Criminal Justice Interventions Research Articles

Time to exercise caution? Project CARA and out-of-court responses to domestic abuse

Abstract Domestic abuse (DA) is a high-volume area of police work and the utility of criminal justice intervention has been questioned, especially in relation to cases perceived as low risk. This paper initiates debate on conditional cautions being used by some police forces as an alternative to a criminal charge. We highlight limitations of existing evaluations of the Cautioning Adult Relationship Abuse (CARA) intervention and potential unintended consequences of wider roll-out that remain untested. We suggest continuing to grow the evidence-base for behaviour change while addressing issues around implementation, with a greater emphasis on controlling and coercive behaviour.

Criminal Justice Interventions for Individuals with Mental Health Disabilities: A Systematic Literature Review

Criminal Justice Interventions for Individuals with Mental Health Disabilities: A Systematic Literature Review

Criminal justice interventions for preventing radicalisation, violent extremism and terrorism: An evidence and gap map

Criminal justice interventions for preventing radicalisation, violent extremism and terrorism: An evidence and gap map

Criminal justice interventions for preventing radicalisation, violent extremism and terrorism: An evidence and gap map.

Criminal justice agencies are well positioned to help prevent the radicalisation of individuals and groups, stop those radicalised from engaging in violence, and reduce the likelihood of terrorist attacks. This Evidence and Gap Map (EGM) presents the existing evidence and gaps in the evaluation research. To identify the existing evidence that considers the effectiveness of criminal justice interventions in preventing radicalisation, violent extremism and terrorism. We conducted a comprehensive search of the academic and grey literature to locate relevant studies for the EGM. Our search locations included the Global Policing Database (GPD), eight electronic platforms encompassing over 20 academic databases, five trial registries and over 30 government and non-government websites. The systematic search was carried out between 8 June 2022 and 1 August 2022. We captured criminal justice interventions published between January 2002 and December 2021 that aimed to prevent radicalisation, violent extremism, and/or terrorism. Criminal justice agencies were broadly defined to include police, courts, and corrections (both custodial and community). Eligible populations included criminal justice practitioners, places, communities or family members, victims, or individuals/groups who are radicalised or at risk of becoming radicalised. Our map includes systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials, and strong quasi-experimental studies. We placed no limits on study outcomes, language, or geographic location. Our screening approach differed slightly for the different sources, but all documents were assessed in the systematic review software program DistillerSR on the same final eligibility criteria. Once included, we extracted information from studies using a standardised form that allowed us to collect key data for our EGM. Eligible systematic reviews were assessed for risk of bias using the AMSTAR 2 critical appraisal tool. The systematic search identified 63,763 unique records. After screening, there were 70 studies eligible for the EGM (from 71 documents), of which two were systematic reviews (assessed as moderate quality), 16 were randomised controlled trials, and 52 were strong quasi-experimental studies. The majority of studies (n = 58) reported on policing interventions. Limited evidence was found related to courts or corrections interventions. The impact of these interventions was measured by a wide variety of outcomes (n = 50). These measures were thematically grouped under nine broad categories including (1) terrorism, (2) extremism or radicalisation, (3) non-terror related crime and recidivism, (4) citizen perceptions/intentions toward the criminal justice system and government, (5) psychosocial, (6) criminal justice practitioner behaviours/attitudes/beliefs, (7) racially targeted criminal justice practices, (8) investigation efficacy, and (9) organisational factors. The most commonly assessed outcomes included measures of terrorism, investigation efficacy, and organisational factors. Very limited research assessed intervention effectiveness against measures of extremism and/or radicalisation. Conducting high-quality evaluation research on rare and hidden problems presents a challenge for criminal justice research. The map reveals a number of significant gaps in studies evaluating criminal justice responses to terrorism and radicalisation. We conclude that future research should focus attention on studies that consolidate sound measurement of terrorism-related outcomes to better capture the potential benefits and harms of counter-terrorism programs, policies and practices which involve criminal justice agencies.

