The Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) is a risk/needs assessment tool that is widely used in correctional settings. Extant research has demonstrated the predictive validity of the LSI-R for individuals under correctional supervision. yet, few researchers have assessed whether the LSI-R and its various subcomponents predict prison misconduct similarly for White versus non-White inmates. Using data collected from male inmates confined in prisons across a Midwestern state, we examined the predictive validity of the LSI-R and its 10 subcomponents for White, Black, and Hispanic inmates. We found that the LSI-R predicted the prevalence of misconduct for inmates of varying races/ethnicities. However, we reached a different conclusion when we examined the incidence of misconduct; the LSI-R composite score and subcomponent scores showed greater predictive utility for White inmates than for non-White inmates. Our findings add to a growing body of research that suggests that the predictive validity of the LSI-R differs by offender race/ethnicity. We discuss the policy implications of our findings and offer recommendations for future research.

The relationship between the police and African Americans has been beset by a lack of trust for decades. Improving this relationship is important to scholars, practitioners, and citizens; as a result, we examine in this study African Americans’ trust and confidence in the police. Using trust questions found in the literature, we interviewed 77 African Americans in Durham, NC, to assess their views about the police. We found that for the police to earn the trust of African Americans, the police should treat African Americans equitably, invest in community policing, and respect African Americans. Although some respondents do not believe that their relationship with the police could be repaired, this is a small percentage of respondents, less than 5%.

Crossover or dually involved youth are youth enmeshed in the child welfare system (CWS) and juvenile justice system (JJS). Given their dual status and high needs, attention has recently focused on how to best respond to them in an integrated, interagency fashion. The Crossover Youth Practice Model (CYPM) is designed to facilitate interagency collaboration between the CWS and JJS in order to enhance services and diversion to these youths. This study reports on the benefits and challenges that the JJS and CWS, as well as the personnel working within them, experience by participating in a CYPM effort in a Midwestern county, and provides recommendations for continued improvements in interagency collaborations for crossover youth.

Few studies have examined the role of city police officer racial/ethnic representation on violent crime in immigrant neighborhoods. Yet police officer race/ethnicity might play a significant role in bolstering or weakening the relationship between immigration and violent crime rates. Researchers have posited that increasing the representation of minority officer would be an important avenue for making police departments more accountable to the communities they serve. The current study contributes to existing research by using national (i.e., 89 cities and 8,980 neighborhoods) data on violent crime from large U.S. cities. We examine the relationship between immigration, violent crime rates, and minority police officer representation using multilevel modeling techniques. Results indicate that neighborhood immigrant concentration is associated with lower robbery and homicide rates. Moreover, the negative relationship between immigrant concentration and violent crime rates is strengthened by city African American and Hispanic officer representation. Policy implications for law enforcement are discussed.

Objective In recent times, immigration has been a controversial topic. Discussions about immigration have become common household conversation. The primary objective of the current study is to explore the dynamics of native‐born citizens' attitudes toward immigrants and examine the potential influence of macro‐level conditions. Methods The current study employed multi‐level techniques to examine macro‐level effects on attitudes toward immigrants across 22 European countries. Specifically, three Hierarchical Linear Models were conducted to achieve the study's stated objective. Results The Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analyses revealed that a country's level of economic development as measured by changes in gross domestic product (GDP) and education significantly influenced native‐born citizens' views about immigrants. Moreover, the number of immigrants (per 1,000 residents) and crime rates determine whether native‐born Europeans will view foreigners positively or negatively. Nevertheless, a country's unemployment rate had no significant effect on perceptions of immigrants. Several individual‐level characteristics were found to predict perceptions of immigrants among native‐born Europeans. Conclusion Results from this endeavor provide insights for addressing common misconceptions about immigration and also help in understanding, from empirical standpoint, how native‐born citizens form their views about immigrants.

We explored whether distributive justice mediated the observed association between procedural justice and legitimacy, as well as cooperation with police. We distributed a 2 × 2 factorial survey to a national online sample of 560 adults. Participants were randomly assigned to view one video vignette of a traffic stop varying the components of procedural justice (decision-making and treatment quality). We used structural equation modelling to test the significance of direct and indirect effects. The results indicated that distributive justice fully mediated the effect of decision-making quality on each outcome and partially mediated the effect of treatment quality on trust and cooperation with police. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.

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