Open Access Publications

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Open access publications by faculty, postdocs, and graduate students in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice.

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The Spatial Properties of Radical Environmental Organizations in the UK: Do or Die!
(The Public Library of Science, 11/29/16) Almquist,Zack W.; Bagozzi,Benjamin E.; Zack W. Almquist,Benjamin E. Bagozzi; Bagozzi, Benjamin Edward
Radical environmental groups and their members have a wide and varied agenda which often encompasses both local and global issues. In their efforts to call attention to environmental problems, communicate with like-minded groups, and mobilize support for their activities, radical environmental organizations also produce an enormous amount of text, which can be used to estimate the complex communications and task-based networks that underlie these organizations. Moreover, the tactics employed to garnish attention for these groups' agenda can range from peaceful activities such as information dissemination to violent activities such as fire-bombing buildings. To obtain these varied objectives, radical environmental organizations must harness their networks, which have an important spatial component that structures their ability to communicate, coordinate and act on any given agenda item. Here, we analyze a network built from communications and information provided by the semi-annual "Do or Die" (DoD) magazine published in the UK over a 10 year period in the late 1990s and early 2000s. We first employ structural topic model methods to discover violent and nonviolent actors within the larger environmental community. Using this designation, we then compare the spatial structure of these groups, finding that violent groups are especially likely to engage in coordination and/or communication if they are sufficiently close, but exhibit a quickly decreasing probability of interaction over even a few kilometers. Further, violent and nonviolent groups each have a higher probability of coordination with their own group than across groups over even short distances. In these respects, we see that violent groups are especially local in their organization and that their geographic reach is likely very limited. This suggests that nonviolent environmental groups seek each other out over both large and short distances for communication and coordination, but violent groups tend to be highly localized.
Halloween Sadism: the evidence
(Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, 2008) Best, Joel
Decide Your Time A Randomized Trial of a Drug Testing and Graduated Sanctions Program for Probationers
(Wiley, 2016-11-11) O'Connell, Daniel J.; Brent, John J.; Visher, Christy A.; Daniel J. O'Connell, John J. Brent, Christy A. Visher; O'Connell, Daniel J.; Visher, Christy A.
RESEARCH SUMMARY This study used a randomized controlled trial approach with a sample of 400 high-risk probationers to test the hypothesis that a program incorporating principles of deterrence, graduated sanctions, and coerced abstinence would reduce recidivism rates among drug-using offenders. Bivariate and multilevel modeling strategies were implemented. Findings revealed no discernable difference across multiple drug use, probationary, and recidivism measures between those randomized into the treatment condition and those receiving standard probation. In multivariate models, probationer age, employment status, and treatment participation improved some recidivism outcomes. Programmatic and sample characteristics are discussed regarding the lack of experimental effect. POLICY IMPLICATIONS These ﬁndings suggest that in designing and implementing deterrence-informed com- munity supervision approaches, policy makers and practitioners should consider offender attributes, the addition of employment and treatment-based programs and supports, and local justice system structures. The ﬁndings of this study ﬁt well with other emerging models of offender supervision, in particular, those that match services and programs based on offender risks and needs and those that recognize and address the heterogeneity of the offender population in developing supervision and service plans. Swift, certain, and fair supervision approaches for individuals under community supervision do not seem to be a “one-size-ﬁts-all” strategy. Understanding for whom they work and under what conditions has not yet been determined. In the meantime, policy makers and practitioners should endeavor to understand the risks and needs of their local offender population and the community supports that are available to improve offender outcomes and increase public safety.
Neighborhoods, Criminal Incidents, Race, and Sentencing: Exploring the Racial and Social Context of Disparities in Incarceration Sentences
(The British Journal of Criminology: An International Review of Crime and Society, 2021-06-01) Donnelly, Ellen A.
As an extra-legal factor, social context is a key contributor to racial/ethnic disparities in incarceration sentences. Neighborhoods may have important, yet underexplored influences on sentencing. This study evaluates whether the social conditions and racial characteristics of communities where defendants allegedly offend affect Black-White sentencing disparities. Three-level multilevel model results suggest larger Black populations in neighborhoods of criminal incident increase the odds of incarceration and, to a lesser extent, lengthen sentences for all defendants. Offending outside one’s residential community increases the probability and length of a prison sentence. Neighbourhood effects differ by race, however. Unlike Whites, Blacks receive more punitive sentences for committing offences in disadvantaged areas and less proportionally Black communities. Neighbourhoods thus contribute to racial differences in sentencing outcomes.
