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Previous research on depictions of crime in cartoons has focused on violent crimes and psychopathic offenders. However, much of this research has focused on male crime fighters working alone with virtually no studies examining gender differences in crime fighting strategies or motives for offending. We fill this gap in the literature by examining cartoon crime fighting teams and the role gender plays in criminal depictions. Our results show: the presence of female crime fighters (1) generally produced more realistic portrayals of crime, (2) resulted in a range of nonviolent crime fighting techniques, and (3) produced fewer offenders motivated by power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examines newspaper reports of looting to answer two questions: (1) how was looting framed by U.S. newspapers during the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) did any looting actually occur? Looting after natural disasters, particularly hurricanes, has recently received increased attention in scholarly research. The crisis caused by the pandemic of SARS-CoV2 (hereafter COVID-19), while not a natural disaster, has provided many of the same opportunities for looting that have been previously observed following natural disasters. Our findings suggest looting charges were widely used, particularly in California, but that little actual looting took place. In fact, most of those situations referred to as "looting" were traditional property crimes that were treated as looting to enhance the penalty for the action. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for researchers and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

U.S. immigration policies after 1965 fueled a rise in the Latino population and, thus, increased the competition for low-skill jobs. We examine whether Latino immigration and Latino dominance of low-skill industries increases black urban violence. Using city-level data for the year 2000, we find that (1. Latino immigration is positively linked to urban black violence, (2. the link is most prevalent where blacks lost ground to Latinos in low-skill markets, (3. not all low-skill sectors operate in unison; black violence rises only when jobs in agriculture, manufacturing and construction are in short supply and, (4. Latino immigration raises black violence by first increasing black unemployment. We discuss the implications of these findings. (Contains 4 tables and 11 notes.)

George Floyd's murder by a Minnesota police officer sparked outrage, protests, and a re-evaluation of racial inequities in America. Within criminology, we argue, that re-evaluation should include the Latino Paradox, the idea that Latino communities are an exception—a paradox—in that, while they face economic deprivation, they also possess a magical something that makes them resistant to social problems like crime. Unfortunately, this compels the more delicate question; what is the deficiency in Black communities that makes them so vulnerable to crime? However, as we argue here, the Latino Paradox forces a false comparison. Its assumptions with respect to crime are factually incorrect, it demeans Blacks by neglecting their historical context, it romanticizes the Latino experience, and it misdirects policy making. It also leads to lazy theorizing by suggesting that the Latino Paradox forces a re-evaluation of a major criminology theory, Social Disorganization. Indeed, Social Disorganization Theory can adequately explain past and present links between immigration and crime. In light of these problems, it is time to drop the Latino Paradox as an explanation for the race/ethnic differences in crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of research has recently been devoted to quantifying research productivity both on the part of individuals, as well as the prestige that individual productivity levels bring to departments. Only recently has research begun to examine what journals criminologists are most likely to cite in their scholarly research. In this study, we rank the most influential journals cited in Criminology for the years 1969–1973, 1989–1993, and 2009–2013. Our analyses suggest Criminology quickly became the most cited journal, followed by JRCD and Justice Quarterly. Furthermore, the influence of sociological journals has remained strong, but has clearly diminished over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite over a century of research examining the macro‐level link between religion and suicide, only recently has research examined this important relationship for Latinos within the United States. Such research has grown more essential in light of the growing geographic diversification of Latinos in the United States over the past two decades with increasing settlement beyond traditional Latino communities and into "new destinations." Therefore, our aim was to answer two key questions: (1) What is the impact of the religious context on Latino suicide across emerging and traditional points of settlement? and (2) Are religious contextual characteristics associated with Latino suicide differently for native‐ or foreign‐born Latinos in each of these types of communities? Our results suggest that (1) religion has no impact on Latino suicide in traditional destinations, (2) only Catholicism negatively impacts foreign‐born Latino suicide in new destinations, and (3) native‐born Latinos' suicide is negatively impacted by Catholicism, mainline Protestantism, and evangelical Protestantism. We discuss the implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis merges