It is hypothesized that procedural justice influences citizens' satisfaction with the police. An alternative argument holds that police performance measures, such as perceptions of crime and safety, are more salient. This study empirically investigates the predictive validity of both theoretical arguments. Using mail survey data from 563 adult residents from Monroe County, Michigan, a series of linear regression equations were estimated. The results suggest that procedural justice is a robust predictor of satisfaction with police. In contrast, several police performance measures failed to predict satisfaction with police. Overall, these findings support Tyler and Huo's (2002) contention that judgments regarding whether police exercise their authority in a procedurally-just fashion influence citizens' satisfaction with police more than fear of crime, perceptions of disorder, and the like.

Most criminological theories are tested using samples of adolescents. Consequently, there is ample evidence regarding the correlates of criminal behavior committed by teenagers. The problem, however, is that there is relatively little information regarding the correlates of criminal offending committed during late life. This limits the ability to assess the generalizability of some of the leading theories in criminology. To fill this void in the literature the present study used a sample of 2,000 elderly people (i.e., 60 years of age and older) from Arizona and Florida to examine three issues: (1) the role of general and specific routine activity measures in the explanation of criminal activity in late life, (2) the invariance of low self-control across various subgroups of the elderly sample, and (3) the generality of self-control theory and routine activity theory. The analyses revealed several important findings. First, general routine activity measures are better predictors of general criminal offending than specific indicators. However, specific routine activity measures still matter in the explanation of specific types of crimes. Another important finding of this study was that low self-control has an invariant effect on criminal offending across gender, race/ethnicity, and age. Finally, self-control theory and routine activity theory are general frameworks that explain criminal behavior committed by older people in much the same manner as among teenagers. Routine activity does not mediate the link between low self-control and offending. Rather, both low self-control and routine activity exert independent effects on late life criminal activity, net of statistical controls. The present study concludes with a discussion of the findings situated in the literature and provides policy implications that stem from the results.

The link between victimization and offending is well established in the literature, yet an unexplored causal pathway within this relationship is concerned with why some individuals engage in maladaptive coping in response to victimization. In particular, those with low self-control may be attracted to problematic yet immediately gratifying forms of coping post-victimization (e.g., substance use), which may increase their likelihood of violent offending in the future. Using three waves of adolescent panel data from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) program, this research examines: (1) whether individuals with low-self control are more likely to engage in substance use coping following violent victimization, and (2) whether victims with low self-control who engage in substance use coping are more likely to commit violent offenses in the future. The results from negative binomial regressions support these hypotheses, even after controlling for prior offending, peer influences, prior substance abuse, and other forms of offending. The implications for integrating general strain and self-control theories, as well as for our understanding of the victimization-offending overlap, are discussed.