In 2020, the Trump administration issued new guidance concerning Title IX proceedings; one controversial change was the emphasis on greater confrontation between complainants and respondents during the grievance process. Little is known concerning public perceptions of these reforms, which diverge from previous federal guidance. To that end, we explore three questions. First, to what extent was the public aware of changes to Title IX? Second, does the public think colleges can safely implement confrontational grievance procedures, or do they view such proceedings skeptically? Last, what factors are associated with beliefs about confrontational features of Title IX? Analysis indicates that there are conditional effects of political ideology on levels of knowledge about the Title IX changes on attitudes toward grievance proceedings. Additionally, other demographic correlates - age, sex, and educational attainment - are associated with perceptions. Implications are discussed.

Bystander apathy has been a source of debate for decades. In the past half-century, psychologists developed theoretical frameworks to understand bystander activity, commonly referred to as bystander intervention models (BIMs). More recently, BIMs have been modified to facilitate initiatives to prevent various forms of online victimization. This chapter begins with a review of BIMs and recent applications of bystander intervention research to online environments. We also present several future directions for research along with applications for reducing technology-facilitated violence, including programming recommendations and theoretical development. Keywords Bystander apathy Bystander intervention model Prevention Online communities Social media Online victimization Citation Lytle, R.D., Bratton, T.M. and Hudson, H.K. (2021), "Bystander Apathy and Intervention in the Era of Social Media", Bailey, J., Flynn, A. and Henry, N. (Ed.) The Emerald International Handbook of Technology-Facilitated Violence and Abuse (Emerald Studies In Digital Crime, Technology and Social Harms), Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 711-728. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83982-848-520211052 Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited Copyright © 2021 Robert D. Lytle, Tabrina M. Bratton, and Heather K. Hudson. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This chapter is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of these chapters (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode. License This chapter is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of these chapters (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode. Introduction If you have visited a metropolitan area, you have likely been present for an incident that could be considered an emergency. This might include walking past an unconscious person on the street one night, a shriek from a child as you walk past a park, or perhaps a heated argument between two adults in the neighboring room. When you perceive these types of stimuli in your environment, you engage in a cognitive process that helps to decide whether or not to act. This process includes a range of cognitive mechanisms wherein we interpret otherwise ambiguous information (e.g., Is the argument between the two adults becoming dangerous?), assess the situation (e.g., Can someone else assist the child in the park?), and consider how best to intervene (e.g., Do you wake the unconscious person and call for help?). Though we complete this process quickly, we remain partially paralyzed while resolving the conflict of witnessing a potential emergency. Social scientists have generated a wealth of literature to explain the process driving bystander action in the presence of a possible emergency (Batson, van Lange, Ahmad, & Lishner, 2007). Much of this research has been built upon the bystander intervention model (BIM) proposed by Latané and Darley (1970) which situates the cognitive processes driving decisions to intervene in ambiguous emergencies within an unpredictable social environment. BIMs have informed applications to promote bystander intervention in emergencies, including violent situations, with some effect (Del Rey, Casas, & Ortega, 2016; Polanin, Espelage, & Pigott, 2012). Despite this success, society has experienced significant changes in both cognitive processing and environments following the rise of social media. This chapter begins by briefly reviewing the literature on bystander apathy and BIMs, with a special emphasis on developments in bystander theory in light of recent technological advancements. The remainder of the chapter is dedicated to proposed directions for developing theory, methodological considerations for future research, and applying BIMs to understanding and reducing technology-facilitated violence and abuse (TFVA). The Bystander Intervention Model In 1968, John Darley and Bibb Latané published a seminal work on an emerging psychological concept referred to as bystander apathy. Bystander apathy refers to the phenomenon wherein otherwise moral persons can observe an emergency (e.g., accident, crime) without coming to the aid of those affected by it. Although incidents of bystander apathy were not novel at the time, social commentary grew in the wake of the murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964 (Manning, Levins, & Collins, 2007). Genovese was reportedly murdered while bystanders in the nearby apartments, all aware of the attack, did little to intervene on her behalf. Explanations centered around the moral ambivalence or decay of society at the time. Latané and Darley (1970), however, hypothesized that bystander apathy might emerge from the internal conflict one experiences when confronted with an emergency. In effect, they argued that bystander apathy did not necessarily imply a moral deficiency in the passive bystander; rather, they argued nonintervention could be expected when the situation surrounding the emergency favored nonintervention (Darley & Latané, 1968). After several classic experiments, Latané and Darley (1970) presented their BIM to explain bystander decisions about whether or not to intervene in emergencies. Latané and Darley's (1970) model holds that people experience internal conflict when observing an emergency, regardless of their desire to assist or intervene in the danger. The BIM consists of five steps that influence whether or not a person will intervene. The first step is to witness the incident. Once a potential emergency has been witnessed, the second step requires the bystander to define the situation as an emergency. If the danger to the bystander or victim is unclear, the bystander may follow others' lead in recognizing whether the ambiguous situation (e.g., smoke, loud sounds) demands a response (Clark & Word, 1972; Darley & Latané, 1968; Latané & Darley, 1970). This is referred to as audience inhibition or pluralistic ignorance (Latané & Nida, 1981). This psychological process is so impactful that, even when the situation becomes more clearly threatening, the bystander will remain calm if others witnessing the situation do not react to the threat (Darley & Latané, 1968). If the bystander defines the situation as an emergency, they then look to the environment for justification to avoid the risk often present in an intervention (e.g., injury, embarrassment) (Latané & Darley, 1970). If a bystander is alone with the victim of an emergency, the responsibility of intervening on the victim's behalf is placed entirely on the bystander. As such, the cost of intervention