Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Evaluating The Educational Impact Of Ballot Measure 11 Workshops & Youths’ Perceptions Of Justice, Ginger Ruddell

Student Research Symposium

In 1994 the State of Oregon passed Ballot Measure 11, which allows for the mandatory minimum sentencing for several types of felonies. This measure also allows for juveniles as young as 15 to be subjected to this mandatory sentencing. Due to the severity of this measure, several youth agencies throughout the state of Oregon became concerned about the consequences of mandatory sentencing on youth, and decided to create educational workshops to allow more awareness of Ballot Measure 11 sentencing. Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center (POIC), is the front runner for this workshop. Their goals are to educate/raise awareness, prevent contact with …

Opioid Withdrawal Post Incarceration, Samantha Spampinato

CURCE Annual Undergraduate Conference

This literature review attempts to provide a more complete understanding of the increasing opioid concern and its detrimental effects from withdrawal in incarcerated individuals. Opioid-related fatal overdoses will significantly decrease with the implementation of opioid treatment in jails and prisons nationwide. The incarcerated populations that are typically affected by Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) include about 8.5% of Hispanics and Whites, and about 7.4% of Blacks. One solution involves Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) with the use of opioid agonists, such as methadone and buprenorphine-naloxone. These medications offer a slow release of dopamine and can reduce the patient’s opioid withdrawal effects. However, fewer …

Merciless: Psychopathic Criminals And How The Criminal Justice System Can Protect Us From Them, Dilara Gingerich

Student Symposium

For my presentation, I will discuss an independent study I did with Dr. Durst in the Fall of 2018, in which I wrote about psychopaths and ways the criminal justice system (CJS) can protect society from them. I will first briefly define psychopathy and explain the personality traits associated with it. I will dedicate the rest of my time to explaining ways I believe the CJS can use information about psychopathy to protect society from criminals with that condition. Psychopathy is a subtype of antisocial personality disorder (APD) that is characterized by a lack of empathy and remorse, manipulative and …

The Irrational Appeal Of The Punishment Paradigm: How "Tough On Crime" Subverts Reason And Empathy, Curry Carr

Student Symposium

This investigation will examine the ways of thinking that facilitated the enactment of harsh sentencing laws in the U.S., with a specific focus on truth in sentencing laws in Illinois. Truth in sentencing laws dictate that people convicted of violent crimes must serve 85%-100% of their sentences, basically eliminating their chances for parole for good behavior. In the 1980s and 1990s almost every state enacted truth in sentencing laws after federal funding was promised to those who do. The implementation of these laws, in some ways, seemed to follow reason, especially when states lowered the requisite time served during a …

Socioeconomic Influences On Property Crime Rates: A Study In Virginia's Counties, Mary Passley

Student Scholar Showcase

Most research on factors and causes of crime, whether property or violent crime, focuses on individuals’ behavior or their surrounding environment. In this research, I explore the idea of socioeconomic factors correlated to property crime. I conducted a retrospective design to fully explore United States Census data and crime data gathered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics to discover statistically significant variables connected to property crime. Significant findings were shown by average people per house and retail sales per capita in all counties. Additional significant findings were percent employment change and percent with high school degree or higher in low …

The Critical Need For Mental Health Education To Be Mandated In New Mexico's Public Schools, Bonnie L. Murphy

Shared Knowledge Conference

Based on a review of research and best practices in mental health awareness and skills, this inquiry project argues for state legislative policies that would require mental health awareness and skills in the K-12 curriculum. Mental health affects individual accomplishments in every stage of people’s lives beginning in early childhood and throughout the life cycle. Prevention and treatment of mental illness plays a key role in the ability of an individual to cope with loss and develop resiliency and perseverance in challenging times and to make better decisions that improve the individual’s life and the lives of those around them. …

Using Restorative Practices To Create A School District That Cares, Louis L. Fletcher Phd, Kim Boyd Psyd

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Zero-tolerance became the rule in many school districts due to an increase in school-based violence, which served to silence student voices and led to the overrepresentation of minority students in discipline situations. Schools could adopt restorative approaches, but change cannot be sustained without fair processes at the district level. Thus, district policies should be aligned to restorative practices to increase the probability of district-wide success.

Out Of The Prison And Onto The Streets: The Trafficking Of Incarcerated Women (A Trans-Disciplinary Media Research Project), Mei-Ling Mcnamara

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Women are being actively targeted for the sex trafficking trade within US prisons and are recruited by a network of fellow inmates who are given "finders fees" for supplying victims. In prisons from Florida to North Carolina, Ohio to Massachusetts, women are promised housing and food in exchange for work upon release but instead are deceived and prostituted for the human trafficking trade. Some traffickers stalk their victims through public-access profiles from statewide prison websites, then groom them over months through correspondence and phone calls.

