Criminal Law Commons^™

The Social Camouflage And Everyday Masks Of The Constyle Serial Rapist: A Sociological Analysis Of Newspaper Accounts, Clara Fesmire, Thomas Vander Ven, Lauren Wright

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Research suggests that serial rapists use more sophisticated techniques and possess more specialized awareness than average single-victim offenders (Park, Schlesinger, Pinizzotto & Davis, 2008). Although there is a substantial body of literature on the attack styles of offenders, data and theoretical models on the interactional styles and performance rituals of serial rapists are relatively scarce. The current study uses a qualitative analysis of major American newspaper accounts to discuss the behavioral patterns and performance styles of the con-style serial rapist as depicted by crime reporters. The con rapist uses deceptive persuasion and everyday disguises ( e.g., posing as a police …

Harlem Pimps' Accounts Of Their Economic Pathways And Feelings Of Insiderness And Outsiderness, Amber Horning, Christopher Thomas, Sara Jordeno

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"This study analyzes semi-structured interviews with 85 pimps in New York City to explore how pimps discuss their economic pathways - i.e., how their pimping leads to distinct types of work outcomes and how they discuss their associated feelings and attitudes. We compare younger (18-23) to older (24-67) pimps, anticipating that younger participants would be more adaptive and produce discourse less entrenched in outsider thinking. Pimps' movements between licit and illicit work worlds mirror those of drifters (Matza, 1964) and align with Murphy and Robinson's (2008) concept of maximizers (i.e., economically benefiting from both work worlds simultaneously). Younger pimps, despite …

Jeff Ferrell, Drift: Illicit Mobility And Uncertain Knowledge, Travis Milburn

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Today, one does not have to look hard for examples of populations in flux. From war refugees abandoning familiar lands for safety to migratory workers in search of economic opportunities, drift is not only a defining feature of the contemporary world, but it is indeed a global phenomenon. In Jeff Ferrell's Drift: Illicit Mobility and Uncertain Knowledge, we see drift in action in North America and experience the history of hoboing through a cultural, social, and political narrative. While there are many readily accessible examples of the phenomenon of drift in the world, this book shows that drift is …

Ethnic Police Humor As Ethnic Boundary-Making In The Swedish Police Force, Sara Uhnoo

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"All professions display their own specific humor shaped by the occupational culture, type of work, and working conditions defining them. In this article, the role of ethnic jokes and banter in police humor, including their functions and consequences, are investigated drawing upon interviews with Swedish police employees from an ethnic minority background. A typology is developed containing six distinct types of ethnic police humor. Based on it, some of the ways in which ethnic boundary-making occurs and operates within the Swedish police force are analyzed. The consequences of ethnic humor for police work both internally within the police organization and …

Hearing On The Deaf Penalty: The Intersection Of Deafness And Criminal Justice, Kabrianna Tamura, Elaine Gunnison

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"The Deaf population in America's criminal justice system is far under-acknowledged, researched, and accommodated. Each year, gross negligence toward Deaf individuals results in exponentially costly lawsuits regarding violations of their constitutional and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) rights. The purpose of this study is to empirically identify the current deficits experienced by the Deaf within the criminal justice system through 18 qualitative interviews with two sub-populations: Deaf individuals who have directly interacted with the criminal justice system and professionals who witness the interaction of the Deaf within the criminal justice system. Results from the qualitative investigation revealed that the top …

Creating The Best: A Two-Prong Policy Approach To Improve The Quality Of Future Certified Ohio Peace Officers, Amy English

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

This qualitative client applied study explained and explored a two-fold approach that could be used to implement policy changes that will aid small Ohio police departments in commissioning intellectually developed and psychologically suited individuals for employment in law enforcement. Several issues needed to be addressed in order to accomplish these policy changes. Criminological theories were correlated to deviant behaviors of criminally charged Ohio police officers. Past legislated police reform acts were addressed. Past studies of police officer higher education were analyzed. Finally, the implementation factors for psychological evaluations as a police academy pre-enrollment requirement were identified. This study, based on …

Issues Of Practical Implementation Of The Principles Of Criminal Law In The Law-Making And Law-Enforcement Practice Of The Republic Of Belarus, V Marchuk

ProAcademy

In the p ro p o s e d article, the a u th o r considers issues o f p ra c tic a l im plem entation o f the p rin ciple s o f c rim in a l la w in the la w m a kin g a n d law -e nfo rcem e n t p ra c tic e o f the R epublic o f Belarus. O n the basis o f separate results o f c rim in o lo g ic a l expertise, the a rticle shows …

Revisiting A Classic: A Qualitative Analysis Of Differential Opportunity Theory And Its Utility In Explaining Residential Burglary, John A. Shjarback

