A comparative framework for understanding and addressing interpersonal gun violence.

Gun violence, often characterized as a singular issue, is not one cohesive problem. Instead, it takes many forms resulting from the complex interplay of multiple factors. Outcomes of gun violence also vary significantly. They may be (a) physically non-injurious (a gun is brandished), (b) injurious but non-lethal, or (c) lethal. To understand and address gun violence effectively, it is essential to consider various risk factors for both non-lethal and lethal gun violence victimization, using a comprehensive, comparative framework. We present a novel comparative framework for better understanding gun violence, and for developing policy responses to this violence. We disaggregate gun violence into its various forms and propose a conceptualization of risk factors in discrete categories, each with important implications for policy intervention. While we emphasize the value of this framework for understanding and combatting interpersonal gun violence in America, the research and policy approaches discussed here should be equally applicable to other international contexts with gun violence as a serious public health issue as well.

A Descriptive Account of the Nature and Extent of Transgender Homicide in America, 2010 to 2021.

There is a growing acknowledgment of transgender homicide as a serious social and public health issue; indeed, the American Medical Association has even referred to violence against transgender people as an "epidemic." Addressing this issue, however, requires understanding the patterns associated with this violence. Yet, reliable data for doing so does not currently exist, especially in recent years. As such, the prevalence of these incidents and their key features are not easily understood. The current study addresses this issue using a comprehensive nationwide database on 305 instances of homicide directed against transgender people between 2010 and 2021, collected through extensive open-source data collection methods. The descriptive analyses of these incidents demonstrate pronounced increases in homicide victimization over time, and clear geographic clustering by state, such that roughly one in four incidents occurred in just three states: Texas, Florida, and California. After accounting for the estimated size of the transgender population, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri emerge as the most dangerous states with the highest risk of homicide victimization. The results also clearly demonstrate the intersectional nature of transgender homicide, in finding that most homicide victims are young Black or Hispanic transgender women. We conclude by emphasizing the need for multipronged policy responses to this issue that recognize the uniquely dangerous intersection of social problems that contribute to the vulnerable social position of many transgender people, including their vulnerability to homicide victimization.

What If They Were White? The Differential Arrest Consequences of Victim Characteristics for Black and White Co-offenders.

A substantial body of research focuses on racial disparity in the criminal justice system, with mixed results due to difficulty in disentangling differential offending from racial bias. Additionally, some research has demonstrated that victim characteristics can exacerbate racial disparity in outcomes for offenders, but little research has focused on the arrest stage. We use a quasi-experimental approach that examines incidents involving co-offending pairs to isolate the influence of offender race on arrest, beyond any characteristics of the incident itself, and we test for moderating effects of victim race and sex on racial disparities in arrest. Our findings reveal that, on average, when two offenders of different races commit the same offense together against the same victim, Black offenders are significantly more likely to be arrested than their White co-offending partners, especially for assault offenses. More importantly, this effect-for both assaults and homicides-is particularly strong when the victim is a White woman. Because these differences are between two offenders who commit the same offense together, we argue that the most plausible explanation for the differences is the presence of racial bias or discrimination.

Anti-Asian Xenophobia, Hate Crime Victimization, and Fear of Victimization During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

While the World Health Organization advised against referring to COVID-19 using racial overtones, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, many disparagingly called it the "Wuhan virus," the "Chinese virus," and other terms. In this context, the FBI warned police agencies about an expected increase in anti-Asian hate crimes during the early months of the pandemic. But, while some researchers and media outlets discussed these potential increases at length, very few studies have been able to directly assess the nature of anti-Asian hate and bias victimization during the pandemic. Following this, the current study directly examines variation in anti-Asian bias and victimization in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this research presents results from two studies using a survey of 3,163 non-Asian and 575 Asian American and Pacific Islander respondents, respectively. The first study examines the prevalence of anti-Asian xenophobia among the non-Asian sample and assesses differences in these prejudicial attitudes across respondent characteristics, while the second study examines variation in experiences with bias during the pandemic among the Asian sample. The results illustrate the ubiquity of anti-Asian sentiment, suggesting that those who indicate greater fear of the pandemic report more prejudicial attitudes, as well as important racial differences in these patterns. The results also demonstrate the extent to which the pandemic has impacted individual experiences with anti-Asian bias victimization, such that more than one-third of Asian respondents report bias victimization during the pandemic, and more than half of Asian respondents report that they know someone who has been victimized. These patterns have important implications for addressing COVID-19-related hate crime moving forward.

Women who commit hate-motivated violence: Advancing a gendered understanding of hate crime.

