{"title":"The line from platform to peril: a longitudinal analysis of crime patterns at light rail stations in Charlotte, NC","authors":"M. Dylan Spencer, Cory Schnell, Samuel E. DeWitt","doi":"10.1007/s11292-025-09676-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-025-09676-7","url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Objectives</h3><p>Public transportation systems experience dynamic changes over time to accommodate growing cities, yet evaluations of their impact on crime often focus on shorter, static periods. This study examines the long-term relationship between light rail expansion and crime, using a 20-year observation period in Charlotte, NC. We analyze changes in crime patterns near original, expanded, and planned light rail station locations.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Methods</h3><p>We conducted a quasi-experimental program evaluation of the opening of light rail stations on crime at place. We estimated Poisson regression models with fixed effects and difference in difference models to analyze crime incidents at street intersections surrounding light rail stations across varying spatial distances.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Results</h3><p>Our findings suggest that the expansion of the light rail system led to an increase in crime around train stations. We observe a significant intervention effect across multiple crime categories and spatial distances. These analyses suggest the effect appears stronger after the expansion of light rail service to additional train stations.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Conclusions</h3><p>These results have implications for a wide range of community stakeholders involved with the planning of public transportation. Given the evolving demand for transit systems, our findings highlight the need for crime prevention policies to accompany infrastructure expansion and mitigate crime.</p>","PeriodicalId":47684,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Criminology","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144066452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Renee J. Mitchell, Hunter M. Boehme, Cannon Fulmer
{"title":"Experimental evidence shows police leaders may make strategic decisions depending on visuals presented: results from a multi-armed survey experiment","authors":"Renee J. Mitchell, Hunter M. Boehme, Cannon Fulmer","doi":"10.1007/s11292-025-09673-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-025-09673-w","url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Purpose</h3><p>To examine whether various data structures, visualizations, and “nudges” impact police leader’s (lieutenant and above) strategic crime prevention decisions.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Methods</h3><p>We utilized a multi-armed survey experiment in which police leaders (<i>N</i> = 1195) were randomly assigned various data visuals and “nudges” to investigate their impact on police leader’s decision-making intentions.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Results</h3><p>When police leaders were presented process behavioral charts and hot spot street segment maps, they more accurately identified jurisdictional crime trends and high crime areas, respectively. However, when presented with kernel density maps compared to hot spot maps, police leaders were not influenced by data visuals and no more likely to respond to crime problems with empirically promising evidence-based practices.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Conclusions</h3><p>This study highlights the value of data presentation and visualizations in how data is presented (e.g., charts, maps) influences police leaders’ decision-making. Data analysts should present refined (micro-unit) data visuals to avoid misappropriating police resources in areas where police resources may not be heavily needed. Further, process behavioral charts provide realistic variations in jurisdictional crime trends, which were clearly interpreted by police leaders. Police researchers should consistently keep police leaders apprised of “what works, what doesn’t, what’s promising,” while police leaders should engage with data/research and consider implementing evidence-based practices.</p>","PeriodicalId":47684,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Criminology","volume":"125 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143915999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alexander L. Burton, Francis T. Cullen, Cheryl Lero Jonson, Justin T. Pickett
{"title":"Most Americans do not like mass incarceration: penal sensibility in an era of declining punitiveness","authors":"Alexander L. Burton, Francis T. Cullen, Cheryl Lero Jonson, Justin T. Pickett","doi":"10.1007/s11292-025-09671-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-025-09671-y","url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Objectives</h3><p>This study examines the extent to which “mass incarceration” has support among the American public as the lynchpin of correctional policy.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Methods</h3><p>Three information experiments embedded in a 2023 nationwide YouGov survey of 1000 Americans tested whether providing facts about the extent and nature of incarceration impacts public opinion.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Results</h3><p>Few Americans support the imprisonment binge; many are emotionally bothered by it and believe it is immoral, inhumane, and/or racist. The experimental information treatments had little impact on public opinion, which is consistent with the theory that popular discourse, media coverage, and personal and vicarious experiences with incarceration have increased Americans’ awareness of the carceral state.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Conclusions</h3><p>The findings align with broader evidence that public punitiveness has declined in recent years, ushering in a new penal sensibility. The results suggest the “get tough” movement has lost traction in the United States, partly because of growing knowledge about the carceral state.