Digital Commons Network^™

Unreasonable Traffic Stops, Sam Kamin

William & Mary Law Review

In 1996, the Supreme Court announced in Whren v. United States that a traffic stop is constitutional if there is probable cause to believe a traffic infraction has occurred. So long as the officers who stop an individual can point—even after the fact—to any violation of the traffic laws, their actual, subjective motivations for initiating a stop are legally irrelevant. Case-by-case determination of reasonableness is unnecessary in the traffic stop context, the Court concluded, because the balancing of interests has already been done. Unlike warrantless entries into homes, the use of deadly force, or unannounced warranted entries, a traffic stop …

Click, Click, Boom: A Multi-Level Analysis Of Repeat Firearm Offending In Chattanooga, Tennessee, Katlyn Whittenburg

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Criminologists have long noted the exacerbated rates of firearm-related offending in the United States in comparison to other developed nations. There has been a renewed focus on gun crime in the wake of a recent dramatic reversal of the long-trending decrease in firearm-related violence. Explorations of the factors that contribute to firearm offending are often restricted to large metro areas like Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia—which may have limited generalizability to more common small and medium sized cities in the United States. This study attempts to address this concern through examination of the factors that contribute to firearm re-offending …

Assessing And Meeting The Needs Of Homeless Populations, Mitchell Greenwald

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Problem Formation: As homeless populations have continued to grow, it is important to analyze services and replace ones lacking efficacy. This research sought to locate gaps in service delivery and to let the data fuel newer, innovative services. Significance: This study brought greater awareness of needs and services available to homeless people and to clinical staff at the agencies who work with them. It also provided new ideas for interventions that might better meet client needs. Design: This study was designed as a mixed-methods project. It was believed that master’s level social work students would be an ideal group to …

Exploring The Experiences Of Minority Former Foster Youths During And Post Care: A Qualitative Study, Caithlyn Snow

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background: The intersectionality perspective states that the challenges of minority foster youths are amplified by their status as racial and ethnic minorities, making them more vulnerable to adverse experiences during and after the foster care system. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of minority FFYs as they are in-care, transitioning out of care, and as they strive for self-sufficiency post-care. Methods: This study employed a qualitative design with a phenomenology approach. Primary data collection utilized non-probability sampling. Participants had to be 18 years or older and a former foster youth (FFY). Participants were recruited from …

Justice-Involved Students: Effects Of Using Support Services To Overcome Barriers, Gabby Walker, Sofia Alvarenga

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study investigated formerly incarcerated students' perspectives on the effectiveness of re-entry programs in alleviating barriers to higher education. The study focused on six barriers: parole and probation, collateral consequences, admission, housing, and stigma, aiming to provide insights into program effectiveness. Using an exploratory, quantitative approach, data was collected through surveys distributed via social media and online platforms. Parole and probation were not perceived as significant barriers by participants. Challenges related to collateral consequences, such as limited access to housing and employment opportunities, were highlighted as barriers. Participants did not view recidivism as a significant obstacle to pursuing higher education. …

How Did The Covid-19 Pandemic Impact Extended Foster Care Social Workers While Providing Social Services, Omar Ramirez, Victoria Lopez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study used ten interviews with Extended Foster Care (EFC) workers about their experiences with EFC youth from a county agency before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic using a qualitative research design. The purpose of the research was to learn from EFC social workers how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their ability to provide services to the EFC youth, negatively or positively, and how supported they felt in delivering these services. Data was collected by interviewing the ten participants via Zoom. Data was analyzed by categorizing the responses with different colors based on the responses. Significant findings were identified regarding agency …

Commercially Sexually Exploited Children Targeted Within Social Services, Britny Ragland

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study used a survey to describe social workers’ and MSW students’ level of preparedness in identifying and providing prevention and intervention for commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate perceptions of social workers and social work students have the necessary skills, knowledge, and training to identify, and provide intervention for Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC). Data was collected from thirty-five participants. Findings were that there appears to be no significance between the level of skills, knowledge and training among social workers and social work students in their ability to provide intervention for commercially …

Childhood Neglect And Incarceration As A Adult, Marissa Mejia, Diana Gallegos

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This research project aims to explain the relationship between experiencing childhood neglect and being incarcerated as an adult, and to see if childhood neglect is a contributing factor to incarceration as an adult. This systematic literature review will identify prior research and analyze it in order to answer the formulated research question. Does Childhood Neglect lead an adult to incarceration? This specific research method also identifies trends, gaps in knowledge, and areas for future research. The results from this study have provided empirically supported information that could be used in the field of social work, in schools, and in the …