may not outweigh the moral obligation they feel. However, as the number of other persons capable of intervening increases, the bystander can mentally share the responsibility for providing aid to a victim, which is known as diffusion of responsibility (Darley & Latané, 1968; Garcia, Weaver, Moskowitz, & Darley, 2002). As a result, the moral obligation felt by the bystander is attenuated and may not overcome the costs associated with intervention (Darley & Latané, 1968). Scholars often refer to nonintervention facilitated by bystander group size as the “bystander effect” (Levine, Philpot, & Kovalenko, 2020). Although the BIM has enjoyed the theoretical spotlight for understanding helping behaviors, recent developments have revealed conditions to the initial framework (Fischer et al., 2011). One such development in bystander intervention research has centered around the nature of the emergency. Whereas classic bystander effect studies observed inaction in response to emergencies that posed little to no immediate danger to the participant (Levine & Darley, 1968), more recent research has proposed that dangerous or violent emergencies may be less likely to result in bystander inaction; a phenomenon commonly referred to as positive bystander effects (Fischer et al., 2011; Fischer, Greitemeyer, Pollozek, & Frey, 2006). Another relevant development in the bystander intervention literature relevant to understanding online environments involves the group composition of persons surrounding the bystander during the emergency (referred to here as witnesses). Based on meta-analyses of bystander intervention research, helping behavior is more likely to occur when a bystander is surrounded by witnesses who are known to one another (Rutkowski, Gruder, & Romer, 1983), share membership in a common social or demographic group (Levine & Crowther, 2008; Levine, Prosser, Evans, & Reicher, 2005), or are simply active observers (Fischer & Greitemeyer, 2013). Relatedly, bystanders who know the victim are also more likely to intervene in an emergency regardless of the size (or composition) of fellow witnesses to the emergency (Palmer, Nicksa, & McMahon, 2018). In this regard, bystander intervention may be similar in online environments. That is, helping behavior is likely dependent on the online relationship between the witness and victim. Nonetheless, the BIM has demonstrated a moderately weak effect in explaining bystander inaction (Fischer et al., 2011). The utility of this theory can also be observed through its application to various forms of violence reduction and intervention programs, including bullying (Polanin et al., 2012) and campus sexual assault (Banyard, Moynihan, Cares, & Warner, 2014). 1 It has, however, emerged as a helpful tool to combat non-reporting and inaction from persons who observe an emergency, especially incidents that may traditionally have been viewed as “private,” such as domestic violence (Levine et al., 2020; McMahon & Banyard, 2012; Palmer et al., 2018). Bystander Intervention Models in Online Environments Social interaction has changed significantly since Latané and Darley's (1970) seminal work. In particular, the rise of technological advancements in communication, such as social media, has changed societal norms, behaviors, and social environments. There are numerous benefits to social media, such as widening one's social networks and providing an outlet for communication and knowledge generation. However, the ubiquitous nature of social media today also has the potential to facilitate antisocial online behavior (e.g., Hayes, 2019; Southworth, Finn, Dawson, Fraser, & Tucker, 2007; Woodlock, 2017), including the targeting of minority populations such as racial minorities and members of the LGBTQI communities. Antisocial and cybercrime behaviors like online harassment can have detrimental impacts on the social, mental, and physical wellness of victims (Bates, 2017; Henry et al., 2020; Powell, Scott, Henry, & Flynn, 2020; Powell, Henry, & Flynn, 2018; Tennant, Demaray, Coyle, & Malecki, 2015; Widgerson & Lynch, 2013). These consequences not only lead to stigmatization, they may contribute to psychological distress (Wright, 2016) and suicide (Bauman, Toomey, & Walker, 2013; Sullivan, Annest, Simon, Luo, & Dahlberg, 2015). Although the emergence of social media has undoubtedly changed the ways and environment in which we communicate with each other, the classic bystander effect may continue to inhibit bystanders from intervening online (Dempsey, Sulkowski, Nichols, & Storch, 2009; Olenik-Shemesh, Heiman, & Eden, 2017; Sticca & Perren, 2013). One possible source of bystander inaction in online environments may be ambiguity in cybervictimization. Cybervictimization, along with the online social environment they occur within, is relatively new. As a result, the norms and values for observing and responding to status updates in social media continue to evolve, which may create uncertainty for witnesses regarding what is and is not acceptable behavior online (Banyard, Plante, & Moynihan, 2005). In much the same way that perpetrators can benefit from anonymity in online environments, bystanders of online victimization may be able to avoid the cognitive conflict that often accompanies witnessing a potential emergency (Dempsey et al., 2009). Intervention may be particularly unlikely when the bystander does not know the victim well (Palmer et al., 2018). Finally, the lack of physical presence can make it complicated for bystanders to intervene in the emergency. This is especially the case when considering a lack of parental socialization toward online defending behavior reported by many adolescents (DeSmet et al., 2014). Witnesses inclined to physically intervene in offline situations (e.g., putting their body in front of a victim) may be uncertain about the best way to intervene in online environments. Despite these differences, however, it appears BIMs apply in both settings (Hayes, 2019). Much of the research on bystander intervention in online environments has centered around cyberbullying, sexual violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV; Hayes, 2019). This research has generally found that bystander helping behavior, often taking the form of defending the targeted person, can be predicted by a bystander's social group, attitudes, and situational influences. More specifically, research has found that online bystander intervention is most likely to occur when the bystander is female (Allison & Bussey, 2017; Lambe, Della Cioppa, Hong, & Craig, 2019), older (Hayes, 2019; Olenik-Shemesh et al., 2017), and where they enjoy social support or popularity (Lambe et al., 2019; Olenik-Shemesh et al., 2017). Bystanders are less likely to intervene when they hold negative views of the victim (Hayes, 2019) or decline to speak up against prejudice (Moisuc, Brauer, Fonseca, Chaurand, & Greitemeyer, 2018). Finally, the norms and values of a bystander's environment, including those learned from family (DeSmet et al., 2014; Lambe et al., 2019) or school (Allison & Bussey, 2016, 2017), influence bystander intention to defend, as well as actual defending behaviors in cyberbullying events. Interestingly, though, the ubiquity of social media might also provide a protective effect for victims. For example, victims of cybercrime and online harassment may have more social support than they have offline. To the extent that others might engage in the BIM in online environments, social media may contribute to the prevention of online victimization (e.g., positive bystander effect), as well