Criminal Justice Interventions Research Articles

PROVIDING A FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY OF CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY BASED ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Undoubtedly one aspect of changing societies is the attitude that people of all ages have toward the issue of crime, punishment, justice, and so on. Critical and contradictory criminologist have been exposed to traditional or mainstream criminology in a variety of different ways, while challenging these criminologist from a different perspective due to the ontological, i.e., inequality and discriminatory, structure of society. It has been institutionalized in models such as racial stereotyping, gender discrimination, class inequality and the like, and proposes solutions to reform existing structures and inequalities of society in controlling and combating crime, as well as improving the conditions of the criminal justice system. The perspective of critical criminology can be seen as another manifestation of radical and general trends in the field of criminology. This view is based on the basic concepts and long-standing concerns of Marxism and feminism, and is discussed from a perspective that can generally be considered as an anti-capitalist position. As many of the challenges facing various criminal justice systems, including in Iran, have emerged, some form of traditional criminological perspective has emerged, and this retreat has been completed at the expense of lessening the scope of criminal justice intervention. Sometimes referred to as the minimization of criminal rights in another language, it has not only influenced the policies and approaches adopted by criminal justice systems, but it has also provided an opportunity for some reformist Institutions to be recognized. It provides a kind of sheer laziness and is inspired by some sort of punishment. The perspective of critical criminology reflects the different concerns of different people in the context of contemporary societies. In general, it can be advocated for the kind of philosophy of libertarianism whose main purpose is the full participation of individuals in society, without resorting to factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, or class. In this paper we provide a framework for the study of critical criminology.

Applying the Dynamic-Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation in criminal justice interventions

This article describes how contemporary attachment theory can support accurate assessment and effective intervention in criminal justice contexts. I offer an introduction to Crittenden’s Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM) of Attachment and Adaptation and explain why this well-evidenced model is especially relevant to criminal justice interventions. The DMM is a biopsychosocial model, informed by neurodevelopmental research, and as such it offers a developmental understanding of the wide range of adaptations used by people who are endangered or endangering to others. It is a strengths-based, non-labelling and non-pathologising model which conceptualises adaptations to danger as self-protective strategies that promote survival in their original context, but which may later lead to problematic, dangerous, or self-defeating behaviour.

Civic Engagement for the Future Criminal Justice Professional: Serving the Underserved in a Correctional Setting

This project—Parenting, Prison, and Pups—is designed to help students think as socially responsible persons, in addition to understanding and caring about the world they will enter as criminal justice professionals. By becoming civically aware and involved, these students will be servicing one of society’s most underserved populations, female prisoners and their children. This program involves college students in remediating some of the most difficult problems within our criminal justice system, namely prisoner rehabilitation. Moreover, involving research as another level to this project is vital to understanding the effectiveness of this jail-based program, in addition to accurately investigating the experiences of participating students. This article not only examines the process of designing and developing a unique civic engagement experience for students, but discusses how four agencies were brought together as community partners to serve female prisoners, while simultaneously conducting research on an important criminal justice intervention.

From the Outside In: Narratives of Creative Arts Practitioners Working in the Criminal Justice System

AbstractThe penal voluntary sector is highly variegated in its roles, practices and functions, though research to date has largely excluded the experiences of frontline practitioners. We argue that engaging with the narratives of practitioners can provide fuller appreciation of the potential of the sector's work. Though life story and narrative have been recognised as important in offender desistance (Maruna 2001), the narrative identities of creative arts practitioners, who are important ‘change agents’ (Albertson 2015), are typically absent. This is despite evidence to suggest that a practitioner's life history can be a significant and positive influence in the rehabilitation of offenders (Harris 2017). Using narratological analysis (Bal 2009), this study examined the narratives of 19 creative practitioners in prisons in England and Wales. Of particular interest were the formative experiences of arts practitioners in their journey to prison work. The findings suggest that arts practitioners identify with an ‘outsider’ status and may be motivated by an ethic of mutual aid. In the current climate of third sector involvement in the delivery of criminal justice interventions, such a capacity may be both a strength and a weakness for arts organisations working in this field.

