Criminal Contemplation,National Context,and Deterrence

Using random samples of adults from three European countries rarely surveyed about crime-related issues, this study seeks to identify, with more extensive indicators than is typical, individuals who are likely to contemplate the commission of criminal acts. Then, it assesses the contextual universality of deterrence claims by estimating the deterrent effectiveness of perceived formal and informal sanctions for theft and violence among crime contemplators in Greece, Russia, and Ukraine. With criminal contemplation taken into account, our findings confirm the patterns established in past research. Whereas the threat of formal punishment shows little deterrent effect, perceptions of informal sanctions appear to influence projected crime. However, supportive findings hold only in Russia and Ukraine. Overall, it appears that the deterrent effectiveness of sanctions may be to some extent contingent on cultural or contextual characteristics.     

The Crime of Animal Abuse in Two Nonwestern Cities: Prevalence,Perpetrators, and Pathways

Estimates the prevalence of animal abuse in Nizhni Novgorod, Russia, and Lviv, Ukraine, assesses the sociodemographic characteristics of animal abusers in these cities, and provides the first empirical test of Agnew’s (Theor Criminol 2(2):177–209, 1998) theory of the causes of animal abuse. Logistic regression and generalized structural equation models are estimated using interview data from 1435 randomly-sampled adults in 41 neighborhoods in Lviv and Nizhni Novgorod. Animal abuse was quite rare among respondents and committed mostly by males and younger individuals. Consistent with Agnew’s theory, low self-control, animal-abusing peers, justifying beliefs, and perceived benefits all were associated with statistically significantly increased likelihood of animal abuse. In addition, justifying beliefs and perceived benefits mediated a significant and substantial share of the effects of self-control and animal-abusing peers on animal abuse. Contrary to theoretical expectations, perceived costs appeared unrelated to animal abuse net of the effects of other predictors. People who abuse animals appear to do so partly because, due to low self-control and exposure to animal-abusing peers, they hold beliefs justifying the behavior and perceive greater benefits associated with it.     

Neighborhoods,Individuals, and Instrumental Crime in Russia and Ukraine: A Multilevel Test of Merton’s Anomie Theory

Objectives

Empirically assess Baumer’s (Theor Criminol 11(1):63–93, 2007) efforts to unify Merton’s anomie/strain theory within a multilevel framework that anticipates instrumental crime among individuals who are both strongly committed to monetary success goals and weakly committed to the normative means for pursuing these goals, particularly if they possess certain other personal attributes or are embedded within anomic socio-cultural contexts.

Methods

Multilevel overdispersed Poisson regression models are estimated using survey data from 1431 adult residents of 41 neighborhoods in Lviv, Ukraine, and Nizhni Novgorod, Russia.

Results

Consistent with expectations, financial dissatisfaction among individuals appears to exacerbate the effect of the goals-means interaction on instrumental crime. However, no evidence was observed of moderation involving perceived risk of punishment, commitment to non-monetary success goals, and blocked legitimate opportunities. Although neighborhood anomie exerted a statistically significant main effect on instrumental crime, theorized cross-level interactions involving strong cultural emphasis on monetary success goals, weak cultural emphasis on normative means, and limited consensus regarding the normative means by which to pursue monetary success goals did not materialize.

Conclusions

Findings cast doubt on the cross-cultural generality of Baumer’s multilevel conceptualization of Merton’s strain/anomie theory. However, they confirm financial dissatisfaction as a key predictor of instrumental crime and moderator of unbalanced value commitments among individuals. They also suggest that future efforts to bridge the micro and macro strands of Merton’s theory will need to incorporate alternate theoretical predictors (e.g., personal morality) and consider ways in which an anomic social order contributes to deviant behavior directly rather than merely indirectly through the proportion of the population experiencing a goals-means disjuncture.

     

The Role of Adolescent Friendship Group Integration and Cohesion in Weapon-Related Violent Crime as a Young Adult

Weapon-related violent crime is a serious, complex, and multifaceted public health problem. The present study uses data from Waves I and III of Add Health (n?=?10,482, 54% female) to examine how friendship group integration and cohesion in adolescence (ages 12–19) is associated with weapon-related criminal activity as a young adult (ages 18–26). Results indicate that greater cohesion in friendship groups is associated with significantly lower weapon-related criminal activity in young adulthood. In addition, for adolescent girls, a greater number of close friendship ties—an indicator of friendship group integration—is associated with less weapon-related criminal activity in young adulthood. These findings suggest that school-based initiatives to facilitate inclusive and cohesive adolescent peer communities may be an effective strategy to curb weapon-related criminal activity in young adulthood.     

Strain, Coping, and Socioeconomic Status: Coping Histories and Present Choices

Objectives

Using household survey data from three major cities in foreign countries, we add to research concerning General Strain Theory (GST) by focusing on aspects that have been ignored or under-researched. First, we address questions concerning SES variations in the operation of the processes of GST, with particular focus on whether various relationships specified by the theory are more likely in the lower SES group. Second, we explore the extent to which prior coping strategies influence subsequent coping choices. Finally, we seek to determine the links between SES, coping histories, and subsequent coping choices.

Methods

The study analyzes the effects of past and contemporaneous strain/negative emotions and prior coping efforts on various coping strategies across three SES groupings using negative binomial, ordered logit, and OLS regression.

Results

We find that, with some variations, the basic processes of GST are operative across all SES categories. However, whereas strain appears to have a moderate association with alcohol-related and criminal coping strategies, avoidant coping appears to be largely irrelevant for anybody who faces strain. Our data also demonstrate that specific forms of prior coping partially influence the types of coping employed later. But, with few exceptions, these effects are not more pronounced among those of lower SES.

Conclusion

In sum, our findings suggest that individuals in various SES groupings may prefer certain types of coping, whereas different types of attempted coping may predispose individuals to specific forms of subsequent adaptation.     

Schools,Subcultural Values,and the Risk of Youth Violence: The Influence of the Code of the Street among Students in Three U.S. Cities

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Little is known about the role of subcultural values in the development of violence in schools and among school-aged children. Drawing on the “code of the...