Criminology & Criminal Justice

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Examining subgroup effects by socioeconomic status of public health interventions targeting multiple risk behaviour in adolescence
(Springer Nature, 2018-10-16) Tinner, Laura; Caldwell, Deborah; Hickman, Matthew; MacArthur, Georgina J; Gottfredson, Denise; Perez, Alberto Lana; Moberg, D Paul; Wolfe, David; Campbell, Rona
Multiple risk behaviour (MRB) refers to two or more risk behaviours such as smoking, drinking alcohol, poor diet and unsafe sex. Such behaviours are known to co-occur in adolescence. It is unknown whether MRB interventions are equally effective for young people of low and high socioeconomic status (SES). There is a need to examine these effects to determine whether MRB interventions have the potential to narrow or widen inequalities. Two Cochrane systematic reviews that examined interventions to reduce adolescent MRB were screened to identify universal interventions that reported SES. Study authors were contacted, and outcome data stratified by SES and intervention status were requested. Risk behaviour outcomes alcohol use, smoking, drug use, unsafe sex, overweight/obesity, sedentarism, peer violence and dating violence were examined in random effects meta-analyses and subgroup analyses conducted to explore differences between high SES and low SES adolescents. Of 49 studies reporting universal interventions, only 16 also reported having measured SES. Of these 16 studies, four study authors provided data sufficient for subgroup analysis. There was no evidence of subgroup differences for any of the outcomes. For alcohol use, the direction of effect was the same for both the high SES group (RR 1.26, 95% CI: 0.96, 1.65, p = 0.09) and low SES group (RR 1.14, 95% CI: 0.98, 1.32, p = 0.08). The direction of effect was different for smoking behaviour in favour of the low SES group (RR 0.83, 95% CI: 0.66, 1.03, p = 0.09) versus the high SES group (RR 1.16, 95% CI: 0.82, 1.63, p = 0.39). For drug use, the direction of effect was the same for both the high SES group (RR 1.29, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.73, p = 0.08) and the low SES group (RR 1.28, 95% CI: 0.84, 1.96, p = 0.25). The majority of studies identified did not report having measured SES. There was no evidence of subgroup difference for all outcomes analysed among the four included studies. There is a need for routine reporting of demographic information within studies so that stronger evidence of effect by SES can be demonstrated and that interventions can be evaluated for their impact on health inequalities.
Examining the Meaning of Procedural Justice among Serious Adolescent Offenders
(2013) Augustyn, Megan Bears; Paternoster, Raymond; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Attempts to reduce delinquent/criminal behavior among juveniles tend to operate outside of the criminal justice system. Part of this emphasis is due to the fact that the criminal justice system has long prescribed to a control/deterrence framework in order to reduce juvenile delinquency even though this perspective has not been shown to be overly effective. However, a growing body of literature has begun to realize the importance of "process" over "control" within the criminal justice system; thus demonstrating that increasing perceptions of procedural justice and legitimacy can increase compliant behavior and reduce offending. This investigation seeks to add to the growing body of literature examining the normative perspective of compliance through the examination of the role of procedural justice and legitimacy among serious adolescent offenders. The value of this work is in its contribution to important gaps in the extant literature. Although the expansion of outcomes of interest to include official measures of recidivism and substance use is worthy of note, the main value of this research is the examination of the relevance of Procedural Justice Theory as a potential guide for the reduction of recidivism rates among serious juvenile offenders. Furthermore, this research will examine how perceptions of legitimacy are formed through variable experiences of procedural justice among adolescent offenders. The ambiguity surrounding the formation of perceptions of legitimacy will be addressed through the examination of the importance of varying sources of experiences of procedural justice. In addition, analyses also will discern the varying importance of the different elements of treatment that make up the concept of procedural justice (e.g. representation, impartiality, consistency, accuracy, correctability and ethical treatment), which, in turn, are predicted to inhibit criminal behavior through the formation of positive perceptions of legitimacy. Finally, this dissertation adopts examines whether or not the relevance and meaning of procedural justice varies among males of different race/ethnicity. This line of inquiry has rarely been applied to normative perspective of compliance and never applied among adolescent populations. Using a sample of 1,353 serious adolescent offenders from the Pathways to Desistance Study, this research examines the theoretical and empirical implications of various means used to determine what is "fair" and "just" among the adolescent population. Among serious adolescent offenders, weak evidence exists regarding the applicability of Procedural Justice Theory as a means to reduce recidivism. However, subsequent analyses reveal that the theory is better at predicting the relative frequency of criminal acts as well as overall recidivism among novice offenders. In the end, this dissertation speaks to the importance of personal interactions with the police in the formation of perceptions of legitimacy and the reduction of recidivism rates among some serious adolescent offenders. Not only does this work have important implications for the generality of Procedural Justice Theory, but it also speaks to the need to continue to examine the relevance of the normative perspective of compliance among adolescents in general in order to determine if this population actually appeals to morality when making decisions to engage in criminal behavior.
Truancy and the onset of marijuana use: Testing the relationship among Chilean students
(2014) Larroulet Philippi, Pilar; Thornberry, Terence P.; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Previous research conducted in the United States has shown that truancy increases the risk of marijuana use among adolescents. The current study examines this relationship in Chile. By using a longitudinal study conducted from 2008 to 2011 among school students in 7th grade in Santiago, Chile, I test the effect that truancy has on the onset of marijuana use, controlling for a number of potential confounders. The findings support the hypothesis that youths who reported having been truant were more likely to initiate marijuana use. However, I did not find enough support for the hypothesis that youths who reported have skipped schools more days were at a higher risk of initiating marijuana use.