Digital Commons Network^™

From 'Wonderful Americans' To The Ahca: Contrasting Trump's Nomination Acceptance Address And His Administration's Actions On Glbtq Health, Leland G. Spencer, Molly Malany Sayre

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

Donald Trump's 2016 Nomination Acceptance Address at the Republican National Convention explicitly mentioned GLBTQ people as Trump promised to “protect our LGBTQ citizens” and called GLBTQ people “wonderful Americans.” However, since Trump's inauguration, he has appointed anti-GLBTQ leaders, proposed cuts to HIV research, and offered his support for a ban on transgender recruits to the military. This article begins with a close reading of Trump's speech, showing how Trump expresses ostensible support for GLBTQ Americans, only to capitalize on the deaths of queer and trans people of color at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando mere weeks before the convention by …

Positive Outcomes: Strategies For Assessing The Progress Of Youth Involved In The Justice System, Jeffrey A. Butts, Emily K. Pelletier, Lila Kazemian

Publications and Research

This report examines the shift in U.S. youth justice systems toward using adolescent development science to improve interventions and measure youth success. It emphasizes the adoption of Positive Youth Development (PYD) principles, which focus on fostering positive relationships and skills rather than just preventing recidivism. The report highlights various frameworks—such as the Developmental Assets model and Positive Youth Justice model—that align with PYD principles and research on desistance from crime. These frameworks offer a path for transforming youth justice systems into strengths-based approaches that promote long-term positive outcomes.

Theoretical Explanations Of Jyoshi Kousei Business ("Jk Business") In Japan, Mutsumi Ogaki

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Jyoshi kousei (JK) means high school girls in Japanese and “JK business” is an umbrella term for commercial activities done by high school girls to provide male customers with sexual arousal. The “JK business” is considered to promote sexual exploitation or sexual assault of minors. Currently, only two prefectures out of 47 in Japan enforce ordinances that specifically regulate the “JK business.” This paper intends to explore possible theoretical explanations of the “JK business” to raise awareness on the issue. Gendered pathways theory and sexual script theory are selected as the primary source of the discussions. Policy implications and future …

An Analysis Of Successful And Unsuccessful Terrorist Assassinations: Informing Counterterrorism Through Situational Crime Prevention, Marissa Mandala

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study applies environmental criminology and situational crime prevention (SCP) to study successful and unsuccessful assassinations by terrorists. Using these perspectives, a series of hypotheses were devised to understand the situational factors that contribute to successful compared to unsuccessful assassinations. A random sample of roughly 1,000 successful and 1,000 unsuccessful assassination attacks taking place between 2005 and 2014 was acquired from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD). Open source materials were then consulted to supplement the GTD with the creation of new SCP variables. The hypotheses were tested in a binary logistic regression, and additional regression models were created for 4 …

Contemporary Archaeological Looting: A Criminological Analysis Of Italian Tomb Robbers, Marc Balcells Magrans

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Looters (in Italian, tombaroli), whether underground or underwater, have preyed on the Italian archaeology for centuries. The literature on both archaeological looting and, more specifically, the Italian case, has been widely developed by other disciplines, mostly archaeology. In spite of this body of literature, the number of studies discussing issues related to tombaroli is minimal, and the criminological contribution is nonexistent. After examining important gaps in the literature, this study explains the nature of the relationship between tombaroli and organized crime and how organized criminals learn and adapt during their careers. These topics have been both misrepresented and sporadically …

Exploring Officer Views Of Community Policing In Counterterrorism, Erin M. Kearns

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Recently there has been increased emphasis on actionable intelligence in counterterrorism. Building from the process-based model of regulation, police chiefs and scholars generally agree that community policing has promise in this regard. Yet, it is not clear the extent to which police officers concur. Since officers are in a position to implement community policing practices, it is important to understand variants in officer-level support. Using data collected from 741 officers in three departments, this project explores officer-level views of community policing’s utility to address terrorism and more common crimes. Overall, officers view community policing as appropriate to address both common …

Initiation, Desistence, And Recovery: A Qualitative Examination Of Self-Injury From A Life-Course Perspective, Thomas W. Wojciechowski

The Qualitative Report

Self-injury is typically defined as the intentional harm caused to one’s own body. This phenomenon has historically been studied mainly from a psychological perspective and has focused less on social forces related to engagement in this behavior. While research on self-injury has examined etiology extensively, there has yet to be an examination of how changes in exposure to risk and protective factors may lead to changes in self-injury habits. This research uses qualitative interview data from 16 former and current self-injurers to examine self-injury from a life-course criminological perspective (Cullen, Agnew, & Wilcox, 2014). These data allowed for identification of …

Predictors Of Fear Of Crime And The Relationship Of Crime Rates And Fear Of Crime, Jennifer Truman

