Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons^™

Human Trafficking For The Purpose Of Sexual Exploitation Within The United States And Denver Colorado, Jennifer E. Templeton

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The topic of human trafficking is not a new concept to the majority of individuals involved in any aspect of criminology. Human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, including prostitution, is dramatically increasing in the number of incidents opened for investigation since 2000; the increased public interest in the various elements of the sex industry only add to this problem. Human trafficking within the United States (U.S.) is not a new concept however; diminutive amounts of research as a whole have been conducted in and around the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area. This research project aimed to answer: whether experts …

Crimes Committed By Tattooed Female Offenders And The Significance Of Body Art Content And Location, Megan Sullivan

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The body is a site of manipulation, mutilation, and decoration, evident through centuries of body marking and tattooing. There is a very compelling relationship between tattooed individuals and crime, and this descriptive study investigates the presence of tattoos amongst female offenders. Research analysis identified the relationship between tattoos and convicted female offenders, along with the significance of the content and location of the offenders' tattoos.

Risk Factors For Fraud In Elderly Americans, Antonia M. Jensen

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Americans over age 65 comprise approximately one eighth of our population, but about one third of scam victims. The risk of fraud in this population is of particular concern because it is increasing and the damage is greater; losses have been reported in billions of dollars, and elders typically cannot return to the work force to recoup their losses, which can amount to their life savings and even their independence. This project details the results of an unobtrusive research project consisting of a content analysis of more current literature to identify and examine risk factors of elder fraud.

Protecting Liberty And Autonomy: Desert/Disease Jurisprudence, Stephen J. Morse

All Faculty Scholarship

This contribution to a symposium on the morality of preventive restriction on liberty begins by describing the positive law of preventive detention, which I term "desert/disease jurisprudence." Then it provides a brief excursus about risk prediction (estimation), which is at the heart of all preventive detention practices. Part IV considers whether proposed expansions of desert jurisprudence are consistent with retributive theories of justice, which ground desert jurisprudence. I conclude that this is a circle that cannot be squared. The following Part canvasses expansions of disease jurisprudence, especially the involuntary civil commitment of mentally abnormal, sexually violent predators, and the use …

Problem Profiles Of At-Risk Youth In Two Service Programs: A Multigroup Exploratory Latent Class Analysis, Richard Dembo, Rhissa Briones-Robinson, Rocío Aracelis Ungaro, Lora M. Karas, Laura M. Gulledge, Paul Greenbaum, James Schmeidler, Ken C. Winters, Steven Belenko

Faculty Publications

Baseline data collected in two brief intervention projects (BI-Court and Truancy Project) were used to assess similarities and differences in subgroups of at-risk youth. Classifications of these subgroups were based on their psychosocial characteristics (e. g., substance use). Multigroup latent class analysis identified two BI-Court subgroups of youth and three truant subgroups. These classes can be viewed as differing along two dimensions, substance use involvement and emotional and behavioral issues. Equality tests of means across the latent classes for BI-Court and Truancy Project youths found significant differences that were consistent with their problem group classification. These findings highlight the importance …

Oxycontin And Crime In Eastern Kentucky, Kenneth Tunnell

Kenneth Tunnell

During the past ten years, rural Kentucky (and rural pockets of nearby states) witnessed the emergence of a new pharmaceutical drug of abuse. The powerful oxycodone, OxyContin, first manufactured in 1996 and designed for timerelease pain relief, found aready population in rural hamlets and mountain communities. Intended for patients in pain associated with terminal disease, it became a drug of abuse as it was over-prescribed andtrafficked. This Justice and Safety Research Bulletin describes the sudden growth in the use of this new drug and its antecedents. Describing the trends in use and abuse,this Bulletin presents evidence of an epidemic created …

Collaborating With A Killer: The Unique Perspective Of Prison Life From A Man On Death Row, Gordon A. Crews, Angela D. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

This presentation describes the process and difficulties of developing a collaborative working relationship with Stephen C. Stanko, a man currently serving two death sentences in South Carolina for the murders of two people and the sexual assault and attempted murder of a third. Mr. Stanko and Dr. Gordon Crews first worked together on a book from 2000-2004 when Stanko was serving a 10-year sentence for kidnapping and assault with intent to kill. In April 2005, only 8 months after Stanko was released from that sentence, he committed the crimes for which he is currently facing death. Since then, the Crews’ …

Technological Innovations In Policing At The Dawn Of The 21st Century, Meghan Stroshine

Meghan Stroshine

No abstract provided.

