Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons^™

Understanding The Human Aspects Of Animal Hoarding, Amanda I. Reinisch

Passive Cruelty to Animals Collection

The Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium reviewed the case records of 71 incidents from across the United States and Canada to determine what characterizes a typical animal hoarding case (5). Of the cases reviewed, 83% involved women (71% involved individuals, who were widowed, divorced, or single); 53% of the animal hoarding residences were home to other individuals including children (5%), elderly dependents and disabled people (21%). Often essential utilities and major appliances such as showers, heaters, stoves, toilets, and sinks were not functional. Residential home interiors were usually unsanitary, 93%; 70% had fire hazards; and 16% of residences involved in …

Judicial Fact-Finding At Sentencing, Stephanos Bibas

All Faculty Scholarship

This encyclopedia entry summarizes the pendulum-swings that led the Supreme Court in Apprendi v. New Jersey, Blakely v. Washington, and United States v. Booker to limit judges' ability to find facts at sentencing. Paradoxically, the much-criticized Federal Sentencing Guidelines have survived; a line of cases that began as an effort to restore juries' role has turned into a guarantor of judicial discretion; and the doctrine has quickly moved far from its Sixth Amendment roots to a policy balancing test. The Court could instead have pursued a different, more fruitful path. The Court did not have to force sentencing factors into …

Influences On Juvenile-Justice Court Dispositions: Sentencing Disparities, Race, Legal Representation, Degree Of Offending, And Conflict In The Juvenile Justice System, Sharon Walker

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

No abstract provided.

Social Policy, Imperiled Communities, And Hiv/Aids Transmission In Prisons: A Call For Zero Tolerance, Louis F. Graham, Henrie Treadwell, Kisha Braithwaite

Louis F Graham

HIV/AIDS and African-American male imprisonment contribute to the destruction of African-American communities. African-American men and HIV/AIDS are disproportionately represented throughout all sectors of the criminal justice industry, including the juvenile justice system. The criminal justice system contributes to unacceptably high African-American male imprisonment rates and HIV prevalence directly via the ‘war on drugs’ and lax enforcement of institutional policy among other things, and indirectly through perpetuation of economic hardship which further exacerbates imprisonment rates, thus closing the loop of a vicious cycle of revolving prison doors and HIV contraction. This article briefly introduces surrounding socio-political issues that contextualizes the ensuing …

The Era Of Greed Is Over, Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

Why has socialism got such a bad rap in the US? Just check who controls the flow of information, writes Michael I. Niman

Evaluation Design For The District Of Columbia Department Of Corrections' Use Of Radio Frequency Identification (Rfid) Technology With Jail Inmates, Laura J. Hickman, Mel Eisman, Lois Davis

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

In consultation with the District of Columbia Department of Corrections (DC DOC), researchers developed an evaluation design oriented around five objectives. One objective is to provide timely feedback to the U.S. Justice Department’s National Institute of Justice (the funder of the evaluation), DC DOC, and other interested jurisdictions on RFID’s implementation. A second objective is to provide feedback on the process of implementing RFID. A third objective is to assess the impact of RFID’s implementation on identified outcome measures. A fourth objective is to compare costs to the facilities against the cost of implementing RFID technology, including direct and indirect …

Exacerbating Injustice, Stephanos Bibas

All Faculty Scholarship

This brief essay responds to Josh Bowers' argument that criminal procedure should openly allow innocent defendants to plead guilty as a legal fiction. Though most scholars emphasize the few but salient serious felony cases, Bowers is right to refocus attention on misdemeanors and violations, which are far more numerous. And though the phrase wrongful convictions conjures up images of punishing upstanding citizens, Bowers is also right to emphasize that recidivists are far more likely to suffer wrongful suspicion and conviction. Bowers' mistake is to treat the criminal justice system as simply a means of satisfying defendants' preferences and choices. This …

Moving Ahead: Five Essential Elements For Working Effectively With Girls, Betsy Mattews, Dana Jones Hubbard

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

Quite a bit of literature these days addresses what is believed to be an increase in the frequency and severity of girls' problem behaviors and the need for gender-responsive treatment. The extent to which this literature has been translated into juvenile justice practices, however, appears limited by several factors. This article briefly discusses these impediments, and offers suggestions for five essential elements that reflect the current state of knowledge regarding effective intervention with girls involved in the juvenile justice system.

