Piquero, Alex R.
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10735.1/5042
Dr. Alex R. Piquero is the Asbel Smith Professor of Criminology and Associate Dean for Graduate Programs in the School of Economic, Political, and Policy Studies. In 2018 he was inducted as a Fellow of The University of Texas System Academy of Distinguished Teachers. During his career he has authored over 350 peer-reviewed articles and as of September 2016 his works have been cited over 21,000 times. His research interests include: criminal careers, crime prevention, criminological theory, and quantitative research methods.
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2019 recipient of the Web of Science Highly Cited Researchers award for Social Sciences
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Item Staying Home, Staying Safe? A Short-Term Analysis of COVID-19 on Dallas Domestic Violence(Springer Nature, 2020-06-14) Piquero, Alex R.; Riddell, Jordan R.; Bishopp, Stephen A.; Narvey, Chelsey; Reid, Joan A.; Piquero, Nicole L.; 0000-0003-4198-4985 (Piquero, AR); Piquero, Alex R.; Riddell, Jordan R.; Piquero, Nicole L.COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the lives of persons around the world and social scientists are just beginning to understand its consequences on human behavior. One policy that public health officials put in place to help stop the spread of the virus were stay-at-home/shelter-in-place lockdown-style orders. While designed to protect people from the coronavirus, one potential and unintended consequence of such orders could be an increase in domestic violence – including abuse of partners, elders or children. Stay-at-home orders result in perpetrators and victims being confined in close quarters for long periods of time. In this study, we use data from Dallas, Texas to examine the extent to which a local order was associated with an increase in domestic violence. Our results provide some evidence for a short-term spike in the 2 weeks after the lockdown was instituted but a decrease thereafter. We note that it is difficult to determine just how much the lockdown was the cause of this increase as the domestic violence trend was increasing prior to the order.Item Harmonizing Legal Socialization to Reduce Antisocial Behavior: Results from a Randomized Field Trial of Truanting Young People(Routledge, 2019-06-05) Mazerolle, L.; Antrobus, E.; Cardwell, S. M.; Piquero, Alex R.; Bennett, S.; 0000-0003-4198-4985 (Piquero, AR); 2088022 (Piquero, AR); Piquero, Alex R.Legal socialization conceptualizes two processes for attaining compliance as either consensus-based or coercive-based. However, in real life, an adolescent’s exposure to police and school authorities is likely to incorporate a blend of both the consensual and coercive systems of compliance. In this article, we examine how harmonizing the way that police and school authorities engage with young people using a consensus-based legal socialization approach might influence a young person’s self-reported antisocial behavior. Drawing data from a randomized field trial of the Ability School Engagement Program in Brisbane, Australia, we find that a young person’s participation in the consensus-based program impacts self-reported antisocial behavior over time indirectly through changes in perceptions of police legitimacy, but not through changes in perceptions of school legitimacy. We conclude that young people are more likely to obey the law when they are exposed to harmonized legal socialization experiences, but it is a young person’s view of police that matters more for compliance with the law than how they view school authorities. © 2019 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.Item School Start Times, Delinquency, and Substance Use: A Criminological Perspective(Sage Publications Inc., 2019-04-26) Semenza, D. C.; Meldrum, R. C.; Jackson, D. B.; Vaughn, M. G.; Piquero, Alex R.; 0000-0003-4198-4985 (Piquero, AR); Piquero, Alex R.Research finds a lack of sleep during adolescence is associated with a variety of negative outcomes and suggests that early school start times contribute to this problem. Criminologists have largely overlooked the relevance of school start times for adolescent delinquency and substance use, precluding multidisciplinary collaborations between criminologists and other social and health scientists that might further elucidate emerging policy initiatives. We provide a theoretically informed criminological perspective explicating the mechanisms through which delaying school start times may reduce delinquency and substance use. Two pathways are proposed: one focused on self-control and another on unstructured socializing with peers. After discussing evidence supporting the pathways, this article outlines a research agenda for criminologists to contribute to understudied portions of the model. © The Author(s) 2019.Item Psychosocial Maturation, Race, and Desistance from Crime(Springer New York LLC, 2019-05-21) Rocque, M.; Beckley, A. L.; Piquero, Alex R.; 0000-0003-4198-4985 (Piquero, AR); Piquero, Alex R.Research on maturation and its relation to antisocial behavior has progressed appreciably in recent years. Psychosocial maturation is a relatively recent concept of development that scholarship has linked to risky behavior. Psychosocial maturation appears to be a promising explanation of the process of exiting criminal behavior, known as desistance from crime. However, to date, research has not examined whether psychosocial maturation is related to desistance in similar ways across race/ethnicity. Using the Pathways to Desistance Study which followed a mixed-race/ethnicity group of serious adolescent offenders for 7 years, this research tested growth in psychosocial maturation across race/ethnic groups. The sample (14.46% female, average age 15.97 at baseline) was composed of white (n = 250), black (n = 463), and Hispanic (n = 414) individuals. The results showed variation in trajectories of psychosocial maturation with blacks having higher initial levels but slower growth in maturation over time compared to whites. Psychosocial maturation was negatively related to crime across all racial/ethnic groups. Across all racial/ethnic groups, differences in the magnitude of the association between psychosocial maturation and desistance were small. Rather than needing distinct theories for specific groups, psychosocial maturation appears to be a general theoretical perspective for understanding desistance from crime across races/ethnicities. Policy formulation based on psychosocial maturation would, therefore, be applicable across racial/ethnic groups. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.Item Do (Sex) Crimes Increase during the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix?(Springer Nature, 2019-12-17) Piquero, Alex R.; Piquero, Nicole Leeper; Riddell, Jordan R.; 0000-0003-4198-4985 (Piquero, AR); Piquero, Alex R.; Piquero, Nicole L.; Riddell, Jordan R.Objectives: We examine whether violent, property, or sex trafficking–related crime increased during the 2018 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. Methods: Ordinary least squares regression models, time series trend analysis, and forecasted prediction intervals based on autoregressive integrated moving average models are used to analyze daily crime incident data gathered by the Austin Police Department. Results: There is no evidence to suggest a statistically significant increase in any of the analyzed crime types during the Formula 1 race weekend. Conclusions: Our findings are directly relevant to the state of Texas’ human trafficking plan requirement for reimbursement from the state’s major events reimbursement fund. While we do not find the event increases crime, our data are limited to official crime incidents and exclude non-reported and undetected offenses. Future research should focus on potential differences between auto racing and other mega sporting events.Item Just Do It? An Examination of Race on Attitudes Associated with Nike’s Advertisement Featuring Colin Kaepernick(Taylor and Francis Inc.) Intravia, J.; Piquero, Alex R.; Piquero, Nicole L.; Byers, B.; 2088022 (Piquero, AR); 73323853 (Piquero, NL); Piquero, Alex R.; Piquero, Nicole L.The relationship between race and just about any social issue has been and continues to be controversial. Within the context of literature on public opinion regarding sports and social movements, this study considers the intersections between race, business, and athlete activism by examining attitudes related to Nike’s controversial advertisement campaign with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Results obtained from a sample of young adults reveals a deep racial divide between black and non-black respondents. At almost a ratio of 2:1, blacks were more likely to agree with Nike’s decision to use the former player in their advertisement, that Nike should address social issues in their ads, and that Nike should contribute to his charity. These race differences remain in models that control for a variety of other correlates, including political orientation, income, discrimination, player protests, and whether they watch the NFL. ©2019 Taylor & Francis Group LLC.Item Spatiotemporal Association between Temperature and Assaults: A Generalized Linear Mixed-Model Approach(Sage Publications Inc.) Jung, Yeondae; Kim, Dohyeong; Piquero, Alex R.; 0000-0002-1428-1451 (Kim, D); 0000-0003-4198-4985 (Piquero, AR); 2088022 (Piquero, AR); Jung, Yeondae; Kim, Dohyeong; Piquero, Alex R.We aim to analyze the association between temperature and assault at highly disaggregated spatial units with great temporal resolution to investigate their spatiotemporal dynamics. We applied generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to assault and weather data from 2015, aggregated weekly at 424 subdistricts in Seoul, South Korea, controlling for various socioeconomic and environmental variables. Analyses revealed a positive and significant linear association between temperature and assaults and a few small but significant interaction effects that relate to an increase in assaults. A more enhanced understanding of the spatiotemporal relationship between temperature and crime would provide useful implications for targeted crime prevention and resource allocations. ©2019 The Author(s).Item The Linkage Between Mental Health, Delinquency, and Trajectories of Delinquency: Results from the Boricua Youth Study(Elsevier Ltd) Jennings, W. G.; Maldonado-Molina, M.; Fenimore, D. M.; Piquero, Alex R.; Bird, H.; Canino, G.; Piquero, Alex R.Purpose: To examine the longitudinal relationship between depression, delinquency, and trajectories of delinquency among Hispanic children and adolescents. Methods: Propensity score matching is used to match depressed and non-depressed youth and a combination of group-based trajectory and multinomial logistic regression techniques are used. Results: After adjusting for pre-existing differences between depressed and non-depressed youth, the causal relationship between depression and delinquency and the association between depression and trajectories of delinquency appears to be largely spurious. However, the effect of depression on predicting a high rate and increasing trajectory of delinquency is robust. Conclusions: Depression and high-rate offending are linked in a sample of Hispanic children and adolescents.Item Changing the Relationship between Impulsivity and Antisocial Behavior: The Impact of a School Engagement Program(Sage Publications Inc.) Cardwell, S. M.; Mazerolle, L.; Bennett, S.; Piquero, Alex R.; 2088022 (Piquero, AR); Piquero, Alex R.This study examines the extent to which a third-party policing experiment designed to prevent truancy in disadvantaged adolescents is able to weaken the effect of impulsivity on self-reported antisocial behavior over time. Data are used from the Ability School Engagement Program (ASEP), a randomized controlled trial of 102 high truant youth from Brisbane, Australia who were followed for 2 years postrandomization. We find that ASEP weakened the effect of impulsivity on the diversity of self-reported antisocial behavior throughout the study for those in the experiment. This study provides evidence that an intervention that was designed to prevent truancy has the additional benefit of hindering the relationship between impulsivity and self-reported