Substance Use Among Asian American Adolescents: Perceptions Of Use And Preferences For Prevention Programming, Lin Fang, Kevin Barnes-Ceeney, Rebecca A. Lee, John Tao

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Rarely has substance use prevention programming targeted Asian-American adolescents. Using a focus group methodology, we explored perceptions of substance use and preferences for prevention programming among 31 Asian-American adolescents in New York City. Participants considered substance use common in the community. Factors contributing to substance use among Asian-American adolescents (e.g., peer pressure, pressure to achieve, family factors, and community influence) were identified, and the need for prevention programs tailored for the Asian-American community was highlighted. Participants discussed preferred program content, delivery settings, and recruitment and retention strategies. Despite the favorable attitude for family-based prevention programming, participants raised potential issues concerning …

Effective Police Management Of The Media, Brian Kingshott

Brian F. Kingshott

The adoption of the community policing philosophy identifies the need for closer ties to the community by keeping them informed of their police department’s actions and strategies. The major conduit for this information is not the new departmental website but by the media; radio, television, and newsprint. That places a responsibility on the police (and other law enforcement agencies) to establish a police-media relationship based upon mutual respect and trust. This paper examines the roles of the media and the police in serious incident investigations and questions whether the police-media relationship could be improved by training. Keywords: police; media; management; …

Policing In America, Victor Kappeler, Larry Gaines

Vic Kappeler

This comprehensive text provides an overview of law enforcement topics, integrating major empirical findings and theory-based research findings in the field with a thorough analysis of contemporary policing problems. The issues-oriented discussion focuses on critical concerns facing American police, including personnel systems, organization and management, operations, discretion, use of force, culture and behavior, ethics and deviance, civil liability and police-community relations. A critical assessment of police history and the role politics played in the development of American police institutions is offered. Globalization, terrorism and homeland security are addressed.

Afraid To Cry Wolf: Human Rights Activists’ Conundrum To Define Narratives Of Justice And Truth In The Former Yugoslavia1, Arnaud Kurze

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Throughout the 1990s the state of Yugoslavia dissolved, ravaged by horrendous conflict. Since, several retributive and restorative mechanisms to cope with past atrocities have been attempted. In these processes social activists and civil society organizations have increasingly gained ground. Employing concepts of sociology of spaces, which focuses on the creation of spaces through action and the interdependence of action on spatial structures, I argue that activists move between different spaces constituted by narratives of justice and truth. Different NGOs across the region run trial monitoring and/or witness support programs—examples of activist involvement in legal spatiality.

Between Structure And Agency: Assassination, Social Forces, And The Production Of The Criminal Subject, Cary H. Federman

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Assassins are often regarded as ahistorical figures of evil. In this article, I contest this view by analyzing the assassination of President William McKinley by Leon Czolgosz in 1901. There are two purposes to this article. The first is to situate McKinley’s assassination within the history and development of the social sciences, principally sociology, rather than assume that the assassin is a trans-historical representation of willful irresponsibility. The second is to describe and critique the discourse that made Czolgosz into a rational agent once he entered history as an assassin.

School Resource Officer Programs: Implementation's Effect On Student Perceptions Of Safety, Stephen Clipper

Theses and Dissertations

School Resource Officer (SRO) Programs are a widely implemented community policing initiative in schools. The limited research on SRO Programs suggests that there are implementation differences between programs. This study explores the effect that implementation style has on program effectiveness as measured by student perceptions of safety as well as student reporting behaviors. This study found mixed results. Direct analyses revealed students who attend schools with community-oriented SRO programs feel slightly safer. Multi-level modeling was utilized to determine the effects that individual and school level variables have on perceptions of safety and on the ability of SRO programs to affect …

Knowledge And Opinions Of Marijuana: A Farewell To Harms, Or A Learned Path Through The Gateway?, Charles E. Hogan

Criminal Justice and Criminology Theses

The Shackleford Marijuana Perception Survey is a series survey conducted on criminal justice students at Georgia State University. The current survey design is targeted towards determining perceptions of marijuana related issues at GSU related to the theoretical concepts of Social Learning Theory and the Gateway process of substance use escalation. The currentfindings will include the responses of 163 students in three criminal justice related classes. The major focus of the analysis will be the comparison of the results of the “marijuana knowledge test” section to the likert scale opinion section and the overall positive or negative opinion score for each …

Living And Dying On Death Row In America, Angela D. Crews, Gordon A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

- Much written on capital punishment in America, but very little research on the persons serving these death sentences - Initial results from survey of more than 3,200 death row prisoners in the U.S. and material from a "behind-the-scenes" personal narrative from a death row prisoner in South Carolina. - Qualitative personal reflections (“life lessons”) from prisoners and a quantitative examination of coping mechanisms they use to deal with living and dying on death row

