Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

“That Is Not Behavior Consistent With A Rape Victim”: The Effects Of Officer Displays Of Doubt On Sexual Assault Case Processing And Victim Participation, Laura L. King, Lisa M. Growette Bostaph

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite the prevalence and severity of sexual violence, case attrition has been identified as a significant issue. Of the cases that are reported to police, only a small portion result in arrest, prosecution, or conviction. Research has revealed that much of this attrition occurs early in the process and that a number of theoretically supported legal (e.g., physical evidence, victim participation) and extralegal (e.g., demographics, victim credibility) factors influence how and whether a case progresses through the criminal justice system. However, few researchers have directly examined the impact of officer doubt on case processing. Whereas legal and extralegal factors represent …

The Curious Tension Between Fish And Game Conservation Officers And The Fourth Amendment, Thomas White

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Based on principles of federalism, states as well as the federal government address the powers and duties of fish and wildlife conservation officers (hereafter referred to generally as “conservation officers”) in a variety of ways, a significant number of which appear to have Fourth Amendment ramifications. Many states require their conservation officers to have probable cause, with or without a search warrant, to engage in search activity. Since this is the standard employed for reviewing the reasonableness of the actions of ordinary law enforcement officers, these states’ legal requirements for searching hunters and anglers do not implicate Fourth Amendment concerns. …

Crime In A Time Of Cannabis: Estimating The Effect Of Legalizing Marijuana On Crime Rates In Colorado And Washington Using The Synthetic Control Method, Alexis J. Harper, Cody Jorgensen

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The legalization of marijuana for recreational use continues to expand across America. Colorado and Washington were the first states to legalize marijuana in 2012. A primary concern regarding legalization is how these policy changes affect crime rates. Researchers have begun to estimate the effect marijuana legalization has had on crime rates. We extend this literature by using a different analytical approach. State level data covering years 2000–2019 were analyzed using the synthetic control method to find that legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Colorado and Washington was generally not associated with variations in index crime rates. These findings substantiate prior …

Student Evaluations Of Teaching Are Mostly Awfully Wrong, Noel Otu, Ntiense E. Otu

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) have been used, researched, and debated for many decades. It is a common practice in higher education institutions, with the supposed purpose of improving course quality and effectiveness, but with unintended consequences of encouraging and motivating poor teaching and causing grade inflation. There is strong evidence that SET “effectiveness” does not measure teaching effectiveness. This paper reviews empirical research examining common concerns about the usefulness (positive and negative) and accuracy of SETs. The findings reveal that student satisfaction relates to their anticipated/expected grades in their courses; hence, they want to get good grades and their …

The Latina Experiences Of Intimate Partner Violence In The Rio Grande Valley, Lucas Enrique Espinoza, Luis Enrique Espinoza, Rosalva Resendiz, Georgina Villegas-Montenegro

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a severe public health and criminal justice issue that disproportionately affects women more than men. This sought to explore Latina experiences of IPV in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). Twelve Latina IPV survivors from the RGV, ages 24 to 40 years old, were interviewed using purposive and snowball sampling methods. Several primary themes were discovered: types of abuse; perceived reasons for the abuse; education and economic insecurity; why stay or leave an abusive relationship; the criminal justice system’s role; and self blaming. All participants (n = 12) were college educated and endured IPV victimization at …

A Commentary On Qualified Immunity In The Aftermath Of City Of Tahlequah V. Bond, Delores Jones-Brown, Paul Reck, Richard C. Helfers, Henry F. Fradella

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this Article, we argue that the Bond decision continues a line of judicial decisions that make it difficult for plaintiffs to seek civil redress against officers who cause serious injury or death to private citizens. We note that this judicial trend runs counter to public demand for police accountability and thwarts the legislative intent behind the enactment of 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983. We suggest that police practice, policy, standards and training-not judicial opinions ­should govern whether officers will be immune from the conse­quences of their actions, especially in areas where a substantial amount of empirical evidence exists to alert …

Police Body Cameras And Liability Insurance: The Deterrent To Police Misconduct?, Noel Otu, Ben-Edet Emmanuel, Edidiong Mendie, Ihekwoba Declan Onwudiwe

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Justice in Policing Act of 2020 propose mandatory body cameras for all uniformed federal officers in the United State. Advocates of this policy insist the practice will enhance police accountability and has the potential to also reduce police misconduct. In the same vein, advocates of mandatory liability insurance for police officers argue the policy will likely deter police officers from engaging in misconduct. How effective these policies are in enhancing police accountability and reducing police misconduct remains debatable. T his paper examined the arguments for whether or not police body cameras have positively influenced police officers’ behavior based on …

