There is minimal research that has investigated the characteristics distinguishing youth who commit murder to other juvenile offenders. Of the research that has been done, scholars have identified a wide variety of factors that... more
There is minimal research that has investigated the characteristics distinguishing youth who commit murder to other juvenile offenders. Of the research that has been done, scholars have identified a wide variety of factors that distinguish these offenders, including poor family environments, emotional and social problems, poor mental health, and behavioral disorders. Using data from Pathways to Desistance, a study of 1,354 serious youthful offenders, we examined how 8 demographic characteristics and 35 risk factors distinguish between those youth who were charged with some type of homicide and those youth who were not charged with any type of homicide. We find that only 18 (1.33%) youth were charged with a homicide offense. Among the predictors, age, intelligence quotient (IQ), exposure to violence, perceptions of community disorder, and prevalence of gun carrying are significantly different across the two groups. Results from a rare-events logistic regression that simultaneously ex...
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Adverse childhood experiences are associated with an array of health, psychiatric, and behavioral problems including antisocial behavior. Criminologists have recently utilized adverse childhood experiences as an organizing research... more
Adverse childhood experiences are associated with an array of health, psychiatric, and behavioral problems including antisocial behavior. Criminologists have recently utilized adverse childhood experiences as an organizing research framework and shown that adverse childhood experiences are associated with delinquency, violence, and more chronic/severe criminal careers. However, much less is known about adverse childhood experiences vis-à-vis specific forms of crime and whether the effects vary across race and ethnicity. Using a sample of 2520 male confined juvenile delinquents, the current study used epidemiological tables of odds (both unadjusted and adjusted for onset, total adjudications, and total out of home placements) to evaluate the significance of the number of adverse childhood experiences on commitment for homicide, sexual assault, and serious persons/property offending. The effects of adverse childhood experiences vary considerably across racial and ethnic groups and acr...
Research Interests: Violence, Juvenile Delinquency, Adolescent, Multidisciplinary, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and 15 moreHumans, Child, Crime, Environmental public health, Child Abuse, United States, Male, Risk factors, African Americans, Prisoners, Health surveys, European Continental Ancestry Group, Risk Factors, Cross Sectional Studies, and Criminals
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The association between psychopathy and crime is established, but the specific components of the personality disorders that most contribute to crime are largely unknown. Drawing on data from 723 confined delinquents in Missouri, the... more
The association between psychopathy and crime is established, but the specific components of the personality disorders that most contribute to crime are largely unknown. Drawing on data from 723 confined delinquents in Missouri, the present study delved into the eight subscales of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Short Form to empirically assess the specific aspects of the disorder that are most responsible for explaining variation in career delinquency. Blame externalization emerged as the strongest predictor of career delinquency in ordinary least squares regression, logistic regression, and t-test models. Fearlessness and carefree nonplanfulness were also significant in all models. Other features of psychopathy, such as stress immunity, social potency, and coldheartedness were weakly and inconsistently predictive of career delinquency. Implications of these findings for the study of psychopathy and delinquent careers are discussed in this article.
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Multiple criminological perspectives have focused on drifters—individuals who travel about without concrete plans for housing or gainful employment. Drawing on data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions... more
Multiple criminological perspectives have focused on drifters—individuals who travel about without concrete plans for housing or gainful employment. Drawing on data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), the current study provides a large-scale epidemiological investigation of drifters. Logistic regression and latent class analyses revealed evidence of 1) normative, 2) psychologically distressed, and 3) comorbid antisocial drifters. Normative drifters differ from the general population by their alcohol and drug abuse and somewhat elevated antisocial behavior. Psychologically distressed drifters were predominately female, involved in domestic violence, were at highest odds of being diagnosed with a mental health disorder, and were characterized by poor health and disability. Finally, comorbid antisocial drifters were substantially more likely to be engaged in all forms of violent and non-violent antisocial behavior, substance abuse, and were the most dangerous. Implications for theory and research are discussed.
