Digital Commons Network^™

The Texture Of Local Disaster Response: Service Providers' Views Following Hurricane Katrina, John J. Green, Anna M. Kleiner, Jolynn P. Montgomery

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Disasters highlight elements of community vulnerability and resiliency. Effective responses are organized and managed to provide goods and services to survivors while also being supportive of the organizations attempting to meet these needs. Collaboration among local service providers, such as nonprofit, faith-based, and governmental organizations, allows communities to build upon internal and external networks and resources to prepare for and respond to disasters. Using a livelihoods framework, we analyze 139 qualitative field interviews conducted in the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Southeast Louisiana, to learn from the experiences, needs, and recommendations of people working on the front lines of disaster in …

Collective Disaster Responses To Katrina And Rita: Exploring Therapeutic Community, Social Capital, And Social Control, Lee M. Miller

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

The goal of this paper is to explore the dynamics of one East Texas community’s responses to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Literature on community response to disaster forms a basis for reflections on observed local response activities, including convergence behavior. In particular, the concept of social capital is compared to, and contrasted with, Barton’s model of therapeutic community. Social control is a relatively unexplored element of social capital, but one that helps us understand the development of normative frameworks, generalized trust, and the perceived legitimacy of institutions–important factors in effective community response to disasters. In conclusion, implications for future preparedness …

Analysis Of Selected Correlates Of Spouse Abuse And The Policy Implications For The Criminal Justice System., Marlys Kay Tester

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research on spouse abuse has received greater attention during the last 3 decades around the world. This research was conducted to investigate the selected correlates of alcohol use, drug use, and marital status and the effects they have on use of weapons and violent behavior. The secondary data used was from a study done in Chicago from 1995-1998, called the Chicago Community Crime Prevention and Intimate Violence Study. There were 210 domestic violence victims studied in one Chicago area. Each victim was asked a series of the same questions. It was found that 39.4% of the domestic violence cases involved …

Inside Unlv, Shane Bevell, David Ashley, Tony Allen, Mamie Peers, Allison Miller

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

A Critique Of The Global Trafficking Discourse And U.S. Policy, Moshoula Capous Desyllas

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article examines the dominant discourse on trafficking in persons and the implementation of international and U.S. policy to address trafficking globally. Features of the United Nations Protocol and the Trafficking in Victims Protection Act demonstrate how trafficking frameworks currently in place contain underlying fears of migration and female sexuality. The implications of policy on the construction of third world women as "victims to be saved" through governments, National Government Organizations, feminists and the media will show how these misrespresentations only reinforce racism and dualistic simplifications of a complex issue. An emphasis is placed on the importance of women's agency …

Felony Disenfranchisement Legislation: A Test Of The Group Threat Hypothesis, Angel Dawn Geoghagan

Doctoral Dissertations

The group threat hypothesis is part of the conflict theoretical perspective, which has been one of the most dominant and useful theories in the fields of criminology and criminal justice for decades. The usefulness of this perspective relates to the understanding it provides of how the law can be used by those in power as a measure of control. The use of law as a method of control has a long history in the US society, and there are many examples from which to pull. This project examines the use of one set of laws, felony disenfranchisement legislation, to determine …

Rethinking The Definition Of Police Crime: The Relationship Of Sex, Drugs, Violence And/Or Greed To Virtually All Police Crime, Philip M. Stinson

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Predicting The Prison Misconducts Of Women Offenders: The Importance Of Gender-Responsive Needs, Emily M. Wright, Emily J. Salisbury, Patricia Van Voorhis

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The needs of women offenders may be qualitatively different than the needs of male offenders. The “pathways” and “gender-responsive” perspectives of female offending have recently garnered attention in both practitioner and scholarly arenas. The pathways perspective focuses attention on the co-occurrence and effects of trauma, substance abuse, dysfunctional relationships, and mental illness on female offending, while the gender-responsive perspective also suggests that problems related to parenting, childcare, and self-concept issues are important needs of women offenders. Few studies have examined whether or not these are risk factors for poor prison adjustment. With a sample of 272 incarcerated women offenders in …

