John Wooldredge
Biographic Data
| ID | 136332 |
|---|---|
| NAME | John Wooldredge |
| GIVEN NAMES | John |
| FAMILY NAME | Wooldredge |
| SIGNATURE | WOOLDREDGE J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Cincinnati |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1323-5496 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 83 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 450 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 56 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 27 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1987 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 13 |
Testing Systems-Level Theories and Impacts of Supermax Prisons: A Macrolevel Longitudinal Analysis
Supermaximum security prisons (or, “supermax”) are assumed necessary for the safety and order of prison systems. The current paper used ten years of data on 19 prison facilities in Ohio to examine the longitudinal, macrolevel associations between supermax transfers and future facility-level outcomes. The results suggest weak support for the idea that supermax transfers improve prison social order and no evidence of improvements in violence. Sendi…
Poor Mental Health as Cause and/or Consequence of Restrictive Housing
Whether poor mental health increases an incarcerated person’s exposure to disciplinary or administrative segregation, and, in turn, whether segregation contributes to poorer health have been examined separately in the empirical literature, with studies of the former limited to between-person analyses. We conducted within-person analyses of changes to both mental health and the odds of segregation to determine whether these effects are bidirection…
Establishing Key Facts About Restrictive Housing—A Systems-Level Descriptive Analysis of Restrictive Housing and the Implications for Theory, Research, and Policy
Concerns about restrictive housing are motivated in part by the assumption that as prison systems expanded and became more punitive, restrictive housing became overly routine. Limited empirical research exists, however, that quantifies its usage. The goal of this paper is twofold. First, we argue that a more detailed understanding of restrictive housing usage is required to advance theory, research, and evidence-based policy. Second, we bring dat…
The Lasting Effects of Incarcerating Juveniles in US Adult Facilities: Examining the Impact on Employment and Income During Early Adulthood
Using the NLSY-1997, the current study examined if juvenile incarceration in US adult correctional facilities influenced the average number of weeks worked and income earned during adulthood and the number of years until an individual worked a full week and earned federal minimum wage. These effects were also specified by a juvenile’s race. Results demonstrated that juvenile incarceration in an adult facility was associated with negative employme…
The effects of youth incarceration in adult institutions on future incarceration
Disparities in Segregation for Prison Control: Comparing Long Term Solitary Confinement to Short Term Disciplinary Restrictive Housing
Following a recent study of disparities in solitary confinement (SC) placements in Florida, we examined related disparities in the use of extended restrictive housing in Ohio (SC conditions) while expanding the analysis to short term restrictive housing, a substantially more common prison experience. Analyses of 183,872 incarcerated persons (IPs) revealed substantive disparities in prevalence and incidence of placements in both short- and long-t…
Jail Utilization and Court Sentencing: Does Jail Overcrowding Influence State Court Sentencing Decisions
Drawing upon organizational perspectives and focal concerns theory, this article tests the impacts of jail utilization (i.e. the ratio of jail population: rated capacity) on sentencing practices. Using 18 years of felony sentencing data from Florida and county characteristics, ordinary least squares regression models are estimated to determine whether jail utilization impacts sentencing trends between counties. Latent growth curves assess jail ut…
Offending and victimization in prisons: New theoretical and empirical approaches
In-prison offending and victimization threaten the safety of incarcerated individuals and staff, which makes it an important topic for correctional research. Prior research has generated substantial knowledge about individual and environmental characteristics that heighten the risk of in-prison offending and victimization. The victim-offender overlap and the situational dynamics of incidents, however, are still under-researched. This essay propos…
Individual and neighborhood factors in residence-to-crime distances for property, drug, and violent offenses
Exacerbating inequality over the life-course: Examining Race Differences in the Reciprocal Effects Between Incarceration and Income
Relative to Whites, Blacks face lower odds of gaining employment with notable wages while also facing longer terms of incarceration when sent to jail or prison for criminal offenses. Although a variety of factors contribute to these patterns, the time a Black individual spends incarcerated could decrease future earnings, whereas lower earnings could increase the time spent incarcerated. Nevertheless, prior research has yet to consider-or evaluate…
