Depuis plusieurs années, la gauche américaine, et une certaine partie de la droite, se font les avocats d’une politique de désincarcération, accusant le système américain des années 1980, 1990, d’avoir incarcéré en masse. Les premiers effets de ce mouvement anti-prison se font aujourd’hui sentir avec un taux d’incarcération à son plus bas niveau depuis 1990. Pour autant, cette analyse sommaire et à la mode ne résiste pas à un examen plus minutieux. La grande quantité de données disponibles aux États-Unis le démontre : l’incarcération de masse, si elle a existé, a existé durant les décennies 1930-1960, et le mouvement carcéral au cours des décennies 1980 et 1990 ont non seulement permis d’enrayer la forte hausse de la violence mais ont surtout constitué un rattrapage après des décennies de sous-investissement dans la police, les services de probation et la justice.

Using a variety of research designs and measures of lead absorption, numerous studies link childhood lead exposure to a range of cognitive and behavioral deficits, including low IQ, impulsivity, juvenile delinquency, and criminal behavior in adolescence and early adulthood. In this study, we tested the association between multiple measures of blood lead concentration assessed in childhood with criminal behavior in adulthood and across the life-course. Prospective data from the Cincinnati Lead Study (CLS) included blood lead measures quarterly across the first 78 months of life and the number of times a person was arrested across the life-course (from age 18 to 33 years) and in later adulthood (age 27 to 33 years). Childhood blood lead concentration prospectively predicted variation in adult arrests and arrests over the life-course, indicating lead absorption is implicated in the etiology of crime-especially in geographic areas where environmental sources of lead are more prevalent and concentrated. Efforts to decrease lead exposure in both developed and developing countries should be part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce social dislocation and crime.

Childhood lead exposure interferes with brain maturation, which adversely impacts cognitive and behavioral development. Lower intelligence scores, impairments in decision making, and increased rates of delinquent and criminal behavior are adverse outcomes linked to childhood lead absorption. The present study examined the relationships between childhood blood lead concentrations, structural brain volume, and measures of adult criminality. We hypothesized that increased rates of criminal arrests in adulthood would be inversely correlated with regional gray and white matter volumes, especially prefrontal areas responsible for decision making and self-control. We obtained childhood blood lead histories and anatomical magnetic resonance imaging from a subset of the longitudinally followed birth cohort known as the Cincinnati Lead Study. Criminality data for cohort participants were extracted from public databases. Voxel based morphometry was used to examine spatial differences in regional gray and white matter volumes associated with childhood blood lead concentrations and measures of adult criminality, respectively. Conjunction analyses allowed for the exploratory evaluation of common regions of volume change. Childhood blood lead concentrations were inversely associated with gray and white matter volume in the frontal, parietal and temporal lobes. Gray matter volumes were also inversely associated with criminal arrests with key regions within the cingulate, precuneus, several frontal gyri and the supplementary motor area. Conjunction analyses identified regions in the anterior cingulate, frontal gray matter and supplementary motor area associated with childhood lead absorption and criminality. The results from this study suggest that reduced brain volumes in regions responsible for cognition and emotional regulation are associated with childhood lead exposure and criminal arrests.

Confirmation bias appears to manifest in many different ways and at various stages of the research process. This chapter demonstrates how confirmation bias has been recognized as representing a systematic problem within the social sciences and within science in general. It discusses how confirmation bias can appear when searching for evidence to test hypotheses, along with how it can appear in the interpretation of evidence and conclusions. Confirmation bias is one of the best-known biases in human reasoning and decision-making. Aside from confirmation bias appearing in the building of previous evidence to support one's arguments, confirmation bias can also influence how data are analyzed and how the results are interpreted and emphasized by the researcher. Given the rarity of randomized control trial experiments within social sciences, quantitative studies are required to account for numerous variables for models to be properly specified.

Disparities between males and females in criminal behavior have been widely documented. Despite the extensive amount of research examining sex differences in criminal and analogous behaviors, there is no consensus on whether self-reported misbehavior accounts for the large sex differences found in all phases of the criminal justice system. The current study explores whether, and to what degree, self-reported misconduct accounts for male-female differences. To do so, data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) were analyzed. Consistent with prior research, the results revealed statistically significant and substantively large male-female differences in being arrested, pleading guilty, being sentenced to probation, and being incarcerated. These disparities were unaffected by self-reports of lifetime violent behavior, lifetime non-violent behavior, low self-control, IQ, parental socialization, and social support.

