Examining the Interaction of Race and Probationer Noncompliance on Sanctioning Decisions

2019 ◽  
pp. 215336871987302
Author(s):  
Danielle M. Romain ◽  
Amber E. Krushas
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Racial Disparity ◽  
Sentencing Decisions ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Focal Concerns Perspective ◽  
Relevant Factors ◽  
Domestic Violence Courts

Much of the prior literature on racial disparity has focused on sentencing decisions, with recent studies examining possible interactions between defendant race and legally relevant factors. Many defendants serve their sentences within the community, yet less is known about decision-making when probationers are noncompliant with the conditions of their sentence. Rooted in the focal concerns perspective and congruence to stereotypes framework, this study examines whether noncompliance issues are moderated by probationer race in predicting the likelihood of a jail sanction. A sample of 302 review hearings from domestic violence courts was included for analysis. Results demonstrate that several noncompliance issues influenced sanctioning, independent of race; no significant interactions were found. Implications for probation decision-making are discussed.

A Focal Concerns Perspective on Prosecutorial Decision Making in Cases of Intimate Partner Stalking

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 733-748
Author(s):  
Patrick Q. Brady ◽  
Bradford W. Reyns
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Additional Insight ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
History Of ◽  
Focal Concerns Perspective ◽  
Stalking Victims

Despite millions of stalking victims contacting the police each year, suspects are rarely arrested or prosecuted. While prosecutors are ultimately the gatekeepers to holding defendants accountable, few studies have examined the factors influencing charging decisions in stalking cases. Using the focal concerns perspective, this study analyzed 5 years of domestic violence and stalking case outcomes in Rhode Island. Findings indicated that prosecutors were more likely to prosecute stalking cases when defendants evoked fear in the victim and pursued victims in public. The decision to prosecute stalking versus other domestic violence–related charges was motivated by the location of the offense and the defendant’s history of physical abuse toward the victim. Neither extralegal factors nor characteristics of blameworthiness or suspect culpability influenced prosecutorial decision making. Findings underscore the legal complexities of stalking and suggest the need for additional insight on prosecutorial perspectives and strategies to articulate the fear standard in stalking cases.

Understanding Decision-Making in Specialized Domestic Violence Courts

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 749-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian M. Pinchevsky
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Causal Attribution ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Judicial Decision Making ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Court Processing ◽  
Domestic Violence Courts

This study fills a gap in the literature by exploring the utility of contemporary courtroom theoretical frameworks—uncertainty avoidance, causal attribution, and focal concerns—for explaining decision-making in specialized domestic violence courts. Using data from two specialized domestic violence courts, this study explores the predictors of prosecutorial and judicial decision-making and the extent to which these factors are congruent with theoretical frameworks often used in studies of court processing. Findings suggest that these theoretical frameworks only partially help explain decision-making in the courts under study. A discussion of the findings and implications for future research is provided.

Funneled Through or Filtered Out: An Examination of Police and Prosecutorial Decision-Making in Adult Sexual Assault Cases

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (15-16) ◽  
pp. 1919-1940
Author(s):  
Ericka A. Wentz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Adult Sexual Assault ◽  
Extralegal Factors ◽  
Focal Concerns Perspective ◽  
Relevant Factors

To improve criminal justice responses to sexual assault, it is vital to understand the factors that influence decisions made by police and prosecutors and how these decisions overlap. Although decisions made at the prosecutorial stage are largely reliant on the actions of the police, the prosecutors’ charging decisions often differ from how the police classify incidents. Guided by the focal concerns perspective, this study examined 231 cases of adult sexual assault incidents reported to the police to identify which factors were predictive of congruent charging decisions and arrest. The results supported the focal concerns perspective and revealed that legal and extralegal factors were influential at both of these points. Legally relevant factors that focused on the collection of evidence were paramount in decisions at both stages; however, extralegal variables such as timely reporting and whether the victim physically resisted were also significantly related to decisions at each stage. Implications arising from the results are discussed.

A Sign of the Crimes: Examining Officers’ Identification of, and Arrest for, Stalking in Domestic Violence Complaints

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-526
Author(s):  
Patrick Q. Brady ◽  
Bradford W. Reyns ◽  
Rebecca Dreke
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Intimate Partner Homicide ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Focal Concerns Perspective ◽  
Practical Implications

Despite stalking as a risk factor for intimate partner homicide, few studies have explored officer decision making in domestic violence (DV) complaints that involve stalking. This study employs the focal concerns perspective to identify the legal and extra-legal factors associated with officers' identification of, and arrest for, stalking in DV complaints. Using a statewide sample of 230 DV complaints from Rhode Island, findings indicated that nearly one in four suspects were arrested for stalking in DV complaints (25.2%). Stalking acknowledgment was associated with the location of the offense, prior police involvement, and the total number of offenses committed. Officers were more likely to arrest suspects for stalking in DV complaints if the victim was willing to cooperate. Support for the focal concerns perspective varied according to the type of decision. Avenues for future research, as well as theoretical and practical implications, are discussed.

