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2017

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Articles 271 - 300 of 334

Full-Text Articles in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Race And Death Sentencing For Oklahoma Homicides Committed Between 1990 And 2012, Glenn L. Pierce, Michael L. Radelet, Susan Sharp Jan 2017

Race And Death Sentencing For Oklahoma Homicides Committed Between 1990 And 2012, Glenn L. Pierce, Michael L. Radelet, Susan Sharp

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

This Article examines 4,668 Oklahoma homicide cases with an identified suspect that occurred during a twenty-three year period between January 1, 1990, and December 31, 2012. Among these, we identified 153 cases that ended with a death sentence. Overall we found that while the defendant’s race did not correlate with a death sentence, there was a strong correlation with the race of the victim, with cases with white victims significantly more likely to end with a death sentence than cases with non-white victims. Homicides with female victims were also more likely to result in a death sentence than other cases. …

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Adult Justice In Nebraska 2017, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Ryan E. Spohn, Emily Wright, Joselyne Chenane, Sara Toto Jan 2017

Adult Justice In Nebraska 2017, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Ryan E. Spohn, Emily Wright, Joselyne Chenane, Sara Toto

Reports

From the Director: The Nebraska Center for Justice Research was established in 2014 with a mission to develop and sustain research capacity internal to the State of Nebraska, assist the Legislature in research, evaluation, and policymaking to reduce recidivism, promote the use of evidence-based practices in corrections, and improve public safety. The primary purpose of this report is to provide an overview of recent trends in Nebraska’s adult criminal justice system. Most of the data in this report is presented statewide as well as separated into Nebraska’s twelve judicial districts. Nebraska’s two most metropolitan counties are represented by District 4 …

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Annual Report 2017, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Ryan E. Spohn Jan 2017

Annual Report 2017, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

The Nebraska Center for Justice Research (NCJR) was established in 2014 with a mission to develop and sustain criminal justice research capacity internal to the State of Nebraska. Our goal is to assist the Legislature, justice agencies, practitioners, foundations, and stakeholders with research and evaluation to reduce recidivism, promote the use of evidence-based practices, and improve public safety. This annual report summarizes the activities and financial status of NCJR in its third year. In the 2016-2017 fiscal year, NCJR once again crafted our Adult Justice in Nebraska report to provide a foundation of data trends in areas such as law …

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Evaluation Of The Crossover Youth Practice Model (Youth Impact!): Executive Summary 2017, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Emily Wright, Ryan E. Spohn, Joselyne Chenane Jan 2017

Evaluation Of The Crossover Youth Practice Model (Youth Impact!): Executive Summary 2017, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Emily Wright, Ryan E. Spohn, Joselyne Chenane

Reports

This project evaluated the Crossover Youth Practice Model (CYPM) – now Youth Impact! (YI!) – in Douglas County, Nebraska. The goals of the project were: a) to conduct an outcome evaluation of the initiative (does YI! decrease recidivism and increase prosocial outcomes among youth?), b) to conduct a process evaluation of the initiative (how does YI! achieve these goals?), c) conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the initiative, and d) explore a broader systems analysis of the impact of YI! on juvenile justice in Douglas County. The findings from the evaluation are presented below, and recommendations are provided as well.

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The Transformation Project: Program Update 2015-2016, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Starr Solomon, Ryan E. Spohn, Marcia Van Dyke, Laura Schoenrock Jan 2017

The Transformation Project: Program Update 2015-2016, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Starr Solomon, Ryan E. Spohn, Marcia Van Dyke, Laura Schoenrock

Reports

In 2014 Nebraska took a giant step toward fixing pervasive issues plaguing agencies throughout the justice system culminating in a prison system that was bursting at the seams. The state enlisted the services of the Council of State Governments (CSG), a national organization dedicated to helping state governments problem-solve and develop policies for the common good. Over the next several years, the CSG worked to help Nebraska usher in policies that would begin to shape justice reinvestment in the state. Along with the CSG’s initial assessment procedures, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) asked the group to do an …

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Marijuana Enforcement In Nebraska (2013-2015), Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha Jan 2017

Marijuana Enforcement In Nebraska (2013-2015), Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

