Jillian J. Turanovic

Taking Stock of the Relationship Between Gang Membership and Offending: A Meta-Analysis

This study takes stock of empirical research examining the relationship between gang membership and offending by subjecting this large body of work to a meta-analysis. Multilevel modeling is used to determine the overall mean effect size of this relationship based on 1,649 effect size estimates drawn from 179 empirical studies and 107 independent data sets. The findings indicate that there is a fairly strong relationship between gang membership and offending (Mz = .227, confidence interval [CI] = [.198, .253]). Bivariate and multivariate moderator analyses not only reveal that this relationship is robust across the vast majority of methodological variations but also show that the gang membership–offending link is stronger when studying active gang members, and weaker in prospective research designs, non-U.S. samples, and when controlling for theoretical confounders and mediators. These results affirm the efforts of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to understand and respond to gang behaviors, and are used to identify aspects of this literature that are most worthy of continued attention.

Lifestyle and Routine Activity Theories Revisited: The Importance of “Risk” to the Study of Victimization

Abstract Lifestyle and routine activity theories both view victimization through the lens of the convergence of a motivated offender, an attractive target/victim, and the absence of capable guardianship. These theories differ, however, in how they view the behaviors that put people at “risk” for victimization. Where lifestyle theory conceives of risk in probabilistic terms (e.g., certain behaviors elevate one’s odds of being victimized), routine activity theory simply describes the victimization event itself (e.g., if the three key elements converge, victimization happens, yet if one of the elements is missing, victimization is avoided). We argue that this difference is meaningful and that its disappearance over time has been consequential to the study of victimization. Our purpose here is to outline the implications of this difference in the conception of risk for victimization theory, research, and policy. Our broader goal is to reignite a theoretical debate that we feel is long overdue.

Longitudinal Effects of Violent Victimization during Adolescence on Adverse Outcomes in Adulthood: A Focus on Prosocial Attachments

OBJECTIVE To assess how prosocial attachments to school and family may diminish the effects of violent victimization during adolescence on adverse outcomes in adulthood. STUDY DESIGN We analyzed secondary data on 13,555 participants from waves 1 (1994-1995) and 3 (2001-2002) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of US high school and middle school students. Adverse outcomes in adulthood included offending, alcohol problems, drug use, risky sexual behavior, violent victimization, depression, low self-esteem, suicidality, hospitalizations, sexually transmitted infections, extreme weight control, and obesity. Analyses were conducted separately for males and females. RESULTS Our multivariate regression analyses demonstrated that adolescent victimization is a significant predictor of a host of problems in adulthood. Nevertheless, attachment to school and to family meaningfully reduced the effect of victimization on nearly every adult outcome we assessed. CONCLUSIONS Strong attachments to school and family in adolescence can reduce the long-term harms of violence on the lives of young persons. Incorporating this insight into regular clinical assessment could yield significant behavioral, health, and psychoemotional benefits for victims of violence.

VIOLENT OFFENDING AND VICTIMIZATION IN ADOLESCENCE: SOCIAL NETWORK MECHANISMS AND HOMOPHILY†

Although violent offending and victimization share many features, they can affect adolescent social relationships in distinct ways. To understand these differences, we take a network approach to examine the mechanisms responsible for similarities (i.e., homophily) in violent offending and violent victimization among friends. Our goal is to determine whether the social network mechanisms that produce homophily for violent offending are similar to or different from those that produce homophily for violent victimization. By using stochastic actor-oriented modeling and two waves of friendship network data for 1,948 respondents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we examine homophily mechanisms of preference for similarity, avoidance, and influence with respect to youth violence and victimization. The results demonstrate that homophily observed for violent offending primarily reflects selection of similar others, whereas homophily observed for victimization reflects the tendency among alters to avoid victimized youth. These findings have important implications for future research and suggest that, among adolescents, violent offending and victimization homophily are the result of unique social processes.

Prisoners’ Assessments of Mental Health Problems Among Their Children

High rates of imprisonment among American men and women have motivated recent research on the well-being of children of incarcerated parents. Despite advances in the literature, little is known regarding the mental health status of children who experience maternal relative to paternal incarceration. Accordingly, we examine whether there are differences in mental health needs among children of incarcerated parents. Specifically, we assess whether incarcerated mothers are more likely than incarcerated fathers to report that their children suffer from mental health problems. Using cross-sectional data on children (N = 1,221) compiled from a sample of parents confined in the Arizona Department of Corrections, we find that children of incarcerated mothers are significantly more likely to be identified as suffering from mental health problems. This effect remained even after controlling for additional parent stressors and child risk factors such as exposure to violence, in utero exposure to drugs/alcohol, and parental mental illness. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.

