Susan F. Sharp

disentangling strain, personal attributes, affective response and deviance: a gendered analysis

This paper uses General Strain Theory (GST) to explore the relationship among strain, personal attributes, negative emotions, deviant behavior, and gender. Theories of deviance are frequently tested with behaviors more typical of males as the dependent variable and with gender as a control variable. This provides little information about female deviance as well as little information about why females are less likely to engage in crime. Using separate analyses for males and females as well as two different measures of deviance (criminal=delinquent behavior and disordered eating behavior), the study provides insight into the gendered nature of strain and deviance.

It's a Family Affair

Abstract In the United States, incarceration rates are increasing at an alarming rate. In particular, the incarceration of women is increasing. Oklahoma has the highest rate of female incarceration in the nation, and drug offenders comprise a significant proportion of these female inmates. Placing large numbers of women in prison may have serious implications not only for the women but also for their families, particularly their children. We surveyed 144 incarcerated female drug offenders in Oklahoma, 96 of whom reported dependent children living with them prior to incarceration. The data included the womens perceptions of the effect of their incarceration on their families as well as an examination of the potential for serious problems due to placement of the children. The study indicates that many children are placed with families that have a history of abuse, which suggests that failure to consider the implications of incarcerating large numbers of women likely contributes to serious abuse risks for their children.

Educational Programs and Recidivism in Oklahoma: Another Look

Prior research suggests that educational programs are one of the most effective tools in reducing recidivism rates. In this study, however, the authors found that some educational programs administered in Oklahoma may not have an ameliorative effect on criminality. Specifically, they found that completion of a general equivalency diploma program was strongly associated with longer survival times outside of prison, particularly for women. However, for both men and women, completion of vocational-technical training while incarcerated was linked to shorter survival times. This indicates the need to evaluate the types of training offered in prisons.

Race Differences in Strains Associated with Suicidal Behavior among Adolescents.

Rising adolescent suicide rates have prompted scholars and practitioners to identify predictive strains. Resulting profiles of suicidal adolescents often assume that a single model is applicable to all adolescent subgroups. Although scholars have repeatedly suggested that suicidal processes may vary for Blacks and Whites, few researchers have examined race differences in suicidal correlates. No studies have tested for process differences by race among adolescents specifically. This study examines social strains contributing to suicidal behavior among adolescents by race. Results support the presence of process differences and delineate the specific nature of these differences. Results hold theoretical and interventionist implications for the contextual nature of suicide among adolescents.

A Culturally Nuanced Test of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s ‘‘General Theory’’: Dimensionality and Generalizability in Japan and the United States

The current research addresses two specific issues that direct attention to the relatively neglected topic of the cross-cultural applicability of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s ‘‘general theory’’ that has been developed in and tested primarily in the United States. With theoretical and empirical guidance from the literature on dimensionality of low self-control, we first predict that the six elements identified in the theory form a multidimensional latent construct in two diverse societies—Japan and the United States. Drawing on the literature concerning cultural variability in individualism, and inconsistent with self-control theory, the authors then expect that although low self-control leads to deviance in both societies, the causal relationship is stronger among Americans than among Japanese. Analysis of identical survey data collected simultaneously from college students in Japan and the United States provides somewhat mixed support for our expectations and the findings appear largely consistent with predictions by self-control theory.

Gender and Deviance: A Comparison of College Students in Japan and the United States

Although evidence abounds in American criminology that young males are more prone to deviance than females, relatively little is known about the magnitude of the gender gap in deviance across cultures. Drawing on the literature concerning “risk taking” in power-control theory and on theory and research concerning cultural variability in “uncertainty avoidance,” we offer a rationale for predicting that the gender differences in levels of deviance are less among Japanese youth than Americans. Among Japanese, the level of male deviance should be closer to that of females because “uncertainty avoidance” is a strong component of Japanese culture that affects socialization of both males and females. Analysis of identical survey data from college students in Japan and the United States provides strong support for our argument.

Gay and Lesbian Individuals’ Attitudes Toward the Death Penalty: An Exploratory Study of the Roles of Empathic Concern and Political Beliefs

Research examining attitudes toward the death penalty has led to a variety of theoretical and practical implications that continue to inform both research and policy. While many studies have examined how race, class, and gender are related to attitudes toward the death penalty, there is a complete lack of literature regarding sexual orientation and attitudes toward the death penalty. This is quite surprising since demographic research suggests that gay and lesbian individuals (compared to heterosexual individuals) have significantly higher levels of education and may be much more likely to align with liberal politics (two things that have been found to be correlated with a lack of support for the death penalty). Furthermore, studies suggest that gender differences in attitudes toward capital punishment can be related to the fact that women are socialized to be more empathic than men; however, it is unclear how these gender differences in empathic concern may be related to death penalty attitudes among gay and lesbian individuals. In this exploratory analysis using the General Social Survey (years 2002 and 2004), the authors investigate gay and lesbian individuals’ attitudes toward the use of the death penalty. Preliminary findings indicate that similar to heterosexuals, the majority of gay and lesbian individuals support the death penalty; however, being a gay man exerts a significant negative effect on death penalty support. Furthermore, both empathic concern and political beliefs entirely mediate the effects of gender and sexual orientation on attitudes toward the death penalty.

Differences in Individualistic and Collectivistic Tendencies among College Students in Japan and the United States

It is a worldwide stereotype that Japanese, compared to Americans, are oriented more toward collectivism. But this stereotypical notion of more collectivism among Japanese, which typically stems from a view that individualism and collectivism stand at opposite ends of a continuum, has been filled with dashed empirical findings, especially in a sample of college students. In the current study, following the view that individualism and collectivism are two separate concepts rather than one with two extremes, we test and compare both individualistic and collectivistic tendencies among college students in Japan and the United States. A review of theories and research on this dimension of cultural variability across the two diverse cultures and the literature on societal pressure of collectivity and on parents as primary socialization agents of culturally expected values lead to two hypotheses: 1) Japanese college students tend less toward individualism than do Americans, and 2) Japanese college students tend less toward collectivism than do Americans. Analysis of identical survey data from college students in Japan and in the United States provides strong support for both hypotheses.

Bond to Society, Collectivism, and Conformity: A Comparative Study of Japanese and American College Students.

An argument is developed that the purported collectivism in Japanese society generates stronger social bonds in Japan than in the more individualistic United States, which might then explain the lower level of deviance often found in Japan. We test this using survey data from samples of Japanese and American college students on measures of deviance and social bonds. Results indicate that Japanese students engage in significantly less deviance than Americans, and although variables from Hirschis (1969) social control theory behave similarly across cultures as predictors of deviance, the theory failed to account for the lower level of deviance among Japanese.

Attitude Transference and Deviant Behavior: A Comparative Study in Japan and the United States

Attitude transference is the term that has come to be used to refer to a key process by which ones personal attitudes approving or disapproving of certain behavior reflect those of his or her primary groups and in turn affect his or her conforming or deviant behavior. Cross-cultural comparisons on this and other issues afforded by previous studies, however, have been limited primarily to examining findings that have used different samples and instructions. Drawing on previous literature on cultural variability in individualism, the present study directly tests the hypotheses that although attitude transference operates similarly across cultures, the effects of parental and peer attitudes toward deviance on ones own attitudes should be weaker and stronger, respectively, in Japan compared to the United States. The analysis of identical survey data from college students in the two societies provides mixed support for the hypotheses.