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The article examines the effects of the type of counsel representing defendants on outcomes in federal district court. Topics discussed include differences in the quality of representation for indigent defendants, defendants convicted of a federal crime and those sentenced to a term of imprisonment by federal public defender, Criminal Justice Act, or privately retained attorneys, odds of pretrial release, lower incarceration and shorter sentence, and judicial caseload pressure.

Previous qualitative research has suggested that Hispanic gang membership is linked to the process of acculturation. Specifically, studies have indicated that those who are less assimilated into mainstream American or "Anglo" society are at greater risk for joining gangs. Building on these observations, this study examines the relationship between acculturation and gang membership within a theoretically and empirically informed multivariate framework. Based on a sample of Hispanic adolescents residing in the American Southwest, results largely supported previous qualitative studies that have suggested that a number of factors, including acculturation, are necessary to an understanding of gang membership within this demographic. Findings from logistic regression analyses indicated that respondents' grade in school, neighborhood drug availability, level of ethnic marginalization, and level of acculturation were all significantly associated with self-reported gang membership. Results also suggested that marginalization may partially mediate the effects of acculturation. (Contains 5 notes, 2 tables, and 3 figures.)

Whether pornography contributes to sexual aggression in real life has been the subject of dozens of studies over multiple decades. Nevertheless, scholars have not come to a consensus about whether effects are real. The current meta-analysis examined experimental, correlational, and population studies of the pornography/sexual aggression link dating back from the 1970s to the current time. Methodological weaknesses were very common in this field of research. Nonetheless, evidence did not suggest that nonviolent pornography was associated with sexual aggression. Evidence was particularly weak for longitudinal studies, suggesting an absence of long-term effects. Violent pornography was weakly correlated with sexual aggression, although the current evidence was unable to distinguish between a selection effect as compared to a socialization effect. Studies that employed more best practices tended to provide less evidence for relationships whereas studies with citation bias, an indication of researcher expectancy effects, tended to have higher effect sizes. Population studies suggested that increased availability of pornography is associated with reduced sexual aggression at the population level. More studies with improved practices and preregistration would be welcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to several high-profile violent offenses against children over the past two decades, Congress has enacted several pieces of legislation aimed at increasing punishment for those convicted of federal sex offenses. Coinciding with these enhanced penalties was a demographic shift in the composition of those prosecuted for these offenses. In the federal criminal justice system, sex offenses fall into two main categories: child pornography and sexual abuse. The racial and ethnic makeup of individuals charged for federal sex offenses has significantly changed over the past 15 years. The current study utilizes federal sentencing data from the United States Sentencing Commission for the years 2006 to 2017 to explore the nature of punishment for these offenses over time. We also employ multivariate analyses to examine differences in punishment for the two types of offenses and employ disaggregated analyses by offense type to examine temporal change in racial/ethnic disparities in sentence length and departures from the federal sentencing guidelines. Findings demonstrate that convicted individuals who are Black and Hispanic are receiving harsher sentences over time net of controls for other key predictors such as age, sex, criminal history, and presumptive sentence length. Implications for how legislatively enhanced penalties and changing demographic makeup of those convicted for these offenses may have introduced extra-legal disparity into federal sentencing are further discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, international comparisons of self-reported crime have been mostly limited to Western countries. The current study explores offending for large samples of university students in Malaysia (N = 2,058) and the United States (N = 2,511), and utilizes measures of social bond theory to test its predictive utility cross-nationally. The descriptive results reveal that for both males and females, offending rates were substantially higher in the United States, often 3 to 4 times higher. Rare events logistic regression results reveal not only some support for our measures of the social bond constructs in both countries but also that there are significant cross-country differences in the correlates of offending. Partitioned regression models suggest these differences vary considerably by type of crime, and that some of the significant correlates of offending are similar cross-nationally but that unique predictors emerge by country dependent on the offense in question. Offending in the U.S. sample appears to be more closely linked to breakdowns in family structure (parental divorce, single parenthood), whereas for the Malaysian sample, parental income and respondent's education level seem to be more closely linked to offending. The current study provides one of just a few comparative studies between a Western country and an Asian country based on self-reported data. Such data can provide a useful cross-check of international comparisons based on official data. Methodologically, implications are that the self-report survey method continues to be a fruitful avenue for exploration of cross-national offending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A voluminous