Burnout Among Probation Officers: The Importance of Resilience.

Like many human service professionals, probation officers are subject to a great deal of stress as part of their occupational duties. This study examines occupational stress and burnout among probation officers through the lens of the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. This model suggests that organizational characteristics have implications for individual outcomes related to stress. However, the model largely neglects the role of individual factors, such as dispositional resilience. This study tests a refined model using cross-sectional surveys from 289 members of a probation officer union in the eastern United States. Results from structural equation modeling support the general predictions of the JD-R model in that job demands and job resources are correlated with burnout and engagement, which in turn predict health issues and intention to quit. Moreover, resilience significantly predicts every latent variable in the model, both directly and indirectly through its effect on intervening factors. Implications for workplace policy and practice are discussed.

Hate Crime Victimization Data in Pennsylvania: A Useful Complement to the Uniform Crime Reports.

Data on the incidence and prevalence of hate crimes in the United States come primarily from the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). Although UCR data undercount most crimes, hate crimes are particularly underreported, especially for some groups. We compare 2000-2011 UCR data in Pennsylvania to data from a state agency that came from police, media, and citizen reports. First, we find that the state-agency database is generally consistent with the UCR data, in terms of absolute counts, correlations, and predictors. Second, we find that UCR data underestimate hate crime rates by a factor of about 1.6 overall and by a factor of 2.5 for rural areas. Moreover, although UCR data on hate crimes show a decrease in the most recent 5-year period, the state agency data show that hate crime incident counts have not dropped. We suggest that using a broader index that includes both the UCR and a database like that in Pennsylvania will give a more complete picture of hate crime.

Beyond Ability to Pay: Procedural Justice and Offender Compliance With Restitution Orders.

Restitution to victims is rarely paid in full. One reason for low rates of payments is that offenders lack financial resources. Beyond ability to pay, however, we argue that fair treatment has implications for offender behavior. This study, a survey of probationers who owed restitution, investigated the links between (a) ability to pay, (b) beliefs about restitution and the criminal justice system, and (c) restitution payment, both the amount paid and number of payments. Results indicate that perceived fair treatment by probation staff-those most directly involved with the collection of restitution payments-was significantly associated with greater payment, net of past payment behavior, intention to pay, and ability to pay. Because restitution has potentially rehabilitative aspects if offenders pay more of the court-ordered amount and if they make regular monthly payments, how fairly probation staff treat probationers has implications for both victims and for the criminal justice system.

Urban Poverty and Neighborhood Effects on Crime: Incorporating Spatial and Network Perspectives.

Research on neighborhoods and crime is on a remarkable growth trajectory. In this article, we survey important recent developments in the scholarship on neighborhood effects and the spatial stratification of poverty and urban crime. We advance the case that, in understanding the impact of neighborhoods and poverty on crime, sociological and criminological research would benefit from expanding the analytical focus from residential neighborhoods to the network of neighborhoods individuals are exposed to during their daily routine activities. This perspective is supported by reemerging scholarship on activity spaces and macro-level research on inter-neighborhood connections. We highlight work indicating that non-residential contexts add variation in criminogenic exposure, which in turn influence offending behavior and victimization risk. Also, we draw on recent insights from research on gang violence, social and institutional connections, and spatial mismatch, and call for advancements in the scholarship on urban poverty that investigates the salience of inter-neighborhood connections in evaluating the spatial stratification of criminogenic risk for individuals and communities.