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After a rape, the survivor is reliant on services provided by various service providers. This article presents the perceptions of 28 service providers regarding medical, medico-legal, psychosocial, and legal service rendering to adult female rape survivors within the criminal justice system. A qualitative research approach was followed to explore and describe the experiences of service providers in rendering post-rape services, while applied intervention research was used to form the basis for the formulation of recommendations regarding certain key components that should form part of a post-rape prototype service delivery model. By using stratified random sampling, 9 medical and medico-legal practitioners, 16 psychosocial and 3 legal service providers were selected. The data was collected by means of a semi-structured interview schedule. The findings highlight the challenges and advances that service providers experience in providing post-rape services to adult females within the criminal justice system.

Keywords: Interdisciplinary; service quality; service delivery; rape survivor; service providers.

Pundits in the realm of criminal justice administration tell us that a college degree is unnecessary for police officer applicants and beyond the practical reach of police agencies. Many studies have shown that a college degree has no application to policing and should not be a requirement for employment. Police chiefs and sheriffs have proclaimed that a college degree requirement shrinks the pool of potential candidates and thus makes recruiting even more difficult at a time when policing has been demeaned and vilified in the public’s eye by the media. Contrary to the theme above, this article is among many that attempt to show that there are tangible benefits to hiring college graduates with an associate’s degree but even more so for applicants with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

The current study examines victim service providers’ barriers to service provision by analyzing five types of service providers. Two research questions are explored: (a) any differences in the reported barriers across the service providers and (b) any differences in staff capacity, caseload capacity, underserved or vulnerable victim populations, and victimization types across the service providers. The findings show the existence of significant patterns of distribution of victim service providers’ barriers to assisting victims across the service providers. Nonprofit organizations reported a higher prevalence of the barrier of excess capacity. Government agencies reported a higher prevalence of the barrier where victims’ situation or the crime type did not meet the requirements for receiving services. Medical organizations reported a higher prevalence of the barrier that the services they provided were inappropriate for the victims. It is also found that government agencies reported heavier caseloads handling more diverse types of criminal cases with fewer staff than all other providers analyzed in the current study. Furthermore, government agencies reported a higher prevalence of serving victims of adults 60 or older, males, and African Americans and a higher prevalence of handling cases of intimate partner violence, crimes against children, crimes against the elderly, violent crimes, and property crimes. In addition, nonprofit organizations served more non-English speaking victims, whereas campus organizations reported a higher prevalence of handling sexual assault cases. This study suggests strategic resource allocation planning and more research attention to government agencies’ barriers and needs to victim service provision.

Keywords: Crime victim, victim service, service providers, barriers to service provision

The literature abounds with examples of workplace variables shaping staff attitudes about their organizations. One such workplace variable is organizational justice. Organizational justice theory posits that employees desire organizational fairness, and when organizational justice is low, employees tend to develop negative attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. The current study examined the relationship of distributive justice (i.e., the view that employee outcomes are fair) and procedural justice (i.e., the view that the processes used to reach outcomes are fair) with the variables of searching for a new job, views on sick leave, and absenteeism among staff at a U.S. high-security state-run facility holding convicted male offenders. Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis on survey responses from 257 staff indicated that both procedural and distributive justice had statistically significant effects on searching for a new job and being absent from work. Procedural justice also had a significant negative relationship with sick leave views, but distributive justice had a nonsignificant association. The results suggest that interventions to improve organizational justice should benefit both staff and the prison.

Keywords: Prison Staff; Organizational Justice; Turnover Intent; Absenteeism; Sick Leave Use View

Around the world, a very large number of people conduct ‘private investigations’ into alleged wrongdoing, yet little is known about their actual views/opinions regarding the tactics/skills for interviewing suspects, especially outside of the English-speaking world. They are offered training by a variety of organisations, some of which have been criticised for not providing training informed by up-to-date, relevant research. In the current study, private investigators from Central and South America completed a questionnaire regarding their extent of agreement with the use of a number of tactics/skills. It was found that respondents disagreed with approaches relating to dominance/control but agreed with tactics/skills relating to humanity/integrity and to rapport.

Keywords: Central/South America, private investigators, suspects, interviewing, opinions.

DUI defendants are sometimes faced with a decision to seek a jury trial in an effort to either have their charge reduced or be acquitted of drunk driving. In this study, a number of DUI defendants elected to have their case transferred to district court from municipal court in order to face a trial of their peers. A random sample of transfer and non-transfer court cases was examined to determine whether the decision to transfer 1) increased the probability of a reduced sentence, 2) reduced the fine amount, and 3) had implications for DUI recidivism. The data reveal that DUI defendants who transferred their case to district court were 11 times more likely than nontransferred cases to receive a reduced conviction to reckless driving. The reduction in conviction has implications for insurance premiums and license revocation. The group fine difference and DUI recidivism differences were not significant. Court transfer defendants who opted to retain an attorney benefited with lower fines, greater plea reduction, and even lower recidivism, although the latter two associations were not significant at the alpha .05 level.

Keywords: DUI, court transfer, plea reduction, recidivism