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Crime, Justice and Correction
... Porter & Warrender, 2009). Roebuck and Barker (1974) list a range of competing explanations of police corruption including dishonest and criminal recruits (Lewis & Blum, 1964), faulty training and supervision (Tappan, 1960), political corruption (Gardiner, 1970), dearth of professional standards (Skolnick, 1967), societal demands for illegal services (Merton, 1958), and socialization of newer recruits into corrupt practices (Stoddard, 1968). Since the end of British colonial domination, two explanations of police corruption and deviance have gained increased currency. ...
... The police force-which at independence numbered approximately 12,000-was larger than the military, and thus was perceived by the military leaders as a threat. Consequently, the police force was chronically underfunded and marginalized by the military government during this period (1960Dayil & Sjoberg, 2010). There was no constitutional provision that a certain percentage of national revenue be allocated to the police. ...
The Nigeria Police Force is widely perceived by the public as the most corrupt and violent institution in Nigeria in a way that is not evidently insincere. In light of the generalization and banalization of police corruption and deviance, it is surprising that few works have addressed this problem that most directly affects the aggrieved Nigerian public. This article critically examines the embeddedness and ramifications of police corruption and deviance in Nigeria. The article is historically anchored and foregrounds colonial and military administrative policies that inculcated a strategy of corruption by coercion in the Nigeria Police Force.
... According to Tappan (1960), "crime is an intentional act or omission in violation of criminal law (statutory and case law) committed without defense or justification, and sanctioned by the state as a felony or misdemeanor". ...
Crime is a common phenomenon in India.. It happens in different part of our country and along with violent crimes property crimes, corruption, arms trafficking, child trafficking etc. Gunrunning, extortion, money laundering etc are some of the examples of crimes that happens in India. In this chapter various information sources on criminal justice, child abuse, human trafficking, etc are included.
... Marshall and Clark (1952) wrote "A crime is any act or omission prohibited by public law for the protection of the public and punishable by state in a judicial proceeding in its own name." Similarly Tappan (1960) defined that "A crime is an instrumental act or omission in violation of criminal law, committed without justification and sanctioned by the state as a felony or misdemeanor." ...
Crime is an outcome of illegal market returns overweighing legal market returns. This study proposes few deterrence expenditures which indicate direct or indirect government intervention to crime control. This study uses random effect panel Poisson regression approach to determine the effects of proposed deterrence expenditures on crime for districts of Punjab, Pakistan. The results indicate that enrollment in schools, employment, education expenditures and health expenditures significantly deter crime. While between the proposed direct interventions, the police expenditures have appeared to be the most effective deterrent. The efficiency estimates using frontier analysis, shows that the government efforts are 63% efficient in minimizing crime rate. It can be further improved by aligning objectives of all the districts and efficiently utilizing national resources.
... Marshall and Clarke, (1952) wrote, "A crime is any act or omission prohibited by public law for the protection of the public and punishable by state in a judicial proceeding in its own name". Similarly, Tappan (1960) defined that "A crime is an instrumental act or omission in violation of criminal law, committed without justification and sanctioned by the state as felony or misdemeanor." ...
Purpose: The aim of present study is to explore the social and demographic determinants of
total crime, property crime and violent crime in Punjab, the main province of Pakistan.
Methodology: 25 districts of province Punjab are selected as sample for empirical estimation.
The time span to be covered in the study is 2005-2012. Findings: Empirical evidences estimated
by applying fixed and random effects models reveals that deterrence variable positively and
significantly impact different level of crime in Pakistan. Recommendations: Similarly, increase
in population density is an important factor to stimulate criminal activities in Pakistan. However
education provides mixed evidence in our analysis.
... Marshall and Clarke, (1952) wrote, " A crime is any act or omission prohibited by public law for the protection of the public and punishable by state in a judicial proceeding in its own name " . Similarly, Tappan (1960) defined that " A crime is an instrumental act or omission in violation of criminal law, committed without justification and sanctioned by the state as felony or misdemeanor. " ...