as curbing the adverse effects of such victimization. Indeed, some scholars have found evidence of a positive bystander effect in online settings (Armstrong & Mahone, 2017). For example, online intervention is more likely, regardless of group size, when witnesses perceive the emergency as being more clearly dangerous or there is a relationship between the bystander and witnesses or victim. This can occur when online bystanders are aware of the dangers associated with online victimization (Armstrong & Mahone, 2017) or share a common identity or group identity (DeSmet et al., 2016; Lambe et al., 2019). Considerations for Studying Bystander Intervention in Social Media A variety of complexities arise when applying offline BIMs to online incidents. As BIMs rely heavily on the environment to explain bystander action, it follows that the theoretical pathways used to explain responses to emergencies may differ based on whether they occur offline or online. In this section, we review some of the ways that traditional BIMs may need further examination in research before application to online social environments. The first step of BIMs is that one must observe the incident (Latané & Darley, 1970). In online settings, especially through social media, it may be difficult to determine when bystanders become aware of potential emergencies (Dillon & Bushman, 2015; McMahon & Banyard, 2012). For example, many social networking sites (SNSs) have a “wall” of posts where comments from followers are brought to the user's attention. SNS walls can be a public “place” used to bully, embarrass, and shame or defend, support, and praise other SNS users. Because of the breadth of information one sees on social media, online bystanders might become aware of incidents days after it occurred (McMahon, Palmer, Banyard, Murphy, & Gidycz, 2017), thereby removing the immediacy of observing the incident from the classic BIM. In light of the asynchronous nature of the online environment, this may be a key consideration for future research. The second step of the BIM is that the bystander must define the incident as an emergency (Latané & Darley, 1970). As outlined earlier, this process can be influenced by the reactions of others present at the incident (Darley & Latané, 1968). BIMs that apply in the online context may need additional research to clarify the cognitive processes by which bystanders evaluate danger online, including content and other signals for help (Schachter, Greenberg, & Juvonen, 2016). The keystone of traditional BIMs has been the influence of bystander group size on intervention (Latané & Darley, 1970). Presently, much of the research into online bystander intervention has focused on how diffusion of responsibility affects bystander responses to online emergencies, with a general conclusion being that the presence of online bystanders discourages bystander action (Dempsey et al., 2009; Hayes, 2019; Sticca & Perren, 2013). Although these studies provide an excellent starting point for online bystander intervention research, there remain several important questions for understanding bystander effects online. For example, how do online bystanders become aware of the presence of other bystanders? The anonymity of many online social environments may affect a person's ability to diffuse responsibility if they are not certain others are available to assist the victim. Conversely, anonymity in social media may allow the bystander to rationalize inaction by assuming others are present and observing the same emergency, therefore someone else may step in. Larger bystander group size has been shown to discourage intervention by simply having bystanders think about the presence of other witnesses (Garcia et al., 2002). Therefore, it may be easy for online bystanders to assume the presence of other witnesses regardless of ambiguous evidence. In addition to applying the classic bystander effect to harassment and violence, research into online bystander intervention should also consider the possibility of positive bystander effects (Fischer et al., 2006). When the victim is in clear danger, such as violence, a larger number of witnesses actually facilitates bystander intervention, regardless of the assumed personal cost to bystanders. This finding has been attributed to both the less ambiguous nature of the threat to a victim in violent encounters (Piliavin, Rodin, & Piliavin, 1969) and the improved chance of successful intervention given the support of other bystanders (Fischer et al., 2011). This makes recognizing danger in online incidents particularly relevant when designing strategies to prevent cybervictimization. Applications to Technology-Facilitated Violence and Abuse BIMs can inform the public about TFVA, educate users about how to identify online problems, and provide recommendations for intervention (Moynihan et al., 2015). Evaluations of school-based BIM programs have proved successful in preventing violence in educational settings, especially among high school (Coker, Bush, Brancato, Clear, & Recktenwald, 2019; Polanin et al., 2012) and college students (Banyard, Moynihan, & Plate, 2007). Although most school-based bystander intervention programs do not use all five stages of the BIM, Nickerson, Aloe, Livingston, & Feeley (2014) suggested relying more on BIM to develop school-based, online bystander programs that explicitly teach the five steps of BIMs to decrease online bystander apathy. BIM-driven programs could facilitate the identification of TFVA, interpretation of TFVA as situations requiring intervention, assumption of responsibility for defending the victim, and learning the skills necessary to intervene safely. Currently, few online bystander intervention programs target TFVA. The BIM can inform strategies to reduce bystander apathy and redirect passive attitudes into acceptable online behavior. Bystander intervention can reduce TFVA by interfering in violent situations before they escalate. Recent research on online bystanders have identified factors that increase the likelihood for intervention such as gender, age, perceived danger, familiarity with the victim, and attitudes (Allison & Bussey, 2016, 2017; Bastiaensens et al., 2014; Hayes, 2019; Olenik-Shemesh et al., 2017). Unfortunately, many of these factors are difficult to implement in programming (i.e., knowing victim, social popularity, and classroom). Furthermore, existing bystander intervention programming, especially with relation to sexual assault prevention, may be difficult to generalize to cases beyond cisgendered, heterosexual male offenders, and female victims (Dunn, Bailey, & Msosa, 2020). Based on existing research, then, intervention training should focus on the factors that can be changed through programming, like helping attitudes and the perceived danger of emergency. To apply the first step of BIM (Latané & Darley, 1970), observation of the incident can be promoted by raising awareness to TFVA behaviors and warning signs. BIMs could also teach users to identify alarming content and TFVA as an emergency (Step 2). A key decision point to address in online bystander intervention programming will likely be the identification of the situation as an emergency. Recent research has suggested that many forms of TFVA reviewed in this chapter (and beyond), may be perceived by both the offender and witnesses as attempts at humor or “having fun” gone awry (Retter & Shariff, 2012; Shariff & DeMartini, 2016; Shariff, Wiseman, & Crestohl, 2012). Although this research has focused primarily on the motivation of the offender, this finding