An Enduring Scourge: The Evolution Of Trafficking In Women For Forced Prostitution In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Elizabeth Longino

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the late nineties, in the post-conflict period of rebuilding and peacekeeping, trafficking in women for sexual exploitation emerged as a major problem in Bosnia-Herzegovina. For years, the country was considered one of the principle destination and transit countries in the region, until a combination of internal and external factors caused the situation to change. Internally, the government passed legislation, created action plans, and designated special police forces to combat trafficking across borders. Apart from these actions, regional political changes and the withdrawal of international troops also contributed to the closure of bars and brothels in which trafficked women were …

Ações Para Uma Melhor Vida: A Situação De Prostituição No Novo Eldorado De Juruti, Megan Whelan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In a short preliminary study carried out by the students of SIT Amazon 2008 in Juruti, the site of a Bauxite mineral extraction project of North-American company, ALCOA, the issue of the rapidly expanding prostitution industry became a prominent point of discussion with the members of the town. Taking into consideration the importance given to the issue by the community, this study was developed to examine further the issue of sexual exploitation in the town of Juruti, with the main objective of discovering the best actions to be taken to improve the well-being of the exploited women and children, according …

Pathways To Drug And Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Detained Adolescents, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

This study recruited 559 youths from detention centers (mean age was 15.4 years; 50.1% of detainees were girls) to investigate pathways that link witnessing community violence in the 12 months before detainment to drug and sexual risk behaviors in the two months preceding detainment. Through the use of audio-computer-assisted technology, data were collected on demographics, family factors, peer influences, religiosity, witnessing community violence, and drug and sexual risk behaviors. When controlling for demographics and family variables, the authors found positive associations between witnessing community violence and drug and sexual risk behaviors. Witnessing community violence was directly linked to sexual risk …

Happiness And Punishment, Christopher J. Buccafusco, John Bronsteen, Jonathan S. Masur

All Faculty Scholarship

This article continues our project to apply groundbreaking new literature on the behavioral psychology of human happiness to some of the most deeply analyzed questions in law. Here we explain that the new psychological understandings of happiness interact in startling ways with the leading theories of criminal punishment. Punishment theorists, both retributivist and utilitarian, have failed to account for human beings' ability to adapt to changed circumstances, including fines and (surprisingly) imprisonment. At the same time, these theorists have largely ignored the severe hedonic losses brought about by the post-prison social and economic deprivations (unemployment, divorce, and disease) caused by …

Alcoholic Beverage Sales To Underage Buyers In The Commonwealth Of Virginia: Deterrence And Equality, William L. Goodman

Theses & Honors Papers

The Commonwealth of Virginia relies on the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to enforce laws designed to deter alcohol and cigarette sales to underage persons. ABC employs underage buyers (UAB) who attempt to make controlled purchases of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes.

The primary purpose of this research project is to determine if compliance checks deter alcohol sales to underage persons. Second, this study attempts to find if underage buyer demographics align with state demographics. Finally, this research attempts to determine if businesses are more likely to sell alcohol to underage buyers based on their race, ethnicity, and gender. This …

Family Structure And The Criminal Behavior Of Juveniles In Tennessee., Ronald D. Pickard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between family type and criminal behavior of juveniles in Tennessee who were referred to Juvenile Court in 2006. The population used in the study comprised the juveniles who were referred to the Tennessee Juvenile Courts as reported by the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges in 2006.

