Ojmarrh Mitchell

The Stability and Resiliency of Self-Control in a Sample of Incarcerated Offenders

The central tenet of Gottfredson and Hirschis self-control theory is that antisocial behavior is caused by stable between-individual differences in self-control. They also argue that after early childhood, interventions aimed at reducing antisocial behavior will be unsuccessful, as ones level of self-control is resilient to such efforts. This research tested the stability and resiliency hypotheses using a two-wave panel design in a sample of incarcerated offenders. The results indicated that self-control was not stable during a short period of time but that self-control was resilient to participation in a treatmentoriented boot-camp program.

Examining Racial Disparities in Drug Arrests

The War on Drugs popularized a set of policies and practices that dramatically increased the number of drug arrests, particularly for low-level drug offenses. The War’s tactics have affected Americans of every race; however, minorities have been most dramatically affected. There are several explanations for the observed racial disparity in drug arrests, but relatively little research directly tests these explanations. In this study, we test three common explanations of racial disparities in drug arrest rates. We find that racial disparities in drug arrests cannot be explained by differences in drug offending, nondrug offending, or residing in the kinds of neighborhoods likely to have heavy police emphasis on drug offending. Our findings are most consistent with explanations focusing on racial bias in drug sanctions.

IS THE WAR ON DRUGS RACIALLY BIASED

ABSTRACT The War on Drugs (WoD) popularized aggressive law enforcement tactics and punitive sanctions aimed at low-level drug offenders. These punitive practices have affected Americans of all races; however, African-Americans, in particular, have been affected. This article examines whether racial disparities in arrest and incarceration can be explained by racial differences in drug offending. The evidence indicates that African-Americans are no more likely to use or sell drugs than whites; thus, racial differences in the extent of drug offending cannot explain these disparities. Disparities in arrest and incarceration are better explained by the combination of the policy decision to focus on low-level drug offenders, racial differences in the nature of drug offending, and the discretionary decisions of criminal justice officials, which appear to be affected by racial stereotypes of drug offenders.

Incarceration-Based Drug Treatment

America’s continuing ‘‘war on drugs’’ has flooded the criminal justice system with substance abusers (Lipton, 1995; 1998). A 1997 Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of incarcerated offenders found that 57% of state inmates and 45% of federal inmates reported drug use in the month prior to their offense. These rates are increases of 14% and 40%, respectively, over 1991 levels (Mumola, 1999). During the same period drug use among the general U.S. population was declining or holding steady (SAMHSA, 1998). Moreover, many of these drug using offenders are serious substance abusers, not casual users. Peters and his colleagues (1998), for example, reported that 56% of a sample of Texas inmates were diagnosed as having a substance abuse or dependence disorder during the 30 days prior to their incarceration. Similarly, a survey of jail inmates in Ohio found that 51% were currently drug dependent (Lo and Stephens, 2000). In all, a large body of accumulated evidence points to the substantial treatment need for a considerable proportion of offenders under criminal justice supervision (Belenko et al., 1998; Lo and Stephens, 2000). In fact, it is estimated that about 40% of all Americans who clearly need drug treatment are under the supervision of the criminal justice system (Gerstein and Harwood, 1990:7). Without effective substance abuse treatment, a high-proportion of these incarcerated offenders will resume their patterns of illicit drug use, and in all likelihood their patterns of criminal offending, once released from prison. As such, the period of time when an offender is incarcerated represents a crucial opportunity to prevent crime by intervening in this cycle of drug abuse and crime. Several aspects of correctional facilities (i.e., prisons, jails) make incarceration-based substance

Race Differences in Drug Offending and Drug Distribution Arrests

The War on Drugs’ emphasis on apprehending low-level drug offenders dramatically increased the number of arrests for drug distribution and exacerbated racial and ethnic disparities in such arrests. Although these disparities have been the topic of much discussion, they rarely have been the subject of multivariate empirical scrutiny. This research examines the degree to which race differences in drug offending, nondrug offending, and community context explain race differences in the likelihood of experiencing a drug distribution arrest in a longitudinal sample of youthful respondents (age 12-29). Our results indicate that in comparison with White drug offenders, Hispanic drug offenders’ greater likelihood of arrest is largely due to differences in community context; however, African Americans’ greater likelihood of arrest is not explained by differences in offending or community context. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Disconfirmation of the Predictive Validity of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire in a Sample of High-Risk Drug Offenders

