Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Comparison Of Strain, Social Learning, Control, And Trauma Theories Of Crime, Nicole Trauffer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The field of criminology has been dominated by Strain, Control and Social Learning Theories, among others. More recently, research and theory has focused on the role of trauma as a predictor of criminal behavior, especially for women. However, little research has empirically compared these theories to one another. The current study examined these four major theories to determine which best explains non-violent and violent criminal behaviors. Race and sex differences were examined. The data is from a large prospective cohort design study of individuals with documented histories of physical and sexual abuse and neglect and a control group of children …

Structural And Functional Brain Markers Of Trauma-Related Symptoms, Glenn Blessington

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The neurocircuitry model of posttraumatic stress disorder suggests an association between trauma-related symptoms and abnormalities in the structure and function of limbic and prefrontal brain regions. Evidence also suggests that these structural and functional abnormalities are related. We tested the relation between whole brain white matter integrity, resting-state functional connectivity of a fronto-limbic network, and trauma-related symptoms in 22 trauma-exposed women. We hypothesized that components of whole brain white matter would correlate with components of resting connectivity within a fronto-limbic network. We used parallel independent component analysis (pICA) to test the associations between whole brain fractional anisotropy (FA) maps and …

The Criminalized Victim: Can Knowledge Of Trauma And Coercion Influence Free Will Doubt And Perception Of Culpability For Sex Trafficked Individuals?, Megan Korovich

Student Theses

Individuals who have been sex trafficked are continuously being targeted for prostitution and other related offenses instead of being recognized for their victimization. This may occur due to a fundamental lack of understanding of the sex-trafficked experience, allowing for misperceptions to form unhindered. Individuals with these misperceptions then go on to form laws and services intended to aid victims, but instead leave them vulnerable and criminalized. This study assessed whether an educational intervention on the experience of a sex-trafficked individual could influence public perceptions of free will doubt and criminal culpability. This study used a nonequivalent groups posttest-only design to …

The Romanticization Of Violent Male Offenders: How Trauma And Internalized Sexism Can Explain Women's Fascination With Serial Killers, Ella R. Johnson

Student Theses

Past research has noted that women are interested in true crime more than men (Vicary & Fraley, 2014), and that some women romanticize violent male offenders (Isenberg, 1991). This study investigated women’s fascination with serial killers compared to other offenders and the psychological correlates of women who are fascinated with serial killers. I hypothesized women’s fascination was unique to serial killers and may be related to safe and culturally acceptable ways of coping with interpersonal trauma. Results largely support these hypotheses, indicating women were more fascinated with serial killers compared to other offenders, and with PTSD, child abuse, intimacy attitudes, …

The Role Of Perceived Heterosexism In Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Severity Among Trauma-Exposed Sexual Minority Individuals, Natalie M. Cereseto

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis employed structured posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) assessments, a micro-longitudinal 30-day daily diary assessment, and multilevel modeling to investigate the unique and interactive effects of traumatic stress and daily sexual minority-related discrimination on PTSD symptoms and negative affect in a diverse sample of 38 trauma-exposed SM individuals.

Exploring Vicarious Resilience Among Practitioners Working With Clients Who Have Experienced Traumatic Events, Adam Reynolds

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Vicarious Resilience is the positive impact that practitioners may experience when working with individuals who have lived through traumatic events. The effects of this phenomenon may be noticed as changes in life goals and perspective, client-inspired hope, increased recognition of clients’ spirituality as a therapeutic resource, increased capacity for resourcefulness, increased self-awareness and self-care practices, increased consciousness about power and privilege relative to clients’ social location, and increased capacity for remaining present while listening to trauma narratives.

While prior research into vicarious resilience has focused primarily on practitioners in trauma-specific settings, this quantitative dissertation studied the experiences of a convenience …