Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Collateral Consequences: The Experiences Of Black Women With Incarcerated Loved Ones, Keiondra Jné Grace

Dissertations

A wealth of research exists that considers the causes of mass incarceration, particularly how it has shaped crime narratives and the life courses of Black men and Black women that experience imprisonment. Scholars have also explored the collateral consequences of incarceration for families and communities in general, but mentioning that Black families and communities in particular are disproportionately impacted by mass incarceration. Despite the documented impact of incarceration on families, and the acknowledgement of the toll mass incarceration has on Black communities—the social cost of mass incarceration in the lives of Black women whom have not experienced incarcerated is yet …

Examining The Impact Of A Criminal Background In Social Work Education, Amy S. Vliek

Dissertations

Many returning citizens want to access higher educational institutions (HEIs) to access desired professions and increase employability. However, many HEIs and profession education programs have restrictions in place for returning citizens. An MSW is the most sought-after degree for returning citizens. However, social work education has restrictions in place for returning citizens. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the lived experiences of MSW returning citizen students considering these restrictions. The dissertation attempts to answer the following research questions: How did applicants who disclosed a criminal background at the time of application experience the MSW application process? Did the …

A Prospective Investigation Of Behavioral Risk Factors And Sexual Victimization Outcome In College Females, Tara E. Casady

Dissertations

The current study was a prospective examination of the potential predictors of sexual victimization in women with and without sexual victimization histories. Utilizing a longitudinal design, we investigated sexually risky behavior, sexual sensation seeking, and substance use disordered behavior with regard to the later experience of sexual victimization during 2-­‐‑, 6-­‐‑, and 12-­‐‑month follow-­‐‑up periods. As reported previously, Time 1 data suggested that women with victimization histories were more likely to engage in sexually risky behaviors, engage in substance use disordered behavior, and were more likely to endorse higher scores of sexual sensation seeking. A statistically significant relationship was not …

Missing Pieces: How Neighborhood Health Context Influences Jail Reentry, Andrew Gregg Verheek

Dissertations

This study explores how neighborhood context influences the odds of reoffending by those released from incarceration at a local jail facility. Using data from four sources, I seek to contribute to the understanding of reentry by including two factors missing from current theoretical and empirical work on inmate recidivism. First, using a social disorganization perspective, I include measures of neighborhood health to gain an understanding of how increased substance abuse, mental health, and physical health issues among neighborhood residents impede the development of social capital and informal control that are crucial to the reduction of recidivism. Additionally, I examine jail …

End Of The Line: Tracking The Commodity Chain Of The Electronic Waste Industry, Jacquelynn A. Doyon

Dissertations

This study examines the transfer of electronic waste (e-waste) from core to peripheral nations, specifically coastal nations in Africa. The theoretical perspective marries green criminology with world systems theory in examining the ways in which marginalized populations bear the burden of hazardous waste disposal across the globe. The study is comparative, looking at legislation in the United States as well as international legislation and enforcement, and also employs case study methodology, contrasting e-waste disposal in Nigeria and Ghana. The final intent of this research is to determine whether or not the violation of national and/or international legislation regarding the transfer …

Voices Of Parolees Who Have Chosen A Community College Element Within A Reentry Program, Kristi S. Potts

Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe and understand how parolees experience participating in the community college element of a reentry program. This program was located in a Midwestern county and the parolees who chose to participate in the higher education aspect of this reentry program were a small subset of those who participated in the overall reentry program. Research questions included: What influences a parolees' decision to enroll in the community college element within a reentry program? How do such parolees describe their experiences as a student in a community college? How do such parolees describe the …

"Don't Let The Job Change You; You Change The Job": The Lived Experiences Of Women In Policing, Carrie Buist

Dissertations

In the last decade, the percentage of women working as police officer has not seen any significant increase. This dissertation, "Don't Let the Job Change You; You Change the Job:" The Lived Experiences of Women in Policing uses in-depth, participant guided interviews with current women police officers to gain a better understanding of their experiences. The goal of this project was to allow the women to speak for themselves, and in sharing the narratives of their lived experiences as officers, both add to and build on the existing research on women working in policing. In addition to the interviews, observations …

Financialism In Pretrial Release And Criminal Case Outcomes: A Relative Comparison Of Finances, Ethnicity And Sex, Daniel White

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of financial resources upon pretrial release and criminal case outcomes. Data related to the pretrial and criminal case outcomes was analyzed to determine the effect that financial ability has on being released prior to trial and the subsequent adjudication outcome rendered. Other relationships included were ethnicity and sex based on the literature in this area.

