Digital Commons Network^™

Development Analysis Of South Africa: Potential Impacts Of The Democratic Alliance’S Presence In The New Coalition, Mitchell Susswein

Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Economics and World Affairs

No abstract provided.

The Crucial Role Of Grassroots Social Organizations In Advancing Immigrant Legal Protections And Reshaping Immigration Policy, Isabella Reynolds

McNair Summer Research Program

This research project examines how grassroots social organizations contribute to the advancement of immigrant legal protections and shape immigration policy, with a particular focus on formerly incarcerated migrants in California. I focus on case studies and the personal experiences of organizers from Homies Unidos, Border Angels, and other organizations that operate near the San Diego–Tijuana border region. The study illustrates how these groups provide essential services, mental health support, and community-based initiatives for vulnerable and formerly incarcerated immigrants. By conducting oral histories and ethnography as methods for preserving emotional labor and shared memory, this research challenges prevailing narratives that criminalize …

Immigrant Surveillance In San Diego During A Fascist Era, Jennifer L. Torres Leon

McNair Summer Research Program

The following qualitative study examines a new increase of technological surveillance used on immigrants by San Diego’s local law enforcement. Drawing from in-depth interviews of the San Diego Privacy Advisory Board and Trust SD, insights of technological related violations are sanctioned by the San Diego Police Department. This is done through ambiguous language regarding “criminal investigations” and lack of definitive use policy, despite several memorandums and recommendations by the SD Privacy Advisory Board. Present findings reveal a duality of immigrant surveillance instigating hyper-visible tracking and broadcasting an image of their criminality. This study contributes to scholarship or crimmigration and urban …

Unmasking The Shadows: A Comprehensive Exploration Of Serial Killers, Erica D. Lewis

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

Using a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative literature review and qualitative case study analysis, this capstone investigates the developmental pathways of serial killers. The study investigates a variety of biological, psychological, and sociological elements—such as genetic predispositions, neurological disorders, childhood traumas, and environmental stressors—interact to shape serial killers. The study offers a multidisciplinary perspective, grounded in criminological models such as routine activity and labeling theories, sociological frameworks such as social disorganization and strain theory, and psychological theories such as psychopathy and attachment theory. Theoretical findings are contextualized through case studies of notorious serial killers like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and …

Examining The Effects Of Firearm Lethality And Aggressors’ Intentions To Kill On Injurious Firearm Violence At American Schools: A Research Note, Brent R. Klein, Cory Schnell, Steven M. Chermak, Joshua D. Freilich

Faculty Publications

This study examined firearm lethality and aggressors’ lethal intent on injurious fatal and nonfatal school shootings using data from The American School Shooting Study, which covers 329 school shootings in the United States from 1990 to 2016. We developed a new multidimensional construct for measuring shooters’ determination to kill and examined firearm characteristics while considering confounding factors. We identified 11 distinct categories of shooters’ intent, with most showing a strong desire to kill. Both intent and weapon lethality significantly impacted school shooting homicides. Overall, we recommend that prevention and theoretical models should address both factors.

An Exploration Of Occupational Stress And Heart Health In Policing, Jenna Hayes

Honors Projects

The stress and heart health of police officers, looking at how stress on the job and heart health are directly related. Police Officers face many challenges on the job and they face high stress environments. Their stress levels rise every time they are working, what does that do for their heart health?

An Examination Of Legal Status, Law Enforcement Perception, And Crime Victimization And Reporting Among Hispanic Immigrants, Guadalupe C. Cabrera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study relied on in-depth interviews with naturalized citizens and lawful permanent resident Hispanic immigrants to explore their perceptions of law enforcement and experiences with crime victimization and reporting. Past literature has explained that the absence of legal status may deter crime reporting. We added to this body of work by investigating relationships among legal status, trust, and reporting behaviors. This study finds that direct experiences with law enforcement and acquired knowledge may be a better indicator of law enforcement trust and crime reporting compared to legal status. While most participants expressed trust in law enforcement, others felt neutral due …

Three Essays On Mental Health Courts, Taylor E. Le Moal

All Dissertations

Mental illness in the criminal justice system is a major issue, with 2 in 5 incarcerated people in the US having a serious mental illness (Criminalization of People with Mental Illness, n.d.). Prisons have turned into “de facto” mental health facilities when these facilities are not equipped to do so. This means once individuals are released from incarceration, they are often ill-equipped to return to regular life and may get caught up in the cycle of recidivism (Slate, 2017). One method that policymakers have used to solve this problem is mental health courts (MHCs), which are pre-trial diversion …

