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Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a pervasive public health crisis that impacts individuals across the gender spectrum. Traditionally, IPV is conceptualized through a gendered lens, with men as the perpetrators and women as the victims. The current study explored the association between perpetrator/victim sex, prosecutor gender role attitudes, and prosecutorial decision-making in a case of alleged IPV. We hypothesized that prosecutors with more traditional gender role attitudes would be more lenient, and this effect to be exacerbated in cases involving a female perpetrator. Criminal prosecutors across the United States (N = 94) completed the Male Role Norms Inventory—Revised and read case materials describing the alleged IPV between a heterosexual couple (e.g., arrest report, medical records). The victim/perpetrator sex was manipulated to involve either a female- (male victim) or male- (female victim) perpetrated IPV case. Results indicate that gender role attitudes were not associated with prosecutorial decision-making. However, prosecutors perceived the violence as more serious and the perpetrator as more likely to reoffend when the perpetrator was male; further, they attributed more blame to the female victim. An interaction between perpetrator sex and prosecutor gender role attitudes indicates those with more traditional beliefs were more likely to blame the female (rather than male) victim. These data suggest extralegal factors related to the perpetrator (i.e., perpetrator sex), rather than prosecutor individual differences (i.e., gender role attitudes), are associated with prosecutor discretionary decision-making. In tandem with real-world disparities in the prosecution of IPV based on perpetrator sex, the current research stresses the importance of exploring a diversity of factors that account for these observed differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavioral continuity has been supported by the offending, prison misconduct, and recidivism literature; however, the linear path from offending in the community, to prison, and in the community again has not been fully tested. Data on individuals under parole supervision in the City of Philadelphia were used to test offending continuity across periods of incarceration and within the community. Using binary regression, we tested whether type of controlling offense (i.e. the offense resulting in the current term of incarceration) predicted the odds of engaging in different types of prison/institutional misconduct. Additionally, we examined if individuals with specific types of institutional misconduct had higher odds of reincarceration. Furthermore, path analysis modeling was used to test for mediation across this relationship. Analyses revealed that those with controlling property offenses had lower odds of misconduct, whereas those with violent offenses had higher odds of engaging in violent misconduct. Second, likelihood of reincarceration varied by controlling offense type. When compared to other offenses, those with property offenses had higher odds of reincarceration, whereas those with violent offenses had lower odds of reincarceration. Third, of those with violent controlling offenses, those who had a record of violent institutional misconduct had lower odds of recidivism. These findings partially support continuity of offending; however, highlight the potential for incarceration to interrupt habitual offending behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prosecutors exercise substantial discretion within the criminal justice process, potentially allowing for discrepant treatment of criminal cases. The purpose of this research was to examine the association between prosecutorial implicit biases and victim gender and sexual orientation in an intimate partner violence (IPV) case. Participants, 201 prosecutors from across the United States, completed two Implicit Association Tests to measure implicit gender attitudes and implicit attitudes regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer individuals. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (opposite-sex couple/female victim, opposite-sex couple/male victim, same-sex couple/female victim, same-sex couple/male victim) and read a case file of an alleged IPV arrest. Consistent with our hypotheses, prosecutors were 65% more likely to prosecute under the severest criminal penalty when the victim was female or included an opposite-sex couple. However, we found no evidence that implicit biases related to prosecutorial decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, criminologists have examined offending and victimization in the community as separate outcomes. Recently, however, researchers have begun to explore the shared commonalities of being an offender and a victim. The victim–offender overlap literature shows that victimization and offending are not different and distinct outcomes, but rather these outcomes share numerous risk factors. A close examination of the victim–offender overlap has not been done within the prison literature. Thus, it remains unclear whether there are commonalities among prisoners who offend while incarcerated and those who experience victimization. The focus of the current study is to (a) identify the proportion of the prisoners who were victims-only, offenders-only, victim–offenders, or neither victim nor offender and (b) identify the factors that predict membership into the four categories of the overlap. The current study used the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities with multinomial logistic regression analyses to examine which factors are associated with group membership into the victim–only, offender–only, or victim–offender groups in prison. Findings show that although the victim–offender overlap exists among prisoners, the majority of prisoners were neither a victim nor an offender. Victim–offenders and victims-only comprise only a small proportion of the sample. Findings also indicate that there are few unique factors across the groups. Results of the study have implications policy and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that people in prison may be especially vulnerable to victimization and may be more likely to report exposure to multiple types, known as poly-victimization. However, the literature surrounding patterns of victimization among prisoners is limited. Before we can fully understand the variation in victimization experiences among prisoners, a necessary first step is to identify victim profiles within prisons. The current study utilizes data from the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities and employs latent class analysis to identify unique victim profiles among prisoners to understand the variation in victimization experiences, with a focus on identifying those exposed to poly-victimization. The findings of this study indicate (a) that there are four distinct victim profiles—poly-victimization (2%), physical victimization in adulthood (31%), physical victimization in childhood (17%), and low/no victimization (49%); (b) that some prisoners experience poly-victimization, although this consists of a small proportion of prisoners; and (c) that there are clear demographic differences between the latent classes, with some of the largest differences among those in the poly-victimization profile. The findings of the current study are important because they add more depth to the knowledge regarding poly-victimization