Within forensic settings, the tools used to evaluate subtypes of antisocial offenders (e.g. interview-based measures such as the Psychopathy Checklist) are expensive and time consuming. The purpose of the present study was to identify and validate distinct antisocial profiles in male offenders using questionnaires. In the future, this approach could help us identify antisocial profiles in a cost-effective way.First, we investigated the robustness and replicability of the profiles reported by previous profiling studies by performing latent profile analysis using the Self-Report Psychopathy Short-Form. Second, we studied how these profiles were linked to personality correlates that have been used to differentiate between groups of antisocial offenders. Third, we investigated how each profile was related to a broad range of behaviours seen in antisocial populations.Four antisocial profiles were identified: generic offenders, impulsive-antisocial traits offenders, non-antisocial psychopathic traits offenders, and psychopathic traits offenders. The validity of these profiles was supported by their links with external personality and behavioural correlates.Consistent with previous research using interview-based measures, these findings provide support for the presence of four distinct antisocial profiles based on self-report psychopathy scores in male offenders. Furthermore, findings provide relatively extensive and multifaceted characterizations of each profile.

Childhood lead exposure has been correlated to acts of delinquency and criminal behavior; however, little research has been conducted to examine its potential long term influence on behavioral factors such as personality, specifically psychopathic personality. Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the effects of childhood lead exposure persist into adulthood, with structural abnormalities found in gray and white matter regions involved in behavioral decision making. The current study examined whether measurements of adult psychopathy were associated with neuroanatomical differences in structural brain volumes for a longitudinal cohort with measured childhood lead exposure. We hypothesized that increased total psychopathy scores and increased blood lead concentration at 78 months of age (PbB78) would be inversely associated with volumetric measures of gray and white matter brain structures responsible for executive and emotional processing. Analyses did not display a direct effect between total psychopathy score and gray matter volume; however, reduced white matter volume in the cerebellum and brain stem in relation to increased total psychopathy scores was observed. An interaction between sex and total psychopathy score was also detected. Females displayed increased gray matter volume in the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes associated with increased total psychopathy score, but did not display any white matter volume differences. Males primarily displayed reductions in frontal gray and white matter brain volume in relation to increased total psychopathy scores. Additionally, reduced gray and white matter volume was associated with increased blood lead levels in the frontal lobes; reduced white matter volume was also observed in the parietal and temporal lobes. Females demonstrated gray and white matter volume loss associated with increased PbB78 values in the right temporal lobe, as well as reduced gray matter volume in the frontal lobe. Males displayed reduced white matter volumes associated with increased PbB78 values in the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes. Comparison of the two primary models revealed a volumetric decrease in the white matter of the left prefrontal cortex associated with increased total psychopathy scores and increased blood lead concentration in males. The results of this study suggested that increased psychopathy scores in this cohort may be attributable to the neuroanatomical abnormalities observed and that childhood lead exposure may be influential to these outcomes.

Saudi Arabia has two types of police forces: general police and religious police, also known as the Mutaween. While the general police are tasked with investigating criminal matters and providing national security, the Mutaween specialize in enforcing the strict religious customs of Sharia law. This study explores the factors that predict both Mutaween and general police stops, as well as general police arrests among juveniles. Additionally, we examine whether the factors that influence Mutaween stops differ from those that affect general police stops. We find that respondents reporting higher levels of delinquency are more likely to be stopped by both forces and to be arrested. Comparatively, the factors that influence police decision-making in Saudi Arabia are analogous to those found in the Western world. There appears to be little difference in the proximal effects of police action, even in a nation that affords greater potential influence to authority, prejudice, and extralegal criteria. Moreover, the factors that influence Mutaween stops are not significantly different overall from those that result in general police stops. In a nation where religious laws are legal laws, both enforcement agencies appear to share similar objectives.

A large body of social science research is devoted to understanding the causes and correlates of discrimination. Comparatively less effort has been aimed at providing a general prevalence estimate of discrimination using a nationally representative sample. The current study is intended to offer such an estimate using a large sample of American respondents (N = 14,793) while also exploring perceptions regarding why respondents felt they were discriminated against. The results provide a broad estimate of self-reported discrimination experiences-an event that was only reported by about one-quarter of all sample members-across racial and ethnic categories.