Highlights The crime function is applied in Punjab. The panel approach has been for empirical analysis. Empirical findings are helpful in designing policies implications. Abstract Purpose: The aim of present study is to explore the social and demographic determinants of total crime, property crime and violent crime in Punjab, the main province of Pakistan. Methodology: 25 districts of province Punjab are selected as sample for empirical estimation. The time span to be covered in the study is 2005-2012. Findings: Empirical evidences estimated by applying fixed and random effects models reveals that deterrence variable positively and significantly impact different level of crime in Pakistan. Recommendations: Similarly, increase in population density is an important factor to stimulate criminal activities in Pakistan. However education provides mixed evidence in our analysis.
... Moving on, a range of other explanations for corrupt and abusive policing exists, including: dishonest and criminal recruits (Lewis and Blum 1964), faulty training and supervision (Tappan 1960), political corruption (Gardiner 1970), a dearth of professional standards (Skolnick 1967), societal demands for illegal services (Merton 1958), and the socialization of newer recruits into corrupt practices (Roebuck and Barker 1974). In a helpful review, Porter (2005:143-69) collapsed several factors of corrupt policing into organizational factors and social factors. ...
This article critically and empirically examines the everyday problem of corrupt policing and related abuses in urban Nigeria, with attention to the threat posed to ordinary Nigerians' basic human rights. The analysis, sociohistorically anchored, foregrounds colonial and military policies that have entrenched a culture of predation in the Nigeria Police Force. The article contributes to existing scholarship by directly relating corrupt and abusive policing to complex sociohistorical conditions, rather than seeing it as a purely managerial problem, whose solution lies in simplistic demands for internal reform. The article attempts to fill a gap in empirical scholarship by approaching corrupt and abusive policing from the angle of everyday practice, rather than by taking normative structural approaches and basing suppositions of actual behavior upon these. The article draws on evidence from eight months of ethnographic fieldwork research in Lagos State, southwestern Nigeria. The fieldwork evidence is supported by analyses of public discourse, a review of extant literature, some semiformal interviews, a review of national constitutions and international human rights law, and historical research. These together suggest conclusions pertinent to democratic reform of the Nigerian police.
... Any act or an omission that is forbidden, for the protection of public, by public law and is liable to be punished in a legal proceeding in its own name is a crime (Marshal and Clark, 1952). In other words, crime is an instrumental act of violation of law that is committed without any justification and sanctioned as offence by the state (Tappan, 1960). Gillado and Tan-Cruz (2004) considers the violations of the penal code of the country to be a crime. ...
This study investigates the impact of crime on economic growth of Pakistan by using time series data from 1980 to 2011. Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) test is applied to check the stationary of variables. It is hypothesized that increase in crime leads to less economic growth in Pakistan. Autoregressive Distributive lag (ARDL) to cointegration is used to find short and long run relationship between crime and Economic growth. Results reveal that crime has negative and significant impact on economic growth in the long run, whereas in short run the effect of crime on economic growth is negative but insignificant. ECM term explains that adjustment process is quick. Our model is free from hetroskedasticity, autocorrelation with satisfactory functional form, which suggests the stability of our model. The CUSUM and CUSUMSQ are showing that the model is structurally stable and stays within the 5% of critical bounds. It is recommended that Pakistan needs stable and visionary government to control crime in order to enhance economic growth. Moreover, social evils like poverty and unemployment should be reduced by providing job opportunities to unemployed youth to minimize frustration of the society.
... Also, rehabilitation involves the use of a more clinical approach and a variety of experts in the fields of psychiatry and psychology. Tappan (1960) was of the view that a clinical approach is more effective in detecting psychological, mental and personality issues in the offender. Therefore, the child will be rehabilitated holistically, thus maximizing his potential for change and successful integration into society. ...