‘It's time to put the copes down and get to work’: a qualitative study of incel exit strategies on r/IncelExit

ABSTRACT Incels, the now-widely notorious community of involuntary celibate individuals, represent an emergent online subculture predominantly composed of young men who are dissatisfied with their inability to experience romance or become involved in sexual relationships with women regardless of their desire in doing so. Despite incels being commonly portrayed as upholding a fatalistic and inescapable ideology that promotes networked misogyny and violence, there exists a unique online Reddit forum called r/IncelExit that aims to support self-identifying incels who are considering leaving inceldom. By thematically analyzing the top 25 most-engaged forums on r/IncelExit, this research highlights how online community support can be mobilized to encourage, share, teach, and sustain concrete exit strategies for incels who want to move away from incel rhetoric and disengage from incel communities. Findings illustrate various avenues for exiting inceldom that together focus on working towards self-improvement, community involvement, and disruption of incel rhetoric – efforts that are sustained by the r/IncelExit community’s continued motivation and encouragement. Implications for countering violent extremism (CVE) approaches are provided. Seeing as most CVE approaches focus on education programs, psychosocial mediation, or criminal justice interventions, this research highlights a complementary CVE measure grounded in mutual aid, peer support, and inner-group collaborative encouragement.

Predatory Helpfulness: An Empirical Framework to Identify Fraudulent Tactics Used by Pimps to Recruit and Commercially Sexually Exploit Young Girls and Women

ABSTRACT Understanding how traffickers entrap and exploit young girls and women has become crucial to correctly identifying sex trafficking. Research shows that pimps use recruitment techniques of seduction, housing assistance, drugs, and emotional support as well as physical violence, debt bondage, and psychological manipulation to entrap women into commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). This pilot study posits that these seemingly dichotomous methods represent two temporal occurrences; pimps use superficially positive offers to lure young girls and women into a relationship via grooming tactics, then shift the relationship into a sexually exploitive one via recruitment tactics. This study aimed to explore this temporal sequence a two-prong process termed “predatory helpfulness.” Data for this preliminary study examined coercive control tactics, and trauma-coerced attachment in sex trafficking survivors. Participants (N = 19) were all women who had previously been pimp trafficked. Study findings strongly supported the predatory helpfulness model; 18 of the 19 participants felt their initial relationships with their pimps were positive and helpful, and 17 of the 19 participants were able to identify a distinct relational shift between this grooming stage and the recruitment stage, where CSE began. These findings help identify undetected coercive behaviors on the part of the pimp and inform criminal justice interventions and policy. Furthermore, understanding predatory helpfulness will shift the focus to the perpetrators’ behaviors, moving us toward a community that embraces and supports the victims impacted by CSE. A 12 Question Predatory Helpfulness Screener is proposed as a tool for legal actors and providers.

From criminalisation to harm reduction? The forms and functions of police drug diversion in England and Wales

ABSTRACT While drugs policing often involves enforcement interventions that seek to tackle drug offences and drug-related crime through criminal sanctions, it is becoming increasingly apparent that diversion now occupies a central position in police responses to people suspected of either simple possession or an offence related to their drug use. This article draws on findings from a qualitative study of police-led schemes in England and Wales to examine police perspectives on diversion, the rationales behind its various forms, and the problems it is designed to resolve. By giving a voice to the key police actors behind recent local initiatives, interview data reveals that the harmful impacts of criminal sanctions are a significant driver of schemes that divert people away from the criminal justice system and into support services. It is argued that the new wave of police drug diversion is a reaction against criminal justice interventions that emphasise punishment. Police drug diversion is conceptualised as a form of harm reduction policing that has the potential to reduce the adverse consequences of drug use, drug markets, and efforts to control them through the criminal justice system. A further important dimension of the present contribution concerns what diversion signifies about the police mission and broader trajectories in contemporary policing. Police drug diversion is situated within wider organisational shifts towards public health approaches to policing which aim to prevent crime and improve life chances by tackling unmet health, social and economic needs.

Peer Mentors as Prison Volunteers: Building Bridges Between Institutions and Communities.

One creative way that Departments of Corrections offset costs is by relying on volunteers. Prison volunteers are a heterogeneous group, who provide various programs to incarcerated populations. One unique subset of prison volunteers are peer mentors, who are individuals who have experienced criminal justice interventions and have desisted from criminal activities. These mentors provide unique guidance to individuals who are currently incarcerated or are preparing for release. The current study analyzed responses from peer mentors (N = 51) and explored their motivations and experiences. Thematic analysis was utilized to assess self-reported motivations and thoughts. Participants described internal, relational, and religious/community-based motivations for facing the barriers and challenges inherent in returning to prisons, in order to provide volunteer services. There is little known about prison volunteers and less about peer mentors. We encourage future research and policy to capitalize on the unique benefits peer mentors may provide incarcerated individuals.

