In this prospective study, the authors predicted violence and homicide in 3 representative school samples (N = 1,517). Participants were part of a longitudinal, multiple cohort study on the development of delinquency in boys from late childhood to early adulthood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Thirty-three participants were convicted of homicide, 193 participants were convicted of serious violence, whereas another 498 participants self-reported serious violence. Predictors of violence included risk factors in the domains of child, family, school, and demographic characteristics. Boys with 4 or more violence risk factors were 6 times more likely to later commit violence in comparison with boys with fewer than 4 risk factors (odds ratio [OR] = 6.05). A subset of risk factors related to violence also predicted homicide among violent offenders. Boys with 4 or more risk factors for homicide were 14 times more likely to later commit homicide than violent individuals with fewer than 4 risk factors (OR = 14.48). Implications for the prevention of violence and homicide are discussed.
Drawing on the minority threat and focal concerns theoretical perspectives on criminal justice outcomes, the current study of arrests for firearm-related felony offenses in St. Louis examines the effect of neighborhood context on formal charges, bail, pretrial detention, and sentencing. The study finds that individuals charged with committing a firearm-related felony in More socioeconomically adVantaged neighborhoods receive significantly higher bail than those arrested for the same crimes in less advantaged neighborhoods. High bail increases the length of pretrial detention, which in turn raises the probability that the individual is sentenced to prison rather than placed on probation. The results highlight the importance of modeling the cumulative process of case disposition when assessing the influence of community context on criminal justice decision-making.
The basic idea behind this book is that the American dream TTitselfTT and the normal social conditions engendered by it are deeply implicated in the problem of crime (e.g., our cultural emphasis on achievement which promotes productivity and innovation, also generates pressures to succeed at any cost). In looking at the American dream, Messner and Rosenfeld examine interconnections between culture and institutional structure in contemporary American society and explore the implications of these interconnections for levels of crime.This critical examination challenges students to question and critically analyze broadly supported cultural goals and social organization. The book's tightly crafted theoretical perspective also helps students see the application of theory to real world problems.
The Crooked Ladder: Gangsters, Ethnicity, and the American Dream.By James M. O'Kane. Transaction Publishers, 1992. 196 pp. $29.95 Get access Richard Rosenfeld Richard Rosenfeld University of Missouri, St. Louis Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Social Forces, Volume 73, Issue 3, March 1995, Pages 1180–1181, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/73.3.1180 Published: 01 March 1995
