More than race? Intragroup differences by gender and age in perceptions of police among street-identified Black men and women.

OBJECTIVE: Whereas studies have documented racial differences in attitudes toward police between White and Black Americans, relatively little is known about the intragroup, gender-based variations among urban Black residents involved in criminal activity (i.e., street-identified men and women). HYPOTHESES: We hypothesized Black women would be more likely to believe in police legitimacy and positive intent than men (Hypothesis 1), especially among the younger segment of the sample (Hypothesis 2). We also expected this relationship to be moderated by contact with police (Hypothesis 3) and experiences with victimization (Hypothesis 4). METHOD: Using survey data, this Street Participatory Action Research project examined the direct and interactional relationships between gender, age, involuntary police contact, personal victimization, and participants' perceptions of police legitimacy and positive intent. Participants included 515 street-identified Black men (40.4%; n = 208) and women (59.6%; n = 307), ages 18-35 years, from two high-crime neighborhoods in Wilmington, Delaware. RESULTS: Women had significantly higher perceptions of police legitimacy than did men (Hypothesis 1). While older participants tended to have lower perceptions that the police behave with positive intent, age did not moderate the relationship between gender and perceptions of police (Hypothesis 2). The relationship between gender and perceptions of positive police intent was moderated by involuntary police contact (Hypothesis 3) and experiences of victimization (Hypothesis 4). CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to existing literature, prior involuntary police contact mattered more for street-identified Black women than men in predicting perceptions of police. Experiences of victimization were also more impactful for these perceptions for street-identified Black women than men. Men's perceptions of positive police intent were consistent, regardless of the frequency of police contact, whereas women's favorable perceptions declined with more police contact and victimization experiences, and they eventually became more critical of the police than their male counterparts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Work-Family Conflicts, Stress, and Turnover Intention Among Hong Kong Police Officers Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Although work stress, turnover intention, and work-family conflicts among police officers have been extensively investigated, no studies have explored these issues simultaneously under the context of the coronavirus pandemic. Clearly, both work and family domains have been drastically affected by this global health crisis, and it is likely that each domain has a distinctive impact on work outcomes. Using survey data based on a representative random sample of 335 police officers in Hong Kong, this study examines the impacts of resource losses and gains across family and work domains on occupational stress and turnover intention amid the pandemic. A multiple regression indicates that both family-to-work and work-to-family conflicts lead to work stress and turnover intention among police officers. Among officers, supervisory support is negatively associated with turnover intention and moderates the impact of work-to-family conflicts on turnover intention. Finally, measures to mitigate work stress during public health disasters are discussed.

Examining Sexual Crime Severity in China: A General-specific Model on Sex Offending Against Adults.

Sexual violence severity has long been viewed as a critical factor of sex offending. However, the criminological viewpoints on sexual violence severity have not received much attention, especially in the Chinese context. By integrating general-criminogenic (inhibitory mechanisms) and specific sex offending (learning mechanisms and contextual factors) perspectives, the current study links the propositions of social control (bonds) theory, self-control theory, differential association theory, and the integrated theory of sex offending, proposing a general-specific model for sexual violence severity. Survey data was collected from 250 Chinese offenders who committed sexual offenses against adults. The mediation analysis found that deviant peer association fully mediates the effects of social control and low self-control on sexual violence severity. The moderation analysis showed that substance abuse exaggerates the impact of deviant peer association on sexual violence severity, while sex purchasing mitigates this relationship. This general-specific model may expand our current understanding of sexual violence severity from both criminological and psychological perspectives.

Examining the Prevalence and Risk Factors of School Bullying Perpetration Among Chinese Children and Adolescents.

