Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

SAGE Journal User Guide

Stolz, B. A.,  (March 2014). The Growth of Federal Criminal Justice Policy Making: The Role of U.S. Civil Rights Legislation. Criminal Justice Policy Review. 1-25.

http://cjp.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/03/17/0887403414523648.full.pdf+html

This article discusses the three authorities that are generally used by Congress to expand the federal criminal justice role and the use of federal responsibility to protect the constitutional and statutory rights of citizens to expand this role. The author’s analysis contributes to the understanding of how laws have expanded the criminal justice systems role.

1. How has the federal governments role in the area of criminal justice evolved?
2. What do the authors mean when they say that criminal laws are both instrumental and expressive?
3. Explain the symbolic politics framework.

Learning Objective(s): Know the distinction between federal and state legislation

***

Silva, S. M. (November 2014). Determinants of State Innovations in American Sentencing and Corrections Policy: A Systematic Review. Criminal Justice Policy Review. 1-21.

http://cjp.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/11/04/0887403414556645.full.pdf+html

This article discusses state policy decisions and how these decisions have determined how justice is administered. The authors find that sentencing and corrections policies are less likely to be predicted by crime rates than by certain economic, political, and social variables.

1. How does policy innovation at the state level vary?
2. Discuss the effect of political culture on criminal justice policy.
3. What is the relationship between corrections spending and policy?

Learning Objective(s): Know the distinction between federal and state legislation 

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

SAGE Journal User Guide

Tobolowsky, P. M. (September 2004). Capital Punishment and the Mentally Retarded Offender. The Prison Journal. 84(3). 340-360.

http://tpj.sagepub.com/content/84/3/340.full.pdf+html

This article examines the holdings of two landmark decisions (Penry v. Lynaugh andAtkins v. Virginia) dealing with mentally retarded capital offenders and the roles that they played in the evolution of the United States Supreme Court’s capital punishment jurisprudence.

1. Explain the evolution of capital punishment for mentally retarded offenders. Which cases have had the most influence?
2. Where the laws regarding capital punishment and mentally retarded offenders uniform across the United States during the time of the two landmark cases?

Learning Objective(s): Explain the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment

***

Downing, J. D. H.  (April 1999). ‘Hate Speech’ and ‘First Amendment Absolutism’ discourses in the U.S. Discourse and Society 10(2). 175-189.

http://das.sagepub.com/content/10/2/175.full.pdf+html

This author of this article argues that the First Amendment has suffered from an ideological refusal to acknowledge its dangerous implications for the growth of hate speech. The author examines critical legal theory and critical race theory, and concludes by considering two different angles on the subject.

1. What is the premise of critical legal theory and critical race theory?
2. What are the author’s two concluding perspectives?

Learning Objective(s): Define symbolic speech and provide examples of constitutionally protected symbolic speech

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

SAGE Journal User Guide

Sarteschi, C. M. (September 2013). Mentally Ill Offenders Involved With the U.S. Criminal Justice System: A Synthesis. The Prison Journal. 84(3). 340-360.

http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/spsgo/3/3/2158244013497029.full.pdf

The author uses recent government and congressional reports, along with relevant literature reviews to discuss what is known about mentally ill offenders in jails and prisons. The author’s goal is to provide a more comprehensive understand of mentally ill  offenders (i.e. prevalence, demographics, etc.) and also to identify the problems, conditions, and obstacles faced while under the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system.

1. How does the sentence length differ for those who are mentally ill and those who are not? What issues do mentally ill offenders face while incarcerated? 
2. What are the author’s suggestions for change?

Learning Objective(s): Explain strict liability

***

Lord, E. A. (August 2008). The Challenges of Mentally Ill Female Offenders in Prison. Criminal Justice and Behavior 35(8). 928-942.

http://cjb.sagepub.com/content/35/8/928.full.pdf+html

This article discusses the challenges that mentally ill female offenders face while incarcerated. The author highlights he increasing number of women with mental illness, and the effect that the prison environment has on these individuals (i.e. rule breaking, self-harm, etc.). The author concludes with suggestions as to how these challenges and/or issues can be better addressed.

