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Imprint Of Racism: A Phenomenological Study On White Adult Males' Exposure To Racial Antipathy, Historical Stereotypes, And Polarization Towards African Americans And Their Transformational Journey Towards Racial Reconciliation, Wynona Yvonne James

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Since the election of the first African American president in 2008, race relations have deteriorated in the United States. In May 2017, the emergence of the “alt-right” movement advocating for white nationalism caused further polarization between the races. This transcendental phenomenological research examined how white adult males’ exposure to racist ideologies influenced their perceptions towards African Americans, and how they emancipated from environments that promoted racist tenets. The study was guided by three research questions: How have white males been impacted by their exposure to racial antipathy and discrimination? What events or circumstances have white males experienced that led them …

Suspicion, Suspicion: Police Perceptions Of Juveniles As The “Symbolic Assailant”, Andrea R. Coleman

School of Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

Jerome Skolnick’s (2011) "symbolic assailant" is a result of police attributing particular demeanor, gestures, language, and a style of dress to people they believed were most likely to commit violent crimes. The challenge became when police applied these characteristics to specific groups such as juveniles. Literature published before and after Skolnick (2011) indicated police were more likely to stop, arrest, interrogate, or surveille juveniles based on their demeanor, gestures, style of dress, lack of respect, deference to authority, the severity, and remorse for their offenses in addition to race. However, current research indicated race, gender, and Socioeconomic Status (SES) determined …

Millennial Generation Law Enforcement Academy Recruits And Their Perception Of Mental Health, Jeffrey M. Mcgill

School of Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

The traumatic and cumulative stresses associated with a law enforcement career are well documented both empirically and anecdotally. While previous generations have acknowledged and coped with these stressors with varying levels of success, research shows that the millennial generation has reported more mental health issues than any generation in history. Since suicide is the single leading cause of death for United States law enforcement officers in recent years, addressing mental health should be a priority of all agencies. The introduction of millennial generation law enforcement officers creates the potential for increased mental health needs within the field. 25 millennial-aged Florida …

An Exploratory Study Of Selected Policy Diffusions In Judicial Settings, Renee Ann Pistone

School of Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

Canon and Baum’s (1981) pioneering study examined diffusion of 23 plaintiff-oriented tort doctrines among the state court systems in 1876-1975 provided an early model to study judicial innovation. Meanwhile, Berry and Berry’s (1990) later model featured event history analysis (EHA) that was relevant for this dissertation which sought to explain political behavior. This dissertation used archival data only and was a quantitative research design that was descriptive and exploratory of the judicial policy adoption process. The researcher used quantitative archival data and described what sociological, political, and criminological factors had impacted policy adoptions over time and explored the possible associations …

Gun-Free Zones: A Geographical Opinion Study On Attitudes Toward Gun-Free Zones And The Safety Impact On Residents, Sean Grier

School of Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

Gun violence is a pandemic problem in the United States, resulting in over two thirds of all homicides each year. Consequently, gun related policies have been fiercely debated within the political spectrum, with the 20th century seeing a dramatic increase in gun control legislation. Gun-free zones are designated areas that strictly prohibit all private citizens from carrying a firearm, even those with concealed weapon permits. The statistics indicate that numerous instances of gun related mass shootings have occurred within the confines of these gun-free zones (schools, movie theatres, government installations, etc.). However, little research exists to understand whether citizens actually …

Brother’S Keeper: Self-Discovery, Social Support, And Rehabilitation Through In-Prison Peer Mentorship, Rebekah Zwick

School of Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

Correctional practices in New York State largely support a punishment paradigm, a framework in which men and women are incarcerated to suffer punition, with little consideration given to understanding the causes of criminality or means to rehabilitate the offender. The growing awareness of correctional failures have necessitated efforts to re-evaluate the justice system, with no consensus regarding which rehabilitative methods work. Correctional philosophy and practice provides few substantive opportunities for transformative rehabilitation; therapeutic peer programming to address deficiencies in pro-normative socialization and provide peer support are virtually nonexistent.

