Digital Commons Network^™

Shaw, Clifford, The Jack Roller, Richard Tewksbury

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Learn from the classics. Understand where you came from. Know the past so you won’t repeat it. Be informed about those that have preceded you. Find the foundation your own work is based upon. All of these are viable, valuable, and unfortunately, often unheeded pearls of wisdom. I, for one, can admit that while I’ve espoused these lessons many times, I have not adhered to my own advice. Although we all are well versed (at least for an undergraduate level lecture or two) on the history of our field and the influential scholars and works of the field, unfortunately far …

“Age Is Just A Number In Here”: A Qualitative Study Of Adulthood In A Women’S Prison, Janani Umamaheswar

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Desistance from crime is a significant marker of adulthood, while persistence in criminal behavior is inconsistent with a subjective sense of adulthood (Massoglia & Uggen, 2010). To understand the relationship between crime and adulthood in greater detail, however, it is important to understand how offenders interpret and conceptualize the notion of adulthood in the first place. Based on interviews and mail correspondence with 35 incarcerated women, I explore this question through an examination of how incarcerated women construct definitions of adulthood while in prison. The findings indicate that in a restrictive environment marked by a lack of independence, women in …

Exploring Police Legitimacy Perceptions Among Arab And Chaldean Business Owners In Detroit, Vaughn J. Crichlow, Edmund F. Mcgarrell

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Most agree that police officers cannot do their jobs effectively without the support of community members. However, little is known about the perceptions of small business owners who could potentially make a meaningful contribution to safety and security in such communities. There is also a paucity of research on immigrant-owned businesses in disorderly urban communities. To address the gap, this study explores the attitudes of small business owners toward the police in Detroit, Michigan, a city known for high levels of violent crime and presents an analysis of the qualitative data collected from in-depth interviews with small business owners (n …

Racially Neutral Policing?: Puerto Rican And Mexican Young Adults’ Experiences With Order Maintenance Strategies, Claudio G. Vera Sanchez, Jacinta M. Gau

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Despite the proliferation of seemingly racially neutral police strategies, Latinos continue to report unfavorable views toward police. Limited attention has been given to how urban strategies, such as order maintenance policing, are experienced by young Latino males. The present study uses data from in-depth interviews conducted with male Latino youth in two Chicago neighborhoods: one majority-Latino, predominantly Mexican; and one mixed-race, gentrifying Puerto Rican. Results show that youth in both neighborhoods report enhanced surveillance and aggressive stop-and-frisks. Additionally, neighborhood context shapes the dynamics between police and young Latinos. In the Puerto Rican neighborhood, policing is enmeshed in culture clashes. In …

Visualizing Abolition: Two Graphic Novels And A Critical Approach To Mass Incarceration For The Composition Classroom, Michael Sutcliffe

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

This article outlines two graphic novels and an accompanying activity designed to unpack complicated intersections between racism, poverty, and (d)evolving criminal-legal policy. Over 2 million adults are held in U.S. prison facilities, and several million more are under custodial supervision, and it has become clearly unsustainable. In the last decade, there has been a shift in media conversations about criminality, yet only a few suggest decreasing our reliance upon incarceration. In meaningfully different ways, the two novels trace the development of incarceration from its roots in slavery to its contemporary anti-democratic iteration and offer an underpublicized alternative.

Critical and community …

Measuring The Level Of University Student Knowledge On The U.S. Drug Policy And Harms Associated With Illicit Drug Use: A Replication Study, Ashley E. Williams

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis project is to measure the level of knowledge that university students have regarding state and national illicit drug classifications in the United States and associated penalties with these classifications, as well as the harms resulting from consuming illicit drugs. This particular study, which is to be conducted as a replication study to Higson’s campus-based study on the UK drug policy, focuses on a different campus population in regards to the U.S. drug policy. Replication studies such as these are beneficial to previous studies because such additional research will not only strengthen the findings and correct …

Editorial, Willard M. Oliver

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Welcome to the third volume of the Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology. I am pleased to report that the journal is still going strong and manuscripts continue to be submitted on a regular basis. The journal continues to hold its authors to a high standard and as you will note for this issue’s updated analytics, the journal is currently holding a 16.9% acceptance rate. I believe you will see the satisfactory results of maintaining the high standards in this first issue of Volume 3. Lisa Kort-Butler and Michael Killingsworth lead off with a historical analysis of media-crime …

“Were You Drunk At The Time?”: The Influence Of Parole Boards On Accounts And Neutralization Techniques In State Parole Hearings, Danielle Lavin-Loucks, Kristine Levan