</p>","PeriodicalId":47684,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Criminology","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143880649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The effect of direct interventions for antisocial cognition on recidivism in antisocial populations: a meta-analysis","authors":"Glenn D. Walters","doi":"10.1007/s11292-025-09675-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-025-09675-8","url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Objectives</h3><p>A meta-analysis was performed on seven studies in which a treatment program that directly addressed antisocial cognition in offenders was contrasted with a no-treatment or treatment as usual control group.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Methods</h3><p>Pre-post administrations of antisocial cognition measures were available for 2 of the 7 studies and revealed medium reductions (Cohen’s <i>d</i>) in pro-criminal attitudes (Criminal Sentiments Scale) and very large reductions in criminal thinking (Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles) in participants receiving direct interventions for antisocial cognition. A meta-analysis of recidivism data gathered from all 7 studies then followed.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Results</h3><p>Fixed effect and random effects meta-analyses produced pooled effect sizes (odds ratio) of 0.648–0.657. There was no evidence of study heterogeneity or publication bias.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Conclusions</h3><p>These results indicate that the odds of recidivism were 34–35% lower in participants who went through an antisocial cognition-based treatment group compared to participants assigned to a control group.</p>","PeriodicalId":47684,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Criminology","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143857623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"When parents split: juvenile delinquency and its mechanisms","authors":"Sunmin Hong, Yeungjeom Lee","doi":"10.1007/s11292-025-09674-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-025-09674-9","url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Objective</h3><p>This study investigates how transitioning to a single-parent family influences adolescent delinquency, examining the mediating roles of changes in parental control and environmental factors in this relationship.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Methods</h3><p>Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, this study employs propensity score matching to reduce selection bias in examining the effects of family structure transitions (<i>N</i> = 1523).</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Results</h3><p>The transition to single-parent families significantly predicted increased delinquent behavior. Analysis of mediating factors revealed that residential mobility largely explained the relationship between family structure transitions and delinquency.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Conclusions</h3><p>The results of our analysis highlight how specific mechanisms link family structure transitions to adolescent delinquency, suggesting that maintaining consistent parental control and minimizing environmental disruption may help reduce delinquency risks in transitioning families.</p>","PeriodicalId":47684,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Criminology","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143836659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Samuel J. A. Scaggs, Samantha A. Tosto, Nicole Jasperson, Kim Janda, Pamela K. Lattimore
{"title":"Improving opportunities for behavioral health care management compliance using behavioral nudges: a randomized-control trial of automated appointment notifications for people on probation","authors":"Samuel J. A. Scaggs, Samantha A. Tosto, Nicole Jasperson, Kim Janda, Pamela K. Lattimore","doi":"10.1007/s11292-025-09672-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-025-09672-x","url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Objectives</h3><p>This study uses a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to investigate the effectiveness of an automated appointment notification system used to improve initial appointment attendance for probation-mandated, nonclinical care management.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Methods</h3><p>The RCT compared care management intake appointment attendance among individuals who received automated notifications from a control group. A total of 1004 individuals were included in the analytic sample. Analyses explored whether automated notification receipt informs intake attendance rates net of other variables.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Results</h3><p>Receiving appointment notifications significantly improves intake attendance even after accounting for individual-level characteristics. Additionally, those with a property offense or a prior supervision or incarceration term had lower intake attendance rates.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Conclusions</h3><p>The current study serves as a proof of concept that advancing technological tools can improve compliance with probation-mandated care management. Future research should evaluate how to optimize this technology and inform best practices for engaging individuals on community supervision.</p>","PeriodicalId":47684,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Criminology","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143813993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Katelyn P. Hancock, Frances R. Chen, Leah E. Daigle