How do Racial and Ethnic Disparities Emerge in the Use of Restrictive Housing for Prison Rule Violations
Prison Adjustment Among Military Veterans: The Impact of Traumatic Events, Service History, and PTSD
Military veterans have been shown to differ demographically from non-veterans in the criminal justice system. However, relatively little is known about their psychological adjustment, institutional misbehavior, and the efficacy of programing received while incarcerated. Using data taken from a national sample of prison inmates, this study investigates how traumatic events experienced during military service can impact the intensity of negative af…
Is Reduced Visitation a Collateral Consequence of Restrictive Housing
Theory and logic suggest that placement in restrictive housing (RH) may affect prison visitation, which may be counterproductive given the potential benefits of visitation. The goal of this paper is to examine the potential correspondence between RH and visitation. We use data on incarcerated people in Ohio to conduct two related analyses. One analysis assesses whether the first incident of short-term disciplinary segregation impacts prison visit…
From Soldiers to Staff Members: An Examination of Veteran Status Across Occupational Outcomes Within the Prison Context
Some prison systems across the United States actively recruit veterans of the Armed Forces based on the idea that prior military experience is an asset for prison work—a presupposition that has yet to be empirically validated. We examined whether military experience is relevant in explaining variation in occupational outcomes in a statewide random sample of prison staff in Kentucky. Results from a structural equation model (confirmatory factor an…
Sentencing Add-Ons and Implications for Disparities in a Guidelines State
This study examined whether and how discretionary sentencing add-ons (i.e., secondary charges, victim injury points, firearms/weapons points, drug trafficking enhancements) contribute to disparities. We examined add-ons that increase sentencing points and so contribute to a defendant “scoring to prison.” We analyzed: (1) the degree to which add-ons explain racial and ethnic disparities in imprisonment (mediation); and (2) whether add-ons are more…
The Timing of Prison Sanctions and the Odds of Returning to Prison After Release
A sample of 48,930 inmates was examined to estimate the direct and moderating effect of the timing of prison sanctions on recidivism. Logistic regression models demonstrated that number of sanctions was positively associated with recidivism but timing of an inmate’s last sanction before release did not significantly influence recidivism. However, timing of an inmate’s last sanction moderated the association between number of sanctions and recidiv…
Can “race‐neutral” program eligibility requirements in criminal justice have disparate effects? An examination of race, ethnicity, and prison industry employment
Research Summary This study assesses whether racial and ethnic disparities exist in prison industry employment and whether seemingly race‐ and ethnicity‐neutral eligibility requirements contribute to any such disparities. We examine whether there are racial/ethnic disparities in industrial prison work, the extent to which disparities are explained by administrative policies, and the conditions under which disparities are most pronounced. Using 10…
Longitudinal Propensity Score Matching: A Demonstration of Counterfactual Conditions Adjusted for Longitudinal Clustering
The cycle of reentry and reincarceration: Examining the influence on employment over a period of 18 years
Prison Culture, Management, and In-Prison Violence
Academic attention to violence and other forms of in-prison misconduct is on the rise, although most research continues to be framed within now stale perspectives. A broader framework is needed that builds on the more contemporary aspects of these perspectives and incorporates other elements of prison culture and management that potentially influence violent offending and victimization in prison. This article begins with an overview of cumulative…
Understanding and Reducing Prison Violence: An Integrated Social Control-Opportunity Perspective
Understanding and Reducing Prison Violence considers both the individual and prison characteristics associated with violence perpetration and violent victimization among both prison inmates and staff. Prison violence is not a random process; rates of violence vary across prisons and the odds of perpetrating violence or experiencing violent victimization vary across inmates and staff. A comprehensive understanding of the causes of prison violence …
Understanding and Reducing Prison Violence: An Integrated Social Control–Opportunity Perspective
Understanding and Reducing Prison Violence considers both the individual and prison characteristics associated with violence perpetration and violent victimization among both prison inmates and staff. Prison violence is not a random process; rates of violence vary across prisons and the odds of perpetrating violence or experiencing violent victimization vary across inmates and staff. A comprehensive understanding of the causes of prison violence …
