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Against a backdrop of unprecedented growth in the criminal justice system stand calls for increased government accountability, yet substantial gaps between ideal and actual practice remain. Many observers have pointed to the problem and some of its causes and solutions, including the need for performance monitoring and evidence-based practices. Less attention has been paid to how decision-making errors influence effective criminal justice practice. This article draws on examples from medicine, where decision making has been examined in more depth, and applies them to criminal justice. Its goals are to identify the types of decision-making errors that can undermine effective practice and policy in the criminal justice system, illustrate how systemic factors influence everyday decision making, and draw attention to the benefits of decision making-focused monitoring and assessment. The article concludes by discussing the implications for performance monitoring and improving the criminal justice system., Publication Note: This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
The publisher's version can be found at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2009.02.001, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., and Sarah Bacon. 2009. “Improving Criminal Justice through Better Decisionmaking: Lessons from the Medical System.” Journal of Criminal Justice 37(2):142-154.
Drawing on theory and research on prisoner behavior, this study examines whether spatial distance from home influences inmates’ likelihood of engaging in misconduct. Three hypotheses are developed: distally placed inmates will engage in more misconduct, distance will have a greater effect on misconduct among younger inmates, and visitation will mediate these relationships. We test the hypotheses using negative binomial regression analyses of data from the Florida Department of Corrections (N = 33,853). Support for the hypotheses is mixed. A curvilinear relationship between distance and misconduct was identified, with a positive effect on misconduct for distances up to 350 miles and a negative effect thereafter. Distance effects were greater for younger inmates and were partially mediated by visitation. Implications of the findings are discussed., Keywords: inmate, misconduct, prison, spatial, distance, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0011128715614017.
Mass incarceration has led to increased interest in understanding the effects of imprisonment. Reviews of criminological theory and research report mixed evidence that incarceration reduces recidivism; indeed, some studies report criminogenic effects. We argue that a better understanding of the heterogeneity of incarceration—including the types and sequences of sanctions and experiences that occur before, during, and after imprisonment—and of incarceration effects among different groups is important for two reasons. First, it can assist with assessing the salience of prior research on the effects of incarceration on recidivism. Second, it serves to identify conceptual and methodological challenges that must be addressed to provide credible assessments of incarceration effects. The paper argues that incarceration likely exerts a variable effect depending on the nature of the prison experience, the counterfactual conditions, including prior sanction history, and the specific populations subject to imprisonment. Implications for theory, research, and policy are discussed., Publication Note: Originally published in the Criminal Justice Policy Review. Published version can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0887403414528950, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., Joshua C. Cochran, and Francis T. Cullen. 2015. “Incarceration Heterogeneity and its Implications for Assessing the Effectiveness of Imprisonment on Recidivism.” Criminal Justice Policy Review 26(7):691-712.
Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading health threat for HIV+ patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART); cardiometabolic comorbidities are key predictors of risk. Data are limited on incidence of metabolic comorbidities in HIV+ individuals initiating ART in low and middle income countries (LMICs), particularly for Hispanics. We examined incidence of diabetes and obesity in a prospective cohort of those initiating ART in the Dominican Republic. Methods Participants >= 18 years, initiating ART <90 days prior to study enrollment, were examined for incidence of impaired fasting glucose (IFG), diabetes mellitus (DM), overweight, and obesity. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) 100-125mg/dl defined IFG; FPG >= 126 mg/dl, diagnosis per medical record, or use of hypoglycemic medication defined DM. Overweight and obesity were BMI 25-30 and >= 30kg/m2, respectively. Dyslipidemia was total cholesterol >= 240mg/dl or use of lipid-lowering medication. Framingham risk equation was used to determine ten-year CVD risk at the end of observation. Results Of 153 initiating ART, 8 (6%) had DM and 23 (16%) had IFG at baseline, 6 developed DM (28/1000 person-years follow up [PYFU]) and 46 developed IFG (329/1000 PYFU). At baseline, 24 (18%) were obese and 36 (27%) were overweight, 15 became obese (69/1000 PYFU) and 22 became overweight (163/1000 PYFU). Median observation periods for the diabetes and obesity analyses were 23.5 months and 24.3 months, respectively. Increased CVD risk (>= 10% 10-year Framingham risk score) was present for 13% of the cohort; 79% of the cohort had >= 1 cardiometabolic comorbidity, 48% had >= 2, and 13% had all three. Conclusions In this Hispanic cohort in an LMIC, incidences of IFG/DM and overweight/obesity were similar to or higher than that found in high income countries, and cardiometabolic disorders affected three-quarters of those initiating ART. Care models incorporating cardiovascular risk reduction into HIV treatment programs are needed to prevent CVD-associated mortality in this vulnerable population., Keywords: acute myocardial-infarction, body-mass index, cardiovascular-disease risk, cohort, d-a-d, data-collection, infected patients, metabolic syndrome, prevalence, weight-gain, Publication Note: The publisher’s version of record is available at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0160797
Despite increased scholarly and policy attention to prisoner reentry, much remains unknown about the factors that contribute to a successful transition from prison to society. The authors focused on a neglected but potentially critical factor, inmate visitation, that may reduce recidivism. The expectation of such an effect stems from prominent crime theories and an increasing body of work that stresses the importance of social ties to the reentry process. Using data from the Florida Department of Corrections, the authors tested hypotheses about the effects of visitation on recidivism. The measures of visitation included whether any visits occurred, the frequency and recency of visitation, and the type of visitor received (e.g., family member, friend). The authors also examined whether visitation effects varied by age, sex, race, type of instant offense, and prior incarceration. The findings indicate that visitation reduces and delays recidivism. Their implications for theory, research, and policy are discussed., Keywords: prisoner, visitation, recidivism, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0022427808317574.