The psychometric properties of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ) are assessed in a sample of drug dealing offenders. Findings indicate the SAQ demonstrated adequate concurrent validity; however, the SAQ fails to predict recidivism. Furthermore, SAQ total scores exhibit high levels of reliability, yet half of the SAQ subscales exhibit substandard levels of reliability and all but one of the subscales are multidimensional. A comparative analysis reveals that two measures already commonly available to criminal agencies, age and number of prior arrests, predict recidivism more effectively than the SAQ.

The Environment and Working Conditions in Juvenile Boot Camps and Traditional Facilities

This national study of juvenile correctional facilities compared the correctional environments of 25 juvenile boot camps to those of 22 traditional juvenile facilities. Data on perceived environmental conditions for juveniles and work climate for staff, as well as demographic characteristics, were collected from 1,233 juvenile correctional facility staff. While there was some regional variation, in comparison to staff employed in traditional juvenile correctional facilities, boot camp staff perceived the environmental conditions for juveniles as having significantly more activity, control, justice, structure, caring, and therapeutic programming, and believed that their releases were better prepared for the future. Boot staff also perceived their facilities as having less danger for residents and staff, as well as having less general environmental danger and risks to residents. Furthermore, boot camp staff perceived their work climates as generally more favorable than comparison facility staff. In contrast to the opinions of many boot camp critics, these data suggest that the boot camp environment has more of the environmental components suggested by psychological theorists as being necessary for effective correctional treatment.

The Impact of Drug Treatment Provided in Correctional Facilities

Over the past 40 years enormous changes have occurred in the philosophy and management of corrections and these changes had a dramatic impact correctional practice. The “War on Drugs” focused on the philosophies of incapacitation and deterrence. As a result the number of drug involved offenders entering correctional facilities greatly increased. Policy makers, correctional administrators and the public began to realize that many of these offenders had serious drug problems and that onerous punishment and longer prison sentences were not the answers to the drug-involved offenders’ problems. A surprisingly large number of them returned to prison a relatively short time after release to the community. In response to this problem, many jurisdictions initiated drug treatment in correctional facilities so drug-involved inmates could receive treatment while incarcerated. This chapter reviews the research literature to examine whether these programs are effective in reducing the drug use and criminal activities of drug-involved offenders once they return to the community. We found some types of drug treatment programs are effective in reducing recidivism, although the research is disappointingly poor in terms of design quality and there are few randomized controlled trials.

Examining Prison Effects on Recidivism: A Regression Discontinuity Approach

The “get-tough” era of punishment led to exponential growth in the rate of incarceration in the United States. Recent reviews of the literature indicate, however, that limited rigorous research exists examining the effect of imprisonment on the likelihood of future offending. As a result, scholars have called for assessment of this relationship, while using methodologies that can better account for selection effects. This study addresses these calls directly by applying regression discontinuity, a methodology well suited to account for selection bias, on a cohort of felony offenders in Florida. Results suggest that prison, as compared to non-incarcerative sanctions, has no appreciable impact on recidivism. Although no differential effects surfaced across race/ethnicity, the analyses indicated that imprisonment exerts a differential effect by gender with the effect being more criminogenic among males than females.

A Reanalysis of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire Psychometric Properties and Predictive Validity

This research reassessed the psychometric properties and predictive validity of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ) in response to published criticism of the authors’ earlier work. The current research used a much longer recidivism tracking-period, a different measure of recidivism, a larger sample, and more advanced analytic techniques than the original. Examination of the SAQ’s psychometric properties continued to indicate that three of the six recidivism prediction subscales exhibited substandard levels of reliability and four of these subscales were not unidimensional. Yet, in contrast to the author’s earlier results, the current analyses found that SAQ total score modestly predicted reconviction.