Why Do The Police Reject Counseling? An Examination Of Necessary Changes To Police Subculture. Necessary Changes To Police Subculture., Noel Otu, Ntiense E. Otu

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper reviews the concept of police subculture and examines its role in the management and acceptance of treatment for stress-related injury. In particular, we examine the impact of stigma that attaches to treatment within this subculture. The persistence of the dominant police subculture remains a significant obstacle to officers seeking treatment for stress-related illnesses. The subculture has historically resisted acknowledging the need for treatment in response to the occupational and/or organizational stress-related injury that results from frequent exposure to work-related trauma. Many police administrators are still embedded within and resist changes to the subculture, which results in an atmosphere …

Racial Tension, Public Mistrust, And Policing: Insights From Police Leaders In The Rio Grande Valley (Rgv)- A Research Note, Marika Dawkins-Cavazos

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper presents preliminary insights from police leaders in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), a southwestern border region of the United States. Perceptions among minority police leaders with respect to minority-police interactions have received little attention. To better understand the perceptions of minority police leaders, this study focused on whether police leaders in a predominantly Hispanic region of the country perceive that racial tensions influence police-community interactions. Using a purposive sample of 29 police leaders, preliminary results suggest that recent high-profile incidents have had some impact on how officers do their jobs. Implications for public policy and suggestions for future …

The Trends And Patterns Of Crime In Ghana: The Case Of Robbery, Joseph Appiahene-Gyamfi

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The study utilized the official police data that included the robbery incident addresses/spots to explore the incidence, volume, trends, and patterns of robbery in Ghana from 2014 to 2017. There were 5696 robbery cases of which the highest, 1772 cases, were recorded in 2017, and the lowest cases, 1116 recorded in 2014 reported to the police during this period. The daily average robberies were 3 cases in 2014, 4 cases each in 2015 and 2016, and 5 cases in 2017. The robbery per 100,000 of population in 2014 was 4.1 persons. In 2015, the rate was 5 persons, in 2016 …

Examining The Effects Of Legalizing Marijuana In Colorado And Washington On Clearance Rates: A Quasi-Experimental Design, Cody Jorgensen, Alexis J. Harper

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective This study follows the lead of Makin et al. (Police Quarterly 22(1): 31–55, 2019) who found that marijuana legalization is associated with a marginal increase in clearance rates for some crimes but not for others.

Methods We build on their work attempting to replicate their findings by using the synthetic control method and fixed-effects models. A 50-state panel data set was constructed and analyzed. The dependent variables were aggregated violence and property crime rates. The independent variable was dichotomously measured recreational marijuana legislation.

Results Marijuana legalization is not a meaningful avenue of increasing clearance rates.

Conclusion The synthetic …

Criminogenic Risk Factors And Mental Illness: An Examination Of The 2010 Kelly Elementary School Shooter, Brendan Liam O'Rourke, Gordon A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this presentation is to examine school violence perpetrator Mr. Brendan Liam O'Rourke and his involvement in the Kelly Elementary School playground shooting in Carlsbad, California, on October 8, 2010.

Most people suffering from mental illness are not violent, unless they are abusing substances or their mental illness is untreated (i.e., never diagnosed or not taking their medication because they do not think they need them, thus anosognosia).

This mentally ill offender, suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, will be examined through the lens of "8 Criminogenic Risk Factors". Relying upon the work of Andrews et al., Osher …

Where There's A Will There's A Way: Examining The Possible Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Incidents Of Mass Violence In The Usa, Gordon A. Crews, Garrison A. Crews, Samantha Leigh Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

“Where there’s a will there’s a way” is a proverb that simply means if someone is determined to do something, he or she will find a way to accomplish it regardless of obstacles. Unfortunately, this is very true for those who wish to commit acts of violence wish to commit acts of violence. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the possible impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on incidents of mass and multiple victim violence in the US. More specifically, what impact did efforts such as stay-athome/shelter-in-place orders, telecommuting options for workers, school closures, cancellation of large public events, …

Grassroots Approach Of Embracing Survivors To Inform The Fight Against Human Trafficking, Christina S. Bentch, Gordon A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

When human trafficking survivors work as “informants and advocates,” they keep systems trying to end this horrific crime honest and open to receiving new input. Grassroots approaches can inform many of the systems survivors pass through to improve or add to policies and procedures. Survivors can reveal new dynamics of transnational criminal networks and the development of new indicators and typologies in several systems. The systems discussed in this chapter will highlight the benefits and barriers to approaching an anti-trafficking agenda through a systems theory lens. The authors suggest ways to amend the limitations of these current systems by utilizing …

