Legal Studies Commons^™

Vocational And Life Skills Quarterly Report: Quarter 2 (October-December 2016), Uno Nebraska Center For Justice Research, Johanna Peterson, Jordan Clark

Reports

The Vocational and Life Skills Program was created by Nebraska Legislative Bill 907 in 2014 with the goals of reducing recidivism and increasing employment for individuals who are incarcerated, who have been incarcerated within the prior 18 months or who are under parole or probation supervision. Participants must begin programming under these conditions, but they may continue programming as the program sees fit for his or her individual needs. Eight programs were funded in Grant Cycle 2 which runs from July 2016-June 2018. The NCJR evaluation was initiated in May 2016 with the primary goal of identifying types of programming …

Vocational And Life Skills Monthly Data Update: December 2016, Uno Nebraska Center For Justice Research, Johanna Peterson

Reports

Grantees use an online data management system to submit data on participants served under their Vocational and Life Skills programming. This data is due monthly and reflects all services provided during the previous month to participants. Evaluators at the Nebraska Center for Justice Research work with grantees directly to correct any data errors on an ongoing basis during monthly update calls and site visits.

Data presented below is from the monthly data pulls. Because this data comes for an active database with live data being entered and updated daily, data, including previously submitted information, may fluctuate depending on changes made …

Police Education And Training: A Comparative Analysis Of Law Enforcement Preparation In The United States And Canada, Citlali Alexandra Déverge

Master's Theses

Police academy training for newly hired officers varies across locations and regions in regard to both training process and training content. The needs and demands of modern-day societies have evolved, and it is very important for police training academies to keep up with the practice of the police profession. Higher education adds value to police training as it reinforces the development of critical thinking skills and the necessary values needed to face the needs and demands of society, particularly in terms of accountability, professionalism, and legitimacy. This research presents a case study of two police training academies located in a …

Perceptions Of Campus Community Members Regarding Wrongful Convictions In Mississippi, Tera Wilson

Honors Theses

The American criminal justice system is a series of checks and balances meant to protect the American people. However, on occasion, the system fails, and innocent people are convicted of crimes, leaving the truly guilty perpetrator free to potentially commit other crimes. This study aimed to determine the beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes of university community members regarding the issue of wrongful conviction in Mississippi. This was executed by hosting a public forum including the Director of the Mississippi Innocence Project on the campus of Southern Mississippi. During this forum, participants were provided with the opportunity to complete two surveys in …

The Winds Of Changes Shift: An Analyis Of Recent Growth In Bargaining Units And Representation Efforts In Higher Education, William A. Herbert

Publications and Research

This article analyzes data accumulated during the first three quarters of 2016 regarding completed and pending questions of representation involving faculty and student employees in higher education. It is part of a larger and continuing National Center research project that tracks faculty and graduate student employee unionization growth and representation efforts at private and public institutions of higher learning since January 1, 2013. The data presented in this article demonstrates that the rate of newly certified units at private colleges and universities since January 1, 2016 far outpaces new units in the public sector. There has been a 25.9% increase …

Testing Specific Deterrence In The National Basketball Association: An Application Of Beccaria's Theory Of Deterrence, Michael Mccutcheon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While the concept of deterrence has been applied to punishment in America’s criminal justice system, the empirical data is mixed on whether is effectively deters crime. This lack of consensus may be a result of missing elements from deterrence theory; namely, that punishment is often neither swift nor certain. Similar to the criminal justice system, professional sports leagues aim to control behavior of athletes by having guidelines that, when violated, result in punishment. However, these punishments are delivered much quicker and there is a higher level of certainty. The current study examines specific deterrence in the National Basketball Association by …

Punishing Genocide: A Comparative Empirical Analysis Of Sentencing Laws And Practices At The International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda (Ictr), Rwandan Domestic Courts, And Gacaca Courts, Barbora Hola, Hollie Nyseth Brehm

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article compares sentencing of those convicted of participation in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. With over one million people facing trial, Rwanda constitutes the world’s most comprehensive case of criminal accountability after genocide and presents an important case study of punishing genocide. Criminal courts at three different levels— international, domestic, and local—sought justice in the aftermath of the violence. In order to compare punishment at each level, we analyze an unprecedented database of sentences given by the ICTR, the Rwandan domestic courts, and Rwanda’s Gacaca courts. The analysis demonstrates that sentencing varied across the three levels—ranging from limited time …

