Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons^™

Development And Validation Of The Nebraska Department Of Correctional Services Prison Classification System, Zachary Hamilton, Alex Kigerl

Reports

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Over the last 45 years, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) has made two substantial changes to its classification system. The first system was created and implemented in the 1970s. In 2005, Patricia Hardyman was contracted to update and modify the classification and reclassification system. Using statistical analyses of available data, a set of prediction models were created to score inmates on items that predicted future infraction behavior. However, the primary issues of the tools were that inmates’ scores were routinely over-classified and that substantial uses of overrides (approximately 40%) were indicated. After a review of the …

Development And Validation Of The Nebraska Department Of Correctional Services Prison Classification System, Zachary Hamilton, Alex Kigerl

Reports

Over the last 45 years, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) has made two substantial changes to its classification system. The first system was created and implemented in the 1970s. In 2005, Patricia Hardyman was contracted to update and modify the classification and reclassification system. Using statistical analyses of available data, a set of prediction models were created to score inmates on items that predicted future infraction behavior. However, the primary issues of the tools were that inmates’ scores were routinely over-classified and that substantial uses of overrides (approximately 40%) were indicated. After a review of the tools’ development …

How Being Right Can Risk Wrongs, Paul H. Robinson, Sarah M. Robinson

All Faculty Scholarship

This is a chapter from the new book The Vigilante Echo. Previous chapters have made clear that some vigilantism can be morally justified where the government has failed in its promise under the social contract to protect and to do justice. But this chapter explains how even moral vigilante action can be problematic for the larger society. Vigilantes may try to do the right thing but are likely to lack the training and professional neutrality of police. They may be successful, but only on pushing the crime problem to an adjacent neighborhood. Because their open lawbreaking may seem admirable …

The Forgotten Signature: An Observational Study On Policy Of Securing Identity In Prevention Of Identity Theft And Credit/Debit Card Fraud At Retail Store Pos Terminals, Belinda R. Wilson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identity theft and credit and bank card fraud is increasing in America and worldwide. Given the current statistics of its prevalence and practices around the world, many in government are starting to take critical notice due to its impact on a nation’s economy. Limited amounts of research have been conducted regarding the practices of applying the Routine Activities Theory (Cohen & Felson, 1979) to better equip store managers in understanding the critical need for capable and effective point of sale guardianship for in-store prevention of credit or bank card fraud due to identity theft. This research has used qualitative observational …

The Link Between Recurrent Childhood Animal Cruelty And Recurrent Interpersonal Violence, Caleb E. Trentham

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In the early 1960s, researchers began to examine the potential link between childhood animal cruelty and future interpersonal violence. Findings since then have been inconsistent in establishing a relationship between the two. This may be due to researchers failing to measure the recurrency of childhood animal abuse and the recurrency of later violent acts committed in adulthood. The current study, using data from 257 inmates at a medium-security prison in a Southern state, is a replication of research conducted by Tallichet and Hensley (2004) and Hensley, Tallichet, and Dutkiewicz (2009), which examined this recurrency issue. The only statistically significant predictor …

How The City Of Indianapolis Came To Have African American Policemen And Firemen 80 Years Before The Modern Civil Rights Movement., Leon E. Bates

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores a series of events that occurred in the spring of 1876. The relationship between the Indianapolis city government, the Marion County Courts, the Indianapolis Police Department, and the African American community came together to usher in changes never before envisioned. The Indianapolis Police Department (IPD) was formed in 1855, then disbanded 12 months later in a political dispute. From 1857-to-1876, the IPD was all white. These changes took place as the Reconstruction era was coming to a close. The first Ku Klux Klan was at its apex, terrorizing black communities, and Jim Crow was coming into its …

Juvenile Transfer To Adult Court: Ongoing Search For Scientific Support, David Myers

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

(From p. 3) The basic question addressed in this body of research is as follows: Does transferring juvenile offenders to the adult criminal justice system produce a specific deterrent, criminogenic, or null effect? Unfortunately, despite two decades of research and the meta-analytic techniques employed in this study, a definitive answer to this question remains unclear. Nevertheless, when the results of this meta-analysis are considered along with findings from other relevant research conducted during the past 20 years, it seems clear that the practice of treating juveniles as adults should be limited to the most serious, violent, and chronic offenders, who …

Police Integrity Lost Podcast Episode 31: The Police Subculture And Police Shootings, Philip M. Stinson

Philip M Stinson

This episode of the Police Integrity Lost podcast features an interview of Bowling Green State University professor Phil Stinson that originally aired live on BBC World News on July 8, 2016.