Addressing Rural Mental Health Crises: An Alternative To Police, Faith Ann Weatheral-Block

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

There has been an increase in contacts between law enforcement and people with mental illness since the start of deinstitutionalization in the 1960s. When law enforcement officers respond to crisis calls without the proper training, the likelihood of that interaction ending fatally is far greater. The purpose of this study is to determine mental health professionals' readiness to serve as an alternative to law enforcement in addressing mental health crises in rural areas. Using the nonprobability sampling methods of convenience and snowball, this exploratory qualitative study involved semi- structured interviews with 10 adult mental health professionals from various backgrounds in …

Service Use Among Maltreated Children With Behavior Problems And Emotional Disturbance Before And During Covid-19, Darja Beinenson

All Theses

This study utilizes two datasets obtained from the National Child Abuse and Neglect

Data System, a federally-sponsored initiative to monitor annual rates and characteristics of child maltreatment in the United States. Using a set of multinomial and negative binomial regressions, the paper seeks to examine service use among maltreated children with and without behavioral problems and emotional disturbance. The study also explores whether the service utilization gap widened among children with those conditions in 2021, during the pandemic, compared to 2018, pre-pandemic. Results demonstrated significant differences in the utilization of services among children with behavioral problems and emotional disturbance compared …

A Transdisicplinary, Survivor-Centered Approach For Creating A System Dynamics Model Of Closed-Buyer Sex Trafficking Networks, Kemonte Yow

All Theses

One of the largest drivers of sex trafficking operations is the demand for commercial sex. To date, research from a quantitative side typically focuses on understanding how to best identify and remove victims from their trafficking situation and then support their healing and recovery. This may be because this is where data exists (in limited forms) to support quantitative modeling. This thesis broadens that scope to understand how demand for commercial sex impacts trafficking operations. In particular, this research implemented a transdisciplinary, survivor-centered approach to build a system dynamics model of a closed-buyer sex trafficking network, which is a network …

“Playing The Blame Game”: How Social Media Users Make Sense Of Coach-Athlete Sexual Violence And Institutional Betrayal, Claire Waddell

All Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how users of the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) responded to and assigned responsibility in two cases of coach-athlete sexual violence in elite North American sport. The cases of Kyle Beach, formerly of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League, and Mana Shim and Sinead Farrelly, both formerly of the Portland Thorns of the National Women’s Soccer League, were chosen for analysis because they represent the blending of (masculinized) sports culture and (feminized) sexual violence within the unique context of professional North American sports. A convenience sample of …

Exploring Knowledge And Perceptions Of Nursing Students: A Quantitative Study On Sexual Assault And Sex Trafficking Awareness, Isabella Marino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to explore nursing students' knowledge and perceptions of identifying and treating victims of sexual assault and sex trafficking. Survey data was collected from second to fifth semester nursing students in Eastern Tennessee. The study aims to identify students' perceptions of medical personnel's ability to identify and treat sexual assault and sex trafficking victims, examine whether adherence to myths affects knowledge and confidence levels, determine students' confidence in identifying and treating victims, and evaluate whether demographic characteristics affect identification and treatment. Results will help improve our approach towards these issues.

An Examination Of Police Response To Individuals Suffering With Mental Illness, Aliss Copsey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine police officer response to individuals suffering with mental illness. There had been little prior research that used qualitative methods and explored police officers in rural areas. Several research questions were explored, including stigmatizing beliefs held by police officers toward individuals with mental illness, perceived levels of preparedness, challenges experienced by police officers, improvements officers wish to see implemented, and the impact of Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) training. This study gathered data through semi-structured interviews with 19 police officers who worked in East Tennessee in order to address the research questions. The results …

Familial Sex Trafficking In East Tennessee, Mary K. Brannock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation was completed in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Public Health program at East Tennessee State University. The dissertation follows the Manuscript Format which includes three manuscripts, these manuscripts regard familial sex trafficking and are as follows, a scoping review, an empirical study on regional familial sex trafficking, and a policy implications paper on criminal record relief for survivors of familial sex trafficking.

