Participation In Criminal Activity Research Articles

Effectiveness of Addiction Treatment Programs in Iran in Terms of Social, Psychological, Economic, and Therapeutic Outcomes: An Appraisal

Objectives: In recent years, various treatment programs have been implemented in Iran aimed at rehabilitation and improvement of drug-dependent patients but so far, few studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of different treatment programs in terms of different outcomes. This study was conducted to determine the differences among patients participating in three therapeutic programs, outpatient, mid-term residential program, and therapeutic community (TC) in terms of social, psychological, economic, and therapeutic outcomes. Methods: The present study was conducted using a descriptive design and ex post facto method. Data were collected from patients participating in three treatment plans (outpatient treatment=49; mid-term residential treatment=49; and TC plan=49). Patients participating in the TC program were all enumerated and patients participating in the outpatient and mid-term residency treatment plan were selected by random sampling. Data collection tools were a socio-demographic characteristics checklist, researcher-made questionnaire for relapse, a general health questionnaire (GHQ), a world health organization quality of life (WHOQOL) questionnaire, and a family relationship index (FRI). The data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi-square, and Scheffe’s post hoc test. Results: Significant differences were observed between the three treatments in terms of the rate of relapse (P<0.01), participation in criminal activities (P<0.01), changes in drug use in the treatment process or after treatment (P<0.01), employment status (P<0.01), mental health (P<0.01), quality of life (P<0.01), and family relationships index (FRI) (P<0.01). Discussion: The TC program showed more positive outcomes in terms of the rate of relapse and quality of life compared to the other two therapeutic programs. The outpatient treatment program was more effective in terms of participation in criminal activities, changes in drug use, employment, and quality of family relationships. The mid-term residency program showed a low or negative impact on all studied outcomes. Therefore, it is necessary to reevaluate the programs presented in the mid-term residential program.

Age-Graded Transitions and Turning Points in Polish Offenders' Criminal Careers from the Standpoint of Life Course Theory.

Both juvenile and adult criminal careers show regularities in the origins of delinquency, the dynamics of the criminal pathway, and the turning points that lead to desistance/persistence in crime. Research shows that family, education, and friendship environments contribute significantly to the individual choices that create criminal biographies. Our aim was to apply core aspects of life course theory (LCT): trajectory, the aged-graded process, transitions, institutions, and ultimately how desistance/persistence factor into explaining the criminal careers of Polish offenders. The research is based on in-depth interviews (130) carried out with both offenders (90) and experts (40). The offenders were divided into two groups: 30 were juveniles, and 60 were adults of whom half were sentenced for the first time (30) and half were recidivists (30) located in correctional institutions or released. The experts group (40) includes psychologists, educators, social rehabilitators, and prison and juvenile detention personnel working with offenders. We used triangulation of researcher, data, and methodology. Our data revealed that similar biographical experiences characterized by an early socialization, family and friends-based circles laid the groundwork for their entry and continued participation in criminal activity. Juvenile and adult first-time sentenced offenders led criminal careers significantly different from those of recidivists, who faced problems with social adaptation caused by lack of family and institutional support.

Uncanny Citizenship: State Power, Stigmatization, and Youth Resistance Culture in the French Banlieues, By Hervé Tchumkam

