Community policing to take guns off the street

Despite the difficulty in current attempts to precisely measure gun density or availability (Cook, 1991), there can be little doubt from research that firearm availability does impact the homicide and other violent crime rates. There is nonetheless a dearth of information regarding specific police strategies for reducing gun violence (Reiss & Roth, 1993). Describing one component of the Weed and Seed strategy in Kansas City, Missouri, this article examines an innovative approach with this goal as the primary focus. Specific questions addressed were (1) whether the police can successfully gain community support in obtaining immediate, pertinent information about illegal gun carrying, and (2) whether the police can successfully use that information to seize illegally carried guns. The fact that this program did not produce the desired gun tips or gun arrests may be useful for other jurisdictions seeking new strategies by both identifying a number of potential problems and suggesting areas for improvement.     

Community Disadvantage and Race-Specific Rates of Violent Crime: An Investigation into the “Racial Invariance” Hypothesis in the United Kingdom

Research into how structural disadvantage affects violent crime among racial groups has produced mixed results. In the United States, however, black and white community-level disadvantage distributions only partially overlap, precluding critical tests of the “racial invariance” hypothesis. We examine the relationship between race, violent crime, and disadvantage in the United Kingdom, where disadvantage distributions for race-groups have greater comparability. Using London borough-level data, we observe racial-invariance at comparably low/high disadvantage. However, at extreme disadvantage the effect increases significantly for black communities but not white or South Asian. This conflicts with studies demonstrating either racial invariance or weaker effects among blacks.     

Neighborhood Crime and School Climate as Predictors of Elementary School Academic Quality: A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis

Past research has found negative relationships between neighborhood structural disadvantage and students’ academic outcomes. Comparatively little work has evaluated the associations between characteristics of neighborhoods and schools themselves. This study explored the longitudinal, reciprocal relationships between neighborhood crime and school-level academic achievement within 500 urban schools. Results revealed that higher neighborhood crime (and particularly violent crime) predicted decreases in school academic achievement across time. School climate emerged as one possible mechanism within this relationship, with higher neighborhood crime predicting decreases in socioemotional learning and safety, but not academic rigor. All three dimensions of school climate were predictive of changes in academic achievement. Although this research supports a primarily unidirectional hypothesis of neighborhoods’ impacts on embedded settings, additional work is needed to understand these relationships using additional conceptualizations of neighborhood climate.     

Parolee Concentration,Risk of Recidivism,and the Consequences for Neighborhood Crime

ABSTRACT

We examine whether the clustering of certain types of higher-likelihood-of-recidivating parolees in neighborhoods differentially influences violent and property crime. We also test whether the relationship between the concentration of certain types of parolees and crime is moderated by disadvantage. We examine parolees released between 2000 and 2009 in Cleveland, Ohio, and neighborhood crime data. Results suggest that increases in certain types of parolees contribute to a corresponding increase in crime. This suggests that risk factors associated with reoffending might explain larger crime trends in neighborhoods. Furthermore, the broader neighborhood context compounds these risk factors, resulting in higher rates of crime.     

Do relational and structural characteristics of negative school environments independently predict immigrant adolescents’ academic achievement?

A critical issue facing the majority of immigrant adolescents in U.S. public schools is persistent academic underperformance. Using data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study, this study investigates the extent to which negative social environments in U.S. public schools predict the academic achievement of immigrant adolescents. Importantly, we simultaneously examine the roles of both the relational (individual-level) and structural (school-level) characteristics of these negative social environments. Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that immigrant students who are embedded in more negative relationships (e.g., having peers who discriminate against them) have lower levels of academic achievement. These predictive effects of individual-level negative social environments on academic achievement are mediated by both perceived school safety and educational expectations. Furthermore, we find double mediation effects (i.e., three-pathway mediations) via perceptions of school safety and educational expectations. The existence of these double mediation effects implies that relational characteristics strongly predict immigrant adolescents’ perceptions, attitudes, and school outcomes. Finally, we find that structural characteristics of negative social environments in U.S. public schools (i.e., total student enrollment and school-level dropout rate) also negatively predict immigrant adolescent achievement. We discuss the implications of these findings for improving immigrant adolescents’ achievements in U.S. public schools.     

