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Publication Note: The author's accepted manuscript of this article is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/legalcode The publisher's version can be found at http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2012.05.006, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P. 2012. “The Prison Experience.” Journal of Criminal Justice 40(5):345-347.
Scholars and policymakers have called for greater attention to understanding the causes of and solutions to improved prisoner reentry outcomes, resulting in renewed attention to a factor—prison visitation—long believed to reduce recidivism. However, despite the theoretical arguments advanced on its behalf and increased calls for evidence-based policy, there remains little credible empirical research on whether a beneficial relationship between visitation and recidivism in fact exists. Against that backdrop, this study employs propensity score matching analyses to examine whether visitation of various types and in varying amounts, or “doses,” is in fact negatively associated with recidivism outcomes among a cohort of released prisoners. The analyses suggest that visitation has a small to modest effect in reducing recidivism of all types, especially property offending, and that the effects may be most pronounced for spouse or significant other visitation. We discuss the implications of the findings for research and policy., Publication Note: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Justice Quarterly in December 2012, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/07418825.2011.583932, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., Joshua C. Cochran, Sonja E. Siennick, and William D. Bales. 2012. “Prison Visitation and Recidivism.” Justice Quarterly 29(6):888-918.
Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., Sarah Lawrence, Amy Solomon, and Michelle Waul. 2002. “Prison-Based Programming: What It Can Do and Why It’s Needed.” Corrections Today 64(2):66-71.
Publication Note: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Mears, Daniel P., and Julie Mestre. 2012. “Prisoner Reentry, Employment, Signaling, and the Better Identification of Desisters: Introduction to the Special Issue.” Criminology and Public Policy 11(1):5-15., which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9133.2012.00784.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-820227.html#terms)., Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., and Julie Mestre. 2012. “Prisoner Reentry, Employment, Signaling, and the Better Identification of Desisters: Introduction to the Special Issue.” Criminology and Public Policy 11(1):5-15.
Agricultural crime victimization—including theft of farm crops, livestock, pesticides, and equipment—and efforts to address it remain largely ignored despite the potential of such crime to adversely affect the lives and businesses of farmers and increase the costs of food to consumers. The Agricultural Crime, Technology, Information, and Operations Network (ACTION) initiative, located in California’s central valley, was recently developed to combat such crime. The authors present findings from a process and outcome evaluation of this program. The findings are limited by the design of the study but nonetheless suggest that efforts to increase guardianship measures among farmers (e.g., marking equipment and livestock and using surveillance equipment), to “harden targets” (e.g., locking tractors and storing chemicals in locked storage sheds), and to arrest and prosecute offenders may help reduce agricultural crime victimization., Keywords: agriculture, crime, prevention, outcome, evaluation, Grant Number: 2003-DD-BX-1017
Objectives: The study tests two related hypotheses about recidivist sentencing premiums and the progressive sanctioning logic on which they rest: (1) among first-time felons, punitive sanctions will more effectively reduce recidivism than will less severe sanctions and (2) among second-time felons, progressively tougher sanctions will more effectively reduce recidivism than will progressions to comparable or less severe sanctions. Method: We use data on first-time and second-time felons and propensity score matching analyses to test these two hypotheses. Results: Although tougher punishment, and increasingly tougher punishment among second-time offenders, may sometimes reduce recidivism, less severe punishment appears on aver-age to be more effective. Conclusions: The results raise questions about the effects of both tougher, and progressively tougher, types of sanctions in efforts to reduce recidivism., Keywords: sanctioning, prisons, incarceration, recidivism, punishment, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0022427817739338.
We examined whether the influence of adolescents' sexual partnerships, both dating and casual, carried over to affect emerging adults' relationship satisfaction and experiences of intimate partner aggression. Analyses of longitudinal data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (n = 294) showed that net of control variables (delinquency, depression, family violence, relational and sociodemographic characteristics), adolescents' number of dating, but not casual, sexual partners led to greater odds of intimate partner aggression during emerging adulthood. Further, relationship churning (breaking-up and getting back together) and sexual non-exclusivity during emerging adulthood mediated the influence of adolescents' number of dating sexual partnerships on intimate partner aggression. The positive effect of dating sexual partnerships on intimate partner aggression was stronger for women compared with men. These findings confirm the long reach of adolescent experiences into emerging adulthood., Keywords: Adolescent casual sex, Adolescent dating, Intimate partner violence, Relationship satisfaction, Grant Number: P2C HD050959, R01 HD044206, R01 HD066087, R24 HD050959, Publication Note: This NIH-funded author manuscript originally appeared in PubMed Central at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5440085.