Background and Objectives: School bullying threatens the health of children and adolescents, such as mental health disorders, social deviant behaviors, suicidal behaviors, and coping difficulties. The present study aims to address (1) prevalence rates of both traditional and cyber school bullying perpetration, and (2) the associations between self-control, parental involvement, experiencing conflicts with parents, experiencing interparental conflict, and risk behaviors, and school bullying perpetration among Chinese children and adolescents. Method: This study used data from a national representative school bullying survey (n = 3,675) among children and adolescents from all grades (primary school 4th grade to high school 12th grade) in seven cities in China. Negative binomial regression was used to estimate the effects of these predictive factors on traditional and cyber school bullying perpetration, respectively. Seven control variables were included, such as gender, boarding school, family socioeconomic status, and parents' education levels. Results: The sample comprised 52% female, 18% at boarding school, 70% of the participants' academic performance was average or above. Approximately 17.3% of the participants reported participating in traditional school bullying against their peers, and 7.8% perpetrated cyberbullying behaviors. Also, after controlling sociodemographic characteristics and high self-control, parental involvement reduced the likelihood of traditional and cyberbullying perpetrating. Experiencing interparental conflict and risk behavior was significantly associated with increased perpetration of traditional and cyber school bullying. We found that having a conflict with parents was significantly associated with cyberbullying perpetration. Implications: Findings have implications for practice. Anti-bullying intervention programs targeting this population should consider these factors. For example, school administrators may develop school programs involving parents in the efforts and interventions workshops improving children and adolescents' levels of self-control. Limitations are also discussed.

Officer and Organizational Correlates With Police Interventions in Domestic Violence in China.

Although domestic violence has long been identified as a serious social problem in China, little is known about police officers' attitudinal and behavioral tendencies toward such incidents. Drawing upon survey data collected from police officers in two Chinese provinces, this study assesses whether officer and organizational factors are correlated to police inaction and intervention in resolving family violence. More than a quarter of Chinese police officers often and sometime did not take any action when responding to domestic violence. Chinese officers favored most the least punitive approaches of mediation and separation, with the most punitive actions, written warning and criminal sanction as the least preferred interventions. We found that Chinese officers with low levels of knowledge about the domestic violence law, higher degrees of tolerance of violence and less supportive attitudes toward an active police role in handling domestic violence are less willing to take any action against the offenders. Chinese police officers who perceived stronger supervisory support and expressed better knowledge about China's new domestic violence law are more likely to intervene in domestic violence, whereas police officers who expressed greater degrees of tolerance of violence and believed in gender equality in society are less inclined to intervene. Policy makers and police administrators ought to pay greater attention to frontline supervisors' attitudes and behavior toward proper responses to family violence. If active intervention is preferred, then measures and programs should be put into place to improve police officers' legal knowledge and communication and problem-solving skills pertaining to conflict resolution.

Sexting Victimization Among Dating App Users: A Comparison of U.S. and Chinese College Students.

The widespread use of digital technology and devices has fundamentally transformed people's social life in recent decades, particularly in interpersonal relationships. Two popular social phenomena elucidate how social connections and interactions have dramatically evolved due to technological advancement. Sexting has surfaced as a popular way of getting attention or flirting among young populations over the past decade. Online dating also has emerged as a viable avenue for people to seek interpersonal romantic and/or sexual relationships. Based on survey data collected from two Chinese universities and one U.S. university, this study links sexting and online dating by comparatively assessing the prevalence of sexting victimization and factors influencing such victimization among young online daters. Bivariate and multiple analyses reveal that American college students are more inclined than their Chinese counterparts to be victims of receiving sexts. Chinese students with higher degrees of rape myth acceptance are more likely to experience sexting victimization, but such an association does not exist among U.S. students. Internet-related activities were only weakly connected to sexting victimization among college students. LGBT young adults, regardless of their country affiliation, are at a higher risk for sexting misconduct. Female and younger American students were more likely to experience sexting victimization, whereas Chinese students in a romantic relationship were more inclined to experience sexting victimization. If possible, future research should employ a random sampling strategy to draw a larger number of college students from different types of universities in different regions. Future studies should include other theoretically relevant variables, such as self-control and opportunity variables, into the sexting victimization research.

