A Comparison of Racial Attitudes: Right of Police To Strike

A number of studies have focused on public perceptions of police and have concluded that black citizens have lower evaluations of police than their white counterparts. A review of the recent literature reveals that few studies have compared black and white respondents on attitudes toward strike activity among police despite the growing militancy of public employees. In this paper, the significant relationship uncovered between race and attitudes of university undergraduates (F = 30.3; p = .0001) is validated by examining a referendum vote of the general electorate on the right of public employees to strike. Comparative analysis suggests that black citizens are more sympathetic to the problems and tactics of urban police than their white counterparts. Data from the municipal referendum indicated that eighty four percent of the variance in voting patterns could be explained by the percentage of registered black or white voters in the Memphis precincts.     

AGE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT IN CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES: A BLOCKED OPPORTUNITY APPROACH*

We use data from the National Incident‐Based Reporting System (NIBRS) to examine the effects of age on the risk of sexual and physical assault in prisons and jails. Our evidence suggests that male inmates of all ages tend to sexually assault young men. The preference for the young is much stronger for sexual than for physical assault, which suggests that the young are sexually assaulted because of their sexual attractiveness rather than because of their vulnerability. We argue that the strong relationship between sexual attractiveness and age reduces opportunities for consensual sex among older inmates. As a result of blocked opportunities for consensual sex, older men are much more likely to commit sexual assault than one would expect, given the general tendency of young men to be more violent. Thus, the age–attractiveness relationship can parsimoniously explain the contrasting age patterns one observes for offenders and victims.     

TO KILL OR NOT TO KILL? LETHAL OUTCOMES IN INJURIOUS ATTACKS*

This research explores the utility of the notion of lethal intent for understanding the outcomes of injurious attacks. We suggest that assailants sometimes kill rather than merely injure victims to avoid either retaliation or criminal prosecution. We hypothesize that, for these tactical reasons, offenders will be more likely to kill when they have no accomplices, when their victims are male or black, and when the victim can identify them. These hypotheses are tested with a merged data set containing information on homicides and nonlethal victimizations involving robbery, rape, and pure assault. The results of multiple logistic regression analyses are largely consistent with theoretical expectations.     

OBSERVATIONS ON CRIME REPORTING IN A DEVELOPING NATION*

The literature from developed countries hypothesizes that crime-reporting practices vary by levels of incident-specific, victim-specific, and environment-specific correlates. To date these correlates have not been used to investigate crime-reporting behavior in developing countries, nor have they been explored simultaneously. This research attempts to fill this void by analyzing data from a household victimization survey conducted in Belize, Central America. A crime-reporting model based on research findings from developed nations, especially the United States, is tested. Bivariate findings are presented and a multivariate logistic model is estimated, Contrary to prediction, the findings from the Belize sample are generally similar to those reported in developed nations. As in developed nations, incident-specific correlates play a significant role, individual-specific correlates pray a minor role, and environment-specific correlates play no role in inducing citizens to report a crime to the police. The findings indicate that factors that affect reporting in Belize seem not to be conditioned by the particularistic social structure of policing in that nation.