Social Justice Commons^™

Volume 6, Issue 1 (2023) Criminal Justice Agents And Responsibility, Colleen Berryessa, Elizabeth Griffiths, Kaitlen Hubbard, Deena A. Isom, Kateryna Kaplun, Hiuxuan Li, Siyu Liu, Esther Nir, Heather L. Scheuerman, Rachel Schumann, Sandy Xie, Carolyn Yule

International Journal on Responsibility

This special issue of the International Journal on Responsibility (IJR) advances scholarship on the various ways responsibility infuses the roles of criminal justice agents. As the inaugural issue of my tenure as Editor-in-Chief, Volume 6 deepens our understanding of responsibility in the context of the criminal justice system, thereby fulfilling IJR’s aim and scope. Specifically, the articles highlight issues of responsibility within each component of the criminal justice system: police, courts, and corrections.

Tunnels As Temples Of 'New Green India': Dominant Narratives Of Himalayan Dam Building, Manshi Asher, Vivek Negi

National Law School Journal

The dramatic unfolding of the Joshimath crisis in Uttarakhand, India, has brought the world’s attention once again to the Himalaya. The contribution of a 520-megawatt hydropower dam to land subsidence is squarely in the spotlight. River valleys with bumper-to-bumper hydropower dam building, especially in the North Western Himalaya, in the past decade and a half or so, have witnessed frequent slope de-stabilisation, landslides and seepages. Unlike the visible dispossession of rural—often adivasi and dalit— populations in reservoir based dam affected areas, even establishing and ‘scientifically’ correlating cascading hazards with human impacts of the ‘invisible’ activity of run-of-the-river dams in the …

Assessing The Sustainable Development Dimensions Of Environmental Public Policies For Protected Natural Areas In Mexico: A 1970-2018 Perspective, Cielo María Ávila López, José Israel Herrera

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract: This abstract discusses the challenges and issues related to the implementation of Environmental Public Policies (EPP) for Protected Natural Areas (PNA) in Mexico from 1970 to 2018. EPPs aim to achieve sustainable development by balancing economic, environmental, and social dimensions while reconciling conservation and the use of natural resources with restrictions on their use and economic compensation to communities. However, the results of this study reveal that the establishment of PNA has been unilateral and without consensus, leading to limitations on communities' use of the environment without granting them economic compensation or productive alternatives. This has resulted in conflicts …

Investigating The Relationship Between Foster Care And Sex Trafficking: What Factors Are Maintaining The Cycle Of Abuse, Shannon M. Budgell

Student Theses

Sex trafficking is a global crime and human rights issue that benefits abusers at the detriment of vulnerable groups, including children involved in the United States welfare system. This meta-synthesis explored the risk factors present within the United States foster care system that expose children to potential victimization. Using qualitative research, the purpose of this study was to review sex trafficking exploitation and analyze the current policies creating this vulnerability in the nation’s child welfare services. Upon completing a systematic literature search, nine studies were included by meeting the following criteria: qualitative or quantitative research studies published in English any …

Identity Transformation Through Transformative Learning: Nepali Mathematics Educators' Perspectives, Tara Paudel, Bal Chandra Luitel, Niroj Dahal

Transformations

This paper reflects the perspective of identity transformation of mathematics educators through the lens of transformative learning, foregrounded on Tara’s doctoral research journey. The process of identity transformation seeks to foster reformative skills at various levels by altering individuals and their identities. This is achieved by posing questions about the past that challenge deeply ingrained assumptions, beliefs, values, and perspectives. Therefore, this paper’s focus is on how transformative learning facilitates a shift in identity. This issue signifies a theoretical void that warrants further investigation. Consequently, this paper examines identity transformations through the theories and lens of transformative learning. In doing …

Megaproyectos Y Su Impacto En Derechos Humanos En Una Comunidad De Origen Maya: Yaxhá, Yucatán, México., Gonzalo Manuel Herrera Canché

