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Changing Criminal Thinking: An Examination Of Heterogeneity In Treatment Effects In A Sample Of Justice-Involved Persons With Dual Diagnoses, Michael Lester

Dissertations

Recent studies have indicated variability in cognitive change for justice-involved persons with mental illness exposed to treatments for criminal thinking and psychiatric risk factors. Research suggests that proactive styles of criminal thinking may be more difficult to change than impulsive or reactive styles. To date, however, no studies have identified risk factors for a limited response or modeled observed disparities in responsivity to interventions aimed at reducing criminal thinking. Using an archival dataset comprising 206 probationers with a dual diagnosis who were exposed to active CBT-based treatment, a latent profile analysis modeled unobserved heterogeneity in treatment response per observed changes …

Leadership In Corrections: An Examination Of Leadership In California Prisons, Julia Ann Munoz

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine leadership perceptions within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), as well as determine if a statistical different existed between leaders’ self-perceptions and employees’ perception of leader.

Methodology: The study employed a quantitative approach to gather data regarding leaders’ self-perception of their leadership skills and employees’ perceptions of leaders’ skills as measured by the Transformational Leadership Skills Inventory (TLSi). A total of 142 participants from three southern California prisons completed the survey items to yield results. Research Questions 1 and 2 included descriptive statistics to determine the leaders’ self-perceived leadership …

Third Party Reforms In Corrections: A Qualitative Analysis Of Interest Groups’ Effectiveness At Reducing Entropy Using Litigation, James M. A. Pitts

Dissertations

Interest groups have been prevalent in American society for decades. Much of interest groups’ (IGs) influence has been examined by their effect on decision-making. IGs’ ability to affect policy choices is undeniable both legislatively and judicially. Analyses of judicial decision-making generally focus on the use of amicus curiae briefs (ACBs) by IGs. While most analyses of IGs’ influence have been conducted using quantitative methods, few have assessed IGs’ effect on decision-making qualitatively. Although the literature on IGs and decision-making is well established among political scientists, these concepts have been discussed much less among criminologists. The current analysis fill this void …

Justice Involved Veterans’ Post-Release Employment-Related Experiences, James L. Dawson

Dissertations

In 2010, the cost to U.S. taxpayers was $39 billion to incarcerate individuals in State and Federal Correctional facilities. A sub-population of these prisoners is those that have served in the U.S. military, or “Justice Involved Veterans” (JIVs). Many Veterans are eligible for federal and state funds for Career Tech. Education to assist them with obtaining employment, which research shows often contributes to keeping them from re-offending. However, recent studies of employment after prison have all been quantitative investigations that do not incorporate the voices of JIVs describing their experiences in depth. Bush’s (2011), and Bolman and Deal’s (2008) theories …

Redemption Or Condemnation? A Long-Term Follow-Up Of The Desistance Patterns Of Sex Offenders, Kimberly Raye Kras

Dissertations

Desistance is one of most important topics in criminology. Why some offenders stop offending and why others continue has been long been a question with far-reaching theoretical and empirical implications. Despite the extensive literature on desistance, most of the research examines offenders as a single group, an approach which might overlook differences between individuals by offense type. One offender group that has not been investigated in depth is sex offenders. Sex offenders are an important group to study because they present concerns to public safety and are the subject of much legislation and criminal justice policy. A substantial amount of …

The Effect Of Legal Financial Obligations On Reentry Experiences, Breanne Rae Pleggenkuhle

Dissertations

In 2010, over 700,000 offenders were released from prison (Guerino, Harrison, and Sabol, 2012), and on any given day over seven million individual are under some form of correctional supervision (Glaze, 2011). Research has documented the collateral consequences of transition such as diminished employment prospects and limited housing availability. Fiscal concerns have shifted some of the costs of prosecution and correctional supervision to the offender, resulting in accumulation of legal financial obligations. However, little research has examined of the effect of legal financial obligations on reentry outcomes. This study has two broad goals. The first objective was to document the …