The scoping review includes eight peer reviewed studies on familial sex trafficking and a summary of grey literature. Thematic analysis was used to map the existing literature onto the Three Ps of human trafficking: Prevention, …

An Exploratory Study Of The Southern Subculture Of Honor In East Tennessee, Rachel Cohen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The culture of honor theory proposed by Nisbett and Cohen (1996) addresses the historically higher rates of violent crime in the Southern United States, as well as the disparities that can be observed in the laws, beliefs, and social expectations between the South and other regions. Previous research has reported significant differences between the beliefs of acceptable violence among Southerners compared to non-Southerners; however, no research has been conducted comparing different demographic groups of Southerners. The current study sought to evaluate whether there were observable differences between various demographic attributes such as gender, race, age, educational attainment, political affiliation, prior …

New Mexico Coalition Of Sexual Assault Programs: Sexual Assault Needs Assessment May 2024, Theresa H. Cruz, Leona Woelk, Yvonnie Vitanzos, Mahtab Soleimani, Elena Spafford

Reports & Documents

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Detection Instructions On Additive And Contradictory Misinformation In Older And Younger Adults Using Eyewitnessed Visual Scenes, Monika Mazela

Master's Theses

Exposure to misleading details about a previous event can become incorporated into memory—a pattern termed the misinformation effect. Recently, researchers have found evidence for two types of misinformation which differ qualitatively in how they relate to details presented in the initial event. Contradictory misinformation refers to suggested details that directly contrast specific details that were presented within the witnessed event. Additive misinformation refers to suggested details that supplement a witnessed event, but do not contrast a specific detail. My thesis evaluated whether misinformation is reduced following a strong warning to detect and highlight misinformation compared to no warning and …

History Of Physical Neglect And Current Food Insecurity: Moderation By Mental Health Symptoms, Brooke Welsh

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Food insecurity has been a topic of concern for many years. While many actions have been taken to try to reduce rates of food insecurity, further research should investigate whether certain events may increase likelihood of this experience. Thus far, a large amount of research has been completed on how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can impact chances of experiencing food insecurity as well as how mental health symptoms can impact these chances. However, there is little research showing that mental health symptoms may moderate the relationship between having ACEs and food insecurity as an adult. A sample of 124 university …

Implementation Of Mental Health Services And Curriculum For Elementary-Aged Children, Indra Flores Silva, Jason Kwan

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study’s purpose was to describe elementary school teachers’perceptions about mental health services, curriculum, and their effect on the mental health of elementary-aged children. Our research addressed the question: What are elementary school teachers’ perceptions of mental healthservices and mental health curriculum and their effect on the mental health of elementary-aged children? It is crucial that we study this because many young children struggle with their mental health which can lead to poor outcomes leading into adulthood. This study utilized quantitative data on 28 participants that was collected through Qualtrics. Data was analyzed using SPSS by conducting univariate analysis. Our …

Legislative Recommendations On Biometric Security And Privacy Jurisprudence, Joshua M. Morrow

All Student Scholarship

This project focuses on the prevalence of biometrics today, their various applications, and the biometric laws and legislations in place in the United States (U.S.) and Maine. Due to various threats and vulnerabilities imposing risk on collecting and using peoples’ biometric data, sufficient cyber protections related to citizens’ privacy rights, ethical control, and security of personally identifiable information (PII) must become necessary components of contemporary biometric laws and legislation. Without such explicit cyber protections, citizens participate in and comply with various technical domains and entities, such as private companies and governmental agencies, with minimal awareness or comprehension that their sensitive …

Branding Corporate Criminals, W. Robert Thomas, Milhailis E. Diamantis

Fordham Law Review

Corporate punishment has a branding problem. Criminal sanctions should call out wrongdoing and condemn wrongdoers. In a world where generic corporate misconduct is a daily affair, conviction singles out truly contemptible practices from merely sharp, unproductive, or undesirable ones. In this way, criminal law gives victims the recognition they deserve, deters future wrongdoers who want to preserve their good name, and publicly reinforces society’s most treasured values.

