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Three Essays On The Economics Of Crime And Education, Joy Kanengiser

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The first chapter investigates the labor market impacts of the Clean Slate Law, a policy designed to reduce barriers to entry by automating the sealing of criminal records. Using IPUMS CPS data from six states, I employ a difference-in-differences framework with individual fixed effects and an event study design to identify changes in employment outcomes. I find that the Clean Slate policy increases employment by 0.33 percentage points and weekly hours worked by 0.44 hours (approximately 24 minutes). Full-time employment rises, while self-employment declines by 0.12 percentage points, suggesting a shift from informal to more stable, formal jobs. These employment …

Exploration Of Coping And Mental Health In West Virginia Farmers, Jodi Meadows Richmond

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Compared nationally, West Virginia currently ranks lowest for life expectancy, highest for drug related deaths and 35^th for access to adequate health (WV DHHR Organization Assessment & Strategic Plan, 2022). The state also ranks first in the nation for depression with one in four adults experiencing some form of depressive condition each year (CDC, 2020). The rurality of the state may limit social interaction and availability of medical treatment facilities (Brew et al., 2016).

The situation is even more dire for those in farming-related occupations. Farmers often struggle with management stress, utilizing appropriate coping strategies, and accessing mental health …

Police Abuse In America And The Search For Remedy, Howard Ryan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The dissertation contends that, despite many diligent efforts—from mass protests to a presidential task force—America is not yet on path to remedying its outsized patterns of police abuse. The abuse problem is broadly characterized herein through a “triad” of over-enforcement, excessive force, and racial discrimination. The Washington Post’s “Fatal Force” database, covering the years 2015 through 2024, is offered as a bellwether of American progress in addressing its police abuse; and, it is observed, the nation’s yearly count of fatal police shootings of civilians has been increasing, rather than decreasing.

To help make sense of our lack of national progress, …

Public Constitutional Ai, Gilad Abiri

Georgia Law Review

We are increasingly subjected to the power of AI authorities. Machine learning models now underpin algorithmic markets, determine whose speech is amplified or restricted, shape government decisions ranging from resource allocation to predictive policing, and influence our access to information on critical issues such as voting and public health. As AI decisions become inescapable, entering domains such as healthcare, education, and law, we must confront a vital question: How can we ensure that AI systems, which increasingly regulate our lives and make decisions that shape our societies, have the authority and legitimacy necessary for effective governance?

To secure AI legitimacy, …

The New Game Theory, Cortelyou C. Kenney

Georgia Law Review

Game theory and the legal system it models are deeply indebted to the idea of efficiency and efficient outcomes. A great many scholars use game theory to rationalize approaches based on efficiency not only to commercial transactions but also to the legal system writ large, including the tort law system and the criminal justice system.

Efficiency and efficient outcomes have a storied history dating back to Vilfredo Pareto, Ronald Coase, and even before that to Adam Smith. But the person who truly popularized the idea of efficiency was John Nash, who won the Nobel Prize for his work on noncooperative …

Suffolk University Academic Catalog, College Of Arts And Sciences And School Of Management, 2025-2026, Suffolk University

College of Arts and Sciences and Sawyer Business School Academic Catalogs

This catalog contains information for the day, evening, and graduate programs.

Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2025, Tennessee. Department Of Correction

Annual Reports

This document is the annual report for the Tennessee Department of Correction during the fiscal year.

Osgoode Syllabus Of Courses And Seminars: 2025 - 2026, Office Of Student Services

Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Why Believe An Unreliable Jailhouse Informant? : The Role Of Prosecutorial Vouching In Juror Decision-Making, Libbi A. Geoghagan

Theses

The present study asked jurors to explain why they believe jailhouse informant (JI) testimony, and investigated the role of prosecutorial vouching (i.e., the assumption that any witness called by the prosecution is credible) in jurors’ decision-making. A total of 89 juryeligible participants read a trial summary in which the JI was either absent, reliable (i.e., testified to consistent and accurate crime facts), or unreliable (i.e., accurate facts during trial, but inaccurate facts in initial statement). Primary results were that (a) in open-ended responses, participants assumed that the prosecution would not allow a dishonest or uncredible JI to testify (i.e., prosecutorial …

Perceived Credibility Of Allegations Of Sexual Assault Across Victim Race And Mental Health History, Liyah C. Morgan

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Previous research examined the effect of victim gender and rape myth acceptance (RMA) on perceptions of victim credibility; however, little attention has been given to the impact of victim race and mental health history, and even fewer studies have explored the intersection of these two identities. The primary purpose of the current study was to identify factors affecting understanding of perceived credibility of victims of sexual assault, specifically in terms of victim race and mental health history. The study also examined the role of RMA on perceptions of credibility and explored participant attitudes related to color-blind racial attitudes and mental …

