Digital Commons Network^™

Tracking System Effectiveness For Texas Police Departments In Low-Income Communities, Jakob Scarcelli

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Risk Factors For Fatal Intimate Partner Violence And Domestic Violence Services Provided, Faith E. Alves

Honors Theses

The current study assessed the COVID-19 pandemic-related changes in risk factors for fatal intimate partner violence (IPV) among female victims. It additionally analyzed IPV services received before and during the pandemic. Data came from a system that most domestic violence (DV) agencies in Connecticut utilize to record their contacts with their clients, including an initial screening through a police-social service intervention. Results indicated that unemployment of the partner was significantly higher in the during-COVID group. Additionally, the delivery of criminal justice services was significantly higher in the pre-COVID group whereas delivery of law enforcement services was significantly higher in the …

Analyzing Methods To Mock The Ingestion Of Controlled Substances Within A Hair Strand Utilizing Libs Technology, Caitlin Deluke

Honors Theses

The analysis of controlled substance metabolites within the hair strand have been relied on within the scientific community, particularly in regard to Forensic Science and Criminal Justice practices. A common conflict when analyzing a strand, however, involves manipulation of one’s hair, be it through bleach and dyes or detox shampoos. Therefore, research must be conducted to determine how these manipulation efforts affect the concentrations detectable when it comes to lab analyses. This would allow for clarification within data analysis and potentially prove purposeful intent to cover up the ingestion of a controlled substance. In order to research these manipulation effects …

“Have You Seen Me?”: Forensic Art For Human Identification, Mckenzie Stommen

Honors Theses

Forensic art for human identification is used to identify victims, suspects, and unidentified decedents. The field is highly interdisciplinary, and forensic artists draw on a broad range of skills, knowledge, and relationships with colleagues to complete this work. This paper will focus mainly on age progression and forensic facial reconstruction, although more applications of forensic art do exist. The case study in forensic art discussed here took the form of an age progression.

New developments in artificial intelligence, facial recognition, computed tomography, and DNA have implications for forensic art, and have already begun to find a place in the field. …

The Anti-Racist Pedagogical Approach To Jane Eyre And The Victorian Novel, Jazmine Casas

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Destroying The Myth Of The Monolith: A Historical Observation Of The Black Conservative From Then To Now, Jessica Reese

Honors Theses

Although it is not often reflected at the ballot box, Black America has a wide variety of political thought processes mostly rooted in socially conservative backgrounds. There has been a false, and frankly disrespectful, narrative that all Black Americans affirm to the same political ideology, vote in similar patterns, and align with the same political party. The uprising of Black Americans, specifically within the young electorate, who hold political conservative thought processes is the inspiration of this thesis. Starting with the 1780s and progressing through the 2020s, this thesis will observe the historical shifts and expansion of Black conservatism in …

Wait, Is That Legal?: A Defense Of The Rights Of The Mentally Ill In The United States Prison System, Sophie Owen

Honors Theses

The ever-evolving question of what the legal requirements are regarding providing mental health care in prisons has been debated for decades. This thesis presents a meta-analysis that examines the Eighth Amendment Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause in regards to the mentally ill in the Criminal Justice System and applies it to present day prison systems in the United States. This research creates a clear picture of the inadequate care that is provided and the systemic issues that allow this level of mistreatment and lack of care to prevail. It examines the requirements for mental health care as set by the …

Rejecting The Paradigm: Reimagining The Philosophy Of Punishment To Address The Criminal Justice Crisis In Twenty-First Century America, Jon E. Mcgee

Honors Theses

Legal punishment has been subject to cacophonous debate and transformation throughout the history of American political and philosophical discourse. As a growing body of academic literature indicates a failure in the punitive techniques practiced by American institutions, the necessity for a precise diagnosis of such ailments paired with a new model addressing American concerns for reform remains increasingly pertinent. With due consideration to the previous recommendations of scholars, this paper illustrates the crisis in criminal justice currently felt in the United States. Through statistical, theoretical, and comparative analyses, existing alternatives are examined and an alternative fit to serve the United …

Descriptive Representation In State Legislatures: Exploring The Educational Backgrounds Of State Representatives And Senators, Skylar Dykes

