Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons^™

Predictors Of Violent And Non-Violent Institutional Infractions Of Death Row Prisoners, Tereza Trejbalová

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Institutional misconduct has been widely researched in the criminological literature for more than 50 years, leading to an extensive knowledge about how and why different prisoners misbehave while incarcerated. Nevertheless, one correctional population has been mostly left out of these research pursuits – death row prisoners (DRPs). Although DRPs form a small fraction of the overall number of incarcerated individuals in the US, they tend to spend more than 20 years in maximum security facilities and require a considerable amount of resources. As such, it is imperative for the safety of the facility, the staff, and the prisoners themselves to …

Treatment And Perceptions Of Lgbtqia+ Persons, Emily Bolshazy

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In school districts across the country, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQIA+) young adults are being bullied at alarming rates. These experiences have longterm implications for quality of life, employment opportunities, and justice system interactions. Yet, very little research is dedicated to understanding their experiences. This project includes qualitative triangulation analysis to compare common themes throughout three data sources. Research questions this project seeks to answer are 1) How do people who are anti-LGBTQIA+ policy perceive LGBTQIA+ young adults? and 2) What are the experiences of LGBTQIA+ individuals? The overall goal of this research project is to be able …

Exploring The Role Of Adverse Childhood Experiences (Aces) Among Gendered Racial/Ethnic Groups Of Justice-Involved Youth, Linsey A. Belisle

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Justice-involved youth are exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) at higher rates than youth in the general public, highlighting the importance of addressing childhood trauma and adversity in juvenile justice settings. A majority of ACEs research has focused on the general population and has demonstrated the long lasting negative impact of ACEs, on mental health, physical health, and engagement in health risk behaviors. Both gender and racial/ethnic differences have been identified in ACEs literature, suggesting that not all groups in society have the same likelihood of experiencing ACEs. Additionally, ACEs may also impact individuals from racial/ethnic or gender groups differently, …

From Ex-Offenders To Hopefuls: Exploring Changing Narratives And Personal Stories Of Desistance, Darby Buckley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Research for this thesis seeks to understand how recently incarcerated individuals understand recidivism and how they desist from criminal activities and re-offending behaviors. It seeks to understand if desistance is occurring in a re-entry organization and if so, when. Participants from a Las Vegas, Nevada re-entry organization called HOPE for Prisoners (HFP) are the focus of this research. Overall, the purpose of this study is to see how a local re-entry non-profit organization helps assist with services and opportunities for individuals who were formerly incarcerated. Analyzing the research from this project will help provide information regarding how individuals who are …

Examining Predictors Of Student Perceptions Of University Responses To Sexual Misconduct, Megan Giovannini

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The prevalence of college students’ experiences with sexual violence has been well documented (e.g., Cantor et al., 2015; Fisher, Cullen & Turner, 2000; Krebs et al., 2007), along with the negative consequences associated with sexual victimization (e.g., Campbell, Dworkin & Cabral, 2009). Court cases, student disclosures, and media coverage have brought more attention to university responses to sexual misconduct and have attempted to hold universities accountable. The purpose of this study is to examine predictors of student perceptions of university responses to sexual misconduct, therefore adding to the existing literature. It is among one of the first to examine predictors …

Official Misconduct And Error Correction Mechanisms In Exonerated Death Penalty Cases, Kamali'ilani Theresa Elizabeth Wetherell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There has been an average of approximately 3.9 death penalty exonerations annually in the United States since 1973 (DPIC, 2021). Wrongful convictions and executions constitute grave and irreversible errors. Studies show official misconduct is one of the leading causes for wrongful convictions and exonerations. Misconduct by police, prosecutors, and judges includes a wide range of behaviors such as coercing confessions, depriving rights to legal counsel, threatening witnesses, and concealing evidence. Operating under the due process model, the adversarial legal system is designed to detect and prevent any procedural violations of defendant’s rights, including official misconduct. Utilizing Packer’s (1964) due process …

Bystanders’ Willingness To Report Crimes And Cooperate With Legal Authorities: The Role Of Individual And Contextual Differences, Matthew P. West

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Studies and victimization surveys suggest that many, if not most, crimes are not reported to legal authorities. The overarching aim of this project was to examine the roles of individual and contextual differences in bystanders’ willingness to report crimes to, and cooperate with, legal authorities. A sample of 1,434 adults in the U.S. completed a survey in which they read and responded to crime vignettes and responded to items theoretically measuring individual differences in legal socialization, perceived legitimacy, the need for cognitive closure, right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and the general willingness to cooperate. Bystanders’ relationship to the victim, relationship …

Calls For Accountability: Redefining The Culture Of Policing In Las Vegas, Olivia Cheche