Threats to Belonging and Health: Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic using Decades of Research
(Social Issues and Policy Review, 2022-01-17) Jaremka, Lisa M.; Kane, Heidi S.; Bell, Ann V.
The COVID-19 pandemic, an external stressor with multiple stressful sequelae, has fundamentally changed people's lives over multiple years. In this article, we first review research demonstrating that the pandemic has negatively impacted people's sense of belonging and health over time. Next, we draw upon decades of theoretical and empirical work demonstrating that threats to belonging and mental health problems are highly interrelated, with increases in the former driving increases in the latter. We then extend this discussion to physical health, drawing upon a wealth of theoretical and empirical work demonstrating that threats to belonging are a risk factor for longer term health problems and premature mortality. We also highlight potential mechanisms linking threats to belonging and health, with a focus on sleep and immune function. Throughout, we review how pre-existing vulnerabilities may moderate these processes. We conclude with empirically supported recommendations for policymakers interested in addressing these issues.
‘I’m Gonna Speak for Me’ I-Poems and the Situated Knowledges of Sex Workers
(Ethics and Social Welfare, 2022-03-13) Buckridge, Maggie; Lowman, Jules; Leon, Chrysanthi S.
In academic and political spaces, as well as in the dominant culture in the United States, sex workers are granted little authority, and their lived experiences are not privileged as a form of valuable knowledge. As feminist scholars, we seek to counter this pattern by highlighting the situated knowledges and agency of sex workers in the United States. To do so, we share the words of sex workers through I-poems. I-poems are a form of poetic inquiry and a method for qualitative research analysis. As a form of found poetry, these poems are constructed using only the words of the participants. Unlike prior scholars, we use focus groups that capture conversation about people involved in street-based sex work rather than individual interviews. By centering the participants’ own words, we hope to moderate our influence as researchers on the presentation of data.
Examining the Prevalence and Risk Factors of School Bullying Perpetration Among Chinese Children and Adolescents
(Frontiers in Psychology, 2022-03-14) Xue, Jia; Hu, Ran; Chai, Lei; Han, Ziqiang; Sun, Ivan Y.
Background and Objectives: School bullying threatens the health of children and adolescents, such as mental health disorders, social deviant behaviors, suicidal behaviors, and coping difficulties. The present study aims to address (1) prevalence rates of both traditional and cyber school bullying perpetration, and (2) the associations between self-control, parental involvement, experiencing conflicts with parents, experiencing interparental conflict, and risk behaviors, and school bullying perpetration among Chinese children and adolescents. Method: This study used data from a national representative school bullying survey (n = 3,675) among children and adolescents from all grades (primary school 4th grade to high school 12th grade) in seven cities in China. Negative binomial regression was used to estimate the effects of these predictive factors on traditional and cyber school bullying perpetration, respectively. Seven control variables were included, such as gender, boarding school, family socioeconomic status, and parents’ education levels. Results: The sample comprised 52% female, 18% at boarding school, 70% of the participants’ academic performance was average or above. Approximately 17.3% of the participants reported participating in traditional school bullying against their peers, and 7.8% perpetrated cyberbullying behaviors. Also, after controlling sociodemographic characteristics and high self-control, parental involvement reduced the likelihood of traditional and cyberbullying perpetrating. Experiencing interparental conflict and risk behavior was significantly associated with increased perpetration of traditional and cyber school bullying. We found that having a conflict with parents was significantly associated with cyberbullying perpetration. Implications: Findings have implications for practice. Anti-bullying intervention programs targeting this population should consider these factors. For example, school administrators may develop school programs involving parents in the efforts and interventions workshops improving children and adolescents’ levels of self-control. Limitations are also discussed.
Identifying the helpfulness of school climate: Skipping school, cheating on tests, and elements of school climate
(Psychology in the Schools, 2022-04-06) Kupchik, Aaron; Highberger, James; Bear, George
Prior research demonstrates the importance of school climate in shaping student behavior but tells us less about which aspects of school climate matter. In this paper we consider how distinct elements of school climate relate to skipping school and cheating on tests. Using survey and administrative data from several statewide Delaware sources, we perform a series of random-intercept logistic regression models. We find that students in schools perceived to have a climate with high levels of structure and support are less likely to report cheating on tests. Yet we do not find a robust relationship between most climate measures and skipping school. School climate relates strongly to in-school deviant behavior but much less to school-related deviant behavior occurring outside of schools. By specifying what measures of climate do and do not relate to problematic student behaviors, our results sharpen our understandings of how school climate shapes student behaviors.
