Stacy H. Haynes

Gendered Fear of Crime Socialization An Extension of Akers’s Social Learning Theory

This article examines constructs of a theoretical model that explains the social learning process responsible for individuals’ fear of crime levels and how this socialization process differs for men and women. Specifically, the authors apply the original principles of Akers’s social learning theory (i.e., differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement, and imitation) to the gendered fear of crime socialization process. The authors argue that fear of crime socialization and gender socialization become a fused concept called “gendered fear of crime socialization” that leads individuals to establish associations, definitions, reinforcement, and imitation of gendered fear of crime.

Avoidance, protective, and weapons behaviors: an examination of constrained behaviors and their impact on concerns about crime

This study examined the impact of three types of constrained behaviors (i.e., avoidance, protective, and weapons behaviors) on two types of concerns about crime (i.e., concerns about crime for ones self and concerns about crime for others). Constrained behaviors have been the focal point of only a few studies, most of which have focused on one type or two types of constrained behaviors. Rather than discussing precisely how and why constrained behaviors impact fear of crime, most studies have simply controlled for constrained behaviors (see Ferraro, T. W. Franklin et al. for this discussion). The current study addressed these weaknesses by focusing on three types of constrained behaviors and by focusing more explicitly on how these behaviors affect concerns about crime (i.e., a proxy for fear of crime). This study is also unique in that it examined both personal concerns about crime and concerns about crime for others. Analyses using data from a national sample of US adults (N = 1207) found that the three types of constrained behaviors differentially affected personal concerns about crime and concerns about crime for others. The strongest differences emerged with respect to protective and weapons behaviors.

The Effects of Victim-Related Contextual Factors on the Criminal Justice System

Despite numerous reforms designed to integrate the needs and concerns of crime victims into the criminal justice system, which include expanding programs for compensation and restitution, providing counseling and other services to victims, and increasing victims’ involvement in the criminal justice process, critics have argued that these reforms have failed to produce any meaningful change. To investigate this claim, the current study examined how community contextual factors (i.e., characteristics of the economic, political, and social contexts) and victim-related contextual factors (i.e., the availability of victim resources, county-level indicators of justice, and victim participation in the criminal justice system) affected sentencing outcomes across the state of Pennsylvania. Analyses using sentencing information from the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing for the years 1996 to 2006 and contextual information from the U.S. Census, the Uniform Crime Reports, and the Pennsylvania Office of Victims’ ...Despite numerous reforms designed to integrate the needs and concerns of crime victims into the criminal justice system, which include expanding programs for compensation and restitution, providing counseling and other services to victims, and increasing victims’ involvement in the criminal justice process, critics have argued that these reforms have failed to produce any meaningful change. To investigate this claim, the current study examined how community contextual factors (i.e., characteristics of the economic, political, and social contexts) and victim-related contextual factors (i.e., the availability of victim resources, county-level indicators of justice, and victim participation in the criminal justice system) affected sentencing outcomes across the state of Pennsylvania. Analyses using sentencing information from the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing for the years 1996 to 2006 and contextual information from the U.S. Census, the Uniform Crime Reports, and the Pennsylvania Office of Victims’ Services indicated that the availability of victim resources and county-level indicators of justice increased victim participation and were associated with longer incarcerative sentences.

Religious Variations in Perceived Infertility and Inconsistent Contraceptive Use Among Unmarried Young Adults in the United States

PURPOSE In this paper, we examine associations among personal religiosity, perceived infertility, and inconsistent contraceptive use among unmarried young adults (ages 18-29). METHODS The data for this investigation came from the National Survey of Reproductive and Contraceptive Knowledge (n = 1,695). We used multinomial logistic regression to model perceived infertility, adjusted probabilities to model rationales for perceived infertility, and binary logistic regression to model inconsistent contraceptive use. RESULTS Evangelical Protestants were more likely than non-affiliates to believe that they were infertile. Among the young women who indicated some likelihood of infertility, evangelical Protestants were also more likely than their other Protestant or non-Christian faith counterparts to believe that they were infertile because they had unprotected sex without becoming pregnant. Although evangelical Protestants were more likely to exhibit inconsistent contraception use than non-affiliates, we were unable to attribute any portion of this difference to infertility perceptions. CONCLUSIONS Whereas most studies of religion and health emphasize the salubrious role of personal religiosity, our results suggest that evangelical Protestants may be especially likely to hold misconceptions about their fertility. Because these misconceptions fail to explain higher rates of inconsistent contraception use among evangelical Protestants, additional research is needed to understand the principles and motives of this unique religious community.