REVISITING THE CRIMINOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF EXPOSURE TO FETAL TESTOSTERONE: A META-ANALYSIS OF THE 2D:4D DIGIT RATIO†

As criminology has become more interdisciplinary in recent years, biosocial criminology has earned a place at the table. Although this perspective comes in many forms, one important proposition has gained increasing attention: that the 2D:4D finger digit ratio—a purported physical biomarker for exposure to fetal testosterone—is related to criminal, aggressive, and risky/impulsive behavior. Strong claims in the literature have been made for this link even though the findings seem to be inconsistent. To establish the empirical status of this relationship, we subjected this body of work to a meta-analysis. Our multilevel analyses of 660 effect size estimates drawn from 47 studies (14,244 individual cases) indicate a small overall effect size (mean r = .047). Moderator analyses indicate that this effect is rather “general” across methodological specifications—findings that are at odds with theoretical propositions that specify the importance of exposure to fetal testosterone in predicting criminal and analogous behavior later in life. We conclude with a call for exercising caution over embracing the findings from one or two studies and instead highlight the importance of systematically organizing the full body of literature on a topic before making decisions about what does, and what does not, predict criminal and analogous behavior.

The Cycle of Violence Revisited Childhood Victimization, Resilience, and Future Violence

The individual and social protective factors that help break the cycle of violence are examined. Specifically, this study investigates (a) the individual and social protective factors that reduce violent offending among previously victimized children, and (b) whether certain protective factors are more or less important depending on the type and frequency of childhood victimization experienced. Data on young adults from Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health are used (N = 13,116). Negative binomial regression models are estimated to examine the protective factors that promote resiliency to violent offending among individuals who reported being physically and sexually victimized as children. Results indicate that a number of individual and social protective factors reduce violent offending in young adulthood. With a few exceptions, these factors are specific to the type, frequency, and comorbidity of abuse experienced. The results suggest a number of promising approaches to break the cycle of violence among previously victimized children. Future research should move beyond explaining the cycle of violence to examine how the cycle may be broken.

Depression and infrequent participation in social activities among older adults: the moderating role of high-quality familial ties.

Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to investigate whether depression is associated with reduced participation in social activities among older adults. Additionally, this study assesses whether high-quality familial ties diminish the negative association between depression and social activities. Methods: Using cross-sectional telephone interview data from a sample of individuals 60 years of age and older in Arizona and Florida (N = 2000), this study estimates a series of linear regression models to assess the relationship between depression and social activities, and test whether this association is conditioned by high-quality familial ties using multiplicative interaction terms. Results: As expected, an inverse relationship between depression and social activities is observed. Delving deeper, the regression models reveal that the depression–inactivity association is weaker among older individuals with strong, positive ties to spouses and children. Additional tests demonstrate the mere of existence of familial bonds provides no meaningful benefit – the quality of such ties matters. Conclusion: Findings support the theoretical argument that high-quality familial ties provide supportive coping resources that buffer individuals from the undesirable consequences associated with depression. Moving forward, longitudinal research on the causal links between depression and infrequent participation in social and leisure activities among older adults is warranted.

Racial Inequality, Ethnic Inequality, and the System Involvement of At-Risk Youth: Implications for the Racial Invariance and Latino Paradox Theses

Drawing from the inequality and crime, racial invariance, and Latino paradox literatures, the effects of inequality on youth reoffending are examined. Specifically, hierarchical logistic regression models are estimated to determine: (1) whether racial and ethnic inequality have similar contextual effects on the continued delinquent behavior of at-risk youth and (2) whether these effects are specific to black or Latino/a youth residing in Maricopa County, Arizona (N = 13,138). Findings suggest that racial inequality increases reoffending while ethnic inequality decreases reoffending. Additionally, Latino/a youth are less likely to reoffend in areas characterized by high income and racial inequality. Structural theories of crime should continue to account for the importance of culture and the resilient responses employed by Latinos/as living in criminogenic environments.

“I Suck at Everything”: Crime, Arrest, and the Generality of Failure

ABSTRACT In this article, we advance the idea that getting arrested amounts to “failing at crime.” And akin to the notion of the generality of deviance—where those who engage in any given form of criminal behavior are also likely to engage in a wide array of other problematic behaviors—we examine whether failing at crime (getting arrested) is associated with other forms of life failure. Using data from multiple waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, our results reveal that, independent of one’s level of self-reported criminal behavior and other key potential confounders (IQ and self-control), being arrested is a significant predictor of a host of life failures related to education, employment, relationships, and health. The key implication of our study is that it highlights the need to develop a theory of the “generality of failure.”