Exploring Variability Of The Cg18562578 Methylquant Assay For The Forensic Discrimination Of Monozygotic Twins, Sydney E. Arnold

Student Theses

Monozygotic (MZ) twins possess identical DNA sequences, posing a problem for forensic scientists, as they are incapable of distinguishing MZ twins from each other using traditional DNA identification methods. However, the epigenomes of MZ twins will differ and might be used for their forensic discrimination. Here, we explored the variability of an assay previously developed by our laboratory that showed high discrimination potential for MZ twins using buccal swab DNA, cg18562578 MethylQuant. We measured precision at each step: bisulfite conversion, nested PCR, and qPCR, reproducibility, and repeatability. DNA methylation ratios were compared between two analysts carrying each step using the …

Further Investigation Of Environmental Factors On Rapid Shear In Fibers Of A Polyester-Cotton Blend, Daniel K. Oh

Student Theses

Rapid shear is a process that occurs in thermoplastic materials when they interact with a high-velocity impact. In forensics, these interactions would typically be from a bullet interacting with clothing that consisted of synthetic fibers. When the interaction occurs, bulb-like shapes appear on damaged fiber ends, distinguishing them from other kinds of damage. The reason why these shapes occur is varied, but one prevailing factor seems to be the heat generated by the impact.

In prior experiments, the factor of temperature being important to the formation of the phenomenon, different environmental simulations that affected the sample’s temperature were done on …

The Impact Of Previous Police Contact And Attitudes Toward Police On Firearm Carriage In A College Student Population, Amanda Kroll

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines whether an association exists between police contact and firearm carriage. Additionally, the present study examines whether the intrusiveness of police contact has an association with firearm carriage. Questionnaires measuring participant demographics, perceptions of the police, contact with the police, and firearm carriage were administered to 222 participants recruited through undergraduate psychology courses at a state university in the Midwest. Results indicated that participants with a history of contact with the police were more likely to carry a firearm than participants with no contact with the police. Regarding frequency of firearm carriage, participants with a history of police …

Criminogenic Risk Factors For Delinquency In Relation To The Custodial Parent: Incorporating Parent-Child Gender Dyads, Behavioral Control, And Support, Niko Noel Piña-Anastasiadis

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Juvenile delinquency tends to be higher in single-parent households (Kroese et al., 2021). Research investigating this phenomenon has found conflicting results on whether a juvenile has lower rates of delinquency with a custodial father (paternal hypothesis), custodial mother (maternal hypothesis), or whether gender is secondary to other factors. Similarly, some studies found that the interaction of the juvenile living with a same-gendered parent was associated with lower levels of delinquency. Further complications include how parental variables, such as behavioral control and support levels, may interact with the juvenile and custodial parent gender (Hoeve et al., 2009). The current study utilizes …

Where Are The Criminologists?: The Persistent Absence Of The Field In Genocide Research, Grace Allbaugh, Susan A. Woollen, Jacqueline L. Schneider, Joanne Savage

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The rallying cry of “Never Again” was heard worldwide after the Nazis’ annihilation of Jews and other victims were discovered after WWII. The global community promised that the crime of genocide would be prevented and signatory parties of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (December 9, 1948) would do everything in their power to prevent another Holocaust from occurring. Unfortunately the “crime of all crimes” remains an almost permanent fixture in international news while signatory parties remain reluctant to call the ongoing conditions genocide. The field of genocide studies is built upon an interdisciplinary field …

Enhancing Law Enforcement Skills: A 2-Year Report On Level 3 De-Escalation Training From The National De-Escalation Training Center, Morgan Steele Ph.D., Tamara J. Lynn, Laurelle Augustine, Abigail A. Hayes

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Police officers must approach volatile situations that may escalate on a frequent basis. As first responders, they often do not have the luxury of ignoring conflict in public and must work to resolve the situation. However, officers’ presence may inadvertently escalate situations, leading to coercive responses, injury, or worse. The National De-Escalation Training Center (NDTC) has received $4.75 million dollars to provide de-escalation training that incorporates rapid personality assessment, mental health issue recognition, and situational awareness built on a procedural justice foundation. Using data from the first 2 years of trainings conducted across the United States, we have found that …

Qanon Affiliated Accounts Are Making 64% Fewer Social Media Posts About Human Trafficking, Bond Benton, Daniela Peterka-Benton

College of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works

A joint social media study from Montclair State University faculty in the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the College of Communication and Media and the Global Center on Human Trafficking shows a 64% decrease in the total number of posts about human trafficking made by prominent QAnon affiliated and adjacent accounts when compared to the highpoint of such posts in 2023. Results from the study produced by the Center for Strategic Communication and the Global Center on Human Trafficking include a 64% decrease in human trafficking posts from significant QAnon affiliated accounts …

