By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto

Immigrants in the United States commit crimes at lower rates than the U.S.-born population, notwithstanding the assertion by critics that immigration is linked to higher rates of criminal activity. This reality of reduced criminality, which holds across immigrant groups including unauthorized immigrants, has been demonstrated through research as well as findings for the one state in the United States—Texas—that tracks criminal arrests and convictions by immigration status. A growing volume of research demonstrates that not only do immigrants commit fewer crimes, but they also do not raise crime rates in the U.S. communities where they settle. In fact, some studies indicate that immigration can lower criminal activity, especially violent crime, in places with inclusive policies and social environments where immigrant populations are well established. 

Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2024. 7p.

By Armita Adily, George Karystianis and Tony Butler

Police attend numerous family and domestic violence (FDV) related events each year and record details of these events as both structured data and unstructured free-text narratives. These descriptive narratives include information about the types of abuse (eg physical, emotional, financial) and the injuries sustained by victims. However, this information is not used in research. In this paper we demonstrate the application of an automated text mining method to identify abuse types and victim injuries in a large corpus of NSW Police Force FDV event narratives (492,393) recorded between January 2005 and December 2016. Specific types of abuse and victim injuries were identified in 71.3 percent and 35.9 percent of FDV event narratives respectively. The most commonly identified abuse types mentioned in the narratives were non-physical (55.4%). Our study supports the application of text mining for use in FDV research and monitoring.

Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 630. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. 2021. 12p.

By Armita Adily, George Karystianis and Tony Butler

In this paper, we describe the feasibility of using a text-mining method to generate new insights relating to family and domestic violence (FDV) from free-text police event narratives. Despite the rich descriptive content of the event narratives regarding the context and individuals involved in FDV events, the police narratives are untapped as a source of data to generate research evidence. We used text mining to automatically identify mentions of mental disorders for both persons of interest (POIs) and victims of FDV in 492,393 police event narratives created between January 2005 and December 2016. Mentions of mental disorders for both POIs and victims were identified in nearly 15.8 percent (77,995) of all FDV events. Of all events with mentions of mental disorder, 76.9 percent (60,032) and 16.4 percent (12,852) were related to either POIs or victims, respectively. The next step will be to use actual diagnoses from NSW Health records to determine concordance between the two data sources. We will also use text mining to extract information about the context of FDV events among key at-risk groups.

Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 629. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. 2021. 16p.

By Benoit Leclerc, Jacqueline Drew, Thomas J Holt, Jesse Cale and Sara Singh

The development of online technologies in recent decades has facilitated the distribution and consumption of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) over the internet, which also led to the emergence of CSAM on the darknet—the segment of the internet hidden from the general public. Using data obtained from interviews with online investigators, this study uses crime script analysis to reconstruct step-by-step how offenders operate on the darknet. The findings highlight the three phases of the script: (1) the crime set-up phase, (2) the crime completion phase, and (3) the crime continuation phase. Scripting is a practical method of developing concrete ways to address this problem. The implications of using crime scripts to fight CSAM are discussed.

Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 627. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. 2021. 14p.

By Hayley Boxall and Siobhan Lawler

A key assumption in the domestic violence literature is that abuse escalates in severity and frequency over time. However, very little is known about how violence and abuse unfolds within intimate relationships and there is no consensus on how escalation should be defined or how prevalent it is. A narrative review of the literature identified two primary definitions of escalation: a pattern of increasingly frequent and/or severe violent incidents, or the occurrence of specific violent acts (ie outcomes). Escalation appears to be limited to serious or prolific offenders rather than characterising all abusive relationships. However, disparities in prevalence estimates between those provided by victim–survivors and recorded incident data highlight the difficulty of measuring this aspect of abusive relationships.

Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 626. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology 2021.  17p.