Timing of Prison Programs and the Odds of Returning to Prison
Despite the rapid growth in empirical research on the effectiveness of prison treatment programs for reducing postrelease criminality, much less attention has been paid to the importance of the timing of these programs relative to inmates’ release date. We examined the extent to which the timing of treatment during a prison sentence was a moderator of program effects on the odds of returning to prison within 3 years after release. Twelve reentry …
Direct and indirect effects of low self-control on the personal victimization of South Korean youth
To estimate the direct effects of low self-control on the incidence of personal victimization among South Korean elementary and middle school students; to examine whether these effects are mediated by deviant lifestyles and parental attachments, and to determine whether these effects differ by a youth's sex. Data from the Korean Youth Panel Survey were examined. A national sample of 2844 South Korean fourth grade students was followed for five ye…
Prison Officer Legitimacy, Their Exercise of Power, and Inmate Rule Breaking
Prison officers are directly responsible for transmitting penal culture and prison policy to the confined, yet few studies of officers’ impact on inmate behavior have been conducted. We examined the effect of inmates’ perceptions of officer legitimacy on rule breaking within prisons, as well as the effects of officers’ reliance on different power bases on rates of rule breaking across prisons. The findings from bi‐level analyses of data from inma…
Marriage Choices in North Carolina and Virginia, 1969-71 and 1979-81
This study investigates age race and educational patterns of marriage choice in North Carolina and Virginia during 1969-71 and 1979-81 and provides substantial support for exchange theories of marriage behavior. While like marrying like is most common a female emphasis on male economic characteristics and a male emphasis on female noneconomic characteristics lead to significant patterns of exchange....The major change between 1969-71 and 1979-81 …
Is the Impact of Cumulative Disadvantage on Sentencing Greater for Black Defendants: Disadvantage and Sentencing of Black Defendants
Research Summary We examined race-group differences in the effects of how felony defendants are treated at earlier decision points in case processing on case outcomes. Multilevel analyses of 3,459 defendants nested within 123 prosecutors and 34 judges in a large, northern U.S. jurisdiction revealed significant main and interaction effects of a defendant's race on bond amounts, pretrial detention, and nonsuspended prison sentences, but no signific…
Bilevel Disparities in Court Dispositions for Intimate Assault
Using data on cases of intimate assault, we offer a relatively rare examination of disparities in court dispositions across multiple stages of case processing. In this context we introduce the theoretical and empirical relevance of considering the characteristics of defendants' neighborhoods as possible extralegal influences on disposition severity. Bilevel analyses of 2,948 males arrested for misdemeanor assaults on intimates in Cincinnati revea…
Examining the (Ir)relevance of Aggregation Bias for Multilevel Studies of Neighborhoods and Crime With an Example Comparing Census Tracts to Official Neighborhoods in Cincinnati
Different operational definitions of neighborhood boundaries could generate differences in empirical relationships between ecological dynamics and crime. As a call for research on whether aggregation bias is an issue for related studies, this note compares bi‐level models predicting re‐arrest for domestic violence with census tracts versus officially defined city neighborhoods as macro units. Results indicate that both types of units generate the…
The Correlation between Race and Domestic Violence is Confounded with Community Context
Why do African Americans appear to have a higher likelihood of engaging in domestic violence than whites? To address this question, we draw on insights from social disorganization theory and recent research on urban poverty. We argue that the apparent correlation between race and domestic violence is confounded with the different ecological contexts typically occupied by African Americans and whites. Using data from wave 2 of the National Survey …
Sex-Based Disparities in Felony Dispositions Before Versus After Sentencing Reform in Ohio
Extending Koons-Witt's (2002) study of whether sex-based disparities in imprisonment likelihoods changed under sentencing guidelines in Minnesota, we examined similar models for Ohio with additional analyses of felony conviction likelihoods and sentence length for 5,472 felony defendants from twenty-four trial courts. The main effects of a defendant's sex on imprisonment were significant during both periods (unlike the Minnesota findings), consis…
Prison Officer Legitimacy, Their Exercise of Power, and Inmate Rule Breaking
