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2016

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Two Models Of Pre-Plea Discovery In Criminal Cases: An Empirical Comparison, Jenia I. Turner, Allison D. Redlich Jan 2016

Two Models Of Pre-Plea Discovery In Criminal Cases: An Empirical Comparison, Jenia I. Turner, Allison D. Redlich

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Our criminal justice system resolves most of its cases through plea bargains. Yet the U.S. Supreme Court has not required that any evidence, even exculpatory or impeachment evidence, be provided to the defense before a guilty plea. As a result, state rules on pre-plea discovery differ widely. While some jurisdictions follow an “open-file” model, imposing relatively broad discovery obligations on prosecutors early in the criminal process, others follow a more restrictive, “closed-file” model and allow the prosecution to avoid production of critical evidence either entirely or until very near the time of trial. Though the advantages and disadvantages of both …

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Reply To Miriam Baer And Michael Doucette’S Reviews Of Two Models Of Pre-Plea Discovery In Criminal Cases, Jenia I. Turner, Allison D. Redlich Jan 2016

Reply To Miriam Baer And Michael Doucette’S Reviews Of Two Models Of Pre-Plea Discovery In Criminal Cases, Jenia I. Turner, Allison D. Redlich

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

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Confrontation As A Rule Of Production, Pamela R. Metzger Jan 2016

Confrontation As A Rule Of Production, Pamela R. Metzger

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The Confrontation Clause is cost blind; the Supreme Court is not. In 2004, in Crawford v. Washington, the Supreme Court trumpeted its commitment to a procedural Confrontation Clause that required the prosecution to produce its witnesses in court, regardless of the cost or inconvenience. In 2007, in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, the Court retreated, offering courts, legislatures, and prosecutors an easy way to avoid Confrontation-laden trials. On the one hand, the Court warned that legislatures and courts could not “suspend the Confrontation Clause,” even if there were “other ways — and in some cases better ways — to challenge or verify” …

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Taking Dignity Seriously: Excavating The Backdrop Of The Eighth Amendment, Meghan J. Ryan Jan 2016

Taking Dignity Seriously: Excavating The Backdrop Of The Eighth Amendment, Meghan J. Ryan

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The U.S. punishment system is in turmoil. We have a historically unprecedented number of offenders in prison, and our prisoners are serving longer sentences than in any other country. States are surreptitiously experimenting with formulas for lethal injection cocktails, and some prisoners are suffering from botched executions. Despite this tumult, the Eighth Amendment of our Constitution does place limits on the punishments that may be imposed and how they may be implemented. The difficulty, though, is that the Supreme Court’s Eighth Amendment jurisprudence is a bit of a mess. The Court has been consistent in stating that a focus on …

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Crossing The Line: Daubert, Dual Roles, And The Admissibility Of Forensic Mental Health Testimony, Sara Gordon Jan 2016

Crossing The Line: Daubert, Dual Roles, And The Admissibility Of Forensic Mental Health Testimony, Sara Gordon

All Faculty Publications

Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals often testify as forensic experts in civil commitment and criminal competency proceedings. When an individual clinician assumes both a treatment and a forensic role in the context of a single case, however, that clinician forms a dual relationship with the patient—a practice that creates a conflict of interest and violates professional ethical guidelines. The court, the parties, and the patient are all affected by this conflict and the biased testimony that may result from dual relationships. When providing forensic testimony, the mental health professional’s primary duty is to the court, not to the patient, …

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Political Beings: Sociopolitical Influence On Federal District Court Judges' Criminal Sentencing Behavior, Scott Harris Jan 2016

Political Beings: Sociopolitical Influence On Federal District Court Judges' Criminal Sentencing Behavior, Scott Harris

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Judicial scholars have long debated what factors influence judges' decision-making. Several competing theories have offered relatively parsimonious explanations for the motivations of appellate judges, but sources of influence for trial judges are relatively understudied. One area ripe for testing potential determinants of trial court behavior is the criminal sentencing behavior of federal district court judges. Recent empirical research has examined federal district court sentencing, but this research has often focused solely on the effects of legal policy change and judges' personal partisanship. These efforts are informative but ignore other potentially important contextual determinants of sentencing behavior, such as sentiment in …

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The Opinions And Attitudes Of Police Officers To Proposed Changes To Law Enforcement, Jason C. Contessa Jan 2016

The Opinions And Attitudes Of Police Officers To Proposed Changes To Law Enforcement, Jason C. Contessa

