Terance D. Miethe

Understanding Theories of Criminal Victimization

Current theories of victimization have generated a sizable body of empirical research, mostly within the last two decades. The two most widely known perspectives, lifestyle-exposure and routine activities theories, have been the object of much current thinking and empirical testing, but their maturation has been hampered by many of the same problems impeding theories of criminality. These include inadequate attention to variation by type of crime, compartmentalized thinking, poor links between theory and data, inadequate measures of key concepts, and failure to specify clearly functional relationships between sets of variables. Many of these problems can be addressed by closer examination of the interrelationships among victims, offenders, and criminal situations. Victimization theories should be incorporated into comprehensive integrated theories of crime.

Whistle-Blower Disclosures and Management Retaliation: The Battle to Control Information about Organization Corruption

Based on nationwide data the authors collected on whistle-blowers and on silent observers, this article reports, that (a) whistle-blowing is more frequent in the public sector than in the private; (b) there are almost no sociodemographic characteristics that distinguish the whistle-blower from the silent observer; (c) whistle-blowers suffer severe retaliation from management, especially when their information proves significant; and (d) no special method of disclosure or personal characteristics can insulate the whistle-blower from such retaliation. Furthermore, the authors found that retaliation was most certain and severe when the reported misconduct was systematic and significant—when the practices exposed were part of the regular, profit accumulation process of the organization. The authors conclude from their interviews that the journey to exoneration that follows a whistle-blowers disclosures often alters the whistle-blowers identity, leading them to see themselves as people who resist hurtful or criminal conduct in the workplace.

Gold versus platinum: Do jurors recognize the superiority and limitations of DNA evidence compared to other types of forensic evidence?

In a series of studies, the authors examined (a) public perceptions concerning forensic scientific evidence, (b) the relative influence attributed to DNA evidence compared to other forms of forensic identification evidence, and (c) the impact of cross-examination addressing the limitations of DNA testimony. In Studies 1 and 2, both undergraduate students and representative jurors rated DNA as the most accurate and persuasive type of evidence compared to other types of forensic evidence. This finding was consistent across samples of individuals with varied exposure to media coverage of scientific evidence. Experimental results further revealed the strong influence of DNA evidence in verdict decisions regardless of the type of crime or whether the evidence was incriminating or exculpatory. In Studies 2 and 3, DNA-based expert testimony demonstrated strong effects on juror decision-making even after cross-examination. These effects were mitigated to some extent in Study 3, however, by the interaction of the reliability of DNA evidence and the focus of cross-examination. The implications regarding the use of DNA and other scientific evidence for public policy and practice in legal decisions are discussed.

Confessions and Criminal Case Disposition in China

This research examines confessions and criminal case disposition in China. It describes how wider economic reforms in China and subsequent changes in its legal system may have affected the nature and consequence of criminal confessions. Bivariate and multivariate analyses of a sample of 1,009 criminal court cases reveal that the majority of offenders confessed to their crime and that confession is associated with less severe punishments (e.g., lower risks for imprisonment, shorter sentences). Changes in the nature of confession and its impact on criminal court practices are also examined before and after legal reforms in the mid-1990s. These context-specific findings are then discussed in terms of their implications for understanding the interrelationships between legal structure, legal culture, and case disposition in communitarian-based societies.

Cross-National Variability in Capital Punishment Exploring the Sociopolitical Sources of Its Differential Legal Status

Guided by existing macrolevel theories on punishment and society, the present study explores the independent and conjunctive effects of measures of sociopolitical conditions on the legal retention of capital punishment in 185 nations in the 21st century. Significant correlations are found between a nation’s retention of legal executions for ordinary crimes and its level of economic development, primary religious orientation, citizens’ voice in governance, political stability, and recent history of extrajudicial executions. Subsequent multivariate analyses through qualitative comparative methods reveal substantial context-specific effects and wide variability in legal retention even within countries with similar sociopolitical structures. These results are then discussed in terms of their theoretical implications for future cross-national research on punishment and society.

