Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Bail Reform On Arrest Rates For Aggravated Assault In Two Cities, Brion P. Gilbride

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

With the recent push to implement bail reform in various U.S. cities and states, the impact of such reform was studied using aggravated assault arrest statistics for Philadelphia, a city that implemented bail reform via prosecutorial discretion, and for Pittsburgh, which had not implemented bail reform. Using the time period of January 2017 through December 2019, a quantitative analysis was completed on aggravated assault arrest counts in both cities to ascertain whether the removal of bail as a deterrent caused aggravated assault arrests to increase. Using a t-test, linear regression, and ANOVA, it was determined that bail reform had minimal …

Beyond Punishment: A Critical And Interpretive Phenomenology Of Accountability, Cameron Rasmussen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

State responses to interpersonal violence in the US have long been focused on punishment and prison. While opposition to punitive responses to interpersonal violence has been marginal, there are small but growing efforts to challenge the primacy of punishment and incarceration. In its place, different non-punitive approaches to justice have been practiced and promoted including restorative justice and transformative justice, which see accountability, not punishment, as a primary goal. Accountability has been theorized and researched largely from the perspective of survivors of harm, and there is limited research on the experiences of people who have caused harm and engaged in …

The Trouble With Time Served, Kimberly Ferzan

All Faculty Scholarship

Every jurisdiction in the United States gives criminal defendants “credit” against their sentence for the time they spend detained pretrial. In a world of mass incarceration and overcriminalization that disproportionately impacts people of color, this practice appears to be a welcome mechanism for mercy and justice. In fact, however, crediting detainees for time served is perverse. It harms the innocent. A defendant who is found not guilty, or whose case is dismissed, gets nothing. Crediting time served also allows the state to avoid internalizing the full costs of pretrial detention, thereby making overinclusive detention standards less expensive. Finally, crediting time …

Mindfully Outraged: Mindfulness Increases Deontic Retribution For Third-Party Injustice, Adam A. Kay, Theodore Charles Masters-Waage, Jochen Reb, Pavlos A. Vlachos

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Mindfulness is known to temper negative reactions by both victims and perpetrators of injustice. Accordingly, critics claim that mindfulness numbs people to injustice, raising concerns about its moral implications. Exam-ining how mindful observers respond to third-party injustice, we integrate mindfulness with deontic justice theory to propose that mindfulness does not numb but rather enlivens people to injustice committed by others against others. Results from three studies show that mindfulness heightens moral outrage in witnesses of injustice, particularly when the injustice is only moderate. Although these findings did not replicate with a mindfulness induction, post-hoc analysis in a fourth study reveals …

Effects Of Corporal Punishment On Parents, David Martinez, Linda Saleh Borghol

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

There has been limited research regarding the effects of corporal punishment on parents. This qualitative study examined the effects of corporal punishment on parents and the reasoning behind their particular discipline practices. The study provides an overview of the thoughts and emotions parents feel before and after utilizing corporal punishment. The data were collected through interviews of parents who utilized corporal punishment as their main form of discipline. We interviewed parents through Zoom meetings in order to gather data that would help this study. Researchers interviewed eight parents who expressed the effects they experienced from utilizing corporal punishment. Analysis of …

Against Capital Punishment, Zac Bright, Ben Austin (Editor)

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Capital punishment has a strong legal precedence in the United States. Capital punishment has been a penal option for those who commit conspicuously wrong acts. For such acts, the punishment seems to be proportional to the crime. In addition to the punishment’s adherence to proportionality, capital punishment mitigates problematic outcomes.

This paper advocates, however, that capital punishment should be classified as “cruel and unusual punishment.” Such violation of the eighth amendment delegitimizes capital punishment. Consequently, The Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 should no longer be considered a valid law because of its constitutional violation.