Does Gender Still Matter? Child Custody Bias In The Illinois Family Court System, Derek K. Ronnfeldt

Theses and Dissertations

Over the last several decades, nearly all of the states have formed task forces to look at the perception of a gender bias within the family court systems as they pertain to child custody. This self-scrutiny has included the attitudes of judges and attorneys within the system and the need of reform of our family courts. This research focused on replicating a study conducted by Dotterweich and McKinney that was completed in 2000 that compiled statistics from four different state task forces in Maryland, Missouri, Texas, and Washington. This research focused on Illinois judges and attorneys, using the same questions …

The Role Of Gender In Self-Control And Intimate Partner Violence, Laura Marie Gulledge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the interrelationships between gender, self-control and intimate partner violence (IPV). The sample consists of 960 undergraduate and graduate university students who are currently in a dating relationship. A series of bivariate and multivariate analyses are used to: 1) determine if self-control and IPV vary across gender and 2) assess the effect of gender on the relationship between self-control and IPV. Overall, results provide partial support for Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) general theory of crime. Self-control operated similarly on IPV for both males and females, supporting the gender-neutrality of their theory. However, the gender gap in crime, …

The Field View: An Initial Examination Of An Exploratory Eyewitness Identification Procedure, Melissa Kavetski

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The field view is an identification procedure that was recently acknowledged in a national report assessing eyewitness identifications. However, the field view has not been empirically examined to date. In fact, very little is known regarding the effectiveness of the procedure. Because it is an exploratory procedure - used by police when they do not have a suspect in mind - it is important to determine how the field view fares in comparison to the traditional procedures such as lineups and showups, whereby police do have a suspect. Using a controlled, lab-based methodology, Study 1 examined correct and false identifications …

Police Integrity Lost Podcast Episode 30: Findings From A 7-Year Study On Police Crime, Philip M. Stinson, John Liederbach

Philip M Stinson

This episode of the Police Integrity Lost podcast features a webinar that was held on June 23 2016 to discuss the major findings of the final technical report submitted to the National Institute of Justice on Phil Stinson's 7-year study on crime committed by sworn law enforcement officers.

The Applicability Of Criminology To Terrorism Studies: An Exploratory Study Of Isis Supporters In The United States, Amanda Marie Sharp Parker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the years following the 11 September 2001 attacks, research in the area of terrorism expanded exponentially. However, the changing nature of terrorism and lack of available data make it a difficult topic for criminologists to study; as academics we do not have access to the governmental data and data that is publicly available is often restricted due to the sensitive nature of national security issues. As first hand data is not available, an alternate data source, court records, may provide insight to the profile of current terrorists/terrorist supporters in the United States. Using court data from 71 cases of …

Controlling Behaviors Via Social Networking: Associations With Hiv Risk Behaviors Among Adolescent Girls, Meredith C. Joppa, Christie J. Rizzo

Meredith Joppa

No abstract provided.

Police Integrity Lost Webinar: Findings From A Multiyear Study On Law Enforcement Officers Arrested, Philip M. Stinson, John Liederbach

Philip M Stinson

Video recording of a webinar analyzing data on 6,724 arrests over a seven-year period (2005-2011). These arrests involved more than 5,500 individual sworn law enforcement officers who were employed by over 2,500 non-federal state and local law enforcement agencies located in 1,205 counties and independent cities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Nebraska Department Of Correctional Service Vocational & Life Skills Program Quarterly Report And Final Report, Uno Nebraska Center For Justice Research

Reports

This report provides an overview of data points for the first vocational and life skills grant. The following pages provide more information on the data collection and evaluation process as well as program specific participant information for the last quarter and overall grant cycle. In the first Vocational and Life Skills grant cycle, there were 2,449 individual participations across all reentry programs. All of these individuals are unique to the program, though some individuals were served in multiple programs. This means that the numbers provided represent participations in programs and not necessarily unique individuals across programs. 186 individuals participated in …

