Criminology Commons^™

A Study Of Public Opinion: The Importance Of Mental Illness Diagnosis And Perceptions Of Recidivism On Parole Eligibility, Emily Pedigo

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The present study examined the impact a mental illness diagnosis has on parole eligibility mediated by the participants’ perceptions of whether the prospective parolee would commit future crimes if released. Participants watched a video vignette of an individual charged with second degree manslaughter and diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, or bipolar disorder while incarcerated. Results indicated that a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder indirectly reduced parole success compared to bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder when mediated by participants’ perceptions of whether the convict would recommit a crime following release.

The Development And Validation Of The General Attitudes Toward Police (Gap) Questionnaire, Rachel Greis

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Previous studies have examined the relationships between various demographic characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity, prior arrest experience, residential living area, political affiliation) and various measures of attitudes toward police (e.g., trustworthiness, legitimacy; Brown & Benedict, 2002; Hindelang, 1974; Rizer & Trautman, 2018; Schuck et al., 2008). However, a measure of overall general attitudes toward police has not been established. The main goal of the present research was to fill this gap in the literature by creating and validating a brief questionnaire that effectively captures respondents’ general attitudes toward police. In Study 1, a brief 14-item questionnaire that captured general attitudes toward police …

Judges, Attorneys, And Psychologists' Views Of Sole-Parent Child Custody Evaluations, Chandler Flynt

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Judges, attorneys, and psychologists are individuals in the legal system who have the most interaction with child custody evaluations (CCEs), yet there is little research regarding whether these parties have different views on what factors are important in CCEs. The present study examined how judges, attorneys, and psychologists evaluated sole-parent child custody cases. A sample of judges, attorneys, and psychologists completed a forty-item questionnaire regarding their opinions of what factors they believe are most/least important in CCEs. The goal of this study was to first observe if there were differences among the parties’ ratings, and secondly, determine why might differences …

The Influence Of Mental Illness On The Perception Of Guilt, Sydney Garrison

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the presence of a mental disorder in a person accused of a crime affects an individual’s perception of the accused person’s guilt. Participants were randomly assigned a vignette used in a study by Skeem & Goulding (2001), describing a crime that has been committed; one condition included the presence of an unnamed mental illness and the other condition did not. Immediately after reading the vignette participants completed a survey that included a question regarding the perceived guilt of the person accused of the crime. The answers to this question were compared …

Factors Affecting Juvenile Drug Use In Medellín, Colombia, Kendall Miller

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Evidence shows that peer pressure is a strong indicator of juvenile substance use. Oetting and Beauvais (1986) determined that the Peer Cluster Theory was a common phenomenon in which adolescents tend to share the same opinions on substance use as their friends do, namely that juveniles who had friends that abused substances were likely to abuse substances themselves. The present study sought to determine if this phenomenon was true for adolescents in Medellín, Columbia. Data was collected on participants’ demographics, their opinions of their community, their relationship to their families and friends, how they spend their time each week, and …

Student Attitudes Toward Sex Offender Policies And Laws In An Era Of High Profile Sex Crimes In The News, Amber Bennett

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This is a study looking at the attitudes that undergraduate college students taking introductory sociology and criminology courses have toward sex offender policies and laws such as community notification, residence restrictions, and the registry system. Voluntary participants were also asked to look at the appropriateness of the punishment given to perpetrators in case studies based off real cases. Results showed that there are potential gender differences in the attitudes about appropriateness of notification and the registration of sex offenders. There were less favorable attitudes toward chemical and surgical castration. Further research should be done to look at different types of …

The Relationships Among Moral Judgement, Social Identification, And Stigmitization, Rebecca Isaacs

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Stigma has had a perceived link with the concept of morality since the Grecian era (Goffman, 1963). The purpose of this study was to see if there was a correlation between moral judgement (using the Defining Issues Test 2; DIT2), social identification (using the Identification with all Humanity Scale; IWAHS) and stigma attributions toward those with mental illness. Specifically, whether those with a heightened sense of identification with all humanity and more developed moral judgement schemas are less likely to make negative stigma attributions toward persons with mental illness. The results this study supported correlations between those variables and the …

Assessing The Need For A Formal Training Program Concerning Shoplifter Apprehension, April Lynn Hicks

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The present study was conducted to determine if supervisors and subordinates perceived a need for a formal training program on apprehending shoplifters. The study also determined whether supervisors perceived a greater or lesser need for a formal training program than did subordinates. Twenty supervisors and 70 subordinates from four retail locations were administered a Shoplifting Awareness Survey. It was found that both supervisors and subordinates perceived a need for a formal training program. The data revealed that supervisors perceived the need for a training program to be as strong as the need perceived by subordinates. Subordinates overwhelmingly indicated that they …

The Impact Of Boys’ Club Membership And Participation Upon Self-Reported Delinquent Behavior, Charles Vaught

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study empirically tested the responses of sixty-one Boys’ Club members to a questionnaire which contained the Nye-Short delinquency scale. Frequency of self-reported delinquent behavior was compared for the youngsters both before and after having joined the Boys’ Club. It was found that the various aspects of Club membership and participation had minimal effect upon the members’ delinquent behavior.

Ua3/3/1 Psychology Department 1961-1966, Wku President's Office

WKU Archives Records

Psychology Department folder from Kelly Thompson's Subject/Correspondence File.

• A Patch of Blue
• College Reading Association
• Correspondence
• Cravens, Raymond
• Dotson, Elsie
• Downing, Dero
• Handicapped students
• Institute for Community Leaders in Mental Health
• Kansas State Teachers College - Emporia
• Kentucky. Commissioner of Health
• Kentucky. Dept. of Child Welfare
• Kentucky. Dept. of Corrections
• LaGrange Reformatory
• Literacy Center (WKU)
• Page, Tate
• Regional Mental Health Planning Committee
• Shedd, Charles
• Spano, Bart
• Thompson, Kelly
• Upward Bound