Scholars attribute the public’s low level of knowledge about sentencing and corrections to its lack of extensive criminal justice experience and consequent reliance on the media for justice-related information. However, scant research exists that evaluates how criminal justice experience affects media consumption, or how such consumption may influence knowledge about sentencing laws or the extent of imprisonment. To extend this literature, we develop and test three hypotheses about the relationships between prior criminal justice experience, reliance on the mass media for information about crime and justice, and knowledge about criminal punishment. Analysis of data from a random telephone survey of 1,308 adult Floridians reveals that individuals with prior criminal justice experience are less likely to rely on the media for crime-related information. The evidence also shows that media reliance is associated with lower levels of knowledge about criminal punishment, and that this effect is particularly strong for female respondents., Publication Note: Published version can be found at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0887403414526228, Preferred Citation: Pickett, Justin T., Christina Mancini, Daniel P. Mears, and Marc Gertz. 2015. “Public (Mis)Understanding of Crime Policy: The Effects of Criminal Justice Experience and Media Reliance.” Criminal Justice Policy Review 26(5):500-522.
Over 100 years ago, juvenile courts emerged out of the belief that juveniles are different from adults—less culpable and more rehabilitatable—and can be “saved” from a life of crime and disadvantage. Today, the juvenile justice system is under attack through increasing calls to eliminate it and enactment of statutes designed to place younger offenders in the adult justice system. However, little evidence exists that policy makers have taken the full range of public views into account. At the same time, scholarly accounts of calls to eliminate the juvenile justice system have neglected the role of public opinion. The current study addresses this situation by examining public views about 1) abolishing juvenile justice and 2) the proper upper age of original juvenile court jurisdiction. Particular attention is given to the notion that child-saving and “get tough” orientations influence public views about juvenile justice. The analyses suggest support for the lingering appeal of juvenile justice among the public and the idea that youth can be “saved,” as well as arguments about the politicization and criminalization of juvenile justice. They also highlight that the public, like states, holds variable views about the appropriate age of juvenile court jurisdiction. We dis-cuss the implications of the study and avenues for future research., Keywords: public opinion, juvenile justice, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2007.00077.x.
Objectives: Drawing on focal concerns theory, as well as scholarship on the juvenile court’s mandate to consider youth culpability and amenability to treatment, we develop hypotheses that seek to examine whether the court will (1) punish Whites less severely and (2) be more likely to intervene with Whites through rehabilitative intervention and, simultaneously, be more punitive and less rehabilitative with minorities, and, in particular, Black males.
Method: Florida juvenile court referral data and multinomial logistic regression analyses are used to examine multicategory disposition and “subdisposition” measures.
Results: Findings suggest that minority youth, especially Black males, are not only more likely to receive punitive sanctions, they also are less likely than White youth to receive rehabilitative interventions and instead experience significantly higher rates of dismissals. The analyses indicate that similar racial and ethnic disparities emerge when “subdispositions”—specifically, placement options within diversion and probation—are examined.
Conclusions: The results underscore the salience of race, ethnicity, and gender in juvenile court decisions about punitive sanctioning and rehabilitative intervention, as well as the importance of employing multicategory disposition measures that better reflect the range of sanctioning and intervention options available to the court., Publication Note: Published version of this article can be found at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022427814560574, Preferred Citation: Cochran, Joshua C., and Daniel P. Mears. 2015. “Race, Ethnic, and Gender Divides in Juvenile Court Sanctioning and Rehabilitative Intervention.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 52(2):181-212.
