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An Examination Of The Researcher Guard Role: Bringing Prison Fieldwork Into The 21st Century, Scott Chenault

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"In 1986, James Marquart published a seminal article on qualitative methodology in Justice Quarterly. In that piece he presented the strengths and weaknesses associated with the researcher guard role he used while conducting a prison ethnography in Texas. His method led to data that is still central to our understanding of prison culture. However, in the past 30 years, correctional philosophy and practice have undergone significant shifts in the United States. Despite these shifts, there has been a dramatic decrease in prison ethnography during the same time period. This article presents a modern adaptation of Marquart’s method, based on a …

Editorial, Willard M. Oliver

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Welcome to the second issue of volume two of the Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology. Rather than closing with acknowledgments, I would like to start this editorial introduction with them. First and foremost, I would like to thank both the editorial board members and the reviewers for this volume of the journal. Their names are listed at the beginning of this issue for without them, this journal would not be possible. Still further, if it was not for the hard work and dedication of my book review editor, Kevin Steinmetz, who recently accepted an academic appointment at …

Bradley Garrett: Explore Everything: Place-Hacking The City, Kevin F. Steinmetz

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"While most people seem content to enjoy the front-stages of everyday life– going to safe spaces deemed appropriate for occupation–there are those who are enthralled by the backstage spaces of contemporary urban landscapes. In Explore Everything: Place-Hacking the City, Bradley Garrett details his research into urban explorers, a subculture that delves into the hidden (or hidden in plain sight) city spaces such as abandoned urban ruins, underground tunnels, and imposing skyscrapers. To date, this work is most likely the definitive study of urban exploration (sometimes referred to as UE) and should be the starting point for anyone from student …

Contreras, Randol, The Stickup Kids: Race, Drugs, Violence, And The American Dream, Robert J. Durán

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Most academics do not live in segregated black or Latino communities that contain higher rates of violence and incarceration. Historically, ethnographers have attempted to bridge this gap, but only a small number of these researchers match the populations they are studying in terms of age, class, ethnicity, and gender. An even rarer ethnographer comes from these same neighborhoods and shares lifelong friendships with the participants. Randol Contreras’s Stickup Kids provides an in-your-face portrayal of a drug dealing crew turned drug robbers in the South Bronx of New York City during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Due to structural changes …

Holloway, Pippa, Living In Infamy: Felony Disfranchisement And The History Of American Citizenship, Gregory J. Fremin

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"In a historical account of the origins of felony disfranchisement in America, Pippa Holloway details how race and regional politics formed the basis for the exclusion of African Americans on the right to vote. Holloway’s Living in Infamy attempts to connect the dots from the past to the present by educating the reader on how America came to utilize felony convictions as a societal class preservation tool to exclude African Americans from voting. Holloway delves deeply into ancient Roman and Greek law and continues through Anglo-European law and ideology to set the stage for how our forefathers in early America …

Nigel South & Avi Brisman (Eds.), Routledge Handbook Of Green Criminology, Gary R. Potter

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"The first articulation of a ‘green’ criminology – that is, a criminology concerned with man-made environmental harm – is usually attributed to Michael Lynch (1990) in his essay The Greening of Criminology: a perspective on the 1990s. Although not the first criminological work on environmental harm, Lynch was one of the first to argue that environmental problems in themselves, and the social harms that so often stem from them, can be seen to be legitimate criminological concerns – and that criminologists, therefore, may be well positioned to contribute to analysis and discussion of the environmental degradation that has become …

Exploring The Roles Of Redemption, Agency, And Motivation In Two Groups Of High-Risk Felony Probationers, Steve Boehm

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Problem-solving courts were developed in the 1980s and 1990s to reduce recidivism and probation revocations. The first problem- solving courts focused primarily on treating drug abuse, but the missions have expanded to include issues such as domestic violence and the problems faced by returning war veterans. Research has found these courts to be generally effective, but there is wide variation in their outcomes, and there are questions about the perceptions of problem-solving court participants compared to other probationers. This study presents qualitative analysis of interview data for a group of problem-solving court probationers (n = 19) and a similar group …

