1,026 research outputs found

    The Importance Of Community: Investing In Effective Community-Based Crime Prevention Strategies

    Get PDF
    After more than a year of listening to our community, researching evidence-based practices, and evaluating our own efforts, 'The Importance of Community' inaugural report unequivocally asserts that our greatest potential of reducing homicides and incarceration as a result of committing a crime is deeply rooted in collective community action and targeted interventions aimed at serving narrowly defined populations. In this report, The Indianapolis Foundation will summarize years of community-based recommendations and provides a specific community investment plan based on multiple community convenings, crime prevention related reports, and listening to our community

    What’s Sex (Composition) Got to Do with It? The Importance of Sex Composition of Gangs for Female and Male Members’ Offending and Victimization

    Get PDF
    Sex composition of groups has been theorized in organizational sociology and found in prior work to structure female and male members’ behaviors and experiences. Peer group and gang literature similarly finds that the sex gap in offending varies across groups of differing sex ratios. Drawing on this and other research linking gang membership, offending, and victimization, we examine whether sex composition of gangs is linked to sex differences in offending in this sample, further assess whether sex composition similarly structures females’ and males’ victimization experiences, and if so, why. Self-report data from gang members in a multi-site, longitudinal study of 3,820 youths are employed. Results support previous findings about variations in member delinquency by both sex and sex composition of the gang and also indicate parallel variations in members’ victimization. These results are further considered within the context of facilitating effects such as gender dynamics, gang characteristics, and normative orientation

    What’s Sex (Composition) Got to Do with It? The Importance of Sex Composition of Gangs for Female and Male Members’ Offending and Victimization

    Get PDF
    Sex composition of groups has been theorized in organizational sociology and found in prior work to structure female and male members’ behaviors and experiences. Peer group and gang literature similarly finds that the sex gap in offending varies across groups of differing sex ratios. Drawing on this and other research linking gang membership, offending, and victimization, we examine whether sex composition of gangs is linked to sex differences in offending in this sample, further assess whether sex composition similarly structures females’ and males’ victimization experiences, and if so, why. Self-report data from gang members in a multi-site, longitudinal study of 3,820 youths are employed. Results support previous findings about variations in member delinquency by both sex and sex composition of the gang and also indicate parallel variations in members’ victimization. These results are further considered within the context of facilitating effects such as gender dynamics, gang characteristics, and normative orientation

    Research on Gang-Related Violence in the 21st Century

    Get PDF
    Conflict, including the threat or fear of potential violence, or being witness to or a victim of physical violence, constantly surrounds gangs and their communities and is the principal driver sustaining gang life. This Special Issue examines the diverse nature of gang-related violence with the goal of better understanding the growing complexities of gang violence over the last two decades to better inform public policy solutions. The contributions included in this Special Issue highlight the complex nature of gang-related violence in the 21st Century. As much as policy makers, the media, and even scholars like to simplify gang-related violence, all of the studies included in this Special Issue highlight the nuance and variation that exists

    Misdemeanor Enforcement Trends Across Seven U.S. Jurisdictions

    Get PDF
    This paper, which is a product of DCJ's Research Network on Misdemeanor Justice ("the Research Network"), examines long-term trends in lower-level enforcement across seven U.S. jurisdictions:  Durham, NC; Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY;  New York City, NY; Prince George's County; MD; Seattle, WA; and St. Louis, MO. It draws both on reports that were produced through partnerships between local researchers and criminal justice agency partners as well as updated data the Research Network has published through an interactive online dashboard. The paper analyzed cross-jurisdictional trends in enforcement, including misdemeanor arrest rates broadly, by demographics (race/age/sex), and by charge

    Personal networks in the forensic psychiatric context:Exploring a person-centered social network approach to support forensic psychiatric treatment decisions

