Ryan Charles Meldrum

Florida Atlantic University | FAU

Objectives: We draw from prior theory and research to advance theoretical arguments for how self-control may operate as a collective concept in addition to being a powerful individual quality. Next, we empirically examine hypotheses regarding the potential effects of collective self-control on offending. Methods: We use data from the 2018 Florida Y...

The prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors across distinct intersections of race/ethnicity and gender among adolescents remains understudied. The current study seeks to address this important gap in suicide scholarship using a statewide representative sample of U.S. Florida middle school and high school adolescents. Data drawn from the 2022...

A primary argument of Anderson’s (1999) code of the street thesis is that youth who hold stronger street code values are more likely to engage in antisocial behavior, particularly violence. While support for this argument has been observed in past research both within and outside the United States, it has not yet been scrutinized in the Central Ame...

An extensive body of research suggests that youth of color are more likely to experience an arrest than their White counterparts. Theoretically, these findings have been understood, at least in part, as the result of the differential deployment of law enforcement to areas with higher Black and Hispanic concentrations as well as stereotyped attribut...

Objectives Past research has investigated factors that condition the association between self-control and antisocial behavior. Absent from consideration has been the possible moderating effect of alcohol intoxication. Methods Using a placebo-controlled experimental design, we explore whether alcohol intoxication moderates the association between s...

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) represent a key risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors among adolescents. However, the intervening mechanisms linking ACEs and suicidality, and whether such processes vary by gender, remain underexplored. Objective: The present study examines whether the relationships between ACEs and the li...

Youth with access to illicit handguns have an enhanced proclivity to engage in armed criminal violence and self-harm. While theft has been identified as a pathway for youth to gain access to handguns, little is known about whether and to what extent stolen guns represent a viable channel toward putting youth and others at risk. To evaluate this, se...

This chapter reviews theory and research on the association between self-control, homicide offending, and homicide victimization. While much attention has been devoted to investigating the link between deficits in self-control and a wide variety of delinquent, criminal, and violent behaviors, far less attention has been devoted to empirical investi...

Several studies link adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to delinquency. Yet, developmental sequalae accounting for this association remain unclear, with previous research limited by cross-sectional research designs and investigations of singular mediating processes. To redress these shortcomings, this study examines the longitudinal association b...

Purpose: Prior research reveals many risk factors related to adolescent substance use. In this study, we build an argument that insufficient sleep partially explains the effects of multiple risk factors (neighborhood disorder, unstructured socializing, bullying victimization, family conflict, and weak family social control) on substance use. Method...

Social bond theory provides a clear theoretical link between attachment to parents and reduced involvement with substance use regardless of the substance use-related attitudes and behaviors of parents. In contrast, social learning theories contend that attachment to parents may increase substance use if youth perceive that their parents are less di...

Purpose: The prevalence of exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) across distinct intersections of race/ethnicity and gender among adolescents remains relatively unknown. The current study seeks to address this important gap in the literature using a statewide representative sample of Florida high school students. Methods: Data drawn f...

Objectives: This study explores the effects of racial/ethnic identity on youths’ likelihood of receiving a suspension from school as well as whether these disparities further vary by gender. In light of recent demographic shifts within the U.S., alternative theoretical rationales emphasizing such issues as “exotic threat,” “stereotype lift,” and “r...

Background Research on digital self‐harm – the anonymous online posting, sending, or otherwise sharing of hurtful content about oneself – is still in its infancy. Yet unexplored is whether digital self‐harm is related to suicidal ideation or suicide attempts. Methods In the current study, survey data were collected in 2019 from a national sample o...

Drawing on Agnew's general strain theory, this study investigates the extent to which adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with engagement in digital self-harm-the anonymous posting of mean or hurtful information about oneself on the internet and social media platforms. It also assesses the extent to which depressive symptoms mediate...

The goals of this study were to assess the prevalence of victimization among people who are transitioning from prison to the community, and to examine the nexus of violent victimization during reentry, mental health, and weekly work hours. The participants (n = 724; average age = 29.09 years) were interviewed before release, and in the 3rd, 9th, an...

Purpose: Developmental trajectories of low impulse control coupled with high sensation seeking are associated with greater adolescent delinquency. In addition, several studies link adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to lower self-control and increases in delinquency. Herein, we develop and test an integrated model which synthesizes these two stra...

