Digital Commons Network^™

Public Defenders’ Challenges Representing Erroneous Prosecution Cases In The Black Community, Kayla Kristine Stephens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Public defenders in a southern state continue to face significant challenges when representing Black individuals in the criminal justice system, particularly in cases involving erroneous prosecution. These challenges are intensified by high caseloads, limited funding, and systemic inequities, which can be stressors affecting the prosecutors wellbeing and hinder the provision of adequate legal representation. Public defenders, appointed to represent indigent defendants, frequently navigate complex legal and social circumstances that intersect with racial disparities in the justice system. For this qualitative study the research question was, how do public defenders perceive and manage any stresses representing erroneous prosecution cases in the …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Juvenile Offending: Client-Factor Variations And A Novel Intervention Approach, Madison M. Dobreff

Dissertations

Adverse childhood experiences have consistently been identified as risk factors for juvenile offending. However, this relationship is complex and varies based on individual factors. This critical literature review not only examined the current research on the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and juvenile offending but also identified client factor variations that influence the relationship. Client factors examined throughout include race/ethnicity, gender, age, internalized and externalized mental health symptoms, positive internal factors, familial and external social support, educational engagement, environmental factors, and positive childhood experiences. The relationship is further complicated by examining the effects of multiple client-factor variations on the adverse …

Sex Buying, Sex Trafficking, And Organized Crime: Introduction To A Special Issue, Marcel Van Der Watt, John A. Winterdyk

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Leveraging Technology To Measure The Strength Of Demand For Commercial And Trafficked Sex, Michael D. Shively, Bob Rodgers, Courtney Furlong, Brooke Ruffin

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The article examines Transaction Intercept (TI), an artificial‑intelligence platform designed to reduce sex trafficking by disrupting the revenue streams that draw organized crime into the market. Transaction Intercept deploys decoy online ads that appear to offer commercial sexual exploitation or prostitution. Automated "decoy" personas connect to individuals who click on these ads and engage them in text conversations. These exchanges can remain fully automated, ending with deterrence messages, or be transferred to police for potential enforcement action or to trained volunteers who attempt to discourage further attempts to buy sex. Transaction Intercept generates extensive, real‑time data on local demand for …

Behind The Screen: Online Sex Buyer Networks And The Organized Criminal Promotion Of Exploitation, Ava Kamdem, Vanessa Bouché, Ben Silver, Nick Freeman, Justin Euteneier

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This study investigates the extent to which online sex buyer communities in the United States function as organized criminal networks pursuant to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime’s definition of organized criminal groups. Drawing from theories of organized crime, social network analysis, and digital ecosystems, we conceptualize sex buyers not as isolated actors but as participants in coordinated, mutually reinforcing networks that share information to facilitate exploitation, mitigate risk, and sustain criminal behavior. To test this framework, we scraped over 1.2 million posts from a publicly accessible sex buyer forum, comprising 72,974 unique users and nearly 800,000 direct …

Bridging The Gap: Action-Oriented Vs. Community-Minded Mentalities And Behaviors In Cold Case Investigation Units, Samantha Strine

Dissertations

One key group in policing that has seen an increase in public and media attention but not research is the cold case investigation unit. These units tend to be more “bureaucratic”, focusing on communication, community-engagement skills, and “desk work”. Thus, this is a potential area for learning techniques and policies that shift the mentalities within police culture to be more accepting of new community focused policies. This study also seeks to address a gap in current research related to studying specialized police units.

The purpose of this study is to describe the organizational dynamics and officers’ tactics, perceptions, and interactions …

The Effects Of Working With Unidentified Migrant Remains: Caregiving, Border Security, And Human Rights On The U.S.–Mexico Border, Jennifer Delaine Huddleston

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explores how migrant death and the handling of unidentified remains operate within U.S. border governance, focusing on caregivers, forensic anthropologists, and volunteer search-and-recovery teams who recover, document, and try to identify the dead along the U.S.–Mexico border. Using classic grounded theory and reflexive visual ethnography, the study includes interviews, field observations, and documentary photography conducted in South Texas, covering Brooks, Maverick, and Webb Counties.

