Digital Commons Network^™

Political Action As A Function Of Grievances, Risk, And Social Identity: An Experimental Approach, Erin M. Kearns, Victor Asal, James Igoe Walsh, Christopher Federico, Anthony F. Lemieux

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Why would individuals engage in or support contentious politics? This question is challenging to answer with observational data where causal factors are correlated and difficult to measure. Using a survey-embedded experiment, we focus on three situational factors: grievances, risk, and identity. We also explore how individual differences in sociopolitical orientations—social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA)—impact action. Grievances influence engagement in and support for protests. Risk influences engagement in protest, but not support for it. Regardless of condition, SDO and RWA help explain why some people engage in protest while others do not, particularly within the same context.

Social Justice Guest Speaker Series: Does More Immigration Mean More Crime In The United States?, Ramiro Martinez Ph.D.

Social Justice & Activism

Professor Martinez is a quantitative criminologist. Within that broad arena, his work contributes to violent crime research. His core research agenda asks how does violence vary across ecological settings, and, does violent crime and violent deaths vary across racial/ethnic and immigrant groups? In 2011, he was a recipient of American Society of Criminology DPCC’s Lifetime Achievement for outstanding scholarship in the area of race, crime, and justice. In 2007 he was a recipient of American Society of Criminology DPCC’s Coramae Richey Mann Award for outstanding scholarship in the area of race, crime, and justice. In 2006 he was a recipient …

A Bit Like Cash: Understanding Cash-For-Bitcoin Transactions Through Individual Vendors, Stephanie J. Robberson, Mark R. Mccoy

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

As technology improves and economies become more globalized, the concept of currency has evolved. Bitcoin, a cryptographic digital currency, has been embraced as a secure and convenient type of money. Due to its security and privacy for the user, Bitcoin is a good tool for conducting criminal trades. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has regulations in place to make identification information of Bitcoin purchasers accessible to law enforcement, but enforcing these rules with cash-for-Bitcoin traders is difficult. This study surveyed cash-for-Bitcoin vendors in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico to determine personal demographic information, knowledge of …

#Followme: An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Social Media Presence And Online Harassment, Tabrina M. Bratton

Theses and Dissertations

Social media is a relatively new global phenomenon. Virtual places provide criminogenic motivators like financial gain, access to suitable targets, and massive amounts information all under one virtual roof. Additionally, social media sites host large amounts of people in one space, generating significant opportunity for victimization. Despite the Internet’s theoretical relevance to understanding victimization, scholarly research into the effects of social media activity in victimization is scarce. Using data from the Pew Research Center, I investigated the relationship between Facebook use and online harassment among adolescents between 13 and 17 years of age. The results showed that an adolescent’s behavior …

Do Contextual Factors Matter In Juvenile Transfer Decisions? A Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis Of Juvenile Waivers To Adult Court, Brenda Faye Prochaska

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has examined factors that affect transfers to adult court. Offender race, age, and gender, along with offense type and seriousness have all been found to influence transfers to adult court. Existing studies have not examined the association between county characteristics and transfers to adult court. County characteristics, such as poverty and education, influence other portions of the juvenile justice and criminal justice system. Furthermore, most of the research examining transfers to adult court has been cross-sectional. It is important to examine transfers to adult court longitudinally because it is possible that as factors change over time, the influence …

Sex Offending Patterns Of Convicted Male Sex Offenders Who Were Sexually Victimized During Childhood: A Qualitative Study, Mollee Katherin Steely

Theses and Dissertations

The cycle of violence hypothesis assumes individuals who are subjected to abuse as children have an increased probability of becoming sexual abusers in the future. This hypothesis has frequently been applied to the etiological development of sex offending. The majority of existing literature has focused on long-term consequences of child sexual abuse for females, neglecting how sexual victimization can affect males. The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between adult male sex offenders and their abusers in efforts to understand their experiences with sexual abuse. Data was derived from 40 interviews with adult male sex offenders …

Measuring Misconduct: A Theoretically Integrated Examination Of The Correlates Of Inmate Misconduct In A State Prison System, Jacob M. Laan

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the differential influence of imported inmate characteristics, the deprivations of the prison environment, and situational determinants on inmate misconduct. Using a systematic, iterative model-building process, this study also investigates and provides support for alternative measurement and operationalization strategies for several key constructs used throughout misconduct literature. Finally, this study employs both single equation models and hierarchical generalized linear models to demonstrate not only the variable influence of certain predictors, but also the importance of context.