Children who find themselves on the wrong side of the law must bear the legal consequences to ensure that they obey societal norms. The question is: what theory forms the legal basis for legal action against these troubled young offenders? Will the courts apply the deterrence theory by sentencing them to harsher punishments, or will they apply the rehabilitation theory by passing lighter orders? The objective of this article is to debate one of the theories applied by the Court for Children in their adjudicating process-the rehabilitation theory, and its application. This article will also discuss two legal provisions in the Child Act 2001 Malaysia (Act 611) which are based on the rehabilitation theory. This study finds that the rehabilitation theory is the best and most suitable theory to be applied to child offenders because it focuses on individual rehabilitation by taking into consideration the aspects of education, societal integration and rehabilitating them of their criminal mentality. The two aforementioned provisions, namely, on 'approved school' and 'community services', are orders founded on the rehabilitation theory and can potentially prevent child offenders from involving themselves in criminal activities in the future. The importance of this study is paramount as it shows that Malaysia is clearly behind in assimilating rehabilitative values and theory into Act 611. Ultimately, the placement of specific legislative provisions regarding community service within Act 611 is an initiative that must be expedited.
... Marshall and Clark (1952) wrote: "A crime is any act or omission prohibited by public law for the protection of the public and punishable by state in a judicial proceeding in its own name". Similarly Tappan (1960) defined that "A crime is an instrumental act or omission in violation of criminal law, committed without justification and sanctioned by the state as felony or misdemeanor". Though in case of criminal activity the net social benefits are negative but there are some advantages also like new jobs for crime prevention. ...
From economic point of view urbanization is good as it facilitates achievement of economies of scale and thus promotes growth of industries and development in the economy. However from social point of view urbanization encourage crimes as the rate of crime is higher in large cities and in urbanized areas. Several explanations have been provided on crime in the literature but none of these provide a sound analysis of linkage between urbanization and crime. That is the objective of this paper. For this purpose we used Johansen Cointegration method and the period of analysis is taken from 1964-2008. Besides urbanization, four other socio-economic determinants, which may influence crimes, are also analyzed. These are unemployment, inflation, income inequality and education. The results show a long run positive and unique relationship of urbanization with crimes in Pakistan. Since migration to urban areas is mostly in search of jobs, therefore the policy maker should plan for more industrial centers in rural areas. These industrial centers will provide employment and consequently, urbanization and crimes will be controlled.
... Thus, perhaps best known of all, after the revelations of Officer Frank Serpico in New York City, the Knapp Commission hearings 'destroyed the police union's argument that police corruption was confined to a few 'rotten apples' in an otherwise healthy barrel' (Sherman, 1978: xxviii). In Knapp's view: Roebuck and Barker (1974) list a range of competing explanations including: dishonest and criminal re c ru i t s (Lewis and Blum, 1964); faulty training and sup erv i s i o n ( Tappan, 1960); political c o rruption (Gar rd i n e r , 1970); d e a rth of professional standards (Skolnick, 1967); societal demands for illegal services ( M e rton, 1958); and, socialisation of newer recruits into corrupt practices , 1968). ...
... It turned to analysis of several factors such as physical, mental, psychological, psychosocial etc. To overcome this problem, a number of studies all over the world including India were carried out (Advani 1978, Tappen 1960, Bass et. al 1992, Quinsy 1995, Serin 1995) but failed to give the complete answer, probably because most of them were unit factor studies. ...
A study was carried out under the aegis of Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi with objectives to identify psychosocial, physical, psychiatric, anthropometric and psychometric risk factors in recidivistic criminals, which could predict a future recidivistic criminal. The paper presents study observations on 250 experimental, 250 control-1 and 250 control-2 subjects. Experimental and control-1 subjects were recruited from district jails of Uttar Pradesh and control-2 from the community. Pretested Semi-structured proformae, Verghese and Beig Symptoms Checklist, International Personality Disorder Examination module, Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire, Rorschach Ink Blot Test and Standard Anthropometric instruments were used to collect data on study probands. All the three groups were compared using Analysis of Variance and Chi-Square Test. The results highlight a number of psycho-social, psychiatric, psychometric and anthropometric factors which were found to have significant association with recidivistic criminal behaviour. The findings would not only help in identifying future recidivistic criminals but can also be used for legal, judicial, interventional and corrective purposes.
