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Full-Text Articles in Legal Studies

Police Legitimacy In Trinidad And Tobago: Resident Perceptions In A High-Crime Community, Ericka B. Adams Feb 2019

Police Legitimacy In Trinidad And Tobago: Resident Perceptions In A High-Crime Community, Ericka B. Adams

Faculty Publications

Violent crime in Trinidad and Tobago has increased over the last two decades, yet the police have been largely unsuccessful in reducing violence. Between 1999 and 2016, the murder rate increased by 475%. Despite the fact that the murder rate has increased, approximately 76 homicides are cleared each year, resulting in a low-homicide clearance rate. Using 40 semi-structured interviews with community members from a high-crime, low-income community in Trinidad and Tobago, this study examines residents’ experiences with police officers, and respondents’ willingness to work with the police to clear criminal cases. The results indicate that due to a lack of …

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The Profile Of The International Cyber Offender In The U.S., Lora I. Hadzhidimova, Brian K. Payne Feb 2019

The Profile Of The International Cyber Offender In The U.S., Lora I. Hadzhidimova, Brian K. Payne

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

This study explores the characteristics of international cyber offenders prosecuted in the U.S. Our findings to a large extent correspond with general studies about cyber offenders with a few important exceptions. First, the average age of the offenders in our study is slightly higher than others that do not focus exclusively on international offenders. Second, while this research confirms that China is among the leading country in committing cybercrimes when it comes to committing particular types of cybercrimes, the offenders come from other countries as well such as Romania, Estonia, Ukraine, South Africa, and Nigeria. Third, our results show that …

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Awareness And Perception Of Cybercrimes And Cybercriminals, Hannarae Lee, Hyeyoung Lim Feb 2019

Awareness And Perception Of Cybercrimes And Cybercriminals, Hannarae Lee, Hyeyoung Lim

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

Awareness is a starting point to recognize, understand, or know a situation or fact, and the perception makes a difference in how to deal with it. Although the term cybercrime may not be new to the most public and the police, not all of them are well aware of the nature and extent of cybercrimes, cybercriminals, and cyber-victims, which in turn affects their perceptions of matters. The four papers in this issue of the International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence and Cybercrime empirically examine these important topics and discuss policy implications.

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Phishing And Cybercrime Risks In A University Student Community, Roderic Broadhurst, Katie Skinner, Nicholas Sifniotis, Bryan Matamoros-Macias, Yuguang Ipsen Feb 2019

Phishing And Cybercrime Risks In A University Student Community, Roderic Broadhurst, Katie Skinner, Nicholas Sifniotis, Bryan Matamoros-Macias, Yuguang Ipsen

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

In an exploratory quasi-experimental observational study, 138 participants recruited during a university orientation week were exposed to social engineering directives in the form of fake email or phishing attacks over several months in 2017. These email attacks attempted to elicit personal information from participants or entice them into clicking links which may have been compromised in a real-world setting. The study aimed to determine the risks of cybercrime for students by observing their responses to social engineering and exploring attitudes to cybercrime risks before and after the phishing phase. Three types of scam emails were distributed that varied in the …

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Examining Perceptions Of Online Harassment Among Constables In England And Wales, Thomas J. Holt, Jin R. Lee, Roberta Liggett, Karen M. Holt, Adam Bossler Feb 2019

Examining Perceptions Of Online Harassment Among Constables In England And Wales, Thomas J. Holt, Jin R. Lee, Roberta Liggett, Karen M. Holt, Adam Bossler

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

The ubiquity of the Internet and computer technology has enabled individuals to engage in bullying, threats, and harassing communications online. Limited research has found that local line officers may not view these offenses as serious compared to real world crimes despite their negative physical and emotional impact on victims. The perceptions of officers can produce poor interactions with victims during calls for service, particularly victim blaming, which can reduce citizens’ confidence in police agencies generally. However, local law enforcement agencies are increasingly mandated to respond to these cases, calling to question how their views may impact the community. This study …

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Cybercrime And Digital Forensics: Bridging The Gap In Legislation, Investigation And Prosecution Of Cybercrime In Nigeria, Kabiru H. Mohammed, Yusuf D. Mohammed, Abiodun A. Solanke Feb 2019

Cybercrime And Digital Forensics: Bridging The Gap In Legislation, Investigation And Prosecution Of Cybercrime In Nigeria, Kabiru H. Mohammed, Yusuf D. Mohammed, Abiodun A. Solanke