data on women listed on National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) season rosters between 2013 and 2018 with 2000 U.S. Census data to examine socioeconomic, racial, and geographic indicators for players' hometowns, measured as the places they attended high school. We compare hometown indicators against national averages and between players based on career longevity and national federation subsidization status. Findings show that players' hometowns are whiter and less black or Latino, more suburban, and less socioeconomically disadvantaged than the national average, with higher per capita, median household, and median family incomes. Subsidized players, compared to the non-subsidized, and multi-year players, compared to single-year players, come from hometowns that are less black and less socioeconomically disadvantaged, with higher per capita and median household incomes. A lower percent of subsidized player hometowns are city centres compared to those of the non-subsidized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has found a link between the presence of violent content, movie ratings, and ticket sales, but has left several questions unanswered. The current study attempts to answer these questions by examining the level of adult content in 2,094 popular movies between 1992 and 2012. We find that the amount of violent content is a significant predictor of ticket sales, but only in non-R rated movies. Furthermore, we find evidence that violent content has been increasing in non-R rated movies and this increase is likely due to changes in MPAA ratings standards. We discuss the implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite widespread perceptions of elite US sport as meritocratic, there is little empirical research on the social origins of those who play college and professional sports in the US or how these vary by race. We use the case of American football, linking Entertainment and Sports Programming Network's national recruit rankings data on incoming college football players from 2007-2016 (N=929) with 2000 US Census data. Our study compares hometown socioeconomic and demographic indicators for black and white college athletes and then for those drafted into the National Football League. Findings show that the socioeconomic and demographic profiles of the hometowns producing elite football athletes vary by both athlete race and draft status. Black draftees come from denser, more socioeconomically disadvantaged and blacker hometowns than black non-drafted athletes, while white draftees come from less socioeconomically disadvantaged hometowns than white non-drafted athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States experienced a dramatic decline in crime during the 1990s. A number of explanations for this decline have been put forth, including demographic shifts, economic trends, stricter gun control laws, and changes in drug markets. A widely reported explanation is that the surge of immigration during the 1990s was the main cause for that decade's crime decline. Although the claim has received considerable attention, it has yet to be tested empirically using national‐level data. In order to fully test the immigration‐1990s crime decline relationship, we use national‐level homicide and Census data from 1990 to 2000. Our results reveal four key findings: (1) crime declined for nearly all groups during the 1990s; (2) non‐Latino blacks contributed the most to the crime decline, by a wide margin; (3) both overall and black homicide declined the least in areas with the highest levels of immigration; and (4) we find no evidence that immigration indirectly lowered non‐immigrant crime rates by revitalizing communities. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The turn of the twentieth century brought important demographic shifts among Latinos, including increasing settlement of both foreign-born and domestic Latinos into "new destination" regions and communities with little previous exposure to such populations. In turn, some scholars find higher rates of Latino victimization in these new destination communities, but there is little empirical research exploring whether and how these same locales fare today. Our goal is to address this gap in the literature by examining how lethal violence against Latinos in new immigrant destination communities has changed over the 2000 to 2010 decade. Using data from the National Vital Statistics System, we construct hybrid fixed- and random-effects models to examine the predictors of changes in Latino homicide victimization over time. Results suggest that (1) despite the turmoil of the Great Recession, new destinations experienced a sizable drop in Latino victimization, (2) this drop has resulted in new destinations now having lower levels of Latino victimization than other destination types and (3) 70% of this change is attributable to changes in Latino family structure, including married and extended families, as well as changes in language use in new destinations. We conclude by discussing our findings and their implications for researchers and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative effects of violent content in movies have recently been a hot topic among both researchers and the general public. Despite growing concern, violence in movies has persisted over time. Few studies have examined why this pattern continues. To fill this gap in the literature, we examine how Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) movie rating descriptors predict ticket sales of 2,094 movies from 1992 to 2012. We test the validity of three theoretical