Crime and criminality are global concerns that pose significant risks to societal well-being and quality of life. The urbanization process and the land use of cities profoundly influence the occurrence, types, and intensity of crimes. The design and management of cities play a pivotal role in ensuring overall safety and security. Although Kolkata is considered a safe city, recent reports from the National Crime Records Bureau highlight an increase in crimes against women, placing Kolkata as the second-highest in West Bengal. The crime rate in the city has witnessed a substantial 63.46% increase over the past three years, categorized as “high” on the rating scale. Little is known about the spatial and temporal patterns of crimes in Kolkata. This study aims to analyze the spatiotemporal patterns of murder, theft, snatching, drugging, pickpocketing, and crimes against women, using regression models. Using geoinformatics and geostatistics, the research also seeks to identify the spatial clustering, significant crime hotspots, and their shifting between 2015 and 2020 and also attempts to analyze the impact of urban land use on crime rates. The study reveals a significant temporal change in crime patterns over 30 years, with bare land consistently impacting crime across all categories. While thefts, snatching, pickpocketing, drugging, and crimes against women exhibit relatively stable hotspots, murder hotspots have increased and become more dispersed. The unique land use patterns of port areas influence murder, drugging, and crimes against women, while dense built-up spaces contribute to higher rates of pickpocketing.
Mental disorders are identified by a set of signs and symptoms causing significant clinical distress or impairment in an individual’s functioning. The relationship between mental disorders and crime has been a topic of research and heated controversy since many decades. There is a consensus advocating a link between the two. However, the exact nature of the relationship is quite complex. Though individuals with mental disorders are frequently perceived as the perpetrators of crime, emerging research shows that they are more likely to be victimized than committing a crime. Moreover, mental disorders cannot be perceived as a singular variable and need to be understood as distinct categories with different levels of sense of judgement, touch with reality, decision-making, and so forth. To understand the culpability of such individuals, these aspects need to be established clearly. This chapter elaborates upon the categories of mental disorders that are frequently associated with crime namely psychotic spectrum disorders, addiction disorders, personality disorders, dissociative disorders, and sexual disorders, and their respective association with criminal offending.
Empirical evidence has shown that crime is on the increase among the Tiv ethic group in the Middle Belt of Nigeria and South Western Province of Cameroon, largely due to failure of the foreign or imposed legal systems to effectively control crime. Thus, a return to the positive Tiv traditional systems of crime control from the past is advocated. This study investigates these Tiv traditional systems of crime control. The analysis in the research is predicated on social disorganization and differential reinforcement theories as the theoretical framework. Data was gathered through secondary sources like books, journals, internet, media, and official documents. The conclusion and recommendations are anchored on the findings discussed in the study.
The present study investigates the reason behind the increasing incidence of crime in the state of Delhi. The result of this study is based on both primary as well as secondary published data. The primary data was collected through random sampling with a structured questionnaire. This study revealed that high population density and high mobility areas like the East, South, West, and the North East districts witnessed high crime rate compared to the Central district, New Delhi, North, and the West districts of Delhi. Further, there is a positive relationship between the parameters: population growth, increasing number of vehicles, and total number of crimes commited in this area. The study reveals the vulnerable spots like crowded areas, isolated places, parks, shades, and vacant plots to be more prone to crime. In urban areas, 30 per cent of the respondents did not use public transport for fear of crime and 18 per cent felt the police response to be poor; however, 42 per cent felt that the presence of police gives them a feeling of safety. This study employed statistical tools like correlation, regression techniques for analysis of data and GIS, GPS for mapping, and monitoring of the places.
Research on the correlation between education, occupation and criminality among the youth has grown both in length, and complexity in the last two decades. Using a mixed-method analysis, this study concurs that educational and occupational variables are significant determinants of criminal propensities but maintains two sides of the same coin by contending that the level of educational attainment of the youth does not grossly influence their involvement in criminal activities, whereas it draws on occupational attainment as a strong factor for the pervasive involvement of youth in criminality. Taking evidence from Nigeria, the study recommends policies that will review and implement youth entrepreneurial development, educational reorientation and creation of more job opportunities, as a life-changing instrument against crime.