Interdependency, communitarianism and reintegrative shaming in China

Abstract Braithwaite’s theory of reintegrative shaming (1989) depicts that shaming has either crime-amplifying or inhibiting effects depending on how it is done. Using a sample of residents in Shanghai, China, this study tests Braithwaite’s hypothesis that interdependency is conducive to reintegrative rather than stigmatizing shaming. We hypothesize that individuals who have greater interdependent relationships are more likely to practice reintegrative, rather than stigmatizing, shaming. While interdependency did not affect shaming practices within the family, it had a significant impact on the resident’s on shaming practices in the neighborhood. We close by discussing shaming in Chinese society and the implications of our findings for evaluating Braithwaite’s theory in a different socio-cultural context.

Taking on the Unknown: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Unknown Relationship Homicides

Aside from noting the dramatic rise in their numbers, homicides with unknown victim/offender relationships have attracted little research attention. This study uses Qualitative Comparative Analysis and data from the Supplementary Homicide Reports for 1976 through 1998 to examine the nature of unknown relationship homicides and changes in their structure over time. The findings indicate that a large number of unknown relationship cases are contained within a few prevalent homicide situations while also occurring in a diverse array of less common situations. The situational context of unknown homicides exhibits considerable change over time, shifting from the killing of older White males with a variety of weapons to killings involving young Black males with guns. Although unknown and stranger homicides frequently share common structures, they demonstrate notable differences as well, suggesting that unknown relationships cannot automatically be assumed to involve strangers. Implications of the findings for policy and future research are discussed.

character contests and dispute-related offenses

Using police narratives on dispute-related assaults, this study examines the extent to which the notion of character contests underlies these assaults and the individual and situational factors associated with them. Previous research emphasizes youth, masculinity, and public location as major contributing factors in escalating character contests to violence. Accordingly, we expected particular combination of variables to correlate with character contests. The analysis of 185 incidents of dispute-related assaults revealed that character contests are significantly more likely among men than women and occur more frequently in public than private settings. Contrary to previous theoretical speculation and empirical research, however, character contests are observed among female offenders, among older persons, and in violent acts that occur in private settings and outside the presence of third parties. These findings are then discussed in terms of their implications for future research on the utility of character contests as an explanation for violent acts.

Configural Behavior Settings of Crime Event Locations: Toward an Alternative Conceptualization of Criminogenic Microenvironments

Objectives: The utility of configural behavior settings is explored as an alternative unit of analysis for place-based criminological research. Four research questions are addressed: (1) How do robberies cluster within certain behavior settings? (2) How are conclusions about robbery’s behavior settings influenced by the distance interval used to measure the proximate environment? (3) Are dominant behavior settings homogeneous across patrol districts? and (4) Is there temporal variability among dominant behavior settings? Method: Conjunctive analysis of case configurations is used to construct configural behavior settings around 453 robbery locations in Henderson, Nevada, between 2007 and 2009. Results: The major findings of this study are that (1) the majority of personal robberies occur within a small number of dominant configural behavior settings and (2) the composition of behavior settings and the proportion of incidents for which they account varies by the distance interval used to measure the proximate environment, patrol district, and time of day. Conclusions: Configural behavior settings provide an alternative unit of analysis that can be used in future place-based research to improve our understanding of criminogenic microenvironments. Replication of this study in other cities that vary in urban design would further demonstrate the merits of this approach.

Self-Defensive Gun Use by Crime Victims A Conjunctive Analysis of Its Situational Contexts

As a means for analyzing categorical data, conjunctive analysis is an emerging analytic approach used in both exploratory and confirmatory research. This technique is applied in the current study to examine two important issues related to the use of firearms as a means of self-defense by crime victims. Using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey, the current study uses conjunctive analysis (a) to examine the contextual factors associated with the use of a firearm by crime victims as a means of self-defense and (b) to identify the situational factors most closely associated with instances where the self-defensive use of a firearm is most and least effective. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for future research.