Digital Commons Network^™

Neighborhood Disorganization And Police Decision-Making In The New York City Police Department, Allison Carter

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the applicability of criminological theory to police decision-making during police-initiated encounters with suspects. Specifically, how indicators of social disorganization can be used to predict officers' use of coercive action (i.e., frisk, search, use of force, and arrest) during the street stop of suspects. I also investigate whether neighborhood disadvantage, as a moderator, impacts suspects' likelihood of receiving greater levels of coercive action when stopped for reasons listed in the New York City Police Departments' Unified Form 250 (UF-250) reports.

Three theoretical arguments connecting an officer's decision-making in a socially disorganized area are outlined. First, an area with …

Kidnapping Incorporated: The Unregulated Youth-Transportation Industry And The Potential For Abuse, Ira Robbins

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Strangers come into a child's room in the middle of the night, drag her kicking and screaming into a van, apply handcuffs, and drive her to a behavior modification facility at a distant location. What sounds like a clear-cut case of kidnapping is complicated by the fact that the child's parents not only authorized this intervention, but also paid for it. This scarcely publicized practice-known as the youth-transportation industry-operates on the fringes of existing law. The law generally presumes that parents have almost unlimited authority over their children, but the youth-transportation industry has never been closely examined regarding exactly what …

Disputed Paraphilia Diagnoses And Legal Decision Making: A Case Law Survey Of Paraphilia Nos, Nonconsent, Christopher M. King, Lindsey E. Wylie, Eve M. Brank, Kirk Heilbrun

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Paraphilia diagnoses applied in forensic settings are an ongoing subject of debate among psycholegal professionals and scholars. Disagreements pertain to both means-related issues having to do with issues of diagnostic reliability and validity, and ends-related issues regarding the consequences inherent to the legal contexts in which the diagnoses arise. To provide a fresh outlook on some of the issues, the present study entailed a systematic survey of U.S. case law to investigate the history, extent, and nature of forensic uses of a controversial paraphilia diagnosis, paraphilia not otherwise specified, nonconsent. Descriptive analyses revealed that use of the diagnosis, which occurred …

The New Drug War Or The New Race War: Incarceration's Impact On Minority Children, Families, And Communities, Karen P. Lawrence

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This non-experimental study examines the issues of over-representation of minorities in the criminal justice system due to drug-related incidences, race relations, and the impact such representation has on families, children, and communities. The exploration of the current criminal justice efforts against drugs is presented through a meta-analysis qualitative lens in an effort to disseminate the information on those arrested, sentenced, and subsequently incarcerated for various drug offenses. In an attempt to understand the encyclical racial disparities that promulgate the criminal justice system, the study relies on information from several key theorists to cement the discussions in the research. Qualitative data …

Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of Teens, Tamieka Meadows, Alexis Kennedy

McNair Poster Presentations

This research explores whether commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) abuse drugs or face greater histories of abuse than their delinquent peers. This research will evaluate whether girls who are CSEC victims experience more abuse of drugs or experience more physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. The study also explores whether CSEC victims witnessed more abuse than non-CSEC victims. A survey of needs and issues facing delinquent girls was given to 130 girls between the ages of 13 to 18. Questions asked about their drug use, abuse history, and whether they witnessed abuse. This research found that many girls who are CSEC …

The New Scarlet Letter? Negotiating The U.S. Labor Market With A Criminal Record, Steven Raphael

Upjohn Press

This book explores the difficulties facing ex-offenders as they try to enter and remain in the U.S. labor market.

Developing A Conceptual Framework For Modeling Deviant Cyber Flash Mob: A Socio-Computational Approach Leveraging Hypergraph Constructs, Samer Al-Khateeb, Nitin Agarwal

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

In a Flash Mob (FM) a group of people get together in the physical world perform an unpredicted act and disperse quickly. Cyber Flash Mob (CFM) is the cyber manifestation of flash mob coordinated primarily using social media. Deviant Cyber Flash Mob (or, DCFM) is a special case of CFM, which is categorized as the new face of transnational crime organizations (TCOs). The DCFM phenomenon can be considered as a form of a cyber-collective action that is defined as an action aiming to improve group’s conditions (such as, status or power). In this paper, we conduct a conceptual analysis of …