Purpose: Criminologists have increasingly investigated the relevance of health indicators, such as sleep problems, for predicting delinquent and criminal behavior. Further, several studies have investigated the association between sleep and low self-control. Yet, insufficient attention has been given to investigating whether this association is rec...

In this report, we provide a rare compilation of data on screening and dismissal decisions from jurisdictions across the country. We explore case rejection and dismissal trends in 15 prosecutor’s offices before drilling down in these two important outcomes to examine variations across defendant race and offense type in select jurisdictions.

Purpose: Research surrounding the intergenerational transmission of self-control has expanded recently. Yet, findings are mixed, and key limitations regarding the inclusion of distinct measures of parental attachment toward children and parenting practices within a longitudinal framework remain. We seek to address these limitations by providing a l...

Background This study examines the relationship between sleep duration, depression, and engagement in a novel cyber behavior, digital self‐harm, among adolescents. Method Logistic regression analyses were conducted using cross‐sectional data from the 2019 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (N = 9,819; 48% male; avg. grade level = 9th grade [SD =...

Scholars have called for greater understanding of the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on later youth development, including research on sleep as a potential contributor to delinquency. This study seeks to extend that work by situating the focus on ACEs and sleep within a life-course perspective, one that examines life events and tur...

Research on digital self-harm - the anonymous or pseudonymous posting of hurtful or negative information about oneself on the internet and social media platforms - is in the early stages of development. While scholars have started to focus on the correlates of this behavior, there remains a need to anchor the study of digital self-harm within estab...

Research has established that individuals lower in self-control are at increased risk of offline criminal victimization due to their proclivity to engage in risky routine activities. While some studies have investigated whether a similar pattern is observed in the online context, additional inquiry into whether the link between low self-control and...

A wealth of research links exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with negative outcomes including nicotine and marijuana use. In addition, an emerging line of research has documented associations between exposure to ACEs and vaping activity in American adults and international samples of adolescents. Very limited research, however, has e...

Overlooked in the extensive literature on self-control theory are propositions with respect to street gangs. In Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) perspective, gangs are loose confederations of youth with low self-control and their criminological relevance is attributable to “politics and romance” rather than to rigorous empirical research. Prior res...

The assumption that people are inherently self-interested and that legal controls are needed to prevent crime underlies several criminological perspectives. In the current study, this assumption is tested by having a sample of 500 U.S. adults report on the likelihood they would engage in criminal behavior if all crime were legal on one day each yea...

A vast body of research demonstrates that the consequences of the “criminalization” of school discipline are not racially equitable, and Black and Hispanic students are more likely than White youth to experience exclusionary school punishments. However, limited prior work has examined the factors that might strengthen or weaken racial/ethnic inequa...

In recent years, accounts of the so-called progressive prosecutor have been juxtaposed against the more traditional, law-and-order prosecutor in the United States. Yet, little effort has been made to empirically investigate these orientations among prosecutors. In this multijurisdictional study, prosecutors were asked to rate the importance of a va...

Susceptibility to peer influence among adolescents is associated with a variety of negative interpersonal and psychosocial outcomes. Although proper sleep is crucial for adolescent development and well-being, no study to date has examined the influence of sleep problems on susceptibility to peer influence. We assess this relationship using two wave...

Research finds low self-control is associated with a myriad of delinquent, criminal, and antisocial behaviors. Less attention, however, has been directed at investigating whether low self-control is related to environmental harm. The current study contributes to this area of research in two ways. First, we explicate why low self-control would relat...

Objectives: To investigate whether sleep duration is associated with adolescent handgun carrying behaviors. Design: The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS) is a cross-sectional study of adolescents. Setting: The state of Florida. Participants: Middle school and high school students (n = 42,182) attending public schools in 2018. Met...

Much prior research has examined racial and ethnic disparities in juvenile court interventions, and the evidence suggests that minority youth are sanctioned more harshly than similarly situated White youth. Additionally, scholars have explored the potential negative consequences of juvenile justice contact, and some research indicates that more int...

Research provides consistent evidence that non-offenders have greater self-control than offenders. While such differences exist across a range of samples, the ability of measures of self-control to discriminate between different groups merits additional attention. We advance research on this topic by comparing the self-control of police officers to...

