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A growing body of research has started to examine the prevalence and consequences of posting negative or offensive content on social media sites. Yet, less attention has been given to understanding why individuals are inclined to post negative content on social media. I argue there is good reason to believe that self-control may influence inappropriate social media posting behaviors. Using a sample of young adults attending a large university, the current study examines whether low self-control is a salient predictor in explaining five different types of negative social media posts: (1) alcohol use, (2) illegal drug use, (3) non-drug-related criminal activity, (4) socially offensive content, and (5) profanity. Results indicate that individuals with low self-control are more likely to post on social media content containing alcohol use, illegal drug use, and profanity, but not offensive or non-drug-related criminal content. Findings and directions for future research and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Elijah Anderson’s code of the street thesis has received a great deal of scholarly attention, fewer studies have examined the characteristics associated with its adoption. Existing evidence is supportive of Anderson’s initial observations, however, less is known about the association between personality and emotional characteristics and adopting street code norms. The current study assesses the role of DeLisi and Vaughn’s difficult temperament index in the adoption of the street code among a sample of juvenile justice-involved youth. Results indicated youth with more difficult temperaments, characterized by lower levels of effortful control and higher levels of negative emotionality, were more likely to report greater street code adherence. Implications for juvenile justice policy and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the link between ever vaped, vaped just flavoring in the past 30 days, and vaped just flavoring frequently in the past 30 days and violent crime, property crime, marijuana use, and smoking. Using the 2017 Monitoring the Future form two data set and propensity score matching, the researchers are better able to consider the impact of the vaping behavior among similarly situated 12th-grade adolescents. Results illustrate that there are no vaping behaviors linked with violent crime or property crime among similarly situated adolescents. In contrast, results show that adolescents who have ever vaped, vaped just flavoring, or vaped just flavoring frequently are linked with marijuana use and smoking. Limitations and future research implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do people think about offending risk in verbal or numerical terms? Does the elicitation method affect reported subjective probabilities? Rational choice models require potential outcomes (e.g., benefits/costs) to be weighted by their probability of occurrence. Indeed, the subjective likelihood of being apprehended is the central construct in criminological deterrence theory—the so-called certainty principle. Yet, extant literature has measured the construct inconsistently and with little attention to potential consequences. Using a series of randomized experiments conducted with nationwide samples of American adults (aged 18 and over), this study examines the degree of correspondence between verbal and numeric measures of apprehension risk, assesses the durability of numeric estimates specifically, and attempts to elicit how respondents naturally think about apprehension risk. The findings suggest that laypeople are somewhat inconsistent in their use of both verbal and numeric descriptors of probability, their numeric estimates of probability are unlikely to be precise or durable, and many seem to prefer thinking of risk in verbal terms (compared to numeric terms). Researchers should consider including both verbal and numeric measures of probability and explore alternative measurement strategies, including anchoring vignettes, which have been valuable in standardizing verbal responses in other disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intersection of fear of crime and media consumption has been examined in urban environments extensively. However, like many aspects of criminal justice research, much less is known about these concepts in non-urban environments. Further, there is an assumption that the processes of how media will influence fear of crime will work similarly in non-urban environments. This question remains open to empirical examination. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between media consumption and fear of crime in a semi-rural environment. Using data collected via telephone survey, and conducted within a selected non-urban community, we examine the relationship between media consumption and fear of crime while controlling for a host of confounders. Results indicated that media consumption is related to fear of crime among this specialized sample. However, this relationship becomes nonsignificant once perceived disorder is introduced. Findings and implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between race and just about any social issue has been and continues to be controversial. Within the context of literature on public opinion regarding sports and social movements, this study considers the intersections between race, business, and athlete activism by examining attitudes related to Nike's controversial advertisement campaign with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Results obtained from a sample of young adults reveals a deep racial divide between black and non-black respondents. At almost a ratio of 2:1, blacks were more likely to agree with Nike's decision to use the former player in their advertisement, that Nike should address social issues in their ads, and that Nike should contribute to his charity. These race differences remain in models that control for a variety of other correlates, including political orientation, income, discrimination, player protests, and whether they watch the NFL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Criminologists have long been interested in the relationship between subcultural attitudes and antisocial behavior, with Anderson's street code thesis being the most recent and often researched foray in this area. Relatedly, scholars have begun to investigate the risk factors associated with the anticipation of early death. Extant research, however, has yet to empirically test Anderson's hypothesis that subscription to the street code is predictive of an anticipated early death. This study contributes to the literatures on the street code as well as fatalism by investigating the link between these two constructs. Methods: Using data from a sample of serious youthful offenders, we examine whether street code values are related to the anticipation of a short life span using a number of multivariate regression techniques controlling for a range of individual- and community-level variables. Results: Results show adherence to the street code is significantly associated with an anticipated early death among the sample