Sexual Determination From Frontal Sinus Analysis In A Subadult Population Using Archival Radiographic Records, Erica Crosta

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The goal of this study is to use the improved imaging capability of cone-beam computerized tomography (CBCT) to investigate the development and sexual dimorphism of the frontal sinus and surrounding supraorbital region in the subadult population of urban Southern Nevada. CBCT radiographs were obtained from the UNLV School of Dental Medicine archival dental records. Five hundred and fifty six of these radiographs were reviewed for the study. Two hundred and sixteen patients (92 males, 124 females) between the ages of 7 and 20 years were included based on inclusion/exclusion criteria. Samples were categorized into 3 subadult age groups for analysis: …

Crossing Borders: Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations Influence On Interstate Gang Structure, Stacey Michelle Goldberg

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Not only has gang membership been expanding, but the formation of cooperative ties with Mexican drug trafficking organizations (MDTOs) has been increasing as well. Collaborative relationships with MDTOs appear to be the driving force behind the continuing gang expansion and its subsequent effects. Using social network analysis, this study examines the linkage between MDTOs and American-based gang activity and the potential influence that MDTOs may have in U.S. drug market through their associations with American street gangs. Findings show the MDTOs to be extensively linked to each other by their affiliations with U.S. gangs, and a high level of connectivity …

Unsettled: How Climate Change Challenges A Foundation Of Our Legal System, And Adapting The Legal State, Victor B. Flatt

BYU Law Review

One of the fundamental goals of law is to end disputes. This push to “settlement” is foundational and has historically worked to increase societal efficiency and justice by engendering legitimate expectations among the citizenry. However, the efficient nature of much legal finality, settlement and repose only exists against a background of evolution of the physical environment that is predictable and slowpaced. That background no longer exists. The alteration of the physical world, and thus, the background for our societal structure and decisions, is accelerating rapidly due to human-caused climate change. This creates a mismatch between the law’s tendency to finality …

The School-To-Prison Pipeline: How Roles Of School-Based Law Enforcement Officers May Impact Disciplinary Actions, Kathy Martinez-Prather, Joseph M. Mckenna, Scott W. Bowman

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"The presence of law enforcement officers in schools has generated an overwhelming amount of concern among educators, parents, researchers, and policy-makers. It is believed their mere presence in schools is associated with the school-to-prison pipeline (STPP), which suggests that the use of police criminalizes minor student behavior and pushes them into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. However, it remains unclear as to what impact law enforcement officers truly have on this phenomenon. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of law enforcement officers on the STPP in relation to the roles they are assigned. We argue …

The Emergence Of Contemporary Bestiality Law: Applying The Integrative Conflict Model To The Enumclaw Case, Jason S. Ulsperger, Kristen L. Ulsperger, Cole Smith

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"This article examines the social construction of bestiality law in the United States using the Integrative Conflict Model of law formation. With qualitative findings from a media content study including newspaper articles, a documentary transcript, and a variety of online data sources, it explores the dynamics behind the formation of bestiality law in the state of Washington. The research specifically uses the circumstances surrounding the death of Kenneth Pinyan, and the subsequent Enumclaw horse sex scandal that took place in the summer of 2005, to support the idea that bestiality law can emerge due to specific factors: structural foundations, perceptions …

Lois Presser And Sveinung Sandberg (Eds), Narrative Criminology: Understanding Stories Of Crime, Adam Veitch

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Over the last two decades there has been an epistemological push in the social sciences to bring narrative into the methodological fold. Narrative social science is steeped in theories of humans as story tellers. The foreword to Narrative Criminology argues that this theoretical line of thought originates in Jean-Paul Sartre’s belief that people are fundamentally storytelling creatures, or “homo narrativus.” The guiding thought here is that stories are central to understanding how and why we act in society. We are all storytellers, and we enjoy sharing tales with an audience. Furthermore, the way that we construct stories of our social …

Fugitive Safe Surrender: A Qualitative Analysis Of Participants’ Reasons For Surrender And Anticipated Outcomes To Inform Program Evaluation, Joseph D. Galanek, Janelle Duda, Daniel J. Flannery, Jeff Kretschmar, Frederick Butcher

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"The Fugitive Safe Surrender (FSS) program is a means for individuals with outstanding warrants to turn themselves in at a non-law-enforcement setting. Challenges remain in evaluating FSS program outcomes. Based on n = 211 participants’ demographic data and qualitative, open-ended written responses collected during an FSS event in a mid-sized Midwestern city, we analyze participants’ reasons for surrendering and anticipated outcomes of surrendering. Utilizing inductive thematic analysis of participants’ responses, we identify individual-level program outcomes that can be used for evaluating FSS. We additionally identify the intersection of codes amongst participant responses to demonstrate the inter-connectedness of FSS participants’ reasons …

Framing Legitimacy: A Qualitative Analysis Examining Local Print-Media Portrayals Of An Immigrant Family Detention Center In Texas, Layne Dittmann, Jurg Gerber

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Research suggests that media portrayals can impact the opinions of adults (Dizard, 2000). However, media reports on aspects of our criminal justice system, such as corrections, are an understudied topic (Marsh, 1989), especially regarding the use of private prisons. The current study examines a sample of 12 local Texas newspapers that reported on the T. Don Hutto Facility in Taylor, Texas, between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2013. This facility was once a state prison for males and local jail inmates before being converted into an undocumented immigrant family detention facility and later into a detention center for undocumented …

“Explaining Similarities And Variations In Program Structures And Professional Roles In Midwestern Mental Health Courts” By Monte D. Staton And Arthur J. Lurigio, Monte D. Staton, Arthur J. Lurigio

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"For nearly twenty years, legal and mental health professionals have created mental health courts (MHCs) for responding to the increasing numbers of criminally involved people with severe mental illnesses (PSMI) who are entering the criminal justice system. This article presents findings from qualitative analysis of survey and ethnographic data collected at nine MHCs established in a Midwestern state between 2004 and 2008, exploring how professionals who operated the MHCs organized the programs and conducted roles at the work sites. Findings revealed that professionals established very similar models of mental health court organization at each of the nine sites. The data …

Andrea S. Boyles, Race, Place, And Suburban Policing: Too Close For Comfort, Brian P. Schaefer

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"The struggles of African Americans with police in urban environments are well documented in criminological and sociological research. Andrea Boyles in Race, Place, and Suburban Policing offers new perspectives by introducing readers to the relationship between African Americans and the police in Meacham Park, a suburban enclave of affluent Kirkwood, Missouri. The focus on suburbia depicts how race and place shapes interactions and sheds doubt that African Americans can escape the harms associated with living in low-income urban environments by relocating to the suburbs. Boyles spent two years conducting fieldwork and interviewed over thirty adults at length. Her findings provide …

Susan J. Terrio, Whose Child Am I? Unaccompanied, Undocumented Children In U.S. Immigration Custody, Francisco J. Alatorre

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Whose Child Am I? is by Susan Terrio, Professor of Anthropology at Georgetown and author of two other books about issues of juvenile delinquency. Focusing on the wretched and dangerous experiences of Latino youth desperately traveling to and reaching El Norte, and then experiencing detention and incarceration, Terrio interrogates the American dream and American ideals of inclusion, as both are seriously abused in this international transborder tragedy. Terrio conducts her inquiry into how undocumented children are sent north, how they survive, and what happens to them by relating the process chronologically. She describes the children finding their way “home” …

Delving Into The Heart Of Victimization Risk: Examining The Interactive Relationship Between Demographic Factors And Context, Amy Sheena Eggers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation sought to expand the study of victimization by examining non-linear relationships across victim, offender, and offense characteristics within a routine activities theory framework. Moreover, my goals were to assess victimization risk using a more realistic approach through the implementation of a situational perspective approach and conjunctive analysis. Conjunctive analysis is an analytical with both quantitative and qualitative properties, which allowed for interpretations that were detail oriented and summative. Utilizing data from the National Crime Victimization Survey, several victim (e.g., demographic factors), offender (e.g., victim-offender relationship), and offense (contextual factors) characteristics were analyzed. Conjunctive analysis was estimated for incidents …

Interview With Pamela Hayes, Pamela Hayes, Heather Oriana Petrocelli

Carole Pope Oral History Collection

Interview with the Pamela Hayes by Heather Petrocelli on November 14, 2016. At the time of this interview, Hayes was a student in the Criminal Justice department at Portland State University. Interview at Portland State University Library in Portland, OR.

The Guilty But Mentally Ill Verdict: Assessing The Impact Of Informing Jurors Of Verdict Consequences, Erin Elizabeth Cotrone

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In response to public opposition to the insanity defense, the Guilty But Mentally Ill(GBMI) verdict was enacted with the intention of limiting the number of insanity acquittals and alleviating the public’s concerns. Prior research suggests, however, that many jurors are making verdict decisions with limited knowledge of the dispositional consequences of the GBMI and NGRI verdicts. Further, jurors may erroneously assume that the GBMI verdict is a compromise between a NGRI and guilty verdict, which mitigates punishment. In reality, the dispositional consequences of a GBMI verdict are equivalent to or more restrictive than a guilty verdict. The current study examined …

Reintegrating Returning Citizens In Kentucky, Anna Reeves

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the rehabilitation of ex-offenders and the impact that rehabilitation has on recidivism rates. Recidivism of general offenders and drug offenders in both the U. S. and Kentucky will be addressed. Next, the paper will explore the program that Mission Behind Bars and Beyond facilitates, the Nurture Support and Accountability Group (NSAG), and give details about NSAG’s mission and how it assists ex-offenders with reentry from incarceration back into our communities. Ryan Rivard, an ex-offender, is currently a core member of the NSAG group at Eastern Kentucky University. His progress since he has …

Assessing For Racial Disparity In The Use And Effects Of Disciplinary Segregation: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis, Ryan M. Labrecque

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Presentation focuses on impact of disciplinary segregation in correctional institutions

Criminals Behind The Veil: Political Philosophy And Punishment, Chad Flanders

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Welcome To Dignity, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Vocational And Life Skills Monthly Data Update: October-November 2016, Uno Nebraska Center For Justice Research, Johanna Peterson

Reports

Grantees use an online data management system to submit data on participants served under their Vocational and Life Skills programming. This data is due monthly and reflects all services provided during the previous month to participants. Evaluators at the Nebraska Center for Justice Research work with grantees directly to correct any data errors on an ongoing basis during monthly update calls and site visits.

Data presented below is from the monthly data pulls. Because this data comes for an active database with live data being entered and updated daily, data, including previously submitted information, may fluctuate depending on changes made …

The Academic Effects Of Chronic Exposure To Neighborhood Violence, Amy Ellen Schwartz, Agustina Laurito, Johanna Lacoe, Patrick Sharkey, Ingrid Gould Ellen

Center for Policy Research

We estimate the causal effect of repeated exposure to violent crime on test scores in New York City. We use two distinct empirical strategies; value-added models linking student performance on standardized exams to violent crimes on a student’s residential block, and a regression discontinuity approach that identifies the acute effect of an additional crime exposure within a one-week window. Exposure to violent crime reduces academic performance. Value added models suggest the average effect is very small; approximately -0.01 standard deviations in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics. RD models suggest a larger effect, particularly among children previously exposed. The marginal …

The First Year Of The San Bernardino Restorative Youth Court, John M. Winslade

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

The San Bernardino Restorative Youth Court was established by the San Bernardino City Unified School District school board and has operated for one school year (2015-16). The purpose of this article is to document what has happened in this year and to begin to address questions about the value of the youth court for those for whom it aims to make a difference. Data collated are at this point preliminary but some tentative conclusions can be drawn, even at this early stage. Here we shall outline these data and the conclusions that are suggested by them. The best available measure …

Prosecuted But Not Silenced: Courtroom Reform For Sexually Abused Children By Maralee Mclean, Barry Goldstein

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

How Mature Capitalism Turns Pollution Into Diamonds: Malagnogenesis And The Reverse-Engineering Of Harm Into Risk, Kevin P. Martyn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, there has been a great deal of debate about the pervasiveness and persistence of neoliberal thinking. In the context of the post-2008 ‘great recession’ the resilience of neoliberalism is particularly confounding. To begin to unravel the ways in which neoliberalism is situated relative to risk, this study identifies an increasingly important neoliberal knowledge practice: malagnogenesis. Malagnogenesis is proposed herein as the production of ignorance that normalizes harm for and amongst marginalized populations. To shed light on the phenomena of malagnogenesis, this study investigated the history of leaded gasoline in the U.S. To that end, I …