Honors Theses

This project will investigate the influence of descriptive representation as it pertains to efficacy in a democratic system. It is possible that policy outputs are heavily dependent upon motivations of an elected official, even more so than the anticipated or predictable effects of an ideological stance. We expect that, following the juxtaposition of a state legislator’s voting records with his or her biographical data, these claims will be supported by data related to higher education and its funding allocations. We are especially interested in the specific relationship between the educational background of state legislators, and whether or not a correlation …

Csi Effect: Exploring Impact Among Mississippi Lawyers, Jennie Odom

Honors Theses

The “CSI Effect” suggests that a growing number of jurors often have unrealistic expectations concerning the amount of forensic evidence which should be reasonably presented to convict an alleged criminal, and this misconception arises from watching heavily dramatized crime shows such as the CSI franchise. While many scholars have examined the CSI Effect, one critical perspective is often missing from the existing literature, that of the lawyers. Therefore, this project worked to explore the perspectives of both defense attorneys and prosecutors. Personal interviews were conducted to gain insight and perspective regarding the CSI Effect, whether these perspectives had impacted the …

Evaluating The Effects Of Initial Testing On Misinformation Suggestibility For Eyewitnessed Videos, Wryleigh Shearin-Anderson

Honors Theses

Exposure to misleading details following an eyewitnessed event often leads to memory errors for these misleading details—a pattern termed the misinformation effect. A recent debate is whether completing a memory test after a witnessed event, but before exposure to misleading details, can reduce subsequent misinformation (a protective effect of testing; PET) or increase subsequent misinformation (retrieval-enhanced suggestibility; RES). We further evaluated the initial testing effects using witnessed videos (vs. static images) which often yield a RES pattern and using household scenes which often yield a PET pattern. Following study of four household videos (e.g., bathroom, bedroom, etc.) that depicted an …

A Comparative Analysis Of Statutory Remedies For Wrongful Convictions In The Fifty States, Abigail St. John

Honors Theses

Thousands of individuals have been wrongfully convicted across the United States. When an exoneration occurs, an individual’s conviction is absolved, and their innocence is proved through newly discovered evidence. While it might be impossible to protect from the errors of the criminal justice system, it is in the hands of the state to compensate the wrongly convicted. There is an abundance of research that focuses on reforming the existing wrongful conviction compensation legislation, but there is a lack of scholarly data that explains the motivations behind this compensation. Moreover, few researchers have considered the role of partisanship and political parties …

An Investigation Of The Effect Of Temperature And Humidity On The Formation Of Antemortem Root Banding, Mae Griffin

Honors Theses

Microscopical hair analysis has become a controversial practice within forensic science primarily due to issues related to interpretation, and specifically overstating the significance of an association. The validity of microscopical hair comparisons has suffered from intense scrutiny by the forensic community, with one criticism being a paucity of peer reviewed research. An often-unrecognized aspect of microscopical hair analysis is its use in providing reconstructive information based on identifiable features. One example of this is postmortem root band or PMRB. PMRB is the formation of a band slightly above the root bulb and below the skin surface on the hair of …

Civil Commitment: An Assessment Of The Alcohol And Drug Statute In Mississippi, Elizabeth Foley

Honors Theses

This thesis assesses the alcohol and drug commitment statute in Mississippi. Substance use disorder has impacted millions of people around the world, including within the U.S. Civil commitment is one of the many policies aimed at helping those with substance use disorder; however, it is highly debated and under researched. This thesis looks specifically at the alcohol and drug commitment statute in Mississippi, interviewing legal and medical professionals who are responsible for implementation of this statute. The findings of this thesis include a lack of uniformity in the implementation of the statute and several areas where procedures can and ought …

A Social Learning Perspective On Sexual Coercion, Mallory Ferrick

Honors Theses

Akers’ (2009) social learning theory proposes that individuals learn deviant behavior through the same learning processes by which they learn conventional behavior. Social learning theory has been applied as an explanation for an array of deviant behaviors; however, no known published research has explored the theory’s ability to explain the perpetration of sexual coercion. This project investigated the extent to which Akers’ social learning theory can be applied to sexual coercion. This project utilized a sample of undergraduate students enrolled in various courses at a private four-year institution in the northeast. Descriptive statistics revealed a lack of variability among responses …

Assessment Of Motivation In Human Anatomy And Physiology Students, Mary Whitehead

