Growing Up Too Soon: Parental Status,Concern for Youth,and Attitudes Toward Sexual Morality

Sociological research on the control of elite crime has focused primarily on two groups: corporate whistle-blowers and informants within the criminal justice system. Few studies examine the internal social control of occupational misconduct, particularly in organizations that rely on the self-regulation of their members. This paper summarizes the findings of a case study of reactions to occupational misconduct within an elite military institution: the U.S. Naval Academy. Data from three sources are analyzed: official statistics on occupational misconduct, survey data collected from midshipmen attending the Academy, and semi-structured interviews with graduates. Findings reveal that few midshipmen are reported for occupational misconduct primarily because informal norms about peer loyalty typically override official norms that require midshipmen to control the misconduct of their peers. Furthermore, the Academy's system of mandatory self-regulation produces two marginalized groups: those reported for violating rules and those who rigidly enforce the rules.     

Psychological Inertia Revisited: Replicating and Extending the Differential Effect of Proactive and Reactive Criminal Thinking on Crime Continuity

Measures of proactive and reactive criminal thinking were evaluated as putative mediators of the past crime?future crime relationship in a group of 1,354 adjudicated delinquents. Analyses performed on total offending variety scores and aggressive offending frequency scores revealed that reactive but not proactive criminal thinking mediated the past crime?future crime relationship. As in previous studies, proactive criminal thinking failed to correlate with prior criminal offending. These results have theoretical implications for continued development of the criminal thinking-mediated moral and control models of criminal lifestyle development and practical implications for effective treatment, management, and prevention of serious criminality.     

Violence in criminal careers: A review of the literature from a developmental life-course perspective

The criminal career paradigm focuses on the prevalence and frequency of crime along with an emphasis on offense specialization, age of onset and desistance, offense seriousness, and career length. Coinciding with the criminal career framework, developmental/life-course criminology offers more complex theoretical explanations for crime which highlight the importance of age-graded developmental risk factors that affect offending over the course of a criminal career. This review provides a systematic examination of the role of violence in criminal career and developmental/life-course research with a specific focus on its prevalence and frequency and its share of the offense repertoire. The results show that the incidence of violence is rare in one's criminal career except for a small group of chronic offenders who are responsible for a majority of the violent offenses. Regarding specialization, evidence suggests that offenders are spectacularly non-specialized and violent offenders can primarily be characterized as frequent offenders who offend more often and thereby have a higher probability of committing a violent offense in their criminal career. Conclusions and directions for future research are discussed.     

hate crimes against the Amish: a qualitative analysis of bias motivation using routine activities theory

Research on hate crime has largely been limited to official statistics collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and some independent scholarly research of hate crime victims. Few, however, have studied hate crime offenders. Offender narratives of hate crime participation are the focus of this study. Further, few have studied hate crimes against the Amish and their offenders. This study examines hate crime against the Amish with a particular focus on the bias motivation that generates anti-Amish hate crime. To accomplish this task, non-Amish hate crime offenders were enlisted to share their experiences and stories about anti-Amish hate crime. A total of eight subjects were interviewed; the subjects supplied over 16 hours of audiotaped narrative describing acts of "Claping" they had committed against Old Order Amish. The data were transcribed and an analysis of the interview data revealed that themes emerged from offender narratives within each element of routine activities theory. The data support that the subjects were motivated offenders, the Amish were perceived as suitable targets, and there was a perception that guardians were lacking within the community to discourage anti-Amish hate crime. However, it is important to consider the themes that emerged within each dimension of routine activities when applying the theory to anti-Amish bias crime.     