Reviewed by: Uncanny Citizenship: State Power, Stigmatization, and Youth Resistance Culture in the French Banlieues by Hervé Tchumkam Cameron Cook Uncanny Citizenship: State Power, Stigmatization, and Youth Resistance Culture in the French Banlieues BY HERVÉ TCHUMKAM Lexington Books, 2015. viii + 181 pp. ISBN 9781498504751 cloth In his book Uncanny Citizenship: State Power, Stigmatization, and Youth Resistance Culture in the French Banlieues, Hervé Tchumkam brilliantly examines what has come to be known as littérature de banlieue, or writing born from the 2005 French riots that began on the outskirts of Paris and then later spread throughout the nation. The book begins by informing the reader that such instances of social unrest attest to "the strained relations between two particular groups—French citizens born to African immigrant parents and the sovereign power—as well as the treatment of 'difference' in contemporary France" (1). Indeed, debates concerning "Frenchness" have preoccupied many in the French political sphere, thus making Tchumkam's work a timely addition. Via literary, political, and sociological analysis, Uncanny Citizenship shows that "the concern of banlieue inhabitants is no longer one of integration, or of being accepted into French territory, but of being recognized as a community that refuses classification and insists upon claiming their right to exist as French citizens" (20). Tchumkam's reading of this littérature de banlieue breaks with previous analyses that examined such writing in relation to Africa. Instead, he argues that the country is "faced with an unidentifiable enemy and thus must deal with that enemy using different means from those France employed when dealing with immigrants arriving from Africa" (2). This distinction comes to inform much of the book and is a welcome contribution. Equally important is his hypothesis that "the 2005 urban riots, as a major mode of resistance, have led to the rise of a new community, one that eludes classification by the political authorities and that through that very gesture affirms itself as the ultimate manifesto by France's visible minorities for their right to exist in France" (27). The book's second chapter, "Criminal Identities," considers the relationship between criminality and identity construction with the help of the concept of the "banlieue parade," a term that is "understood both as organized spectacle and act of resistance" (31–32). For Tchumkam, unlike the colonial parade that is concerned with "the submission of the subject to colonial order" (31), the "banlieue parade" sees the characters in the novels studied as reworking their identities through participation in criminal activities. Tchumkam views these [End Page 236] transgressions as a plea, noting that the characters' implications in violence function as masks they wear to "turn the machinery of the State of exception into derision" (38). Chapter three, "Recasting Juvenile Delinquency," tackles the figure of the thug. The thug, Tchumkam writes, "as an element of stigmatization crisscrosses public discourse in France, and the sovereign powers under Nicolas Sarkozy turned it into a powerful argument for governmentality, or a campaign to legitimize political action" (77). Tchumkam sees this political action as a way of disciplining the thugs, with the ultimate goal being "making them more sociable and indeed more acceptable in a society that defends liberty, equality, and fraternity" (77). He notes, however, these notions as they are repeated in France are quite vague and thus allow for a deepening of what he calls "a cleavage in society" (77). In the fourth chapter, "The Islamist Threat," Tchumkam notes "a growing increase in the feeling of Islamophobia, a sentiment that has grown not only due to the attacks of September 11, 2001, in the United States, but also because of the violent riots of Autumn 2005 that shook France" (95). It is against this backdrop that Karim Amellal's Cités à comparaître and Abd Al Malik's La guerre des banlieues n'aura pas lieu are analyzed. Tchumkam describes how Islam is often perceived as a threat to French society. In Abd Al Malik's case, Tchumkam concludes that his book is "an indictment calling for the recognition of diversity of French Muslims as citizens, and no longer as indigenes intent on destroying 'civilization,' for France and Islam can indeed live together in peace and harmony...

‘Our biographies are the same’: Juvenile Work in Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations from the Perspective of a Collective Trajectory

AbstractRecent violence among drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) in Mexico has resulted in an ongoing demand for new recruits. Juveniles engage in a wide range of activities from lookouts in drug trafficking operations to high-risk activities, such as kidnapping and homicide. Based on ongoing ethnographic work in Mexico and referrals from correctional officials, we conducted in-depth biographical interviews with convicted and active cartel members (N = 79). Our data revealed that similar biographical experiences in communities characterized by a high degree of collectivism laid the groundwork for their entry and continued participation in criminal activity. Through inductive methods, we introduce a theoretical concept that we term a collective trajectory to help explain our subjects’ pathway and criminal careers in DTOs.

Patty Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA): An Examination through Differential Association Theory

This paper applies Differential Association Theory to Patty Hearst’s involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a domestic terrorist group active in the 1970s. Developed by Edwin Sutherland, Differential Association Theory rests on the premise that behaviors – including criminal behaviors – are learned through prolonged group interaction and the sharing of ideas. This theory is frequently used in group psychology. An important conclusion of this analysis is that, as Differential Association Theory postulates, Hearst’s exposure to the SLA’s ideology and experience of physical and mental abuse resulted in her active participation in criminal activities with that terrorist group and rebellion against the wealthy elite that had raised her for the first 19 years of her life. In a similar vein, the impact of the media on shaping society’s perception of the SLA and Patty Hearst is also of utmost importance. Today, society remains unsure of whether Hearst was a violent terrorist and a dangerous woman, or an innocent victim and woman in danger.

