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Papers by Michael Geerken

Social Forces, Dec 1, 1977

ABSTRACT This paper explores the effect of certainty of punishment on different types of criminal... more ABSTRACT This paper explores the effect of certainty of punishment on different types of criminal behavior. It is argued that deterrence theory, which treats the potential criminal as weighing the relative rewards and costs of a criminal act, is more applicable to certain types of crimes than others. The strength of the negative relationship between certainty of punishment and crime rate will thus vary by type of crime. It is argued that deterrence, overload, and incapacitation theories each predict different patterns of these variations in strength. Thus the fit of the expected pattern to available data should allow us to choose among the theories. Using previously unpublished data for SMSAs and results obtained by other researchers, the actual patterns of strength of relationships are studied. Though the data presently available have many problems and some of the patterns are ambiguous, the deterrence predictions seem to have the best overall support.

Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Mar 1, 1994

ABSTRACT Traducción de: At home and at work

Social Psychology Quarterly, 1980

... 43, No. 1, 89-102 Playing Dumb: A Form of Impression Management with Undesirable Side Effects... more ... 43, No. 1, 89-102 Playing Dumb: A Form of Impression Management with Undesirable Side Effects* ... Furthermore, it is found that regardless of the sex of the respondent, playing dumb is related to poor mental health, alienation, low self-esteem, and unhappiness. ...

Social Problems, 1974

This study investigates the hypothesized tendency of black families to have a matrifocal structur... more This study investigates the hypothesized tendency of black families to have a matrifocal structure relative to white families. We compare the mortality rates of blacks and whites across sex and marital categories for types of mortality which are affected by psychological stress. The results suggest that there are no sharp differences in the marital roles of blacks and whites; however, the differences that do occur are in the direction predicted by the traditional race literature, namely, that marriage is better for white men than for black men, and that it is better for black women than for white women.

Social Forces, 1977

In a recent article, Gove has shown that the evidence consistently indicates that married women t... more In a recent article, Gove has shown that the evidence consistently indicates that married women tend to be in poorer mental health than married men in modern western industrial nations. As Gove indicates, a survey of the literature suggests a number of possible explanations for ...

Law & Society Review, 1975

During the first half of this century, most research on deterrence suggested that punishment had ... more During the first half of this century, most research on deterrence suggested that punishment had little effect on behavior. These findings tended to confirm the ideological position of most sociologists, who generally assumed that criminal behavior was not and probably could ...

Justice Quarterly, 1997

ABSTRACT We interviewed 203 juvenile inmates housed in a juvenile corrections facility in New Orl... more ABSTRACT We interviewed 203 juvenile inmates housed in a juvenile corrections facility in New Orleans, using a revised version of the Rand instrument developed by Chaiken and Chaiken. The purpose was to demonstrate how prediction scales, used in the past to identify high-rate offenders for selective incapacitation, actually may be more suitable for identifying low-rate offenders for selective release. Our results show that the prediction scale performed worse at identifying high-rate offenders but better at identifying low-rate offenders. We discuss the policy implications of our findings.

Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 1994

Criminology, 1993

Jail and prison populations in the United States have continued to grow unabated during the past ... more Jail and prison populations in the United States have continued to grow unabated during the past two decades but crime rates have not declined. Partly in response to the pressures caused by burgeoning correctional populations, the use of alternatives to incarceration has expanded. An ongoing debate centers on the effectiveness of these alternatives. Many criminal justice professionals and some researchers question whether such alternatives seriously restrict the criminal justice system 's ability to incapacitate the active offender. This study deals specifically with two alternatives to incarceration: probation and parole. We examine offender recidivism for a sample of probationers and parolees active in New Orleans, Louisiana, and offer a new approach to addressing the effectiveness issue. Past research has evaluated the effectiveness of alternatives by examining failure rates of diverted offenders. High failure rates, we argue, do not necessarily imply a significant loss of th...

Criminology, 1982

ABSTRACTThis article examines the effect of residential mobility on the crime rates of the 65 lar... more ABSTRACTThis article examines the effect of residential mobility on the crime rates of the 65 largest Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the country. Mobility variables and population size are found to be better predictors of some crimes than measures traditionally used to measure the opportunity structure. A contextual interpretation of the mobility/crime rate relationship is posited. High rates of mobility are believed to negatively affect social integration, which decreases the effectiveness of community informal control mechanisms.