American Journal of Criminal Justice

Orvis, Gregory; Zupan, Linda

doi: 10.1007/BF02887460pmid: N/A

This article addresses the extent to which an offender’s sex and the type of offense influences decisions made by prosecuting attorneys in criminal cases. Prosecutors in one south-eastern state were asked to decide initial charging, plea negotiations, and sentence recommendations in two hypothetical crime scenarios. The first scenario depicted a gender-neutral crime; the second described a traditionally masculine crime. The sex of the offenders was varied in two different versions of the scenarios. The findings reveal that prosecutors treated the male and female offenders differently. In particular, prosecutors recommended harsher sentences for the female offender, regardless of the type of offense.

Walters, Glenn; White, Thomas

doi: 10.1007/BF02887456pmid: N/A

Attitudes towards social attachment and bonding were evaluated in groups of maximum (N = 48) and minimum (N=46) security prison inmates and compared with the attitudes of a group of 49 noncriminal college students. Three primary styles of attachment were considered: avoidant, ambivalent/anxious, and secure. It was predicted that the maximum security condition, a group hypothesized to contain a large number of lifestyle criminals, would evidence more of an avoidant style of attachment compared to minimum security inmates or a group of coliege student controls. Consistent with this hypothesis, the maximum security inmates exhibited greater avoidance in their attitudes towards relationships than subjects in the other two conditions. The implications of these results are discussed.

Vito, Gennaro

doi: 10.1007/BF02887465pmid: N/A

Barlow, Hugh; Wright, Kevin; Barak, Gregg

doi: 10.1007/BF02887464pmid: N/A

Quinn, James; Holman, John

doi: 10.1007/BF02887462pmid: N/A

This paper explores differences between the stated purpose and actual practice of electronically monitored home confinement as a prison-diversion strategy. Methods and data are triangulated to examine the difference between the stated purposes of electronic monitoring and its actual usage in two contexts: 1) the decision to imprison/probate; and 2) the actual use of electronically monitored home confinement. Sentencing information, along with data on employment, family, substance abuse, prior convictions, and type of offense, were collected on 391 felony offenders sentenced to probation in 1987–89 from three counties located in two large Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Texas. Information gathered from interviews with probation officials is also employed. This paper presents an analysis of this data and discusses its implications for future use and evaluation of electronically monitored home confinement.

Potter, Gary; Cox, Terry

doi: 10.1007/BF02887454pmid: N/A

This article reviews the available empirical research on organized crime and suggests that an important dimension of that research is the close symbiosis between organized crime groups and the communities in which they operate. As such, it is hypothesized that the concept of community may be important to explaining the persistence and durability of organized crime.

Southerland, Mittie

doi: 10.1007/BF02887457pmid: N/A

The status of baccalaureate criminal justice education is examined using both the population of criminal justice programs in the Southern Region of the United States and a random sample of the programs stratified by state. The study was designed and conducted to provide an empirical basis for the evaluation of current baccalaureate degree criminal justice programs in the South. Descriptive data concerning the colleges and universities which house these programs, background program information, and specific curricula and courses of each program during the academic year 1987–1988 are examined. The current status of the baccalaureate criminal justice curriculum in the South is evaluated.