In our 2016 report, Marijuana Enforcement in Nebraska (2009-2014), the Nebraska Center for Justice Research (NCJR) examined whether marijuana-related arrests and jail admissions in Nebraska had increased significantly in the first year of recreational legalization in Colorado, by comparing counts and rates of marijuana-related criminal justice activity in 2014 as compared to 2009-2013. In that report, we found that Nebraska’s marijuana arrest rate had increased by about 11% from 2013 to 2014 and that counties along the Colorado border, in the panhandle, and along Interstate 80 had the highest rates of arrest in 2014. We also found that increases in …

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Restricted Housing Among Juvenile Populations, Clara Braun, Emily Wright, Ryan E. Spohn Jan 2017

Restricted Housing Among Juvenile Populations, Clara Braun, Emily Wright, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

Restricted housing among juvenile populations – the social and physical isolation of certain youth from other juveniles, recreational time, and educational materials – is a punitive method employed by juvenile correctional facilities that restricts youths’ physical movement for a prolonged period of time. Nebraska houses the third highest per capita number of juveniles residing in detention, correctional, or residential facilities in the United States, and many facilities across the state report using restricted housing for much longer period than surrounding states. Due to their age and associated developmental needs (e.g., brain development, social interactions, etc.), juveniles are at higher risk …

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The Connection Between Drug Use And Crime In Western Australia, Kathryn Riordan Jan 2017

The Connection Between Drug Use And Crime In Western Australia, Kathryn Riordan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite decades of research, there is no consensus as to the factors that explain the association between drug use and criminal behaviour. While the evolving sophistication in research methodology has identified factors that are associated with involvement in both drug use and crime, exploration of the idiosyncratic factors that contribute to initiation, maintenance and desistence in drug use and criminal behaviour over time, across culture and social context remains unknown. In this research a grounded theory approach was used to develop an explanatory model based on the reported experiences of 22 non-Aboriginal and 11 Aboriginal adult male offenders, incarcerated in …

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Dignity Is The New Legitimacy, Jeffrey A. Fagan Jan 2017

Dignity Is The New Legitimacy, Jeffrey A. Fagan

Faculty Scholarship

In this chapter, Jeffrey Fagan responds to Jonathan Simon’s essay by exploring the emotional dimensions of individual interactions with state actors. In a procedural justice vein, this chapter considers the dignitary implications of official maltreatment, focusing in particular on the dignity-injuring potential of unjustified, racially motivated, or otherwise abusive police stops. Such interactions not only personally humiliate, but they also deny the targeted individuals “basic and essential recognition” as social and political equals, instilling instead “a profound sense of loss.” Fagan calls for a jurisprudence that “recognizes the emotional highway between dignity and legitimacy.” This approach would “internalize[] the central …

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Mass Shootings As Issue Management Exigencies And Focusing Events For Public Policy Debates, Melvin Gupton Jan 2017

Mass Shootings As Issue Management Exigencies And Focusing Events For Public Policy Debates, Melvin Gupton

Wayne State University Dissertations

This content analysis of multiple mass shooting cases examines a crisis genre that is not as frequently studied as other crises such as natural disasters or organizational exigencies. Though just as rich with stakeholders’ communicative exchanges and neatly traversing the three crisis stages, mass shootings have yet to be fully elaborated. To further the examination of these crises, this dissertation identifies those actors who hold the principal stakes in the aftermath of a mass shooting incident, and explores what these stakeholders are saying. By applying focusing events and issue management theories, it uncovers the prominent public policy issues reported in …

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Who Taught You To Hate Yourself?: The Racially Coded Language Of Professionalism And Its Detriment To The Black Community, Alexys Jones Jan 2017

Who Taught You To Hate Yourself?: The Racially Coded Language Of Professionalism And Its Detriment To The Black Community, Alexys Jones

Online Theses and Dissertations

It is said that the Unites States is a post-racial society where race doesn't matter and colorblind rhetoric is used as a defense mechanism for perceived or committed discriminatory acts toward black people. In theory, color-blind ideology would help to eliminate racism by treating people equally without regard to race or ethnicity. In practice, colorblindness completely ignores the historical context of race in this country. Under the ideology of colorblindness, overt racism is translated into cultural criminalization. Laws and policies that are seemingly non-sinister nonetheless target the black population by using non-descript language and images associated with blackness. Research has …

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The Mcdonaldized Death Penalty: Neoliberalism, Governmentality, And American Capital Punishment, Ryan Phillips Jan 2017

