Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

Set Up For Success: The Lived Experiences And Perceptions Of Nonviolent Offenders And Their Challenges Of Successfully Reentering Society, Ciera Lee'nette Day

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This dissertation firmly highlighted the critical necessity for effective diversion plans tailored to nonviolent offenders, presenting a compelling qualitative analysis of the lived experiences of 12 former nonviolent offenders and their views on diversion centers. The research employed in-depth interviews as the primary data collection method, engaging participants aged 18 and older who had committed nonviolent offenses, had no pending legal cases, and had been released from incarceration or probation within the past six months. To analyze the data, NVivo 15 and MAXQDA software were utilized, ensuring a rigorous and systematic approach to organizing and interpreting unstructured data, developing robust …

October 7 And International Police Cooperation: The Silence Of Interpol, Mathieu Deflem

Faculty Publications

Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the background and interpretation of Interpol’s silence following the terrorist attacks committed by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023. The author examines the international policing im-plications of the events, with special attention to why the world’s largest police organization failed to issue any substantive response.

Methodology: The research is based on asociological analysis combining ahistorical and institutional overview of Interpol’s counterterrorism activities with the examination of the organization’s communications and institutional decisions. It relies on qualitative sources and an interpretive, case study-based approach using public documents, records, and statements.

Findings: …

Correctional Officers’ Perceptions Of Personal Safety Equipment Effectiveness, Tiffany Haigler-Sion

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States has the largest correctional system and the highest incarceration rate in the world. Within this system, correctional officers (COs) serve as the primary point of contact with inmates. Existing literature suggests that the nature of inmates’ offenses often influences COs’ perceptions. Moreover, safety equipment plays a critical role in maintaining security within prison environments. Understanding COs’ experiences and perceptions regarding their safety equipment is therefore essential. The research problem is that little is known about COs’ lived experiences with and perceptions of the safety equipment they carry to keep safe from inmate severe assault. The purpose of …

African American Men's Perceptions Of Law Enforcement, Dr. Dedrie Reshell Leonard-Francis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American Black men are more likely to report unreasonable, unnecessary, and unwarranted experiences with U.S. law enforcement than men of other racial groups, and they higher mistrust toward law enforcement than any other racial group. These experiences have been described as unjustifiable due to the level of force used by police. In some cases, excessive force by law enforcement has resulted in the death of Black men. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore Black men’s perceptions of law enforcement and to understand their distrust. The study centered on the facilitators and barriers to Black men trusting …

Barriers In Trauma-Responsive School Implementation: A Study Exploring And Comparing Rural, Suburban, And Urban Districts In Indiana, Allison L. Makowski

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Trauma responsive practices are a type of educational practice currently being utilized in our schools. Our students come to school every day with some type of trauma which is a negative event that a child experiences. Types of traumatic experiences could be in the form of a natural disaster, car accident, or some type of abuse. The current study examined barriers that schools experience when implementing trauma responsive practices. The schools were examined further to investigate whether or not there were differences in barriers in rural, suburban, and urban school districts in the state of Indiana.

The Cost Of Strength: Navigating Systemic Racism And The Strong Black Woman Stereotype In The Workplace, Krystle M. Davis

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This research defined and explored the lived experiences of Black women in leadership and the role of systemic racism on the performance of the strong Black woman stereotype in the workplace. Grounded in Black feminist thought, epistemology, and phenomenology, this qualitative study seeks to deepen understanding the lived experiences of Black women. This manuscript-style dissertation comprises two studies: Study 1 consisted of nine participants who contributed through Sista Circle focus groups and Study 2 consisted of fourteen participants who engaged in semi-structured interviews to defined and examined their workplace experiences. Situated at the intersection of race and gender, this research …

Prone To Prejudice: Trans Experiences And Structural Harm In The U.S. Prison System, Margaret-Maria Pemu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examines transgender individuals' experiences within the justice system. This study seeks to illuminate the complex realities of incarceration using social constructionism and reflexive thematic analysis. The social constructionist perspective offers a framework for understanding how gendered identities are shaped, constrained, and policed within institutional contexts. The analysis of narratives from Large Reddit communities allows this study to examine how transgender individuals make sense of and survive correctional environments. A comprehensive analysis of the data generated the following six major themes: (1) Solitary Confinement Universally Induces Horror, (2) Discriminatory Treatment Leads to Disillusionment with the Criminal Justice System, …

