Felony Offenders Research Articles

Individualization, criminalization, or problem resolution: A factorial survey of juvenile court judges' decisions to incarcerate youthful felony offenders*

Existing research on the criteria used by juvenile court judges in choosing dispositions is limited in two respects. First, the predictor variables included in most investigations have been limited either in number or in the quality of their measurement. Second, research has not focused on sentencing decisions for serious offenders. Using a factorial survey of juvenile court judges, the present study seeks to determine what factors shape disposition decisions for juvenile felony offenders. The results suggest that judges focus primarily on offense characteristics, and are influenced only marginally by the offender's social characteristics. These findings are more consistent with the view that juvenile courts are becoming “criminalized” than with the view that individualized treatment is the goal. An alternative interpretation—that judges may be problem solvers, trying to dispose of cases efficiently—also is proposed.

Gender and Crime among Felony Offenders: Assessing the Generality of Social Control and Differential Association Theories

Although often tested empirically on high school samples, differential association and social control theories have only infrequently been used to explain offending by felons. Based on a sample of 1,153 newly incarcerated felons, the authors examine the ability of differential association and social control theories to explain self-reported offending across types of crime and gender groups. Overall, the analyses lend support to both perspectives and suggest that they are “general” theories of crime. It also appears, however, that differential association theory has more consistent effects, especially for men. Parental attachment is a significantly stronger predictor of female than male participation in violent crime. These results indicate that future studies of criminal behavior risk being misspecified if they do not include measures of these “traditional” theories of crime.

An Overlay of the North Carolina Structured Sentencing Guidelines on the 1996 Georgia Felony Offender Population

This study intersected Georgia and North Carolina criminal codes and 1996 Georgia felony offender cohort data, including the prior criminal history of each offender, to recreate sentences for the Georgia cohort using the North Carolina guidelines. The analysis revealed that if the North Carolina guidelines had been imposed on the 1996 population, over 3,700 Georgia felony offenders would have received a prison sentence instead of probation, and that over 2,200 offenders who were admitted into Georgia's prison system as a result of a felony conviction would have received probated sentences under the North Carolina guidelines. This “net” increase in prison sentences appears to demonstrate how structured sentencing can increase the severity of punishment. A comparison of average prison sentence lengths shows, however, that Georgia's sanctions are harsher on many property and drug crime offenders. The article suggests that sound criminal justice public policy in Georgia should be based on the results of objective research, and that more relevant issues should be contemplated by Georgia lawmakers before any systemwide changes in sentencing laws are proposed.

Music Exposure and Criminal Behavior: Perceptions of Juvenile Offenders.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine young offenders' perceptions of the relationship between exposure to music and their criminal behavior. Using a tool designed for the study, male felony offenders ages 12 to 17 were questioned about their music listening patterns and the perceived influence of listening on their offending fantasies and behavior. Rap music was the predominant choice across all participant profiles. While 72% of respondents believed that music influenced the way they feel at least some of the time, only 4% perceived a connection between music listening and their deviant behavior. Narrative comments provided by the youths were largely consistent with objective data. Most respondents believed in the reflection-rejection theory, in which music is perceived as a mirror of the adolescents' lives rather than a causative factor in their behavior. Two additional theoretical perspectives were espoused: drive reduction theory, which states that music serves as an expressive vehicle (thus reducing the likelihood of emotional and physical outburst); and excitation-transfer theory, wherein residual physiological arousal affects subsequent behavior. In the latter, music was perceived as harmful only when applied to preexisting states of negative arousal.

Three strikes and you're out: Demographic analysis of mandatory prison sentencing

Much of the debate about the costs and benefits of "three-strikes" laws for repeat felony offenders is implicitly demographic, relying on unexamined assumptions about prison population dynamics. However, even state-of-the-art analysis has omitted important demographic details. We construct a multistate life-table model of population flows to and from prisons, incorporating age-specific transition rates estimated from administrative data from Florida. We use the multistate life-table model to investigate patterns of prison population growth and aging under many variants of three-strikes laws. Our analysis allows us to quantify these demographic changes and suggests that the aging of prison populations under three-strikes policies will significantly undermine their long-run effectiveness.