The Mcdonaldized Death Penalty: Neoliberalism, Governmentality, And American Capital Punishment, Ryan Phillips

Online Theses and Dissertations

An extensive literature examines the modern era (1976-present day) of American capital punishment. Some has focused on why the institution persists despite abolition from the rest of the Western world. An example of this is Steiker and Steiker (2016) who argue that judicial rationalization of capital law has helped to legitimate and thus sustain the modern death penalty. However, no work attempts to understand capital punishment or its persistence in America in regards to neoliberalism. To address this void in understanding, I conceptualize Ritzer's four tenets of McDonaldization (predictability, calculability, efficiency, control) as a representation of market rationality, which neoliberalism …

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Untangling The Interconnected Relationships Between Alcohol Use, Employment, And Offending, Margaret M. Chrusciel Jan 2017

Untangling The Interconnected Relationships Between Alcohol Use, Employment, And Offending, Margaret M. Chrusciel

Theses and Dissertations

Both substance use and employment are correlates of crime that are heavily examined by criminological research. Efforts to explore these connections have produced two rich bodies of literature that provide insight into the nuances of the relationship between substance use and offending and the relationship between employment and crime. Research shows that while substance use increases subsequent criminal behavior, employment seems to reduce offending. Given the strong positive association between substance use and crime and the inverse effect of employment on offending, it is possible that drug use and employment interact in their impact on crime. In addition to potential …

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Sex Offender Policies That Spin The Revolving Door: An Exploration Of The Relationships Between Residence Restrictions, Homelessness, And Recidivism, Deanna Cann Jan 2017

Sex Offender Policies That Spin The Revolving Door: An Exploration Of The Relationships Between Residence Restrictions, Homelessness, And Recidivism, Deanna Cann

Theses and Dissertations

Within the past two decades, a variety of specialized sex offender legislation has been implemented across the United States. Typically brought about in attempt to ebb the societal disquiet after notorious sexual assault cases are sensationalized in the media, these policies appear to be based on faulty assumptions, and lack any evidence-based foundation. In fact, empirical research suggests that policies such as sex offender registration, community notification, and residence restrictions do little to prevent sexual offending, and may actually work to increase the risk of these events through a number of collateral consequences. The current study critically examines the rationale …

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Recidivism Rates Among Juveniles With Mental Illness, Kia Chevon Russell Jan 2017

Recidivism Rates Among Juveniles With Mental Illness, Kia Chevon Russell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Treating mental illness is imperative to help reduce criminal justice involvement within the juvenile population. Receiving mental health care will help decrease the likelihood for youth to reoffend, ultimately reducing recidivism rates. Past studies showed there are risk factors associated with juveniles and recidivism; however, very few studies have examined what factors are prevalent after services have been received. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that increase the risk of recidivism among juveniles who have received psychiatric stabilization in Harris County, Texas. Risk factors that were assessed included age, gender, ethnicity, and criminal offense. The psychodynamic perspective …

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The Impact Of Mass Incarceration And Social Issues Of Institutionalization On School Violence In Youths, Stephen C. Stanko, Gordon A. Crews Jan 2017

The Impact Of Mass Incarceration And Social Issues Of Institutionalization On School Violence In Youths, Stephen C. Stanko, Gordon A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

In this chapter the authors examine the impact that mass incarceration has had upon children in the United States over the last several decades. Inherent in this examination is to discuss the impact of institutionalization on the propensity of committing violent acts by children. The authors also discuss the impact of these American phenomena on many aspects of juvenile delinquency and violence.

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School Killers Speak: A Comprehensive Examination Of Gang-Related School Violence Perpetrators In K-12 American Schools, Gordon A. Crews Jan 2017

School Killers Speak: A Comprehensive Examination Of Gang-Related School Violence Perpetrators In K-12 American Schools, Gordon A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The purpose of this work is to examine the perpetrators of acts of school violence in K–12 schools in the United States. It is hoped that this examination will offer new and unique insight into the extremely complex issues surrounding juvenile violence in general and school violence in particular. There have been myriad works categorizing, theorizing, and profiling the causes of these types of events and the offenders who commit them. The problem is that very few have actually sought answers where they lie, from those who actually know why an event happened—the individuals who committed the act. …

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School Killers Speak: A Comprehensive Examination Of Traditional School Violence Perpetrators In K-12 American Schools, Gordon A. Crews Jan 2017

