The Experts below are selected from a list of 9432 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Julian V. Roberts - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
the role of Criminal Record in the sentencing process
Crime and Justice, 1997Co-Authors: Julian V. RobertsAbstract:An offender's Criminal history plays an important role in sentencing in all jurisdictions. Statutory enhancements for repeat offenders exist in most countries, and there is widespread public support for harsher penalties for recidivists. Advocates of general or specific deterrence support a recidivist premium on the grounds that recidivists are more likely to reoffend and need stronger disincentives. Incapacitationists argue that longer detention is required for offenders with a greater likelihood of reoffending. Most desert-based theorists support a limited sentencing discount for first offenders. State and federal sentencing guideline systems in the United States attach great importance to Criminal history information, but there is considerable diversity in the way in which different systems define and limit the use of previous convictions. This essay explores a number of important policy issues relating to the use of Criminal history information, including definitions of what should be included in a cr...
-
Public Opinion, Criminal Record, and the Sentencing Process:
American Behavioral Scientist, 1996Co-Authors: Julian V. RobertsAbstract:An offender's Criminal Record is a powerful determinant of sentence severity in almost all Criminal justice systems. State and federal sentencing guidelines accord a central role to Criminal Record, which is the second most important factor after crime seriousness. As well, most states have recidivist statutes such as “three strikes and you're out,” which prescribe swinging penalties for recidivist offenders. Although a great deal of research has examined public perceptions of sentencing and crime seriousness, little work has addressed the question of public support for Criminal Record as an aggravating factor in the sentencing process. This article reviews the limited research on this question. It would appear that the public supports a limited use of Criminal history information, although there is little public enthusiasm for statutes or guidelines that impose sentences the severity of which clearly violates principles of desert.
-
The Role of Criminal Record in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines
Criminal Justice Ethics, 1994Co-Authors: Julian V. RobertsAbstract:Most Criminal justice systems accord a central role to an offender's Criminal history in the determination of sentence, although the importance of previous convictions varies across jurisdictions. In countries such as Canada, Australia, England and Wales, Criminal Record plays a critical but limited role in sentencing. Elsewhere, in several American states, Criminal Record is primary, eclipsing even the seriousness of the offence of conviction as a determinant of sentence severity.(1) Criminal history is relevant in jurisdictions with formal guideline systems, as well as countries that have traditionally eschewed such attempts to structure sentencing practices. Most penal codes around the world also contain repetitive offender provisions that prescribe higher penalties for recidivists, or which defer parole eligibility for the recidivist offender.(2) Statutory premiums for recidivists are not new--for example, the Indictable Offences Bill, introduced in England well over a century ago, provided a mandatory minimum sentence for repeat offenders.(3) Finally, it is worth noting that public attitudes regarding sentencing are also strongly influenced by the offender's Criminal antecedents. Survey research in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere suggests that when members of the public are asked to "sentence" offenders, support for incarceration increases as a direct function of the number of prior convictions.(4) Justifying the "Recidivist Premium" The exact impact of Criminal Record is determined, in theory, by the nature of the underlying sentencing purpose(s). Some desert theorists, including Andrew von Hirsch and Martin Wasik,(5) regard Criminal history as being relevant to the sentencing decision, albeit in a limited way. They argue that our everyday moral judgements incorporate the notion of leniency towards people who transgress for the first time. According to this view, a lapse into Criminality after a lifetime of lawabiding behavior should be responded to with a certain degree of tolerance. The result is a first offender discount. As Wasik and Von Hirsch note: "A first offender, after being confronted with censure or blame, is capable--as a reasoning human being presumed capable of ethical judgments--of reflecting on the morality of what he has done and of making an extra effort to show greater restraint. What we do, in granting the discount [to first offenders], is to show respect for this capacity--and thereby give the offender a so-called 'second chance.' With repetitions, however, the discount should begin to diminish and eventually disappear."(6) In practice, this justification is known as the progressive loss of mitigation.(7) However, there are other desert theorists (such as George Fletcher and Alexis Durham III) who see little role for Criminal Record in the determination of sanction(8). According to their perspective, there should be no discount for first offenders, and no increase in sentence severity as a function of the number of previous convictions. Neither version of desert theory distinguishes between offenders with lengthy, but varying Criminal histories. For Wasik and Von Hirsch, such offenders can no longer claim that their current transgressions are at odds with their actions to that point; they have had their "second chance." For the other desert theorists, there is no role for Criminal Record to mitigate sentence even for first offenders. The utilitarian sentencing purposes use an offender's Criminal Record in a very different way. An incapacitation strategy would give primary weight to the offender's Criminal Record, on grounds that the actuarial probability of future offending depends largely on the number and nature of priors. Advocates of individual deterrence would take a re-conviction as evidence that a harsher sentence was now required as the previous sentence clearly failed to deter the offender. Some form of recidivist premium then is justified according to almost all sentencing theories. …
Shawn D Bushway - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
the language of stigmatization and the mark of violence experimental evidence on the social construction and use of Criminal Record stigma
Criminology, 2017Co-Authors: Megan Denver, Justin T Pickett, Shawn D BushwayAbstract:After years of stagnation, labeling theory has recently gained new empirical support. Simultaneously, new policy initiatives have attempted to restructure Criminal Record stigma to reduce reintegration barriers, and subsequent recidivism, driven by labeling. For example, in a recent Department of Justice (DOJ) language policy, person-first terms (e.g., “person with a conviction”) were substituted for crime-first terms (e.g., “offender”). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has also issued guidelines to structure how decision-makers use Criminal Records. Unfortunately, little is currently known about the social construction and use of Criminal Record stigma or the potential effects of such policy changes. In the current study, we provide two unique empirical tests. In study 1, we examine the social construction of stigma by testing DOJ's language policy with experimental data from a nationally representative sample of American adults (N = 996). In study 2, we use a separate nationwide experiment (N = 1,540) to examine how the contextualization of Criminal Records influences social exclusion decisions. Across both studies, we find consistent evidence of a “mark of violence.” The public perceives that individuals with violent convictions are the most likely to commit future crimes, and it is more supportive of excluding these individuals from employment. Crime-first terms exacerbate perceived recidivism risk for individuals with violent convictions.