antisocial behavior variety.Item Crime in College Predicts Violent Crime in the National Football League(Taylor and Francis Inc.) Leal, W.; Piquero, Alex R.; Piquero, Nicole L.; Gertz, M.; 2088022 (Piquero, AR); 73323853 (Piquero, NL); Piquero, Alex R.; Piquero, Nicole L.The relationship between past and future crime is one of the most robust findings within criminology. Yet, there have been few attempts to examine whether this linkage holds in specific employment arenas. In this study, we consider the relationship between past and future crime within the context of the National Football League (NFL). Specifically, we assess whether there is a relationship between pre-NFL arrests and arrests while playing in the NFL. Using data on NFL arrestees coupled with an internet-based search of arrests prior to their joining the NFL, we find that pre-NFL arrests are positive and significantly related to violent (but not total or non-violent) arrests. Also, this pattern of findings was observed for non-white NFL players, but not white players. Limitations, future research directions, and policy implications are highlighted.Item Red States and Black Lives: Applying the Racial Threat Hypothesis to the Black Lives Matter Movement(Routledge, 2018-11-05) Updegrove, Alexander H.; Cooper, Maisha N.; Orrick, Erin A.; Piquero, Alex R.; 0000 0001 2098 3962 (Piquero, AR); 2088022 (Piquero, AR); Piquero, Alex R.Despite increased media attention, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has received little scholarly attention. News coverage of BLM is often divisive, which suggests important differences may exist in how the public views BLM. Within the context of the racial threat perspective, the present study uses a nationally representative sample of 2,114 individuals from 33 states and the District of Columbia to identify state- and individual-level predictors of BLM opposition. Results reveal that older, Republican, and conservative men are more likely to oppose BLM, while Blacks and individuals who perceive their local police to exhibit racial biases against Blacks are less likely to oppose BLM. State-level racial threat variables are largely nonsignificant, but states with more fatal police shootings are less likely to oppose BLM, while states where the Republican candidate won a greater percentage of the vote in the 2012 presidential election are more likely to oppose BLM.Item Childhood Reports of Food Neglect and Impulse Control Problems and Violence in Adulthood(MDPI AG, 2018-06-01) Vaughn, M. G.; Salas-Wright, C. P.; Naeger, S.; Huang, J.; Piquero, Alex R.; 0000 0001 2098 3962 (Piquero, AR); 2088022 (Piquero, AR); Piquero, Alex R.Food insecurity and hunger during childhood are associated with an array of developmental problems in multiple domains, including impulse control problems and violence. Unfortunately, extant research is based primarily on small convenience samples and an epidemiological assessment of the hunger-violence link is lacking. The current study employed data from Wave 1 (2001-2002) andWave 2 (2004-2005) of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). The NESARC is a nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized U.S. residents aged 18 years and older. Participants who experienced frequent hunger during childhood had significantly greater impulsivity, worse self-control, and greater involvement in several forms of interpersonal violence. These effects were stronger among whites, Hispanics, and males. The findings support general theoretical models implicating impulse control problems as a key correlate of crime and violence and add another facet to the importance of ameliorating food neglect in the United States. © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Item On the Potential Implications of Reports of Fictitious Drug Use for Survey Research on Juvenile Delinquency(Sage Publishers, 2015-08-01) Meldrum, Ryan Charles; Piquero, Alex R.; Piquero, Alex R.A variety of methodological issues have been raised over self-reports of delinquency and its correlates. In this study, we call attention to the provision of untruthful information and provide an investigation of this issue using a survey item that assesses a respondent's use of a fictitious drug in relation to reports of delinquency and traditional criminological correlates. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted based on data drawn from a probability sample of middle and high school students in Florida. Results show (a) there are important differences on key criminological variables between respondents who report use of a fictitious drug and those who do not; (b) the internal consistency of a variety index of delinquency is particularly sensitive to the inclusion of respondents reporting the use of a fictitious drug; and (c) the effect size of some criminological variables on delinquency may be sensitive to controlling for reports of fictitious drug use. Overall, the inclusion of fictitious drug use items within etiological models may serve as a useful approach to further establishing the reliability and validity of information provided by survey respondents.; © The Author(s) 2014.Item Juvenile Justice Policy and Practice: A Developmental Perspective(2015-07-28) Monahan, Kathryn; Steinberg, Laurence; Piquero, Alex R.; Piquero, Alex R.Responses to juvenile offending have swung between rehabilitative and punishment approaches since the 1960s. A shift back toward rehabilitation has been influenced by recent research on adolescence, adolescent decision making, and adolescent brain development. US Supreme Court decisions on juvenile sentencing have been influenced by them. Major changes from adolescence into early adulthood have been demonstrated in the frontal lobe and especially the prefrontal cortex, which helps govern executive functions such as self-control and planning. Compared with adults, adolescents are more impulsive, short-sighted, and responsive to immediate rewards and less likely to consider long-term consequences. Adolescents are thus less blameworthy than adults. Responses to juvenile offending should take account of malleable aspects of psychosocial functioning in a developmentally informed manner.