Digital Commons Network^™

An Examination Of The Prison Environment: An Analysis Of Inmate Concerns Across Eight Environmental Dimensions., Andrew Ryan Bradford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was undertaken to better understand inmate concerns of the prison environment across 8 dimensions. The 8 dimensions examined in this study were activity, emotional feedback, freedom, privacy, safety, social, structure, and support. To determine the importance of these dimensions among inmates, secondary data were used in an attempt to replicate and validate the findings from Wright's (1985) study which used a prison environment inventory instrument to assess inmate concerns. The secondary data consisted of an inmate sample of 1,054 taken from 30 prisons of minimum, medium, maximum and close security across the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio. …

The Relationship Between Tobacco, Alcohol, And Marijuana Use Among Teenagers., John Donald Rose

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use among teenagers. This study examined three research questions: (1) Is there a relationship between demographic characteristics (i.e., sex and race), the attitudinal variable (attachment to family), and the admitted use of marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco among teenagers? (2) Is there a relationship between the use of marijuana by teenagers and the use of tobacco by teenagers? (3) Is there a relationship between the use of marijuana by teenagers and the use of alcohol by teenagers?

The data used for this paper were from the …

Bullying Behavior In Middle School: The Effects Of Gender, Grade Level, Family Relationships, And Vicarious Victimization On Self-Esteem And Attitudes Of Bullying., Jennifer Mongold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research was conducted to investigate the effects of gender, grade level, family relationships, and vicarious victimization on self-esteem and attitudes of bullying. A self-report questionnaire was administered to sixth and seventh graders at a middle school to 436 students of whom 209 were males and 224 were females. Each home base classroom was systematically sampled for a random sample. The survey consisted of several demographic questions as well as questions regarding the previously mentioned variables. The mean age was 11.8 with 80.7% indicating they were white and 19.3% indicating another race. In the overall regression equations, gender and family …

Improving Parent And Teen Conflict Resolution Skills: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of The "Family Reunion" Crisis Intervention Program., Carrie Davis Marchant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parent and teen communication combined with relationship skills, and their ability to resolve conflict, need extensive research to help understand if effective intervention can lead to short-term and long-term success in terms of continued crime and delinquency prevention and relationship endurance. This researcher conducted a short-term study by holding a parent and teen communication and conflict resolution intervention program for teens and parents in crisis called Family Reunion. Five classes were held with 102 research subjects. Pre and post treatment questionnaire surveys were administered containing both fixed responses and open-ended questions. Quantitative analysis of the fixed response items indicated positive …

Using The Theory Of Reasoned Action To Examine The Gambling Behaviors Of College Athletes And Other Students., Robert Gene Thrasher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Legal and illegal gambling opportunities are readily available to students on college campuses and surrounding areas (Saum, 1999). College students are at an age that is highly impressionable, experimental, and prime to taking risks while ignoring the potential consequences (Oster, 1992). Because of their desire for competition, college student athletes may be highly susceptible to the lure of gambling. While the rates of pathological gambling are high for college students, the rates for the subpopulation of college student athletes are posited to be even higher (Rockey, Beason, Lee, Stewart, & Gilbert, 1997). The general purpose of the current study was …

Identity Theft And Routine Activities : A Test Of Victimization Using College Students., Brian Dean Fell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the link between routine activity theory and identity theft victimization using college students. Using data collected from 308 undergraduate students attending a southeastern university, this study seeks to present the likelihood that college students will become a victim to identity theft in the future. In doing so, the study also seeks to present the college student's perception that they could become a victim of identity theft in the future. Overall, this study has the main objective of determining if a link exists between college student's routine activities and the risk of them becoming victims of identity theft. …

Motivational Interviewing : Does It Increase Alcohol And Other Drug Addicted Clients' Retention In Outpatient Treatment?, David Allen Patterson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a post-test only comparison group study. It tests the effects of additional Motivational Interviewing sessions during the first two weeks in an intensive outpatient clinic. The object is to learn whether these additional sessions will help to increase rates of treatment retention and completion with alcohol and other drug addicted individuals as well as those who are dually diagnosed with HIV/AIDS infection and addiction. It begins with the problems associated with alcohol and other drugs followed by problems related to HIV/AIDS and treatments for both illnesses. It uses Transtheoretical Stages of Change Model as a guide for …