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

The advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) opens new avenues and ways for cybercriminals to commit crime. The primary goal of this paper is to raise awareness regarding gaps that exist with regards to Nigeria’s capabilities to adequately legislate, investigate and prosecute cases of cybercrimes. The major source of cybercrime legislation in Nigeria is an act of the National Assembly which is majorly a symbolic legislation rather than a full and active legislation. In perusing these avenues of inquiry, the authors seek to identify systemic impediments which hinder law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and investigators from properly carrying out their …

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The Coming Out Of Memory: The Holocaust, Homosexuality, And Dealing With The Past, Arnaud Kurze Feb 2019

The Coming Out Of Memory: The Holocaust, Homosexuality, And Dealing With The Past, Arnaud Kurze

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This research discusses the challenges of establishing a collective memory for gay victims of the Nazi terror in World War II and examines the introduction of gay victimhood into the public sphere through memorialization efforts. While scholarly accounts on gays and the Holocaust emerged in the 1970s, little is known about the emergence and consolidation of a public narrative on gay persecutions under the Nazis. It raises important questions, including why a public voice for crimes against sexual minorities in World War II emerged only hesitantly? Drawing on historical gay memorialization processes in Germany, the author maps the obstacles for …

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When To Take Credit For Terrorism? A Cross-National Examination Of Claims And Attributions, Erin M. Kearns Jan 2019

When To Take Credit For Terrorism? A Cross-National Examination Of Claims And Attributions, Erin M. Kearns

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Rationalist research expects that groups claim credit for terrorism. Yet, the vast majority of attacks are not claimed. Of the unclaimed attacks, about half are attributed to a specific group. What factors impact claiming decisions? While extant literature largely treats claiming as binary—either claimed or not—the present study disaggregates claiming decisions further to also consider attacks with attributions of credit but no claim, using data from 160 countries between 1998 and 2016. Both attack-level and situational factors impact claiming decisions. Disaggregating claiming behavior shows meaningful differences. Specifically, competitive environments and suicide attacks increase claims but not attributions. Higher fatalities in …

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When Data Do Not Matter: Exploring Public Perceptions Of Terrorism, Erin M. Kearns, Allison E. Betus, Anthony F. Lemieux Jan 2019

When Data Do Not Matter: Exploring Public Perceptions Of Terrorism, Erin M. Kearns, Allison E. Betus, Anthony F. Lemieux

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Public perceptions of terrorism are out of line with reality. How can perceptions be changed? Using a 4 × 2 experimental design with a national sample of U.S. adults, we examine how source of information and details provided impact views of terrorism. Sources, details, and individual-level factors—Islamophobia, trust in media, and trust in science—impact perceived accuracy of terrorism data. Many people updated their views on terrorism after reading factual information, yet only trust in science was related with this change. In short, people can be persuaded by factual information on terrorism, but it is less clear why they change beliefs.

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Symbolically Annihilating Female Police Officer Capabilities: Cultivating Gendered Police Use Of Force Expectations, Howard Henderson Jan 2019

Symbolically Annihilating Female Police Officer Capabilities: Cultivating Gendered Police Use Of Force Expectations, Howard Henderson

Center for Justice Research Reports

This first step cultivation analysis examines the quantity, temporal dynamics, and stance of muni-cipal police officer use of force depictions based on the gender of the officer. The 112 theatri-cally released films that comprise the core cop film genre were systematically identified. Subsequently, a population of 468 police use of force scenes was identified to serve as the units of analysis for this study. Findings revealed male officer use of force scenes appeared across all 40 years of films. Female officer use of force scenes, however, were highly restricted to specific films, years, and often dwarfed by male scenes within …

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Who Experiences Violent Victimization And Who Accesses Services? Findings From The National Crime Victimization Survey For Expanding Our Reach, Heather Warnken, Janet Lauritsen Jan 2019

Who Experiences Violent Victimization And Who Accesses Services? Findings From The National Crime Victimization Survey For Expanding Our Reach, Heather Warnken, Janet Lauritsen

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

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Research Brief One-Sheet – No. 9: On-Duty Shootings: Police Officers Charged With Murder Or Manslaughter, 2005-2019, Philip M. Stinson, Chloe Wentzlof Jan 2019

Research Brief One-Sheet – No. 9: On-Duty Shootings: Police Officers Charged With Murder Or Manslaughter, 2005-2019, Philip M. Stinson, Chloe Wentzlof

