Assessing the Relationships Between Past Victimization, Perceived Risk of Future Victimization, and Controversial Criminal Justice Policies Using Structural Equation Modeling

Several decades of research show a strong relationship between past victimization and perceived risk of future victimization. Yet, few studies have explored the potential connection to individuals’ support for criminal justice policies. The purpose of this study is to better understand the relationships between past victimization, perception of risk for future victimization, and support for several criminal justice policies (e.g., stand your ground, open carry, three strikes, and the death penalty). Through structural equation modeling, the researchers examined relationships between these latent variables. Having both a history of victimization and a belief in the risk of future victimization increased one’s support for punitive and self-protective policies. Implications for future research and potential policies and services for victims/survivors are discussed.

Three essays on crime policy and the Bayesian bootstrap

This dissertation consists of three chapters. In the first chapter, I analyze credible intervals for quantiles constructed using Bayesian bootstrap techniques and show that credible intervals constructed using the "continuity-corrected" Bayesian bootstrap (Banks, 1988) have frequentist coverage probability error of only O(n [superscript -1]). In addition, I show that these "continuity-corrected" Bayesian bootstrap credible intervals achieve the same frequentist coverage probability as the frequentist confidence intervals of Goldman and Kaplan (2017), up to some error term of magnitude O(n [superscript -1]). Furthermore, I demonstrate that credible intervals constructed using the "continuity-corrected" Bayesian bootstrap have less frequentist coverage probability error than those constructed using the Bayesian bootstrap (Rubin, 1981). In the second chapter, I investigate three strikes laws, which mandate sharply increased sentences for criminals who commit a specific number of felonies. Specifically, I analyze the effect of these laws on violent crime rates using municipal-level data from the FBI. I compare violent crime rates of border municipalities in states with differing treatment statuses using a difference-in-differences specification with a sample matched on pre-treatment outcomes. I find no statistical evidence that three strikes laws reduce violent crime rates. I rule out reductions in violent crime rates greater than 1.3 [percent] and reject the hypothesis that three strikes laws reduce violent crime rates at the 5 [percent] significance level. Additional analyses and robustness checks support my main findings. In the third chapter, I examine medical marijuana laws (MMLs), which legalize the use, possession, and cultivation of marijuana by individuals with qualifying medical conditions. Namely, I employ municipal-level data from the FBI to analyze the effect of MMLs on violent crime rates. I compare municipalities in border regions with different treatments statuses using a difference-in-differences specification with a sample matched on pre-treatment outcomes. I find a lack of evidence for MMLs increasing violent crime rates, but I cannot eliminate the possibility of small-to-medium positive effects. However, I rule out increases in violent crime rates greater than 9.9 [percent] and reject the hypothesis that MMLs increase violent crime at the 10 [percent] significance level.

14. Further offences under the Theft Acts

Course-focused and contextual, Criminal Law provides a succinct overview of the key areas on the law curriculum balanced with thought-provoking contextual discussion. This chapter discusses the several offences in the Theft Acts 1968 and 1978, including: making off without payment; burglary (including discussion of the key terms ‘entry as a trespasser’, ‘building’, and the ulterior offences); aggravated burglary (burglary committed when the person has with them a firearm or imitation firearm, or offensive weapon); blackmail; handling stolen goods; and dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit. The feature ‘The law in context’ feature examines how burglars are sentenced, including the applicable sentencing guidelines, the evolution of relevant case law, and the ‘three strikes and you’re out’ mandatory sentence.

‘Three Strikes, You’re Out!’

In an increasingly individualistic culture, we have somewhat lost sight of the important community aspect of Christianity, particularly when it comes to church discipline. One of the more challenging aspects of modern church ministry is what to do when a person’s behaviour threatens the unity and wellbeing of the community. In the nt, we see harsh measures applied to such people, but how do we translate these examples into today’s church? This article looks at the practice of exile or expulsion in the world of the nt generally and the Pauline communities specifically. It will then consider the implications of the practice, as revealed in scripture, and the challenges presented to its implementation in the modern church.

Then and Now: Vulnerable Workers, Industrial Action, and the Law in the 1970s and Today

With the much vaunted ‘withering of the strike’, a mythology of past militancy appears to have taken root; militant men taking to the picket line on the flimsiest of pretexts. This stereotype is challenged through exploring two accounts of three strikes, Trico and Grunwick in 1976, and, following the raft of ‘salami slicing’ legislation kettling workers and trade unions, the dispute at Gate Gourmet in 2005. These were acts of desperation by vulnerable workers. Each book highlights the heterogeneity of race and gender, and in some cases how this served to divide workers. The attack on existing conditions and the increased use of agency workers, the issues challenged by Gate Gourmet workers, and continued disputes concerning equal pay, as with the Trico strike, indicate the limited power of organized labour today in the context of the persistence, if not escalation, of employment grievances.