Chemical Processing Of Fingerprints On Thermal Paper, Megan Elizabeth Dutton

Master's Theses

This research seeks to determine how well muriatic acid and acetic acid fuming develop the thermal side of thermal paper using aged prints. Additionally, the research seeks to determine how well ninhydrin develops the paper side of thermal paper using aged prints after exposure to the fuming. Twenty-four random individuals placed a total of thirty sets of fingerprints per person on thermal paper over a 10-day period. Each set of fingerprints consisted of three fingerprints on the thermal side of paper and three fingerprints on the nonthermal side of paper. During the 30 to 40-day time period, however, more specifically …

A Statistical Examination Of Friction Ridge Skin Patterns In The Interdigital, Hypothenar, And Thenar Areas Of The Palms, Kristin Ann Pilgrim

Master's Theses

Friction ridge skin, which is only located on the fingers, palms, and soles of the feet, has been used in the identification of individuals before the beginning of the twentieth century. A majority of the information known about friction ridge skin has been accumulated through the extensive research of fingerprints. Studies have been conducted to statistically categorize general patterns located on the fingerprints in order to include or exclude an individual for identification purposes. Although fingerprints offer great insight into the importance of friction ridge skin in forensic science, palm print patterns and characteristics have been relatively ignored. Therefore, a …

A Penological Approach To The Social Construct Of Sexuality, Lauren Elizabeth Gibson

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Prison sex research has generally followed an essentialist theoretical approach. Only Alarid (2000) examined jail sex using a social constructionist approach to understanding sexuality behind bars. Using data collected from 142 male inmates in a Southern maximumsecurity correctional facility, the purpose of the present study was to examine whether engaging in sexual behavior affects a change in the sexual orientation of male prison inmates, using a social constructionist theoretical approach. In addition, the influence of several sociodemographic and situational variables on the change in sexual orientation was examined. The only statistically significant variable associated with a change in sexual orientation …

Examining The Effect Of Childhood Animal Cruelty Motives On Recurrent Adult Violent Crimes Toward Humans, Joshua C. Overton

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Few researchers have studied the predictive ability of childhood animal cruelty motives as they are associated with later recurrent violence toward humans. Based on a sample of 180 inmates at one medium- and one maximum-security prison in a Southern state, the present study examines the relationship among several retrospectively identified motives (fun, out of anger, hate for the animal, and imitation) for childhood animal cruelty and the later commission of violent crimes (murder, rape, assault, and robbery) against humans. Almost two-thirds of the inmates reported engaging in childhood animal cruelty for fun, whereas almost one-fourth reported being motivated either out …

Examining The Effect Of Changes In The Peer Group On Attitudes: A Longitudinal Study, Dena C. Carson

Dissertations

Peer interactions are an important part of adolescence and have been the focus of much research in both psychology and criminology. The relationship between peer behavior and a youth’s own behavior has been demonstrated multiple times in prior research. Little is known, however, about how peer behavior may affect individual attitudes. This is surprising given that many prevention programs, particularly skills building programs, focus on changing and shaping individual attitudes to change/prevent behavior. This dissertation partially addressed this gap by focusing on the relationship between peer behavior and individual attitudes. This dissertation accomplishes three main goals through the use of …

The Economy-Crime Relationship Revisited: The Significance Of Recent Macroeconomic Conditions And Social Policy Changes For Child Poverty And Youth Violence Trends, White Nicole

Dissertations

The relationship between economic deprivation and violent crime has been one of the most widely studied in the field of criminology, yet little is known about the impact of recent macroeconomic conditions and welfare reform policies on the poverty-youth violence relationship. Therefore, the current study utilizes data from the 1993-2004 National Crime Victimization Survey to assess the association between poverty and youth violent victimization trends variously disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and family structure, and the impact of welfare reform and macroeconomic conditions on this relationship. In addition, the potential impact of welfare reform on the individual-level relationship between poverty and …

Executions In America: How Constitutional Interpretation Has Restricted Capital Punishment, Andrea Paone

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

In upholding the constitutionality of capital punishment, the United States Supreme Court has utilized a strict construction interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, which has led the opponents of capital punishment to abandon the Due Process approach and look to the Eighth Amendment, for which the justices utilize a loose construction interpretation.

