Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of Merging Proactive Cctv Monitoring With Directed Police Patrol: A Randomized Controlled Trial., Eric L. Piza, Joel M. Caplan, Leslie W. Kennedy, Andrew M. Gilchrist

Publications and Research

Objectives: This study was designed to test the effect of increased certainty of punishment on reported crime levels in CCTV target areas of Newark, NJ. The experimental strategy was designed for the purpose of overcoming specific surveillance barriers that minimize the effectiveness of CCTV, namely high camera-to-operator ratios and the differential response policy of police dispatch. An additional camera operator was deployed to monitor specific CCTV cameras, with two patrol cars dedicated to exclusively responding to incidents of concern detected on the experimental cameras.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial was implemented in the analysis. A randomized block design was used …

Risk Terrain Modeling For Spatial Risk Assessment., Joel M. Caplan, Leslie W. Kennedy, Jeremy D. Barnum, Eric L. Piza

Publications and Research

Spatial factors can influence the seriousness and longevity of crime problems. Risk terrain modeling (RTM) identifies the spatial risks that come from features of a landscape and models how they colocate to create unique behavior settings for crime. The RTM process begins by testing a variety of factors thought to be geographically related to crime incidents. Valid factors are selected and then weighted to produce a final model that basically paints a picture of places where crime is statistically most likely to occur. This article addresses crime as the outcome event, but RTM can be applied to a variety of …

Integrating Human Factors Engineering And Information Processing Approaches To Facilitate Evaluations In Criminal Justice Technology Research, Anthony V. Salvemini, Eric L. Piza, Jeremy G. Carter, Eric L. Grommon, Nancy Merritt

Publications and Research

Background: Evaluations are routinely conducted by government agencies and research organizations to assess the effectiveness of technology in criminal justice. Interdisciplinary research methods are salient to this effort. Technology evaluations are faced with a number of challenges including (1) the need to facilitate effective communication between social science researchers, technology specialists, and practitioners, (2) the need to better understand procedural and contextual aspects of a given technology, and (3) the need to generate findings that can be readily used for decision making and policy recommendations.

Objectives: Process and outcome evaluations of technology can be enhanced by integrating concepts from human …

Feminist Erasures: The Development Of A Black Feminist Methodological Theory, Alex J. Moffett-Bateau

Publications and Research

Within the social sciences, and particularly in political science, feminist methods and theory are seen as valuable only within its own disciplinary boundaries, and limited to its own departments or program, often named women’s studies, gender studies, and/or feminist studies. While the move within the academy to formalize the study of women, gender, and feminism is an important one, these disciplinary boundaries unfortunately have the result of rendering the study and practice of feminist intellectual work invisible to the rest of the academy. Too often, feminist theory and methodological practice is only carried out by one or two female academics …

Investigating Differences In How The News Media Views Homosexuality Across Nations: An Analysis Of The United States, South Africa, And Uganda, Amy Adamczyk, Chunyre Kim, Lauren Paradis

Publications and Research

While there is a wealth of information about the extent to which people across the world disapprove of homosexuality, we know a lot less about the lenses through which they view same-sex relations. The aim of this study is to understand better how homosexuality is framed in the public press, and how religion and economic development may combine to shape this discourse. Through an analysis of almost 400 newspaper articles, this study compares how homosexuality is framed in Uganda, South Africa, and the United States. Because these nations have high levels of religious belief, but differ in their level of …

Explaining Attitudes About Homosexuality In Confucian And Non-Confucian Nations: Is There A 'Cultural' Influence?, Amy Adamczyk, Yen-Hsin Alice Cheng

Publications and Research

The majority of research on attitudes about homosexuality has concentrated on the global North and on Christian and Muslim majority nations. Little research attention has been given to the factors that shape tolerance in societies with a Confucian heritage. Residents of Confucian counties are less tolerant than Europeans and Americans. One reason given for this difference is the emphasis on Confucian values in many Asian societies. Using data from the World Values Survey, we examine whether values that could be described as Confucian influence attitudes in Confucian and non-Confucian nations. We find a unique Confucian cultural effect, which can partially …

Investigating The Applicability Of Macro-Level Criminology Theory To Terrorism: A County-Level Analysis, Joshua D. Freilich, Amy Adamczyk, Steven M. Chernak, Katherine A. Boyd, William S. Parkin

Publications and Research

This exploratory study examines if causal mechanisms highlighted by criminology theories work in the same way to explain both ideologically motivated violence (i.e., terrorism) and regular (non-political) homicides. We study if macro-level hypotheses drawn from deprivation, backlash, and social disorganization frameworks are associated with the likelihood that a far-right extremist who committed an ideologically motivated homicide inside the contiguous US resides in a particular county. To aid in the assessment of whether criminology theories speak to both terrorism and regular violence we also apply these hypotheses to far-right homicide and regular homicide incident location and compare the results.

