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Full-Text Articles in Criminology

Reforming United States Prisons: A Cross-Cultural Analysis, Alex Henkel Oct 2021

Reforming United States Prisons: A Cross-Cultural Analysis, Alex Henkel

Honors Theses

This paper examines the United States prison system and its standing among peer countries, as well as potential reforms to improve this system and its effectiveness. The incarceration statistics of many different countries show that the United States incarcerates significantly more of its population than similar countries. I turn to an examination of how penal policies are formed across the world to evaluate their impact on the U.S. prison rate compared to other countries. Additionally, I look at recidivism to determine the effectiveness of United States incarceration. This analysis aims to highlight the differences between the U.S. and other countries …


Women And Crime, Samantha M. Caimi Oct 2019

Women And Crime, Samantha M. Caimi

Undergraduate Research

This paper examines the role of gender in three high profile criminal cases involving women. Each case highlights different circumstances of women involved in crime and the consequences of a justice system that does not acknowledge and address the role of gender in women’s criminal involvement. First, Cyntoia Brown’s case demonstrates the challenges specific to poor girls of color. Second, the case of Yeardley Love delineates the danger women face in their relationships with male intimate partners. Finally, the highly controversial case of Casey Anthony illustrates the societal pressure on women as mothers and the need to address potential biases …


“How Can You Live Without Your Kids?”: Distancing From And Embracing The Stigma Of “Incarcerated Mother”, Brittnie L. Aiello, Krista Mcqueeney Jun 2016

“How Can You Live Without Your Kids?”: Distancing From And Embracing The Stigma Of “Incarcerated Mother”, Brittnie L. Aiello, Krista Mcqueeney

Criminology Faculty Publications

This article examines how incarcerated mothers constructed moral identities in the face of stigma. Analyzing data from participant observation and 83 in-depth interviews with incarcerated mothers, we show that mothers claimed moral identities by distancing from the stigma of incarceration and/or embracing the identity of incarcerated mothers. Utilizing these strategies, women challenged the stigma of convicted felon/ bad mother and reinforced the assumptions that motherhood is compulsory and should be reserved for women with enough money and standing to give their children advantages. The implications for understanding motherhood as a mechanism of moral identity and social control are discussed.


La Visibilización: El Desarrollo Del Femicidio Como Un Problema Social En Argentina Según El Estado Y Las Organizaciones Civiles, Maggie Wetzel Apr 2016

La Visibilización: El Desarrollo Del Femicidio Como Un Problema Social En Argentina Según El Estado Y Las Organizaciones Civiles, Maggie Wetzel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Femicide is the ultimate display of gendered violence in which a man kills a woman for being a woman. Femicide is made possible by the patriarchal system that ascribes power and control to men, systematically positioning women as a vulnerable population. Every year, more than two hundred women die of femicide in Argentina, resulting in the death of a woman approximately every thirty hours. Femicide has only been recognized by the international community within the last forty years, making it a newly-recognized phenomenon, although it has existed for centuries. This investigation seeks to further our knowledge of femicide and its …


A Model For Understanding Structure Versus Agency In The Participation Of Minors In The Commercial Sex Market, Courtney Thrash May 2015

A Model For Understanding Structure Versus Agency In The Participation Of Minors In The Commercial Sex Market, Courtney Thrash

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In 2000, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act defined any sex worker under the age of eighteen as a victim of sex trafficking and exploitation, while requiring evidence of coercion for those eighteen and over for the same charge. This definition makes explicit a common conception concerning CSEC, namely, that their status as participants in the sex economy rests upon a lack of personal and legal agency. Research on female sex workers often focuses on their victimization, such as childhood sexual abuse and neglect. Conversely, research on male sex workers often ignores their possible victimization and instead emphasizes their drug use, …


Reflections On Visual Field Research, Kenneth Tunnell Jan 2012

Reflections On Visual Field Research, Kenneth Tunnell

Justice Studies Faculty and Staff Research

This article describes ongoing visual field research by focusing on its self-reflective and auto-ethnographic components. Photographs and field notes are presented and personal encounters from the field are described. Recognizing the symbiotic order of the personal and political, the author details confrontations and emotions from ongoing efforts at recording visually.