An Embodied Social Demography For Trans And Nonbinary Workers, Jesse Ezra Shircliff

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Recently, the separation of “sex” and “gender” has seen intense debate in public discourse, stemming from skepticism about the social sciences and the measurement and study of gender specifically. Meanwhile, the United States population is becoming more gender diverse, with roughly 1 in 200 people now identifying as trans gender or gender nonbinary (that is, as a gender that is different from that person’s sex assigned-at-birth or outside of the sex-gender binary). This growing population experiences numerous disadvantages across social life, including obstacles in one particularly important aspect of the American Dream: the right to have and hold a job. …

Funded To Win? Super Pacs And Electoral Advantage In The Southeast, Kyle Winstead

Honors Theses

2010 saw the introduction of a new player on the field of electoral finance, the super PAC. This introduction came with much controversy due to the widespread fear that super PACs could undermine the election system by giving wealthy individuals or organizations an undue influence. The literature on super PACs influence on the electoral system is inconclusive, with different studies having mixed results, meaning more information needs to be gathered. In this paper, I attempt to learn more about super PACs influence, particularly on congressional elections, by examining the results of congressional elections across three states: Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. …

Link Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Parenting Styles Of African American Fathers, Tatianna P. Johnson

Dissertations

African American fathers may be more susceptible than fathers of other races to having a negative parenting style due to their high levels of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs are traumatic experiences during childhood that can affect a person’s mental and physical health, income and adult parenting style. African American adults tend to have experienced multiple levels of ACEs at a higher rate than White and Asian adults (Maguire-Jack et al., 2021). ACEs can lead to adults experiencing higher levels of alcoholism, depression, health-related issues, mental illness, substance use, and academic problems. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to …

[M]Otherhood: Navigating Work-Family Constraints And Strategies In Pink-Collar Jobs, Madison Brunell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Working mothers continue to confront cultural norms and workplace practices that frame paid labor as incompatible with caregiving. In the workplace, these norms often result in motherhood bias and discrimination due to the incompatibility between norms of the ‘ideal worker’ and the ‘ideal mother’ (Acker 2006; Williams, Blair-Loy and Berdahl 2013). This tension is especially acute in pink-collar jobs, women-dominated occupations in service and care sectors, which are often mischaracterized as mother- friendly despite offering limited flexibility, low pay, and minimal structural support (Sartor, Lange, and Tröster 2023; Deming 2022; Ervin et al. 2022). While prior research has explored the …

From Marriage To Migration: Analyzing Return Migration, Gender Inequalities And Household Resource Allocation Patterns, Saeed Ahmad

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

In Kyrgyzstan, a country shaped by deep-rooted traditions and high rates of migration, women's lives are often influenced by powerful cultural expectations, economic pressures, and limited choices. My research explores how these forces intersect—particularly through the lens of bride kidnapping, migration, and how families use money and resources. Together, these issues reveal how gender inequality operates in everyday life, and how women navigate both constraint and resilience.

This dissertation includes three connected studies. The first examines how the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted international labor migration, especially for Kyrgyz migrants working in Russia. Many returnees lost their jobs and faced hostility or …

Migration As Adaptation: Place-Based Vulnerability Near The Drying Great Salt Lake, Dallin Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The drying of the Great Salt Lake presents a complex and evolving threat to Utah residents, with wide-ranging environmental, economic, and health implications. This study explores the individual and structural factors impacting Utahns' ability to utilize migration as a form of adaptive capacity in response to these threats, using mobility justice and cumulative advantage and disadvantage theory as guiding frameworks. Drawing on survey data, a multilevel logistic regression model identifies key structural factors, including age, income, and gender, that influence perceived migration ability. Additionally, a 2x2 typology categorizes distinct profiles of vulnerability to the Great Salt Lake based on different …