Unfortunately, corporate punishment falls far short of all these communicative ambitions. For punishment to convey its intended message, society must be able to hear about it. When courts convict individuals, everyone understands that …

May 2024 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

Violently Peaceful: Unpacking Portrayals Of Black Lives Matter Protests, Cynthia Tuzo

Honors College Theses

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an international activist organization that aims to fight racial inequality and injustice in America. During the summer of 2020, many American citizens utilized their First Amendment right to protest against the killings of unarmed Black people in association with the BLM movement. BLM emphasized the use of nonviolent tactics to fight injustice. Contrary to their emphasis, the protests associated with BLM were portrayed as both violent and peaceful depending on the political beliefs of the reporter. In my research, I consider what it means for a protest to be peaceful and whether the Black Lives …

Exploring The Role Of Restorative Practices Facilitators In The Secondary School Setting: Self-Efficacy, Collective Efficacy, And Systemic Implementation Recommendations, Rachel K. Bachmeier

Theses and Dissertations

While restorative practices (RP) is hailed as one of the oldest criminal justice models in the world, the official advent of RP in education did not occur until the 1990s. Mirroring the reemergence of RP into legal systems, educators began experimenting with the application of RP in the educational setting. Today, restorative work in schools has expanded beyond an alternative to exclusionary discipline measures into an effort to build, maintain, and, when necessary, restore community. More and more teacher preparation programs address restorative justice principles and the rising dedication to Social Emotional Learning and Culturally Responsive Teaching often embraces RP. …

The Effects Of Juror Characteristics And Case Type On Trans Panic Defense Verdicts, Isabella Noel Coppa

Theses and Dissertations

The trans panic defense is a provocation defense that uses the victim’s transgender identity as justification for the defendant’s violent actions. Previous research has identified juror characteristics that predict support for the gay panic defense (Michalski & Nunez, 2022) and trans panic defense (Michalski et al., 2022), but less is known about whether case type impacts support for the trans panic defense. This study sought to fill this gap by manipulating case type and further exploring juror characteristics that predict greater support of the trans panic defense. This study utilized 188 participants that read crime vignettes featuring transgender or cisgender …

Law Enforcement And Traumatic Experiences: A Qualitative Study With Administrators, Tami Jo N. Lieberg

Theses and Dissertations

The culture and work experiences of law enforcement lead to unique workplace trauma. The cumulative and complex trauma commonly faced by law enforcement officers can activate multiple stress-related illnesses, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These illnesses can have high personal costs to the individuals, lead to loss of departmental productivity and effectiveness, and incur higher expenses for taxpayers due to overtime and high turnover rates and potential lawsuits. Research over several decades has identified risk and resiliency factors for officers. One identified risk and resiliency factor is relationship with management. This research study explores how department leaders can assist officers …

The Role Of Attachment And Childhood Trauma For Men Parenting During The Reentry Phase: A Mixed Methods Secondary Analysis, Lily A. Hoerner

Master's Theses

Mass incarceration is a major problem in the U.S., with people of color being the ones most affected by it. Most of the people who are incarcerated are men, and a stark number of these men are parents. Reentry is a critical period for people released where they return home to their communities and families and have to reintegrate into life outside of prison. The recidivism rate in the U.S. is the highest of any other nation, making reentry an important area of focus to help repair the harms caused by mass incarceration. Many men who return home from incarceration …

Rotten To The Corps: Understanding The Human Rights Consequences Of Military Failure Through The Eyes Of Russian Prisoners Of War, Gary Mercer

International Studies (MA) Theses

The February 24th , 2022, Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent unresolved conflict it created has threatened the human rights of combatants and noncombatants alike on both sides, with discernable battlefield factors of Russia’s military failure contributing to human rights abuses and war crimes. Sixty interviews with Russian prisoners of war conducted by Ukrainian journalists published online were analyzed to determine which specific factors of Russia’s military failure contributed to human rights abuses and war crimes in Ukraine. Training, logistics and equipment, and the failure of the officer corps were identified as factors of military failure which contributed to …

“A Tale Of National Disgrace”: Applying The Doctrine Of Unconscionability To Establish The Impermissibility Of Secret Non-Prosecution Agreements, Denna Fraley

Journal of Law and Policy

Crime victims are directly harmed by crime and therefore have a stake in, and should be treated as individual participants in the criminal justice process. In recognition of this, Congress passed the Crime Victims’ Rights Act (“CVRA”) in 2004 to enumerate specific rights afforded to crime victims, including the rights to confer with the prosecutor in the case, to be heard at public court proceedings involving a plea or sentencing, to be informed in a timely manner of a plea bargain or deferred prosecution agreement, and to be treated with fairness and respect. Whether the CVRA extends these rights to …