Predicting Police Discretion: A Traffic Stop Analysis, Andrew Girard May 2010

Predicting Police Discretion: A Traffic Stop Analysis, Andrew Girard

Honors Projects

Examines Donald Black's (1976) theory of pure sociology with data from traffic stops collected over eight months during seventy hours of "ride alongs" with eight different police departments in Rhode Island. Posits that the social structure of each traffic stop is predictable based on observable characteristics of the parties involved and that distance in social space increases the likelihood of a police officer issuing a citation to a driver, while social characteristics similar to that of the police officer reduces the likelihood of a driver receiving a citation. Twenty-one variables throught to impact a police officer's discretion are analyzed. As …


Illegal Dumping: Large And Small Scale Littering In Rural Kentucky, Kenneth D. Tunnell Jan 2008

Illegal Dumping: Large And Small Scale Littering In Rural Kentucky, Kenneth D. Tunnell

Justice Studies Faculty and Staff Research

Illegal dumping, a social problem greatly affecting some rural states, occurs at both the large and small scale as open dump sites and roadside trash. Focusing on Kentucky, a rural state without mandatory trash pickup and a per capita income below and a poverty rate above the national average, this photo essay describes the dumping and littering problem. As is shown, legislative and executive initiatives have made some inroads in large-scale clean up. Some local governments, however, appear apathetic about addressing illegal dumping in their own communities. Kentucky’s litter problem is showing few signs of improvement and roadside littering seemingly …


In Our Own Backyard: Methamphetamine Manufacturing, Trafficking And Abuse In Rural America, Kenneth D. Tunnell, Joseph Donnermeyer Jan 2007

In Our Own Backyard: Methamphetamine Manufacturing, Trafficking And Abuse In Rural America, Kenneth D. Tunnell, Joseph Donnermeyer

Justice Studies Faculty and Staff Research

The abuse of methamphetamine ( or meth) is dramatically evident in the "before and after" faces of meth arrestees. Yet these pictures provide only a glimpse of the larger personal, environmental, and community fallout from methamphetamine use and production, an issue that barely existed 15 years ago in rural America, but has since grown into a large more serious problem.


Socially Disorganized Rural Communities, Kenneth D. Tunnell Dec 2006

Socially Disorganized Rural Communities, Kenneth D. Tunnell

Justice Studies Faculty and Staff Research

The article talks about the social disorganization of rural communities in the U.S. It is stated that family farming has been on the decline for decades, with the numbers of farmers dropping by 16 million since 1950 and farms decreasing by over 4 million during the past century. It is inferred that a part of a community's history and way of life are being forfeited when local business are closing. According to the author, the theory of social disorganization emphasizes social integration and stability as necessary conditions for community. It offers some of the disadvantages of disorganized communities, such as …


Domestic Violence Blame Attributions In The State Of Rhode Island, Kyle Gamache Jan 2006

Domestic Violence Blame Attributions In The State Of Rhode Island, Kyle Gamache

Honors Projects

Focuses on domestic violence blame attitudes in the State of Rhode Island. Using the Domestic Violence Blame Scale (Petretic-Jackson, 1994) and additional variables generated by a survey designed by the researcher, examines the attitudes of domestic violence shelter care workers, police officers, and students.


The Death Of Roy Lee Centers, Kenneth D. Tunnell, Terry C. Cox Jul 2003

The Death Of Roy Lee Centers, Kenneth D. Tunnell, Terry C. Cox

Justice Studies Faculty and Staff Research

"Be it remembered." A simple command yet, in this case, an introduction spoken by the judge in the Breathitt County, Ky., trial of William (Bill) R. Hurst, who killed Roy Lee Centers, a native of Jackson, Kentucky


Toward An Interparadigmatic Dialogue On Goffman, James J. Chriss Jan 1996

Toward An Interparadigmatic Dialogue On Goffman, James J. Chriss

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


The Young Parsons And The Mature Habermas, James J. Chriss Jan 1996

The Young Parsons And The Mature Habermas, James J. Chriss

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Durkheim's Cult Of The Individual As Civil Religion: Its Appropriation By Erving Goffman, James J. Chriss Jan 1993

Durkheim's Cult Of The Individual As Civil Religion: Its Appropriation By Erving Goffman, James J. Chriss

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Looking Back On Goffman: The Excavation Continues, James J. Chriss Jan 1993

Looking Back On Goffman: The Excavation Continues, James J. Chriss

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Murder And Capital-Punishment In The Evolving Context Of The Post-Furman Era, Ruth D. Peterson, William C. Bailey Mar 1988

Murder And Capital-Punishment In The Evolving Context Of The Post-Furman Era, Ruth D. Peterson, William C. Bailey

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

In view of (1) escalating national attention, and political and judicial activity centering on capital punishment during the past decade and a half, and (2) concomitant changes in homicides this paper investigates the impact of the death penalty on state homicide rates for the post-Furman period, 1973 -84 The research also addresses the debate over the relative merits of the contiguous state matching strategy versus multiple regression as a means of controlling for the influence of possible confounding factors in examining the capital punishment/homicide relationship. The two approaches yield quite similar results. Consistent with a long line of deterrence research, …