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The field of policing has recently come under the public scrutiny due to the events surrounding the deaths of several citizens at the hands of police officers. Although not the first time policing has been criticized, the issues have caused the country to become increasingly divided on whether or not American police forces are in need of reform. There has been an overwhelming amount of complaints against law enforcement and suggestions to improve policies. As political and public figures have taken sides and police administration has made statements regarding the issues, the voices of those that would be most affected …

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A Qualitative Exploration Of The Use Of Contraband Cell Phones In Secured Facilities, Margaret E. Henderson Jan 2016

A Qualitative Exploration Of The Use Of Contraband Cell Phones In Secured Facilities, Margaret E. Henderson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Offenders accepting contraband cell phones in secured facilities violate state corrections law, and the possession of these cell phones is a form of risk taking behavior. When offenders continue this risky behavior, it affects their decision making in other domains where they are challenging authorities; and may impact the length of their incarceration. This qualitative phenomenological study examined the lived experience of ex-offenders who had contraband cell phones in secured correctional facilities in order to better understand their reasons for taking risks with contraband cell phones. The theoretical foundation for this study was Trimpop's risk-homeostasis and risk-motivation theories that suggest …

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Hospital Preparedness: Effects Of Designated Preparedness Coordinators On Hospital Preparedness For Special Hazard Classes, Rodney Sinelair Jones Jan 2016

Hospital Preparedness: Effects Of Designated Preparedness Coordinators On Hospital Preparedness For Special Hazard Classes, Rodney Sinelair Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since 9/11, little statistical rigor has been placed on identifying the correlates of hospital preparedness. This quantitative study explores the research question: Is there a correlation between the employment of a designated hospital preparedness coordinator and the reported level of preparedness for: (a) general preparedness; (b) chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) events; (c) pandemic disease outbreaks; (d) mass casualty events; and (e) internal infrastructure failure, as assessed by an online survey. Alternative analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between access to resources and the 5 dependent variables. Using complexity theory as the theoretical framework, point biserial correlation and …

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Job Satisfaction In Law Enforcement Officers According To Generational Cohorts, Johnathon Michael Sharp Jan 2016

Job Satisfaction In Law Enforcement Officers According To Generational Cohorts, Johnathon Michael Sharp

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Job satisfaction in law enforcement is important because it promotes continuity of a professional and cohesive police force that works well together, follows proper policy and procedures, and provides the services needed to the public. Given multigenerational law enforcement officers are now working together, its impact on job satisfaction is not known. This study focused on how generational cohort membership impacts the job satisfaction of law enforcement officers based on Mannheim's theory of generations and Locke's range of affect theory. It utilized a survey design where job satisfaction was assessed using the Job Descriptive Index, Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, and Job …

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Best Practices For Controlling Tuberculosis - Training In Correctional Facilities: A Mixed Methods Evaluation, Ellen Reynolds Murray Jan 2016

Best Practices For Controlling Tuberculosis - Training In Correctional Facilities: A Mixed Methods Evaluation, Ellen Reynolds Murray

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to the literature, identifying and treating tuberculosis (TB) in correctional facilities have been problematic for the inmates and also for the communities into which inmates are released. The importance of training those who can identify this disease early into incarceration is vital to halt the transmission. Although some training has been done by public health authorities for corrections, there is little to no evaluation of such training. The aim of this mixed methods retrospective study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a training to control TB in correctional facilities. The Southeastern National Tuberculosis Center (SNTC) conducted 12 trainings between …

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Effect Of The Criminal Justice Curriculum On The Attitudes Of 12th-Grade Students Toward The Police, Willie Howard Bradley Jan 2016

Effect Of The Criminal Justice Curriculum On The Attitudes Of 12th-Grade Students Toward The Police, Willie Howard Bradley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

While the use of criminal justice courses and law-related education programs have been shown to serve as a crime prevention and deterrence mechanism against school crime and violence, and help students to gain positive experiences and attitudes toward law enforcement, many high schools still do not offer criminal justice courses. The purpose of this quasiexperimental study was to compare the attitudes of 12th-grade students from a school district in Massachusetts who took a criminal justice course to 12th-grade students from another school district in Massachusetts who did not to determine if there is a statistically significant difference between the groups. …

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Social Disorganization Theory: The Role Of Diversity In New Jersey's Hate Crimes, Dana Maria Ciobanu Jan 2016