Bill Chambliss, On The Take: From Petty Crooks To Presidents, Gary W. Potter

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"On the Take: From Petty Crooks to Presidents (first published in 1978) was the product of seven years (1962-1969) of observational research in Seattle, Washington (Chambliss, 1988). Chambliss used his background in law and sociology to interpret the things he saw and the stories he heard on Seattle’s skid row. He gained entrée into Seattle’s underworld by posing as an itinerant truck driver. Outfitted in old, worn shirts, khaki slacks and with bearded stubble on his face, he interacted with the bottom echelon of Seattle’s crime entrepreneurs–bar owners, illegal card room and bingo operators, street-level drug dealers and prostitutes. …

Institutional Sexual Assault And The Rights/Trust Dilemma, Francine Banner

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

No abstract provided.

Human Rights Infringements In Brazil’S Penitentiary System Understood Through Access To Healthcare, Sara Morris

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Brazil has a reputation of being home to some of the worst penitentiary conditions worldwide, eventually leading the United Nations to make an appeal to the Brazilian government in 2003 to analyze their systems and make necessary improvements. The poor conditions and lack of access to legal counsel, living space, and specifically healthcare, cause riots and uprisings within prisons that in the past have lead to death of prisoners and guards. Prisons serve a very specific purpose in society, and according to most social theorists that is to reform, not to torture. In Brazil there is no capital punishment, so …

Innocence Snatched: A Call For A Multinational Response To Child Abduction That Facilitates Sexual Exploitation, Shawronda Higgins-Thornton

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

"Defensive Territoriality": A New Paradigm For The Prosecution Of Extraterritorial Business Crimes, Ellen S. Podgor

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Vladimir Putin And The Rule Of Law In Russia, Jeffrey Kahn

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

A Second Chance: Rebiography As Just Compensation, Jamila Jefferson-Jones

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Corrections System Must Make More Accommodations For The Needs Of Motherhood During Incarceration And The Parole Period, Susan Bloom

Theses & Dissertations

While the overall prison population has experienced an unprecedented growth period over the past thirty years, no segment has grown at a faster rate than the female population. Since the majority of female inmates in this country are mothers, it is imperative that the corrections system addresses the unique needs of this subset. This thesis investigates problems women face during the pregnancy period, while in labor and delivery, while their progenies are infants, children and adolescents and reunification issues during the parole period.

The Way The Court Gauges Consensus (And How To Do It Better), Robert J. Smith, Bidish J. Sarma, Sophie Cull

Cardozo Law Review

The Supreme Court gauges whether a national consensus against a punishment exists by reference to a number of objective indicators. Despite its reliance on these external indicators, scholars have characterized the Court's consensus analysis as little more than a crude charade performed by outcome-oriented Justices. The consensus analysis does lack both transparency and a stable infrastructure, but as this Article demonstrates, commentators are too quick to overlook the possibility that a stable and tightly theorized framework could equip the Court to gauge societal consensus and reduce the perception that the analysis is outcome-driven.

When it comes to consensus analysis, the …

Domestic Violence Victims - An Examination Of Advocates' Experiences And Impact On Services, Tanya M. Grant

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This qualitative study examines advocates’ phenomenological experiences with victims of domestic violence, specifically whether advocates’ personal biases impede the delivery of services to victims. Agencies and shelters in the communities that serve victims of domestic violence are an invaluable resource; however, if advocates are not providing appropriate services, victims can often find themselves in a more traumatic state. Ten domestic violence advocates throughout the State of Connecticut were interviewed and asked a series of questions pertaining directly to their day-to-day roles. The study also examined their attitudes about domestic violence, their perceptions of the work they do, and whether or …

