Digital Commons Network^™

Obscure Certificates Could Cut Down Recidivism, Frank Green

Capstones

When you’re convicted of a crime, your punishment doesn’t end with prison. Your life is harder until you die. New Yorkers with criminal histories can get these Certificates that make life a little less hard. They’re a kind of a diploma of rehabilitation. The standards for getting them aren’t that high. Most people who’ve been convicted of a crime are eligible, in theory. But hardly anybody gets them. This article is about the ignorance and legal contradictions that have made them so obscure.

Counterfeit Ed, Meral Agish, Sarah Barrett, Mark Fahey, Audrey Mcglinchy, Jacob Naughton, Oresti Tsonopoulos

Capstones

This investigative project explores the abuses of for-profit colleges in New York City in the context of what federal, state and city bodies have done to regulate these schools. We focused on two for-profits in the city, ASA College and TCI College, whose practices typify the criticisms of for-profit schools: targeting low-income people of color, funding the school from mostly federal student loans and issuing pricey degrees that yield few field-specific jobs.

Rethinking School Discipline, Gwynne Hogan

Capstones

How schools maintain order in the halls can be just as important as what they teach in the classrooms. The way students are disciplined teaches them what consequences their actions will have not just in school, but as they grow into adulthood. This project examines the role of the NYPD in city schools and the impact it has on school discipline. It will also look into one school in Far Rockaway whose principal has managed cut suspensions by shifting attitudes towards discipline.

The Diary Of An Ex-Con, Erica Edwards

Capstones

Evelyn Litwok talks about abuse that incarcerated people experience in prison and the punishment inmates face when they attempt to address it with administration.

The Study Of Torture: Why It Persists, Why Perceptions Of It Are Malleable, And Why It Is Difficult To Eradicate, Erin M. Kearns

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Why does torture persist despite its prohibition? Scholars, policymakers, and the public have heavily debated this topic in the past decade. Yet, many puzzles remain about the practice of torture. Scholarship on torture spans academic disciplines, which adds diversity in perspectives brought to these questions but also can lead to redundancy and stunted progress in research on the issue as a whole. This article assesses the state of the multidisciplinary literature on torture in counterterrorism with specific focus on why democracies torture despite prohibiting it, how public perception of torture is malleable, and why so few countries are able to …

Judicial Reform, Constitutionalism And The Rule Of Law In Zambia: From A Justice System To A Just System, Muna Ndulo

Muna B Ndulo

In Zambia it is generally agreed on by all stakeholders that the judicial system needs reform to make it more accountable, independent, and able to deliver justice efficiently and effectively. This article discusses judicial reform in the context of the independence of the judiciary. It tries to unpack the term judicial reform. It argues that for the rule of law and constitutionalism to prevail it is crucial that the judiciary is independent and there is separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary, and legislature and the judiciary. For judges to be personally and substantively independent they need security …

The Association Between Trauma Exposure, Maladjustment, And Aggression In Detained Boys, Kelli R. Thompson

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has demonstrated an association between violence exposure and aggression; however, research exploring the association between violence exposure and the forms and functions of aggression is scarce. The aim of this study was to explore the associations between trauma exposure with both reactive and proactive functions of aggression by examining two potential mediators (e.g., psychopathic traits and emotional dysregulation). Participants included 132 male juvenile offenders mandated to treatment in a residential facility (M = 16.78 years old; SD = 1.25). Results indicate emotional dysregulation partially mediated the association between trauma exposure and reactive aggression while controlling for proactive …

Penny For Your Thoughts? The Protective Effect Of Youths’ Attitudes Against Drug Use In High-Risk Communities, Emily M. Wright, Abigail A. Fagan, Gillian M. Pichevsky

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Individual-level attitudes about drugs are strong predictors of substance use among adolescents, and aggregate-level community norms regarding deviancy and drug use may influence youth attitudes as well as their drug use. This study examined the direct effects of neighborhood norms about deviance, disadvantage, immigrant concentration, and residential stability on youths’ attitudes about drug harmfulness as well as their variety of past month substance use. The moderating effect of community norms on the relationship between youth attitudes and drug use was also examined. Results suggest that community norms favorable to deviance and drug use reduced youth’s attitudes that drugs were harmful. …

Reliability Matters: Reassociating Bagley Materiality, Strickland Prejudice, And Cumulative Harmless Error, John H. Blume, Christopher Seeds

John H. Blume

No abstract provided.