models: (1) the reflective model, (2) the reactance model, and (3) the market model. We find that violent content is linked neither to violence in the broader U.S. culture (i.e., the reflective model) nor to a psychological reactance by adolescents (i.e., the reactance model). Rather, we find, especially among PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned) movies, that violent content leads to increased ticket sales, suggesting that market demand (i.e., audience preferences) is responsible for continued violent content. We discuss the implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been considerable recent scholarly commentary about the existence of a school-to-prison pipeline. In this research, several authors have questioned whether the presence of school resource officers (SROs) has increased the proportion of students being referred to juvenile justice systems for status or minor offenses. Research to date, however, has not established a clear relationship between the presence of SROs and these referrals. In this study, we examine the relationship between referrals made in urban and rural schools to determine whether rural students are disadvantaged by net widening when compared with their urban counterparts. To carry out this study of justice by geography, the referrals of 57,005 urban and rural students into the juvenile justice system of a southeastern state over a three-year period were analyzed. The findings presented here suggest that there are important rural/urban differences in the impact of the Department of Human Services and schools in the expansion of the school-to-prison pipeline. Implications for policy and future research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, scholars have sought to learn more about scholarly activity within the fields of criminology and criminal justice (CCJ). Research in this area has examined which departments have the most productive faculty, which scholars are the most productive, and which journals are the most prestigious. However, no study of which we are aware has determined what journals criminologists are most likely to cite in their scholarly research. In this study, we rank the most influential journals by the number of times those journals were cited between 2009 and 2013 inCriminology, theJournal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, andJustice Quarterly.Our analyses suggest thatCriminologyis clearly the most influential CCJ journal in terms of citations, while theAmerican Sociological Review, theJournal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and theAmerican Journal of Sociologyremain influential in CCJ as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the many contributions of Land, McCall, and Cohen's landmark study was the confirmation of a long-held view in criminology--that deprivation raises homicide. Yet recent literature finds that although Latino immigrant communities are often poor, paradoxically they have low levels of crime. Unfortunately, this seemingly contradictory evidence is based on studies of long-established, well-organized, traditional immigrant communities where Spanish is a modal form of communication. However, recent Latino migrants opted for new destinations that are unprotected by a shell of common culture and language, making Latinos in these areas more vulnerable to serious violence. In acknowledging these critical differences between old and new Latino communities, we observe four interrelated findings: (a) The widely held view that Latinos generally live in safe places is true only for those in traditional destinations; (b) Latinos in new destinations are murdered at an exceedingly high rate; (c)This elevated risk is linked to English nonfluency among Latinos in new destinations only; and (d) In these areas, linguistic isolation increases homicide not just directly but indirectly as well by first increasing Latino economic deprivation. Thus, once differences in place are considered, there is no "paradox" about Latino immigration and crime. Our results uphold the benchmark assessment of Land, McCall and Cohen, that deprivation is linked to homicide--even in Latino communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst both a resurgent interest in the impact of religion on social problems like crime, including its contextual effects, as well as scholarship directed toward the immigration-crime intersection, the current study examines how different religious traditions impact known violent offending uniquely in traditional versus emerging immigrant destinations. To do so, we employ negative binomial models regressing homicides, robberies, and aggravated assaults on adherence to three major religious traditions (mainline Protestant, evangelical Protestant, and Catholic), as well as immigration and other key macro-structural controls. We disaggregate our analysis for three types of United States counties in 2010: emerging, traditional, and other immigrant destinations. We find that religious traditions vary in their relationship with known violence across destination types: Catholic adherence is protective against crime (net of controls) only in established immigrant destinations, but evangelical Protestant adherence is associated with higher levels of robbery and aggravated assault in the same locales. Religious adherence has no links to violence in emerging immigrant destinations. Broadly, our findings reveal that the religious context is an important part of the evolving story of immigration, though it is multifaceted and context-dependent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]