George B. Pesta’s research while affiliated with Florida State University and other places

What is this page?


This page lists works of an author who doesn't have a ResearchGate profile or hasn't added the works to their profile yet. It is automatically generated from public (personal) data to further our legitimate goal of comprehensive and accurate scientific recordkeeping. If you are this author and want this page removed, please let us know.

Publications (28)


Confronting Community Gun Violence Through Research Translation: A Case Study of Challenges and Facilitators
  • Article

January 2025

·

10 Reads

American Journal of Criminal Justice

Kaylee Noorman

·

·

Emma E. Fridel

·

[...]

·

Thomas G. Blomberg

In recent years, gun violence has surged in many cities along with increasing demands for effective intervention and prevention. Researcher-practitioner partnerships (RPPs) have been identified as a promising practice to effectively respond to a particular community’s gun violence with appropriately aligned intervention and prevention programs. However, recently, numerous sources have called for RPPs to include the perspectives of those with lived experiences as part of the RPP model, yet inclusion of these voices can present unique challenges for research translation. This case study contributes to the budding understanding of these specific RPPs by documenting the experienced procedures and challenges of a local community-engaged RPP. Specifically, we describe the development of this partnership, the research partner’s activities during the planning phase of this partnership, and, primarily, outline and assess the challenges encountered through the inclusion of community partners and voices during this phase and discuss the impact of these challenges on project progress. Documented challenges included weighing community perceptions of crime versus empirical data, putting the “cart before the horse,” and managing expectations. These challenges contributed to goals, roles, and expectations being misaligned with the focus of the partnership, competing priorities and recommendations for implementation strategies, and resistance to research translation. We conclude with tangible recommendations for the initiation of a community-engaged approach to RPPs, focusing on how to preemptively circumvent or more adeptly navigate these distinctive challenges.


Prison Personnel Solutions for Reducing and Improving the Appropriate Use and Effectiveness of Extended Restrictive Housing

December 2024

·

16 Reads

Critiques of extended restrictive housing (ERH), used to manage incarcerated persons deemed to pose a threat to prison order and safety, have led to calls for reducing its use. There is a need for guidance about how to achieve this goal. Drawing on a qualitative study of restrictive housing in Florida, we glean insights from personnel about (1) how to reduce the need for and use of ERH and (2) how, when needed, to ensure its appropriate use and effectiveness. Findings point to many possible solutions for reducing ERH and facilitating appropriate and effective use of it. They also reveal that personnel support reforms that would reduce ERH and change how it operates. Implications for research and policy are discussed.


Captives of the “Society of Captives”: Working in Solitary Confinement

July 2023

·

48 Reads

·

1 Citation

The Prison Journal

Solitary confinement may affect incarcerated persons. Yet, what is known about those who work in solitary confinement units? Drawing on Sykes’ classic, The society of captives, on the “pains of imprisonment,” we argue that solitary confinement work may adversely affect correctional personnel. This study extends prior work on deprivation theory, solitary confinement, and research on work in prison by testing this argument through analyses of qualitative data. We find that those who work in solitary confinement units report deprivations analogous to what incarcerated persons experience. The article concludes with a call for expanding theoretical and empirical research on solitary confinement and the impacts of contemporary penal practices.


Pretrial risk assessment instruments in practice: The role of judicial discretion in pretrial reform
  • Article
  • Full-text available

March 2022

·

361 Reads

·

19 Citations

Criminology & Public Policy

Research Summary We explored the extent to which the implementation of a pretrial risk assessment instrument (PRAI) corresponded to changes in the pretrial processing of defendants using multiple administrative data sources from a large county in the southeastern United States. Our findings revealed little evidence of reductions in detention lengths or increases in the use of nonfinancial forms of release following the tool's adoption. This was largely attributable to the exercise of judicial discretion, as judges frequently departed from the tool's recommendation using alternatives that were more punitive and often included financial conditions—particularly for Black and Latino defendants. Furthermore, the exercise of discretion was linked to increased rates of pretrial failure. Policy Implications PRAIs were adopted on a massive scale with the understanding that they are evidence‐based and geared toward efficiently and equitably reducing pretrial populations; however, we are lacking the evaluative work to determine their impacts. Our findings suggest that PRAIs may not only undermine reform efforts, but may worsen disparities, if communities fail to complete the up‐front work of discussing their expectations for pretrial decision making, including the conditions under which financial constraints may be justifiable.