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This research is part of a larger study of police crime—that is, crime committed by nonfederal sworn law enforcement officers with general powers of arrest—across the United States. In 2014, after several fatal on-duty police shootings garnered national media attention, our principal investigator, Philip Stinson, conducted a joint research project with The Washington Post to count the number of police officers charged with murder or manslaughter resulting from an on-duty shooting where the officer shot and killed someone. The results of the joint research project were published in The Washington Post on April 12, 2015, and The Washington Post was …

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The Justice System Is Criminal, Raven Delfina Otero-Symphony Jan 2019

The Justice System Is Criminal, Raven Delfina Otero-Symphony

2020 Award Winners

No abstract provided.

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Media Effects And Criminal Profiling: How Fiction Influences Perception And Profile Accuracy, Asha Bolton Jan 2019

Media Effects And Criminal Profiling: How Fiction Influences Perception And Profile Accuracy, Asha Bolton

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation was to investigate whether media and fictional information that is observed daily can influence perception to build a criminal psychological profile. Staggering between a distinguished art and science, the term profiling has been known by several different names – including criminal profiling, psychological profiling, offender profiling and more. Bandura (2009) believed that exposure to television and other media feeds into a socially constructed reality, where the audience is inevitably influenced by the beliefs and cognitions of observed media. The researcher believed that exposure to media can either influence criminal profiling and investigations with increasing accuracy …

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Women, Domestic Violence Service Providers, And Knowledge Of Technology-Related Abuse, Nadine White Jan 2019

Women, Domestic Violence Service Providers, And Knowledge Of Technology-Related Abuse, Nadine White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many victims of domestic violence face continued exposure to abuse through technology because intimate partners may use technology as weapon against them. Some domestic violence service professionals lack necessary information or training to educate victims. The impact on victims has not been thoroughly examined. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to assess the impact on women when domestic violence service providers do not provide current information about technology-related abuse to promote safety when providing service to victims. The conceptual framework was the Duluth model of power and control and the feminist perspective on intimate partner violence. The primary …

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Perceptions, Lived-Experiences, And Environmental Factors Impacting The Crime-Reporting Practices Of Private College Students, Kelly Lynn Arney Jan 2019

Perceptions, Lived-Experiences, And Environmental Factors Impacting The Crime-Reporting Practices Of Private College Students, Kelly Lynn Arney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was assessing the perceptions of student's on how the campus climate impacts their likelihood of reporting crime. Victimization studies have been conducted at large universities and community colleges; however, there remains a lack of research regarding private colleges. This study was designed to examine the reasoning behind students' crime-reporting behaviors and the influencers that impact their decisions. Cohen and Felson's routine activity theory along with the collective-efficacy theory were used as frameworks to analyze the crimes that occur to college students as well as to explore the reasons for not reporting some crimes to law …

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National Strategy Against Narcotics, Drug Control Policy, And Law Enforcement Experiences In Kosovo, Ferid Azemi Jan 2019

National Strategy Against Narcotics, Drug Control Policy, And Law Enforcement Experiences In Kosovo, Ferid Azemi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This research is focused on evaluation of National Strategy Against Narcotics (NSAN) enacted in 2012 in Kosovo. The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of NSAN through visualizing data and gaining deeper insight from experiences of antidrug experts. Convergent parallel mixed methods were used to answer the main research questions. The central research questions examined the impact of strategy implementation in juvenile drug arrest reduction, and its effectiveness on Kosovo criminal justice system. Markwood's comprehensive theory of substance abuse prevention (CTSAP) was used to assess and explore the NSAN. Deidentified juvenile arrest rates taken from Kosovo official …

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Relationship Between Race, Gender, And Elder Abuse Awareness, James Earl Burrell Jan 2019

Relationship Between Race, Gender, And Elder Abuse Awareness, James Earl Burrell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Lack of elder abuse awareness and underreporting is an increasing problem in the United States in that only 1 in 14 cases of elder abuse is reported. The failure to report incidents of elder abuse and suspected elder abuse allows further abuse of elders and for elder abusers to go unpunished. The purpose of this quantitative nonexperimental study was to understand the relationship between race, gender, and elder abuse awareness and fill the gap in elder abuse literature. Research questions tested mean differences between race and gender, respectively, and elder abuse awareness. The theoretical frameworks for this study were the …