What Is Reasonable? Effects Of Different Jury Instructions In A Fatal Police Use Of Force Case, Katherine M. Kaylor

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Since the Supreme Court case Graham v. Connor, police officers charged with misusing force on duty are judged against a hypothetical reasonable officer. Graham focuses on split-second decisions police officers must make and states police should not be judged with the benefit of hindsight. California goes beyond the subjective language of Graham and instructs jurors to look at the totality of circumstances, meaning they must consider all events and actions of an officer and citizen when assessing cases. The current study investigated whether type of instruction (Graham vs. California) affected mock jurors’ verdicts. Participants in the California condition …

Advocacy Across Divides: Attorney Aaron L. Buchsbaum In Savannah, Georgia, 1963-1969, Sydney Jolene Kelly

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This thesis explores the early life and career of Aaron Levy Buchsbaum, a Jewish lawyer from Savannah, Georgia. Buchsbaum's Jewish family upbringing, Southern childhood, and legal education all combined to mold him into an individual who used the profession to support those facing unjust treatment by the Savannah-Chatham County court system. By focusing on three of Buchsbaum's legal cases involving the Civil Rights Movement and his partnership with humanitarian organizations, this thesis contextualizes local conflicts in Savannah in the 1960s. Rather than safeguard the civil rights of all citizens, these cases demonstrate that the authorities, including judges, district attorneys, and …

Exploring Public Support For Prison Labor, Omar Morris

Honors College Theses

Prison labor has long been a central component of the U.S. correctional system, evolving from early penitentiary models to contemporary labor practices that remain legally sanctioned under the Thirteenth Amendment. This study examines the historical development, key legislation, and modern realities of prison labor, emphasizing its economic, ethical, and rehabilitative implications. Using survey data from a nationally representative sample, the study assesses public attitudes toward mandatory prison work, fair wages for incarcerated individuals, and financial obligations such as medical copays and communication fees. Findings reveal that while the public generally supports prison labor, opinions diverge on compensation and economic burdens …

Penggunaan Unconventional Weapons Dalam Konflik Bersenjata Modern, Fadhillah Wahid Pramudya Aldiansyach

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

The use of unconventional weapons such as cluster munitions, white phosphorus, nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence-based autonomous systems (AI/LAWS), and military neurotechnology is increasingly dominating modern armed conflicts. The characteristics of these weapons, particularly their widespread effects, uncertainty of control, and potential for automatic escalation, can pose serious challenges to the application of the principles of distinction and proportionality in International Humanitarian Law (IHL), especially when used in densely populated areas. The modernization of nuclear systems, the accelerated integration of AI into military command, and the emergence of neurotechnology indicate a regulatory gap that could potentially undermine humanitarian protection. This study …

Penderitaan Tanpa Ukuran: Mengapa Kuhap Harus Segera Mengatur Kerugian Imateriil?, Setiani Budi Utami, Mardian Putra Frans

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Law enforcement must ensure that the justice process operates in accordance with the principles of true justice. The criminal justice system in Indonesia emerged as a response to public dissatisfaction with the performance of law enforcement agencies that overly emphasized formal law and order alone, without regard for human dignity. The preamble of the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) affirms that this system aims to protect human dignity, thus substantive justice must be prioritized. In this context, human rights, particularly the protection of crime victims, become crucial. However, in practice, victims are often marginalized, especially regarding compensation for immaterial damages that …

2024-2025 University Awards Of Excellence, Georgia Southern University

University Awards of Excellence

• Student Success
• Teaching
• Research
• Discovery & Innovation
• Inclusive Excellence
• Operational Efficiency, Effectiveness and Sustainability
• Community Engagement
• Collaboration
• Academic Excellence
• Sustainability
• Leadership
• Team Award

“Just Checking”: Racial Profiling And The Criminalization Of Black Students At Post-Secondary Institutions, Yugita Looknauth

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

“Just Checking”: Racial Profiling and the Criminalization of Black Students at Post-Secondary Institutions

This dissertation examined the experiences of Black students who came into contact with campus security at five universities and one college in Ontario, Canada. Critical race theory and methodology, and qualitative research design amplified the voices of 17 participants who shared stories of racial profiling marked by racialization, criminalization, surveillance, and the normalized scrutiny of Black life. These experiences are legitimized by post-secondary institutions that are actively reproducing the very racism they are often celebrated for interrogating by allowing a culture of anti-Black racism to exist with …

