Criminal Justice Practitioners Research Articles

The gangs of Bangladesh: Exploring organized crime, street gangs and ‘illicit child labourers’ in Dhaka

This article presents a study of street children’s involvement in organized crime in Bangladesh. It is based on an empirical case study conducted in Dhaka and draws on interviews with 22 street children, 80 interviews with criminal justice practitioners, NGO workers and community members and over three years of participant observation of the Bangladeshi criminal justice system and wider society. The article explains how street children work for ‘mastaans’, Bangladeshi organized crime bosses. These children are hired to carry weapons, sell drugs, collect extortion money, commit political violence and conduct contract killings. This article argues that these children are neither victims nor offenders; they are instead ‘illicit labourers’, doing what they can to survive on the streets.

Utilising the UK Freedom of Information Act 2000 for crime record data

Purpose – This research paper aims to consider the use of the UK Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) as a resource providing access to otherwise unavailable data from the UK Police forces. Not seeking to be a critical examination of Police practice, it offers insight to many aspects of records management appertaining to the police service provision of recorded crime. Authors consider whether record management is sufficiently integrated into police practice, given the transparency called for by the FOIA, contemporary societal needs and the growing requirement to provide high value evidence led assessments of activity both within and external to the service. Design/methodology/approach – FOIA was utilised to collect data from all police forces in England and Wales through multiple requests. Carried out over a 15-month period, three requests were collated and responses compared, allowing for examination of compliance with the legislation and reflections on the manner in which records were sought and ultimately disseminated. Findings – Generally, responding to FOIA requests was well managed by English Police Forces. Methods of data management and collection practice were exposed which the authors suggest pose questions on the strength of records management consideration that may be worthy of further work. Configuration management of records is highlighted as an essential function given the disparity of data releases experienced. Research limitations/implications – This research highlights the FOIA as a valuable methodological tool for academic researchers, but it is limited in respect of seeking firm contextual explanation of the Police internal procedures to answer requests. By making common requests over a long time period to the same Police forces, it provides a clear study of FOIA processes and raises potentially significant questions for records management consideration. Practical implications – Findings provide advice on developing use of the FOIA as an academic methodological resource and reflect on the findings impact on internal police use of data and information records. Originality/value – This paper allows for reflection on the importance of high-value records management in the day-to-day business of the police service and questions whether such knowledge areas are suitably considered. Covering an area of little previous academic enquiry, the research informs criminal justice practitioners of areas for potential further discussion and academic researchers on the validity of using the FOIA as a valuable information source.

“Victim Refuses to Cooperate”: A Focal Concerns Analysis of Victim Cooperation in Sexual Assault Cases

Research suggests that victim cooperation is a strong predictor of arrest and prosecution in sexual assault cases. Relatively little research has focused on identifying the factors that shape the decision to cooperate and the research that does exist is largely atheoretical. We address these gaps by examining victim cooperation using a revised version of the focal concerns perspective. We use data on cases reported to law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles to estimate models using factors situated within three victim focal concerns—crime seriousness, costs of cooperation, and likelihood of conviction—for three stages of the case process. We supplement these results with qualitative data from police reports regarding the reasons why victims refused to cooperate. The findings of this study provide initial support for the theoretical development of victim cooperation using the focal concerns perspective and provide potential guidance to criminal justice practitioners on how to increase victim cooperation.

Desistance in action: An interactional approach to criminal justice practice and desistance from offending

Research on the role of narrative and identity in desistance from crime tends to rely on interview methods. This article argues research and theory on desistance and interventions for addressing offending would be enriched by the qualitative analysis of interactions between criminal justice practitioners and service users. This approach is illustrated by applying discourse analysis and conversation analysis to video recordings of a groupwork programme for addressing offending behaviour. The analysis shows that: (1) service users may exhibit ambivalence to pro-social identities; (2) practitioners may orient to this resistance and encourage positive change; (3) other group members’ change narratives constitute resources to support desistance. This illustrates how an interactional approach to desistance can enhance understandings of practice and change processes.

The Importance of Discussing Crime Victimization in Criminal Justice Courses: An Empirical Assessment of a New Curriculum to Enhance Student learning

Victimization and the costs of crime sometimes can be an afterthought in courses on crime and criminal justice, which often are focused on offenders. However, shifting attention to victims of crime potentially motivates students to better understand the causes and consequences of criminal victimization, thereby improving the learning of course concepts and producing better-prepared criminal justice practitioners. A new curriculum kit on understanding crime victims was implemented in two of three sections of a criminological theory course, with the third section acting as a control group having a unit on “offenders” instead of “victims.” In short, the kit did improve student knowledge of crime victimization, but so did a lecture on offenders. Interestingly, students exposed to the kit coupled with a service learning component continued to improve knowledge of crime victimization throughout the course, while the control group did not. Implications are discussed.