Honors Theses

Motivation is the key to success in difficult science courses such as Human Anatomy and Physiology. Students may possess intrinsic motivation, or motivation for enjoyment, extrinsic motivation, or motivation for a reward, or amotivation, a lack of motivation at all. The goal of this experiment was to identify better ways of helping students succeed in Human Anatomy and Physiology (HAP) at the University of Mississippi, determine when motivational efforts seem to decrease during the semester, and identify how to better develop intrinsic motivation in students. There was a significant relationship between many of the student’s survey responses to their exam …

The Femicide Epidemic: A Case Study Analysis Of Governmental Response And Recommendations For Combatting Femicide In El Salvador, Chloe Rizk

Honors Theses

Femicide refers to the misogynistic killing of women by men. Globally, femicide is the leading cause of premature deaths for women. El Salvador notoriously has one of the highest femicide rates in the world. This thesis analyzes the effectiveness of current Salvadoran governmental responses to femicide using quantitative and qualitative analysis. This research found that, despite a lack of enforcement, there was a relative reduction in femicide rates following major governmental responses. Most notably, following the passage of VAW-focused laws from 2011 to 2012 and the appointment of a particular unit to investigate gender-based violence, femicides in El Salvador decreased …

Juvenile Life Without Parole: Exposing The Parallels Between Juvenile Offenders And Those Who Sentence Them, Autumn Fortenberry

Honors Theses

This thesis will discuss Juvenile Life Without Parole sentencing (JLWOP) from three perspectives: (1) the evolving standard of decency as developed through relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases; (2) the cognitive and psychosocial development of adolescents that creates reduced culpability in juvenile offenders; and (3) the justifications and implications of punishment as-applied to juvenile offenders. In my fourth chapter, I argue that JLWOP sentencing disregards the humanity and transformable nature of juvenile offenders. I will then draw a parallel between the implications of a juvenile offender's underdeveloped cognitive functions on their decision-making processes and the implications of a trial judge's underdeveloped …

Comparing And Contrasting Campus Sexual Assault Policies And Definitions From Universities In The Southeastern Conference, Remy Heinen

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the campus sexual assault policies and definitions in place at the 14 universities in the Southeastern Conference in order to compare and contrast them. Data was collected from each university’s online resources regarding sexual misconduct and an instrument based on a 2014 White House Task Force was used to compare the schools’ definitions and policies.

A Study Of Financial Accounting And Ethics Through Analysis Of Case Studies, Noah Nix

Honors Theses

As part of the Patterson School of Accountancy’s agreement with the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, this thesis was completed through the alternative thesis program. As part of that program, students take ACCY 420, a class that meets for 2.5 hours every Wednesday night. During this class, we either meet speakers from various accounting firms, noted in the “Speaker Summaries”, or work on cases assigned to us. The cases range in size and scope. For example, in the first case, we were asked to compare the two cities we wanted to live in full time. In other cases, we were …

On The Intersections Of Childhood Maltreatment, Self-Control, And Behavioral Outcomes Across The Life-Course, Ameleigh Bippen

Honors Theses

Childhood abuse and neglect are highly deleterious experiences that a number of children continue to encounter. The purpose of the current discussion is to examine the impact of childhood abuse and neglect on the growth and development of self-control in early childhood. In service of this goal, several methods were employed, including a review of the historical and current research on the development of self-control. In addition to this, specific scientific theories and their advancements were analyzed to provide further insight into the connection between poor impulse regulation (and decision-making) and downstream linkages with criminal offending. Perhaps not surprisingly, evidence …

Why No Rallying Force? Factors Of Rassemblement National Underperformance In 2021 French Regional Elections, Amy Rhodes

Honors Theses

Marine Le Pen remains popular within national French politics. However, following the June 2021 French regional elections, her far-right party, Rassemblement National (RN), failed to win a single region. This thesis seeks to explore the factors behind the RN’s surprising lack of success through a comparative historical approach. This thesis also evaluates the applicability of the second-order model on these elections. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA) and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur (PACA) serve as case studies for this research based upon their diverse electoral results. Regional newspaper articles, national newspaper articles, and candidates’ social media posts from the election cycles serve as the data …

Hate Crimes: A Statistical Comparison Of Reported Hate Crimes And Victimizations During The Obama And Trump Administrations, Daniel Ramsey

Honors Theses

This thesis attempts to study and assess potential trends in reported hate crime statistics under the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program database along with hate crime victimizations under the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) during President Obama’s first term (2009-2012) and President Trump’s term (2017-2020). The research question addressed in this study includes: a) What trends are evident during the Obama and Trump administrations regarding hate crimes? To assess potential trends in hate crimes and victimizations, a series of charts and tables were compiled that contain the total number of hate crimes …