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Research has shown that demographic characteristics, media exposure, perceived risk to crime, and victimization are associated with a person's perception of crime. Also, many times a person's perception of crime does not coincide with the actual crime rates. Using data from a survey of 315 college students, this study examined the effects of the aforementioned factors on a person's perception of crime, as well as compared these perceptions with actual crime rates. Results indicate that females, minorities, and people who frequently viewed local television news all reported a higher fear of crime, which is consistent with literature. The respondents' perceptions …

Living With 'Risky' Bodies, Simanti Dasgupta

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

In Kolkata, female sex workers’ well-being is overshadowed by practices and conceptions around HIV/AIDS. This article describes an outreach program designed to prevent the spread of HIV infections through condom programming based on a public health initiative, Sonagachi HIV/AIDS Intervention Program (SHIP). However, the identification of female sex workers as a high-risk group for HIV has compounded their existing struggle in which the state medical regime now construes and constructs the women as "risky" bodies in need of targeted intervention. High-risk group status has conferred a kind of hyper-visibility on female sex workers -- unthinkable were it not for the …

Investigating Perceptions Of Race And Ethnic Diversity Among Prospective Police Officers, Natalie Todak, Jessica Huff, Lois James

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Many have suggested police diversity will improve police-community relations, but research testing this hypothesis is inconclusive. We investigated perceptions of police race, ethnicity, and diversity in a heterogeneous sample of prospective police officers. Data are drawn from interviews with 42 criminal justice college students in the Southwestern United States, of which 15 were Hispanic, and who each wanted to become a police officer. Participants supported diversity in policing, and collectively expressed a belief that race plays a central role in policing today. Furthermore, participants expressed support for the ideals of both passive and active representative bureaucracy. Hispanics in the sample …

When Bad News Arrives: Project Hope In A Post-Factual World, Francis T. Cullen, Travis C. Pratt, Jillian J. Turanovic, Leah C. Butler

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

On the basis of limited empirical evidence, advocates of Project HOPE (Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement) have succeeded in spreading the model to a reported 31 states and 160 locations. A recent randomized control experiment across four sites has revealed negative results: no overall effect on recidivism. In this context, we examine how prominent advocates of Project HOPE have coped with the arrival of this “bad news.” Despite null findings from a “gold standard” evaluation study, advocates continue to express confidence in the HOPE model and to support its further implementation. The risk thus exists that Project HOPE is entering …

What Are The Characteristics Of Vitamin D Metabolism In Opioid Dependence? An Exploratory Longitudinal Study In Australian Primary Care, Albert Stuart Reece, Gary Hulse

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

OBJECTIVE: Compare vitamin D levels in opioid dependence and control population and adjust for relevant confounding effects. Nuclear hormone receptors (including the vitamin D receptor) have been shown to be key transducers and regulators of intracellular metabolism and comprise an important site of pathophysiological immune and metabolic dysregulation potentially contributing towards pro-ageing changes observed in opioid-dependent patients (ODPs).

DESIGN: Longitudinal prospective comparing ODPs with general medical controls (GMCs).

SETTING: Primary care.

PARTICIPANTS: Prospective review comparing 1168 ODP (72.5% men) and 415 GMC (51.6% men, p

INTERVENTIONS: Nil. Observational study only.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES: Serum vitamin D levels and relevant …

Models As Weapons: Review Of Weapons Of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality And Threatens Democracy By Cathy O’Neil (2016), Samuel L. Tunstall

Numeracy

Cathy O’Neil. 2016. Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy (New York, NY: Crown) 272 pp. ISBN 978-0553418811.

Accessible to a wide readership, Cathy O’Neil’s Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy provides a lucid yet alarming account of the extensive reach of mathematical models in influencing all of our lives. With a particular eye towards social justice, O’Neil not only warns modelers to be cognizant of the effects of their work on real people—especially vulnerable groups who have less power to fight back—but also encourages laypersons to take initiative …

Immigration And Domestic Violence Services: One Size Fits All?, Mary Kate Taggart

Master’s Theses and Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore how immigration-related factors affect provision of domestic violence services. These factors include the survivors’ integration into the American society and their English language proficiency. Considering the recent dramatic rise in immigrant population in the United States, addressing the needs of foreign-born domestic violence survivors is becoming increasingly important. This thesis used secondary data from Multi-State Study of Meeting Domestic Violence Survivors' Needs Through Non-Residential Services and Supports. The data was analyzed using SPSS. After conducting Chi-square and OLS multiple regression statistical tests, some hypotheses were supported while others were not. Overall, this …

Service Learning: A Look Into The Real World For Criminal Justice Students, Hannah R. Carpenter