Perception Of Police In Public Housing Communities, Taylor Brickley

Theses and Dissertations

Research on the relationship between police and citizens consistently finds that attitudes toward police (ATP) are least positive among black citizens in areas of concentrated disadvantage. While much of the research in this area focuses specifically on ATP among young black males in low-income communities because they have the most contact with police, there has been relatively little research that has included older and/or female residents. Additionally, research has yet to examine ATP in racial and economic enclaves that may have different social and environmental characteristics than the surrounding community. This study utilizes in-depth interviews with 60 residents of two …

The Effect Of Attachment Type On Levels Of Delinquency And Peer Relations, Kayla Jordan

Honors Theses

The goal of this study is to determine if a relationship exists between the attachment type of an individual and that individual's level of delinquency and also their peer relations. This was done by having the participant take the Adult Attachment Scale to place them into their attachment type, followed by the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale to determine the participant's level of delinquency, and finally the Index of Peer Relations to assess the amount of problems the participant has with his or her peers. Sixty-one Coastal Carolina students participated in the study and the results show that those with a …

Racial Justice Study: An Examination Of Ticket Citations In The City Of Mankato, Minnesota, Meagan Hammers, C. J. Hays, Hannah Laniado

Public Sociology Publications and Projects

This study examines if there is racial disparity in policing in the city of Mankato, Minnesota by examining all traffic ticket citations given for a six-month period in 2014. The authors created a data set and examined statistical relationships between the observed race of those receiving tickets and the types of tickets received. This study discovered statistically significant findings of over policing of minorities; while minorities represent roughly ten percent the population in Mankato, they make up approximately 22% of the population cited. Further, minorities were about three times more likely than whites to receive a ticket for administrative offenses, …

Examination Of Capital Murder Jurors’ Deliberations: Methods And Issues, Keith Price, Susan Coleman, Gary R. Byrd

Administrative Issues Journal

The study of capital juries remains a subject of critical interest for the public and for legislative and judicial policy makers as well as legal scholars and social scientists. Cowan, Thompson, and Ellsworth established one of the standard methodologies for examination of this topic in their 1984 seminal study by observing the subjects’ debate about conviction in a death penalty case utilizing mock juries; other scholars employed different techniques to add more information in the late 1990s. Yet, the question of death qualification and prosecutorial bias remains open to inquiry. This preliminary study found evidence to support bias toward conviction …

The Role Of Violence Within And Across Self-Identified Gang Youth, J. Michael Vecchio

Dissertations

Whether actual (i.e., direct and vicarious victimization) or anticipated (i.e., fear of crime and perceived risk of victimization) violence, gang youth commonly discuss violence in terms of having an important role in both their gang experiences and daily lives. In particular, violence can play an important role within the specific stages of the gang experience – 1) joining, 2) active membership, and 3) leaving. This includes the importance of protection from violence as a common motivator for joining, the utility of violence as a means of building cohesion between active gang members, as well as the importance of exposure to …

Race And Punishment: Demographic Disparities And Patterns In The Blue Earth County Court System, Aaron Guerdet, Alyssa Haugly, Kelsey Mischke

Public Sociology Publications and Projects

This study examines potential race and gender disparities in sentencing decisions in Blue Earth County, MN courts. Using qualitative field observations and a grounded theory approach, authors observed and analyzed court proceedings. In total, three researchers conducted seven weeks of observations; the final sample consisted of 95 observed court sessions, 50 of them being closed court cases. Results show little discrepancy in gender and charges and sentencing rates. Though there are racial discrepancies in charges that suggest discriminatory policing decisions, the data shows that minority members are being sentenced at a similar rate compared to white defendants. In all cases …

Centennial Library E-News, November/December 2014, Cedarville University

Centennial Library Shelf Life

Articles in this issue: Library faculty member resigns, New Director appointed, Faculty members participate in conference, Graduate scholarship available, Book cart drill team performs, Canoe race team close to a win, Library science dinner hosted, University faculty in print, University alumni in print, Semester break hours

The History Of Bromance, The Rise Of Its Popularity, And The Divergences Between Bromance And Homosexuality In The Human Mindset, Aaron M. Ash

Aaron M Ash

Since the beginning of time, man has needed man—as a friend, a teacher, a confidant, or even something more. As time has gone on, this idea has continued to evolve up until the 1990s when Dave Carnie coined the term ‘Bromance’ in the skateboard magazine, Big Brother. Ironically the term did not become popular until the seventh season of Big Brother, a popular reality television show, when contestants Will Kirby and Mike Malin referred to their relationship as a bromance. Since then, society has seen an ever increasing number of bromances in television, including children’s shows; music; and everyday life. …

Columbia Chronicle (12/08/2014), Columbia College Chicago

Columbia Chronicle

Student newspaper from December 8, 2014 entitled The Columbia Chronicle. This issue is 44 pages and is listed as Volume 50, Number 15. Cover story: "Final roundtable wraps up feedback phase" Editor-in-Chief: Tyler Eagle

Excited Delirium Syndrome And Conducted Electrical Weapons, Adam A. Nielsen

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Excited delirium syndrome (ExDS) is defined as delirium coupled with extreme agitation (Vilke et al., 2012). ExDS is a bona fide medical condition that requires immediate medical attention, as 8% of patients will die from it. Some research only classifies ExDS as "true ExDS" if the subject dies; most research does not and this research does not wish to exclude the 92% of ExDS cases where the subject does not die. ExDS is well known because it oftentimes comes into play during and after a violent encounter with law enforcement. Because over 7,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies use TASER© brand …