of delinquent youth. Further, the relationship between street code and anticipated early death holds across race/ethnicity and gender, and results are not sensitive to the measurement of an anticipated early death. Findings from the current research are discussed, along with implications for policy and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research suggests that media consumption influences attitudes toward punitiveness. Traditionally, prior efforts have generally examined television news and crime-related programming. However, less is known whether more contemporary forms of media consumption, such as social media, are related to punitive attitudes. Using a multisite sample of more than 900 mostly young adults, the current study examines (a) the relationship between four types of social media consumption (overall, general news, crime-specific content, and punishment-specific content) on penal attitudes and (b) whether these relationships vary based on key characteristics. Results reveal that individuals who consume punishment-specific content on social media are significantly more likely to have stronger attitudes regarding the use of punishment and this relationship varies by fear of crime. Findings and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the deleterious impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on offending has been established, less is known about the possible protective factors that may buffer this relationship. Using a sample of over 28,000 adjudicated delinquents from a large southern state, the current study investigated the role of substance (non)use on the relationship between ACEs and recidivism and whether these results differed by race/ethnicity and sex. Results illustrate that ACEs increase the likelihood of recidivism among youth who engaged in moderate-to-high substance use. However, this effect was not found among youth who reported little-to-no substance use. Furthermore, these effects were largely consistent across race/ethnicity and sex. Policy implications of this buffering effect are discussed as well as limitations and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has demonstrated strong but independent attention to the role of self-control and street code attitudes in predicting criminal and violent behavior. Yet, there are good theoretical notions to believe that street code attitudes may be a salient mechanism in the self-control-offending relationship. Specifically, the present study investigates: (1) the extent to which self-control predicts adopting street code attitudes and (2) whether street code attitudes mediate the effect of self-control on criminal behavior. Using data collected from a multisite sample of over 900 young adults, we assess this mediation hypothesis for three distinct types of criminal activity: violent, property, and drug use. Our results reveal that individuals with lower self-control are more likely to adopt street code attitudes, that selfcontrol is related to all three forms of offending, and that street code attitudes fully mediate the effect of self-control on violence, partially on property crime, but not in the case of drug use. Findings and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both macro- and micro-level research suggests that immigration is unrelated or negatively associated with crime and violence. However, far less research has examined the indirect effects of immigrant concentration on individual-level criminal behavior, and specifically with respect to persistent offending. Moreover, researchers have only begun to explore the mechanisms that link neighborhood context, such as immigrant concentration, to individual outcomes. Thus, identification of the potential mechanisms that may mediate the effect of immigrant concentration on offending remains little understood. Using a unique sample of more than 26,000 youthful offenders from the state of Florida, multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) analyses reveal that family structure, familial incarceration, and social ties partially mediate the effect of immigrant concentration on youth reoffending. Findings and implications from the present study are discussed, along with policy implications and future directions for research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues related to race have long been of interest to social scientists. One such issue that has received near daily attention throughout the Fall of 2017 concerns the protests undertaken by National Football League (NFL) players regarding the national anthem. Although there has been some descriptive work on citizen views about anthem protests, there has been no empirical work examining the correlates of different types of anthem protests and subsequent reactions by the NFL and team owners to those protests. Using data obtained from a sample of young adults, we find that Black respondents were more likely to support all types of anthem protests and also to believe that players who protest the anthem should not be disciplined by the NFL nor team owners. Moreover, these strong race effects remain even after controlling for several key correlates, which themselves point to some key distinctions regarding how young adults view the anthem protests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior investigations have examined both traditional media (e.g., television news) and entertainment media (e.g., crime-related shows) on policing-related outcomes; however, less is known how contemporary forms of media, such as the Internet and social media, may affect policing-related outcomes. Using a sample of young adults, the current study examines the effect of multiple types of media consumption (traditional, entertainment, the Internet, and social media) on attitudes toward police legitimacy. Findings reveal that respondents who read news online are more likely to have negative attitudes toward police legitimacy. However, when individual differences are controlled for, the effect of reading news online is weakened and using social media becomes marginally significant. Further, the impact of media consumption on attitudes toward police legitimacy varies by key audience characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on Elijah Anderson's (1999) Code of the Street thesis, this study assesses the generalizability of street code attitudes. Using a sample of college students from a large Midwest university, the current study contributes to the literature by examining: (1) the generalizability of street code attitudes; (2) the correlates of street code attitudes, including various forms of strain; and (3) the predictive power of street code attitudes on criminal and non-criminal behavior. Our results reveal that street code attitudes are generalizable to college students, strain constructs are important correlates of street code attitudes, and street code attitudes are associated with criminal behavior. However, the effect of street code attitudes on criminal behavior becomes non-significant once measures of strain are included. Further, street code attitudes do not predict noncriminal behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]