The place of the individual scientist along the scale of radicalism-conservatism has always had strong influences on both the selection of research problems and the conclusions drawn from research. In a sense, it is a master scale of biases in the social sciences. Myrdal (1944) Conservative Criminology: A Call to Restore Balance to the Social Sciences addresses the extent of, and problems associated with, liberal over-representation in the social sciences. On this issue the data are clear. Numerous studies of US faculty find liberal to conservative ratios of 20–40:1 in sociology and anthropology, 15:1 in psychology, 10:1 in political science, 3:1 in economics and rough parity in the hard sciences, medicine, engineering and business (Klein and Stern 2005; Duarte et al. 2015). Data from Cooper et al. (2010) found a ratio of 22:1 in criminology while data just collected by Wright revealed a liberal to conservative ratio of 30:1. Most criminology departments lack a single self-identified conservative and those who do exist, the evidence tells us, often keep who they are secret for fear their political views will result in reprisals that harm their careers (Yancey 2011; Shields and Dunn 2016).

Studies have consistently found a significant gap between Black and White students in various forms of school discipline. Few studies, however, have examined disciplinary differences between other racial and ethnic groups. Focusing on out-of-school suspensions, a punishment closely linked to the “school-to-prison pipeline,” we investigate the disparities between Hispanic, Asian, and White youth. Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class are used to control for contemporary socioeconomic variables, the context of the school environment, and the parent-reported behavior of the student. Through a series of logistic regression models, we found that White students were significantly more likely to be suspended than were Hispanics or Asians. However, while the disparity between Hispanics and Whites was eliminated after controlling for student misbehavior, the gap persisted between Asians and Whites. These results question the contention that systemic racial discrimination is a leading contributor to group differences in school discipline. Moreover, we add to a limited but growing literature showing Asian students are significantly less likely to experience school punishments including suspension.

Political ideology represents an imperfect yet important indicator of a host of personality traits and cognitive preferences. These preferences, in turn, seemingly propel liberals and conservatives towards divergent life-course experiences. Criminal behavior represents one particular domain of conduct where differences rooted in political ideology may exist. Using a national dataset, we test whether and to what extent political ideology is predictive of self-reported criminal behavior. Our results show that self-identified political ideology is monotonically related to criminal conduct cross-sectionally and prospectively and that liberals self-report more criminal conduct than do conservatives. We discuss potential causal mechanisms relating political ideology to individual conduct.

Developmental/life-course (DLC) criminologists often study the age-graded trajectories of traits and behaviors known to correlate with antisocial outcomes. Much of this work has attempted to discern whether traits like impulse control are relatively stable across different portions of the life course. A range of statistical techniques have been employed by researchers attempting to parameterize relative stability. Yet, despite these attempts, much of the evidence remains mixed.

This chapter proposes that correctional treatment has much to tell the authors about criminological theory. It explores the implications of rehabilitation for theories of crime in three stages. The chapter focuses on the status of correctional treatment research, examining its traditional neglect by criminologists and its resurgence as a body of literature that, if only grudgingly and gradually, is prompting more attention. It discusses the potential role of research on treatment interventions for testing criminological theories, conveying both what such studies can and cannot tell authors about the adequacy of explanatory models. The chapter assesses the extent to which specific theories are supported and challenged by findings from correctional rehabilitation research. In short, correctional treatment research should be viewed with appropriate caution. Social learning theory, however, also would predict that appropriate parental supervision and expressions of affection might be conduits through which prosocial values are expressed and prosocial behaviors modeled.

Context An increasing body of research has linked the geographic distribution of lead with various indicators of criminal and antisocial behavior. Objective The current study, using data from an ongoing project related to lead exposure in St. Louis City, MO, analyzed the association between aggregate blood lead levels and specific indicators violent crime within the city. Design Ecological study. Setting St. Louis, Missouri. Exposure measure Blood lead levels. Main outcome measure Official reports of violent crimes were categorized as 1) crimes involving a firearm (yes/no), 2) assault crimes (with or without a firearm), 3) robbery crimes (with or without a firearm), 4) homicides and 5) rape. Results With the exception of rape, aggregate blood-lead levels were statistically significant predictors of violent crime at the census tract level. The risk ratios for each of the outcome measures were as follows: firearm crimes 1.03 (1.03-1.04), assault crimes 1.03 (1.02-1.03), robbery crimes 1.03 (1.02-1.04), homicide 1.03 (1.01, 1.04), and rape 1.01 (0.99-1.03). Conclusions Extending prior research in St. Louis, results suggest that aggregated lead exposure at the census tract level predicted crime outcomes, even after accounting for important sociological variables. Moving forward, a more developed understanding of aggregate level crime may necessitate a shift toward studying the synergy between sociological and biological risk factors such as lead exposure.