Jesenia M. Pizarro

Social Structure and Family Homicides

To date, few studies have analyzed the relationship that economic deprivation and social disorganization have with disaggregated family homicide types. This study utilized data from the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports from years 2000–2007 in order to explore the effect social structural variables have on rates of family homicides—specifically, intimate partner, filicide, parricide, and siblicide. Cities with more than 100,000 residents were analyzed using ordinary least squares regression. Findings showed that economic deprivation had a significant and positive relationship with all types of disaggregated family homicides, but were stronger for intimate partner homicides and filicides. Social disorganization, however, showed a negative relationship with these types of homicides. Our study provides a basis for possible policy implications, such as economically based institutions to help those in need before financial strain reaches a point of violence.

The Processing of Homicides in the Courts: An Examination of Multiple Case Outcomes

The current study employs focal concerns theory to address the role that race/ethnicity plays on various court dispositions of homicide offenders in Newark, NJ, a location where the majority of residents are African American and Latino. Two research questions are examined: (1) Does ethnicity play an important role in the decision to dismiss a case against a homicide offender, convict via a plea deal, convict via trial, acquit via trial, and sentence length? and (2) Which legal and extralegal factors play a role in these decision points during the processing of homicide offenders? The findings suggest that when there is little ethnic variation of defendants, victims, and the citizenry, other extralegal variables take precedence in informing the focal concerns of court actors. The results also suggest that different legal and extralegal variables affect the odds of distinct court outcomes. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.

Environmental correlates of urban dog bites: A spatial analysis

ABSTRACT To be able to design effective urban public health programs to reduce the risk of dog bites and transmission of disease, the very complex factors that lead to bites need to be considered holistically. This research focuses specifically on the role of spatial and environmental factors as urban public health risks. In doing this, it addresses the following research questions: (1) What are the relative powers of traditional demographic versus environmental variables in explaining dog bites? (2) Do different areas of the city evidence different correlates of bites? The answer to the first is that despite a long tradition in the literature, demographic variables do a relatively poor job of explaining variation in the rates of emergency room visits due to dog bites. Rather, environmental and spatial variables, particularly crime, vacancy, and blight, are better predictors of dog bites than traditional demographic variables such as age and gender. However, even the best-fitting regression model leaves dog bites in many areas of a city unexplained; bite covariates differ by neighborhood. Thus, to effectively address the risk of dog bites in urban areas, different policies are required for different neighborhood conditions.

Homicides and Weapons: Examining the Covariates of Weapon Choice

This study examines the covariates of weapon choice in homicide incidents. Two research questions are examined. The first research question is: what variables influence the use of a particular type of weapon in a homicide? The second research question asks: how does the method of weapon retrieval, or lack thereof, affect the choice of weapon? The findings suggest that firearms are more likely to be on the offender’s person and carried to the incident scene relative to other weapon types. In addition, the use of specific types of weapons is conditioned by the demographic and lifestyle characteristics of victims and offenders.

Adult and Youth Involvement in Gun-Related Crime: Implications for Gun Violence Prevention Interventions:

The purpose of this study is to assess whether distinct targeted violence prevention programs are needed to address gun violence based on offender age. Police incident reports were used to analyze the temporal, situational, and spatial patterns of offending between a group of adult and youthful offenders in the city of Detroit, Michigan. Chi-square and logistic regression multivariate techniques were used to test the differences and similarities between these groups. The findings suggest that youth and adult offenders of gun crimes in Detroit are not significantly different in the time or place in which they offend. Only modest differences were observed in terms of situational characteristics. The most significant differences between youth and adult offenders involved the age of their victim and the presence of co-offenders. Policy implications are discussed.

The uncivil latina

This article centers on the institutional barriers Latinas face in their professional development. An autoethnographic approach is employed to explore common themes faced by Latinas that hinder their success via the lens of culture conflict theory. This study specifically focus on issues related to interactions with students, marginalization, and institutional racism. A set of individual and institutional-level recommendations that may serve to alleviate the challenges facing Latinas, and faculty of color in general, are discussed.

Race/Ethnicity and Justice in Academia

Race and ethnicity are common themes in criminology and criminal justice. Research has consistently shown that African Americans and other racial/ethnic minorities, such as Latinos, are overrepresented as victims and offenders in violent crime when compared to Caucasians (Sampson, Morenoff, & Raudenbush, 2005). Consequently, they are also overrepresented in the arrestee and prison populations (Walker, Spohn, & DeLone, 2012). Relatedly, studies have also demonstrated an intersectionality effect in which race, ethnicity, gender, and social class affect criminal behavior and the response by criminal justice agencies (Barak, Flavin, & Leighton, 2001; Spohn & Holleran, 2000). Specifically, African American males who are of low economic standing are more likely to be victims and offenders of crime and are also more likely to be represented in criminal justice agencies as arrestees and inmates. Given the importance of race and ethnicity, criminologists spend a lot of time examining how these variables affect criminal behavior, victimization, and the response by criminal justice institutions, and a plethora of research has accumulated that explore these issues and their consequences. Although criminologists recognize the importance of race/ethnicity in the explanation of criminality and response by criminal justice agencies, an area that is seldom examined is the effect of race/ethnicity, and their intersection with gender and social class, on the lives of academics who study these issues or members of the racial/ethnic gender minorities in academia. Studying these issues is important given the sparse, yet growing, population of faculty of color in criminology and criminal justice. Within criminology and criminal justice programs, racial minorities comprise a mere 16.5% of the faculty, with non-Latino Blacks accounting for approximately 6.2% and Latinos 2.7% (Association of Doctoral Programs in Criminology and Criminal Justice [ADPCCJ], 2016). The racial minority population in criminology and criminal justice programs, however, is expected to significantly increase, given that approximately