Prison officers are directly responsible for transmitting penal culture and prison policy to the confined, yet few studies of officers’ impact on inmate behavior have been conducted. We examined the effect of inmates’ perceptions of officer legitimacy on rule breaking within prisons, as well as the effects of officers’ reliance on different power bases on rates of rule breaking across prisons. The findings from bi‐level analyses of data from inma…
Prison Culture, Management, and In-Prison Violence
Academic attention to violence and other forms of in-prison misconduct is on the rise, although most research continues to be framed within now stale perspectives. A broader framework is needed that builds on the more contemporary aspects of these perspectives and incorporates other elements of prison culture and management that potentially influence violent offending and victimization in prison. This article begins with an overview of cumulative…
Reducing Inmate Misconduct and Prison Returns with Facility Education Programs
Research Summary Participants and nonparticipants in Ohio prison education programs were compared in rates of misconduct during incarceration and prison returns after release. Propensity score matching was used to compare male nonparticipants with males who completed or started but did not complete GEDs, vocational training/apprenticeship programs, and college classes (each education group examined separately). More than 92,000 males were eligibl…
Neighborhood Structure and Race‐specific Rates of Intimate Assault
Addressing the methodological shortcomings of extant research on the racial invariance thesis, race‐specific rates of intimate assault are examined across census tracts in Hamilton County, Ohio. We extend Miles‐Doan's (1998) approach to examining neighborhood structural effects on intimate assault rates in order to test the racial invariance thesis. Findings reveal comparable effects of neighborhood disadvantage and population age structure on as…
The relevance of inmate race/ethnicity versus population composition for understanding prison rule violations
The importance of order maintenance in prisons has generated numerous studies of the correlates to inmate misconduct. Very few of these studies, however, have focused specifically on the correlations between inmates’ race/ethnicity and prison rule breaking. Race and ethnicity could be relevant to an understanding of prison rule breaking if inmates bring their ecologically structured beliefs regarding legal authority, crime and deviance into the i…
(Un)anticipated Effects of Sentencing Reform on the Disparate Treatment of Defendants
Despite concerns over racial disparities in imprisonment across the United States, little empirical attention has been paid to how changing the structure of sentencing might affect levels of disparity. This article examines whether Ohio's shift to determinate sentencing corresponded with significant changes in legal and extralegal effects on case outcomes, both generally and differentially for African American and white defendants. Bilevel analys…
Judges' Unequal Contributions to Extralegal Disparities in Imprisonment
How do judges in the same court system contribute differentially to extralegal disparities in sentencing? Analyses of felony sentencing in an urban Ohio trial court uncovered two distinct but equal‐sized groups of judges that differed in the magnitude of extralegal correlates to imprisonment. Within the group of judges reflecting substantive extralegal correlates to prison sentences, demographic correlates (based on defendants' race, sex, age, an…
Lifestyles of the old and not so fearful: Life situation and older persons' fear of crime
Race group differences in prison victimization experiences
Inmate crime and victimization in a southwestern correctional facility
Displaced discretion under Ohio sentencing guidelines
Racial (in)variance in prison rule breaking
Short‐ versus long‐term effects of Ohio's switch to more structured sentencing on extralegal disparities in prison sentences in an urban court
Research Summary The impact of Ohio's presumptive guidelines on sentencing disparities was examined for one of the state's largest jurisdictions to determine whether the switch to more structured sentencing in 1996 had any enduring effects. Sentencing patterns were examined both before and shortly after the 1996 reform, as well as 9 years later. Findings revealed weaker race and marital status effects on imprisonment under guidelines versus stron…
The link between juvenile offending and victimization: Sources of change over time in bullying victimization risk among South Korean adolescents
From Initial Appearance to Sentencing: Do Female Defendants Experience Disparate Treatment
The intersection of racial profiling research and the law
The cycle of reentry and reincarceration: Examining the influence on employment over a period of 18 years
A macro-level perspective on prison inmate deviance
A macro-level perspective for understanding differences in levels of inmate assaults and nonviolent offenses across US prisons is presented which emphasizes the greater relevance of population composition as opposed to environmental and managerial controls over inmates. We argue that population effects are more relevant due to a heavy reliance on custodial risk assessments which place high concentrations of the most dangerous offenders within par…