From Cuffs To Compassion: The Impact Of Relational Policing De-Escalation Approaches On Public Perceptions Of Safety, Satisfaction, Procedural Justice, And Police Legitimacy., Brook Snider

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Academics, policy makers, and the public have called for the prioritization of de- escalation training and use in public-police interactions to reduce police use of force (PUoF) (e.g., Dubé, 2016; Iacobucci, 2014; Todak, 2017; Wortley et al., 2021). In response to various calls to action, the Ministry of the Solicitor General launched the Ontario Public-Police Interactions Training Aid Framework in 2023, which emphasizes the importance of utilizing a relational policing approach in public-police interactions (see Lavoie et al., 2022). However, despite changes in police training frameworks, relatively little is known about PUoF in Canada (Wortley et al., 2021), with similarly …

Weaving A Tapestry Of Community Based Child Trafficking Interventions In High-Trafficking Incidence Areas In Ghana, Crispin Mbamba

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Background: This dissertation addresses the urgent issue of child trafficking in high-incidence areas of Ghana, where sociocultural, economic, and structural factors sustain and exacerbate this complex social challenge. The rationale for the study is grounded in the need for a holistic understanding of child trafficking beyond traditional justice-based approaches. The research emphasizes the necessity of community-led interventions informed by local cultural norms and protective values that have been largely unexplored in the Ghanaian context. Specifically, this dissertation applies an integrative approach, rooted in the Ubuntu philosophy, to explore community interdependence as a central component of sustainable anti-trafficking interventions.

Methods: …

The Damage Done: How The Disease Model Of Addiction Harms Marginalized People In Canada, Sara Gordon

All Faculty Publications

Over 50,000 Canadians have died of unregulated drug poisoning since 2016. And while the toxic drug crisis is the leading cause of death in British Columbia for people between the ages of 10 and 59, some British Columbians are at a higher risk than others. In 2023, First Nations people—who comprise 3.4% of BC’s population—accounted for 17.8% of its toxic drug deaths. Other marginalized communities are also at heightened risk: racialized people, young people, and people living in poverty or without shelter are all disproportionately impacted. These disparities reflect more than a public health crisis—they largely exist due to legal …

Does Performance Change Budgets? Punctuated Equilibrium, Performance, And The Budget For Juvenile Justice In An American State, Elaine Yi Lu, Robert Hines, Katherine Willoughby

Publications and Research

How performance informs budgeting and budgets is contentious and unclear. Applying punctuated equilibrium theory, this research seeks to understand if performance information once placed on the media and macropolitical agendas can lead to long term budgetary shifts. This research highlights how the accumulation of performance information punctuated the funding scheme and created a new equilibrium over time.

This research uses mixed methods to study the impact of performance on Florida’s (USA) Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) over a 20-year period. First, we conduct a media review of 400 randomly sampled newspaper articles to characterize the media discourse around the DJJ …

Repressed Memories And The Body Keeps The Score: Public Perceptions And Prevalence, Kris-Ann S. Anderson, Quincy C. Miller, Deryn Strange, Kamala London

Publications and Research

The “memory wars” resurgence has renewed debates over the validity of repressed memories. This revival appears linked to factors such as changing statutes of limitations, confusion about repression, and unchallenged social media content. In a nationally representative online survey of American adults (N = 1581), we examined (a) beliefs in repression and the body keeps the score, (b) the prevalence of recovered memory claims, and (c) the impact of question phrasing on recovered memory reporting. An overwhelming 94% of respondents expressed belief in repressed memory, and 77% endorsed the idea that the body keeps the score. Additionally, 3.6% (n = …

A Battle Of The Chatbots: An Exploratory Comparison Of Chatgpt, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, Perplexity And Huggingchat, Karen Okamoto

Publications and Research

This exploratory study compares the output of the free versions of six generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots—ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, Perplexity and HuggingChat. Five questions were submitted to all of the chatbots and examined according to the length of the response, tone of the response, and any additional features provided by the chatbots such as citations, web links, and helpful follow-up questions. This comparison found that Perplexity excelled at responding to all of the questions though others provided strong outputs as well, pointing to the possible importance of using multiple chatbot for answers and for continually examining different chatbots given …

Assessing The Predictive Validity Of The Network Inventory Of Risk, Victories, And Needs Assessment (Nirvana) For Youth Receiving Prevention Services., Michael T. Baglivio, Kevin T. Wolff, Katherine Jackowski

