Digital Commons Network^™

Racial Bias In Risk Allocation And Resource Utilisation: A Contributing Factor To Ethnic Minority Overrepresentation In Missing Person Investigations?, Amy Van Langeraad, Fiona Gabbert, Adrian J. Scott

International Journal of Missing Persons

Statistics from the National Crime Agency reveal that people from ethnic minority backgrounds are over-represented within the missing population in the United Kingdom, and previous archival studies have shown there is a discrepancy in the recovery of ethnic minority missing persons compared to White missing persons. A wider body of research shows that racial bias is prevalent in the criminal justice system and law enforcement, resulting in different outcomes for victims depending on their racial background. Such outcomes have yet to be examined in the context of missing persons. Therefore, this study tries to address this gap in the literature …

The Batman Comes To Class: Popular Culture As A Tool For Addressing Reflexive Pain, Kyle A. Hammonds, Karen Anderson-Lain

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

In this essay, a case study approach is used to examine ways in which comics and graphic narratives can be used to provide a context within which undergraduate students may theorize about culture. The authors employed Batman: Year One as an organizing narrative for students to theorize about culture and communication. Specifically, students were challenged to (1) understand applications of communication theory in the context of graphic narrative, (2) use graphic narrative as a space for theorizing about communication and culture outside of comics, (3) utilize narrative theory to extrapolate meaning from complex, multi-modal forms of communication. While this …

State Divorce Laws, Reproductive Care Policies, And Pregnancy-Associated Homicide Rates, 2018-2021, Kaitlin M. Boyle, Wendy Regoeczi, Chase B. Meyer

Faculty Publications

Importance: Barriers to divorce and reproductive health care can threaten the health and safety of pregnant and recently pregnant females.

Objective: To examine state laws about divorce, reproductive health care (access to contraception, family planning services, and abortion), and pregnancy-associated homicide rates in US states over a 4-year period (2018-2021).

Design, Setting, and Participants: In this cross-sectional study, bivariate tests and regressions were used to analyze crude rates of pregnancy-associated homicide from the National Violent Death Reporting System in 181 state-years for calendar years 2018 to 2021, with analyses conducted on September 8, 2024.

Exposures: Access to divorce while pregnant …

Consider The Dementor: Discipline, Punishment, And Magical Citizenship In Harry Potter, Tracy Bealer

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

In his 2004 essay “Consider the Lobster”, David Foster Wallace investigated the ethics of boiling alive an aesthetically unappealing, yet sentient and perceiving, creature to augment the pleasure of a human consumer. In the Potterverse, dementors are described by our human heroes as “terrible things” with “rotting” bodies, “unseen” mouths, and characterized as “among the foulest creatures that walk this earth” . Their occupation as guards of Azkaban Prison does little to improve their reputation among wizard-kind. However, how much of the dementors’ evil is ontological? Is it possible that these beings have been actively constructed as villains by wizarding …

Nature Vs. Nurture In Albuquerque: What Breaking Bad And Better Call Saul Teach Us About How We Talk About Criminals, Max Romanowski

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul focus on the criminal transformation of their two main characters, Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk). While quite similar on the surface, Walter and Jimmy’s narratives represent two different criminal transitions, evoking the classic nature vs nurture conversation. Both of these shows bring the conversation to the idea of inevitability. The nature vs. nurture argument is a popular one because it acts as a teaching tool for how we think and talk about criminal behavior. At first, it follows that since criminality was in Walter White’s nature the whole time, his …

Grounded Aesthetics: Pedagogy For A Post-Truth Era, Becca Cragin

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

With the rise of cultural studies, positivism and formalism fell out of favor. But in recent years, altered versions of these methodologies have been suggested as solutions to the deficiencies of the ideological approach dominating the field. Where the ideological approach looks at the content of texts to determine their meaning, the aesthetic approach adopted by media scholars in recent years returns to the close textual readings of formalism (while abandoning its assertion that meaning resides in the text alone). Similarly, where the ideological approach tends to use textual analysis devoid of sociological empiricism, the use of “big data” in …

Policy Outcomes Of Culturally Integrated Health Care For African Americans, Victoria Aderin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite advancements in integrated care, persistent health care disparities and systemic barriers continue to contribute to poor health outcomes among African Americans. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the implementation of culturally integrated behavioral health care within the context of African American experiences, focusing on health care access and quality through a public policy lens. The study was informed by Ostrom's institutional analysis and development framework, health equity framework developed by the nonprofit organization Education Training & Research, and Hankivisky's intersectionality-based policy analysis. To gather data, semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 African American adults who receive …

