Business Commons^™

Exploring The Workplace Climate At Police Agencies During Civil Unrest And The Factors Influencing Officers' Participation In Black Lives Matter Protesting, Joshua R. Ruffin

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Scholars have long documented the negative relationship between police and communities of color. While these findings are of great importance, research remains limited on how connected police officers are to social justice movements (e.g., Black Lives Matter, or BLM for short) and the purposes behind why they exist. Furthermore, many studies focusing on police officer experiences tend to examine officer experiences with protesters, with limited studies focusing on their experiences with other officers during civil unrest and on the factors that influence their participation in protest movements when off duty. To help fill this gap, this study utilized semi-structured interviews …

Tokin Up In The 5280: Insight Into How Denver Police Officers Make Sense Of, And Define, Interpret, And React To The Legalization Of Marijuana, Kara K. Hoofnagle

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Laws surrounding the possession, use, and distribution of marijuana have undergone many changes for over a century. Political pressures and social prejudices have most often been the cause of these changes, rather than scientific research or rational thinking. As a result, the law has sometimes lagged behind social practice as in the current case in much of the U.S., including Colorado. In such an environment, it often falls on a police officer's definition, interpretation, and reaction to the laws to determine the extent to which certain laws and sanctions are enforced. Drawing on the work of Weick (1976), this dissertation …

Retention And Job Satisfaction Among Local Law Enforcement, Lisa N. Parron

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This thesis is an exploratory study which examines the retention of police officers in the Norfolk Police Department. Focus group interviews with nine police officers provided the data for this study. Participants described aspects of their job that they enjoy and aspects of their job that could be improved. Themes identified include working conditions, supervisor relationships, interpersonal relationships, pay, responsibility, achievement and recognition, and appeal of the job.

This research was aimed at revealing what officers like and dislike about their job in order to reduce voluntary turnover and increase retention.

The findings from this study indicate that job satisfaction …

Business Crime: The Perception And Experience Of Victimization And Corresponding Use Of Crime Prevention Measures, John A. Casten

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study uses the concepts of routine activities theory and social disorganization theory to examine some of the factors that influence a business owner's use of crime prevention measures. I predicted that neighborhood conditions as well as personal experience with crime would influence a business owner's decision to use crime prevention measures. In addition, I controlled for sex, race, age, education level, and police presence.

The results of the study were fairly consistent with the hypothesis except for two of the variables. In this particular study, age was not a significant factor in predicting the use of crime prevention measures, …