Spencer G Lawson
Biographic Data
| ID | 5721286 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Spencer G Lawson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Spencer G |
| FAMILY NAME | Lawson |
| SIGNATURE | LAWSON S G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Michigan State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9572-169X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 17 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Drivers of Racial Disparities
Prior research has documented racial disparities across criminal-legal system processing. Yet, causal explanations remain limited and focus primarily on disparate decision-making by system professionals and cumulative effects of case processing. Fewer studies have examined the effects of broader social, economic, and structural conditions on system disparities. We collected Relative Disadvantage Tool (RDT) responses from 714 individuals admitted …
A risk-need-responsivity (RNR)-informed systematic review of needs during the pretrial period
OBJECTIVE: Pretrial risk assessments are becoming increasingly popular in the United States. Despite the importance of assessing and intervening around "needs" in the risk-need-responsivity model, few pretrial risk assessments include comprehensive assessment of needs. We aim to provide a systematic review of the prevalence of and predictive utility of needs within the pretrial population. HYPOTHESES: There were no hypotheses given the nature of …
Development and Validation of a Tool to Measure Relative Disadvantage and Disproportionate Risk of Criminal-Legal System Involvement
Few studies examine the role of structural racism as a driver of racial disparities in the criminal-legal system, likely owing to the lack of validated measures. We developed a tool to measure relative disadvantage as it relates to disproportionate likelihood of criminal-legal system involvement. We used exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analysis to develop and validate full- and short-form versions of the Relative Disadvantage Tool…
Disparate impact of risk assessment instruments
OBJECTIVE: One concern about the use of risk assessment instruments in legal decisions is the potential for disparate impact by race or ethnicity. This means that one racial or ethnic group will experience harsher legal outcomes than another because of higher or biased risk estimates. We conducted a systematic review of the literature to synthesize research examining the real-world impact of juvenile and adult risk instruments on racial/ethnic di…
Sustainability of Evidence-Based Practices
This quasi-experimental, pre-post study investigated the sustainability of risk-needs assessment (RNA) and the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) practices in five juvenile probation offices across two states 7 years after rigorous implementation. The study evaluated adherence to practices and facilitators of sustainability via interviews with leadership ( N = 10) and probation officers ( N = 84) and a seventh-year cohort of youth propensity score matc…
Suicide and the Covid-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic had a widespread impact on millions of individuals. Many turned to social media as an outlet for sharing personal experiences, such as the impact of the pandemic on suicidality. The purpose of this study was to understand the pandemic's impact on individuals who discuss their suicidality on social media. Keywords were used to search for discussion threads ( N = 118) related to the pandemic on an online pro-choice for suicide…
Occupational Stress Associated With Technological Diversion Among Pretrial Services Officers
The application of global positioning system (GPS) technology as a pretrial diversion mechanism to monitor intimate partner and domestic violence (IPV/DV) cases has become increasingly common. As more jurisdictions implement GPS technology, there is a need to understand the workplace experiences of community corrections officers with this nascent supervision strategy. This qualitative case study draws upon the experiences gleaned from in-depth in…
Differential Prediction by Race in Iras-PAT Assessments
There remain serious concerns about the potential for pretrial risk assessments to exacerbate racial disparities. Yet, current evidence on differential prediction in pretrial risk assessments is limited. The present investigation tests for differential prediction by race as an indication of bias in Indiana Risk Assessment System–Pretrial Assessment Tool (IRAS-PAT) assessments. Using pooled data drawn from a five-county IRAS-PAT validation, which …
Occupational stress and attitudes toward misconduct in law enforcement
Occupational stress influences many aspects of policing and can contribute to unacceptable attitudes and behaviors among law enforcement officers. Specifically, officers with greater workload stressors may be more likely to hold attitudes favorable toward police misconduct. Yet, we predict that organizational justice may inhibit the effect of such stressors on attitudes toward misconduct. We used survey data from a sample of 437 police officers s…
Five-County Validation of the Indiana Risk Assessment System – Pretrial Assessment Tool (Iras-PAT) using a Local Validation Approach