When Speech Isn't Free: Legal Barriers And Consequences Of Reporting Sexual Violence, Kevin M. Fleming

Departmental Honors Projects

Incidents of sexual violence continue to be a serious problem for society. Likewise, acts of sexual violence impose severe consequences for survivors. The consequences initially begin at the onset of the survivor’s journey to psychological recovery following the traumatic sexual assault. The consequences take on a unique set of characteristics when the survivor attempts to use the justice system to confront the perpetrator who committed the offense. These characteristics can transform an adversarial process into an isolated battle for the survivor. In the worst cases, the justice system empowers individuals who wish to silence survivors with free speech restrictions instead …

J. Skelly Wright And The Limits Of Liberalism, Louis Michael Seidman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This essay, written for a symposium on the life and work of United States Court of Appeals Judge J. Skelly Wright, makes four points. First, Judge Wright was an important participant in the liberal legal tradition. The tradition sought to liberate law from arid formalism and to use it as a technique for progressive reform. However, legal liberals also believed that there were limits on what judges could do–-limits rooted in both its liberalism and its legalism. Second, Wright occupied a position on the left fringe of the liberal legal tradition, and he therefore devoted much of his career to …

The Life Course Perspective Of Delinquency: An Empirical Analysis Of Female Juvenile Offending From The National Youth Survey, Doshie Piper

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

No abstract provided.

Social Status, Opportunity And Repeat Victimization: The Unequal Distribution Of Safety, Zavin Nazaretian

Wayne State University Dissertations

This research examines the relationship between victimization, social status and opportunity. More specifically, the effects of social status and opportunity on repeat victimization are examined. How does social status and opportunity simultaneously effect repeat victimization? This report consists of a secondary data analysis of the 2004 and 2009 Canadian Victimization Survey with a combined sample size of 43,200 people who were interviewed by telephone. Opportunity either partially or completely mediated the effects of social status on repeat victimization; however for certain subsamples neither opportunity nor social status explained repeat victimization. Additionally, the groups whose victimization was not explained by opportunity …

Green And Grey: Water Justice, Privatization, And Resistance, William Mcclanahan

Online Theses and Dissertations

Since its initial proposal in the 1990s, `green criminology' has focused on environmental crimes and harms affecting non-human and human life, ecosystems, and the planet as a whole. Describing global trends toward privatization of water supply systems and the criminalization of several water conservation activities and tactics, this paper employs theoretical perspectives offered by green, cultural, and critical criminologies, focusing on overt resistance to water privatization and oppressive regulations governing rainwater storage and residential water recycling. Taking a critical theoretical perspective, this paper examines water access and autonomy, individuals and groups openly resisting the criminalization of household water reuse and …

Social Class And Capital Punishment: A Theoretical And Empirical Analysis, Jennifer L. Tilley

Online Theses and Dissertations

While it is generally assumed that virtually all persons executed in the United States are poor, the social class - execution link has not been well documented or theorized in the literature. Far more research has analyzed the relationship of race and gender to execution. Using data on executions carried out in Texas between 2000 and 2012, individuals sentenced to death from the Supreme Court's Gregg decision through 1997 in Tennessee, narrative case studies, and a content analysis of state-defined mitigating circumstances, this study provides both detailed documentation of the social class characteristics of those executed, as well as a …

Exploring The Responsibilities Of Wildlife Law Enforcement Officers: An Examination Of Citations Issued By Kentucky Conservation Officers, Conrad Morgan Lanham

Online Theses and Dissertations

Conservation officers are law enforcement agents whose primary responsibility is the enforcement of statutes regarding wildlife. Several bodies of research have noted the expansion of law enforcement capabilities and responsibilities of conservation officers to include the enforcement of general laws that fall outside the conservation officers' original mandate. The purpose of this study is to explore the work roles of contemporary conservation officers in Kentucky. Using data from citations issued by Kentucky conservation officers from 2006 to 2011, this research examines patterns of wildlife violations, boating violations, and general violations across time and space. Comparisons of these types of violations …

Bankster's Paradise: The Importance Of Discourse In Creating A Haven For Criminogenic Banks In The United States, Maria Jacqueline Bordt

Online Theses and Dissertations

This work examines the ways in which language can contribute to a cultural climate in which white-collar crime is no longer considered "deviant," but rather is considered part of a normally functioning political economy. The 2012 money laundering case involving HSBC is examined in conjunction with the rhetoric of popular financial counselor Dave Ramsey. This research seeks to define how language involving the accumulation of capital is equated with virtuousness, thus constructing a myth about the criminality inherent to "legitimate" capital enterprises.

