Elizabeth Piper Deschenes

Differences between Gang Girls and Gang Boys Results from a Multisite Survey

During the past decade, a growing body of literature examining gang girls and the involvement of girls in violence has appeared. In this article, we contribute to this developing literature by using data from a multisite evaluation to explore the extent to which gang girls are similar to or different from gang boys in terms of their attitudes, perceptions of their gangs, and their involvement in ganglike illegal activities. Findings indicate that gang girls are involved in a full array of illegal gang activities, although not as frequently as the gang boys. Whereas similarities exist in behavioral activities and in reasons for joining gangs, gang girls report greater social isolation from family and friends than do gang boys. The gang girls also report lower levels of self-esteem than do the boys. These gender differences are discussed in terms of differential developmental trajectories for boys and girls.

Drug Courts: A Conceptual Framework

Structural and process characteristics of drug courts may have a major influence on offender outcomes. However, despite the existence of dozens of outcome evaluations in the drug court literature, it is impossible to draw clear conclusions regarding variability in outcomes in relation to drug court characteristics. We describe existing approaches to the description of drug court structure and process and argue that a new approach is needed. To address that need, we propose a conceptual framework of five drug court dimensions: leverage, population severity, program intensity, predictability, and rehabilitation emphasis. These dimensions, each scorable on a range from low to high, lend themselves to a systematic set of hypotheses regarding the effects of structure and process on drug court outcomes. Finally, we propose quantitative and qualitative methods for identifying such effects.

Violence and Gangs: Gender Differences in Perceptions and Behavior

Most research on violence has focused on males, but recent studies indicatethat females are also involved in violent crimes. Few studies, to date,have examined whether different or similar models explain male and femaleinvolvement in violent behavior. In the current research, we examine therelative contribution of social bond, self-control and social learningconcepts to the explanation of male and female violent offending. We alsoexplore the unique contribution of gang membership, school environment andprior victimization to these explanatory models. Using a multisite sampleof eighth-grade students, we find that results of a Chow test indicate theneed for separate theoretical models. Despite some similarities, differentfactors account for male and female rates of violent behavior.

Moving Toward Justice for Female Juvenile Offenders in the New Millennium Modeling Gender-Specific Policies and Programs

This article presents an overview of national and state efforts to address gender-specific programming and summarizes findings from a statewide assessment in California in 1997 and 1998. Review of the literature and results of data analyses of a cross-sectional survey of program providers and agency representatives, along with information from focus group interviews with program participants and providers, show that the needs of girls and young women in the juvenile justice system are tied to specific, identifiable risk and protective factors, from which it is possible to model gender-appropriate interventions. The results indicate that the family is the most important risk and protective factor for young women. Respondents indicated a wide range of barriers to program services and the need for more information and gender-specific program models or best practices. It would appear that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Preventions Challenge Activity E grant has provided the initial momentum toward shaping the policies and programs for the new millennium in California and other states, but there is still much to be done to meet this challenge.

Evaluating Intensive Supervision Probation/Parole (ISP) for Drug Offenders

This article reports results from a recently completed randomized field experiment testing the effects of intensive supervision probation/parole (ISP) for drug-involved offenders. The ISP demonstration project, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, included five jurisdictions: Contra Costa, California; Seattle, Washington; Des Moines, Iowa; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Winchester, Virginia. Jurisdictions developed ISP programs tailored to their own contexts, using the general ISP model developed by Georgia and New Jersey in the early 1980s. Results show that ISP offenders were seen more often, submitted more often to drug testing, received more drug counseling, and had higher levels of employment than their counterparts on routine probation/parole supervision. With respect to 1-year recidivism outcomes, a higher proportion of ISP offenders had technical violations (primarily for drug use), but there was no difference between the two study groups in new criminal arrests. At the end of the 1-year follow-up, more ISP offenders had been placed in jail or prison (mostly for technical violations). This policy drove up system costs, which for ISP averaged just under

A DECADE OF DRUG TREATMENT COURT RESEARCH

8,000 per year per offender versus about

Narcotics Addiction: Related Criminal Careers, Social and Economic Costs

5,500 per year per offender for routine supervision. The article concludes with a discussion of how these results can be used to inform future ISP research and policy discussions.

Maricopa County’s Drug Court: An Innovative Program for First-time Drug Offenders on Probation

As drug treatment courts have multiplied over the past decade, so too have research evaluations conducted on their implementation and effectiveness. This article explores the decade of drug treatment court research conducted at RAND, starting with the experimental field evaluation of Maricopas drug testing and treatment options to the most current 14-site national evaluation of courts funded in 1995–96 by the Drug Court Program Office. The article presents summaries of findings, a brief description of a drug treatment court typology, and suggestion of where future research might focus.

Alternative Placements for Juvenile Offenders: Results from the Evaluation of the Nokomis Challenge Program

A sample of 279 male heroin addicts admitted to methadone maintenance programs in Southern California, interviewed between 1978 and 1980, reported high rates of drug trafficking and over 250,000 property crime-days, which resulted in 6,251 arrests. Analyses indicate that offense rates and related social and economic costs were at their highest during periods of addiction. The aggregate cost to society, including criminal justice system and drug treatment intervention, is conservatively estimated at

Enhancing Drug Court Success

85 million, averaging