Digital Commons Network^™

An Evaluation Of The Anomie Theory In The Criminal Justice System, Emma K. Schneider

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Anomie Theory is a sub-theory of social structure theory and focuses on someone's sense of normlessness when society is ever-changing, and a person of low economic status lacks social ties or a way to legitimately obtain the goals of social norms, resulting in resorting to aggravation and anger. Émile Durkheim originated the idea and went on to give a new way to observe and study crime. The criminal justice system implements this through federal aid and help after imprisonment, but there is still a lot that can be done to progress this theory. This occurs in everyday life, and it …

From Books To Justice: Public Libraries Strengthening Legal Access Across Kansas, Lauren J. Franks, Ziwei Qi

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Legal self-help centers across Kansas allow access to legal information for self-represented litigants in civil court cases. However, there is a lack of these centers in rural areas. In areas where this resource does not exist, libraries, which already serve as a trusted community-centered hub, can help provide legal information and resources. This project aims to identify best practices in increasing access to legal information and survey key staff including self-help center staff, court staff such as court clerks and judges, and librarians, to help inform our integration of legal self-help services into public libraries. By executing a short anonymous …

The Role Of Dna Exoneration In The Bloodsworth Case, John T. Brasfield

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

In the Kirk Bloodsworth case, a man was falsely convicted for the rape and murder of Dawn Hamilton. He spent eight years in prison after being convicted through witness testimony, where he learned about DNA profiling. After submitting a request to check his DNA against the DNA left at the scene, he was exonerated. Later, the DNA left at the scene was checked against a database and got a hit on a convicted rapist who had been charged shortly after Mr. Bloodsworth. If there had been the same access to DNA technology during the trial or if they had listened …

False Confessions Of A Teenage Boy: The Case Of Brian Boles And Charles Collins, Rebekah Bottner

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

On February 8, 1994, James Reid was found dead in his apartment in New York. In the days following the murder, detectives spoke to several people who lived in the building, looking for potential leads or suspects, including 17-year-old Brain Boles. Boles was initially released from questioning after he signed a statement confirming his alibi and that barely knew Reid. A month later, Boles was arrested for a separate assault and robbery. For this crime, Boles confessed, but he was then subjected to an intense and lengthy interrogation for the murder of James Reid. Eventually, Boles also confessed to the …

Unlocking Minds Behind Bars: Inmates’ Perceptions Of Educational Services In Southeast Nigerian Prisons, Ijeoma B. Uche Dr, Okala A. Uche Dr, Agatha U. Nzewuji Dr

Journal of Prison Education Research

This study explores inmates’ perceptions of educational services in Southeast Nigerian prisons, focusing on their role in rehabilitation and reintegration. Using a qualitative design grounded in the capability approach and interpretive phenomenological analysis, data were gathered through in-depth interviews with 15 convicted inmates across three correctional facilities in Southeast Nigeria. Interviews were conducted in English and Nigerian Pidgin, and analyzed using NVivo 12. Findings revealed three major themes: the relevance and accessibility of educational programs, benefits such as improved self-worth, skill acquisition, and hope for reintegration, and key barriers like limited access, inadequate resources, and institutional apathy. Although the capability …

Zero Tolerance Policies In Schools & Subsequent Outcomes, Annalise Loucks

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Zero tolerance policies refer to policies and practices that disproportionately push marginalized students out of classrooms and into the criminal justice system. These patterns contribute to long-term negative outcomes, including higher dropout rates, increased incarceration, and reduced economic and social opportunities.

Evaluating Brief Intervention Effectiveness On Sexual Assault Stigma And Empathy Considering Culture Of Honor, Hannora Race, Dr. Elizabeth Mancuso, Randy Corpuz Ph.D.

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Sexual assault stigma remains a barrier to reporting and help-seeking. This study examined whether culture of honor predicts sexual assault attitudes and whether brief interventions could reduce stigma. Participants (N = 189) completed measures before and after watching educational, empathy, or control videos. Social honor predicted lower stigma and rape myth acceptance, while family and feminine honor predicted greater rape myth acceptance. Only the education condition significantly reduced self-stigma. Culture of honor did not moderate intervention effectiveness. Brief educational interventions can reduce self-stigma but may be insufficient to shift broader attitudes, suggesting the need for more intensive, culturally-tailored program research.

Ai's Double Edged Sword: Fighting Against Synthetic Csam, Shekhinah Adra Green

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The rapid advancements in generative artificial intelligence has introduced new challenges in the production and distribution of synthetic child sexual abuse material (CSAM). AI has the capabilities of creating highly realistic imagery and videos, which  raises serious legal and ethical concerns, increasing the risk of harm, exploitation, and revictimization.