Master’s Theses and Projects

The goal of this study was to better understand the impact that criminal justice based service learning experiences have on criminal justice students at Bridgewater State University. For the purpose of this study, the research questions focused on students’ personal and professional outcomes post- service learning experience. The study used an electronic survey that utilized closed and opened ended questions to gather data. Using a grounded theory approach the data was collected and analyzed simultaneously. Through a coding process, themes and concepts specific to the open responses were identified. The results of the study indicate that students felt their service …

Fake Realities: Assassination And Race In Popular Culture, Kevin Marinella

Master’s Theses and Projects

Since the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks the United States had been involved in conflicts across the globe. These conflict have given rise to the use of target killing, commonly known as assassination as a way to eliminate enemies of the United States. A majority of those killed are of Middle-Eastern descent and/or are followers of Islam. Elements of American popular culture since 9/11 have portrayed assassination, with the antagonists generally being of Middle-Eastern or Muslim descent while the protagonist being a white American or from a country allied with the United States who is involved in the conflict. By …

Military Sexual Assault: A Comparative Case Study Of Sexual Assault Policies In The United States, Israel, And Norway, Sarah Cummings

Master’s Theses and Projects

Military Sexual Trauma (MST), or the sexual assault or harassment of individuals serving in the military by others who are also serving, has recently been recognized as a significant problem in the United States, especially for women service members. Despite its recognized prevalence, current policies across military branches in the United States have not created transparent provisions for service members to receive preventative trainings and adequate sanctions for offenders. Also, reporting methods in the U.S. military are not at a level that is reflective of a transparent MSA policy. With the use of current Israeli and Norwegian military sexual assault …

Illegal Gambling And Its Operation Via The Darknet And Bitcoin: An Application Of Routine Activity Theory, Sinyong Choi

Master’s Theses and Projects

For many years the Darknet and Bitcoins have been widely utilized by people who wish to anonymously perform illegal activities in cyberspace. Having already been restricted in many countries, the gambling websites utilizing Bitcoin payments and the Darknet allow online users to freely engage in illegal gambling activities with the absence of a formal capable guardian. Although it is an urgent priority that law enforcement find a solution to the pressing issue, there are a few empirical studies focusing on such illegal gambling website. Due to the scarcity of studies in this area, the current study attempts to examine the …

Gun Violence: Chicago, Illinois, Kayla Dillon

Global Issues in Public Health

Gun violence has been, and continues to be, a significant problem in Chicago, Illinois. There have been several programs in place that have worked towards improving the level of gun violence. One of the most noticeable being Project Safe Neighborhood, which began in 2001. Part of what makes these programs, and programs similar to it, necessary is that it targets the populations most at-risk of gun violence. By targeting these specific regions of the city, these programs can provide the resources necessary to improve the condition of the city in the long-term, as well as prevent the condition from spreading …

Biosocial Criminology Versus The Constitution, Karen E. Balter

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The continually emerging field of biosocial criminology provides a basis for productively merging biology with sociological reasonings for criminal behavior. Mainstream research in criminology focuses on environmental factors as the sole reason individuals exhibit antisocial behavior patterns and may ultimately commit crimes. Criminological research has travelled in this direction for decades. The current climate within this community subscribes heavily to the notion that biology has very little to do with why people behave the way they do, and if it did, government control would be the norm. The nature of biocriminology opens a door through which constitutional issues may enter. …

Discourses Of Deception: (Re)Examining America's War On Drugs, Benjamin Steven Boyce

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

America's war on drugs is a failed experiment that has caused more damage than it will ever prevent. From its original design to its contemporary manifestations, the war on drugs is a conflict that remains firmly rooted in white supremacy. In contemporary Western societies, the rhetoric of both political leaders and mass-mediated narratives becomes the raw material of subjective reality. Since the war on drugs began nearly a century ago, the spectacle of mass media has been consistently utilized by white political elites as a vehicle of misinformation - as a well-oiled machine for spreading the false social narrative that …

Voices From Detention: An Exploration Of Undocumented Immigrants’ Journeys, Michaela Malboeuf

Spring Presentation of Undergraduate Research

Distinct differences exist between the phrases “criminal” and “immigrant” but moral panic has caused people to gravitate to use one term to address illegal immigration; Crimmigration. The current study seeks to contribute to the limited field of qualitative research on illegal immigration commonalities in migration experiences and characteristics of the immigrant. Qualitative semi structured interviews of detained men in an Immigration Detention Center will be conducted in efforts to illustrate the migration and detainment experience. This exploratory research contributes to the reformation of current immigration legislation and social perceptions of immigrants in the United States in hopes to eliminate the …

Disagreement In Assessing Neighboring And Collective Efficacy: The Role Of Social Distance, Adam Boessen, John Hipp, Seth Williams