Concurrent Panel Session 2: Service Learning: Linking Students And Community, Daniel Mclean, Jane Pike, Seth Pollack, Fran Smith, Jean Whitney, Cheri Young

Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability

Moderator: Peg Rees, UNLV Public Lands Institute Scribe: Melanie Taylor, UNLV Department of Criminal Justice Conference white paper & Full summary of panel session, 4 pages

State-Corporate Crime And The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Alan S. Bruce, Paul J. Becker

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

While criminologists have for some time examined state and corporate crime as separate entities, the concept of state-corporate crime highlighting joint government and private corporate action causing criminal harm is a recent area of study with relatively few published case studies (Matthews and Kauzlarich, 2000). This paper focuses on state-corporate crime at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) in Paducah, Kentucky, and contributes to the study of state-corporate crime in three ways: (1) it adds a new case study to a field in which there are few published accounts, (2) it assesses the utility of Kauzlarich and Kramer’s (1998) integrated …

The Functions Of The Social Bond, James J. Chriss

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

Travis Hirschi's control or social bonding theory argues that those persons who have strong and abiding attachments to conventional society (in the form of attachments, involvement, investment, and belief) are less likely to deviate than persons who have weak or shallow bonds. Later, Gottfredson and Hirschi moved away from the social bond as the primary factor in deviance, and toward an emphasis on self-control. In short, low self-control is associated with higher levels of deviance and criminality irrespective of the strength or weakness of one's social bonds. In this article I argue that Talcott Parsons' AGIL schema easily incorporates Hirschi's …

The Effects Of Collective Efficacy And Dissatisfaction With Law Enforcement On Neighborhood Crime Rates, Kelly E. Cobb

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the effects of collective efficacy and dissatisfaction with law enforcement on neighborhood crime rates. A data set was obtained from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research titled, Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods: Community Survey 1994-1995 (PHDCN). This is one of the only studies which ask specific questions concerning collective efficacy and dissatisfaction with law enforcement, accompanied with a large, diverse sample. This research is important because it looks at two concepts, collective efficacy and dissatisfaction with law enforcement and their combined effect on neighborhood crime rates; violent …

Steekpartij Voor De Spiegel, Jenneke Christiaens

Jenneke Christiaens

No abstract provided.

Interpersonal Violence And Animals: Mandated Cross-Sector Reporting, Dennis D. Long, Joan H. Long, Shanti J. Kulkarni

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Research indicates an association between interpersonal violence and animal cruelty. This article examine the virtues and limitations of creating statutory authority requiring professionals to report substantiated abuse, neglect, and cruelty across service delivery systems (e.g. child and adult protect services and humane societies). Such a legislative approach authorizes and legitimizes "mandated crosssector reporting." The probative and research value of this type of initiative is examined as well as ethical and political considerations.

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 34, No. 3 (September 2007)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: LESSONS FROM A CASE STUDY IN THE ARKANSAS DELTA - Valerie H. Hunt
• THE ROLE OF INFORMAL SOCIAL NETWORKS IN MICRO-SAVINGS MOBILIZATION - Margaret Lombe and Fred M. Ssewamala
• ADVICE AND HELP-SEEKING INTENTIONS AMONG YOUTH IN ISRAEL: ETHNIC AND GENDER DIFFERENCES - Moshe Sherer
• INCARCERATION AND UNWED FATHERS IN FRAGILE FAMILIES - Charles E. Lewis, Jr., Irwin Garfinkel and Qin Gao
• GREEK-LETTER MEMBERSHIP AND COLLEGE GRADUATION: DOES RACE MATTER? - Ronald E. Severtis, Jr. and C. Andrg Christie-Mizell
• FROM FINANCIAL LITERACY TO FINANCIAL CAPABILITY AMONG YOUTH - Elizabeth Johnson and Margaret …

Incarceration And Unwed Fathers In Fragile Families, Charles E. Lewis Jr., Irwin Garfinkel, Qin Gao