Inside the largest women’s prison in the United States, the Florida Lowell Correctional Institution, officers …

Ordinary 'Worthiness': Sex Work, Police Raids, And Human Rights Violence In Sonagachhi, Simanti Dasgupta

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Based upon ethnographic research with Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), a grass-roots sex workers organization in Sonagachhi, the iconic red light district in Kolkata, India, this paper explores the relationship between police raids and human rights violation. It especially focuses on the nature of violence initiated by the construction of “corrupt” evidence to justify a raid, which in this case is not solely a state initiative; the police usually work in tandem with other rescue missions such as the International Justice mission (IJM). The raid involves a practice and a narrative commonly referred to by both the police and the …

Rape Crisis Center Professionals' Perception Of Sexual Violence Policy: A Qualitative Analysis, Stephanie Manieri

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

The purpose of this study is to collect information about the perceptions of rape crisis center professionals regarding the current policies surrounding sexual violence crimes that victimize people over the age of 18. This research aims to gather information about effective and ineffective policies from professionals who are first- responders to sexual assaults.

Does Race Impact Judicial Outcomes?, Kameron L. Griffin

Georgia College Student Research Events

Over the past decade, many arguments over racial disparity have become the center of worldwide media attention. While many studies have gathered and revealed a consensus of the existence of racial inequality in mass incarceration rates and the criminal justice system, few have investigated the role that race plays in determining severity of punishment. Utilizing Waves 1, 3 and 4 of the Add-Health cross-sectional data set, this paper will estimate and examine the effect being in a minority has on judicial decisions in criminal court. By using traditional OLS procedure in STATA, I estimated the impact that race has on …

Childhood Victimization Pathways And Violent Extremism, Michael K. Logan

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The current study elaborates on childhood victimization as a nonideological risk-factor for participation in violent extremism. In particular, we focus on contextualizing the early lives of a sample of former members of violent White supremacist groups (n = 44). Data were collected through life-history interviews and analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. The findings indicate that there are three distinct victimization pathways characterize the early lives of our sample: (a) living in a dangerous family, (b) residing in a dangerous community, and (c) living in an unstable, chaotic family environment. These victimization pathways provide further insight into the …

Engaging Users: Enabling Data Analysis, James M. Hopkins

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The challenge in many data collection/analysis efforts is that of engaging users to participate. The Juvenile Case Management System (JCMS) project is a solution to that challenge. JCMS is developed in a collaborative effort between the Juvenile Justice Institute (JJI), the Nebraska Crime Commission, and the Public Health Informatics Research Lab.

Information systems must engage their users to be effective. This research investigates engaging users to interact with information systems and improve data collection for analysis.

The JCMS platform provides a web-based, centralized, database system to users working across the state of Nebraska. By involving users in system and screen …

Reintegrating Returning Citizens In Kentucky, Anna Reeves

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the rehabilitation of ex-offenders and the impact that rehabilitation has on recidivism rates. Recidivism of general offenders and drug offenders in both the U. S. and Kentucky will be addressed. Next, the paper will explore the program that Mission Behind Bars and Beyond facilitates, the Nurture Support and Accountability Group (NSAG), and give details about NSAG’s mission and how it assists ex-offenders with reentry from incarceration back into our communities. Ryan Rivard, an ex-offender, is currently a core member of the NSAG group at Eastern Kentucky University. His progress since he has …

Social Psychology Of Public Defenders: A Qualitative Study, Michael W. Firmin, Kari E. Barnhill, Hannah W. Foster, Ying-Ruey Chuang, D. Elise Lawrence

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The right to an attorney is a one to which all U.S. citizens are entitled, in conjunction with the constitution's sixth amendment. Difficulty arose when people who were unable to provide necessary funds to hire a lawyer and, subsequently, went into trial pro se. Resolution was met with the creation of the public defense system -- a system which is unfortunately understudied, and sometimes regarded in a negative light, including a negative perception that public defense is a broken system. This belief sometimes bleeds into the minds of potential clients who may believe a public defender is not sufficiently competent …

Exploring Cross-National Differences In The Incarceration Of Women: A Conjunctive Analysis Approach, Breanna Boppre, Terance D. Miethe, Emily J. Salisbury

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Cross-national studies of imprisonment rates have examined the social, political, and economic conditions associated with criminal punishments. However, because of the higher numbers of male incarcerated and the lack of national data disaggregated by gender, most previous research on imprisonment rates has focused directly or indirectly on the socio-economic predictors of male imprisonment rates. Using disaggregated data for 128 nations, the current study employs the method of conjunctive analysis to explore the unique and common effects of particular social conditions that underlie female incarceration rates. Measures of nations’ social development, violent crime rates, socio-economic inequality, and political instability are used …

Eyes In The Sky: Public Attitudes Towards Police Use Of Drone Technology, Miliaikeala S.J. Heen, Joel D. Lieberman, Terance D. Miethe

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

No abstract provided.