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Works

Whereas existing research typically treats variability in residents’ reports of collective efficacy and neighboring as measurement error, the authors consider such variability as of substantive interest in itself. This variability may indicate disagreement among residents with implications for the neighborhood collectivity. The authors propose using a general measure of social distance based on several social dimensions (rather than measures based on a single dimension such as racial/ethnic heterogeneity or income inequality) to help understand this variability in assessments. The authors use data from wave I (2001) of the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (n = 3,570) to aggregate …

The Confluence Of Language And Learning Disorders And The School-To-Prison Pipeline Among Minority Students Of Color: A Critical Race Theory, Shameka N. Johnson, Bahiyyah Muhammad

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Nebraska Revised Statutes: Selected Provisions Pertaining To Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, And Vulnerable Adults, 2018 Edition, Kathryn A. Olson

Center on Children, Families, and the Law (and Related Organizations): Publications

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Duty and Power of DHHS Regarding the Protection of Children 1 (Sections 43-707 and 43-708)

II. General Social Services Provisions 2 (Sections 68-1202 through 68-1212 and 85-2501)

III. Family Policy and Family Finding 7 (Sections 43-532 through 43-534; and Sections 43-2201 through 43-2209)

IV. Child Protection and Family Safety Act (includes Alternative Response provisions) 11 (Sections 28-710 through 28-727 and 81-3136)

A. Child Abuse Mandatory Reporting Provisions 11 (Sections 28-710 through 28-717)

B. Central Registry of Child Protection Cases 16 (Sections 28-718 through 28-727, and 81-3136)

V. Child Abuse and Neglect Investigation and Treatment Teams 21 …

Incarceration Of Nonviolent Offenders At The High Court In Oyo State, Nigeria, Olugbenga Rotimi Akanji

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The nonuse of community correction in the Nigeria criminal justice system has led to increased recidivism, contributed to prison congestion, introduced the risk of prison victimization, and lacked the provision of a rehabilitative structure for nonviolent offenders. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to explore Nigerian judges' use of alternatives to incarcerations for nonviolent offenders. Dolinko retributive punishment theory provided the theoretical framework for this study. Ten participant judges comprised the study sample from a purposeful and criterion random sampling method. Data were collected from participants through structured interviews and were coded manually, sorted, and analyzed using the …

The Role Of Organizational Justice In Police Interaction Decisions With Citizens Post-Ferguson, Joshua Lee Adams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Recent negatively publicized police-citizen interactions in the media, followed by a subsequent rise in crime rates in the United States, has been named the Ferguson Effect. The Ferguson Effect has been explored by prominent scholars in the criminal justice community; however, little is known about how police officers in small police agencies perceive the Ferguson Effect. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions and lived experiences of police officers regarding the Ferguson Effect in small police agencies, as well as police officers' perceptions of their own organizational justice. The theoretical framework for this study was …

An Analysis Of Terrorism And Mental Health In Mass Shootings As Perceived By The Media, Amairini Sanchez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public mass shootings are the rarest type of mass murder in the United States. Nevertheless, the media tends to focus on mass murders that appear to be the most newsworthy. The most sensational mass murders are those that have the highest victim count, that target perfect victims, and that occur in a public location. Terrorism and mental health are two separate frames that are often used by the media when reporting a mass shooting event. This creates a lack of accurate reporting that displays a distorted image of mass shootings and affects the public's perception. This study evaluated frames used …

Gun-Free Zones: A Geographical Opinion Study On Attitudes Toward Gun-Free Zones And The Safety Impact On Residents, Sean Grier

School of Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

Gun violence is a pandemic problem in the United States, resulting in over two thirds of all homicides each year. Consequently, gun related policies have been fiercely debated within the political spectrum, with the 20th century seeing a dramatic increase in gun control legislation. Gun-free zones are designated areas that strictly prohibit all private citizens from carrying a firearm, even those with concealed weapon permits. The statistics indicate that numerous instances of gun related mass shootings have occurred within the confines of these gun-free zones (schools, movie theatres, government installations, etc.). However, little research exists to understand whether citizens actually …

From School To Prison: Assessing The Impact Of Non-Systemic Contributors To The School-To-Prison Pipeline, Jonathan W. Glenn

School of Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

The school-to-prison pipeline is an expansive issue that impacts the educational and criminal justice systems in the United States. Traditionally, the research has linked the prevalence of the pipeline to factors based within school systems. These systemic factors include the use of zero tolerance policies, exclusionary disciplinary practices, and the presence of school resource officers. The proposed study aims to assess the impact of factors that perpetuate the school-to-prison pipeline that are non-systemic in nature.

For the purposes of this study, the non-systemic contributors to the school-to-prison pipeline to be assessed are parental socialization, child self-control, learned noncompliance, child resilience, …