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Criminal justice policies have resulted in millions of Americans being incarcerated over the past three decades in systems that provide little or no rehabilitation. This study uses a new dataset-The Fragile Families Study-to document poor labor market outcomes that are associated with incarceration. We find that fathers who had been incarcerated earned 28 percent less annually thanfathers who were never incarceratedT hese previously incarceratedfa thers worked less weeks per year, less hours per week and were less likely to be working during the week prior to their interview. We also found that fathers who had been incarcerated were more likely …

Community Development Corporations And Public Participation: Lessons From A Case Study In The Arkansas Delta, Valerie H. Hunt

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In this paper, I focus on the role of community development corporations (CDCs) in fostering public participation in the local political process. Using survey and interview data gathered from CDCs operating in the Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas, I show that the CDC is an important intermediary between the citizens and the local political arena. While, according to this study's findings, the CDCs' long-term goal is to develop a lasting sense of efficacy among CDC participants, leading to direct political participation by citizens, the nature of CDC funding does not fully support these efforts. As a result, these critical activities …

Adolescents And Marijuana Use: The Affects Of Peer And Parent Relationships And Substance Abuse Education., Samuel Joseph Cosimano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze gender, race, substance abuse programs such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.), parents, and peers and their ability to influence or predict adolescents and their decisions to use marijuana. All of the variables used for this study came from secondhand data collected by Esbensen and Osgood (1999), Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.). The analysis revealed that males are more likely to have ever used marijuana, that mixed race adolescents have a higher rate than other races to have ever used marijuana, that when adolescents complete the substance abuse program, D.A.R.E. have …

Group Membership And Social Influence, Christopher Barnum, Barry N. Markovsky

Faculty Publications

Can people influence others solely by virtue of shared group membership? To address this and related questions, we offer a theory of group-mediated social influence and then test it in a standardized collective task setting. The theory capitalizes on uncertainty reduction principles found in two longstanding social psychological traditions: social identity theory and status characteristics theory. Our primary hypothesis was that in-group members would be more influential than out-group members. Results from the experiment indicate that in-group members were indeed more influential than out-group members. These findings supported a key derivation of our theory, and demonstrated that the integration accounts …

Who Survives On Death Row? An Individual And Contextual Analysis, David Jacobs, Jason T. Carmichael, Zhenchao Qian, Stephanie L. Kent

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

What are the relationships between death row offender attributes, social arrangements, and executions? Partly because public officials control executions, theorists view this sanction as intrinsically political. Although the literature has focused on offender attributes that lead to death sentences, the post-sentencing stage is at least as important. States differ sharply in their willingness to execute and less than 10 percent of those given a death sentence are executed. To correct the resulting problems with censored data, this study uses a discrete-time event history analysis to detect the individual and state-level contextual factors that shape execution probabilities. The findings show that …

The Determinants Of Executions Since 1951: How Politics, Protests, Public Opinion, And Social Divisions Shape Capital Punishment, David Jacobs, Stephanie L. Kent

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

This time-series study uses hypotheses derived from a politically refined version of conflict theory to explain both public support for the death penalty and the number of executions. With murders in death penalty states and Supreme Court decisions held constant, tests of hypotheses about lags suggest that public support and Republican strength in the states influence yearly executions by their effects on death sentences rather than the later appeals process. Other dynamic results show that national level Republican strength, presidential elections that emphasize law and order, economic inequality, and higher murder rates increase yearly executions because they affect the extremely …

Revisiting Deviance And Its Relevance: A Conceptual History And Some Recent Applications In Discussions Of Violence And Institutional Social Control (Review Essay), William T. Armaline

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Particularisation Of Child Abuse Offences: Common Problems When Questioning Child Witnesses, Martine B. Powell, Kim P. Roberts, Belinda Guadagno

Psychology Faculty Publications

Prosecuting child abusers is often difficult due to lack of particularising details. Two possible ways of addressing this difficulty are: (a) to change the justice system to better serve prosecution for repeated offences (i.e., allow generic testimony), and (b) to bolster children's testimony. As this article has illustrated, there is still considerable potential for increasing (b). Given the low prosecution rates of child abuse offences, the need for exceptional interviewer training programs coupled with resources for ongoing supervision is now critical. While there have been some major improvements in child witness investigative interviews over the past two decades, there are …

The Health Implications Of Violence Against Women: Untangling The Complexities Of Actual And Chronic Effects: Part Two, Carol E. Jordan

Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women Publications

No abstract provided.