An Evaluation of the Jamaican Anticrime Program

A sweeping anticrime package was implemented in Jamaica in 1974. This program included severe penalties for possession of illegal guns, censorhsip of gun scenes from television and the movies, and greatly broadened police powers. The impact of this anticrime package on crime was assessed using quasiexperimental time-series designs with both months and years as the units of analysis. In a one year period there was a 14% reduction in homicides ( p <.05), a 32% reduction in rapes ( p <.01), a 25% reduction in robberies ( p <.05), and a 37% reduction in nonfatal shootings ( p <.01). Data from the second year following the implementation of the anticrime package were not available. The data from the fist year suggest that strict anticrime measures can reduce crime.     

Latino Employment and Non-Latino Homicide in Rural Areas: The Implications of U.S. Immigration Policy

From 1990 to 2000, rural counties experienced a major influx of low-skill Latinos. This was due in part to the increased enforcement of the U.S.–Mexican border, which encouraged Latino migrants already in the United States to stay for fear that they cannot return. We examine whether the increasing dominance of Latinos in rural low-skill labor markets raised rural homicide among non-Latino whites and blacks. Using 1990 and 2000 census and crime data for counties, we find that where low-skill labor markets shifted toward Latino labor, violence increases among non-Latino whites, but not among blacks. This is in contrast to prior research emphasizing how low-skill jobs loss is detrimental mainly to blacks. This major structural change in the ethnic structure of low-skill employment has negative consequences for rural white communities, and current theorizing on the loss of low-skill jobs must account for these effects.     

Integrating Criminological and Decision Research Theory: Implications for Understanding and Addressing Crime in Marginalized Communities

Minority groups are significantly overrepresented in crime. Theories of racial differences in crime developed using two separate and distinct approaches that highlight either increased exposure to criminogenic factors at the individual level or greater risk of crime due to disadvantaged neighborhood conditions. Neighborhood theories describe how structural disadvantage disrupts neighborhood social processes and produces oppositional street cultures. In the article, we advance theorizing on race and crime by linking the neighborhood experience to individual-level decision making via new conceptualizations of culture. Rather than a “values as goals” view of culture, culture may include a “tool kit” of ways to solve problems and this cultural toolkit may, in turn, influence how an individual makes decisions. Specifically, culturally learned toolkits may increase flaws in the decision process (e.g., fast and intuitive rather than deliberate decision processes, the use of decision heuristics) to produce more crime, which would explain the association between race and crime. We integrate this conceptualization of culture and these flaws in the decision-making process into rational choice theory at the individual level and describe how they may be exacerbated in disadvantaged neighborhood contexts. Implications for understanding race and crime and directions for future research are discussed.     

Gender,Ethnicity, and Network Characteristics: Variation in Social Support Resources1

While previous research has demonstrated theimportance of social support resources for emotionalwell-being and health, few studies have explored thedeterminants of social support. We explore the effects of gender, ethnicity, other social statuses,and role configurations on informal social networkcharacteristics in an analysis of a U.S. sample ofadults, of which 14% are ethnic/racial minorities.Specifically, we examine the extent to which gender,ethnicity, and social roles influence the structural anddynamic characteristics of social networks.     

The Convergence of CAPTURED Fish and People: Examining the Symbiotic Nature of Labor Trafficking and Illegal,Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

ABSTRACT

Environment crime has received considerable attention from criminologists in recent years. Not only have scholars examined the social, political, cultural, and situational factors that influence environment crime, but researchers have also explored the potential overlap of environment crime with other criminal activities, including transnational organized crime and corruption. One line of inquiry, however, that has received little attention is the intersection between environment crime and labor trafficking. The present study assesses the convergence of labor trafficking and the illegal fishing industry through the theoretical lens of crime symbiosis and the CAPTURED framework. Implications for theory and policy are also outlined.     