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Previous scholarship on juvenile case dispositions has suggested a complex relationship between legal and extra-legal factors. Previous studies, however, have suffered from methodological limitations of cross-sectional data that... more
Previous scholarship on juvenile case dispositions has suggested a complex relationship between legal and extra-legal factors. Previous studies, however, have suffered from methodological limitations of cross-sectional data that potentially overstated the salience of extra-legal factors. This study addressed that limitation using longitudinal case-management system data from a large southern state. The findings suggested a distinction between the first referral and subsequent referrals. Extra-legal factors, such as age, gender, and race contributed to formal case disposition in the first referral, but waned in referrals two through six. Legal factors significantly and robustly predicted formal case disposition in the first and subsequent referrals. Felony offense significantly increased the likelihood of a formal disposition across all referrals and previous case disposition significantly increased the likelihood of formal disposition in subsequent referrals. Concluding remarks focu...
Research Interests: Criminology and Medicine
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Because investigations of multiple homicide offenders (MHOs) are usually case studies, there is limited understanding of the linkages between them and other criminal offenders. Using data from an exploratory sample of 160 MHOs and a... more
Because investigations of multiple homicide offenders (MHOs) are usually case studies, there is limited understanding of the linkages between them and other criminal offenders. Using data from an exploratory sample of 160 MHOs and a control group of 494 single homicide offenders, this study examines MHOs from a criminal career perspective and finds that nearly 30% of them were habitual offenders before their final homicide event. Those with prior rape convictions, misdemeanor convictions, more extensive prison histories, and current involvement in rape and burglary are more likely to kill multiple victims. Curiously, nearly 40% of MHOs had zero prior arrests. Overall, arrest onset occurs later in the life course and is not predictive of offending. In conclusion, the study of MHOs could enrich the criminal career perspective, while posing some empirical and theoretical challenges to that paradigm.
Research Interests: Criminology, Psychology, Law, Violence, Homicide, and 4 moreLife course, Case Study, Recidivism, and Control Group
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Research Interests: Genetics, Criminology, Psychology, Personality, Juvenile Delinquency, and 15 moreAdolescent Health, Adolescent, Humans, Female, Male, Crime Victims, Risk factors, Interpersonal, Peer group, Longitudinal Study, Interpersonal Violence, Genetic Polymorphism, Risk Factors, Environmental Exposure, and Genetic factors
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Research Interests: Criminology, Psychology, Law, Criminal careers, Self Control, and 14 moreCriminal Psychology, Delinquency, Adolescent, Mental Illness, Humans, Standard Deviation, Female, Predictive Validity, Male, Socioeconomic Status, Psychological Theory, Area Under the Curve, Internal- External Locus of Control, and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Research Interests: Criminology, Psychology, Law, Juvenile Delinquency, Self Control, and 15 moreAdolescent Health, Adolescent, Medicine, Self Efficacy, Humans, Female, Male, Genotype, Longitudinal Study, Monoamine oxidase, Predictive value of tests, Life Change Events, Cognition disorders, Severity of Illness Index, and Neuropsychological Tests
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PURPOSE: The criminal career paradigm is a major research focus in criminology, and the current state-of-the-art review explicates research published between 2000 and 2011. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Keyword searches of Science Direct,... more
PURPOSE: The criminal career paradigm is a major research focus in criminology, and the current state-of-the-art review explicates research published between 2000 and 2011. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Keyword searches of Science Direct, Scopus, and the National Criminal Justice Research Service produced 364 studies on criminal careers. RESULTS: A narrative meta-review summarizes essential findings on the parameters of the criminal career, investigates emerging theoretical and disciplinary extensions that utilize ...
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When the idea for this special number of International Organization first took shape, the theme was a rather general one, "asymmetric international relations." I had hoped to encourage contributions from the areas of small state... more
When the idea for this special number of International Organization first took shape, the theme was a rather general one, "asymmetric international relations." I had hoped to encourage contributions from the areas of small state and client state behavior, dominance and dependence, ...
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Claus entered his ex-wife's parents' home in Covina, California and proceeded to shoot indiscriminately at the 25 or so partygoers inside. He then planned to light the house on fire using a homemade blowtorch, but an unexpected... more
Claus entered his ex-wife's parents' home in Covina, California and proceeded to shoot indiscriminately at the 25 or so partygoers inside. He then planned to light the house on fire using a homemade blowtorch, but an unexpected explosion foiled his detailed plans and ultimately quashed his plot to escape. The house, now engulfed in flames, burned to the ground and hid the gruesome fates of those inside. Nine people, including the man's ex-wife and her parents, died as a result of the gunfire and/or fire. The badly burned offender ...