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract: The current development of extractive megaprojects in Latin American countries has had a significant impact on their societies and environments. This research addresses the issue of the impacts of extractive agricultural megaprojects on the environment, society and the economy, specifically the case of a pig farm in the community of Yaxhá, located in the municipality of Muna, Yucatán. The identified impacts are mainly attributed to the lack of strong and committed political institutions, lax environmental legislation, and the absence of an operating system, which facilitates human rights violations related to the environment, society, and access to information. In this …

Book Review: Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths: From Alexander To Hitler To The Corporation, Tim Bakken

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The book Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths is a survey of a vast amount of human wrongdoing. It lays bare the motivations of aggressors who wish to subjugate nations or groups of people and corporate executives and government bureaucrats who make discretionary decisions that harm people. Along with cataloging mass killings by despots and soldiers, the book includes stories about Ponzi-schemers and the deaths of automobile drivers and passengers who were killed by vehicle defects known to the manufacturer. The book posits that “[p]owerful, elite forces are trying to force us backward toward a non-democratic state, one where power, wealth, and prerogative …

Maximize “West End Opportunity” In America: Alternative Policy Options To Address Perceived Drawbacks Of Tax Increment Financing (Tif) & Opportunity Zones, Justin Avert, Samuel C Kessler

Commonwealth Policy Papers

In March 2021, the Kentucky General Assembly passed House Bill 321 (Acts Chapter 203) authorizing the creation of a tax increment finance (TIF) district within the West End of Louisville. Designed to spur community-wide economic development, it set up a public-private nonprofit partnership. Known as the West End Opportunity Partnership (WEOP), this 21-seat board include community representatives and has sole control over any fund disbursement. Funds can be used towards a broad array of investments including small business loans, financing affordable housing units, home improvements, etc.

Residents within the district have expressed opposition to the TIF, skepticism towards the board …

Walking The Walk: Ex-Prisoners, Lived Experience, And The Delivery Of Restorative Justice, Allely Albert

Articles

Although the role of prisoners and ex-prisoners has recently received significant attention in restorative justice research, the literature typically treats them as the ‘offending’ party within restorative justice processes. This article instead focuses on ex-prisoners as facilitators of restorative justice, highlighting their ability to lead such programmes. Using a case study from Northern Ireland, the article examines the way that experiences of incarceration have directly influenced practitioners’ skills and their ability to uphold restorative justice principles. It is contended that qualities developed and honed in the prison environment ultimately translate to unique characteristics that can improve the restorative process. As …

Writing Philosophical Autoethnography: A Review, Niroj Dahal

The Qualitative Report

As a book reviewer, I am penning down my thoughts restlessly on the book, Writing Philosophical Autoethnography, with a diverse audience in mind, encompassing readers, writers, and researchers of all levels from various disciplines in the social sciences and education. This groundbreaking work, edited by Alec Grant and published by Routledge, masterfully blends philosophy and autoethnography (Grant, 2023). The book distinguishes itself through its philosophical depth, with each chapter demonstrating a profound engagement with philosophical debates and theories rooted in Western philosophical traditions. This approach sets it apart from other autoethnographic works where philosophical concepts often appear to be …

Housing Discrimination And Negative Attitudes Towards Ex-Offender Parents, Julie Wertheimer-Meier

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While the Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination because of race, gender, religion, sex, disability, family status, and national origin, it allows housing providers to discriminate on the basis of criminal history. Prior research shows that housing providers disproportionately deny housing to ex-offender applicants and single parent applicants with young children. An ex-offender parent’s inability to acquire safe and affordable housing decreases the potential for reunification with their children and increases the risk of lost custody or parental rights termination. This dissertation consisted of two experiments that examined the effects of negative attitudes towards ex-offender parents on those parents’ ability …

Depaul Digest

DePaul Magazine

College of Education Professor Jason Goulah fosters hope, happiness and global citizenship through DePaul’s Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education. Associate Journalism Professor Jill Hopke shares how to talk about climate change. News briefs from DePaul’s 10 colleges and schools: Occupational Therapy Standardized Patient Program, Financial Planning Certificate program, Business Education in Technology and Analytics Hub, Racial Justice Initiative, Teacher Quality Partnership grant, Intimate Partner Violence and Brain Injury collaboration, School of Music Career Closet, Sports Photojournalism course, DePaul Migration Collaborative’s Solutions Lab, Inclusive Screenwriting courses. New appointments: School of Music Dean John Milbauer, College of Education Dean Jennifer …

