Suchergebnisse

Books reviewed in this article:Michael Rutter, Henri Giller and Ann Hagell, Antisocial Behaviourby Young People

Three propositions derived from Peter M. Blau's macrosociological theory of social relations are examined (eg, see Inequality and Heterogeneity, New York: Free Press, 1977). The theorems predict a positive effect of heterogeneity, urbanization, & inequality on intergroup conflict, & are tested using 1973-1979 National Crime Survey data from 900,000+ household Rs, & a subsample of 25,000+ victim interviews, on crimes between persons of different age, race, & income groups. The results for heterogeneity & urbanization corroborate Blau's theory. 3 Tables, 26 References. Modified HA

Recently, much attention has been focused on the structural determinants of variations in crime rates across U.S. cities. Virtually all research in this area has utilized aggregate reported offense rates as the dependent variable. While it provides a good indicator of the total volume of crime, the aggregate crime rate suffers two major disadvantages‐it obscures individual‐ and aggregate‐level effects, and it does not allow testing of criminological theory which specifies differential effects of economic variables (for example, poverty, inequality) on offending rates for various population subgroups (for example, black adults, white adults). The present study addresses these issues by examining the economic determinants of age, race, and crime‐specific offending rates for a sample of the nation's largest cities. The overall results suggest that income inequality has a direct positive effect on black offending rates for serious crime, whereas black poverty has no effect. In contrast, white poverty has positive effects on white violence, while inequality significantly increases white robbery and burglary. The implications of findings for recent theoretical developments of conflict and relative deprivation theory are assessed.

ABSTRACT* * *This study examines the relationship between neighborhood structural density and rates of robbery and assault victimization. A theoretical framework linking defensible‐space theory with an opportunity model of predatory criminal victimization suggests that structural density has a positive relationship with victimization, independent of victim characteristics. This perspective is compared to recent empirical and theoretical works that argue that denisty has either no relationship or an inverse relationship to crime. Hypotheses are tested with National Crime Survey victimization data for the years 1973 to 1978. The results support the major hypothesis and s h that structural density is positively related to rates of robbery and assault victimization, controlling for age, race, and sex of victim, and for extent of urbanization. Surprisingly, the positive relationship between structural density and victimization is stronger in rural areas than in urban areas.

"One out of every ten prisoners in the United States is serving a life sentence--roughly 130,000 people. While some have been sentenced to life in prison without parole, the majority of prisoners serving 'life' will be released back into society. But what becomes of those people who reenter the everyday world after serving life in prison? In After Life Imprisonment, Marieke Liem carefully examines the experiences of 'lifers' upon release. Through interviews with over sixty homicide offenders sentenced to life but granted parole, Liem tracks those able to build a new life on the outside and those who were re-incarcerated. The interviews reveal prisoners' reflections on being sentenced to life, as well as the challenges of employment, housing, and interpersonal relationships upon release. Liem explores the increase in handing out of life sentences, and specifically provides a basis for discussions of the goals, costs, and effects of long-term imprisonment, ultimately unpacking public policy and discourse surrounding long-term incarceration. A profound criminological examination, After Life Imprisonment reveals the untold, lived experiences of prisoners before and after their life sentences"--Provided by publisher

AbstractAlthough racial disparities in criminal justice contact are long‐standing and the subject of continuing public debate, few studies have linked early‐life social conditions to racial disparities in arrest over the life course and in changing times. In this article, we advance and test a theoretical model of racial inequality in long‐term arrest histories on a representative sample of nearly 1,000 individuals from multiple birth cohorts in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Large Black–White disparities in arrests from ages 10 to 40 arise from racial inequalities in exposure to cumulative childhood advantages and disadvantages rather than from race‐specific effects. Smaller but meaningful Hispanic–White gaps follow a similar pattern, and the same explanations of racial disparities hold across different offense types and across birth cohorts who came of age at different times during 1995 to 2021. These findings indicate that inequalities in early‐life structural factors, which themselves are historically shaped, trigger processes of cumulative advantage and disadvantage that produce racial disparities in arrests over the life course and that persist across different points in contemporary history.