Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Risk Factors For Fatal Intimate Partner Violence And Domestic Violence Services Provided, Faith E. Alves

Honors Theses

The current study assessed the COVID-19 pandemic-related changes in risk factors for fatal intimate partner violence (IPV) among female victims. It additionally analyzed IPV services received before and during the pandemic. Data came from a system that most domestic violence (DV) agencies in Connecticut utilize to record their contacts with their clients, including an initial screening through a police-social service intervention. Results indicated that unemployment of the partner was significantly higher in the during-COVID group. Additionally, the delivery of criminal justice services was significantly higher in the pre-COVID group whereas delivery of law enforcement services was significantly higher in the …

Examining The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Violent Crime In The City Of Pittsburgh, Brittany Urban

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to examine patterns of Part I crimes [including Part I Person/Violent: Homicide, Rape, Aggravated Assault, and Robbery, and Part I Property: Burglary, Larceny-Theft, Motor Vehicle Theft, and Arson, as defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Standards] in The City of Pittsburgh, framing the COVID-19 pandemic as a major stressor that Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory suggests may lead to increased opportunity for crime, due to the perceived unjustness of the associated lockdown orders and potential incentive for criminal coping (Agnew 1992). This descriptive analysis is based primarily upon …

“Have You Seen Me?”: Forensic Art For Human Identification, Mckenzie Stommen

Honors Theses

Forensic art for human identification is used to identify victims, suspects, and unidentified decedents. The field is highly interdisciplinary, and forensic artists draw on a broad range of skills, knowledge, and relationships with colleagues to complete this work. This paper will focus mainly on age progression and forensic facial reconstruction, although more applications of forensic art do exist. The case study in forensic art discussed here took the form of an age progression.

New developments in artificial intelligence, facial recognition, computed tomography, and DNA have implications for forensic art, and have already begun to find a place in the field. …

An Updated Look At Mental Health Services In American Public And Private Prisons, Lieren E. Tyira

Student Theses

People residing in American prisons have the legal right to mental health care while incarcerated (Justia, 2021). This is important, as the prevalence of mental disorders is high in this population (Prins, 2014), and incarceration is a psychologically damaging experience, which hinders a person’s success at rehabilitation. Numerous of issues related to the mental health services (MHSs) in both public and private prison facilities have been reported in recent years, which warrants systematic exploration. The little existing research comparing the presence of MHSs in these facilities has produced mixed results, it uses out-of-date datasets, and none has explored MHSs in …

The Fiscal Impact Of Marsy's Law: A Financial Analysis Of Victims' Rights Policy In Nevada, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio

Undergraduate Research Symposium Lightning Talks

Since 2008, the "Marsy's Law" campaign has sought to embed in state constitutions a specific and lengthy set of victims' rights. In 2018, voters ratified "Question 1" in Nevada which broaded the definition of the term victim to any person directly and 'proximately' harmed by a criminal offense. As a result, Marsy's Law opens the door to the interpretation of the word "crime" and the word "victim."

Smoke But No Fire: Convicting The Innocent Of Crimes That Never Happened, Autumn Huber

Symposium of Student Scholars

“Smoke but no Fire” published by Jessica Henry provides various discussions of no-crime wrongful convictions of those who are innocent. Throughout this novel, the evaluation of forensic error, police roles, judiciary roles, and misdemeanors bring to light the phantom crimes that occur within our criminal justice system. The criminal justice system brings the injustice of those wrongfully convicted to the eyes of readers worldwide. Part of this research provided throughout her novel includes the National Registry of Exonerations, short for NRE, which assesses evidence of exonerations of those who were innocent and those who remain inside the four walls of …

The Commonalities And Contrasting Features Of English And American Law, Abigail Job

Senior Honors Theses

The English and American legal systems and law are founded under the Common Law System. However, there are staunch differences and similarities that work to define the individual legal features of each nation, such as the law's interpretation, making, and role. This paper aims to analyze the qualities that comprise each legal system and analyze their commonalities and contrasting features. The features that will be analyzed are the Common Law systems, Supreme Court, Judicial system Structure, and Legislative Process. It is imperative when exploring the law of a nation to understand the foundational philosophy, creation, interpretation, and application of the …

