Criminology Commons^™

Education & Crime: A Study In Student Perceptions Of Culpability, Larry Curtis Long

Masters Theses

Criminological research has long been concerned with how stereotypes of offender race and gender affect perceived culpability and policy formation. Using data collected from a college student population that were administered six vignettes written in the form of police blotters that depicted different crimes being committed by offenders with differing educational characteristics, this study seeks to identify whether or not an offender’s educational characteristics affect their perceived culpability. Although the data indicates that offender’s are seen as culpable regardless of their educational characteristics, it is evident that some degree or sociopathy is assessed to offender’s that are seen as educated …

Expanding A Model Of Female Heterosexual Coercion: Are Sexually Coercive Women Hyperfeminine?, Elizabeth Anne Schatzel-Murphy

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The present study aimed to replicate a preliminary model of female heterosexual coercion and subsequently expand the model with gender- and race-related variables. The preliminary model, which specified sexual compulsivity, sexual dominance, sociosexuality, and prior sexual abuse, as predictors of female heterosexual coercion, was sufficiently replicated with a racially diverse sample of college women. The model was then successfully expanded by adding rape myth acceptance and hyperfemininity to the model. Hyperfemininity was found to be a core predictor of female heterosexual coercion, challenging the notion that sexual coercion is an inherently "masculine" behavior. Actual minority status, perceived minority status, and …

Descriptive Phenomenological Psychological Method: An Example Of A Methodology Section From Doctoral Dissertation, Rodger E. Broome

Rodger E. Broome

This paper is the methodology section of my doctoral dissertation that outlines the Descriptive Phenomenological Psychological Method of research as it has been taught to me by Amedeo P. Giorgi. Giorgi (2009) based his method on Husserl’s descriptive phenomenological philosophy as an alternative epistemology for human science research. This method section references Giorgi’s work and the phenomenological tradition of Husserl, Merleau-Ponty and others. Each step of Giorgi’s (2009) modified Husserlian method is described and explained in the context of doing psychological research on the lived-experience of the participants in my dissertation research. The steps are: (1) assume the phenomenological attitude, …

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 …

Collaborative Command, Rodger E. Broome

Rodger E. Broome

Utah Valley University teaches fire command facilitating a naturalistic and comparative models of decision making through collaborative command. Based on Gary Klein's (1998) monograph "Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions."

A Systematic Observational Study Of A Juvenile Drug Court Judge, Christopher Salvatore, Matthew Hiller, Benta Samuelson, Jaime Henderson, Elise White

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The shift of the juvenile justice system from its initial rehabilitative ideal toward a more punitive orientation highlights the need to systematically document key elements of the juvenile drug court model. In particular, it is important to clearly document the role of the juvenile court judge because he or she is considered vital to this program model. The current study used participant observation as well as confidential questionnaires on which youth shared their perceptions of the judge. Findings show the judge‐participant interactions typically were brief, varied by the participants' level of compliance with the program, and that sanctions were given …

Education - "What's In It For Me?", Megan Stone, Rodger E. Broome

Rodger E. Broome

Personal and professional growth through college education for emergency services workers.

Ideas Turned Into Inactions, Rodger E. Broome

Rodger E. Broome

When sociopolitical and economic ideologies drive the decision to withhold services. Subscriptions for fire services not paid.

"Becoming" A Firefighter, Rodger E. Broome

Rodger E. Broome

Knowledge and Lived-Action are what makes a firefighter an authentic firefighter.

Primetime Crime And Its Influence On Public Perception, Katherine E. Stott

Senior Honors Projects

Since the television became more readily available to the American public in the 1940s and 50s, television shows have captured the attention of the nation. While television programs and televisions themselves have changed since then there are a few constants, one being the continued popularity of crime shows. From Sunday to Saturday during ‘prime time’ on just the four major networks, there are over fifteen hours of crime programming. The shows aim to entertain, leading them to show many inaccuracies about crime and the justice system in America. Studies have shown that most white Americans receive their information about crime …

"We Don't Need No Education!" Really?, Rodger E. Broome

Rodger E. Broome

Why fire service employees, fire departments, and communities benefit from college educated firefighters.