may also apply to bystander assessments of situations as an emergency. If bystanders believe that some event is a poorly executed joke, or they can quickly rationalize it as such, they can define the situation as a non-emergency and avoid responsibility for action. Multiple strategies may be needed to encourage bystanders to accept responsibility for intervention (Step 3). These strategies should promote social norms that encourage empathy for victims of TFVA (Nickerson et al., 2014), as well as increase self-efficacy for intervention among bystanders (Pöyhönen, Juvonen, & Salmivalli, 2012). Alternatively, online bystander intervention programs should consider how internet users perceive the presence of others to combat diffusion of responsibility and pluralistic ignorance, and identify ways to address these challenges (Darley & Latané, 1968; Latané & Darley, 1970). Along with recognizing and accepting responsibility for TFVA incidents, BIM holds that bystanders must have a plan for action (Step 4) and be able to intervene (Step 5; Latané & Darley, 1970). Indeed, bystanders who are better trained in how to respond may be better prepared and therefore, more likely to assist in online emergencies effectively and safely (Coker et al., 2011). These strategies should focus on building knowledge and skills regarding how best to act. Although social media may promote opportunities for intervention (such as flagging or reporting TFVA), some aspects of social media like anonymity appear to hinder bystander intervention (Dempsey et al., 2009; Sticca & Perren, 2013). Therefore, programming should present tangible ways to intervene in specific types of TFVA. Application #1: Technology-Facilitated Suicidality Suicidality has long garnered attention, but only recently have online presentations of suicidality been considered a path to prevention. Some research suggests that adolescents who have suicidal ideations or engage in self-harm may share their feelings and practices on SNSs (Luxton, June, & Fairall, 2012; Marchant et al., 2017). Moreover, suicidality has been linked to social media use (Mok, Jorm, & Pirkis, 2015) and cybervictimization (Hinduja & Patchin, 2010). Witnesses to suicidal or self-harming posts can escalate self-harm through demeaning comments. As such, bystanders to online suicidal ideation and self-harm represent an opportunity to reduce and prevent suicidality. To observe and intervene in suicidal threats or ideations online, internet users should be trained to identify direct and indirect warning signs (Marchant et al., 2017). For example, programs might include ways to teach users to identify risky hashtags (e.g., #cutting), take them seriously, and respond appropriately. To accomplish raising the perceived seriousness of online suicidal ideation, programs should incorporate peers into awareness campaigns. For example, peer-facilitators could confront the acceptance of jokes about suicide and rally others to treat all threats seriously. Peer-led bystander intervention exposure has previously been implemented with success in student populations, especially when many students were trained to be peer leaders (Pickering et al., 2018). Even if online suicidal threats are perceived as worthy of intervention, though, BIMs predict that bystanders will be less likely to respond if one can diffuse responsibility with other witnesses (Latané & Darley, 1970). To encourage internet users to accept responsibility, programs can focus on activities that promote empathy for suicidal persons and self-efficacy in intervention, both of which have been shown to discourage diffusion of responsibility online (Nickerson et al., 2014; Pöyhönen et al., 2012). Even if the witness identifies the situation as an emergency, however, the stress and anxiety produced in individuals intervening in suicidality may create a specific obstacle to bystander action for this form of TFVA (Ting, Jacobson, & Sanders, 2011). In offline settings, the classic bystander apathy effect reverses so that witnesses become less likely to intervene when alone if the emergency poses a danger to the witness (Fischer & Greitemeyer, 2013). Therefore, BIMs intended to address technology-facilitated suicidality might also need to consider ways to help potential interveners process and cope with such anxiety. For example, social media campaigns can educate their users on the importance of intervention despite one's discomfort. In addition, programs to encourage bystander intervention in online environments can include services for interveners should their experience prove to be traumatic. Peer-facilitators can also role play scenarios to help internet users develop strategies for effective intervention, which can empower bystanders in the face of an emergency. Effective plans for intervention can develop through skills-training, access to effective resources, and education on what works and what worsens the situation. Training programs should guide internet users through scenarios to explore direct and indirect options for intervening. Direct interventions for online suicidality could include approaches to talking to persons threatening self-harm online. Alternatively, bystanders may offer support and resources intended to help suicidal persons (e.g., suicide prevention phone lines or licensed counselors). Indirect measures would include strategies for bringing attention to the suicidal content, such as contacting emergency services in an immediate crisis or reporting alarming content on social media platforms. The benefits for bystander prevention in online suicidality are cumulative in the sense that intervention from one bystander may encourage others to act as well (Darley & Latané, 1968; Latané & Nida, 1981). Application #2: Image-Based Sexual Abuse Another source of TFVA that has grown from the ubiquity of social media has been image-based sexual abuse (IBSA). IBSA refers to dissemination of sexualized materials without the subject's consent (Bond & Tyrrell, 2018; Henry & Flynn, 2020). Although still early in its research development, scholars have noted significant health consequences for IBSA that range from symptoms of psychological distress to suicidality (Bates, 2017; Henry, McGlynn, Flynn, Johnson, Powell, & Scott, 2020; Powell et al., 2020; Powell et al., 2018). Despite recognition of the consequences of IBSA for victims, policymakers and police have reported difficulties designing effective responses to IBSA (Bond & Tyrrell, 2018; Henry et al., 2020; Henry, Flynn, & Powell, 2018). This difficulty stems from ambiguity in the definition of IBSA, especially in determining what material should be considered illicit, nonconsensual, and sexual (Bond & Tyrrell, 2018; Flynn & Henry, 2019; Walker & Sleath, 2017). In light of these limitations, bystander intervention may be useful in discouraging IBSA. IBSA grows in online environments, wherein bystanders not only ignore the victimization but also reward its production (Henry & Flynn, 2020; Walker & Sleath, 2017). In addition, bystanders might assume the sexual material was published consensually and may not accurately recognize it as a form of victimization. Furthermore, if bystanders perceive the IBSA as a “joke” or venting frustration (Shariff & DeMartini, 2016), the situation may be defined as a non-emergency. Consequently, intervention would be perceived to be unnecessary. To the degree that bystander apathy contributes to the proliferation of IBSA, then, we may be able to quell its use, support police efforts to take action, and raise public awareness to the methods and conse