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

In summer 2020, national attention on racial injustice brought into focus the culture of policing as a critical area of policy exploration for the United States. The purpose of this study is to examine the culture of policing in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, and specifically within Las Vegas’s largest police force, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department (LVMPD). Through this case study analysis, the racial, social and fiscal aspects of the culture of policing are investigated between the years 2016 & 2020. The research here presents data on disparities within policing found at the national and local levels. The …

Implicit Attitudes, Explicit Attitudes, And Priming: A Preliminary Analysis Of Factors Affecting Use Of Force Decisions, Christopher Allen Forepaugh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examines the effects of priming, situational factors, and attitudes on deadly force decision making. A small sample of undergraduates completed high-fidelity deadly force simulations. Simulation results were compared across experimental conditions and various attitudinal and demographic factors. Participants were generally accurate when assessing the threat posed by suspects. Participants primed to expect a threat were more accurate in their decisions but were no more likely to shoot an unarmed suspect. Participants were more accurate when responding to unarmed suspects. Participants more likely to exhibit implicit bias were less accurate. Several attitudinal and demographic traits were associated with deadly …

(Non-Consensual) Sex, Drugs & Rock N’ Roll: Sexual Harassment And Violence At Live Music Events, Miliaikeala Sj. Heen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Music concerts and festivals draw millions of attendees in the United States and internationally annually. Half of the U.S. population goes to live music events each year, with 33% going to concerts and 18% going to festivals (Nielsen Music 360, 2017). Despite the fact that these events provide security for the safety of both performers and attendees, the context of these events may facilitate various forms of sexual violence. Research has revealed high levels of harassment, groping, and other forms of unwanted sexual behavior at music festivals and concerts. The current study will utilize a national survey to examine unwanted …

Eyewitness Recall And Identification Accuracy: Effects Of Stress In An Extreme Haunt And A Haunted House, William Blake Ridgway

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The impact of stress on eyewitness recall and identification accuracy has been studied extensively but with somewhat inconsistent results. Understanding the effects of stress are important if they are to be generalized to victims or witnesses of real crimes. This study consisted of two experiments that used an extreme haunt and a haunted house to examine attendees’ ability to recall details of and identify actors encountered, as a function of state anxiety and in the context of Deffenbacher’s (1994) catastrophe model of memory performance under anxiety. The results showed that physiological (i.e., heart rate) and psychological (i.e., State Anxiety Inventory) …

Officer-Involved Deaths In Nevada 2013-2019, Madison Frazee-Bench, Yanneli Llamas, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

Between 2013 and 2019, 7,669 people were killed by police officers across the United States. Using data compiled by Mapping Police Violence, a non-profit research and advocacy project tracking incidents of police violence throughout the U.S., this fact sheet focuses on officer-involved deaths in the State of Nevada between January 2013 and December 2019.

Thick As Thieves: Bringing Armenia’S Robber Barons To Justice, Nerses Kopalyan

Political Science Faculty Research

There is a certain inhumanity to stealing from the poor, from the disenfranchised, from children, and quite simply, from one’s own society. But the magnitude of such cruelty is further elevated when the theft is undertaken and brazenly justified by those in positions of political power.

An Investigation Of White-Collar Criminal Sentencing Disparities In Six Federal District Courts, Lauren Frances Elizabeth Galloway

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Since the turn of the century, sentencing research has consistently shown that certain aspects of the social context generally condition individual-level sentencing variations. I further explore this postulation in assessing how legal changes affect courtroom decisions; and in analyzing how extra-legal offender characteristics and judicial attributes influence the likelihood and length of white-collar incarceration sentences. The study hypothesized an emergent sociotemporal trend, largely driven by implementation of white-collar sentencing legislation and a return to judicial discretion, whereby white-collar offenders sentenced in the years post-Booker would receive more lenient punishments (i.e., less likely to be incarcerated and shorter incarceration sentences) than …

Examining Crime Reporting Behaviors In The Presence Of Body-Worn Cameras, Tanya Dudinskaya

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research study was designed to gain a better understanding of the potential impacts a body-worn camera can have on a witness reporting a crime to an officer. This study uses an online survey distributed through Qualtrics and asks participants to respond with their likelihood of reporting the crime they are prompted (such as property damage, DUI, drug sale, assault, and robbery) in the presence or absence of a body-camera, and the recording of their statement. The main concept that is being examined is whether there are potential negative consequences of body-cameras such as preventing witnesses from coming forward because …

Hispanics And The War On Drugs: An Explanation For The Rise In Hispánica Imprisonment, Bryan James Haakma

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to understand racial disparities that persist throughout the criminal justice system. Since the early 1970s, the U.S. female prison population has risen at a faster rate than the male prison population (Harmon & Boppre, 2016; Morín, 2008, 2016). Overall, a plethora of research has linked the rise in imprisonment to the War on Drugs and the criminalization of drug use. This thesis examined these questions: 1) are drug crime initiatives driving the rise in Hispanic female imprisonment in comparison to Black and White females and 2) using Blalock’s (1967) theory on group threat, do …

