DIFFERENTIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY? IMMIGRANT YOUTH AND PEER INFLUENCE*

There is reason to suspect that lower levels of exposure to criminogenic peer‐based risks help explain why immigrant youth are less involved in crime and violence. However, it also is possible that if and when they do encounter these risks, immigrant youth are more vulnerable to them than are native‐born youth. Drawing from literature on the adaptation experiences of immigrant adolescents, we hypothesize that immigrant youth will be relatively more susceptible to the effects of both 1) exposure to deviant peers and 2) unstructured and unsupervised socializing with peers when compared with their nonimmigrant counterparts. Using a sample of approximately 1,800 adolescents from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) study, we find support for our first hypothesis but not the second. Specifically, in both cross‐sectional and longitudinal models, we find that exposure to deviant peers has a greater impact on violence among immigrant youth than it does for native‐born youth. Furthermore, this pattern of results is supported with supplemental, sensitivity analysis using the AddHealth data. In contrast, there are no statistically significant differences across immigrant generation status with regard to the effect of informal socializing with peers on violence.     

Theory and racial profiling: Shortcomings and future directions in research

The volatile political environment that surrounds the issue of “racial profiling” has led local and state police agencies across the nation to start collecting information about traffic and pedestrian stops. The controversy over this issue is overwhelmed by the unsupported assumption that all race-based decision making by police officers is motivated by individual police officers' racial prejudice. This article reviews recently published studies on racial profiling and critiques both their methods and conclusions. Using the conceptual framework for police research presented by Bernard and Engel, it reviews a number of theories that may explain racial disparities in the rates of police stops. The authors argue that to explain police behavior better, theoretical models must guide future data collection efforts.     

The Influence of Legal Reform on the Probability of Arrest in Domestic Violence Cases

Using domestic violence incidence and arrest data from Maryland (1991–1997), this research examines whether the proportion of incidents that result in arrest increased due to a legislative initiative implemented in 1994 and, if so, whether this change is uniform across different types of offenders (race and gender) and offense characteristics. Using interrupted time‐series analysis (ARIMA), we observe an increase in both the number of incidents reported to police and the percent of reported cases resulting in arrest. The legislative intervention has a significant positive impact on arrest likelihood above and beyond the increase over time for the state as a whole. While arrest probabilities increased across the board for males and females, African American and Whites, the ARIMA models do not suggest that the legislation differentially impacted arrest probabilities for these groups.     

Gang Membership,Drug Selling,and Violence in Neighborhood Context

A prominent perspective in the gang literature suggests that gang member involvement in drug selling does not necessarily increase violent behavior. In addition it is unclear from previous research whether neighborhood disadvantage strengthens that relationship. We address these issues by testing hypotheses regarding the confluence of neighborhood disadvantage, gang membership, drug selling, and violent behavior. A three‐level hierarchical model is estimated from the first five waves of the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, matched with block‐group characteristics from the 2000 U.S. Census. Results indicate that (1) gang members who sell drugs are significantly more violent than gang members that don’t sell drugs and drug sellers that don’t belong to gangs; (2) drug sellers that don’t belong to gangs and gang members who don’t sell drugs engage in comparable levels of violence; and (3) an increase in neighborhood disadvantaged intensifies the effect of gang membership on violence, especially among gang members that sell drugs.     

What Really Happened in New Orleans? Estimating the Threat of Violence During the Hurricane Katrina Disaster∗

Although research indicates that initial media reports greatly exaggerated the severity of violent crime in post‐Katrina New Orleans, it is not yet clear whether violence in general was a problem for storm victims. In this study, data from a unique survey of storm victims are used to estimate the overall threat of violence faced by those who were hardest hit by the storm and who lived through the disaster in New Orleans. The findings suggest that, while the threat of violent victimization was very real for some respondents, it did not dominate the experience of these storm victims. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the social construction of law and order, the persistence of disaster myths, negative stereotyping of the urban poor, and crime control issues in the context of disaster management and planning.     

法院在防治家庭暴力中的作用实证研究——以重庆市某区人民法院审理涉及家庭暴力案件情况为对象

通过实证调研,其结果显示家庭暴力的发生率仍然较高,并且当事人呈现出性别、年龄、职业等方面的特点。人民法院在涉家庭暴力案件的审理过程中,既有家庭暴力认定、举证责任分配、人身安全保护裁定送达、调解方法上的有益经验,也面临着防治家庭暴力立法及反家庭暴力联动机制不完善、人身安全保护裁定的局限性、取证难等一些困境。建议我国尽快制定一部统一的"家庭暴力防治法",在加强防治家庭暴力宣传的同时,明确规范各相关部门的职责与责任,加强各部门之间的联动协作。     

Treating alcohol-related violence: a feasibility study of a randomized controlled trial in prisons

Purpose: There is a lack of good-quality outcome evaluations of interventions for offenders whose crimes are alcohol-related. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered gold standard in treatment evaluations. Here, we report on a feasibility study for an RCT of an alcohol-related violence intervention, Control of Violence for Angry, Impulsive Drinkers (COVAID). Method: 115 adult male prisoners were randomly allocated to COVAID plus treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU only. Results: Most participants (84%) found COVAID useful. Reconviction data at six months were accessed for 109 (95%) participants. There were no differences between the two groups on violent reconvictions or all reconvictions at the six-month period, but at 17?months the COVAID group had 13% fewer people reconvicted for violence, and 20% fewer had reconvictions for any offence. Conclusion: The results indicate that an RCT is feasible and provides parameters for designing a full RCT. Differences in reconviction between groups favoured COVAID and were clinically important.     

Violent girls in adolescent forensic care are more often psychotic and traumatized than boys in the same level of care

Background: Most research on violent perpetrators is based on male samples. Aims: To compare girls and boys admitted to an adolescent forensic unit due to physically violent and/or sexually coercive behavior. Methods: On an adolescent forensic ward, demographics, family, treatment, crime and victimization histories, diagnose, psychiatric symptoms and violent behaviors during care of all adolescents are collected in a cumulative database. These were compared between girls and boys admitted due to violent behaviors. Results: Girls were more often diagnosed with schizophrenia group psychoses. The symptom profiles and violence risk ratings did not differ by sex. The girls were less antisocial in general. They were more suicidal and displayed more promiscuous behaviors, and they had more commonly been victims of sexual abuse. During inpatient care they displayed much more often violent and uncontrollable behaviors than the boys. Conclusion: Treatment approaches that respond to the special needs of aggressive girls are required.     

Hearing parties' voices in Coordinated Family Dispute Resolution (CFDR): An Australian pilot of a family mediation model designed for matters involving a history of domestic violence

This paper discusses the Coordinated Family Dispute Resolution (family mediation) process piloted in Australia in 2010–2012. This process was evaluated by the Australian Institute of Family Studies as being ‘at the cutting edge of family law practice’ because it involves the conscious application of mediation where there has been a history of family violence, in a clinically collaborative multidisciplinary and multi-agency setting. The Australian government's failure to invest resources in the ongoing funding of this model jeopardises the safety and efficacy of family dispute resolution practice in family violence contexts, and compromises the hearing of the voices of family violence victims and their children.