Research finds a lack of sleep during adolescence is associated with a variety of negative outcomes and suggests that early school start times contribute to this problem. Criminologists have largely overlooked the relevance of school start times for adolescent delinquency and substance use, precluding multi-disciplinary collaborations between crimi...

A large body of research links both a lack of self-control and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to a variety of negative health and behavior outcomes, including delinquent and criminal behavior. To date, relatively little research considers whether experiencing a greater variety of ACEs is associated with lower self-control. We advance this are...

Accepted for publication in the International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice: Public opinion studies concerning the International Criminal Court show that a majority of the U.S. public supports the ICC and U.S. participation with the Court. Yet, such studies provide no information to participants about the lack of protections...

This report presents findings from an assessment of racial and ethnic disparities in prosecution and sentencing in Hillsborough County, Florida. Among multiple decision points analyzed, disparities are not large. Whenever differences among white, black and Hispanic defendants in prosecutorial and judicial decisions exist, whites are more disadvanta...

Despite the known implications of texting while driving for reducing driver alertness and increasing traffic accidents, investigating the potential causes of the behavior is something that criminologists have only recently started to investigate. The current study builds on this small body of research by assessing whether low self-control is associ...

For decades, scholars have examined various aspects concerning the development of intelligence. Little research, however, has considered the potential for peers to influence intellectual ability. To investigate this possibility, data collected on a sample of 892 adolescents and their best friends who participated in the Study of Early Child Care an...

This report presents the results of 78 interviews and 275 surveys completed with prosecutors in Jacksonville, FL, Chicago, IL, Tampa, FL, and Milwaukee, WI. It is the first in a series of reports of the national project focusing on advancing prosecutorial effectiveness and fairness funded by the MacArthur Foundation. The project is lead by research...

Objectives: To examine whether perceptions of school safety and neighborhood safety are associated with insufficient sleep during adolescence. Design: The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS) is a cross-sectional study of adolescents. Setting: The state of Florida. Participants: Middle-school and high-school students (n = 7,958) attendi...

Purpose: Recent research provides evidence of intergenerational continuity in self-control. This body of research, however, can be advanced in several ways to enhance our understanding of this association. Methods: We add to this literature by examining whether maternal and paternal self-control, assessed during a child’s infancy, is associated w...

Warr (2016) recently proposed that remorselessness may offer a useful explanation for understanding persistence and desistance from criminal offending. While early empirical evidence supports this framework, not only is replication needed but there is also a need to consider potential determinants of remorselessness. Using data from the Study of Ea...

A wealth of literature has examined the association between breastfeeding and the development of cognitive abilities in childhood. In particular, at least some evidence exists suggesting that breastfed children perform better on measures of intelligence later in life. While a correlation appears to be present, fewer observational studies have inclu...

Recent meta-analyses on the relationship between prenatal testosterone—measured by the 2D:4D digit ratio—and aggression and analogous traits have reported an overall weak association. Fewer studies, however, have focused specifically on violent behavior. Yet, many of these studies have relied on small samples of incarcerated men and limited their f...

Research finds that unstructured socializing with peers is positively associated with substance use, but important issues remain underexamined. Specifically, does the risk of substance use resulting from time spent engaged in unstructured socializing with peers begin immediately, or is a certain minimum threshold of time spent with peers required?...

Purpose: Holding street code values has emerged as a significant predictor of antisocial behavior. In light of this evidence, researchers have devoted increased attention to the factors which contribute to the adoption of street code values. Methods: The current study builds on this growing body of research by considering the extent to which multip...

Purpose: A vast literature finds that low self-control is associated with a myriad of antisocial behaviors. Consequently, increasing attention has focused on the causes of low self-control. While criminologists have directed significant attention to studying its social causes, fewer studies have considered its neural bases. Methods: We add to th...

PurposeA large body of research finds that unstructured socializing with peers is associated with antisocial behavior. Less attention, however, has been devoted to identifying the sources of unstructured socializing, particularly in the context of accounting for changes in unstructured socializing and how various factors might interact with one ano...

A number of studies have evaluated associations between parenting practices, adolescent self-control, and adolescent antisocial behavior. Yet, few studies have examined associations between these constructs in early childhood or examined the extent to which both maternal and paternal self-control shapes them. To address these gaps, the current stud...

