(Mis)Perceptions of the Use of Deadly Force by Police: Exploring the Role of Social Media Consumption.

Recent high-profile uses of deadly force by police in the United States and elsewhere have been the subject of extensive media coverage and social unrest. In turn, researchers have exhibited nascent interest in the factors that influence the use of deadly force by police, as well as vignette-driven studies of circumstances in which deadly force is believed to be acceptable. Less attention has been paid to perceptions of the frequency with which deadly force is used, proportion that is legal and necessary, to what extent its use varies by race, or how these beliefs are shaped by media consumption. Using survey methodology, we examine the perceptions of 458 respondents from the Southeastern United States in relation to the frequency with which deadly force is used, proportion that is legal and necessary, to what extent its use varies by race, and how these beliefs are shaped by social media consumption net of the effects of personal demographics and experiences. Our findings indicate the majority of respondents drastically overestimate both the frequency with which police use deadly force and the proportion of incidents involving suspects who are people of color, while underestimating the proportion of incidents that are legally justified and necessary. These perceptions are influenced, in part, by social media consumption but the effects vary in direction and significance by social media platform.

The Influence of Structural Characteristics and Street Codes on Violent Female Offenders: A Decade After Anderson's Initial Observations.

A large number of studies have examined predictors of female crime quantities yet considerably less attention has been directed toward exploring patterns in the nature or quality of female violence within and across communities. Although research consistently demonstrates that females engage in less criminal behavior than males, research on the variability across contexts is somewhat sparse. The authors conduct analyses to determine if Anderson's initial observations of female violence in neighborhoods inundated with the code of the streets persist a decade after his initial ethnographic account. Specifically, we examine incident-level data from the National Incident Based Reporting System with contextual-level data on the cities in which the incidents occurred. We use hierarchical linear and nonlinear modeling techniques to explore variations in predictors of offender gun use and extent of victim injury in violent female encounters. Supporting Anderson's initial accounts for street females and prior research we find the probability of gun usage and level of victim injury is not significantly influenced by differences in community context, and specifically not exacerbated by the types of conditions that make the code of the street locally salient.

Using Loseke to examine the influence of laws, myths, and claims making on sex offenders' socially constructed realities.

The realities surrounding sex offenders in the United States can often times be inundated with preconceived and even false certainties. A consequence of such misleading beliefs for sex offenders can be the creation of urban legends and myths that motivated individuals can use to back an agenda and that can bring unintended collateral damage creating false realities for offenders, their families, law enforcement, and the community. This study utilizes Loseke's lens to examine the socially constructed realities in which sex offenders in the United States are forced to live. The history of the treatment of sex offenders is detailed from colonial America through child sexual abuse panic of the 1980s and into the current cyber age. We review laws passed in the 1990s, through the first part of the new millennium, which fueled individuals' fear of sex offenders. Additionally, we explore how claims-makers use myths and socially constructed realities to create social problems for sex offenders, generate public fear and resentment, and pressure policy makers and legislatures to pass laws that promise false hope and false security to communities. Finally, myths associated with cyber sexual offenders are explored. Solutions to combat myths are offered to legitimize the true reality surrounding sex offenders.

The Code of the Street Fights Back! Significant Associations with Arrest, Delinquency, and Violence Withstand Psychological Confounds.

Since Anderson's now classic, Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City, an increasing number of researchers have found a significant association between the code of the street and antisocial behavior. Less researched, however, is the relationship between the code of the street and cognate psychological factors. Building on the hypothesis that the code of the street is simply a reflection of elements of the population who exhibit antisocial traits, our aim in this study is to empirically test whether the observed association between the code of the street and antisocial behavior can withstand psychological confounds among a sample of institutionalized juvenile delinquents. Negative binomial regression models show that the code of the street remained a significant predictor of antisocial behavior despite the specification of psychopathy and temperamental traits and other controls. Moreover, as theorized, differential effects were found for African American delinquents compared to non-African American delinquents. We discuss theoretical and practical implications.

Legal cynicism: Independent construct or downstream manifestation of antisocial constructs? New evidence.

Researchers have found that legal cynicism is a significant predictor of crime. Although legal cynicism developed as a form of anomie, it is also plausible that legal cynicism is itself a deviant rationalization to justify one's criminal behavior. As such, legal cynicism might be a derivative manifestation of other individual-level constructs that bear on criminal propensity. We test this possibility by controlling for temperament traits related to antisocial behavior and psychopathic personality features in a sample of residentially incarcerated youth (N = 253). Results from negative binomial models revealed that legal cynicism was significantly associated with self-reported delinquency (including violence), but not total arrests. The significant associations with general delinquency and violence held even when controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. However, the associations were rendered either non-significant or greatly attenuated when we included temperament and psychopathy measures in the models. Overall, findings are convergent with the notion that legal cynicism is a consequence or product of antisocial traits and criminal propensity.

The nature of violence: a multilevel analysis of gun use and victim injury in violent interpersonal encounters.

A large number of studies have examined predictors of crime quantities yet considerably less attention has been directed toward exploring patterns in the nature or quality of violence within and across communities. The current study adds to the literature on qualitative variations in violence by assessing the incident and contextual-level predictors of offender gun use and physical injuries sustained by victims of robbery and aggravated assault. Specifically, we examine incident-level data from the National Incident Based Reporting System in conjunction with contextual-level data on the cities in which the incidents occurred. We use hierarchical linear and nonlinear modeling techniques to explore variations in predictors of offender gun use and extent of victim injury. Supporting cultural effects explicated by Anderson, results reveal certain individual-level predictors are conditioned by community characteristics.