Education has received unmatched attention as the best method of achieving economic and social growth. Governments, development partners, households and other stakeholders in education invest heavily in education. Consequently, notable achievements have been realised in many countries, including Kenya, in enrolment and the increasing number of educational institutions at all levels. However, education has progressively faced critical challenges. In the developing countries, chief among the challenges facing education is the quality and relevance of education, and gender equity in education. Several reasons have been put forward as to the cause of failure by educational institutions to achieve the desired educational goals and set objectives. These include: high dropout rates; outside interference; forced repetition of pupils and students; and, a congested curriculum. But none of these weighs heavily on the education scene and the school as does school indiscipline. School discipline is a great concern to the Government, school managers and administrators, teachers, parents, pupils and students, key stakeholders in education and the entire community. This study was particularly concerned with the upsurge of violence in secondary schools in Kenya. Minor cases of school indiscipline include smoking of cigarette and bhang, and drinking of beer and other alcoholic spirits. School indiscipline reaches its highest height when disturbances turn violent and tragic. Acts of violence are often uncontrollable and have resulted in major crises. Some of these have been tragic resulting in destruction of property, physical and psychological injury, rape and even death. The present study investigated the extent to which schools and teachers were equipped to deal with violence. Findings indicated that schools and teachers were not prepared to handle violence and that is why such situations could not be defused, and hence often exploded unexpectedly resulting in tragedy.
Theoretically, historically, and culturally there are good reasons to believe that there is a discernible and meaningful connection between violent crime and involvement with illicit drugs or with the illicit use of lawful drugs. This chapter is about the relationship between drugs and violent crime, and provides an overview of the extant theory and research describing and explaining the relationship between illicit drug production, distribution, and use and violent crime. It defines what is meant by violent crime, discusses how and why it is reasonable to acknowledge a relationship between drugs and violent crime, and considers what research has found and consequently where there is consensus about what is known and what is not known. It presents a discussion about how this knowledge or lack of knowledge informs or misinforms public health and safety responses to personal and social involvement with illicit drugs.
The use of home visits has a long and storied history in the United States from different disciplines, such as nursing, prenatal mothers, young families, health promotion, and community corrections. Ecological theory explains how formal actors play a role in the promotion in the health field through home visits, but does not address community corrections home visits. Through the use of 30 semi-structured interviews, this research seeks to expand the understanding of ecological theory by capturing the perceptions of offenders sentenced to home visits conducted by a sheriff’s office. The findings suggest the participants supported the home visits by formal agents and, in general, the home visits created an atmosphere of respect between the participants and sheriff’s office personnel. This study creates the context for future research to understand the role of formal agents in recidivism and evaluate the efficacy of home visits by community corrections agencies.
For what social purpose do police exist? What values do police serve in a democratic society? Are the police to be principally an agency of social control, with their chief value the efficient enforcement of the prohibitive norms of substantive criminal law? Or are the police to be an institution falling under the hegemony of the legal system, with a basic commitment to the rule of law, even if this obligation may result in a reduction of social order? How does this dilemma of democratic society hamper the capacity of the police, institutionally and individually, to respond to legal standards of law enforcement?
Authors often begin their handbook summaries of a literature by charting the paths of early explorers who first traveled the terrain and paved the way for modern investigators. Claims about who was first to name a phenomenon, who introduced a concept, or who initiated a theoretical perspective on a problem often dominate these introductions, as authors attempt to place their topic in a proper historical, or at least accurate chronological, context. We admit to the same temptations, but we are skeptical that claims to have identified the “first” behavioral account of crime/delinquency can be defended.
This chapter surveys the application of behavioral techniques to probationers and parolees. As we discuss later in the chapter, probation and parole officers face a set of demands that can be reconceptualized in behavioral terms. Principles of behavioral intervention and case management can then be derived that would be predicted to be effective change techniques for the probationers/ parolees. Polakow (1974), an early advocate of behavioral approaches to probation, has developed behavioral reconceptualizations of traditional probation activities such as record keeping, treatment plans, structures of contact with the probationer, accountability, and the use of incentives with probationers (see Nietzel, 1979, p. 191). The goals of these reconceptualizations have been to (1) reduce the use of aversive control with offenders, (2) tailor interventions to the individual needs of each client, (3) provide efficient, relatively easily learned techniques that can be applied in the natural environment, and (4) increase the chances that probation and parole will lead to the successful adjustment of the offender in the community.