This paper discusses the legal improvements needed in order to lower the change of legal loopholes, how digital forensic analyst use advanced tools to identify and investigate synthetic material, and different methods to start the reduction of synthetic CSAM.

Detention Before Adjudication: Evaluating Its Role In Juvenile Justice Outcomes, Ella Morrow

2026 Spring Honors Capstones Projects

Pre-adjudication detention involves confining juveniles while they await a hearing, aimed at ensuring court appearance and upholding public safety. However, the use of pre-adjudication detention has expanded significantly, which has raised concerns regarding the impact on juvenile justice outcomes. This study reviews established peer-reviewed research and observational data from internships to evaluate how this type of detention influences legal outcomes and juvenile development. The research findings demonstrate that detention is associated with harsher dispositions, higher recidivism rates, and long-term consequences. For example, a 38% reduction in high school graduation rates is attributed to pre-adjudication detention. Research has also shown that …

Exploring How Long-Term Residents Influence Environmental Policy Decisions In The Takushara Settlement In Abuja, Nigeria, Agbanusi Uchechukwu Jonathan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Rapid urbanization of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has increasingly marginalized indigenous communities, creating a significant disconnect between top-down environmental governance and how it affects residents. Previous research has found that this land swap displaces indigenous stewards and erodes their traditional ecological knowledge, endangering local livelihoods, food security, and sustainable management of natural resources. The purpose of this narrative qualitative study was to explore how long-term residents perceive and experience their influence in environmental policy decisions through the lens of the social-ecological systems framework and the theory of resilience. This study examined the systematic exclusion of long-term residents of the …

The Death Penalty & State Executions In The Mountain West, 1976 - 2024, Mia Tschan, Sydney Mitchell, Yiselle Olivas Ruiz, Dre Boyd-Weatherly, Olivia K. Cheche, Kristian Thymianos, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet presents 1976-2024 data on the death penalty and state executions in the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) report, “State Execution Rates,” includes data on the 36 states that have conducted state executions and the 38 states, federal government, and military institutions that imposed the death penalty between 1976 and 2024. This fact sheet focuses on cumulative executions, executions per capita, and executions per death sentence in each Mountain West state.

Romance Scam Reporting And Support: Help-Seeking Timing, Trust, And Escalation, Ld Herrera

Research & Publications

Built on social engineering and identity deception, romance scams often create financial loss and distress. For victims, it can be difficult to know where to go, what information is needed, and what outcomes are realistic. This paper reports results from an anonymous survey of people who were targeted by or experienced a romance scam (completed surveys: n=386), focusing on (1) when and whether victims first reach out for help, (2) perceived difficulty and confidence in navigating support, (3) how trust relates to expectations of assistance, and (4) how loss severity relates to transfer-method complexity. When help was sought, it was …

Open Pedagogy In Practice: Using Shareable Consultation Worksheets To Promote Equitable Research Learning, Stephanie E. Ard

All Things Open

One-on-one library research consultations provide valuable support, but it can be challenging for students to recall everything discussed once the meeting is over. To help students continue building their skills after a session, I created a shared, editable online worksheet that captures search strategies, keywords, potential resources, and next steps in one document. Students retain access to their worksheets in Microsoft OneDrive and can choose to share them with peers, allowing the documents to function as open, reusable learning tools that support transparency, student agency, and ongoing engagement, particularly for those who may not be able to return for a …

How Gender Impacts Mock Jurors’ Receptiveness To Aggravating And Mitigating Evidence In Capital Trials, Jolie E. Parker

Undergraduate Theses

This study examines how gender influences mock jurors’ receptiveness to aggravating and mitigating evidence in capital trials. Drawing on prior research that highlights the critical role of mitigation in reducing death sentences and persistent gender differences in death penalty attitudes, this study addresses a gap in the literature by analyzing how gender shapes responses to specific types of evidence rather than general support for capital punishment. Using a quantitative survey of 209 participants, the research analyzes Likert-scale responses measuring how various aggravating and mitigating factors impact sentencing preferences. Results indicate a weak but consistent relationship between gender and receptivity to …

Gender And Emotional Expression In The Courtroom: Mock Juror Perceptions Of Attorney Effectiveness, Emma Cantrell

Undergraduate Theses

This quantitative study examines how gender and emotional expression influence mock jurors' perceptions of an attorney's courtroom effectiveness. Using mock jurors, this study extends previous research suggesting that assertiveness and emotional displays are evaluated differently by gender. Participants were randomly assigned to view one of four closing statements in a mock burglary trial. The videos were of either a male or a female attorney delivering a passive or an aggressive argument. Participants then evaluated the attorney’s effectiveness across four categories: competence, persuasiveness, ability to instill confidence, and emotionality. Male participants generally rated female attorneys as less effective than female participants …

Ai Exposure And The Future Of Work: Tasks, Skill Demand, And Education, Erik Vasilauskas, Michael Horrigan

External Papers and Reports

No abstract provided.