Bidirectional Intimate Partner Violence Among Chinese Women: Patterns and Risk Factors.

Bidirectional intimate partner violence (BIPV) refers to the co-occurrence of violence perpetration by both partners. BIPV has been analyzed using samples from different sociodemographic contexts but has yet to be fully explored in China. The present study employed a latent class approach to identify BIPV patterns, rates of prevalence, and associated risk factors among a sample of 1,301 heterosexual adult women in mainland China. Five distinct patterns of BIPV were identified, including (a) bidirectional psychological aggression, (b) bidirectional violence of all types, (c) multi-type victimization with psychological aggression, (d) minimal violence, and (e) bidirectional multi-types without physical violence. Marital status, education, employment status, acceptance of male dominance, and justification of intimate partner violence (IPV) were found to be predictive of different types of BIPV. Our findings suggest a need for a conceptual recognition of the heterogeneity and bidirectionality of IPV among Chinese women. Future research should extend to other diverse populations and sociocultural or clinical contexts in China. IPV assessments, research, and social programs ought to recognize the complexity of IPV and consider various IPV patterns specific to heterosexual women.

Perceptions of Why Women Stay in Physically Abusive Relationships: A Comparative Study of Chinese and U.S. College Students.

In both China and the United States, public attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV) have shifted from viewing IPV as a tolerable, private matter to viewing it as a matter of public concern that should be dealt with as a crime. Empirical and comparative examinations of the perceptions of why women stay in physically abusive relationships are lacking. Answering this question calls for comprehensive, methodologically rigorous research. Using survey data collected from approximately 1,000 college students from two Chinese and two U.S. universities, this study empirically compared and contrasted factors that impact U.S. and Chinese students' perceptions as to why women remain in physically abusive relationships. Utilizing a theoretical framework of social constructionism, two common reasons were assessed: Women stay in physically abusive relationships because of learned helplessness and positive beliefs in the relationship/hope for the future. The results show that viewing IPV as a crime, gender, and beliefs of the causes of IPV were robust predictors of college students' perceptions toward why women stay in physically abusive relationships. U.S. college students were more likely to express sympathy and understanding toward why women remain in abusive relationships than Chinese students. Directions for future research and policy implications were discussed.

Does Trust in Citizens Mediate the Relationship Between Internal and External Procedural Justice: A Comparison Between China and Taiwan Police.

This study investigates the roles of trust in citizens and compliance with agency policies in mediating the direct and indirect relationships between internal procedural justice and external procedural justice among Chinese and Taiwanese police officers. Based on survey data collected from 1,253 police officers, this study comparatively analyzes whether supervisory treatment of officers is predictive of trust in citizens and willingness to follow agency policies, which in turn is linked to their willingness to act fairly and justly toward citizens on the street. The results indicate that officer trust in citizens mediates the relationship between internal and external procedural justice in both China and Taiwan, but compliance with agency policies does not. Internal procedural justice directly predicts external procedural justice among Taiwanese officers, but such a connection is not found among Chinese officers. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.

Physical health, school performance and delinquency: A comparative study of left-behind and non-left-behind children in rural China.

BACKGROUND: China's rapid economic development since the late 1970s has resulted in a large-scale migrant population from rural to urban areas, with millions of Chinese children being left behind at home by their parents who migrated to city for work. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study is to test the effects of family, school and background characteristics on left-behind children's (LBC) and non-left-behind children's (NLBC) physical health, school performance, and delinquent behavior. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 765 LBC and 468 NLBC in elementary and middle schools participated in the study. SETTING: Survey data were collected from three middle schools and seven elementary schools in Wuhan, China. METHODS: The dependent variables included three measures of child development: physical health, school performance and delinquent behavior. The independent and control variables were divided into four groups: school and community attachment, parental attachment, parental and children commitment, and background characteristics. Mean comparisons and regression analyses were conducted to assess whether LBC and NLBC differ in their physical health, academic performance and delinquent behavior. RESULTS: LBC's physical health is significantly lower than that of NLBC. Being a LBC decreases the odds of being healthy by 51 percent. LBC and NLBC do not differ in their school performance and delinquent behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Being left behind without proper parental care appears to be detrimental to child physical wellbeing. The damaging impact of left-behind is limited to physical health as LBC and NLBC reported similar levels of educational performance and delinquent acts.