Police Stigma toward People with Opioid Use Disorder: A Study of Illinois Officers

Background Fatal opioid overdoses continue to break historical records. Stigma toward people with opioid use disorder (OUD) can negatively impact treatment access, retention, and recovery. Attitudes and beliefs of police officers can profoundly shape key discretionary decisions. Therefore, we examined police officer views indicating stigma toward those with OUD. Objectives We administered an online survey to select Illinois police departments using a stratified random sampling strategy with a final sample of 248 officers from 27 police departments. We asked officers questions measuring stigmatizing attitudes toward people with OUD including distrust, blame, shame, and fear. We found officers held somewhat stigmatizing views with a mean score of 4.0 on a scale of 1 (least stigmatic) to 6 (most stigmatic). Results Regression results showed certain officer characteristics were associated with more stigmatizing attitudes of blaming and distrust of those with OUD, including gender, education, race, years in policing, and department size. Conclusions/Importance Since most officers in the sample held at least some stigmatizing views toward people with OUD, this may impede the feasibility and acceptability of criminal justice interventions meant to improve behavioral health, such as police deflection programs that link people who use drugs to treatment in lieu of arrest. Departments should offer officer training and education on substance use disorders, treatment for addiction, and the potential for a person’s recovery. Training should allow officers to hear directly from, or learn about, personal experiences of people who use drugs and have been in recovery, as this type of interaction has been shown to reduce stigma.

Community Policing as a Panacea for Gender Based Violence Impasse

Abstract Among the many other crimes that flood South Africa, gender-based violence (GBV) is increasingly becoming a major problem facing the country. Studies have revealed that women and girls are much more likely to be victims, and, in most instances, the perpetrator is known to the victim. This crime has irrepressibly posed great threats to the human rights of women and girls, both locally and internationally, laying serious foundations for engrained progress on women`s rights. This study adopts a qualitative document analysis to examine the phenomenon and suggest a community policing approach—among other preventive policy recommendations—as a paradigm shift in strategy to resolve the crisis in South Africa as well as prevent the future occurrence of such a menace in the country. The findings highlight that the preponderance of criminal justice interventions has resulted in gender-based violence being framed as a problem of criminal law and procedure, police investigation, and appropriate counselling programmes for both victims and perpetrators. However, this approach emphasises amelioration rather than prevention. Hence, the need for community policing as a prevention strategy against gender-based violence. Moreover, this paper recommends the establishment of a stronger partnership and the continuation of seeking ways for closer cooperation between law enforcement agencies and communities for a better prevention of gender-based violence in societies.

Perspectives and sentiments on contingency management from people who use methamphetamine.

Contingency management (CM) is currently the most efficacious treatment for methamphetamine use, yet it is rarely available in routine care. We examined the viewpoints of people who use methamphetamine on CM as a potential treatment for methamphetamine use disorder. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with 30 Australians aged 18 years or older who had used methamphetamine at least weekly in the past 6 months. Participants reported overall positive attitudes towards CM as a potential treatment option for methamphetamine use disorder. However, there was need for greater flexibility in meeting participant treatment goals (e.g., reduced use or complete abstinence), with particular concern about the viability of initiating abstinence, both in terms of the sufficiency of the initial financial incentive and managing withdrawal symptoms. There was strong interest in the use of digital technologies to provide remote CM, particularly around the convenience and flexibility this offered. Despite this, participants remained keen to access adjunctive treatment and support services but stressed that engagement with these additional services should not be mandatory. Marketing of CM will need to address preconceptions about drug-testing used in abstinence-based CMbeing punitive (especially urine testing) and its connotations with criminal justice interventions. Positive attitudes towards CM bode well for potential uptake should CM be made available in routine clinical practice. However, there is a need to adapt CM to ensure it is feasible and attractive to people who are seeking treatment for methamphetamine use disorder.

Gun violence is a public health crisis that needs more applied criminologists

AbstractResearch SummaryGun violence was declared a “public health crisis” after shootings increased in many U.S. cities during the course of the COVID‐19 pandemic. The public health approach to gun violence prevention offers many advantages such as an applied research model, the mobilization of a wider range of stakeholders, and a commitment to harm reduction. Too often, however, the public health community seems unaware of criminological research on gun violence and avoids including criminal justice interventions in their comprehensive plans.Policy ImplicationsCommunities need immediate relief from the persistent trauma of repeated shootings. Criminal justice interventions represent important responses to outbreaks of gun violence that should be included among recommended public health programs intended to address proximate and upstream causes of gun violence. Gun violence prevention policy and practice would be strengthened by more deliberate attempts to foster complementary public health and criminology research and development collaborations. More applied criminologists need to become engaged in gun violence research to meet this call.

