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This study provides a comparative analysis of foiled and completed mass shootings in the United States between 2000 and 2019. Specifically, this work quantitatively examines differences in mass shooting perpetrator, motivation, and target characteristics. Findings identify significant predictors of foiled mass shootings including student-aged perpetrators, dyads, fame and ideological motivations, as well as school and religious targets. Completed mass shootings more often involved perpetrators with a criminal history, victim-specific motivations, and targeting workplace or open-space locations. A discussion of findings highlights implications for scholars, law enforcement, policymakers, and the general public.

An individual’s prior record can have a pronounced impact on the punishment he or she receives for a new offense, substantially increasing the likelihood and duration of an incarceration sentence. Not only does prior record contribute to mass incarceration, but prior research has consistently shown that criminal history mediates race effects and exacerbates disparities. In guidelines jurisdictions, criminal history enhancements are partially or primarily employed as proxies for risk prevention. But for the most part these scores were not developed empirically, and, to date, whether scores are valid predictors of risk has gone unexplored. This paper uses survival analysis and area under the curve analysis to examine the predictive efficacy of the Pennsylvania Prior Record Score using a sample of offenders sentenced in Pennsylvania and followed-up for 3 years after release (n = 130,758). The results show that some of the Pennsylvania PRS categories fail to accurately distinguish among offenders based on their likelihood of recidivism. Further, some of the key score components that increase the PRS (and the punishment imposed) have marginal effects on the predictive efficacy of the score, often only increasing the prediction accuracy by a single percentage point. By re-engineering the PRS categories and sub-components, this jurisdiction could recommend less punishment in some cases without any apparent increase in risk to public safety.

This study characterized the specific offenses for which homeless individuals are arrested and incarcerated. Data were gathered from 581 homeless adults across 6 Oklahoma City shelters. Participants were asked to self-report incarceration history, nights spent in jails and prisons, and the offenses for which they were arrested. Overall, 76% of the sample had ever been arrested. Fifty-seven percent of the sample had been to jail more than 3 times in their lifetime and 13% had ever intentionally been arrested. The most prevalent type of arrest was drug possession (35%), followed by driving under the influence (31%) and disorderly conduct or public drunkenness (28%). Violent arrests, such as assault, robbery, domestic violence, murder, and rape, were the least prevalent type of arrest. In summary, offenses were largely drug and status offenses. These offenses may be prevented through increased substance use treatment accessibility and availability of housing. Policies to increase employment and housing for homeless adults regardless of criminal history should be expanded to reduce the occurrence of justice involvement.

Investigating barriers to successful reentry of former offenders is important to better prepare inmates for community integration, especially since a former criminal history can deter employability and contribute to the high unemployment rate of this population. The present research experimentally manipulated the effects of two offender characteristics, type of offense and work qualifications, on the perceived employability of a hypothetical job applicant. Four different components of employability were also assessed using mediational analysis to test the underlying reasons or justifications for why the offender characteristics impact hirability. Results indicate the separate moderating effect of each offender characteristics (type of offense and work qualifications) and the mediating effect of components of employability (basic skills, thinking skills, personal qualities, and dangerousness) for work qualifications.

Grid based sentencing guidelines, composed of offense seriousness and offender criminal history axis, have become a staple of US sentencing in recent decades. As such, extensive research explores whether they reduce extralegal sentence disparity. However, to date, no study has examined whether extralegal disparity is present in how either axis of guideline sentencing are constructed. Using federal sentencing commission data along with both single and multi-level analyses, this research explores the legal and extralegal factors that predict one of these key grid axes: the offense seriousness score. The results call into question not only some assumptions underlying guideline sentencing but also recent analytical strategies for assessing sentencing outcomes in guideline systems.

Social support theory is important in explaining inmate behavior within prison but has been largely ignored in the research. Using multilevel analysis, the study examined the effect of social support on inmate misconduct measured by disciplinary infractions in the 1997 Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities in the United Slates. Findings indicate that several social support variables at both the inmate level and prison level affect inmate rule violations per month.

Difficulties that have limited research on serial murder (i.e., definition, data, and conceptual framework) are addressed by the current study. Rickey’s Trauma-Control Model is utilized as a conceptual framework that is particularly helpful when sexual activity is involved. This study provides a rich description of male perpetrator characteristics (criminal history, age, and ethnicity), killing career characteristics (number of victims, length of career, solo or team killer, venue, weapons, and murder rate), and victim characteristics (relationship to killer and victim sex). Relationships among these characteristics are also examined.

Even though researchers have studied gangs for many years now, very little is known about the criminal activity of gang leaders. The purpose of this study is to examine the types of criminal activities in which gang leaders participate. Analysis of the criminal histories of 83 gang leaders from Columbus, Ohio, suggests that gangs there specialize in certain types of crime. These data imply that gang suppression policies might be more effective if they target specific niches of the crime market.

Of shock incarceration on offenders identified as problem on a criminal history of alcohol-related crimes and self report of drinking ehavior, was examined. Problem drinkers and non-pronkers serving time in a shock incarceration program were compare similar offenders serving time in a regular prison environment. Attitude previously found to be associated with problem drinking were examined using a repeated measures design over a three month period. Problem drinkers in shock incarceration became less alienated and more prosocial in their attitudes compared to the problem drinkers in the prison inmates. Problem drinkers who graduated from shock incarceration were also found to adjust better on parole than offenders paroled from regular prison. Flowever, the behavior of problem drinkers as a group was more varied than that of non-problem drinkers, emphasizing the importance of and need for programs such as this to provide adequate support and after-care for problem drinkers and substance abusers.