Merry Morash

Assessing Recidivism Risk Across Female Pathways to Crime

Actuarial tools, such as the Level of Supervision Inventory—Revised (LSI‐R), are regularly used to classify offenders as “high,” “medium,” and “low” recidivism risks. Its supporters argue the theory upon which the LSI‐R rests (i.e., social learning theory) accounts for criminal behavior among men and women. In short, the LSI‐R is gender‐neutral. Feminist criminologists question the LSI‐R’s validity for female offender populations, especially women under community supervision. Guided by Daly’s (1992, 1994) pathways to crime framework, we use a sample of women under community supervision in Minnesota and Oregon to evaluate the LSI‐R’s performance across offender subgroups. The results show that the LSI‐R misclassifies a significant portion of socially and economically marginalized women with gendered offending contexts. Predictive accuracy was observed for women who did not follow gendered pathways into criminality, whose offending context was similar to males, and who occupied a relatively advantaged social location.

Gender, workplace problems, and stress in policing

This paper focuses on the connection of workplace problems with stress for women and men working in police departments. Field research was used to identify the problems that women experience in police departments, and quantitative measures were developed to measure these problems in a survey of women and men in 25 departments. Although women and men experience many of the same work-related problems, and although such problems account for a high proportion of workplace stress in both groups, the gendered nature of police organizations causes unique stressors for women. Overall, however, women do not report higher levels of stress than men.

Gender, race, and strategies of coping with occupational stress in policing

In this paper we identify a number of strategies that police officers use to cope with stress caused by problems in the workplace. We also compare coping strategies for gender and racial groups, and link differences to level of stress. Extensive observational data and a survey of 1,087 police officers in 24 departments were used to address the research questions. We found that African-Americans rely more strongly than Caucasians on bonds with other minorities, and that Caucasian officers more often use expression of feelings, trying to get others to like them, and camaraderie with coworkers. Women cope with stress by using escape and by keeping written records more often than men. The data also suggest that an officers stress-level group depends on the coping strategies he or she uses. Implications for future research are discussed, as are programs to help police develop effective strategies for coping with workplace problems.

Multilevel Influences on Police Stress

The prior literature has highlighted a variety of workplace problems, such as racial and gender bias and lack of influence over work activities, as influences on police stress. Additional explanations for police stress include community conditions, for example, high crime rates and size of the community, token status within the police organization, and lack of family and coworker support for work-related activities. In a large-sample, exploratory study, this research examined the workplace problems that were hypothesized to predict stress. It also determined whether community conditions, token status, and lack of social support explained additional variance in officers’ stress levels. Lack of influence over work activities and bias against one’s racial, gender, or ethnic group stood out as important predictors of stress after controls were introduced for demographic variables. Interventions to redesign jobs to afford greater influence and to reduce within-department bias are approaches that could reduce police officers’ stress.

A Critical Look at the Idea of Boot Camp as a Correctional Reform

There is growing interest in modeling a military boot camp experience in correctional settings. Prior research on the history of military approaches in correctional settings and military basic training and on the images of masculinity that are encouraged in correctional boot camps raises questions about the efficacy of the correctional boot camp reform. The military model may set the stage for abuse of power and encourage increased aggression by both staff and offenders. Research does not provide indications that there will be beneficial effects. The potential for negative outcomes has clear implications for the design and evaluation of correctional boot camps.

A Comprehensive Test of General Strain Theory Key Strains, Situational- and Trait-Based Negative Emotions, Conditioning Factors, and Delinquency

Using longitudinal data on South Korean youth, the authors addressed limitations of previous tests of general strain theory (GST), focusing on the relationships among key strains, situational- and trait-based negative emotions, conditioning factors, and delinquency. Eight types of strain previously shown most likely to result in delinquency, including delinquency in the South Korean context, were measured. To better understand how trait- and situational-based negative emotions mediate the connection of strains to delinquency, trait and situational measures were used for anger and depression, emotions commonly expected to promote delinquency. Overall, the findings support GSTs key propositions. Most of the eight strains and some interaction terms between strains and conditioning variables had significant effects on various types of delinquency. Furthermore, situational-based negative emotions operated differently than trait-based negative emotions in mediating the relationship between strain and delinquency. These findings raise questions about the assumption that trait-based negative emotions accurately represent situational-based negative emotions in response to strains.

The Needs of Women Offenders

Abstract Recent corrections research indicates that programs and community services providing assistance and training for women offenders are lacking. Using a sample of 402 female felony offenders, womens needs, including those thought to be criminogenic (i.e., characteristics and circumstances that heighten an individuals recidivism risk), are examined to determine whether certain groups of women possess similar sets of needs. Cluster analysis is used to identify combinations of needs shared within subgroups of female felons. Identification of common and co-occurring needs, particularly those associated with high risk for recidivism, can assist program staff, advocates for women offenders, and correctional administrators in determining what combination of program elements should be available to women, and the degree to which programming must address multiple domains.

Social Capital Among Women Offenders: Examining the Distribution of Social Networks and Resources

Studies investigating the trials and tribulations of women offenders in the United States are becoming increasingly common. One theme in the literature is that successful reentry of women offenders is dependent on support of social networks. Generally, social theorists posit that a variety of positive outcomes is associated with healthy social networks. For example, networks provide social structural resources (“social capital”), which in turn promote acquisition of skills and knowledge (“human capital”) to achieve goals that would otherwise be unattainable. This article investigates the differential distribution of social networks in terms of size and resources (i.e., support) across social groupings (e.g., race, age) using a sample of adult female felons. The results show that (a) better educated and higher income offenders are members of larger social networks, and (b) poorly educated women offenders, women with annual legal incomes below

Gender Differences in the Effects of Strain on the Delinquency of South Korean Youth.

8,000, and younger offenders have access to lower levels of support.

Evaluating Women On Patrol: A Critique of Contemporary Wisdom

General strain theory (GST) was tested as an explanation of violent and status offense delinquency of South Korean girls and boys. One research objective was to determine whether Korean girls and boys differed in their experience of each type of strain and in the levels of conditioning effects that might moderate the connections of strain to delinquency. Another objective was to identify gender differences in the effects of different types of strain, conditioning effects, and interaction terms (Strains × Conditioning factors) on delinquency. Finally, the study compared girls and boys on the amount of variance in delinquency that main and interaction effects explained. For both gender groups, the interaction of abuse by teachers and having delinquent peers stood out as the key predictor of violent and status offending.