A tale of two counties: Unemployment and sentence severity*

This study explores the relationship between the offender's employment status and sentence severity. We use data on felony offenders sentenced in 1993 in Chicago and in Kansas City to test a number of hypotheses concerning the effect of unemployment on the likelihood of incarceration and the length of the prison sentence. Our analyses reveal a complex relationship between unemployment and sentence severity: Unemployment had a direct effect on the decision to incarcerate or not only in Kansas City, and directly affected sentence length only in Chicago. In addition, unemployment interacted with other offender characteristics. The offender's employment status had no effect on either measure of sentence severity in either jurisdiction if the offender was white. In Chicago, unemployment increased the odds of incarceration for young males and for young Hispanic males, and increased the length of the sentence for males, young males, and black males. In Kansas City, unemployment had no effect on sentence length for any subgroups of the population but influenced the decision to incarcerate if the offender was a black male. We suggest that our results support the proposition that certain types of unemployed offenders are perceived as “social dynamite” (Spitzer 1975) in need of formal social control.

Reclaim Ohio: A Politically Viable Alternative to Treating Youthful Felony Offenders

In recent decades, juvenile justice policy has become more conservative. The implementation of various “get tough” strategies has contributed to an increasing juvenile correctional population. Despite this nationwide trend, however, this movement is not completely dominant. This article examines the pilot phase of a new program, RECLAIM Ohio (or Reasoned and Equitable Community and Local Alternatives to the Incarceration of Minors), which seeks to reduce juvenile commitments to institutions and to increase the use of community-based alternatives. The results indicate some initial success in meeting these goals. The program's ability to address both liberal and conservative ideology may be the key to its long-term success.

Predicting the estimated use of alternatives to incarceration

A greater use of sentencing alternatives to incarceration may help to reduce problems related to prison crowding and high costs of incarceration. However, a judge's ability to use these alternatives more frequently may be hindered by state sentencing policies designed to reduce judicial sentencing discretion. A study of a national random sample of 181 chief trial court judges revealed that state sentencing policies, court size, and the degree of plea bargaining in a judge's court docket are significant predictors of a judge's estimated use of alternatives to incarceration. Also, these variables are significant predictors of a judge's willingness to use alternatives for specific groups of felons constituting significant proportions of state prison populations. Consistent with the latter finding, a descriptive analysis further revealed that judges who perceive less use of alternatives for felony offenders reside predominantly in states with more crowded prisons.

The restorative resolutions project: An alternative to incarceration

A retributive system of justice is disrespectful of both offenders and victims and contributes to a cycle of crime. A restorative system builds on offender strengths, expects offenders to make improvements in their own lives and their communities, and involves offenders and victims in decision making. The Restorative Resolution program develops restorative plans with serious adult felony offenders and their victims; the plans are presented to the Court at the time of sentencing with a recommendation that the offender be sentenced to complete the restorative plan rather than to prison. During the first eighteen months the project received 115 referrals from which 67 were accepted. Plans were developed for 84% of accepted offenders. Restorative elements such as restitution and service to the community were less likely to be included in the plans than were counseling and selfhelp activities. Eighty‐one percent of the plans presented to courts were accepted by the judges.

The measurement of specialization and escalation in the criminal career: An alternative modeling strategy

Recent research using indices of specialization and escalation, such as the forward specialization coefficient and the escalation coefficient, have generally shown that repeat offenders tend to commit the same type or a more serious type of crime on successive arrests. Unfortunately, there are two important limitations to the use of specialization and escalation indices: (1) the meaning and interpretation of the coefficients is often unclear, and (2) the coefficients cannot be tested for statistical significance across groups. In an attempt to account for these limitations and to extend prior research in this area, this paper applies a class of log-linear models developed for studying social mobility tables with matched categories (for one or more groups) to crime-type switching tables. The benefits of using these models, in comparison with prior specialization and escalation research, are that the parameter estimates can be interpreted directly as tests of specialization and escalation in a meaningful way and the parameter estimates can be tested for equality across groups, such as age, race, and gender. The application and interpretation of these models are illustrated with arrest data from a sample of felony offenders in Michigan.