An Analysis on the Effects of Unemployment on Rural Youth in the Sahel: A Case Study of Rural Areas of Madaoua in the Region of Tahoua, Niger

In recent years, young people in nearly every country in the Sahel, experience bad labor market outcomes. In Niger, 5, 9 million people are active, of which 6% are unemployed and 26% are underemployed (INS, 2017). Agriculture alone accounts for 75.6% of the active population. 6.3 % of this population has independent business and 4.3% is in livestock, fishing or hunting. Artisans and industrial workers as well as state officials make up a significant proportion. The age group of 15 to 29 years is the most affected by unemployment with a rate of 23.7% (INS, 2017). Furthermore, about 1.5 million young people aged between 13 and 19 are out of the education system (INS, 2017). Unemployment among rural young people in the Sahel particularly in Niger has been a serious cause for concern as the lack of employment opportunities and career choices make easy their participation in criminal activities and their enrollment in terrorist. Additional personal and social costs associated with unemployment include poverty, debt, homelessness and housing stress, family tensions and breakdown, boredom, alienation, shame and stigma, increased social isolation, crime, erosion of confidence and self-esteem. The general objectives of this study are to measure the extent of some of the personal and social costs associated with unemployment in the rural area of Madaoua in the region of Tahoua, Republic of Niger and to test the willingness of the companies and Non Government Organization (NGO) to recruit in rural area when the qualifications exist. The article used multi-stage sampling technique. At the 1st stage, one rural district was selected randomly from the rural town of the department of Madaoua. At the 2nd stage, two villages were selected from the selected rural district using simple random sampling technique. At the final stage, 120 respondents consisting of 60 from each village were surveyed. Another survey was conducted toward potential employers. The study revealed the existent of socio-economic and psychological impacts on unemployed rural young people. The study also showed that the personal and social costs associated with unemployment are reduced by better economic status of the unemployed person’s family. Finally, the study pointed out that the low level of work-related competences held by young people in rural area played a significant role on youth unemployment in rural area.

Religion and Crime Studies: Assessing What Has Been Learned

This paper provides a review of the literature that assesses the relationship between religion and crime. Research on the relationship between religion and crime indicates that certain aspects of religion reduces participation in criminal activity. A review of the literature indicates religion reduces participation in criminal activity in two broad ways. First, religion seems to operate at a micro level. Studies have pointed to how religious beliefs are associated with self-control. Second, researches have examined the social control aspects of religion. In particular, how factors such as level of participation and social support from such participation reduces criminal activity. Likewise, findings suggest that although there has been a sizable number of studies and diverse interests of researchers examining the religion/crime nexus, the research has not identified which aspects of religion have the strongest influence on crime reduction. In addition, the specific ways in which these factors are associated with crime reduction have not been comprehensively identified. Similarly, more than 40 years of empirical scholarship suggests that religion suppresses criminal behavior. Nevertheless, these findings remain controversial as the literature neither accentuates the mechanisms of religion responsible for suppressing criminal behavior, nor does the literature reject the spuriousness of the religion-crime association relative to mediating effects of self-control and social control. Finally, our review suggests that methodological constraints infringe on the capacity for sociological and criminological to accurately ascertain the validity of the religion-crime nexus, often generating mixed or inconclusive findings on the religion-crime association. Our paper concludes with recommendations for future empirical scholarship that examines the religion-crime nexus.

Factors that support successful transition to the community among women leaving prison in British Columbia: a prospective cohort study using participatory action research.