Investigation Into The Detection Of Drug Metabolites In Latent Fingerprints, Paige Oden

Honors Theses

Fingerprinting has proved a useful mode of identification for thousands of years. Following numerous technological advancements, it has become a technique for categorizing and keeping track of people over large geographical spaces for almost half of a century. Those living in the beginnings of fingerprinting used them as a form of signature as it was something completely unique to each individual that could not be replicated. Although they are no longer used as the primary form of signature, it certainly remains a biomarker of identity. Over the past century the practice has been heavily refined in order to identify people …

Confronting Stigma: Ethical Leadership, Influence, And The Dignity Of People Struggling With Addiction, Jacob Fennell

Honors Theses

People struggling with addiction in the United States of America deserve better treatment. The current stigma of people struggling with addiction as moral failures perpetuates a policy of drugs that sees them as criminal. This policy should be repealed and a better culture of care should be created. People struggling with addiction deserve a standard of treatment based on the core tenet of human dignity. In engaging with the history and cultural beliefs that are the foundation of this mistreatment, this same tenet of dignity must be upheld. This specifically comes into my project when exploring methods of changing these …

Reimaging Take-Up In Challenging Times: Determining The Predictive Value Of Publicly Available Socio-Demographic Data For Social Assistance Programs, Margaret Dempsey

Honors Theses

Social assistance programs throughout the nation have experienced major obstacles to both funding and service provision related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study examines one strategy that a local Chattanooga nonprofit organization, Chattanooga Endeavors, explored to increase the rate of participation in a 21-day online program that assists justice involved individuals to address goals related to employment, education, and public assistance. The organization has access to judgment orders from Hamilton County (TN) Criminal Court and has used this information to identify individuals who have been sentenced to serve a prison term and who are eligible for an outreach program …

The Effect Of Trauma On The Mental Health Of Forensic Scientists, Carley Sistrunk

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to determine the existence of any correlation between forensic scientists experiencing trauma and levels of mental health disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD. A survey created in Qualtrics with demographic questions and measurement questionnaires for each mental health disorder was utilized for this study. While there was little statistical analysis due to a small sample size, results showed a correlation between experiencing anxiety and PTSD. Research also illustrated that there were no respondents that reported having no level of the mental health disorders listed.

Keywords: forensic scientist, trauma, mental health, anxiety, depression, PTSD

Effect Of Coastal Environments On The Post Mortem Interval Of A Pig Carrion: Implications For Human Decomposition, Morgan Hough

Honors Theses

Forensic taphonomy involves the use of forensic techniques to determine the post mortem interval of a corpse. There are many factors that are known to influence the rate of decomposition, such as the temperature, season, soil type, moisture potential of the soil, and presence of insects or other decomposers. Previous studies in this field have focused primarily on decomposition patterns in mountainous environments in terms of terrestrial habitats or strictly aquatic environments, leaving this particular aspect of coastal settings to be unexplored.

To study these effects, the superior portion of a female pig was buried in sandy soil in mid-October …

Mississippi Crime And Corrections: The Effects Of House Bill 585 On Crime And Incarceration Rates, Madisyn Flammia

Honors Theses

The state of Mississippi’s historically high incarceration rate peaked in the year 2013, when it was the second highest nationwide. To combat this problem, House Bill 585 was passed into law in 2014. The law consisted of multiple reforms, which were part of an effort to toughen sentencing for violent offenders and reduce severity of punishment for non-violent criminals, with the aim of reducing incarceration and refocusing prison space for violent crimes. I employed difference in differences and synthetic control methododologies to examine the effects of House Bill 585 on crime and imprisonment rates. My results revealed that House Bill …

#Blacklivesmatter: Critical Political Implications Of Twitter Discourse In The Wake Of George Floyd, Jillian C. Waterhouse

Honors Theses

As we move forward into a digitalized age of communication, social media becomes increasingly powerful with each passing day. Digital forms of interaction foster an active political discourse and influence the behavior of both the public and government officials. The freedom to deliver public statements at will has been effectively utilized by individuals, local activists, and representatives of the legislative branch to interact in discourse concerning current events, therefore furthering the mobilization of social media to shape the American public policy stage as a whole. As a result of the accessibility of the internet, social media has become the most …