The purpose of this study is to explore the differential impact of various environmental and organizational factors on levels of school misconduct. Although we have a general understanding of this relationship, little effort has been made to determine whether the effects are influenced by urbanicity. The current study utilizes data from the 2007-2008 School Survey on Crime and Safety to address this gap in the literature by utilizing a series of negative binomial regression models that seek to determine differences between predictive factors in urban and rural settings. Results indicate that disorganization has a similar effect within urban and rural schools, increasing counts of misconduct. On the contrary, results also suggest that urban and rural schools, which are already characterized by elevated rates of misconduct, tend to implement different types of security. This study is concluded by discussing methodological limitations, various theoretical and policy implications, and directions for future research.

Each year 700,000 to 800,000 parolees are released prison and are returned to the community (Durose, Cooper, & Snyder 2014; Porter, 2011; West, Sabol, Greenman, 2010), of whom approximately two-thirds will be reincarcerated within the three years following their releases (Durose et al., 2014). Although, scholars have pointed to parolees’ needs of services and resources (Hipp, Petersilia, & Turner, 2010), the majority of the literature has been limited to the examination of individual-level predictors of parolee outcomes. The current study aims to extend the parolee literature by identifying whether or not neighborhood disadvantage, mobility, and local institutions (i.e., churches, service providers) have an effect on parolee outcomes. To examine these effects, data on 3,077 parolees living within 209 Census block groups across Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PA DOC) and the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole (PBPP). Furthermore, parolee outcome data were disaggregated by the behavior resulting in reincarceration [i.e., the commission of a new crime (CPV), technical parole violation (TPV)], as well as the length of time between release from prison and reincarceration. A series of multilevel models (HLM) were conducted to examine the effects of neighborhood-level and individual-level predictors of parolee reincarceration, as well as how these effects differed for CPVs versus TPVs, and varied across time. Based on results from the analyses, parolee outcomes were to some extent effected by neighborhood context and institutions (i.e., Evangelical Protestant churches, service providers). Additionally, neighborhood-level and individual-level effects varied based on the reason for reincarceration, and the amount of time that passed between release from prison and reincarceration. Lastly, although DOC referred service providers did not have a direct effect on parolee reincarceration, there were significant interaction effects with disadvantage, such that the effects of DOC service providers decreased the odds of reincarceration in more disadvantaged neighborhoods. The conditional effects of DOC service providers by level of neighborhood disadvantage highlights the need for service providers within such communities. Further investigation of neighborhood context, and the placement of much needed resources in communities where parolees reside, may be advantageous in increasing success amongst parolees.

There is a void of existing measures assessing young adults’ perceptions of childhood disorganized and controlling attachment. The current research project aimed to fill this gap by developing a convenient self-report measure, the Childhood Disorganization and Role Reversal Scale (CDRR: Meier & Bureau, 2012), which comprehensively assesses for the complexity of those attachment constructs in young adults. The CDRR is a novel measure as it assesses the unique attachment representations of mother-child and father-child relationships. This research project had three main objectives. The first objective was the development of the CDRR. It was guided by the recommendations of various scholars in scale development using classical measurement theory. The items of the CDRR were informed by the attachment and family systems literature. The factor structure of the CDRR was determined through conducting principal components analyses (PCA). The second objective, constituting Study 1, aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the CDRR, namely, its structural stability, internal reliability, temporal reliability, convergent and discriminant validity and criterion-related validity. Lastly, the third objective, involving Study 2, sought to provide further support for the validity of the CDRR. It accomplished this goal by exploring the associations of the CDRR to psychological outcomes consistent with the attachment literature, namely, problems in the separation-individuation process, unresolved feelings towards caregiver, and current psychological well-being. The results of the PCA revealed a four-factor structure for both CDRR parent versions. The CDRR mother version includes the Disorganization/Punitive, Mutual Hostility, Affective Caregiving, and Appropriate Boundaries scales, while the CDRR father version includes the Disorganization, Affective Caregiving, Appropriate Boundaries, and Punitive scales. Overall, support was provided for the psychometric properties of the CDRR. The CDRR scales demonstrated adequate structural stability, internal consistency, temporal reliability and various forms of validity. Generally, the disorganized and controlling scales were positively related to problematic separation-individuation, unresolved feelings towards caregivers and psychological problems. It is hoped the CDRR will assist researchers in broadening the understanding of psychological outcomes of disorganized and controlling attachment representations in young adulthood.