The data that were chosen for this study included individual and county-level data compiled by the State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) program of the Bureau of Justice Statistics on the processing of a sample of …

The Theory And Practice Of Drug Courts: Wolves In Sheep Clothing?, Kristen E. Devall

Dissertations

This dissertation is a case study of an adult drug court in a medium-size Midwestern city. The primary impetus behind the creation of the drug court model was the partial recognition that the "get tough" approach to crime and the "war on drugs" was ineffective in "solving the United States' drug problem. Drug courts represent an integration of a public-health approach and a public-safety strategy of fighting crime and administering "justice." The bulk of the extant research regarding drug courts addresses one central question: "Do drug courts work?" Researchers and evaluators alike have attempted to answer this question over the …

The Effects Of Defendant Race, Psychological Expert Witness Race, And Racially Salient Psychological Expert Testimony On Juror Decision Making, Lily Cheyanne (Manick) Munavu

Dissertations

The present study examined the effects of defendant race, psychological expert witness race, the racial salience of a psychological expert witness's testimony, and modern racism on juror decisions. Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight conditions that varied the race of the defendant (Black or White), the race of the psychological expert witness (Black or White), and the racial salience of the expert witness testimony (racially relevant or not racially relevant). Participants were asked to review the case documents of a criminal case in which the defendant was charged with battery and robbery. Participants rendered verdicts for both charges, …

Thereby Become A Monster: Complex Organizations And The Torture At Abu Ghraib, Janine A. Bower

Dissertations

Reasearch and theory on organizational crime and deviance suggest organizational offending includes aspects of the environment, organizational characteristics (such as tasks, structure, and processes), and cognition, and is systematically produced by the combination of these three. This research is an examination of the organization of the Abu Ghraib detention and interrogation facility in Iraq, the location of prison abuses now made infamous following their public disclosure in 2004. An ethnographic content analysis of documents was performed to probe organizational culture, structure and processes, and their intersection with individual biographies and contextual forces. While public questions focused on why seemingly ordinary …

The Effects Of Post-Secondary Education On State Troopers’ Job Performance, Stress Levels, And Authoritarian Attitudes, Carl J. Lafata

Dissertations

This study was designed to determine the effects of post-secondary education on police officers' job performance, stress levels, and levels of authoritarianism as measured by Altemeyer's (1996) Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale questionnaire. It involved the analysis of data voluntarily and anonymously submitted via an internet-based survey by 356 of the Michigan State Police's approximately 1,800 enlisted members (those members who are state-certified police officers), along with information collected from informal personal interviews held with a select group of seven of the department's senior leaders. Subsequent analysis of the collected quantitative data revealed no statistical support for the project's first two hypotheses, …

Refocusing On Adult Probation: Theory Versus Practice, Paul David Gregory

Dissertations

This dissertation is a case study of an adult probation department in a southern state. Adult probation is an important part of the criminal justice system, as it provides a reduced program cost compared with incarceration. Current literature proposes that adult probation is in crisis due to poor to sub-standard performance by probationers, a collapse in supervision, and decline in probation funding. This dissertation attempts to answer the question of possible causes for problems in the adult probation system. To accomplish this, this work focuses on how probation officers and clients are affected by contradictions occurring between the theory and …

Problem-Based Learning: An Attitudinal Study Of Police Academy Students, Gregory P. Vander Kooi

Dissertations

Policing strategies have gravitated toward a consensus paradigm model, commonly referred to as "community policing." This is a significant paradigm shift, yet most police academies continue to use traditional lecture-based pedagogical methods to train police officers. One possible alternative to passive lecture-based teaching is a more active problem-based learning. Problem-based methodologies consist of presenting ill-structured problems whereby an instructor facilitates and directs the students in active inquiry toward possible solutions for a specific problem.

State-Corporate Crime In Kalamazoo Department Of Public Safety: A Case Study Of Deviant Activity Between The Police And Computer Vendors, Steven Edward Reifert

Dissertations

This study focuses on the state corporate crime that occurred when Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety implemented two computer systems that never functioned as promised. Failure of these systems resulted in death, injury, and substantial waste of taxpayer money. A case study method is used to describe and explain how this social harm occurred. An integrated theory of state-corporate crime developed by Kauzlarich and Kramer (1998) is used to examine theintersection of deviance between corporate vendors, the public safety department, and the federal government. More specifically, this study explores this intersection on three levels---the political economic setting before, during, and …

Seeking Justice For Victims And Offenders: A Needs-Based Approach To Justice, Patrick M. Gerkin

Dissertations

This dissertation is a case study investigation of a victim-offender mediation program in a mid-western state. Victim-offender mediation is one form of amuch greater movement currently emerging within the criminal justice system known as restorative justice. The focus of this dissertation is to examine the connections between theory and practice with regards to mediation as a form of restorative justice.