{"title":"Pre-ejection period (PEP) in reward task and recurring victimization: A pilot study","authors":"Katelyn P. Hancock, Frances R. Chen, Leah E. Daigle","doi":"10.1007/s11292-025-09665-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-025-09665-w","url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Objectives</h3><p>This study examines the relationship between pre-ejection period (PEP) reward reactivity, a peripheral marker for central dopamine reactivity during reward responding, and sexual victimization and recurring sexual victimization.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Methods</h3><p>Electrocardiogram and impedance cardiography were recorded during a simple number-matching reward task to calculate PEP reward reactivity among 44 female college students.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Results</h3><p>We found that those who experienced recurring sexual victimization had less PEP shortening to reward than those who experienced a single victimization and no victimization in a two-group (i.e., recurring vs. others) comparison. However, when examining these three groups, the differences in scores were not statistically significant.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Conclusions</h3><p>In line with similar research, less PEP shortening among recurring sexual victims may suggest that they are insensitive physiologically to reward and may seek sensation or risk to upregulate their central dopamine activity. Findings should be contextualized within the lens of novel exploratory research, limited by sample size (<i>n</i> = 44).</p>","PeriodicalId":47684,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Criminology","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143814344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reactions to sexual and monetary bribes","authors":"Richard B. Felson, Eric Silver, Jason R. Silver","doi":"10.1007/s11292-025-09670-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-025-09670-z","url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Objectives</h3><p>We examine attitudes toward punishment of authorities and subordinates who participate in sexual and monetary bribery.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Methods</h3><p>A nationally representative sample of 1050 respondents were presented with vignettes in an experimental design. We manipulated the type of payoff, who requested the bribe, the gender of the participants, and how common such payoffs were in that setting.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Results</h3><p>In support of attribution theory, the results showed that respondents were more punitive toward authorities than subordinates and toward whoever proposed the bribe. The results also showed that respondents, particularly female respondents, were more punitive toward authorities when the payoff was sexual.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Conclusion</h3><p>The findings suggest that people become more punitive when sex is treated as a commodity. A three-way interaction indicated that respondents were particularly punitive toward authorities in the MeToo scenario, i.e., when a man offered a reward to a woman for a sexual payoff.</p>","PeriodicalId":47684,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Criminology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143677741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Texas attorneys recognize problematic eyewitness procedures, but plea away anyway","authors":"Angela M. Jones, Elizabeth A. Quinby","doi":"10.1007/s11292-025-09668-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-025-09668-7","url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Objectives</h3><p>In a conceptual replication and extension of Pezdek and O’Brien (2014), we investigated eyewitness knowledge and plea-bargaining decisions among Texas attorneys.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Methods</h3><p>Attorneys (<i>N</i> = 196) completed a knowledge survey and an experimental vignette that varied the quality of two identification procedures used to secure the sole piece of evidence in a case on plea-bargaining decisions.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Results</h3><p>Attorneys were mostly knowledgeable of eyewitness recommendations but were not sensitive to the quality of identification procedures in the vignette. Overall, prosecutors were more likely to view the defendant as guilty, offer a plea, and seek harsher sentences than defense attorneys.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Conclusions</h3><p>These results suggest attorneys are not attuned to problematic police practices or do not view biased instructions and single-blind administration as problematic enough to change plea-bargaining decisions. New avenues for increasing sensitivity are needed.</p>","PeriodicalId":47684,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Criminology","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143665849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Damocles effect: judges may inflate the duration of suspended prison terms by over 50%","authors":"Andrzej Uhl","doi":"10.1007/s11292-025-09669-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-025-09669-6","url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Objective</h3><p>Legal scholars suspect that judges choose longer prison terms when they are going to suspend the sentence. This study examines this so-called sentence inflation in a controlled condition, holding case-related confounds constant.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Methods</h3><p>I analyze the differences between suspended and unsuspended prison terms in the data from the Polish judicial exam. Each judge (<i>N</i> = 232) sentenced the same case based on a detailed court file. Judges had high stakes in the exam and spent over 6 h choosing and justifying the sentence.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Results</h3><p>Many judges sentenced the offenders to prison. The suspended prison terms were 60 to 168% longer than unsuspended prison terms meted out in the identical case.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Conclusions</h3><p>Judges display a tendency to inflate suspended prison terms, perhaps in order to appease the punitive public and strengthen individual deterrence. With high reoffending rates, this well-intentioned practice might backfire, leading to a surge in the prison population.</p>","PeriodicalId":47684,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Criminology","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143599969","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}