It remains unclear how pervasive police-community corrections partnerships are, and to what extent they are integrated into routine practice, as well as whether or not police chiefs and chief probation or parole officers within the same jurisdictions perceive them to be effective. The current study enhances our understanding of such partnerships between police and probation or parole. Data were collected through a statewide survey of a random sample of municipal police chiefs and county chief probation or parole officers in Pennsylvania. The primary research questions focus on identifying the following: (a) empirically derived and meaningful patterns of police-community corrections partnerships, (b) a comparison of police chief and chief probation or parole officer perceptions of benefits and problems regarding their partnerships, and (c) the predictors of these perceptions. Results reveal that such partnerships are prevalent, but they are predominantly informal, with formalization largely contingent on the progressiveness of the police chief (i.e., newer police chiefs were more likely to engage in formalized partnerships). Further, the crime prevention and recidivism reduction potential of these partnerships remain unclear from the perspectives of both law enforcement and community supervision leaders. In general, Pennsylvania police chiefs are less favorable to the partnerships than are the chiefs of probation or parole offices, and certain partnership types relate to the negative perceptions of some agency leaders. The implications of the findings reported here for policies, training, and future research are discussed.
While there is a rich body of literature regarding attitudes toward the police, longitudinal empirical research on perceptions of police legitimacy among youth offenders is scant. Using data from Pathways to Desistance, a longitudinal study of 1,354 serious juvenile offenders, the current study builds upon the literature by identifying developmental trajectories of perceptions of police legitimacy among serious young offenders by gender. The study used group-based trajectory modeling, which yielded five trajectory groups for males and four trajectory groups for females. Female youth offenders exhibited slight increases in perceptions of police legitimacy, whereas males showed variations in perceptions of police legitimacy across the seven waves. To examine the probability that predictors belong to certain trajectory groups, the average marginal effects from a multinomial logit regression model were calculated. The findings showed that direct and indirect procedural justice and Black were statistically significant predictors of the probability of police legitimacy trajectories for both males and females. Compared with the male youth offenders, among their female counterparts, legal cynicism, self-reported offense, Hispanic, and age were not associated with the probability of each trajectory group. Given our findings and the strong association between the likelihood of offending and perceptions of the police, we suggest that existing early intervention programs may add a curriculum on prosocial attitudes toward the police. The findings also shed light on the significance of gender in the developmental perspective of police legitimacy perceptions among youth offenders.
Underage drinking continues to be a perilous social problem in the United States with its numerous negative consequences. Contributing to our understanding of this issue, the current study examined the relationship between poor parenting, frustration, impulsivity, and underage drinking. Based on the theoretical framework of Agnew’s general strain theory (GST), this study tested three structural models with national youth data ( N = 5,030). Results showed that poor parenting had a significant influence on frustration, impulsivity, and underage drinking. Particularly, frustration and impulsivity mediated the relationship between poor parenting and underage drinking. Further, impulsivity played a crucial role in GST. Additionally, an alternative model with a potential mediator (i.e., impulsivity) will provide insight to further our understanding of underage drinking.
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