Ronet Bachman

Do fair procedures matter? The effect of procedural justice on spouse assault

In a reanalysis of the Milwaukee Domestic Violence Experiment, the authors examine whether the use of fair procedures on the part of police officers called to the scene of a domestic assault inhibits subsequent assault. Consistent with expectations, they found that procedural justice did suppress subsequent violence, even in the face of adverse outcomes. When police acted in a procedurally fair manner when arresting assault suspects, the rate of subsequent domestic violence was significantly lower than when they did not. Moreover, suspects who were arrested and perceived that they were treated in a procedurally fair manner had subsequent assault rates that were as low as those suspects given a more favorable outcome (warned and then released without arrest). The suppression effect of procedural justice did not depend on the personal characteristics of suspects

The Rationality of Sexual Offending: Testing a Deterrence/Rational Choice Conception of Sexual Assault

Using a combination of hypothetical scenarios and survey-type questions, this study investigates the effect of the context of the offense, formal sanctions, informal sanctions, and moral beliefs on self-reported projections to commit sexual assault. Male college students read and responded to five scenarios each describing a hypothetical sexual assault by a male. Respondents were asked to estimate the certainty of formal and informal punishment for the scenario male, the extent to which they believed the males actions were morally wrong, and the likelihood that they would do what the male did under the same circumstances. We found that projections to commit sexual assault were affected by two circumstances of the incident, the likelihood that the male would be formally sanctioned (dismissed from the university or arrested) and the respondents moral beliefs. The significant deterrent effect observed for formal sanction threats was not invariant, however. The fear of formal sanctions had no effect when respondents were inhibited by their moral evaluation of the incident. The deterrent effect of formal sanction threats did not vary by the level of social censure for the scenario males actions. The implications of these finding for previous and subsequent deterrence research are discussed.

Predicting the reporting of rape victimizations. Have rape reforms made a difference

Despite widespread rape reform laws that have been implemented in this country, victims of rape still face the risk of receiving social stigma should they decide to make their victimization known to authorities. Because formal sanctions have been found to deter rape at both individual and aggregate levels, it is important to understand as much as possible about the pivotal point at which this formal sanctioning process begins: the reporting decision a rape victim makes. Using a contemporary sample from the National Crime Victimization Survey for the years 1987 to 1990, this article investigated the factors related to the police-reporting behavior of rape victims. The results indicated that victims were significantly more likely to report a rape if the offender had used physical force and if the victim had received medical attention for injuries sustained during the commission of the crime. Although the pertinent analyses approached significance, it was found that, unlike earlier studies, victims were not more likely to report a rape if the perpetrator was a stranger or if the victimization occurred away from the victims home.

The Long and Winding Road to Desistance from Crime for Drug-Involved Offenders: The Long-Term Influence of TC Treatment on Re-Arrest

Earlier research by Inciardi and colleagues established the long-term positive effects of a therapeutic community (TC) continuum of treatment for drug-involved offenders. Using data from his original longitudinal study and archival records of criminal justice re-arrest and recidivism, this paper extends these analyses to examine the effects of TC treatment on the long-term success of offenders, up to 18 years after release from prison. Multivariate trajectory analysis is used to examine patterns of re-arrest and desistance among a sample of 1363 clients followed up in person for five years and subsequently with record checks through state and NCIC criminal justice systems. Results indicate significant reductions in new arrests for those who received TC treatment in each of the five trajectories modeled for patterns of persistence and desistance. Discussion centers on the strengths of the relationships in each modeled trajectory and the implications for long-term understanding of drug offenders and criminal behavior.