Instead of viewing migrant deaths as accidental humanitarian tragedies, this dissertation situates caregivers’ daily work within a historical trajectory of deterrence-based border policies, from Prevention Through Deterrence to modern state-led enforcement regimes. It demonstrates …

De Facto Captivity In The Land Of The Free: Exploring The Confining Effects Of Network And System Avoidance, Brianna Ovalle

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Encroaching state surveillance has primarily targeted people of color living in urban, inner cities, resulting in both much higher likelihoods of encountering state agents and the consequences of such contact. The ceaseless surveillance has led some individuals to engage in protective behaviors aimed at minimizing encounters with agents of the CLS. These behaviors are adaptable to present risks of surveillance and contact with the system. While there are various types of avoidance, the focus of this research is system avoidance and network avoidance. Previous literature for both types of avoidance focuses on the experiences of lower SES men. Further, as …

Lgbtq People's Lives Post-Incarceration: A Multi-Method Study, Hayley Jackey

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

LGBTQ people are disproportionately targeted by the criminal legal system and overrepresented in the carceral system. Despite current research in queer criminology examining the impacts of the carceral system on the community, there is a dearth of literature examining LGBTQ people’s experiences or identity disclosure once released from the Prison Industrial Complex and into the Prisoner Reentry Industry. Using unique methodologies of photo-elicitation interviews and in-depth interviews, the current study examines how ten formerly incarcerated LGBTQ people navigate returning to society post-incarceration. The study found two distinct experiences. The first group was selective about who they shared their LGBTQ identity …

From Minimum To Meaningful: A Use Of Force Training Regimen For Rural Police Departments, Joseph Corley

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This paper examines how small and rural law enforcement agencies can improve use of force training despite limited staffing, budgets, and training opportunities. Current Minnesota POST Board minimum standards establish baseline requirements but allow significant variation in how agencies develop and deliver training, contributing to inconsistent officer preparedness and skill retention. Drawing on current research in police training, motor skill retention, and scenario based learning, this paper argues that infrequent, skills based training is insufficient for preparing officers to manage dynamic, high risk encounters. The paper proposes an evidence based training regimen centered on two department led use of force …

Genocidal Criminology: My Testimony, Yarin Eski

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article is a testimony on the entanglement of my personal biography, responsibility, and lived experience of genocide denial and, subsequently, developing criminologies of genocide and its denial, based on my formative experiences, ranging from encountering Armenian genocide denial as a student, to dealing with institutional constraints and careerism, to my academic activism, raising awareness about the Gaza genocide, to, finally, prospecting genocide and ecocide in outer space: astrocide. These experiences configure a genealogy of what I term genocidal criminology that unpacks and criticizes criminological knowledge, institutions, and practices that produce genocide (denial), both epistemically and structurally. Essentially, I argue …

Effectiveness And Ethics Of Biometrics In Homeland Security, Aaron Akintayo Akindiya

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Homeland security agencies increasingly deploy biometric technologies, including facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, to enhance identity verification and threat detection at airports and borders. However, these technologies raise ethical concerns regarding privacy, algorithmic bias, data protection, and civil liberties. Limited research captures the perspectives of frontline professionals who implement these systems. This study explored how homeland security professionals perceive the balance between effectiveness and ethics. Guided by the technological determinism theory, semistructured interviews were conducted with 13 professionals from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Transportation Security Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Thematic analysis revealed four themes: effectiveness in enhancing …

Perceptions Of African American Males Regarding Legal Risks Of Alcohol Misuse, Tylisha Wright

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Alcohol misuse among young adults leads to legal, social, and behavioral consequences in the United States. The justice system unequally impacts young African American males. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to understand perceptions of legal risks of alcohol misuse among African American young adult males who were formerly adjudicated or nonadjudicated. The research question involved African American young adult males and legal risks associated with misuse of alcohol. The differential association theory guided this study in terms of its emphasis on decision-making and learned social behaviors. Data for this study were collected through semi-structured interviews with eight …

Racial Profiling In Traffic Enforcement: A Qualitative Exploration Of Police Chiefs' Perspectives On Traffic Stop Data Analysis, Peter J. Didomenica

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Racial profiling of people of color by police departments as part of traffic enforcement practices is a pervasive practice in the United States. The practice is a form of systemic racism, the conceptual framework for this study, that has resulted in people and communities of color suffering its deleterious effects. Although statistical analysis of traffic stop data is most effective in uncovering racial profiling in traffic enforcement, most police departments fail to conduct such analysis, and for those departments that do so, there is no uniform judicially accepted method. The purpose of this study was to understand the reasons most …