Sentencing reforms since the 1990s have created an environment in which inmates have been aging in place. This has created challenges for correctional administrators on how to house and manage older offenders in a safe and secure environment. Previous research has found that the likelihood of committing misconduct in prison decreases with age, suggesting elderly inmates are least likely to engage in prison misconduct. Yet, the operationalization of “elderly” has varied across studies, failing to provide a general consensus of the onset of being elderly. With this in mind, the purpose of this study was to determine at what age prison misconduct begins to decline using data from the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC). A series of binary logistic regressions were conducted on a sample of 4,793 inmates, who had a minimum of two years (730 days) in prison and were released in 2013 and 2014. In the sample of reentering inmates, it was found that misconduct became significantly less likely amongst inmates older than 40 years old. Further, group-specific models demonstrated that correlates significant for predicting misconduct in younger reentering inmates differed from those older than 40 years. By identifying when institutional misconduct decreases, correctional agencies can improve their efficiency in housing, managing, and treating aging inmates.

Sex offender residence restrictions are largely symbolic laws that address constituent demands to do something about sex crimes without actually reducing sex offenses. While the majority of US states have implemented such restrictions, this exploratory study examines three states that have resisted the allure of these symbolic laws. Using data from state government archives, we analyze expressive and instrumental rationales for rejecting residence restrictions to explore what facilitates the failure of a symbolic law. We find that while supporters and opponents both made largely instrumental arguments, opponents framed their instrumental arguments in expressive terms. Legislators’ policy positions, reliance on empirical evidence, and testimony from bureaucrats also contributed to the failure of residence restrictions in these states. Our findings help explain why empirically ineffective sex offender laws appeal to the public and politicians, how these laws might be scaled back, and how symbolic laws may lose their power in some contexts.