Social Disorganization Theory: The Role Of Diversity In New Jersey's Hate Crimes, Dana Maria Ciobanu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The reported number of hate crimes in New Jersey continues to remain high despite the enforcement of laws against perpetrators. The purpose of this correlational panel study was to test Shaw & McKay's theory of social disorganization by examining the relationship between demographic diversity and hate crime rates. This study focused on analyzing the relationship between the level of diversity, residential mobility, unemployment, family disruption, proximity to urban areas, and population density in all 21 New Jersey counties and hate crime rates. The existing data of Federal Bureau of Investigations' hate crime rates and the U.S. Census Bureau's demographic diversity, …

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What Difference Do Bystanders Make? The Association Of Bystander Involvement With Victim Outcomes In A Community Sample, Sherry L. Hamby, Marcela C. Weber, John H. Grych, Victoria Banyard Jan 2016

What Difference Do Bystanders Make? The Association Of Bystander Involvement With Victim Outcomes In A Community Sample, Sherry L. Hamby, Marcela C. Weber, John H. Grych, Victoria Banyard

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: To fill gaps in the bystander literature by describing patterns of bystander involvement and associations between bystander involvement and victim outcomes across different types of emotional, physical, and sexual victimizations and to expand these considerations to a rural rather than urban sample. Method: Adults and adolescents (n = 1,703) were surveyed about bystander actions, bystander safety, and victim outcomes (injury, disrupted routine, fear level, and current mental health) for 10 forms of victimization. Results: Bystanders were present for roughly 2 thirds of most victimization types (59% to 67%), except sexual victimization (17%). Relatives were the most common bystanders of …

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The Relationship Between Juvenile Sex Offender Registration And Depression In Adulthood, Sharon E. Denniston Jan 2016

The Relationship Between Juvenile Sex Offender Registration And Depression In Adulthood, Sharon E. Denniston

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Accounts of sexual abuse appear daily in the media. Rightfully, this issue demands attention. Juveniles may be victims; they may also be offenders who are subject to sex offender registration and notification (SORN) policies. Growing research finds that SORN policies fail to achieve intended public policy outcomes. Little is known, however, about the unintended consequences of SORN for juvenile offenders. This study contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of these policies on this population. Merton's concept of manifest and latent functions of purposive social action and an alternate non-criminogenic form of Lemert's secondary deviance proposition provided the …

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Adult Literacy Program Evaluation For First Year Traditional College Students, Yvette Joyce Mccauley Jan 2016

Adult Literacy Program Evaluation For First Year Traditional College Students, Yvette Joyce Mccauley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

First year traditional college students required to register in a sequence of remedial courses prior to enrollment in credit-bearing courses often get discouraged by the financial burden and time commitments of this additional work and, subsequently, decide to drop out. The purpose of this qualitative program evaluation was to examine the effectiveness of the remedial adult literacy program being used at a 4-year urban college in the northeast and assess the curriculum alignment with the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) standards. Knowles theory of andragogy, which suggests that adults are self-directed and expect to take responsibility for their own …

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Human Trafficking: The Health Of Men Forced Into Labor Trafficking In The United States, Christina Omole Jan 2016

Human Trafficking: The Health Of Men Forced Into Labor Trafficking In The United States, Christina Omole

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Human trafficking is a criminal act that occurs globally. It affects both women and men, but most studies have focused on female victims; few have explored trafficked men or their related health issues. Though there are many forms of trafficking, it is believed that most male victims are trafficked as forced labor. Using gender schema theory as a framework, this quantitative study examined archival data to identify the types of trafficking men are subjected to, their health ailments, and how these differ from the health ailments of trafficked women. Archival data from 124 individuals subjected to human trafficking in Florida …

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Young Adulthood As A Transitional Legal Category: Science, Social Change, And Justice Policy, Elizabeth S. Scott, Richard J. Bonnie, Laurence Steinberg Jan 2016

Young Adulthood As A Transitional Legal Category: Science, Social Change, And Justice Policy, Elizabeth S. Scott, Richard J. Bonnie, Laurence Steinberg

Faculty Scholarship

In the past decade, much attention has focused on developmental brain research and its implications for the regulation of crime. Public and policy interest has been directed primarily toward juveniles. In light of recent research, courts and legislatures increasingly have rejected the punitive response of the 1990s and embraced a developmental approach to young offenders. Of particular importance in propelling this trend has been the framework offered by the U.S. Supreme Court in a series of Eighth Amendment opinions that have rejected harsh adult sentences for juveniles. These decisions, supported by adolescent brain research, rested on two empirically based principles: …