High School Students' Adherence to Rape Myths and the Effectiveness of High School Rape-awareness Programs
Over the past 15 years, the emergence of date rape as a social problem has resulted in college campuses implementing rape education or awareness programs. Simultaneously, researchers have worked to uncover the rates of rape on college campuses, college students' adherence to rape myths, and to a lesser extent, the effectiveness of rape-awareness programs on college campuses. This study departs from most of this prior research by focusing on high …
Linking the micro- and macro-level dimensions of lifestyle-routine activity and opportunity models of predatory victimization
Marriage Choices in North Carolina and Virginia, 1969-71 and 1979-81
This study investigates age race and educational patterns of marriage choice in North Carolina and Virginia during 1969-71 and 1979-81 and provides substantial support for exchange theories of marriage behavior. While like marrying like is most common a female emphasis on male economic characteristics and a male emphasis on female noneconomic characteristics lead to significant patterns of exchange....The major change between 1969-71 and 1979-81 …
Age at first court intervention and the likelihood of recidivism among less serious juvenile offenders
Inmate crime and victimization in a southwestern correctional facility
Lifestyles of the old and not so fearful: Life situation and older persons' fear of crime
High School Students' Adherence to Rape Myths and the Effectiveness of High School Rape-awareness Programs
Over the past 15 years, the emergence of date rape as a social problem has resulted in college campuses implementing rape education or awareness programs. Simultaneously, researchers have worked to uncover the rates of rape on college campuses, college students' adherence to rape myths, and to a lesser extent, the effectiveness of rape-awareness programs on college campuses. This study departs from most of this prior research by focusing on high …
Considering hierarchical models for research on inmate behavior: Predicting misconduct with multilevel data
Penologists recognize that both inmate- and prison-level characteristics are relevant to an understanding of individual inmates' behaviors; yet extant studies have focused only on unilevel models with either individual- or aggregate-level predictors and outcomes. To explore the potential of multilevel modeling for related research, we examine empirical relationships predicting the likelihood of inmate misconduct with individual-level (inmate) var…
Examining the (Ir)relevance of Aggregation Bias for Multilevel Studies of Neighborhoods and Crime With an Example Comparing Census Tracts to Official Neighborhoods in Cincinnati
Different operational definitions of neighborhood boundaries could generate differences in empirical relationships between ecological dynamics and crime. As a call for research on whether aggregation bias is an issue for related studies, this note compares bi‐level models predicting re‐arrest for domestic violence with census tracts versus officially defined city neighborhoods as macro units. Results indicate that both types of units generate the…
Keeping Pace With Evolving Prison Populations for Effective Management
Neighborhood Structure and Race‐specific Rates of Intimate Assault
Addressing the methodological shortcomings of extant research on the racial invariance thesis, race‐specific rates of intimate assault are examined across census tracts in Hamilton County, Ohio. We extend Miles‐Doan's (1998) approach to examining neighborhood structural effects on intimate assault rates in order to test the racial invariance thesis. Findings reveal comparable effects of neighborhood disadvantage and population age structure on as…
Bilevel Disparities in Court Dispositions for Intimate Assault
Using data on cases of intimate assault, we offer a relatively rare examination of disparities in court dispositions across multiple stages of case processing. In this context we introduce the theoretical and empirical relevance of considering the characteristics of defendants' neighborhoods as possible extralegal influences on disposition severity. Bilevel analyses of 2,948 males arrested for misdemeanor assaults on intimates in Cincinnati revea…
The Correlation between Race and Domestic Violence is Confounded with Community Context
Why do African Americans appear to have a higher likelihood of engaging in domestic violence than whites? To address this question, we draw on insights from social disorganization theory and recent research on urban poverty. We argue that the apparent correlation between race and domestic violence is confounded with the different ecological contexts typically occupied by African Americans and whites. Using data from wave 2 of the National Survey …
Displaced discretion under Ohio sentencing guidelines
(Un)anticipated Effects of Sentencing Reform on the Disparate Treatment of Defendants