Evaluating the Criminal Justice Approach to Human Trafficking in Taiwan

ABSTRACT Despite being the dominant global framework driving intervention efforts, there is little evidence that a criminal justice approach decreases rates of human trafficking to any appreciable degree. As such, scholars point out the need to study state-level factors in an effort to understand potential barriers to effective criminal justice interventions. In response, the author conducts an analysis of the criminal justice approach to human trafficking in Taiwan, a country at the geographic epicenter of this global crime which the US recognizes as being a model of best- practices in the region. Specifically, the author examines data on 1,342 human trafficking apprehensions and 2,908 prosecutions from 2009 to 2018. Trends in this data are compared with demographic characteristics of 269 victims of trafficking and the results of interviews with immigration officials, police, and legal professionals conducted by other scholars from 2010–2015. The author finds that low conviction rates, relatively minor punishments, and an under emphasis on labor trafficking indicates that the criminal justice approach may have limited efficacy in cases beyond foreign sex trafficking. The author concludes with an exploration of potential immigration reforms that might better situate Taiwan and other similar states to more effectively address this pandemic.

The offending histories of homicide offenders: Are men who kill intimate partners distinct from men who kill other men?

Objective: Limited research has studied the offending histories of homicide offenders across victim- offender relationships. An emphasis on offending histories may assist in identifying opportunities for criminal justice interventions, but it remains unclear whether these histories differ across different victim- offender relationship types. The aim of this study is to compare the offending histories of male intimate partner homicide (IPH) offenders and male-on-male homicide (MMH) offenders. Method: The data consist of self-reported offending histories collected through interviews with 203 men convicted of murder or manslaughter in Australia. IPH offenders (n = 68) were compared with MMH offenders (n = 135) across four areas (prevalence, frequency, versatility, and age of onset) using binary logistic regressions. Results: IPH offenders reported lower offending prevalence, less frequent and versatile offending, and later offending onset compared with MMH offenders. Conclusions: Both IPH and MMH offenders have a history of offending, though the extensiveness of this offending differs. Thus, IPH men may be less likely to come to the attention of the criminal justice system and, when they do, they may not be classified as high risk. The challenge is ensuring that other areas of risk are recognized and responded to in appropriate ways through effective screening or surveillance.

The use of protection orders in response to adolescent family violence: mapping divergent Australian approaches and the merits of this criminal justice intervention

ABSTRACTSeveral Australian state and territory jurisdictions permit parents of adolescents using violence to be listed as affected persons on a family violence protection order (the notable exceptions being Queensland and Tasmania), however, as yet there is minimal understanding of whether this is an effective response to this complex form of family violence. In seeking to address this gap in current knowledge, this paper has two aims. It analyses Australian family violence legislation as it applies to protection orders in cases of adolescent family violence, revealing significant disparity in state and territory legislative frameworks. The article then draws from the findings of a recent Victorian study to provide insight into the use, impact and effectiveness of protection orders in responding to adolescent family violence from the perspective of those experiencing adolescent family violence and those charged with responding to it in service and legal settings. By highlighting the diversity in state and territory responses to adolescent family violence and using the Victorian case to question the efficacy of protection orders, this article contributes to knowledge about criminal justice system responses to adolescent family violence and supports the need for further systematic research about prevalence and effective social and criminal justice responses.

Can Justice System Interventions Prevent Intimate Partner Homicide? An Analysis of Rates of Help Seeking Prior to Fatality.

When women are killed, they are more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than anyone else, and a substantial number of women who are killed by an intimate were abused by that intimate partner before their death. The proportion of men killed by an intimate partner is much lower and prior research indicates that male intimate partner homicide victims are likely to abuse their partners prior to their deaths. However, limited research has examined the criminal and civil justice help seeking of intimate partner homicide victims. This study examines administrative data from one large urban police jurisdiction to understand rates of help seeking by homicide victims in the 1 to 3 years prior to the homicide. Over 4 years (2010-2014), 197 women and 776 men were killed. The proportion of women killed by an intimate or ex-intimate partner was 39.6%, and the proportion of men killed by an intimate or ex-intimate partner was 3.9%. Police had been in contact with the victim of intimate partner femicides for a domestic violence complaint in 91% of cases in the 3 years prior to the femicide (44.9% resulted in arrest), with an average of 6.2 visits per contacted victim. Among male intimate partner homicide victims, 73.3% had been the complainant on a domestic violence case (38.1% resulted in arrest). Few (<10%) victims sought protection orders before the homicide. Over the 3 years prior to their deaths, 36.7% of male homicide victims and 9.0% of femicide victims had been the suspect in a domestic violence case. Results indicate high rates of engagement of police officers with intimate partner homicide victims before their deaths, and highlight the opportunity for homicide prevention through integration of risk assessment (to identify high-risk cases) and enhanced criminal justice and social service interventions in high-risk cases.