Although much literature has examined macrolevel employment contexts and crime rates and, at the individual level, employment and offending, few studies have examined systematically whether macrolevel employment contexts influence individual-level offending. At the same time, emerging literature on prisoner reentry increasingly underscores the potential importance of the social environment for impeding or facilitating successful transitions back into society. All three avenues of inquiry have emphasized the salience of race-specific and offense-specific effects. This study extends prior work on ecology and offending, employment and crime, and prisoner reentry by examining the race-specific effects of unemployment rates and manufacturing employment rates on violent, property, and drug recidivism. By analyzing data on male ex-prisoners released to 67 counties in Florida, we found, as hypothesized, that Black ex-prisoners released to areas with higher Black male unemployment rates have a greater likelihood of violent recidivism. No comparable effect was identified for White exprisoners. However, we found that White ex-prisoners, especially those without prior violent convictions, have a lower likelihood of violent recidivism when released to areas with higher White male manufacturing employment rates. We discuss the findings and their implications for theory, research, and policy., Publication Note: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Wang, Xia, Daniel P. Mears, and William D. Bales. 2010. “Race-Specific Employment Contexts and Recidivism.” Criminology 48(4):201-241, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2010.00215.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: Wang, Xia, Daniel P. Mears, and William D. Bales. 2010. “Race-Specific Employment Contexts and Recidivism.” Criminology 48(4):201-241
Objectives: Drawing on the racial threat and intergroup contact literatures, we explore whether (1) a school’s racial or ethnic context increases school suspensions for Black, Hispanic, and White students; (2) intergroup contact among school board members reduces school suspensions for Black, His-panic, and White students; and (3) a school’s racial or ethnic context effects on school suspensions are conditioned by intergroup contact among school board members. Method: Count-dependent multilevel modeling techniques on school- and district-level measures from a representative sample of Florida middle and high schools. Results: Larger racial and ethnic student populations within schools increase the likelihood of suspensions for Black and Hispanic students while decreasing suspensions for White students. Further, higher levels of intergroup contact between Black, White, and Hispanic school board members are associated with a lower likelihood of suspensions for all students. Finally, intergroup contact between Black, White, and Hispanic school board members moderates the effects of school racial and ethnic context on school suspensions. Conclusions: Important factors are associated with school punishment for Black, Hispanic, and White students. Integrated spaces play an important role in decreasing both punishment disparities and punishment severity., Keywords: punishment, schools, racial threat, intergroup contact, Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0022427816689811.
A justification for lengthier stays in prison stems from the belief that spending more time in prison reduces recidivism. Extant studies, however, have provided limited evidence for that belief and, indeed, suggest the effect of time served may be minimal. Few studies have employed rigorous methodological approaches, examined time spans of more than one to two years, or investigated the potential for the relationship between recidivism and time served to be curvilinear. Drawing on prior scholarship, this paper identifies three sets of hypotheses about the functional form of the time served and recidivism relationship. Using generalized propensity score analysis to examine data on 90,423 inmates released from Florida prisons, we find three patterns: greater time served initially increases recidivism but then, after approximately one year, decreases it, and, after approximately two years, exerts no effect; estimation of the effects associated with durations of more than five years are uncertain. The results point to potential criminogenic and beneficial effects of time served and underscore the need to identify how varying durations of incarceration affect recidivism., Keywords: incarceration; prison; time served; dose; recidivism
This paper examines the role of individual and contextual factors and legal interventions in reducing time to domestic violence revictimization. Drawing on current theory and research, hypotheses are deduced about the effects of these factors. Cox regression and survival analyses are employed to test the hypotheses using court, police, and census data from an urban jurisdiction in Texas. Prior drug use, race/ethnicity, and community-level income were associated with time to revictimization. However, there was little evidence either of interactive effects between race/ethnicity and community-level income or of differential effects of each of three types of legal interventions. Implications for theory, research, and domestic violence interventions are discussed., Publication Note: Publisher’s version of record available at http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/16/12/1260.short, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P., Matthew J. Carlson, George W. Holden, and Susan D. Harris. 2001. “Reducing Domestic Violence Revictimization: The Effects of Individual and Contextual Factors and Type of Legal Intervention.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 16(12):1260-1283.
Community corrections in the twenty-first century faces three challenges: how to be an alternative to imprisonment, how to be a conduit for reducing recidivism, and how to do less harm to offenders and their families and communities. Community corrections will reduce imprisonment only if its use is viewed as a legitimate form of punishment and is incentivized, which involves subsidizing the use of community sanctions and making communities pay to imprison offenders (e.g., a cap-and-trade system). To reduce recidivism, it will be necessary to hold officials accountable for this outcome, to ensure that evidence-based supervision is practiced, to use technology to deliver treatment services, and to create information systems that can guide the development, monitoring, and evaluation of interventions. Doing less harm—avoiding iatrogenic effects—will require nonintervention with low-risk offenders, reducing the imposition of needless constraints on offenders (i.e., collateral consequences), and creating opportunities for offenders to be redeemed., Publication Note: The version of record can be found at https://www.doi.org/10.1086/688457.
