs supérieurs ou leurs subordonnés ? Et, du point de vue des gestionnaires, quel a été l'impact de la vor sur la gestion de l'organisation vérifiée ? Abstract: The view of the auditors general on the management of public affairs is well known. In fact, through the reports they issue at regular intervals as the outcome of value for money (vfm) audits, they can bring to light the shortcomings found in the management of the various organizations they inspected. On the other hand, i't cannot be said that managers have been rushing to express their opinion on the work of the auditors general. Our research reveals the hidden face of the vfm audits by presenting the views of managers who had to go through the process. How does the vfm auditors visit affect the government officials' daily routine? How is the auditors' role perceived by managers? What do they think of the auditors' performance, and what do they find irritating when they interact with them? What changes in management practice are noted after a vfm audit? How about the relations of these managers with their superiors or subordinates? According to the managers, what was the impact of vfm audits on the management of the organization audited?