Four Decades, Three Songs, Too Much Violence: Using Popular Culture Media Analysis To Prepare Preservice Teachers For Dealing With School Violence, Edward Janak, Lisa Pescara-Kovach

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Since teacher education has morphed from normal schools into colleges of education, the goals of preparing teachers have expanded. While it is essential to prepare teachers to utilize scientifically proven methods as well as to read and use research in the field, there are ever-expanding other goals that must be met as well. For one example, with the increase of school violence taking place in the United States, it is imperative to include preparation for preservice teachers on how to prevent bullying and how to handle traumatic events, such as school shootings, with their future students. However, broaching such a …

Applications In The Classroom: Pop Culture And Ed Psychology: What I Learned From Larry David, Rick Grimes, And Hank Hill, Melissa Vosen Callens

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

In teacher education courses, it is common to teach educational psychology concepts using case studies. Many publishers provide these case studies in textbooks and/or in ancillary materials, and there are many advantages to using them. For example, an instructor does not have to spend extra time finding or writing the case studies, both of which can be very time consuming. In addition, if students have the textbook, they have immediate access. One major disadvantage, however, is that students may find themselves uninterested and disengaged with the cases, depending on the students’ interests and the cases. This paper argues that studying …

Lady Gaga Meets Ritzer: Using Music To Teach Sociological Theory, Kenneth Culton, José A. Muñoz

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This paper presents methods for instructors to deal with student anxiety over theory courses. The method is an interactive class exercise that provides instructors with direction as to using popular music. The paper accomplishes this through the use of several cases for including music in order to spark discussion and suggestions for helping students to interpret the theory presented. Additionally, suggestions for incorporating writing assignments with the exercise are provided here. A table linking music to a theorist is also provided.

The Personality Profile And Leadership Style Of U.S. Vice President And 2024 Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris, Aubrey Immelman, Anne Marie Griebie, Elise Vomacka

Psychology Faculty Publications

The paper presents the results of an indirect personality assessment of U.S. vice president Kamala Harris, Democratic presidential nominee in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Harris were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5-TR.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality …

Support Services From Prison To Home: Reentry Programs In A Midwestern State, Naima I. Lusane

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study was a gap in understanding the impact of Ohio-based reentry programs and support services for previously incarcerated offenders. Providing reentry services to ex-offenders before and after release from prison is vital in reducing the likelihood of recidivism. This study was essential because its outcomes provided valuable insights to reentry service agencies and prisons into the impact of support services on successful reentry and reducing recidivism in Ohio. The purpose of this qualitative ethnographic study was to explore how reentry programs addressed the employment, education, and housing needs of ex-offenders transiting back into society. The …

Burnout And Employee Satisfaction Of Mental Health Clinicians In Corrections, Jeremy C. Capuyon, Lindsay Gietzen

Pacific Journal of Health

Approximately 1.9 million individuals are currently incarcerated within the United States. Rehabilitation and preparation for parole back into the community is common goal amongst correctional facilities. Mental health clinicians (social workers and psychologists) within the correctional facilities are providers who assist in the rehabilitation of inmates. Unfortunately, mental health clinicians in correctional facilities experience high rates of burnout and low levels of job satisfaction, resulting in an increase in turnover rates. This research project looks to investigate the impact burnout and employee satisfaction has on mental health clinicians who work in correctional settings. Furthermore, this research project compares burnout and …

Criminal Justice Update - November 2024, Mia Agudelo

Criminal Justice Updates

The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania's courts and legislature as well as the US Supreme Court.

Contents:

• Updates from PA Governor's Office (no updates this month)
• Updates from the PA Legislature
• Updates from the Courts
• U.S. Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure
• PA Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure
• PA Superior Court: Criminal Law & Procedure

Do #Blm At The Plantation: A Study Of Plantation Tourism After The Racial Reckoning Of 2020, Denetria N. Lee

LSU Master's Theses

Following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the widespread public protest of racial injustice created a groundswell that prompted corporate and media responses, so much so that by the end of the summer of 2020, it seemed as if "Black Lives Mattered" everywhere and to everyone. Public response incentivized subsequent corporate response in financial pledges and other commitments to racial justice initiatives until 2020, which became known as the year that America confronted racism or the racial reckoning of 2020. While the public demanded acknowledgment of the many forms of contemporary racial …

