Digital Commons Network^™

The Other Side Of The Coin: Exploring The Effects Of Adolescent Delinquency On Young Adult Self-Control, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard, Tim Barnum, Trisha Rhodes

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

Although there is robust support for low self-control as a predictor of delinquent behavior, the question of whether delinquent behavior impacts self-control has been largely ignored. We ask, after accounting for baseline group differences in impulsivity and self-control, can delinquency be associated with later group differences in self-control?

Methods

Utilizing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health we employed propensity score matching to create comparable groups (i.e., on self-control and other delinquency correlates) of youth who did and did not participate in delinquent behavior in adolescence and compared them on self-control and impulsivity in …

Testing A Social Schematic Model Of Police Procedural Justice, Justin T. Pickett, Justin Nix

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Procedural justice theory increasingly guides policing reforms in the United States and abroad. Yet the primary sources of perceived police procedural justice are still unclear. Building on social schema research, we posit civilians’ perceptions of police procedural justice only partly reflect their personal and vicarious experiences with officers. We theorize perceptions of the police are anchored in a broader “relational justice schema,” composed of views about how respectful, fair, and unbiased most people are in their dealings with others. Individuals’ experiences with certain nonlegal actors and neighborhood environments should directly affect their relational justice schema and indirectly affect their evaluation …

Policing For The Community, Jeffrey Munoz

Senior Honors Projects

As a society, we are currently in a period of time where the community reflects their dissatisfaction with law enforcement by staging protests, organizing groups who demand change and unfortunately at times displaying a degree of violence towards authority. These issues are products of controversial police shootings like those of the killings of Tamir rice, Freddie Gray and Eric Garner in which all demonstrated a reasonable degree of uncertainty. The fact of the matter lies within the officers’ actions as they manifest an inherent racial bias seen one to many times by populations that have been oppressed throughout history. The …

Who Gets “Saved?” : Making Sense Of Racially Disparate Disciplinary Practices In Urban School Systems., Kala Brown

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The “racial discipline gap” describes the phenomenon in which black and brown youth disproportionately face exclusionary punishments in schools for instances of misbehavior. Despite the declining trends in youth violence, decades of research still show that this process ultimately leads to minority youth being processed through the courts for mostly non-violent offenses as part of the school-to-prison pipeline. This paper examines minority youth perspectives on disciplinary practices in secondary schools as responses to, and embedded within, bureaucratic practices in school disciplinary systems. Using a review of qualitative research studies and labeling theory as the primary framework for this investigation, I …

The Influence Of Rape Myth Acceptance On Self-Reported Perceptions Of Prostitution And Human Trafficking Among College Students, Eva Fontaine

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Adler (1975) contends that, over time, few things in society have changed less than sexual behavior, while few things have changed more than attitudes about sex. As such, myths pertaining to sex work, such as prostitution, human trafficking, and rape myths, support culturally reinforced attitudes that rationalize the sexual exploitation of sex workers (Cotton et al., 2002). Using a convenience sample and revised versions of the Human Trafficking Myths Scale (Cunningham & Cromer, 2016), Attitudes toward Prostitutes and Prostitution Scale (Levin & Peled, 2011), and Updated Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (McMahon & Farmer, 2011), the current study sought to …

Electric Light: Automating The Carceral State During The Quantification Of Everything, R. Joshua Scannell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation traces the rise of digitally-driven policing technologies in order to make sense of how prevailing logics of governance are transformed by ubiquitous computing technology. Beginning in the early 1990s, police departments and theorists began to rely on increasingly detailed sets of metrics to evaluate performance. The adoption of digital technology to streamline quantitative evaluation coincided with a steep decline in measured crime that served as a proof-of-concept for the effectivity of digital police surveillance and analytics systems. During the turbulent first two decades of the 21^st century, such digital technologies were increasingly associated with reform projects designed …

Crimmigration, Deportability And The Social Exclusion Of Noncitizen Immigrants, Shirley P. Leyro, Daniel L. Stageman

Publications and Research

The spread of crimmigration policies, practices, and rhetoric represents an economically rational strategy and has significant implications for the lived experience of noncitizen immigrants. This study draws up in-depth interviews of immigrants with a range of legal statuses to describe the mechanics through which immigrants internalize and respond to the fear of deportation, upon which crimmigration strategies rely. The fear of deportation and its behavioral effects extend beyond undocumented or criminally convicted immigrants, encompassing lawful permanent residents and naturalized citizens alike. This fear causes immigrants to refuse to use public services, endure labor exploitation, and avoid public spaces, resulting in …

Life Course Outcomes For Juveniles: Contact With The Criminal Justice System As A Turning Point, Dominique Tauffner