Compensating Victims Of Crime, Douglas N. Evans

Publications and Research

Victims of violent crime are often unable to access financial compensation to offset the costs of victimization (e.g., medical, lost wages, funeral expenses) despite the massive amounts of money set aside for just that purpose. Currently, there is about $11 billion in the federal Crime Victims Fund (CVF). Less than 10 percent of this amount is allocated to state victim compensation programs. This report explores the funding mechanisms used by federal and state governments to compensate victims of crime, and it describes the administrative and policy problems in these systems. The report offers several recommendations for improvement. States have their …

An Assessment Of Risk Factors For Early Death Among A Sample Of Previously Incarcerated Youth, Patricia A. Stoddard Dare, Miyuki Fukushima Tedor, Linda M. Quinn, Christopher A. Mallett

Social Work Faculty Publications

Most previous research regarding early death prior to, or during, young adulthood among previously detained delinquent youth has focused predominantly on males or on their cause of death. This study extends previous research by evaluating potential factors that are associated with early death in a random sample (N = 999) of formerly detained youthful offenders in New York stratified by gender (50% female). Existing case records were referenced with the National Death Index to determine if the formerly detained youth were deceased by the time they would have reached age 28. Regression analyses were run to determine if any of …

Articulating A Vision: A Case Of Study Of Democracy, Education, And Prisoner Rehabilitation In A Day Reporting Center, Gregory A. Jones

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Abstract

Unfortunately, little or no time is spent on transitioning inmates back into society, especially those with physical and mental disabilities. One support service that is being taken into consideration is the Day Reporting Center. Day Reporting Centers are highly structured nonresidential programs. Parolees report to the center on a daily basis, submit to drug tests, and are enrolled in various counseling, education, or vocational classes. Whereas most centers have strict monitoring and surveillance of parolees, one center that stands out in its alternative approach of self-governance is the San Bernardino Day Reporting Center in San Bernardino, California. There, the …

Effects Of Jurors’ Gender And Attitudes Toward Intellectual Disability On Judgments For Disabled Juvenile Defendants, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Bette L. Bottoms

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Because many juvenile offenders are intellectually disabled and have their cases tried by jurors in adult criminal court, it is important to understand factors that influence jurors’ judgments in such cases. Using a mock trial methodology, we explored the relations among jurors’ gender, attitudes toward intellectual disability, and judgments in a criminal case involving an intellectually disabled 15-year-old girl accused of murder. Men mock jurors’ judgments were not influenced by their preexisting biases, but women's were: the more women favored special treatment for disabled offenders, the less likely they were to suspect the disabled juvenile was guilty and the less …

The Unfair Sentencing Act: Racial Disparities And Fiscal Consequences Of America's Drug Laws, Kristin Zimmerman

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

In 1986, the United States government attempted to combat the perceived war on drugs by enacting mandatory drug laws, with a primary focus on incarcerating crack offenders. The result of this was a mass influx of African Americans to US penitentiaries and minimal to zero reduction of crack convictions. Because the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 recognized 100 grams of cocaine as equivalent to one gram of crack, it has been perceived not as a war on drugs, but as a war on a war on minorities. The mass incarceration of drug offenders also led to severely damaging fiscal consequences …

"To Corral And Control The Ghetto": Stop, Frisk, And The Geography Of Freedom, Anders Walker

University of Richmond Law Review

While criminal law scholar Michelle Alexander has shown that stop and frisks often serve as the gateway into the criminal justice system for young men of color, she occludes the complex forces that led to their rise." This article seeks to identify those forces, relating the rise of stop and frisk rules to liberal politics, Cold War concerns, and spatial dynamics. To illustrate, this article will proceed in three parts. Part I will demonstrate how Mapp v. Ohio coincided with judicial frustration at police intrusions into private, intimate space-including private thought-precisely at a time when the United States sought to …

In It For The Long Haul: Exploring Gender Dynamics In Former Prisoner– Family Relationships, Damian J. Martinez, Andrea Leverentz