Further Evaluation Of The Associations Between Psychopathic Traits And Symptoms Of Ptsd And Depression In A Nonclinical Sample, Nicholas Kavish, Danielle Boisvert, Eric M. Cooke, Richard H. Lewis, Matthias Woeckener, Jessica Wells, Todd A. Armstrong

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Examining psychopathic traits at the factor or facet level has revealed that various aspects of psychopathy may be differentially related, even in opposing directions, to important outcomes (e.g., intelligence, emotion regulation). Empirical work on relations between psychopathy and internalizing disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, has provided evidence for a positive association with antisocial traits. However, findings for the affective domain have been more equivocal. The current study (N = 732) sought to replicate past findings of the positive association of antisocial psychopathic traits with higher levels of PTSD and depressive symptoms, and to further explore …

Media Framing, Moral Panic And Covid-19: A Comparative Analysis Of China, South Korea, And The Us., Deena Devore, Sinyong Choi, Yudu Li, Hong Lu

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

COVID-19 is perhaps the single most impactful event defining 2020 globally. Drawing on theory on media typology involving freedom and responsibility, media framing and moral panic theories, this paper examines media coverage on COVID-19 in three countries, China, South Korea and the United States. Data were obtained from six news outlets, Xinhua News, South China Morning Post, Chosun, Hankyoreh, CNN and Breitbart, two from each of the three countries. More than 1,000 COVID-19 related reports, spanning six days (the last day of January to June, 2020) were selected and coded based on common priming themes such as tone, the othering, …

We Can Move Mountains: Engaging In State-Level Policy Work, Lisa M. Growette Bostaph, Melissa Wintrow

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

An increasing number of academic researchers are becoming involved in state-level policy work as a result of existing local partnerships or direct requests by agency directors or elected officials. Most faculty and policymakers do not receive any training in doing such collaborative work and, for each party in the partnership, it can often seem like landing on another planet or, at the very least, visiting a foreign country, with different jargon, players, and stakes. This essay provides a brief guide to navigating the world of state-level partnerships in policymaking.

Covid-19 Student Mental Health Check Ii, Dianna Blankenship, Irma S. Jones

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The year 2020 will forever be known as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the entire population in one way or another. What began in January 2020 still has the world population firmly in its grip a year later. The students’ responses, in their own words, to changes in living, daily `routines, and health fears can be seen in the following paper. In this article, the responses of students in several undergraduate classes at a Hispanic serving institution in south Texas were collected and synthesized. The 155 responses were divided into seven frequently observed and repeated themes: …

Covid-19 Student Mental Health Check, Dianna Blankenship, Irma S. Jones

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced many changes in the lives of our students and families. In this article, the responses of students in criminal justice classes at a Hispanic serving institution in south Texas were collected and synthesized. The 252 responses were divided into seven frequently observed and repeated themes: jobs and job related, school and courses, graduation, routine, family, positivity, and groceries/shopping. Findings for this time period matched what much of what the national and international news and reports have all reported. It indicates that, as teaching professionals, we must be mindful to provide the added support to assist …

Folie À Deux In The 21st Century: Qanon And The American Dream Delusion, Gordon A. Crews, Christina S. Bentch, Garrison A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this chapter is to use the concept of folie à deux (or shared delusion disorder) to examine the phenomena of “Q” and the “QAnon” movement in the 21st century. The insurrection which occurred on January 6, 2021 during the attack on the United States’ capitol, drew the authors’ attention to try to understand the reason for this mass violence and to determine what individuals, motivations, and beliefs brought this violence to life. The allegory of Plato’s Cave is used by the authors to offer the reader a context to place the current increasingly bizarre claims and conspiracies …

“Sometimes I’M Just Wearing The Prosecutor Down”: An Exploratory Analysis Of Criminal Defense Attorneys In Plea Negotiations And Client Counseling, Jacqueline G. Lee, John W. Ropp

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

As plea bargains have proliferated in the criminal justice system, scholars have been working to better understand their mechanics. There have been a few recent examinations of plea bargaining, but the literature lacks qualitative research that gives the defense sufficient attention. Using a sample of courtroom practitioners in one large, urban county, we examine defense attorney bargaining and client counseling tactics. Results demonstrate that defense attorneys use a variety of strategies for negotiation, including sharing humanizing information about their clients with the prosecutor and utilizing delay tactics. Results also suggest that attorneys counsel their clients about plea offers in varying …