The Criminal Record As A Death Sentence: Unmasking The Ignored Realities Of Formerly Incarcerated University Graduates On Professional Licencing Challenges, Mbongiseni Mdakane, Bongani Innocent Nkambule, Sindile Amina Ngubane

Journal of Prison Education Research

Recently it is increasingly common practice for universities and professional registration councils to probe into applicants’ criminal records as a precondition for admission. Using social constructionism, this qualitative study explored the experiences of six formerly incarcerated individuals previously sentenced to life imprisonment, who hold professional university degrees in Law, Education, Psychology and Social Work and investigated whether having a criminal record had any bearing when applying for professional registration. The results indicate that due to the perceived stigma of, and discrimination against a criminal record, there exist varying degrees of criminal record disclosure ranging from partial, to full and non-disclosure. …

On Bodies In The Middle: Black Women, Sexual Violence, And Complex Imaginings Of Justice By Maya Hislop, Domale Dube

Criticism

Review of Bodies in the Middle: Black Women, Sexual Violence, and Complex Imaginings of Justice by Maya Hislop. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2024. Pp. 184. $29.99 paperback.

Global Studies Initiative Faculty Report: Criminal Justice 127: Juvenile Delinquency Course Redesign, Cristina Prestin

Global Studies Initiatives in Arts and Sciences 2025

No abstract provided.

Victimization In The Grain Tower: A Study Of The Effect Of Community Perceptions On Victimization Risk And Perceived Wellness In A Rural Environment, Morgan Steele, April Terry, Ziwei Qi, Troy Terry, Tamara Lynn

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Social science research has studied the role of neighborhood order in explaining perceptions of crime and official crime statistics for decades. When citizens perceive their neighborhood to be socially and/or physically disordered, community and interpersonal relationships diminish, mistrust increases, including negative perceptions of police legitimacy, and overall individual wellness decreases. However, little is known about these interactions within a college population—neighborhoods referred to as “studentification” and described as “student ghettos.” Using an online survey distributed to all students, faculty, and staff of a midwestern rural university, we sought to better understand the university population’s perceptions regarding social disorder, police legitimacy, …

Und Connect: A Preliminary Overview Of Courtroom Observations And Interviews With Gfdvc Professionals And Representatives, Adam K. Matz, Ashley Fansher, Roni Mayzer, Jackson Archbold, Kambrya Stephenson, Sierra Schartz

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This research brief summarizes about half a dozen courtroom observations and a dozen interviews conducted with practitioners and court representatives affiliated with the Grand Forks Domestic Violence Court (GFDVC). About 43% of women and 31% of men in the state of North Dakota have experienced some form of sexual, physical, or stalking violence in their lifetime (Smith et al., 2023). Rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in the state generally matches that of the broader nation, though the state ranks as one of the lowest in terms of violence against men.

Elder Fraud In The Mountain West, 2023, Taylor Volk, Madison Dwyer, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet presents data on complaints of fraud affecting individuals over the age of 60 and associated financial losses reported by elderly individuals in the Mountain West. The 2023 Elder Fraud Report serves to illuminate trends in elder fraud reports throughout the 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands. This fact sheet focuses on elder fraud data for the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Writing At The Speed Of Hype: Officers’ Post-Experimental Perceptions Of Ai Report Writing, Hunter M. Boehme, Ian T. Adams, Matt Barter, Irick A. Geary Jr., Kyle Mclean

Faculty Publications

Objective

This study examines patrol officer and supervisor perceptions of an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to assist with officer report writing. We compare attitudes among patrol officers randomly assigned to use the AI tool against those who were not.

Methods

Following a randomized controlled trial within a single agency, we conducted a post-intervention survey of patrol officers and supervisors.

Results

Patrol officers expressed generally favorable perceptions toward AI-assisted report writing, though no significant differences emerged between treatment and control groups in perceived utility, speed improvement, or quality enhancement. Despite these non-significant differences, 48% of treated officers reported time savings. Supervisors …

Strain In The System: Examining The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Pathways Into Cybercrime, Hannah R. Murphy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and cybercriminal behavior among 238 active hackers with verified website defacements identified through the Zone-H archive. Drawing upon General Strain Theory, this research investigates whether childhood trauma influences both the developmental timing and motivational aspects of hacking activities. Using ordinary least squares and ordered logistic regression analyses with country-clustered standard errors, the study tested two hypotheses: (1) that higher ACE scores would be associated with earlier onset of hacking behavior, and (2) that higher ACE scores would predict increased likelihood of engaging in revenge-motivated hacking. Results revealed a complex relationship …

