Some of the material in is restricted to members of the community. By logging in, you may be able to gain additional access to certain collections or items. If you have questions about access or logging in, please use the form on the Contact Page.
Publication Note: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Mears, Daniel P. 2010. “The Role of Research and Researchers in Crime and Justice Policy.” Criminology and Public Policy 9(4):799-805., which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9133.2010.00671.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving: http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-828039.html#terms., Preferred Citation: “The Role of Research and Researchers in Crime and Justice Policy.” Criminology and Public Policy 9(4):799-805
In The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society, David Garland linked contemporary crime control policies and welfare reforms to a cultural formation that he termed the “crime complex of late modernity.” According to Garland, once established, the crime complex exerts a contemporaneous effect on public views about both criminal justice and the welfare state, increasing popular support for security measures as well as more restrictive public assistance policies. Although Garland’s thesis has featured prominently in scholarship on crime and punishment, few empirical studies have tested the specific predictions that underlie his arguments. To address this research gap, this study uses public opinion data to assess the extent to which key dimensions of the crime complex are associated with public views about criminal justice policies and welfare reforms that emphasize security and control. The results support several of the theoretical underpinnings of Garland’s thesis. The authors discuss the implications of the findings for theory, research, and policy., Publication Note: Published in Crime and Delinquency. Publisher's version can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011128712461612, Preferred Citation: Pickett, Justin T., Eric A. Stewart, Daniel P. Mears, and Marc Gertz. 2013. “Security at the Expense of Liberty: A Test of Predictions Deriving From the Culture of Control Thesis.” Crime and Delinquency 59(2): 214-242.
Objectives
This paper examines Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (A general theory of crime. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1990) self-control theory and develops theoretical arguments for why self-control may have a differential effect on offending depending on the level of self-control.
Methods
We test the argument that the association between self-control and violent offending (n = 5,681) and non-violent offending (5,672) is nonlinear by using generalized propensity score analyses of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
Results
The results indicate that self-control and offending are nonlinearly related in a manner that involves two thresholds. Specifically, among individuals at the high end of the self-control spectrum, there was little evidence of an association between variation in self-control and offending. However, among individuals in the middle part of the self-control spectrum, a positive association obtained—that is, the greater the level of low self-control, the greater the likelihood of offending. Finally, among individuals at the low end of the self-control spectrum, there was, once again, little evidence of an association.
Conclusions
A nonlinear association between self-control and offending may exist and have implications for self-control theory and tests of it. Studies are needed to investigate further the possibility of a nonlinear association and to test empirically the mechanisms that give rise to it., Publication Note: The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10940-012-9187-5”, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., Joshua C. Cochran, and Kevin M. Beaver. 2013. “Self-Control Theory and Nonlinear Effects on Offending.” Journal of Quantitative Criminology 29(3):447-476.
As we enter the 21st century, many States have introduced fundamental changes to their juvenile justice systems. The changes focus on jurisdictional authority, especially transfer to adult court; sentencing guidelines and options; correctional programming; inter-agency information-sharing; offender confidentiality; and victim involvement. At the same time, attention has turned increasingly to prevention, early intervention, rehabilitation, and the use of specialized courts. Because of their special significance in the historical context of the juvenile court, this paper focuses on the emergence of sentencing guidelines to identify underlying trends and issues in the transformation of juvenile justice. In so doing, the paper argues that the considerable attention given by policymakers and researchers to transfer rather than other changes provides a distorted picture of current juvenile justice practice., Publication Note: Publisher’s version of record available at http://ccj.sagepub.com/content/18/1/6.short, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P. 2002. “Sentencing Guidelines and the Transformation of Juvenile Justice in the Twenty-First Century.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 18(1):6-19.
Sentencing studies have incorporated social context in studying sentencing decisions, but to date the bulk of prior work has focused almost exclusively on county context. An unresolved question is whether there also may be state-level effects on sentencing. Drawing from the minority threat perspective, we examine (1) whether state-level racial and ethnic contexts affect sentencing, (2) whether this effect amplifies the effect of county-level racial and ethnic contexts on sentencing, and (3) whether the interaction of county-level and state-level contextual effects is greater for minorities than for whites. Analysis of State Court Processing Statistics and other data indicates that state-level racial and ethnic contexts are associated with sentencing outcomes and that this effect may differ by outcome (e.g., incarceration versus sentence length) and by type of context (e.g., racial or ethnic). The study's findings and their implications are discussed., Publication Note: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Wang, Xia, and Daniel P. Mears. 2015. “Sentencing and State-
Level Racial and Ethnic Contexts.” Law and Society Review 49(4):883-915., which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lasr.12164/
This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving (http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-820227.html#terms).
