Sean P. Varano

Exposure to Community Violence and Childhood Delinquency

Community-level factors such as disadvantage, disorder, and disorganization have been linked to a variety of antisocial and illicit activities. Although crime and deviance tend to concentrate in areas with these characteristics, not all residents of disorganized neighborhoods participate in proscribed activities. This study examines the relationship between exposure to community violence and involvement in assaultive behavior and weapon carrying among a sample of at-risk youth. Findings demonstrate that controlling for the effects of neighborhood disadvantage as well as other common correlates of delinquency (e.g., family supervision and structure, school attachment, and peer delinquency), youth who witnessed more violence in their neighborhoods were more likely to self-report assaultive behavior and weapon carrying. This research has important implications for the study of delinquency by further identifying the social costs of community violence.

Social Control, Serious Delinquency, and Risky Behavior: A Gendered Analysis

Social control theory asserts that strong social bonds inhibit delinquency, whereas weak bonds offer little resistance to offending. In the development of this theoretical perspective, new research suggests that the type and magnitude of social bonds have differing effects on male and female delinquency. This study adds to our understanding of how social control factors of parental attachment, involvement in diverse prosocial activities, belief in traditional norms, and school climate affect both young mens and young womens reports of serious delinquency and risky behavior in a sample of high school youth. Whereas previous research has generally either controlled for the effect of gender statistically or studied all-male samples, this article uses separate models to examine the independent effects of social bonds on male and female delinquency. The findings support the development of gender-specific analyses to understand how social control affects male and female pathways into delinquency.

An Empirical Analysis of Deviant Homicides in Chicago

A survey of the literature suggests that victim-offender relationship and motive are two primary characteristics that have traditionally been used to disaggregate homicide events. Previous research has clearly identified normative homicide characteristics as expressive motives between intimates and instrumental motives between strangers. However, the present research examines the prevalence of deviant homicides, or homicides with nonnormative characteristics, in Chicago. The authors test the hypothesis that deviant homicides are more likely among individuals with weak ties to social institutions. Results of a logistic regression analysis support the hypothesis that the likelihood of deviant circumstances is significantly greater when homicides involve Hispanics, African Americans, and males. In addition, deviant homicides were significantly more likely when they involved gang circumstances and, on the national level, after the appearance of crack cocaine. These findings have important implications to the explanatory power of criminological theory.

Who Do You Refer? The Effects of a Policy Change on Juvenile Referrals

This article examined the effect that limiting police discretion regarding juvenile court referrals had on the referral of first-time juvenile arrestees to a county family court. Data were drawn from Lakeside, a midsized Midwestern police department, and are composed of juvenile arrest and county court records. Data were compiled on all juveniles arrested for the first time in 1993 (prepolicy change) and 1995 (post-policy change). Overall, juveniles were more likely to be referred to the county family court following the policy change. Younger offenders and offenders with less serious offenses were, consonant with our hypotheses, significantly more likely to be processed through the court after the policy change. Contrary to our expectations, the findings indicate that the likelihood of referral for race and gender combinations did not change significantly. This research highlights the importance of controlling for policy changes when examining trends in juvenile arrests and referrals.

Exploring the Drugs-Homicide Connection

The relationship between drugs and homicide has been well documented for some period of time. Drugs can play many different roles in homicide events. Drug homicides are disaggregated into peripheral drug homicides and drug-motivated homicides. In the former, drugs were present at the scene or drugs were being used by the victim or offender but were not the central causal feature of the event. In the latter, the sale or use of drugs was the primary cause of the lethal interaction. Using multinomial logistic analysis, we analyze the extent to which individual, situational, and contextual factors discriminate between different drug-homicideevents. We found variables indicative of risky lifestyles were significant predictors of the different types of drug homicides. More important, findings suggest the variables considered in the multivariate model had different effects on different measures of the dependent variable. Policy implications are discussed.

Change in Police Organizations: Perceptions, Experiences, and the Failure to Launch

Studies and accounts of change in police organizations frequently emphasize case studies of specific efforts enacted during relatively discrete periods of time in one or a few agencies. The narratives often emphasize the success of change efforts or seek to explain why initiatives failed in the case study agency. While instructive, such accounts do not provide broader insights into successes and failures with change across longer periods of time, differing types of change, and diverse organizational contexts. Using survey data from mid-career police supervisors attending the FBI National Academy program, this study considers change experiences. In particular, consideration is given to the frequency of change, its results, and the factors associated with successful and failed outcomes.