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Valuation Of Ex-Offender Motivation For Participation In A Restorative Justice Praxis, Kenneth Lang Jan 2019

Valuation Of Ex-Offender Motivation For Participation In A Restorative Justice Praxis, Kenneth Lang

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Restorative justice (RJ) is an emerging concept of justice in the American penal system that seeks equality for all stakeholders involved. While RJ is vastly under researched--especially concerning RJ and violent offenses--current studies have only focused on determining victims' motivations for participating in RJ. Determining and evaluating offender motivations for participating in RJ remains unexplored. The purpose of this study was to explore the possible motivations of criminal offenders and their willingness to participate in RJ. The social construction framework and the narrative policy framework were employed to understand the social context. A mixed-method approach was used that began with …

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Psychological Characteristics Of Sex Offenders, Patrick Mcmunn Jan 2019

Psychological Characteristics Of Sex Offenders, Patrick Mcmunn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Current therapeutic treatment methods are ineffective in identifying at-risk sex offenders and reducing recidivism of known offenders, likely due to inadequate identification of specific traits of sex offenders. Previous research and prominent theories in the area of sex offender treatment, in terms of the biological foundation of substance abuse, behaviors of sex offenders, and the presence of aggression, helped to guide this research. Data about sex offenders were collected, as reported by mental health professionals who treat them and focused on three characteristics: maladaptive interpersonal behaviors, impulsivity, and antisocial behaviors, on which the research questions were formed to detect commonality. …

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Psychosocial Differences In Far Right, Far Left, Islamic, And Single Issue Lone Extremists, Tamara Marie Lamontagne Jan 2019

Psychosocial Differences In Far Right, Far Left, Islamic, And Single Issue Lone Extremists, Tamara Marie Lamontagne

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Acts of lone extremism are on the rise, yet little is known about who commits these acts. Research in this area has failed to delineate by extremist subtype. This has led to the misconception these acts and actors present with such variance psychosocially that they cannot be predicted. The purpose of this research was to assess whether statistically significant relationships exist between lone extremist subtypes on the psychosocial variables of mental illness, substance use, and having radicalized friends or family members. The conceptual framework for this study was De La Corte's psychosocial principles of terrorism, which addressed the social and …

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Individuals Who Sell Drugs Placed In Treatment: The Perspective Of Their Counselors, Natasha Herbert Jan 2019

Individuals Who Sell Drugs Placed In Treatment: The Perspective Of Their Counselors, Natasha Herbert

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Individuals who sell drugs are often mandated by legal forces to substance abuse treatment because of their criminal offenses and the belief they may have a drug problem. Previous researchers have noted this population may be disruptive in the treatment process, but it has not been explored in depth. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to learn the lived experiences of counselors who work with individuals who report a primary problem of selling drugs, not substance abuse, who are mandated to a substance abuse treatment program. Thirteen semi structured interviews were conducted with counselors who have worked with individuals …

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Police Chiefs' Perceptions Of Supervisors' Membership In Subordinate Officers' Unions, Mark P. Derosia Jan 2019

Police Chiefs' Perceptions Of Supervisors' Membership In Subordinate Officers' Unions, Mark P. Derosia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Police supervisors who enjoy membership in their subordinates' police union may contribute to organizational discord by failing to enforce organizational policy among their subordinates. The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine the perceptions of 9 municipal chiefs from a west coast state in the United States regarding how supervisors' membership in their subordinates' police union affects policy enforcement and how supervisor enforcement of policy may impact police officer discipline. The conceptual framework was based on dual-commitment conflict theory. Data were collected using semi structured interviews and e-mail questionnaires. Data were member checked and cross-interpreted through coded analysis. …

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The Use Of Compassionate Release Policies For Elderly Offenders, Lindsey Martin Jan 2019

The Use Of Compassionate Release Policies For Elderly Offenders, Lindsey Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This research examined the use of compassionate release policy in response to the fastest-increasing segment of the prison population- elderly offenders. Though this policy is an approach to this problem, there was little available research regarding which correctional organizations in the United States adopt compassionate release and how it is used. The purpose of this nonexperimental comparative quantitative study was to examine the use of the policy in neighboring and distant state correctional systems relative to those organizations that used the policy more frequently to determine if the leader-laggard theory of policy diffusion was an effective policy-implementation framework. The research …

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Jail Administrators' Compliance With The Prison Rape Elimination Act, Leone M. Lee Jan 2019