Still "The Last Best Place"?: Concentrated Ownership, Amenity Migration, And Community Change In Southwest Montana, Elizabeth A. Bennett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Across the American West, amenity rich areas have been grappling with population growth, economic shifts, and associated community impacts. Amenity migration, the movement of wealthy suburban and urban individuals to rural areas for the natural amenities and slower paced life, has contributed to much of the change in amenity rich rural places. However, recently, a new process has begun occurring simultaneously with amenity migration. New high net worth (HNW) individuals have been purchasing large parcels of land, often through the acquisition of multiple ranches that are thousands of acres. Little is known about how these new HNW owners impact the …

Wild Water: Hydrosocial Dislocation, Dispossession, And The Symbolic Geographies Of The American West, Leonard Alexander Henderson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This dissertation investigates how the confluence of community change and water politics in the American West shapes a discussion about a Wild and Scenic designation for the Crystal River on Colorado’s Western Slope. Ideas about the “Wild West,” influence how many people think about wilderness and small mountain towns, driving growing populations, housing prices, and, as a result, social inequality in many of these areas. At the same time, many people on Colorado’s Western Slope feel that region’s water is taken away by both the state’s more populous Front Range or more politically and economically powerful states like California. Climate …

Predicting Case Clearance For Victims Of Anti-Transgender Homicide In The United States, Brittaney Alyssa Mann

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is a shortage of research exploring case clearance of anti-transgender bias homicides. This study will comparatively examine the similarities and differences in anti-transgender bias homicide cases with and without arrests at the victim, situational and incident levels occurring in the United States between 2013 and 2023. Data are extracted from the Bias Homicide Database (BHDB), the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). This project will address the gap in understanding case clearance of anti-transgender bias homicides, provide policy implications, and ideas to further the discipline’s understanding of the topic. Keywords: LGBTQIA+ victims, bias …

Don't Settle For Less: Incorporating Postcolonial And Settler Colonial Perspectives Into The Sociological Canon, Eli Xavier Ornelas

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

For decades now, post-/de-/settler-/ and anticolonial scholars have advanced the argument that sociology has largely failed to incorporate critical insights from theories of empire into the sociological canon. In this dissertation, I argue that introduction to sociology textbooks offer an important vantage point from which to assess conventional sociological knowledge as textbooks are often thought to be “reflections of the discipline.” I analyze the social theory and race chapters of 21 of the most often used introduction to sociology textbooks in the United States to investigate two chapters where insights from theories of empire would be present if indeed incorporated: …

Reproductive Redlining: Unraveling Historical Disparities And Facility Placement In Distance To Licensed Childcare Facilities, Reproductive Health Clinics, & Crisis Pregnancy Centers For Women In The Southern Region Of The United States, Mackenzie A. Kibler

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation investigates how historical and structural inequalities shape contemporary access to reproductive health services, licensed childcare facilities, and crisis pregnancy centers across Mississippi, Virginia, and Maryland. Using feminist geography, reproductive justice theory, and historical trauma theory, this research develops the concept of reproductive redlining to explore how race, policy, and space intersect to produce health disparities. By combining GIS mapping with multivariate statistical analysis and redlining data from the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC), the study evaluates spatial distributions and demographic correlates of facility access before and after the Dobbs decision. Findings reveal enduring spatial inequities that disproportionately impact …

Explanations For Racial Inequality In America; Effects Of Protestant Beliefs, Behaviors And Region, Qurshonda Shannae Lomans

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The founder of the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington DC, Tom Joe (1987) released an article examining economic disparities between Black and White Americans. Across the measures of income, poverty and unemployment rates, Black Americans were found to be at an economic disadvantage. According to current data published by the U.S. Department of Commerce (2018), the economic wealth gap has remained unequal. Prior research examining racial inequality has found Protestantism to be a foundation from which Americans form their ideologies about social issues (Hunt, 2007; Edgell & Tranby, 2007; Taylor & Merino, 2011). Data provided by …

“We Are Trans, But We’Re Not Transitional”: Exploring Safety, Place, And Space In The Lives Of Transgender Individuals In Southeastern Virginia, Susana Avalos