Domestic Violence Against Men: Their Report Decision Making Process, Ngozi Aleke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Little or nothing is really known about a man’s victimization in a domestic violence situation. Generally domestic violence is viewed from the lens of a women with the typical idea that women are the victim while men, the perpetrators of violence. Overtime, this societal perception is beginning to subside as researchers have proven that men are also victims of domestic violence (Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz,1980). Despite this revelation, not much is known about male victimization as most men prefer not to report their victimization. This study seeks to examine the reasons for not reporting victimization and the effect of this …

Reparations For The Wrongly Convicted, Gillian Trost

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Wrongly convicted persons should be offered reparations in instances where they have suffered or faced harm as a result of their wrong conviction. Harms can include, but are not limited to, losing physical time, mental health damages, monetary harm, and damages to the person’s reputation. Harms are anything that has diminished a person's quality of life throughout the conviction process and even after exoneration. Failure to offer reparations to these persons is unethical and reparations are a necessary consequence when the judicial system convicts the wrong person. Failure to offer reparations also lessens the judicial system’s accuracy and reliability when …

The Real Face Of Borderline Personality Organization Within Intimate Partner Violence, Adriana Isabel Patino

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study tests the relationship between IPV perpetration and victimization with BPO. Results indicate that, as predicted, BPO is positively associated with both IPV perpetration and victimization and is more prevalent in female perpetrators and victims than in male perpetrators and victims. However, contrary to what previous literature says, self-control does not show enough significance to state that it is one of the leading causes of IPV perpetrated by those who present traits of BPO. In addition, results also indicate that having suffered from physical abuse during childhood diminishes the probability of perpetrating IPV. To fully understand these results, future …

A Comparison Of The Mental Health Of Police Officers And Correctional Officers In Rural Appalachia, Sierra Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of mental health among police officers and correctional officers within rural Appalachia. The main goal of this research was to better understand how the occupational demands of working in the criminal justice field can impact one’s mental health over time. Several research questions were explored, including the prevalence of various mental health problems, associated stressors, the structure of support among officers, and the perceptions of mental health treatment services. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 21 police and correctional officers located in rural Appalachia. Results provided a better understanding of …

An Examination Of Differences In Race, Gender, And Age In Processing And Outcomes Within The U.S. Criminal Justice System, Teliyah Cobb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Demographic factors can influence criminal justice system outcomes. We examine legal system processing in 12 U.S. states from 1976-1991. Variables included: 1) race, age, and gender; 2) violent, sexual, and drug- and alcohol-related charges; 3) level of charge; 4) charges at arrest, trial, and final disposition; 5) time-lengths between each stage; 6) dismissal, plea bargaining, and conviction; and 7) final sentencing length. Significant differences in arrest, prosecution, plea bargaining, charge severity, and final sanctioning were observed dependent on race, gender, age, and the intersectionality of these characteristics. Implications for research policy to reduce the impact of disparities are discussed.

Where's The Beef? How Chicago Gang Members Utilize Social Media To Promote Beefs And Incite Gang Violence And Gang Murders, Alejandra Ruiz

University Honors Program Senior Projects

This is a literature review about how gang members utilize social media to incite gang violence offline to assist in the creation of a new special unit of the Chicago Police Department that will work together with gang violence prevention/gang violence reduction organizations to assist in reducing gang conflict/gang violence created on social media. There are studies that focus on how gang members use social media. The literature focuses on different aspects of how gang members and gangs use social media. “Internet banging” or “cyber banging” is a form of gang banging but on social media platforms. “Internet banging” or …

Acid Attacks: An Overview Of Legal Measures And Motivation Trends In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Colombia, And Cambodia, Gaia Calcini

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Vitriolage is a form of widespread violence around the world. This research analyzed legislative measures against the practice adopted by India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Colombia, and Cambodia. The strengths and weaknesses of the different legal systems were examined. Motivational trends on why the violence was committed were reviewed in the literature in these countries. It was found that acid attacks are a form of gender-based violence. Countries where the measures were adopted to prevent attacks but failed to achieve the goal did not consider the attacks as a part of a broader problem. The only country that seems to have achieved …

Reparations For The Wrongly Convicted, Gillian Trost

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Wrongly convicted persons should be offered reparations in instances where they have suffered or faced harm as a result of their wrong conviction. Harms can include, but are not limited to, losing physical time, mental health damages, monetary harm, and damages to the person’s reputation. Harms are anything that has diminished a person's quality of life throughout the conviction process and even after exoneration. Failure to offer reparations to these persons is unethical and reparations are a necessary consequence when the judicial system convicts the wrong person. Failure to offer reparations also lessens the judicial system’s accuracy and reliability when …

Criminal Justice Update - December 2022, Patrick Mahoney

Criminal Justice Updates

The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania's courts and legislature as well as the US Supreme Court.