Local jurisdictions are increasingly using pretrial risk assessment instruments to assess risk of pretrial misconduct and inform release decisions. We adopted a local validation approach to examine the predictive validity of Indiana Risk Assessment System – Pretrial Assessment Tool (IRAS-PAT) assessments in 3,739 unique pretrial defendants across five Indiana counties. Jail, court, and pretrial risk assessment records were matched within each jur…
Two‐year outcomes following naloxone administration by police officers or emergency medical services personnel
Research Summary We conducted a retrospective, quasi‐experimental study of a police naloxone program to examine individual outcomes following nonfatal overdose where either police ( n = 111) or emergency medical services ( n = 1,229) provided a first response and administered naloxone. Individuals who received a police response were more likely to be arrested immediately following initial dispatch and had more instances of repeat nonfatal overdos…
The organizational justice effect among criminal justice employees
Organizational justice has been shown to be an important predictor of criminal justice employees’ work‐related perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. In this study, we take stock of the organizational justice effect on criminal justice employees’ work outcomes by subjecting the literature to a meta‐analysis. Multilevel modeling based on 1,924 effect size estimates drawn from 143 studies (95 independent data sets) was used to establish the empiric…
Does Reentry Court Completion Affect Recidivism Three Years after Exit? Results from a Retrospective Cohort Study
Reentry courts are a strategy to assist individuals subjected to post-release supervision in the reintegration process, but there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of these practices. The current study presents the results of a retrospective cohort study for a sample of 340 participants who exited a reentry court. Specifically, survival analyses were employed to evaluate whether participants’ reentry court completion status affects their l…
The organizational justice effect among criminal justice employees
Organizational justice has been shown to be an important predictor of criminal justice employees’ work‐related perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. In this study, we take stock of the organizational justice effect on criminal justice employees’ work outcomes by subjecting the literature to a meta‐analysis. Multilevel modeling based on 1,924 effect size estimates drawn from 143 studies (95 independent data sets) was used to establish the empiric…
Two‐year outcomes following naloxone administration by police officers or emergency medical services personnel
Research Summary We conducted a retrospective, quasi‐experimental study of a police naloxone program to examine individual outcomes following nonfatal overdose where either police ( n = 111) or emergency medical services ( n = 1,229) provided a first response and administered naloxone. Individuals who received a police response were more likely to be arrested immediately following initial dispatch and had more instances of repeat nonfatal overdos…
Does Reentry Court Completion Affect Recidivism Three Years after Exit? Results from a Retrospective Cohort Study
Reentry courts are a strategy to assist individuals subjected to post-release supervision in the reintegration process, but there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of these practices. The current study presents the results of a retrospective cohort study for a sample of 340 participants who exited a reentry court. Specifically, survival analyses were employed to evaluate whether participants’ reentry court completion status affects their l…
Does Reentry Court Completion Affect Recidivism Three Years after Exit? Results from a Retrospective Cohort Study
Reentry courts are a strategy to assist individuals subjected to post-release supervision in the reintegration process, but there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of these practices. The current study presents the results of a retrospective cohort study for a sample of 340 participants who exited a reentry court. Specifically, survival analyses were employed to evaluate whether participants’ reentry court completion status affects their l…
Five-County Validation of the Indiana Risk Assessment System – Pretrial Assessment Tool (Iras-PAT) using a Local Validation Approach
Local jurisdictions are increasingly using pretrial risk assessment instruments to assess risk of pretrial misconduct and inform release decisions. We adopted a local validation approach to examine the predictive validity of Indiana Risk Assessment System – Pretrial Assessment Tool (IRAS-PAT) assessments in 3,739 unique pretrial defendants across five Indiana counties. Jail, court, and pretrial risk assessment records were matched within each jur…
Two‐year outcomes following naloxone administration by police officers or emergency medical services personnel
Research Summary We conducted a retrospective, quasi‐experimental study of a police naloxone program to examine individual outcomes following nonfatal overdose where either police ( n = 111) or emergency medical services ( n = 1,229) provided a first response and administered naloxone. Individuals who received a police response were more likely to be arrested immediately following initial dispatch and had more instances of repeat nonfatal overdos…
The organizational justice effect among criminal justice employees
