School of Justice Studies Faculty Papers Copyright (c) 2013 Roger Williams University All rights reserved. http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp Recent documents in School of Justice Studies Faculty Papers en-us Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:59:59 PST 3600 From Classroom to Courtroom: The Legal Advocacy Clinic as a Collaborative Effort to Address Domestic Violence Issues in the Community http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/23 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/23 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:03:52 PDT Cases of domestic violence continue to make national headlines and fill court calendars across the nation. While legal and policy experts question the methodology used to address the challenging issues associated with domestic violence, most states agree on one policy that works—education and courtroom advocacy for victims. The problem facing many communities is how to find resources to provide court advocacy services to those vulnerable members of the community. One solution is found in the Legal Advocacy Clinic, a collaborative effort between an academic institution and a non-profit agency. While many law schools have provided similar services, the Legal Advocacy Clinic is the first of its kind to offer undergraduate criminal justice students the priceless opportunity to advocate for victims of domestic violence. For their part, these future police officers, lawyers, and criminal justice professionals have the opportunity to enter a courtroom and advocate on behalf of victims at no cost, providing a tremendous service to the community.

]]> Tricia P. Martland The Case for Clear and Convincing Evidence: Do our Laws Value Property over Children? http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/22 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/22 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 06:46:05 PDT Our laws reflect our values. What we value, we make laws to protect. In this article, Tricia Martland describes the child custody statute in North Dakota, which is the only state to use “clear and convincing” standard of evidence. This means that children will not be placed with parents with a history of domestic violence unless there is clear and convincing evidence of their rehabilitation. Other states deem the clear and convincing standard too stringent. Yet this standard is often used with regard to property title. Do our laws indicate that we value things over children? Changing policy to apply the same degree of protection to children that we do for property requires using the clear and convincing evidence standard.

]]> Tricia P. Martland Correlates and Consequences of Pre-Incarceration Gang Involvement among Incarcerated Youthful Felons http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/21 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/21 Fri, 12 Nov 2010 06:46:22 PST Objective: The primary aim of the study is to document the prevalence and variation in types of pre-incarceration gang membership among a sample of incarcerated felons. The second goal is to consider if and how pre-incarceration gang involvement affects institutional behavior.

Materials and Methods: This study builds on the existing literature by considering if and how different types of pre-incarceration gang involvement effect prison misconduct. This relationship is examined while controlling for attitudinal measures and pre-prison social characteristics that may condition entrance into gangs and involvement in serious prison misconduct. The study includes a sample of 504 youthful adults incarcerated in a large Midwestern state in 1996.

Results: The results highlight that there is a high degree of variation in pre-incarceration gang involvement. Moreover, involvement in different types of gangs also is a significant predictor of prison misconduct. Individuals involved in organized/criminal gangs at the point of incarceration experienced significantly more serious misconduct reports than their non-gang counterparts, but similar findings were not evident for those involved in unorganized gangs.

Conclusions: Even among a relatively serious population of youthful adult offenders, pre-incarceration gang involvement is uncommon. Pre-incarceration involvement in organized gangs represents a significant risk factor for prison misconduct.

]]> Sean P. Varano et al. An Empirical Analysis of Deviant Homicides in Chicago http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/20 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/20 Tue, 30 Mar 2010 07:04:06 PDT A survey of the literature suggests that victim-offender relationship and motive are two primary characteristics that have traditionally been used to disaggregate homicide events. Previous research has clearly identified normative homicide characteristics as expressive motives between intimates and instrumental motives between strangers. However, the present research examines the prevalence of deviant homicides, or homicides with nonnormative characteristics, in Chicago. The authors test the hypothesis that deviant homicides are more likely among individuals with weak ties to social institutions. Results of a logistic regression analysis support the hypothesis that the likelihood of deviant circumstances is significantly greater when homicides involve Hispanics, African Americans, and males. In addition, deviant homicides were significantly more likely when they involved gang circumstances and, on the national level, after the appearance of crack cocaine. These findings have important implications to the explanatory power of criminological theory.

]]> Sean P. Varano et al. Exploring the Drugs-Homicide Connection http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/19 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/19 Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:50:22 PDT Although research generally assumes a close relationship between drugs and violence, very little is known about the many different roles drugs can play in criminal events. Drug related as an event classification scheme is relatively common in homicide research, as well as other areas of inquiry, and is usually understood to be an important component in the causal processes of criminal events. Yet such classification schemes often suggest a simple, unidimensional construct. In reality, drug-related crimes are com-plex events. The purpose of this researchwas first to disaggregate the concept of drug-related homicide by providing an event classification scheme that conceptualizes the diverse roles drugs play in drug-related events.Acategorical coding scheme is presented that is similar to that proposed by Goldstein (1995) and later tested by Brownstein and colleagues (Brownstein & Goldstein, 1990; Brownstein, Baxi, Goldstein, & Ryan, 1992) that specifies three distinct types of homicide events. Included among these are (a) events that involved no evidence of illicit drugs associated with the homicide event, (b) those that involved the presence of drugs or drug use at the scene as well as events where either the victim and/or offender were buying or selling drugs (we term this peripherally drug-related homicides), and (c) events where the sale or use of drugswas the motivating feature of the homicide event. In some situations, there may be overlap between categories b and c; however, category c is distinct in that it includes features of motivation. The second purpose was to determine the relative importance of various situational and contextual characteristics of homicide events in understanding different types of drug-related events. Delineating these features will be an important step in filling in the gaps of knowledge about the assumed relationship between drugs and violence.