Despite concerns over racial disparities in imprisonment across the United States, little empirical attention has been paid to how changing the structure of sentencing might affect levels of disparity. This article examines whether Ohio's shift to determinate sentencing corresponded with significant changes in legal and extralegal effects on case outcomes, both generally and differentially for African American and white defendants. Bilevel analys…
Sex-Based Disparities in Felony Dispositions Before Versus After Sentencing Reform in Ohio
Extending Koons-Witt's (2002) study of whether sex-based disparities in imprisonment likelihoods changed under sentencing guidelines in Minnesota, we examined similar models for Ohio with additional analyses of felony conviction likelihoods and sentence length for 5,472 felony defendants from twenty-four trial courts. The main effects of a defendant's sex on imprisonment were significant during both periods (unlike the Minnesota findings), consis…
Criminology: Research Methods
Research methods are procedures for obtaining information on individual and/or aggregate phenomena for the purpose of (1) creating a general explanation or theory to explain a phenomenon; (2) testing the applicability of an existing theory to a subgroup of the population; or (3) testing the effectiveness of an existing social policy or program. Topics (1) and (2) are critical to the dialectic of scholarly knowledge in criminology and criminal jus…
Convicting and incarcerating felony offenders of intimate assault and the odds of new assault charges
Inmate Versus Environmental Effects On Prison Rule Violations
Identifying both individual and environmental effects on inmate misconduct is important for the protection of staff and inmates as well as for the effectiveness of facility programming. Self-report data collected from 9,828 male inmates housed in 204 state facilities in 1991 and 10,022 male inmates within 203 facilities in 1997 were examined to assess both inmate and environmental effects on assaults, drug/alcohol offenses, and other nonviolent o…
The intersection of racial profiling research and the law
Forty Studies That Changed Criminal Justice: Explorations into the History of Criminal Justice Research
PART I POLICE 1. POLICE BEHAVIOR POLICE PERSONALITY ARE POLICE OFFICERS DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF US? Skolnick, J. (1966) Justice Without Trial: Law Enforcement in Democratic Society. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. POLICE STYLES WHY IS THERE DIFFERENCES IN POLICE BEHAVIOR ACROSS COMMUNITIES? Wilson, J. (1968) Varieties of Behavior: Management of Law and Order in Eight Communities. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. POLICE OFFICER SO…
Short‐ versus long‐term effects of Ohio's switch to more structured sentencing on extralegal disparities in prison sentences in an urban court
Research Summary The impact of Ohio's presumptive guidelines on sentencing disparities was examined for one of the state's largest jurisdictions to determine whether the switch to more structured sentencing in 1996 had any enduring effects. Sentencing patterns were examined both before and shortly after the 1996 reform, as well as 9 years later. Findings revealed weaker race and marital status effects on imprisonment under guidelines versus stron…
The relevance of inmate race/ethnicity versus population composition for understanding prison rule violations
The importance of order maintenance in prisons has generated numerous studies of the correlates to inmate misconduct. Very few of these studies, however, have focused specifically on the correlations between inmates’ race/ethnicity and prison rule breaking. Race and ethnicity could be relevant to an understanding of prison rule breaking if inmates bring their ecologically structured beliefs regarding legal authority, crime and deviance into the i…
Judges' Unequal Contributions to Extralegal Disparities in Imprisonment
How do judges in the same court system contribute differentially to extralegal disparities in sentencing? Analyses of felony sentencing in an urban Ohio trial court uncovered two distinct but equal‐sized groups of judges that differed in the magnitude of extralegal correlates to imprisonment. Within the group of judges reflecting substantive extralegal correlates to prison sentences, demographic correlates (based on defendants' race, sex, age, an…
Race group differences in prison victimization experiences
Is the Impact of Cumulative Disadvantage on Sentencing Greater for Black Defendants: Disadvantage and Sentencing of Black Defendants
Research Summary We examined race-group differences in the effects of how felony defendants are treated at earlier decision points in case processing on case outcomes. Multilevel analyses of 3,459 defendants nested within 123 prosecutors and 34 judges in a large, northern U.S. jurisdiction revealed significant main and interaction effects of a defendant's race on bond amounts, pretrial detention, and nonsuspended prison sentences, but no signific…
Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (73 works) · Criminology (73 works) · Psychology (71 works) · Political science (60 works) · Prison (56 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (47 works) · Law (43 works) · Sociology (43 works) · Social Psychology (32 works) · Medicine (27 works)