Jamie L. Flexon

Adolescent psychopathic traits and violent delinquency additive and nonadditive effects with key criminological variables

Though ties between having psychopathic attributes and criminality are strong, only recently has the criminological community appreciated that the characteristic traits of psychopathy are emergent in youth and are variably distributed in the population. In recognition, this study evaluates the value of psychopathic callous–unemotional (CU) traits in youth alongside key criminological variables in explaining violence. Results show that CU traits remain robust among traditional criminological variables in explaining juvenile violence. Further, CU traits are observed to interact with key criminological covariates such that at higher levels of one construct, the impact of other correlates on violence is weakened.

The Effects of Self-Control, Gang Membership, and Parental Attachment/Identification on Police Contacts Among Latino and African American Youths

This study assessed the correlates of self-control and police contact in a sample of Chicago public high school students. The investigation examined the effects of parental attachment/identification, family structure, and peer association on self-control and the effects of parental attachment/identification, family structure, peer association, and self-control on police contact. Differences between African American and Latino youth on the predictors of the two dependent measures were tested in separate regression models. Weak parental attachment/identification and gang affiliation (peer association) predicted low self-control among all students. Among African American youth, only weak maternal attachment/identification predicted low self-control; both weak maternal attachment/identification and gang affiliation predicted low self-control among Latino youth. Gang affiliation predicted police stops (delinquency) among African Americans but not among Latinos. However, both African American and Latino students with lower self-control were more likely to be stopped by the police than those with higher self-control.

Low Self-Control and the Victim–Offender Overlap: A Gendered Analysis

The overlap between victimization and offending is well documented. Yet, there have been fewer investigations of the reasons underlying this relationship. One possible, but understudied, explanation lies with Gottfredson and Hirschi’s arguments regarding self-control. The current study adds to this line of inquiry by assessing whether low self-control accounts for the victim–offender overlap in a sample of young adults and whether self-control accounts for the observed overlap similarly across gender. Results from a series of bivariate probit regression models indicate that low self-control is positively related to both victimization and offending. However, only among males does low self-control account for a substantive portion of the victim–offender overlap. Limitations of the study and implications and directions for future research are discussed.

An examination of police stops and youths’ attitudes toward police: Do interracial encounters matter?

ABSTRACT Little is known about how police–youth experiences influence adolescents’ views toward police, particularly when the officer is White and the youth is African American. The contours of this association and its potential consequences are investigated. Using data on police stops culled from a previous study, we use a series of regression analyses to examine the factors that influence juvenile attitudes toward the police among youth having experienced a police stop. Findings reveal that, among other things, race impacts youths’ attitudes toward law enforcement through the interracial characteristics of the stop, a context in which youth are more likely to feel disrespected.

Callous-Unemotional Traits and Differently Motivated Aggression: An Examination of Variants in a Noninstitutionalized Sample

Emerging psychopathy in youth is often identified by the presence of callous-unemotional traits, while variants of psychopathy are recognized to exist in either primary or secondary form. These variants have been differentially associated with aggressive behavior, as well as dissimilarly motivated (instrumental, reactionary). The present research evaluates those resembling the variants and the qualities of aggression associated with them in a noninstitutionalized sample of youth. Findings suggest that youth resembling the secondary variant demonstrate higher expression of instrumental and reactive aggression compared to the primary-like variants and non-variants. This finding held when scrutinized against other covariates in the noninstitutionalized sample. Further distinctions based on variant type are discussed.

Evaluating Variant Callous–Unemotional Traits Among Noninstitutionalized Youth Implications for Violence Research and Policy

Variants in the profile of youth with callous–emotional traits have been observed in juvenile and adult populations, and the presence of such traits has been repeatedly linked with violence. Although data on this issue are often culled from institutionalized populations, little is known about the heterogeneous nature of these psychopathic features in the population of youth at large. This research evaluates these variants in a national sample of youth while examining the intersection of violence–crime between those resembling the two subsets of primary and secondary psychopathy. Distinctions based on variant type and promise for more targeted intervention are also discussed.

Parental Low Self-Control, Family Environments, and Juvenile Delinquency

Research consistently finds that low self-control is significantly correlated with delinquency. Only recently, however, have researchers started to examine associations between parental low self-control, family environments, and child antisocial behavior. Adding to this emerging area of research, the current study examines associations between parental low self-control, aspects of the family environment, and officially recoded juvenile delinquency among a sample (N = 101) of juveniles processed through a juvenile justice assessment facility located in the Southeastern United States. Furthermore, it considers whether aspects of family environments, particularly family cohesion, family conflict, and parental efficacy, mediate the influence of parental low self-control on delinquency. The results of a series of analyses indicate that parental low self-control is correlated with various aspects of family environments and juvenile delinquency, and that the association between parental low self-control and juvenile delinquency is mediated by family environments. Supplementary analyses also suggest that the association between parental low self-control and the family environment may be reciprocal.

Does Racism Fuel Conviction Proneness Among Non–African Americans? Assessing the Impact of Juror Bias at the Conviction Stage of Capital Trials

Previous theory has attempted to explain the disproportionate application of death sentences to African American defendants. It has been argued that racial prejudice directly and indirectly influences attitudes toward capital punishment, and this ultimately impacts conviction proneness, a tendency to favor conviction over acquittal among capital jurors. In the current research, the 1990 and 1996 General Social Survey are used in a series of multiple and logistic regression equations in an effort to extend this theoretical framework by applying it to non–African American respondents who favor capital punishment (N = 372). Although age, low education level, and conservatism influence racial prejudice among non–African American death penalty supporters, the findings suggest that racial bias is not a significant predictor of conviction proneness either directly or indirectly. Implications for the theory are discussed.

Predicting Injuries of Women in Episodes of Intimate Partner Violence: Individual and Composite Risk Factors

Abstract This article examines incidents of intimate partner violence (IPV). The study involved a large sample of female victims and male perpetrators of IPV from Framingham, Massachusetts, just west of Boston. Physical injuries to IPV victims, which are sometimes serious and can be a harbinger of intimate partner homicide, were explored in order to explain the individual (and constellation of) factors that predict victim injury. We employed an innovative statistical technique that identified the profile or configuration of victim, perpetrator, and incident variables that predict victim injury. In applying various statistical techniques, different results emerged, which highlighted the complex nature of IPV.

Is Peer Delinquency in the Eye of the Beholder? Assessing Alternative Operationalizations of Perceptual Peer Delinquency

Researchers have devoted significant attention to the measurement of peer delinquency, with recent work indicating that perceptual measures are plagued by various biases. Absent from this research is an inquiry into whether the manner in which perceptions are typically operationalized potentially contributes to these limitations. In this study, we report on a methodological quasi-experiment where the operationalization of perceptual peer delinquency was manipulated across two different versions of a survey questionnaire completed by a sample of young adults. Results indicated no significant difference in the strength of the association between perceptual peer delinquency items and self-reported delinquency items across the two survey conditions. As such, this study provides preliminary evidence that existing limitations of perceptual measures of peer delinquency cannot be overcome by altering the manner in which such items are operationalized within survey questionnaires.