Jail Administrators' Compliance With The Prison Rape Elimination Act, Leone M. Lee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Correctional institutions across the United States continue to experience prisoner sexual assault despite the enactment of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA). The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the association between jail administrators' difficulty complying with the PREA and their transformational leadership styles. The theories of punctuated equilibrium theory and general strain theory formed the theoretical framework of the study. The data were collected through an Internet-based survey from 22 local and regional jail administrators from the East Coast. Data analysis using Pearson's correlation coefficient was performed on leadership scores to test the hypotheses. There …

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Exploring Locus Of Control In Offender Cognition And Recidivism Paradigms, Anistasha Lightning, Danielle Polage Jan 2019

Exploring Locus Of Control In Offender Cognition And Recidivism Paradigms, Anistasha Lightning, Danielle Polage

All Master's Theses

Working with four Washington State county jails to administer surveys to currently incarcerated inmates, we investigated locus of control and beliefs in the likelihood of continued legal involvement as possible antecedents to criminal recidivism. The surveys examined whether there was any connection between legal involvement frequency and the externalization of locus of control. We investigated external locus of control with specific respect to involvement with the law, the prospect of future incarceration, and feelings concerning the overall cause of original and/or sustained legal involvement utilizing the Revised Causal Dimension Scale (McAuley, Duncan, & Russell, 1992). We identified statistically significant interactions …

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Marijuana Legalization And Traffic Fatalities Involving Cannabinoids, Mark Lewn Hake Jan 2019

Marijuana Legalization And Traffic Fatalities Involving Cannabinoids, Mark Lewn Hake

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Washington State and Colorado were the first states to legalize recreational marijuana. According to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, the number of drivers who tested positive for marijuana in traffic fatalities increased 48% from 2013 to 2014, and marijuana legalization may have influenced this increase. Since marijuana legalization is new to the United States, the effects of this change in policy are untested in the literature. The purpose of this quantitative study using a regression point displacement design was to examine the relationship between traffic fatalities involving cannabinoids in Washington State before and after marijuana legalization. Rational choice theory and …

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Reintegration Process Of Previously Incarcerated African American Women Older Than 50 Years, Eva Carol Brent Jan 2019

Reintegration Process Of Previously Incarcerated African American Women Older Than 50 Years, Eva Carol Brent

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Successful reintegration of ex-offenders is difficult for most, evidenced by high recidivism rates. Ex-offenders face a broad range of obstacles once released from prison, including personal, social, and employment barriers. This study was an examination of the issues that contributed to a successful or unsuccessful reintegration as reported by ex-offenders. Participants included 10 ex-offenders who participated in interviews regarding the conditions that they believed were necessary for successful community reintegration. The conceptual framework for this study came from the ecological perspective, also known as the person-in-environment theory. Data collection involved one-on-one interviews with the participants. Data analysis was conducted through …

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Survey Of U.S. Undergraduate Self-Reported Opioid Diversion And Heroin Use, Motives, Sources, And Collective Efficacy As Mediating Factors, Mark Francis Plaushin Jan 2019

Survey Of U.S. Undergraduate Self-Reported Opioid Diversion And Heroin Use, Motives, Sources, And Collective Efficacy As Mediating Factors, Mark Francis Plaushin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Epic morbidity and mortality, and intractability make prescription opioid diversion a wicked problem. Meanwhile, college undergraduates are vulnerable to opioid misuse and its consequences. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess U.S. undergraduate students' opioid misuse and the relationship between mediating factors. The study's theoretical framework rested on Wakeland's et al. opioid system model and Shaw and McKay's social disorganization theory. This study bridged the gap, measuring collective efficacy and testing its relationship to undergraduate decisions to regulate misuse. Thus, research questions focused on gauging the problem's scope and assessing relationships between factors that drive or potentially regulate …

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Gun Control: The Gun Violence Epidemic In The U.S., Anna Koduru Jan 2019

Gun Control: The Gun Violence Epidemic In The U.S., Anna Koduru

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

While holding almost half of all civilian-owned guns around the globe and yet only 4.4 percent of the world’s population, the United States of America is heavily centered around gun rights due to the 2nd amendment in the U.S. Constitution. But gun violence is on the rise as deaths due to gun violence are at its highest rate in nearly 40 years. Americans are divided amongst themselves when it comes to how we must approach this issue. In order to reduce gun violence in the U.S., both Republican and Democrat leaders must come together and make bipartisan moves to implement …

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