Download

Views From the Inside: Insights About Restrictive Housing From Prison System Officials, Officers, and Staff

December 2021

·

42 Reads

·

9 Citations

The Prison Journal

Restrictive housing substantially limits inmate movement and privileges. Proponents argue it creates safer prison systems, while opponents claim it does not and harms inmates. However, few studies have systematically examined restrictive housing through the perspective of those who work in prison systems or scrutinized the diverse dimensions relevant to its appraisal. This study addresses this gap by drawing on qualitative data to examine how such individuals view the housing, its operational challenges, effectiveness, possible improvements, and potential alternatives. We present findings along each of these dimensions and then discuss their implications for research and policy.


Managing Prisons Through Extended Solitary Confinement: A Necessary Approach or a Signal of Prison System Failure?

November 2021

·

89 Reads

·

8 Citations

International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology

In contemporary American corrections, extended solitary confinement (ESM) as a management tool has emerged as a strategy for avowedly controlling the most violent individuals and, in so doing, creating a safer prison system. We theorize that the emergence of this unique form of housing may also be viewed as a signal of prison system failure. To advance this argument, we identify how different theoretical perspectives can be used to anticipate the effects of ESM on prison system violence and order and then investigate the plausibility of this account by grounding it in analysis of qualitative data from a study of one state’s prison system. The analysis suggests theoretical and empirical warrant for both views of ESM—as an effective tool and as a symptom of system failure. Implications of the study research and policy are discussed.


Building Collaborative Evidence-Based Frameworks for Criminal Justice Policy

October 2021

·

32 Reads

·

7 Citations

Criminal Justice Policy Review

Researcher–policymaker/practitioner partnerships (RPPs) have emerged as a successful tool for translating research into policy and practice. However, the available research has focused on RPPs with law enforcement and correctional agencies. Notably absent are studies that describe and evaluate RPPs between researchers and legislative bodies. Specifically, questions remain about the establishment, unique constraints, best practices for effective implementation, and sustainability of partnerships between researchers and policymakers. This study contributes to the literature by describing a unique RPP between a university and a state legislature. Through this retrospective case analysis, we describe the steps taken to initiate the partnership, its implementation, and outcomes. Importantly, in the context of the prior research, we describe the lessons learned, next steps, and implications for partnerships with policymakers.


Individual characteristics and community context in decisions to divert or arrest

June 2021

·

61 Reads

·

4 Citations

Law & Society Review

Diversion programs are increasingly being implemented as an alternative to more severe sanctions, especially within juvenile justice. The civil citation program in Florida is unique in that it diverts juveniles away from the justice system at the earliest decision point of arrest. However, despite its growing use in a number of states, there is little research on the program's implementation and outcomes, namely, it remains unknown if the program is being applied consistently across communities and for juveniles within those communities. Drawing from the larger sociology of punishment, race, and social control literature, and the associated theories of labeling and social threat, this study employs statewide data from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice to explore the community and individual determinants of civil citation's use. Consistent with the theoretical arguments of labeling and social threat, the multilevel analysis finds that community and individual characteristics, in particular race, impact the likelihood of receiving civil citation. Implications for future research, theory, and policy are discussed.