Honors Projects

This research investigated the life course outcomes of respondents who have been arrested during adolescence. Although the creation of the juvenile justice system is relatively recent, only existing for 119 years, there is a need for data on the impact this system has on society. The pre-existing knowledge and literature on juvenile delinquency and the criminal justice system often fails to capture longitudinal data. Most scholars on this issue will discuss the immediate effects of things like incarceration and placement or what influences delinquency, ignoring the long-term consequences or life outcomes of those that have been arrested prior to 18. …

Patriarchy And The Structure Of Employment In Criminal Justice: Differences In The Experiences Of Men And Women Working In The Legal Profession, Corrections, And Law Enforcement, Candice Batton, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Feminist scholars have long argued that patriarchy affects the structure and organization of society as well as the lived experiences of men and women. Although often referenced in discussions of gender differences in crime and justice, few have articulated more specifically the link between patriarchy and gender differences in the experiences of men and women as victims, offenders, or workers. We take up the challenge to theorize patriarchy and examine the extent to which it operates as an organizing principle with regard to employment in the criminal justice system. We consider differences in the representation of men and women working …

Do Students Feel Safe On Campus? A Policy Evaluation Of The Clery Act, Amanda Sidwell

Honors Theses

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (the Clery Act) is federal policy aimed at creating safer college campuses. It attempts to provide students with statistics on crimes that occur on campus and inform them of the security policies and various resources available to them. The Clery Act also mandates that institutions of higher education (IHE) send out alerts of emergencies that occur on campus.

So how safe do Western Michigan University (WMU or “Western”) students feel on campus? This study attempted to answer this question by asking students through a survey. The students’ …

The Predictors Of Juvenile Recidivism: Testimonies Of Adult Students 18 Years And Older Exiting From Alternative Education, La Toshia Palmer

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was to identify and describe the importance of the predictors of juvenile recidivism and the effectiveness of efforts to prevent/avoid juvenile recidivism as perceived by previously detained, arrested, convicted, and/or incarcerated adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education in Northern California. A second purpose was to explore the types of support provided by alternative schools and the perceived importance of the support to avoid recidivism according to adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education.

Methodology: This qualitative, descriptive research design identified …

You Have Seventy-Two Hours: How The City Complaint System Enables Criminalization Of The Unsheltered Population, Lindsey Grace Earl

Theses and Dissertations

The unsheltered population has been denigrated since the formation of the United States. This is true in a city I call Marinville, Illinois where the privatization paradigm, social stratification, and anti-homeless ordinances have contributed to the shutdown of at least five homeless encampments. Multiple times per week, law enforcement officials interact with the chronically unsheltered population and incarcerate individuals for petty ordinance violations. In our current regulatory system, city officials, police officers, and homeless service organizations (HSOs) all influence the unsheltered population’s lives, including options for social and spatial mobility. This thesis is based on multi-method research from 2016-2017: engaging …

Body-Worn Cameras And Officer Behavior, Noah Simondet

Honors Capstones

The use of body-worn cameras in law enforcement is controversial because there are possible disadvantages among the numerous advantages. Body-worn cameras are often implemented to reduce use of force by officers. A majority of studies on the effects of law enforcement using body-worn cameras found that the use of body-worn cameras reduced use of force as well as other aspects of officer behavior. Law enforcement officers using body-worn cameras are more likely to write citations, less likely to arrest, and will often report more self- initiated incidents. This may be because officers wearing body-worn cameras worry that the use of …

Management-Level Officers’ Experiences With The Ferguson Effect, Justin Nix, Scott E. Wolfe

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors associated with management-level officers’ sensitivity to various manifestations of the “Ferguson effect.”

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was administered to police officers attending an advanced training institute in the Southeastern USA in the fall of 2015. Specifically, a series of items first inquired about negative attitudes attributable to deadly force incidents throughout the country, followed by items tapping into theoretically relevant concepts including self-legitimacy, audience legitimacy, and peer attachment.

Findings

Findings suggest that like line-level officers, police managers may also harbor various attitudes attributable to a Ferguson effect – including less …

Attitudes Toward Prisoners: An Introductory Study, Kathleen Geyer

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

The United States has the largest prison population in the world and it just seems to keep growing (Tsai & Scommegna 2012). The current research focuses on attitudes toward prisoners and how that may influence someone’s likelihood of returning to prison. Attitudes toward prisoners was measured using the Attitudes Toward Prisoners scale (ATP). The research hypotheses are as follows: 1) females and people of color will have higher original ATP scores than males and whites; 2) people who have experienced discrimination and/or have some connection to the prison system will have higher original ATP scores than those who have not; …

Online Socialization And Delinquency: Expanding The Study Of Peer Influence In Criminology, Timothy Mccuddy