The implementation of Circles of Support and Accountability in the United States

Abstract According to estimates from the U.S. National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC), at least 95% of state prisoners are released back to their communities after a period of incarceration. The complex issue of returning individuals convicted of sex offenses to their communities often evokes particular concern for both criminal justice agencies and the general public. Amid increases in the scope and intensity of sex offenders’ supervision, there has been a growing interest among academics, criminal justice practitioners, and faith groups in using restorative justice approaches with this population. Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) is a restorative justice-based community reentry program for sex offenders deemed to be at the highest risk of reoffending and with little or no pro-social community support. This integrative review synthesizes both the previous literature on the effectiveness of CoSA in reducing reoffending with findings from a recent evaluability assessment of CoSA provision in the US. It describes the various forms of implementation, the methods by which CoSA has and can be evaluated, and the possible obstacles that impede rigorous evaluation. The implications for the future implementation and evaluation of CoSA are discussed along with the implications for reentry policy and practice in general.

Effectiveness of Using Incentives to Improve Parolee Admission and Attendance in Community Addiction Treatment.

This study is a randomized effectiveness trial of the use of incentives to improve treatment utilization among parolees in community treatment. In prison, Admission phase parolees were randomized to Admission Incentive (N=31) or Education (N=29). Attendance phase parolees entering community treatment were randomized to Attendance Incentive (N=104) or Education (N=98). There was no main effect for incentives in either study phase. Neither admission to community treatment (Incentive 60%, Education 64%; p =.74), nor intervention completion (Incentive 22%; Education 27%; p =.46) appeared to be impacted. Time-in-treatment was predicted by age, first arrest age, and type of parole status (Cox regression p<.05), but not by treatment group. Providing incentives did not increase the likelihood that parolees enrolled in or stayed in community treatment. In light of this finding, criminal justice practitioners who are considering incentives to increase admission or retention should be aware that they may not produce the desired outcomes.

The conceptualization of dynamic risk factors in child sex offenders: An agency model

The current preoccupation of criminal justice practitioners and policy makers with the prediction of reoffending has resulted in a conceptualization of risk as simply clusters of factors that correlate with recidivism. The reliance on these phenomena as explanations for the causes of sexual offending and as guides for treatment is a mistake, and in our view, the conceptualization of dynamic risk needs to be reexamined. This article begins with a discussion of the factors that increase and decrease risk of sexual offending; the focus is then widened to include agency, motivation, and values. These normative features are integrated with risk-related factors within the action-based Agency Model of Risk (AMR). This dynamic, interactional model highlights the importance of the relationship between the agent and context, with both proposed to contribute to the patterns of behavior resulting in an offense. The AMR is applied to a number of dynamic risk domains for sexual offenders, and its utility in explaining behavior and informing treatment discussed.

Data breach trends in the United States

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the trends of various types of data breaches and their compromised records in the USA using a new model recently developed by the authors. Design/methodology/approach – The 2,280 data breaches and over 512 million related compromised records tracked by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse from 2005 through 2010 were analyzed and classified into four external, five internal and one non-traceable data breach categories, after which trends were determined for each. Findings – The findings indicate that although the trends for the annual number of data breaches and each of the internal and external categories and their related compromised records have increased over the six-year period, the changes have not been consistent from year to year. Practical implications – By classifying data breaches into internal and external categories with the use of this new data breach model provides an excellent methodological framework for organizations to use to develop more workable strategies for safeguarding personal information of consumers, clients, employees and other entities. Originality/value – The topic of data breaches remains salient to profit and nonprofit organizations, researchers, legislators, as well as criminal justice practitioners and consumer advocate groups.

Perceptions of the Sex Trade in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina has taken a prohibitionist stance when it comes to the commercial sex trade. In the last decade, legislation has been passed outlawing the solicitation, procurement, and enticement of prostitution. Yet, the country continues to be criticized by the international community for failing to adequately address the sex trade within the country, which is cited as a contributing factor in the country’s delayed accession into the European Union. Furthermore, little is known regarding how criminal justice (CJ) practitioners (current and future) view the sex trade, including their support for current legislation prohibiting prostitution. This is an important line of inquiry as prior research indicates practitioner behavior may be influenced by attitudinal beliefs. As such, this study set out to evaluate practitioners’ support for various CJ responses to the sex trade (e.g., legalization of prostitution, the arrest, imprisonment, and/or deportation of various actors within the sex trade) as well as uncover what factors are related to this support, including professional experience and/or participant sex. Bivariate and logistic regression results primarily indicate differences between the groups with regard to their attitudes toward prostitution and misperceptions of human trafficking. Implications from these findings as well as limitations and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Criminal Justice Practitioner Attitudes Toward Risk Assessments on Response to Domestic Violence