A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward LGBQ individuals. To date, however, research on religious attitudes has focused primarily on Christians. We expanded upon existing research by including two of the three largest U.S. religions previously overlooked—Islam and Judaism. We used data from the 2014 Religious Landscape Study, which provided a larger sample of Jewish ( n = 475) and Muslim ( n = 135) respondents than most public opinion surveys. We found that Muslim and Protestant participants were the least accepting of homosexuality and supportive of same‐sex marriage compared with Roman Catholic and Jewish participants. Results also showed that fundamentalism and religiosity were significant predictors of attitudes toward homosexuality and same‐sex marriage across all participants, regardless of denomination. Implications for future research and data collection efforts learned from this study are discussed.

Drug courts were developed to offer substance abuse treatment along with intensive supervision in an effort to better attend to the needs of these offenders, lessen commitments to prison, and reduce costs to the criminal justice system. Despite the reported success of drug courts, reductions in recidivism appear to be reserved for those who complete the program. Those who fail the program are remanded back to the court for traditional sentencing that may negate any participation benefit. Scholars have long considered the role the criminal justice system has played in the desistance of criminal activity. Much of the research has focused on the outcomes of postconviction sanctioning, finding little support for incarceration has as a deterrent agent. Moreover, the stigma of a criminal conviction, alone, has been shown to exacerbate criminal offending. We used a sample of 733 drug court participants to compare reoffending patterns between sentencing outcomes (dismissal, failed-probation, failed incarcerated). We used survival analysis to compare criminal abstinence in drug court participants across three potential program outcomes – case dismissal, probation, and imprisonment. The current findings demonstrate differences in recidivism between convicted and non-convicted past participants, but see mostly null effects when isolating the analysis between custodial and non-custodial sentences.