The Instrumentalization Of The Unprivileged Combatants By Western Countries Aimed To Oppress National Liberation Wars, Fares Mahmoud Def-Allah Abdelhamid

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is purported to be the humanization of wars. Nonetheless, the atrocities committed in wars and the war criminals’ impunity suggest the failure of IHL. Notwithstanding, some voices call for reforming and developing IHL. In contrast, this thesis argues that IHL should be rejected entirely since the distinction between privileged and unprivileged combatants indicates that IHL is biased against anti-colonizers. It is biased in three senses. Firstly, IHL, particularly the distinction between privileged and unprivileged combatants, is dominated by Western rationality, which can be noticed in the domination of the civilization concept with its …

Prosecutorial Perceptions Of Discovery Reform On A Local Level, Gabrielle A. Roubanian, Janne E. Gaub, Marthinus C. Koen, James J. Willis

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"In recent years, several states in the United States have considered and implemented discovery reforms to regulate how evidence is included and shared as criminal cases play out in the court system. Currently, little research explores how prosecutors have made sense of these reforms and how discovery changes have impacted their day-to-day routines. Consequently, this case study considers how prosecutors at a large prosecutorial agency in the United States made sense of discovery reforms implemented in its state two years before data collection. Findings are based on 35 semi-structured qualitative interviews and highlight how prosecutors experienced the implementation of the …

“They Don’T Want Us Anywhere”: The Impact Of Anti-Homelessness Laws On Unsheltered Residents Of Fort Worth, Texas, Brie Diamond

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Access to public space is not afforded equally amongst the population. Often, the people who must spend most of their time in these spaces, people experiencing homelessness, are barred by local or state law from being there. Fort Worth, Texas, implemented a camping ban in 2019 that prohibits camping on public or private property. This article explores the impact of this ban on unsheltered people experiencing homelessness using semi-structured interviews with 18 people residing in encampments across the city. The findings document the tangible and existential losses endured by this group and the impact on the perception of their place …

Campaigning For Change: How State-Level Groups Advocate For Legislative Sexual Offense Reform, Jennifer L. Wooldridge, Danielle J. S. Bailey, Stephanie Taulli

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"In the criminal justice field, advocacy groups work to better the circumstances for specific groups of people facing perceived injustice. While some advocacy groups have been studied extensively, one type of group – sexual offense reform advocates – has been understudied. This is particularly problematic due to stigmatization and legislative differences in how individuals convicted of sex crimes are supervised compared those convicted of non-sexual offenses. These post-conviction differences make it necessary to better understand these advocacy groups and their processes when fighting for public policy change. The current study examines qualitative interviews conducted with affiliates of a national organization …

Complexities Of Appellate Law: Experiences And Perspectives Of Utah Indigent Appellate Attorneys, Whitney Howey, Stephanie Kathan, Jeremiah W. Jaggers, Chris Cambron

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Indigent appellate attorneys experience high stress due to their unique roles and responsibilities. Very little scientific research examines the lives and experiences of attorneys in the workplace. Characterizing and describing the variety of complexities and challenges Utah appellate attorneys face within their work provides information towards filling the profession’s gaps, stressors, and occupational needs. A sample of five Utah appellate attorneys were interviewed to better understand their perspectives and experiences in the workplace. We used thematic analysis to identify themes related to Utah appellate attorney experiences and perspectives. We identified four major themes from the data, including Personal approach, Working …

Puppycide By Gavel: How The Judiciary Uses The Police Killing Of Dogs To Reinforce Justifications For Police Violence, Jeremy J. Smith

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Police discharge their firearms more often at dogs than humans, and as a profession, kill thousands of dogs every year. The number of dogs killed by police during these encounters has government officials declaring that an “epidemic” is occurring within policing itself, with some commentators referring to this trend as “puppycide” or “canicide.” The purpose of this article is to examine how the judiciary rationalizes canicide, or the police killing of dogs, and the role canicide plays in the justification of police violence. To do this, the article provides a sociolegal and ethnographic content analysis of federal court cases and …

Structural Racism And Mass Shooting Events In Mountain West Cities, 2015-2019, Mohit Pande, Nicole Diaz Del Valle, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet presents data on the link between social and demographic metrics of principal cities in four Mountain West metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs): Phoenix, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Denver, CO; and Las Vegas, NV. This fact sheet also reports the number of people affected by mass shooting events (MSEs) as originally reported in “Association Between Markers of Structural Racism and Mass Shooting Events in Major US Cities,” published by The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Surgery. The original article derives data from 865 MSEs across 51 MSAs in the United States.