This research fills avoid in the restorative justice literature. It offers findings based on empirical research about the issues that are central to restorative justicetheory and practice. There is a wealth of theory claiming that restorative justice can deliver a …

The Masquerade Of Abu Ghraib: State Crime, Torture, And International Law, Dawn Rothe

Dissertations

On April 28, 2004, pictures of abuse and torture of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison by U.S. military personnel shocked many Americans. In the wake of the images, it became clear that several military personnel were involved in the acts of torture and abuse. This dissertation explores the interconnections of larger structural factors, state policies, and individual actors in an attempt to understand how and why torture and abuse occurred at Abu Ghraib. It builds upon an integrated theoretical model of state and corporate crime. The dissertation revises this model so that it can better address the complexities o …

Implementing Community Policing Successfully: An Analysis Of The Degree Of Police Engagement With The Philosophy And Practice Of Community Policing, Robert G. Muladore

Dissertations

The police community in the United States began to adopt the philosophy of community policing in the early 1970s as a solution to rising crime rates. Since that time a great many police departments have officially stated that they have embraced and practice this concept. When later studies began to question theeffectiveness of community policing in reducing crime rates, measures such as reduction of citizens' fear of crime and citizen's attitudes toward policebecame the secondary measures of success of this philosophy. Few comprehensive studies have specifically looked at the degree of congruence betweenpolice agency adoption of the community policing philosophy …

A Sociological History Of Prison Privatization In The Contemporary United States, Donna Selman-Killingbeck

Dissertations

This dissertation is framed by the radical criminological-theoretical perspective and utilizes the social constructionist method of analysis to examine the development of prison privatization in the United States. Central to this analysis is the question: How is it that, given the disastrous history of blatant attempts to blend capitalism and punishment, contemporary privatization of prisons not only emerged but continues to expand becoming a multinational incarceration industry? Three phases of privatization: emergence, maintenance and perpetuation, are illuminated in their political, economic and cultural contexts. Thestrategies and techniques, access to power, claims-making and managing counterclaims for example, of various stakeholders in …

Importation And Prisonization Of Corrections Worker’S Attitudes And Behaviors: An Empirical Examination Of Social Distance, Correctional Orientation, And Punitive Behavior Within The Correctional Setting, William J. Hartley

Dissertations

Past research has relied on two theoretical models---importation and prisonization---to explain staff member's attitudes, behaviors, and social distance from offenders in the correctional work environment. Tests of these models have shown partial support for both models. However, missing in the literature has been a clear understanding and examination of how these attitudes and behaviors vary across custody levels within a given correctional facility. The purpose of this study is: (1) to include a more comprehensive test of the prisonization and importation models by including more of the variables utilized in past research; (2) to develop and test a causal model …

A Structural Analysis Of Law Enforcement Officer Deaths; 1995-1999, Kasey A. Tucker

Dissertations

Every year several officers die while serving the general public, protecting society from chaos and disorder of crime. Much conjecture surrounds the discussionof why law enforcement officers die in the line of duty and several different studies gave been conducted looking at the different aspects of law enforcement officer death, but limited literature exists exploring law enforcement officer death from a structural perspective.

This study examines in a preliminarily nature, the structural factors that precipitate law enforcement officer deaths between the years of 1995 and 1999 in the United States. In this analysis a theoretical framework reflective of the conflict …

Leadership Competency Needs Of U.S. Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, John Nathaniel Vinson

Dissertations

College campus police administrators operate in a complex administrative environment that produces difficult leadership challenges. In order to manage these challenges, police administrators need to possess certain leadership competencies. This study fills a gap in the academic literature by examining the perceptions of campus law enforcement administrators in the United States as to the kinds of leadership challenges they face, and the nature of the leadership competencies needed to manage these challenges. A nationwide survey of college campus police administrators at four-year colleges and universities was conducted to (1) explore their perceptions regarding the major leadership challenges they currently face, …

Ideology Or Insanity? Media Presentation Of Ted Kaczynski And Tim Mcveigh, Matthew P. Sheptoski

Dissertations

This dissertation explores mainstream media presentation of two convicted murderers: Theodore J. Kaczynski, otherwise known as "The Unabomber," and Timothy J. McVeigh, found guilty of the 1995 destruction of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. More specifically, I analyze The New York Times's and Time's presentation of these two actors in order to assess whether their acts were attributed to political and ideological motivation or psychological abnormality and mental illness. Quantitative and qualitative findings indicate that Kaczynski's crimes were more likely to be attributed to psychological abnormality and mental illness, while McVeigh's crimes were more likely to be …