Internalization of U.S. female beauty standards as a mediator of the relationship between Mexican American women's acculturation and body dissatisfaction

The relationships among acculturation, internalization of U.S. sociocultural standards of female beauty, and body dissatisfaction were examined in a sample of 211 Mexican American college women. Structural equation modeling was used to identify the paths among these three factors. Results demonstrated that there are two distinct types of body dissatisfaction: global evaluations and composite site-specific evaluations. The relationships between acculturation toward dominant U.S. culture and both types of body dissatisfaction were found to be fully mediated by internalization of U.S. standards of female beauty. There were no relationships between Mexican orientation and any of the study variables. The results from this study imply that it is important for therapists working with Mexican American female clients to assess the client's level of acculturation, examine the cultural (U.S. and Mexican) messages the client receives, and explore how these messages impact her body image.     

Fear of Crime and Behavioral Adaptations: Testing the Effects of Fear of Violence on Unstructured Socializing with Peers

This study examines whether fear of violent crime experienced by adolescents influences their involvement in unstructured socializing with peers. To test this relationship, we examine data on youth in Chicago collected as part of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). The results show that the fear of violent crime in neighborhoods and at schools reduces participation in unstructured socializing with peers. However, this result was only observed for adolescents living in neighborhoods with low levels of concentrated disadvantage. This study provides insight into the consequences of fear of crime for individual behavior. Fear of crime can result in withdrawal from social situations, including avoidance of situations that increase the risk for delinquency and victimization.     

Self-control,parental crime,and discipline across three generations

The objective of this study is to examine the relationships between self-control, parental crime, and use of discipline across three generations. Data spanning 30 years from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, are analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. This study focuses on whether different types of discipline used by parents predict the self-control of each successive generation. We also examine whether self-control and criminal activities of parents are predictive of parenting and resulting self-control of children. We find that discipline has a weak relationship to self-control but that parental crime and self-control do relate to the self-control of later generations.     

Sources of Differences in Children's Understandings of Mathematical Equality: Comparative Analysis of Teacher Guides and Student Texts in China and the United States

This study reports findings from comparative samples of sixth-grade Chinese and U.S. students' interpretations of the equal sign. Ninety-eight percent of the Chinese sample correctly answered 4 items indicating conceptions of equality and provided conceptually accurate explanations. In contrast, only 28% of the U.S. sample performed at this level. We examine how teacher preparation materials, students' textbooks and teachers' guidebooks treat equality in each country. U.S. teacher preparation textbooks rarely interpreted the equal sign as equivalence. On the contrary, Chinese textbooks typically introduced the equal sign in a context of relationships and interpreted the sign as “balance,” “sameness,” or “equivalence” and only then embedded the sign with operations on numbers.     

Distinctiveness Reconsidered: Religiosity,Structural Location,and Understandings of Racial Inequality

Are conservative Protestants distinct in their support for individualistic explanations of racial inequality in America? Past research has generated contradictory findings on this question, along with debates about the best measure of evangelicalism and the factors that moderate religious influences on racial attitudes. Using data from the nationally representative Boundaries in the American Mosaic Project (2014), we examine how structural location interacts with religious commitment to influence understandings of and preferred solutions to African‐American disadvantage. We show that religious beliefs, involvement, and centrality influence adherents differently, depending on their age, gender, education, income, and race. We find that measures do matter, and that denominational affiliation is less predictive than the orthodoxy and centrality of religious belief. We also find that straightforward talk about distinctiveness can mask the strong and pervasive effects of structural location on racial attitudes. We call for more research that makes the interaction between religiosity and structural location a central focus of analysis.     