Kriminologische Verlaufsforschung zu Jugendkriminalität

This paper presents a short overview of the developmental research of antisocial behavior in adolescence and young adulthood. We first discuss offending patterns based on official and self-reported data and their limitations and problems. Secondly, we discuss the idea of the ubiquity of juvenile delinquency and the frequent occurrence of desistance in the transition to adulthood. The cessation of criminal activities is also found by so called ?chronic juvenile offenders“. We than discuss two important developmental theories of crime: the taxonomic theory of Moffitt and the age-graded informal social control theory of Sampson and Laub. Based on the qualitative desistance study of serious young offenders, Stelly and Thomas not only demonstrate the different pathways out of crime, the results also demonstrate the limitation of the available theories.     

Alien Conspiracy Theory? Exploring Ethnicity and Drug Supply in Scotland

ABSTRACT

Scholars have identified associations between ethnicity and crime. The extent to which such correlations generalize to other national domiciles, and the nuances of neighborhood criminality is unclear. Drawing upon 67 interviews with practitioners and (ex)offenders involved in drug supply, and supplemented by data sets, the article tests the validity of the generalisation, by exploring a) whether ethnicity is perceived as advantageous in the movement of drugs, and b) how indigenous organized criminal gangs (OCGs) address the encroachment of foreign OCGs on their turf. Findings suggest ‘official’ suppositions aren’t wholly supported by evidence gained from street actors connected with criminogenic environments.     

russian organized crime: the continuation of an american tradition

This research examines the emergence of Russian émigré crime in the United States to determine whether such crime is representative of organized crime in the classic understanding of that term. The prior development of organized crime theory based upon the criminal progression of Italian-American organized crime families guides the analysis of criminal activity by the Russian émigrés in order to maintain some sense of boundary maintenance between events and issues pertinent to the phenomenon of organized crime. With a model for Russian émigrécrime in the United States established, the research examines the underlying characteristics of the emergent Russian criminality with a goal of determining which theoretical model, if any, this social system of criminality fits best. Case studies of recent motor fuel tax frauds perpetrated in the metropolitan New York City and Los Angeles areas serve as examples from which Russian émigré crime is examined, studied, and compared. An assessment is made as to whether the criminality of the émigré Russians can be correctly identified as being representative of organized crime in the traditional understanding of this phenomenon. The analysis demonstrates that the criminality of the Russian e´migre´ crime groups is characteristic of organized crime as this condition has developed and come to be identified and defined by American society.     

Linguistic Cues of Deception Across Multiple Language Groups in a Mock Crime Context

A recent study showed that specific linguistic and grammatical features of a technique commonly referred to as statement analysis are applicable across different language groups. One limitation of that study was that it used an eyewitness crime video paradigm, which might be different from writing a statement after committing an actual criminal act. We remedied that limitation by using a mock crime paradigm. In this study, three language groups (English, Spanish, and Chinese) produced statements after committing a mock crime, taking a check, in an experimental context. Certain linguistic features significantly discriminated truths from lies similarly across the different language groups, suggesting that statement analysis might be applicable as a reliable indicator of deception across languages. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intelligence is associated with criminal justice processing: Arrest through incarceration

Findings flowing from empirical research consistently indicate that IQ is associated with criminal involvement, with persons of relatively lower IQ being more likely to engage in various types of crime when compared with persons of relatively higher IQ. As with all research, however, there are a number of limitations with the existing literature that may bias the IQ–crime connection in unknown ways. Specifically, previous research has generally analyzed sub-samples drawn from non-nationally representative samples, has relied on a narrow range of criminal justice measures, has not fully examined whether the IQ–crime link is observed across demographic subgroups, and has not always ruled out the effects of potential confounds. The current study is designed to overcome the most serious of these limitations and offer new evidence of the link between IQ and criminal involvement. Analysis of data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) provides strong evidence indicating that IQ and crime are linked even after addressing various shortcomings of previous research. Limitations of the study are discussed and directions for future research are offered.     

