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Full-Text Articles in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Probation Officer Productivity: Using The Effort-Reward Imbalance Model, Brandon Presley Jan 2017

Probation Officer Productivity: Using The Effort-Reward Imbalance Model, Brandon Presley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which workplace efforts and rewards are associated with probation officer stress, overcommitment, health, and productivity. This research uses the effort-reward imbalance model, which is an indicator of job stress, on a group of criminal justice probation officers. The probation officers completed questionnaires regarding their perceptions of health, perceived reward, perceived effort, perceptions of overcommitment, and perceived productivity. Afterward, the responses were collected, and analyses were conducted using correlation and multiple regression to determine the extent to which perceptions of effort, reward, and overcommitment effect probation officer productivity and health. …


The Female Human Trafficker In The Criminal Justice System: A Test Of The Chivalry Hypothesis, Brielle Francis Jan 2016

The Female Human Trafficker In The Criminal Justice System: A Test Of The Chivalry Hypothesis, Brielle Francis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The involvement of women in human trafficking within the United States has received limited research attention. Human trafficking encompasses labor, sex, and organ trafficking (Roberts, 2012). In 2009 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that women play a significant role in human trafficking. Nagel and Johnson (1994) conclude that, historically, female offenders have stayed at the edge of the criminal justice system. Generally, theories about prosecution and conviction outcomes derive from the study of male offenders. Women can be involved in all aspects of the human trafficking organizations, from the recruitment, to the supervision of prostitutes …


Falling Behind In Pay: A Longitudinal Test Of Equity Theory Among Florida Municipal Police Agencies' Salaries, Robert Lord Jan 2016

Falling Behind In Pay: A Longitudinal Test Of Equity Theory Among Florida Municipal Police Agencies' Salaries, Robert Lord

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior research has found equity theory explains employee responses to falling wages in relation to other comparable workers. The present research attempts to contribute to the criminal justice literature by directly testing equity theory within the policing context, something no study has done to date. Applied to policing, equity theory predicts sworn officers employed by departments with falling or inequitable salaries (i.e., their salaries fail to keep up with those at other regional agencies) will reduce their work input (i.e., discretionary arrests) and/or quit in higher numbers than before (i.e., increase attrition). The present study also attempts to quantify how …


From American Service To Disservice: An Exploration Of The Impact Of Military Experience Among An Incarcerated Population, Erika Brooke Jan 2015

From American Service To Disservice: An Exploration Of The Impact Of Military Experience Among An Incarcerated Population, Erika Brooke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research examines the impact of military service among an incarcerated population. It addresses the gaps identified within the prior literature by taking a closer look at the association between service experience and criminal justice outcomes. Specifically, the present study explores whether branch type, combat exposure, age of entrance, service length, and discharge status impact the number of lifetime arrests, current offense type, and institutional misconduct. This research uses data from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics* 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities. Multivariate analyses indicate that different elements of military participation influence criminal and …


Privatization Of Florida Juvenile Residential Facilities, Katherine Hancock Jan 2014

Privatization Of Florida Juvenile Residential Facilities, Katherine Hancock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Privatization of juvenile facilities and services has been the norm since the inception of the juvenile justice system. However, little research has been performed examining the impact of privatization on juvenile justice, despite the possible repercussions of this policy for the juveniles served. Prior research on privatization in other fields has tended to find a connection between privatization and outcomes; however, very little research has examined how privatization impacts operations, how operations impact recidivism, and how privatization and operations interact to produce juvenile justice outcomes. This exploratory study, informed by cybernetic systems theory and principal-agent theory, examined the mechanism by …


Offender Reentry: A Mixed Model Study Of Interorganizational Commitment To Partnership, Gail Humiston Jan 2014

Offender Reentry: A Mixed Model Study Of Interorganizational Commitment To Partnership, Gail Humiston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the associations between the independent variables of organizational motivations and culture with the dependent variable of organizational commitment to local jail reentry partnerships. A cross-sectional, mixed methods design was used based primarily on a quantitative survey mailed to organizational informants involved in jail reentry activities within three central Florida counties. Qualitative data was also collected by observing conveniently sampled reentry meetings and analyzing the content of social artifacts, such as meeting handouts, minutes, e-mails, and other related documents. This study extends the literature by using the theoretical framework of Oliver (1990) to develop measures of organizations' motivations …


Threat Communication As It Relates To Perception Of Victimization: A Study Of Awareness Of Concealed Weapon Permit Issuance, Cody Jordan Jan 2014