The Heterogeneous Effects Of Cannabis Dispensaries On Crime: The Importance Of Foot Traffic, Thomas Lebesmuehlbacher, Justin Roush, Rhet A. Smith

Hunt Institute Working Paper Series

This paper pairs exact dispensary locations with city block level crime data to study the impact of medical cannabis dispensaries on crime in the state of Florida from 2016-2019. Leveraging a Florida state law that requires broadly uniform security provisions across dispensaries, we capture important dispensary heterogeneity by incorporating customer volume and local non-dispensary foot traffic with smartphone geopositional data. We use not-yet-operational dispensary locations as a control group and a geo-spatial difference-in-differences framework and find reductions in larceny, vehicle burglary, and motor vehicle theft following the opening of high-volume dispensaries. We fail to find evidence of similar deterrent effects …

Ai And Data Science For Public Policy, Kenneth Benoit

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Artificial intelligence (AI) and data science are reshaping public policy by enabling more data-driven, predictive, and responsive governance, while at the same time producing profound changes in knowledge production and education in the social and policy sciences. These advancements come with ethical and epistemological challenges surrounding issues of bias, transparency, privacy, and accountability. This special issue explores the opportunities and risks of integrating AI into public policy, offering theoretical frameworks and empirical analyses to help policymakers navigate these complexities. The contributions explore how AI can enhance decision-making in areas such as healthcare, justice, and public services, while emphasising the need …

Synthesizing The Global English-Language Abortion Narrative: A Comparative Analysis Of Media Discourse, Amy L. Adamczyk, Lindsay J. Lerner

Publications and Research

Abortion is one of the most politically divisive topics currently being discussed in the media. No study has yet attempted to make cross-national comparisons assessing the nuances associated with various views on abortion in the English public press. Using an original hand-coded sample of over 800 English-language newspaper articles from 41 countries that mentioned abortion, we examine how country-level influences and newspaper characteristics shape newspaper portrayals of abortion. Our three-level hierarchical models find that democracy and the freedom it engenders increase the likelihood that newspapers discuss laws, policies, and government claimsmakers when abortion is mentioned. When abortion is legal, newspapers …

The Impact Of Race-Related Stress On The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Mmpi-3) Of An African American Community Sample, Cassandra Clayton

Theses and Dissertations

Black Americans have endured profound racial discrimination and systemic injustices rooted in the historical legacy of slavery in the United States. These injustices persist today, permeating various facets of life, such as social interactions, education, politics, legal systems, and employment opportunities. Previous research has explored the cultural ramifications of these experiences, which often lead to race-related stressors and negative impacts on the psychological well-being of Black Americans. However, the exploration of how discrimination and racial stressors impact personality test scores of African Americans, such as on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, 3^rd edition (MMPI-3), is limited. This study investigated …

The Current - Volume 35 Issue 5, Nova Southeastern University

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

Plagiarism: History, Culture, And Prevention, Laura Egan

Librarian Publications

This entry covers the origins of the word plagiarism, how it differentiates from common knowledge and copyright, and defines different types of plagiarism. It addresses how perceptions of plagiarism have changed over time, variations in how different cultures view plagiarism, and how technological advances have led to increases in plagiarism. One section focuses on plagiarism and academic integrity, providing examples of incidents and their consequences, as well as non-academic examples. Later sections identify how training and skillsets can reduce plagiarism, as well as providing a detailed list of plagiarism detection tools. Finally, the entry addresses plagiarism issues related to using …

Which Way? Experiences Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing Attaining Supports To Meet Their Interwoven Socio-Cultural, Health And Disability-Related Needs And Aspirations Within The Context Of Australia’S National Disability Insurance Scheme, Jody Barney, Alexandra Devine, Damien Howard, Marie Huska, Hannah Lack, Yeokyung Kim, Yi Yang, George Disney, Peter Summers, Ashley Mcallister

Journal of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet

The life experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing are often more complex than for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are hearing, or non-Aboriginal Australians who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. In turn, this can make engaging with and benefiting from policies and programs such as Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) more complex, particularly for individuals living in remote settings. To understand more about these complexities, yarnings were held with 15 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander NDIS participants who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing living in rural …

The Crime Of Luring A Minor For Contact Sexual Abuse: Exploration Of Demographic Patterns & Criminal Records Of Convicted Offenders., Bridget Diamond-Welch, Anna E. Kosloski, Christopher P. Carey, Molly Mcdade

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a significant public health problem, with a small but important subset of crimes committed by strangers, often facilitated through luring. Understanding the characteristics of individuals who engage in luring is essential for developing effective prevention and intervention strategies.