The Comparative Advantage of Juvenile Versus Criminal Court Sanctions on Recidivism among Adolescent Felony Offenders*

This study addresses the longstanding and contentious debate on the merits of transferring cases from juvenile to adult court with the expectation of more certain, severe, or effective punishment. It compares the severity, certainty and celerity of sanctions for N=800 15‐ and 16‐year‐old adolescents charged with robbery and burglary in juvenile court in New Jersey with identical offenders in matched communities in New York State whose cases are adjudicated in criminal court, and determines the effectiveness of these sanctions in reducing recidivism and reincarceration. Results showed that incarceration rates were higher for adolescents sentenced in the criminal court, but sentence lengths were comparable. However, recidivism rates were significantly lower for adolescents sentenced in the juvenile court, regardless of sentence type or severity. The results suggest that efforts to criminalize adolescent offending may not produce the desired results and may in fact be counterproductive. There is no support for legislative efforts to eliminate the special jurisprudence for adolescent crimes or the separate jurisdiction for juvenile offenders.

A view from the front line

Try as I might, I have not been able to cast these ruminations in anything remotely resembling scholarly objectivity; the package of legislation known as Megan's Law strikes too close to home. Since 1976, I have served as a member of the Special Classification Review Board (SCRB) for Sex Offenders in the New Jersey Department of Corrections, for all but three of those years as chairperson. The Board's function, as originally detailed in the 1947 legislation that established a treatment program for repetitive, habitual, or compulsive sex offenders, is to function as a clinically-oriented dangerousness review body that assesses the readiness of an offender to be released into the community after judicially-imposed confinement for treatment in the state's specialized prison facility, the euphemistically-named Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center (ADTC). Membership of the Board is comprised of three mental health professionals from the academic and professional community (who serve pro bono) and two representatives of state agencies (the Department of Corrections and the Bureau of Parole, respectively). Although recommendation for parole by the SCRB is a condition, it is not sufficient. SCRB's recommendation is in turn forwarded to the State Board of Parole, whose approval is both and sufficient. Alternately, the State Board of Parole cannot grant release in the absence of a positive recommendation from SCRB. That is quite an unusual process, one that results in a parole rate for inmates under SCRB jurisdiction that approximates 1.5% to 3% annually vs. 20% to 25% for the state's prison system in the aggregate. To be released on parole in New Jersey as elsewhere, it is necessary that a felony offender have served a portion of his or her sentence and have further avoided out while in confinement in ways that merit institutional sanctions. Little inquiry is made during the paroling process into whether there is discernible or demonstrable change in the offender's attitudes, beliefs, values, or patterns of behavior. In contrast, to be released on parole from ADTC, an inmate must convince first those responsible for treatment, then the treatment staff acting as an aggregate body (with one or more members enacting the role of devil's advocate), then the superintendent, and finally the SCRB of just such changes before the case is forwarded to the State Board of Parole for consideration. It is worth observing that the 1994 Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics (at p. 650) indicates forty-four months as the median sentence actually served in state prisons nationally for forcible sexual assault; my 19 years of experience on the SCRB inclines me to believe that the median sentence for that offense among ADTC inmates has been very nearly 100% greater. When called upon to defend the data which reflect our low rate of release on parole in contrast to a rate that is some 1300% higher for felony offenders in the state system (as we are called upon to do with some frequency in Federal court, in cases which allege deprivation of the right to due process inherent in clinical judgment, collective or otherwise), SCRB has replied that our criteria for recommending parole are and must remain essentially clinical--since they lead to a clinical judgment not merely that an offender has benefitted from treatment but that he (or occasionally, she) is unlikely to recidivate in the future, sexually or otherwise, if returned to the community. We are, in essence, called upon to affirm a null hypothesis, a task that would daunt the best of our hard-science colleagues. In most years, the responses from the corridors of political power in Trenton to SCRB has usually been to cavil at our retentionist practices. Not so in the summer of 1994. Megan Kanka's killer had been convicted twice of sexual offenses against children. He had been released not on parole from the second of his sentences, but rather because he had completed his sentence. …

Involuntary Electro-Convulsive Therapy to Restore Competency to Stand Trial: A Five Year Study in New York State