By Isabella Voce, Anthony Morgan and Christopher Dowling

This study examines the criminal histories of outlaw motorcycle gang (OMCG) members during adolescence and early adulthood to determine whether the profile of young members has changed over time. The recorded offence histories of three cohorts of members—those born between 1979 and 1983, 1984 and 1988, and 1989 and 1993—were compared. Seventy-eight percent of OMCG members across all three cohorts had at least one recorded offence between the ages of 12 and 24. The majority of offenders did not desist but continued offending at a steady rate into adulthood. The youngest cohort in the study was more likely than the middle and older cohorts to have a criminal history and follow a high-rate offending trajectory. Members of the youngest cohort were also more likely to have been apprehended for violence and intimidation, weapons and ongoing criminal enterprise offences by their early twenties. These results suggest that OMCGs are recruiting younger members, who are becoming involved in gang-related offending earlier in life, or that individuals with a history of offending are becoming more likely to join or be recruited into OMCGs.

 Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 625. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology 2021.  18p.

By Christopher Dowling, Hayley Boxall and Anthony Morgan

This study examines the officially recorded criminal careers of 2,076 domestic violence offenders and 9,925 non-domestic violence offenders in New South Wales in the 10 years following their first police proceeding. Group-based trajectory modelling was used to examine both domestic violence and non-domestic violence offending. Special attention is given to the degree of versatility in offending, and to the interplay of domestic violence and non-domestic violence offending trajectories. Domestic violence offending often formed part of a broader pattern of offending. While trajectories of low‑frequency domestic violence and non-domestic violence offending were most common, domestic violence typically increases as non-domestic violence offences begin to decline. Importantly, there was variability in the offending profiles of domestic violence offenders. This was amplified when non-domestic violence offending was analysed, indicative of a complex array of underlying risk factors.

Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 624. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. 2021. 17p.

By Hayley Boxall and Anthony Morgan

In this study, we analysed data from a survey of Australian women (n=9,284) to identify women at the highest risk of physical and sexual violence and coercive control during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Logistic regression modelling identified that specific groups of women were more likely than the general population to have experienced physical and sexual violence in the past three months. These were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, women aged 18–24, women with a restrictive health condition, pregnant women and women in financial stress. Similar results were identified for coercive control, and the co-occurrence of both physical/sexual violence and coercive control. These results show that domestic violence during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic was not evenly distributed across the Australian community, but more likely to occur among particular groups.

Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 618. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. 2021. 19p.

By Robert Zeithammer, James Macinko, Diana Silver

Introduction

Ignition interlock devices installed after conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) have been shown to reduce subsequent DUI arrests (specific deterrence). However, there is little evidence on how interlock-device penalties might affect general deterrence, that is, deterring people from driving after consuming alcohol before a DUI conviction.

Methods

A discrete choice experiment was conducted and data were analyzed in 2023 with 583 U.S.-based adults who consumed alcohol at least once in the past week to assess the deterrent effects of five different penalties (fine, jail time, interlock device, license suspension, alcohol treatment) for alcohol-impaired driving under randomized sequential scenarios of high (20% chance of being caught) and low (1%) police enforcement. Participants resided in 46 states.

Results

Deterrent effects of an interlock penalty, operationalized as having to install an interlock device for 1 year, are large and on par with a 20-fold increase in police enforcement activity (from 1% chance of being caught to 20%), or a $2,000 increase in the DUI fine under the status quo enforcement regime. On average, a 1-year interlock penalty had the same deterrent effect as a 10-day increase in jail time.

