Journal article
Marked for Death: An Empirical Criminal Careers Analysis of Death Sentences in a Sample of Convicted Male Homicide Offenders
Journal of criminal justice, Vol.39(6), pp.471-478
11/01/2011
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2011.09.001
Abstract
Background: Although prior criminal record and concurrent criminal charges constitute the main eligibility and aggravating circumstances used in capital sentencing, relatively little research has examined the criminal careers of offenders who are ultimately sentenced to death.
Materials and Methods: Using official criminal history data for 618 incarcerated male homicide offenders selected from 8 states-191 of whom were sentenced to death the current study explored the criminal careers of offenders that received the most severe legal punishment.
Results: Poisson regression incidence rate ratio models indicated that multiple measures of prior criminal activity including contemporaneous and prior history of violence, prior incarceration, early onset of arrest, juvenile homicide offending, and juvenile child molestation were associated with subsequently being sentenced to death. Separate models for white, African American, and Hispanic males showed contrasting effects in their criminal careers and varying relationships between prior criminal career and current capital offending.
Conclusion: The current study adds to the literature on lifespan criminality by applying Poisson regression analyses and a criminal careers approach to study the most extreme offenders including those sentenced to death. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Marked for Death: An Empirical Criminal Careers Analysis of Death Sentences in a Sample of Convicted Male Homicide Offenders
- Creators
- Monic P. Behnken - Iowa State UniversityJonathan W. Caudill - California State University, ChicoMark T. Berg - Indiana UniversityChad R. Trulson - University of North TexasMatt DeLisi - Iowa State University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of criminal justice, Vol.39(6), pp.471-478
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2011.09.001
- ISSN
- 0047-2352
- eISSN
- 1873-6203
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Number of pages
- 8
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/01/2011
- Academic Unit
- Sociology and Criminology; Center for Social Science Innovation; Injury Prevention Research Center; Public Policy Center (Archive)
- Record Identifier
- 9984282465202771
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