Although self-report questionnaires have traditionally been used only as a methodological tool for studying delinquency, they would appear to have some validity as a teaching aid as well. With the basic structure of a questionnaire developed for methodological use, a checklist is presented for the classroom which can aid in discussing criminal statistics, definitions of crime, and other aspects of criminology.
During the first half of this century, most research on deterrence suggested that punishment had little effect on behavior. These findings tended to confirm the ideological position of most sociologists, who generally assumed that criminal behavior was not and probably could not be controlled by legal sanctions. However, recent developments indicate that this assumption is in error. First, laboratory research (e.g., Banduara, 1969:292-353; Bandua and Walters, 1963) has demonstrated that under certain conditions, punishment can effectively and efficiently control behavior, and that such control can be obtained through vicarious reinforcement. Second, and more important, research since 1960 by both economists and sociologists, generally more sophisticated than earlier work, suggests that legal sanctions often play a significant role in preventing criminal behavior. (See, for example, Chambliss, 1966; Gibbs, 1968; Tittle, 1969; Logan, 1972; Chiricos and Waldo, 1970; Tittle and Rowe, 1974; 1973; Jensen, 1969; Waldo and Chiricos, 1972; Phillips and Votey, 1972; Phillips, 1973). Thus the issue for future research is no longer whether legal sanctions ever deter criminal behavior, but the specification of the conditions under which they have such an effect. This paper seeks to develop some hypotheses to guide future research on these conditions.
From the economic point of view, urbanisation is good as it facilitates achievement of economies of scale and thus promotes growth of industries and development in the economy. However, from the social point of view, urbanisation encourages crime as the rate of crime is higher in large cities and in urbanised areas. Several explanations of the phenomenon have been provided in the literature but none of these provide a sound analysis of the linkage between urbanisation and crime. The objective of this paper is to explore this linkage. We use the Johansen Cointegration method, and the period of analysis is 1964–2008. Besides urbanisation, four other socio-economic determinants, which may influence crime, are also analysed. These are unemployment, inflation, income inequality, and education. The results show a long-run positive and unique relationship between urbanisation and crime in Pakistan. Since migration to urban areas is mostly caused by a search for jobs, the policy-makers should plan for more industrial centres in the rural areas. These industrial centres will provide employment and, consequently, urbanisation and crime would be better controlled
This paper compares the coverage of women and crime topics in all known introductory criminology textbooks published from 1956 to 1965 (N = 15) and from 1981 to 1990 (N = 29). Few changes are noted over time, either in the number of pages devoted to women and crime topics or in the women and crime topics discussed most often by textbook authors. I also examine in detail several sexist themes regarding women as criminals and crime victims, which appear often in the older textbooks and reappear all too frequently in the newer books. I conclude by discussing the implications of my findings for criminal justice education.
This article is an investigation into why the U.S. federal courts have failed to effectively control local police conduct by means of constitutional rules. In so doing, the article finds that the federal courts' approach to the control of police abuse of power—federalization and constiotutionalization of criminal procedures—is ill informed of the nature and essence of police work within the community context and at the grassroots level. Particularly, it fails to take into account the structural and normative forces giving rise to police abuse. The central thesis of this paper is that the federal courts' constitutional supervision of local police conduct is at odd with the police's operational reality and functional requirements, as reflecting entrenched local customs, shifting community expectations and contingent situational circumstances. The courts' right-based approach is in sharp contrast with the police's utilitarian method. At a more structural level, traditionally and by design, the court is made to stand aloof from the people. The police is required to stay in touch with the people. One of the main purpose of this paper is thus to illuminate the differences in decision-making process and clarify observable disparity in constitutional value preferences between the federal courts and the local police. This will be discussed in the context of police civil liability under Title 42, United States Code, Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act. The article concludes in observing that the federal courts and the local police, though housed under the same criminal justice system, are two distinctive social control institutions, each with its own political legitimacy base and social utility functions. They share different values, orientation, allegiance and thinking process. These differences, more so than other behavioral or organization factors, accounted for much of the observed police misconduct to date.