Childhood Reflections Of Adult Male Incarcerated Child Sexual Abusers., Linda H. Garrett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Child sexual abuse has existed since earliest recorded history. It is believed that one in three females and one in five males are sexually abused before their 18^th birthday, and many researchers believe this is a gross underestimation of the problem. Child sexual abuse has been studied extensively from the perspective of the victim. Child sexual abusers have been studied over the last few decades but with inconsistent definitions and methods applied among studies. This qualitative study explored the childhood reflections of 8 incarcerated child sexual abusers in a southern Appalachian prison. One-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted at the …

Punishing The 'Other' : Race, Ethnicity, And The American Justice System., Kristen T. Valentine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an examination of the relationship between race and ethnicity and the American justice system. It is a comparative case study of the racial dimensions of the War on Drugs in the domestic criminal justice system and the ethnic dimensions of the War on Terror through an examination of the prison and prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. This thesis is about building bridges between domestic and international conceptions of justice with a focus on human rights. Central to this project is an exploration of similar process of white fear, racialization, and dehumanization black and Arab/Muslim men experience under the …

Exploring The Relationship Between Intimate Partner Violence And Hiv Risk Propensity In African American Women, Lauren Lois Josephs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the relationship between Intimate Partner Violence and HIV Risk-Propensity in African-American women. Current literature on HIV reveals that one of the groups most seriously impacted by the continued scourge of HIV is African-American heterosexual women. An anonymous questionnaire was completed by a community based sample of 200 African American women with a varied history of intimate partner violence to (1) explore whether a relationship exists between Intimate Partner Violence and sexual coercion in African-American women (2) determine whether a relationship exists between sexual coercion and HIV Risk in African-American women (3) determine if the frequency of intimate …

Transferring Juveniles To The Adult Court: A Factorial Survey Of Florida Prosecutors, Robin King

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prosecutors have enormous discretion in the criminal justice system. Their decisions can ultimately impact and shape the course of the lives of the offenders whom they prosecute. This is certainly true for juvenile offenders considered for transfer to the adult court. Previous research indicates that serious, violent offenders are the most likely to be transferred to the adult court. However, very little is known on prosecutors' views of the role of the juvenile court, the process of transfer or the facts that influence their decision to transfer a juvenile to the adult court. A statewide survey of 800 Florida prosecutors …

Interprofessional Collaboration Between Criminal Justice And Mental Health Practitioners Regarding Mentally Ill Offenders: Perception Of Collaboration, Christopher Sharp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The federal program of deinstitutionalizing psychiatric facilities has resulted in a well documented, ever-increasing mentally ill population in the nation's prisons and jails. Historically, the criminal justice system has maintained a laissez-faire attitude toward the mentally ill, and only became involved with the mentally ill when a crime had been committed. As such, the President's Mental Health and Criminal Justice Consensus Project was developed to explore ways that the two systems could work together to address the growing problem of the mentally ill offender. However, challenges arise because the criminal justice system has typically been viewed as a loosely coupled, …

Disenfranchising The Black Other: A Critique Of American Drug Laws, Heather Dorsey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Presently, approximately 4.7 million Americans are unable to vote, a population which is disproportionately black and stripped of their civic rights because of their status as present or former felons. I propose that unequal drug laws which provide different sentences for crack cocaine, used more often by poor blacks because of its cheapness and availability in poor neighborhoods, and powder cocaine, used more often by upper class whites, punish blacks for their status as Other. Disproportionately punishing them for a habit in which people of all races participate has created a class without the ability to participate in the system …

Avl And Response Time Reduction: Image And Reality, Charles Russo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Automatic vehicle locator (AVL) systems, utilizing military's global positioning system, may impact response time to law enforcement calls for service. In order to evaluate the impacts of AVL on response time to calls for service at the Altamonte Springs Police Department (ASPD), computer aided dispatch (CAD) data from years 1999 to 2003 were analyzed. The analysis of each of the data sets consisted of an initial sequence chart, an analysis of variance (ANOVA), a means plot and a linear regression. Interviews of ASPD personnel were conducted to understand user perceptions of AVL. Based on the ANOVA results, trends indicate that …

An Evaluation Of The Effects Of A Leisure Education Curriculum On Deliquents' Motivation, Knowledge, And Behavior Changes Related To Boredom, Paul Finn Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents today have more unsupervised and unstructured free time than ever before. Poor decisions by youth during periods of free time may lead to substance abuse, teen pregnancy and juvenile delinquency. The highest frequency of juvenile crime, a major social problem, occurs during the 2-4 hours following the end of the school day. Research has demonstrated the benefits of engaging adolecents in prosocial leisure activity. However, no research has studied the issues of free time and leisure education with a delinquent population. This paper documents the impact of a leisure education curriculum on a population of delinquent youth in a …