Factors associated with experts' opinions regarding criminal responsibility in The Netherlands

In many jurisdictions, offenders need to have freely chosen to commit their crimes in order to be punishable. A mental defect or disorder may be a reason for diminished or total absence of criminal responsibility and may remove culpability. This study aims to provide an empirically based understanding of the factors on which experts base their judgements concerning criminal responsibility. Clinical, demographic and crime related variables, as well as MMPI-2 profiles, were collected from final reports concerning defendants of serious crime submitted to the observation clinic of the Dutch Ministry of Justice for a criminal responsibility assessment. Criminal responsibility was expressed along a five-point scale corresponding to the Dutch legal practice. Results showed that several variables contributed independently to experts' opinions regarding criminal responsibility: diagnosis (Axis I and II), cultural background, type of weapon used in committing the crime, and whether the defendant committed the crime alone or with others. In contract to jurisdictions involving a sane/insane dichotomy, the Dutch five-point scale of criminal responsibility revealed that Axis II personality disorders turned out to be mostly associated with a diminished responsibility. MMPI-2 scores also turned out to have a small contribution to experts' opinions on criminal responsibility, independently of mere diagnostic variables. These results suggest that experts base their judgements not only on the presence or absence of mental disorders, but also on cultural and crime related characteristics, as well as dimensional information about the defendant's personality and symptomatology.     

The child is father of the man: personality continuities from childhood to adulthood

This article presents findings about continuities in personality development that have been uncovered in the Dunedin study, an investigation of a cohort of children studied from age 3 to 21. At age 3, children were classified into temperament groups on the basis of observations of their behavior. In young adulthood, data were collected from study members themselves, from people who knew them well, and from official records. Undercontrolled 3-year-olds grew up to be impulsive, unreliable, and antisocial, and had more conflict with members of their social networks and in their work. Inhibited 3-year-olds were more likely to be unassertive and depressed and had fewer sources of social support. Early appearing temperamental differences have a pervasive influence on life-course development and offer clues about personality structure, interpersonal relations, psychopathology, and crime in adulthood.     

Menstruation and crime: A critical review of the literature from the clinical criminology perspective

The authors review the literature on the relationship between menstruation and crime, focusing upon the methodological limitations of these studies in the broader context of criminological and menstruation research. Based on this review, they conclude: the present state of scientific knowledge is such that it is unknown whether there is an association between any phases of the menstrual cycle and crime; there is no evidence linking fluctuations in reproductive hormones to criminal behavior; and, this lack of scientific knowledge is so glaring that evidence regarding menstruation and crime should not be admissible in criminal trials.     

Predicting adult involvement in crime: Personality measures are significant,socio-economic measures are not

Comprehensive research into criminal careers along with the growing consensus around the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality traits have re-established personality measures as important predictors of criminal activity. A number of studies of specialist groups have concluded that agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and extraversion are linked to crime. Data were drawn from the National Child Development Study. Experiencing a criminal justice sanction in mid-adulthood was regressed on FFM traits, Agreeableness, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Intellect and Emotional Stability (Neuroticism), as well as socio-economic variables linked by criminologists to crime. Results indicated that significant predictors in this representative sample of 7205 adults, were four of the five personality traits (but not Intellect), gender, experience of school problems, but none of the socio-economic measures. This is consistent with the evidence that social class has only a minor role in predicting criminality, contrary to previous assumptions.     

Personality and female criminals in Bangladesh

A study is reported of female criminals at Dacca Jail, using the EPQ standardized in Bangladesh. The Ss of the present investigation were considered as a single group and also divided into groups according to the nature of the crime committed and their age. The major finding that clearly emerged from the study is that the female criminals returned very high P scores. They were also found to have elevated scores on N. It is suggested that the translated version of the EPQ be used with male criminal and psychiatrically-abnormal groups in future studies.     

“Keeping up with the Joneses?” How Perceived SES Moderates the Relationship between Economic Problems and Instrumental Crime

The present study examined the moderating effects of perceived socioeconomic status (SES) on the relationship between economic problems and instrumental crime. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 14,754), results suggested that the effect of economic problems on crime exhibited an inverted-U-shaped curve. The effect was moderated by perceived SES such that those with the highest levels of perception reported the highest involvement in crime when experiencing a few economic problems. Conversely, high perceived SES among those experiencing excessive economic problems acted as a protective factor in criminal involvement.     

