Social and Behavioral Science

1990

This Crime File video presents the portrayal of the nature and activities of juvenile gangs in Los Angeles; followed by a panel discussion of gang involvement in drug trafficking, sociological explanations of gangs, and strategies for countering gangs.

This video, in the Crime File series, presents background material on some U.S. Supreme Court decisions pertinent to the use of the exclusionary rule in sanctioning illegal police searches and seizures (Mapp v. Ohio and Shepherd v. Massachusetts); the moderator, James Q. Wilson, poses questions to Professor Yale Kamisar, University of Michigan Law School, and D. Lowell Jensen, Associate Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, designed to probe the controversial implications of the exclusionary rule.

This video, in the Crime File series, assesses the impact of police foot patrol in Newark, N.J., and Boston, Mass., and presents a panel discussion of the nature and effects of foot patrol as well as possibilities for improving it.

1984

This video, in the Crime File series, portrays a panel discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of criminalizing heroin use, with particular attention to contrasting the British and American systems for controlling heroin use.

In response to rising incarceration rates and prison overcrowding, Florida has developed the first statewide house arrest program. This 'Crime File' segment examines this program and its use of electronic monitoring devices.

This video, in the Crime File series, delineates the issues associated with the insanity defense, with a particular focus on the John Hinckley, Jr., case. Three panelists are questioned by the moderator regarding the parameters of the insanity defense as it has been used and has recently been redefined in some States.

This video, in the Crime File series, portrays a three-member panel discussing prison conditions in Texas both before and after a 1980 court order for the reform of prison management practices, implications of the Texas experience for prison management, and lessons for prison management to be drawn from the experiences of the experimental Federal correctional facility in Butner, N.C.

This video, in the Crime File series, portrays a panel discussion of the empirical evidence of the relationship between unemployment and crime as well as job programs for ex-offenders in New York City and Philadelphia.

This Crime File video portrays a panel discussion of the rationale for and the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system, the advantages and disadvantages of processing serious juvenile offenders as adults, and due process in the juvenile justice system.

This Crime File video presents a portrayal of the Paint Creek Youth Center, a treatment program for serious juvenile offenders in Bainbridge, Ohio; followed by a panel discussion of the effectiveness of such programs and issues in their expanded use.

One of the series of videos from the 'Crime File' public affairs program, this video on neighborhood safety mainly uses a panel interview to describe, evaluate, and identify success factors for police-citizen crime prevention programs; programs considered include citizen patrol, block watch, police 'storefront' services, and police door-to-door contact with citizens.

This video, number 5 in the Crime File series, portrays a 3-member panel discussing the rate of rearrests among persons on pretrial release, features of the 1984 Federal bail law designed to prevent the pretrial release of dangerous persons, ways to reduce rearrests of pretrial releasees, and constitutional issues raised by preventive detention.

This video, in the Crime File series, portrays a panel discussion of the nature and reliability of the Federal and California parole guidelines, justification for their use as sentencing guidelines, and moral and legal issues associated with their use.

This video, in the Crime File series, provides an overview of the problem of prison overcrowding and considers various strategies for addressing it; three panelists discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various remedial strategies.

This Crime File video examines the probation system in Los Angeles County, California, a jurisdiction burdened by prison overcrowding, rising probation caseloads, and inadequate financial resources.

This Crime File video describes the Repeat Offender Program (ROP) of the Washington, D.C., police department and a similar program that targets young offenders in Mecklenburg County, N.C. A panel discusses these programs and constitutional issues involved in their operation.

This Crime File video examines the development of new methods for restitution is providing sentencing alternatives to fines, probation, or imprisonment.

This Crime File video shows three dramatized scenarios of police search and seizure tactics are critiqued as to their legality by a panel consisting of a police officer, a U.S. attorney, and a public defender.

This Crime File video portrays three panelists contrasting indeterminate sentencing in Massachusetts, determinate sentencing in Minnesota, and discussing the existence and causes of sentencing disparity, sentencing factors, and racial discrimination in sentencing.

This Crime File video portrays a three-member panel of researchers describing and critiquing their research pertinent to the effects of media (primarily television) portrayals of violence on the aggressive behavior of viewers.

1985

One of the series of videotapes from the 'Crime File' public affairs program, this video on victims uses a panel interview and other interview segments in considering crime victims' needs and attitudes, victim compensation, victim impact statements, and measures for improving victim services.

This Crime File video reviews three studies evaluating the effectiveness of policing strategies.

Numerous states and hundreds of municipalities have laws restricting the location of a convicted sex offender's residence. Little is known about the effectiveness of these restrictions. Do they keep children safer or give a false sense of safety? Some people suggest these laws are driven by media attention to a few cases. Others believe they are not grounded in research.