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Cloward and Ohlin’s (1960) differential opportunity theory made several significant contributions to criminology, including the emphasis on illegitimate means and the idea that social structure influences criminal opportunity. The problem, however, is that the field largely misinterpreted Cloward and Ohlin’s intent as a simple variation of strain theory instead of a critical refinement of the existing perspective. Generally, the theory has not received much scholarly attention in terms of testing of its key propositions. Using semi-structured personal interviews with 105 active residential burglars in St. Louis, Missouri during 1989- 1990, the current study uses qualitative measures to analyze differential opportunity …

Interviewing Cybercrime Offenders, Alice Hutchings, Thomas J. Holt

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Research on cybercrime offending and victimization has increased dramatically over the past two decades, though qualitative scholarship on more technical offenses such as computer misuse has not kept pace with this broader trend. This research aims to identify potential best practices for researchers considering qualitative interviews as a method for researching computer misuse offenses, more commonly involving hacking techniques. The authors interviewed six experienced researchers who conducted qualitative examinations of active or incarcerated cybercriminals to understand their common experiences with recruitment, ways in which they interviewed research participants, ethical issues, and publishing their research. This analysis explores the difficulties associated …

The Life Course Of Female Homicide Offenders: The Context Of Turning Points, Alesa Liles

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Although research on female offending has grown in the past few decades, the criminal justice system has remained inadequate in addressing the needs of women. Available research shows some experiences play a significant role in the lives of women that differ from men. To elaborate, this study sought to incorporate life course perspective and the individual’s perspective to show that context is fundamental to life course research. This study identified life events and turning points specific to female homicide offenders and validated the necessary incorporation of perception and attribution to future research with life course perspective."

Culture, Socialization, And Firearms Violence In The United States, Jennifer L. Lanterman, Sarah J. Blithe

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Firearm violence persists in the United States despite innumerable social, political, and economic changes throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. Collaborative Event Ethnography was used at seven gun shows in three regions of the United States to explore childhood socialization into firearm culture via intergenerational communication of values and views regarding violence, safety, and the use of firearms. Children were observed at all gun shows engaged in activities ranging from standard play to potentially dangerous activity in an environment characterized by bias and controversy. The findings support social learning theory and provide some insight into the role of culture …

Preliminary Investigation Of Pharmaceutical Counterfeiters In The United States, Jay P. Kennedy, Ksenia Petlakh, Jeremy M. Wilson

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Pharmaceutical counterfeiting is one of the most pressing public health concerns in the United States and abroad, and recently an increasing amount of scholarly attention has been given to this issue. However, the extant literature lacks a systematic investigation of the specific roles undertaken within pharmaceutical counterfeiting schemes. We attempt to address this knowledge gap through an analysis of individuals convicted in federal court of counterfeiting offenses related to U.S.-based pharmaceutical counterfeiting incidents. From our investigation we identified six distinct roles that can classify an individual’s involvement in a pharmaceutical counterfeiting scheme: Key/Lead, Supporting, Sales/Distribution to Legitimate Others, Sales/Distribution to …

Cons, Constructions And Misconceptions Of Computer Related Crime: From A Digital Syntax To A Social Semantics, M. R. Mcguire

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Has the framing of computer crime been a process which has, in effect, left us all framed? What is it that we think that we understand when we use terms like “internet crime,” “cybercrime,” or “technocrime,” and in what sense does this understanding constitute knowledge? In particular, the kind of knowledge which can be defined as “social scientific?” In this paper, I apply one of the key distinctions used to define computational processes – that made between a syntax and a semantics – to illustrate some of the problems that have affected our thinking about cybercrime and undermined our responses …

Technocrime At The Margins: Introduction To The Special Issue On Critical Or Marginal Perspectives And Issues In The Study Of Technocrime, Kevin F. Steinmetz

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"When first asked to guest edit a special issue of the Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology, I admit that I was hesitant. I knew from helping Willard Oliver start this journal and from working as its first book review editor that editorship can be trying—and often underappreciated— work. Tom Holt, the editor of the journal at the time, however, was ambitious and willing to take some risks in his mission to carry the journal forward. As such, he offered me tremendous latitude and support for pursuing my unique vision for a special issue on technocrime issues from …

The Cyborgian Deviant: An Assessment Of The Hacker Through The Lens Of Actor-Network Theory, Wytske Van Der Wagen

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"When we think of technocrime, it is immediately “the hacker” who comes to mind, a somewhat mystical figure who can do seemingly magical as well as malicious things with technology. Throughout history, various scholars, including criminologists, have sought to grasp the hacker phenomenon so as to unravel hackers’ techno-culture, identity, and mentality. The current study is one of them, yet it does so from a novel, less anthropocentric angle. Drawing on the cyborg-lens of actor-network theory, which considers the human and the technical as nonseparable, this study conceives the hacker as a “cyborgian deviant:” a transgressive blend of human and …