Student Attitudes Toward Sex Offender Policies And Laws In An Era Of High Profile Sex Crimes In The News, Amber Bennett

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This is a study looking at the attitudes that undergraduate college students taking introductory sociology and criminology courses have toward sex offender policies and laws such as community notification, residence restrictions, and the registry system. Voluntary participants were also asked to look at the appropriateness of the punishment given to perpetrators in case studies based off real cases. Results showed that there are potential gender differences in the attitudes about appropriateness of notification and the registration of sex offenders. There were less favorable attitudes toward chemical and surgical castration. Further research should be done to look at different types of …

Should Female Prostitution Be Legalized? An Opinion Survey Of Jordanian Citizens Living In The United States, Rana Q. Alzoubi

Criminology Student Work

Prostitution is a worldwide phenomenon in which different cultures attempt to control and regulate sex work often with terrible consequences. The purpose of the current study is to examine the opinions of Jordanian citizens living in the United States concerning the legalization of prostitution. To provide a better understanding of prostitution in the Middle East, this research explores the opinions of Jordanian citizens on the legalization of prostitution in the Middle East. The research asks participants about prostitution as it relates to health, victimization, and the marginalization of prostitutes, as well as the ways in which prostitutes lack protection through …

Putting An End To The Punishment And Rehabilitation Pendulum, Cassandra Long

Criminology Student Work

Over the past 30 years, the juvenile justice system can be described as a pendulum that swings between the concepts of rehabilitation and punishment. When the juvenile justice system was first created, rehabilitation and restorative justice were its primary purposes. However, over time the system has strayed from these views and has turned its focus toward punishment. The punishment focus has partially risen out of the communities’ fear of crime that has been ignited by the media concerning adolescents who are not deterred by the juvenile justice system. Nonetheless, it can be argued that the juvenile justice system should revert …

Delineating Victims From Perpetrators: Prosecuting Self-Produced Child Pornography In Youth Criminal Justice Systems, Bryce Westlake

Faculty Publications

Video recording technology advancements and accessibility has been paralleled by a growth in self-produced child pornography (SPCP). Although social and judicial attention has been given to instances of teenage sexting, Internet-based forms of SPCP, such as webcam/website sex tourism, have almost been ignored. While some of the proposed legislation reform has referenced video-based SPCP, the majority has focused on SPCP distributed through cellular phones; excluding that which is manifested online or through entrepreneurial efforts. The purpose of this article is to introduce non-sexting SPCP, using the case study of Justin Berry (in the United States), and to propose a broad …

Absenteeism Interventions: An Approach For Common Definitions In Statewide Program Evaluations, Anne M. Hobbs, Marijana Kotlaja, Lindsey Wylie

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Chronic absenteeism is related to poor academic performance, delinquency, and other high-risk behaviors. Although research has found some promising interventions to reduce absenteeism, the literature lacks clarity on operationalizing absenteeism and when programs should intervene with youth who have varying absenteeism patterns. Using the Response to Intervention (RtI) framework to classify youth into tiers based on their degree of absenteeism, the present study evaluated 12 absenteeism programs, across 137 schools, with a sample of 1,606 youth as part of a statewide evaluation in which programs provided attendance data using a common measurement system. The findings indicated that youth …

A New Mass Incarceration: Community Corrections, Carceral Geography, And Spatial Power, Iolanthe Brooks

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

In the age of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow (2010), promises to depopulate overcrowded American prisons, and a mainstream acknowledgement of mass incarceration, the American criminal justice system is anything but inert. Instead, modalities of punishment are shifting, particularly towards community-located corrections involving GPS surveillance. This paper seeks to examine this evolution of the carceral state through the marriage of two theoretical lenses: carceral geography and Foucauldian spatial power analysis. Carceral geography offers a theory of the embodied nuance of movement. Its work revolves around the three mobilities of the carceral system: movement to/from, within, and between prisons. This …

Revisiting A Classic: A Qualitative Analysis Of Differential Opportunity Theory And Its Utility In Explaining Residential Burglary, John A. Shjarback

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Cloward and Ohlin’s (1960) differential opportunity theory made several significant contributions to criminology, including the emphasis on illegitimate means and the idea that social structure influences criminal opportunity. The problem, however, is that the field largely misinterpreted Cloward and Ohlin’s intent as a simple variation of strain theory instead of a critical refinement of the existing perspective. Generally, the theory has not received much scholarly attention in terms of testing of its key propositions. Using semi-structured personal interviews with 105 active residential burglars in St. Louis, Missouri during 1989- 1990, the current study uses qualitative measures to analyze differential opportunity …

Interviewing Cybercrime Offenders, Alice Hutchings, Thomas J. Holt

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Research on cybercrime offending and victimization has increased dramatically over the past two decades, though qualitative scholarship on more technical offenses such as computer misuse has not kept pace with this broader trend. This research aims to identify potential best practices for researchers considering qualitative interviews as a method for researching computer misuse offenses, more commonly involving hacking techniques. The authors interviewed six experienced researchers who conducted qualitative examinations of active or incarcerated cybercriminals to understand their common experiences with recruitment, ways in which they interviewed research participants, ethical issues, and publishing their research. This analysis explores the difficulties associated …

The Life Course Of Female Homicide Offenders: The Context Of Turning Points, Alesa Liles

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Although research on female offending has grown in the past few decades, the criminal justice system has remained inadequate in addressing the needs of women. Available research shows some experiences play a significant role in the lives of women that differ from men. To elaborate, this study sought to incorporate life course perspective and the individual’s perspective to show that context is fundamental to life course research. This study identified life events and turning points specific to female homicide offenders and validated the necessary incorporation of perception and attribution to future research with life course perspective."