Childhood aggression consistently predicts delinquency during adolescence, but research in this area reveals exceptions, with some highly aggressive children becoming relatively nondelinquent adolescents. This directs attention to the factors that explain why early aggression is sometimes not followed by later delinquency. This study considers that...

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to evaluate whether prenatal exposure to secondhand smoke among non-smoking mothers is associated with their child’s development of self-control from childhood into adolescence. Methods We use longitudinal survey data collected from non-smoking mothers (n = 750) who participated in the U.S. Study of Early Child...

A large body of research finds that unstructured socializing with peers is positively associated with delinquency during adolescence. Yet, existing research has not ruled out the potential for confounding due to genetic factors and factors that can be traced to environments shared between siblings. To fill this void, the current study examines whet...

Research on the topics of general intelligence and friendship formation separately has elicited a tremendous amount of attention across decades of psychological scholarship. To date, however, less effort has been aimed at uniting these lines of inquiry. In particular, do friendship bonds emerge, based in part, on shared levels of cognitive ability?...

As part of the Juvenile Justice System Improvement Project (JJSIP), the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice began implementation of a Disposition Matrix starting in 2013 to guide Juvenile Probation Officers in their recommendations to the court. This report represents the second evaluation as to whether youth who received dispositions within the...

The concept of self-control has been used to account for a wide variety of outcomes, both criminal and otherwise. Recently, researchers have started investigating associations between parental self-control and family functioning. This study expands this area of research by assessing the extent to which parental low self-control and official involve...

Purpose. Peer delinquency and unstructured socializing have been identified as important correlates of delinquency and substance use. This state-of-the-art review explicates research into these associations to identify important trends in the literature and directions for future research. Methods. A search of the criminological literature and liter...

A large body of research finds that low self-control is associated with a variety of antisocial behaviors and undesirable outcomes. Yet, several behavioral domains remain unexplored. The purpose of the current study is to expand the boundaries of the literature concerning the behavioral outcomes of low self-control by examining its association with...

Research consistently finds that low self-control is significantly correlated with delinquency. Only recently, however, have researchers started to examine associations between parental low self-control, family environments, and child antisocial behavior. Adding to this emerging area of research, the current study examines associations between pare...

The overlap between victimization and offending is well documented. Yet, there have been fewer investigations of the reasons underlying this relationship. One possible, but understudied, explanation lies with Gottfredson and Hirschi's arguments regarding self-control. The current study adds to this line of inquiry by assessing whether low self-cont...

Objectives. Research indicates respondents overestimate the similarity between their own deviance and that of their peers. Extending Rebellon and Modecki's (2014) study, we examine if item-level error correlations in structural models reduce bias for non-peer-based, theoretically derived covariates such as self-control. Our specific interest lies i...

Analysis of United States foreign policy is a constant in academia and the media. Among the widely analyzed and hotly debated issues on U.S. foreign policy is its relationship with the International Criminal Court (ICC). Yet, there has been little research on American public opinion if the U.S. should be more involved with the ICC. This paper analy...

Significant attention has been directed at evaluating Gottfredson and Hirschi’s claim that parental socialization has a direct influence on self-control and an indirect influence on criminal behavior. Yet, only recently have researchers investigated the role parental self-control occupies in shaping these processes. To advance research in this area...

In recent decades, researchers have identified many programs that successfully reduce juvenile delinquency. Evaluations of these programs generally do not, however, assess the mediating variables that intervene between program participation and reduced delinquency. Thus, although much insight has been gained on which programs are effective, the que...

Self-Control and Crime Over the Life Course introduces readers to the idea of self-control and its importance for understanding criminal behavior. Using intuitive examples, the authors draw attention to the close connection between self-control and the behavioral choices people make, especially in reference to criminal, deviant, and harmful behavio...

Researchers have devoted significant attention to the measurement of peer delinquency, with recent work indicating that perceptual measures are plagued by various biases. Yet, absent from this research is an inquiry into whether the manner in which perceptions are typically operationalized potentially contributes to these limitations. In this study...

Recent work provides evidence that reduced sleep duration has detrimental effects on a range of developmentally related outcomes during adolescence. Yet, the potential confounding influence of genetic and shared environmental effects has not been sufficiently addressed. This study addresses this issue by analyzing cross-sectional data from the twin...