Making the Punishment Fit the Crime and the Criminal: Attributions of Dangerousness as a Mediator of Liability1

This research examines how individuals use information regarding characteristics of crimes (e. g., crime severity) and characteristics of the offender (e. g, prior criminal record) to form an impression of the criminal as dangerous to society, and to make liability judgments. Two studies presented college students and community members with crime scenarios and asked for ratings of crime severity, likelihood of recidivism, perceived dangerousness of the offender, and liability. Type of crime, severity. and likelihood of recidivism significantly predicted both liability and perceived dangerousness. Further more, in crimes against people only, the effects of severity and recidivism on liability were partially mediated by individuals' perceptions of the offender as criminally dangerous. The discussion examines the implications of these findings for attribution theory and sentencing in the criminal‐justice system.     

Which Source Possesses the Best Data on the Empirical Aspects of Criminal Events? A Theory of Opportunity and Necessary Conditions

ABSTRACT

Offenders and nonoffenders possess valuable information about crime. But which possesses the best data? This is a complex issue, so I narrow my focus to data on empirical aspects of criminal events. Drawing on the necessary conditions perspective, I theorize that a source’s possession 1) of data varies directly with its involvement in cases; 2) of representative data varies inversely with nonrandom involvement in cases and nonrandom siphoning off from the larger group to which it belongs; and, 3) of accurate data varies inversely with time since involvement in cases. Those general principles suggest that offenders, especially active ones, possess the most data, representative data, and accurate data on empirical aspects of criminal events. I conclude by discussing the implications of those general principles for observation research, sources’ possession of subjective data, and their possession of empirical data on other criminological events, specifically victimization and policing.     

A comparison of self‐report of criminal involvement and official arrest records

Self‐reports of arrests and official arrest records were compared for 250 male and 80 female participants in the ongoing Hyperactivity Follow‐Up Study of Young Adults at University of California at Berkeley. For males, kappa coefficients indicated good statistical agreement between arrest records and self‐report measures for 7 of the 12 types of crimes. Statistical agreement, however, may not be the most meaningful yardstick to judge concordance. Additional analyses reveal that for almost all of the crimes examined, one third or more of those with an arrest record for the crime failed to reveal this information on the self‐report measure. Arrests for both some high‐frequency, less serious crimes and some low‐frequency, more serious crimes were not revealed in the subjects’ self‐reports. An examination of the unique information gained from self‐reports found that the subjects most often reported committing public disorder crimes for which they were not caught (over 30%) and were least likely to self‐report crimes against people (less than 10%). Furthermore, subjects with more convictions were more likely to accurately self‐report their criminal involvement. Since both self‐report and official records each contribute unique information and reflect different sources of error, it is proposed that a combination of both types of records is the most inclusive indicator of criminal activity in adulthood. Aggr. Behav. 27:44–54, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Punishing hypocrisy: The roles of hypocrisy and moral emotions in deciding culpability and punishment of criminal and civil moral transgressors

Three experiments explored how hypocrisy affects attributions of criminal guilt and the desire to punish hypocritical criminals. Study 1 established that via perceived hypocrisy, a hypocritical criminal was seen as more culpable and was punished more than a non-hypocritical criminal who committed an identical crime. Study 2 expanded on this, showing that negative moral emotions (anger and disgust) mediated the relationships between perceived hypocrisy, criminal guilt, and punishment. Study 3 replicated the emotion finding from Study 2 using new scenarios where group agents were clearly aware of the hypocrisy of their actions, yet acted anyway. Again, perceived hypocrisy worked through moral emotions to affect criminal guilt and punishment. The current studies provide empirical support for theories relating hypocrisy and moral transgressions to moral emotions, also informing the literature on the role of moral emotions in moral reasoning and legal decision making.