Surveys show that more than one half of gun owners report owning their firearm for self-protection. Although research has examined the effect of fear of crime on gun ownership, the issue of reciprocity and temporal order has been largely ignored. Furthermore, the effect of firearm acquisition and relinquishment on fear has not been evaluated…

Several authors have proposed that media hype elevates perceptions of risk and fear of crime. Research suggests that fear of crime is related to the overall amount of media consumption, resonance of news reports, how much attention the individual pays to the news, and how credible he or she believes it to be. The present study examines whether the…

In "The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society," David Garland linked contemporary crime control policies and welfare reforms to a cultural formation that he termed the "crime complex of late modernity." According to Garland, once established, the crime complex exerts a contemporaneous effect on…

Previously identified predictors of public punitiveness include attitudinal, experiential, background, and demographic characteristics. Given the influence of parenthood on certain attitudes and beliefs, it may also affect how strongly individuals endorse harsh punishment for criminals. Few studies have explored how parenthood influences general…

"Get tough" approaches for responding to sex crimes have proliferated during the past decade. Child pornography in particular has garnered attention in recent years. Policy makers increasingly have emphasized incarceration as a response to such crime, including accessing child pornography. Juxtaposed against such efforts is a dearth of knowledge…

Using data from a spring 2004 telephone survey of 1,010 female undergraduate and graduate students at one southeastern state university, the authors examine the objective and subjective experiences with sexual assault or coercion, physical assault, and stalking among college women, paying particular attention to whether actual victimization…

Criminal justice agencies often call for partnerships with the community. In restorative and community justice initiatives, citizen volunteers often serve as decision makers in nonadversarial sanctioning. Although prior research has reported the attitudes of other participants in restorative decision making, such as victims and offenders, none…