Differential updating and morality: Is the way offenders learn from police detection associated with their personal morals?

The majority of differential deterrability research has investigated whether people differ in the extent to which a perceived threat of sanctions deters them from committing a crime. Less is known about the differential influence of criminal justice intervention on sanction threat perceptions. According to deterrence theory, however, for justice intervention to successfully deter crime, a process of perceptual updating is required. In the current study, we used panel data from German adolescents to supplement the research on differential updating. We applied fixed effects regressions to analyze whether people with weaker or stronger morals update their perceptions of detection risk differently following experiences of police detection. Our findings suggest that they do: risk perceptions increased more in adolescents with weak morals than in adolescents with strong morals when they experienced a higher certainty of detection (a higher detection rate). Combined with previous findings on differential deterrence (by personal morality), our results indicate that deterrence processes may—for individuals with weak morals—play a more critical role in the prevention of crime than previous nondifferential research has suggested.

PROTOCOL: Criminal justice interventions for preventing terrorism and radicalisation: An evidence and gap map.

This is the protocol for a Campbell systematic review.The objectives are as follows: to identify the existing evidence that considers the effectiveness of criminal justice interventions in preventing terrorism and radicalisation and to identify existing gaps in the evidence where new primary research could be undertaken and where future synthesis could be conducted.

The optimal dynamic treatment rule superlearner: considerations, performance, and application to criminal justice interventions.

The optimal dynamic treatment rule (ODTR) framework offers an approach for understanding which kinds of patients respond best to specific treatments - in other words, treatment effect heterogeneity. Recently, there has been a proliferation of methods for estimating the ODTR. One such method is an extension of the SuperLearner algorithm - an ensemble method to optimally combine candidate algorithms extensively used in prediction problems - to ODTRs. Following the ``causal roadmap," we causally and statistically define the ODTR and provide an introduction to estimating it using the ODTR SuperLearner. Additionally, we highlight practical choices when implementing the algorithm, including choice of candidate algorithms, metalearners to combine the candidates, and risk functions to select the best combination of algorithms. Using simulations, we illustrate how estimating the ODTR using this SuperLearner approach can uncover treatment effect heterogeneity more effectively than traditional approaches based on fitting a parametric regression of the outcome on the treatment, covariates and treatment-covariate interactions. We investigate the implications of choices in implementing an ODTR SuperLearner at various sample sizes. Our results show the advantages of: (1) including a combination of both flexible machine learning algorithms and simple parametric estimators in the library of candidate algorithms; (2) using an ensemble metalearner to combine candidates rather than selecting only the best-performing candidate; (3) using the mean outcome under the rule as a risk function. Finally, we apply the ODTR SuperLearner to the ``Interventions" study, an ongoing randomized controlled trial, to identify which justice-involved adults with mental illness benefit most from cognitive behavioral therapy to reduce criminal re-offending.

Estimators for the value of the optimal dynamic treatment rule with application to criminal justice interventions.

Given an (optimal) dynamic treatment rule, it may be of interest to evaluate that rule - that is, to ask the causal question: what is the expected outcome had every subject received treatment according to that rule? In this paper, we study the performance of estimators that approximate the true value of: (1) an a priori known dynamic treatment rule (2) the true, unknown optimal dynamic treatment rule (ODTR); (3) an estimated ODTR, a so-called "data-adaptive parameter," whose true value depends on the sample. Using simulations of point-treatment data, we specifically investigate: (1) the impact of increasingly data-adaptive estimation of nuisance parameters and/or of the ODTR on performance; (2) the potential for improved efficiency and bias reduction through the use of semiparametric efficient estimators; and, (3) the importance of sample splitting based on the cross-validated targeted maximum likelihood estimator (CV-TMLE) for accurate inference. In the simulations considered, there was very little cost and many benefits to using CV-TMLE to estimate the value of the true and estimated ODTR; importantly, and in contrast to non cross-validated estimators, the performance of CV-TMLE was maintained even when highly data-adaptive algorithms were used to estimate both nuisance parameters and the ODTR. In addition, we apply these estimators for the value of the rule to the "Interventions" study, an ongoing randomized controlled trial, to identify whether assigning cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to criminal justice-involved adults with mental illness using an ODTR significantly reduces the probability of recidivism, compared to assigning CBT in a non-individualized way.

