Self-Control,Violent Offending,and Homicide Victimization: Assessing the General Theory of Crime

Criminologists have long recognized that offending and victimization share common ground. Using Gottfredson and Hirschis general theory of crime, with its emphasis on self-control as a theoretical backdrop, we examine the extent to which self-control is related to both violent offending and homicide victimization. To examine this issue, we use 5-year post-parole data on violent offending and homicide victimization from a sample of parolees from the California Youth Authority. Using rare-events logistic regression models, results indicate that self-control is related to each outcome, but that other risk factors are also uniquely related to each outcome. The implications of this study for theory and future research are addressed.To whom correspondence should be addressed: Department of Criminology, Law and Society, University of Florida, P.O. Box 115950, 201 Walker Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611-5950; Phone: +1-352-392-1025, ext. 213; E-mail: apiquero@ufl.edu     

Aboriginal women and everyday racism in Alberta: From lived experiences of racism to strategies for personal healing and collective resistance

This ethnographic study of Aboriginal women in southern Alberta analyses how racism is experienced in everyday life and highlights personal and community responses to racism. The stories of fifteen women who were interviewed in 1992–93 provide us with a new understanding of everyday racism: how racism is experienced daily in many aspects of Native people's lives, and how this racism causes pain and loss for Native people. The women's stories also reflect their sense of agency as they respond to racism with efforts for personal healing and anti-racist organizing.     

Racial attitudes and belief in redeemability: Most Whites believe justice-involved Black people can change

Public belief in redeemability reduces punitiveness and increases support for policy measures such as rehabilitation, expungement, and housing and employment opportunities. Although racial attitudes are known to influence a wide range of criminal justice policy opinions, their effects on beliefs about redeemability and condemnation have not been fully explored. Using data from a 2019 YouGov survey of a national sample of White U.S. adults (N = 766), the current study estimates the effects of three distinct racial attitudes—racial resentment, racial sympathy, and White nationalism—on three measures of belief in redeemability: 1) a race-neutral measure, 2) a measure of belief in redeemability of Black offenders, and 3) a measure of condemnation of Black offenders. The results indicate that belief in redeemability is high—for offenders in general and for Black offenders. These findings are supported by a second 2022 YouGov survey of White U.S. adults (N = 1,505). Racial sympathy and White nationalism have significant effects across all three outcomes, with the positive effect of White nationalism on condemnation of Black offenders being the largest across the three models. These findings suggest that although most Whites agree that formerly incarcerated people are redeemable, racial attitudes influence these beliefs, especially for Black offenders.     

Effects of Pre-release Services on Access to Behavioral Health Treatment after Release from Prison

Using the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative data-set, substance use and mental health needs of released inmates are examined to explore whether there is a positive relationship between pre-release services and behavioral health treatment access at three months post-release. Two weighted hierarchical linear models were run testing the effects of three key pre-release services: pre-release needs assessment, pre-release linkage with inmates’ post-release case managers, and pre-release assistance with accessing post-release health insurance. Results demonstrate that pre-release needs assessment significantly increases the odds of receiving post-release substance abuse treatment, and case management linkage and assistance with accessing health insurance significantly increase the odds of mental health treatment after release. Policy implications for reentry service provision targeting behavioral health needs, and directions for future research, are discussed.     

Persistence of Polydimethylsiloxane Condom Lubricants

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is commonly used to lubricate condoms. The detection of PDMS on swabs from complainants can be used to support an allegation of sexual assault. Previous research has focused on establishing analytical techniques for detecting PDMS. This research examined the persistence of PDMS on the penis, in the vagina, in the mouth, and on skin. The longest PDMS detection times were 20 h on the penis, 35 h in the vagina, and 52 h on skin. PDMS was detected up to 4 h in the mouth if the participant did not eat or drink and up to 9 h if the participant slept. PDMS was not detected in the mouth after eating or drinking. The presence of biological fluids had no detrimental effect on the analysis. Aqueous extraction of swabs for DNA did not remove any significant amount of PDMS; hence, swab remains could be subsequently analyzed for PDMS.     

When I grow up… I don't want to be broke: The problems with child actor trust fund requirements

Child actors have consistently been treated as typical minority laborers, with all of their earnings legally belonging to their parents. After many child actors were left with scraps at the end of their minority, Coogan's law was enacted in California to require parents of child actors to withhold some of their earnings in a trust. However, almost a century after Coogan's law was passed, there are still many child actors left with nothing. This Note proposes to both enact further union regulations to protect child actors in every state, and also to raise the required amount withheld from fifteen percent (15%) to fifty percent (50%).