“Get tough” approaches for responding to sex crimes have proliferated during the past decade. Child pornography in particular has garnered attention in recent years. Policy makers increasingly have emphasized incarceration as a response to such crime, including accessing child pornography. Juxtaposed against such efforts is a dearth of knowledge about “get tough” policies for responding to sex crimes, particularly those targeting children, and how most appropriately to respond to such crimes. The authors examine data from a national telephone survey of Americans to explore views toward sex crimes, with a special emphasis on crimes against children. The findings indicate the public supports tough responses to child sex crimes, but they also support treatment of sex offenders. Also, despite views that incarceration is an appropriate response to possessing child pornography, several social and demo-graphic cleavages in such support exist. The authors discuss these findings and their implications for policy and research., Keywords: public opinion, sex crimes, child pornography, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0011128707308160.
Despite a steady decline in sex crime over the past twenty years, new laws, such as residence restrictions, targeting such crime have proliferated. Some scholars have argued that public concern about sexual offending against young children has served as a catalyst for the emergence of these laws. Few studies, however, have empirically tested this claim. To address this gap and to contribute to scholarship on public opinion about crime and justice, this research tests a central implication flowing from prior work—namely, the notion that people with children will be more likely to endorse increased restrictions on where sex offenders can live. Analyses of public opinion data from a 2006 poll of Florida residents suggest that parents are indeed significantly more likely to support such restrictions. Implications of the study for research and policy 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/
Publisher's version can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2010.07.004, Preferred Citation: Mancini, Christina, Ryan T. Shields, Daniel P. Mears, and Kevin M. Beaver. 2010. “Sex Offender Residence Restriction Laws: Parental Perceptions and Public Policy.” Journal of Criminal Justice 38(5):1022-1030.
During the 1990s, the United States enacted several punitive sex crime laws. Contemporary scholarship suggests this shift can be understood as a modern “witch hunt.” However, theoretical accounts have yet to examine systematically the emergence of such legislation. This study applies two theories—the first by Erikson and the second by Jensen—to assess whether they accord with known facts about the proliferation of these laws. Broad support for the theories as accounts for the punitive trend in sex crime legislation exists, but the inclusion of information dissemination as an additional factor would strengthen these accounts. Implications are discussed., Publication Note: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Deviant Behavior on February 19, 2016, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01639625.2015.1060084, Preferred Citation: Christina Mancini & Daniel P. Mears (2016) Sex Offenders—America’s New Witches? A Theoretical Analysis of the Emergence of Sex Crime Laws, Deviant Behavior, 37:4, 419-438.
Despite the marked increase in incarceration over the past 30 years and the fact that roughly two thirds of released offenders are rearrested within 3 years of release, we know little about how the social ecology of the areas to which offenders return may influence their recidivism or whether it disproportionately affects some groups more than others. Drawing on recent scholarship on prisoner reentry and macrolevel predictors of crime, this study examines a large sample of prisoners released to Florida communities to investigate how two dimensions of social ecology—resource deprivation and racial segregation—may independently, and in interaction with specific populations, influence recidivism. The findings suggest that ecology indeed is consequential for recidivism, and it differentially influences some groups more than others. We discuss these findings and their implications for theory, research, and policy., Keywords: prisoner reentry, recidivism, social ecology, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2008.00111.x.
Although prior research links parental incarceration to deleterious outcomes for children during the life course, few studies have examined whether such incarceration affects the social exclusion of children during adolescence. Draw-ing on several lines of scholarship, the authors examined whether adolescents with incarcerated parents have fewer or lower quality relationships, participate in more antisocial peer networks, and feel less integrated or engaged in school. The study applies propensity score matching to survey and network data from a national sample of youth. Analyses indicated that children with incarcerated parents have more antisocial peers; the authors found limited evidence that parental incarceration adversely impacts peer networks and school integration domains. The results suggest that the impacts of parental incarceration on adolescents’ social lives have less to do with isolation than with the types of peers adolescents befriend. Findings provide support for the idea that parental incarceration may adversely affect children’s social exclusion., Keywords: adolescents, mass incarceration, parental incarceration, peers, social exclusion., Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12464.
Purpose
Scholarship suggests that prison visitation is important because it allows inmates access to social ties that, in turn, can offset social isolation and help inmates cope with the transition back into society upon release. Only a small number of empirical assessments of visitation exist, however, and existing studies have typically overlooked how the heterogeneity inherent in visitation may influence whether visitation is beneficial, harmful, or has no effect. The goal of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for theorizing this heterogeneity and its impacts, evaluating visitation research, and guiding future research aimed at estimating visitation effects.
Methods
The paper reviews theory and research on inmate visitation. In so doing, it systematically examines heterogeneity in visitation and the implications of this heterogeneity.
Results
The paper identifies five dimensions—visitation timing, longitudinal patterns in visitation, visitor type, visitation experiences, and inmate characteristics—that can be used to characterize visitation events or patterns that, themselves, may have varied effects on in-prison outcomes and reentry outcomes.