School Killers Speak: A Comprehensive Examination Of Traditional School Violence Perpetrators In K-12 American Schools, Gordon A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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School Killers Speak: A Comprehensive Examination Of Associated And/Or Mentally Ill And Non-Associated And/Or Mentally Ill School Violence Perpetrators In K-12 American Schools, Gordon A. Crews Jan 2017

School Killers Speak: A Comprehensive Examination Of Associated And/Or Mentally Ill And Non-Associated And/Or Mentally Ill School Violence Perpetrators In K-12 American Schools, Gordon A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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The American Gun Culture: Potential Impact On K-12 School Violence, Gordon A. Crews, Garrison A. Crews Jan 2017

The American Gun Culture: Potential Impact On K-12 School Violence, Gordon A. Crews, Garrison A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Most researchers insist on combining all school shootings/violence incidents into one type of act and therefore one type of actor and one type of event. However, public mass shootings, university environments, international incidents, and K-12 school shootings and violence are not the same. They have different catalysts, motivations, types of occurrence, and offenders. The research for this work is part of a comprehensive examination of 78 currently incarcerated U.S. K-12 school violence offenders and their acts between 1979 and 2011 in 33 states. Topics examined include: weapons used and injuries incurred, availability of guns, where the gun or weapon …

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Structure And Service Delivery Approach Of The Children’S Bureau’S Resource Centers And Implementation Centers, Tammy Richards, Michelle Graef, Kathy Deserly, Peter Watson, Mark Ells Jan 2017

Structure And Service Delivery Approach Of The Children’S Bureau’S Resource Centers And Implementation Centers, Tammy Richards, Michelle Graef, Kathy Deserly, Peter Watson, Mark Ells

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

The Children’s Bureau (CB) provides a system of training and technical assistance (T/TA) to build the capacity of state and tribal child welfare systems, with the goal of improving outcomes for children and families. During the time period of 2008-2014, this infrastructure included ten National Child Welfare Resource Centers (NRCs), five Child Welfare Implementation Centers (ICs), and a Training and Technical Assistance Coordination Center (TTACC). Individual ICs and NRCs differed in structure and content expertise, yet they served the same jurisdictions and at times provided services concurrently. To increase cohesion and consistency, the NRCs, ICs, TTACC, and CB worked together …

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Deconstructing “Deviance” And “Disorder” As Systems Of Domination: Chicago Public Schools As A Case Study Of The Effects Of Zero Tolerance Discipline Policies On Educational Outcomes In Us Schools, Maya Kaul Jan 2017

Deconstructing “Deviance” And “Disorder” As Systems Of Domination: Chicago Public Schools As A Case Study Of The Effects Of Zero Tolerance Discipline Policies On Educational Outcomes In Us Schools, Maya Kaul

Pomona Senior Theses

The rise of “zero tolerance” discipline practices in US primary and secondary schools has become increasingly well documented by the media and empirical studies. Despite the extensive scholarship that has emerged from these conversations, many of these analyses are limited in their scope and do not connect the phenomena of zero tolerance in schools to the diverse, shifting forces at play within American politics and policy today. As such, the goal of this work is to synthesize ideas about zero tolerance across disciplines by integrating historical thought, philosophical frameworks of punishment, shifting policy goals within the US education system, the …

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Intelligence Dissemination Among Local, State, And Federal Law Enforcement: The Necessity, Gaps, And Recommendations, Emily Holcomb Jan 2017

Intelligence Dissemination Among Local, State, And Federal Law Enforcement: The Necessity, Gaps, And Recommendations, Emily Holcomb

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine how intelligence is gathered in the Southern State Region, identify perceived gaps in the current policies used with this communication and offer potential solutions to intelligence communication flaws. An interview-based research of Southern State Region officers and agents and the support of peer-reviewed academic articles shaped the research in this paper. The results of this research indicated that (a) personal connections between law enforcement agents and federal agents are the backbone of the current process utilized in information sharing, (b) there are gaps when personnel leave their position in office because of …

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Hopelessness Depression As A Predictive Risk Factor For Recidivism And Survival Time Among Juvenile Offenders, Todd Milton Mcginnis Jan 2017