Despite decades of research on domestic violence, considerable challenges must be addressed to develop sound, theoretically and empirically-based interventions for reducing domestic violence revictimization. Many basic and applied research issues remain unaddressed by existing studies, and evaluations frequently do not sufficiently highlight their limitations or program or policy implications. Nonetheless, considerable progress has been made, and practitioners and policymakers increasingly have a wide range of promising interventions from which to select. This paper reviews research on domestic violence and focuses particular attention on interventions aimed at reducing revictimization among individuals known to have been abused. It also provides a conceptual framework for practitioners and policymakers to situate existing evaluation research, and highlights the need for better data to understand and assess efforts to reduce domestic violence revictimization. The author concludes by discussing directions for future research and recommendations for practice and policy., Keywords: domestic violence, interventions, revictimization, Publication Note: Publisher’s version of record available at http://tva.sagepub.com/content/4/2/127.short, Preferred Citation: Mears, Daniel P. 2002. “Research and Interventions to Reduce Domestic Violence Revictimization.” Trauma, Violence, and Abuse 4(2):127-147.
A national Internet survey of a probability sample of 5,550 U.S. adults was used to study possible sources of error in surveys of defensive gun use (DGU). Respondents (Rs) were randomly exposed to variant question wordings, question sequences, and combinations of questions. Rs were 70% more likely to report a victimization when they were instructed to report incidents involving offenders known to them, and 43% more likely to report a victimization if they were instructed to include incidents that resulted in no injury or property loss. Rs were 125% more likely to report DGUs if they were directly asked about DGU than if they were first asked about victimization experiences, then asked about DGU in connection with those experiences., Keywords: behavior, crime, validity, surveys, prevalence, firearms, questions, defensive gun use, DGU prevalence, ownership, paper-and-pencil, response errors, self-defense, Publication Note: The publisher’s version of record is available at https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128718763138
State and local jurisdictions throughout the United States enacted a wide array of new juvenile justice policies in recent years. Many of these policies were intended to make the juvenile justice system tougher, but others improved prevention, increased rehabilitation, and enhanced the restorative features of the juvenile justice system. This paper describes the most prominent new ideas in juvenile justice and addresses a question usually asked by policymakers: “What works?” It suggests that a new generation of innovative programs might revive the spirit of American juvenile justice., Publication Note: Publisher’s version of record available at http://yas.sagepub.com/content/33/2/169.short, Preferred Citation: Butts, Jeffrey A., and Daniel P. Mears. 2001. “Reviving Juvenile Justice in a Get-Tough Era.” Youth and Society 33(2):169-198.
Depressive symptoms during adolescence are positively associated with peer-related beliefs, perceptions, and experiences that are known risk factors for substance misuse. These same risk factors are targeted by many universal substance misuse prevention programs. This study examined whether a multicomponent universal substance misuse intervention for middle schoolers reduced the associations between depressive symptoms, these risk factors, and substance misuse. The study used data from a place-randomized trial of the Promoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience model for delivery of evidence-based substance misuse programs for middle schoolers. Three-level within-person regression models were applied to four waves of survey, and social network data from 636 adolescents followed from sixth through ninth grades. When adolescents in control school districts had more symptoms of depression, they believed more strongly that substance use had social benefits, perceived higher levels of substance misuse among their peers and friends, and had more friends who misused substances, although they were not more likely to use substances themselves. Many of the positive associations of depressive symptoms with peer-related risk factors were significantly weaker or not present among adolescents in intervention school districts. The Promoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience interventions reduced the positive associations of adolescent symptoms of depression with peer-related risk factors for substance misuse., Keywords: Depression, Risk factors, Substance use prevention, Grant Number: P2C HD041025, R01 AA014702, R01 DA013709, R01 DA018225, Publication Note: This NIH-funded author manuscript originally appeared in PubMed Central at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5182119.
Publication Note: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Mears, D. P. (2014), The Role of Information in Changing Offender Behavior, Criminal Justice System Actions, and Policy Maker Decisions. Criminology & Public Policy, 13: 441–449, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org. doi: 10.1111/1745-9133.12102. 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, D. P. (2014), The Role of Information in Changing Offender Behavior, Criminal Justice System Actions, and Policy Maker Decisions. Criminology & Public Policy, 13: 441–449. doi: 10.1111/1745-9133.12102