In Canada, the number of women sentenced to prison has almost doubled since 1995. In British Columbia, the rate of reincarceration is 70% within 2 years. Our aim was to identify factors associated with recidivism among women in British Columbia. We prospectively followed women after discharge from provincial corrections centres in British Columbia. We defined recidivism as participation in criminal activity disclosed by participants during the year following release. To identify predictive factors, we carried out a repeated-measures analysis using a logistic mixed-effect model. Four hundred women completed a baseline interview, of whom 207 completed additional interviews during the subsequent year, contributing 395 interviews in total. Factors significantly associated in univariate analysis with recidivism included not having a family doctor or dentist, depression, not having children, less than high school education, index charge of drug offense or theft under $5000, poor general health, hepatitis C treatment, poor nutritional or spiritual health, and use of cannabis or cocaine. In multivariate analysis, good nutritional health (odds ratio [OR] 0.52 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.35-0.76]), good spiritual health (OR 0.61 [95% CI 0.44-0.83]), high school education (OR 0.44 [95% CI 0.22-0.87]) and incarceration for a drug offence versus other crimes (OR 0.30 [95% CI 0.12-0.79]) were protective against recidivism. Our findings emphasize the relevance of health-related strategies as drivers of recidivism among women released from prison. Health assessment on admission followed by treatment for trauma and associated psychiatric disorders and for chronic medical and dental problems deserve consideration as priority approaches to reduce rates of reincarceration.

On the Antebellum Fringe: Lumbee Indians, Slavery, and Removal

On the Antebellum FringeLumbee Indians, Slavery, and Removal Malinda Maynor Lowery (bio) In 1801 authorities in Robeson County, North Carolina arrested a Lumbee man named Aaron Cumbo for stealing sixpence worth of property from a white man named William Townsend. A few nights after a jury found Cumbo guilty someone shot and killed Townsend's horse, an animal that was undoubtedly worth more than sixpence. Townsend blamed Aaron's brother Elisha Cumbo, declaring they were both "infamous character[s]" and "notorious villains." He admitted that he possessed "no positive proof" that Elisha had killed the horse, but he nevertheless judged Aaron's brother guilty because they had "for a long time carried on an illicit trade." Their illegal network had two headquarters, Townsend avowed. One was in Robeson County; the other was in "a remote part of South Carolina, [which] enables them to do a great deal of mischief with little prospect of detection." The fact that the Cumbos allegedly participated in illegal activity, Townsend proclaimed, was evidence enough to prove that Elisha had gunned down the horse.1 Townsend and seven men retaliated by violently apprehending Elisha, who in turn responded by suing his attackers. The white men, who later described themselves as "industrious, honest, and submissive to the law," defended their actions as permissible albeit outside of the normal "process of law." At the same time, they dismissed Cumbo's right to bring suit as a "defiance of the law." The court disagreed and fined the men fifteen pounds for rioting. When they appealed, a committee of state legislators upheld the court's decision. In essence, a group of landowning whites were informed that they, not a Lumbee Indian man, had acted outside the law in Robeson County. What had started as a sixpence [End Page 40] theft ultimately cost Townsend more than one hundred pounds in fines.2 The 1801 conflict between William Townsend and Elisha Cumbo reveals a long forgotten South—one where citizenship and civic responsibilities did not necessarily adhere to a binary racial divide.3 Arbitrary racial structures may have divided free white citizens from enslaved and non-white residents in later decades, but it was not always the norm. The North Carolina court and legislature of 1801 treated whites and people of color/Indians equally. They did not unilaterally support the extra-legal behavior of white men who punished people of color for perceived transgressions. Whites in Robeson County may have perceived that Indian families were prospering unjustly, but local courts nevertheless were willing to uphold the latter's rights to personal safety and property. The outcome of the Cumbo case stemmed from the fact that in 1801 "citizenship" was deemed a Tenth Amendment issue: one left to the states because nothing in the US Constitution specifically conferred upon the central government the power to define citizenship.4 Each state had a different constellation of laws indicating who could participate in the political process. In North Carolina, the 1778 Constitution allowed Indians and other free men of color to vote as long as they maintained additional markers of legitimacy: they had fought against the British Empire, paid taxes, and owned sufficient property. They made Elisha Cumbo as much a citizen of the state as William Townsend. Throughout North Carolina, free people of color consistently exercised their right to vote. One Robeson County resident even remembered that Indians possessed more political rights than white Loyalists after the Revolution.5 By the eve of the Civil War, however, North Carolina had stripped the Lumbee of their citizenship. Whereas in 1801 the Cumbos could both play a role in political affairs and participate in illegal activities, fifty years later the white community rested easier knowing that the state had turned Lumbees into degenerate lawbreakers outside the body politic. In essence, the assumptions about Indians that had shaped William Townsend's assault on Cumbo became the dominant narrative in North Carolina. Their presumed widespread participation in criminal activity—particularly making and selling liquor, trading with slaves, carrying weapons, and larceny—became a kind of venal litany that justified disfranchisement and marginalization from southern society.6 And yet physically the Lumbee remained, deeply rooted within their [End...

