Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons^™

The Relationship Between Juvenile Sex Offender Registration And Depression In Adulthood, Sharon E. Denniston

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Accounts of sexual abuse appear daily in the media. Rightfully, this issue demands attention. Juveniles may be victims; they may also be offenders who are subject to sex offender registration and notification (SORN) policies. Growing research finds that SORN policies fail to achieve intended public policy outcomes. Little is known, however, about the unintended consequences of SORN for juvenile offenders. This study contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of these policies on this population. Merton's concept of manifest and latent functions of purposive social action and an alternate non-criminogenic form of Lemert's secondary deviance proposition provided the …

Gender-Specific Programming And Quality Improvement Ratings Of Florida Residential Delinquency Programs For Girls, Katrina Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Female delinquency and adult female incarceration rates increased from the 1980s until the early 2000s. Many of these women and girls have been victimized, and their unresolved victimization issues may have led them to criminal behavior which may not be adequately addressed in the juvenile and criminal justice systems. The theoretical framework for this study consisted of 3 developmental theories (pathways, trauma, and addiction theories) that facilitated an understanding of the impact of victimization and criminality in these women and girls' lives. Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice implemented changes to address the victimization issue in the 10 female gender-specific programs …

The Use Of Minors In Material Support Of Terrorist Organizations, Teresa Maria Feliciano

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adult criminals' use of minors to commit crimes associated with the support of terrorist organizations is a significant problem in the United States. Despite strict laws prohibiting adult offenders from exploiting youth, these individuals aggressively pursue minors to commit crimes associated with the support of terrorist organizations. This quasi-experimental, cross-sectional study used resource dependency theory to explore the likelihood that adult criminal offenders in the U.S. will use minors for crimes that are associated with the support of terrorist organizations, based on crime typology, country of origin, and location of crime. Data were collected from a crime database maintained by …

Family Continuity And Multiple Incarcerations Among African American Women, Dorenda Karen Dixon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Scholars have studied incarceration among women in the United States of America for more than a decade, but few studies have explored the influence of repeated incarcerations among African American women and their family relationships. The research question for this study examined how African American women describe the effects of multiple incarcerations on family trust relationships and their ability to reintegrate into the family system and society. This multiple case study was conducted in Chicago, Illinois, and drew a sample of 4 African American women released from prison with histories of multiple incarcerations. The study explored their perspectives through a …

A Qualitative Case Study Of Police Officers' Perception Of Sexual Offender Registration, Tracy Lee Veri

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although many research studies about sexual offender registration exist, there is no qualitative study on the perspective of police officers whose job duties include the implementation of Sex Offender Registration and Notification (SORN) laws. The purpose of this case study was to explore specific police officers' perceptions of sex offender registration. Six police officers were hand selected for face-to-face interviews based on their unique job duties that included responsibilities and training related to the implementation of the sexual offender registration and community notification protocols. Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory provided the theoretical framework for this research study. According to study findings, …

Best Practices For Controlling Tuberculosis - Training In Correctional Facilities: A Mixed Methods Evaluation, Ellen Reynolds Murray

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to the literature, identifying and treating tuberculosis (TB) in correctional facilities have been problematic for the inmates and also for the communities into which inmates are released. The importance of training those who can identify this disease early into incarceration is vital to halt the transmission. Although some training has been done by public health authorities for corrections, there is little to no evaluation of such training. The aim of this mixed methods retrospective study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a training to control TB in correctional facilities. The Southeastern National Tuberculosis Center (SNTC) conducted 12 trainings between …

Experiences Of Nonincarcerated African American Male Youth With An Incarcerated Male Sibling, Fred Nana Biney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Approximately half of all incarcerated individuals in the United States are young African American men. Researchers have documented that nonincarcerated siblings may commit a crime when their sibling is in prison. The current study addressed literature regarding the experiences, and coping strategies of nonincarcerated young African American men who live in the inner city, and have a male sibling in prison. Guided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, this interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study explored the lived experiences and coping strategies of African

American male youth with a brother in incarceration. Purposive sampling was used to select 3 nonincarcerated African American …

