Hazardous Duty: Investigating Resistance to Police at the Point of Arrest Among Incarcerated Military Veterans

The link between military service and crime has been a subject of investigation for several decades. Although research has examined the likelihood of arrest, incarceration, and recidivism across military cohorts, relatively little is known about the circumstances surrounding police contact and suspect behavior at the exact moment of arrest. This is a critical oversight given that what transpires during an arrest can have a marked impact on downstream criminal justice outcomes, including access to diversionary programming like veterans treatment courts. Using a nationally representative survey of prison inmates, this study analyzes veteran and nonveteran self-reports of their arrest controlling for a host of relevant demographic, mental health, and criminal history variables. Findings indicate that veterans are significantly less likely to resist the police at arrest. These results provide further support to the sentiment that military culture and training can have a lasting behavioral influence on those who experience it.

Veteran Treatment Court Clients’ Perceptions of Procedural Justice and Recidivism

Studies surrounding the effectiveness of veterans’ treatment courts (VTCs) are now emerging. Absent from this scholarship is an examination of the presence of procedural justice within VTCs and the influence of procedural justice on future criminal behavior of VTC clients. To begin this dialogue, this study surveys 41 clients enrolled in two VTCs in a Southern state. We explore client perceptions of procedurally just treatment by their judge and assigned supervision officer. Using an average follow-up time of 20 months, this study also examines the effects of perceptions of procedural justice on recidivism of court clients. Results find VTC clients perceive their judge and supervision officer treat them in a procedurally just manner. Interestingly, perceptions of procedural justice during interactions did not result in reduced recidivism among the current sample. Policy and program implications along with recommendations for future research are provided.

If You Build It, Will Vets Come? An Identity Theory Approach to Expanding Veterans’ Treatment Court Participation

Veterans’ treatment courts (VTCs) provide a veteran-centric diversion option to traditional court case processing. These courts have proliferated across the United States without much consideration about whether veterans want, or need, a specialty court. In this article, we investigate the underlying importance of a veteran identity in the decision to enroll in a VTC. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews with veterans, we identify four primary implications for practitioners. First, veterans are ashamed of their criminal justice involvement. Second, they are concerned about increased punitiveness by criminal justice actors, particularly law enforcement, because of their veteran status. Third, veterans perceive the VTC process to bestow upon them stigma and retaliation. Fourth, veterans resist VTC involvement for fear of dishonoring their branch of service. To expand enrollment, results demonstrate that practitioners should consider how veterans reconcile their veteran and offender identities when considering VTC enrollment.

A National Survey of Veterans Treatment Court Actors

Several controversies surround Veterans Treatment Courts (VTCs), such as excluding veterans who commit violent offenses and requiring a direct relationship between a veteran’s charges and mental health diagnosis. The aim of this study was to examine VTC actors’ perceptions of these issues via a national survey. VTC Judges, Coordinators, and Veterans Affairs liaisons were presented two randomly assigned hypothetical clients and asked their perceptions of the hypothetical clients’ eligibility for VTC. The violent crime committed by the clients and their mental health diagnoses were manipulated in these scenarios. Participants were also asked for their perceptions of VTC issues and to describe the current practices of their VTCs. Results indicated participants were supportive of the domestic violence client’s participation in VTC, regardless of diagnosis, however most were not supportive of the involuntary manslaughter clients’ participation. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.

Take a Load off Fanny: Peer Mentors in Veterans Treatment Courts

This article explores the role of mentors in three veterans treatment courts (VTCs) in two Midwestern states. VTCs have existed for more than 10 years and continue to flourish across local, state, and federal jurisdictions. Yet, little is known about the factors related to program compliance, completion, and reductions in recidivism. Many VTCs consider peer mentors as a key link between the court workgroup, program participants, and ultimately program outcomes. Thus, this study uses individual and focus-group data from interviews with veteran mentors and VTC team members along with field observations in various VTC settings to better understand the role of peer mentors. The research begins with an overview of the recruitment, selection, training, and retention of mentors. Secondly, the study examines the impact of these mentor programs and concludes with recommendations for further evaluation of the role of mentors and other key stakeholders regarding program compliance, completion, and recidivism reduction.