Negligence And Culpability: Reflections On Alexander And Ferzan, Mitchell N. Berman

All Faculty Scholarship

Philosophers of criminal punishment disagree about whether infliction of punishment for negligence can be morally justified. One contending view holds that it cannot be because punishment requires culpability and culpability requires, at a minimum, advertence to the facts that make one’s conduct wrongful. Larry Alexander and Kim Ferzan are prominent champions of this position. This essay challenges that view and their arguments for it. Invoking a conceptual distinction between an agent’s being blameworthy for an act and their deserving punishment (or suffering) for that act, it explains that an agent can be blameworthy for negligent conduct, and thus liable to …

The Vigilante Identity And Organizations, Fan Xuan Chen, Maja Graso, Karl Aquino, Lily Lin, Joey T. Cheng, Katherine Decelles, Abhijeet K. Vadera

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We test the theoretical and practical utility of the vigilante identity, a self-perception of being the kind of person who monitors their environment for signs of norm violations, and who punishes the perceived norm violator, without formal authority. We develop and validate a measure of the vigilante identity scale (VIS) and demonstrate the scale’s incremental predictive validity above and beyond seemingly related constructs (Studies 1 – 2e). We show that the VIS predicts hypervigilance towards organizational wrongdoing (Studies 2 and 4), punishment intentions and behavior in and of organizations (Studies 3 and 4) as well as in the wider community …

Punishment And Choice, Rafaela M. Fontes

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Punishment is defined as a consequence that decreases the frequency of behavior that produces it and is an important behavior regulation mechanism for learning to stop engaging in maladaptive behavior. Punishment has implications for behavioral disorders and treatments and plays an important role in both programmed and natural contingencies. Despite the clear relevance of punishment for behavioral regulation, little is known about how punishment works. Furthermore, punishment research has been in evident decline, leaving important empirical and theoretical gaps in the literature. Therefore, the overall goal of the present set of studies is to fill in some of these gaps. …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Childhood Punishment And Adult Ipv, Anna G. Griffith

Honors College Theses

The goal of this project is to examine the relationship between childhood punishment and experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) as an adult. Using an anonymous, self-report survey, students from Georgia Southern University were asked about their experiences with IPV, as well as their experiences of childhood punishment administered by both mother and father. The results show that children who receive corporal, verbal, and emotional punishment from their mother are more likely to experience all forms of IPV later in life. When analyzing the same relationships with fathers, corporal punishment is not associated with IPV while verbal and emotional punishment is.

Juvenile Solitary Confinement And The Eighth Amendment, Taylor R. Graves

Honors Thesis

This literature review examines the practice of juvenile solitary confinement, applies the United States Supreme Court’s Eighth Amendment jurisprudence, argues that the practice should be declared unconstitutional as a violation of the Eighth Amendment, and calls for a categorical ban. The Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment states, “nor [shall] cruel and unusual punishments [be] inflicted.” U.S. Const. amend. VIII. Juvenile solitary confinement is cruel and unusual, in violation of the Eighth Amendment, because juveniles are different. The United States Supreme Court has long recognized that juveniles should not be held to the same standards of …

On "Broken Nest: Deterring China From Invading Taiwan" And Authors' Response, Eric Chan

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

From The Editor, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Parameters Spring 2022, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

A Study Of The Punishment Of Crimes By Us Federal Legislators From 1798 To 2016, Kenneth J. Grossberger

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Public distrust of government has increased because of the criminal behavior of federal legislators over time, due, at least in part, to the political effects on Congress (which causes confrontation and accusation), and therefore it is critical to study how Congress deals with the corruption of its members. This study examines the punishment of U.S. federal legislators for criminal corruption in the context of time. This was accomplished by collecting and analyzing original data by means of the multiple methods of binomial logistic regressions and content analysis. The results showed that several variables were predictive of the criminal justice and …

Punishment By Another Name? The Welfare State’S Disciplinary Role In The United States And Britain, Kavya Padmanabhan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Scholarship on the changing nature of the welfare state in both the United States and in Britain has revealed how the influence of neoliberal ideologies has heightened the experience of punishment for poor mothers. Through a comparative literature review on the welfare states in the United States and in Britain, this article builds upon prior research to consider how the welfare state’s contemporary focus on discipline may be the product of neo- liberalism and may encourage similarities across different contexts. Furthermore, this article considers how the welfare state’s different agencies may be united in their goals and treatment of poor …

Private Probation Costs, Compliance, And The Proportionality Of Punishment: Evidence From Georgia And Missouri, Beth Huebner, Sarah Shannon