Addressing School Failure And Recidivism Among 10-13-Year-Old Incarcerated Juveniles: A Case Study, Beverly Savoy Nolan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Early involvement in delinquent behavior coupled with large academic deficiencies increase the chances of long-term offending over a lifetime. A 2012 Texas report on recidivism rates and types of judicial-related programs offered showed that 1-year reoffense rates for youth in secure placement rose slightly from 41.9% in 2007 to 43.3% in 2010. The primary purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine how a Texas-based juvenile probation department coordinated services to address the needs of incarcerated juveniles who are at risk of school failure and recidivism. Maslow's hierarchy of needs framework and Moffitt's developmental classification framework served as the …

The Dark Figure Of Online Property Crime: Is Cyberspace Hiding A Crime Wave?, Maria Tcherni-Buzzeo, Andrew Davis, Giza Lopes, Alan Lizotte

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

A pronounced drop in crime, since the early 1990s, has encompassed every crime category tracked by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, including property crime. However, over the same period, the rates of online property crime (OPC) have been on the rise according to available evidence. We delineate the extent of our knowledge and data concerning cybercrime and identity theft and, using data from several nationally representative victimization surveys, offer an alternative view of property crime trends while pointing out the glaring gap in crime reporting and accounting in relation to the growing category of property crimes perpetrated online. In addition, …

Transnational Criminal Organizations (Tcos): The Case Of Combating Criminal Biker Gangs, Petter Gottschalk, Vesna Markovic

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Transnational crime organizations (TCOs) represent a challenge to societies all over the world. This article explores combating criminal biker gangs, where stakeholders in the community and governments vary in their responses. These stakeholders include the government, law enforcers, courts, and the communities. The variation in responses is conceptualized in terms of a four stage of growth model. This model includes criminal biker gang members being treated as movie stars, individual criminals, organized criminals, and finally, enemies of the state. A stage model is a theoretical approach to understanding different levels of maturity in combating criminal biker gangs. Due to the …

An Exploratory Study On Physical Fitness Policies Among Police Departments In North Carolina, Jay H. Fortenbery

School of Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the existing state of physical fitness maintenance policies among police departments in North Carolina, and how those policies impact reported injuries among police officers. The research identified a sample of police departments with and without mandated physical fitness maintenance policies (n = 145) for years 2013-2015 and through collaboration with the North Carolina League of Municipalities, determined the number officer injuries per department for comparison. This information also included the cause of injury, costs, lost work days and claims by male and female for comparison. A cross-sectional analysis and purposive sampling method …

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 …

Anonymity, Cybercrime, And The Connection To Cryptocurrency, Jesse D. Bray

Online Theses and Dissertations

Cybercrime currently poses a significant threat to the infrastructure of the United States. It can exploit vulnerabilities within the Critical Infrastructure or (CI) systems that are increasingly interconnected. Although the increased interconnectedness allows for easier and more efficient communication it creates vulnerabilities that did not exist ten years ago. A lack of a standardized definition of cybercrime has made it increasingly difficult to create policy that will allow for more efficient interagency cooperation and concrete laws regarding cybercrime. Cybercrime thrives on the anonymity of the Internet with the use of specific browsers, The Onion Router for example, to access information …

A Mediacentric Examination Of The Corporate Psychopath, Pamela Martha Brooks

Online Theses and Dissertations

The psychopathic personality disorder is an extraordinarily complex and multidimensional phenomenon. While its study has primarily focused on criminal and forensic populations, many researchers are broadening the scope of psychopathy research to include those in the corporate world. This, after striking similarities were revealed between the personalities of corporate leaders and clinically diagnosed psychopaths. One profession that may be attractive to psychopathic personalities is the media, specifically television and radio. This exploratory study utilized a blend of original and archival data. Calculated effect sizes were used to examine the existence of personality facets among three groups of media professionals and …

Carving A New Notch In The Bible Belt: Rescuing The Women Of Kentucky, Molly Dunn

Online Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, the trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation has become a major focus on the local, national, and global level. This is despite research, which has identified labor trafficking to be a significantly larger issue across the globe. The purpose of this research is to identify how human trafficking has come to be defined in Kentucky by examining how prominent local actors guide the state’s anti-trafficking movement. Through interactions with non-profit organizations, law enforcement, and concerned citizens, factors and forces that may shape the public’s conception of human trafficking were examined. While the stated goal of …

