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Incarceration’S Impact On Young Adults’ Psychological Development, Well-Being, And Reintegration Into Society, Monica Murrell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative phenomenological study explored how individuals who experienced incarceration during emerging adulthood understood and made meaning of their developmental, emotional, and psychosocial experiences. Emerging adulthood, defined as ages seventeen through twenty-five, is a critical developmental stage, and incarceration during this period may disrupt identity formation and emotional maturation. The purpose of the study was to examine the perspectives and coping mechanisms of individuals incarcerated during this stage to better understand how early adult imprisonment shapes trauma responses, identity development, and reintegration. Social learning theory served as the conceptual framework. Data was collected through interviews with six formerly incarcerated adults …

Early Learning Across Decades: Advances In Measuring Head Start Effectiveness, Chloe R. Gibbs

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The Head Start program, launched in 1965 and targeted to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, remains the largest early childhood care and education (ECE) program in the United States and the only one deployed at the federal level. As such, the Head Start literature spans several decades and now allows for synthesis of findings from different contexts, time periods, and research designs. This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the rigorous evidence measuring Head Start’s effects on children, their families, and society. The focus is on how (1) the contrast between program and counterfactual conditions, (2) takeup of the program among …

From Commonality To Unity: The Opportunities And Challenges Of Latinxs’ Cross-Racial Alliances With Blacks, Álvaro José Corral

School of Political Science, Public Affairs, Legal and Security Studies Faculty Publications

As a racialized group that is subject to discrimination, US Latinxs are often considered “natural” coalitional partners for Black-led civil rights struggles. Although the BLM movement may serve as a potential site for cross-racial coalition building because both Latinxs and Blacks suffer from racial profiling by law enforcement, the development of a shared status across group boundaries hinges on the interpretation by Latinxs of both their personal- and group-level discrimination experiences. Using the 2020 CMPS, I explore how multiple dimensions of Latinx racial group consciousness (perceptions of discrimination, intra- and intergroup commonality, and racial identity) shape their cross-racial alliances with …

The Current - Volume 36 Issue 6, Nova Southeastern University

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

Solvability Factors And Psychological Stressors In Cold Case Sexual Homicides: Insights From Investigators And Detectives, Jamie Borba

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to explore solvability factors and psychological stressors experienced by investigators and detectives who work on cold case sexual homicides. The study includes eight participants’ perspectives of conditions that influence case solvability and psychological challenges inherent in investigating unresolved sexual homicide cases. Guided by the resource-based theory, the research involved examining how investigative techniques, organizational support, and available resources contribute to the successful closure and clearance of cold cases. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using coding and thematic analysis. This involved understanding how resource and institutional constraints affect their ability …

Trauma-Informed Policing Training: Statewide Implementation And Outcomes, Ryan E. Spohn, Justin Nix, Sadaf Hashimi, Travis Carter

Reports

This report presents pre- and post-training survey results for Phase 1 of the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) grant. Law enforcement officers regularly interact with individuals who have experienced trauma. These encounters can be complex, unpredictable, and high stress. Trauma-informed policing training is intended to give officers practical tools to recognize trauma responses, communicate more effectively, and reduce unnecessary escalation during these interactions.

Experiences Of Stigma And Barriers To Care Among Transgender And Gender Expansive Populations Seeking Mental Healthcare, Amanda Veldorale-Griffin, Elizabeth Banks, Elizabeth Patrick, Judith Cannon, Caidan Thomas Smith

Marriage and Family Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Transgender and gender expansive (TGGE) people experience increased risk for mental health issues and suicidality, as well as significant barriers to mental healthcare, due to stigma and discrimination, including from mental healthcare providers. A sample of 945 TGGE participants completed self-report surveys, measuring experiences of stigma and barriers to care, and counselor competence. Data were divided into two groups by age and analyzed through linear regressions and one-way ANOVAs. Across groups, participants (approximately 58% of younger participants and 49% of older participants) reported experiencing stigma from a healthcare provider, and all reported some barriers to care, with more than half …

Sometimes I Picture You Dreaming: How American Female Directors Use Women-In-Prison Films As A Pathway For Public Education And Activism In The Era Of Mass Incarceration, Nicolette Natale