For many formerly incarcerated men who build successful lives for themselves within …

From School To Prison: Assessing The Impact Of Non-Systemic Contributors To The School-To-Prison Pipeline, Jonathan W. Glenn

School of Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

The school-to-prison pipeline is an expansive issue that impacts the educational and criminal justice systems in the United States. Traditionally, the research has linked the prevalence of the pipeline to factors based within school systems. These systemic factors include the use of zero tolerance policies, exclusionary disciplinary practices, and the presence of school resource officers. The proposed study aims to assess the impact of factors that perpetuate the school-to-prison pipeline that are non-systemic in nature.

For the purposes of this study, the non-systemic contributors to the school-to-prison pipeline to be assessed are parental socialization, child self-control, learned noncompliance, child resilience, …

Blacks In Policing And Organizational Change: A Comparison Of Departments’ Participation In Community Oriented Policing Activities, David Pernell Taylor

School of Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

Civil unrest in the1960s pitted Black citizens and police officers against each other (Kerner Commission, 1968). The Kerner Commission examined race relations and recommended the hiring of more Black officers to patrol Black neighborhoods. Recent shooting deaths of unarmed Black males primarily by White officers has led to renewed calls for police reform (Scholsser, Cha-Jua, Valgoi & Neville, 2015). This quantitative secondary analysis study utilizes data from the 2013 LEMAS survey to compare local police departments from three states (N=184) to examine whether police departments with a Black chief and/or a higher rate of Black officers reported more participation in …

Parents Of War: A Grounded Theory Study Of The Experience Of Parenting Through The War Experience, Margaret Wilkie

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on experiences of refugee parents who have experienced war and displacement. There is a lack of academic research in the area of parenting and war, and this study hopes to begin to fill that gap. Research that is based on personal experiences is the ultimate guide to forming policy and programs that meet real needs. This study employed Grounded Theory methodology and in-depth interviewing to explore the questions of how parents manage to meet their own needs, the needs of their children, and overall cope with the experiences of war and displacement. Through intense analysis of interviews …

Countering Violent Extremism In Peshawar Pakistan, Licona Bryan

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Spikes of militancy, intolerance, ethnic division and sectarianism have all risen within Pakistan in recent years, yet Pakistan’s continuous battle to deter violent extremism fails to be successful. Following the December 16, 2014 Army Public School (APS) massacre in Peshawar Pakistan little empirical attention has been paid on how the Pakistani government, in the Northwest region of Pakistan, is countering violent extremism (CVE). As well as, its link to policy-making decisions on CVE. This dissertation study sought to analyze the currently active CVE narrative that Pakistan implemented into its Constitution in 2014. This qualitative explanatory case study project focused on …

A Phenomenological Research Study On The Treatment Experience Of Opioid Addicts: Exploring The Intrapersonal And Interpersonal Conflicts That Opioid Addicts Face During The Treatment Process, Nicole Marie Ouzounian

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Opioid addiction is a physical, mental, and social issue. The insidious habits and behaviors acquired while living an addictive lifestyle are more powerful than human comprehension, and the training required to release these strongholds are extreme to say the least. Capturing the lived experiences of this process is needed to increase understanding of the development that leads to transformation from active addict to addict in recovery. This phenomenological research study on the treatment experience of opioid addicts used a qualitative approach to gain understanding of this phenomenon. For this study, 15 research participants were selected. Their ages ranged from 21 …

Factors Contributing To Juvenile Crime Leading To The Disparity Of The Risk Levels For Secure Detainment, Dawn Prystajko

Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this research was to explore the factors that contributed to juvenile crime which in turn caused disparity in secure detainment among juveniles. This was based upon the alternate hypothesis that there is a noticeable disparity with minority youths being more securely detained opposed to majority youths. Therefore, the research was designed to examine raw data obtained from the Juvenile Justice Services Planner/JDAI Coordinator of the excel database of juvenile arrests/detainment.

The findings revealed several key points. The finding revealed that useable data extracted from the excel database was not able to neither agree with nor support …