Culture, Socialization, And Firearms Violence In The United States, Jennifer L. Lanterman, Sarah J. Blithe

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Firearm violence persists in the United States despite innumerable social, political, and economic changes throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. Collaborative Event Ethnography was used at seven gun shows in three regions of the United States to explore childhood socialization into firearm culture via intergenerational communication of values and views regarding violence, safety, and the use of firearms. Children were observed at all gun shows engaged in activities ranging from standard play to potentially dangerous activity in an environment characterized by bias and controversy. The findings support social learning theory and provide some insight into the role of culture …

Preliminary Investigation Of Pharmaceutical Counterfeiters In The United States, Jay P. Kennedy, Ksenia Petlakh, Jeremy M. Wilson

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Pharmaceutical counterfeiting is one of the most pressing public health concerns in the United States and abroad, and recently an increasing amount of scholarly attention has been given to this issue. However, the extant literature lacks a systematic investigation of the specific roles undertaken within pharmaceutical counterfeiting schemes. We attempt to address this knowledge gap through an analysis of individuals convicted in federal court of counterfeiting offenses related to U.S.-based pharmaceutical counterfeiting incidents. From our investigation we identified six distinct roles that can classify an individual’s involvement in a pharmaceutical counterfeiting scheme: Key/Lead, Supporting, Sales/Distribution to Legitimate Others, Sales/Distribution to …

An Examination Of Victimization Among Traditional And Non-Traditional Female College Students, Jasmine Spears

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine differences between traditional and non-traditional aged victims of sexual assault and their victimizations. This study uses sexual assault victimization data from the 2014 incident files of the National Incident Based Reporting System. From this data, three samples were constructed to look at sexual victimization in all locations, sexual victimization on college campuses, as well as victimizations that occur off campus. Additionally, the age of both victims and offenders are examined to see if there are differences between characteristics of sexual victimization offenses for those between the traditional college ages of 18 to …

Young And Unafraid: Queer Criminology's Unbounded Potential, Vanessa R. Panfil

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Queer criminology, a fairly young subfield, deals with matters of import for sexual and gender minorities, particularly LGBTQ+ populations. Areas of interest include reducing invisibility and inequity, though these pursuits can sometimes be accompanied with potential pitfalls or unintended consequences. This article provides an overview of the goals and considerations of queer criminology, while focusing on how to cultivate queer criminology's unbounded potential to help address pressing social problems. Several global issues of immediate concern for LGBTQ+ people are identified, such as criminalization and devaluation of their lives, which has resulted in their detainment and torture, persecution when they organize …

Uneven Policing: Low-Level Arrests During Gentrification, Fiscal Crisis, And Suburbanization, Brenden Beck

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I analyze trends in low-level policing between 1990 and 2015. I explore how three contextual changes may have shaped policing during this time: gentrification, fiscal crisis, and the suburbanization of poverty and of people of color. I ask four interrelated research questions: How widely did “broken windows” policing, with its emphasis on misdemeanor arrests, diffuse? Do police make more stops and arrests in neighborhoods undergoing gentrification? Do local governments experiencing revenue shortfalls cut their criminal justice functions to save money, or do they increase them to reassert social order? Did the suburbanization of poverty and of people …

Against Criminalization And Pathology: The Making Of A Black Achievement Praxis, Charles M. Green Sr.

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Utilizing 29 in-depth semi-structured interviews, the life-course narratives of Black male scholars who, as victims of varying manifestations of structural violence, have “beat the odds” academically. Findings suggest that Black men and boys benefit from positive, racially-informed socialization that assists in the development of an internalized identity that (a) acts as a protective and resistant barrier against some of the impediments of institutional racism, (b) operates as a counter-criminogenic influence, and (c) facilitates educational resilience. Criminogenic Resistance Theory (C.RT) is presented as an alternative conceptualization of the process by which Black boys resist the criminogenic influences of structuralized violence.