National Special Security Event (Salt Lake City 2002)

The 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games began in February just five months after the events of September 11, 2001.1 This tragedy combined with the memory of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games created a sense among some that such global public events bring unnecessary risks. In fact, a group of security experts convened by the Jane’s Information Group in the days after the attacks debated about the relative merits of moving forward with the Olympics considering the uncertain future public safety landscape. Some wondered if this event might “divert security resources from airports and other public facilities where critics say security is inadequate and underfunded.”2 The decision to move forward with the Games sent a clear message to the public that the spirit of the Olympics would not be deterred. In the months leading up to the Games, there was a sense of foreboding and anticipation of an extended period of uncertainty, fear, and economic instability. For many in the United States, the pending Olympics represented both an opportunity and a threat, a time for healing but also a time of anxiety. As Bellavita (2007: 1) observed, “The Games became a symbol of national resolve in the face of barbarism.” These sentiments underscored the importance of the symbol of the Olympic Games, something that prompted the host organization to spend more and more money, increasingly involving the federal government and its security institutions.

Policing Disasters: The Role of Police in the Pre-Disaster Planning and Post-Disaster Responses

Purpose – This chapter provides an overview to the challenges of policing both natural and man-made disasters. Questions surrounding police preparedness to respond to large-scale disasters as well as the causes of failure are likely one of the single biggest system threats faced by police today. Design/methodology/approach – The chapter starts out with a short discussion about the important impact the 9/11 attacks as well as both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had on policing in the United States. The materials presented also provide a conceptual framework for understanding the meaning of “disasters,” as well as making sense of the effectiveness of the police response. Finally, this chapter provides an overview of the role of police in disasters, and more importantly, their role in “creating order out of chaos” (Punch & Markham, 2000). Findings – After more than 10 years of substantial attention to problems associated with responses to natural and man-made disasters, significant barriers remain in the level of communication and coordination among first responders. These barriers are best understood as cultural and not technical in nature. Originality/value of paper – The conceptual role of police in both pre-disaster planning and post-disaster responses has been largely ignored in the literature. This chapter provides a strong framework for conceptualizing these roles. We argue that police, as core members of the first responder system, must continue to break down cultural barriers that diminish their capacities to effectively serve communities in the wake of disasters.

Gangs and Society: Alternative PerspectivesGangs and Society: Alternative Perspectives, edited by KontosLouis, BrothertonDavid, and BarriosLuis. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. 352 pp.

pleasant and personable read. It is also a compelling read: Drawing on personal vignettes and narratives, he accurately illuminates the pressing circumstances of the poor, including their complicated and interrelated needs for housing, healthcare, education, and stable employment that pays a living wage. And in doing so, he makes clear that today’s calls for comprehensive solutions are not new, but rather are simply echoing the grand plans conceived by Robert F. Kennedy. This is an important historical and political point. However, the conversational flavor and memoir-styled narrative of the book also limit its usefulness in the academic classroom. While Edelman does accurately describe the connections between the difficulties faced by the poor, by failing to draw on the wealth of data that is available, he neither elaborates them sufficiently for an undergraduate reader nor supports them adequately for scholars. Thus, some readers are likely to lose the significance of many of his points, and other readers might remain skeptical. For the undergraduate instructor, then, this means either extensive elaboration of Edelman’s claims, or the relegation of this book to an optional or strictly supplemental reading. Instructors at the graduate level may find these limitations irrelevant when their students have a fundamental understanding of the social and political trends of the last four decades. The second major limitation of the book is its timing. One of Edelman’s most compelling arguments is that, in a time of economic surplus (as this book went to press in 1999), we as a nation must mobilize our political will and use these resources to address the needs of the most vulnerable among us. When he wrote the preface to the paperback (in late 2002), Edelman was unable to foresee either the war in Iraq or the enormous and almost hemorrhagic spending that has followed. It seems clear that Edelman would still argue that the United States has sufficient resources to take care of all of its own, if only it should decide to do so. However, in the current conservative—some might argue repressive— political climate, it is hard to hear the voices speaking either against the tremendous spending or arguing for a diversion of funds to social programs. As a result, from a cynical perspective, Edelman’s book seems to have been catapulted from being a contemporary policy analysis to being a mere historical review. However, to dismiss this book as such would be cursory and unfair. When taken in toto, Edelman’s text offers a thoughtful and nuanced analysis of today’s problems and their roots in the policies and politics of the last half century. Edelman makes clear that we must not only use a multipronged approach to addressing poverty, but must also reinvigorate the political process by rejecting the identity politics of the last three decades and by embracing a politics of inclusion that brings together multiple constituencies. By this he means that addressing poverty must go beyond addressing “The Poor”: It is not just the poor who are without healthcare, who are one paycheck away from homelessness, who cannot afford quality childcare, or who have trouble educating their children. As Edelman argues, we need to emphasize a “fair shake for everybody,” with a special emphasis on the needs of children and families. And regardless of the changes in the political and economic climate of the last year, this is still sound politics.