This study discusses the trends and patterns of robbery, and reactions to it in contemporary Ghana between 1982 and 1993. It contends that robbery as a crime of opportunity appears to have been prevalent in pre-colonial times as well as during the subsequent period of slavery. Its trends and patterns however, have changed with the introduction of a monetary economy that has resulted in increased opportunities and targets for robbery. The descriptive statistical data derived from official police records conclude that even though the incidence and volume of robbery in Ghana is quantitatively small compared to the rates of other index offenses, and minuscule within the population at large, official reaction to it has been rather swift and merciless. More robbers were executed than offenders in any other category of offenders, save persons accused of preparing to overthrow the government. All the executed robbers were tried by Public Tribunals established by the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) military regime that ruled Ghana from 1982 to 1993. No reason can be assigned to the executions other than deterrence, which raises questions as to its efficacy. Further areas of research, the need to classify the various forms of robberies, the need for the development of policy options, the need for enhanced data collection techniques, and criminal justice reform have been suggested.
I compare the quantity and the quality of the coverage of deterrence in seven leading criminology and sociology journals and in 53 introductory criminology textbooks published from 1956 to 1965 and 1984 to 1993. My data show that 1) despite a marked increase in the amount of deterrence research reported in the leading journals, recent criminology textbooks devote little more coverage to the topic than did their predecessors, and 2) many recent textbooks make incorrect claims about the effectiveness of punishments as deterrents, and/or inaccurately report various findings from important deterrence studies. I conclude by relating these findings to several earlier studies indicating deficiencies in criminology textbooks, and by discussing the implications of these studies for criminology.
I examine the coverage of the debate about the effectiveness of offender treatment programs in 53 introductory criminology textbooks: 15 published from 1956 to 1965 and 38 published from 1983 to 1992. My data show that despite continuing skepticism in criminological research about the effectiveness of rehabilitation, most of the older texts and the most recent texts (those published from 1988 to 1992) rate treatment as effective when they take a position on the issue. My study also shows that criminology textbooks often give inadequate coverage to some of the key concepts, such as outcome measures and metaevaluation studies, in the debate about the effectiveness of rehabilitation. I conclude by discussing the implications of my findings for criminology students.
The normative erosion hypothesis is that nonpunitive reactions by legal officials will erode offenders' normative evaluations of delinquency. Consistent with the hypothesis, survey data from Arizona high school students show that offenders who have been referred to a “hands-off” court express less condemnation (i.e., have lower perceived seriousness) of delinquency than do offenders with no court referrals. The findings also show that the perceived threat of legal punishment is positively related to offenders' perceptions of the seriousness of delinquency. The findings bear on the normative validation thesis in the sociology of law and have important policy implications for juvenile justice practices.
In the past decade especially, a number of studies have appeared on suicide among court-involved persons, chiefly in jail and prison remand settings, and to a lesser degree among longer-term prisoners. Confinement is not everywhere equally suicidogenic, and the types of people who find themselves confined do not represent uniformly high risk groups. This article reports on rates of completed suicides over long periods of time in two very different US institutions operated by the Massachusetts Department of Correction: the Addiction Centre and its antecedent facilities (1886-1990); and the Defective Delinquent Department (1922-1971). For perspective, the paper compares suicide rates among its two populations to rates for other very distinctive institutions operated by the Massachusetts Department of Correction, the Bridgewater State Hospital and the Massachusetts Treatment Centre for Sexually Dangerous Persons. The results are remarkable for the rarity of suicide in three distinct populations--the Addiction Center, the Defective Delinquent Department and the Treatment Center for Sexually Dangerous Persons--but considerably higher rates in the State Hospital, a population often dismissed as 'criminally insane.' The possible significance of these results for debates about 'importation' versus 'deprivation' explanations of custodial suicide is discussed.
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