Assessing The Outcomes Of A Jail-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Program: A Quasi-Experimental Approach, Laura Lutgen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Jails and the needs of their populations are often overlooked despite their nearly 11 million annual admissions. More than 700,000 inmates are housed in jail on any given day in the United States, most of whom are non-violent and not yet convicted of a crime. This large population also reflects a high-need, heavily drug-involved population with nearly 70% of all jail inmates having a diagnosable substance use disorder. These high-need individuals are likely to continue cycling in and out of jail without treatment especially as they often return to the people, places, and things that are conducive to their use. …

The Social Construction Of Protest: Print Media Coverage Of The 2004 Republican National Convention And The 2011 Occupy Wall Street Protests In New York City, Kirsten Christiansen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Majoritarian democracies are founded on the idea that the governance of society will reflect the needs and desires of the majority of the people and that all citizens are given a voice. Public protest activity is one of the ways in which social movement organizations as claims-makers can reach an audience to attempt to convince a majority to effect social change. The mainstream news media can disseminate information about protest messages and activity beyond the local. However, the mainstream news media filters information in its own way, influenced in part because of traditional news routines but also potentially by the …

The Effect Of Globalization On The National Criminal Law Systems, Shirin Ahmadi Dastjerdi, Abbas Sheikholeslami, Haniyeh Hojabrosadati

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Globalization has influenced many human life scopes with a variety of tools, which the cyberspace playing the most role. Although both cyberspace and globalization have had many benefits to human life, both as a tool and as a process, they have been able to assist offenders to bring crime into the cyberspace without any trouble. Therefore, today criminologists discuss the globalized world of crime. Although, the processes of homogenization and globalization have been precious to human beings, should not be overlooked. In this article, the author has tried to explain the cybercrime in the age of globalization, with an emphasis …

Factors Influencing Law Enforcement Responses To Child To Parent Violence, Gaylene Armstrong, Lisa Muftic, Leana A. Bouffard

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

A domestic violence incident perpetrated by a child toward his or her parent presents a challenging dynamic for law enforcement officers responding to these calls for service. To date, law enforcement responses to child to parent violence (CPV) have only been studied dichotomously (i.e., decision to arrest), and as a result, the associated complexities are not well understood. Here, we add to the understanding of individual, situational, and contextual factors that influence law enforcement response to CPV by examining 1,113 calls for service in a Midwestern state. In assessing the relative influence of these factors on responses using a multinomial …

Opencrimemapping.Org: An Online Tool For Visualizing Crime, Michael Crowder, Lauren Darr, Gerardo Garza, Brent Allen

SMU Data Science Review

In this paper we present a method for creating geographic visualizations of criminal incidents using open data and open-source software. The motivation for this method is to provide law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and interested citizens an affordable and relatively easy way to start analyzing geospatial data. The National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) is a national standard for LEA incident reporting going into effect for all 18,000 U.S. LEAs in 2021. This project uses the Dallas Police Department's publicly available, NIBRS-style, incident data to develop a geovisual analysis tool called opencrimemapping.org.

Race, Xenophobia, And Punitiveness Among The American Public, Joseph O. Baker, David Cañarte, L. Edward Day

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

We outline four connections between xenophobia and punitiveness toward criminals in a national sample of Americans. First, among self-identified whites xenophobia is more predictive of punitiveness than specific forms of racial animus. Second, xenophobia and punitiveness are strongly connected among whites, but are only moderately and weakly related among black and Hispanic Americans, respectively. Third, among whites substantial proportions of the variance between sociodemographic, political, and religious predictors of punitiveness are mediated by levels of xenophobia. Finally, xenophobia is the strongest overall predictor of punitiveness among whites. Overall, xenophobia is an essential aspect of understanding public punitiveness, particularly among whites.

Examining The Sources Of Violent Victimization Among Jail Inmates, Jared M. Ellison, Benjamin Steiner, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This study involves an examination of the individual- and jail-level predictors of violent victimization during short-term incarceration using data from the most recent Survey of Inmates in Local Jails and the corresponding National Jail Census. Findings suggest that individuals whose attributes make them appear more vulnerable or whose attributes antagonize others have a greater risk of violent victimization in jail. In addition, the findings suggest that jails with more stagnant inmate populations and older jails may have higher levels of violent victimization. Overall, the study results add validity to the opportunity framework as a general explanation for victimization risk regardless …

Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward Citizen Advisory Councils, Justin Nix, Scott E. Wolfe, Brandon Tregle

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the antecedents of sheriff deputies’ perceived legitimacy of their agency’s citizen advisory council (CAC).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors obtained survey data from 567 sheriff deputies in a southeastern state. The authors first asked whether respondents knew their agency had a CAC, and then asked those who responded affirmatively a series of questions about the legitimacy of the council. The authors then ran an ordinary least squares regression that included organizational justice, self-legitimacy and public scrutiny as independent variables predicting perceived legitimacy of the CAC.

Findings

Deputies who perceived greater organizational justice from …