“Secondary registrants”: A new conceptualization of the spread of community control
(Punishment and Society, 2022-04-14) Leon, Chrysanthi S.; Kilmer, Ashley R.
U.S. policies influence worldwide responses to sexual offending and community control. Individuals in the U.S. convicted of sex offenses experience surveillance and control beyond their sentences, including public registries and residency restrictions. While the targets are the convicted individuals, many registrants have romantic partners, children, and other family members also navigating these restrictions. Findings from a qualitative study using written and interview responses from a hard-to-reach group—family members of registrants (n = 58)—reveal legal and extra-legal surveillance and control beyond the intended target. We argue that family members are “secondary registrants” enduring both the reach of sex offense policies into their personal lives and targeted harms because of their relationship with a convicted individual, including vigilantism and a “sex offender surcharge.” Family members engage in advocacy work to ameliorate sex offense restrictions to counteract their own stigmatization and social exclusion. Conceptually, secondary registration captures the unique and expansive reach of policy, state surveillance, and coercion on registrant family members and raises new concerns about spillover harm. Secondary registration demonstrates an understudied example of the neoliberal penal practice of de-centering the state but with the addition of deep stigmatization and the spread of sovereign and vigilante violence onto families.
Maternal stress and social support during Hurricane Florence
(Health Care for Women International, 2022-05-26) DeYoung, Sarah E.
In theoretical research on disaster vulnerability, access to resources is critical for optimal outcomes. Studying the impact of a hurricane on maternal stress can expand theories of disaster vulnerability. This is a cross-sectional mixed-methods prospective study of maternal stress during Hurricane Florence in the United States. Results from chi-squares compared the proportion of respondents who reported having support for a financial emergency were significant, specifically that higher income respondents indicated the ability to rely on someone in case of an emergency. A regression analysis indicated that social support was significant and negatively related to stress as a dependent variable, while evacuation status and pregnancy status were not significant predictors of stress. Five themes emerged from the overall qualitative data: concerns about infant feeding, evacuation logistics, general stress, family roles, and ‘other’ issues.
Are LARC Users Less Likely to Use Condoms? An Analysis of U.S. Women Initiating LARC in 2008–2018
(Women's Health Issues, 2022-06-21) Eeckhaut, Mieke C. W.; Fitzpatrick, Katie
Introduction: Public health professionals have raised concern that increased use of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) could raise women's risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), because LARC's superior pregnancy protection may decrease women's motivation to use a barrier method for supplemental pregnancy prevention. This study uses population-based data to examine whether condom use is lower, particularly among young women who are at increased STI risk, after initiating LARC versus moderately effective methods. Methods: With the 2011–2019 data files of the National Survey of Family Growth, we examine the percent of sexually active months with condom use in the year after LARC or moderately effective method initiation for a nationally representative sample of 2,018 women aged 15–44 years. Multinomial logistic models regressed condom use on method type and age group, as well as their interaction, while adjusting for key confounders. Results: The unadjusted likelihood of any condom use is substantially lower among women who initiated LARC versus moderately effective methods (12% vs. 37%), and this difference is greater among younger versus older women. After accounting for differences in women's reproductive and sociodemographic profiles, however, a statistically significant difference in condom use by method initiated remains only for those aged 20–34 years. Conclusions: Crude estimates suggest that condom use is lower after initiating LARC versus moderately effective methods, especially among young women. After accounting for the confounding effects of LARC users’ distinct profiles—particularly in terms of parity and teenage childbearing—the difference is decreased overall and no longer significant for adolescent women. Overall results indicate a need for new STI prevention strategies and policies that emphasize the importance of dual prevention for LARC users at risk of STIs.