Examining Inmate Labor In Emergency Management: Contributions, Challenges, And Ethical Considerations, Boris Eugene Valiance

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Incarcerated individuals remain inconsistently engaged in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, creating both an operational gap and an ethical challenge regarding labor equity, safety, voluntariness, and human dignity. Guided by RBT and EMT, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how incarcerated individuals are utilized in emergency management and to examine stakeholder perceptions of the operational, ethical, and policy implications of inmate labor programs. The research questions examined current utilization patterns, stakeholder-perceived benefits and drawbacks, and ethical concerns influencing participation decisions. Data were collected through semi structured interviews with purposefully sampled emergency management professionals, policymakers, and correctional …

Mandatory Arrest Laws: Breaking The Cycle Of Violence In Colorado And Nebraska, Ryann Lavata Livingstone

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Data-Driven Characterization Of Counties In The Prison Industrial Complex Using Clustering Analysis, Riley N. Tuccio

Capstone Projects

This project investigates the complex relationship between counties that house prisons in the United States and the rurality associated with them. The central research question explores how both county characteristics, such as variables corresponding to cost of living and demographics of a county, and prison characteristics, such as programming available to inmates and staffing levels, differ across the census-designated rural-urban distinctions. Furthermore, the study examines whether modern data science methods can more accurately define and distinguish these characteristics, providing a nuanced understanding of the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) and its manifestation across various American communities. The motivation for this research …

Perceptions Of Legitimacy In Three Forms Of Probation Supervision For People With Serious Mental Illness, Sophia Sarantakos, Emily Claypool

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"In the context of criminal-legal community supervision, standard and specialized probation officers are often tasked with coordinating services for adults diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) on their caseloads. The coordination of services varies across different programs including traditional probation, specialty probation, and mental health court. Given the proliferation of programs focused on mental health in the criminal-legal system, the perspectives of front-line workers or street-level bureaucrats in criminal-legal agencies are a rich source of information about what is happening on the ground and could provide insights into the potential translational barriers of policy to practice. A deeper examination of …

From Acrimony To Forgiveness: How Adolescents Make Sense Of Childhood Maltreatment, Katherine Irwin

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"This paper examines 16 adolescents’ narratives about the abuse they experienced during childhood. To date, most research examining child abuse (CA) survivorship and recovery has been conducted with adults who look back on their early experiences. Consequently, this study fills gaps in our knowledge by offering a youth-centered view of survivors’ efforts to cope with CA. The data come from a 12-year qualitative study of a group counseling program for high school students in Hawaiʻi. The findings revealed that a minority (n = 2) of the teens had negative views of their lives and futures, while the majority (n = …

A Content Analysis Of The Sutherland Address, 2001-22: A Qualitative Exploration, Phillip Shon

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Previous indicators of scholarly influence have been primarily quantitative, measuring a scholar’s influence through citation counts. This body of literature has overlooked the reflections of distinguished scholars, such as the recipients of the Sutherland Award, in the discipline as a form of scholarly influence. The current paper examines the Sutherland Address from 2001 to 2022. The key findings indicate that the majority of Sutherland Addresses reproduced existing sociological canons, while a minority of Sutherland Award winners explicitly rejected Sutherland’s sociological assumptions and their influence on criminology. Such findings suggest that Sutherland exerts a hidden influence on the recipients of the …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Gender Inequality In Southeast Missouri Law Enforcement Agencies, Madeline Marie Whistler, Christopher Bradley, H. Hamner Hill

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Does gender inequality impact the careers of female law enforcement officers in the Southeast Missouri region? Using a qualitative single instrumental case study, seven cis-gendered female law enforcement officers who were employed at local law enforcement agencies within the Southeast Missouri region were interviewed to investigate the central research question. Four themes emerged from the data that illustrated their experiences: sexual exploitation and harassment, a lack of work-life balance, the presence of gender stereotypes, and patriarchal hierarchy and male dominance in the workplace. The findings suggest that the experiences of female law enforcement officers are heavily impacted by the behavior …

