Many criminologists blame the pandemic and its societal and economic disruptions for the spike in homicides over the past couple of years. “It’s not that the whole society fell apart,” says Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “It’s just that there are enough people who were already living on the edge, and this pushed them off of it.”
Tag: justice
The Virginian-Pilot — In Portsmouth, Violence Interrupters Defuse Tense Scenes Before the Bullets Fly
Jeffrey Butts, a researcher at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, likens it to the decades-long — and eventually successful — campaign to end smoking. “So can that strategy be used to reduce the incidence of gun violence? And that’s the big question,” Butts said.
National Catholic Register — How Restorative Justice Helped Make the Justice System Work Better in Seattle
If done properly, restorative justice can foster “the most natural human response to crime — to try to talk things through and resolve the conflict,” said Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.
Gothamist — Bridgewater Mall Incident Reignites New Jersey Debate over Police and Racial Profiling
For professor Jeffrey Butts of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, who has spent years studying juvenile justice, the video is clear evidence of the disparate treatment accorded young Black people by police, long a concern of activists and policymakers across New Jersey.
NPR — Michigan School Shooter is 1 of Thousands of U.S. Juveniles Charged as Adults in 2021
Jeffrey Butts at John Jay College of Criminal Justice says whether or not to charge a juvenile as an adult depends on what society is trying to accomplish.
Slate Magazine — It’s Time for a New Crime Bill
Democrats should cue up a more enlightened sequel full of popular ideas that will make communities safer without resorting to simply locking more Americans up. Think summer jobs for teens. Think funding for drug rehab centers. And yes, maybe think about more money for better-trained police.
New York Times — A 7-Year-Old Was Accused of Rape. Is Arresting Him the Answer?
There appears to be little, if any, organized opposition to raising the age of delinquency. But those who resist say doing so would hamstring the legal system, according to Jeffrey A. Butts, the director of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s Research and Evaluation Center. In rare cases involving a particularly dangerous child, he said, incarceration may prevent them from being a risk to others.
CUNY TV — DiverseCITY
Jeffrey Butts interviewed as Diverse City visits Port Richmond and neighboring West New Brighton on Staten Island to hear from former felons on how they’re working with law enforcement to address the growing levels of gun violence in their area.
WNYC –30 Issues: Who is the Real Law and Order Candidate?
Brian Lehrer of WNYC asks Jeffrey Butts about the Trump administration's "law and order" policies and rhetoric as they relate to the 2020 presidential election.
Associated Press– Chicago Watchdog: Juvenile Diversion Program Fails at Goals
“It makes me sad to see that some of the issues we identified ten years ago are still hindering the effectiveness of the place,” said Jeffrey Butts, a criminologist at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, who conducted the earlier evaluation.
The Effects of Neighborhood Context on Exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Among Adolescents Involved in the Juvenile Justice System: Latent Classes and Contextual Effects
This study uses latent class analysis to examine adverse childhood experience (ACE) typologies among a large sample of justice-involved Florida youth between ages 10 and 18. Multilevel, multinomial logistic regression is used to assess the relationship between individual- and community-level factors and class membership.
Positive Outcomes
This report reviews a number of prominent frameworks that are available to help youth justice systems rely on positive outcomes rather than recidivism to measure their effectiveness. These include the Developmental Assets model, the 5Cs model, the Youth Program Quality Assessment model, the Positive Youth Justice model, and the Youth Thrive framework. Each model or framework aligns with the key principles of positive youth development as well as the large body of research on desistance from crime, which is also presented in this report.
CBS News — Questions Emerge After Calif. Woman Missing for Weeks is Found Alive
CBS report included excerpts of an interview with Jeffrey Butts.
Street by Street: Cross-Site Evaluation of the OJJDP Community-Based Violence Prevention Demonstration Program
While one of the strengths of OJJDP's CBVP model was its emphasis on adaptation to local context and needs, the variation across program sites posed serious challenges for the evaluation and made it impossible to assess and compare outcomes in each city.
Violent Attitudes and Antisocial Behavior among a College Sample
Drawing on Elijah Anderson’s (1999) Code of the Street thesis, this study assesses the generalizability of street code attitudes among a sample of college students from a large Midwest university.
Disproportionality in Psychiatric Diagnoses and Treatment in a Sample of Serious Juvenile Offenders
Black males were 32 % less likely to receive psychiatric treatment than White males...
Racial Disparities Persist in Juvenile Court Placements
According to data compiled by the National Center for Juvenile Justice and disseminated by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the court processing of juvenile delinquency cases has reflected persistent racial disparities since the 1980s.
Total Youth Arrests for Violent Crime Still Falling Nationwide
The U.S. juvenile arrest rate for homicide rate grew 4 percent between 2014 and 2015 but remained 70 percent lower than the 1990s peak.
Risk Assessment Trajectories of Youth During Juvenile Justice Residential Placement
Dynamic risk/promotive factors change during youth residential placement. Agencies should assess an array of dynamic risks and promotive factors at intake.
Renting Apartments to Felons: Variations in Real Estate Agent Decisions due to Stigma
Researchers posing as convicted felons called 300 real estate agents asking about apartment rentals.
Juvenile Animal Cruelty and Firesetting Behaviour
The current study assesses the prevalence, co-occurence and correlates of animal cruelty and firesetting behavior among juvenile delinquents.
Justice Codes Symposium
Are new technologies able to improve justice or are they merely adding a digital veneer to systemic problems?
The Juvenile Justice Policy Landscape
The diverse mix of policies and practices in the juvenile justice system raises questions about its future.
Critical Diversion
Juvenile justice knowledge is not an established canon; it is organic and ever-changing. Researchers do not already know everything there is to know about reducing recidivism and keeping youth out of the justice system.
Evaluating the Cure Violence Model in New York City
https://youtu.be/IkCFHIlhkiA&rel=0 Discussion at a community roundtable organized by the National Academies of Sciences. Also watch the session following the presentations in which Jeffrey Butts and Daniel Webster respond to audience questions. Read more about the products of the evaluation.