Understanding offense specialization and versatility: A reapplication of the rational choice perspective

An understanding of offender specialization and versatility offers benefit to both criminal justice policy and theoretical foundations. The majority of research examining offending specialization/versatility, however, sought to inform crime policy. Accordingly, there was little theoretical insight as to why individuals might engage in more specialized offending, or instead, diversify in their criminal participation. An earlier application of rational choice theory to the offending specialization — versatility issue was premised on the idea that the theory inherently predicted specialization in offending. Other interpretations offered it as a heuristic tool for understanding both crime specialization and versatility. The findings from a series of logistic regression techniques on a national level probation sample supported rational choice predictions about successive tendencies in offending participation that fulfill likely offender needs.     

"It's the little things": women, trauma, and strategies for healing

Women recover and heal from traumatic violent experiences in many different ways. This study, which is part of the Franklin County Women and Violence Project, explores the healing experiences of 18 women who have histories of violence, substance abuse, and involvement in the mental health and/or substance abuse treatment system. Ethnographic interviews suggest that while professional intervention can be beneficial, it may not be adequate. In fact, it can be retruamatizing. The means of service delivery and treatment by individuals, service providers and others, may be more important than the actual service. Often women find that caring individuals and a safe environment yield the greatest benefit. It is not so much what people do to help, but how they do it.