This investigation focused on the criminal behavior as indicated by number and type of referrals to the Juvenile and Family Court system in Tennessee. The data were analyzed by family-of-origin type, age group, and geographic region in Tennessee.

The findings of …

Stigma Sentiments And Self-Meanings: Applying The Modified Labeling Theory To Juvenile Delinquents, James Lee, Amy Kroska, Nicole Carr

Faculty Publications

We use “stigma sentiments” as a way to operationalize the stigma associated with a juvenile delinquency label. Stigma sentiments are the evaluation, potency, and activity (EPA) associated with the cultural category “a juvenile delinquent.” We find consistent support for the validity of the evaluation component as measures of these conceptions. Then we assess hypotheses derived from the modified labeling theory: we expect each stigma sentiment to be related positively to the corresponding dimension of self-identities among juvenile delinquents but unrelated to the corresponding dimension among non-delinquents. We find support for this hypothesis on the evaluation dimension. We also find two …

The Theory And Practice Of Drug Courts: Wolves In Sheep Clothing?, Kristen E. Devall

Dissertations

This dissertation is a case study of an adult drug court in a medium-size Midwestern city. The primary impetus behind the creation of the drug court model was the partial recognition that the "get tough" approach to crime and the "war on drugs" was ineffective in "solving the United States' drug problem. Drug courts represent an integration of a public-health approach and a public-safety strategy of fighting crime and administering "justice." The bulk of the extant research regarding drug courts addresses one central question: "Do drug courts work?" Researchers and evaluators alike have attempted to answer this question over the …

Routine Activities As Determinants Of Gender Differences In Delinquency, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Boston, MA, August 1-4, 2008.

Weirdos Riot, Media Gets It Wrong, Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

Michael I. Niman is concerned by media treatment of a hippie riot that never happened

Marginalized By Race And Place: Occupational Sex Segregation In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Sangeeta Parashar

Department of Sociology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Racial and gender disparities found in most other societies are particularly magnified in South Africa where the marginalized social group constitutes a numerical majority of the population. These factors, along with region, are dominant axes of inequality in the country. However, empirical knowledge of the interplay between these systems of social inequality in determining employment outcomes remains somewhat scant. This dissertation addresses that gap by studying occupational sex segregation across various racial groups using multilevel modeling techniques. Individual-level data from the 2001 Census and magisterial-level data from survey data aggregations and published sources are used. I first study the influence …

Marginalized By Race And Place: Occupational Sex Segregation In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Sangeeta Parashar

Department of Sociology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose: Given South Africa’s apartheid history, studies have primarily focused on racial discrimination in employment outcomes, with lesser attention paid to gender and context. This paper fills an important gap by examining the combined effect of macro-and micro-level factors on occupational sex segregation in post-apartheid South Africa. Intersections by race are also explored. Design/methodology/approach A multilevel multinomial logistic regression is used to examine the influence of various supply and demand variables on women’s placement in white- and blue-collar male-dominated occupations. Data from the 2001 Census and other published sources are used, with women nested in magisterial districts. Findings Demand-side results …

Agency: The Internal Split Of Structure, Yong Wang

Department of Sociology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In this article I first examine the ways in which the dual terms of structure and agency are used in sociological theories. Then, relying on Lacan’s notions of split‐subject, the formula of sexuation, and forms of discourses, and Laclau’s theory of ideological hegemony, I argue that agency in most current sociological formulations is but a posited other of the structure that dissolves if examined closely; it is similar to the Lacanian fantasmic object. To resolve the fundamental paradoxes in structure‐agency theories, I reformulate structures as paradoxical, incomplete, and contingent symbolic formations that are always partial and unstable due to their …

Sexual Violence As The Language Of Border Control: Where French Feminist And Anti‐Immigrant Rhetoric Meet, Miriam Ticktin