Navigating Complexity Of Serving Displaced Communities: A Study Of Yemeni Community-Based Organizations In Egypt, Alya Mohammed Al-Mahdi

Theses and Dissertations

Forced displacement is a global crisis that poses challenges for nations like Egypt. Despite international NGO support, escalating displaced individuals have overwhelmed existing capacities. Refugee Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) have emerged as a natural response from the communities themselves to bridge the gap between the state and NGOs and the refugee community. However, CBOs in Egypt face challenges that impact their operation and continuity. Through qualitative research, this study aims to explore the experience of the Yemeni CBOs. Through interviews with seven people from six CBOs conducted through field visits and online calls, this research uncovers the dynamics of Yemeni CBOs …

Challenges Of Accessibility Of A Community Heritage Tourist Route: The Route Of The Caste War, Cecilia S. Medina Martín, David E. Tamayo Torres, Margarita De A Navarro Favela, Fredi R. Un Noh

Journal of Maya Heritage

This article presents the results of an accessibility analysis of The Caste War Route (RGC), prior to its commercialization as a community heritage product. The analysis consists of a diagnosis of the resource to establish destination-planning strategies. The accessibility diagnosis goes beyond adapting physical spaces for transit, considering that the resource is accessible to all types of people, including economic, spatial and temporal accessibility, criteria on which the research focuses.

The diagnosis was prepared through a multidisciplinary investigation that collected information from different sectors with qualitative and quantitative tools that combined the recording of data and the opinion of the …

Making Your Spring Break Sustainable: Can Tourism Be A Driver For Positive Environmental Change?, Katherine Ort

Journal of Maya Heritage

The Riviera Maya has undergone rapid development in the last few decades due to increased demand for tourism, putting pressure on surrounding ecosystems and cultural sites. As demand for tourism shows no signs of decreasing, there is an ever-increasing need for effective management solutions. The town of Puerto Morelos is striving to forward sustainable tourism based on its natural and cultural assets. As a new municipality, it has the chance to shape policy from a relatively blank canvas. This study involved collecting data about the different perspectives of key stakeholders through qualitative interviews and surveys to understand if the views …

“Social Workers By Day And Terrorists By Night?” Wounded Healers, Restorative Justice, And Ex-Prisoner Reentry, Allely Albert

Articles

Common to many post-conflict societies, former political prisoners and combatants in Northern Ireland are often portrayed as security threats rather than as potential contributors to societal peacebuilding processes. This distrust limits their ability to contribute to the transitional landscape and additionally hinders desistance processes during their reentry from prison. Drawing from the work of Maruna, LeBel, and others on “wounded healers,” this article critically examines the restorative justice work of ex-prisoners who have become involved in leadership roles within community based restorative justice. It is argued that such practitioner work can help former combatants overcome many of the challenges typically …

One Crisis Or Two Problems? Disentangling Rural Access To Justice And The Rural Attorney Shortage, Daria F. Page, Brian R. Farrell

Washington Law Review

We have all seen the headlines: No Lawyer for Miles or Legal Deserts Threaten Justice for All in Rural America. There is a substantial body of literature, across disciplines and for diverse audiences, that looks at access to justice in rural communities and geographies. However, in both the popular and scholarly imaginations, the access to justice crisis has been largely conflated with the shortage of local attorneys in rural areas: When bar associations, lawyers, and legal academics define the problem as not enough lawyers, more lawyers become the obvious solution. Consequently, programs aimed at building pipelines from law schools …

La Curp No Sirve Para Nada: How The Curp And Other Temporary Documentation Fail To Protect The Human Rights Of Migrants In Transit Through Mexico, Harper Hoover