Book Review: American Jericho: A Book Review Of The Hanging Judge By Michael A. Ponsor, Giovanna Shay

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

More Is More: Strengthening Free Exercise, Speech, And Association, John D. Inazu

Scholarship@WashULaw

Prominent scholars have suggested that one important means of strengthening the First Amendment is by limiting its protections to “core” interests. Philip Hamburger has asserted the argument most forcefully. His generalized worry is that expanding the coverage of First Amendment rights can shift absolute protection of a defined core to contingent “balancing” for all claims asserted under those rights. In Hamburger’s words, “more is less.” We can think of cautions like these as arguments for rights confinement. On this view, legal doctrine will be most resilient to cultural pressures when it is construed narrowly. But the interplay between doctrine and …

The Far-Reaching Shadow Cast By Ferguson, Kimberly Jade Norwood

Scholarship@WashULaw

In the Dred Scott case, Justice Taney remarked that black people “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.” In The Far-Reaching Shadow Cast by Ferguson, Professor Norwood questions whether, in today’s society, Justice Taney’s sentiment still holds true. Citing examples of recent police shootings and beatings of unarmed African-Americans and personal and family experiences, Professor Norwood argues that our country is broken and needs fixing. Professor Norwood concludes that we are not the ‘post-racial’ society we claim to be and that the Michael Brown shooting, among others, provides a watershed moment to confront our country’s underlying …

A Thin Blue Line And The Great Black Divide: The Inter And Intra Departmental Conflict Among Black Police Officers, Their Agencies, And The Communities In Which They Work Regarding Police Use Of Force Perception By Black Americans In A Southwestern State, Vance Debral Keyes

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the relationship between Black police officers, Black citizens, and their external environment using a group of 30 police officers and citizens to establish the connection between police officer race and perceptions by same race citizens within the context of police use of force. I use the term Black to be inclusive of African Americans as well as others of African descent without regard to their ethnicity or national origin. Criminal justice means system application whereas criminology is the study of criminal behavior. In America, there exists a history of volatility between the police and Black communities. While …

Development And Initial Findings Of An Implementation Process Measure For Child Welfare System Change, Mary I. Armstrong, Julie S. Mccrae, Michelle Graef, Tammy Richards, David Lambert, Charlotte Lyn Bright, Cathy Sowell

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

This article describes a new measure designed to examine the process of implementation of child welfare systems change. The measure was developed to document the status of the interventions and strategies that are being implemented and the drivers that are being installed to achieve sustainable changes in systems. The measure was used in a Children’s Bureau-supported national effort to assess the ongoing implementation of 24 systems-change projects in child welfare jurisdictions across the country. The article describes the process for measure development, method of administration and data collection, and quantitative and qualitative findings.

Creative Engagements Indeed! Open "Disciplines," The Allure Of Others, And Intellectual Fertility, David A. Westbrook

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

The Self-Regulation Of Investment Bankers, Andrew F. Tuch

Scholarship@WashULaw

As broker-dealers, investment bankers must register with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and comply with its rules, including the requirement to “observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade.” As the self-regulatory body for broker-dealers, FINRA functions as the equivalent of the self-regulatory bodies governing other professionals, such as lawyers and accountants. Unlike the self-regulation of these professionals, however, the self-regulation of investment bankers has thus far attracted scant scholarly attention.

