Crime & Delinquency

Although sex is one of the strongest correlates of crime, contentions remain regarding the necessity of sex-specific theories of crime. The current study examines delinquent trajectories across sex among Puerto Rican youth socialized in two different cultural contexts (Bronx, United States; and San Juan, Puerto Rico). Results indicate similar substantive offending trajectories across males and females within each cultural context, that males exhibit a higher frequency of offending and higher levels of risk factors for delinquency, and more similarities than differences in how risk/protective factors relate to patterns of offending across male versus female youth. Study limitations and implications for sex-specific criminological theories are also discussed.

Research indicates that female offenders are far more likely to have experienced intimate partner violence than women in the general population. Despite extensive research on women’s pathways into offending, very little is known about why these women are at increased risk for partner violence. The authors use data from a sample of incarcerated women to explore various explanations for this association, paying particular attention to assortative mating patterns and the role of lifestyle. Findings indicate that, net of other risk factors, relationships with criminally involved partners increase women’s risks of victimization. Such findings have implications for assortative mating theory, the study of female offenders, and studies of the community-level impact of incarceration.

Although prior research has contributed to understanding of the factors that influence sexual assault case processing, it has primarily been viewed through the prosecutorial lens. The authors assert that a prosecutor’s charging decision involves not only a decision to file or reject the charge but, assuming that the case is not rejected, also a decision regarding the charge that should be filed. Accordingly, they examined the congruence between the charge filed by police at arrest with the charge filed by the prosecutor. The results indicate that charging agreement between police and prosecutors in rape cases is governed by a legal sufficiency framework in Philadelphia, where a specialized charging unit receives cases after decisions to charge have been made, and a trial sufficiency framework in Kansas City, Missouri, where a specialized unit makes the decision to charge and uses vertical prosecution from screening through disposition.

The goal of sex offender registration is to protect residents from recidivistic sexual offenders by providing public information about local offenders. This study determines what percentage of residents living near registered sex offenders are aware of the offenders and the predictors of awareness. The investigational group includes randomly selected residents, who completed surveys, living within one-tenth of a mile of registered sex offenders. A control group—those without sex offenders nearby—is included to see if residents believe offenders to be in every neighborhood. Significantly more investigational group respondents report that a sex offender lives in the neighborhood (31% vs. 2%). Hierarchical linear modeling confirms both individual and neighborhood predictors of awareness.

Corroborating evidence has been associated with a decrease in children’s distress during the court process, yet few studies have empirically examined the impact of evidence type on prosecution rates. This study examined the types of evidence and whether charges were filed in a sample of child sexual abuse cases (n = 329). Cases with a child disclosure, a corroborating witness, an offender confession, or an additional report against the offender were more likely to have charges filed, controlling for case characteristics. When cases were lacking strong evidence (confession, physical evidence, eyewitness), cases with a corroborating witness were nearly twice as likely to be charged. Charged cases tended to have at least two types of evidence, regardless of whether there was a child disclosure or not.

Sexual harassment of college students may lead to more serious forms of sexual assault. Few studies have investigated sexual harassment predictors framed within competing theoretical perspectives. In this study, the literature is extended by examining (a) three types of sexual harassment on a college campus, (b) the nature of reporting, and (c) whether routine activities and self-control theories effectively explain sexual harassment. Findings indicate that one fourth of the participants in the sample were sexually harassed, assaulted students are extremely unlikely to officially report incidents, and measures of routine activities theory are important predictors of sexual harassment. Prevention and education policies should focus on increased reporting to university authorities and helping students understand the situational contexts in which these behaviors are likely to occur.