Poor Parenting on Underage Drinking Through Frustration and Impulsivity

Underage drinking continues to be a perilous social problem in the United States with its numerous negative consequences. Contributing to our understanding of this issue, the current study examined the relationship between poor parenting, frustration, impulsivity, and underage drinking. Based on the theoretical framework of Agnew’s general strain theory (GST), this study tested three structural models with national youth data ( N = 5,030). Results showed that poor parenting had a significant influence on frustration, impulsivity, and underage drinking. Particularly, frustration and impulsivity mediated the relationship between poor parenting and underage drinking. Further, impulsivity played a crucial role in GST. Additionally, an alternative model with a potential mediator (i.e., impulsivity) will provide insight to further our understanding of underage drinking.

The Accuracy of Arrest Data in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

This study compared NIBRS arrest data in a statewide sample with arrest and summons data on the same cases collected directly from law enforcement agencies (LEAs). NIBRS matched LEA data in 84.1% of cases. However, 5.8% of LEA arrests and 52.9% of LEA summons were false negatives, that is, they were incorrectly represented as not cleared by arrest in NIBRS. False negatives were more likely when more than 1 day elapsed between incident and arrest and when the crimes were sexual assault or intimidation. False negatives were less likely in small LEAs (for summons) Recommendations are presented for improving accuracy.

Implementing Reforms in Community Corrections: Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This mixed-method study examined changes implemented in Pennsylvania community corrections agencies during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed ( N = 54; 83% response rate) and interviewed ( N = 10) county Chiefs of probation and parole regarding changes to agency policies, processes of this change, and expected sustainability. Findings revealed meaningful changes to community corrections policy initiated by the pandemic through new modes of supervision contact —such as “ curbside probation”— and new policies regarding violations of supervision that align with evidence-based principles. The moment’s urgency provided a rare but effective impetus for reform, but perceptions of sustainability varied across Chiefs’ role orientations. Our findings demonstrate how this moment expanded the footprint of evidence-based practice through local criminal justice reform and reveal new insights into capacities for and processes of change.

Digital Disclosure of Delinquency: Online Peers and the Sharing of Offline Crime

Digital communication poses challenges for scholars interested in the link between peers and crime since youth are often less inhibited online and can more easily share their opinions and experiences with offline activities. Drawing on longitudinal data from middle and high school students, this study explores how online communication impacts the sharing of personal and peer delinquency. Criminogenic risk factors are largely unrelated to the digital disclosure of personal delinquency among those who offend; however, peer online disclosure is related to self-reported delinquency, independent of perceived peer delinquency. These findings suggest cyberspace may extend offline mechanisms of peer influence beyond providing a unique source of online influence.

Traveling Alone or Together? Neighborhood Context on Individual and Group Juvenile and Adult Burglary Decisions

Neighborhood characteristics are important considerations when offenders make targeting decisions. Movement patterns among adults and juveniles vary widely, which impacts both the number of crime opportunities and the range of neighborhoods to which an offender is exposed. We test whether offending patterns among adult and juvenile burglars vary based on distances traveled, the types of neighborhoods targeted, and whether suspects acted alone or in a group. Using discrete choice modeling, we draw upon a unique sample of cleared burglaries in a representative city in the south over a 13-year period. Results show that adult burglars consistently travel further and are more sensitive to neighborhood conditions than their juvenile counterparts, but that group participation makes little difference in target decisions.

Visitation Enablers and Barriers: Evaluating the Influences of Practical, Relational, and Experiential Factors on Visitation in Dutch Prisons

This paper aims to advance theory and knowledge about prison visitation by organizing prior studies within a framework of visitation enablers and barriers and examining how practical, relational, and experiential factors explain variation in prison visiting among 773 adult males across eight Dutch prisons. Findings suggest that all three domains play out at once to influence visitation. Whether visitors come to visit seems to depend on their relationship with the incarcerated individual, whereas traveling distance is more predictive of how often they visit. Policies that introduce practical barriers can differentially affect visits from specific relationships. Finally, results indicate that incarcerated individuals make decisions about visits based on their in-prison experiences. Policy and research implications are discussed.

Does the Premium Fit the Risk? The Role of Criminal Escalation in Case Processing

Legal and qualitative studies have highlighted that courtroom actors consider multiple aspects of criminal records. However, most quantitative studies on sentencing only included the number of prior convictions or arrests, with little attention to the seriousness trends of those priors. Taking stock from studies on criminal careers, we used group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) to identify patterns of escalation and de-escalation among a defendant sample in New York State ( n = 56,017), and then examined the role of trajectory groups in four decision points: dismissal, charge reduction, incarceration, and incarceration length. We found that escalation, de-escalation, and a higher stable level of crime seriousness were associated with less favorable outcomes at multiple decision points.

Revisiting the Relationship Between Tourism and Crime Based on a Dynamic Spatial Durbin Model

To determine the extent to which tourism development affects crime rate, this study uses a dynamic spatial Durbin model (DSDM) to examine the spatial effect of tourism on crime. Based on a panel data set of 21 cities in Sichuan Province, China, over the 2008 to 2018 period, and after controlling for the interactive effect, the results reveal that tourism exerts a significantly negative impact on crime. This implies that tourism development can reduce crime. Moreover, tourism has a negative spatial spillover effect; thus, increased tourist arrivals decrease crime in neighboring cities. Per capita GDP, wages, unemployment, population density, hotels, scenic spots, and travel agents generate various direct and spillover effects. Finally, we provide policy suggestions.

Estimating Crime in Place: Moving Beyond Residence Location

We assess if asking victims about the places where crimes happen leads to estimates of “crime in place” with better measurement properties. We analyze data from the Barcelona Victimization Survey (2015–2020) aggregated in 73 neighborhoods using longitudinal quasi-simplex models and criterion validity to estimate the quality of four types of survey-based measures of crime. The distribution of survey-based offense location estimates, as opposed to victim residence estimates, is highly similar to police-recorded crime statistics, and there is little trade off in terms of the reliability and validity of offense location and victim residence measures. Estimates of crimes reported to the police show a better validity, but their reliability is lower and capture fewer crimes.

Public Perceptions of Child Sexual Exploitation Abroad: A Vignette Experiment on the Influence of Social Distance

This study examines the impact of social and spatial distance on public opinion about sexual exploitation of children. A randomized vignette experiment among members of a Dutch household panel investigated whether public perceptions of child sexual exploitation were more damning or more lenient when it occurred in a country closer to home, and explored theoretical explanations. The results show that offenses committed in the Netherlands or U.S. are overall perceived as more negative than those committed in Romania or Thailand. Social distance affects public perceptions about crime severity, and victims are attributed more responsibility in socially close than socially distant conditions. The study concludes that public perceptions are contingent upon the crime location, even when applied to child sexual exploitation.