As a result of the recent United States Supreme Court case of Riggins v. Nevada, lower courts are likely to review if, and under what conditions, pretrial criminal defendants may be treated involuntarily with antipsychotic medication. It may also be time to re-consider the similar use of electro-convulsive therapy (ECT), if indeed it is still being used in this context. This is the first known recent study to determine the frequency of ECT among incompetent defendants. Records from the two forensic psychiatric facilities in New York State that receive over 95% of all indicted felony offenders who are incompetent to stand trial were retrospectively reviewed for a five year study period. All requests to the court for authorization for involuntary treatment with ECT were sought. In the study period, out of approximately 1365 total persons committed, there was one case of a request to the court to administer involuntary ECT to an incompetent defendant. This request was granted after a Rivers hearing. This single case, in which involuntary ECT was not effective, is described. This study serves to demonstrate that involuntary ECT is still requested and administered in New York State to incompetent defendants. In light of the concerns raised in Riggins about involuntary medication, it seems reasonable and necessary to re-consider whether and under what conditions ECT should be involuntarily administered to a pre-trial defendant. Several recommendations are suggested.

Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test: Evidence Supporting General as Well as Specific Factors

A SECONDOR factor analysis was performed on the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) items endorsed by 200 repeat driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) offenders and nonviolent felony offenders. The result of the factor analysis showed a higher-order general factor measuring general alcohol dependence as well as several more primary dimensions of alcohol abuse and/or alcoholism such as (a) psychoactive substance dependence, (b) denial, (c) antisocial drinker, (d) discord, and (e) vocational impairment. Thompson's SECONDOR factor solution provides empirical support for the literary controversy that the MAST measures both unidimensional and multidimensional signs and symptoms of alcoholism.

Drug treatment in adult probation: An evaluation of an outpatient and acupuncture program

Drug policy in the United States during the past decade has been driven primarily by a law enforcement approach (Falco, 1989). Law enforcement programs include interdiction, supply reduction, arrests, and prosecution. While the overall effectiveness of this policy is certainly debatable, the impact is much easier to observe. The most recent statistics on the problem in the United States paint a disquieting picture. In 1991, 7.1% of all arrests were for abuse violations. When arrests for driving under the influence, liquor laws, and drunkenness are included the figure rises to 30°7o (Maguire, Pastore, & Flanagan, 1992). Prisons, jails, and treatment facilities remain severely overcrowded, and the number of arrests and convictions continue to rise sharply (Shapiro, 1989). Although the bulk of our resources in the war on drugs have been devoted to law enforcement efforts, there are two additional strategies employed in this struggle: prevention and education, and treatment. Campaigns urging people to Just Say No and programs in schools are some of the prevention efforts currently in practice. Through the use of advertisements and the media the public is being informed of the dangers of using and abusing drugs. Prevention efforts are often difficult to gauge, however, there is some evidence that use among teenagers is declining. Lifetime prevalence rates for college seniors reporting use of any illicit has declined from 65% in 1979 to 44% in 1991 (Johnston, O'Malley, & Bachman, 1992). Finally, treatment is a strategy used to fight the problem by helping users overcome their dependency. Despite the rhetoric, in reality this strategy has been neglected and underfunded by policy makers and politicians, particularly at the Federal level. While treatment for professional athletes, entertainers, and those that can afford it (or with insurance) has been the domain of private providers, for the vast majori ty of users, treatment is left to the criminal justice system. As the largest correctional sanction imposed, probation deals with the vast majori ty of offenders, many of whom have some substance abuse problem. Given the nature of substance abuse, with its complex symptoms, interrelationships of underlying causes, and frequency of relapse, there is little wonder that probation agencies are often unequipped to deal with the drug-dependent offender. Indeed, the tools that are often employed by these agencies are much better at detecting a problem than solving it. ~ Since probation agencies are forced to deal with large numbers of substance abusers, many have developed their own treatment programs. This paper will examine one such program and discuss the issues surrounding treatment in a community corrections setting. There are three aspects to this paper. First, we will examine what is meant by drug t reatment in an outpatient setting and what is generally known about its effectiveness. Second, we will present the results f rom one court's attempt to deal with drug-dependent offenders. This aspect of the paper will focus on the effectiveness of an innovative outpatient drug-free treatment facility serving felony offenders placed on probation. Treatment in this program included educational and group therapy as well as acupuncture. Finally, we