Transitional Justice Cascades: Integrating Post-Conflict Justice Across Levels of Government and Levels of Offending

Mainstream discussion about transitional justice swings between the International Criminal Court (ICC), hybrid and national criminal justice responses. Fieldwork in former Yugoslavia (as part of the Peacebuilding Compared Project) inform integration of a three-level transitional justice response, which minimizes criminal justice intervention for lower-level actors and maximizes impact at the top. A bottom level is a restorative justice response that has the task of addressing the greatest number of individual offenders (mainly foot soldiers and low-ranking military officials) and their victims. Instead of court trials, the primary transitional justice mechanism would be a reparation and reconciliation commission, established and supported by a specialized international unit designed for that purpose (International Reparation and Reconciliation Support Unit - IRRSU). The IRRSU would be affiliated with the United Nations and it would move from one post-conflict region to another to provide support where it is needed. Yet the Commission itself would be locally based and composed of local members. Its primary task is reconciling communities and providing reparations to victims, but the hope is that the positive impact of restorative justice would cascade beyond that. Restorative justice would aim to stop denial policies at their root, provide immediate reparations to victims and move quickly to help collect the evidence about individual crimes when there is a need to move up the criminal enforcement pyramid. The bottom-level national response would boost the efficiency of a mid-level internationalized response. Mid-level response would be composed of an international transitional justice unit (ITJU) integrated into national criminal justice administration. The ITJU, also established by the UN or in cooperation with major regional organizations, would move from one post-conflict region to another. It would include international staff (judges, prosecutors, police, military and other peacebuilding professionals). The ITJU would work with national judiciaries and police to indict and arrest middle-ranking officials and those who failed to cooperate at the bottom level. Uncooperative low level defendants would be given a second chance to cooperate in a plea-bargaining process. Finally, the top response would process the high-ranking officials who are most responsible for mass atrocities (including heads of state, defense ministers and generals). These individuals would be tried at the ICC because post-conflict national criminal justice administrations, even where there is strong international support, typically struggle in such cases to deliver fair trials that provide adequate satisfaction to victims.

Life-Course and Developmental Criminology: Looking Back, Moving Forward—ASC Division of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology Inaugural David P. Farrington Lecture, 2017

The interplay among data, analytic tools, and theory has been a defining feature of life-course and developmental criminology. In this paper, we briefly consider the intellectual history of each component before focusing on the prospects for future advancement. What are the most promising data sources and methodological tools that will advance life-course inquiry in criminology? Above all, what are the key questions and theoretical ideas for moving the field forward? Our argument is that by integrating new directions in data, tools, and ideas—especially (1) testing an augmented theory of turning points, (2) examining cohort differences in aging and crime that arise from macro level changes, and (3) designing criminal justice interventions that are both developmentally appropriate and socially supportive while not compromising public safety—the future of life-course and developmental criminology will be as bright, if not brighter, than the rich legacy of its past.

Drug Court through the Lenses of African American Women: Improving Graduation Rates with Gender-Responsive Interventions

Drug courts began in the United States in 1989, and nearly three decades of evidence has shown that drug courts are more effective than other criminal justice interventions at reducing criminal recidivism. There has, however, been a trend in some drug courts where African Americans are less likely to graduate than their White counterparts, which is concerning because evidence has also shown that graduating the program reduces the odds of recidivating. Little is known about African Americans’ experiences in drug court, and this is the first known qualitative study to ask African American women (N = 8) about the most helpful aspects of drug court that support them in graduating and how the drug court could be more helpful in supporting them to graduate. The women felt that the drug court judge was their advocate and understood the unique challenges they faced with balancing the demands of drug court with motherhood. Conversely, the women felt that they were not receiving effective, gender-responsive treatment for their substance use disorders, which was a barrier to them graduating drug court. The findings are discussed in reference to drug court practice and future research.

Today was not a good day: offender accounts of the incidents that led to their admission to drug court

ABSTRACTOne method that has been touted to help end mass incarceration is using intermediate sanctions. While intermediate sanctions often present as attractive options, there is evidence that as practiced, these sanctions often result in net widening. One of the most common forms of intermediate sanctions are drug courts, which are often viewed as progressive alternatives to locking up people with substance abuse problems. However, along with the dangers of net widening, scholars have shown that many people admitted to drug courts do not seem to have substance abuse problems and could benefit from lesser criminal justice interventions. In the current study, we analyzed intake data from a drug court to determine: (1) what charge(s) drug participants had and (2) how they became involved with the criminal justice system. Among important findings were that a large number of drug court participants were arrested for the possession of one drug only (often marijuana) and that more than half of participants came to the attention of the criminal justice system through a traffic stop rather than through repeated encounters with the criminal justice system.