Power Of Perspective: The Effects Of Public Perceptions Of Police And Fear Of Crime On Attitudes Towards Aerial Drone Use, Olivia G. Tuttle, Miliaikeala S.J. Heen, Mari Sakiyama, Terance D. Miethe, Joel D. Lieberman

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Historically, unmanned aerial systems (UAS; i.e., drones) have largely been used by the military and federal government. As UAS have become more affordable and easier to operate in recent years, state and local law enforcement agencies have become interested in adopting this technology to facilitate a wide range of police activities (e.g., search and rescue, surveillance, tactical operations, etc.). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has begun to regulate the use of unmanned aerial systems, which will likely lead to the increased use of drone technology by law enforcement agencies across the country in upcoming years. However, previous research suggests that …

Abuse Us And Lose Us: Regional Effects Of Disarming Domestic Violence Offenders, Dory Mizrachi

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Domestic violence is among one of the most underreported crimes in the United States. Yet, national and international estimates suggest that approximately one in three girls/women will experience domestic violence. Research also demonstrates that this form of gendered violence is commonplace in the lives of millions of women and that it has deleterious outcomes, such as intimate partner homicide. It was not until recent decades that several legislations have been enacted to combat this critical problem. The Lautenberg Amendment, also known as the Domestic Violence Gun Ban of 1996 provided an essential addition to the Gun Control Act of 1968. …

The Benefits Of Child Contact While In Prison On Educational Program Participation And Employment Outcomes, Déshané Velasquez

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

6th Amendment: Indigent Right To Counsel, Melissa Knott

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Physical Appearance On Police Decision Making, Victoria Cruz, Blanca Garcia, Ethan Hammock

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

School Resource Officer And Patrol Officer Perceptions Of Roles And Job Satisfaction, Trisha Rhodes

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Despite growing research on police in schools, there is relatively little known about how the school environment influences officers. School resource officer (SRO) programs increase the range of traditional roles and include activities that may conflict with law enforcement roles, such as mentoring, advising, and teaching. Officers who experience ambiguous or conflicting role expectations may be less satisfied with their work. Officer job satisfaction may also be influenced by individual characteristics, such as locus of control. Importantly, job satisfaction is linked with work performance, and SROs’ work affects the lives of youth, parents, and school staff. The present study examined …

Family Support, Victimization And Recidivism, Caitlin Taylor Phd

La Salle University Relationship Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

Changing Awareness Of Human Trafficking, Roma Patel, Krystal Letourneau, M. Alexis Kennedy

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

The issue of human trafficking has received increased attention since the Trafficking Victims Protection Act was enacted in 2000. We assume that awareness is growing in the United States but this has not been tested. The current study measures increases in awareness about the issue of trafficking. Nearly 400 students were polled about their awareness in the spring of 2007. Attitudes towards government responses, awareness of the issue and support for victims were surveyed. The study was replicated 5 years later with over 500 new participants. This paper will analyze changes in awareness over time. Gender differences will also be …

Prison Abuse And Mental Health, Hayley R. Wolfe, Shelby Haas, Candace Olley

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Abuse among mentally ill inmates is a relevant issue in prison systems worldwide. This presentation will focus on the pervasiveness and severity of this abuse in the US and abroad. Pertinent statistics regarding the prevalence of abuse among the mentally ill in prison systems, as well as the obstacles to obtaining such statistics will be presented. Following the major deinstitutionalization of mental hospitals in the 1970s, the mentally ill inmate population has seen exponential increase in the United States. Abuse statistics of the mentally ill in United Kingdom prisons will also be presented and analyzed, including concerns in prison staff …

Recidivism And The Convict Labor Market, Alex Basinger

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Prosecution Of The Perpetrators Of Child Abuse Cases: Examination Of Focal Concerns Principles, Kerry F. Mcdonough

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Smart Application For Police Crash Reports, Sebastien Bonnet, Victor Molano, Alexander Paz

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

• Gaining a significant amount of time to help police work
• Developing a User Friendly Interface
• Optimizing the GPS Gaining a significant amount of time to help police work
• Developing a User Friendly Interface
• Optimizing the bar code scan technology
• Application for MC 75 mobile technology

Police Injury Crashes And The Intersections Of Policy, Technology, And Culture, Carol Servino

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Motor vehicle crashes caused the majority fatalities to police officers in the U. S. for more than a decade, yet little is known about factors contributing to injury crashes. This research project required original data collection. A national survey of police chiefs in state, county, and local agencies of all sizes was conducted online in June and July, 2012. Questions focused on various driving policies and practices, including those related to communication technology commonly used in police patrol vehicles. Other questions included hypothetical situations to explore the culture of driving safety in individual police organizations. The majority of chiefs clearly …