This study used longitudinal survey and social network data covering sixth through ninth grades to test whether internalizing symptoms make early adolescents more prone to (1) exposure to and (2) influence by substance-using peers. Random effects regressions revealed that increases in symptoms were significantly associated with increases in the proportion of friends who used cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana; some associations weakened across grades. Event history models revealed that the effect of friends' smoking on smoking initiation decreased as internalizing symptoms increased; symptoms did not moderate the effects of friends' alcohol and marijuana use on alcohol and marijuana use initiation. These findings counter the influence hypothesis of the co-occurrence of internalizing symptoms with substance use and partly support the exposure hypothesis., Grant Number: R01 AA014702, R01 DA013709, R01 DA018225, R24 HD041025, Publication Note: This NIH-funded author manuscript originally appeared in PubMed Central at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5215896.
Despite a large literature on public views about crime, the racialization of crime, and the contact hypothesis, surprisingly little is known about how interracial friendships may influence Whites’ fear of crime. At the same time, and perhaps because no counterpart stereotype to that of “Blacks as criminals” exists, there has been little exploration of how such contact may influence Blacks’ fear of crime. To address these research gaps, this study built on prior theory and research and used data from an ABC News and Washington Post poll to test competing hypotheses about the effect of interracial contact on Whites’ and Blacks’ fear of crime, respectively. The analyses revealed that close interracial friendships are associated with increased fear of crime among Whites, decreased fear of crime among lower-income Blacks, and increased fear among higher-income Blacks. The implications for theory and research are discussed., Publication Note: This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
The publisher's version can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2009.11.005, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., and Eric A. Stewart. 2010. “Interracial Contact and Fear of Crime.” Journal of Criminal Justice 38(1):34-41.
Sex crime laws seemingly have proliferated recently as part of a national “get tough” shift in criminal justice policy. However, to date, there exists no systematic account of these state-level legislative changes. Accordingly, the “tough on sex crime” characterization of states may be understated or incorrect. It may also gloss over variability in the types of laws enacted and the implications such variability has for the generalizability of assessments of these laws. Drawing on an analysis of state laws, we identify considerable variation in the type, intensity, and design of sex crime laws among states. Results suggest that not all states have uniformly embraced these reforms, that considerable caution is warranted when generalizing from evaluations of particular laws, and that the continuing expansion of sex crime policy making will make it increasingly difficult, especially in the absence of a commensurate body of empirical research, to identify the effects of specific policies., Publication Note: Published in the Criminal Justice Policy Review. Publisher's version can be found at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0887403411424079, Preferred Citation: Mancini, Christina, James C. Barnes, and Daniel P. Mears. 2013. “It Varies from State to State: An Examination of Sex Crime Laws Nationally.” Criminal Justice Policy Review 24(2):166-198.