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"This article contributes to the growing body of literature on the role of families of origin in the reentry of former prisoners by focusing on a group of young men of color recently released from prison. Our in-depth interviews with young men and selected family members highlighted the ongoing importance of their family relationships for providing important emotional and instrumental support. These relationships also are gendered. In relationships with female relatives, the former prisoners’ primary role was to be there for the women in the family and thereby demonstrate their love of family and their commitment to desistance from crime, …

Kenneth D. Tunnell, Once Upon A Place: The Fading Of Community In Rural Kentucky, Travis Linnemann

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"It is difficult to think of the rural apart from rolling hills and green fields that offer a respite from the city’s disquiet. Along with images of a bucolic rurality however, is a darker anti-idyll that has loomed in the social imaginary for centuries. While the narrative is timeless, the rural’s decline is something few among us have lived or even cared to witness first-hand. However, in the pages of Kenneth D. Tunnell’s Once Upon a Place, we travel to the disregarded landscapes of rural Kentucky and witness the history of its struggles. Like looking out the window of …

Expressing Strain: A Qualitative Evaluation Of The Testimonies Of Female Sex Offenders, Jennifer L. Klein, Danielle Tolson, Cathy Collins

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"For those convicted of a sexual offense, life on the registry is not an easy one. There is a great deal of stigma associated with these offenders despite the fact they served their sentences and were released back into society. Current research examines what life is like for female sex offenders whose information is listed on the Florida Sex Offender Registry. Using Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory as a lens to examine the registry, this article will show the stress present in the lives of the registrants. Specifically, the article will address coping mechanisms, anger, and several unintended consequences of …

Beyond Basic Needs: Social Support And Structure For Successful Offender Reentry, Andrew S. Denney, Richard Tewksbury, Richard S. Jones

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Barriers to successful reentry have long been identified as impeding an offender’s ability to successfully reenter society upon release from incarceration. As a result, research has long examined what shared obstacles the majority of offenders often face upon reentering society. Much of the research identifies factors such as poor education, obtaining/maintaining employment, stable housing, and transportation as common barriers to successful reentry. By using in-depth interviews with ex-offenders deemed as successful that were conducted by two respective non-profit agencies, the present study explores what significant requirements, if any, successful offenders perceive to need and/or have experienced as lacking while attempting …

Editorial, Willard M. Oliver

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"When I took on the role of editor for the new Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology, I wanted to secure as many of the leading qualitative researchers as I could for the editorial board. While I did not know Jock Young personally, I knew of him and his reputation and writings, and I figured he was one who should be on the board. When I asked my book review editor, Kevin Steinmetz, now Dr. Steinmetz, who I should include on the board, the first two people he requested were Jock Young and Jeff Ferrell. I agreed and …

Obituary: Unapologetic Irreverence: The Life And Legacy Of William “Jock” Young (1942-2013), Robert Donald Weide

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"I first met my dear friend and mentor Jock Young as a doe faced graduate student, “full of it,” as he would have probably described me at the time. It was a quality he apparently admired in me, unlike many of my other academic mentors. Our dear friend, colleague and another cherished mentor, David Charles Brotherton, made the introduction and while Jock shook my hand, he gave me the cock-eyed look of a madman as he peered into my soul, remarking to David with a deviant smirk, “Oh look, we have another trouble maker here!” Well it takes one to …

Conceptualizing Social Recovery: Recovery Routes Of Methamphetamine Users, Miriam Boeri, David Gibson, Paul Boshears Europäische Universität Für Interdisziplinäre Studien (The European Graduate School)

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"The goal of our qualitative study was to gain a phenomenological understanding of routes to recovery from problematic drug use. In-depth interviews and drug histories were collected from 50 former methamphetamine users recruited from a U.S. metropolitan suburb who identified as having had problematic use of this drug in the past. Transcripts of the audio-recorded interviews were coded for common themes regarding types of recovery strategies or tools employed on the route to recovery. The common strategies used in all routes for recovery from problematic methamphetamine use were social in nature and did not necessarily include the cessation of all …