Prior research has noted that women have played an important role in both organized hate groups and organized racial violence. Most hate crimes, however, are not committed by hate groups and very little research has examined the role of women in more common, otherwise unorganized, forms of bias-motivated violence. This omission has resulted in a disconnect between our understanding of women's involvement in organized bigotry relative to more common forms of bias-motivated violence. Following this, the current research explicitly considers the role of women in hate-motivated violence using data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), 2010-2016. Results demonstrate that, while women are indeed less likely to be involved in bias-motivated violence relative to men, there is significant variation in this pattern, such that women are more likely to be involved in racially motivated violence than other offenses, but especially unlikely to be involved in violence motivated by sexual orientation bias. Further, results from multinomial logistic regression analyses indicate significant differences in incident characteristics according to both female involvement and bias motivation, suggesting that the nature of violence varies by both gender and bias motivation. The results suggest the importance of considering gendered differences in hate crime offending.

Severity matters: The moderating effect of offense severity in predicting racial differences in reporting of bias and nonbias victimization to the police.

OBJECTIVE: Previous research has noted contradictory findings regarding race and police notification, such that Black people indicate higher levels of distrust in the police yet report victimization to the police at rates similar to or higher than others. We investigated the role of offense severity in accounting for these discrepancies. HYPOTHESES: We hypothesized that severity would moderate racial differences in reporting, such that Black victims would be less likely to report less severe victimization but more likely to report more severe victimization. We expected that these differences would be less pronounced for bias-motivated crime, regardless of other markers of severity. METHOD: We used data from the 2003-2016 National Crime Victimization Survey, including information on 21,510 victimization incidents, 1,105 of which were hate crimes. We conducted logistic regression analyses in which reporting was regressed on victim race, offense severity, hate crime status, and control variables. We also examined interactive effects to disentangle whether severity moderated racial differences in notification. RESULTS: We observed a three-way interaction of Black victims, offense severity, and hate crime status. Specifically, for nonbias incidents, Black victims were more likely than White victims to report severe incidents, but there was no racial difference in reporting nonsevere incidents. Additionally, for nonsevere incidents, Black victims were more likely than White victims to report hate crimes, but there was no racial difference in reporting nonhate crimes. CONCLUSIONS: Offense severity plays an important role in the victim decision-making process. These patterns are different, however, by race and for hate crime victims, suggesting that people perceive hate crimes as important to report, regardless of their severity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Hate Crime and Place: The Spatial and Temporal Concentration of Bias-Motivated Crime in Washington, D.C.

Prior research suggests that many crime types are spatially concentrated and stable over time. Hate crime, however, is a unique crime type that is etiologically distinct from others. As such, examination of hate crime from a spatial and temporal perspective offers an opportunity to understand hate crime and the spatial concentration of crime more generally. The current study examines the spatial stability of hate crimes reported to the police in Washington, D.C., from 2012 through 2018 using street segments, intersections, and block groups as units of analysis. Findings reveal that hate crime is spatially concentrated, with less than 4% of street segments and intersections experiencing hate crime over the study period. Results reveal a high degree of spatial stability, both year-to-year and over the long term even when restricting the analysis to units that experienced at least one hate crime.

The Consequences of Crime in Company: Co-Offending, Victim-Offender Relationship, and Quality of Violence.

Peers influence offending, both directly through co-offending and indirectly through information and advice. Despite such findings, there has been only limited research into the ways in which the presence of other offenders (i.e., accomplices) may impact criminal behavior, especially violence. Drawing on research on small group behavior, this study explores the relationship between the presence of co-offenders and offense severity, focusing on weapon use and victim injury. More specifically, this research hypothesizes that, owing to a diffusion of responsibility and other group processes, crimes committed by groups are more severe than crimes committed by a single offender and that crimes committed by large co-offending groups are particularly severe. This research also proposes that anonymity is an important mechanism behind this relationship and tests the hypothesis that the relationship between groups and offense severity varies according to the victim-offender relationship. Using National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data, the results indicate that (a) offenses committed by groups of offenders are more likely than offenses committed by a single offender to be severe (i.e., involve a weapon, result in injury); (b) as the size of the co-offending group increases, the likelihood of offense severity also increases; and (c) whether the victim is known to the offender is an important predictor of the relationship between co-offending and offense severity.

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.

When are victims unlikely to cooperate with the police?

Data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) are used to examine the tendency for victims of physical assault, sexual assault, and robbery to refuse to cooperate with the police (N= 3,856,171). Analyses of physical assaults involving homosexual and heterosexual couples did not support the hypothesis that women attacked by their male partners are less likely to cooperate than victims of other assaults. Analyses of violent offenses more generally showed that victims of violence were more likely to refuse to cooperate if they knew the offender in any way than if the offender was a stranger. In the case of physical and sexual assault, these effects were mainly observed for minor incidents. Finally, victims of sexual assault were more likely to cooperate with the police than victims of physical assault. The findings suggest the importance of comparing the victim's reactions to intimate partner violence and sexual assault to their reactions to other offenses.