Factors Influencing User-Level Success In Police Informationsharing: An Examination Of Florida's Finder System, Jr Ernest Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An important post-9/11 objective has been to connect law enforcement agencies so they can share information that is routinely collected by police. This low-level information, gathered from sources such as traffic tickets, calls for service, incident reports and field contacts, is not widely shared but might account for as much as 97% of the data held in police records systems. U.S. policy and law assume that access to this information advances crime control and counterterrorism efforts. The scarcity of functioning systems has limited research opportunities to test this assumption or offer guidance to police leaders considering investments in information sharing. …

Police Organizational Performance In The State Of Florida:Confirmatory Analysis Of The Relationship Of The Environment And Design Structure To Performance, Jeffrey Goltz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To date, police organizations have not been rigorously analyzed by organizational scholars and most analysis of these organizations has been captured through a single construct. The purpose of this study is to develop confirmatory police organizational analysis by validating a multi-dimensional conceptual framework that explains the relationships among three constructs: environmental constraints, the design structures of police organizations, and organizational performance indicators. The modeling is deeply rooted in contingency theory, and the influence of isomorphism and institutional theory on the covariance structure model are investigated. One hundred and thirteen local police organizations from the State of Florida are included in …

Predicting Alcohol And Substance Abuse Treatment Outcomes Among Hispanic And African American Substance Abusers, Dawna-Cricket-Martita Meehan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol and drug use and abuse are significant concerns in the United States, yet few studies have investigated how cultural factors, such as acculturative type and acculturative stress, impact substance abuse treatment outcomes. In this study, African American (n = 171) and Hispanic (n = 101) substance abusers' acculturative type and acculturative stress levels were compared to substance abuse treatment outcome. Although the results indicated that acculturative type did not predict substance abuse treatment outcome, a positive correlation between acculturative stress and alcohol and substance abuse problems emerged among the combined and Hispanic samples. In the combined and Hispanic groups, …

A Faith-Based Program Evaluation: Moral Development Of Seminary Students At The Louisiana State Penitentiary, Bruce Sabin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to conduct an outcomes-based program evaluation for the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola) campus of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The study included one primary research question, with two subquestions. The primary research question asked to what extent students in the program developed moral judgment consistent with program goals of rehabilitating students and preparing them for effective ministry. The first subquestion asked whether statistically significant differences existed in the moral reasoning of students of different class years. The second subquestion asked whether statistically significant differences existed in the moral reasoning of students of different …

Falling Down: The Influence Of Traffic Patterns And Availability Of Emergency Medical Service Personnel On The Lethality Of Violent Encounters, Nicholas Libby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the impact of traffic patterns and the availability of emergency medical services on the lethality of violent interpersonal encounters. Key situational and contextual factors are controlled using the criminal events perspective. Data were taken from the 2002 National Incident-Based Reporting System of the FBI, as well as from fire/rescue and EMS services of Memphis, TN, Cincinnati, OH, and Richmond, VA. Additive models of logistic regression analysis revealed that fire/rescue availability, firearm use, incidents arising out of arguments, outdoor locations, and victim gender are the most consistent predictors of whether or not a violent incident will result in …

The Impact Of Participation In The Johnson City, Tn Citizen's Police Academy., Angela Elkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A Citizen's Police Academy allows citizens to attend the police academy to learn more about police departments and police work. While increasing in popularity, very little research has focused on participant impact. This study examines the impact of the Johnson City CPA on participants' attitudes and beliefs about police work. Surveys were analyzed to discover differences in age, education levels, gender and prior interest in police work concerning satisfaction, importance of training, and behavior change. Older respondents reported the most benefit from participation, while younger respondents were more likely to change their behaviors. Those with mid level educations gained the …

Comorbidity Of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Gender With Internalizing And Externalizing Symptoms., Anna Louise Peterson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the association between internalizing and externalizing symptoms, gender, and the diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Participants included 104 males and 74 females, aged 6 to 16 from a diagnostic clinic. Parents and teachers completed the Attention Deficit Disorders Evaluation Scale, Second Edition (ADDES-2) to determine whether they met the criteria for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) in order to measure internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Regression analyses indicated partial support for association between inattention and internalizing symptoms, with higher ratings of inattention found for both anxiety and depression as rated by parents and higher …

Community Coalitions: Implications For Educational Policy And Administrators, A Study Of Anderson Elementary In The Anderson Weed And Seed Neighborhood., Mary A. Rausch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2001, the Anderson Neighborhood of Bristol, Tennessee, received official recognition as a Weed and Seed site by the United States Department of Justice. This designation is provided to a local coalition of committed community members organized to “weed” out the elements that contribute to crime and delinquency in a targeted neighborhood and “seed” in strategies to build strong neighborhoods. Anderson Elementary School is a key partner in the effort and the conduit for a variety of coalition initiatives.