1. How prevalent is mental illness in incarcerated individuals?
2. Identify some of the most common issues seen in female mentally ill offenders.
3. What mechanisms can be used to create conformity in prison?
4. What are the author’s suggestions for improvement? What can be done to help this population?

Learning Objective(s): Explain strict liability  

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

SAGE Journal User Guide

Wykes, M. (August 2007). Constructing Crime: Culture, Stalking, Celebrity and Cyber.Crime Media Culture. 3(2). 158-184. 

http://cmc.sagepub.com/content/3/2/158.full.pdf+html

This article discusses the discourses of the relationships between crime, stalking, and cyber by moving beyond criminology. The exploration in this article stemmed from a curiosity about cyber-stalking as a new crime but evolved as a theoretical connection that illuminates a contemporary celebritification and commodification of aesthetics, crime and culture.

1. Explain the feminist approach to stalking or harassment.
2. What is the relationship between stalking and harassments crimes and cultures?
3. How was western culture influenced stalking and harassment discourse?

Learning Objective(s): Contrast stalking with threats

***

Reyns, B. W. and Englebrecht C. M. (August 2013). The Fear Factor: Exploring Predictors of Fear Among Stalking Victims Throughout the Stalking Encounter. Crime and Delinquency 59(5). 788-808.

http://cad.sagepub.com/content/59/5/788.full.pdf+html

This article addresses the issues of defining stalking, including the requirement that victims must express fear to qualify as victims of stalking. The current study addresses this issue by exploring the “fear factor” among stalking victims. The authors examine the effects situational and victim characteristics have on the fear experienced by stalking victims. The results revealed not only that certain situational and victim characteristics produced fear in victims but also that these influences differed across time periods.

1. What is the fear standard?
2. Explain the Model Anti-Stalking Code
3. How do demographic characteristics influence an individual’s likelihood of experiencing fear?

Learning Objective(s): Contrast stalking with threats

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

SAGE Journal User Guide

Dodge, M., Bosick, S. J., and Van Antwerp, V. (August 2013). Do Men and Women Perceive White-Collar Crime Differently? Exploring Gender Difference in the Perception of Seriousness, Motives, and Punishments. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice.29(3). 399-415.

http://ccj.sagepub.com/content/29/3/399.full.pdf+html

This article discusses the perceptions of white-collar crime with a focus on gender. The authors utilized scenarios involved white-collar and street crimes committed by male and female offenders and then rated the behavior on seriousness, harshness of punishment, and offender motivation (i.e., greed and stress). The results support previously observed patterns showing that citizens see white-collar crime as a serious societal problem. Ponzi schemes are seen as more serious than the three street crimes. The findings also show differences between male and female respondents on the issues of offense seriousness, punishment, and offender motivation, but attitudes toward offenders’ gender are more ambiguous.

1. Why do white-collar crimes fail to provoke the same levels of concern and outrage as other types of crime?
2. What are the demographic influences on individual’s behavior?

Learning Objective(s): Explain the difference between white collar and other crimes

***

Reyns, B. W. (May 2013). Online Routines and Identity Theft Victimization: Further Expanding Routine Activity Theory Beyond Direct-Contact Offenses. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 50(2). 216-238. 

http://jrc.sagepub.com/content/50/2/216.full.pdf+html

The authors extend recent work aimed at applying routine activity theory to crimes in which the victim and offender never come into physical proximity. The author examines relationships between individuals’ online routines and identity theft victimization and finds that individuals who use the Internet for banking and/or e-mailing/instant messaging are about 50 percent more likely to be victims of identity theft than others. Similarly, online shopping and downloading behaviors increased victimization risk by about 30 percent.

1. What does the Routine Activity Theory posit?
2. What are the key differences between identity theft and identity fraud?
3. How has technology created new opportunities for crime and victimization?