Chaos Criminology: A Critical Inquiry, Adrienne Leigh Mccarthy

Online Theses and Dissertations

There has been a push since the early 1980’s for a paradigm shift in criminology from a Newtonian-based ontology to one of quantum physics. Primarily this effort has taken the form of integrating Chaos Theory into Criminology into what this thesis calls ‘Chaos Criminology’. However, with the melding of any two fields, terms and concepts need to be translated properly, which has yet to be done. In addition to proving a translation between fields, this thesis also uses a set of criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of the current use of Chaos Theory in Criminology. While the results of the …

Early Intervention Systems: An Evaluative Review Of Their History And Use, Matthew A. Ceriale

Honors Undergraduate Theses

It is the intention of this thesis to effectively describe what is known about EI systems to date. Many sources of information are used, beginning with peer reviewed journals such as Justice Quarterly, Police Quarterly, Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Police and Society and The American Journal of Criminal Justice. Also reports from criminal justice research affiliates will be used like the National Institute of Justice and the National Criminal Justice Reference Service. This thesis will work towards creating a comprehensive outline of the history of EI and future possibilities. With the …

Rape In Alaska, Caitlin Williams

Undergraduate Research Journal

The National Crime Victimization Survey shows that Alaska has the highest number of sexual assaults of all U.S. states. Rape is a paramount problem in Alaska, for Alaska triples the national average of reported rapes (at 27 per 100,000). In addition, according to the 2014 Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault’s Dashboard, only 33.5 percent of reported forcible rapes resulted in an arrest. Data indicates that Alaska has a high population of Alaska Native (or ANs) women that are assaulted by both AN men and non-AN men. This research examines the core reasons behind the high incidence of AN …

Court-Appointed Special Advocates In The Rural South: A Fidelity Assessment, Shanna N. Felix

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Children in the court system who are abused or neglected are mandated by the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) to have special legal representation in the form of a Guardian ad Litem (GAL). A GAL can be a staff attorney or he or she can be a volunteer layperson (known as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate, or CASA) who has undergone the GAL training. In some states, the CASA volunteer can be a substitute for the GAL, while in other states (like Georgia) the CASA is appointed by the judge as a complement to the staff attorney. To …

Exploratory Two-Level Analysis Of Individual- And School-Level Factors On Truant Youth Emotional/Psychological Functioning, Richard Dembo, Jennifer Wareham, James Schmeidler, Ken C. Winters

Criminology Faculty Publications

Research on samples of truant adolescents is limited, with little known about mental health problems among truant youths. This study provided an exploratory, multilevel examination of mental health problems for a sample of 300 truant adolescents. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a single factor of multiple mental health problems at the individual level, but the structure of these problems was not the same at the school level. A number of covariate effects were found at the individual level on the mental health factor. Further, youths attending middle school were more likely to report attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) problems than those …

Hiv Stigma In Prisons And Jails: Results From A Staff Survey, Steven Belenko, Richard Dembo, Michael Copenhaver, Matthew Hiller, Holly Swan, Carmen A. Garcia, Daniel O'Connell, Carrie Oser, Frank Pearson, Jennifer Pankow

Criminology Faculty Publications

With numerous HIV service gaps in prisons and jails, there has been little research on HIV stigma attitudes among correctional staff. Such attitudes may undermine HIV services for inmates at risk of or infected with HIV. This HIV stigma attitudes survey among 218 correctional staff in 32 US facilities (1) provides an overview of staff’s stigma attitudes, (2) reports psychometric analyses of domains in Earnshaw and Chaudoir’s HIV Stigma Framework (HSF), and (3) explores differences in stigma attitudes among different staff types. Overall, correctional and medical staff expressed non stigmatizing attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS, but perceived that stigma …

Longitudinal Effects Of A Second-Order Multi-Problem Factor Of Sexual Risk, Marijuana Use, And Delinquency On Future Arrest Among Truant Youths, Richard Dembo, Jennifer Wareham, James Schmeidler, Ken Winters

Criminology Faculty Publications

Based on problem-behavior theory (Jessor & Jessor, 1977 Jessor, R., & Jessor, S. L. (1977). Problem behavior and psychosocial development: A longitudinal study of youth. New York, NY: Academic Press. [Google Scholar]), a second-order problem behavior model of delinquency, marijuana use, and risky sexual behavior over five waves was estimated among truant adolescents. The study also investigated the influence of the problem factor on future arrest charges and the effect of sociodemographics on problem behavior and future crime. Results confirm the existence of a second-order latent factor of problem behaviors. Problem behaviors predicted more future arrest charges. Age …