]]> Sean P. Varano et al. The Anti-Gang Initiative in Detroit: An Aggressive Enforcement Approach to Gangs http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/18 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/18 Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:12:51 PDT Over the period of the intervention and operation of the-AGI project, there was a considerable decline in gun crimes in the target precincts, whereas the number of such offenses rose in the comparison precinct. This was particularly the case in the Ninth Precinct, where a statistically significant reduction of gun crimes occurred. Perhaps more importantly, this reduction represented 112 fewer gun crimes, and thus a commensurate fewer number of victims, per month in this precinct. Given the design of this study and available data, these results cannot be directly attributed to the intervention. However, there is a strong indication that these aggressive policing tactics contributed significantly to this meaningful reduction.

]]> Timothy S. Bynum et al. Safety and Security at Special Events: The Case of the Salt Lake City Olympic Games http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/17 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/17 Mon, 29 Mar 2010 07:09:13 PDT Special events offer the potential for considerable threats to public safety. Perhaps no other special event rivals the Olympic Games in scope, duration, and potential for threat to communities, participants, and dignitaries. This paper reports on the results of a study of safety and security at the Salt Lake Olympic Games by a team of researchers with wide-ranging access to operations, personnel and documents from the security effort at the 2002 Winter Games. This paper focuses on three specific areas: changing definitions of safety and security during the Games; the development and maintenance of organizational structures and interaction; and lessons learned for other large-scale events. The goal of this paper is to document some of the challenges of establishing a temporary security organization. The paper concludes that building such organizations require for their success a major focus on creating a set of shared assumptions and working relationships.

]]> Scott H. Decker et al. Routine Crime in Exceptional Times: The Impact of the 2002 Winter Olympics on Citizen Demand for Police Services http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/16 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/16 Fri, 26 Mar 2010 08:00:02 PDT Despite their rich theoretical and practical importance, criminologists have paid scant attention to the patterns of crime and the responses to crime during exceptional events. Throughout the world large-scale political, social, economic, cultural, and sporting events have become commonplace. Natural disasters such as blackouts, hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis present similar opportunities. Such events often tax the capacities of jurisdictions to provide safety and security in response to the exceptional event, as well as to meet the “routine” public safety needs. This article examines “routine” crime as measured by calls for police service, official crime reports, and police arrests in Salt Lake City before, during, and after the 2002 Olympic Games. The analyses suggest that while a rather benign demographic among attendees and the presence of large numbers of social control agents might have been expected to decrease calls for police service for minor crime, it actually increased in Salt Lake during this period. The implications of these findings are considered for theories of routine activities, as well as systems capacity.

]]> Scott H. Decker et al. Street Outreach Workers: Best Practices and Lessons Learned http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/15 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/15 Fri, 26 Mar 2010 07:43:44 PDT Street outreach workers are an important part of the Senator Charles E. Shannon Jr. Community Safety Initiative (CSI) comprehensive gang and youth violence reduction strategy in Massachusetts1. Street outreach involves the use of individuals to “work the streets,” making contact with youth in neighborhoods with high levels of gang activity. These individuals are generally not employed by the criminal justice system agencies but rather are based in community service organizations or other non- governmental agencies. Street outreach workers provide an important bridge between the community, gang-involved youth, and the agencies (whether social service or law enforcement) that respond to the problems of delinquency and gangs. This guide offers information, guidance, and lessons learned from street outreach programs nationally and within the Massachusetts Shannon CSI communities to help guide existing street outreach programs and support communities considering developing new street outreach programs.

]]> Scott H. Decker et al. Constructing Crime: Neighborhood Characteristics and Police Recording Behavior http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/14 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/14 Fri, 26 Mar 2010 07:22:06 PDT It has long been acknowledged that police officers have substantial levels of discretion in their day-to-day activities. There is a well developed body of literature that considers how this discretion is exercised across a broad array of situations including the decision to arrest, use force, and grant citizen requests for official action. Using both social disorganization and conflict theories as conceptual models, the purpose of this study was to determine if neighborhood characteristics affect police reporting behavior across a wide cross-section of reported call types. The findings indicated that reporting behavior widely varies across crime types with a greater percentage of more serious crimes translated into official crime. Neighborhood characteristics did affect reporting practices, but surprisingly only for more serious forms of disorder where discretion was perceived to be less. The findings lent support for both social disorganization and conflict theories. Theoretical implications are discussed.