Practical Ways To Reduce Online & In-School Bullying, Elizabeth Englander

MARC Publications

The Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC) is an academic Center at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. By running a training program for graduate and undergraduate students in higher education, MARC offers free research, programs and services to K-12 schools in Massachusetts. Everyone benefits: future educators receive unique field training, and K-12 schools receive high-quality, no-cost programs and services. One important characteristic of MARC’s mission is to transmute significant research findings into concrete, useable information for K-12 teachers in the field. The sheer amount of information available today about bullying and cyberbullying can make any educator’s head spin. But despite the …

Utilizing The Past To Shape The Future: The Rehabilitation Of Child Soldiers In Darfur, Michael K. Marriott

Michael K Marriott

Child soldiering, an unfortunate reality of war, has become increasingly common in modern warfare. With world attention focused on the genocide taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan, issues regarding the use of child soldiers in the conflict have come to light. By providing an overview of the use of child soldiers both globally and in Sudan, discussing the relevant legal norms theoretically governing the country and providing a case study on Sierra Leone, this paper ultimately provides an analysis and proposed framework for comprehensive programs that could be put into action after cessation of hostilities in an attempt …

Marc Handful O' Statistics, Elizabeth K. Englander

MARC Research Reports

These statistics were gleaned from two 2010-­‐2011 studies through the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

• In-depth survey of 617 college freshman
• Survey of 21,000 children in grades 3-12 in a variety of communities across Massachusetts.

Research Findings: Marc 2011 Survey Grades 3-12, Elizabeth K. Englander

MARC Research Reports

Self-report survey of 20,766 children in grades 3-12 in Massachusetts

Marc Freshman Study 2011: Bullying, Cyberbullying, Risk Factors And Reporting, Elizabeth K. Englander

MARC Research Reports

The Sample:

• 617 College freshman, studied over a 6 month period in 2010-­‐2011
• Predominately white
• Predominately 18–19 years old
• Parents tend to be high working class, low middle class, or middle class

Studied for: rates of behavior; risk factors & their relationship to bullying and cyberbullying; and many other social, family, and school factors

Studying Rape Through A Theorectical Lens: The Development Of A Serial Rape Model Using Fbi Data, Brooke Smith

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The current study assessed whether there is an empirical foundation for different theories of rape including the feminist, evolutionary, social disorganization, psychopathy, and rapist type theories. Using a data set from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on serial rapists collected in the early 1990's, the study included two phases. The first phase assessed whether FBI data supported the previously mentioned theories of rape by analyzing associations between individual variables that are thought to support each theory. Support was demonstrated for the evolutionary and psychopathy theories. Using MPlus statistical software to accommodate the multi-level nature of the data, the second …

Criminal History And Lsi-R Scores Of Rsat Participants In The State Of Massachusetts: Impact Of Offender Age On Program Completion And Rates Of Offender Recidivism, Jewell E. Hankins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to understand how offender age impacted residential substance abuse treatment (RSAT) program success in reducing rates of recidivism for offenders exiting the judicial system. Despite passing legislation in the 1980s and 1990s, which increased the penalties for certain crimes, offender recidivism remains high, with no apparent drop in the number of incarcerations and re-incarcerations, resulting in high costs and threats to the safety and quality of life experienced within communities. Social learning theory, behavioral decision theory, and biologically based theories of behavior were the theoretical foundations. Archival data collected from a RSAT grant program …

Empathic Development Of Counselor Trainees For Difficult Clients Through Film And Narrative, Kristin Elisabeth Matson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This paper posits that to develop empathy, similar to cross-cultural counseling competencies, counselor trainees should be exposed to life experiences of various clients, especially those deemed challenging, and which counselor trainees indicate no desire to work. As it is impractical to expect counselors to experience every type of client, learning about populations through narrative or film may be an option (Gladstein & Feldstein, 1983; Kurkijan & Banks, 1978; Pearson, 2003). Specifically, empathy in masters level counselor trainees both pre and post exposure to narrative and film depictions of violent juvenile offenders was explored. Results indicated that exposure to juvenile offenders …

Provocation As Partial Justification And Partial Excuse, Mitchell N. Berman

All Faculty Scholarship

The partial defense of provocation provides that a person who kills in the heat of passion brought on by legally adequate provocation is guilty of manslaughter rather than murder. It traces back to the twelfth century, and exists today, in some form, in almost every U.S. state and other common law jurisdictions. But long history and wide application have not produced agreement on the rationale for the doctrine. To the contrary, the search for a coherent and satisfying rationale remains among the main occupations of criminal law theorists. The dominant scholarly view holds that provocation is best explained and defended …