: Social media is a relatively new global phenomenon. Virtual places provide criminogenic motivators like financial gain, access to suitable targets, and massive amounts of information all under one virtual roof. Additionally, social media sites host large amounts of people in one space, generating significant opportunities for victimization. Despite the Internet’s theoretical relevance to understanding victimization, scholarly research into the effects of social media activity in victimization is scarce. Using data from the Pew Research Center, I investigated the relationship between Facebook use and online harassment among adolescents between 13 and 17 years of age. The results showed that an adolescent’s behavior on Facebook contributed to the likelihood of experiencing online harassment. Additionally, parental monitoring of their adolescent’s Facebook activity did not have a significant moderating effect on adolescents’ risk of online harassment. This research contributed to the literature by identifying specific behaviors in adolescents that increase their risk of online harassment.

Drug courts were established to reduce recidivism rates for substance-involved offenders who traditionally would have been sentenced to conventional probation supervision. Past research has reported success in this area, but much of the success is limited to those who graduate the program. Scholars have yet to examine the impact case outcomes and criminal sentencing have on post-participation reoffending. Yet, literature exists outside the area of drug courts, suggesting criminal sentencing, such as incarceration, may have a negative effect on offender recidivism. The current study addresses this gap in the drug court recidivism literature by examining the impact four outcomes of drug court participation (i.e., case dismissal, probation, jail, and prison) have on participant reoffending. We analyzed case outcome records of 824 drug court participants using propensity score analysis to isolate the effect criminal sentencing has on recidivism. Findings, potential policy implications, and directions for future research are discussed.

This entry briefly reviews the historical narrative of prostitution that begins in ancient civilizations, continues through medieval Europe, and ends with current perspectives on prostitution in the United States. In this brief story of prostitution, we note key evolutions in the role prostitution plays in society, as well as common themes that have persisted throughout history.

Over the past two decades, there has been increased attention on offending behaviors and motivations of child pornography offenders (CPOs). Although existing research has provided a knowledgeable foundation in regard to this offending subpopulation, the literature has been relatively limited on examining changes in offender behaviors and motivations. This study used interviews with 25 online CPOs in a southern state to identify themes underlying offending behaviors and motives at onset, as well as, continuation of offending over time. We found that offenders reported various circumstances (ranging from intentional to unintentional) and motivations (including thrill-seeking and attraction) at onset; however, CPOs reported thrill-seeking and attraction to be the most common factors driving their continued offending. We applied these themes to the existing literature on child pornography offending and recommended directions for future research. Based on our findings, we offered considerations for the treatment of CPOs.

Recent research into desistance processes in criminology has identified various explanations and factors in the decision to end criminal careers. One of these life events, shown to generally promote desistance, has been the presence of a romantic relationship. In this study, we argue that research into the role of romantic relationships in sex crime desistance has overlooked the context of romantic relationships, especially pertaining to the quality of relationships. We analyzed interviews with 25 desisting sex offenders, who have returned to the community, to determine how relationship quality varies over time for desisters. Also, we identified themes in the romantic relationships of desisters relative to their conviction (i.e. pre-conviction vs. postconviction). These findings provide early evidence of the variation in relationship quality amongst sex crime desisters, as well as the impact that relationship quality has on desisters. We conclude that future research in sex crime desistance processes should include relationship quality, not just the presence of a romantic relationship.

In this article, we further the understanding of both changes in public opinion on capital punishment in the United States and changes in the factors associated with public opinion on the death penalty. Support for the death penalty may be motivated by events happening during specific time periods, and it can vary across birth cohorts as a result of cohort-specific socialization processes, demographic changes, and formative events that are specific to each generation. An explication of the sources of and variation in death penalty attitudes over time would benefit from the accounting for the age of the respondent, the year of the survey response, and the birth cohort of the respondent. We improve on previous research by using multiple approaches including hierarchical age-period-cohort models and data from the General Social Survey (N = 41,474) to examine changes in death penalty attitudes over time and across birth cohorts. The results showed curvilinear age effects, strong period effects, and weak cohort effects on death penalty support. The violent crime rate explained much of the variation in support for the death penalty across periods. The examination of subgroup differences suggests that support for the death penalty is becoming concentrated among Whites, Protestants, and Republicans.