Where Is The Survivor’S Voice? An Examination Of The Individual And Structural Challenges To The Reintegration Of Immigrant Human Trafficking Survivors, Michelle Cristina Angelo Dantas Rocha

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The United States is one of the top destination countries for human trafficking, and Florida has the third highest number of reported cases of human trafficking. Despite the severity of this issue, Florida anti-trafficking legislation, reintegration programs, and awareness campaigns tend to contribute to the invisibility of the victims and undermine their recovery and reintegration into society, especially when the victims are immigrants. This project uses a multi-method approach including content analysis of anti-human trafficking campaigns to argue that portrayals of a “perfect victim” only amplify stigmatization and discrimination against immigrant victims. Through in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation highlighting the …

A Power Conflict Approach To Animal Cruelty: Examining How Economic Power Influences The Creation Of Animal Cruelty Laws, Leonard J. Genco

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study examines the association of macro-level economic factors and the creation or enactment animal cruelty laws across the states at a fixed time. Criminologists have postulated that economic factors influence the legal system (Chambliss and Seidman, 1971). This thesis addresses whether state-level economic and related macro-level factors influences the amount and types of state animal cruelty legislation lawmakers enact. To do so, this thesis examined animal cruelty legislation and their association with measures of agricultural and farm production, Democratic Party, Republican Party, and pro-animal interest groups across all states of the United States for the time period (2012-2013). …

Assessing The Relevance Of Statistics And Crime Analysis Courses For Working Crime Analysts, Jonathan A. Kringen, Christopher M. Sedelmaier, Elink-Schuurman-Laura

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Crime analysts study criminal activity and police function to improve performance. Analysts inform operations, aid resource allocation, and evaluate programs. These tasks require high levels of statistical literacy. Given that most analysts are college-educated civilians, college coursework in statistics and/or crime analysis may represent the foundational knowledgebase within the profession. However, little research has attempted to determine if coursework teaches the skills needed by analysts. Underlying this issue is a limited understanding about what technical skills crime analysts regularly use. Analyzing parallel surveys of 98 criminal justice educators and 146 crime analysts, this study compares the skills taught in undergraduate-level …

The Effects Of Racial Bias On Perceptions Of Intimate Partner Violence Scenarios, Batya Yisraela Rubenstein

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore how racial bias affects perceptions of intimate partner violence (IPV). Public perceptions of IPV have been studied under numerous contexts to ascertain how characteristics of victim and the offender can affect these attitudes. A portion of this body of research has been dedicated to understanding the role of race in perceptions of IPV and a large portion of the findings have been mixed due to the interaction of biases and attitudes about race and IPV. Very few studies have looked at multiple forms of IPV in comparison with one another while also …

Representations Of Youth Crime In Canada: A Feminist Criminological Analysis Of Statistical Trends, National Canadian Newspapers, And Moral Panics, Jennifer Silcox

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This research explores different representations of youth crime in Canada from a feminist criminological and social constructionist perspective. Using a mixed-methods approach that draws upon historical scholarly works, official governmental crime and court statistics, and national Canadian newspapers, I investigate statistical and media representations of youth crime in Canada.

Official crime and court statistics were analyzed to identify trends in youth crime and how they vary by gender and legislative changes. I provide an historical overview of changing definitions of youth, crime and delinquency, and consider how these combined with changing norms regarding morality to shape youth crime legislation in …

The Restrictive Deterrent Effect Of Warning Banners In A Compromised Computer System, Christian Jordan-Michael Howell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

System trespassing, which refers to the unauthorized access of computer systems, has rapidly become a worldwide phenomenon. Despite growing concern, criminological literature has paid system trespassing little attention. The current study utilizes data gathered from a Chinese computer network to examine system trespasser behavior after exposure to one of three warning messages: an altruistic message used for moral persuasion (warning 1), a legal sanction threat (warning 2), and an ambiguous threat (warning 3). More specifically, the current study examines the temporal order of various keystroke commands to determine if some keystroke commands are used as a tactical skill to avoid …