Learning Objective(s): Explain the difference between white collar and other crimes; list examples of computer crime

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

SAGE Journal User Guide

Mitchell, K. J., Finkelhor, D., and Wolak, J. (February 2010). Conceptualizing Juvenile Prostitution as Child Maltreatment: Findings from the National Juvenile Prostitution Study. Child Maltreatment 15(1). 18-36.

http://cmx.sagepub.com/content/15/1/18.full.pdf+html

This article examines the incidence and characteristics of juvenile prostitution cases known to law enforcement agencies in the United States. The authors conducted two separate studies and found that law enforcement responses to juvenile prostitution are influential in determining whether such youth are viewed as victims of commercial sexual exploitation or as delinquents.

1. What are some of the issues regarding law enforcement that were identified by the authors?
2. Discuss prevention education. Do you think it will work?

Learning Objective(s): List three public decency offenses

***

Jocoy, C. L. (September 2012). Counting the Homeless: The Culture of Quantification in American Social Policy. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 20(3). 397-403.

http://cgj.sagepub.com/content/20/3/397.full.pdf+html

This article reflects on the practice of counting the homeless within political jurisdictions (i.e., homeless counts) within the United States to satisfy a cultural practice of quantification within American social policy. The author discusses the problems arising from the cultural preference for quantification as the means of identifying and addressing a social problem with specific examples from US homeless assistance programs and participant observation in Long Beach, California. The author concludes with suggestions for examining how counts are actually used in modifying existing programs to evaluate the effectiveness of these quantification practices.

1. How are the counts done?
2. Why are counts done?
3. What are some of the issues with quantification that are identified by the authors?

Learning Objective(s): List four of the public order offenses

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

SAGE Journal User Guide

Potter, S. J., and Stapleton, J. G. (May 2012). Translating Sexual Assault Prevention from a College Campus to a United States Military Installation: Piloting the Know-Your-Power Bystander Social Marketing Campaign. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 27(8). 1593-1621.

http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/27/8/1593.full.pdf+html

This article seeks to add to both current knowledge about and promising practices of translating prevention strategies from one target audience to another. The authors describe how they translated, administered, and evaluated a bystander intervention social marketing campaign focused on sexual assault prevention that had been found to significantly affect attitude change on a college campus for a U.S. Army installation in Europe. The author’s findings contribute data on the effectiveness of sexual violence prevention strategies implemented with members of the U.S. Military.

1. Identify some existing prevention strategies.
2. How are the college campus and U.S. military installations similar?

Learning Objective(s): Not Applicable

***

Franklin, C. A., Bouffard, L. A., and Pratt, T. C. (November 2012). Sexual Assault on The College Campus: Fraternity Affiliation, Male Peer Support, and Low Self-Contraol.Criminal Justice and Behavior 39(11). 1457-1480.

http://cjb.sagepub.com/content/39/11/1457.full.pdf+html

Research on college sexual assault has focused on offender behavior to understand why men perpetrate sexual violence. Dominant theories have incorporated forms of male peer support, paying particular attention to the impact of rape-supportive social relationships on woman abuse. In contrast, Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime proposes that low self-control predicts crime and other related life outcomes—including the kinds of antisocial peer relationships that the male peer support model contends causes sexual violence. The exclusion of measures of self-control on sexual assault may result in a misspecified peer support model. Accordingly, the current research empirically tests Schwartz and DeKeseredy’s male peer support model and examines the role of self-control in the larger male peer support model of sexual assault. Implications for theory and research are discussed.

1. What is one of the most dominant feminist explanations for sexual assault?
2. What shortcomings did the research address?
3. Identify the two theories associated with male peer support.

Learning Objective(s): Not Applicable

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

SAGE Journal User Guide

Lambert, E. G., Camp, S. D., Clarke, A., & Jiang, S. (July 2011). The Impact of Information on Death Penalty Support, Revisited. Crime & Delinquency, 57(4), 572-599.

http://cad.sagepub.com/content/57/4/572.full.pdf+html

This article examines data used by Lambert and Clarke (2001). Using multivariate analyses, the impact that information has on death penalty support is tested, along with level of prior knowledge about the death penalty, personal characteristics (gender, age, political affiliation, race, being a criminal justice major, academic level), and religious factors. The results suggest that information on both deterrence and innocence leads to a reduction in death penalty support and views on the death penalty and that the information presented may have varying effects among different subgroups of people.