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines the role of female directors in creating media that showcases how prisons perpetuate sexism or gender-based violence. As mass incarceration began to take off in the 1970s, this paper begins with an analysis of Jack Hill’s The Big Doll House (1971), which often served as the model for women-in-prison (WIP) exploitation films. While Hill perpetuated the white and male gaze in The Big Doll House, Stephanie Rothman subverts oppressive gazes in her WIP film, Terminal Island (1973), and demonstrates a concern with the historical gendered realities of prison – moving beyond representations of prison on the …

Social Capital And The Spread Of Information On Twitter Related To Change In The Criminal Legal System, Sebastian Hoyos-Torres

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Criminal legal reformers and abolitionists have differing visions for change within the criminal legal system, where reformers seek to modify and abolitionists aim to dismantle it altogether (Davis 2005; Foucault 1977; Kaba 2020). Advocates used print media to disseminate information related to their proposed changes to broader audiences. While print media remains a valuable tool to reach wide audiences, the advent of social media introduced new mechanisms to interact with broad audiences at very low cost while leaving traces of digital data which could be analyzed to better understand the social factors which impact whether information is spread. Throughout this …

Essays On Public Policy And Health Outcomes: Unintended Consequences And The Cost Of Influence, Wenhan Yan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation investigates the complex behavioral responses to public policy shifts and institutional cues, quantifying their intended and unintended societal impacts. Across two distinct empirical contexts, this research examines how individuals adapt their risk profiles when signals from political or legal authorities change and how these adaptations generate measurable externalities.

The first chapter, "From Punishment to Treatment: Unintended Social Impacts of Changing Drug Policies," shifts the focus to the intersection of health policy and criminal justice. This chapter evaluates the sudden transition from punitive drug enforcement to health-oriented decriminalization, utilizing the 2021 State v. Blake decision in Washington as a …

Marx And Engels On Prisons And Capitalism, James Parisot

Sociology Faculty Publications

This paper rethinks Marx and Engels’ comments on imprisonment and capitalism. While there has been a tendency to suggest the authors’ comments on crime and punishment were peripheral and secondary to their major projects, such as Marx’s Capital, this paper claims, in fact, their writings on incarceration were guided by their shared theoretical project which included historicizing systems of punishment as correlating with modes of production. Also, while more has been written on their ideas of criminality, instead, this paper excavates their thoughts on prisons, which have often been neglected. Overall, it shows there has been a tendency to …

Investigating Sex Offenders’ Experience Of Being Registered As A Sex Offender, Stacey Mitchell-Swingle

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In society, sex offenders are subject to unforeseen consequences of the sex offender registry. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how the sex offender registry contributes to the mental distress of registered sex offenders and their concerns about recidivism. This study addressed a gap in understanding the sex offender registry experiences from the offender’s perspective. The research question addressed how adult male registrants describe their experiences of mental distress associated with registration and how they perceive registration as shaping their risk of reoffending. The theoretical framework was John Braithwaite’s reintegrative shaming theory, with a specific focus on …

Psychologists’ Attitudes On Capital Punishment And Interpretation Of The American Psychological Association’S Ethics Code, Darya Baugh-Ruschman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

When defendants are sentenced to death due to the nature of the crime, psychologists may be asked to participate in these cases, performing tasks such as conducting competency evaluations. Because the American Psychological Association (APA) Ethics Code states that psychologists cannot participate in activities that violate human rights, an ethical debate has emerged regarding whether they should participate in capital cases. The present study examined psychologists’ opinions on capital punishment and their interpretation of the APA Ethics Code, which does not specifically define what constitutes a violation of human rights. The theoretical framework for the study is the ethical decision-making …

Arts In Criminal Justice And Corrections: International Perspectives On Methods, Journeys And Challenges, Edited By Amanda Gardner And Laura Caulfield, Kirstin Anderson Dr

Journal of Prison Education Research

It was the first day of my study I had planned as part of my PhD research. I had prepared all the materials the night before, took an early train to ensure I was on time, went through all the checks at the prison gate, set up my room and waited for the first participant to come in for their interview. I welcomed him with ease, introduced myself and went through the consent form. I turned on the audio recorder. ‘It’s just like the fucking police’. My heart sank. I don’t think I told anyone about how big a misgiving …

Hard Hats And Second Chances: A Phenomenological Study Of Employer Support In Construction-Based Reintegration, Christofer M. Pacheco

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study examines how formerly incarcerated individuals perceive and experience employer support during workplace reintegration in the construction industry. Although employment is widely recognized as a protective factor against recidivism, post-hire experiences from the perspective of justice-involved employees remain underexplored. Grounded in an interpretivist paradigm and informed by Social Support, Social Learning, and Identity perspectives, the study investigated how structure, self, and environment interact to influence retention, growth, and desistance.