Juvenile Economic Sanctions

Research Summary Economic sanctions, particularly restitution, can help juvenile offenders both learn the extent of the harm they caused and assume responsibility for repairing that harm. If that assumption is true, then restitution should be imposed in every case for which it is appropriate, other factors should not affect imposition, and paying restitution should be negatively related to recidivism. This analysis of 921 juvenile cases in five Pennsylvania counties found that restitution was imposed in only 33% of cases for which it was appropriate, whereas fees were imposed in 66% of cases. Consistent with expectations, restitution was more likely to be imposed for property offenses, but contrary to expectations, restitution was more likely to be imposed for felonies and for males. Judges were less likely to revoke the sentences of juveniles who paid a greater percentage of their total economic sanctions and of juveniles whose violation of sentencing conditions was for nonpayment of economic sanctions. Policy Implications Given that support for both punitive and progressive policies exists, policy makers have a unique opportunity to pursue alternatives, like economic sanctions, that appeal to both perspectives. Economic sanctions are particularly important for juveniles because they are less likely to interfere with other financial obligations (in large part because juveniles have fewer financial obligations than do adults) and because they avoid the stigma associated with more punitive sentences, such as incarceration. The negative relationship between payment of economic sanctions and recidivism, found in this study and in other studies, also suggests that, in both the short and the long term, economic sanctions are more cost-effective. Furthermore, the restorative aspect of economic sanctions, particularly restitution, suggests that policy makers should consider how best to impose and collect economic sanctions, as they also are consistent with efforts to improve the treatment of crime victims.

Do School Resource Officers Really Refer Juveniles to the Juvenile Justice System for Less Serious Offenses

In this article, we use 3 years of youth court data from a southeastern state to examine whether referrals that originated from school resource officers (SROs) involve greater proportions of less serious offenses than referrals from other sources. Referrals from SROs during the 3-year period were similar to referrals by law enforcement outside of school for status and serious offenses. SROs were less likely than law enforcement officers outside of school to refer juveniles for minor offenses during the 3-year period. Our findings suggest that schools, not solely police in schools, make a large contribution to the number of juveniles referred to the juvenile justice system for less serious offenses. Implications for policy and future research are also discussed.

Concerns About Crime for Self and Others An Analysis of Individual and Contextual Effects

The purpose of this study was to examine how individual- and contextual-level factors affect both personal concerns about crime and concerns about crime for one’s spouse or significant other, family, and friends. We were also interested in whether and how these factors differed by gender. We combined individual-level data from a telephone survey of U.S. adults (N = 1,207) with contextual-level data from the U.S. Census, the American Community Survey, and the Uniform Crime Reports. We found that respondents were more concerned about crime for others than for themselves. Results from our ordered logit models showed that concerns about crime for self and others were greater for respondents who felt less safe from crime and for respondents who used constrained behaviors. Personal concerns about crime were greater for women and concerns about crime for one’s spouse or significant other were greater for men. Contextual-level factors had little or no effect on concerns about crime. Regarding concerns about crime for one’s self and one’s spouse or significant other, there were also important differences by gender. For example, weapons behaviors mattered only for women and quality of life mattered only for men.

Religious Involvement and Marijuana Use for Medical and Recreational Purposes

In this article, we use data from the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) to examine the association between religious involvement and marijuana use for medical and recreational purposes in U.S. adults (N = 41,517). We also consider whether the association between religious involvement and marijuana use varies according to personal health status. Our results show that adults who attend religious services more frequently and hold more salient religious beliefs tend to exhibit lower rates of medical and recreational marijuana use. We also find that these “protective effects” are less pronounced for adults in poor health. Although our findings confirm previous studies of recreational marijuana use, we are the first to examine the association between religious involvement and medical marijuana use. Our moderation analyses suggest that the morality and social control functions of religious involvement may be offset under the conditions of poor health.

Examining the Relationship between Job Characteristics and Job Satisfaction among Southern Prison Staff

ABSTRACT The job characteristics model was used to explain job satisfaction at a large southern prison. The effects of job variety, role clarity, views of supervision, views of training, perceived dangerousness of the job, and job autonomy on job satisfaction were studied. Using data from 322 staff members, the study found positive job characteristics (i.e., job variety, supervision, training, and lower perceived dangerousness of job) were associated with greater job satisfaction. Job autonomy was non-significant. Job variety, quality of supervision, and training views were positively associated with job satisfaction for all staff and security officers, whereas dangerousness of job was negatively associated. Role clarity mattered for all staff, but not security officers. Reasons for both significant and non-significant relationships were discussed.

To be committed or not: examining effects of personal and workplace variables on the organizational commitment of Southern prison staff

Abstract This study examined how personal and workplace variables were related to organizational commitment among staff working at a large Southern prison. The personal variables were gender, age, position, tenure, educational level, and supervisory status. The workplace variables were assessment of training, job variety, role clarity, input into decision-making, and instrumental communication. The results indicate workplace variables play a greater role in shaping affective commitment of surveyed Southern prison staff than do personal variables. The personal variables explained only 10% of the variance in the commitment index, while workplace factors accounted for approximately 59% of the variance and were significant determinants of organizational commitment among the respondents. In the multivariate regression analysis, age, assessment of training, job variety, role clarity, input into decision-making, and instrumental communication all had positive associations with commitment. Educational level had a negative relationship with commitment. Implications of these findings for policy and future research are also discussed.