Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons^™

Imagining A Non-Violent World "The Be The Peace, Make A Change Project": A Rural Community Peacebuilding Initiative To End Gender-Based Violence, Nancy M. Ross

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article will profile the innovative community engagement process initiated by the "Be the Peace, Make a Change" project to end gender-based violence in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, and conclude with lessons learned. These lessons were summarized as "headlines" to imagine a future with new narratives for interpersonal relationships. This project was a three-year grassroots initiative of Second Story Women’s Centre, funded by Status of Women Canada. It engaged the rural communities of Lunenburg County to develop a coordinated response to violence against women and girls. It focused on the engagement of all genders, youth, and adults in exploring and …

Stories Matter: Reaffirming The Value Of Qualitative Research, Samantha Mcaleese, Jennifer M. Kilty

The Qualitative Report

While the social sciences are experiencing narrative and emotional turns that are largely based on exploratory and theoretical qualitative research, the problematic dismissal of qualitative research approaches continues to loom large outside academia. Frequently described as a collection of “anecdotal stories,” qualitative research is dismissed as unscientific and unreliable— comments that limit the perceived usefulness of qualitative findings, especially in terms of policy reform. This article problematizes evaluating qualitative research according to quantitative measures of rigour and explores the richness and value of documenting experiential stories and the process of storying in social science research. Notably, we take up the …

Examining Effects Of Parental Sexual Abuse On Female Juvenile Delinquency Using A Social Developmental Perspective, Michelle Nagle

Theses and Dissertations

Delinquency has traditionally been viewed as a male phenomenon, often defined in androcentric terms, and neglecting females in studies regarding delinquent behavior. However, females are the fastest growing subpopulation of the correction population, which amplifies the importance of understanding the nature and etiology of their offending. Recent research has suggested that predictors of male juvenile delinquency do not adequately explain delinquency in females, because the androcentric research ignores the damaging impact of sexual childhood abuse and other prominent family factors on female juvenile delinquents. This study aimed to examine the impact of childhood parental sexual abuse on female juvenile delinquency …

An Analysis Of Selected Clusters Of Fires In Florida (1996 - 2018), Thomas Riley Hall

Theses and Dissertations

Hidden within the day-to-day routine responses of fire departments are possible multiple fires set by individuals in a small area with an unusual frequency. These fires may be the initial announcement of an emerging serial offender who is declaring a wound, an intolerable life situation, or is triggered by unknown events. This study sought to predict incendiary fires within a known cluster by using observable variables, both prior to and after the cluster event. This was done to further our understanding of the characteristics of clusters of intentionally lit fires. This was accomplished by examining the Florida Fire Information Reports …

A Multiple Case-Study Approach To Examine Police Officers Perceptions On Narcan® Policies, Casey Gnann

Theses and Dissertations

In October 2017, President Trump officially declared the opioid epidemic to be a public health emergency. Reports from the CDC indicate that over 140 Americans die per day as a result of an opioid overdose (NPR, 2017). This statistic alone highlights the tragic effects of the current opioid climate. To date, an abundance of research has been conducted on opioid addicts, family members, doctors approach to addiction, etc. However, there is a gap in the research regarding law enforcement officers and their ever-changing role in the fight against opioids. As the opioid epidemic has continued to worsen, many law enforcement …

The Rise Of American Extremism: An Exploratory Analysis Of American Religious And Political Extremism From Presidents Jimmy Carter To Barack Obama: 1977-2016, Alwyn J. Melton

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative case study was to address the problem of domestic terrorism facing the United States. This concern led to a comprehensive examination of historical documents that focused on the temporal evolution of the problem beginning with the Carter administration and continuing through the Obama administration. The conceptual foundation centered on resolving the research question and validating three hypotheses directed at qualifying the escalation of domestic incidents of terrorism. This led to developing a behavioral model to assist law enforcement agencies in combating the issue of domestic terrorism. Bivariate and clustering statistical analysis validated the data while …

The Prevalence Of Hate Crimes Motivated By Sexual Orientation In Florida After The U.S. Supreme Court Legalization Of Same-Sex Marriages, Shawntozi Campbell

Theses and Dissertations

Research on the dynamics of violence has revealed that crimes involving a prejudicial motive often occur in close temporal proximity to a galvanizing event such as elections, terrorist attacks, or unprecedented Supreme Court decisions. Given the particularly contested nature of marriage policy, it is not inconceivable that same-sex marriage recognition might incite retaliatory violence. Same-sex couples were granted the right to marry by the United States Supreme Court in June of 2015. By June 2016, Orlando, Florida experienced the “deadliest incident of violence against LGBTQ people in U.S. history,” after a mass shooting at Pulse nightclub resulted in the death …

Violent Offenders And Assaults On Staff Members, Lisa Gentry Long

Theses and Dissertations

Violent Offenders and Assaults on Staff Members. Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Fischler College of Education, School of Criminal Justice Department. Descriptors: Violence, violent offenders, violent inmates, corrections, prisons, assaults, correction officers, staff members.