SEXUALITY EDUCATION TO PREVENT INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE

The “discovery” of intimate partner violence in the 1970s by the feminist movement, which considered it to be a private affair between two people, showed that the phenomenon is a recurrent one, occurring in a wide range of romantic relationships, whether committed, dating, or casual, and both current and former, across races, social classes, ages, adults and adolescents. Research has shown that existing criminal justice, health and social interventions do not address intimate partner violence. Changing culturally constructed attitudes that make men dominant and controlling, women dependent and invisible, and the use of gender-sensitive policies are key to addressing violence against women. It is argued that comprehensive sexuality education, as a preventive measure that introduces an appreciation of personal needs in terms of the well-being of the other person and of society, can help to address intimate partner violence. The aim of this article is to show the importance of a sexuality education perspective in the prevention of intimate partner violence against women. The study shows that in order to prevent intimate partner violence against women and girls, it is important to develop the ability to recognise violence related to unequal power in relationships, to be able to name types of violence, and to be able to identify symptoms of violent behaviour. The research design used was qualitative research, semi-structured interviews to collect data, and the participants were women who had experienced violence in intimate relationships.

Estimating the effects of shrinking the criminal justice system on criminal recidivism

AbstractResearch SummaryWe examined the impact of Raise the Age (RTA) in Massachusetts, which increased the maximum jurisdictional age for its juvenile court in late 2013. Using statewide re‐arraignment data and a difference‐in‐differences research design comparing affected 17‐year‐olds to unaffected 18‐year‐olds, we find that RTA increased recidivism for affected 17‐year‐olds. The observed increases in recidivism were especially large for 17‐year‐olds without prior justice involvement. This result may stem from the more extensive use of pretrial supervision or the diminished deterrence of prosecution within the Massachusetts juvenile justice system.Policy ImplicationsThis study demonstrates that prosecuting older adolescents as juveniles can exacerbate rather than reduce future justice involvement. This finding highlights the ongoing risk of unanticipated and iatrogenic impacts of criminal justice interventions. It also suggests the need for caution in further expansions of RTA until evidence of anticipated programmatic benefits can be confirmed.

Labour Exploitation in Human Trafficking Law

The growing political, legal and academic attention to the phenomena grouped under the umbrella term ‘trafficking in persons’ over the last two decades resulted in various instruments defining trafficking and related concepts, and initiatives promoting different strategies towards its eradication. Many of those instruments and initiatives focused on trafficking for prostitution or sexual exploitation. Yet, awareness of the need to address severe labour exploitation within the trafficking framework is also growing. With this awareness, scholars and activists debate whether what was developed as a criminal justice response to smuggling and prostitution is an appropriate framework to address labour exploitation and systematic failures to protect vulnerable workers.1Labour Exploitation in Human Trafficking Law is a welcome and important addition to these debates. The book relies on international and domestic (Belgium and England and Wales) standards and case-law to consider the legal frameworks for severe labour exploitation—both established and emerging. The term ‘labour exploitation’ is used to consider together established legal definitions—slavery, servitude and forced labour—both as ‘stand-alone’ offences, and as the result of trafficking in persons under the trafficking umbrella. The notion of trafficking focuses on forced or coerced movement, especially across borders. The criminalisation of movement is at the heart of the dominant approach to trafficking. Labour Exploitation in Human Trafficking Law, while still looking at criminal justice interventions, shifts the focus from facilitation of movement to its purpose, the exploitation itself. It does so in four parts. The book’s contribution to academic literature and debates is strongest in the first and last parts, and in the conceptualisation resulting from their combination.

Men, suicide, and family and interpersonal violence: A mixed methods exploratory study.

Research has shown a link between gender, violence, and suicide. This relationship is complex, and few empirical studies have explored suicide and family and interpersonal violence perpetrated by men. Drawing on a coronial dataset of suicide cases and a mixed methods design, this study integrated a quantitative analysis of 155 suicide cases with a qualitative analysis of medico‐legal reports from 32 cases. Findings showed different types and patterns of family and intimate partner violence for men who died by suicide. Men used violence in response to conflict, but also to dominate women. Cumulative, interwoven effects of violence, mental illness, alcohol and other drug use, socioeconomic, and psychosocial circumstances were observed in our study population. However, the use of violence and suicidal behaviour was also a deliberate and calculated response by which some men sought to maintain influence or control over women. Health and criminal justice interventions served as short‐term responses to violence, mental illness, and suicidal behaviour, but were of limited assistance.