Ethical Artificial Intelligence In Public Administration: Public Perception And Challenges In Implementation, Jacob V. Rogers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into public administration offers opportunities to improve efficiency and decision-making. However, it also poses significant ethical challenges, such as bias, transparency, and accountability, which directly affect public trust. While previous studies have examined the technical and ethical aspects of AI, there is still a gap in understanding how these issues impact public perception and the effectiveness of AI-driven government services. This dissertation addresses this gap by exploring public perceptions of AI use in government, focusing on ethical concerns and their link to trust. It uses a quantitative survey to analyze participant responses, identifying patterns and trends …

Navigating The Thin Blue Line And Single Parenthood: An In-Depth Exploration Of Police Officers’ Experiences In Highlands County, Florida, Stress Reduction, And Work-Life Balance, Courtney Lashae Hamilton Toney

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The present study examined how the demographic of single parent police officers reduced and coped with stress, whether coping mechanisms utilized were effective or not, changed overtime, and whether the coping mechanisms were influenced by personal factors and leadership within their departments. This study took place in Highlands County, Florida with a sample size of 13 participants. The participants responses were captured through in-depth semi-structured interviews within this qualitative descriptive study. Majority of participants described how their coping mechanisms changed over time to better their lives or the lives of their family. The changes were affected mostly by their children …

Public Willingness To Report Suspicious Activity Captured On Facebook Viral Videos, Tamika S. Bouldin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The widespread use of social media platforms has transformed how individuals observe, engage with, and respond to public events. Viral videos depicting potentially unlawful and dangerous behavior have become common, yet little is known about the factors that motivate viewers to report such content to the authorities. The study aimd to examine the factors influencing the public's willingness to report suspicious activities observed in viral videos across Facebook. Using a cross-sectional correlational quantitative design, the research employed a structured survey questionnaire collecting data from a diverse sample of adult Facebook users in California. Key predictor variables included trust in law …

Parental Incarceration: The Lived Experiences Of Those Left Behind, Shatoya L. Young

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Incarceration in the United States is being touted as an obscure public health crisis. Approximately 47% of male incarcerated individuals and 58% of female incarcerated individuals are parents to minors. The number of children who have experienced parental incarceration at any point in their lives is believed to be more than 5 million. Incarceration negatively impacts the lives of children, especially when children lack an understanding of their parents' incarceration. There are risk factors that increase the possibility of adverse outcomes for children of incarcerated parents, and protective factors that mitigate the risk of poor outcomes. Many of the stories …

The Media's Influence On The Public's Perception Of Police Use Of Force, Kristopher D. Lauro

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Police use of force has long been a concern within law enforcement, but in recent decades, it has faced increasing scrutiny from the general public and across all sectors of society, sparking widespread debate on the practice. The rise of body-worn cameras (BWCs) and the prevalence of cell phone recordings of police incidents have amplified attention on the issue. Media representations of police use of force are influential in bringing together or shaping public opinion and often encapsulate ideological biases; the pervasive publicity associated with such incidents provides a unique opportunity for detailed examination of the underlying relationship between media …

Unveiling The Intersection Of Institutional Racial Identity And Student Loan Debt: An Analysis Of The State University System Of Florida’S Higher Education Institutions, Valerie Marie Moore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Federal student loan patterns in Florida’s State University System (SUS) from 2013/14 to 2022/23 reflect differences in institutional revenue capacity rather than individual borrowing behavior. Using data from all 12 SUS institutions, this study examined how institutional wealth and revenue composition shape student loan outcomes through both race neutral and race considerate analyses informed by Ray’s (2019) theory of racialized organizations. Overall, the SUS operates as a racialized organizational field in which inequities in funding flows, access to capital, and institutional logics sustain long term disparities in wealth and debt. Results show that borrowing levels closely track how institutions assemble …

Examining Reporting And Risk-Avoidance Intentions Among Residents Of High-Crime Neighborhoods: Results From A City-Wide Survey Experiment, Paige E. Vaughn, Matt Vogel

Faculty Publications

Objectives

Examine how offense severity and victim–offender relationship shape intentions to report violence and engage in avoidance behaviors among residents of high-crime neighborhoods.

Methods

A 2×2 factorial survey experiment was embedded in a community survey of 220 adults from nine high-crime St. Louis, MO neighborhoods. Logistic regression models estimated vignette effects on reporting and avoidance intentions.