Forecasting the Racial and Ethnic Impacts of ‘Race-Neutral’ Legislation through Researcher and Policymaker Partnerships

April 2021

·

59 Reads

·

6 Citations

American Journal of Criminal Justice

This article describes a unique researcher and policymaker partnership aimed at assessing the racial and ethnic impact of proposed criminal justice legislation. Using data from several Florida agencies, Florida State University projected trends in population and criminal justice outcomes to assess the potential impact on racial and ethnic disparities of ten bills. This article describes the project phases, provides examples of the bill analyses, and discusses the lessons learned and impact on racial/ethnic disparities. The results of the analyses show that race-neutral reform initiatives often fall short in reducing racial/ethnic disparities. Criminal justice downsizing efforts should explicitly aim to reduce racial and ethnic disparities and incorporate this goal in their design. Specific provisions that exclude individuals with prior records or those convicted of violent offenses could prove detrimental to the goal of reducing disparities. The benefits and challenges of researcher and policymaker partnerships for designing effective and race-sensitive criminal justice policy are discussed.


The Pains of Solitary Confinement According to the Perceptions of Prison Personnel.How solitary confinement (SC) may
The Contemporary Salience of Deprivation Theory: Prison Personnel Perceptions of Inmates and the Pains of Solitary Confinement

November 2020

·

849 Reads

·

11 Citations

Crime & Delinquency

In recent decades, long-term solitary confinement has become a mainstay of prison systems. Critiques and research of this confinement typically have focused on its potential harms. Few studies have examined the range of harms to those placed in it; fewer still have examined solitary confinement's potential benefits or sought insight from those who work with them. Guided by Sykes' deprivation theory, we draw on focus groups and interviews with 144 correctional personnel to examine their perceptions of incarcerated individuals' experiences with, and responses to, deprivations of solitary confinement. We show that staff view the pains of imprisonment as potentially increasing or decreasing in solitary confinement and that they view incarcerated persons as adapting to such confinement in different ways.


Citations (19)


... Accordingly, studies show that judges frequently deviate from risk assessment recommendations in their decision making. An emerging body of research demonstrates that such deviations, particularly upward departures, are associated with less accurate and more carceral decisions and, critically, decreased public safety (e.g., Copp et al., 2022;Guay & Parent, 2018;Lowder et al., 2021). ...

Reference:

Public opinion about judicial roles and considerations: A latent profile analysis
Pretrial risk assessment instruments in practice: The role of judicial discretion in pretrial reform

Criminology & Public Policy

... Qualitative interviews about restrictive housing with prison administrators, corrections officers, and staff from another state prison system reveal a need for the provision of more treatment and rehabilitative programming. 11 The RDU meets this need and may serve to reduce the potential harms of restrictive housing to both incarcerated individuals and correctional staff. While prison administrators, corrections officers, and staff have identified in the literature a need for alternatives to restrictive housing, those alternatives have not been well-defined. ...

Views From the Inside: Insights About Restrictive Housing From Prison System Officials, Officers, and Staff
  • Citing Article
  • December 2021

The Prison Journal

... Respecto al aislamiento prolongado descrito en el último fragmento, Mears et al. (2021) se interrogan sobre los factores que parecen favorecer la aplicación de una medida de aislamiento de larga duración. Según dichos autores, existe la posibilidad de que el funcionamiento del sistema penitenciario desfavorezca a ciertos grupos de personas presas o contribuya a crear condiciones que aumenten el comportamiento problemático entre éstas. ...

Managing Prisons Through Extended Solitary Confinement: A Necessary Approach or a Signal of Prison System Failure?
  • Citing Article
  • November 2021

International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology

... Yet each could be used to describe the type of work Ed does. At their core, translational criminology, public criminology, and RPP are about making research findings accessible, practical, and useful (see Braga, 2013;Brancale et al., 2021;Piquero, 2019). But more than the dissemination of research, translational criminology entails institutionalizing effective practices and strategies through implementation and evaluation (Laub, 2012). ...

Building Collaborative Evidence-Based Frameworks for Criminal Justice Policy
  • Citing Article
  • October 2021

Criminal Justice Policy Review

... This study also has important policy implications. Since the 1980s many sentencing reforms aimed at eliminating extralegal disparities have included strict exclusionary criteria depending on the extensiveness, or seriousness, of a defendant's criminal history (see Chouhy et al., 2023). If extralegal effects are concentrated in certain pockets of the criminal history spectrum, it is important to know exactly where so egalitarian minded reforms do not exclusively target situations where extralegal effects are negligible to begin with. ...