Corporate Criminal Liability: Call for a New Legal Regime in Nigeria

Corporate Criminal Liability: Call for a New Legal Regime in Nigeria Samson Erhaze, Daud Momodu Abstract The increasingly relevant role that corporations assume in all aspects of modern life is correspondingly attended by their increased participation in criminal activities that result in loss of lives and properties. However, there is a conundrum created by the artificiality of corporations as they do not easily lend themselves to existing criminal laws designed with human actors in mind. The current Nigerian law on corporate criminal liability is disquietingly deficient. The extant law only provides room for civil recompense in the event of tragedies such as the recent petrol tankers explosions in different parts of Nigeria which claimed hundreds of lives. This paper emphasizes the need to make a radical departure from the present position of the law which is fashioned along the old English legal system to the effect that corporations could only be criminally held liable for very limited offences. The paper, while considering the extant position in the UK by virtue of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, 2007, calls for a review of our laws, and more particularly, calls for the expedited passage of the Corporate Manslaughter Bill, 2010 into law if the menace of corporate killings is to be properly confronted in Nigeria. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jlcj.v3n2a6

Reflections on the Colombian case law on the protection of medical personnel against punishment

AbstractOne of the fundamental rules for the protection of health-care personnel in any circumstance, including contexts of armed conflicts, provides for a prohibition on punishing medical professionals who merely act in accordance with medical ethics. However, although the reasons for this prohibition may seem obvious, in contexts of non-international armed conflicts the provision of medical care to wounded and sick members of non-state armed groups can expose medical personnel to accusations of participation in criminal activities. Based on the Colombian domestic legislation and jurisprudence on the matter, this article aims to propose elements of analysis on the apparent contradiction that exists between, on the one hand, the prohibition against punishing medical personnel for merely providing health care to the wounded and sick who need it, and on the other, the prerogative of the state authorities to restore order and security within their territory through the imposition of criminal sanctions on members of non-state armed groups or their aiders and abettors.

Social influence, health variables and criminal behaviours associated with substance use among rural Norwegian adolescents

Aims: To investigate social influence, health, criminality and substance use in a sample of 1288 Norwegian rural adolescents. Relations between these factors and substance use were examined.Methods: Data were obtained from the ‘UngData’ study. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among adolescents (n = 740) in nine secondary schools and among 548 adolescents in three high schools across two counties. The response rate was 63%.Findings: Deviant behaviours had higher social status among males and adolescents in high school. The social status of deviant behaviours and participation in criminal activities were associated with alcohol and illicit substance use. Parent–adolescent trust was positively associated with alcohol use and parent involvement with friends was similarly related to illicit substance use. The social status of physical appearance and talent in sports were negatively associated with alcohol use.Conclusions: Early intervention could promote the social status of healthy activities and reduce the status of deviant behaviours. The transition between secondary school and high school may constitute a risk period for establishing problem behaviours and interventions should target this period. Research should test whether substance availability relates to differences in substance use in rural and urban settlements.

Criminal career progression among serious youthful offenders in Australia

An important question from research on criminal careers is whether the processes that generate participation in criminal activity are similar to those that drive offending frequency among those who have initiated. This article considers basic demographic correlates asking whether those factors are associated with both initial and sustained early adulthood criminality in Australia. Three findings emerged from the study: (1) the offenders exhibited high levels of criminal activity during early adulthood; (2) males were more likely than females to offend and offend at higher rates as adults; and (3) Indigenous youth were more likely than non-Indigenous youth to offend and offend at higher rates as adults. Overall, the study results showed that basic correlates of crime were linked to both participation and frequency of offending in early adulthood—even within a sample of serious offenders. The article addresses the theoretical implications of the findings and directions for future research.

The Crime Reducing Effect of Education

In this paper, we present evidence on empirical connections between crime and education, using various data sources from Britain. A robust finding is that criminal activity is negatively associated with higher levels of education. However, it is essential to ensure that the direction of causation flows from education to crime. Therefore, we identify the effect of education on participation in criminal activity using changes in compulsory school leaving age laws over time to account for the endogeneity of education. In this causal approach, for property crimes, the negative crime-education relationship remains strong and significant. The implications of these findings are unambiguous and clear. They show that improving education can yield significant social benefits and can be a key policy tool in the drive to reduce crime.

