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Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Criminology

Developing A Typology Of Juvenile Sex Offenders, Creaig Anthony Dunton Jan 2013

Developing A Typology Of Juvenile Sex Offenders, Creaig Anthony Dunton

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Understanding juvenile sex offenders is of the utmost importance in order to ensure effective treatment and reduce recidivism. A more thorough recognition of this population is the best option in preventing future offending, because most adult sex offenders began their criminal careers in adolescence. Extant typologies of this population have been limited to be only descriptive or not empirically verified and thus of limited use. Hierarchical cluster analysis is used to develop a taxonomy based upon the content of case files from two juvenile treatment programs, based upon demographic information, offense details, psychological and behavioral issues, and participation in treatment. …


The New Welfare State : Reconsidering The Welfare-Crime Nexus, Colin Gruner Jan 2013

The New Welfare State : Reconsidering The Welfare-Crime Nexus, Colin Gruner

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

A sizeable body of literature has found that welfare reduces crime, but the majority of these studies have used data from before 1996. In 1996 the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) radically changed the welfare system of the United States. Control of welfare programs shifted from the federal government to the states and PRWORA increased the emphasis on getting people off welfare via the introduction of lifetime limits on the receipt of aid and mandatory participation in work programs for able-bodied recipients. Consistent with this emphasis, researchers have documented a precipitous drop in caseload sizes across the …


Capital Punishment In The Lone Star State : A County-Level Analysis Of Contextual Effects On Sentencing, Jennifer Lynn Owens Jan 2013

Capital Punishment In The Lone Star State : A County-Level Analysis Of Contextual Effects On Sentencing, Jennifer Lynn Owens

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In its landmark decision, Furman v. Georgia (1972), the Supreme Court held all existing death penalty statutes unconstitutional, largely due to the arbitrary nature of the capital sentencing processes that resulted from them. In response to the Furman decision, several states revised their death penalty statutes to address the Court's concerns. Although the Court upheld the newly-drafted statutes in Gregg v. Georgia (1976) and its companion cases, subsequently reinstating the death penalty, intrastate variation in death sentencing suggests that the death penalty may continue to be applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner inconsistent with the Eighth Amendment. This dissertation …


Socially Situated Identities Of Gay Gang- And Crime-Involved Men, Vanessa R. Panfil Jan 2013

Socially Situated Identities Of Gay Gang- And Crime-Involved Men, Vanessa R. Panfil

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Within the criminological literature, gay men have primarily been portrayed as victims of anti-gay bias crimes or intimate partner violence, or as sex workers and/or drug users. This coverage, which is limited in scope, largely fails to recognize that gay men have agency (choice or power to control the situation). It also provides an incomplete picture regarding gay men's involvement in gangs, violence, and crime.


Factors Related To Recidivism Among Mentally Disordered Offenders : Differential Impact Of Historical And Dynamic Clinical Indicators Across Risk Level, Lori J. Torgersen Jan 2013

Factors Related To Recidivism Among Mentally Disordered Offenders : Differential Impact Of Historical And Dynamic Clinical Indicators Across Risk Level, Lori J. Torgersen

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Understanding the factors related to recidivism among mentally disordered offenders is important so that criminal justice and mental health systems can prioritize resources to intervene with those most likely to reoffend by targeting factors that are most likely to reduce risk. While there is a sound body of literature identifying the predictors of recidivism among non-disordered adult offenders, the same inquiry in the case of mentally disordered offenders has been more equivocal.


The Inter-Rater Reliability Of A Multi-Factor Sex Offender Risk Classification System : An Experimental Simulation, Elizabeth Rahmberg Walsh Jan 2013

The Inter-Rater Reliability Of A Multi-Factor Sex Offender Risk Classification System : An Experimental Simulation, Elizabeth Rahmberg Walsh

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This research is an experimental simulation that explores the interrater reliability of a multi-factor sex offender risk classification system, specifically, the system outlined by the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA). In Study 1, professionals holding the terminal degree in their field and qualified for appointment to the Sex Offender Registry Board administered the Massachusetts Classification Worksheet to four sex offender cases. Study 2 involved the use of master's level participants (including professionals with master's degrees and graduate student participants) to administer the Massachusetts Classification Worksheet to the same four sex offender cases. Participants assessed the offenders' risk as either …


Gentrification And Crime In New York City 1980-2009, Michael Scott Barton Jan 2013

Gentrification And Crime In New York City 1980-2009, Michael Scott Barton

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

It is a well supported fact that crime rates in cities across the United States increased between the 1960s and 1980s before dramatically declining during the 1990s. While scholars agree that this decline occurred, they continue to debate the cause of the decline (Greenberg, 2013; Zimring, 2011). References to changes in neighborhood crime rates as a result of gentrification have been common in previous research on gentrification, but only a few studies have empirically assessed the association between gentrification and crime. Kreager, Lyons, and Hays (2011), Papachristos, Smith, Scherer, and Fugiero (2011), and Smith (2012), who utilized innovative measures of …


Dynamics Of Drug Markets : An Examination Of Arrestee Drug Acquisition Behavior, Tanya T. Meisenholder Jan 2013

Dynamics Of Drug Markets : An Examination Of Arrestee Drug Acquisition Behavior, Tanya T. Meisenholder

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Using data from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program, and from the 2000 U.S. Census, this exploratory study examined drug market acquisition behaviors and how this behavior differs by drug type, user characteristics, and across locations. A descriptive and comparative assessment of drug markets and acquisition behavior revealed substantial differences within and across drug types. This wide variation was evident across drug market clientele and across locations, regardless of the measure considered. The analysis also demonstrated that this data can be used to identify drug buyers that may also be drug sellers. Hierarchical and K-means cluster analysis was used …