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"This paper examines the collaborative nature of accounts and neutralization techniques that are employed in parole hearings. Prior research using neutralization theory has largely overlooked the role of other actors in the development of neutralizations, examining them through interviews or narratives where interaction is either scripted or limited and thus has little bearing on the production of such accounts. In contrast, this study evaluates real time interaction, examining how parole board members propose, respond to, and modify neutralizations issued by inmates seeking parole. Ethnographic observations of 438 regular parole and parole revocation hearings, videotapes of 40 such hearings from the …

Becoming A Hacker: Demographic Characteristics And Developmental Factors, Kevin F. Steinmetz

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Hackers are not defined by any single act; they go through a process of development. Building from previous research and through ethnographic interviews and participant observation, the current analysis examines characteristics which may influence an individual’s development as a hacker. General demographic characteristics are analyzed, the participants’ school experiences are discussed, and perceived levels of parental support and influence are defined. Finally, descriptions of first exposures to technology, the concept of hacking, and the hacking community are presented. The study concludes with theoretical implications and suggestions for future research."

Summer Cop: A Qualitative Study Of Summer Police Officers, Brad Campbell

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"There are approximately 18,000 police agencies employing 750,000 police officers in the United States in order to police a population over 300 million citizens. In addition, sketchy estimates state there are 400,000 police reserves assisting full-time sworn officers in their duties. One major subgroup of these police reserves are summer police officers (“summer cops”) who serve full-time during the tourist season in mostly beach communities. There has been little to no research into this subpopulation of police officers and little is known about their background and reasons for becoming summer reserve officers. In order to fill this gap in the …

From Burlesque To Grand Theft Auto: An Historical Analysis Of The Treatment Of The Media-Crime Relationship In Criminology Texts, Lisa A. Kort-Butler, Michael Killingsworth

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"The degree to which criminological scholarship on the mediacrime relationship has been subject to the tides of moral panics is not well-understood, although there are theoretical reasons to hypothesize about the role of scientists in moral panics. Textbooks are one location in which a discipline chronicles its scholarly history and speaks to the public, making texts an important site for understanding how scholars interpret the media-crime relationship. A content analysis of over 200 criminology texts, ranging in publication dates from 1880 to 2012, was conducted. Almost half the texts covered the media-crime relationship. These texts often appeared to be responding …

Sharon S. Oselin, Leaving Prostitution: Getting Out And Staying Out Of Sex Work, Melisa M. Jaris

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Leaving Prostitution highlights the critical role that prostitute-serving organizations (PSO) can play in prostitutes’ efforts to leave the sex industry. PSOs can provide prostitutes subsidized housing, employment opportunities, food, transportation, counseling, education, and mentoring. These fundamental amenities offer prostitutes the life choices and confidence needed to leave the sex industry."

Rachel Zimmer Schneider, Battered Women Doing Time: Injustice In The Criminal Justice System, Cortney A. Franklin

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Advocacy and scholarly attention directed toward the plight of battered women began in the mid-1970s (del Martin, 1975). Since that time, a host of research has been conducted on the incidence and prevalence of domestic violence, the dynamics of battering relationships (LaViolette and Barnette, 2014), the predictors of why men batter, and the risk of increasing harm for survivors who are courageous enough to leave domestically violent relationships. As Lenore Walker (1977) so insightfully recognized in her early work using a sample of sheltered women who had escaped a domestically violent partner, these relationships are characterized by specific stages and …

Nickie D. Phillips & Staci Strobl, Comic Book Crime: Truth, Justice, And The American Way, Jordan E. Mazurek

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"In what can be described as an ethnographic content analysis of (super) heroic proportions, Nickie D. Phillips and Staci Strobl’s Comic Book Crime: Truth, Justice, and the American Way provides an in-depth exploration of crime and justice discourses presented in the medium of the comic book in the first decade of the 2000s. The authors employ years of in-depth participant observation in the comic book subculture along with group interviews to inform their analysis of the story arcs in two hundred popular comic book series, along with a number of graphic novels, in the post-9/11 American context. Drawing on a …

S.F. Sharp, Mean Lives, Mean Laws: Oklahoma’S Women Prisoners, Kerri Bellamy

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Using a feminist strain approach, Susan Sharp’s Mean Lives, Mean Laws: Oklahoma’s Women Prisoners, investigates the impact of incarceration on women in the Oklahoma prison system and their families. Oklahoma incarcerates women at a rate of 135 per 100,000, the highest in the nation. The book examines this high incarceration rate by investigating factors such as childhood abuse and neglect which may continue into adulthood and that contribute to women’s imprisonment. Sharp makes it clear that once in prison there are few avenues for the women to obtain education and healthcare or to maintain relationships with family on the …

Sutherland, Edwin H., The Professional Thief, Jurg Gerber

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Perhaps because he was the son of a minister and raised in a very traditional home (Geis & Meier, 1977, p.24), Edwin Sutherland (1883-1950) had a populist streak and is known for two major contributions to American criminology: the theory of differential association (DA) and the concept of white collar crime (WCC). His classic book entitled The Professional Thief is at the intersection of these two interests, although its influence has been more acknowledged with respect to DA than WCC. This review traces scholarly reactions to the book and its enduring contributions to American criminology."