The researcher as hooligan: where ‘participant’ observation means breaking the law

This article focuses on the problems faced by researchers carrying out participant observation in fields where the committal of criminal offences is the norm. Can participation in criminal activity by a researcher be justified on the grounds that it is necessary to prevent the distortion of the field? Alternatively, can the difficulties in gaining and maintaining access in such spheres excuse such conduct? The article considers the current guidance given to researchers in the social sciences and the peculiar pressures placed on them when carrying out fieldwork in ‘criminal’ areas. Examples from the author’s own experiences carrying out covert participant observation within crowds of ‘risk’ football supporters are used to illustrate that in such fields the committal of offences can be unavoidable and that further guidance – but not regulation – is required to protect academics carrying out this type of research.

Behavioral measures of impulsivity and the law

The General Theory of Crime proposes that crime is explained by the combination of situational opportunity and lack of self-control. Impulsivity is one of the important components of self-control. Because behavioral measures of impulsivity are becoming more commonly utilized to assess forensic populations, this manuscript provides an overview of three current behavioral measures. In doing so, an example of their application is provided using a group of individuals likely to come into contact with the legal system: adolescents with Conduct Disorder. Earlier age of onset of Conduct Disorder symptoms has been shown to be an important predictor of the persistence of poor outcomes into adulthood, including participation in criminal activities. This study found differential behavioral profiles across distinct measures of impulsivity by those with childhood- versus adolescent-onset Conduct Disorder. Legal implications for defining behavioral deficits using behavioral measures of impulsivity and their current limitations are discussed.

Street Youth, Unemployment, and Crime: Is It That Simple? Using General Strain Theory to Untangle the Relationship

Researchers have called for greater attention to be paid to the variables linking unemployment to crime. In particular, it has been suggested that people's interpretation of their labour market situation plays a large role in shaping their responses to it. Utilizing general strain theory, this research examines the role that unemployment plays in the criminal behaviour of 400 homeless street youths. Of particular interest is the way that these youths interpret their labour market experiences and how together these interpretations and experiences influence criminal behaviour. Findings reveal that the effect of unemployment on crime is mediated and moderated primarily by other variables. In particular, unemployment is conditioned by external casual attributions that lead to anger over unemployment, which in turn leads to crime. The direct effect of unemployment on crime is moderated by monetary dissatisfaction and minimal employment searches. Anger over unemployment is also the result of negative subjective interpretations of economic situations and a continued attachment to the labour market. In addition, these negative subjective perceptions, the lack of state support, a decrease in social control, and prolonged homelessness lead to greater participation in criminal activities directly. Criminal involvement is also encouraged by peers, deviant values, and a lack of fear of punishment. Findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.

Substance Use, Education, Employment, and Criminal Activity Outcomes of Adolescents in Outpatient Chemical Dependency Programs

Although the primary outcome of interest in clinical evaluations of addiction treatment programs is usually abstinence, participation in these programs can have a wide range of consequences. This study evaluated the effects of treatment initiation on substance use, school attendance, employment, and involvement in criminal activity at 12 months post-admission for 419 adolescents (aged 12 to 18) enrolled in chemical dependency recovery programs in a large managed care health plan. Instrumental variables estimation methods were used to account for unobserved selection into treatment by jointly modeling the likelihood of participation in treatment and the odds of attaining a certain outcome or level of an outcome. Treatment initiation significantly increased the likelihood of attending school, promoted abstinence, and decreased the probability of adolescent employment, but it did not significantly affect participation in criminal activity at the 12-month follow-up. These findings highlight the need to address selection in a non-experimental study and demonstrate the importance of considering multiple outcomes when assessing the effectiveness of adolescent treatment.

Crime and Punishment: And Skin Hue Too?