The juvenile court was established to help children through the use of punishment and rehabilitation and, in so doing, “save” them from a life of crime and disadvantage. Diversion programs and policies emerged in the 1970s as one way to achieve this goal. Despite concerns about its potential harm, diversion became increasingly popular in subsequent decades. We examine the logic of a prominent contemporary diversion effort, civil citation, to illuminate tensions inherent to traditional and contemporary diversion. We then review extant evidence on traditional diversion efforts, examine civil citation laws, and identify the salience of both traditional and contemporary, police-centered diversion efforts for youth and the juvenile court. The analysis highlights that diversion may help children but that it also may harm them. It highlights that the risk of net-widening for the police and the court is considerable. And it highlights the importance of, and need for, research on the use and effects of diversion and the conditions under which it may produce benefits and avoid harms., Keywords: juvenile court, juvenile justice, diversion, child-saving, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12223., Grant Number: 2014-CK-BX-0018
Researchers emphasize the importance of risk and criminogenic needs in developing intervention strategies for juvenile offenders. Yet, few jurisdictions collect information about the risk/needs profile of known youthful offenders or whether their needs are being addressed. This study estimated the prevalence of mental health, substance abuse, educational, and family-related needs for youths referred to seven juvenile probation departments in Texas, which represent 21% of referrals statewide. Analyses indicate that the most prevalent needs are problems associated with parental supervision, school behavior, school attendance, parental/family problems, disposition/self-image, and substance abuse. Additional analyses suggest that substantial gaps exist between the number of juveniles needing and receiving programs and services. It is concluded that such information is absolutely essential if policy makers are to formulate appropriate and adequate intervention strategies for court-involved youth., Keywords: juvenile, justice, mental health, screening, assessment, referrals, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0032885505281530
We conducted a systematic review of recidivism outcomes for juveniles transferred to adult court, incorporating meta-analytic techniques. Nine studies—based on nine statistically independent samples—met the inclusion criteria. Pooled analysis suggests that juvenile transfer had no statistically significant effect on recidivism. However, the distribution of effect sizes was highly heterogeneous and, given the strength of the research designs, suggests that in some instances transfer may decrease recidivism and in others may increase it., Keywords: juvenile transfer, specific deterrence, recidivism, systematic review, meta-analysis, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12222.
Considerable attention recently has been given to the principles of effective intervention and their importance for reducing recidivism. By contrast, much less attention has been given to youth performance while in treatment or to program implementation, yet both are critical factors that also can affect recidivism. Using data on youthful offenders in the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), we examine rearrest patterns for youths in TYC’s Chemical Dependency Treatment Program (CDTP). Analyses focus on treatment performance and program implementation and their impact on rearrest, net of demographic, risk, and need factors. Policy and research implications of these analyses are discussed., Publication Note: Publisher’s version of record available at http://cad.sagepub.com/content/48/1/99.short, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., and William R. Kelly. 2002. “Linking Process and Outcomes in Evaluating a Statewide Drug Treatment Program for Youthful Offenders.” Crime and Delinquency 48(1):99-115.
Prior research on law enforcement and court system actions suggests that offender demeanor influences practitioner decisionmaking. However, few studies have examined a key implication of this body of work—namely, criminogenic factors associated not only with offending but also with demeanor may result in a greater likelihood of contact with and formal processing by law enforcement and the courts. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we test the hypothesis that low self-control, which is associated with a range of characteristics that might influence practitioner perceptions of individual offenders’ demeanors, will predict greater contact and formal processing. Briefly, we found that low self-control was consistently related to criminal justice system involvement as measured by police contacts, arrests, age at first police contact, and arrest onset. The implications of the findings for theory and research are discussed., Keywords: self-control, arrest, police contacts, offender, general theory, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1080/07418820802593352.
Prior studies of criminal sanctioning have focused almost exclusively on individual-level predictors of sentencing outcomes. However, in recent years, scholars have begun to include social context in their research. Building off of this work—and heeding calls for testing the racial and ethnic minority threat perspective within a multilevel framework and for separating prison and jail sentences as distinct outcomes—this paper examines different dimensions of minority threat and explores whether they exert differential effects on prison versus jail sentences. The findings provide support for the racial threat perspective, and less support for the ethnic threat perspective. They also underscore the importance of testing for non-linear threat effects and for separating jail and prison sentences as distinct outcomes. We discuss the findings and their implications for theory, research, and policy., Publication Note: The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10940-009-9076-8, Preferred Citation: Wang, Xia, and Daniel P. Mears. 2010. “A Multilevel Test of Minority Threat Effects on Sentencing.” Journal of Quantitative Criminology 26(2):191-215.
School moves during adolescence predict lower peer integration and higher exposure to delinquent peers. Yet mobility and peer problems have several common correlates, so differences in movers' and non-movers' social adjustment may be due to selection rather than to causal effects of school moves. Drawing on survey and social network data from a sample of 7th and 8th graders, this study compared the structure and behavioral content of new students' friendship networks to those of not only non-movers, but also of students about to move schools; the latter should resemble new students in both observed and unobserved ways. The results suggest that the association between school moves and friends' delinquency is due to selection, but the association between school moves and peer integration may not be entirely due to selection., Keywords: Peers, Delinquency, Networks, School transitions, Grant Number: R01 AA014702, R01 DA013709, R01 DA018225, R24 HD041025, Publication Note: This NIH-funded author manuscript originally appeared in PubMed Central at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5718622.