Using restorative justice approaches to police domestic violence and abuse

The use of restorative justice in cases of domestic abuse is highly controversial. While little is known about how restorative approaches are used by the police, recent research shows they are used on a widespread basis to respond to domestic abuse throughout England and Wales (Westmarland et al, 2018). This study delves deeper, to look at 62 cases within one police force. Qualitative police data extracted from force systems were analysed to discover in what type of domestic abuse incidents restorative approaches are used, and what type of approaches are used. We argue that while the language of restorative justice was used, the spirit of restorative justice was often missing. In some cases, the police seem to be using the language of restorative justice to respond to cases they do not think would benefit from further criminal justice intervention (a ‘new NFA’ (No Further Action)). We conclude that further differentiation between different forms of domestic abuse and different forms of restorative approach is needed to enable a more informed conversation. Further, it is essential that the domestic abuse sector work more closely with restorative justice communities in order to more safely and more appropriately consider the challenges and opportunities that restorative approaches may offer.

Women offenders: Promoting a holistic approach and continuity of care across criminal justice and health interventions

Analysis of data in this article focuses on the self-reported situations of 21 female respondents who were part of a large-scale study of offenders’ health needs. The findings show an extensive range of physical and psychological problems, often intertwined with substance misuse and other issues, including offending behaviour. Four components of an existing model of ‘continuity of care’ are reviewed to explore the difficulties, but also the potential, for collaborative and co-ordinated interventions with regard to working with women offenders. Concern is expressed about the changes and fragmentation in provision for women brought about by the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda in England and Wales. It is advocated here that policy and practice should be developed across health and criminal justice agencies to provide holistic and integrated approaches which could support women offenders in their attempts to stabilize their lives and to find pathways out of crime.

Measuring Change: From Rates of Recidivism to Markers of Desistance

Reducing the incidence of crime is a primary task of the criminal justice system, and one for which it rightly should be held accountable. The system’s success is frequently judged by the recidivism rates of those who are subject to various criminal justice interventions, from treatment programs to imprisonment. This Article suggests that, however popular, recidivism alone is a poor metric for gauging the success of the criminal justice interventions, or of those who participate in them. This is true primarily because recidivism is a binary measure, and behavioral change is a multi-faceted process. Accepting recidivism as a valid stand-alone metric imposes on the criminal justice system a responsibility outside its capacity, demanding that its success turn on transforming even the most serious and intractable of offenders into fully law-abiding citizens. Instead of measuring success by simple rates of recidivism, policymakers should seek more nuanced metrics. One such alternative is readily-available: markers of desistance. Desistance, which in this context means the process by which individuals move from a life that is crime-involved to one that is not, is evidenced not just by whether a person re-offends at all, but also by increasing intervals between offenses and patterns of de-escalating behavior. These easily-obtainable metrics, which are already widely relied on by criminologists, can yield more nuanced information about the degree to which criminal justice interventions correlate to positive (or negative) life change. They also resemble more closely the ways in which other fields that address behavioral change, such as education, attempt to measure change over time. Measuring the success of criminal justice interventions by reference to their effects on desistance would mean seeking evidence of progress, not perfection. Such an approach would allow criminal justice agencies to be held accountable for promoting positive change without asking them to do the impossible, thereby creating new pathways by which the criminal justice system could be recognized for achieving real and measurable progress in crime reduction.

Procedural justice, legitimacy beliefs, and moral disengagement in emerging adulthood: Explaining continuity and desistance in the moral model of criminal lifestyle development.