Using John Grisham's The Innocent Man To Create A Significant Learning Experience For Undergraduate Students In A Psychology And The Law Course, Emily Stark

Psychology Department Publications

Imagine a man, suffering from alcoholism and schizophrenia, drifting through his small town, known mostly for getting thrown out of bars. When a graphic murder occurs, this man’s name gets linked to the victim, and police focus on him as a suspect. Although there is no evidence against him, a combination of poor police work and a town’s desire for closure lead to this innocent man being convicted of the crime and sentenced to death. Down to his last appeal, after spending 12 years on death row, a fair and honest judge is finally convinced to take a closer look …

Pre-Teen Alcohol Use As A Risk Factor For Victimization And Perpetration Of Bullying Among Middle And High School Students In Georgia, Monica H. Swahn, Volkan Topalli, Bina Ali, Sheryl M. Strasser, Jeffrey S. Ashby, Joel Meyers

Public Health Faculty Publications

Objective: We examined the association between pre-teen alcohol use initiation and the victimization and perpetration of bullying among middle and high school students in Georgia.

Methods: We computed analyses using data from the 2006 Georgia Student Health Survey (N=175,311) of students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12. The current analyses were limited to students in grades 8, 10 and 12 (n=122,434). We used multilogistic regression analyses to determine the associations between early alcohol use and reports of both victimization and perpetration of bullying, perpetration only, victimization only, and neither victimization or perpetration, while controlling for demographic characteristics, other substance …

A Survey Of Georgia Adult Protective Service Staff: Implications For Older Adult Injury Prevention And Policy, Sheryl M. Strasser, Judith Kerr, Patricia S. King, Brian Payne, Sarah Beddington, Danielle Pendrick, Elizabeth Leyda, Frances Mccarty

Public Health Faculty Publications

Background: The aging population is a rapidly growing demographic. Isolation and limited autonomy render many of the elderly vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation. As the population grows, so does the need for Adult Protective Services (APS). This study was conducted to examine current knowledge of older adult protection laws in Georgia among APS staff and to identify training opportunities to better prepare the APS workforce in case detection and intervention.

Methods: The Georgia State University Institute of Public Health faculty developed a primary survey in partnership with the Georgia Division of Aging Services' leadership to identify key training priority …

Prevention Of Identity Theft: A Review Of The Literature, Portland State University. Criminology And Criminal Justice Senior Capstone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Senior Capstone Project

With advances in technology and increases in impersonal electronic transactions, identity theft IT) is becoming a major problem in today’s society. One may ask why IT is growing in America. The answer is simple, as a review of literature reveals: IT is extremely hard to detect, prevent, and prosecute.

There are many ways people can protect themselves, their identities and secure their personal information; many do not concern themselves with this knowledge, however, until they become victims of this crime, themselves. With advances in technology, offenders are often turning to new methods to access information and use it for financial …

Differences In Community Policing Definitions Of County And City La W Enforcement Agencies In Colorado, Jenna J. Slabaugh

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

While community policing has been around for decades and is widely adopted in law enforcement agencies throughout the US, there is no one accepted definition of this philosophy. This has led to departments around the country defining community policing differently. This comparative study utilized content analysis to compare the community policing definitions in county and city agencies located in Colorado. Further, a comparative analysis determined whether the type of agency influences how a department defines community policing. Survey research was be used to collect data for this study and a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods were employed.

Animal Assisted Therapy: The Perception Of Animal Assisted Therapy Clinicians Regarding Active Participation In Treatment Therapies Of Juveniles In Detention Center Settings, Julia M. Lowe

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Juvenile delinquent facilities have witnessed an increase in youthful offenders experiencing mental health disorders. Mental health clinicians have been required to implement new forms of mental health treatments to address the rise in this special population of juveniles. Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) has become a popular form of treatment in detention facilities. Qualitative data collection was administered using a focus group of three participants to examine clinicians' perceptions of juvenile participation during AAT. Clinicians perceived increased participation of juveniles participation in AAT. Clinicians also witnessed changes in juvenile behaviors within the detention facility, indicating juveniles participating in AAT were more …

Media Perception Of Excessive Police Force Based On Unemployment Rate: An Analysis Of Colorado Springs, Denver, And Pueblo, Jennifer Meckstroth

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Excessive police force is reported in newspaper articles throughout the country on a regular basis. The purpose of this project was to determine whether the unemployment rate of a city had an effect on how the media perceives excessive police force in local newspapers. A content analysis of articles combined from Colorado Springs, Denver, and Pueblo examined the current perception of police in the media and how the unemployment rate effects how the media portrays excessive police force. The results of this study analyzed how the newspaper are analyzed the results determine whether a city with high a unemployment rate …