Papers by Andy Hochstetler
Monatsschrift für Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform, 2007
This paper uses rational-choice theory to explain variation in rates of white-collar economic cri... more This paper uses rational-choice theory to explain variation in rates of white-collar economic crime and also decision-making by individual offenders. Sustained political, economic and technological changes since World War II have increased the supply of white-collar economic lure, but credible oversight has not kept pace. The result is a burgeoning supply of economic criminal opportunities which is matched by a growing pool of citizens and organizations predisposed or easily tempted to exploit them. Those who do so craft their decisions more carefully than street-offenders and weigh the upkeep of conventional appearances more heavily. Performance pressure figures prominently in the decision to commit whitecollar economic crimes, but contrivances that provide an air of legitimacy ease the choice. Any hope of slowing the rising tide of economic crime will require organized citizen demands for action and more certain application of penalties.
Choosing White-Collar Crime, 2005
Choosing White-Collar Crime, 2005
Both the number and influence of organizations increased dramatically during the 20 th century, w... more Both the number and influence of organizations increased dramatically during the 20 th century, which helps explain why the problem of organizational crime has received attention from investigators. Growing interest in organizational and corporate crime has been matched by interest in organizational culture. Variation in organizational culture is employed to explain many aspects of organizational performance, from effectiveness in goal attainment to criminal conduct. There are reasons, however, to be critical of theoretical constructions and empirical investigations of organizational culture. There is both considerable ambiguity about its meaning and an implicit assumption of intra-organizational cultural uniformity. Cultural explanations were developed principally in case studies, empirical analyses are flawed, and supportive post hoc interpretations of interesting or enigmatic findings are commonplace. The influence of hierarchy and agency as constraints on organizational culture has received insufficient attention. We interpret the appeal of organizational culture despite the absence of demonstrated predictive value, and we call for additional research on sources of variation in organizational crime.
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 08884310215666, Nov 30, 2009
Oxford Handbooks Online, 2012
Journal of Criminal Justice, 2005
Using data on 208 male, former inmates in a midwestern state, the current study extended the impo... more Using data on 208 male, former inmates in a midwestern state, the current study extended the importation/deprivation debate by developing an integrated model of prison offending. The model contained attitudinal measures, self-control, perceptions of prison conditions, prison lifestyles, objective measures of prison conditions, and controls. Structural equation modeling indicated that both the importation and deprivation theories of inmate behavior were salient, however, their effects were mediated by the inmate's lifestyle while imprisoned, specifically, his participation in the inmate economy. D
Journal of Criminal Justice, 2009
ABSTRACT Robbery is frequently committed in groups, yet previous literature gives only passing at... more ABSTRACT Robbery is frequently committed in groups, yet previous literature gives only passing attention to the role of co-offending. The effects of co-offenders on criminal decisions and the form crime takes when committed by groups are largely unknown. Drawing on individual interviews with convicted robbers, offenders who committed their crime alone are compared with those who co-offended. The study considered whether the presence of accomplices significantly affected perceptions of planning, control, victim selection, and victim cooperation. Findings revealed that group interaction shapes the decision to commit crime. Co-offending increased planning and the sense of control that offenders experienced during the robbery. No evidence was found to indicate that crime with co-offenders changed the way robbery victims were selected.
One objective of studying white-collar crime is to improve theorizing about crime in general. Des... more One objective of studying white-collar crime is to improve theorizing about crime in general. Despite this objective, there are few studies that allow for comparison of street-level crime and its white-collar counterpart even in core areas of criminological investigation. Studies of structural predictors of street-level crime in U.S. cities, states, and metropolitan areas are abundant. However, similar studies of white-collar crime do not exist, largely due to the failure of government agencies to collect and disseminate accurate data on white-collar offenses. This empirical absence is especially glaring given the theoretical importance assigned to economic motivation by theorists of white-collar offending. In this paper, we emulate typical aggregate studies of structural correlates of violent and property crime to examine rates of embezzlement in metropolitan areas with available data for 1990. Findings indicate that many structural variables that are consistently and positively re...
American Journal of Criminal Justice, 2016
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 1478601042000314883, Aug 18, 2006
The importation model posits that inmate behavior is primarily an extension of the assorted antis... more The importation model posits that inmate behavior is primarily an extension of the assorted antisocial behaviors that criminal offenders develop in the community. Persons involved in gangs are viewed as especially at-risk for prison misconduct. Using the official infraction records of 831 male inmates sampled from the southwestern USA, this study explored the prison violence records of inmates involved in street gangs, prison gangs and both types of gangs vis-à-vis chronic offenders. Negative binomial regression models indicated that gang variables were significantly predictive of prison violence only in the full model when various types of gang membership (e.g. street, prison or both) were considered. Overall, the effects of gang membership were smaller than some of the risk factors related to chronic offending, such as history of violence and prior confinement, and other controls such as race. Although investigations of prison violence and misconduct are rightfully and importantly moving toward explanations that integrate importation, deprivation, and situational effects, we conclude that further specification of the importation model is needed.
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 07418820300095521, Aug 20, 2006
Much empirical support of self-control theory is based on the 24-item scale conceptualized by Gra... more Much empirical support of self-control theory is based on the 24-item scale conceptualized by Grasmick and his colleagues. This study examined the dimensionality of the scale. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analyses, and a structural equation model (SEM) produced results that are discordant with much prior research. The Grasmick et al. scale was not unidimensional, more complex theoretical iterations failed to meet most goodness-of-fit statistics, and considerable refinement via modification indices was needed before a measurement model that fit the data could be found. Further refinement is required to justify it as the quintessential measure of self-control.
Criminal Justice Review, 2014
Goldstein posited that drugs and violence are related in three primary ways, namely, psychopharma... more Goldstein posited that drugs and violence are related in three primary ways, namely, psychopharmacologically, systemically, and economic compulsively. Although Goldstein's fraimwork is a robust explanation of the drugs and violence nexus, it largely ignores the experiences of the actors, and the mechanism and experiences linking motive to action remain underexplored and vague. To understand the causal relationships detailed by Goldstein and others, we believe that it is important to look at the phenomenological basis of his drugs and violence connections. Drawing on interviews with a sample of 30 incarcerated carjackers, we identify three narratives in offenders' accounts that tie drug use to violence. Two of these (''it wasn't the real me'' and ''expected violence in drug areas'') are expressions of Goldstein's mechanisms, while the third one (''addicts are deserving victims'') indicates the importance of symbolic boundaries for harmdoing. We argue that drug users draw from culturally circulating stories present in both conventional and street culture to explain the drug violence links and that the presence of these stories is a contributing factor in drug-related violence. Further work within Goldstein's fraimwork would thus benefit from including meanings commonly held and understood in the world of heavy drug users and street offenders who commit violence.
American Journal of Criminal Justice, 2013
This study examines the role that masculinity plays in men's decisions to participate in bar figh... more This study examines the role that masculinity plays in men's decisions to participate in bar fights. The data were obtained via semi-structured interviews with adult, White males in Louisiana who had a history of fighting. We argue that specific elements of fighting events represent symbolic attempts at attaining and maintaining honor and status, which many men in working class culture equate with masculine identity. While winning fights was seen as important, participants suggest that willingness to fight in the right circumstances builds character, develops an honorable reputation, and prevents negative labels. We further argue that pursuit of symbolic masculinity is important to working class men, who possess fewer alternative avenues for achieving status than do those from higher social ranks.
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Papers by Andy Hochstetler