Threat Communication As It Relates To Perception Of Victimization: A Study Of Awareness Of Concealed Weapon Permit Issuance, Cody Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Concealed weapon permit issuance is one of the most contentious topics debated in modern politics today. The primary point of disagreement within this debate hinges on whether these permits serve to increase violence by those who possess them, or whether they decrease crime through the deterrent effect of their presence in society. Using responses of residents of a large southeast correctional facility this study analyzed the reported inclination of criminals to commit direct contact crimes under several specific scenarios, based on their exposure to various levels of information relating to issuance of concealed weapon permits. By comparing the responses across …


Investigators' Perceptions Of Inter-Jurisdictional Law Enforcement Information Sharing On Criminal Investigative Success: An Exploratory Analysis, Jennifer Freeman-Walker Jan 2014

Investigators' Perceptions Of Inter-Jurisdictional Law Enforcement Information Sharing On Criminal Investigative Success: An Exploratory Analysis, Jennifer Freeman-Walker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Information sharing among law enforcement entities became a national priority after the 9/11 attack (Carter, 2005). Various information systems utilized by law enforcement agencies may be promising; however, there is little extant empirical research to validate the system's effectiveness related to increasing investigative success (Bureau of Justice Assistance, 2010). One information system that has tied together numerous Florida law enforcement agencies is the FINDER system. FINDER, the Florida Integrated Network for Data Exchange and Retrieval system, provides agency investigators a wide range of information not previously available (Reynolds, Griset, and Scott, 2006; Scott, 2006). This study's foundation was primarily based …


The Relationship Of State Political Instability And Economic Failure To Predatory Organized Crime In Multiple Nations: A Global Comparative Anaylsis, Terrance Ruth Jan 2014

The Relationship Of State Political Instability And Economic Failure To Predatory Organized Crime In Multiple Nations: A Global Comparative Anaylsis, Terrance Ruth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the relationship of political instability and economic failure to predatory organized crime in multiple nations. This is an important issue since each year the increase in predatory crime networks contributes to international economic failure, security risks, and the spread of organized crime. In an effort to understand the relationship between state failure and economic failure on the one hand, and organized crime on the other, this study will seek to address three goals. First, the study tests the degree to which variables that imply economic failure and state failure correlate with predatory organized crime. Second, the study …


A Mixed-Methods Approach To Examining The Memphis Crisis Intervention Team (Cit) Model: An Exploratory Study Of Program Effectiveness And Institutionalization Processes, Megan Magers Jan 2013

A Mixed-Methods Approach To Examining The Memphis Crisis Intervention Team (Cit) Model: An Exploratory Study Of Program Effectiveness And Institutionalization Processes, Megan Magers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study utilized a mixed-methods strategy to examine the effectiveness, diffusion, and institutionalization of the Memphis Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model. To evaluate the effectiveness of the training component of the CIT model, a panel research design was employed in which a sample of 179 law enforcement officers and 100 correctional officers in nine Florida counties were surveyed on the first day of training (pretest), the last day of training (posttest), and one month following their completion of CIT training (follow-up). These surveys measured the extent to which CIT training achieved several officer-level objectives, including increased knowledge of mental …


Assessing Harm Reduction A Qualitative Investigation About The Impact Of Therapeutic Jurisprudence On Non-Completing Drug Court Clients, Traci R. Francis Jan 2011

Assessing Harm Reduction A Qualitative Investigation About The Impact Of Therapeutic Jurisprudence On Non-Completing Drug Court Clients, Traci R. Francis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Currently, the drug court treatment outcome literature provides little guidance about examining clients that fail to complete drug court. Typically, only successful clients are tracked and measured for outcome success characteristics and not much is known about unsuccessful client outcomes. A large portion of individuals who begin drug court do not complete the program. With unsuccessful rates ranging from 34 to 73%, it seems reasonable to examine the outcome of these cases. Ignoring this phenomenon is problematic because various stakeholders remain uninformed about the drug court model’s full effectiveness. The focus on successful clients may fail to fully capture and …


Time On Florida's Death Row: A Theory Of "Benign Neglect", Angela Willis Jan 2008

Time On Florida's Death Row: A Theory Of "Benign Neglect", Angela Willis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis attempts to identify and explain what influences the length of time an inmate spends on Florida's death row. A systematic random sample of 33 Florida death row inmates was drawn from the Florida Department of Corrections death row roster and the Florida Commission on Capital Cases inmate roster. Documented for each death row inmate was how long he spent on Florida's death row navigating the various stages and steps in Florida's post-conviction capital punishment process. The data show that petitions to the state trial courts and appeals to the Florida Supreme Court take the longest time in Florida's …


Determinants Of Turkish Police Officers' Perception Of Integrity: Impact Of Organizational Culture, Bahadir Kucukuysal Jan 2008