Through investigation of measures and surveys administered at Anderson Elementary School, the study was designed to ascertain if there were improvements …

Juvenile Commitment Rate: The Effects Of Gender, Race, Parents, And School., Mitchell Andrew Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze those factors that affect the commitment rate of juveniles and how outside variables such as gender, race, parents, and school attendance affect the commitment rate of crime and delinquency. The variables used for this study came from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) data collected by Esbensen and Osgood (1999). The analysis revealed that females are more likely to have a higher commit rate than males, that Whites have a higher commit rate than other races, that those juveniles living with their father have a lower commit rate than those living …

Intimate Violence: The Effects Of Family, Threatened Egotism, And Reciprocity., Jessica Lynne Holt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was undertaken in an attempt to investigate the impact of family, threatened egotism, and reciprocity on a person’s use of intimate violence. Threatened egotism proposes that aggression is the result of high but unstable self-esteem, which is conceptualized as high self-esteem coupled with high narcissism. Self-report questionnaires were administered to randomly selected cluster samples of 423 college students, 147 males and 276 females. The mean age is approximately 22 with 93% indicating they are White and 7% non-White. While no support was found for threatened egotism, violence witnessed in the family of origin and reciprocity were found to …

A Qualitative Study: Gendered Perceptions Of Bullying Among Adolescents At A Boys And Girls Club., Beverly Small Chandley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bullying is a form of peer violence needing extensive research to help understand the differences in gender for the prevention of such behavior. Most research has been performed in school settings and in a quantitative manner. This study was conducted by six researchers in an after-school facility with a qualitative approach. A minimum of 15 hours per researcher was spent observing behaviors and 20 interviews were performed. A grounded theory approach was used for the analysis of data which tend to show more similarities than differences in the way children bully as well as their perceptions of bullying.

The Alternatives To Detention Program : Assessment Of One Kentucky County's Efforts To Deinstitutionalize Status Offenders., Arthur Hayden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the beginning of the juvenile justice movement in the United States over a century ago, considerable debate has persisted among policymakers and practitioners concerning the causes of juvenile offending and the appropriate responses to control it. Although the juvenile justice system was conceived and developed to provide individualized, benevolent treatment to young offenders, the system has gradually shifted to resemble a more punitive, adult criminal justice model. While presently the system includes characteristics of both the juvenile and adult justice models, future directions are uncertain. This is problematic for young offenders who need and deserve more solicitous care in …

Gender Differences In Characteristics Of Intimate Partner Homicide Offenders, Heather Lynn Wilson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses whether or not male and female intimate partner homicide offenders differ in a variety of characteristics using data from the Chicago Women's Health Risk Study, 1995-1998. Frequencies of male and female intimate partner homicide offender's risk factors were compared to look at how they differ. The areas that were explored were demographics, prior abuse, and the criminal justices response. A number of gender differences were found. Directions for future research pertaining to intimate partner homicide offenders are discussed.

Designing A Document Delivery System For Ucf S Interlibrary Loan Department, Abha Y. Trivedi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Interlibrary Loan entails obtaining copies of library materials not found in the library's collection on behalf of the library's patrons (borrowing), as well as providing copies of library materials requested by other libraries (lending). The dynamic nature of today's library environment is well illustrated by the rapid changes occurring in the role of interlibrary loan. The vision statement of the University of Central Florida Library is: The library performs a central role of adding value to information for the academic community by creatively improving and providing information resources and services. The library strives to create an environment that encourages the …

Planning Release: An Evaluation Of The Allegheny County Jail Project, Rae Dorer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of the Allegheny County Jail Project is to allow inmates to maintain social bonds by obtaining meaningful employment and reduce the rate of recidivism. The rates of recidivism were evaluated for the Allegheny County Jail Project and then compared to the rate of recidivism of the general population of the Allegheny County Jail to measure the success of the program. A population of 126 enrollees, the first and second year enrollees of the program combined, was selected for this evaluation from September 2001 to June 2003, and then a follow up of one year was conducted to find …