African-American And White Female Homicide Offenders: Women Who Kill Intimate Partners Versus Non-Intimate Partners In Chicago Between 1980-1995, Shauntey James

Dissertations

The research that examines female homicide offenders goes little further than investigating whether or not offenders were previously victimized by those whom they kill. This research project is designed to contribute to this extant body of literature and theory in two ways. The first is to add and provide a comprehensive picture of African-American and white female homicide offenders in intimate versus non-intimate relationships in homicidal events. The second manner of contribution lies in the testing of a creative and integrative theoretical model. This model addresses race, underclass context, alcohol use, social disorganization and prior arrest record of female homicide …

An Analysis Of Police Perceptions Of Community Policing And Female Officers, Rhonda Kaye Delong

Dissertations

Traditional and community policing differ in their approach to crime and other social concerns. Traditional policing emphasizes reactive response and enforcement while community policing emphasizes proactive response and community partnership. Often, these two types of departments select officers with specific characteristics which fit well with the philosophy of the department. Characteristics such as age, education, years of military experience, rank, years of police experience, type of department, and family members in the military and the police are examined in this study to determine perceptual differences among officers regarding the community policing philosophy and the role of women in policing. A …

The Psychological Needs Of Sex Offenders Of Children As Measured By The Personality Research Form, Shirley Anne Miller

Dissertations

Major contributors in the field of child sexual abuse have agreed that sex offenders who sexually abuse children are not primarily motivated by sexual desire and have proposed that the simultaneous satisfaction of a number of psychological needs is the prominent motivation of sex offenders of children. Few attempts have been made to empirically validate the clinical and theoretical impressions regarding the psychological needs of this group using psychological measures designed to assess needs or motives.

The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent the assumptions about the psychological needs of sex offenders of children would be …

An Evaluation Of An Intervention Program For Juvenile Probationers, Kevin I. Minor

Dissertations

Although the efficacy of correctional rehabilitation was questioned during the early 1970s, recent research has demonstrated that certain intervention programs, when implemented under appropriate conditions, are effective in reducing illegal behavior. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a court-based intervention for juvenile probationers.

The program was developed on the basis of caseworkers' assessments of youths' problems and needs. The theoretical perspective underlying the intervention consisted of a joint combination of critical, social control, and differential association theories. A major implication of theory is that the juvenile court's capacity to facilitate informal social control should be …

The Effects Of A Wilderness/Adventure Program On The Self-Concept, Locus Of Control Orientation, And Interpersonal Behavior Of Delinquent Adolescents, Timothy J. Zwart

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a 26-day therapeutic wilderness program for delinquent adolescent males on three conceptually distinct but closely related constructs: self-concept, locus of control orientation, and interpersonal behavior. Justification for the study was derived from the limitations of past wilderness/adventure research which suggested that there was a need for additional research on the effects of this type of alternative program for delinquent adolescents.

It was hypothesized that following participation in this program the youths would exhibit increased self-concept, more internal locus of control orientation, would express higher needs for inclusion and affection …

An Analysis Of The Effects Of A Low Glycemic Diet On The Antisocial Behavior Of Juvenile Offenders, James Edward Longhurst

Dissertations

The objective of this study was to determine if a low glycemic diet contributes to a reduction in the incidence of antisocial behavior among male juvenile offenders.

One hundred forty juvenile offenders at a residential treatment center were randomly divided into treatment and nontreatment groups. The treatment group ate from a diet which contained foods low in glycemic characteristics. There was no dietary alteration for the control group.

Three instruments were used to measure differences between groups in antisocial behavior following a 5-week experimental period. These instruments include: (1) the Unusual Incident Report--a systematic and objective observer report form, (2) …

Recidivism Of 17-21 Year-Old Misdemeanants Participating In A Prosecution Diversion Program, Gerald D. Snodgrass

Dissertations

Criminal activity involving the youthful offender is a serious problem in law enforcement. The monetary considerations of processing a criminal case in the established criminal justice system are not declining. Youthful crime, like all forms of criminal activity, is a considerable drain on the resources of this country. The personal costs to the 17-21 year-old offender may include curtailment of employment opportunities, limited educational prospects, and the establishment of adverse life patterns, leading to further criminal involvement. The youthful offender who resorts to crime again and is arrested because of such criminal activity adds additional costs to the criminal justice …