Conclusions
More nuanced theories of, and empirical research on, inmate visitation are needed both to understand better the implications of visitation, and inmate social ties more broadly, and to advance theory, research, and policy., Publication Note: Published article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2013.05.001
The author's accepted manuscript of this article is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/legalcode, Preferred Citation: Cochran, Joshua C., and Daniel P. Mears. 2013. “Social Isolation and Inmate Behavior: A Conceptual Framework for Theorizing Prison Visitation and Guiding and Assessing Research.” Journal of Criminal Justice 41(4):252-261.
Drawing on prior sentencing and prison scholarship, this study examines the use of solitary confinement as a form of punishment. Specifically, it assesses whether, given a prison infraction, minority inmates—and young, male, minority inmates in particular—are more likely to be placed in solitary and to be placed in it for longer durations. Multilevel regression analyses of state prison data suggest little support for the hypothesis that minority males, or young minority, males, are sanctioned more harshly than other inmates. The analyses identify, however, that males are more likely than females to be placed in solitary as a form of disciplinary punishment and that younger females are more likely to be placed in it than older females. The findings highlight that age and sex may interact to influence punishment decisions and raise questions about the precise roles of race and ethnicity in affecting punishment decisions. Implications of the findings for theory, research, and policy are discussed., Keywords: prison, sanctioning, race, ethnicity, solitary confinement, focal concerns, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2017.1308541.
Objectives: This article examines the impact of distal prison placements on inmate social ties. Specifically, we test whether distance adversely affects inmates by reducing their access to family and friends and then test whether the effects are amplified for minorities and inmates who come from socially disadvantaged areas.
Methods: These questions are assessed using a sample of inmates that includes all convicted felony offenders admitted to a single state’s prison system over a three-year period.
Results: We find that inmates vary greatly in the distance from which they are placed from home and that Latinos are placed more distally than Blacks and Whites. We also find that distance and community disadvantage adversely affect the likelihood of inmate visitation. Although the adverse effect of distance appears to be similar across racial and ethnic groups, a difference exists among Blacks—for this group, high levels of community disadvantage amplify the adverse effects of distance.
Conclusions: This study identifies an important dimension along which incarceration may adversely impact inmates, their families, and the communities from which they come, and how these effects may be patterned in ways that disproportionately affect minorities and prisoners from disadvantaged areas., Keywords: incarceration, spatial distance, social ties, race, ethnicity, disadvantage, Publication Note: Version of Record can be found at http://jrc.sagepub.com/content/53/2/220.abstract, Preferred Citation: Cochran, Joshua C., Daniel P. Mears, William D. Bales, and
Eric A. Stewart. 2016. “Spatial Distance, Community Disadvantage, and Racial and Ethnic Variation in Prison Inmate Access to Social Ties.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 53(2):220-254.
The enforcement of speed limits to improve public safety constitutes one of the most common activities that the police undertake. Yet, fundamental questions exist about whether traditional, officer-initiated enforcement actually deters speeding and whether it does so in a cost-efficient manner. Questions exist, too, about unintended harms associated with traditional enforcement practices, such as racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic class disparities; mistrust of the police; and, more generally, delegitimization of the law and institutions that implement it. This article draws on prior scholarship to critique traditional speed limit enforcement practices and to argue for approaches that may be more effective, minimize unintended harms, and incur fewer costs., Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., and Andrea M. Lindsey. 2016. “Speeding in America: A Critique of, and Alternatives to, Officer-Initiated Enforcement.” Criminal Justice Review 41(1):55-74. Available at: http://cjr.sagepub.com/content/41/1/55
The initial transition to graduate school provides a critical opportunity for promoting a positive educational experience among incoming students. This study discusses the importance of this transition and then describes a novel student-led orientation approach to facilitating successful entry of new students into criminology and criminal justice graduate degree programs. Results from an evaluation of this approach are presented. Analyses of focus group and student survey data indicate that graduate students matriculating into a criminology and criminal justice program in a southern state felt welcomed and found the information, guidance, and social networks that they developed to be helpful. At the same time, students identified ways the orientation could be improved for future cohorts. A student-led orientation, along with evaluation of it, provides a promising strategy for criminology and criminal justice graduate programs to create positive educational and professionalization experiences for their students., Publication Note: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Criminal Justice Education on March 4, 2015, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10511253.2015.1018914., Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., Samuel J. A. Scaggs, Roshni T. Ladny, Andrea M. Lindsey, and J. W. Andrew Ranson. 2015. “Successful Transitions to Graduate School: Using Orientations to Improve Student Experiences in Criminology and Criminal Justice Programs.” Journal of Criminal Justice Education 26(3):283-306.