Forecasting the Racial and Ethnic Impacts of ‘Race-Neutral’ Legislation through Researcher and Policymaker Partnerships
  • Citing Article
  • April 2021

American Journal of Criminal Justice

... The Decompression Phase was developed to address the problem of the excessive use of safety confinement measures within correctional institutions for youths who already exhibit a markedly high level of behavioural problems (Caldwell & Van Rybroek, 2001). More specifically, the aim of this phase is to avoid prolonged exposure of delinquents to retaliatory measures, as this can be linked to the escalation of behaviour and premature dropout from treatment (Aranda-Hughes et al., 2021;Luigi et al., 2020). ...

The Contemporary Salience of Deprivation Theory: Prison Personnel Perceptions of Inmates and the Pains of Solitary Confinement

Crime & Delinquency

... This belief was created mainly under the influence of the media (Mano et al. 2019), which often present data that are not based on evidence (Stevanović and Zečević 2020) or enormous media reporting (Brown 2006), which contributes to the creation of the public belief that violence in schools happens every day. As a result, social efforts to improve safety in schools have intensified (Cruz and Ormilla 2022; Rico 2019) by creating various "zero tolerance" safety policies that require suspension of students or their expulsion from school for committed offenses (Brown 2006), implementation of preventive programs, covering the school premises with security cameras (Gonzalez et One of the most extensive measures is the increasing police presence in schools (Fisher et al. 2022; Montes et al. 2021). It is estimated that by 2018, 61% of public schools in the USA (including 84% of public high schools) employed at least one security guard, most commonly School Resource Officers (SROs) or another law enforcement officer (Fisher et al. 2022). ...

Blurred and Confused: The Paradox of Police in Schools
  • Citing Article
  • August 2020

Policing

... Defiance refers to the breaking of minor prison rules that are distinct from other types of violations, such as violence, threats, property/contraband, and drug misconduct. Common violations are often "verbal" in nature, including disrespect, being disruptive, or disobeying or refusing an order (Aranda-Hughes et al., 2021;Celinska & Sung, 2014;McClellan, 1994;Simes et al., 2022). Other infractions that fall under the umbrella of defiance include acts such as disorderly conduct, horseplay or other consensual contact, littering, unauthorized altering of one's physical appearance, and failing to adhere to hygiene requirements (Drury & DeLisi, 2010;Jiang, 2005). ...

Women in Solitary Confinement: Relationships, Pseudofamilies, and the Limits of Control

Feminist Criminology

... Law enforcement officials-e.g., police officers and school resource officersare involved in implementing formally filing complaints and making an arrest when school officials refer youth to law enforcement for misbehavior (Marsh, 2014;Theriot, 2009). Law enforcement officials within the school environment, similar to the community, have discretion when implementing these punishments (Brown et al., 2020). In some instances, law enforcement officials might make an arrest despite school officials perceiving that the behavior does not warrant exclusionary discipline (Theriot, 2009). ...

Education versus Punishment? Silo Effects and the School-to-prison Pipeline
  • Citing Article
  • January 2020

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency

... However, many other evaluations of promising programs produced null findings (e.g., Lyon et al., 2020;Morgan-Lopez et al., 2020;Pas, Waasdorp, & Bradshaw, 2019;Siennick et al., 2020;Wu et al., 2019). The CSSI reports and publications highlight some of the challenges involved in implementing school-based violence prevention programs, such as leadership turnover (Hanson et al., 2019), implementation fidelity issues (Mears et al., 2018), and time constraints (Pas et al., 2020). Despite these challenges, the initiative yielded promising results from several tests of interventions, including a new emotional and behavioral health crisis response and prevention intervention implemented in Baltimore (Lewis et al., 2019), a multitiered system of support-based schoolwide discipline plans (Pharr San Juan Alamo Independent School District, 2019), and the Parenting Wisely program and teen courts (Smokowski et al., 2018(Smokowski et al., , 2020. ...

The Palm Beach County School Safety and Student Performance Partnership Research Project: Final Research Report.
  • Citing Technical Report
  • December 2018