Public Perceptions Of Police Militarization: A Nuanced Understanding Of Public Support For Police Practices, Leobardo Lopez-Cristobal

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In recent years, there has been heavily publicized incidents of police use of military weapons and tactics, which has raised concerns regarding the militarization of police. More famously, in 2014, Ferguson police utilized military weapons and tactics to quell the masses after the police shooting of Michael Brown incited protests and riots. Despite an overall decrease in incidents of police use of force and deadly shootings, individual dramatic events of police militarization paint a picture of a militarized police force. This coincides with an overall increase in military equipment transfers (e.g., weapons, vehicles) to police agencies in the United States. …

Place Network Investigations In Las Vegas, Nevada: Program Review And Process Evaluation, Tamara D. Herold, Robin S. Engel, Nicholas Corsaro, Stacey L. Clouse

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

The gang and gun violence reduction project implemented in Las Vegas consisted of three components: hot spots deployment, focused deterrence, and place network investigations. This report focuses on a program review and process evaluation of the PNI initiative.

Are Men Who Pay For Sex Sexist? Masculinity And Client Attitudes Toward Gender Role Equality In Different Prostitution Markets, Barbara G. Brents, Takashi Yamashita, Andrew L. Spivak, Olesya Venger, Christina Parreira, Alessandra Lanti

Sociology Faculty Research

Prostitution clients’ attitudes toward gender equality are important indicators of how masculinity relates to the demand for commercial sexual services. Research on male client misogyny has been inconclusive, and few studies compare men in different markets. Using an online survey of 519 clients of sexual services, we examine whether male client attitudes toward gender role equality are related to the main methods customers used to access prostitution services (i.e., through print or online media vs. in-person contact). We found no differences among men in these markets in attitudes toward gender role equality in the workplace and home. This is in …

Leveraging Data To Reduce Gun Violence: The Cincinnati Experience, Matthew G. Hammer, Tamara D. Herold

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

The year 2020 has amplified demands for more equitable policing, more efficient government, and greater transparency. As police leaders around the world attempt to maintain order and safety during a period of large-scale civil unrest, they must also address criticisms that existing law enforcement practices include biased interventions and reinforce systemic racism. Many law enforcement agencies are also responding to increasing numbers of serious crimes that disproportionately affect society’s most vulnerable communities, while simultaneously facing calls to “defund the police” fueled by accusations that challenge the legitimacy of their policing tactics. The strategies used by agencies to manage protests and …

Crime Place Networks In Las Vegas: A New Violence Reduction Strategy, Tamara D. Herold

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

In 2017, the Las Vegas, Nevada, Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) adopted a series of interventions designed to reduce gang and gun violence across Las Vegas. In partnership with the International Association of Chiefs of Police/University of Cincinnati (IACP/UC) Center for Police Research and Policy and with evaluation funding provided by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the LVMPD implemented three violence reduction strategies: (1) focused deterrence (offender notification session); (2) hot spot patrols; and (3) place network investigations (PNI), also known as place-based investigations of violent offender territories (PIVOT), which is the focus here.

Implementing Gang & Gun Violence Reduction Strategies In Las Vegas, Nevada: Hot Spots Evaluation Results, Nicholas Corsaro, Robin S. Engel, Tamara D. Herold, Murat Yildirim

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

The gang and gun violence reduction project implemented in Las Vegas consisted of three components: hot spots deployment, focused deterrence, and place network investigations. This report focuses on the development, implementation, and evaluation of the hot spots strategy.

Policing Protests: An Exploratory Analysis Of Crowd Management Policies, Logan P. Kennedy

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Several policing strategies have been used to manage protest crowds over the past 50 years. Research suggests that escalated force and command and control strategies were utilized until the 1990’s (Bourne, 2011; Schweingruber, 2000), while negotiated management has emerged as a prominent protest management strategy within recent decades (Gillham, 2011; Gillham & Noakes, 2006). While literature describes the general evolution of protest strategies over time, there has been no systematic documentation of police approaches to crowd management.