Determinants Of Turkish Police Officers' Perception Of Integrity: Impact Of Organizational Culture, Bahadir Kucukuysal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine the influence of police organizational culture on officers' perception of integrity in the Turkish National Police (TNP). Adopting an organizational rather than an individualistic perspective, this study focused on police organizational culture to investigate the causes of integrity problems in the TNP. While focusing on police organizational culture, this study also aimed to determine to what extent officers' perceptions of integrity are influenced by personal and occupational attributes such as age, gender, rank, income, educational level, years of employment, and assignment type. The research was conducted in Turkey's two largest cities, Istanbul …


Examining The Effect Of Organizational Policy Changeon Taser Utilizations, Michael Miller Jan 2008

Examining The Effect Of Organizational Policy Changeon Taser Utilizations, Michael Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of organizational policy changes within the Use-of-Force Continuum on taser usage and officer's perceptions of taser effectiveness. Tasers have been used by police since the 1970s and their use is increasing as the technology has improved. Data reveals that tasers are beneficial for controlling non-compliant suspects while preventing serious injuries and rarely has their use resulted in death. Much of the public controversy surrounding tasers centers on when and how often officers deploy them. Use of force data from 890 police citizen encounters during a two-year period was analyzed to …


Russian Cultural Factors Related To Perceived Criminal Procedure Fairness: The Juxtaposition Of Policy And Practice, Olga B. Semukhina Jan 2007

Russian Cultural Factors Related To Perceived Criminal Procedure Fairness: The Juxtaposition Of Policy And Practice, Olga B. Semukhina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the Russian culture and citizens' perceived fairness of the new Criminal Procedural Code of Russia of 2001 (CPC of 2001). The CPC of 2001 is a key policy in the Russian criminal law reform with the purpose of implementing adversarial procedure elements in Russia. The existing literature has documented the lack of public support along with observed violations of the CPC's major provisions which as made this an important area for study. It is theorized that the apparent contradiction between the underlying values of the Russian culture, and CPC's …


Airport Security: Examining The Current State Of Acceptance Of Biometrics And The Propensity Of Adopting Biometric Technology Fo, Kristine Sumner Jan 2007

Airport Security: Examining The Current State Of Acceptance Of Biometrics And The Propensity Of Adopting Biometric Technology Fo, Kristine Sumner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 propelled the issue of aviation security to the forefront of the U.S. domestic agenda. Although hundreds of individual airports exist in the U.S., the travel activities at each of these airports combine to holistically comprise an aviation system that represents a significant portion of the U.S. social and economic infrastructure. Disruption at one airport resulting from a criminal act, such as terrorism, could exert detrimental effects upon the aviation system and U.S national security (9/11 Commission, 2004). Each U.S. airport is individually responsible for various aspects of security including the control of physical …


Death Penalty Knowledge, Opinion, And Revenge: A Test Of The Marshall Hypotheses In A Time Of Flux, Gavin Lee Jan 2007

Death Penalty Knowledge, Opinion, And Revenge: A Test Of The Marshall Hypotheses In A Time Of Flux, Gavin Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis tests the three hypotheses derived from the written opinion of Justice Thurgood Marshall in Furman v Georgia in 1972. Subjects completed questionnaires at the beginning and the end of the fall 2006 semester. Experimental group subjects were enrolled in a death penalty class, while control group subjects were enrolled in another criminal justice class. The death penalty class was the experimental stimulus. Findings provided strong support for the first and third hypotheses, i.e., subjects were generally lacking in death penalty knowledge before the experimental stimulus, and death penalty proponents who scored "high" on a retribution index did not …


Criminal Mobility Of Robbery Offenders, Joe Drealan Jan 2007

Criminal Mobility Of Robbery Offenders, Joe Drealan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current paper addresses the mobility and willingness to travel of robbery offenders. A five-sector robbery typology was constructed, consisting of: personal robbery, commercial robbery, carjacking robbery, home-invasion robbery, and robbery by sudden snatching. Defining mobility as the straight-line distance between the offender's home residence and the location of the robbery offense, the extent of criminal mobility for each type of robbery offense was analyzed. Using geographical information system (GIS) technologies and, more specifically, geocoding software programs, the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates of the offender's home and offense's location was determined. It was found that a subset of robbery offenders …


Police Organizational Performance In The State Of Florida:Confirmatory Analysis Of The Relationship Of The Environment And Design Structure To Performance, Jeffrey Goltz Jan 2006