Connecting The Point(S), Hunts Point, Bronx, New York, Corey Clarke, Jocelyn Dupre, Leah Feder, Sarah Gelder, Nate Heffron, Stephanie Printz, Josh Thompson, Laxmi Ramasubramanian

Publications and Research

Hunts Point is a notoriously over-planned neighborhood. As the exploration of recent plans on page 15 illustrates, Hunts Point has been both the beneficiary and victim of planning efforts that have left many in the community feeling over-surveyed with inadequate results to show for it. Our client made it clear from the beginning that the community did not need another plan to sit on a shelf. Therefore, the team chose to focus on small-scale, actionable interventions that could be implemented without significant capital outlays. To this end, we began by conducting an analysis of existing conditions, investigating both the physical …

The Use Of Psychological Defense Mechanisms – By Librarians And The Public – In Response To Traditional And Binary Librarian Stereotypes, Beth Posner

Publications and Research

Images of librarians in popular culture include the traditional stereotype - of a mousy spinster who cares more for protecting books than for helping people - as well as several contrasting or binary images - such as librarians who are wild by night (although quiet by day), know-it-alls (rather than know-nothings), or high-tech (instead of old-fashioned.) In response to the anxiety provoked by the more pernicious aspects of these images, both librarians and the public may employ a variety of common unconscious defense mechanisms. This chapter examines some of those used by the public - including stereotyping, and splitting or …

Specters Of Kurdish Nationalism: Governmentality And Counterinsurgent Translation In Turkey, Nicholas S. Glastonbury

Publications and Research

This essay examines translations of the Kurdish epic poem Mem û Zîn into Turkish, tracing the logics behind these state-sponsored translations and examining how acts of translation are also efforts to regulate, translate, and erase Kurdish subjectivities. I argue that the state instrumentalizes Mem û Zîn’s potent nationalist currency in order to disarm present and future claims of Kurdish national autonomy. Using translation as a counterinsurgent governmental tool, the state attempts to domesticate Kurdish nationalist discourses even as it reproduces them, thereby transforming Kurdish nationalism into a specter of itself. Attending to this specter, however, allows us to see how …

"Assessing The Efficacy Of Integration Strategies For Immigrant Communities: A Case Study Of The United States And France", Andres E. Gallo

Dissertations and Theses

The movement of peoples across borders has often been a prominent issue in the context of international relations, both historically when looking at the mass waves of European immigration throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and even more so in the current context of our globalized society with its increasingly complex migration patterns. As present-day crises and hardships continue to force individuals to flee their home countries, receiving states must address the various ramifications associated with granting entrance to the new influx of migrants. Regardless of the causal factors that prompt immigrant groups to leave their home countries, they are …

"Microfinance As A Determinant Of Domestic Violence In Bangladesh: Who Is At Risk?", Alvin Christian

Dissertations and Theses

This paper examines the impact that microfinance participation has on reported domestic violence rates among women in Bangladesh. While microfinance programs are aimed at reducing poverty, they may have unintended consequence and contribute to domestic violence or Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Using nationally representative data from the Urban Health Survey (2006), I study the association between microfinance participation and domestic violence among currently married women. The outcome variable is domestic violence, which is coded as a dummy variable, where a women either has experienced domestic violence episodes or she hasn’t. Predictor variables include microfinance participation, community attitudes, liberal views, labor …

Political Choice And Economic Crisis In Brazil: A Case Of Mismanagement Of Public Money, Evellyn Brasil Monteiro

Dissertations and Theses

A few years ago, Brazil was the country where everybody would like to invest. Because it was one of the members of the BRIC, group of emergent countries with fast-growing economies including also Russia, India and China that gave the investors warranties that those investments would be successful. The current situation is very different from the one pictured not too long ago. High interest rates, high inflation, undervalued currency, and international political scandals describe the very serious economic crisis the country has been facing recently, making the economic growth forecast decrease. In 2013, the variation of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) …