    Get PDF
    Binnen de forensische psychiatrie is er groeiende aandacht voor persoonlijke netwerkbenaderingen. Door aandacht te hebben voor het relationele verhaal (narratief) van de forensisch psychiatrische patiënt wordt meer inzicht verkregen in cruciale netwerkfactoren die het behandelsucces en de resocialisatiemogelijkheden beïnvloeden. Het promotieonderzoek beschrijft een Forensisch Sociale Netwerk Analyse (FSNA) benadering. Deze benadering is gebaseerd op inzichten vanuit de risicotaxatie en –management literatuur gecombineerd met inzichten vanuit de wetenschappelijke discipline Sociale Netwerk Analyse (SNA) en gerelateerde netwerktheorieën. Binnen een FSNA onderzoek wordt het persoonlijke netwerk van de patiënt ten tijde van de delictperiode en gedurende de behandeling onderzocht en met elkaar vergeleken. Daarnaast wordt de verwachte netwerksituatie bij een eventuele terugkeer van de patiënt in de samenleving in kaart gebracht. Voor het verzamelen van relevante netwerkgegevens is het FSNA-interview ontwikkeld. De patiënt en meerdere geselecteerde netwerkleden worden geïnterviewd. In dit onderzoek is gekeken in hoeverre persoonlijke netwerkfactoren in de loop der tijd veranderen en in hoeverre deze eventuele veranderingen als beschermend of risicovol voor toekomstig recidivegedrag kunnen worden gezien. De analyses waren gericht op belangrijke (forensische) sociale netwerkkenmerken, zoals netwerkomvang, structuur, sociale steun/controle, positie van (potentiële) slachtoffers en de aanwezigheid van netwerkleden met (potentiële) risico- of beschermende factoren. Een FSNA studie onder 36 forensisch psychiatrische patiënten liet zien dat hun persoonlijke netwerken gedurende de behandeling minder groot waren dan de netwerken ten tijde van het delict. Deze waargenomen daling lijkt geen grote invloed te hebben op de kwaliteit van de persoonlijke netwerken. Het kon soms zelfs als gunstig worden beschouwd, omdat in sommige gevallen belangrijke potentiële stressoren geen deel (meer) uitmaakten van de netwerken. Vier casestudies toonden aan dat de informatie vanuit de FSNA-benadering zeer bruikbaar is ter ondersteuning van individu-specifieke risicotaxatie en -management. Het interviewen van zowel de patiënt als zijn netwerkleden leverde nieuwe essentiële behandelinformatie op, zoals het beter zicht krijgen op de kwaliteit van beschikbare sociale steun en sociale controle. De overkoepelende FSNA uitkomsten gaven de betrokken behandelteams inzicht in aanwezige protectieve en risicovolle relaties en patronen in de onderzochte persoonlijke netwerken. De beschreven FSNA benadering dient te worden beschouwd als een eerste stap in de ontwikkeling van een op de praktijk gebaseerde risicomanagement tool die aanvullende informatie biedt ter ondersteuning van belangrijke behandelbeslissingen. Deze netwerkbenadering dient verder te worden uitgewerkt, getoetst en geprofessionaliseerd in de forensisch psychiatrische context en aanverwante contexten.<br/

    Social Work and Police Partnership: A Summons To The Village Strategies and Effective Practices

    Get PDF
    This report addresses the social work/law enforcement relationship and the role of police and other human service agencies in dealing with community problems. Traditionally, law enforcement and human service agencies share the most difficult portion of the others’ client caseloads but there has been little interagency communication or cooperation. Effective intervention and prevention requires more than police action and goes beyond the capability of any single agency. Social service has always been a key part of policing while serving victims of crime and offenders has been a major emphasis of social work. Law enforcement and social work have served the same target groups but with varying success. The community now demands that both institutions combine resources and skills to reach those in crisis and victims of crime. Problem oriented community policing is still a work in progress but there is consensus on four elements: prevention, problem solving, partnerships and organizational change. Using these elements as a foundation, this document describes police/social work partnerships that serve as a community response to crisis situations signaled by calls for police service. Heretofore, community policing has focused on developing relationships with individual citizens through foot/bike patrols, dispersed “community policing” sub-stations and neighborhood improvement. Building partnerships with human service agencies has received far less attention. Social work/police partnerships are the next logical step in the development of community policing. They meet the mandate to work together for the benefit of the whole community and to deal with chronic repeat calls for service. These calls signal a serious problem usually involving multiple forms of abuse and indicate the need for summoning the entire village to provide effective intervention and preventive services. The study was conducted to learn about the development, operation and impact of social work/police partnerships on recurring domestic violence and associated deep-rooted police service delivery problems. This document describes effective practices of five successful social work/police partnership models. Chapters I and II give the background of the problem. Chapter III describes five successful partnership models and Chapter IV provides a composite of critical effective practices gleaned from the study sites. Chapter V outlines steps for assessing the problem. Chapter VI and VII are designed to serve as a project development checklist for program planning, implementation and assessment of effectiveness

    Gangs in the Modern Age of Internet and Social Media

    Get PDF
    corecore