Publications and Research

When I first arrived in the Paris region in 1999 to do research on the struggle by undocumented immigrants (les sans papiers) for basic human rights, discussions of violence against women were remarkably absent from the public arena. Nongovernmental organizations and researchers had begun to broach the topic, but with little public visibility. However, this changed in late 2000, with a media explosion on the issue of les tournantes, or the gang rapes committed in the banlieues of Paris. Such tournantes involve boys “taking turns” with their friends’ girlfriends, both parties usually being of Maghrebian or North …

Invasions Of Conscience And Faked Apologies, Stephanos Bibas

All Faculty Scholarship

This comment responds to an essay by Jeffrie Murphy, which powerfully notes the limitations and dangers of using remorse and apology as metrics for punishment. But the state is more justified in teaching lessons than Murphy suggests, and retributivism ought to make more room for victim vindication and satisfaction. Gauging sincerity, while difficult, is not impossible. In the end, Murphy offers strong reasons to be cautious. But a humane society ought to be more willing to take chances and, having punished, to forgive. The essay by Jeffrie Murphy to which this comment responds, as well as other authors' comments on …

Risk And Protective Factors Of Micronesian Youth In Hawai'i: An Exploratory Study, Scott K. Okamoto, David T. Mayeda, Mari Ushiroda, Davis Rehuher, Tui Lauilefue, Ophelia Ongalibang

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This exploratory, qualitative study examined the risk and protective factors of Micronesian middle and high school students in Hawai'i. Forty one Micronesian youth participated in 9 focus groups that explored their experiences within their schools, families, and communities. The findings describe youths' experiences of ecological stress beginning with their migration to Hawai'i, and the potential outcomes of this stress (e.g., fighting, gangs, and drug use). Cultural buffers, such as traditional practices and culturally specific prevention programs, were described as aspects that prevented adverse outcomes. Implications for prevention practice are discussed.

Food Fight: From Haiti To Laos, People Are Starving – But They Refuse To Do It Quietly, Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Cj Times Volume 2, Issue 1, Department Of Criminal Justice

CJ Times (Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Fortaleza’S Feminisms: Searching For Feminist Theory In The Centro De Referência Da Mulher And The Delegacia De Defesa Da Mulher, Paige Sweet

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study attempts to focus on the issue of how violence against women is combated in Brazil through interviewing the women who work at the Delegacia de Defesa da Mulher and the Centro de Referência da Mulher. I attempt to compare and contrast the policies and procedures of these two institutions, as well as the opinions of the women who work there, to understand how they reflect and/or resist feminist theory values. As the basis of this analysis, I am using feminist domestic violence theory, which states that the cause of domestic violence is rooted in sexism and patriarchal power …

Take The Bus? Or Get Busted?: The Relationship Of “Driving While Suspended” (Dws) To The Availability Of Public Bus Transportation, Phil Amerine, Angela Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

This presentation discusses the results of a project that examined the relationship between arrest for "driving while suspended" (DWS) and driver access to bus transportation. Seventy cases were randomly selected from all 2004 cases of license suspensions among adult drivers in Lawrence, Kansas. Drivers subsequently arrested for DWS during 2005/2006 were compared to drivers who were not in terms of access to bus transportation (distance from residence to bus stop; whether bus was operating). Other measured variables included driver sex, race, and age. Policy implications related to the prevention of DWS are discussed.

The Death Penalty And The Society We Want, Stephen B. Bright

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “At the local level, we can tell a lot about a community by how it treats a homeless person suffering from schizophrenia who is begging on the street. One possibility is to look upon that person with the thought that there but for grace go I, that this person is desperately in need of help, and that we—individually and as a community—must respond by giving a helping hand and making sure that the person receives food, shelter, clothing, and care for such a debilitating mental illness. Another possibility is to simply ignore the person, to step around him or …

Table Of Contents, Volume 6, Number 3, 2008, The Death Penalty, Editorial Board

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

Table of contents for a special issue on the topic of capital punishment.