-
Old Criminal Records and Predictions of Future Criminal Involvement
2012Co-Authors: Megan C Kurlychek, Robert Brame, Shawn D BushwayAbstract:>> It is well accepted that Criminal Records impose collateral consequences on offenders. Such Records affect access to public housing, student financial aid, welfare benefits, and voting rights. An axiom of these policies is that individuals with Criminal Records—even old Criminal Records—exhibit significantly higher risk of future Criminal conduct than do individuals without Criminal Records. In this article, the authors use police contact data from the 1942 Racine birth cohort study to determine whether individuals whose last Criminal Record occurred many years ago exhibit a higher risk of acquiring future Criminal Records than do individuals with no Criminal Record at all. Findings suggest that there is little to no distinguishable difference between these groups.
-
Enduring Risk? Old Criminal Records and Predictions of Future Criminal Involvement
Crime & Delinquency, 2007Co-Authors: Megan C Kurlychek, Robert Brame, Shawn D BushwayAbstract:It is well accepted that Criminal Records impose collateral consequences on offenders. Such Records affect access to public housing, student financial aid, welfare benefits, and voting rights. An axiom of these policies is that individuals with Criminal Records—even old Criminal Records—exhibit significantly higher risk of future Criminal conduct than do individuals without Criminal Records. In this article, the authors use police contact data from the 1942 Racine birth cohort study to determine whether individuals whose last Criminal Record occurred many years ago exhibit a higher risk of acquiring future Criminal Records than do individuals with no Criminal Record at all. Findings suggest that there is little to no distinguishable difference between these groups.
-
scarlet letters and recidivism does an old Criminal Record predict future offending
Criminology and public policy, 2006Co-Authors: Megan C Kurlychek, Robert Brame, Shawn D BushwayAbstract:Research Summary: This research explores the issue of old prior Records and their ability to predict future offending. In particular, we are interested in the question of whether, after a given period of time, the risk of recidivism for a person who has been arrested in the distant past is ever indistinguishable from that of a population of persons with no prior arrests. Two well-documented empirical facts guide our investigation: (1) Individuals who have offended in the past are relatively more likely to offend in the future, and (2) the risk of recidivism declines as the time since the last Criminal act increases. We find that immediately after an arrest, the knowledge of this prior Record does significantly differentiate this population from a population of nonoffenders. However, these differences weaken dramatically and quickly over time so that the risk of new offenses among those who last offended six or seven years ago begins to approximate (but not match) the risk of new offenses among persons with no Criminal Record. Policy Implications: Individuals with official Records of past offending behavior encounter a barrier when they try to obtain employment, even if a person's most recent offense occurred in the distant past. There are many reasons for such obstacles, but they are at least partially premised on the concern that individuals with arrest Records—even from the distant past—are more likely to offend in the future than persons with no Criminal history. Our analysis questions the logic of such practices and suggests that after a given period of remaining crime free, it may be prudent to wash away the brand of “offender” and open up more legitimate opportunities to this population.
