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(ISSN 1530 – 3012)

From the editor

By Elizabeth Brown, Ph.D. and Randall G. Shelden, M.A., Ph.D.

From the Editors

We are especially delighted to introduce readers to the fall, 2008 issue of the Justice Policy Journal as it appears along with a newly designed web site for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. We sincerely hope that you enjoy not only the articles appearing in this issue but also the new web site. 

This issue contains six articles. The first deals with the always controversial issue of guns. In Guns and Homicide: Is the Instrument-Focused Approach to Deterrence Efficacious?” James M. La Valle tackles the issue as it relates to sentencing enhancements and homicides. Using data from 20 states covering the years 1970 through 2005, La Valle’s study clarifies the often murky issue of the law’s attempt to reduce gun-related homicides.

The second focuses on the important issue of race as it pertains to imprisonment. Racial Disproportionality in the American Prison Population: Using the Blumstein Method to Address the Critical Race and Justice Issue of the 21st Century” by Brett E. Garland, Cassia Spohn, and Eric J. Wodahl explores a method designed by Alfred Blumstein which examines racial disparity in incarceration in comparison to disparity in arrests.

Our third article takes a unique look at juvenile correctional institutions by examining perceptions of parenting styles of custodial and treatment staff. In Guards or Guardians? A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of Parenting Styles in Juvenile Correctional Programs,” Susan Guarino-Ghezzi and Christopher Tirrell used studies of effective parenting in families and applied them to staff interaction with inmates. 

The third article explores a topic that relates to the persistent problem facing ex-cons: what do you put on job applications where it asks you about a criminal record? Jessica Henry discusses this issue in Criminal History on a Need To Know” Basis: Employment Policies that Eliminate the Criminal History Box on Employment Applications.” 

The fourth article reviews the subject of alternatives to incarceration and in doing so includes possibility of using military service as a sentencing option. In Alternatives to Incarceration” John F. Frana and Ryan D. Schroeder argue that it may be time to reconsider a kind of sentencing alternative that was used decades ago in some jurisdictions and is never used today.

Finally, William B. Brown brings the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan close to home. Another Emerging Storm’: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans with PTSD in the Criminal Justice System” examines some recent trends that find growing numbers of veterans who have been charged with serious crimes and who happen to have been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome” or PTSD, a problem consistently associated with war. In this article Brown argues that these returning veterans now, in a way, face a second war.

We hope you enjoy this issue of the journal and also find the newly designed web site easy to navigate.

Racial Disproportionality in the American Prison Population: Using the Blumstein Method to Address the Critical Race and Justice Issue of the 21st Century

By Brett E. Garland, Cassia Spohn, and Eric J. Wodahl

Guns and Homicide: Is the Instrument-Focused Approach to Deterrence Efficacious?

By James M. La Valle

Guards or Guardians? A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of Parenting Styles in Juvenile Correctional Programs

By Susan Guarino-Ghezzi and Christopher Tirrell

Criminal History on a Need To Know” Basis: Employment Policies that Eliminate the Criminal History Box on Employment Applications

By Jessica S. Henry

Another Emerging Storm’: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans with PTSD in the Criminal Justice System

By William B. Brown

Alternative to Incarceration

By John F. Frana and Ryan D. Schroeder