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Works

Probation is the most commonly imposed correctional sanction, is often accompanied by supplementary costs, and can be operated by the state or private companies. Private probation is a unique sanction used in lower courts, most often for misdemeanor offenses, and is managed by third-party actors. We focus on documenting the process and unique costs of private probation, including the rituals of compliance and proportionality of punishment. We use data from interviews with individuals on private probation and local criminal justice officials as well as evidence from court ethnographies in Georgia and Missouri. For individuals on private probation, payment of monetary …

Proportionality, Constraint, And Culpability, Mitchell N. Berman

All Faculty Scholarship

Philosophers of criminal punishment widely agree that criminal punishment should be “proportional” to the “seriousness” of the offense. But this apparent consensus is only superficial, masking significant dissensus below the surface. Proposed proportionality principles differ on several distinct dimensions, including: (1) regarding which offense or offender properties determine offense “seriousness” and thus constitute a proportionality relatum; (2) regarding whether punishment is objectionably disproportionate only when excessively severe, or also when excessively lenient; and (3) regarding whether the principle can deliver absolute (“cardinal”) judgments, or only comparative (“ordinal”) ones. This essay proposes that these differences cannot be successfully adjudicated, and one …

Blameworthiness, Desert, And Luck, Mitchell N. Berman

All Faculty Scholarship

Philosophers disagree about whether outcome luck can affect an agent’s “moral responsibility.” Focusing on responsibility’s “negative side,” some maintain, and others deny, that an action’s results bear constitutively on how “blameworthy” the actor is, and on how much blame or punishment they “deserve.” Crucially, both sides to the debate assume that an actor’s blameworthiness and negative desert are equally affected—or unaffected—by an action’s results. This article challenges that previously overlooked assumption, arguing that blameworthiness and desert are distinct moral notions that serve distinct normative functions: blameworthiness serves a liability function (removing a bar to otherwise impermissible treatments), whereas desert serves …

Analysis Of The Normative Law Enforcement Of Thecrime Of Insulting The State Symbol:Case Study Of The Insult To The State Coat Of Arms Byzaskia Gotik And Habib Rizieq, Budi Hermanto

International Review of Humanities Studies

Cases of insulting the national emblem are increasing and attracting attention. A number of cases of allegations of insulting the national emblem have brought up a number of names, from celebrities, religious and community leaders, teenagers and students, to organizations. Two cases that were busy were allegations of insulting the national emblem by Zaskia Gotik and Habib Rizieq, which appeared at a similar period. Various studies regarding the alleged humiliation of the state symbol by Zaskia Gotik and Habib Rizieq have been widely studied. However, most of the studies focused on linguistic and communication perspectives. Unlike previous studies, this paper …

After The Crime: Rewarding Offenders’ Positive Post-Offense Conduct, Paul H. Robinson, Muhammad Sarahne

All Faculty Scholarship

While an offender’s conduct before and during the crime is the traditional focus of criminal law and sentencing rules, an examination of post-offense conduct can also be important in promoting criminal justice goals. After the crime, different offenders make different choices and have different experiences, and those differences can suggest appropriately different treatment by judges, correctional officials, probation and parole supervisors, and other decision-makers in the criminal justice system.

Positive post-offense conduct ought to be acknowledged and rewarded, not only to encourage it but also as a matter of fair and just treatment. This essay describes four kinds of positive …

The Effects Of Virtual Panopticism, Emma E. East

Selected Honors Theses

As technology further integrates into everyday life, the effects of technological advancement surface. The research contained in this thesis places philosopher Michel Foucault’s ideas of the panoptic, discipline, punishment and a carceral society in a virtual reality thus creating a virtual panopticon. Adapting Foucault’s theories to the present-day technological climate allows researchers to begin understanding the why behind humans’ interactions with various forms of technology (e.g. iPhone usage, Smart TVs, online banking, Alexa/Echo, etc.). Additionally, virtual panopticism sheds light on the corruption of those who manipulate information online to wield power, maintain control and make money. I discuss surveillance capitalism …

