John J. Sloan Iii

Unraveling the fear of victimization among college women: Is the “shadow of sexual assault hypothesis” supported?

Using data on victimization from a national sample of college students, we replicated, refined, and extended Ferraros models to test the “shadow of sexual assault” thesis and to explore factors that heightened womens age-specific fear of rape. We took into account temporal dimensions of crime-specific fear (during the day and at night) and used a domain-specific model. Overall, fear of rape among college women “shadowed” their fear of other personal crimes. Our age-specific results concerning college womens fear of rape largely mirrored Ferraros results for women more generally. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Police levels and crime rates revisited: A county-level analysis from Florida (1980-1998)

Abstract Research on the police–crime relationship generally shows police levels have little impact on crime rates. Two recent studies [Criminology 34 (1996) 609; American Economics Review 87 (1997) 270.] presented evidence that prior police–crime studies were methodologically flawed and found that increased police levels reduced crime. Using county-level data collected from Florida for the period 1980–1998 and a multiple time series (MTS) design, this study revisited the police–crime relationship. for a sample of large cities, the study found that increased police levels reduced most types of crime at the county level. Similar results have now been reported in three recent studies using similar research designs but different units of analysis and time periods. Due to this, prior research showing no relationship between police levels and crime should be reconsidered.

Assessing the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act of 1990: An Analysis of the Victim Reporting Practices of College and University Students

In the late 1980s, celebrated victimizations of college students and grassroots efforts by victims and their families prompted Congress to pass the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act of 1990 that requires postsecondary institutions to disseminate crime statistics for their campuses annually. Using data from a victimization study of more than 3,400 college students, the authors examine whether statistics generated by this policy initiative provide an accurate portrait of on-campus crime. Results of their analyses cast serious doubt on the validity and reliability of the statistics generated by the act.

“Striking out” as crime reduction policy: The impact of “three strikes” laws on crime rates in U.S. cities

During the 1990s, in response to public dissatisfaction over what were perceived as ineffective crime reduction policies, 25 states and Congress passed three strikes laws, designed to deter criminal offenders by mandating significant sentence enhancements for those with prior convictions. Few large-scale evaluations of the impact of these laws on crime rates, however, have been conducted. Our study used a multiple time series design and UCR data from 188 cities with populations of 100,000 or more for the two decades from 1980 to 2000. We found, first, that three strikes laws are positively associated with homicide rates in cities in three strikes states and, second, that cities in three strikes states witnessed no significant reduction in crime rates.

Juvenile Drug Courts: Understanding the Importance of Dimensional Variability

Juvenile drug courts have emerged as “innovative” responses to juvenile drug offenders, but comparatively little is known about their operations. Using Goldkamps typology of adult drug courts and secondary analyses of Cooper and Bartletts data from a national-level survey of juvenile drug courts, this article first describes these courts and then analyzes the variability in key dimensions of juvenile drug courts that were operating in the United States on January 1, 1998. Results showed that juvenile drug courts have great variation across their key dimensions (e.g., target populations, target problems, court processing focus, and candidate screening and evaluation). The authors raise questions about future research that might ignore the variance across the key dimensions of juvenile drug courts that were uncovered.

Do juvenile drug courts reduce recidivism?: Outcomes of drug court and an adolescent substance abuse program

Juvenile drug courts have emerged as “innovative” responses to juvenile drug offenders, but comparatively little is known about their operations. This paper presents results of a retrospective comparison of drug court participants to an adolescent substance abuse program (ASAP) to examine which participants fared better in terms of future recidivism. Using data collected from official case files, we compared recidivism levels for all juveniles (n = 150) terminated from drug court between 1996 and 1999 with those of a random sample of juveniles (n = 158) terminated from ASAP during 1994 and 1995. Biand multivariate analyses were conducted to identify whether significant differences existed between the groups concerning re-arrest (recidivism) over a 24-month post-release observation period. Study results highlighted by logistic regression analyses suggesting that juveniles in drug court were no more likely to recidivate than were juveniles in ASAP is a positive finding for the drug court program and is an indication that the program is working, especially given the serious nature of this juvenile offender population.

Just Deserts, The Severity Of Punishment And Judicial Sentencing Decisions

Just deserts, as a philosophy of punishment, argues that criminal sanctions should be commensurate with the seriousness of the offense. This paper analyzes the severity of punishment meted out to felony offenders in a large urban jurisdiction in the Midwest and argues that two dimensions of criminal sanction need to be examined to understand punishment severity: the type of sanction received and the length of sentence. We also argue that the frequency and visibility of crime are linked to punishment severity. Analyses indicate that crime visibility is a good predictor both of judicial decisions to incarcerate and of the length of term of probation. Crime frequency, on the other hand, has little predictive power. We conclude that judges in the jurisdiction are guided by a modified just deserts philosophy in their sentencing decisions.