Despite the growth in and debate about super-maximum security housing, there exist few studies of inmates’ experiences or placement in supermax incarceration. The lack of research on this new type of confinement assumes particular salience given criticisms that such confinement is excessive, that placement in it is arbitrary, and that it may have adverse effects on reentry into society. The goal of this article was to inform efforts to understand how supermax housing is used and to contribute to policy debates about this housing. To this end, it used data from the Florida Department of Corrections to investigate several dimensions of the supermax experience. These included the frequency of placement into supermax confinement, the duration of time spent in such confinement, and the timing of it relative to reentry back into society. In addition, the article explored factors, especially behavioral indicators, that may contribute to decisions to place inmates in supermaxes. The article concludes by discussing the study's findings and implications for research and policy., 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/
Publisher's version can be found at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2010.04.025, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., and William D. Bales. 2010. “Supermax Housing: Placement, Duration, and Time to Reentry.” Journal of Criminal Justice 38(4):545-554.
Since the early 1980s, supermax incarceration has emerged as a common feature of the American corrections landscape. This special type of high-cost housing, which involves extended isolation with little programming or contact with others, remains largely unevaluated and is of interest for three reasons. First, the study of supermax housing offers a unique opportunity to understand the factors related to the successful reentry of offenders back into society. Second, it affords an opportunity to test the claims, many of which are grounded in mainstream criminological theory, that have been made about the putative effects of supermax confinement. Third, it provides an empirical touchstone that can help inform policy debates about the merits of such confinement. Examining data from the Florida Department of Corrections, we test competing hypotheses about the effects of supermax housing on 3-year recidivism outcomes. We find evidence that supermax incarceration may increase violent recidivism but find no evidence of an effect of the duration of supermax incarceration or the recency of such incarceration to the time of release into society. We discuss the findings and their implications for theory, research, and policy., Publication Note: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Mears, Daniel P., and William D. Bales. 2009. “Supermax Incarceration and Recidivism.” Criminology 47(4):801-836., which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2009.00171.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving: http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-828039.html#terms, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., and William D. Bales. 2009. “Supermax Incarceration and Recidivism.” Criminology 47(4):801-836.
Research Summary
Supermaximum-security prisons—or “supermaxes”—symbolize the “get tough” criminal justice policies that have developed over the past three decades in the United States and in other countries. Proponents believe that they effectively address critical prison system problems; opponents believe that they do not and that they create substantial harm. This essay examines the available evidence about supermaxes.
Policy Implications
A range of considerations are relevant to determining whether supermaxes constitute effective policy. These include (a) definitional problems in discussing supermax incarceration; (b) five critical dimensions along which evidence for policies is desirable and along which supermaxes fall short, including demonstration of policy need, credible policy theory, high-quality implementation, impact, and benefits that exceed costs and do so more than other policies; (c) the challenge of assessing causal claims related to supermaxes; (d) legal and ethical issues; (e) policy and political challenges confronting states; (f) policy options other than supermaxes; and (g) research gaps that remain to be addressed. The essay argues that causal uncertainty about supermax incarceration makes it difficult at present to claim credibly that it achieves intended goals. Policy implications and recommendations are discussed., Publication Note: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Mears, Daniel P. 2013. “Supermax Prisons: The Policy and the Evidence.” Criminology and Public Policy 12(4):681-719., which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12031. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving (http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-820227.html#terms)., Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P. 2013. “Supermax Prisons: The Policy and the Evidence.” Criminology and Public Policy 12(4):681-719.
Objectives
The juvenile court was envisioned as a system of justice that would rehabilitate and punish young offenders. However, studies have not directly measured or examined support for “balanced” juvenile justice—that is, support for simultaneously employing juvenile rehabilitation and punishment to sanction youth—or how beliefs central to the creation of the court influence support for balanced justice. Drawing on scholarship on juvenile justice and theoretical accounts of views about sanctioning, the study tests hypotheses about such support.
Methods
The study employs multinomial logistic regression, using data from 866 college students enrolled in criminology and criminal justice classes, to examine support for different approaches to sanctioning violent juvenile offenders.
Results
Analyses indicate that a majority of respondents supported balanced justice for violent delinquents, approximately one-third supported a primarily rehabilitation-focused approach to sanctioning, and the remainder supported a primarily punishment-oriented approach. Individuals who believed that youth could be reformed and deserved treatment were more likely to support balanced justice or a primarily rehabilitation-oriented approach to sanctioning youth.
Conclusions
The findings underscore the nuanced nature of public views about sanctioning youth, the salience of philosophical beliefs to support different sanctioning approaches, and the importance of research that accounts for beliefs central to the juvenile court’s mission., Publication Note: The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10940-014-9234-5, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., Justin T. Pickett, and Christina Mancini. 2015. “Support for Balanced Juvenile Justice: Assessing Views about Youth, Rehabilitation, and Punishment.” Journal of Quantitative Criminology 31(3):459-479.