Dissertations

Criminologists typically study peer influence within traditional contexts such as schools and neighborhoods. Spurred by the ubiquitous use of electronic devices, recent research finds that online peer delinquency can also have deleterious effects on adolescent behavior. This has important implications for the study of delinquency since youth today are digital natives, meaning their developmental years are spent in a world reliant on technology and Internet-connected devices. Through the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC), adolescents can forge friendships with those found within the cyber context, a virtual environment unrestricted by the confines of space and time. This context not only provides …

Topical Analysis Of The Enron Emails Using Graph Theory, Casey Kalinowski

Student Scholar Showcase

The Enron Scandal of the early 2000s shook the financial world. The subsequent investigation of the Enron Corporation resulted in the arrests of many top-level executives, but are these employees the only ones responsible for the wide scale fraud in the company? A topical analysis of a social network of over 150 employees of the Enron Corporation using Graph Theory could result in new findings or prove that the investigators were correct in their original findings. The research is a retrospective analysis of a corpus of over 500,000 emails from more than 150 employees and top-level executives of the Enron …

Understanding The Experiences And Perceptions Of Specialty Mental Health Probation Officers, Brice Terpstra

Theses and Dissertations

Over the last two decades, specialty mental health probation caseloads have become increasingly common – focusing on offenders with serious mental illness (SMI). Scholars have examined overall effectiveness, the organization and design of these programs, and the differences between standard probation and specialty probation. Less attention, however, has been placed on examining how the officers supervising these SMI caseloads perceive their roles as specialty mental health probation officers and how discretion impacts their caseload management. In the current study semi-structured interviews were conducted with a complete census of 24 SMI caseload probation officers and supervisors in Maricopa County, Arizona over …

An Analysis Of The Unintended Effects Of The Amber Alert System, Josiah Bloomquist

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduate requirement for the BSU Honors Program. The capstone encompasses an analysis of the majority of research done up to this point on the America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response System (AMBER). It brings up and discusses the significance of research done and the unintentional effects (both positive and negative) of the implication of the system within the United States. In addition, there is a discussion and recommendations of the true facts of child abductions and AMBER that need to be more broadly dispersed to the general public to set straight incorrect, perceived notions of the capabilities …

Gatekeeping Decriminalization Of Prostitution: The Ubiquitous Influence Of The New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective, Janice G. Raymond

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This article explores the activities of The New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective (NZPC) in promoting decriminalization of prostitution and its role in gatekeeping this legislation. The NZPC has loomed large in the government’s evaluations of the decriminalization legislation known as the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA). It has collected information, partnered on the research team appointed by the Ministry of Justice to conduct the research, and ultimately secured seats as evaluators on the Prostitution Law Review Committee (PLRC) charged with assessing the research and making recommendations. Much of its outsized influence on the research and conclusions of this report is demonstrated in …

Examining The Impact Of A Criminal Background In Social Work Education, Amy S. Vliek

Dissertations

Many returning citizens want to access higher educational institutions (HEIs) to access desired professions and increase employability. However, many HEIs and profession education programs have restrictions in place for returning citizens. An MSW is the most sought-after degree for returning citizens. However, social work education has restrictions in place for returning citizens. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the lived experiences of MSW returning citizen students considering these restrictions. The dissertation attempts to answer the following research questions: How did applicants who disclosed a criminal background at the time of application experience the MSW application process? Did the …

Punishment As Pedagogy: An Exploration Of The Disciplinary Alternative School, Kaitlyn J. Selman

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

As school districts across the US attempt to reduce their reliance on exclusionary punishment—and declining suspension and expulsion rates are heralded as signs of success—understanding the complexities of education and carcerality remains an urgent matter. Through a critical content analysis of a number of sources, including existing historical and ethnographic research, code of conduct handbooks, school websites, news articles, and data reports, this dissertation foregrounds an institution that is framed as an “alternative” to exclusionary punishment, yet is motivated by the same carceral logics that have long-haunted the school’s practice of managing students.

Chapter I introduces relevant literature on disciplinary …

Policing The Drinking Community: An Assessment Of The Criminal Justice Response To Drunk Driving And Alcohol Related Crashes (1985 -2014), Richard James Stringer

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this study was to analyze the relationships among arrests, informal alcohol related social norms, and alcohol related fatal crashes in the U.S. from 1985-2014. Despite inexorable efforts to eliminate drunk driving, approximately twenty percent of the population drives after drinking (Drew, 2010). Although law enforcement arrests play a key part in policies to deter drunk driving, enforcement of DUI laws varies widely across the country (Erickson et al., 2015). However, no project has explored the relationship between structural factors related to community norms, enforcement, and automobile crashes. Thus, this project adds to the literature and understanding of …

Family Impact Seminar 2018: The Kids Are Not All Right: Policy Options To Address Youth Trauma In Massachusetts, Denise Hines, Laurie Ross Ph.D, Marianne Sarkis Ph.D

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Family Impact Seminars are a series of annual seminars, briefing reports, and discussion sessions that provide up-to-date, solution-oriented research on current issues for state legislators and their aides. The seminars provide objective, nonpartisan research on current issues and do not lobby for particular policies. Seminar participants discuss policy options and identify common ground where it exists.