We examined cross-national variation in the gender differential in offending, which is often referred to as the gender gap in crime. Analyses were directed toward two empirical questions: 1) Is the gender gap narrower in less patriarchal sociocultural settings, and if so, 2) is this outcome a result of higher levels of offending on the part of girls, lower levels of offending on the part of boys, or some combination thereof? To address these questions, we compiled a multilevel, cross-national data set combining information on self-reported offending from the second International Self Report Delinquency Survey (ISRD-2) with normative and structural indicators of societal levels of patriarchy. The results from regression equations showed the gender gap in delinquency to be narrower at reduced national levels of patriarchy. The predicted probabilities calculated from regression coefficients suggested that this narrowing is a result of increased offending among girls and, to some extent, of decreased offending among boys in less patriarchal nations. Sensitivity checks with alternative model specifications confirmed these patterns but also identified a potential outlier. We discuss the implications of these descriptive findings for etiological research and theory.

Christian fundamentalism has often been linked to death penalty support, despite mixed results across more than a decade of empirical studies. More recently, a line of research has emerged that has called for a reconceptualization of fundamentalism as harsh and rigid, instead of being more a multifaceted concept. In the spirit of this call, we investigated the relative importance of Christian fundamentalism on death penalty attitudes when compared with non-religious social attitudes. Using 1,560 respondents from the 2008 General Social Survey data, we found self-identified Christian fundamentalism, though not biblical literalism or religious denomination, remained a significant predictor of death penalty attitudes when attitudes toward LGBT marriage equality were included in the model. Unexpectedly, white women who endorsed LGBT marriage equality were also more likely to support the death penalty. Based on our findings, we discuss implications and areas for future research.

Nationwide moral panic has long served as a primary explanation for sex offense laws. These laws, however, remain primarily left to state legislatures, which implies potential variation in their content over time. Variation in legislative content, to the degree that it represents implementation, not only suggests differential consequences for registrants and communities, but also it would raise questions to the sufficiency of moral panic as a sole explanation for sex offense policy change. I build upon earlier work by exploring variation in the content and timing of sex offender registration and notification (SORN) reform in all 50 states over time. After documenting variation in these laws, I present the ways in which SORN legislative content has evolved differently across states. In addition, the timing of legislative reforms differed not only across states but also within states over time. These findings have implications for existing theoretical assertions regarding criminal justice policy.

Previous research pertaining to parole has primarily concentrated on individual level characteristics as predictors of parole success, holding offender residency as a constant. Recently, there has been a growing realization that we need to understand how neighborhood contexts impact successful reintegration. It is difficult to evaluate the increased risk associated with neighborhood characteristics on parole revocation because residency after prison is not randomly assigned. Consequently, methodological adaptations must be made to account for selection into disadvantaged neighborhoods. To reduce overt bias, we used two propensity score strategies, matching and inverse probability of treatment weighting, to determine the impact of parolee residence on parole outcome. Our analytic strategies indicated a weaker effect for neighborhood context when compared to traditional models. In essence, we found that both techniques were effective at decreasing the threat to internal validity allowing for greater confidence in reporting an average treatment effect. The implications of our findings are discussed as well as the utility of these analyses in criminal justice research.

All 50 states have laws that require sex offenders to register with law enforcement and for that information to be made publicly available. The rapid passage of sex offender policy, coupled with increased media attention and sensationalized cases, suggests a moral panic. However, if it is a moral panic, we would expect it to expire as quickly as it appeared. But this does not seem to be the case. Political and media interest seem persistent, though the role of public interest is unclear. We use Google Trends data for the U.S, employing an interrupted time-series design to analyze public interest in sex offenders, before and after passage of the Adam Walsh Act in 2006. We found that such interest is fairly stable over time. Our results have implications for how we understand sex offenders, how we understand moral panics, and the ways in which laws are derived from them.

Variation in Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification (SORCN) policies may suggest differences in public fears of sexual crimes as well as differences in state-level policy-making. This study explored the standardization of SORCN policies across a sample of five midwestern states. A thematic content analysis showed that states varied in how registrants were defined, what information was selected for public notification, and how sex offender laws are maintained. A typology of revisions emerged, which may inform our understanding about policy-making. Ultimately, existing research provides limited explanations for these results, serving as an impetus for future research on context and process of criminal justice policy change.