Molly Minkler, Matt DeLisi, James Marquart and Nicholas Scurich
This study aims to use a novel data set of 636 murderers sentenced to death in California to investigate homicide offenses that are committed but not prosecuted or officially…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to use a novel data set of 636 murderers sentenced to death in California to investigate homicide offenses that are committed but not prosecuted or officially solved, a concept known as the dark figure of crime.
Design/methodology/approach
Uaing appellate records from the Supreme Court of California, which contain extensive information about the offender’s background, criminal offense history and mental health diagnoses, it was revealed that one-third of the offenders in the sample have additional homicide offenses for which they likely bear responsibility, but were not prosecuted.
Findings
Most of these involve one or two additional homicides, though a wide range was observed spanning 0 to 93 additional victims. Those with a dark figure of murder and unsolved homicides had substantially more prior arrests, convictions and prison incarcerations and were higher in psychopathy, sexual sadism, homicidal ideation and gang involvement than offenders without a dark figure. Psychopathy and homicidal ideation were the most robust predictors of both the presence and magnitude of a dark figure of murder and unsolved homicides, whereas sexual sadism was inconsistently associated.
Originality/value
A disproportionate amount of the unsolved murders in the USA are likely perpetrated by the most pathological types of offenders, those with extensive antisocial careers and severe externalizing psychopathology.
Details
Keywords
R. Alan Thompson and James W. Marquart
Much attention is given to the topic of HIV/ AIDS within the general population and several specific professions, namely the medical and related health‐care fields. By comparison…
Abstract
Much attention is given to the topic of HIV/ AIDS within the general population and several specific professions, namely the medical and related health‐care fields. By comparison, little serious attention is devoted to the implications this deadly disease poses for the law enforcement profession and its practitioners. In response to this situation, a study was undertaken to assess the nature, accuracy and extent of officers’ beliefs, perceptions and attitudes about HIV/AIDS as it relates to the performance of their daily law enforcement responsibilities. Preliminary results from this empirical effort indicate that officers do in fact possess a range of personal views that are expected to directly influence the profession’s future development. Selected findings and their implications for both training and policy initiatives, as well as suggestions for additional empirical research endeavours, are presented and discussed.
Details
Keywords
Summer Allen and Sandra T. Marquart-Pyatt
This research contributes to the literature on workplace energy conservation by examining the predictors of individual employee behaviors and policy support in a university. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This research contributes to the literature on workplace energy conservation by examining the predictors of individual employee behaviors and policy support in a university. The purpose of this research is to better understand what factors influence energy conservation behaviors in this setting to inform programs and interventions.
Design/methodology/approach
This project gathered survey data from employee-occupants of three campus buildings. Ordinary least squares regression analyses were used to investigate the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and attitudes-behavior-constraints (ABC) models examining what drives energy behaviors.
Findings
This study finds a large proportion of respondents would support energy use reduction policies, more technology-based interventions and increased use of renewable sources. Respondents report positive attitudes toward individual energy conservation behavior but mild agreement with the influence of social norms. Self-efficacy reports also are positive. Although the TPB model is not fully supported in this group, the ABC model appears to perform well.
Originality/value
In addition to adding to the relatively limited data on employee energy-saving behaviors in the university workplace, this study provides initial evidence that the ABC model is pertinent to this behavioral context. It also provides specific, usable data about policies and actions that campus community members might deem feasible and acceptable to relevant university offices.
Details
Keywords
David Pyrooz, Scott Decker and Mark Fleisher
This article examines a range of issues associated with gangs in incarcerated settings. We begin by examining the similarities and differences between street and prison gangs, and…
Abstract
This article examines a range of issues associated with gangs in incarcerated settings. We begin by examining the similarities and differences between street and prison gangs, and differentiating them from other types of criminal groups. Next, we focus on the emergence and growth of gangs in prison, including patterns and theoretical explanations. Importantly, we draw theoretical linkages between differing perspectives on gang emergence and gang violence. We also present administrative and official responses to gangs in prison. Finally, we discuss the movement from prison to the street, examining the difficulties that former prisoners face when re‐entering communities.
Details
Keywords
Stephen G. Sutton and Emma Gyuris
The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to optimize the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI) and second, to establish a baseline of the difference in environmental…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to optimize the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI) and second, to establish a baseline of the difference in environmental attitudes between first and final year students, taken at the start of a university’s declaration of commitment to EfS.
Design/methodology/approach
The psychometrically designed EAI was used to overcome the problems and limitations of the much-used, but controversial, revised New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale. The performance of the original 72-item EAI was compared with our 37-item reduced form using a population of first- and final-year university students.
Findings
The reduced 37-item EAI provides a reliable and valid tool for investigating structured, multi-dimensional environmental attitudes of university students while reducing response burden and increasing response and completion rates compared with the longer versions of the EAI.
Research limitations/implications
No attempt is made to link elements of the university experience with changes in attitude between first- and third-year students. The authors expect the 12-faceted EAI to provide more detailed feedback on the affective outcomes of EfS initiatives than currently used instruments.
Originality/value
This research contributes to establishing the EAI as a gold standard with which to monitor students’ environmental attitudes. Although most studies aimed at understanding the impact of EfS measure attitude change over relatively short periods of time – typically using the brief NEP scale administered immediately before and after a specific semester course – the approach developed here is designed to detect attitudinal change that may be ascribed to the entire university experience between students’ first and final year.