This Article evaluates the effectiveness of this self-regulatory system in deterring investment bankers’ misconduct. Based on a hand-collected data set of every disciplinary …

Personal Denial Of Service (Pdos) Attacks: A Discussion And Exploration Of A New Category Of Cyber Crime, Michael R. Bartolacci, Larry J. Leblanc, Ashley Podhradsky

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The growth of the Internet has created a corresponding growth in Internet-based crimes and online misbehavior, particularly among younger computer-savvy people. Younger generations have grown up in a world where internet access, social networking, e-commerce and smartphones are commonplace. Given this fact, they have learned how to use, and how to abuse, technology. This leads us to define a new category of cybercrime called a Personal Denial of Service attack (PDOS). A PDOS is a cyber-crime in which an individual deliberately prevents the access of another individual or small group to online services such as email or banking. Due to …

Racial Profiling As Collective Definition, Trevor George Gardner

Scholarship@WashULaw

Economists and other interested academics have committed significant time and effort to developing a set of circumstances under which an intelligent and circumspect form of racial profiling can serve as an effective tool in crime finding–the specific objective of finding criminal activity afoot. In turn, anti-profiling advocates tend to focus on the immediate efficacy of the practice, the morality of the practice, and/or the legality of the practice. However, the tenor of this opposition invites racial profiling proponents to develop more surgical profiling techniques to employ in crime finding. In the article, I review the literature on group distinction to …

Implicit Bias Deserves Our Explicit Attention, Kimberly Jade Norwood

Scholarship@WashULaw

What are implicit biases? In brief, we all walk around with two sets of attitudes and beliefs: our conscious (explicit) attitudes and our unconscious (implicit) attitudes. Scientists believe that human consciousness takes up approximately 10 percent of our brain activity. That means that for most things, our unconscious mind is doing the work. Implicit biases exist within our unconscious mind. Our brains are bombarded with millions of bits of information every second. To avoid overload, our brains automatically categorize information into schemas that we use to guide us in our everyday living.

Mass School Shootings: Predicting The Usage Of Firearms In Acts Of School Violence, Melanie A. Hart

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Due to increased media attention and associated fear, school shootings have become a major concern for the public. Attempts to predict and prevent shootings have been developed by a variety of government agencies such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A psychological profile, however, has yet to be established. This study uses demographic and behavioral characteristics of perpetrators and school characteristics to predict the likelihood of a perpetrator’s usage of firearms. A total of 345 perpetrators of mass school violence incidents are examined, including 266 who used firearms. White perpetrators and those …

Symbolic Imprisonment, Grief, And Coping Theory: African American Women With Incarcerated Mates, Avon Marie Hart-Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American men have been incarcerated at unprecedented rates in the United States over the past 30 years. This study explored how African American females experience adverse psychosocial responses to separation from an incarcerated mate. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory (GT) study was to construct a theory to explain their responses to separation and loss. Given the paucity of literature on this topic, helping professionals may not understand this problem or know how to support these women. Disenfranchised grief and the dual process model of bereavement were used as a theoretical lens for this study. Data were collected …

Role Conflict And Nonsexual Boundary Violations Among Correctional Officers, Ronald M. Ruggiero

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Role Conflict and Nonsexual Boundary Violations Among Correctional Officers

by

Ronald Ruggiero

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Human Service--Criminal Justice

Walden University

May 2014

Abstract

Despite the growing presence of prisons in American society, little is known about challenges experienced in the job performed by correctional officers (COs); specifically, no research has investigated how their intermediary status between inmates and prison management can result in role conflict. This descriptive case study explored role conflict among 10 retired CO's and the presence of inmates who enter prison with a high public …

An Empirical Study Of Appointed Counsel Effectiveness In Jury Trials, James Patrick Hall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Anecdotal evidence supports the belief among indigent individuals who are assigned defense counsel that they would be better represented by privately retained counsel. This perspective jeopardizes attorney effectiveness by reducing communication and trust between the attorney and client. Research on the effectiveness of counsel is sparse. The purpose of this quantitative study was to bridge this gap in knowledge by comparing the effectiveness of privately retained and publicly appointed counsel between 2008 and 2013, both before and after the imposition of state-wide compensation limitations on publicly appointed defense counsel. The theoretical framework was Stuntz's theory, which stresses that one part …

Juries And Social Media: Northwest Ohio's Response To This Phenomenon, Erica Lunderman

Honors Projects

The 21^st century is an era in which the dependence on technology is at an all-time high. The availability of information on social networking sites has recently sparked a debate in regards to jury impartiality. Over the last few years states such as Florida, Michigan, and New York have received scholastic attention for making changes to local jury instructions to ensure defendant’s rights of an impartial jury guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. Federal national jury instructions addressing juror social media usage has also drawn attention. Little, however, scholastic attention has been directed towards Northwest Ohio. This project will look …