Narrative Life Review And Poetry-Writing With Older Adults, Cherita M. Black

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This thesis explores narrative life review and poetry writing with older individuals, as an alternative to support their successful aging. Four females, ages 66-93, participated in a two-part project. Phase I included: (a) completing a narrative life review, and (b) developing original poetry with the researcher. Phase II included: (a) poetry reflection and (b) completing an open-ended evaluation. Phase 1 results demonstrated four successful narrative life reviews, which composed the poetry-writing sessions. Phase II demonstrated that three out of four participants reported no significant positive influences in the evaluation. Implications suggest social well-being replicated study can possibly assess social well-being …

Disabilities Disabilities: A "Two-Way Mirror", Kathy A. Thomas

The Qualitative Report

There is nothing more intriguing than well-reported documented stories of real life experiences and genuine autoethnographic dialogue. When writers communicate and relate stories about the self and their experiences and include others who share a personal story, there is an amazing connection, unique intensive and extensive understanding and interpretation, and a cultural and social exchange in an authoethnographic representation of self and the respective culture of study. A dialogue generated among the authors as educators as they shared stories inside and outside the disabilities culture was the performance and autoethnographic delivery in Phil Smith’s book, Both Sides of the Table: …

Vawa @ 20: Building The Knowledge Base: Research Funding Through Vawa, Claire M. Renzetti, Rebecca M. Campbell, Allison Adair

Sociology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Mandatory Arrest Policy Implications And Domestic Violence, Stephanie Smith

Honors Theses

I chose to do my honors thesis on the mandatory arrest policy regarding domestic violence. I will explore the history of domestic violence, the theoretical and ideological underpinnings of the policy, the research evidence that has been put forth regarding the policy and then offer my critical evaluation regarding the topic.

Lanthorn, Vol. 49, No. 30, December 4, 2014, Grand Valley State University

Volume 49, July 7, 2014 - June 1, 2015

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

The Cowl - V.79 - N.12 - Dec 4, 2014

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol 79 - No. 12 - December 4, 2014. 24 pages.

Nebraska Department Of Correctional Services Reentry Initiative Vocational & Life Skills Program Grant Announcement - Application For Funding, Uno Nebraska Center For Justice Research

Reports

The NDCS Reentry Initiative involves a systemic approach for individuals to return to their communities. Reentry is not a “program”, it is an intentional mind-set; it is a method of facilitating the incarcerated and/or supervised individual’s return to his/her community as a productive and law abiding citizen.

Successful reentry:

 Provides increased public safety by reducing the number of victims

o This is achieved by reducing the likelihood of continued criminal behavior, essentially lowering the recidivism rate

 Provides a plan for assessing and addressing risks and needs

o This plan involves a reentry-focused case management system from first contact …

Cedarville Vs. Ohio Christian, Cedarville University

Women's Basketball Programs

No abstract provided.

The C.S.I. Effect: Exploration Of Its Influence On Perception Of Criminal Behavior, Alexandra Mcconnell

HIM 1990-2015

This study explores the C.S.I. effect in relation to its influence on criminal activity. Expansive research exists concerning the C.S.I. Effect, but very little pertains to the influence it has on individuals' perception of crime and their ability to get away with it. The study explores whether heavy viewers of crime show dramas such as Law & Order and C.S.I. display increased confidence in their ability to commit and get away with a crime. Essentially, this study explores whether these crime television shows are not only entertainment, but also may serve as guides on how to commit crimes. Participants in …

Are You Trying To Recruit Suicide Bombers Or Something?, Suzanne Weedon

Criminal Justice

Suicide terrorism has been extensively studied, although few researchers have been able to arrive at definitive conclusions. Often overlooked is the explanatory potential of evolutionary psychology. This study presents an evolutionary model of suicide terrorism using the principles of kin selection theory and inclusive fitness and offers several predictions about suicide terrorists. To test these predictions, an experimental design was constructed in which participants randomly received one of nine separate scenarios in which they were told that they were a member of a marginalized ethnic group and asked if they would be willing to commit a suicide bombing against their …

An Empirical Evaluation Of The Connecticut Death Penalty System Since 1973: Are There Unlawful Racial, Gender, And Geographic Disparities?, John J. Donohue

John Donohue

This article analyzes the 205 death-eligible murders leading to homicide convictions in Connecticut from 1973–2007 to determine if discriminatory and arbitrary factors influenced capital outcomes. A regression analysis controlling for an array of legitimate factors relevant to the crime, defendant, and victim provides overwhelming evidence that minority defendants who kill white victims are capitally charged at substantially higher rates than minority defendants who kill minorities, that geography influences both capital charging and sentencing decisions (with the location of a crime in Waterbury being the single most potent influence on which death-eligible cases will lead to a sentence of death), and …