Greening, Revitalization, and Health in South Wilmington, Delaware
(Delaware Journal of Public Health, 2022-08) Perez, Victor W.; Swiatek, William
We highlight the potential for paradoxical impacts of green infrastructure integrated with urban redevelopment. Absent directly addressing social inequalities in parallel efforts, green infrastructure may lead to negative health outcomes of disadvantaged residents, including eventual displacement. We present the research literature and reviews on this topic. We next highlight the case of recent in-migration of higher-income Whites and others in South Wilmington, Delaware, spurred on by high-end Riverfront redevelopment at Christina Landing. This migration may obscure how greening efforts—such as a new wetlands park to control area flooding—influence health outcomes in Southbridge, a low-income, African American neighborhood also within South Wilmington. The area’s Census tract boundary, often used in both health and equity assessments, is shared by these distinctive communities. When viewed through the lens of inequality, greening can have multi-faceted impacts that structure health outcomes. We underscore the importance of the mitigation of its potentially harmful effects.
Opioid-stimulant trends in overdose toxicology by race, ethnicity, & gender: An analysis in Delaware, 2013–2019
(Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 2022-08-16) Gray, Andrew C.; Neitzke-Spruill, Logan; Hughes, Cresean; O’Connell, Daniel J.; Anderson, Tammy L.
Recent upticks of stimulant presence in overdose deaths suggest the opioid epidemic is morphing, which raises questions about what drugs are involved and who is impacted. We investigate annual and growth rate trends in combined opioid-stimulant overdose toxicology between 2013 and 2019 for White, Black, and Hispanic male and female decedents in Delaware. During these years, toxicology shifted to illegal drugs for all with fentanyl leading the increase and opioid-cocaine combinations rising substantially. While combined opioid-cocaine toxicology grew among Black and Hispanic Delawareans, White males continue to report the highest rates overall. These findings depart from historical patterns and may challenge existing opioid epidemic policies.
COVID-19 and U.S. Disputes Over Authority, 2020–2021: Implications for the Constructionist Analysis of Social Problems
(Sociological Forum, 2022-09-25) Best, Joel; Monahan, Brian
COVID-19 is very different from the cases typically studied by constructionist analysts of social problems: it emerged quickly, spread widely, and affected many aspects of social life. As such, it offers important opportunities to reconsider the constructionist model. We focus on three issues—metrics, masks, and vaccines—where COVID-19 disputes about authority led to different alliances among several categories of claimsmakers. Our point is that COVID-19 discourse seems far messier than most of the narratives presented by constructionist analysts, and we identify several lessons from this unusual contemporary case that might help us strengthen existing social problems theory.
“Teachers think the kids around here, don't really want to learn”: Street-identified black men and women's attitudes toward teachers and schooling
(Sociology Compass, 2022-12-21) Payne, Yasser Arafat; Aviles, Ann M.; Yates, Nefetaria A.
This street participatory action research project explored the reflective schooling experiences of street identified Black men and women (ages 18–35) in two small low-income neighborhoods. Secondary analysis of survey (N = 520) and interview (N = 46) data examined: (1) How are attitudes toward schooling and teachers affected by race, gender and age?; and (2) How do students utilize a street-identity as a site of resilience inside schools? Overall, street-identified study participants held positive attitudes toward schooling, but generally performed poorly in schools and had negative experiences with educators. No significance was found as a function of gender and age regarding attitudes toward schooling and attitudes toward teachers. Also, interview results, across gender and age, suggest school-related structural challenges and poor teacher-student relationships contributed to severe conflict between students and teachers; and between students. Interviewees argued some Black students internalized a street identity or became disruptive and even engaged in school violence as a protective mechanism to endure hostile schooling environments. Moreover, Street PAR is discussed as a method and intervention to improve student performance and resolve concerns between students and educators.
Police Officers’ Preferences for Enforcing COVID-19 Regulatory Violations: The Impact of Organizational Support, Psychological Conditions, and Public Compliance
(Crime and Delinquency, 2023-02-20) Sun, Ivan Y.; Wu, Yuning; Shen, Shan; Kutnjak Ivkovich, Sanja; Maskaly, Jon; Neyroud, Peter
The coronavirus has stirred a wave of studies on policing the pandemic. Nonetheless, officers’ intentions to enforce COVID-related rules and regulations remain under-researched. Drawing upon survey data from 600 police officers in a major Chinese city, this study explores the associations between organizational support, behavioral and psychological conditions, and perceived public compliance and officers’ willingness to intervene in rule violations. Organizational support in providing supervisory instructions, training, and PPE increased the likelihood of officers issuing tickets, whereas minimizing COVID-19 risks to officers reduced the probability of officers not taking any action against rule violations. Officers who perceive community residents as compliant with pandemic regulations are less likely to take no action or use more punitive sanctions of ticket/fine and detention/arrest.