The link between resource deprivation and urban violence has long been explored in criminological research. Studies, however, have largely ignored the potential for resource deprivation in particular communities to affect rates of violence in others. The relative inattention is notable because of the strong theoretical grounds to anticipate influences that extend both to geographically contiguous areas and to those that, though not contiguous, share similar social characteristics. We argue that such influences—what we term spatial and social proximity effects, respectively—constitute a central feature of community dynamics. To support this argument, we develop and test theoretically derived hypotheses about spatial and social proximity effects of resource deprivation on aggregated and disaggregated homicide counts. Our analyses indicate that local area resource deprivation contributes to violence in socially proximate communities, an effect that, in the case of instrumental homicides, is stronger when such communities are spatially proximate. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for theories focused on community-level social processes and violence, and for policies aimed at reducing crime in disadvantaged areas., Keywords: homicide, violence, community resource deprivation, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2006.00056.x, Grant Number: 2002-IJ-CX-0006
Scholars and policy makers have expressed concern that observed minority differences in processing (e.g., arrest, detention, conviction) and sentencing stem not from the legal merits of cases but rather from intentional or unintentional discrimination. An additional concern is that there may be disparities in society that lead to offending differences among racial and ethnic groups, and that these differences may be amplified by disparities that minorities experience in and through the criminal justice system. In this article, we identify the dimensions along which information is needed to document minority disparities in criminal justice processing and sanctioning and to guide interventions to reduce them. We conclude that research to date has not systematically documented the true prevalence of minority disparities in criminal justice processing or sanctioning or the causes of them. We then argue that social structural disparities faced by minorities warrant comparable attention to that given to criminal justice disparities. Documentation of these disparities and their causes will be necessary to shed light on the exercise of formal social control. It also can contribute to efforts to understand offending and how most effectively to reduce crime and unfair sanctioning., Keywords: race, ethnicity, disparity, inequality, Publication Note: The printed version of this article can be found at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1043986215607252, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., Joshua C. Cochran, and Andrea M. Lindsey. 2016. “Offending and Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Criminal Justice: A Conceptual Framework for Guiding Theory and Research and Informing Policy.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 32(1):78-103.
A growing body of research lends support to opportunity theory and its variants, but has yet to focus systematically on a number of specific offenses and contexts. Typically, the more crimes and contexts to which a theory applies, the broader its scope and range, respectively, and thus generalizability. In this paper, we focus on agricultural crime victimization—including theft of farm equipment, crops, livestock, and chemicals—an offense that opportunity theory appears well-situated to explain. Specifically, we examine whether key dimensions of the theory are empirically associated with the likelihood of victimization and also examine factors associated with farmers’ use of guardianship measures. In contrast to much previous research, we combine multiple individual-level measures of these dimensions. We conclude that the theory partially accounts for variation in agricultural crime victimization, depending on the type of crime, and that greater work is needed investigating how key dimensions of opportunity theory should be conceptualized and operationalized in rural contexts. The study’s implications for theory and practice are discussed., Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1526/003601107781170044., Grant Number: 2003-DD-BX-1017
Scholars have speculated that inmate behavior may provide a signal about the probability of desistance. One such signal may be the successful avoidance of prison infractions or the cessation of them during the course of incarceration. Drawing on studies of prison socialization, recidivism, and desistance, we assess whether patterns of inmate misconduct throughout the course of incarceration provide insight into the likelihood of a successful transition back into society. Specifically, using data on a cohort of state prisoners, this study examines whether, after controlling for potential confounders, inmate misconduct trajectories predict recidivism. The analyses indicate both that unique misconduct trajectories can be identified and that these trajectories predict the probability of recidivism and desistance net of factors associated with recidivism. Results of the study lend support to scholarship on desistance and signaling, which emphasizes the salience of in-prison experiences for understanding reentry and, in particular, reoffending., Keywords: recidivism, desistance, inmate misconduct, prison experiences, signaling, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2016.1168476.
Dramatic changes in juvenile justice have occurred in recent decades. One result has been the emergence of new policies and practices, many of which remain largely unexamined. One avenue for gaining insight into whether such policies and practices are needed or effective, as well as into how the juvenile justice system might be improved, is to tap into the perceptions of people who work within this system. Drawing on a national survey of juvenile court practitioners, the authors investigate key questions about the effectiveness of juvenile justice and discuss the implications of the study’s findings for research, policy, and practice., Publication Note: The publisher's version of this article is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011128708324664, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., Tracey L. Shollenberger, Janeen B. Willison, Colleen E. Owens, and Jeffrey A. Butts. 2010. “Practitioner Views of Priorities, Policies, and Practices in Juvenile Justice.” Crime and Delinquency 56(4):535-563.