Organizational justice has been shown to be an important predictor of criminal justice employees’ work‐related perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. In this study, we take stock of the organizational justice effect on criminal justice employees’ work outcomes by subjecting the literature to a meta‐analysis. Multilevel modeling based on 1,924 effect size estimates drawn from 143 studies (95 independent data sets) was used to establish the empiric…
Occupational stress and attitudes toward misconduct in law enforcement
Occupational stress influences many aspects of policing and can contribute to unacceptable attitudes and behaviors among law enforcement officers. Specifically, officers with greater workload stressors may be more likely to hold attitudes favorable toward police misconduct. Yet, we predict that organizational justice may inhibit the effect of such stressors on attitudes toward misconduct. We used survey data from a sample of 437 police officers s…
Occupational Stress Associated With Technological Diversion Among Pretrial Services Officers
The application of global positioning system (GPS) technology as a pretrial diversion mechanism to monitor intimate partner and domestic violence (IPV/DV) cases has become increasingly common. As more jurisdictions implement GPS technology, there is a need to understand the workplace experiences of community corrections officers with this nascent supervision strategy. This qualitative case study draws upon the experiences gleaned from in-depth in…
Differential Prediction by Race in Iras-PAT Assessments
There remain serious concerns about the potential for pretrial risk assessments to exacerbate racial disparities. Yet, current evidence on differential prediction in pretrial risk assessments is limited. The present investigation tests for differential prediction by race as an indication of bias in Indiana Risk Assessment System–Pretrial Assessment Tool (IRAS-PAT) assessments. Using pooled data drawn from a five-county IRAS-PAT validation, which …
Disparate impact of risk assessment instruments
OBJECTIVE: One concern about the use of risk assessment instruments in legal decisions is the potential for disparate impact by race or ethnicity. This means that one racial or ethnic group will experience harsher legal outcomes than another because of higher or biased risk estimates. We conducted a systematic review of the literature to synthesize research examining the real-world impact of juvenile and adult risk instruments on racial/ethnic di…
Sustainability of Evidence-Based Practices
This quasi-experimental, pre-post study investigated the sustainability of risk-needs assessment (RNA) and the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) practices in five juvenile probation offices across two states 7 years after rigorous implementation. The study evaluated adherence to practices and facilitators of sustainability via interviews with leadership ( N = 10) and probation officers ( N = 84) and a seventh-year cohort of youth propensity score matc…
Suicide and the Covid-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic had a widespread impact on millions of individuals. Many turned to social media as an outlet for sharing personal experiences, such as the impact of the pandemic on suicidality. The purpose of this study was to understand the pandemic's impact on individuals who discuss their suicidality on social media. Keywords were used to search for discussion threads ( N = 118) related to the pandemic on an online pro-choice for suicide…
Development and Validation of a Tool to Measure Relative Disadvantage and Disproportionate Risk of Criminal-Legal System Involvement
Few studies examine the role of structural racism as a driver of racial disparities in the criminal-legal system, likely owing to the lack of validated measures. We developed a tool to measure relative disadvantage as it relates to disproportionate likelihood of criminal-legal system involvement. We used exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analysis to develop and validate full- and short-form versions of the Relative Disadvantage Tool…
Drivers of Racial Disparities
Prior research has documented racial disparities across criminal-legal system processing. Yet, causal explanations remain limited and focus primarily on disparate decision-making by system professionals and cumulative effects of case processing. Fewer studies have examined the effects of broader social, economic, and structural conditions on system disparities. We collected Relative Disadvantage Tool (RDT) responses from 714 individuals admitted …
A risk-need-responsivity (RNR)-informed systematic review of needs during the pretrial period
OBJECTIVE: Pretrial risk assessments are becoming increasingly popular in the United States. Despite the importance of assessing and intervening around "needs" in the risk-need-responsivity model, few pretrial risk assessments include comprehensive assessment of needs. We aim to provide a systematic review of the prevalence of and predictive utility of needs within the pretrial population. HYPOTHESES: There were no hypotheses given the nature of …
Psychology (9 works) · Political science (7 works) · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (6 works) · Criminology (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Medicine (5 works) · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Engineering (4 works)