G. Larry Mays

The Police Stress Hypothesis: A Critical Evaluation

Much attention has been given to the topic of occupational stress among law enforcement professionals during the last decade. Yet, while the number of papers addressing this topic appear with increasing regularity in the law enforcement literature, the basic assumptions underlying the concept of police stress appear to have been ignored or accepted as fact in the absence of sound empirical support. This article represents an attempt to (1) identify the assumptions that underly the concept of police stress, (2) review the empirical evidence related to these assumptions, and (3) offer an alternative paradigm designed to guide future research on police stress.

Criminal Dispositions of New Mexico Juveniles Transferred to Adult Court

One of the lingering controversies surrounding the juvenile justice system in the United States is the transfer of juvenile offenders to adult criminal courts, ostensibly for more severe dispositions. This issue especially has been of concern as the “get-tough” movement seemingly has gained momentum over the past two decades. This article examines the waiver process in New Mexico to establish the characteristics of the juveniles subject to the process and to determine the actual, instead of symbolic, criminal court dispositions of juveniles tried as adults.

Youth gangs and incarcerated delinquents: Exploring the ties between gang membership, delinquency, and social learning theory

This paper explores the conceptual and empirical ties between membership in youth gangs, youthful misconduct, and Akerss social learning theory. The adolescent population studied, however, is unique: it consists of adjudicated and incarcerated delinquents. The data for the study were obtained by conducting a census of all youths in the custody of the New Mexico Youth Authority in January 1991; more than 85 percent of all youths incarcerated on the administration day (258 young men and women) participated in the study. We found that gang members had acquired more pro-gang attitudes than nongang youths and were more favorably inclined toward gang activities; neither gang membership nor the gang-based social learning theory variables, however, were related uniformly to all forms of self-reported delinquency. We address the theoretical and policy implications of these findings.

Teen Court: An Examination of Processes and Outcomes

Teen courts are becoming a popular mechanism whereby to process youngsters charged with relatively minor offenses. There has been limited systematic analysis of teen courts to identify either their successes or failures. This study examines the teen court of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, including its processes and apparent recidivism rates. The 478 participants were randomly selected from the program and traced through the local Juvenile Probation and Parole Office (JPPO) database. Interviews were conducted with a teen court staff member, JPPO staff members, and former teen court participants. A 25% recidivism rate was found between 1994 and 1998, affected by gender, age, the presence of a prior referral, whether the youngster completed the teen court program, with whom the juvenile resided, and the severity of the jury sentence. The study—the first of its kind for this court—was able to identify some of the successes and shortcomings of this countys teen court.

Inmate Needs and Programming in Exclusively Women's Jails:

Most women in jail serve time in facilities that also house men. However, there are 18 jails nationally that house women only, and this study is based on surveys and interviews administered at 5 of these jails. It explores the extent to which womens jails meet the needs of inmates who want to further their education and training, maintain and deepen bonds with their children, and overcome their addictions to drugs and alcohol as well as their histories of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. The findings suggest that, when it comes to meeting most of these needs, the programming in womens jails fails miserably.

Work assignments and police work: Exploring the work world of sworn officers in four New Mexico police departments

Since the creation of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration in 1968 there has been a tremendous amount of research on policing, police officers and police departments in the USA. Most of the studies have focussed on the large municipal police agencies that have large numbers of officers and, presumably, face the greatest problems. This means that small and medium‐sized policing largely has been ignored, or it surfaces as a research topic only periodically. Remedies this by looking at the officers serving in four small city police departments. Considers a single research question: is it who the officers are, or what they do that explains their perceptions of the workplace? Based on 162 questionnaires received from certified police officers in four New Mexico police departments, examines the effects of service, gender and work activities on officers’ perceptions of the workplace and their general work world. Finds that officer perceptions of the work world are related more closely to what they do than who they are. Addresses the practical and policy implications of these findings.

Processing Inmate Disciplinary Infractions in a Federal Correctional Institution: Legal and Extralegal Correlates of Prison-Based Legal Decisions

Those persons confined in any correctional facility are bound by codified rules of behavior and are subject to some form of loss of privileges or liberty if found guilty of violating these rules. The present research focuses on the extent to which legal variables (i.e., information related to the specific rule violation charged, previous criminal activities of the accused, etc.) and extralegal variables (i.e., personalbiographical information, institutional security level, etc.) are associated with outcomes of institutional disciplinary procedures. Seriousness of the charge and the security level of the accused were associated with formal processing of complaints. Minority group members are less likely to receive formal processing. Finally, the severity of ones sanction is almost exclusively understood in terms of who does the sanctioning. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Sexual Harassment in Women's Jails

The pernicious problem of sexual harassment continues to infest criminal justice workplaces. The research indicates and theory predicts that the incidence level of this behavior is particularly high in work environments that are traditionally and predominantly male, descriptors that are applicable to most criminal justice work. Thus, in this study of sexual harassment incidence in seven womens jails, where the number and status of women workers is generally higher, the authors find a predictably lower level of sexual harassment than might be expected in similarly situated mens facilities. The authors also find that gender is the most important variable in predicting support for affirmative action in these unique jails.

Examining the Arsenal of Juvenile Gunslingers: Trends and Policy Implications

Using the National Institute of Justice body armor threat-level scale, this study classified 1,055 firearms confiscated by police officers from juveniles in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1992 to 1999. The authors found that for this city, the lethal capacity of juveniles’ firearms has remained relatively constant over time. Examination of the different types of firearms recovered also found that the sophistication of firearms used by juveniles did not increase throughout the 1990s. By disaggregating firearm types, the authors were able to demonstrate that the police are likely to confiscate relatively unsophisticated firearms from juveniles, such as Saturday night specials, .22 caliber and nonpowder weapons. In St. Louis, juveniles were very unlikely to have an assault weapon confiscated. More troubling, however, were the relatively high numbers of illegally sawed-off rifles and shotguns recovered from youths.

Organizational centralization in court administration: An empirical assessment

Data gathered from a national survey of court managers are used to examine the centralized versus decentralized perspectives recently developed in organizational theories of court administration. Two areas are examined in the research: administrative decision making and job formalization. Utilizing discriminant analysis, it appears that few states are dominated by a single management approach, and that in all likelihood the local norms and values influence the ways in which the courts are managed.