Crime & Delinquency

Marquart, James W.; Merianos, Dorothy E.; Cuvelier, Steven J.; Carroll, Leo

doi: 10.1177/0011128796042003001pmid: N/A

Prison organizations are not isolated institutions, thus social and economic change in the wider society affects their internal dynamics. The authors explore how health conditions within lower socioeconomic segments of the population influence the health characteristics of prisoner admissions, and demonstrate how health conditions within the wider society have major implications for prisoner health care systems. The effects of recent conservative crime control ideologies on institutional health care programs are also examined. The article concludes with the development of a research agenda on prisoner health care issues.

Holzman, Harold R.

doi: 10.1177/0011128796042003002pmid: N/A

Although public housing in the United States is often portrayed as crime ridden, little information from official statistics is available to support this impression. Furthermore, only a handful of criminologists have done empirical research on crime in public housing, and this research has tended to focus on large public housing authorities (PHAs) in big cities. Furnishing the reader with an array of facts about public housing (e.g., roughly 90% of PHAs have fewer than 500 units), this article makes the case that criminologists are woefully uninformed about the nature of the public housing universe and its crime problems.

Weisheit, Ralph A.; Wells, L. Edward

doi: 10.1177/0011128796042003003pmid: N/A

Theories of crime and research on crime and justice have usually been based on an urban model of social organization. Applying these theories and methods to rural settings provides an opportunity to understand them better and to make clear the assumptions upon which they are based. This article assesses current theories and methods regarding their ability to account for crime and justice in rural areas.

Brown, Mark; Polk, Kenneth

doi: 10.1177/0011128796042003004pmid: N/A

Despite having little serious crime in the form of homicide or sexual assault, the state of Tasmania in Australia has enough crime in terms of assault, burglary, and public order offenses to generate a reasonably high level of fear of crime. The Tasmanian government has embarked upon a novel attempt to address simultaneously both crime and fear of crime through a strategy of crime prevention that focuses on a combination of restorative justice and community enhancement. This positive, developmental approach to crime prevention is fundamentally integrative and stands in sharp contrast to the punishment-oriented policies currently popular in many American jurisdictions. Unlike the Tasmanian proposals, approaches such as “three strikes and you're out” leave the fear of crime problem unresolved, leading to a continuous upward spiral of punitiveness.

Jensen, Eric L.; Gerber, Jurg

doi: 10.1177/0011128796042003005pmid: N/A

The War on Drugs has resulted in some of the most extensive changes in criminal justice policy since the due process revolution of the 1960s. Asset forfeiture has been used as a criminal sanction but has been camouflaged as a civil procedure, thus in effect limiting the due process rights of those accused. The state has extended its control over citizens and has simultaneously weakened the rights of individuals to protect themselves against state intrusion. The potential for excess with a civil asset forfeiture policy absent adequate due process protections render this policy unacceptable in a society based on the rule of law.

Brown, Mark

doi: 10.1177/0011128796042003006pmid: N/A

In meta-analyses of the rehabilitation literature, reoffending risk has been identified as a primary variable influencing program effectiveness. However, it is by no means clear to practitioners how this broad finding ought to be interpreted and what priority risk ought to be given among the range of considerations facing decision makers located at different points in the criminal justice system. This article uses data from a national random sample of New Zealand offenders to test the utility of the risk principle. The decision context chosen for this evaluation is the allocation of prisoners to programs at the point of release from custody. Findings indicate that while risk is closely associated with patterns of reoffending, other context-specific variables, such as the timing of release from custody, appear to interact with or mediate the effects of risk. Implications for practitioners wishing to utilize findings from the research literature are discussed.

Wooldredge, John

doi: 10.1177/0011128796042003007pmid: N/A

Sentencing policies focused on “getting tough” with felons may contribute to prison crowding by increasing the numbers of prison inmates serving more than I year, thereby slowing prison population turnover. However, empirical relationships between sentencing policies and inmate crowding have not been established firmly. The study presented here indicates that the number of inmates serving more than 1 year in state prisons is significantly larger in states with higher minimum sentences, larger numbers of mandatory prison terms, and structured parole guidelines. Larger numbers of long-term inmates, in turn, correspond with higher levels of prison crowding across states.

Baines, Margaret; Alder, Christine

doi: 10.1177/0011128796042003008pmid: N/A

This research explored the frequently heard, but virtually unexamined, comment in juvenile justice practice that “girls are more difficult to work with.” The qualitative methodology entailed interviews with youth workers in juvenile justice and related programs in Victoria, Australia. Virtually all interviewees concurred with the judgment. Explanations were in terms of perceived differences in the complexity of the problems involved and in the behavior of young men and women. The relatively small number of young women affected both the extent of workers' experiences with and the range of services available to young women. The degree to which workers' assessments reflected gendered assumptions, or actual differences in behavior, could not be determined by this research. Nevertheless, the extent and intensity of this understanding revealed in this research indicates the need for further research so that its potential ramifications can be identified and addressed in juvenile justice policy developments.