To Report or Not to Report? A Focal Concerns Analysis of Victim Reporting Decisions Following Victimization

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110453
Author(s):  
Shamika M. Kelley ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Eryn Nicole O’Neal
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Crime Victimization ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Private Location ◽  
Victim Reporting ◽  
Victim Support ◽  
Reporting Decisions ◽  
Criminal Legal System ◽  
Focal Concerns Perspective

Sexual assault (SA) decision-making literature primarily focuses on criminal-legal actors and often overlooks victim decision making. This relative dearth in research is problematic, as victims are principal gatekeepers of the criminal-legal process who influence whether perpetrators are arrested and prosecuted. Subsequent victim support is also contingent on the reporting decision. Overall, this body of research would benefit from a better understanding of how victims activate and participate with the criminal-legal system and the potential impact of these decisions on criminal-legal processes. Moreover, victim decision making is often situated in a theoretical analyses. Victim decision making is complex and should be studied within a criminological decision-making framework. Therefore, the current study relies on National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data and applies a focal concerns perspective (FCP), informed by rape culture concepts, to examine why victims of sexual violence may or may not choose to report to legal authorities. The current study offers initial support for the application of FCP to victim reporting decisions. We found that victims consider each of the focal concerns (FC). Victims were more likely to report when offenders threatened them with harm (i.e., suspect blameworthiness), when the offense occurred in a private location (i.e., protection of the community), and when they sought help from victim support agencies or medical treatment (i.e., practical considerations). Additionally, we found that Black victims were more likely to report than other racial-ethnic groups (i.e., perceptual shorthand). These findings highlight a nexus between reporting to police and help-seeking via support agencies. Importantly, the results emphasize the importance for police to implement cultural competence and antiracist training to better support Black victims.

Offender-Centric Policing in Cases of Rape

2021 ◽  
pp. 002201832110274
Author(s):  
Philip NS Rumney ◽  
Duncan McPhee
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Missed Opportunities ◽  
Predatory Behaviour ◽  
Investigative Tool ◽  
Care And Support ◽  
History Of

The article explores the idea of ‘offender-centric’ policing in cases of rape, with its focus on suspect and offender admissions and behaviours. It features discussion of 11 cases, illustrating offender-centric pathways to charge or conviction, the challenges facing complainants, suspects and police officers, along with missed opportunities to focus on a suspect’s behaviour. The importance of victim care and support is discussed, and it is argued that victim care should accompany an offender-centric approach to rape investigation. It is also argued that there are potential dangers with offender-centric tactics, specifically, that without due care it may become a self-confirming investigative tool influenced by confirmation bias which may lead to flawed decision-making. The article concludes by arguing that offender-centric policing has benefits in those cases with suspects who engage in predatory behaviour, have a history of previously undisclosed sexual offending and domestic violence and other problematic behaviours. It also has value in focusing the attention of investigators on what steps were taken by a suspect to ascertain the complainant’s consent. While the offender-centric approach cannot address all investigative challenges in rape cases, it is a useful addition to existing strategies.

Focal Concerns and Police Decision Making in Sexual Assault Cases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483802199128
Author(s):  
David S. Lapsey ◽  
Bradley A. Campbell ◽  
Bryant T. Plumlee
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Campbell Collaboration ◽  
Focal Concerns ◽  
Police Decision Making ◽  
The Impact

Sexual assault and case attrition at the arrest stage are serious problems in the United States. Focal concerns have increasingly been used to explain police decision making in sexual assault cases. Because of the popularity of the focal concerns perspective and potential to inform evidence-based training, a systematic review and meta-analysis are needed to condense the literature. In this study, we assess the overall strength of the relationship between focal concerns variables and police decisions to arrest in cases of sexual assault. Our assessment of the effects of focal concerns variables on arrest decision making in sexual assault cases followed the systematic review protocols provided by the Campbell Collaboration of Systematic Reviews. Specifically, we used the Campbell Collaboration recommendations to search empirical literature and used meta-analysis to evaluate the size, direction, and strength of the impact of focal concerns variables on arrest decisions. Our search strategy detected 14 eligible studies and 79 effect sizes. The meta-analysis found several robust and statistically significant correlates of arrest. In fact, each focal concerns concept produced at least one robust arrest correlate. Overall, focal concerns offers a strong approach for explaining police decisions in sexual assault cases. Although practical concerns and resource constraints produced the strongest arrest correlates, results show the importance of additional case characteristics in officers’ decision to arrest.

Supporting Responsive Federal Drug Sentencing Through Education in the Workshop on Science-Informed Decision Making

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-22
Author(s):  
Hon. Nancy Gertner ◽  
Dr. Judith Edersheim ◽  
Dr. Robert Kinscherff ◽  
Cassandra Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Behavioral Science ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Informed Decision ◽  
Probation Officers ◽  
Informed Decision Making ◽  
Sentencing Decisions ◽  
Federal Judiciary ◽  
Federal Districts ◽  
Federal Judges

On the federal level, judicial education in sentencing has been focused primarily on preparing judges to calculate and apply the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. But in an advisory guidelines context, making individualized assessments in drug cases requires education in the science of addictions, the drivers of behavior, and the prospects for behavior change when substances are involved. Neuroscience and the sciences of human behavior provide clarifying insight into substance-driven behaviors and cognitions that are routinely encountered in federal drug cases. These disciplines support individualized sentencing by shedding new light on the nature of inhibitory control, the reasonable expectations for relapse, and the distinctions that can be drawn based on science between different treatment interventions. In this Article, we report on the Workshop on Science-Informed Decision Making, an education initiative in the federal judiciary. Since 2016, it has provided education in neuroscience and behavioral science, as well as skills training in individualizing sentences using insights from that science, to U.S. district judges, magistrate judges, and pretrial services and probation officers in thirty-two federal districts. We describe the case-study-based instructional approach of the workshop, including some of the misconceptions about addiction behavior it addresses, and explain why we believe that this kind of education helps federal judges, and pretrial services and probation officers, craft more responsive sentencing decisions and recommendations.

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