A Plea For Open Access To Qualitative Criminology: With A Python Script For Anonymizing Data And Illustrative Analysis Of Error Rates, Scott Jaques, Andrew Wheeler

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Qualitative researchers are expected, sometimes required, to publish their data open access (OA). This is for the sake of science, impact, and social justice. Yet, understandably, qualitative criminologists are worried about what this means for their workload and their ability to protect subjects’ confidentiality. To be solutions-oriented, we developed an open-source Python script for anonymizing qualitative data. It uses named-entity recognition and fuzzy-rule based merging to identify and replace personally identifiable information (PII) with unique pseudonyms. This tool doesn’t eliminate the need for manual work, but it reduces the cost and associated risk. In this article, we describe and explain …

Digital (In)Justice? Evaluating Procedural Justice In Online Crime Reporting, Nazmy Natia

Dissertations and Theses

Online Crime Reporting portals (OCR) have become a routine entry point for non-emergency police services, fundamentally redefining how the public initiates contact with law enforcement. Although these portals are presented as efficient and accessible, little attention has been paid to whether their design and communication serve the people who use them. Prior research on procedural justice (PJ) has largely examined face-to-face police encounters, while latest studies of OCR systems emphasize victim experience and usability. However, the existing literature offers limited guidance on how PJ principles translate from in-person encounters to digital reporting platforms. This prompted the current study, drawing on …

Aid And Assist Cases In Multnomah County: An Exploration Of Ors 161.370, Savannah Jurasek

Dissertations and Theses

Individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) are highly overrepresented in jails. In Oregon, these individuals can be eligible for what is referred to as the aid and assist process (ORS 161.370) which is designed to facilitate restorative care in efforts to ensure that vulnerable individuals can rationally participate in their criminal proceedings. However, continuous escalation in aid and assist orders (109.3% between 2011-2025) has led to strain on the Oregon State Hospital, the primary care facility for this population. As a consequence, defendants with SMI are spending unnecessary time in custody, despite hospitalization admission guidelines governed by previously decided case …

A Study On The Perception Of Fear Of Crime Among Ul Lafayette Students, Md Rakibul Hasan

Masters Theses

Research has constantly found that campus crime rates are relatively low compared to those in the surrounding areas. Many students still experience a meaningful level of fear of crime that significantly influences their daily routines and impacts their lives. This study examines the perceived fear of crime among students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette) and how it varies across demographic groups. The study used a quantitative, cross-sectional design with a non-probability convenience sampling technique. Data were collected from 512 currently enrolled UL Lafayette students during the spring 2026 semester using a Qualtrics online survey. The survey …

Teaching Peace Where Borders Divide: Interdisciplinary Praxis In A Criminal Justice Program, Lucas Espinoza

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article describes a criminal justice senior-level undergraduate course, CRIJ 4350: Peace, Nonviolence, & Justice, at a Hispanic-serving institution known as the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. The course centers five key frameworks: critical pedagogy, intersectionality, decolonial theory, restorative and transformative justice, and trauma-informed care, as this course departs from carceral models of justice education. Grounded in theory, literature, and research from criminal justice, criminology, peace and conflict studies, sociology, political science, ethics/philosophy, social justice, human rights, and critical pedagogy, the course centers student reflection from course evaluations, relationships, and experiences of a faculty member. …

The Social Construction Of Risk: How Media Socially Constructs Risk Perceptions Surrounding School Shootings Among College Students, Natalie Jobe

University Honors Theses

Although school shootings are statistically rare events, public fear surrounding them has continuously increased across the United States. This thesis explored how college students perceive the risk of school shootings despite the relatively low probability of experiencing these violent events, with particular attention to the role of media framing, sensationalized reporting, and repeated exposure to violent social and digital media. In order to examine how media framing, social and digital media exposure, as well as ongoing encounters with violent content affect risk perception, this research conducted six interviews with traditionally aged college students from Portland State University regarding their experiences …

Examination Of Factors To Male Offender Recidivism In Western Missouri, Daryl Long

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Dr. Scott Phillips Faculty Spotlight, Katelyn Trimble

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

An interview with Dr. Scott Phillips of the University of Denver's Department of Sociology and Criminology.

Law Enforcement Active Shooter Preparedness Grading System: A Campus Police Officer’S Perspective, Sean Patrick Gilligan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.