Tactics Of Sexual Control And Negative Health Outcomes, Anna Elizabeth Kleppe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) is a concerning, yet relatively understudied form of intimate partner violence (IPV). Furthermore, the majority of research regarding sexual violence fails to differentiate between different forms of control used to facilitate this violence. Although IPV has been linked to a multitude of adverse physical and health outcomes, it is less clear how these outcomes vary by type of control experienced. Using data from the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), the current study examines the physical and non-physical tactics used to facilitate sexual violence, and the associated health outcomes. Potential gender differences …

Actions Speak Louder Than Images: The Use Of Neuroscientific Evidence In Criminal Cases, Stephen J. Morse

All Faculty Scholarship

This invited commentary for Journal of Law & the Biosciences considers four empirical studies previously published in the journal of the reception of neuroscientific evidence in criminal cases in the United States, Canada, England and Wales, and the Netherlands. There are conceded methodological problems with all, but the data are nonetheless instructive and suggestive. The thesis of the comment is that the courts are committing the same errors that have bedeviled the reception of psychiatric and psychological evidence. There is insufficient caution about the state of the science, and more importantly, there is insufficient understanding of the relevance of the …

Police Integrity Lost Podcast Episode 29: Interview Of Phil Stinson On Vocal Minority Report, Philip M. Stinson

Philip M Stinson

This episode of the Police Integrity Lost podcast features an interview of Phil Stinson that was originally recorded for the Vocal Minority Report on May 24, 2016.

Police Integrity Lost: A Study Of Law Enforcement Officers Arrested, Philip M. Stinson, John Liederbach, Steven P. Lab, Steven L. Brewer Jr

Philip M Stinson

There are no comprehensive statistics available on problems with police integrity, and no government entity collects data on all criminal arrests of law enforcement officers in the United States. Police crimes are those crimes committed by sworn law enforcement officers with the general powers of arrest. These crimes can occur while the officer is either on- or off-duty and include offenses committed by officers employed by state and local law enforcement agencies. This study provides a wealth of data on a phenomena that relates directly to police integrity— data that previously did not exist in any usable format. The first …

Characteristics Of Newly-Hired Members Of The New York City Police Department As Predictors Of Subsequent Job Performance, Francis E. Spangenberg

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

It would be advantageous for law enforcement agencies if it could be determined which applicants for employment were most likely to provide superior performance over the course of their careers. In order to do this, it is necessary to determine a) what constitutes superior performance by police officers, b) what measurements can be used to record such performance, and c) if there are characteristics known about newly-hired police recruits that can serve as predictors of superior performance over an extended career. This study looked at the career histories of the 1,707 members of the New York City Police Department class …

Examining Victimization In South Korea 1993-2010: A Comparative Application Of Ecological Theories Of Crime, Jisun Choi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Theoretical approaches aimed at the understanding of population level criminal offending and victimization generally revolve around two major criminological theories: Social disorganization and routine activities/lifestyle theories. These theoretical frameworks were developed and have been examined extensively in a Western context (primarily in the U.S.) and provide evidence of both individual and aggregate indicators for the explanation of variations in crime. More recently, these approaches have been extended to the Eastern context as increasing numbers of studies have been conducted outside of the U.S. This application is relatively recent and the literature has yet to find conclusive supporting evidence for these …

A Quantitative Analysis Of Sex Trafficking Law On The Decriminalization Of Youth Involved In Commercialized Sex, Nay Petrucelli

Theses and Dissertations

Legislators have been responding to the growing push to treat youth in the sex industry as victims of a crime instead of perpetrators. Recent legislative changes have occurred in every state and nationally as part of anti-trafficking legislation, not prostitution law directly. While the content of these laws has been studied, its outcomes for youth have not. This study uses a cross-sectional time-series model to test the impact that changes to state trafficking law has had on juvenile prostitution arrest rates. Findings support the hypothesis that legislation passed with a juvenile protection component decreases the juvenile prostitution arrest rate. It …

The Rise Of China's Hacking Culture: Defining Chinese Hackers, William Howlett Iv

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

China has been home to some of the most prominent hackers and hacker groups of the global community throughout the last decade. In the last ten years, countless attacks globally have been linked to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or those operating within the PRC. This exploration attempts to investigate the story, ideology, institutions, actions, and motivations of the Chinese hackers collectively, as sub-groups, and as individuals. I will do this using sources ranging from basic news coverage, interviews with experts and industry veterans, secondary reportage, leaked documents from government and private sources, government white papers, legal codes, blogs …