Alice Goffman, On The Run: Fugitive Life In An American City, Dzhamilia Makashova

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Alice Goffman’s On the Run is an ethnographic study of the impacts of the war on drugs and policing in an American urban neighborhood. Her research started during her sophomore year at the University of Pennsylvania in Dr. David Grazian’s urban ethnography class. As a part of the class, Goffman’s assignment was to pick a site to observe and take notes, and she got a job at a cafeteria at the west edge of Penn’s campus with Miss Deena, a Black woman in her sixties who managed the staff. Through this job, Goffman was introduced to Miss Deena’s family and …

Sox On Fish: A New Harm Of Overcriminalization, Todd Haugh

Northwestern University Law Review

The harms of overcriminalization are usually thought of in a particular way—that the proliferation of criminal laws leads to increasing and inconsistent criminal enforcement and adjudication. For example, an offender commits an unethical or illegal act and, because of the overwhelming breadth and depth of the criminal law, becomes subject to too much prosecutorial discretion or faces disparate enforcement or punishment. But there is an additional, possibly more pernicious, harm of overcriminalization. Drawing from the fields of criminology and behavioral ethics, this Essay makes the case that overcriminalization actually increases the commission of criminal acts themselves, particularly by white-collar offenders. …

File System Modelling For Digital Triage: An Inductive Profiling Approach, Benjamin Rice, Benjamin Turnbull

Australian Digital Forensics Conference

Digital Triage is the initial, rapid screening of electronic devices as a precursor to full forensic analysis. Triage has numerous benefits including resource prioritisation, greater involvement of criminal investigators and the rapid provision of initial outcomes. In traditional scientific forensics and criminology, certain behavioural attributes and character traits can be identified and used to construct a case profile to focus an investigation and narrow down a list of suspects. This research introduces the Triage Modelling Tool (TMT), that uses a profiling approach to identify how offenders utilise and structure files through the creation of file system models. Results from the …

"The Classical School, Deterrence Theory, And Zero Tolerance" An Analysis Of A Mandatory Zero Tolerance Sanctioning Policy In Relation To The Classical School Of Criminology And Deterrence Theory, Adam Saeler

School of Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

Mandatory sentences, and especially those that promote severe detention lengths, have become a popular mechanism in the fight against crime, but are they effective? Certain Sanctions, an adult probation-based sanctioning mandate, is an example of one such mandatory policy that emphasizes harsh sanctions in order to promote reduced future criminality. The philosophy behind such a device fits well into the theoretical framework of deterrence theory in that quick, severe sanctions ought to reduce future criminality. However, little research exists regarding the effectiveness of such a mandatory probation-based sanction policy with regards to the reduction of future criminality. Furthermore, the impact …

From Exculpatory To Inculpatory Justice: A History Of Due Process In The Adversarial Trial, Alan Cusack

SOLON Law, Crime and History (previously SOLON Crimes and Misdemeanours: Deviance and the Law in Historical Perspective)

This paper explores the historical context behind the emergence of the due process value system which lies at the heart of the Anglo-American legal tradition. By demonstrating, in particular, the reformative impact which the emergence of adversarial sensibilities in the late eighteenth century had in relieving the testimonial obligations of an accused, the paper explores the shift which occurred during this period towards an inculpatory model of justice. Significantly, this inculpatory model rejected the pro-prosecutorial bias which had epitomised the pursuit for justice in seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Moreover, whereas the antecedent exculpatory justice model was predicated upon the …

Police Opinions Of Digital Evidence Response Handling In The State Of Georgia: An Examination From The Viewpoint Of Local Agencies’ Patrol Officers, Tanya Macneil

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

This research examined opinions of local law enforcement agencies’ patrol officers in the State of Georgia regarding preparedness and expectations for handling of digital evidence. The increased criminal use of technology requires that patrol officers be prepared to handle digital evidence in many different situations. The researcher’s goal was to gain insight into how patrol officers view their preparedness to handle digital evidence as well as their opinions on management expectations regarding patrol officers’ abilities to handle digital evidence. The research focused on identifying whether a gap existed between patrol officers’ opinions of digital evidence and the patrol officers’ views …

Criminology On Crimes Against Humanity: A North Korean Case Study, Megan Alyssa Novak

Theses and Dissertations

In the last century, modern technology has significantly increased human interaction across the globe. The growing globalization of our society has created new areas of interest for many academics. This thesis explores the topic of international crime—specifically, state perpetrated crimes against humanity. Criminologists have become increasingly interested in large-scale atrocities and several theories on the topic have been perpetuated in the last few decades. Through a case study, this research determined that current theories are capable of explaining crimes against humanity in North Korea. Additionally, the findings suggest that international institutions should create programs that utilize restorative justice techniques.