The Use Of Mythic Narratives In Presidential Rhetoric On Cybercrime, Joshua B. Hill, Nancy E. Marion

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"What politicians say about crime matters, both because of the impact their rhetoric has on public opinion and the policies and motives those words often portend. This is no different when presidents speak about the relatively new area of technocrime. As with other types of crime, political rhetoric on technocrime relies on previous social constructions of the problem, which are (in part) based on myths rooted in popular culture. These myths can be used to help forward political agendas in ways that may be useful to the politician, but that do not address the causes or effects of technocrime. Using …

Seductive Events: A Critical Examination Of Youth Sexting, Karen Holt

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"The social impact of technologies is evident among both teenagers and young people. Youth now experience and engage in most aspects of daily life “online” through the use of social media, mobile phones, and the Internet. This has led to a host of concerns, from parents, educators, advocates, and law enforcement regarding the ways in which this technology is being used, with the debate focused primarily on the issue of “sexting” or sharing of naked and semi-naked selfies. This paper explores sexting behavior from a critical perspective, examining the individual and institutional narratives that continue to shape and influence opinion …

Coping With Cybercrime Victimization: An Exploratory Study Into Impact And Change, Jurjen Jansen, Rutger Leukfeldt

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"An increasing number of Internet users are dealing with cybercrime victimization. In order to find out whether victims adequately recover from cybercrime incidents, it is important to gain insight into its effects and impact on users. However, as it stands now, there is not much literature on the impact of cybercrime. We address this gap by qualitatively examining the impact of two types of cybercrime, namely phishing and malware attacks targeting online banking customers. We used the coping approach as a framework to study how victims deal with the negative events they have experienced. In order to study the impact …

Criminology (Gsu, Clayton), Scott Jacques, Andrea Allen

Criminal Justice and Law Grants Collections

This Grants Collection for Criminology was created under a Round Nine ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials:

• Linked Syllabus
• Initial Proposal
• Final Report

Qualitative Approach To Understanding Guardian Models Of Policing, Jacqueline B. Helfgott, Beck M. Strah, Joycelyn Pollock, Loren T. Atherley, John Vinson

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Since 2015, there has been a growing interest and controversy regarding the “warrior” versus “guardian” models of policing. This article discusses the concept of guardian policing and uses qualitative data from an evaluation of guardian-based training in a police academy to highlight guardian concepts as understood by the trainers. Results suggest that trainers generally exhibit a widespread level of support and commitment towards the guardian model and the priorities of guardian training, view the model as consistent with what has traditionally been considered “good policing,” and believe that critics do not understand the basic elements of the model itself, …

Graffiti With A Purpose: Sexual Violence & Social Justice Conversations In University Bathroom Stalls, Rachel E. Green, Miriam Northcutt Bohmert, Amanda N. Gesselman, Rasul Mowatt, Jennifer Maher, Justin R. Garcia

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

In 2014, our university began posting educational fliers in bathroom stalls across campus in order to share resources and policies on sexual violence, which spurred numerous forms of graffiti commentary about sexual violence prevention and response. Since some scholars have argued that bathroom graffiti can be a unique form of social commentary and even resistance facilitated by the tension of doing semi-private things in semi-public spaces, we examined 429 bathroom stall fliers across 11 heavily trafficked campus buildings, and a total of 177 graffiti comments/images. We then analyzed the relationships between comments in order to answer research questions about the …

Routledge Handbook Of Graffiti And Street Art, Jeffrey Ian Ross (Editor), Andrew C. Gray

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Expressing oneself by depicting images on public surfaces for others to view is a system of communication that has been around since the earliest societies formed and developed their own languages. This tradition of public communication has continued into the present in the form of graffiti and street art. The development of contemporary graffiti and street art is often attributed to the scenes in Philadelphia and New York City, which arose during the 1970s. In fact, it has been contended that these art forms spread to and mixed with graffiti/street art scenes across the globe due to NYC’s status as …

Criminal Genius: A Portrait Of High-Iq Offenders, James C. Oleson, Allen Copenhaver

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Criminology has a long history of attempting to discover and explain what some researchers claim are links between biological characteristics and criminal behavior. More specifically, some criminologists have explored the potential linkages between IQ and criminal behavior (i.e. see the work of Lombroso, Beaver, and Hirschi, among others). James C. Oleson continues this line of research with his 2016 book Criminal Genius: A Portrait of High-IQ Offenders. Oleson’s work is unique in that it is the first attempt to systematically examine the potential links between individuals with high IQs and criminal behavior. To accomplish this, Oleson uses a mixture …

Susan F. Sharp, Susan Marcus-Mendoza, Kathleen A. Cameron, Elycia S. Daniel-Roberson, Across The Spectrum Of Women And Crime: Theories, Offending, And The Criminal Justice System, Aneesa A. Baboolal