This paper considers whether the disadvantages that accrue to black Americans with a dark skin hue also induce a transition into criminal activity—an outcome consistent with standard economic models of crime. We also examine whether or not prison terms are conditioned on skin hue. With data on black offenders in the state of Mississippi, we estimate Cox proportional hazard specifications of the transition into criminal activity, and find that it is conditioned on the darkness of skin hue. Our parameter estimates are consistent with a theoretical framework in which being black and having a dark skin hue induces a transition into criminal activity by limiting the set of legitimate opportunities for an individual. Given a conviction, we also find that the severity of punishment for black offenders as measured by the length of sentence is an increasing function of the darkness of skin hue. JEL Classification: J0, J7, K4, Z0 ∗Professor and Chair, Department of Economics, College of Business Administration, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, BSN 3403, Tampa, Florida 33620–5500, email: kgyimah@coba.usf.edu, Tel # (813) 974-6520, ∗∗Corresponding Author: Director, Mississippi Urban Research Center, Jackson State University, P.O. Box 17309, Jackson Mississippi, 39217, email: gprice@murc.org, Tel #: (601), 979-1428. This paper was prepared for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Allied Social Science Association, joint AEA/NEA paper session on “Skin Tone Discrimination and Economic Outcomes”, January 7, 2006 in Boston, Massachusetts. Conditional on being black there is evidence that skin hue matters for a wide array of socioeconomic outcomes. For example, relative to blacks with a light skin hue, there is evidence that blacks with a dark skin hue fare worse in terms of wages (Goldsmith, Hamilton and Darity, 2005), occupational prestige (Hill, 2000), unemployment ( Hunter, Allen and Telles, 2001), access to health resources (Bodenhorn, 2002), and intergenerational wealth accumulation (Bodenhorn, 2003). Such findings suggest that the distribution of advantage and disadvantage in American life is conditioned not just on being black, but given that one is black, skin hue as well. That skin hue conditions economic outcomes for blacks suggests that profit maximizing firms and utility maximizing individuals optimize across a preference for blacks with light skin hues (Goldsmith, Hamilton and Darity, 2005). If so, the distribution of disadvantage among blacks will fall along a continuum of gradations in skin hue, with disadvantage increasing with respect to the darkness of skin hue. One possible manifestation of disadvantage is crime. In the canonical economic model of crime of Becker (1968) and as extended by Ehrlich (1973), disadvantaged individuals can be viewed as those with constrained opportunities for engaging in legitimate activities, relative to illegitimate activities. To the extent that conditional on being black, opportunities for engaging in legitimate activities are inversely proportional to the darkness of skin hue, the probability of participating in illegitimate activities—crime—may also be conditioned on skin hue. Despite the apparent importance of skin hue in the distribution of advantage and disadvantage, the economics of crime literature tends to view blacks as one homogeneous group. To the extent that skin hue matters, aggregating across black Americans in this manner could lead to biased estimates of the effects of being black on participation in criminal activity, and to inferences that being black is associated with higher stocks of “criminal capital” relative to non-blacks. However, given that race and skin hue determine the distribution of disadvantage among black Americans, the effects of being black on criminal activity may instead reflect the disadvantages that accrue to being black conditional on skin hue. In this paper we consider the effects of skin hue both on the likelihood of participation in criminal activities, and on sentencing for black Americans conditional on being convicted for crime. To the extent that individuals, firms and social institutions optimize across preferences for blacks with a light skin hue, it is plausible that blacks with a dark skin hue face, relative to those with a light skin hue, constraints on opportunities for legitimate activities that motivate illegitimate activities and once arrested, are punished more severely than black offenders with a light skin hue. See for example Ehrlich (1973) and Gyimah-Brempong (1997). The only evidence that we are aware of that links skin hue among blacks with criminal justice issues is that provided by Johnson, Farrell and Stoloff (2000). They found that among black men with prior criminal records in Los Angeles, the jobless rate for those with a dark skin hue was 54 percent—in contrast to 41.7 for those with a light skin hue.

The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and Self-Reports

We estimate the effect of education on participation in criminal activity using changes in state compulsory schooling laws over time to account for the endogeneity of schooling decisions. Using Census and FBI data, we find that schooling significantly reduces the probability of incarceration and arrest. NLSY data indicate that our results are caused by changes in criminal behavior and not differences in the probability of arrest or incarceration conditional on crime. We estimate that the social savings from crime reduction associated with high school graduation (for men) is about 14–26 percent of the private return.