Enlisting In The Military: The Influential Role Of Genetic Factors, Kevin M. Beaver, J. C. Barnes, Joesph A. Schwartz, Brian B. Boutwell

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Given that enlistment in the U.S. military is completely voluntary, there has been a great deal of interest in identifying the various factors that might explain why some people join the military, whereas others do not. The current study expanded on this line of literature by estimating the extent to which genetic and environmental factors explained variance in the liability for lifetime participation in the military. Analysis of twin pairs drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) revealed that 82% of the variance was the result of genetic factors, 18% of the variance was …

Methods Of Policing: Deviation From The Standard Model Of Policing And Measured Effectiveness, Elena Stamm

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Standard Model of Policing is the original method of crime control put into place to increase the effectiveness of policing. However, there have been questions about whether or not the standard model has proven to be of any real effect. Since that time, researchers have sought a different model of policing that would prove more effective in crime reduction. This research seeks to analyze whether or not the methods developed are actually shown to be effective, through their study.

The Impact Of Criminalization Of Stalking On Italian Students: Adherence To Stalking Myths, Laura De Fazio, Chiara Sgarbi, Julia Moore, Brian H. Spitzberg

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Although behaviors that we today identify as stalking have occurred throughout history, the recognition and systematic investigation of stalking are quite recent. Italy’s antistalking law is fairly new, and factors such as cultural myths, stereotypical beliefs, and definitional ambiguities continue to cause problems in the interpretation and recognition of stalking among the general public. This study examined perceptions and attitudes of 2 groups of Italian criminology students at 2 different times, before and after the implementation of Italy’s 2009 antistalking law. The Stalking Attitudes Questionnaire (McKeon, Ogloff, & Mullen, 2009) was administered to samples in 2007 and 2010. Results revealed …

Paying For Your Crime: The Pay-To-Stay Jail Program In California, Carla Sue Schultz

Master's Theses

Many California cities have recently implemented pay-to-stay jail programs at the local level. Pay-to-stay programs provide a safe and private incarceration experience for those who can afford the nightly fee. This study provides a theoretical analysis of the pay-to-stay jail program in relation to mass incarceration and the ever-expanding prison economy. It examines pay-to-stay programs as a new method of stratified punishment, reproducing race and class oppression within the U.S. penal regime. A case study of the Fremont pay-to-stay program offers insight into the implementation, operation, and application process for inmates seeking segregation from general county jail populations. This study …

Critical Champions Or Careless Condemners? Exploring News Media Constructions In Cases Of Wrongful Conviction, Katherine Rozad

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Countless incidences occur throughout the world each and every day. However, only a few of these occurrences are deemed newsworthy by the media. One area of information quite often categorized as “newsworthy” is that surrounding crime. Within crime-related news coverage are occasionally cases of wrongful conviction – miscarriages of justice in which the innocent are labeled “guilty” and wrongly punished. Despite decades of research in both the areas of crime and media, as well as wrongful conviction studies, no research to date has examined the way that cases of wrongful conviction are constructed in the media from the beginnings of …

Excited Delirium Syndrome And Conducted Electrical Weapons, Adam A. Nielsen

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Excited delirium syndrome (ExDS) is defined as delirium coupled with extreme agitation (Vilke et al., 2012). ExDS is a bona fide medical condition that requires immediate medical attention, as 8% of patients will die from it. Some research only classifies ExDS as "true ExDS" if the subject dies; most research does not and this research does not wish to exclude the 92% of ExDS cases where the subject does not die. ExDS is well known because it oftentimes comes into play during and after a violent encounter with law enforcement. Because over 7,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies use TASER© brand …

The Day Of The Cyber Wolf, Ryan K. Buch

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Terrorism has become a concern for public safety and security and can take on many appearances. However, in recent years the dilemma that presents the most substantial endangerment to public security comes from the threat of leaderless terrorists, also known as "lone wolves." Due to the rapid advancement in technology over the past few decades, societies, specifically the United States, have become dependent upon it economically and socially. Terrorist organizations, as well as the lone wolf terrorist, understand that their enemies rely on technology in order to function and have recently redirected their efforts towards cyberspace. As a result, cyber-terrorism …