SAGE Journal Articles
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Clodfelter, T. A., Turner, M. G., Hartman, J. L., & Kuhns, J. B. (2008). Sexual harassment victimization during emerging adulthood: A test of routine activities theory and a general theory of crime. Crime & Delinquency.
Using a sample of 750 college students, the authors review the types of sexual harassment found on college campuses, characteristics of the harasser and the victim, and decisions to report or not to report these incidents.
Abstract
Sexual harassment of college students may lead to more serious forms of sexual assault. Few studies have investigated sexual harassment predictors framed within competing theoretical perspectives. In this study, the literature is extended by examining (a) three types of sexual harassment on a college campus, (b) the nature of reporting, and (c) whether routine activities and self-control theories effectively explain sexual harassment. Findings indicate that one fourth of the participants in the sample were sexually harassed, assaulted students are extremely unlikely to officially report incidents, and measures of routine activities theory are important predictors of sexual harassment. Prevention and education policies should focus on increased reporting to university authorities and helping students understand the situational contexts in which these behaviors are likely to occur.
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Schwalbe, C. S. (2008). A meta-analysis of juvenile justice risk assessment instruments: Predictive validity by gender. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35, 1367-1381.
A comprehensive study of the various risk assessment instruments used in assessing juvenile offenders. Gender differences were an important focus of the study.
Abstract
Juvenile justice systems have widely adopted risk assessment instruments to support judicial and administrative decisions about sanctioning severity and restrictiveness of care. A little explored property of these instruments is the extent to which their predictive validity generalizes across gender. The article reports on a meta-analysis of risk assessment predictive validity with male and female offenders. Nineteen studies encompassing 20 unique samples met inclusion criteria. Findings indicated that predictive validity estimates are equivalent for male and female offenders and are consistent with results of other meta-analyses in the field. The findings also indicate that when gender differences are observed in individual studies, they provide evidence for gender biases in juvenile justice decision-making and case processing rather than for the ineffectiveness of risk assessment with female offenders.