Social Dominance Orientation Relates to Believing Men Should Dominate Sexually, Sexual Self-Efficacy, and Taking Free Female Condoms Among Undergraduate Women and Men

Gendered-based power affects heterosexual relationships, with beliefs in the U.S. prescribing that men dominate women sexually. We draw on social dominance theory to examine whether women??s and men??s level of support for group-based hierarchy (i.e., social dominance orientation; SDO) helps explain gender-based power beliefs and dynamics in heterosexual relationships. We conducted a laboratory study at a Northeastern U.S. university among 357 women and 126 men undergraduates who reported being heterosexual and sexually active, testing three sets of hypotheses. First, as hypothesized, women endorsed SDO and the belief that men should dominate sexually less than men did. Second, as hypothesized, among women and men, SDO was positively correlated with the belief that men should dominate sexually, and negatively correlated with sexual self-efficacy (confidence in sexual situations) and number of female condoms (a woman-controlled source of protection) taken. Third, structural equation modeling, controlling for age, family income, number of sexual partners in the past month, and perceived HIV/AIDS risk, supported the hypothesis that among women and men, the belief that men should dominate sexually mediates SDO??s association with sexual self-efficacy. The hypothesis that the belief that men should dominate sexually mediates SDO??s association with number of female condoms taken was supported for women only. The hypothesis that sexual self-efficacy mediates SDO??s association with number of female condoms taken was not supported. Results suggest SDO influences power beliefs and dynamics in heterosexual relationships. Although female condoms are an important woman-controlled source of protection, power-related beliefs may pose a challenge to their use.     

The association between county-level IQ and county-level crime rates

An impressive body of research has revealed that individual-level IQ scores are negatively associated with criminal and delinquent involvement. Recently, this line of research has been extended to show that state-level IQ scores are associated with state-level crime rates. The current study uses this literature as a springboard to examine the potential association between county-level IQ and county-level crime rates. Analysis of data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health revealed statistically significant and negative associations between county-level IQ and the property crime rate, the burglary rate, the larceny rate, the motor vehicle theft rate, the violent crime rate, the robbery rate, and the aggravated assault rate. Additional analyses revealed that these associations were not confounded by a measure of concentrated disadvantage that captures the effects of race, poverty, and other social disadvantages of the county. We discuss the implications of the results and note the limitations of the study.     

How does culture influence the degree of romantic loneliness and closeness?

A culture promoting a strong desire for romantic relationships can greatly influence feelings of romantic loneliness and of closeness. In this study, the authors hypothesized that when not in a romantic relationship, U.S. young adults experience greater degrees of romantic loneliness because of a high desire for romantic relationships, compared with Korean young adults. The authors also predicted that when in a romantic relationship, U.S. young adults experience greater closeness to their romantic partner than do Korean young adults. Results revealed that in a sample of 227 U.S. and Korean students, U.S. students reported significantly higher levels of romantic loneliness than did Koreans when not in a romantic relationship and significantly lower levels of romantic loneliness when in a stable romantic relationship. U.S. students also reported a greater degree of closeness in romantic relationships than did Korean students. The results suggest that Western cultures' strong emphasis on the importance of romantic relationships may unduly amplify individuals' levels of loneliness.     

Gun culture and symbolism among U.K. and U.S. women

The authors explored attitudes of young women in the United Kingdom (n = 108) and the United States (n = 91) toward (a) the possession and use of guns through the Attitude to Guns Scale (N. R. Branscombe, J. A. Weir, & P. Crosby, 1992) and (b) guns' perceived functional and symbolic significance through the Symbolic Nature of Guns Scale (C. A. Cooke & J. E. Puddifoot, 1997). There were significant differences in beliefs concerning the right to own a gun and the protective effect of guns but not in the perceived contribution of guns to crime. Although neither group strongly equated guns symbolically with power or control, the U.S. women were more likely to perceive guns as expressions of freedom or independence, and the U.K. women were more likely to view guns as expressions of danger and violence. The findings were contextualized by comparison with samples of male control participants of similar ages.     

Sex,Drugs, and Deception: Deviance in the Hair Salon Industry

The unique organizational structure of the hair salon industry fosters an environment in which multiple factors, including varying levels of status, opportunity, and motivation, can create or constrain possibilities for deviant behavior. Using data from participant observation, personal interviews, and systematic introspection, four categories of deviance emerge: theft, hyper-sexualized interactions, drug/alcohol use, and questionable/illegal business practices. This study uses a classification of workplace crime, occupational deviance, and occupational crime to illustrate how the typology applies to salon deviance and how the structural location within the industry predicts the types of deviance that occur in each salon organizational structure.