Education Commons^™

The Gendered Context Of System Experience And Its Impact On Girls In The Juvenile Justice System, Vanessa Patino Lydia

Theses and Dissertations

As girls are becoming a rising share of the juvenile justice population, responses have not focused on applying the pathways research and context for girls’ offenses. This study examined the ways girls described the context for their justice system involvement (arrest, probation, court). Using grounded theory, this research elevates the experiences of 32 participants, girls ages 13-18 who were incarcerated in commitment programs in Florida.

The findings of this grounded theory suggest that the gendered context of girls’ system involvement includes her lived experiences, coping strategies, delinquent behaviors, as well as her system experiences. Regardless of her path into the …

The Link Between Animal Cruelty And Violent Crime Victimization: An Assessment Of The Lifetime Impact Of Animal Cruelty On Secondary Victims, Amber Ahern

Theses and Dissertations

Animal cruelty and the secondary victimization of humans caused by animal cruelty are significant social problems. The dissertation presented a comparative research study on the developmental, psychological, and emotional symptomatology experienced by crime victims who had prior experiences with animal cruelty as a secondary victimization versus those who had not. Secondary victimization, as well as animal cruelty experiences, were operationally defined. This dissertation presented a broad literature review focusing on animal cruelty, its overall impact, and the link to other forms of criminality. This dissertation reviewed the importance of this line of research and possible implications for policy, future research, …

Habitual Offender Monitoring Enforcement (H.O.M.E.) Task Force: Combating Auto Thefts Committed By Habitual Juvenile Offenders, Anika Marie Dzik

Theses and Dissertations

Pinellas County was combating a juvenile auto theft-problem evidenced by a major increase in juveniles breaking into and stealing cars across all city jurisdictions. Due to the auto theft-problem, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office created the Habitual Offender Monitoring Enforcement (H.O.M.E.) Task Force that includes multiple law enforcement jurisdictions within the county to address the problem. The purpose of the H.O.M.E. Task Force is to strictly enforce court-ordered sanctions by intensively supervising juveniles to decrease the likelihood of them committing more crimes. The H.O.M.E. Task Force focuses specifically on habitual juvenile offenders and the auto theft-problem, which is currently one …

Confidence In Law Enforcement When African-Americans Are Underrepresented On The Force: An Exploratory Study, Charles E. Maclean

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the prediction that when African-Americans are underrepresented among sworn officers in a community’s local law enforcement agencies compared to the African-American proportions in that community’s overall population, African-American civilians’ confidence in their local law enforcement agencies may suffer, leading to impaired respect for law, reduced civilian cooperation with law enforcement, and civilian impressions of weakened procedural justice and fairness. With low civilian confidence, the argument goes, one could expect an enhanced sense of disenfranchisement among the underrepresented sub-populations.

The purpose of this study is to consider the impact of underrepresentation of African-Americans among sworn officers serving a …