Thursday, September 13, 2007

Journal of Experimental Criminology Abstracts

Some but not all of the interesting articles available right now at the Journal of Experimental Criminology. Head over and see what I missed that I shouldn't have as far as you're concerned. (h/t Psychology & Crime News)

Bridging the gap between judges and the public? A multi-method study
Journal of Experimental Criminology
ISSN 1573-3750 (Print) 1572-8315 (Online)
Volume 3, Number 2 / June, 2007
DOI 10.1007/s11292-007-9031-3
Pages 131-161

Jan W. de Keijser, Peter J. van Koppen, and Henk Elffers
Abstract
This article examines the gap between Dutch judges and the public in terms of preferred severity of sentences. It focuses on one particular explanation usually given for the gap: the lack of case-specific, detailed information on the part of the general public. Findings from three studies are reported and combined: (a) a survey among a sample from the Dutch population (N = 2,127), (b) a sentencing experiment with judges in Dutch criminal courts (N = 180), and (c) a sentencing experiment, using the same case materials as with judges, but now with a sample from the Dutch population (N = 917). Results show that providing the public with detailed case information indeed reduces severity of sentences preferred. Moreover, those members of the public who were given short and unbalanced newspaper reports preferred much harsher sentences than did those who were given the full case files. However, despite such a reduction in punitiveness as a result of information, the public’s preferred sentences remain much more punitive than judges’ sentences pertaining to exactly the same case files.


Newspaper juries
A field experiment concerning the effect of information on attitudes towards the criminal justice system
Journal of Experimental Criminology
ISSN 1573-3750 (Print) 1572-8315 (Online)
Volume 3, Number 2 / June, 2007
DOI 10.1007/s11292-007-9029-x
Pages 163-182

Henk Elffers, Jan W. de Keijser, Peter J. van Koppen and Laurien van Haeringen
Abstract
This article reports on a field experiment on the effect of media information on people’s attitudes towards the justice system. For the duration of a year a Dutch local newspaper took small groups of readers, called ‘newspaper jurors’, to court sessions of criminal cases and subsequently reported on their experiences and perceptions. Using a quasi-experimental design, we examined whether an attitude change in the general reader population of this particular local newspaper occurred as a result of the jury’s newspaper reports. Findings show that, after the treatment interval of 1 year, no attitude change in the general reader population could be identified that was absent in the control group.

The effects of an experimental intensive juvenile probation program on self-reported delinquency and drug use
Journal of Experimental Criminology
ISSN 1573-3750 (Print) 1572-8315 (Online)
Volume 3, Number 3 / September, 2007
DOI 10.1007/s11292-007-9038-9
Pages 201-219

Jodi Lane, Susan Turner, Terry Fain and Amber Sehgal
Abstract

In the late 1990s Ventura County, California, USA, implemented the South Oxnard Challenge Project (SOCP), designed to provide intensive, multi-agency services to youth on probation. SOCP built their program guided by Clear’s “corrections of place” model, which argued that community corrections could decrease offender risk by focusing on restorative principles rather than on coercion. SOCP was designed as a randomized experiment, comparing youths in the experimental group with those on routine probation. Researchers interviewed youths in both the experimental and control groups 1 year after random assignment. This article reports on self-reported crime and drug use, finding few significant differences across groups. Specifically, we find that SOCP youths were significantly more likely to indicate that they had committed a violent crime generally, although a majority of both groups indicated they had done so. We found that those in SOCP who robbed people also did so significantly more often than did the comparison group. In the control group, youths reported committing homicide significantly more often, but this was a rare event. Among those youths who reported taking part in gang or posse fights, those in the control group did so significantly more often. Finally, youths in the control group were significantly more likely to have used ecstasy on more days during the previous month than were those in the SOCP.


An experimental study of a therapeutic boot camp: Impact on impulses, attitudes and recidivism
Journal of Experimental Criminology
ISSN 1573-3750 (Print) 1572-8315 (Online)
Volume 3, Number 3 / September, 2007
DOI 10.1007/s11292-007-9027-z
Pages 221-246

Doris Layton MacKenzie, David Bierie and Ojmarrh Mitchell
Abstract

Two hundred thirty four adult male inmates entering prison were randomly assigned to an early release program in either a correctional boot camp or a large, traditional prison in the Maryland state correctional system. Boot camp releasees had marginally lower recidivism compared to those released from the traditional prison. A pre-test, post-test self report survey indicated the boot camp program had little impact on criminogenic characteristics except for a lowering of self control. In contrast, inmates in prison became more antisocial, lower in self control, worse in anger management, and reported more criminal tendencies by the end of their time in prison. Criminogenic attitudes and impulses were significantly associated with recidivism. The impact of the boot camp diminished to non-significance when antisocial attitudes or anger management problems were added to the models predicting recidivism. Implications for jurisdictions considering whether to operate correctional boot camps are discussed.

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