Logistic regression models were estimated using the 1994 General Social Survey to examine effects of race, gender, and geographical region on support for various criminal justice policies. Dependent variables included support for capital punishment, perceived harshness of courts, and support for police use of force under five conditions of escalating severity. African Americans were less likely to support capital punishment and police use of force than their counterparts. These results were enhanced when re-estimated using only the southern sample. Thus, regional prejudices affect minorities' perceptions of bias in criminal justice policy and practices. However, although African Americans were less likely to endorse police use of force in general, we found situationally specific instances in which African Americans did endorse police use of force.
Multivariate logistic regression models are estimated using survey data to test the relationship between health status and fear of crime. More specifically, this article examines the relationship between fear of crime and perception of health, versus an actual measure of health (i.e., having a physical disability or limitation). Along with sex and age, health status is considered a prominent indicator of personal vulnerability to crime. Nevertheless, support for health status as an indicator of fear of crime is contradictory, because it is the perception of health that has been measured and not actual illness or disability. Although much is known about the prevalence of fear of crime among populations who perceive themselves to be at a greater physical disadvantage, very little is known about the perceptions of individuals with physical disabilities, those who suffer from actual measurable physical limitations (such as the loss of one or more limbs or senses), as opposed to those who perceive themselves to be limited in the ability to protect themselves. Results indicate that impairment of ability has implications for fear of crime beyond the assessment of one's general health.
Theoretically informed models are estimated that specify individual-level effects of relative deprivation (using diverse comparison groups), mediated by negative self-feelings, on different modes of deviant adaptations. The models are estimated by using multivariate logistic regression techniques on survey data (N = 6,074). In general, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that perceived economic deprivation relative to friends, neighbors, and the nation induces negative self-feelings, which, in turn, motivate adoption of deviant patterns that variously take the form of property crimes, violence, and drug use.
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