Sunday, June 10, 2007

More NCJRS Abstracts, June 10, 2007

AMONG THE LATEST RESEARCH POSTED AT http://www.ncjrs.gov/. CHECK FOR OTHER ARTICLES OF INTEREST THERE AS WELL.

NCJ 218296
Melinda D. Schlager; David J. Simourd
Validity of the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) Among African American and Hispanic Male Offenders
Criminal Justice and Behavior: An International Journal
Volume:34 Issue:4 Dated:April 2007 Pages:545 to 554

This study investigated the psychometric properties and validity of the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) among a sample of 446 African-American and Hispanic male parolees. Results indicated significant similarities on LSI-R scores between the African-American and Hispanic samples in terms of psychometric properties, reliability estimates, and validity estimates. Findings revealed that African-American offenders had significantly greater criminal histories and greater antisocial attitudes when compared to Hispanic offenders. However, it is important to note that most of the LSI-R scores between African-American and Hispanic offenders were not statistically significant and might not be clinically relevant. The results suggest that the LSI-R can be reliable and accurately used with African-American and Hispanic offender populations. Participants were 334 African-American and 112 Hispanic offenders residing in 3 Volunteers of America Delaware Valley halfway houses and 1 day reporting center community corrections program in New Jersey between January 2000 and July 2001. Data were gathered from participants’ program files, which included the completed LSI-R, the Pre-Sentence Investigation Report, parole reports, and program-related forms. Recidivism information was gathered from PROMIS/GAVEL, an automated prosecutor and criminal justice court management system. The psychometric properties and validity of the LSI-R was measured using interscale corrections and Chronbach’s alpha statistics. The authors encourage future research on the use of the LSI-R among minority offender populations. Tables, references

NCJ 218285
R. Emerson Dobash; Russell P. Dobash; Kate Cavanagh; Juanjo Medina-Ariza
Lethal and Nonlethal Violence Against an Intimate Female Partner: Comparing Male Murderers to Nonlethal Abusers
Violence Against Women: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal
Volume:13 Issue:4 Dated:April 2007 Pages:329 to 353

When compared to men who used nonlethal violence against their female partners, men who kill their partners were more likely to display possessiveness and jealously and were more likely to be separated from their partner at the time of the killing. Men who used lethal violence against a female partner were also more likely to have used violence against a previous partner, to have sexually assaulted and strangled the current victim, and to have used a weapon or instrument in the attack. Interestingly, they were less likely to have previously used violence against the woman they killed. Men who killed were less likely than men who used nonlethal violence to have been drunk at the time of the attack. The findings suggest there is not a simple linear progression from nonlethal to lethal violence in the case of woman battering. The authors point out that this conclusion presents problems for the burgeoning risk assessment industry. Data were drawn from 2 studies: the Violent Men Study, which included 122 male participants who were convicted of an offense against a female partner involving nonlethal violence, and the Murder in Britain study, which included a sample of 106 men convicted of murdering their female partners. The 3-year Violent Men Study gathered data via in-depth interviews that probed the occurrence and frequency of violence throughout the relationship. The 3-year Murder in Britain study investigated all types of murder and involved data drawn from the case files of convicted murderers. Chi-square analyses were used to assess the level of statistical significance of specific comparisons between the lethal and nonlethal groups. Tables, notes, references

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