Traditional Governance Influence On Democracy In Africa, Kofi Afful

Dissertations and Theses

The spread of democracy in the global community has been rampant since the end of World War II. On the continent of Africa, as a collective of countries are recent newcomers as sovereign states to this governmental practice. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the political development of African countries since the end of colonialism and the systems of government that countries are practicing since independence. Alongside the current system of government, there is a need to analysis the connections between pre-colonial institutions whether or not if they are complimentary or antithetical to democracy in African countries. Lastly, …

Gendered Political Economy: The Economic And Social Factors That Affect Women’S Political Participation, Ginger Albertson

Dissertations and Theses

There is a prevailing attitude that increasing women’s economic participation leads to their empowerment, or increases their agency in influencing decision making. This is despite large data evidence to the contrary and acknowledgement by financial institutions that a link cannot be established. This thesis examines what impact labor participation has on women’s influence in their community and their political participation, how non-income related skills like advocacy increases women’s self-confidence and agency, and the role non-formal training and networks play in increasing women’s participation in decision making and political participation. I find that when conducting a data comparison there does not …

Do Oil Economies In Sub-Sahara Africa, Rebecca Girma

Dissertations and Theses

The African continent provides majority of the world’s raw material for technology and fine jewelry. Countries dependent on their extractive industries lag behind on developmental goals. Their GDPs are high as well as their national poverty levels. This paper explores the factors in which a nation lacks development when it is financially wealthy to do so. There are similar patterns in nations where resource curse has occurred. What is the key to sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa? Is solving corruption and migrating away from a market dependent on primary exports the answer? Can they transition from the ancient patrimonial state …

Can Gender-Stereotyped Depictions Of Occupations In Primary School Textbooks Help Shape Students' Career Choice In The Dominican Republic?, Hurtado Pérez Nohemí

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Face Of The Market, Thomas Woodcock

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis reviews the effect on economic openness that can be established by the presence of strong Global Compact local networks. The work identifies three measures of openness and four sets of domestic conditions in which the Global Compact operates, respectively: (1) prevalence of trade, (2) measures of foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investment and (3) policy indicators of openness, in respect to democracies with (a) strong local networks or (b) weak local networks, as well as autocratic regimes with (c) strong or (d) weak local networks. A comparative study follows, looking at twenty-three years of data across fifty …

Empirical Investigation Of Samhsa’S (Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration) Model Of Wellness, Dipanjana Das

Dissertations and Theses

The quest to operationalize the construct of wellness has been elusive. Part of the difficulty resides in the way wellness has been conceptualized in the literature, using different non-overlapping models. Another drawback is that many existing models are not based on solid empirical evidence. The current study addressed these limitations by assessing the empirical validity of SAMHSA’s (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) model of wellness. We created an instrument to assess wellness based on a thorough review of the literature that serves as the basis of the SAMHSA model that can be used to assess wellness. Findings revealed …

Is The Trans-Pacific Partnership A ‘Natural’ Trade Bloc?, Matthew Ziegler

Dissertations and Theses

The Trans-Pacific Partnership began as a free trade agreement between Brunei Darussalam, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore which was enacted in 2004. Since that time, additional countries have entered into formal negotiations to expand the trade bloc, including the USA, Mexico, Peru, Australia, Malaysia, Canada, Vietnam and Japan. This paper seeks to determine whether these countries represent a ‘natural’ trade partnership by comparing and contrasting the trade complementarity index between each pair of countries within the partnership and those other countries counted in the APEC 21 countries plus India, which is a member of the RCEP trade bloc.
Previous studies …

Effects Of Temperature Stress On Coral Fluorescence And Reflectance, Andrea Gomez

Dissertations and Theses

Around the world, climate change, land-based pollution and fishing impacts are recognized as principal threats to coral reef ecosystems. Sea surface temperatures, in particular, are expected to change dramatically over the next decades and result in high coral mortality in some regions. Through controlled experiments, I examined changes in coral fluorescence and reflectance in response to water temperature alterations to assess the potential of employing these signatures as a diagnostic tool to measure coral health. At the NOAA Coral Culture and Collaborative Research Facility, I conducted controlled laboratory-based heat stress experiments on three Caribbean species of coral: Acropora cervicornis, Orbicella …

Food Imports As A Hindrance To Food Security And Sustainable Development: The Cases Of Nigeria And Senegal, Dioume Astou