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

In general, little research exists on trans people’s spatial experiences despite space being highly relevant to their experiences of violence and perceptions of safety. To date, two criminological studies have examined LGBTQ people’s fear of crime in relation to public or private places and spaces. This is in stark contrast to the sizable place and space literature on cisgender men and women. These topics from the perspectives of trans people are underexplored primarily because most criminological research has historically upheld binarized understandings of gender. Safety should not be privileged or limited to certain groups, individuals, or spaces. Instead, safety should …

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 …

Equal Access To Justice: A Case Study Of Eviction Victims Without Legal Aid And Post Criminality In Houston, Texas., Okanlawon Jamiu Akinwonmi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The unending increase in eviction rates and existing housing problems in the United States of America is not an exaggeration. Heterogeneity of requirements or eviction laws is a pervasive phenomenon across the states nationwide. These fundamental issues require immediate attention and must be addressed. The purpose of this study is to explore the dynamic gap in our criminal justice system, the lack of legal aid, and potential criminality resulting from eviction and housing problems. Moreover, the psychological, physical, and emotional effects of these problems on the victims in relation to the roles of social workers, community advocates, and housing policy …

The Problem With Consumer Affordability Of Prescription Medications In The United States, Valerie E. Bell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Consumer affordability of prescription drugs is an ongoing problem in the United States. This study was undertaken to research the financial, physical, and economic effects of drug prices on consumers and the methods used by consumers to address such effects. Rational choice and power and politics theories were used to explain the decisions consumers make when they could not afford their medications and the role policies and politics play in drug pricing. The research questions concerned the relationship between consumers’ perceptions of drug pricing and their ability to purchase medications. The quantitative nonexperimental study involved the administration of a survey …

Mental Health In Prisons: Examining Variations In Disorders Across Custody Levels, Ariel Bysiek

Dissertations and Theses

The United States has a significantly large prison population with the number of people currently in a correctional facility being 1.9 million. Concern has been increasingly growing related to treatment of individuals in prison, particularly when it comes to solitary confinement. Many people believe that solitary confinement is unnecessarily cruel and debilitating to AIC's mental health. Studies have found contradicting information as to whether solitary impacts mental health. Part of the reason for this contradiction stems from the lack of measurement systems that are appropriate for AICs. The measures used in studies are meant for the general population, not individuals …

Parole/Probation Officers’ Perspective On Understanding Crime Among Liberian Immigrant Youths In Southwest Philadelphia, Jamil J. Morris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This research explored challenges of crime and delinquency among Liberian immigrant youth in Southwest Philadelphia, focusing on the social and structural factors that influence their lived experiences. Utilizing qualitative in-depth interviews with 17 juvenile parole/probation officers of Liberian immigrant youths, the purpose of this study was to uncover the underlying reasons that lead Liberian immigrant youth to engage in crime and delinquency, and how they cope with the obstacles they encounter. Employing social disorganization theory, differential association theory, and subcultural theory, the study underscored the impact of neighborhood instability, peer influences, and differing value systems on understanding the youths’ criminal …

Digital Identity Management As A Critical Criminal Justice And Homeland Security Legal Issue: A Qualitative Analysis Of The Reasonable Person Factors Involved In Court Decisions, William H. Nicholson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this descriptive qualitative applied study is to define and explain through analysis the reasonable person standard as it relates to prosecution and sentencing computer crime cases involving digital identities while addressing the problem of digital anonymity. This has been done by analyzing computer crime cases with the advent of current and planned technologies, and surveying potential jurors to understand the current state of knowledge of digital attribution. This descriptive qualitative research method analyzed the problem through the use of criminological theories of control and social learning theory to better understand the reasonable person standard in computer crime …

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. …

Constructing Victims And Perpetrators: A Textual Analysis Of Media Discourses On Sexual Violence, Farah Ali

Global Language Studies Faculty publications

Sexual violence has become increasingly visible in the public eye, which has in turn prompted scholarly research across disciplines to critically examine how such cases are handled, ranging from the investigation processes to how the accused and accusing parties are impacted. Linguistic research in particular has made an important contribution to our understanding of the role of language in interpreting and evaluating sexual violence by focusing on the narrations of specific cases. Yet linguistic perspectives are somewhat sparse with regard to mass media discourse, which can play an influential role in shaping discussions on sexual violence. This study examines discourse …