Police Organizational Performance In The State Of Florida:Confirmatory Analysis Of The Relationship Of The Environment And Design Structure To Performance, Jeffrey Goltz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To date, police organizations have not been rigorously analyzed by organizational scholars and most analysis of these organizations has been captured through a single construct. The purpose of this study is to develop confirmatory police organizational analysis by validating a multi-dimensional conceptual framework that explains the relationships among three constructs: environmental constraints, the design structures of police organizations, and organizational performance indicators. The modeling is deeply rooted in contingency theory, and the influence of isomorphism and institutional theory on the covariance structure model are investigated. One hundred and thirteen local police organizations from the State of Florida are included in …


An Evaluation Of The Effects Of A Leisure Education Curriculum On Deliquents' Motivation, Knowledge, And Behavior Changes Related To Boredom, Paul Finn Jr. Jan 2006

An Evaluation Of The Effects Of A Leisure Education Curriculum On Deliquents' Motivation, Knowledge, And Behavior Changes Related To Boredom, Paul Finn Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents today have more unsupervised and unstructured free time than ever before. Poor decisions by youth during periods of free time may lead to substance abuse, teen pregnancy and juvenile delinquency. The highest frequency of juvenile crime, a major social problem, occurs during the 2-4 hours following the end of the school day. Research has demonstrated the benefits of engaging adolecents in prosocial leisure activity. However, no research has studied the issues of free time and leisure education with a delinquent population. This paper documents the impact of a leisure education curriculum on a population of delinquent youth in a …


Factors Influencing User-Level Success In Police Informationsharing: An Examination Of Florida's Finder System, Jr Ernest Scott Jan 2006

Factors Influencing User-Level Success In Police Informationsharing: An Examination Of Florida's Finder System, Jr Ernest Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An important post-9/11 objective has been to connect law enforcement agencies so they can share information that is routinely collected by police. This low-level information, gathered from sources such as traffic tickets, calls for service, incident reports and field contacts, is not widely shared but might account for as much as 97% of the data held in police records systems. U.S. policy and law assume that access to this information advances crime control and counterterrorism efforts. The scarcity of functioning systems has limited research opportunities to test this assumption or offer guidance to police leaders considering investments in information sharing. …


Avl And Response Time Reduction: Image And Reality, Charles Russo Jan 2006

Avl And Response Time Reduction: Image And Reality, Charles Russo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Automatic vehicle locator (AVL) systems, utilizing military's global positioning system, may impact response time to law enforcement calls for service. In order to evaluate the impacts of AVL on response time to calls for service at the Altamonte Springs Police Department (ASPD), computer aided dispatch (CAD) data from years 1999 to 2003 were analyzed. The analysis of each of the data sets consisted of an initial sequence chart, an analysis of variance (ANOVA), a means plot and a linear regression. Interviews of ASPD personnel were conducted to understand user perceptions of AVL. Based on the ANOVA results, trends indicate that …


Availability Of The Felony-Murder Rule Today: Equitable And Just Or Unfair And Excessive?, Traci Rose Francis Jan 2005

Availability Of The Felony-Murder Rule Today: Equitable And Just Or Unfair And Excessive?, Traci Rose Francis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current research provides an examination of felony murder to determine the similarities and differences among jurisdictions in the nation. It provides a current analysis of jurisprudence to update the literature as to practices in the United States pertaining to the availability of felony murder and the specific elements that make up the rule. This research conducts a survey of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Federal System. It provides an overview of the felony-murder rule and its availability, the degrees to which the doctrine is utilized, and the subsequent sentences allowable for defendants convicted under the …


Regional Readiness For Intelligence Information Sharing To Support Homeland Security, Christine Genet Kemp Jan 2005

Regional Readiness For Intelligence Information Sharing To Support Homeland Security, Christine Genet Kemp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age was created to produce recommendations on how to best leverage intelligence and information to improve security without compromising existing civil liberties. Their second report proposed that the government set up an information-sharing network using currently available technology to improve our ability to prevent terrorist attacks, while protecting civil liberties. The Markle recommendations have been incorporated into the recent Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. The proposition is that the Markle task force recommendations are sufficient to achieve the required data integration in the United States. To affirm …


Female Sexual Offenders-An Underexamined Population, Creaig Anthony Dunton Jan 2004

Female Sexual Offenders-An Underexamined Population, Creaig Anthony Dunton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sex crimes are considered to be among the most damaging and heinous forms of social deviance in existence. Besides the acts perpetrated by the offenders, the social stigma attached to being victimized is often just as injurious to the victim. Society sees males as the sole perpetrators of acts of sexual abuse, but this is not the case. The extant literature shows that women, while fewer in number, also perpetrate acts of sexual abuse and assault against other adults and children. This thesis is a preliminary typology that classifies female sexual offenders based upon the acts perpetrated, using cases presented …