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An Evaluation Of Service Learning For Associate Degree Nursing Students, Valerie Marie Pauli Jan 2016

An Evaluation Of Service Learning For Associate Degree Nursing Students, Valerie Marie Pauli

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to evaluate outcomes of the service-learning requirement in the Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) curriculum at the local college. The problem addressed in this study was that the local ASN program lacked formal evaluation of the service-learning requirement. Guided by Kolb's model of experiential learning, a goal-based, summative evaluation employed as a qualitative case study explored the perceptions of 20 stakeholders including graduates, faculty members, and key community informants. The research questions focused on how service learning influenced a student's learning of cultural competence and the impact service learning had on the community. …

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The Experience Of Being Unsheltered In Atlanta, Ikeranda Smith Jan 2016

The Experience Of Being Unsheltered In Atlanta, Ikeranda Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, it is estimated that millions of adults are homeless. Some individuals choose not to use homeless shelters or are ineligible for their use. Researchers have indicated that many unsheltered homeless are men over the age of 45 years. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the experiences with social services providers among unsheltered men. Understanding the social networks of unsheltered homeless and the use of spirituality or faith as a resource for coping was also examined, as a significant gap exists in the research on unsheltered homeless. Face-to-face, in-depth interviews were conducted with 8 …

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The Role Of Problem Behaviors In The Pathway From Abuse To Prostitution, Shante Williams Jan 2016

The Role Of Problem Behaviors In The Pathway From Abuse To Prostitution, Shante Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has suggested that behaviors beginning in childhood or adolescence may play a mediating role in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and involvement in prostitution. It is currently unknown how poor self-concept and low self-efficacy play a mediating relationship in this association. The primary purpose of this correlational study was to evaluate early youth problem behaviors such as poor self-concept and reduced self-efficacy as possible mediators in the association between childhood abuse/neglect and participation in prostitution during young adulthood. The central research questions explored the association between childhood maltreatment and involvement in prostitution, as well as how self-concept and self-efficacy …

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Teen Dating Violence: Co-Occurrence With Bullying Among African American Teens In South Florida, Rosemarie Hemmings Jan 2016

Teen Dating Violence: Co-Occurrence With Bullying Among African American Teens In South Florida, Rosemarie Hemmings

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teen dating violence and bullying are major public health concerns but are preventable. Both dating violence and bullying occur within similar social context and the prevalence of teen dating violence was highest for African American teens as reported on the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Social learning theory provides a foundation for understanding and changing behavior related to dating violence victimization and bully victimization. The research questions focused on relationships between bully and teen dating violence victimization when controlling for race/ethnicity, gender, substance abuse, age, and age of first sexual intercourse. Additionally, the potential mediating variable of spending time …

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Differential Reinforcement In The Online Radicalization Of Western Muslim Women Converts, Heather Cone Jan 2016

Differential Reinforcement In The Online Radicalization Of Western Muslim Women Converts, Heather Cone

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The emerging phenomenon of Western women Islamic converts learning radicalized ideology through social media constitutes a challenge to cyber policy makers hampered by a lack of gender-nuanced radicalization research. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative case study was to develop a greater understanding of how the differential reinforcement tenet of social learning theory may help to explain the conversion and radicalization of Western women towards a fundamentalist Islamic ideology through their participation in the social media. Key research questions explored how participation in online social media may create vulnerability towards radicalization and exploitation. The blogs of 3 different Western women …

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A Qualitative Study Of How Students Experienced Exclusionary Discipline Practices, Vera Veronica Holley Jan 2016

A Qualitative Study Of How Students Experienced Exclusionary Discipline Practices, Vera Veronica Holley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As a result of zero tolerance policies, a significant percentage of students who experience exclusions from schools also experience negative outcomes such as high dropout rates, academic failures, and encounters with juvenile justice agencies. While several researchers have found a relationship between unintended consequences of exclusions and juvenile delinquency, few have examined this phenomenon from the perspectives of juveniles who experienced exclusions. Guided by the framework of operant conditioning, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how students experienced exclusions from school. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants who experienced both exclusions from schools and involvement with …

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Emergency Responder Causal Reasoning Impact, Derek Skuzenski Jan 2016