Publications and Research

The current study assesses the predictive validity of a newly-developed holistic risk/needs assessment for youth receiving prevention services. Employing a multiyear statewide sample of over 17,000 prevention youth, multivariate and Area Under Curve techniques are used to examine predictive validity in predicting future formal juvenile justice system involvement (new law violations) across sex, race/ethnicity, and multiple youth age ranges. Furthermore, predictive validity across the severity of the subsequent offense type (misdemeanor, non-violent felony, violent felony) was examined. Findings demonstrate large effect sizes for static risk only, dynamic risk only, and total risk plus protective scores on future offending. Sex and …

The Towering Inferno: Art, Policy, And Legacy, Charles R. Jennings

Publications and Research

The Christian Regenhard Center for Emergency Response Studies, leveraging the expertise of its faculty, staff, Advisory Board and colleagues, has consistently programmed activities focused on high-rise fire safety. The upcoming 50^th anniversary of the film The Towering Inferno was an inspiration.

We decided this would be more lighthearted and less purely technical than many of our events. We wanted to consider both the film, and use it to reflect on the state of fire safety in tall buildings in New York City.

Of course it does not escape us that the topic of fire safety is a serious one, …

Understanding Violence In Juvenile Correctional Facilities: A National Study Of Victim-Offender Overlap In The United States, Tzu-Ying Lo, Yu-Hsuan Liu, Amy Adamczyk

Publications and Research

The phenomenon of victim-offender overlap within juvenile correctional facilities is an underexplored area in criminological research. This study examines the prevalence and correlates of victim-offender overlap using data from two collections of the National Survey of Youth in Custody conducted in 2008–2009 and 2012. Our findings reveal that the victim-offender overlap group constitutes a significant proportion of incarcerated youth. Multinomial logistic regression analysis indicates that institutional factors, such as correctional officer legitimacy, in-facility gang membership, fear of inmate assault, experience of filing complaints against staff, and time served, significantly differentiate victim-offenders from the three other groups: victims-only, offenders-only, and those …

Victim-Offender Overlap Among Incarcerated Youth In The United States: A Bivariate Probit Analysis Using National Data, Tzu-Ying Lo, Yu-Hsuan Liu, Amy Adamczyk

Publications and Research

For many crimes, people who are the perpetrators may also be the victims. While several studies have investigated the victim-offender overlap, very few have examined the relationship for incarcerated youth where institutional conditions can exacerbate the overlap. Drawing on ideas from routine activities theory, this study explores the victim-offender overlap among incarcerated American youth using data from the 2008–2009 National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC-1, N = 8,625) and the 2012 National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC-2, N = 8,125). Findings from a bivariate probit regression indicate that younger age, higher facility populations, negative perceptions of officer legitimacy, …

The Perverse Effects Of Mandatory Judicial Reporting To Bar Authorities Of Ineffective Assistance Of Counsel Determinations, Tigran W. Eldred, David M. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

California Business & Professions Code § 6086.7(a)(2) provides that a court shall notify the State Bar “[w]henever a modification or reversal of a judgment in a judicial proceeding is based in whole or in part on the misconduct, incompetent representation, or willful misrepresentation of an attorney.” Some California judges now interpret this provision as mandating referral to the State Bar in any case in which a new trial or withdrawal of a plea is granted due to ineffective assistance of counsel. This interpretation directly conflicts with an attorney’s continuing duty to her former client. It is unnecessary and has profoundly …

Health Equity And Children With Medical Complexity/Children And Youth With Special Health Care Needs: A Scoping Review, Elizabeth A. Flasch

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Children with medical complexity (CMC) and children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN), compared with the general population, engage with the health care system at increased rates, at multiple life stages, and for a myriad of reasons (Berry et al., 2015). Operational definitions of CMC and CYSHCN are very limited, with the terms conflated and differentiated across the literature. Because of the lack of standardized definitions and general conflation of the two terms across the literature, CMC and CYSHCN will be used interchangeably for this review. Allshouse et al. (2018) defined CMC as a subset of CYSHCN “as …

Sex Work Patterns Among Transgender And Gender Diverse People: A Latent Class Analysis, Madeline Stenersen, Anjum Umrani, Irelan Fricke, Jessica L. Zemlak

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Sex work is a diverse profession encompassing a broad range of people, and services. Though overrepresented in sex work communities, transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals are underrepresented in sex work literature. Further, sex work literature continues to underrepresent the heterogeneity evident in the sex work community and the practices that occur within it. The present study utilized data from the 2015 United States Transgender Survey (USTS) to conduct a latent class analysis (LCA) to identify patterns of different types of sex work among TGD adults (N = 2,153) and understand the demographic characteristics associated with engagement in different types …