Are We Responsible For Who We Are? The Challenge For Criminal Law Theory In The Defenses Of Coercive Indoctrination And "Rotten Social Background", Paul H. Robinson

All Faculty Scholarship

Should coercive indoctrination or "rotten social background" be a defense to crime? Traditional desert-based excuse theory roundly rejects these defenses because the offender lacks cognitive or control dysfunction at the time of the offense. The standard coercive crime-control strategies of optimizing general deterrence or incapacitation of the dangerous similarly reject such defenses. Recognition of such defenses would tend to undermine, perhaps quite seriously, deterrence and incapacitation goals. Finally, the normative crime-control principle of empirical desert might support such an excuse, but only if the community's shared intuitions of justice support it. The law’s rejection of such defenses suggests that there …

Gene-Environment Interactions, Criminal Responsibility, And Sentencing, Stephen J. Morse

All Faculty Scholarship

This chapter in, Gene-Environment Interactions in Developmental Psychopathology (K. Dodge & M. Rutter, eds. 2011), considers the relevance of GxE to criminal responsibility and sentencing. It begins with a number of preliminary assumptions that will inform the analysis. It then turns to the law’s view of the person, including the law’s implicit psychology, and the criteria for criminal responsibility. A few false starts or distractions about responsibility are disposed of briefly. With this necessary background in place, the chapter then turns specifically to the relation between GxE and criminal responsibility. It suggests that GxE causes of criminal behavior have no …

Abnormal Mental State Mitigations Or Murder – The U.S. Perspective, Paul H. Robinson

All Faculty Scholarship

This paper examines the U.S. doctrines that allow an offender's abnormal mental state to reduce murder to manslaughter. First, the modern doctrine of "extreme emotional disturbance," as in Model Penal Code Section 210.3(1)(b), mitigates to manslaughter what otherwise would be murder when the killing "is committed under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance for which there is reasonable explanation or excuse." While most American jurisdictions are based upon the Mode Code, this is an area in which many states chose to retain their more narrow common law "provocation" mitigation. Second, the modern doctrine of "mental illness negating an …

The Myth Of The Fully Informed Rational Actor, Stephanos Bibas

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Advice To Rape Victims : The Influence Of Beliefs About Rape And Opinions About Formal Support Providers, Yumi Suzuki

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Despite the abundance of literature discussing rape, only a few studies examined others' influence on rape victims' decisions to seek further help as a remedy for recovering from violent victimizations. These studies showed that the majority of rape victims consulted friends or relatives and that rape victims in fact took this advice for their next action. However, there is a gap in our knowledge about the type and the frequency of advice given to rape victims. In order to add to the existing knowledge, this study examined the factors influencing friends' advice to (1) contact criminal justice professionals, (2) contact …

Darwin's Other Idea : Sexual Selection, Gender And Violence, Robert Samuel Moschgat

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation provides an empirical exploration of Darwin's theory of sexual selection, which views the male propensity to engage in short term mating strategies--sexual promiscuity and violence--as the result of sexual selection. Within an environmental context, biological father and mother household presence are expected to inhibit the initiation of short-term mating strategies and increase parental investment--paternal and maternal attachments, supervision, and protection. Whereas, structural disadvantage--living in poverty and in dangerous neighborhoods--is predicted to increase the initiation of a short-term mating strategies and compromise the parents' ability to protect their children and by weakening paternal and maternal attachments, thereby increasing the …

The Impact Of Exposure To Domestic Violence On Developmental Trajectories Of Depressive Symptoms And Antisocial Behavior Across The Transition To Adulthood, Aely Park

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Principal Aims:

Polishing The "Boots," Part 3, Rodger E. Broome

Rodger E. Broome

No abstract provided.

An Empathetic Psychological Perspective Of Police Deadly Force Training, Rodger E. Broome

Rodger E. Broome

Police officers must be able to make an accurate appraisal of a lethal encounter and respond with appropriate force to mitigate the threat to their own lives and to the lives of others. Contemporary police deadly force training places the cadet in mock lethal encounters, which are designed to simulate those occurring in the real lives of law enforcement officers. This Reality Base Training (RBT) is designed to provide cadets with experiences that require their reactions to be within the law, policies and procedures, and ethics while undergoing a very stressful, emotional, and physically dynamic situation (Artwohl & Christensen, 1997; …