1. What are the authors examining?
2. Did the data support the authors’ hypotheses? If so, which ones?
3. Are the authors’ findings generalizable?

Learning objective(s): List the limitations on the death penalty

***

Kaufman-Osborn, T. V. (July 2006). A Critique of Contemporary Death Penalty Abolitionism. Punishment & Society, 8(3), 365-383.

http://pun.sagepub.com/content/8/3/365.full.pdf+html

This essay seeks to show what is occluded by contemporary arguments in favor of abolishing the death penalty in the United States. The essay interrogates a pair of presuppositions that are implicit in all. Specifically, the essay first poses questions regarding the contention that death as a punishment is qualitatively different from all others. That contention abstracts capital punishment from the complex of contemporary political forces whose conjuncture goes a long way toward explaining the persistence of the death penalty in the United States. Second, the essay argues that familiar critiques of capital punishment presuppose a specific vision of the state and the form of sovereignty that allegedly defines that state.

1. Identify some of the arguments for the abolition of the death penalty.
2. What conception of sovereignty is used by the ACLU, and how does it differ from modern day sovereignty?

Learning Objective(s): List the limitations on the death penalty

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

SAGE Journal User Guide

Plumm, K. M. and Terrance, C. A. (February 2009). Battered Women Who Kill: The Impact of Expert Testimony and Empathy Induction in the Courtroom. Violence Against Women 15(2), 186-205.

http://vaw.sagepub.com/content/15/2/186.full.pdf+html

Mock jurors viewed a simulated trial involving a woman, charged with the murder of her abusive husband, entering a plea of not guilty by reason of self-defense. Expert testimony was varied using battered woman syndrome, social agency framework, or no expert testimony. Within expert testimony conditions, jurors were presented with opening and closing statements either including or not including instructions aimed at inducing empathy. Results indicate differences in gender and expert testimony for ratings of guilt as well as differences in gender, expert testimony, and empathy induction for perceptions of the defendant.

1. What is learned helplessness?
2. Who are the individuals who are more likely to suffer from battered woman syndrome?

Learning objective(s): Define battered woman syndrome

***

Ferraro, K. J.  (January 2003). The Words Change. But the Melody Lingers. Violence Against Women, 9(1), 110-129.

http://vaw.sagepub.com/content/9/1/110.full.pdf+html

In this article, specific cases are discussed in which the characteristics described in the syndrome are contrasted with the assertiveness, strength, and strategic decision making expressed by female defendants who had been battered. The negative consequences of the persistence of the battered woman syndrome in court are also described..

1. What is the mythical stereotype identified by the author?
2. What is syndrome language?

Learning Objective(s): Define battered woman syndrome

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

SAGE Journal User Guide

Brucker, D. (September 2006). Re-Entry to Recovery: A Promising Return-to-Work Approach for Certain Offenders With Mental Illness. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 17(3), 302-313.

http://cjp.sagepub.com/content/17/3/302.full.pdf+html

A demonstration project being designed by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Rutgers University may provide an effective option for assisting eligible offenders with mental illness in obtaining employment during re-entry to their communities. The project, Early Intervention (EI), will provide temporary cash stipends, immediate Medicare, and innovative employment services and supports to eligible applicants for Social Security disability insurance (DI).

1. What policy implications have the findings highlighted?
2. What are some of the barriers that mentally ill offenders face once they reenter into the community?

Learning Objective(s): Explain the difference between competency and insanity

***

Myers, D. L. (April 2003). Adult Crime, Adult Time: Punishing Violent Youth in the Adult Criminal Justice System. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 1(2), 173-197.

http://yjj.sagepub.com/content/13/2/145.full.pdf+html

This article examines the age of criminal responsibility in law. It argues that the fair imputation of criminal responsibility requires understanding of a number of interlinked concepts, including knowledge of wrongfulness, understanding of criminality and its consequences and an internalized moral appreciation of the quality of the conduct. Taken together, alongside the child’s psychological development and lived experience, the matter is complex. Development from baby to adulthood also involves a shift from dependence to autonomy. The age of criminal responsibility must be set so as properly to take into account both the underlying complexity and the acquisition of autonomy.