The Depiction Of Alcohol Tobacco And Other Substances In Children's G & Pg-Rated Animated Films Post 2000, Lindsay F. Graham

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study will analyze the depiction of alcohol, tobacco, and other substances in G and PG-rated animated films from November 1, 2000 to December 31, 2005. These films will include those released in theaters and video in English, at least 60 minutes in length, and of the animated genre during this five-year window. There is evidence that due to recent societal pressures facing the Motion Picture Association of America and their rating guidelines, the presence of alcohol and tobacco in children's animated Grated films has lessened. These incidents of exposure have since moved up the rating totem pole to receive …

Intimate Partner Homicide, Karitta A. Page

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Using data collected from the Chicago Women's Health Risk Study (Block 2000), this study looked at female perpetrated intimate partner homicide. The purpose of this study was to identify what factors, if any, differentiate between abused women who kill versus abused women who do not kill their intimate partners. Through conducting this study, several factors such as substance abuse, support networks and severe violence were compared between abused women who kill their intimate partner versus those who were abused women but did not kill. It was found that severe abuse, substance abuse by the abuser and the abused person were …

A Seat At The Table? Racial/Ethnic & Gender Diversity On Corporate, Hospital, Education, Cultural & State Boards, Carol Hardy-Fanta Phd, Donna Stewartson

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

As part of its larger Diversity Initiative, the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies at UMass Boston has undertaken a number of projects. The first was a public opinion survey conducted around the time of the November 2006 elections. The report, Transformation and Taking Stock: A Summary of Selected Findings from the McCormack Graduate School Diversity Survey, included a comprehensive look at race relations in the Commonwealth at a time of significant transition—demographically and politically. This report was followed by A Benchmark Report on Diversity in State and Local Government, which focused on the percentage of positions filled …

Juveniles Adjudicated In Adult Court: The Effects Of Age, Gender, Race, Previous Convictions, And Severity Of Crime On Sentencing Decisions., Ashley Michelle Holbrook

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze the influences such as age at current offense, gender, race, previous convictions, and the seriousness of crimes that contributed to the decisions received by juveniles in adult court. This study examined a secondary data set from the United States Department of Justice entitled Juvenile Defendants in Criminal Courts (JDCC): Survey of 40 Counties in the United States, 1998. The cases from these 40 jurisdictions represented all filings during one month in 75 of the most populous counties. The current study found significant differences among race, prior criminal history, current offense severity, and …

Media: Effects On Attitudes Toward Police And Fear Of Criminal Victimization., Bradley Edwards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated the effects of the media on attitudes toward police and fear of crime, while controlling for selected audience trait variables. A self-report questionnaire was administered to 351 students at East Tennessee State University. The survey consisted of demographic and audience trait variables. The survey also contained items that measured the respondants' media consumption. Respondents were asked, for example, which format they typically get news from (e.g., newspaper, television), how often they watch television, and how real they perceive crime related television to be. Multivariate analysis showed that demographic and audience trait variables explained more variance than did …

Racial Profiling And Policing In North Carolina: Reality Or Rhetoric?, Randal J. Sluss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined police practices of the North Carolina Highway Patrol concerning the occurrence of racial profiling. The sample data consisted of motorists stopped in North Carolina by the Highway Patrol between January 1, 2000 and July 31, 2000 (N = 332, 861). The findings suggested that race was a likely factor in pretextual stops. The results also indicate that racial profiling was occurring more in the western region than the eastern region of North Carolina. Theoretical reasons are offered in support of these findings.