The Distinct Role of Peers and Supervisors in Shaping Officers’ Just and Unjust Interactions with Citizens
(Criminal Justice and Behavior, 2023-03-01) Peacock, Robert P.; Wu, Yuning; Ivković, Sanja Kutnjak; Sun, Ivan; Vinogradac, Marijan; Vinogradac, Valentina Pavlović
This study steps outside the dominant supervisor-centric approach to organizational justice to examine the impact of peer officers on both procedural justice and injustice in officer–citizen interactions. Recent scandals over the failure of officers to not intercede or object to a colleague’s misconduct has led to a growing policy and research interest in peer influence, training, and intervention programs. A structural equation modeling analysis on a cross-national survey of officers decomposed the direct and indirect effects of peer procedural justice (PPJ) on anticipated officer just and unjust interactions with the public. The study’s finding that PPJ has a greater impact than supervisory procedural justice on officer anticipated just and unjust behavior suggests that policing studies should expand the modeling of organizational justice to include the role of interactions with peer officers. The outcome also adds to the nascent research seeking to better understand how peer-level interventions can promote procedurally just policing.
Strain, depression, and deviant behavior among left-behind and non-left-behind adolescents in China
(International Sociology, 2023-04-14) Xu, Xiaohua; Sun, Ivan Y.; Wu, Yuning
China’s massive rural to urban migration has created a vast number of left-behind children (LBC) whose parents moved to cities for work. Drawing upon data from LBC and non-left-behind children (NLBC) in three Chinese cities, this study tests the applicability of general strain theory in explaining deviant behavior among adolescents. The analysis results show that LBC status is directly related to lower involvement in deviant behavior, whereas it is also directly linked to academic difficulty and depression, leading to more deviant acts. Compared with NLBC, LBC have an overall lower risk of deviance. Male and middle school students and students experiencing parental abuse and family poverty are more inclined to express greater depression, subsequently promoting higher participation in deviance.
‘I’m Scared to Death to Try It on My Own’: I-Poems and the complexities of religious housing support for people on the US sex offender registry
(Anti-Trafficking Review, 2023-04-26) Leon, Chrysanthi S.; Buckridge, Maggie; Herdoíza, Michaela
In the US, street-based sex workers and people convicted of sex offences are both ‘special populations’, often with additional conditions of community supervision. People convicted of sex offences experience a complicated mix of assistance and surveillance as they re-enter society post-conviction, including numerous restrictions on housing and employment. As a result, they are especially likely to experience homelessness upon release. This article uses I-Poems drawn from interviews with volunteers and professionals who navigate the obstacles to re-entry that govern people on the sex offender registry. We focus on people with religious affiliations (n=38) who provide urgent support during the re-entry process. I-poems are a feminist technique for analysing qualitative data that forefronts the voices of people not often heard and distils complex experiences into accessible narratives. While few in our study overtly exploited re-entering persons on the registry, most support was problematic in subtler ways: we found that re-entering registrants are asked to accept constrained choices involving labour, religious participation, and romantic and other personal relationships in order to receive assistance. Given the secondary stigma attached to work with people convicted of sex offences, and the obscurity within in which many of these religiously-affiliated programmes operate, I-Poems both humanise and reveal the complexities of coercion, religious calling, and supportive housing.
Politicization of COVID-19 and Conspiratorial Beliefs Among Emergency & Public Health Officials
(Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 2023-08-10) DeYoung, Sarah E.; Farmer, Ashley K.
In this research, we identified how political beliefs impact emergency manager’s perception of COVID-19 severity and risk. Specifically, we gathered data from people with a broad range of roles in emergency management including healthcare, mitigation, response, fire, rescue, and other areas. We asked respondents their beliefs about the severity of COVID-19, their belief in health conspiracy theories, and the public health measures associated with COVID-19 response. Quantitative results showed political affiliation was a predictor for belief in health conspiracies, as well as beliefs about social distancing as a proper mitigation measure for the spread of COVID-19, and that age and years in emergency management were not significant predictors for beliefs in health conspiracies. Qualitative results included several main themes, including frustration about the politicization of COVID-19 response and mitigation efforts, challenges in PPE (personal protective equipment) procurement, tension between public health and emergency management, misinformation about COVID-19, and lack of leadership at the federal level. These findings fill a gap in the literature regarding how political beliefs shape risk, trust, decision-making, and collaboration within emergency management.

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