Details
Keywords
First National Congress of Librarians, Archivists and Documentalists. The Portuguese Association of Librarians, Archivists and Documentalists will hold its first congress entitled…
Abstract
First National Congress of Librarians, Archivists and Documentalists. The Portuguese Association of Librarians, Archivists and Documentalists will hold its first congress entitled “Information in a Changing Scene” in Oporto on 19–21 June 1985.
Mirela Panait, Răzvan Ionescu, Iza Gigauri and Lukman Raimi
The current relationship between humans and nature is complex and tense. Overexploitation of natural resources, pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss present the main…
Abstract
The current relationship between humans and nature is complex and tense. Overexploitation of natural resources, pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss present the main challenges for modern society. In particular, the issue of climate change is being intensely debated, and the interest in protecting natural resources by adopting sustainable practices is growing. Therefore, this chapter examines a brief history and concept of climate change, reviewing relevant theories and authors from Svante Arrhenius and Guy Stewart Callendar to Charles David Keeling and Mikhail Budyko. This chapter explores the first measurements and warnings regarding climate crisis and reviews international treaties and policy development at local, national and global levels. Furthermore, adverse consequences of the climate crisis are described, and ecologism, eco-imperialism and climate change denialism are explained.
Details
Keywords
Lois James, Stephen James and Bryan Vila
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether citizen characteristics (race/ethnicity and attire) or demeanor predicted how officers interacted in simulation scenarios that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether citizen characteristics (race/ethnicity and attire) or demeanor predicted how officers interacted in simulation scenarios that could turn violent.
Design/methodology/approach
Controlled-laboratory experiments were conducted during which police participants (n=50) responded to equivalent numbers of black, white, and Hispanic individuals in multiple branching video scenarios in a use-of-force simulator. Within these scenarios, the attire of on-screen individuals was varied (“street” or “business” clothing) as was their demeanor – individuals were either friendly or confrontational. Each scenario had the potential to end peaceably or turn violent, depending on how the officers treated people in the simulator.
Findings
Multi-level modeling revealed that neither the race/ethnicity nor the attire of on-screen individuals predicted how officers interacted with them. However, the demeanor of on-screen individuals did – officers were significantly more likely to verbally escalate and end up with a deadly outcome when faced with confrontational individuals (f=3.96; df=1, 558; p<0.05).
Research limitations/implications
These findings offer important new insight into how fairly officers interact with people during routine encounters that have the potential to turn violent, and what this means for perceptions of police legitimacy, procedural justice, and allegations of racial bias.
Originality/value
This is the first laboratory study to test the impact of citizen characteristics and demeanor on how officers escalate and de-escalate encounters.
Details
Keywords
Jitendra Pratap Singh, Pawan Kumar Chand, Amit Mittal and Arun Aggarwal
The manufacturing industry is presently experiencing technological disruption on a global scale. Consequently, to tackle such disruption, firms are identifying a volatile…
Abstract
Purpose
The manufacturing industry is presently experiencing technological disruption on a global scale. Consequently, to tackle such disruption, firms are identifying a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) scenario and seeking ways to counter it. Accordingly, this paper aims to investigate the employee performance through assessing organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) among the shop floor employees of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry where a high-performance work system (HPWS) has been implemented.
Design/methodology/approach
A descriptive research design was used in the study, and 395 shop floor employees working in leading multinational firms, with a minimum global turnover of US$1bn, were interviewed. These manufacturing firms were located in three industrial clusters in the northern part of India.
Findings
The results indicate that HPWS influences OCB. Most of the dimensions of HPWS and OCB were found to be positively associated. The findings also disprove the labour process theory in the context of the study.
Practical implications
The findings report a broad view of the relationship between HPWS and OCB in the Indian manufacturing context. The study offers the practical insights that HPWS is a universally accepted framework and that organizations should focus on the effective implementation of HPWS in a VUCA scenario, which is in line with past studies. The study also provides future directions for research.
Originality/value
This paper has established the relationship between HPWS and OCB in the manufacturing sector, especially for shop floor employees.
Details
Keywords
Lois James, Stephen James and Bryan Vila
Policing faces several critical problems, the most immediate of which are arguably public perceptions of racial bias, and widely prevalent officer fatigue related to shift work…
Abstract
Purpose
Policing faces several critical problems, the most immediate of which are arguably public perceptions of racial bias, and widely prevalent officer fatigue related to shift work and long work hours. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the “reverse racism effect” still occurred when officers were extremely fatigued.
Design/methodology/approach
Controlled laboratory experiments were conducted during which experienced police patrol officers responded to black and white suspects in deadly force judgment and decision-making simulations on two occasions; once immediately following the last of five consecutive 10:40 hours patrol shifts (fatigued condition) and again 72 hours after completing the last shift in a cycle (rested condition).
Findings
Contrary to expectations, the authors found that officer fatigue did not significantly affect shooting behavior. Furthermore, the authors did not find a significant interaction between officer fatigue and suspect race on either reaction time to shoot or the likelihood of shooting an unarmed suspect. Thus, the reverse racism effect was observed both when officers were rested and fatigued.
Research limitations/implications
As policing agencies around the country respond to allegations of racial bias, both the public and police search for empirical evidence about whether negative perceptions are accurate about officers’ motivations in deadly encounters. The research reported here provides insight about how fatigue effects officers’ decisions to shoot black vs white suspects, and directly addresses this high profile and divisive national issue.
Originality/value
This is the first valid experimental test of the impact of fatigue on officer shooting behavior, and the interaction between police fatigue and suspect race on decisions to shoot.