2008 Top 20 Crim Articles

Since 2008 is rounding down, I thought I'd post a list of my favorite journal articles that were published this year in top crim journals. At first I thought I'd just post my top ten articles and rank order them, but I quickly realized that I had so many favorite pieces this year and couldn't possible put them in any kind of order. The journals I'm including are Criminology, Criminology & Public Policy, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Crime and Delinquency, Crime & Justice: A Review of Research, Justice Quarterly, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Journal of Experimental Criminology, Journal of Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice & Behavior, The Prison Journal, and Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. So here goes my top 20 in 2008:

1. "On The Relationship Between Family Structure and Antisocial Behavior: Parental Cohabitation and Blended Households" by Robert Apel and Catherine Kaukinen in Criminology (46,1).

2. "Targeted Enforcement and Adverse System Side Effects: The Generation of Fugitives in Philadelphia" by John Goldkamp and Rely Vilcica in Criminology (46, 2).

3. "Policing Crime and Disorder Hot Spots: A Randomized Controlled Trial" by Anthony Braga and Brenda Bond in Criminology (46, 3).

4. "The Victimization-Termination Link" by Scott Jacques and Richard Wright in Criminology (46, 4).

5. "Self Control Theory and the Concept of Opportunity: The Case for a More Systematic Union" by Carter Hay and Walter Forrest in Criminology (46, 4).

6. "Can and Should Criminological Research Influence Policy? Suggestions for Time-Series Cross-Section Studies" by Thomas Marvell and Carlisle Moody in Criminology & Public Policy (7, 3).

7. "Analyzing Criminal Trajectory Profiles: Bridging Multilevel and Group-Based Approaches Using Growth Mixture Modeling" by Frank Kreuter and Bengt Muthen in Journal of Quantitative Criminology (24, 1).

8. "Estimating Mean Length of Stay in Prison: Methods and Applications" by Evelyn Patterson and Samuel Preston in Journal of Quantitative Criminology (24, 1).

9. "Specifying the Relationship Between Crime and Prisons" by William Spelman in Journal of Quantitative Criminology (24, 2).

10. "Were Wolfgang's Chronic Offenders Psychopaths? On The Convergent Validity Between Psychopathy and Career Criminality" by Michael Vaughn and Matt Delisi in Journal of Criminal Justice (36, 1).

11. "Economists' Contribution to the Study of Crime and the Criminal Justice System" by Shawn Bushway and Peter Reuter in Crime & Justice (vol. 37).

12. "How Well Do Criminologists Explain Crime? Statistical Modeling in Published Studies" by David Weisburd and Alex Piquero in Crime & Justice (vol. 37).

13. "Inmate Social Ties and the Transition to Society: Does Visitation Reduce Recidivism?" by William Bales and Daniel Mears in Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency (45, 3).

14. "Evidence of Negligible Parenting Influences on Self-Control, Delinquent Peers, and Delinquency in a Sample of Twins" by John Wright, Kevin Beaver, Matt Delisi, and Michael Vaughn in Justice Quarterly (25, 3).

15. "Genetic Influences on the Stability of Low Self-Control: Results from a Longitudinal Sample of Twins" by Kevin Beaver, John Wright, Matt Delisi, and Michael Vaughn in Journal of Criminal Justice (36, 6).

16. "The Deterrent Effect of Executions: A Meta-Analysis Thirty Years after Ehrlich" by Bijou Yang and David Lester in Journal of Criminal Justice (36, 5).

17. "Offender Coercion in Treatment: A Meta-Analysis of Effectiveness" by Karen Parhar, J. Stephen Wormith, Dena Derkzen, and Adele Beauregard in Criminal Justice & Behavior (35, 9).

18. "Projecting Prison Populations Starting With Projected Admissions" by Pablo Martinez in The Prison Journal (88, 4).

19. "Estimating The Impact of Incarceration on Subsequent Offending Trajectories: Deterrent, Criminogenic, or Null Effect?" by Avinash Bhati and Alex Piquero in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (Fall 2008)

20. "Scholarly Influence in Criminology and Criminal Justice Journals in 1990-2000" by Ellen Cohn and David Farrington in Journal of Criminal Justice (36, 1).

I haven't sat down to think about a top list of books that came out this year, but two edited volumes come to mind that I particularly enjoyed this year: "Out Of Control: Assessing The General Theory of Crime" (edited by Erich Goode) and "The Long View of Crime: A Synthesis of Longitudinal Research" (edited by Akiva Liberman).

Hey, before I go, check out the below video. It's completely unrelated to this post but anyone who enjoys statistics will find this hilarious. It's been circulating the web for a while. I still laugh every time I watch it though: