Legal Studies Commons^™

Gendered Arrests Or Gendered Sentencing: Explaining The Narrowing Of The Gender Gap In Imprisonment Over Time: 1970–2008, Mark G. Harmon, Robert M. O'Brien

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Since 1970 the percentage of women incarcerated in U.S. prisons has risen from nearly 3 percent to almost 7 percent—more than doubling in less than 40 years. This article examines explanations for this phenomenon—concentrating on two: Changes in the relative rates of arrest for females and males and sentencing reforms that were instituted during this period. The authors examine trends in female to male imprisonment rates from 1970 to 2008 across all fifty states using panel analysis. The only robust relationship they find is between the ratio of female to male incarceration rates and the ratio of female to male …

Prevention Of Identity Theft: A Review Of The Literature, Portland State University. Criminology And Criminal Justice Senior Capstone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Senior Capstone Project

With advances in technology and increases in impersonal electronic transactions, identity theft IT) is becoming a major problem in today’s society. One may ask why IT is growing in America. The answer is simple, as a review of literature reveals: IT is extremely hard to detect, prevent, and prosecute.

There are many ways people can protect themselves, their identities and secure their personal information; many do not concern themselves with this knowledge, however, until they become victims of this crime, themselves. With advances in technology, offenders are often turning to new methods to access information and use it for financial …

Oregonians Report Broad Support For Policies That Could Reduce Prison Population, Jody Sundt

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Research Briefs

Correctional spending is one of the largest and fastest growing parts of the Oregon budget, making it a target for increased scrutiny. According to a 2011 Legislative Fiscal Office report, the Department of Correction’s (DOC) budget represented close to 9% of the combined General and Lottery Funds in the 2009- 2011 biennium. Since 1993-1995, correctional spending increased almost threefold from close to $400 million to $1.4 billion. Moreover, the DOC’s share of the state budget almost doubled since the mid-1980s. In the context of declining revenue forecasts and increased demand for public services, state agencies are under pressure to reduce …

Do Oregonians Know About The Crime Drop?, Brian Renauer

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Research Briefs

The violent crime rate in Oregon has not been this low since 1969, forty years ago. FBI 2009 Uniform Crime Statistics show Oregon’s crime rate continues to drop as does the nation’s. Crime rates are at the lowest levels since the 1960’s. Violent crime in Oregon dropped 2.1% from 2008 to 2009. In 2009, Oregon ranked 38th in the nation for violent crime rate.

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Newsletter, Portland State University. Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Newsletters

Newsletter provides information on:

• Latest research results
• Projects and studies underway
• Research awards and distinctions
• Recent research publications

Gangs And Gang Activity In America: A Prevention Report, Portland State University. Criminology And Criminal Justice Senior Capstone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Senior Capstone Project

This report covers information on gangs, gang activity, and gang prevention. The report reveals information such as the history of gangs in the U.S., the definition of “gang,” data on prevalence, persons affected by gang activity, demographics of gangs and their members, criminal activity committed by gangs, gang hierarchical structure, prevention strategies, and effectiveness of gang prevention programs.

The Prevalence And Predictive Nature Of Victimization, Substance Abuse & Mental Health On Recidivism: A Comparative Longitudinal Examination Of Male And Female Oregon Department Of Corrections Inmates, Anastacia Konstantinos Papadopulos

Dissertations and Theses

As a consequence of increased awareness and the current scholarly debate regarding women's differential predictors of recidivism, criminal justice agencies are working with researchers in the field to expand their knowledge in this area. In 2007, Portland State University researchers in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Corrections conducted an investigation of factors emerging in the pathways and gender responsive literature as predictive of women's recidivism in a randomly selected sample of female (n=150) and male (n=150) inmates. This study used information gathered from that investigation for two purposes: (1) to assess the prevalence rates of victimization experiences (childhood, adolescent …

Prevention Of Residential Burglary: A Review Of The Literature, Portland State University. Criminology And Criminal Justice Senior Capstone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Senior Capstone Project

The Summer 2010 PSU Criminology and Criminal Justice Online degree senior capstone class worked in teams to create a report summarizing existing research on the prevention of residential burglary. The definition, prevelence, characteristics of both victims and offenders and their motives are discussed. The reports are then presented to a community partner, the Portland Police Bureau.

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Newsletter, Portland State University. Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Newsletters

Newsletter provides information on:

• Updates on ongoing Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute studies
• New research getting underway
• Latest awards and distinctions
• Publications

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Newsletter, Portland State University. Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Newsletters

Newsletter provides information on:

• Updates on the Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute
• Recent presentations
• Research roundup
• Articles highlight criminology and criminal justice today

Challenging The New Penology: A Case-Study Analysis Of Correctional Management, Interstate Inmate Transfers, And Administrative Intent, Robert Thomas Swan

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the use of interstate inmate transfers (IITs) by prison wardens and the administrative intent that guide their use. This study assesses the explanatory power of the new penology in three cases and asks three broad questions of two prison wardens and the DOC: What correctional goals do you hope to accomplish with interstate inmate transfers? Why? And what contextual factors (if any) are felt to inhibit or facilitate these goals?

IITs are controversial. Supporters of IITs argue that in addition to serving the needs of correctional managers, they may also serve to …

Female Inmates Perspectives On Incarceration And Correctional Education At Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, Clara Guadalupe Ellis

Dissertations and Theses

Prisons provide us with a place to segregate criminals from the population at large, but the ongoing question is what to do with them once we have incarcerated them? On one side there is the idea that prisons should be used to punish those who have broken the law. On the other is the idea that prisons should help to rehabilitate prisoners so that they may be reintegrated into society upon their release.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role correctional education programs played in the life of female offenders in light of the debate mentioned above. …

The Suits That Counted: The Judicialization Of Presidential Elections After Bush V. Gore, Charles Anthony Smith, Christopher Shortell

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

After the litigation of the 2000 presidential election are parties, candidates, and interest groups more likely to utilize pre-election litigation as a part of the normal election strategy? Our findings suggest this is the case, at least when a close election is anticipated. The difference in the political landscape and logic after the 2000 litigation is that the political players now perceive the judiciary as a venue of first rather than last recourse. Using data from all fifty states and the District of Columbia, we show that courts are seen as one of the primary arenas for challenging the rules …

Using Discrete System Simulation To Model The Lane County Criminal Justice System, Olgay Cangur, Bob Denouden, Bud Reiff, Wayne Wakeland

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

The goal of the study is to provide a comprehensive simulation of the Lane County criminal justice system from arrest to release from parole. The study's focus is to determine the bottlenecks of the system and how they effect the key outcomes.

Socratic Pedagogy, Critical Thinking, Moral Reasoning And Inmate Education: An Exploratory Study, Peter Boghossian

Dissertations and Theses

This exploratory study examines the hypothesis that Socratic pedagogy is a useful tool for imparting critical thinking and moral reasoning skills to inmates. The study explores the effectiveness of a new curriculum, Introducing Socrates, which relies on Socratic pedagogy to achieve its objectives. The curriculum draws from the effective criminal justice research on cognitive education to determine its objectives, and then looks to the Platonic dialogues to find broad philosophical questions that tie into those objectives. The program also evaluates salient criticisms of Socratic pedagogy that are found in the educational and philosophical literature, and then isolates and evaluates constructs …

A Critical Review Of Issues In Applying Restorative Justice Principles And Practices To Cases Of Hate Crime, Terri Lee Kelly

Dissertations and Theses

A restorative approach to justice focuses on accountability for healing the harm done to victims and communities as a result of criminal acts. Hate crimes are intended to send a threatening message to a particular group of people. There is enough reliable research on restorative justice principles and practices, and on the causes, meaning and impact of hate crimes, to bring together a representative selection of available literature for a critical review. This thesis critically reviews the literature of restorative justice principles and practices, and the literature of hate crime causes, definitions, laws, and typologies of offenders, using as a …

Discrimination And Nepotism Within Police Specialty Units, Robert Norvell Hollins Iii

Dissertations and Theses

A career as a police officer has served as a legitimate avenue for many Black Americans to elevate themselves from numerous low paying less prestigious jobs, to a more respectable better paying secured occupation that has a higher social economic status. The general perception related to the civil service position of a police officer, suggests that it is an occupation which should offer an environment free from discrimination and nepotism, thereby allowing fair treatment and equal access for advancement to all individuals employed within the police organization.

The concept of a police organization that offers fair treatment and equal access …

An Evaluation Of Recidivism Rates For Resolutions Northwest's Victim-Offender Mediation Program, Karin Jewel Stone

Dissertations and Theses

Victim-offender mediation, a component of restorative justice, has been a valuable tool for rehabilitating juvenile offenders since the late 1970s. Victim offender mediation brings crime victims and offenders together to reach agreements for restitution and community healing. Resolutions Northwest, a non-profit organization in Multnomah County, offers a victim-offender mediation program to juvenile offenders and their victims.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the recidivism rates for juvenile offenders who went through Resolutions Northwest's victim-offender mediation program as opposed to offenders who went through the traditional justice system. It was hypothesized that the participants in this program would have …

Law Enforcement Attitudes Toward The 1989 Oregon Firearms Law And Gun Control, Andrew Schneiderman

Dissertations and Theses

The US Supreme Court decision Deshaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services cited; "the police or other government agents are under 'no general duty' to provide services, such as protection, to any particular citizen. But rather, duty to provide public services owed only to the public at large, and absent special relationships between police and individuals"(09 S.Ct. 998/1989). At the same time of this decision, the public was undergoing a trend of proliferating millions of personally owned firearms for self-defense and sport. In addition, citizens are now carrying concealed handguns in the 31 states that allow such a behavior. …

An Historical Perspective Of Oregon's And Portland's Political And Social Atmosphere In Relation To The Legal Justice System As It Pertained To Minorities: With Specific Reference To State Laws, City Ordinances, And Arrest And Court Records During The Period -- 1840-1895, Clarinèr Freeman Boston

Dissertations and Theses

Racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in Portland, Oregon's criminal justice system. Laws, legal procedures and practices that excessively target minorities are not new phenomena. This study focused on a history of political and social conditions in Oregon, and subsequently, Portland, from the 1840's to 1895, that created unjust state laws and city ordinances that adversely impacted Native Americans, African Americans, and Chinese Immigrants. Attention was also given to the Jewish population.

The approach was to examine available arrest and court records from Oregon's and Portland's early beginnings to ascertain what qualitative information records could provide regarding the treatment …

An Exploratory Inquiry Into Community Policing Using Focus Groups: Perspectives From Social Service Providers, Tanya Leigh Ostrogorsky

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate Portland, Oregon's community policing policy by using focus groups to discuss the development and effectiveness over one year, Spring 1994 to Spring 1995. The group discussed included management level social service providers and was one piece of a large scale program evaluation. The collected data developed into six major categories: 1) personnel policies and institutional memory; 2) training; 3) consistency; 4) community involvement and responsibility; 5) partnerships or relationships, and 6) change over time. The most highly discussed issue was the discrepancy between the philosophy of the Bureau, community policing, and the …

An Assessment Of The Impact Of Intimate Victim-Offender Relationship On Sentencing In Serious Assault Cases, Laura J. Hickman

Dissertations and Theses

It is generally agreed that a criminal justice system reflects the values of the society within which it exists. The presence of patriarchal social values will likely affect the response of the criminal justice system to intimate violence. While the perpetration of violence against another is a violation of an important social norm, patriarchal values may function to discount the seriousness of such an act, if the violence is perpetrated by a man against his girlfriend or wife. This discount of seriousness may lead to less severe punishment for men who assault their intimates than to men who assault nonintimates. …

Indigent V. Non-Indigent Sex Offenders: An Analysis Of Sentencing In Clackamas, Multnomah And Washington Counties, Oregon, Dorelei Victoria Linder

Dissertations and Theses

The present paper is a descriptive study of sex offender sentencing in three Oregon counties in 1992. It examines the relationship between sentencing practices and indigent offenders. It focuses specifically on the question of offender indigent status and court ordered sex offender treatment. The study also provides information about the number of sex offenders in each of the three counties, how the offenders' sentences were determined by the courts through the use of the sentencing guidelines matrix, what type of plea was used, and what if any influence indigence had in the sentencing outcomes for the felony sex offenders in …

Police Stress: A Literature Study On Police Occupational Stressors And The Responses In Police Officers To Stressful Job Events, Katarina Ahlstrom Mannheimer

Dissertations and Theses

The present paper is a literature study of stressors and the responses in police officers to occupational stressors. It endeavors to identify and assess common stressors in policing. It further aims to provide an answer to the question of whether police administrative tasks and situations, or the dangerous and traumatic events and situations inherent in policing, are perceived as equally or more stressful by surveyed police officers. The question is relevant as there seems to be disagreement among researchers on police stress about which elements (administrative or dangerous and/or traumatic) of the police occupation is more stressful. Much attention has …

The Development Of A Predictive Model Of Pretrial Misconduct, Donald R. Trapp

Dissertations and Theses

The problem of jail overcrowding has forced corrections officials and jail administrators to examine ways in which to better manage available jail space. Pretrial release and detention policies have been a target of this examination as pretrial defendants typically account for 50% of a jail's population. Standards for pretrial release exist, but their administration varies by jurisdiction. The impact of jail overcrowding on pretrial release policies has been to decrease the time available to render a decision. Recent efforts to standardize pretrial release standards in Oregon have not addressed the issue of expediency. The current study examines pretrial misconduct (failure …

Establishing Practical Limits To Crime Control Through Environmental Design, Gerald Dennis Brock

Dissertations and Theses

There are myriad approaches to control crime that are currently being advocated by one group or another in contemporary American society. These range from punitive programs of incarceration to global kinds of social intervention to change societal "root causes" of crime. One of the proposals which attracted much attention in the 1960's was the crime control through environmental design perspective hinted at by persons such as Jane Jacobs and developed in detail by Oscar Newman. The idea of defensible space is straightforward: certain kinds of environmental design can have a significant deterrent effect on crime and criminals. The recent literature, …

Mmpi And The Juvenile Sex Offender Russell Funk, Russell Funk

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the effectiveness of the MMPI in identifying juvenile sex offenders. This study examined the hypothesis that previously identified subscales of the MMPI (i.e., Toobert et al. (1959) Pe scale and Dolan (1986) Ic scale) could be used in discriminating juvenile sex offenders (n=l 02) (and subgroups of juvenile sex offenders i.e., pedophiles n=79, and incest perpetrators n=41) from a control group of 40 juvenile offenders who had been adjudicated for non-sex related crimes. The study yielded results which indicate that the Pe subscale was not effective in discriminating pedophiles from non-pedophile sex offenders or from the control …

The Mmpi : A Subscale (Ic) For The Identification Of Male Incest Offenders, Mary S. Dolan

Dissertations and Theses

The MMPI has been used extensively for the clinical assessment of deviancy among sexual offenders. In order to derive a diagnostic scale for the specific identification of male incest offenders, an item analysis, using MMPI data from offenders, compared MMPI data from a nonoffending control sample. The item analysis results were cross validated with MMPI data from a separate sample of incest offenders. Eleven MMPI items were found to be critical in discriminating male incest offenders from nonoffenders, and these items comprise the Ic experimental scale. On the basis of the Ic scale, male incest offenders evidence characterological disturbances in …

Characteristics And Practices Of Forensics Programs In Oregon Secondary Schools, Gregg T. Sylvester

Dissertations and Theses

Since 1943, six studies have been made of speech education in Oregon public schools. Several make reference to forensics, but none discuss this aspect of speech education in depth. As a result, the role of forensics in the schools has been assumed or denied. With the educational situation as it is, however, it is necessary that we have a greater understanding of the relationship between forensics and general speech education and language arts education.

Alternative Living Situation For Indian Youth, Colleen Lynn Langer Yost, Lloyd Blackstone Pinkham

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis includes a proposed program that is designed to provide alternatives for Indian youth, allow for the creation of a residential treatment facility for the diagnosis, placement, and treatment of Indian juvenile delinquents, establish reporting and operating procedures with various courts, and help reduce the delinquent behavior of the resident youth.