Contents:

• Updates from PA Governor's Office (no updates this month)

• Updates from the PA Legislature (no updates this month)

• Updates from the Courts

  • U.S. Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure (no updates this month)

  • PA Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure (no updates this month)

  • PA Superior Court: Criminal Law & Procedure

Thematic Consistency Between Criminal History And Crime Scene Behaviors: Comparing Sexual Homicide Offenders With And Without Criminal Histories Of Sexual Offenses, Shannon E. Ettinger

Student Theses

Offender profiling research suggests that offenders may display behavioral consistency, meaning they may behave in some consistent manner between their crime scene actions and other aspects of their lives. Through behavioral themes, researchers can identify consistency in groups of individual behaviors that are thematically similar. Previous literature successfully applied the Expressive/Instrumental themes to homicide crime scene behaviors and criminal history. The current study aims to apply the Expressive/Instrumental thematic approach to analyzing the relationship between sexual homicide offender’s criminal history and their crime scene behaviors. The present study focuses on the distinction between sexual homicide offenders with a history of …

Pretrial Consequences: The Impact Of New York State Bail Reforms On Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Pretrial Outcomes, Esther Laaninen

Student Theses

This study investigates the impact of New York’s 2020 Bail Reforms on racial and ethnic disparities in pretrial outcomes for New York State. 2019, 2020, and 2021 arraignment data from the Office of Court Administration Pretrial Release Datasets are used to determine whether racial and ethnic disparities for White Non Hispanic, Black Non Hispanic, Hispanic, and other race defendants narrowed after the implementation of the new law. The results from descriptive analysis, binary logistic regressions, and ANOVA tests suggest that racial-ethnic disparities have not abated, even though the proportion of defendants required to pay cash bail has sharply declined among …

Prevalence Of Non-Self Dna On Three Different Sebaceous Skin Locations, Jan Kirstine Zamora

Student Theses

This project serves to provide additional information on the prevalence of non-self DNA on the exposed skin locations specifically the inner upper arm, the nape area of the neck and the neck area just below the ear, where current literature is lacking. Skin tape lifts from these locations were collected from 15 male participants and 13 female participants once a week over a period of three weeks. Only single source profiles were obtained from six volunteers. Eight volunteers had only one mixture DNA profile in nine samples, while mixture DNA profiles for at least two collection occasions were observed in …

Perception Of Safety In Public Transport In Brazil, Elenice De Souza Oliveira, Braulio Figueiredo Alves Da Silva, Pietra Raissa Silva, Ana Marcela Ardila Pinto, Elisa Dilly Generoso Macedo

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This current study examines the perception of safety on the public bus transit system in a large Brazilian metropolis. Using a web-based survey, the study reached a convenient sample of bus users of a local university who were victims and witnesses to crime in two different types of local bus transit environments - the BRT MOVE - a modern bus system and its opposing counterpart - the conventional bus system. Research questions investigate whether or not riders’ perception of safety is influenced by the presence of mechanisms of control and surveillance on buses. Using a linear regression model, this study …

Shared Genomic Architectures Of Covid-19 And Antisocial Behavior, Charleen D. Adams, Jorim J. Tielbeek, Brian B. Boutwell

Faculty and Student Publications

Little is known about the genetics of norm violation and aggression in relation to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To investigate this, we used summary statistics from genome-wide association studies and linkage disequilibrium score regression to calculate a matrix of genetic correlations (rgs) for antisocial behavior (ASB), COVID-19, and various health and behavioral traits. After false-discovery rate correction, ASB was genetically correlated with COVID-19 (rg = 0.51; P = 1.54E-02) and 19 other traits. ASB and COVID-19 were both positively genetically correlated with having a noisy workplace, doing heavy manual labor, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and genitourinary diseases. ASB and COVID-19 …

Factors, Scott Rempell

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Housing Discrimination In New York City’S Housing Voucher Program, Tashana Brooks