Results

Firearm presence increased intentions to contact police and community workers and avoid risk. Simple assaults by strangers were more likely to be reported to police than those by acquaintances. Respondents expressed willingness to report to police and family or friends, but not community …

Maps Behind Bars: A Spatial Study Into Wrongful Convictions And Social Equality, Bailee Kinghorn, Emma Milne, Camille Heaton

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Wrongful convictions are representative of errors in the criminal justice system. Often reflecting broad patterns of social inequality, prior research suggests that structural factors may influence the likelihood of conviction and access to legal resources. This project investigates how these social equality indicators correlate with wrongful convictions at the county level across the United States. Using data from the National Institute of Health and the National Registry of Exonerations, we aggregate measures of education, poverty, and non-English-speaking populations normalized by population density and combine them with exoneration records to create a series of comparative maps. Through spatial analysis in ArcGIS, …

Empirical Benchmarks For Interpreting Effect Sizes In Violent Crime Interventions, Kohta James Matsukawa Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

Criminal justice researchers apply Cohen’s (1988) benchmarks to classify effect sizes as small, medium, or large, despite these standards never being meant for broad, decontextualized use (Cohen, 1988; Gies et al., 2024; Goulet-Pelletier & Cousineau, 2018; Lakens, 2013; Milner et al., 2023). Repeatedly doing so may weaken statistical validity, distort findings, and impede effective policymaking. This study introduces the first effect size benchmarks specifically designed for violent crime interventions.

Using a quasi-meta-analysis framework, 1,605 effect sizes from 104 violent crime intervention studies from the CrimeSolutions clearinghouse were converted to Cohen’s d. Three new discrete benchmarking methods were created using a …

Res Historica, Volume 5, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta, Lindsay Rae Smith Privette Phd

Res Historica

The 2026 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lindsay Rae Smith Privette, Julia Ackerman, Callyn Wright, Logan Davis, and John Hinton. Cover art by Mary Beth Lee.

Beyond The Badge: How Internal Culture Contradicts External Service In Urban Police Departments, Rowan Bari Eiselman

Educational Studies Student Papers and Posters

This ethnographic study examines how gendered workplace culture and mental health culture shape officer retention in two urban police departments: the Orange Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department's 77th District. Through ride-alongs, observations, and informal interviews with nine current and retired officers (four female, five male) across various ranks conducted between March and April 2026, this research reveals a troubling contradiction: departments tasked with serving diverse communities struggle to support diversity within their own ranks. Female officers navigate professional isolation, prolonged competence-proving expectations, and implicit career-versus-motherhood choices, with experiences varying significantly between the more supportive Orange PD and …

Book Bans In U.S. Prisons: A Legacy Of The Prisoners' Rights Movement, Allison Jansen

Honors Projects

The 1950s-1970s saw an unprecedented spike in organized resistance by American prisoners. This long era of rebellion, along with thousands of judicial appeals, made up the “prisoners’ rights movement”-- a political, legal, and social struggle that challenged the conditions of American incarceration and its penological paradigm. The timeline of the movement is abstract and difficult to measure. Nonetheless, what is certain is that it lost its momentum by the 1980s due to overhauling policy changes that quelled prisoner activism without achieving meaningful progress. This research examines the evolution of prison censorship policies within that paradigm shift and how they sought …

The Middle-Class Rip-Off'? Subsiding Culture In Contemporary Ireland, Connell Vaughan Dr

Irish Communication Review

In the last few years (roughly since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic) there has been a noted increase in state-led cultural funding in Ireland. Key examples include the raise in the financial allocation to the Arts Council, the introduction of the Basic Income for the Arts scheme, and increased sports capital funding. With reference to the official communication documents of these cases (so-called ‘grey literature’) and deploying the classic 1982 episode of the British sitcom Yes, Minister, ‘The Middle-Class Rip-Off,’ which pitches sports funding against support for the arts, as a satirical lens, this paper reflects on the contemporary …

Applying Andragogy In The Legal Field: Implications For Missouri Trial Courts, Grant Shostak, Somanita Kheang

Missouri Policy Journal

Adults involved in legal proceedings—such as jurors, attorneys, and judges—engage in cognitive and emotionally demanding learning processes. However, little research has examined how principles of adult learning theory are applied within the legal system. This article examines the potential of andragogy to inform and enhance the justice system, and improve juror efficacy in Missouri trial courts. Drawing on interdisciplinary research from both adult education and legal studies, this article demonstrates how andragogical principles can be used to support juror comprehension and efficacy, thereby leading to more fair outcomes. The findings reframe trial judges as facilitators of adult learning, highlighting opportunities …