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This work concerns the use of temporary documentation by migrants in transit through Mexico, specifically an identification known as the Clave Única de Registro de Población (CURP.) In recent years, migrants have employed a strategy entailing applying for asylum in Mexico solely to obtain a temporary CURP, falsely believed to provide safe transit through Mexico. Past research on similar temporary documentation concludes that issuing permission to travel through the country is typically ineffective at providing safety from corruption and crime. Documentation also fails at providing reliable access to human rights guaranteed to all by the Mexican Constitution and Immigration Law …

What Are The Causes And Remedies Of Wrongful Convictions?, Audree Alick

The Mid-Southern Journal of Criminal Justice

Wrongful convictions, also known as miscarriages of justice, are very common in the criminal justice system today. With the first known wrongful conviction in 1872, to the most recent in 2023, researchers have similarly identified three causes of wrongful convictions: false confessions, eyewitness errors, and investigative misconduct. Wrongful convictions can cause many physical and mental effects on post-exonerees and currently incarcerated individuals, including but not limited to, clinical anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Analyses of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) have proven instrumental in cases of wrongful convictions. Each exoneree should have access to the DNA database to test against the DNA evidence …

Politics Of Refusal: Justice And Liberation For Black Trans Lives, Quincy Smith

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis investigates the challenges faced by Black trans people. In this thesis, I will explore how protest is used to highlight and confront the obstacles faced by the Black trans community. I will also examine the cultural work of Black trans people and what they teach us. The Brooklyn Liberation march and the TV show Pose is an important part of Black trans legacy. They both look at the complications surrounding Black trans lives and contributes to Black trans representation in protesting and fighting marginalization. This thesis will argue the importance of allyship to create safe space for Black …

Addressing Barriers To Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Massachusetts Community Mediation, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Shino Yokotsuka, Karina Zeferino, Jarling Ho

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

This report presents over three years of systematically engaging, documenting and analyzing the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) needs/gaps and assets of state funded community mediation centers in Massachusetts. The report was compiled by researchers and an in-house DEI expert at the statutory state office of dispute resolution, the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The office has been serving as a neutral forum and state-level resource for over 30 years.

The report is based on qualitative research that falls into the category of community based participatory research conducted through a series of community …

Examining Remorse In Attributions Of Focal Concerns During Sentencing: A Study Of Probation Officers, Colleen M. Berryessa

International Journal on Responsibility

This research, using interviews with probation officers in the United States (n = 151) and a constant comparative method for analysis, draws from the focal concerns framework to qualitatively model a process by which probation officers use a defendant’s remorse to attribute focal concerns in order to guide their sentencing recommendations in pre-sentencing reports. The model suggests that officers use expressions of remorse to make attributions about mitigated criminal intention (blameworthiness and notions of responsibility), reduced dangerousness and a high potential for reform (community protection), and organization-level effects for increasing caseload efficiency and using correctional resources (practical effects of …

Carceral Data: The Limits Of Transparency-As-Accountability In Prison Risk Data, Becka Hudson, Tomas Percival

Secrecy and Society

Prison data collection is a labyrinthine infrastructure. This article engages with debates around the political potentials and limitations of transparency as a form of “accountability,” specifically as it relates to carceral management and data gathering. We examine the use of OASys, a widely used risk assessment tool in the British prison system, in order to demonstrate how transparency operates as a means of legitimating prison data collection and ensuing penal management. Prisoner options to resist their file, or “data double,” in this context are considered and the decisive role of OASys as an immediately operationalized technical structure is outlined. We …

Addressing Barriers To Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Massachusetts Community Mediation, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Jarling Ho, Shino Yokotsuka, Karina Zeferino

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

This report presents over three years of systematically engaging, documenting and analyzing the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) needs/gaps and assets of state funded community mediation centers in Massachusetts. The report was compiled by researchers and an in-house DEI expert at the statutory state office of dispute resolution, the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The office has been serving as a neutral forum and state-level resource for over 30 years.