Prediction of Antisocial Behavior in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Boys from Aggression/Defiance Scores

To predict teen-age arrests from measures of childhood defiance in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) boys. Defiance ratings that were independent of hyperactivity were obtained on two groups of ADHD boys. Official arrest data obtained on all subjects 9 years later were used as the outcome measure. ADHD boys with high defiance ratings had significantly higher felony offender rates than did boys with low ratings. However, the ADHD boys with low ratings had significantly higher felony offender rates than did normal control boys. Clinicians and parents should be alerted to the fact that minor antisocial features in ADHD boys, such as defiance, signal an increased risk for later serious antisocial behavior. However, they should not be misled by the absence of defiance in ADHD boys to think that these boys are not at risk for serious antisocial behavior (arrests for serious criminal behavior) later in life.

The Disposition of Criminal Charges After Involuntary Medication to Restore Competency to Stand Trial

The United States Supreme Court, in the recent case of Riggins v. Nevada, extended its examination of the issue of involuntary treatment with anti-psychotic medication to the mentally disabled facing criminal trial. Although this was an extreme case where the defendant faced a possible death sentence, the involuntary administration of anti-psychotic medication to restore 'competency to stand trial' always raises unique medical and moral questions. This highly controversial issue has received little empirical investigation. We report here on the first study to follow-up on the disposition of the criminal charges of persons committed to a hospital for the restoration of 'competency to stand trial' who refused anti-psychotic medication and for whom involuntary treatment was sought. We have previously reported on the characteristics of these cases (N = 68) and aspects of their outcome in the hospital. This cohort of patients represents virtually all indicted felony offenders in New York state who were incompetent to stand trial and for whom involuntary treatment with anti-psychotic medication was requested between 1986 and 1990. The present retrospective report focuses on the disposition of the criminal charges for such cases, in a state that does not have a death penalty. Tentative inferences are considered based on the findings that persons who were involuntarily restored to 'competency to stand trial' had a variety of dispositions of their criminal charges, including plea negotiations that resulted in foreshortened incarceration and several cases of insanity acquittals. Suggestions for further and more conclusive studies are proposed.

A Comparison of Recidivism of Florida's Community Control and Prison: A Five-Year Survival Analysis

Florida's Community Control Program is the nation's largest intermediate sanction (home confinement) program for felons. The question addressed in this research is the effectiveness of this sanction compared to imprisonment, as measured by recidivism. The rearrest, reconviction, imprisonment, and recidivism survival of the first cohort of convicted felons sentenced to Community Control were tracked for nearly five years and compared to the recidivism of a partially matched group of convicted felons released from prison. The findings from the research show that the recidivism rates and survival curves of the two groups are essentially the same. Approximately 4 out of 5 felony offenders sentenced to Community Control or prison recidivated during the five-year study.

Juvenile Intensive Supervision: The Impact on Felony Offenders Diverted from Institutional Placement

This article presents the results of a study that examined the 18-month recidivism of juvenile felony offenders who were placed into an intensive supervision program in lieu of commitment to an institution. The study used a quasi-experimental design to compare the outcomes of intensive supervision program (ISP) participants with those of youth who were incarcerated and then released to parole, and with a group of felony offenders who were handled on regular probation. Results show that, although not a panacea, intensive supervision clearly is an effective alternative to incarceration. However, ISP cost-effectiveness is difficult to achieve without large-scale diversion.

Predicting Probation Success for the First-Time Offender

The presentence investigation completed by an agent of the court provides considerable information concerning the felony offender. The present work analyzes the relationship between factors identified in the presentence investigation and success or failure of first-time offenders while under probation supervision. An attempt was made to isolate the factors with the strongest relationship to success or failure. After the factors were isolated, those showing the strongest relationship to supervision were organized into a rating scale to be used by probation officers when making sentencing recommendations related to first-time felony offenders.