Prisoners' assessments of mental health problems among their children.

High rates of imprisonment among American men and women have motivated recent research on the well-being of children of incarcerated parents. Despite advances in the literature, little is known regarding the mental health status of children who experience maternal relative to paternal incarceration. Accordingly, we examine whether there are differences in mental health needs among children of incarcerated parents. Specifically, we assess whether incarcerated mothers are more likely than incarcerated fathers to report that their children suffer from mental health problems. Using cross-sectional data on children (N = 1,221) compiled from a sample of parents confined in the Arizona Department of Corrections, we find that children of incarcerated mothers are significantly more likely to be identified as suffering from mental health problems. This effect remained even after controlling for additional parent stressors and child risk factors such as exposure to violence, in utero exposure to drugs/alcohol, and parental mental illness. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Police decision making in sexual assault cases: predictors of suspect identification and arrest.

As the initial gatekeepers of the criminal justice system, police officers hold considerable discretion in the investigation of offenses and in the decision to make an arrest. This is particularly true with sexual assault given the unique nature of these cases. Yet most research in this area has focused on prosecutors' charging decisions rather than police outcomes for reports of sexual assaults. In an effort to address this gap in the literature, we rely on official records collected from all sexual assaults reported to police in a large Arizona city in 2003 (N = 220) to examine the effects of crime seriousness, evidentiary strength, victim blame, and believablity factors on suspect identification and arrest. Results revealed that both legal and extralegal factors influenced whether police identify and arrest a suspect. These findings raise questions surrounding the role that police play in securing victim cooperation and the extent to which stereotypes of "legitimate" victims shape police officers' willingness to investigate sexual assault cases.

Girls' experiences with violence: an analysis of violence against and by at-risk girls.

A growing body of work has emerged that examines crime and delinquency as gendered events. Given the prevalence of violence in the lives of women and girls, scholars have used various theoretical perspectives, including feminist pathways and "doing gender," to investigate the victimization-offending overlap. The authors contribute to this literature through an analysis of juvenile court records using a sample of at-risk girls. The authors identify the context of girls' experiences as victims of violence, perpetrators of violence, and both victims and perpetrators of violence. The authors conclude with epistemological thoughts regarding transdisciplinary research on girls' experiences with violence.