Life On Death Row, Gordon A. Crews, Stephen C. Stanko, Garrison A. Crews, Luzenski A. Cottrell

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the general conditions for those living on death row in the United States. This examination involves the various restrictions of freedom outside of cell, size and conditions in cells, allowances on personal property, and limits on food and recreation. Special attention is given to discussing the unique relationships that often develop between correctional officers and death row inmates. These relationships are explored through the phenomena of “Hustling” (i.e., any actions taken by an inmate to generate revenue, power, or control over their environment). This type of behavior often is used as …

Satellite Sensory Mind Control Technology: An Examination Of The Kelly Elementary School Shooting (Carlsbad, California, October 8, 2010), Gordon A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

•The increasing number of K-12 school violence incidents across the United States since the late 1990s seems to have only been mitigated in 2020 due to various “shelter in place” orders enacted since March requiring schools to switch to an “online format” in their teaching of students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. •Although there have been actual “domestic acts of violence” witnessed by teachers in working with their students through online formats like Skype or Zoom. •Eventually, all students will return to the traditional classroom thus reviving the fears and concerns over violent attacks at and upon American schools. …

An Examination Of The Lethality Assessment Program (Lap): Perspectives On Implementation, Help-Seeking, And Victim Empowerment, Tara N. Richards, Lane Kirkland Gillespie, Katherine Kafonek, Margaret Johnson

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) aims to empower law enforcement officers to screen victims of domestic violence for potential lethality and connect them to service providers. This research surveyed domestic violence victims seeking legal services (n = 141) to assess whether LAP receipt is associated with greater rates of self-protective measures, service use, or empowerment, and to examine victims’ perspectives on the LAP process. Findings indicate no relationship between receipt of the LAP and use of self-protective measures or victim empowerment, mixed evidence between receipt of the LAP and service utilization, and room for improvement regarding how law enforcement …

Child (Un)Awareness Of Parental Incarceration As A Risk Factor: Evidence From South Korea, Youngki Woo, Melissa A. Kowalski

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

A large body of research has been devoted to the relationship between parental incarceration and adverse outcomes for children, but such studies often compare children of incarcerated parents to those whose parents have never been imprisoned. Research is lacking regarding the effects of parental incarceration on children aware of their parent’s imprisonment compared to those who are unaware of their parent’s incarceration. In the current study we use propensity score weighting with a sample of 219 incarcerated Korean parents to examine differences in developmental outcomes between children cognizant of their parent’s incarceration and those who are unaware of parental imprisonment. …

Evidence, Arrest Circumstances, And Felony Cocaine Case Processing, Jacqueline G. Lee, Alexander Testa

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Case evidence and situational arrest characteristics are widely speculated to influence courtroom actor decisions, yet such measures are infrequently included in research. Using new data on felony cocaine cases from an urban county in a Southern non-guideline state, this study examines how physical evidence and arrest circumstances affect three stages of case processing: initial charge type, charge reduction, and sentence length. The influence of evidence appeared strongest at the early stage when prosecutors chose the appropriate charge, though certain evidentiary and arrest measures continued to influence later decisions. Charge reductions were driven mostly by legal factors, and while guilt should …

‘Not Feeling Like A Caged Animal’: Prisoner Perceptions Of A Remote Video Visitation System, Danielle J. Murdoch, Laura L. King

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

In recent years, correctional agencies have increased their use of video visitation in an effort to offset costs and increase security, among other objectives. In the present study, interviews (N = 12) and surveys (N = 58) were conducted with prisoners at a jail in the Northwestern U.S. that had replaced in-person, glass partition visitation with remote video visitation. The results suggested that while there were positive aspects of video visitation, such as the ability to visit with loved ones from afar, there were criticisms as well, including technological and access issues. The policy implications of the findings and directions …

Mi Casa No Es Tu Casa: Attitudes Of Rio Grande Valley Police Regarding Immigration And Crime, Catherine E. Burton, Gordon A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Extremism In Society, Gordon A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Mother Knows Best: A Brief Examination Of The 1982- 2019 Us Mass Shootings Data From Mother Jones’S Investigation, Gordon A. Crews, Garrison A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the aftermath of the movie theater mass shooting in July of 2012 in Aurora, Colorado, Mother Jones magazine created one of the first open-source databases documenting mass shootings in the United States. They focused on documenting rampage shootings in public places which resulted in four or more victims killed by the attacker(s). Their initial database consisted of incidents between 1982 and 2012, then an additional 54 cases were added to this data base of incidents which occurred between 2013 and August 2019. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the incidents gathered in this complete database from 1982 …