Dissertations and Theses

Despite the growing global acceptance of an individual’s right to adequate food and nutrition, and the state’s obligation to ensure that all its citizens are free from hunger, 805 million or one in nine people around the world today are still chronically malnourished; the majority live in developing countries. African states have had a particular problem with food insecurity. Food security on the continent has worsened since the 1970s and by the end of the century, the population in Africa is

expected to be three times its current level. Hence, food insecurity in Africa will be much more severe than …

The Fallacy Of The Chinese, Nirvan Govind

Dissertations and Theses

A superpower is a country that dominates the global landscape in 4 major categories. These include military, economic, political and cultural. Superpowers have to ability to project immense power and whether it is countries that are trying to counter the impact of a superpower or gain from their strength, global hegemons are important aspects of contemporary international relations. Today, The United States is the only country that has all of these requirements and therefore, is the most powerful country in the world. However, a number of countries have begun to show potential for equaling or usurping the title of superpower. …

The Fallacy Of The Chinese, Nirvan Govind

Dissertations and Theses

A superpower is a country that dominates the global landscape in 4 major categories. These include military, economic, political and cultural. Superpowers have to ability to project immense power and whether it is countries that are trying to counter the impact of a superpower or gain from their strength, global hegemons are important aspects of contemporary international relations. Today, The United States is the only country that has all of these requirements and therefore, is the most powerful country in the world. However, a number of countries have begun to show potential for equaling or usurping the title of superpower. …

Game, Set, Match: Sports And The Future Of Diplomacy, Valeria Munt

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis will serve to demonstrate sports diplomacy as a legitimate field of study in international relations. In this thesis, I will argue that the practice of sports diplomacy has provided countries with relative contentious relationships, with a ‘soft entry’ to a potential restoration of their diplomatic relations. As a fairly new study field, sports diplomacy has received its fair amount of criticism as to whether diplomacy and sports should mix. It is important to note that this criticism is not unfounded or unwarranted and that this field in particular does have its limitations and restrictions. There’s definitely an argument …

United States Multilateral Policy In Dealing With North Korea, Alex Guarino

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Cultural Identity And Attenuated Psychotic Experiences, Aleksandr Tikhonov

Dissertations and Theses

Empirical research has shown an increased prevalence of psychosis among immigrant groups living in Westernized contexts. Cultural identity has been researched as a risk/protective factor for psychosis; however no consistent result has emerged. Cultural identity captures an individuals’ sense of belonging in a particular cultural group (s), including one’s ethnic group (i.e. ethnic identity), and/or mainstream society (i.e. national identity). While previous research has considered both immigrants’ ethnic and national identity in relationship to psychosis, current research has not looked at whether the relationship of one identity to the other impacts psychosis. Bicultural identity integration (BII) describes the degree to …

Citizens Electoral Behavior In Autocratic Regimes, Venezuela, Turkey, Russia, Marta Diaz Fernandez-Lomana

Dissertations and Theses

This study offers an explanation of why voters repeatedly choose leaders who came to power democratically at some point but will not abandon it when they ought to. Research shows leaders will employ any and every mechanism to remain in power, from restricting liberties to turning to violence as a method of repressing dissidence yet voters continue to vote them back into power. Why? Through an examination of the current situations in Venezuela, Turkey and Russia, the thesis reveals that economic performance provides the key explanation. If the country provides welfare to its citizens, they will be willing to overlook …

Factors Which Prolong Civil Conflict In Africa: The Case Of Angola, Liberia And Sierra Leone, Ntesang Lorraine Molemele

Dissertations and Theses

It has been a long journey for this thesis accomplishment and now finally it is accomplished. First and foremost I thank God for my mother, Seskhutshwe, who has always wanted her children to accomplish through education. It would not have been possible of course without my dad, Judge and my little sister Ikey. My 9 year old daughter, I also thank her for always making sure she did not disturb me whenever I had to concentrate on this project. Above all, I wish to express my gratitude to my exceedingly patient Professor and supervisor, Jacqueline Braveboy. I have probably been …

Un Quick Impact Projects: A Stepping Stone For United Nations Missions Effectiveness Through The Creation Of A Confidence Building System, Marie Lepin

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is focusing on the United Nations Quick Impact Projects, which were officially established as part of the UN peacekeeping missions program through the Brahimi report in 2004. Their primary purpose is to develop and strengthen the relationship between the mission and the host population. Precisely, this analysis is centering on the influence that improved relationships have on the effectiveness of a UN mission. In order to do so, the structure of this research is based on a comparative method, using interviews from the field and at the UN headquarters in New York City. The purpose of such method …