Athanassios Douzenis - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
narcissism but not Criminality is associated with aggression in women a study among female prisoners and women without a Criminal Record
Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2019Co-Authors: G Kalemi, Ioannis Michopoulos, Vasiliki Efstathiou, Foteini Konstantopoulou, Domna Tsaklakidou, Rossetos Gournellis, Athanassios DouzenisAbstract:Aggression has drawn research attention during the past decades. It remains unclear how self-esteem, self-perception, narcissism and certain socio-demographic factors impact the course of aggression. Female aggression is considered to differ in its origins and is understudied. Only few studies have attempted to examine the aforementioned variables among females, while none of them included a comparison between delinquent and non-delinquent individuals. The present study examines the effect of self-esteem, self-perception, narcissism, and socio-demographic factors on aggression among female inmates and women without Criminal Record (non-delinquents). One hundred fifty-seven female inmates in the Attica's Korydallos Female Prison and 150 women with no Criminal Record were assessed with Buss & Perry Aggression Questionnaire, Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale, Narcissistic Personality Inventory-40 and the Self-Perception Profile for Adults. When inmates were compared to non-delinquent women, it emerged that higher aggression could be independently predicted by higher levels of narcissistic personality traits and sociability, as well as lower age, lower education, lower self-esteem, and lower levels of self-perception items including nurturance, job competence and athletic abilities. Aggression was not predicted by the participants' group (inmates vs. non-delinquents). Within female inmates, independently of the type of their offense (convicted for violent vs. non-violent crimes), it was found that lower job competence, higher narcissistic personality traits and a history of childhood maltreatment could predict higher aggression. Our results support the notion that female aggression differs from male and highlight the significant parameters that may predict aggression either among women (inmates and non-delinquent women) or among female inmates (violent or non-violent crimes). It is the presence of narcissistic traits which predict aggression rather than Criminality in general, including violent and non-violent crimes.
Margaret Fitzgerald O’reilly - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
The Role of Criminal Record in Bail
Uses and Consequences of a Criminal Conviction, 2018Co-Authors: Margaret Fitzgerald O’reillyAbstract:This chapter explores the use of Criminal Record information in bail decisions. Particular emphasis is placed upon examining the changes made by the Bail Acts 1997 and 2007 and the implications of these changes. Traditionally, bail was a common law issue and factors relevant to granting or refusing bail was a matter for the judiciary. The impact of the legislation under discussion has been to change this, with Criminal Record becoming a prominent express factor to be considered in bail hearings.
-
Policing the Criminal Record
Uses and Consequences of a Criminal Conviction, 2018Co-Authors: Margaret Fitzgerald O’reillyAbstract:This chapter documents the role past Criminal Records play in the investigation of crimes. The lack of empirical data in Ireland makes it difficult to assess the true impact of past Record upon police work, thus the chapter comprises a number of elements in order to evaluate the significance of a past conviction in this area. This includes a look at the nature and extent of police powers and targeting practices towards particular groups of offenders. The chapter assesses the potential effect of targeting practices upon ex-offenders in Ireland and elsewhere. It also examines the Criminal Record databases that exist both in Ireland and internationally including Interpol, Europol, the Schengen Information System (SIS), and the European Criminal Records information system (ECRIS).
-
Sentencing on Criminal Record
Uses and Consequences of a Criminal Conviction, 2018Co-Authors: Margaret Fitzgerald O’reillyAbstract:This chapter examines the impact of Criminal convictions upon the sentencing process and focuses upon explaining when past convictions are taken into consideration by a sentencing judge, the justifications for this, the relevance of past Records, and the effect that its use has upon the offender. There is a particular emphasis upon documenting the increased use of mandatory minimum sentencing provisions in Ireland that focus upon repeat offenders. In recent years, there has been a notable increase in legislative attention to the use of Criminal Records in sentencing and the implications of this are explored in this chapter.
-
The Criminal Record on Trial
Uses and Consequences of a Criminal Conviction, 2018Co-Authors: Margaret Fitzgerald O’reillyAbstract:This chapter examines the impact that Criminal Records have upon the trial process and is divided into two parts. The first deals with the admission of evidence in chief, and the second addresses the rules pertaining to cross-examination. In relation to evidence in chief, the focus is upon examining the rules of similar fact evidence at trial in order to determine the role that past convictions play. The second part then examines the law of cross-examination, particularly the relevant provisions of the Criminal Justice (Evidence) Act 1924 as amended, which provides for the circumstances where an accused can be cross-examined on his or her past Record. The questioning of witnesses on their past convictions is also considered.
Leonore M.j. Simon - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
SOCIAL BOND AND Criminal Record HISTORY OF ACQUAINTANCE AND STRANGER VIOLENT OFFENDERS
Journal of Criminal Justice, 1999Co-Authors: Leonore M.j. SimonAbstract:ABSTRACT This paper contains two studies. First, it examines whether there is a difference in social bond and Criminal Record histories between intimate, casual acquaintance, and stranger violent offenders. Then, it explores whether social bond variables are predictors of juvenile and adult Criminality. Subjects consist of 273 sentenced, incarcerated adult violent offenders for whom retrospective interview and Record data were collected. Results of the first study indicate that offenders who victimize intimates are significantly more attached to their wives and have a greater number of Recorded adult rape convictions. Offenders who victimize strangers have greater numbers of juvenile convictions and are more likely to have been confined in juvenile institutions. The second study suggests that social bonds to parents and school may be more directly associated with juvenile delinquency. As violent offenders age and develop adult Records, other variables such as attachment to wife, intelligence, alcohol abus...