April 2018
Volume 60, No. 2 | Go to abstracts
Articles
Page 141
Near Repeat Space-Time Patterns of Canadian Crime
Karla Emeno, Craig Bennell
Page 167
Offender Risk Assessment Practices Vary across Canada
Guy Bourgon, Rebecca Mugford, R. Karl Hanson, Marie Coligado
Page 206
Les interventions informelles de désistement assisté : une étude de la portée
Isabelle F.-Dufour, Marie-Pierre Villeneuve, Caroline Perron
Page 241
The Dynamic Theory of Homicide: Adverse Social Conditions and Formal Social Control as Factors Explaining the Variations of the Homicide Rate in 145 Countries
Marc Ouimet, Aurélien Langlade, Claire Chabot
Page 266
The Role of Defendant Race and Racially Charged Media in Canadian Mock Juror Decision Making
Laura McManus, Evelyn Maeder, Susan Yamamoto
Abstracts
Near Repeat Space-Time Patterns of Canadian Crime
Karla Emeno, Craig Bennell
Previous research has found that targets located in close proximity to previously victimized targets are at an increased risk of also being victimized. However, this elevated risk of near repeat victimization appears to be temporary and subsides over time. Near repeat victimization has rarely been examined using Canadian data, and exact space-time patterns have been shown to vary by location. Thus, the current study helps to address a gap in the research by determining the exact near repeat space-time clustering of three crime types (burglary, theft from a motor vehicle [TFMV], and common assault) across three Canadian cities (Edmonton, Alberta; Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan; and Saint John, New Brunswick). The results demonstrate significant near repeat space-time clustering for Edmonton burglary, Edmonton TFMV, and Saint John TFMV, with the exact space-time pattern varying from one data file to the next. The implications of these results, as well as some limitations and directions for future research, are discussed.
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Offender Risk Assessment Practices Vary across Canada
Guy Bourgon, Rebecca Mugford, R. Karl Hanson, Marie Coligado
The dominant Canadian approach to offender rehabilitation, the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model, requires assessing offenders’ likelihood of recidivism and their criminogenic needs (i.e., risk/need assessments). The current study examines the risk/need assessments routinely used in Canadian corrections and compares their risk category labels. All Canadian jurisdictions used a risk/need tool for general recidivism, most used sex-crime-specific tools, and a few used tools specific to intimate partner violence. There was, however, considerable diversity in the names, number, and meaning of the risk category labels, which could result in different responses to the same individual based solely on the version of the risk tool used in any specific jurisdiction. Our results suggest that increased attention to the meaning of risk category labels could facilitate offenders receiving the most appropriate and fair correctional responses.
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Les interventions informelles de désistement assisté : une étude de la portée
Isabelle F.-Dufour, Marie-Pierre Villeneuve, Caroline Perron
Despite the growing number of studies on assisted desistance, none has been made yet to identify the conclusive aspects of this process. This scoping review shows that informal interventions in assisted desistance help develop new ways to perceive oneself and one’s social bonds (or to create new ones) and contribute to the emergence of new identities. We do not know, however, if they contribute to the adoption of a new way of living. Research avenues are suggested, with a view to outlining the long-term effects of informal intervention programs offered to violators in the socio-penal system.
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The Dynamic Theory of Homicide: Adverse Social Conditions and Formal Social Control as Factors Explaining the Variations of the Homicide Rate in 145 Countries
Marc Ouimet, Aurélien Langlade, Claire Chabot
Cross-national comparisons of crime across the world consistently show that homicide rates are higher in more impoverished countries. However, the role of formal social controls as mediators between social conditions and homicide has never been investigated across a large number of countries. To provide data on the efficiency of criminal justice systems across the world, we found 1,223 experts and had them fill out a questionnaire, providing data for 145 countries. Results from structural equations models (Amos) show that adverse social conditions (collective and individual poverty, inequality, and youthfulness of the population) downwardly affect the level of formal social control (application of the rule of law, low corruption rate, effectiveness of the criminal justice system, and satisfaction with the criminal justice agencies). Low levels of formal social control lead to higher levels of homicide. In other words, the effect of adverse social conditions on homicide is mediated by formal social control.
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The Role of Defendant Race and Racially Charged Media in Canadian Mock Juror Decision Making
Laura McManus, Evelyn Maeder, Susan Yamamoto
This study examined the influence of defendant race and race salience (manipulated via racially charged media) on Canadian mock jurors’ judgements. Two hundred ten jury-eligible Canadian online participants read a racially charged (general or specific to the defendant’s race) or neutral article followed by a trial transcript that involved dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and impaired driving charges against a White, Black, or Indigenous defendant. Diverging from previous findings, this study did not find effects of defendant race or race salience on verdict judgements or causal attributions. However, when race is not a central feature of the case, making race salient outside the trial may increase levels of racial bias for some mock jurors. When the defendant was Black, a race-specific article appeared to backfire, producing the harshest sentencing recommendation compared to race-neutral and general race articles. Conversely, for the Indigenous defendant, any mention of race produced harsher recommended sentences relative to no mention of race. Results do not seem to parallel those found in U.S. race-salience studies. Rather, this specific race-salience technique may be detrimental to a minority defendant’s case in a Canadian context.