Prison facilities are an integral part of the criminal justice system. Prisons are meant to provide punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation for inmates that are serving time. Prisons across the country are understaffed due to many reasons. It is important for staff members to be trained on how to keep themselves and inmates safe when they are behind the walls of these facilities. Staff members are in positions …

Federal Offices Of Inspectors General: The Relationship Between Per Capita Staffing Levels And Performance Results, Craig Yuen

Theses and Dissertations

Each year, the federal government spends trillions of dollars on operations and in awarding contracts, grants, loans, and other forms of financial assistance. Federal Offices of Inspectors General (OIGs) are charged with auditing and investigating fraud, waste, abuse, and misconduct affecting the government. There are 73 such OIGs – 40 of which have law enforcement authority and oversight responsibilities for a parent agency – and each is a separate organization with varying staffing levels and performance results. This study examined, on a per capita level, the relationship between staffing levels and performance results (criminal charges filed, financial recoveries, and questioned …

The Deaf & Law Enforcement Listening Though Deaf Eyes: A Grounded Theory Approach, John L. Garner

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the perceived and practical schism between deaf society and the police when the deaf attempt to obtain police services. The paper challenges current police culture and operating procedures, which tend to marginalize deaf society and largely ignore the mandates contained in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This qualitative research project is focused upon perceived law enforcement practices and culture through a multi-layered study of police customs, law, policy, and standard operating procedures as experienced, perceived, and reported by deaf individuals.

A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to examine the way law enforcement is perceived by …

Law Enforcement Officer Body-Worn Camera Perceptions: Pre And Post Deployment, Benjamin Aaron Straight

Theses and Dissertations

The 2014 fatal police shooting of Michael Brown resulted in (a) a national outcry for police departments to deploy body-worn cameras; and (b) community members and politicians demanding more transparency in the governmental administration of police work. Despite the increased media attention and deployment of body-worn cameras, there is little research on how law enforcement officers perceive body-worn cameras.

The Miami-Dade Police Department implemented a mandatory body-worn camera program on April 20, 2016. The department agreed to a partnership to conduct research on their officers' body-worn camera perceptions. The department internally distributed an electronic survey to 3,313 sworn officers and …

Respect And The Role It Plays In Explaining The Disproportionate Number Of African-Americans Incarcerated, Tina B. Craddock

Theses and Dissertations

This was a quantitative research study that examined the roles respect and self-esteem play within the African American population. There is no disagreement among social scientists that there is a disproportionate number of African Americans incarcerated. This study attempts to offer one possible explanation. This was a quasi-replication of a study conducted nearly two decades ago using African American adolescent males between the ages of 14 to 18. This research study identified a sample population consisting of African American males and females between the ages of 18 and 50. A cross-sectional analysis was utilized using convenience sampling. The research instruments …

Religion In Incarcerated, Jewish, Female Inmates, Marcia Janine Kesner

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the role religious belief and practice played amongst Jewish, female inmates during their incarceration. A group of ten correctional chaplains who work with Jewish, female, inmates and a comparison group of ten chaplains who work with Protestant, female inmates were interviewed. The study determined the reasons for and benefits of religious observance among these inmates and included assisting in dealing with fear, providing a sense of peace, and deceitful motives for personal gains. Religious practice also assisted inmate populations in healing from trauma, improving self-respect and self-esteem, building support systems, and additionally for Jewish, female inmates constructing …

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 …

Hate Crimes And Discrimination Against Jews: The Anti-Semitism Phenomenon In The 21st Century, Jon Zemke

Theses and Dissertations

Hate Crimes and Discrimination against Jews: The Anti-Semitism Phenomenon in the 21st Century. Jonathon Zemke, 2018: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. The purpose of this study is to compare the perceptions and opinions of Jewish and non-Jewish adult in Virginia Beach, Virginia regarding Jewish hate crimes, discrimination, the safety of the Jewish population, and general beliefs about the Jewish faith. The study set out to provide an evaluation of opinions regarding hate crimes, discrimination, personal safety, and anti-Semitic propensities among the Jewish population (n=77, 45.29%) compared to the non-Jewish respondents (n=93, 54.71%) examined in …