The Kids are NOT All Right: Policy Options to Address Youth Trauma in Massachusetts is the ninth Massachusetts Family Impact Seminar. Today’s seminar is designed to emphasize a family perspective in policymaking on issues related to early intervention in childhood trauma, sex trafficking and …

The Perceptions Of Illinois State University Students Regarding Sexual Assault On Campus, Brittany Lee Acquaviva

Theses and Dissertations

The prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses is a continued epidemic within the United States. The increase of literature on this topic highlights the risk factors and perceptions that students hold on sexual assault. Previous findings have been able to aid in the creation of educational programs to be administered by universities to their students on commonly misconstrued topics within sexual assault and consent. This research adds to existing literature with its investigation on perceptions of sexual assault that Illinois State University students old. Specifically, this study looks at the beliefs and values that students hold about sexual assault, …

Fear Of Victimization Among Incarcerated Youths: Examining The Effects Of Institutional “Neighborhood” Characteristics And Gang Membership, Jodi Lane, Gaylene Armstrong, Kathleen A. Fox

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This study examines whether neighborhood factors found to predict fear of crime among the general population can be adapted to explain inmate fear of victimization inside juvenile correctional institutions. We test (a) whether institutional physical disorder, resident trust, and formal social control can predict fear of victimization, and (b) whether the importance of these factors for fear of victimization varies based on preincarceration street gang status. Using data from a large national sample of incarcerated youths, findings indicate non-gang members are more afraid of institutional victimization than gang members, confirming findings about levels of fear between these groups on the …

Qualitative Approach To Understanding Guardian Models Of Policing, Jacqueline B. Helfgott, Beck M. Strah, Joycelyn Pollock, Loren T. Atherley, John Vinson

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Since 2015, there has been a growing interest and controversy regarding the “warrior” versus “guardian” models of policing. This article discusses the concept of guardian policing and uses qualitative data from an evaluation of guardian-based training in a police academy to highlight guardian concepts as understood by the trainers. Results suggest that trainers generally exhibit a widespread level of support and commitment towards the guardian model and the priorities of guardian training, view the model as consistent with what has traditionally been considered “good policing,” and believe that critics do not understand the basic elements of the model itself, …

Graffiti With A Purpose: Sexual Violence & Social Justice Conversations In University Bathroom Stalls, Rachel E. Green, Miriam Northcutt Bohmert, Amanda N. Gesselman, Rasul Mowatt, Jennifer Maher, Justin R. Garcia

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

In 2014, our university began posting educational fliers in bathroom stalls across campus in order to share resources and policies on sexual violence, which spurred numerous forms of graffiti commentary about sexual violence prevention and response. Since some scholars have argued that bathroom graffiti can be a unique form of social commentary and even resistance facilitated by the tension of doing semi-private things in semi-public spaces, we examined 429 bathroom stall fliers across 11 heavily trafficked campus buildings, and a total of 177 graffiti comments/images. We then analyzed the relationships between comments in order to answer research questions about the …

Routledge Handbook Of Graffiti And Street Art, Jeffrey Ian Ross (Editor), Andrew C. Gray

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Expressing oneself by depicting images on public surfaces for others to view is a system of communication that has been around since the earliest societies formed and developed their own languages. This tradition of public communication has continued into the present in the form of graffiti and street art. The development of contemporary graffiti and street art is often attributed to the scenes in Philadelphia and New York City, which arose during the 1970s. In fact, it has been contended that these art forms spread to and mixed with graffiti/street art scenes across the globe due to NYC’s status as …

Criminal Genius: A Portrait Of High-Iq Offenders, James C. Oleson, Allen Copenhaver

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Criminology has a long history of attempting to discover and explain what some researchers claim are links between biological characteristics and criminal behavior. More specifically, some criminologists have explored the potential linkages between IQ and criminal behavior (i.e. see the work of Lombroso, Beaver, and Hirschi, among others). James C. Oleson continues this line of research with his 2016 book Criminal Genius: A Portrait of High-IQ Offenders. Oleson’s work is unique in that it is the first attempt to systematically examine the potential links between individuals with high IQs and criminal behavior. To accomplish this, Oleson uses a mixture …