Nineteen interviews were completed with six construction workers in New Mexico who had maintained employment for at least one year following incarceration. Through the use of Seidman’s three-interview …

Considering Context In Latent Models Of Externalizing: Measurement Invariance By Environmental And Systemic Disadvantage In System-Involved Youth, Kendall D. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Externalizing forms of psychopathology are said to result from a general liability towards impulsive and disruptive behaviors, including substance use, conduct problems, aggression, and antisocial behavior (Krueger et al., 2021). While the field often focuses on dispositional explanations of externalizing behaviors, there is a notable lack of attention to the contextual factors that contribute to these behaviors, beyond immediate environmental influences. This study uses Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner, 2005) as a framework to address such gaps in the context of behavioral indicators of the latent externalizing (EXT) construct, an analysis with implications for understanding racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities. The present …

Recalibrating The Risk Of False Confession Wrongful Convictions: Interrogation Tactics And Inverse Probability, Scott M. Mourtgos, Ian T. Adams

Faculty Publications

False confession wrongful convictions (FCWCs) are a serious failure of the criminal justice system. Although scholars have identified interrogation tactics thought to elevate this risk, existing research rarely estimates the population-level probability that legally permissible methods will produce an FCWC. Instead, inference relies on outcome-selected case series and laboratory diagnosticity ratios that ignore base rates and the far larger universe of interrogations without false confessions. This article offers a methodological recalibration. We formalize the outcome-selection problem and apply inverse probability logic to derive posterior FCWC risk integrating base rates, sensitivity, and specificity. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we synthesize available empirical …

Boiling A Frog: Pre-Adaptive Processes And Prison Riot Dynamics, Hayden P. Smith

Faculty Publications

This study explores the adaptive mechanisms and survival strategies deployed by incarcerated individuals during the Lee Prison Riot of April 15, 2018. Drawing solely on in-depth interviews with 25 incarcerated men (predominantly Black, aged 25–61) at Lee Correctional Institution, and utilizing the importation and deprivation models as analytical frameworks, the analysis reveals that early-life trauma, neighborhood disruption, and the construction of survival pride significantly shape inmate adaptation. In particular, the research documents how inmates are channeled into “high‑alpha dorms” where collective violence becomes both predictable and deeply ambiguous, and where post‑riot behaviors signal the emergence of a “new normal” in …

Assessing Abuse And Neglect In U.S. Nursing Homes: A Comparative Analysis Across Pre-, During, And Post-Pandemic Periods, Katherine Gane

Theses and Dissertations

Nursing homes are among the most closely regulated providers in the U.S. healthcare system, with both federal and state agencies working together to monitor care and help protect residents. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, introduced unprecedented challenges for facilities and survey agencies alike, disrupting normal operations, limiting in-person visits, and temporarily shifting regulatory priorities. The purpose of this study was to examine how these pandemic-related disruptions were reflected in the severity and reporting patterns of substantiated abuse and neglect deficiencies in U.S. nursing homes. Using publicly available data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), this study analyzed 39,607 …

The Revolution On Facebook: Political Education On Social Media Through Nonformal Andragogical Communities Of Practice, Donald Moen

Fast Capitalism

This paper considers political education through nonformal communities of practice on social media. While formal and informal classroom environments remain important in the 21st century, most adult learning occurs in the nonformal context. Communities of practice on social media provide substantial knowledge dissemination and identity-defining communities of practice, also furnishing the opportunity for praxis. Communist Facebook groups provide communities of practice through knowledge dissemination, community membership, and praxis. This paper defines who these groups are, what they do, how they differ from other groups, their education and tools, how they exist outside of state control, and how they fit inside …

Meet Me At The Rock: The Behavioral Patterns Of Collective Violence In Prison, Hayden P. Smith

Faculty Publications

This study explores the behavioral dynamics of collective violence in prisons, focusing on the largest prison riot in the United States in twenty-five years at Lee Correctional Institution, using an ethnographic approach and Crime Script Analysis (CSA). The sample consisted of twenty-five incarcerated men, predominantly African American, aged 25 to 61, with extensive incarceration histories, experiences of violence, and influencer status within the prison community. It identifies key factors such as situational awareness, gang affiliations, and chronic understaffing that escalate violence. Themes include the "pressure cooker" environment, elevated tensions, and stages of confrontation, escalation, and de-escalation. A key finding is …