Criminal Justice Practitioner Attitudes Toward Risk Assessments on Response to Domestic Violence

Theorizing the role of ‘the brand’ in criminal justice: The case of Integrated Offender Management

The rise of branded programmes and interventions is an important, but largely under-explored, development in criminal justice. This article draws on findings from a study of a British Integrated Offender Management (IOM) scheme to ground a broader theoretical discussion of the meaning and implications of the increasing centrality of such ‘brands’. This article focuses primarily upon the ways in which criminal justice practitioners might draw upon brands in order to (re-)construct their professional identities. Ongoing fundamental reforms of criminal justice organizations, which have tended to blur the traditionally clear distinctions between professional roles, have made this need to reinforce (and indeed reconstruct) practitioner identities ever more pressing. The article closes by considering the prospects and limitations of criminal justice brands. It is argued that while brands may play an important role in ‘ethically orienting’ relevant practitioners, there is a danger that the absence of appropriate structural underpinnings may prove to be highly counter-productive.

Probation worker cultures and relationships with offenders

The occupational cultures of criminal justice practitioners are an under-researched area. In this article we argue that amidst changes in training regimes and in ways of working with offenders, different probation worker cultures co-exist which share common central values, including the belief in people to change and the importance of the relationship between probation worker and probationer in facilitating that change. Using the construct of ‘ideal types’, we describe three cultural types of probation worker. Despite differences in social and employment backgrounds, training received and perspectives on the politics of probation work, we conclude that belief in the relationship is one of the ties that bind these types into an ‘honourable profession’.

The deep divide in China’s criminal justice system: contrasting perceptions of lawyers and the iron triangle

China has witnessed significant changes in its criminal justice system in the last three decades. As one of the major components of criminal procedure reform, the (re)emergence of criminal defense lawyers (and their expanding roles) is among the most noteworthy. Nevertheless, research on criminal defense work in China continues to post serious questions about the effectiveness of criminal defense in the current Chinese legal system. Based on recent survey data from a diverse group of criminal justice practitioners in J province, China, this study examines how actual criminal defense practices are evaluated by defense attorneys themselves and by the dominant ‘iron triangle’ (i.e., the coalition of the court, the prosecution, and the police officials). Our empirical findings consistently reveal that the work of Chinese defense lawyers is grossly undervalued by the ‘iron triangle’. Chinese criminal defense lawyers concur readily with the ‘iron triangle’ that the effectiveness of their legal representation is questionable and that their work bears little substantive impact on the final outcomes of the criminal trials. Implications for future reforms and research are discussed.

An Evaluation of the Level of Service/Case Management Inventory in an Australian Community Corrections Environment

Risk assessments are crucial in aiding criminal justice practitioners because they provide a standardized instrument that aims to identify risk factors that may influence whether an individual will reoffend. This helps to tailor an offender's case-management program to ensure offenders are accessing the appropriate services and interventions and to keep the community safe from future reoffending. The aim of the current study was to investigate the validity and predictive utility of the LS/CMI in a sample of Australian offenders. The results indicate that the LS/CMI has a weak discriminative ability for non-Indigenous males. However, it predicts recidivism in non-Indigenous female offenders at an accuracy level no greater than chance. This finding should be interpreted with caution due to the small female offender sample size. These findings for non-Indigenous offenders are consistent with previous Australian and international research. It also highlights the importance of validating risk assessments for specific populations.

Build to sustain: collaborative partnerships between university researchers and criminal justice practitioners

Sustainable, collaborative partnerships provide a dynamic and fluid environment for studying and implementing policy and practice in justice agencies. However, these relationships take work to develop, grow, maintain, and sustain. Bridging the gap between academics and criminal justice practitioners requires solid partnerships built on access, agreement, goal setting, feedback, and relationship maintenance. When these components merge, both groups benefit from a resilient partnership with the potential for dramatically improving outcomes. A researcher–practitioner partnership is a challenging and complex process requiring careful attention to detail and an endless supply of energy and determination. This paper highlights some of the many successful researcher–practitioner partnerships our research team at the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!) has with criminal justice agencies. We detail four specific partnerships with federal, state, and county criminal justice organizations spanning from probation and parole to problem-solving courts.