among prisoners, a topic that has received little attention from researchers. The current study suggests that correctional policy may need to be tailored in a way that recognizes the different needs of prisoners who have been exposed to different forms of victimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, prosecutors are typically allotted a large amount of discretion when litigating a criminal case. Although some level of discretion is necessary for various reasons (e.g., lack of resources), concerns have arisen in both scholarly and popular discourse that prosecutorial discretion remains generally unchecked. Furthermore, research suggests prosecutors may be influenced by extralegal factors when making decisions about how to proceed with criminal charges. In this study, prosecutors responded to a case of alleged intimate partner violence, in which the sex and sexual orientation of the defendant and victim were manipulated. Neither sex nor sexual orientation impacted prosecutor choice to proceed with charges, the severity of the charge selected, or the harshness of the plea bargain offered. However, prosecutors were more willing to proceed without the victim's cooperation when the victim was female and perceived heterosexual males as more aggressive than heterosexual females. These data suggest prosecutorial decision making in cases of intimate partner violence may not be unduly influenced by defendant/victim sex and sexual orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skin tone research often addresses the effects of skin tone on prejudice and discriminatory practices. Empirical research has persistently investigated skin tone and its effect on prejudice, discriminatory practices, and sentencing outcomes. Using college students as raters, the present study examined the relationship between skin tone, trustworthiness, and innocence. A total of 139 college students at a Southern University observed 417 photos of capital murderers of varying skin tones to determine whether they appeared to be trustworthy and innocent. The study results revealed that college student raters, regardless of race, were more likely to rate dark-skinned individuals higher on both the trustworthiness and innocence scales than light skin individuals. The current study demonstrated that college students, in comparison to other groups, may respond less negative to skin tone variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is evidence that people with mental disorders are at increased risk of victimisation in prison. It is unclear whether this risk of victimisation varies across types of disorders or symptoms and what role mental health treatment has on victimisation risk in this context.Aims: To examine the relationship between specific mental disorders, psychiatric symptoms, and victimisation in prison and the effect of treatment for the disorders on victimisation risk.Methods: Using a nationally-representative sample of prisoners, path analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between mental disorder and victimisation. The analyses also examined whether receiving mental health treatment in prison affected any such relationship.Results: Victimisation risk varied with the type of mental disorder or symptoms. Depression, personality disorder, hopelessness, paranoia, and hallucinations were associated with increased victimisation risk. Psychotic illnesses were otherwise negatively associated with victimisation. Receiving mental health treatment in prison was associated with greater risk of victimisation there. Receiving treatment appeared to mediate the relationship between mental disorders, symptoms, and victimisation.Conclusions: The findings suggest that not all inmates with mental disorders are at an increased risk of victimisation. Further, mental health treatment in prison also appears to be a risk factor of victimisation. More research is needed to further elucidate the relationship between mental disorders, treatment, and victimisation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently there are few published, multilevel studies of physical assault victimization of prisoners. This study builds on the extant research by utilizing a nationally representative sample of correctional facilities (n = 326) and inmates (n = 17,640) to examine the impacts of a large set of theoretically and empirically derived individual- and contextual-level variables on prison victimization, including how the gendered context of prison impacts victimization. Results support the lifestyles/routine activities approach. Inmates who were charged with a violent offense, were previously victimized, were smaller in size, were not married, were without a work assignment, misbehaved, did not participate in programs, used alcohol or drugs, and those who had a depression or personality disorder were more likely to be victimized. In addition, the data suggest that 8% of the variance in victimization is due to the prison context. Prisons with high proportions of violent offenders, males, inmates from multiracial backgrounds, and inmates with major infractions had increased odds of victimization. Moreover, the sex-composition of the prison has significant main and interactive effects predicting victimization. Specifically, we find that the effects of being convicted of a drug crime, drug use, military service, major infractions, and diagnosed personality disorders are all gendered in their impacts on victimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Despite higher risks of developing Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD) among racial/ethnic minority populations, some maintain good cognition until old age. This study aimed to investigate heterogeneous cognitive trajectories among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic older adults, examine cognitive impairment prevalence across trajectory classes, and identify associated social and behavioral determinants., Research Design and Methods: Using 11 waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study (1996-2016), 1,322 non-Hispanic Black and 747 Hispanic adults aged 50 + with normal cognition in 1996 were included. Latent class growth modeling and multinomial logistic regressions were performed to examine cognitive trajectories and associated determinants., Results: For both racial/ethnic groups, three trajectory classes were identified: high, medium, and low cognition. In the low cognition class, 87% and 100% of non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic participants developed cognitive impairment. For both racial/ethnic groups, older age and living in rural areas during school time increased the likelihood of being in the low cognition class, while more education was associated with a lower likelihood. Unique risk and protective determinants for non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic participants were also identified., Discussion and Implications: This study reveals the heterogeneity of cognitive trajectories among racial/ethnic minority older adults and various associated social and behavioral determinants. More prevention interventions and accessible, affordable diagnosis and treatment should be provided to older racial/ethnic minorities with these characteristics to reduce disparities. More research is needed to further explore associations between unique determinants and cognition in racial/ethnic minority populations to better inform interventions., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)