Police Staffing Shortages, Public Awareness, And Policy Preferences, Hunter M. Boehme, Joshua Mccrain, Scott M. Mourtgos, Brandon Tregle

Faculty Publications

Since the summer of 2020, police agencies across the United States have continued to experience police staffing shortages. The consequences of understaffed police agencies are well studied, but little is known about whether the public is aware of the staffing problem and its consequences for public safety and police behavior. This study presents a pre-registered factorial survey experiment to 3105 US adults, varying the information respondents see on the consequences of staffing shortages (e.g., public safety, police behavior) and the messenger of this information (e.g., police chief, mayor). Respondents are then asked about their levels of concern about police staffing, …

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R5 Dr_D1 Report Fy2025 - Database Search And Item Usage, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R5 / R5.1 Report DR_D1 for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025. The DR_D1 report is defined as "Database Search and Item Usage." This report presents an annual total only and only includes those platforms successfully configured for automated harvesting via SUSHI.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results:

Searches Automated - 38,089

Searches Federated - 1,810

Searches Regular - 1,304,882

Total Item Investigations - 933,864

Total Item Requests - 286,912

Unpacking Domestic Violence Intervention Programs, Lauren Pagan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Domestic violence is a public health concern and most existing literature has focused on service delivery for victims, opposed to interventions for perpetrators. The Duluth model is the most common model guiding groups for perpetrators, yet results on its effectiveness have been inconsistent and unclear. Counselors and counselor educators lack the empirical support needed to effectively apply the Duluth model while working with the people who abuse. The purpose of this qualitative, existential–phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of participants in Duluth Model-based, domestic violence intervention programs (DVIPs). Guided by existential–phenomenological theory, this study addressed the research question: …

A Hokies' Lament: American Social Psychosis And The Virginia Tech Killings, Stephen Pfohl

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Mediated Ritual On Academic Ground, Neal King

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

The Rise Of The Robots: Technocapitalism And The Policing Of Race, Constantine Gidaris

Fast Capitalism

This article critically engages with the emergence of police robots in the United States, arguing that their inevitable foray into everyday policing will fuel existing issues of racial discrimination. Building on Luis Suarez-Villa's (2009) conceptualization of technocapitalism, I situate police robots within a framework of social domination that thrives not only on its connections to corporatism and militarism, but also on technocapitalist conditions that invariably exacerbate the oppressive dynamics of racist and discriminatory policing. Although police robots will make police work safer for officers (Sharkey 2008), I contend that they will be used by the police as weaponized machines of …

Full Issue, Fast Capitalism Editorial Team

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Built On Dignity, Backed By Love: A Mixed Methods Study And Curriculum Grounded In Black Caregivers’ Racial Socialization To Cultivate Youth Agency, Heather Watson

Dissertations

This dissertation explores how low-income Black youth and their caregivers experience, interpret, and respond to racial discrimination, with a focus on the development of youths’ dignity as a culturally grounded resilience process. Using a mixed-methods, community-based participatory research (CBPR) design, the study addresses three central aims: (1) to identify the forms of discrimination youth and caregivers encounter and their relationship to racial stress and resilience; (2) to define dignity from the perspectives of youth and caregivers; and (3) to identify caregiver-youth conversations that cultivate dignity and inform the development of the Dignity Development Curriculum (DDC). Data were collected through semi-structured …

The Role Of Familism In The Relationship Between Ethnic Identity And Sleep In Hispanic/Latino Adults: Results From The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study Of Latinos (Hchs/Sol), Tetyana Krutsik

Theses and Dissertations from DePaul University

Hispanic/Latino individuals in the U.S. face sleep health disparities, reporting higher rates of short sleep duration and fragmented sleep compared to non-Hispanic white individuals. While Hispanic/Latino immigrants initially report better sleep health than their U.S.-born counterparts, prolonged residence in the U.S. is associated with worsening sleep, possibly due to acculturative stress. Ethnic identity and familism are cultural factors that have been correlated with positive health outcomes, even mitigating the adverse effects of acculturative stress and discrimination. However, little is known about the associations between these cultural factors and sleep health outcomes. This study aimed to examine the effect of ethnic …