Criminal Justice Review

The relationship of law and other forms of social control is examined by using data derived from traditional Chinese society, as well asfrom the contemporary situation in the People's Republic of China and Taiwan. The specific focus is Black's theory of the behavior of law. The evidence presented here generally supports Black's position regarding the relationship of law and social control; however, some caveats are in order.

This article examines thefear ofstreet crime among international students enrolled in a large urban university. The purpose of the article is to report whetherfactors generallyfound to be associated with thefear of crime in the United States (U.S.) are the samefor international students studying here, or if there are characteristics or experiences unique to international students that add to a model which attempts to explain the fear of cime. The results from a multiple regression analysis show thatfour variables were strongly correlated with feelings of safety in one's neighborhood. Two of them are unique to international students: number of months in the U.S. andfrequency of participation in cultural events and activities. The other two were comparative danger of one's neighborhood and perceived likelihood of local protection.

From a 1979 nationwide self-report survey of 11,397 inmates in state penal institutions, 248 of them aged 55 or older, a profile of elderly inmates based on comparisons with their younger counterparts has been constructed. Areas of analysis include: personal characteristics, current offense and sentence, probation and incarceration history, conformity to prison rules, prison recreation and work activities, and interaction withfamily members andfriends outside ofprison. Recommendations for future investigation are offered.

The following study is an attempt to explore the attitudes and perceptions ofpolice cadets and journalism students toward their prospective professions. A primary goal of the research is to identify personal characteristics and predispositions of the groups which might help explain the animosity often observed between the police and the press. Samples were chosen from advanced undergraduate students who were about to enter the respective professions. Respondents were asked to complete a survey instrument soliciting opinions about various aspects of the fields of law enforcement and journalism. In general, the results confirm the hypothesis that there is a great deal of suspicion and distrust between the two groups even before their formal entry into the professions.

Evaluations of judicical competence and propriety of behavior have generally been negative in the literature on the courts. The present analysis provides further illustration of misbehavior on the part of judges. The data include observations of criminal trials, responses to a questionnaire by attorneys, and interviews with judges. Desirable qualities for judges are discussed together with a look at the distribution of power in a courtroom.

To resolve some of the ambiguity and conflict found in existing research on factors influencing sentence severity, a comparative analysis of sentences (N = 468) receivedfrom afullpopulation sample offelony indictments (N = 619)forfour violent offenses was undertaken. Variable frequency distribution and correlation with several measures of severity were examinedfor all offenses (undifferentiated) and then for each specific crime category. Results indicated that undifferentiated analysis, which represents the approach most frequently used in sentencing research, obscured important correlations and yielded others that were not present within any specific crime category; correspondingly, a number of the significant correlations produced by crime-specific analysis were of greater strength.

Works which have examined the relationship between economic conditions and the criminal justice system have usually attempted to explain criminality within specific, short term time periods. Conclusions based upon these efforts have been mixed and ambiguous. This present study uses Chicago Police Department variables as indicators of organizational activities and investigates the duration andpersistence of relationships between selected economic conditions andpolice organizational measures. Nearly 100 years of annual City of Chicago data are examined in a two step, lagged, time series regression analysis. The findings show that a persistent historical relationship exists between vagrancy arrests and economic conditions but does not exist between felonylmisdemeanor arrests or number of police employees and economic conditions. This present study suggests supportfor the previousfindings of Chambliss (1964, 1976), Wellford (1974), and Land and Felson (1976), and reveals the necessity of further model development in specifying the historical interaction between the economy and the criminal justice system. Lastly, it points to the value of developing and analysing long term historical data bases.

The planning and implementation of innovative correctional policies has confounded practitioners and academicians. Recently most attention has been directed toward the development of comprehensive planning models. Recognition of the limited success of these models has led to disillusionment. In this article an alternative approach, disjointed incrementalism, is proposed. Developed in the public administration literature, the model better addresses the obstacles that impede social change. It will be arguedfurther, however, that to be used to explain and plan major policy change, the model must be revised to include five additional factors: character of change, timing, leadership, "broad vision," and control over the arena of change. To demonstrate the utility of the revised model, both as an explanatory and planning tool, it is used to examine the decarceration of juvenile delinquents in Massachusetts between 1969 and 1973.

A review of the explicit and the implicit uses of the concept "victim precipitation" in criminology and the criminaljustice system is presented. The pervasiveness of the "ideology of victim precipitation" indicates that it is much more fundamental to the official American justice system and its crime prevention programs and strategies than is generally recognized or suspected. An analysis of the various contexts in which the concept is utilized or implied suggests that it is preceded, either directly or indirectly, by a particular political judgment about the nature of crime and its control or prevention. Specifically, criminological and justice system uses of "victim precipitation" assume consistently that crime is individually generated and, therefore, can only be individually prevented. At least two repressive ideological effectsflowfrom these assumptions of "victim precipitation": (1) an extreme form of victim-blame where the victims of crime are said to be a primary cause of their own victimization, and (2) underlying supportfor ineffective official crime prevention strategies and programs (in reality, "victim prevention" strategies and programs) that instruct citizens to take responsibility for their own criminal victimization ("dress less seductively," "leave your lights on," "lock or bar your window," etc.). The "ideology of victim precipitation" by blaming the individual crime victim only serves to divert attention and resources away from the structural causes of crime and the structural changes required by a less criminogenic society, and renders the existing social, political and economic orders more legitimate. In this way, the social relations required by capitalist society are reproduced by this ideology. It is concluded that the ideology of victim precipitation has no place in a progressive criminology or progressive criminal justice system that attempts to identify how crime is generated and prevented structurally. This criminology and criminal justice practice attempts to spot those social, political, and economic, institutional sources of crime in American society that must be transformed if crime is to be significantly controlled or prevented.

During the 1970s the prison populations grew at an alarming rate and researchers became interested in the effects of crowding on inmate behavior. Paulus, McCain, and Cox (1975; 1978) and D'Atri and Ostfeld (1975)found empirical evidence physiological changes occurring in crowded prison populations. Other researchers have also uncovered deleterious effects due to crowded prison conditions.

Unfortunately, the work in crowding has lagged behind other areas in corrections and there are few accepted paradigms.This research attempts to expand the current studies and, in doing so, examine the effects of crowding upon several groups ofcriminal offenders. The research is based upon a sample of 21,500 inmates, plus a subsample of 1,300 teenage prisoners. Ananalysis of variance and covariancefound no crowding effectsfor the prison population as a whole. However, strong crowdingeffects were found among young black violent offenders. For this group, crowding was a stronger predictor of infraction ratesthan any of our control variables (age, time served, home county population density, race, or type of crime). We interpret theseresults as artifacts placing high-risk inmates in the largest, most crowded prisons.

Assessments of the effect of antifencing operations on encouraging crime have not been found. In an attempt to make an assessment, the Illinois Department f Law Enforcement examined two of its own projects. Comparisions in crimes committed during the operation of the antifencing project were drawn between a period before and during the project and between different geographical areas. Also examined was a report by the U.S. Department of Justice. The results of both analyses suggest that crimes are not influenced by the operation of an antifencing project. The immediate availability of a buyer for stolen property does not encourage additional thefts.