Racial differences in the applicability of Bronfenbrenner's ecological model for adolescent bullying involvement

Objectives: Social scientists have devoted much theoretical and empirical attention to studying the correlates of bullying perpetration and victimization. Much less attention has been devoted to studying race differences in the correlates of bullying behaviors despite the importance of these when designing effective and focused prevention and intervention programs. Methods: Utilizing data from the 2009 to 2010 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study in the United States, this study applies Bronfenbrenner's ecological model to bullying in order to examine how various interrelated systems are associated with bullying perpetration, victimization, and their concordance in a nationally representative sample of adolescents. Results: Findings shown important similarities, as well as some differences, across race in how key parental and peer relationships relate to aspects of involvement in bullying. Directions for future research are noted

Racial differences in the applicability of Bronfenbrenner's ecological model for adolescent bullying involvement

Objectives: Social scientists have devoted much theoretical and empirical attention to studying the correlates of bullying perpetration and victimization. Much less attention has been devoted to studying race differences in the correlates of bullying behaviors despite the importance of these when designing effective and focused prevention and intervention programs. Methods: Utilizing data from the 2009 to 2010 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study in the United States, this study applies Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model to bullying in order to examine how various interrelated systems are associated with bullying perpetration, victimization, and their concordance in a nationally representative sample of adolescents. Results: Findings shown important similarities, as well as some differences, across race in how key parental and peer relationships relate to aspects of involvement in bullying. Directions for future research are noted

Examining the association between childhood cognitive ability and psychopathic traits at age 48

Despite early theorists suggesting that psychopathic traits are associated with higher intelligence, meta-analytic work has found that global psychopathy scores are actually negatively related to intelligence, albeit weakly. Furthermore, it was reported in the same meta-analytic work that the various dimensions of psychopathy were differentially related to intelligence. Importantly, virtually all of the research to date has relied on cross-sectional associations. The current study examined whether intelligence scores (verbal comprehension, non-verbal IQ, and a global intelligence composite) at age 8 were associated with psychopathy scores at age 48 in a sample of white, urban males from London (analytical n = 292). Results suggested a significant, but weak, inverse association between intelligence and the affective, lifestyle, and antisocial facets of psychopathy and a nonsignificant association with the interpersonal facet, as assessed by the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version. These findings contribute to the growing body of evidence suggesting that psychopathy, as conceptualized in most modern models, is either very weakly inversely related to, or simply not a correlate of intelligence.We are very grateful to the Home Office, the Department of Health, the Department of Education, the Rayne Foundation, the Barrow Cadbury Trust, and the Smith Richardson Foundation for funding the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Developmen

Developmental and Life‐Course Perspectives on Female Offending

Starting with the work of Lombroso in the late nineteenth century, continuing into the pioneering works of Adler and Simon in the mid‐1970s, and carrying into to the present day, gender has been one of the most investigated demographic correlates to be linked to antisocial and criminal behavior. This chapter provides a brief overview of the criminal career patterns of female offending as well as basic gender differences from a developmental/life‐course perspective, including what has been learned from quantitative and qualitative data. Then, it provides an overview of some of the leading perspectives in the developmental/life‐course area that have been brought to bear to understand female offending. Piquero et al. observed that much of the criminal career research had still concentrated on males and more longitudinal studies were needed that included information on female offenders. The chapter concludes with implications for prevention and correctional treatment

The role of negative staff behavior and fairness on perceptions of post-release success among formerly incarcerated juveniles

A large body of literature has examined the impact of staff behavior in correctional settings on offenders' likelihood of recidivism. However, gaps remain with respect to how staff behavior is related to other indicators of post-release success, including an individual's perception of success upon release. In this study, we examine how correctional staff behavior is related to perceptions of success at staying out of trouble with the law and at succeeding in ordinary life goals among a sample of 679 serious juvenile offenders. Using data from Pathways to Desistance, our results show that while negative staff behavior was not significantly related to perceptions of success, fairness by staff was significantly related to individuals' perceptions of success in both domains. Thus, those who perceived staff - and by extension the institution - as unfair were less likely to believe they would stay out of trouble with the law and succeed in life. These findings provide evidence that institutional climate is related to re-entry and policy efforts aimed at improving procedural fairness within correctional institutions are needed

Older Adults\u27 Perspectives on Death and Dying in Prison

Incarcerated people often have extensive health needs compared to their community-dwelling peers. This is especially the case among older adults, who represent a sizeable and growing portion of the U.S. prison population with a concomitant health burden. While research has expanded in recent years regarding health-related experiences among older adults in prisons, research surrounding their perceptions of death and dying in these settings remains limited

The Keepers: Returning Citizens' Experiences With Prison Staff Misconduct

Correctional staff play a major role in the incarceration experience for millions of U.S. adults each year. While much research has addressed misconduct perpetrated by incarcerated persons, less has systematically addressed rule-violating behavior by correctional staff and how such conduct is perceived by formerly incarcerated individuals. Using qualitative data gathered from 38 interviews with men and women recently released from prison, we examine their experiences with prison staff misconduct. Respondents shared observations of staff misconduct related to medical neglect, violence, and contraband, but experiences differed for men and women, raising concerns regarding conditions of confinement. We caution that such conduct has the potential to undermine the legitimacy of correctional authority in prison settings, which is troubling because heightened legitimacy is an important aspect of legal socialization that helps to reduce offending. Research and policy development on the frequency and consequences of prison staff misconduct is warranted

The Interrelationship Between Empathy and Adverse Childhood Experiences and Their Impact on Juvenile Recidivism

Low empathy has been implicated in antisocial, aggressive, and criminal behavior, especially among adolescents. Less understood is the extent to which empathy is amenable to treatment, and whether an improvement in empathy can mitigate the deleterious effects of known risk factors, such as childhood maltreatment. A sample of 11,000 serious juvenile offenders in long-term residential placement is leveraged to examine whether over cumulative traumatic exposure, measured by the adverse childhood experience (ACE) score, is associated with the initial level of empathy at admission to a residential program, and whether changes in empathy during treatment moderate the impact of ACEs on juvenile recidivism. Results show youth with higher ACE scores have less empathy at admission and both ACEs and empathy predict recidivism. Most importantly, large gains in empathy are able to dampen the effect of ACEs on recidivism