literature has detailed disparities in punishment related to extra-legal characteristics such as race, ethnicity, and sex. However, less research has investigated the specific contexts and conditions under which disparities in punishment emerge. Specifically, limited research to date has examined whether family characteristics influence sentencing both directly, and in interaction with race, ethnicity, and sex. The current study investigates this question using data on federal criminal sentences from the United States Sentencing Commission for fiscal years 2015–2017. Findings demonstrate that providing support for dependents generally has a positive association with the likelihood of being incarcerated and overall sentence length. Moreover, the positive association between support for dependents and punishment severity is concentrated among Black male and Hispanic male defendants. Among minority females and White defendants, having dependents has either a negative or null association with sentencing outcomes. Findings are discussed in the context of contemporary theoretical perspectives of punishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem solving courts have increasingly been adopted by jurisdictions around the country as an alternative to traditional criminal court models of justice. Veterans treatment courts (VTCs) are a type of problem-solving court being established all over the country in response to an increased number of justice-involved veterans with the return of military personnel from the Wars in the Middle East. Despite their rapid expansion, there is a dearth of research evaluating the impact of VTCs on recidivism. The current study conducted an impact evaluation regarding recidivism among participants of a large urban VTC program. Findings from descriptive and multivariate analysis reveal positive results for VTC participants, especially graduates, in comparison with the control group. Implications are discussed in context of three areas: (a) current criminal justice policy and practice implications for VTCs, (b) findings from research on other more established problem-solving courts (i.e., drug courts), and (c) research–practitioner partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on self-report data of college students from Malaysia (N = 1,359) and the United States (N = 1,629), crime rates of the two samples are compared. Criminal behavior is much more common in the American sample despite the country's greater wealth. Negative binomial regression analysis reveals that the lower alcohol consumption and especially the greater religiosity of the Malaysian students help explain their lower crime rate. Theoretical implications, study limitations, and avenues for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous qualitative research has suggested that Hispanic gang membership is linked to the process of acculturation. Specifically, studies have indicated that those who are less assimilated into mainstream American or “Anglo” society are at greater risk for joining gangs. Building on these observations, this study examines the relationship between acculturation and gang membership within a theoretically and empirically informed multivariate framework. Based on a sample of Hispanic adolescents residing in the American Southwest, results largely supported previous qualitative studies that have suggested that a number of factors, including acculturation, are necessary to an understanding of gang membership within this demographic. Findings from logistic regression analyses indicated that respondents’ grade in school, neighborhood drug availability, level of ethnic marginalization, and level of acculturation were all significantly associated with self-reported gang membership. Results also suggested that marginalization may partially mediate the effects of acculturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on sentencing outcomes reveals that legally relevant factors such as the seriousness of the offense and prior criminal record are primary determinants. There is, however, a substantial body of research that finds that extralegal factors such as a defendant’s sex also influence these outcomes. Most of these latter studies conclude that female defendants receive less severe outcomes compared to their male counterparts. Most of this research, however, is limited to Western societies. To extend this body of research, the current study examines sex differences in sentencing practices for a sample of narcotics offenders in South Korea. Results support previous research; female drug offenders in South Korea are generally treated more leniently than their male counterparts. Tests for interaction effects reveal that the defendant’s sex also interacts with other constellations of factors to produce lenient treatment for certain female defendants. These tests, however, also reveal that lenient sentence outcomes are not extended to all female defendants; those with prior drug convictions do not fare better than their male counterparts at the incarceration decision. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Federal narcotics sentencing policy, most notably for cocaine, has been criticized in regard to its excessive severity and racially disparate outcomes. Crack cocaine was heavily portrayed in the media during the 1980s as a dire social threat directly worsening the crime rate, a threat taken seriously as indicated by greater legislative enactment of mandatory minimums specifically targeting narcotics offenses. The research here uses a theoretical-mixed methodological symmetry (focal concerns perspective--content/regression analysis) to explore media portrayal of, and case outcomes for, crack versus powder cocaine offenders. Media portrayals of powder and crack cocaine offenders are considered through examination of USA today articles. These media portrayals are compared with official outcomes through a temporally corresponding regression analysis of federal crack and powder cocaine offenders from federal district court. Findings inform discussion of policy implications and invite scrutiny of media construction of crime problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]