Daniel G. Rodeheaver

A comparative evaluation of a new generation jail

This study reports findings from an evaluation of a new generation jail in a large southwestern state. The jail is one component of a complex containing a traditional jail, an indirect supervision facility (barracks), and the new generation jail. Using survey and operational data, we compare the new generation jail to the other two facilities. The findings provide generally positive support for the effectiveness of the new generation jail. Inmates and staff were much more satisfied with the physical facilities. Staff perceived it as more secure, though they reported only limited advantages in safety and security. Violence and disciplinary problems were substantially lower. However, no savings in staffing levels were noted, nor were there differences in job satisfaction for staff in the new generation jail. We discuss the implications of the findings and suggest additional directions for jail evaluations.

MILITIAS AT THE MILLENNIUM

Critically important to Neil Smelsers theory of collective behavior is the idea that people join radical social movements because they experience strain. A social movement arises to reassure participants that something is being done to redress the underlying source of strain. Militia presence and activity on the Internet (especially Usenet) is a phenomenon that can be studied within Smelsers framework. Militia watchers contend that those who join the militias have experienced the kinds of strain to which Smelser refers. The purpose of this article is to analyze the content of Internet traffic of U.S. militias in order to test the thesis outlined above. It uses militia Web sites and militia messages posted to Usenet (N = 1,196) as primary data to test Smelsers theory. Information was gathered on 171 men and women from 28 U.S. militias who posted messages to Usenet from 1998–2001. Based on the militiamen/women studied, Smelsers thesis is generally confirmed. Most experienced some form of social stress or strain prior to or during the time that they were in the militia, and most conditions for social movement development as specified by Smelser were met and confirmed by the data.

Community-oriented policing in a multicultural milieu: the case of loitering and disorderly conduct in East Arlington, Texas

For the past several decades, an innovation in policing, often controversial, has been emerging in the US. Specifically, community-oriented policing has been used to supplement more traditional forms of police work in preventing and reducing crime. This paper examines a community-oriented policing programme implemented in Arlington, Texas. A national demonstration grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The purpose of the COPS project reported here was to assess a policing problem that, rather than actual crime, was ultimately about (1) multicultural conflict, (2) fear of crime and (3) the effectiveness of this community policing programme in combating both actual incidences and perceptions of crime. We draw several conclusions about the ability to utilise and apply the community policing model and our research findings in other locations. Furthermore, the findings of this paper should have broad utility of international scope.

Violent crime in Russia and the United States: 1990–1996

In spite of significant press attention to the dimensions of the crime problem in Russia during the 1990s, the scholarly literature on crime in Russia remains limited. In an attempt to address this limitation, this paper examines trends in violent crime in Russia during the period 1990–1996. To place the data in a comparative framework, we also examine data on reported violent crime in the United States during this period. Findings indicate the persistence of dramatically higher homicide rates in Russia, dramatic increases in reported robbery and aggravated assault rates, yet declines in rape rates. With the exception of homicide, violent crime rates remained below those in the U.S. We discuss implications of the findings and suggest additional research.

The effects of family planning effort and development on fertility: an intervening variables framework.

To pinpoint the intervening variable that transmit the impacts of development and family planning effort on fertility, a modified proximate determinants model was applied to data from 59 developing countries. The intermediate variable included level of exposure to sexual intercourse (the percentage of women 20-24 years old in a union), deliberate marital fertility control (the percentage of married women of reproductive age who were using contraception), and natural marital fertility (operationalized as average per capita calorie consumption). The regression equations indicated that both social development and family planning effort can influence fertility levels substantially through their association with higher levels of contraceptive use. Interestingly, the direct effects of family planning and social development on the crude birth rate became insignificant when the intermediate variables were included in the same equation. Path analysis revealed that social development has an indirect effect of -0.083 via its influence on marriage patterns and of -0.316 due to its effect on contraceptive usage. Family planning has a lesser indirect impact on fertility (-0.487), and -0.111 of this effect reflects program efforts dependence on the level of social development. Economic development is positively linked to fertility, and future research should assess whether this factor is partially counterbalancing the fertility-reducing impact of social development and family planning programs. Although this analysis confirms that delayed marriage and widespread adoption of contraception are key intervening variables, they cannot influence fertility in societies where there are social or cultural impediments to such changes.

Punishing Juvenile Offenders in Russia

The current literature onjuvenilejustice in Russia is limited and tends to focus on the former Soviet Union. Using newly transled data we exunine the police and cowt dispositions ofjuveniles tested forseriousoffenses in Russiaduringthe period 1990-1999. Thetotal crime rate forjuveniles increased dramatically during this period, as did rests and convictions. Mostjuveniles were arested for theft. There was, however, a unexplained ptn of significantly lower rests and convictions for rape. About half of serious juvenile offenders arrested dwing this period were convicted of some offense. More than half ofthose who were convicted were sentenced to some form of incacton. The use of certain punishments, such as confnement to labor colonies, as well as the use of amnesties, declined during this period. We discuss implications of the findings and suggest additional research.

Anti-Modernity and Modern Terrorism

In Modernity and Terrorism Zafirovski and Rodeheaver analyze the nature, types, and causes of terrorism. The book redefines terrorism in novel comprehensive way, considers counter-state and state terrorism, and identifies and predicts conservative anti-modernity as the main cause of terrorism.

Teaching Sociology Graduate Students to Teach with Techology

In light of the increasing emphasis on the use of instructional technology in higher education, sociology graduate students need to become conversant with instructional technology and its pedagogical implications. Yet, the literature on graduate instructor training has almost completely neglected this issue. This paper directly addresses this important pedagogical issue. After a discussion of the benefits of instructional technology training, we describe how to integrate training in instructional technology into graduate training programs in sociology. Our discussion offers specific suggestions for incorporating instructional technology training throughout the instructor training process. Our recommendations focus on helping graduate students employ effectively instructional technology and to become conversant with its pedagogical implications.

Crime and punishment in Russia and the United States: 1990–1998

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, dramatic sociopolitical changes have affected the ability of the Russian criminal justice system to effectively process violent crimes. This paper compares the police and court processing of selected violent crimes in Russia and the United States during the period 1990–1998. Using data from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, we examine the disposition of homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault (i.e., serious bodily injury) cases in both countries during this period. Our findings indicate that while arrests and rates of homicide, robbery and aggravated assault decreased in the U.S. during this period, they increased in Russia. On the other hand, rape rates and arrests decreased in both countries during this period. Conviction rates as well as the percentage of defendants sentenced to prison in Russia were both higher than in the U.S. for each of the offenses studied during this period. We discuss implications of the findings and suggest additional research.

Crime and punishment in the soviet union and the united states: 1986–19901

A relatively recent development in the comparative criminology literature concerns cross‐national comparisons of criminal sentencing practices (e.g., Lynch, 1993). While there are now several studies comparing sentencing practices and lengths, there is a particular shortage of studies that examine the disposition of serious criminal cases through several stages of the criminal justice process. Specifically, there is a shortage of information concerning this issue in Russia and the former Soviet Union. To address this limitation, we present data on the police and court disposition of violent criminal cases in the former Soviet Union during the period of 1986 to 1990. For comparative purposes, comparable data from recent studies of criminal case dispositions in the United States are presented. Implications of the findings are discussed.