Friday, November 02, 2007

More NCJRS Abstracts, November 2, 2007

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

NCJ 220077
Lila Kazemian; Marc LeBlanc; David P. Farrington; Ken Pease
Patterns of Residual Criminal Careers Among a Sample of Adjudicated French-Canadian Males
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Volume:49 Issue:3 Dated:July 2007 Pages:307 to 340

This study investigated distributions of residual career length (RCL), the number of years remaining in criminal careers up to the last offense, based on a sample of French-Canadian adjudicated male offenders. Findings from the study indicate that the number of years remaining in criminal careers declines at a steady pace with age. Residual career length (RCL) also tends to decline with each successive conviction, with increased time lags between the current and previous offenses, and with later onset. RCL is defined as the number of years remaining in criminal careers up to the last offense. Knowledge about RCL is limited. This study sought to provide estimates of RCL in relation to general criminal career parameters (age, number of prior convictions, time since the previous conviction, age of onset, and offense type). It also sought to estimate the predictability of RCL based on offending information available in official records, and therefore assess the value of these predictors for decisionmaking in criminal justice. The study extends the analysis of RCL carried out in a recent study using two samples of British males. The analyses utilized a sample of French-Canadian adjudicated males from the Montreal Two Samples Longitudinal Study and included both self-report and official records up to age 40. Tables, figures and references

NCJ 220080
Nicole E. Rader; David C. May; Sarah Goodrum
Empirical Assessment of the Threat of Victimization: Considering Fear of Crime, Perceived Risk, Avoidance, and Defensive Behaviors
Sociological Spectrum
Volume:27 Issue:5 Dated:2007 Pages:475 to 505

This study examined the association between fear of crime, victimization experience, perceived risk, avoidance behaviors, and defensive behaviors along with other demographic and contextual variables. The findings suggest that the threat of victimization conceptualization model is partially supported because fear of crime is related to perceived risk, avoidance behaviors, and defensive behaviors in a reciprocal fashion. This study empirically tested an alternative view of fear of crime presented by Radar in 2004. In 2004, Radar argued that fear of crime, perceived risk, and constrained behaviors were involved in a reciprocal relationship in which all three components contributed to something called the “threat of victimization.” This empirical assessment of that work indicates that the threat of victimization is more complex than Rader considered. The associations between (1) fear of crime and perceived risk, (2) fear of crime and avoidance behaviors, and (3) fear of crime and defensive behaviors revealed reciprocal relationships, whereas the association between perceived risk and both types of constrained behaviors did not. This suggests that future research should consider fear of crime as a cause of these additional constructs and also more carefully consider the correlates as well. The study used data from over 2,000 adult respondents from a mid-southern State to examine the association between fear of crime, victimization experience, perceived risk, avoidance behaviors, and defensive behaviors. Tables, figures, references, and appendix

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