Publications and Research

The Fair Housing Act (FHA), enacted as Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibits discrimination from selling or renting a dwelling to any person because of race, color, disability, religion, sex, family status, and national origin. The federal government provides rental subsidies for many low-income renters through government programs. Rental assistance such as Section 8 vouchers administered by Housing and Urban Development is considered a lawful source of income for paying rent; however, many landlords or realtors discriminate against individuals utilizing Section 8 vouchers. According to the New York City Human Rights Law, this is illegal. The …

Rules Vs. Standards In Private Ordering, Tomer S. Stein

Buffalo Law Review

The tradeoff between bright-line rules and general standards is one of the bedrocks of law design. This tradeoff determines how legal norms are composed. The tradeoff between rules and standards pervasively affects private ordering as well: it determines how contractual norms are composed. Yet, scholars exploring the rule vs. standard dichotomy have either entirely overlooked the tradeoff taking place in private orderings or equated it with the public tradeoff that dominates lawmaking.

This Article is the first to systematically examine the rule vs. standard tradeoff in private orderings. The Article carries out this task by identifying and analyzing the fundamental …

Exploring Change And Stability In Counterterrorism Policy, Prosecution, And Sentencing Of Terrorists In America Over The Last Three Decades In The United States, Georgianna Grace Bettis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the effects of legislation changes on how terrorists are adjudicated in American federal courts. The overarching question is: how have prosecutorial and sentencing outcomes changed in response to homeland security policy shifts over the last few decades? The project examines the impact of policy on changes to terrorists’ sentencing in three time periods, marked by three major events: The 1993 World Trade Center Attack, the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, and the attack on the Twin Towers (9/11/2001). In addition to terrorists’ demographic and background attributes (i.e., gender, age, terrorism category), the …

Mind The Gaps: Assessing And Enhancing The Trustworthiness Of Mental Health Apps, Gary Kok Yew Chan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Mental health apps including artificial intelligence (“AI”)- powered apps and chatbots have raised serious concerns relating to safety, efficacy and privacy. This article assesses their trustworthiness based on lego-regulatory, ethical and technological measures in addressing the abovementioned concerns. Focusing on applications to mental health apps, it examines Singapore laws, regulations and guidelines relating to software-based and AI medical devices, data protection, consumer protection, advertising and medical negligence. Additionally, upon taking into account other non-binding ethical guidelines, certification standards and technological measures targeted at app developers, a few recommendations are offered for enhancing trust in mental health apps.

Exploring Perceptions Of Control Within Offender Cognition And Recidivism Paradigms, Anistasha H. Lightning, Danielle Polage

Student Published Works

Elements of perceived control are associated with recidivism in offender populations. We investigated the application of locus of control to the frequency of personal involvement with the law and to beliefs surrounding the likelihood of future contact with the legal system. We hypothesized that, as the number of sentencings or legal experiences increased, locus of control would externalize. We also predicted that increased legal involvement would lead to greater belief in the likelihood of future involvement. A statistically significant path model suggests that locus of control appears to be a predictor of increased criminality, as opposed to the other way …

Police Body Cameras And Liability Insurance: The Deterrent To Police Misconduct?, Noel Otu, Ben-Edet Emmanuel, Edidiong Mendie, Ihekwoba Declan Onwudiwe

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Justice in Policing Act of 2020 propose mandatory body cameras for all uniformed federal officers in the United State. Advocates of this policy insist the practice will enhance police accountability and has the potential to also reduce police misconduct. In the same vein, advocates of mandatory liability insurance for police officers argue the policy will likely deter police officers from engaging in misconduct. How effective these policies are in enhancing police accountability and reducing police misconduct remains debatable. T his paper examined the arguments for whether or not police body cameras have positively influenced police officers’ behavior based on …

Criminal Justice And Criminal Justice News, Georgia Southern University

Criminal Justice & Criminology News (2012-2023)

• Savannah PD Job Opportunities!

Myths, Misconceptions, And Misrepresentations: An Examination Of Erroneous Human Trafficking Beliefs, Sarah M. Vanorder

Honors College Theses

Human trafficking is a crime that effects people all over the globe and an estimated 24.9 million people are currently being exploited through some form of human trafficking. Despite its prevalence, there are a variety of myths regarding human trafficking that are commonly believed by the public. The proliferation of these myths can have damaging effects and ultimately prevent survivors from receiving the help they need. The aim of this study is to discover factors that lead to the belief of these myths about human trafficking. To uncover these factors, a survey was administered in October 2020 and completed by …