When Society Becomes The Criminal: An Exploration Of Society’S Responsibilities To The Wrongfully Convicted, Amelia A. Haselkorn

Pitzer Senior Theses

This thesis explores how society can and should compensate those who have been wrongfully convicted after they are exonerated and how we can prevent these mistakes from happening to others in the future. It begins by presenting research on the scope of the problem. Then it suggests possible reforms to the U.S. justice system that would minimize the rate of innocent convictions. Lastly, it takes both a philosophical and political look at what just compensation would entail as well as a variety of state compensation laws.

The Political Implications Of Felon Disenfranchisement Laws In The United States, Katharine G. Connaughton

CMC Senior Theses

This empirical study analyzes the political implications for presidential election outcomes that stem from varying felon disenfranchisement laws within the United States. In the past decade incarceration rates have drastically increased, consequently augmenting the disenfranchised population. This paper focuses on presidential election outcomes and state political party majorities in the election years 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012. I use demographic characteristics to calibrate assumptions for voter turnout and political party choice among the disenfranchised populations within each state. I then apply these voting populations to historical election outcomes and find that three state political party outcomes change, as well as …

Recording Of Custodial Interrogations: Policies And Practices, Laura Rubino

Wayne State University Theses

Within the last century, interrogation practices throughout the United States have notably changed. Police interrogations went from physical harm (i.e., the third degree) to psychologically suggestive techniques. These psychologically coercive techniques put suspects at risk of giving a false confession, which is one of the contributing factors in wrongful convictions. One remedy to reduce false confessions is to electronically record interrogations. Very little is known about the specific policies and practices of electronic recordings during interrogation within law enforcement agencies. Policies and practices vary by state and by agency, which makes it difficult to identify agencies that do electronically record …

Mass Incarceration In Detroit: A Historical Narrative, Labreonna \. Bland

Wayne State University Theses

Mass incarceration has pervaded throughout the country and in its wake, the United States is looked to as the country that imprisons the largest percentage of its population than any other place in the world. The phenomenon of mass incarceration continues to be deconstructed by scholars in an attempt to turn the tide and understand the various intricacies that lie at the center of our carceral state. This paper attempts to explore those intricacies on a local level by looking at Detroit, Michigan. The city of Detroit has been constantly restructured economically, politically, racially, and socially throughout the years as …

Douglas County Youth Impact Challenges Evaluation Report, Emily Wright, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

Douglas County Youth Impact! is a practice model designed to prevent “crossover” youth from moving further into the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. The target population for this initiative is youth that meet the following criteria: 1) the youth must have been referred to the County Attorney’s office for: a) a status offense, or b) a law violation; and 2) the youth has a child welfare case which is: a) open, b) closed within the last 12 months, c) voluntary, or d) court-involved.

Operation Youth Success: Developmental Evaluation Final Report, Jennifer Miller, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

In the summer of 2014, a subset of leaders and stakeholders in Douglas County initiated a collective impact project to reform the county’s juvenile justice system. Since the first meeting of that group, a number of additional stakeholders have been incorporated into this initiative, which is now known as “Operation Youth Success.” Operation Youth Success, or OYS, has been engaged since that time in an effort to create system change producing a more effective, efficient, and compassionate justice system that better serves the families and youth who are the users of this system. This report will review the activities and …

Impact Of Brief Intervention Services On Drug-Using Truant Youths' Self-Reported Delinquency And Arrest Charges: A Longitudinal Study, Richard Dembo, James Schmeidler, Jennifer Wareham, Rhissa Briones-Robinson, Ken C. Winters, Rocio Ungaro

Criminology Faculty Publications

The issue of delinquency among truant youths is insufficiently documented in the literature. There is a need to elucidate this issue, and assess the efficacy of interventions to reduce this problem behavior. The present National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded study addressed this gap by examining the impact of a Brief Intervention (BI), originally designed to address youth substance use, on their delinquent behavior over an 18-month follow-up period (for self-reported delinquency) and a 24-month follow-up period (for official record delinquency). A number of significant BI intervention effects with sizable effect sizes were found, as well as a number of …

Booker's Ironies, Ryan W. Scott

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.