Penal controls and social controls: Toward a theory of American penal exceptionalism

This article argues that to explain American penal exceptionalism, we have to consider America’s exceptional levels of punishment together with America’s exceptional levels of violence and disorder, while understanding both of these as outcomes of America’s distinctive political economy. After specifying the multiple respects in which American penality is a comparative outlier, the article develops a new theorization of modes of penal action that reveals the extent to which the US has come to rely on penal controls rather than other kinds of punishment. This over-reliance on penal controls is viewed as an adaptation to the weakness of non-penal social controls in American communities. These social control deficits are, in turn, attributed to America’s ultra-liberal political economy, which is seen as having detrimental effects for the functioning of families and communities, tending to reduce the effectiveness of informal social controls and to generate high levels of neighborhood disorganization and violence. The same political economy limits the capacity of government to respond to these structurally generated problems using the social policy interventions characteristic of more fully developed welfare states. The result is a marked bias toward the use of penal controls.

Violent Offending, Nonviolent Offending, and General Delinquency: Exploring the Criminogenic Risk Factors of Hong Kong Male and Female Adolescents

Limited information is known about the offending phenomenon of Hong Kong adolescents, specifically from a theoretical standpoint. Using a sample of 892 secondary school students, this study aims to explore the criminogenic risk factors of juvenile delinquency in Hong Kong adolescents. Grounded in the theoretical propositions of mainstream criminological theories (i.e., self-control, social control, social learning, general strain, and routine activity), the adolescents’ types of delinquent behavior (i.e., violent, nonviolent, and general delinquency) are examined. Findings indicate that male adolescents reported significantly higher levels of violent, nonviolent, and general delinquency than female adolescents. Relative to females, males are also reported significantly higher levels of pro-violence attitudes, deviant peer influence, alcohol and drug use, and perceived neighborhood disorganization. However, female adolescents are found to have higher levels of self-control, social bonding, and negative temperament than their male counterparts. Multivariate analyses demonstrate that deviant peer influence in addition to alcohol and drug use is found to be general risk factors for engaging in all sorts of delinquent activity. A high level of pro-violence attitudes is significantly associated with violent offending, while low self-control is a significant predictor of nonviolent offending and general delinquency. Social bonding, negative temperament, and perceived neighborhood disorganization are found to be important factors associated with general delinquency. Implications of the findings are offered to address the adolescents’ criminogenic risk factors and prevent their propensity to engage in violent, nonviolent, and general delinquency.

Neighborhood Disorganization and Women’s Sanitation Utilization Practices in Mathare Valley, Kenya

Approximately, 2.4 billion people, globally, lack access to safe toilets. The burden of this deficiency falls disproportionately on women living in informal settlements in developing countries. While there is a growing body of literature looking at the factors influencing women’s sanitation behavior, little is known about the role of the neighborhood environment. This study sought to explore this issue using data from a 2016 mixed-methods study focused on women in Mathare Valley informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. Qualitative and quantitative data were used to analyze the role of neighborhood disorganization in the relationship between women’s sanitation-related stressors and their sanitation behaviors (utilization). Findings suggest that neighborhood disorganization is inextricably linked to women’s daily sanitation behaviors and the stressors that are associated with those behaviors. These results suggest that the health and safety of neighborhood environments may be critical factors in the future success of sanitation-related interventions and policies.

The Double-Edged Sword of Gender Equality

Objectives: While the literature confirms the applicability of routine activity/lifestyle theory in studying individual crime victimization, this study asks whether neighborhood disorganization as well as—on the level of the nation—income inequality, attitudes about gender equality, and the meeting of citizens’ basic human needs are associated with opportunity for crime and so might contribute to the explanation of victimization. The study measures demographic variables that could indicate the presence of motivated offenders and likely crime targets, as well as the absence of effective guardians. Methods: The data come from the sixth wave of the World Values Survey (collected 2010–2014), from the Social Progress Index Report, and from information compiled by the World Bank. The present sample numbers 64,861 respondents, representing 46 countries. Results: The data analysis suggests that risk of victimization increases in the presence of income inequality and gender equality, and decreases where people’s basic human needs are met. The relationship between neighborhood disorganization and one employed victimization measure was found to be moderated by attitudes about gender equality. Conclusions: Further investigation of the role of opportunity and routine activity/lifestyle factors (macro- and individual-level) could improve understanding of victimization, particularly related to the complex interplay between structural and cultural predictors of victimization.