Lawrence F. Travis

Examining the Predictors of Recidivism Among Men and Women Released From Prison in Ohio

Deficits in education, employment, and housing as well as the lack of treatment programs pose significant barriers to the successful reentry of inmates released from prison. This research uses a representative sample of inmates released from Ohio prisons to examine the extent to which these factors are associated with recidivism. Furthermore, building on prior research, it examines potential differences in these predictors by gender. The findings provide support for Petersilia’s suggestions and indicate that employment, housing, and the completion of some forms of treatment are negatively associated with multiple measures of recidivism. Also, no gender differences in the predictors examined here are detected, suggesting that the factors likely behave in a gender-neutral manner.

Moderating Probation and Parole Officer Attitudes to Achieve Desired Outcomes

Much has been written about officer role orientations in probation and parole and about principles of effective correctional intervention, but little research adequately reflects the importance of linking these two discussions. The present study on officer attitudes provides a first step toward making this link. An officer attitude survey was conducted with both regular and intensive supervision officers at two different program sites. Each site recently implemented a prototypical model of intensive supervision that encourages a balanced approach to supervision and is based on principles of effective correctional intervention. Prior to implementation, the intensive supervision officers at each site participated in comprehensive training and development activities. The primary purpose of this research was to learn the extent to which attitudes of the intensive supervision officers differ from those of regular supervision officers—who did not participate in the training and development activities—in terms of their focus and style of supervision. The results suggest that a comprehensive approach to training and development can effectively instill in officers the supervision attitudes that are most conducive to promoting offender change.

Sex offender notification and protective behavior.

A primary purpose of sex offender community notification statutes is to give community members the opportunity to engage in precautionary behavior to prevent victimization. This exploratory study examines the effect of notification by comparing the behavior of 87 Hamilton County, Ohio, residents receiving sex offender notification to the behavior of 149 other residents who had not received notification. The findings indicate that notified respondents are significantly more likely to engage in behaviors to protect themselves and others from victimization, and to engage in community reporting behavior.

The role of police in public schools: a comparison of principal and police reports of activities in schools

This paper describes results from a recent study about the role of law enforcement in schools. Using data from a national mail survey of principals and law enforcement administrators, we compare reports of the types of activities in which police are involved. We found agreement that law-enforcement related activities were the most common type of police involvement in schools, but police also report higher levels of overall participation in schools. We conclude with a discussion of possible explanations for these different perceptions and suggestions for future research to better understand the role of law enforcement in school safety.

Examining the Effects of Residential Situations and Residential Mobility on Offender Recidivism

Drawing from theories of social control, this study involved an examination of the time-varying effects of six different residential situations and residential mobility on offenders’ odds of recidivism during the year immediately following their release from prison. Analyses of data collected on a statewide sample of offenders released under supervision in Ohio generated results favoring a control perspective. Both residential mobility and residential situations such as living with a spouse or parent were relevant for understanding differences among offenders in their odds of recidivism. Stable characteristics of offenders such as gender and prior criminal history were also linked to recidivism.

Community Response to Sex Offenders

Sex offender community notification statutes have been enacted to provide community members with relevant information for assessing risk of sexual victimization and to guide precautionary behavior. Prior research has found that community members receiving sex offender notification are significantly more likely to engage in precautionary measures to prevent crime victimization to themselves and household members, and has indicated that sex offender notification is significantly related to self-fear of victimization. Research has not, however, taken into consideration the relationship between protective behavior, fear of victimization, and perceived risk of victimization. This study expands the literature on notification statutes by comparing the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions of community members who have received sex offender notification with the reactions of community members who have not. Drawing upon survey analysis from Hamilton County, Ohio, we find that receiving notification that a sex offender has moved into a community significantly influences perceived risk of victimization and the behaviors individuals engage in to protect household members from crime victimization, but does not produce a significant effect on fear of victimization.

Understanding Parole Officers’ Responses to Sanctioning Reform:

There are constant calls for reform in the criminal justice system, but observers have often reported that criminal justice reform is an exceptionally challenging task. As with any organizational change, resistance to new policies, procedures, and practices comes from a variety of sources. The relatively broad discretionary authority vested in line-level personnel often contributes to the difficulty associated with implementing change in criminal justice agencies. There is ample evidence that line staff resistance to organizational reform can undermine the implementation of organizational change. In this study, the authors examine the effects of the state of Ohio’s transition to graduated sanctioning guidelines on parole officers—in particular, how these reforms were perceived by the key actors in the sanctioning process: parole officers. Findings from a statewide survey revealed that officers were generally dissatisfied with the restrictions on their discretion resulting from the reform. Analyses revealed that organizational factors such as officers’ perceptions concerning how the sanctioning policy was implemented and its intended purposes were more influential than individual characteristics in shaping officers’ views concerning the efficacy of the reform.

Multijurisdictional drug task forces An analysis of impacts

Abstract In the past decade, municipal police organizations have devoted significant resources toward drug enforcement. One popular strategy in addressing the American drug problem is the formulation of multijurisdictional drug task forces. Despite their popularity, the impact of these cooperative ventures on law enforcement agencies has not been adequately evaluated. The research reported here examined the effect of membership in a drug enforcement task force on levels of drug enforcement outputs and perceptions of effectiveness by comparing law enforcement agencies participating in drug task forces to agencies which do not participate. Results suggest that task force membership impacts perceptions, but does not appear to influence objective measures of drug enforcement outputs.

Assessing the quality of doctoral programs in deviance, criminology, and criminal justice: A response to Thomas and Bronick

Abstract Much attention in criminal justice and other disciplines has been focused on assessing the quality of academic pursuits and programs. With particular emphasis on a recent article by Thomas and Bronick, this article explores the limitations of such research. A general conclusions is reached that the state of the art of quality assessment is such that the results of these evaluations can only be deemed to be tentative. Further, any attempt to base program development, student application or other policy decisions on the findings of these studies is unwarranted and potentially harmful.

Wilson Redux Another Look at Varieties of Police Behavior

Since the publication of Varieties of Police Behavior more than four decades ago, Wilsons theory concerning the link between local political culture and police styles has had a significant and enduring impact on police scholarship. However, there have been surprisingly few empirical tests of Wilsons assertions, and of those limited number of studies, only a small number provide even partial support for the model. The current study provides a test of Wilsons theory using a unique measure of police style derived from observational data rather than official arrest/citation statistics. Perhaps more important, we discuss our findings within the context of previous research that has failed to support Wilsons theory and present a critical assessment of the requirements of a valid test of this theory. We argue that Wilsons model retains an intuitive appeal to those interested in explaining the relationship between local community context and police behavior.