Emergency Responder Causal Reasoning Impact, Derek Skuzenski

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This ethnographic and phenomenological study examined the relationship between the benefits and compensation afforded to emergency responders; their perceptions of work equity, equality, justice, and risk management; and the effect of perceived equity, equality, justice, and risk management on the execution of an emergency responder's duties. The data was collected through interviews with members of the culture group, including law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical responder's (n = 24). The interviews were audio recorded, then manually transcribed by the researcher. The raw data was coded for reoccurring themes and commonalities. The reoccurring themes were organized and displayed in tables …

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Methamphetamine Users And Gender Differences In Their Acceptance Of Long-Term Substance Abuse Treatment Programs, Kevin Garen Stepanyan Jan 2016

Methamphetamine Users And Gender Differences In Their Acceptance Of Long-Term Substance Abuse Treatment Programs, Kevin Garen Stepanyan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Methamphetamine abuse is a problem of public health importance among men and women in the United States. The two genders are affected even though the majority treatment programs are tailored for male alcohol addicts. The gender differences are prevalent in the acceptance of long-term substance abuse treatment programs. The study focuses on gender differences in methamphetamine abuse and whether both male and female addicts benefit from treatment. Respondent's suitability, participant's abuse condition, treatment, and progress questionnaires and interviews are used to collect data from 50 male and 50 female methamphetamine users at the Impact Residential Program in Montreal, Canada. Together, …

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Improving Child Welfare: African Canadian Youth's Postcare Options, Irene Elizabeth Mcintosh Jan 2016

Improving Child Welfare: African Canadian Youth's Postcare Options, Irene Elizabeth Mcintosh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Thousands of youth exit Ontario's Child Welfare System (CWS) each year and perform poorly after returning to the community. However, understanding African Canadian youths' perspectives about their experiences and needs was problematic because no outcome data was available in the Canadian database. Using a phenomenological design grounded in a constructivist framework, the purpose of this study was to explore the meaning(s) that African Canadian youth ascribed to positive outcomes on exiting the CWS. A purposeful sample included 10 participants (6 females and 4 males, ranging in age from 19-24). The data collection method was face-to-face interviews with hand coding used …

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Prolonged Exposure To Non-School Related Media Use And Violence Among Urban Youth, Cindy Davis Jan 2016

Prolonged Exposure To Non-School Related Media Use And Violence Among Urban Youth, Cindy Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Youth violence is a pervasive and ongoing public health concern. Based on the paradigm of resilience, the purpose of this quantitative study was to test the relationship between prolonged (3 or more hours) of non-school related media use and youth violence. Secondary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were utilized for this study. Logistic and multiple regression models were used to test whether exposure to prolonged non-school related media (video games and TV) use was associated with violent behavior, and whether there was a relationship between prolonged exposure to non-school related media use and electronic bullying …

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The Use Of Minors In Material Support Of Terrorist Organizations, Teresa Maria Feliciano Jan 2016

The Use Of Minors In Material Support Of Terrorist Organizations, Teresa Maria Feliciano

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adult criminals' use of minors to commit crimes associated with the support of terrorist organizations is a significant problem in the United States. Despite strict laws prohibiting adult offenders from exploiting youth, these individuals aggressively pursue minors to commit crimes associated with the support of terrorist organizations. This quasi-experimental, cross-sectional study used resource dependency theory to explore the likelihood that adult criminal offenders in the U.S. will use minors for crimes that are associated with the support of terrorist organizations, based on crime typology, country of origin, and location of crime. Data were collected from a crime database maintained by …

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Stops And Stares: Street Stops, Surveillance, And Race In The New Policing, Jeffrey Fagan, Anthony A. Braga, Rod K. Brunson, April Pattavina Jan 2016

Stops And Stares: Street Stops, Surveillance, And Race In The New Policing, Jeffrey Fagan, Anthony A. Braga, Rod K. Brunson, April Pattavina

Faculty Scholarship

The use of proactive tactics to disrupt criminal activities, such as Terry street stops and concentrated misdemeanor arrests, are essential to the "new policing." This model applies complex metrics, strong management, and aggressive enforcement and surveillance to focus policing on high crime risk persons and places. The tactics endemic to the "newpolicing"gave rise in the 1990s to popular, legal, political, and social science concerns about disparate treatment of minority groups in their everyday encounters with law enforcement. Empirical evidence showed that minorities were indeed stopped and arrested more frequently than similarly situated Whites, even when controlling for local social and …

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