Previous research suggests that competition in the low-skilled labor market associated with Latino immigration is related to crime for rural whites and urban blacks. Furthermore, studies suggest that communities can selectively enforce norms regarding crimes. This study tested whether low-skill job competition associated with Latino immigration is correlated with higher rates of drug use than drug dealing, and higher rates of instrumental crimes than expressive crimes. Furthermore, this study tested whether urban blacks were more affected than urban whites, and rural whites more than rural blacks. The results did not support the original hypotheses, except that urban blacks were more affected than urban whites. This suggests support for Anderson’s Code of the Street. However, differing crime increases between rural and urban areas suggests that Anderson’s theory may not work everywhere. Lastly, the control variables suggest that the race-crime relationship may be more complex when other factors are controlled for.

No description available.

Lanier and Huff-Corzine's (2006) article "American Indian Homicide: A County-Level Analysis Utilizing Social Disorganization Theory" has been referred to as a highly influential piece of literature on American Indian homicide. The study looked at American Indian homicide victimization incidents by county between 1986 and 1992 in the continental United States using the framework of social disorganization theory. Despite the violent crime drop in the 1990s, little research exists that examines current dynamics of American Indian homicide. This study provides an updated replication of Lanier and Huff-Corzine (2006) by examining the impact of social disorganization on American Indian homicide victimization between 2006 and 2012. Results differ from Lanier and Huff-Corzine (2006). Reasons for the different outcomes are explored and implications for future research are discussed.

The following study is an exploratory analysis of intimate partner kidnapping. The current study will give a descriptive picture of the victim, offender, and incident characteristics of a form of intimate partner violence that has never been studied before, intimate partner kidnapping, as well as a form of physical violence often seen in the literature, intimate partner assaults. The study will use a combination of the National Incident Based Report System (FBI, 2009), and the American Community Survey (Census, 2012) to identify these characteristics and also to identify any potential relationships between structural-level correlates and rates of intimate partner violence. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of multiple forms of intimate partner violence using police data, as well as, understand their relationships to structural-level correlates of counties. The current study uses the National Incident-Based Reporting (FBI, 2009) system from the year 2009 in order to identify both types of intimate partner violence. It is rare that police data is used to study intimate partner violence, and the current study expands our knowledge of this violence by using a different type of data to study this area. Additionally, the American Community Survey (Census, 2012) estimates between 2005-2009 are utilized to measure the structural-level variables, including concentrated disadvantage, racial heterogeneity, immigrant concentration, and residential stability. Overall, this study finds that intimate partner kidnapping is a different form of violence than intimate partner assaults. Only one structural level variable, residential stability is significantly associated with intimate partner kidnapping, whereas, 3 of the 4 structural level iv variables are significantly related to intimate partner assaults and most in the direction expected. The conclusions suggest that intimate partner kidnapping may be a part of “coercive controlling violence” which involves severe amounts of control, isolation, and intimidation, and may not have the same relationships to structural-level correlates as other types of intimate partner violence, such as physical assaults.

Violence against police officers is a major problem in America. Previous studies on violence and police officers have usually focused on violence by police officers, not violence against police officers. This study is the first of its kind as it examines violence against police officers from a comprehensive, criminal events perspective with detailed use of force/officer violence data collected by the Orlando Police Department. Individual officer characteristics, individual offender characteristics, situational variables, and geographical factors are considered. Logistic regression results indicate that use of force incidents are more likely to involve battery against one or more police officers when multiple officers are involved, when offenders are female, when offenders are of larger size (measured by weight), and when offenders are known to have recently consumed alcohol before the incident. Spatial analysis results indicate that there is significant clustering of batteries against police officers within the City of Orlando, and that the areas where police battery is predominant are very similar to areas where alcohol-related businesses are prevalent, and theoretically, more alcohol is consumed. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.

No description available.

No description available.