This study examines police policies governing protest management to identify current U.S. police practices. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) provides …

Schools And Crime: An Empirical Analysis Of School Safety Measures, Heather Gilmore

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During the 2015-2016 academic year, more than three-fourths of public schools reported having a violent, property, or other crime on their campuses (Musu-Gillette et al., 2018). While most students do not experience victimization (Musu-Gillette et al., 2018), a large portion schools do report criminal activity on campus. The desire for improved school strategies on crime is warranted, particularly as student populations continue to grow, increasing to 56.6 million students (NCES, 2018). The focus, however, has remained primarily on violence and specific types of school security measures. The purpose of this study is to close the gaps in the literature and …

Dissociation Between The Growing Opioid Demands And Drug Policy Directions Among The U.S. Older Adults With Degenerative Joint Diseases, Pearl Kim Phd, Takashi Yamashita Phd, Mph, Ma, Jay J. Shen Phd, Seong-Min Park Phd, Sung-Youn Chun Phd, Sun Jung Kim Phd, Mhsa, Jinwook Hwang Md, Phd, Se Won Lee Md, Georgia Dounis Dds, Ms, Hee-Taik Kang Md, Phd, Yong-Jae Lee Md, Phd, Dong-Hun Han Dds, Phd, Ji Eun Kim Phd, Hyeyoung Yeom Md, David Byun Do, Tsigab Bahta Md, Ji Won Yoo Md

School of Public Health Faculty Research

We aim to examine temporal trends of orthopedic operations and opioid-related hospital stays among seniors in the nation and states of Oregon and Washington where marijuana legalization was accepted earlier than any others. As aging society advances in the United States (U.S.), orthopedic operations and opioid-related hospital stays among seniors increase in the nation. A serial cross-sectional cohort study using the healthcare cost and utilization project fast stats from 2006 through 2015 measured annual rate per 100,000 populations of orthopedic operations by age groups (45–64 vs 65 and older) as well as annual rate per 100,000 populations of opioid-related hospital …

Dental Age Estimation Of A Southern Nevada Hispanic Non-Adult Population Employing The London Atlas To Evaluate Archival Orthodontic Cone Beam Computed Tomography (Cbct) Images, Haley Buchanan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Age estimation is of societal importance for legal, forensic, and clinical reasons. The London Atlas of Human Tooth Development and Eruption, hereafter referred to as the London Atlas, was introduced as an improved method for determining dental age estimation. The London Atlas was developed from panoramic images of 528 living British Caucasian and Bangladeshi males and females aged 2 to 24 years and panoramic images of 176 archival human skeletal remains, aged 32 in utero to 2 years old, from two specimen collections (AlQahtani, Hector, & Liversidge, 2010). Further investigation is warranted to determine validity of the atlas’s use in …

Police Use Of Force And Officer Injury: A Closer Examination Of The Impact Of Taser Deployment And Contextual Factors, Jason Kuzik

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Using secondary data from the Henderson Police Department (NV), a study was conducted to explore the contextual relationships of officers, subjects and situational characteristics related to use of force encounters. A series of research questions examine the combinations of contextual factors (i.e., officer demographics, subject demographics, and event-specific characteristics) that are associated with different types of police use of force (e.g., Taser, non-Taser), officer injuries and subject injuries. Univariate analysis, Bivariate analysis and Conjunctive Analysis of Case Configurations examine the data and identify contextual profiles associated with police use of force. The analysis shows that there is variation in the …

Is Easier, Better? A Reevaluation Of The Use Of Non-Remodeled Bone As A Histological Predictor Of Age-At-Death From The Femoral Midshaft Using Gis Software, Mariah Elaine Moe

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Traditional macroscopic methods for estimating age-at-death from human skeletal remains have been highly successful in practice but are notoriously inadequate when aging individuals over the age of 50 years. Skeletal histology has the potential to overcome these challenges to narrow the gap in age estimation and more accurately address older individuals.

Primary bone is produced during normal growth and development. Once fully matured, individuals undergo the lifelong process of remodeling wherein primary bone is replaced with microstructures called secondary osteons. As individuals age, the amount of primary bone tends to decrease. This study reexamined the use of percentage of primary …

Stop Running In Laps: Evaluating The Lethality Assessment Program's Effectiveness In Reducing Repeat Intimate Partner Violence, Dory A. Mizrachi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Repeat victimization is a phenomenon which is generally understood as the pattern and prevalence of victimization. This is an important factor for local authorities in their attempt to develop innovative policies and practices to facilitate predicting and preventing crimes. Thus, many police departments around the country, including the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) have adopted the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP). This is a risk assessment tool used by responding officers on domestic violence calls that intends to prevent future risk of lethal violence to victims of domestic violence by assessing their risk of lethality and providing immediate referrals to …

Missed Opportunities: The Effect Of Cps Involvement On Trafficking Victims In The Delinquency System, Kelly Rae Stout

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Children and youth involved in the child welfare system are an incredibly vulnerable population that could potentially have an increased risk for being sexually exploited. In 2014, Federal Public Law 113-183 mandated that all child protective service (CPS) agencies in the United States improve services of commercially sexually exploited children and youth (CSEC). This federal directive requires that states and counties train their staff in identifying and helping children who have been or are at risk for being trafficked. To explore this complex issue, quantitative methods were used. The data were analyzed for CPS engagement among the CSEC victims identified …