Research has shown that procedural justice reliably predicts future offending behavior, although there is some indication that this may be more a function of legitimacy beliefs than of procedural justice per se. The current study sought to explain continuity and desistance in the moral model of criminal lifestyle development by comparing legitimacy beliefs, procedural justice, and moral disengagement as initiators and mediators of pathways leading to early adult offending. It was hypothesized that low legitimacy beliefs but not perceived procedural (in)justice or moral disengagement would initiate, and that moral disengagement but not low legitimacy beliefs or procedural injustice would mediate, the effect of low legitimacy beliefs on subsequent offending behavior. This hypothesis was tested in a group of 1,142 young adult males (age range = 18 to 20) from the Pathways to Desistance study (Mulvey, 2012). Results showed that as predicted, the target pathway (legitimacy → moral disengagement → offending) but none of the control pathways achieved a significant indirect effect. Hence, 1 way legitimacy beliefs reduce future offending and lead to desistance is by inhibiting moral disengagement. Besides the theoretical implications of these results, there is also the suggestion that legitimacy beliefs and moral disengagement should be considered for inclusion in secondary prevention and criminal justice intervention programs. (PsycINFO Database Record

Measuring the Impact of Juvenile Justice Interventions: What Works, What Helps and What Matters?

This article considers the findings of three different research studies on one juvenile justice intervention. In 2015, Juvenile Justice New South Wales received three different research findings on the same programme, the Intensive Supervision Program (ISP). The Bureau of Crime Statistics Research (BOCSAR) provided a report on the reoffending rates of those young people who underwent the programme. A team of researchers from Western Sydney University produced a report in two parts: first, a qualitative study that told the story of the young people’s path towards desistance, and second, a related economic analysis plotting the possible economic benefits to society of this programme producing desistance in participants. It is a rare situation to have three such different research reports on the same programme so this article will consider the wider implications of this and how to best judge whether a criminal justice intervention is successful and worth pursuing.

Opting out of treatment: Self-selection bias in a randomized controlled study of a focused deterrence notification meeting

This study investigated the role of self-selection in an evaluation of the impact of a focused deterrence notification meeting on subsequent arrests. We conducted a randomized controlled study that randomly assigned probationers and parolees to a treatment group asked to attend a focused deterrence notification meeting and a control group that was not asked to attend the meeting. A sizable proportion of the treatment group did not attend the meeting. We estimated intent-to-treat, average treatment, and local average treatment models to evaluate the effect of attending the notification meeting on future arrests and the effect of self-selection on the results. Subjects who attended the notification meeting were less likely than those who did not receive treatment to be arrested over the following 17 months. The results were not significantly affected by selection effects. Future evaluations of focused deterrence and related criminal justice interventions should be based on randomized controlled research designs that address selection effects on the outcome.

Responding to hate crime: Escalating problems, continued failings

The need for fresh responses to hate crime has become all the more apparent at a time when numbers of incidents have risen to record levels, both within the UK and beyond. Despite progress within the domains of scholarship and policy, these escalating levels of hate crime – and the associated increase in tensions, scapegoating and targeted hostility that accompanies such spikes – casts doubt over the effectiveness of existing measures and their capacity to address the needs of hate crime victims. This article draws from extensive fieldwork conducted with more than 2000 victims of hate crime to illustrate failings in relation to dismantling barriers to reporting, prioritizing meaningful engagement with diverse communities and delivering effective criminal justice interventions. It highlights how these failings can exacerbate the sense of distress felt by victims from a diverse range of backgrounds and communities, and calls for urgent action to plug the ever-widening chasm between state-level narratives and victims’ lived realities.

The Prediction of Repeated Violence Among Individuals With Serious Mental Disorders: Situational Versus Dispositional Factors.

The question we attempt to answer in this study is why some individuals with serious mental illness engage in repeated violence, while others do not. There appear to be two perspectives that may explain repeated violence: one that emphasizes situational factors and one that emphasizes dispositional factors. Situational factors are those that are constantly changing within one's life, whereas dispositional factors are those that remain relatively stable over time. Therefore, dispositional factors would theoretically put individuals with serious mental illness at stable risk for repeated violence because these factors remain relatively stable over time. In fact, perhaps individuals with mental illness repeatedly engage in violence because they have a dispositional trait (like impulsivity, for example) that puts them at stable risk for repeated violence. Conversely, situational factors would theoretically explain why individuals do not engage in repeated violence because they are transient and constantly changing. Therefore, perhaps one desists from violence because some situational factors changed in that individual's life. Using data from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study (i.e., MacRisk), a longitudinal study of people with serious mental illness, repeated violence was evaluated across waves. A multilevel logistic regression model was employed. Results indicate that both situational and dispositional factors are significantly associated with repeated violence. Specifically, situational factors such as marital status, drug use, perceived stress, and time away from the psychiatric hospital and dispositional factors such as personality traits including agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion are all significantly associated with repeated violence. These findings have important policy implications regarding criminal justice intervention and clinical practice.