The Robber Wants To Be Punished, Uri Weiss

Touro Law Review

It is a commonly held intuition that increasing punishment leads to less crime. Let us move our glance from the punishment for the crime itself to the punishment for the attempt to commit a crime, or to the punishment for the threat to carry it out. We argue that the greater the punishment for the attempted robbery, i.e., for the threat, "give me your money or else," the greater the number of robberies and threats there will be. The punishment for the threat makes the withdrawal from it more expensive for the criminal, making the relative cost of committing the …

“Just Give Us A Chance”: Supports And Challenges To Maintaining Employment As Experienced By People Who Have Been In Prison, Amy Moore

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

People who have been in prison tend to struggle to find meaningful employment (Opsal, 2012). While research delves into the topic of how criminalized people attain employment (Ricciardelli & Mooney, 2017; Anazodo et al., 2017), there is little known about their experiences maintaining employment. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the supports and challenges to maintaining employment after release from a Canadian women’s federal prison.

Following Research Ethics Board (REB) approval, semi-structured interviews lasting up to 90 minutes were completed with each of six participants. Participants included two Indigenous women, three White women, and one White transgender …

Is Executive Function The Universal Acid?, Stephen J. Morse

All Faculty Scholarship

This essay responds to Hirstein, Sifferd and Fagan’s book, Responsible Brains (MIT Press, 2018), which claims that executive function is the guiding mechanism that supports both responsible agency and the necessity for some excuses. In contrast, I suggest that executive function is not the universal acid and the neuroscience at present contributes almost nothing to the necessary psychological level of explanation and analysis. To the extent neuroscience can be useful, it is virtually entirely dependent on well-validated psychology to correlate with the neuroscientific variables under investigation. The essay considers what executive function is and what the neuroscience adds to our …

Refinement Of The Spitefulness Construct, Arturo Covarrubias-Paniagua

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In this research we reviewed the current definition of Spite in the psychology field and the current and historical definitions of Spite in other related fields. Given the narrow contemporary definition of spite used by psychological researchers, the first aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive and refined conceptualization of spite that differentiates it from similar aggressive behaviors, along with delineating conditions in which spite may arise. The second aim of this study was to create a measure of trait spitefulness and a measure of engagement in spiteful behaviors. A total of 156 respondents participated in this study, …

Evidence, Arrest Circumstances, And Felony Cocaine Case Processing, Jacqueline G. Lee, Alexander Testa

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Case evidence and situational arrest characteristics are widely speculated to influence courtroom actor decisions, yet such measures are infrequently included in research. Using new data on felony cocaine cases from an urban county in a Southern non-guideline state, this study examines how physical evidence and arrest circumstances affect three stages of case processing: initial charge type, charge reduction, and sentence length. The influence of evidence appeared strongest at the early stage when prosecutors chose the appropriate charge, though certain evidentiary and arrest measures continued to influence later decisions. Charge reductions were driven mostly by legal factors, and while guilt should …

Cross-National Incarceration Rates As Behavior Of Law, Christopher J. Marier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Incarceration rates vary substantially around the world. However, systematic cross-national comparisons examining such variation are rare. Using Donald Black’s theory of law, and further informed by other theories in the sociology of punishment with conceptual overlap, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the structural and cultural factors that influence incarceration rates around the world. Using data from the World Prison Brief, World Values Survey, CIA World Factbook, and other international datasets, this study evaluates a series of ordinary least squares regressions in 66 nations. This study is one of few macrosocial tests of Black’s theory of law to …

Negative Punishment During Alternative Reinforcement Does Not Reduce Subsequent Resurgence, Alexander Houchins, Catherine L. Williams, Claire C. St. Peter

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Resurgence of previously suppressed behavior can occur when differential reinforcement is discontinued. Recent research has investigated strategies to mitigate resurgence, such as punishing the target response during alternative reinforcement. Loss of reinforcers contingent on the target response (response cost) does not appear to attenuate resurgence, but these effects had not been replicated with other negative-punishment procedures, such as timeout. This study investigated effects of timeout on subsequent resurgence when adults responded to earn points during a computer task. Timeout did not affect subsequent resurgence. These findings, in combination with previous research, suggest that negative punishment may not reduce the likelihood …

From The Legal Literature: Disentangling Prison And Punishment, Francesca Laguardia

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.