Conclusions

Wider use of interlock devices as a DUI penalty could have large deterrent effects, independent of their ability to physically prevent the motor vehicle of an intoxicated driver from starting. The deterrent effect documented here adds to evidence of interlock devices’ overall effectiveness as well as their potential to shift DUI penalties away from criminalization (jail time) and toward immobilization and rehabilitation.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine; 2024 Articles in Press

By Leke de Vries, Toby Davies

The role of street networks in shaping the spatial distribution of crime has become a foundational component within environmental criminology. Most studies, however, have focused on opportunistic crime types, such as property offenses. In this study, we instead research a theoretically distinct phenomenon by examining the placement of venues that host criminal activity. In particular, we study the relationship between network structure and the placement of illicit massage businesses, which operate at the intersections of illicit and legitimate activity by hosting illicit commercial sex under the guise of legitimate massage. We model their placement as a function of two network metrics: betweenness, which measures a street's usage potential, and a variant called “local betweenness,” which measures the potential of nearby streets. Multilevel models are used to examine the importance of these street-level metrics while accounting for tract-level covariates. Our findings demonstrate that, unlike property crimes, illicit massage businesses tend to be located on streets that are quiet but that are close to areas of high activity. Such locations seem to combine accessibility and discretion, and therefore, represent ideal conditions for such businesses to thrive. Our findings can inform problem-oriented approaches to prevent the harms associated with illegitimately operating businesses.

 Criminology Volume 62, Issue 3 Aug 2024 Pages 377-618

By Marta Sousa, Olga Cunha, Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves, Andreia de Castro-Rodrigues

The present study analyses the relationship between psychopathic traits, the four facets of psychopathy (i.e., interpersonal, afective, lifestyle, and antisocial), and the type of crime committed (i.e., intrafamilial and extrafamilial child sexual abuse; and nonsexual crimes). The Self-Report Psychopathy Scale – Short Form (SRP-SF) and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale – Short Form were completed by 110 male individuals who sexually offended minors (ISOMs) and 146 individuals convicted for nonsexual crimes. Four binary logistic regression analyses were conducted, controlling for sociodemographic, criminal, and individual variables. ISOMs are less likely to score high in the SRP-SF total score and the interpersonal facet and more likely to score high in the affective facet than individuals with nonsexual crimes. Besides, ISOMs are less likely to have a prior history of alcohol and drug abuse and to have previous contact with the justice system but are more likely to have a history of psychological problems. Therefore, only the prior alcohol and drug abuse history emerged as predictors for ISOM subtypes. According to our results, psychopathic traits should not be considered in the assessment and intervention of ISOMs, and the focus of the intervention should be on the affective dimension and the level of psychopathology

European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research (2024) 30:627–648

By Retman, Sonnet H.

"A combination madhouse, burlesque show and Coney Island" : the color question in George Schuyler's Black no more -- "Inanimate hideosities" : the burlesque of racial capitalism in Nathanael West's A cool million -- "The last American frontier" : mapping the folk in the Federal Writers' Project's Florida : a guide to the southernmost state -- "Ah gives myself de privilege to go" : navigating the field and the folk in Zora Neale Hurston's Mules and men -- "Am I laughing"? : burlesque incongruities of genre, gender, and audience in Preston Sturges's Sullivan's travels -- Afterpiece : the Coen brothers' Ol'-timey blues in O brother, where art thou?

Durham, NC : Duke University Press, 2011. 322p.

