Criminal Justice and Behavior

Rates of gang-related violence are high across Canada, with one quarter of homicides in 2022 connected to gangs. Individuals face numerous risk and protective factors which influence the gang disengagement process; addressing these factors is key for successful interventions. The Gang Intervention and Exiting Program (GIEP) is a holistic case management program operating in British Columbia, Canada, which targets entrenched gang members and high-risk individuals. Using a retrospective, longitudinal, single group design, the current study used generalized estimating equations to examine changes in client risk and protective factors over time. Results indicate several short-term improvements in the areas of employment, substance use behaviors, engagement with prosocial peers and family, decreased association with criminally involved family and peers, and time spent in non-gang-related activities. These findings support the use of a multipronged case management approach using a combination of civilian and law enforcement service providers to encourage gang avoidance and exit.

Although maintaining institutional order presents a major challenge, most misconduct research relies on samples composed exclusively of men. The present study addresses this gap by relying on a nationally representative survey of incarcerated men and women in the United States (N = 24,848). In addition to including variables traditionally associated with prison rule-breaking, this study also considered factors particularly relevant to women’s pathways to crime. Almost 60% of our sample reported engaging in misconduct, a higher percentage than has been generally found in prior studies. Gender was associated with rule-breaking, as women had significantly lower odds of engaging in misconduct. While some variables were associated with misconduct for men and women, others had differential effects based on gender. Findings and policy implications for correctional management and treatment, including the need to further develop and support strategies that consider incarcerated men and women’s different needs and circumstances, are discussed.

The public expects governments to effectively respond to emergencies. These responses can raise concerns that governments are exploiting emergencies, consolidating power and infringing upon civil liberties. Despite these concerns, little research has explicitly examined perceptions that governments exploit emergencies or the possible correlates of these perceptions. Using a national sample of 600 American adults surveyed in the spring of 2020, and drawing from the legal socialization literature, we investigate: (a) the psychometric properties of a construct measuring perceptions of government exploitation during national emergencies, and (b) the correlates of these perceptions. Our findings indicate that these perceptions are distinct from other legal attitudes found in the legal socialization framework. These perceptions are significantly associated with distrust in government institutions, legal cynicism, and police legitimacy. We discuss policy implications and future research directions, highlighting the importance of these perceptions in effectively responding to national crises.

In recent years, efforts to reduce police resistance to evidence-based policing (EBP) have gained increasing attention. Simultaneously, amid a global crisis of police legitimacy, scholarly interest in police self-legitimacy has grown. Using survey data from police officers in South Korea, this study examines the role of police self-legitimacy in reducing resistance to EBP, as well as its mediating role in the relationship between organizational factors and resistance. The findings reveal a significant negative association between self-legitimacy and resistance to EBP. Moreover, self-legitimacy mediates the relationship between organizational factors, specifically cynicism toward organizational change and supervisor support, and resistance. These results suggest that police agencies aiming to reduce resistance to EBP should implement strategies that enhance officers’ confidence in their authority. This can be achieved by fostering a positive organizational climate, including reducing officers’ skepticism about the agency’s capacity for positive change and ensuring supportive supervision and recognition.

Psychopathy is a risk factor in offending. However, there are additional traits associated with interpersonal harm that are understudied in incarcerated populations. We examined associations between the Short Dark Triad (SD3; Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy) and three types of past and current offenses (drug, violent, non-violent/non-drug) in an incarcerated Iranian sample of men and women. For women, the SD3 factor analytic results had poor fit and uninterpretable psychometric properties. However, for men, the factor analytic results were sufficient and demonstrated clear separation among the three subscales. Among men, results demonstrated that psychopathy and narcissism were positively associated with current violent offenses, whereas Machiavellianism was negatively associated. Psychopathy was the only predictor of current drug offenses and Machiavellianism was the only predictor of current non-violent/non-drug offenses. Taken together, the findings demonstrate that the Dark Triad predict distinct types of offenses among men and the SD3 is effective for assessing incarcerated populations.

Individuals with a history of criminal legal system (CLS) involvement may experience additional challenges to their recovery from substance addiction. We compared recovery capital trajectories of individuals in recovery residences with and without the involvement of CLS and assessed predictors of their Overall Recovery Capital Score (ORCS). We employed a quasi-experimental approach using weighted repeated measures modeling to compare the ORCS on the REC-CAP measure between 1,933 residents from 101 recovery houses (RH), with (59.9%) and without (40.1%) CLS involvement. Residents with CLS involvement showed equally positive gains in recovery capital while in recovery residences (p < .0001), despite reporting greater unmet needs at baseline. Being man (p = .01) and older age (p = .04) predicted greater recovery capital gains regardless of CLS status. Our findings suggest that RH may be an effective setting for individuals with CLS involvement to build their recovery capital.

Police officers must approach volatile situations that may escalate on a frequent basis. As first responders, they often do not have the luxury of ignoring conflict in public and must work to resolve the situation. However, officers’ presence may inadvertently escalate situations, leading to coercive responses, injury, or worse. The National De-Escalation Training Center (NDTC) has received $4.75 million dollars to provide de-escalation training that incorporates rapid personality assessment, mental health issue recognition, and situational awareness built on a procedural justice foundation. Using data from the first 2 years of trainings conducted across the United States, we have found that NDTC training dramatically improves officers’ ability to recognize levels of escalation, tailor their response to the individuals’ personality types, and respond effectively. This has significant implications for de-escalation training of police as well as the larger debate surrounding law enforcement in the United States.

Latent class analysis was used to create a typology of men who had perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) (n = 7,781) using data collected with the Service Planning Instrument (SPIn). Perpetrators were classified using variables empirically demonstrated to be related to recidivism risk. The resulting typology includes three classes: High Criminal History—High Antisocial Attitudes (18.5%; n = 1,439), High Criminal History—Low Antisocial Attitudes (51.6%; n = 4,015), and Low Criminal History—Low Antisocial Attitudes (29.9%; n = 2,327). The three classes were compared on additional risk factors and four recidivism outcomes at 1 and 3 years. High Criminal History—High Antisocial Attitudes perpetrators displayed the highest prevalence of risk factors and the highest rate of all recidivism outcomes, the Low Criminal History—Low Antisocial Attitudes class had the lowest rates, and the High Criminal History—Low Antisocial Attitudes class scored intermediate to the other classes.