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

In Across the Spectrum of Women and Crime: Theories, Offending, and the Criminal Justice System, edited by Susan F. Sharp (The University of Oklahoma), Susan Marcus-Mendoza (The University of Oklahoma), Kathleen A. Cameron (Pittsburg State University), and Elycia S. Daniel-Roberson (Texas Southern University), interdisciplinary perspectives that examine multiple dimensions of women’s offending grounded in feminist theory are presented across three sections of the book. This edited volume first focuses on theoretical perspectives of women and crime including addressing intersectional social locations related to gender, race, class, and sexual orientation. The second section examines a variety of female offenders including …

Proxy Punishment: Consequences Of Informal Sanctions Among Families Of Offenders In Japan, Mari Kita

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

This study demystifies the nature of societal reactions to crime in Japan and their consequences on the family members of those who have trouble with the law. Over a 20-month period in metropolitan areas in Japan, participant observation and in-depth interviews were conducted with 50 mothers, fathers, wives, and sisters of those who had broken the law. Major findings include the role that the media and criminal justice authorities play in triggering the informal labeling of offenders’ kin. Families’ strong ties to communities also rendered them particularly vulnerable to the effects of informal sanctions, even more so than offenders themselves. …

A Diversity Course For Criminal Justice Undergraduate Students: A Preliminary Evaluation, Nancy Hirschinger-Blank, Lori Simons, David Fernandez

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Racially-involved police community incidents demonstrate the urgent need for educating future criminal professionals to work in a multicultural environment. We present a qualitative evaluation of a criminal justice diversity course designed to broaden university students' multicultural attitudes, knowledge, and skills. Results indicated that most students reportedly experienced a decrease in biases, described the importance of learning about cultural differences, acknowledged minorities’ negative attitudes toward the criminal justice system, and reported intentions to serve as fair and open-minded criminal justice professionals. Students also showed a significant increase in empathy across the semester.

The Deweyan Approach To Learning Victim Advocacy: Seeing Beyond Stigmas And Facilitating Second Chances, Ashley Peake Wellman, Sherri Dioguardi

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Fundamentally, criminal justice practitioners are public safety promoters, yet safety can be compromised if a divide exists between them and the communities they serve. The best way to train future criminal justice practitioners may be found in the progressive education proposed by John Dewey in the early 20th-century. Dewey’s experiential approach, specifically service-learning, has gained traction as an effective teaching tool for broadening perspectives, deepening understanding of diverse populations, and fostering higher order reasoning, all of which are critical characteristics for criminal justice professionals as well as for all American citizens. Undergraduate students participated in service-learning during a semester-long honors …

The Effects Of Body-Worn Cameras On Police Activity And Police-Citizen Encounters: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Anthony A. Braga, William H. Sousa, James R. Coldren, Jr., Denise Rodriguez

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

Many have suggested that placing body-worn cameras (BWCs) on police officers improves the civility of police-citizen encounters and enhances citizen perceptions of police transparency and legitimacy. In response, many police departments have adopted this technology to address public concerns over the quality of policing in their communities. The existing program evaluation evidence on the intended and unintended consequences of outfitting police officers with BWCs is still developing, however. This study reports the findings of a randomized controlled trial involving more than 400 police officers in Las Vegas, Nevada. We find that officers equipped with body-worn cameras generated fewer complaints and …

Rethinking The Boundaries Of “Criminal Justice", Benjamin Levin

Scholarship@WashULaw

This review of The New Criminal Justice Thinking (Sharon Dolovich & Alexandra Natapoff, eds.) tracks the shifting and uncertain contours of “criminal justice” as an object of study and critique. Specifically, I trace two themes in the book: (1) the uncertain boundaries of the “criminal justice system” as a web of laws, actors, and institutions; and (2) the uncertain boundaries of “criminal justice thinking” as a universe of interdisciplinary scholarship, policy discourse, and public engagement. I argue that these two themes speak to critically important questions about the nature of criminal justice scholarship and reform efforts. Without a firm understanding …

Rethinking The Boundaries Of "Criminal Justice", Benjamin Levin

Publications

This review of The New Criminal Justice Thinking (Sharon Dolovich & Alexandra Natapoff, eds.) tracks the shifting and uncertain contours of “criminal justice” as an object of study and critique.

Specifically, I trace two themes in the book:

(1) the uncertain boundaries of the “criminal justice system” as a web of laws, actors, and institutions; and

(2) the uncertain boundaries of “criminal justice thinking” as a universe of interdisciplinary scholarship, policy discourse, and public engagement.

I argue that these two themes speak to critically important questions about the nature of criminal justice scholarship and reform efforts. Without a firm understanding …