Kenneth Polk

The New Marginal Youth

This discussion emphasizes the centrality of the school in considering policy for delinquency prevention and control. Several general processes are suggested whereby schooling itself contributes to youth alienation. A major problem identified is an apparent growth in the number of marginal youth resulting when less successful students are confronted with not only an unpleasant school experience, but a future of limited hope in terms of an occupational career. This situation is seen as having its origins in the rapid changes occurring in the world of work, whereby limited opportunities for long-term work careers are available to those without higher education and technical credentials. As a counter to the resultant alienation, forms of youth action are proposed that both engage young persons in useful and paid work, and integrate marginal youth into the mainstream of school and community life.

Rape Reform and Criminal Justice Processing

One goal of criminal law reform regarding rape has been to enhance convictions. Data from California, in which several such reforms have been introduced, indicate that between 1975 and 1982: (1) police clearance rates for rape have remained relatively unchanged; (2) the rate of court filings for rape increased slightly; (3) the probability of a conviction once a case reached court was relatively unchanged; but that (4) there was a strong upward trend for cases of rape (and other serious felonies) to lead to an institutional sentence. Questions are raised about whether these “deep-end” effects meet the intent of rape law reform.

Schools and the Delinquency Experience

The basic proposition examined here is that school experience is an important factor in understanding delinquency but that before this statement can be examined, it is necessary to elaborate an institutional theory which weaves together family-school-adult work role linkages. Secondary data and findings drawn from an ongoing cohort study of 284 adolescent males in the Pacific Northwest are used to show that adult success is related to school success, school success is related to family status characteristics, school status and social class exert independent effects on delinquency, and that adult careers, both successful and deviant, are functions of adolescent school and delinquency labels.

The Implications of Respondent Loss in Panel Studies of Deviant Behavior

While the panel design offers many advantages to social scientists, especially those studying deviant behavior, a major source of potential bias and error of this design is the loss of respondents over time. The present investigation draws upon a secondary analysis of data from seven panel studies which followed adolescent populations through time to examine the impact of such attrition on univariate, bivariate, and multivariate estimates obtained from individuals who remain in panels. Those who remain over time in panels are found to provide relatively accurate estimates of bivariate and multivariate relationships. Univariate estimates such as incidence or prevalence measures of deviance are found to be slightly but systematically biased, this tendency being more clear when the panel is constructed from a broadly representative population base.

Nccd Research Review : Attrition in Case Processing Is Rape Unique?:

In the current literature on rape, frequent reference is made to the attrition of rape cases as these move through the criminal justice system. The present study draws upon national and California secondary data, first, to establish if the hypothesized attrition occurs at key points in the justice system for rape offenses, and then, second, to determine if this attrition is unique from or similar to that experienced with other major felonies. The general conclusion is that, while there is considerable loss of rape cases between the point of initial reporting of an incident to the police and the court sentencing stage, this loss cannot be described as unique to rape. While proba bly somewhat more rape cases experience attrition in the justice system than is true for homicide, rape seems to show a level of loss comparable to robbery at most points, and certainly lower levels of loss than assault or burglary. These findings hold across time and jurisdictions.

CLASS, STRAIN AND REBELLION AMONG ADOLESCENTS*

This investigation is a test of one hypothesis advanced in the work of Arthur Stinchcombe which states that higher rates of rebellion in a high school are to be found among academically unsuccessful (and therefore downwardly-mobile) middleclass boys than among working-class boys who similarly are poor performers in school. Drawing upon interview responses from 284 boys selected from a group of high schools in a county in the Pacific Northwest, we are not able to support Stinchcombes argument. Using a number of measures of rebellion, no pattern emerges whereby white-collar boys who are performing poorly are more rebellious than blue-collar boys at the same level of academic performance. At the same time, levels of rebellion are much higher among those doing poorly in school. This suggests that while Stinchcombe has identified an important variable related to delinquency, i.e., academic failure, the theory he uses to weave together rebellion, failure, and social class background may require some revision.

Juvenile Diversion: A Look at the Record

A recent article by Binder and Geis (1984) observed that the negative response to diversion on the part of sociologists is at variance with the actual record of juvenile diversion, and concluded that this response results from disciplinary narrowness, distrust of police, and overidentification with the underdog. An alternative explanation is that sociologists are, in fact, responding precisely to the empirical record available regarding diversion. That record suggests that although some research reports positive effects of diversion, it is difficult to ignore the data which show that diversion programs may either have no effect or may possibly even be harmful. That record indicates that diversion may not be achieving its stated goal of diverting offenders away from the juvenile justice system, but instead may be a device for expanding both the size of the juvenile justice system and the forms of behavior that come under its control. An argument can be made grounded in data which suggests that diversion programs may be taking on particular functions with respect to girls, and thus may be leading to unanticipated forms of hidden sexism. In gathering data and in making these arguments, sociologists may not be engaged as much in some antidiversionist frenzy as they are expressing their concern for the drift of an important policy away from its intended course.

When Less Means More: An Analysis of Destructuring in Criminal Justice

Stanley Cohen recently proposed a wide-ranging analysis of the phenomenon of net-widening that has been the apparent result of attempts to reduce the scope of the formal criminal justice system through such procedures as decriminalization, diversion, and deinstitutionalization. A major premise of that analysis is that net-widening is an unintended consequence of a broadly based and theoretically homogeneous “destructuring” movement. The present work argues, in contrast, that there were competing and contradictory perspectives regarding how the destructuring alternatives should be constituted. While an expansion of social control might be inconsistent with the intent of a small number of writers (primarily academics) arguing for alternatives to formal justice processing, the close examination conducted here of the theoretical premises of some of those who actually controlled such programs as diversion or deinstitutionalization suggests that net-widening is a direct consequence of how programs were initially conceived, rather than being a case of good ideas that “went astray” as they were implemented.

NCCD Research Review : Any Truth You Want: the Use and Abuse of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics

Recent public policy statements assert that crime is on the increase and that this increase has led to overcrowded prisons. However, contradictory trends in crime and criminal justice activity appear in the published data. Is crime in creasing? remaining stable? or decreasing? A yes to each question is possible, depending on the indicator and time period selected or the criminology text consulted. Similar inconsistencies can be found in the data on prison popu lations. To help sort out these apparent contradictions, the authors present guidelines for number and type of indicators, trend analysis time periods, and data currency. They draw conclusions about recent trends in crime and pun ishment and comment on the limitations of their analysis.

The Uses of Criminology, the Rehabilitative Ideal, and Justice

Donald R. Cressey was a humanistic, liberal criminologist who was committed to the ideals and goals of science. Although he was first and foremost concerned with the advancement of basic criminological knowledge, he also endeavored to spell out some of the positive uses to which that knowledge might be put, particularly in his commentaries on the implications of the theory of differential association for correctional intervention and practice. He took a dim view of recent trends in criminology in which some have turned away from the basic task of pursuit of knowledge and toward advocacy of policies of terror directed at offenders and potential lawbreakers.