]]> Sean P. Varano et al. Corporatization of Higher Education: the Move for Greater Standardized Assessment Programs http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/13 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/13 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:13:59 PST This book addresses the on-going push for greater assessment in higher education, within the larger societal context in which a push for accountability and transparency has been rather selectively imposed. Addressing this context is done by means of addressing the specific higher education assessment literature, as well as such topics as unionization in higher education and the increase in “merit pay” schemes that diminish the collective power of union members and radically change the concept of academic freedom on college campuses. It addresses “dead weight” faculty that burden our institutions and drain our resources away from where they could be best spent. But, above all, it addresses the concept of assessment. While the focus of this work is upon assessment in higher education, it hopes to examine that growing phenomenon within the greater context of the larger social framework where assessment is lauded by the masses, but often frowned upon by those who may be the subject of any such assessment.

]]> Robert P. Engvall Why This Isn’t about Me: A Somewhat Responsible Response to an Unsolicited Academic Response and the “Academic Response Phenomenon” http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/12 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/12 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:55:27 PST Robert P. Engvall Bike Patrol http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/11 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/11 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:14:35 PDT Police bicycle usage has grown to a point where bicycle patrols are a known phenomenon. Physical and mental advantages for the officer, superior tactical capabilities and statistically higher levels of interaction with the public head the litany of reasons to increase police bicycling.

]]> Chris Menton Examining the effectiveness of bicycle patrols versus automobile patrols in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Hartford, Connecticut http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/10 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/10 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:11:30 PDT The use of police bicycle patrols has become widespread. After one hundred hours of observation and data gathering, this study concluded that the bicycle patrol performs effectively in most dimensions of patrol duties. Bicycle patrol officers are more approachable for pedestrians and for those members of the public in motor vehicles.

]]> Chris Menton Bicycle patrols: an underutilized resource http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/9 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/9 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:15:39 PDT Foundational research on police use of bicycles for patrol. A participant/observation research design was used. A five-city, 32-shift study on the output of police bicycle patrols was conducted. Same and similar ride-alongs were conducted with bicycle and automobile patrols. All contacts (n1/4 1,105) with the public were recorded and coded. These data included: number of people, tenor, seriousness and origination for each contact.

]]> Chris Menton Bicycle patrols versus car patrols http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/8 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/8 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:51:24 PDT How do police bicycle patrols compare with police motor patrols? In this study, both were observed under similar conditions in five cities with populations of more than 100,000. All contact the police officers had with public was recorded and coded. The results show that a higher amount of contact with the public was experienced by police officers patrolling on bicycles.

]]> Chris Menton Too much democracy http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/7 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/7 Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:51:44 PST Questioning the public schools is an essential part of a thriving democracy. Were we satisfied with our public schools to the point of unquestioned loyalty, we would not be practicing the type of citizenship that we learned within those public schools. It is a conundrum to be sure, and it must surely be the bane of many a public school teacher that they may be doing their best to create new generations of critics.

]]> Robert P. Engvall All that appears isn't necessarily so: morality, virtue, politics, and education http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/6 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/6 Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:32:20 PST In recent years, the frequency of social critics’ attacks upon our collective “loss of virtue” has heightened. Such attacks on our “failures” now occur so routinely that we often treat the message as so obvious that it need only be mentioned to be accepted. This book attacks that message, not so much for its content, as for its method of delivery. In other words, the author is setting out to attack not the message, but the messenger since the message “virtue” is too complicated for a person to fully understand.

]]> Robert P. Engvall The professionalization of teaching: is it truly much ado about nothing? http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/5 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/5 Fri, 08 Feb 2008 09:44:26 PST This book focuses on the concerns about the quality and competency of teachers. The effectiveness of teachers has long been a public concern and the aspiration to reform schools has been a recurrent theme in American education. Retaining, or in some cases restoring, the public confidence in the schools is essential for the continuation of the educational enterprise.

]]> Robert P. Engvall Marginalization and racial stratification in the academic discipline of criminal justice http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/4 http://docs.rwu.edu/sjs_fp/4 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:46:00 PST That the criminal justice system plays a significant role in the lives of African Americans and that African Americans are disproportinately impacted by that systme is amply documented. This chapter also addresses this impact but does so by focusing upon whether academia has played a role in the continued diminishment of individuals and the contitnued marginalization of groups of persons. Also examined is the place of the criminal justice discipline within the larger academy and the status of African Americans thithin this discipline. The invisibility of certain groups, traditionally those of minority status, from positions of power within society has done much to shape justice policy. Such invisiblility can transcend traditionally considered avenues of power and can be traced to assumptions made within the academy as well.

]]> Robert P. Engvall