The report is based on qualitative research that falls into the category of community based participatory research conducted through a series of community …

"The Land That Feminism Forgot": Birthzillas, Madwives, And The Politics Of Chilbirth, Amber Vayo

Doctoral Dissertations

“The Land that Feminism Forgot” is an in-depth exploration of the politics of childbirth that draws together qualitative and quantitative evidence to theorize the connections between treatment in childbirth and maternal mortality. Situating the qualitative research in the larger national context, the second chapter offers a State Reproductive Autonomy Index that provides an overview of the reproductive policy landscape at the national level. The dissertation then explores the role of institutionalized childbirth, medical mistrust, and obstetric violence in the U.S.’s longstanding maternal mortality crisis and offers policy suggestions in key public health areas. Through 120 qualitative interviews with people who …

Greenwashing “Brown Gold”: A Critical Analysis Of Anaerobic Digesters And California’S Neoliberal Environmental Programs In Wisconsin’S Dairyland, Sarah Emily D'Onofrio

Doctoral Dissertations

Large dairy farms, also known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), have turned to anaerobic digesters as the industry is increasingly pressured to find ways to lower their greenhouse gas emissions. Digesters are machines that turn animal waste from CAFOs into electricity and fuel which are then sold as “credits” in California’s market based climate change mitigation programs such as cap and trade and the low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) program. However, this dissertation not only challenges the assertion that digesters are “green,” but also that these programs are doing what they claim to do in a deregulated and re-regulated …

Investigation Procedures In The Crimes Of Ministers And Senior Officials In Light Of Federal Decree-Law No. (24) Of 2021 On The Accountability Of Ministers And Senior Officials Of The Federation, Yousuf Alkaabi

Journal of Police and Legal Sciences

The aim of this research is to define the concept of ministers and senior employees of the federation and to explain their legal nature, to stand on the legal basis for the penal responsibility of ministers and its scope, in addition to clarifying the procedures for receiving complaints and communications against ministers and senior employees of the federation in the UAE, and examining their seriousness, and indicating the competent authority for the preliminary investigation. And a statement of its authority to issue precautionary orders against ministers.

The problem of the research was to determine the adequacy of the procedural provisions …

The Fall And Rise Of Bengali Muslim Conciousness: Conceptualising The Identity Of The Bangla Universal, Habib Khan

Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of modern-nation states saw the end of the empirical era of exploitation and exercise of inherent racist tendencies towards the 'other'. However, the effect of that colonial system is still ever-present in the creation and governance of these newly independent states. While every new state aims to be 'modern', they adopt the international legal framework of the West as their own - a system they had initially wanted to escape. The concept of Muslim universality in the form of the ummah should have freed Pakistan from the shackles of its former colonial masters. Instead, this phenomenon was replaced …

Identity Boundaries Construction And Its Effects On Vulnerability In The Case Of A Historically Marginalized People (Hmp) In Rwanda: An Examination Of Their Access To Human Rights., Jean Baptiste Ndikubwimana, Kathleen A. Anangwe, Oriare Oriare Nyarwath, Mwimali Jack, Charles Mulinda Kabwete

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

This paper contextualises the vulnerability of a Historically Marginalized people (HMP) referred to as the Batwa to explain how their moral inferiority resulting from the constructed microaggressions and attitudinal prejudices, jeopardize their full enjoyment and appreciation of human rights. The dilemmas experienced by the Batwa in Rwanda have until recently received little theoretical and empirical attention thereby disregarding ontological and epistemological distinction. This paper contributes to this lacuna by reviewing colonial discourse of histories and hegemonies and investigating ethnic socio-cultural practices and other mythical tales. The foregoing indicates a genuine need for the application of human rights approach to recognize …

Examining The Role Of Evidence-Based Suspicion In Racial Disparities In Wrongful Convictions, Jacqueline Katzman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There are clear racial disparities in the rates of wrongful convictions, with Black exonerees disproportionately represented among the population of those exonerated, in DNA and non-DNA exonerations alike (National Registry of Exonerations, 2022; Innocence Project, 2022). This racial disparity also exists for those exonerees who were wrongfully convicted, at least in part, because an eyewitness mistakenly identified them. For decades, when eyewitness scholars explored racial bias, they focused on the cross-race effect or own-race bias among eyewitnesses, a bias positing that witness performance suffers when a witness is asked to make an identification of a cross-race face (Lee & Penrod, …