Tolerance for Intimate Partner Violence: A Comparative Study of Chinese and American College Students.

Tolerance for intimate partner violence (IPV) is an important correlate of interpersonal violent behavior. Although a large amount of research on IPV has been conducted in the West and a growing amount of studies on IPV in Chinese societies has been observed in recent years, only a small number of studies have analyzed IPV-related attitudes from an international and comparative perspective. Drawing on survey data collected from 1,178 college students from two Chinese and two U.S. universities, this study empirically compared and contrasted factors influencing students' levels of tolerance for IPV. The results showed that Chinese college students had a higher level of tolerance for IPV than their U.S. counterparts. Regional variation was only detected in China with students in Beijing having a greater tolerance for IPV than students in Hong Kong. Both Chinese and U.S. students' tolerance for IPV was affected primarily by their attitudes toward gender roles and gender-based violence and perceptions of IPV causes.

Information Communication Technologies and Intimate Partner Violence in China.

Although a substantial number of studies have investigated factors that influenced intimate partner violence (IPV), very few have assessed the connection between the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and such violence. Using survey data collected from over 400 women in a large Chinese city, this study explored how the involvement of various ICT-related activities affects Chinese women's experiences with psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. We found that some forms of media usage and online activities, such as times spent on paper books and Internet and browsing entertainment and sports news as well as watching movies and TVs online, were linked to a higher or lower likelihood of being a victim of IPV. Feelings of loneliness and helplessness were associated with more IPV victimization experiences. Married women were less likely to experience IPV, whereas working women were subject to greater IPV.

The Impact of Job Characteristics on Burnout Among Chinese Correctional Workers.

Job burnout has long been recognized as a common occupational hazard among correctional workers. Although past studies have investigated the effects of job-related characteristics on correctional staff burnout in Western societies, this line of research has largely been absent from the literature on community corrections in China. Using data collected from 225 community correction workers in a Chinese province, this study assessed the effects of positive and negative job characteristics on occupational burnout. Positive job characteristics included job autonomy, procedural justice, and role clarity. Negative characteristics included role conflict, job stress, and job dangerousness. As expected, role clarity tended to reduce burnout, whereas role conflict, job stress, and job dangerousness were likely to produce greater burnout among Chinese community correction workers. Male correctional officers were also subjected to a higher level of burnout than their female coworkers. Implications for future research and policy were discussed.

Chinese Women's Experience of Intimate Partner Violence: Exploring Factors Affecting Various Types of IPV.

Using a sample of 553 married and divorced women in a large city in southern China, this study tested the effects of demographic characteristics, risk behaviors, patriarchal ideology, and personal mentality and skills on women's experience of physical violence, psychological violence, controlling behavior, and sexual abuse. Divorced women were more likely than married women to experience all types of IPV. Risk behaviors were consistently related to IPV incidents, whereas the impact of patriarchal ideology and personal mentality and skills was equivocal. Limitations of the study and implications for future research and policy are discussed.

Strain, Negative Emotions, and Level of Criminality Among Chinese Incarcerated Women.

General strain theory (GST) has been one of the most frequently tested criminological theories. According to GST, strain tends to generate negative emotions, which create pressures for corrective action, such as crime and delinquency. Although GST has received strong empirical support, one under-addressed issue is the lack of diversity in sampling population in assessing the generalizability of the theory. Using survey data collected from 335 incarcerated women in four Chinese prisons, this study examined the impact of strain and negative emotions on the level of female criminality. The strain variable, physical abuse, and discrimination, exerted a positive effect on female inmates' levels of criminality, whereas negative emotions were not significantly related to female criminality. Two control variables, age of current offense and educational attainment, were predictive of female criminality, with younger and less-educated women having more serious criminality. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.