1. What is the purpose of the study?
2. How was incarceration defined?
3. What type(s) of statistical analysis were used in the study?

Learning Objective(s): Explain the difference between competency and insanity

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

SAGE Journal User Guide

Lemley, E. C. (March 2001). Designing Restorative Justice Policy: An Analytical Perspective. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 12(1), 43-65.

http://cjp.sagepub.com/content/12/1/43.full.pdf+html

This article attempts to identify heretofore unaddressed theoretical problems and offers future directions for researchers and practitioners to both ameliorate those problems and permit adequate testing and implementation. The article also describes current applications of restorative justice programs for offenders that may help clarify conceptual ambiguity.

1. How have scholars defined community?
2. Why is definitional clarity important?

Learning Objective(s): Identify the rationales for criminal punishment

***

Johnson, J. L. & Saint-Germain, M. A. (December 2005). Officer Down: Implications of Three Strikes for Public Safety. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 16(4), 443-460.

http://cjp.sagepub.com/content/16/4/443.full.pdf+html

This article examines the impact of California’s 1994 Three Strikes law on front line law enforcement personnel—specifically whether there is a greater risk of injury by criminal suspects resisting arrest and contact with law enforcement due to Three Strikes. Although the resulting analysis did not evidence a statewide increase or trend, in the Los Angeles area (where there is a higher concentration of repeat offenders and three-strikes prosecution has been more actively pursued), there is a notable increase in arrest rates, resisting and assaulting officers, and a significant increase (113% between 1996 and 2001) in two- and three-strikes crimes with a police officer victim.

1. Are the findings generalizable to other jurisdictions?
2. What are some of the policy recommendations given by the authors?

Learning Objective(s): State the goals of mandatory minimum sentences and the federal sentencing guidelines; know the rationales for determinate sentencing and indeterminate sentencing

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

SAGE Journal User Guide

Pelfrey, W. V. (September 2009). An Exploratory Study of Local Homeland Security Preparedness. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 20(3), 261-273.

http://cjp.sagepub.com/content/20/3/261.full.pdf+html

As an artifact of the war on terror, local law enforcement agencies have been asked to serve as the “eyes and ears” of federal intelligence agencies. The federal Office of Domestic Preparedness (ODP) has assembled a set of guidelines to assist agencies in terrorism prevention and weapons of mass destruction identification. However, there is a dearth of metrics and measurement tools available to assess preparedness. Based on ODP guidelines, a methodology to tap preparedness levels is defined. Additionally, preliminary findings from an assessment of a large law enforcement agency are presented. Application of this methodology will enhance the preparedness of local agencies by identifying areas of strength and those areas which require attention. Once these deficit areas are defined, policy makers can define appropriate training and programmatic changes.

1. Identify the primary research question as stated by the author.
2. Identify the two concepts that were highlighted in the findings.

Learning Objective(s): Discuss two laws that punish terrorism

***

Lee, J. V. (December 2010). Policing after 9/11: Community Policing in an Age of Homeland Security. Police Quarterly, 13(4), 347-366.

http://pqx.sagepub.com/content/13/4/347.full.pdf+html

This article examines the relevance of community oriented policing (COP) in an age of increased prioritization of homeland security planning among U.S. police departments. The findings revealed police departments that give higher prioritization to homeland security planning (e.g. hazard mitigation) are associated with less officers devoted solely to community policing and smaller or static departmental budgets. Homeland security planning was also positively associated with community policing programs and activities. Research and policy implications are discussed.

1. Identify the author’s hypotheses, and identify those that were statistically significant.
2. What is the author’s objective?

Learning Objective(s): Discuss two laws that punish terrorism