Chinese criminal trials: a comprehensive empirical inquiry

In the past decade, research on Chinese criminal justice has witnessed a notable shift from broad–brush doctrinal overviews to fine–grained empirical studies using social science methods. With different research agendas, both criminal procedure law professors in China and social scientists overseas (mostly criminologists and socio–legal researchers) have begun to collect and analyze empirical data on various aspects of the criminal justice system. Ni He’s new book Chinese Criminal Trials is a recent product of this new trend. While many existing books on the Chinese criminal justice system focus on one specific aspect of it, such as policing, court trial, or criminal defense, He’s study provides a comprehensive examination of the system with both historical length and empirical breadth. The book opens with a short but ambitious overview of the historical context of Chinese criminal justice from antiquity to modernity. The author traces the legacy of the Chinese legal system and its institutional arrangements in Imperial China, such as the yamen and bureaucratic norms. Then he proceeds to analyze the socio–legal context of the contemporary Chinese criminal justice system in terms of the “tripartite rules” (pp.39–46), namely, rule of man, rule by law, and rule of law. These two parts are mainly based on the secondary literature on Chinese law, with occasional references to general social theorists such as Montesquieu, Parsons, Merton, and Inglehart in explaining the structural and cultural transformations of the so–called “Chinese legality” (pp. 10–14). The core empirical findings are reported in Part III, arguably the most exciting and valuable part of the book. The research is based on a pilot study in a southeast province of China during 2009–2011, funded by the MacArthur Foundation. The data consist of three components: (1) a survey of 642 legal professionals in the province, including 348 practicing attorneys, 177 criminal justice practitioners (i.e., those working in the police, procuracy, or court), and others working in the state or private sectors; (2)325 criminal trial observations; and, (3) 149 complete criminal case files. This excellent combination of complementary data sources provide the author a great opportunity to Crime Law Soc Change (2014) 62:87–89 DOI 10.1007/s10611-014-9521-y

A meta-analysis of the correlates of turnover intent in criminal justice organizations: Does agency type matter?

PurposeThe study synthesizes the literature on turnover intentions to assess what domains (e.g., personal characteristics, work environment, and job attitudes) account for the strongest association with turnover intent, what are the characteristics of these relationships, and how do these relationships differ by criminal justice practitioner type. MethodsThe current study utilizes a systematic review to obtain studies for conducting a meta-analysis. The researchers utilized the r family/correlation coefficient. Studies were weighted by sample size, correlations converted to Fisher’s z, analyses performed, and results converted back to r for interpretation. ResultsIn terms of the individual predictors for law enforcement, the five strongest variables included alternative job search behavior, job satisfaction, psychological distress, emotional exhaustion, procedural and distributive justice. The five strongest predictors of turnover intent for institutional corrections were normative commitment, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, affective commitment, and job satisfaction. The five strongest predictors for community corrections included experience, alternative job search behavior, perceptions of coworkers, growth need strength, and job satisfaction. ConclusionsThe results of the meta-analysis confirmed the domain of personal characteristics, overall, has the weakest association with turnover intent whereas work environment and job attitude domains consistently display moderate-to-large effects for both law enforcement and corrections.

Criminal Justice Practitioners’ Perceptions of Collateral Consequences of Criminal Conviction on Offenders

Scholars and policy makers wish to eliminate many collateral consequences to promote successful offender reentry. Current proposals to reduce collateral consequences of conviction typically involve the participation of criminal justice practitioners. This study surveyed criminal justice practitioners in Ohio to assess their perceptions of the percentage of offenders affected by particular collateral consequences and the magnitude of the impact of these consequences. The findings suggest that, although there is variability in perceptions across different categories of restrictions, justice officials believe relatively few offenders are affected by collateral consequences, and the perceived impact is relatively small. Efforts to eliminate collateral consequences may not have their intended effect on offender reentry.

Legal Advice in Police Custody: From Europe to a Local Police Station

markdownabstract__Abstract__ In October 2013, the European Union adopted a Directive, which guarantees, inter alia, the right of access to a lawyer to suspects of criminal offences from the outset of police custody and during police interrogation. However, adoption of the relevant legislation is not sufficient to ensure that this right becomes effective in practice. A range of practical measures will have to be taken by the Member States’ authorities and the legal profession to effectuate the implementation of the right to custodial legal advice. This article aims to identify the practical factors that may influence the implementation of the Directive, based on the findings of a recent normative and empirical study conducted by the authors. The research was carried out in four European jurisdictions (England and Wales, France, the Netherlands and Scotland), and it consisted of analysis of regulations, observations of daily practice in police stations, accompanying lawyers who provided custodial legal advice, and interviews with criminal justice practitioners. The article provides a range of recommendations on the practical measures to be undertaken by the EU Member States and national Bar associations aiming at improving the protection of suspects’ rights in police custody in practice.