Beijing Bumpkin

正I live in Beijing,a city of 20 million people,the capital of the Earth's most populous country and a center of massive cultural,political and economic influence.I've also lived in Shanghai,the financial center of China.So why was I so shocked to discover a clean,sit-down toilet with toilet paper in a     

Shoot first and ask questions later: the interplay of social science research and firearms policy and use

American Journal of Criminal Justice - This paper examines the context within which research and policy have developed by tracing the historical development of gun research across decades and...     

Navigating Get-Tough and Support-Oriented Philosophies for Improving School Safety: Insights from School Administrators and School Safety Staff

American Journal of Criminal Justice - Schools in the United States are increasingly faced with the challenge of navigating two seemingly contradictory approaches to school safety. On the one hand,...     

Predicting crime story salience: A replication

This study examined the presentation of crime stories in the media, and filled three gaps within the large body of research in this area: First, it examined the presentation of crime news in different sized cities with significantly different crime rates. Second, it examined not only the content of crime stories, but importantly addressed what factors explain the prominence of crime stories. Third, it demonstrated the importance of using multivariate statistical techniques in conjunction with content analysis. Consistent with previous research in this area, the study found that journalistic decision-making on crime news was influenced primarily by the seriousness of the offense. In addition, the occupation of the defendant was also important. This study also showed, however, that there was considerable variation depending on the size of city. Specifically, the seriousness of a crime event had a limited impact in cities with lower crime rates. Implications for media studies are discussed.     

Harsh Discipline and Child Problem Behaviors: The Roles of Positive Parenting and Gender

This study examined harsh verbal and physical discipline and child problem behaviors in a community sample of 2,582 parents and their fifth and sixth grade children. Participants were recruited from pediatric practices, and both parents and children completed questionnaire packets. The findings indicated that boys received more harsh verbal and physical discipline than girls, with fathers utilizing more harsh physical discipline with boys than did mothers. Both types of harsh discipline were associated with child behavior problems uniquely after positive parenting was taken into account. Child gender did not moderate the findings, but one dimension of positive parenting (i.e., parental warmth) served to buffer children from the detrimental influences of harsh physical discipline. The implications of the findings for intervention programs are discussed. This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.     

Do perceptions of punishment vary between white-collar and street crimes?

Much has been learned about the relationship between sanction threat perceptions and criminal activity, yet little remains known about the factors that are associated with sanction threat perceptions. Moreover, because most researchers had studied deterrence within the context of street crime, even less is known about the factors that relate to sanction threat perceptions for white-collar crime. This study used data from a national probability sample to examine whether the determinants of perceived sanction certainty and severity for street crime were different from white-collar crime. Using robbery and fraud as two exemplars, the findings indicated that while public perceptions of sanction certainty and severity suggested that street criminals were more likely to be caught and be sentenced to more severe sanctions than white-collar criminals, respondent's perceptions of which type of crime should be more severely punished indicated that both robbery and fraud were equally likely to be perceived ‘on par.’ Additional results indicated that the correlates of certainty and severity were more similar than different, but that the results differed according to whether respondents were asked about the punishment that white-collar offenders were likely to receive as opposed to what they should receive.     

A recidivism analysis of Maryland's community probation program

This study employed a type of quasi-experimental research design that compared a sample of offenders who underwent community supervision (HotSpot) with a matched sample of offenders who underwent “normal” probation supervision (presample) in Maryland. In addition to examining the recidivism pattern of both offender groups, specific attention was also devoted to the potential inhibiting effects of social bonds. Twelve months of recidivism information was collected to include both rearrest and technical violations. Results suggested that the survival distribution (for both rearrest and technical violation) of HotSpot probationers was not significantly different from the survival distribution for pre-HotSpot probationers. In addition, probationer's level of “stakes in conformity” served to inhibit both measures of recidivism, suggesting that offenders with more social bonds were less likely to incur a rearrest or citation for a technical violation. Theoretical and policy implications are highlighted, as are directions for future research.