Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Attitudes And Perceptions Of Sex Offenders Amongst Rural Populationns, Riley Allen May 2024

Attitudes And Perceptions Of Sex Offenders Amongst Rural Populationns, Riley Allen

Honors Theses

The current study aims to examine rural residents’ attitudes regarding sex offenders and their perceptions of the recidivism rates of these types of individuals. Data from qualitative interviews of rural Illinois residents (N=24) will be used. This archival data will be coded with NVivo software to determine the prevalence of certain responses indicating positive or negative attitudes as well as perceptions of both adult and juvenile recidivism rates. Through the examination and analyses of the coded data, this study will help determine what kind of attitudes rural residents in southern Illinois harbor towards sex offenders and how that may correlate …


Recidivism In Mississippi: Causes, Impacts, And Solutions, Grace E. Brian May 2024

Recidivism In Mississippi: Causes, Impacts, And Solutions, Grace E. Brian

Honors Theses

Because the United States is home to the largest prison population in the world, finding solutions to reduce the rate at which prisoners return to prison is paramount to helping reduce crime. Assessments of how Mississippi, the state with the highest incarceration rate, engages with access to prison education, barriers to employment, and youth incarceration compared to the national, Southern, and non-southern averages will be explored to direct recidivism reduction solutions. Results showed that Mississippi had a slightly higher recidivism rate than the national average, had fewer barriers to employment, and a lower youth incarceration rate than the national average …


The Value Of Prison Education: Evaluating The Impact Of Education Through Desistance, Cheryl Chan Jan 2024

The Value Of Prison Education: Evaluating The Impact Of Education Through Desistance, Cheryl Chan

Honors Theses

The United States faces an epidemic of incarceration, draining resources, disrupting families, and hindering societal participation. Prison education emerges as a method to address this cycle, with vocational and academic programs being pivotal. While vocational programs are more common, their long-term efficacy remains uncertain. Academic education, exemplified by programs like the Bard Prison Initiative, provides incarcerated individuals with an opportunity to change. Typically, the success of these programs are measured using recidivism. However, recidivism has become too narrow of a measure to properly capture the nuances of an education. There has been an emerging body of scholarship studying desistance and …


“Can I Be Something More Than The Worst Thing I Had Ever Done?”: The Difficulties Of Reentry After Incarceration In Kentucky, Larissa Dm Heslop Oct 2019

“Can I Be Something More Than The Worst Thing I Had Ever Done?”: The Difficulties Of Reentry After Incarceration In Kentucky, Larissa Dm Heslop

Honors Theses

This thesis focuses on the difficulties that people face upon reentry after incarceration in Kentucky. An ethnographic background was used to understand the current situation of incarceration and reentry in Kentucky. Mass incarceration, Kentucky incarcerated population demographics, high costs of incarceration, and Kentucky politics on incarceration are covered in the ethnographic background. A literature review was used to give context to difficulties that people face such as clothing, disenfranchisement, education, employment, family relations and social support, housing, transportation and basic needs, mental health, religion, and stigma. Ethnographic research methods, which consisted of semi-structured interviews and participant observation, were used to …


The Employability Of Former Criminals, Miranda Donnell Dec 2016

The Employability Of Former Criminals, Miranda Donnell

Honors Theses

This thesis presents a view into the way employers view hiring decisions with particular focus on the hiring of former criminals, and what information these hiring professionals require in order to make what they would consider an educated hiring decisions related to the risks associated with hiring individuals with prior criminal histories. While there are thousands of people looking for jobs in the United States, there is a parallel employment gap for former criminals. For numerous reasons, the unemployment rate is much higher for former criminals. Abundant research has found that, in general, employers and the public believe two very …