Objective

This study aimed to analyze the demographic characteristics and criminal histories of individuals convicted of luring a minor and to examine the types of crimes committed before and after conviction.

Participants and setting

The study included all individuals (N = 115) convicted of “luring a minor” between 2011 and 2021 in one county in …

Co-Producing Learning Space In A Prison-University Partnership, Ross E. Little

Journal of Prison Education Research

This article explores a classroom co-produced by learners serving prison sentences, undergraduate criminology students and a pair of lecturer-facilitators. This space, in a high security prison for men serving life sentences (‘HMP Lifer’), provides a good example of ethical praxis and moral sight working in combination to mitigate against moral and ethical blindness. It is a mechanism by which pedagogical concerns, and some human-centred ones, can be realised in an unconventional context.

There are two areas to the discussion. Firstly, the effects of incorporating students from outside the prison into the classroom space, such as enhanced proximity, the reduction of …

Unveiling Transnational Organised Crimes Networks: Maritime Narcotics Trafficking And Smuggling In Kepulauan Riau, Sayed Fauzan Riyadi, Azhari Setiawan, Ardi Putra, Aspin Nur Arifin Rivai

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

Maritime routes in Kepulauan Riau Province, Indonesia, serve as pivotal entry points for narcotics trafficking and smuggling within the Southeast Asian region. This study delves into the establishment and evolution of these illicit networks by examining three key variables: demographic and socio-economic characteristics, operating structures and classifications, methods, means, and funding sources. Leveraging an analysis of 355 court rulings records, the authors constructed a comprehensive dataset encompassing these variables. The findings underscore the intricate nature of narcotics trafficking networks, spanning from production to distribution, with involvement at various levels across diverse demographics. Notably, the exorbitant earnings potential, with couriers fetching …

Revisiting Marcuse On Repressive Tolerance: A Twenty-First Century Retrospective, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Herbert Marcuse’s essay Repressive Tolerance (RP) has been praised by the Left and vilified by the Right for its alleged promotion of censorship targeting reactionary opinions and actions. I argue that this interpretation of the text is mistaken. According to my alternative reading of the text, RP should be understood as an exercise in provocation and irony aimed at defending civil disobedience and dissent. Marcuse’s defense of dissent, however, appeals to a critique of pure tolerance that exposes the unavoidably partisan practice of tolerance, which invariably favors the reigning undemocratic status quo. The choice whether to tolerate in a manner …

Lanthorn, Vol. 59, No. 06, October 28, 2024, Grand Valley State University

Volume 59, August 5, 2024 – April 14, 2025

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Needed Policies And Programs For Criminal Justice And Social Services – Challenges And Changes, Cassandra B. Whyte, Ed.D., Stephen T. Young, Ph.D.

The Mid-Southern Journal of Criminal Justice

No abstract provided.

Reducing Juvenile Recidivism: An Analysis Of Programs, Caitlyn M. Lewis

The Mid-Southern Journal of Criminal Justice

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and determine the best programmatic-related approach to reduce juvenile recidivism in the United States. Three main programs will be analyzed in this paper. Those programs are multisystemic therapy and wraparound approach, mentoring programs, and reentry and aftercare programs. These programs have proven to be highly successful via empirical research. By looking at and analyzing peer-reviewed research, the findings concluded that reentry and aftercare programs are the most successful. These conclusions were reached by evaluating each program type by three different criteria: research support, accessibility, and administrative ease. While reentry and aftercare programs …

The Militarization Of Policing In The United States, Grace Simpson

The Mid-Southern Journal of Criminal Justice

The increased use of police violence and the threat thereof has become a widely publicized issue. Particularly, the use of violence against minorities, especially Black individuals, is becoming more widely criticized by the public, scholars, and activists. This identification of policing violence relates to the militarization of policing, wherein the adoption of military equipment and tactics have contributed to increased violent targeting of minority communities. Policing agencies have increasingly turned these military weapons against civilians to maintain social control. Namely, militarism in policing has historical roots in violent racialized policing targeting Black communities. The current analysis critically examines the development …