College Students' Definitions of Intimate Partner Violence: A Comparative Study of Three Chinese Societies.

Although a large number of studies have been conducted worldwide to examine various aspects of intimate partner violence (IPV), comparative study of people's views on such violence in Chinese societies has been scarce. Using survey data collected from more than 850 college students in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, this study specifically assessed the impact of attitudes toward gender role and violence, personal and vicarious experience, demographic characteristics, and locality on students' definitions of IPV. The Taiwanese students were most likely to define a broader range of abusive behavior as IPV, followed by Hong Kong and Beijing students. Gender role and violence attitudes appeared to be most important predictors of IPV definitions. College students who supported the notion of male dominance were more likely to have a narrower definition of IPV, whereas those who viewed domestic violence as crime were more inclined to have a broader definition of IPV. Implications for future research and policy were discussed.

One country, three populations: Trust in police among migrants, villagers, and urbanites in China.

While the past decade has witnessed the burgeoning of research on public assessments of the police in China, marginalized social groups have rarely been considered in this line of inquiry. Using data collected from migrant workers, rural villagers, and urban dwellers, this study assesses whether Chinese perceptions of the police are distinguishable along procedural-based trust and outcome-based trust and whether expressive concerns and instrumental concerns are predictive of trust in the police. Findings show that Chinese citizens tend to conflate procedural-based trust and outcome-based trust. Expressive concerns play a more important role than instrumental concerns, with such expressive variables as trust in neighborhood residents committee, perceived law and order, and quality of life influencing trust in the police. Public perceptions of police trustworthiness are also significantly linked to media influence. Directions for future research are discussed.

Attitudes toward police response to domestic violence: a comparison of Chinese and American college students.

Domestic violence has emerged as a worldwide concern since the 1970s. Although a substantial amount of efforts have been devoted to assessing various aspects of domestic violence, a relatively small number of studies have empirically examined factors that shape public attitudes toward police response to such incidents. Even rarer is investigating the topic from an international, comparative perspective. Based on survey data gathered from approximately 550 college students in China and the United States, this study analyzes the effects of background characteristics, personal and vicarious experiences of crime, and perceptions of gender roles and violence on attitudes toward proactive and traditional police response to domestic violence. Compared to their American counterparts, Chinese students were less likely to favor proactive response and more likely to support traditional response. Chinese and American students' attitudes toward police response to domestic violence were shaped by some different and common factors. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Collateral gains from the military? A cross-national analysis of the armed forces crime relationship.

Research has repeatedly showed that males aged between 16 and 24 years old account for a disproportionately large volume of crime. Armed forces are major employers of young males in their crime-prone ages and thus could play an essential role in crime prevention. The military is a highly structured and regimented total institution in which rigid behavioral norms and very close monitoring are imposed both on soldiers and on officers. Using data from 65 countries for the period of 1995 to 1999, this study assesses the crime-reduction function of the military by testing the influence of the relative size of the armed forces and the existence of conscription on national rates of homicide. The findings show that the size of the military and the existence of conscription are significantly related to homicide rates. Implications for future research are discussed.

Police response to victims of domestic and non-domestic violence.

The research assesses whether police respond differently to victims of domestic and non-domestic interpersonal conflicts. Though many laws and policies have been introduced since the 1980s to enhance police responses to and protection of victims of domestic violence, very few studies have empirically examined police assistance or support toward victims of both domestic and non-domestic conflicts. Using data collected by a large-scale observational project, this research analyzes officer-initiated assistances and police responses to victim requests during conflict resolution. Findings show that police are more likely to provide assistances on their own initiative to victims of domestic violence than victims of non-domestic violence. Police, however, do not differ significantly in their responses to requests made by victims of domestic and non-domestic conflicts. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.