By Richard Rosenfeld and Paige Vaughn

Combating violent crime ranks among the Department of Justice’s top priorities to improve community safety. Numerous law enforcement and criminal justice strategies target violent crime and gang violence, including both place- and person-based approaches. However, few of these strategies have been evaluated using the most rigorous of research designs, the randomized controlled trial (RCT). The current study helps to fill this gap by using an RCT to evaluate a focused deterrence program operated by the St. Louis, Missouri, Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) and the Missouri Department of Corrections (MODOC): the St. Louis Police Partnership. In fall 2016, the SLMPD and the St. Louis offices of MODOC’s Division of Probation and Parole entered into a partnership to monitor and facilitate service delivery to persons under probation or parole supervision at high risk for gun-related crimes (hereafter the Police Partnership). The Police Partnership is centered on face-to-face meetings in which a police officer and community corrections officer meet with a probationer or parolee who has committed a firearm-related offense. The meetings typically last between 15 and 30 minutes, and most meetings are held in the participant’s home, with the remainder held in a probation and parole office, at the participant’s place of employment, or via phone or video (the meetings are referred to hereafter as “home visits”). This evaluation focuses on meetings held since June 2020, when the National Institute of Justice began funding an evaluation of the program’s effectiveness in reducing criminal activity and increasing prosocial outcomes such as education, training, employment, and drug treatment. A total of six police officers, including replacements, have been involved with the program since its beginning. The Police Partnership continues to date. St. Louis is a strategically important site for this evaluation because it faces a critical problem of criminal violence, particularly firearm-related violence. In 2016, the year the Police Partnership began, the St. Louis homicide rate of nearly 60 per 100,000 city residents was the highest among the nation’s cities (Mirabile and Nass, 2018) and approximately five times greater than the average rate for cities of comparable size. In 2016, 92 percent of St. Louis homicides were committed with a firearm (Metropolitan Police Department, City of St. Louis, 2016). St. Louis’s rate of total violent crime (homicide, aggravated assault, rape, and robbery) was more than two-and-a-half times the rate in cities of similar size. The St. Louis violent crime rate of 1,913.2 crimes per 100,000 residents exceeded the rate in other cities confronting serious violent crime problems, including Baltimore (1,780.4), New Orleans (1,069.7), and Chicago (1,105.5). In 2016, 59 percent of aggravated assaults, the largest category of violent crime in St. Louis, were committed with a firearm (Metropolitan Police Department, City of St. Louis, 2017) . Firearm violence persists as a major public problem in St. Louis.

Arlington VA: CNA, 2024. 41p

By  C. M. Hoeboer, · W. M. Kitselaar,  · J. F. Henrich3 E,. J. Miedzobrodzka6, · B. Wohlstetter, · E. Giebels9 E. W. Kruisbergen,· M. Kempes,  · M. Olff1,·  · G. Meynen,  · C. H. de Kogel

COVID-19 caused a great burden on the healthcare system and led to lockdown measures across the globe. These measures are likely to influence crime rates, but a comprehensive overview of the impact of COVID-19 on crime rates is lacking. The current study aimed to systematically review evidence on the impact of COVID-19 measures on crime rates across the globe. We conducted a systematic search in several databases to identify eligible studies up until 6–12-2021. A total of 46 studies were identified, reporting on 99 crime rates about robberies (n = 12), property crime (n = 15), drug crime (n = 5), fraud (n = 5), physical violence (n = 15), sexual violence (n = 11), homicides (n = 12), cybercrime (n = 3), domestic violence (n = 3), intimate partner violence (n = 14), and other crimes (n = 4). Overall, studies showed that most types of crime temporarily declined during COVID-19 measures. Homicides and cybercrime were an exception to this rule and did not show significant changes following COVID-19 restrictions. Studies on domestic violence often found increased crime rates, and this was particularly true for studies based on call data rather than crime records. Studies on intimate partner violence reported mixed results. We found an immediate impact of COVID-19 restrictions on almost all crime rates except for homicides, cybercrimes and intimate partner violence.

 Am J Crim Just 49, 274–303 (2024).

By Matthew J. Lindquist,  Eleonora Patacchin, Michael Vlassopoulos., Yves Zenou 

We study spillover effects within co-offending networks by leveraging the deaths of co-offenders for causal identification. Our results demonstrate that the death of a co-offender significantly reduces the criminal activities of other network members. We observe a decaying pattern in the magnitude of these spillover effects: individuals directly linked to a deceased offender experience the most significant impact, followed by those two steps away, and then those three steps away. Moreover, we find that the death of a more central co-offender leads to a larger reduction in aggregate crime. We also provide evidence consistent with a new theoretical prediction suggesting that the loss of a co-offender shrinks the future information set of offenders, altering their perceptions of the probability of being convicted and consequently affecting their criminal behavior. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding spillover for policymakers seeking to develop more effective strategies for crime prevention.  

  Bonn:: Institute of Labor Economics - IZA, 2024.