American Journal of Criminal Justice

While many women involved in the sex trade meet the legal criteria to be considered a sex trafficking victim, engagement in sex trafficking specialty court programs remain low. Although these programs offer benefits to participants, barriers impede engagement. One reason for low engagement may be that some women do not self-identify as a “trafficking victim,” and therefore do not see the program …

This short report examines whether annual U.S. violent crime rates differed systematically between Democratic and Republican presidencies from 1960 to 2019. Using FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data, the study estimates Ordinary Least Squares models relating the national violent crime rate to presidential party, first bivariately and then with controls for a linear time trend and unemployment. Democ…

Research on racial attitudes and public perceptions of the police have generally been limited to examining the effect of animus toward Black Americans, (i.e., racial resentment). Many of these studies have not examined a set of distinct racial attitudes (e.g., racial sympathy, White nationalism) and their effects on general orientations toward police. Considering recent social justice movements t…

Prior research on crime and place has shown that crime incidents and calls for service (CFS) are highly concentrated at micro places and that the concentration patterns are stable over time. However, little is known about the stability of the geographical distribution of mental health-related (MH) CFS in suburban and rural contexts. This study addresses this gap by analyzing 10-year MH CFS data f…

An appeal to the higher courts by a convicted defendant is the major mechanism for the oversight and regulation of prosecutorial misconduct. In this way, appellate courts play an essential role in ensuring the fairness of criminal trials and in addressing misconduct by legal actors. Upon finding that the prosecutor erred, appellate courts conduct a harm analysis to assess the likely impact of the…

While they were originally meant to be reserved for the most dangerous of situations, such as those involving heavily armed and barricaded suspects, the role of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams has expanded over time to include a wider variety of situations, including drug raids, routine patrol, and monitoring protests. This expanded use is believed to have the potential of worsening poli…

Abstract Domestic violence (DV) remains an underreported crime that can be challenging to process in the criminal justice system. Moreover, DV is often a repeated crime problem that leaves victims at continued risk, raising questions about the effectiveness of criminal justice system intervention in reducing future violence. Despite this prevalence, there is a dearth of studies examining DV crimi…

Abstract Constitutional carry (CC) laws, now enacted in 29 states, allow individuals to carry firearms openly without permits, yet little is known about public perceptions of these laws. This study employs a pre-registered survey experimental design to investigate whether varying support for CC laws by police leaders and politicians influences attitudes toward the laws and their perceived consequ…

Abstract Criminological research has identified a robust sex gap in offending and this gap extends to affiliation with peers involved in antisocial behavior. Despite this, there is a dearth of research which has identified mediating mechanisms underlying these sex differences in deviant peer association. With prior research identifying sex variation in cognitive development, differential developm…

Abstract In the United States, about 450,000 individuals are held in jails awaiting trial, adding to the burden pretrial detention has placed on overcrowded and understaffed jail facilities. Pretrial reform efforts seek to address this problem by reducing cash bail use through eliminating bail or implementing risk assessment tools to guide judicial decision-making. However, pretrial reform effort…

Abstract Gun violence has led many police agencies to adopt acoustic gunshot detection technology (GDT) to identify gunshots and provide precise locations for rapid police response. Theoretically, GDT could reduce crime through incapacitation and/or deterrence. However, high costs and concerns about effectiveness have led some communities to discontinue its use. Despite growing policy interest, f…

Abstract A robust body of evidence indicates that hot spots policing is effective at reducing crime. However, relatively few studies have examined citizens’ views of the strategy, and the limited findings that do exist are mixed. Research on message framing, meanwhile, shows that the way information is presented can shape public attitudes toward criminal justice policies. As more agencies adopt h…