Hopelessness Depression As A Predictive Risk Factor For Recidivism And Survival Time Among Juvenile Offenders, Todd Milton Mcginnis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, there is a high incidence of recidivism among juvenile offenders with mental health disorders. This is a critical social issue facing the public and the Department of Juvenile Justice Administration today. However, research is not clear on the role of psychological factors in recidivism frequency and survival time. The purpose of this study was to examine whether hopelessness depression, as measured by suicidal-ideation, depression-anxiety, anger-irritation, and alcohol-drug use, and offense type, were predictors of recidivism frequency and survival time when controlling for age, gender, and race. The total sample consisted of archival data from 404 juvenile …

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Effects Of The Walters Criminal Lifestyle Program On Offenders' Criminal Thinking Styles, Alessandre Singher Singher Jan 2017

Effects Of The Walters Criminal Lifestyle Program On Offenders' Criminal Thinking Styles, Alessandre Singher Singher

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have documented the high prevalence of crime in society and the need for programs to assist in the reduction of crime. Social cognitive and criminal lifestyle theories were the two major theoretical frameworks applied to this study due to their focus on the influence of cognitive change on behavioral modifications. A lifestyle approach in such programs reshapes criminal thoughts and transforms criminal behaviors. The efficacy of a lifestyle program in a community correctional facility outside of federal prison walls, modified to run 3 months with parolees and probationers, lacks evidenced research. Using a 2x3 between groups factorial ANCOVA, archival …

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Crime Reduction Strategies Of Florida Sheriff's Offices Related To Residential Burglaries, Jack Armstrong Jan 2017

Crime Reduction Strategies Of Florida Sheriff's Offices Related To Residential Burglaries, Jack Armstrong

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Florida, the law enforcement response to burglaries is estimated to cost $1.3 billion, yet little is understood about whether specific types of enforcement and investigation strategies have an impact on reducing the incidence of burglary. Using Cohen and Felson's concept of guardianship as part of routine activities theory as the foundation, the purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to examine whether any or all crime reduction strategies (community policing, intelligence led policing, Compare Statistics policing, traditional policing, hot spot policing, and evidence based policing) when combined with urbanity, household income, the sworn officers per 1000 population are statistically …

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Racial Injustice In Houston, Texas: The Mexican American Mobilization Against The Police Killing Of Joe Campos Torres, Melanie Rodriguez Rodriguez Jan 2017

Racial Injustice In Houston, Texas: The Mexican American Mobilization Against The Police Killing Of Joe Campos Torres, Melanie Rodriguez Rodriguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the Houston Police Departmentâ??s (the HPD) relations with the ethnic-Mexican community across four decades to consider how the police killing of Joe Campos Torres sparked a wave of protest that ensured that cityâ??s long history of police brutality against ethnic Mexicans and other minorities (especially African Americans) came to the forefront in Texas, if not the nation in general. The HPD was a mechanisms of the cityâ??s status quo that reinforced the racial dominance of white Houstonians. From 1940 to 1970, the HPD found it necessary to implement effective police models to control wayward minorities and uphold …

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The Impact Of Court Ordered Sobriety: A Test Of Labeling Theory, Monica B. Andress Jan 2017

The Impact Of Court Ordered Sobriety: A Test Of Labeling Theory, Monica B. Andress

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Alcohol is a common thread in the fabric of American culture. This ever-expanding industry continues to benefit the economy, however the success is not without a cost to communities across in the United States as alcohol is a leading contributor to criminal activity. Laws related to crimes in which alcohol is a driving factor have evolved in recent years which has inspired the development of new tools available to assist in reducing alcohol use and abuse. One such tool, which was developed in the 1990s and is now used by the criminal justice system across the country, is the Secured …

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Jailhouse Informants In Canadian Criminal Courts, Olena Beshley Jan 2017

Jailhouse Informants In Canadian Criminal Courts, Olena Beshley

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Criminal justice systems in Canada and around the world have been established to deal with matters that require attention, punishment, and justice. An important function of criminal justice systems is the evaluation of evidence presented in the court of law. Evidence from jailhouse informants who testify that they have been privy to confessions of crimes is a contentious issue. Much of the scholarly literature available to date on wrongful conviction cases focuses on causes of insufficient and unreliable evidence obtained through different techniques and from different sources. Despite the high number of investigations into wrongful conviction cases, the subject of …

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Loose Coupling And Defining Deviance Down: Correctional Officers’ Perceptions Of Organizational Responses To Mental Health And Well-Being., Victoria M. Baker Jan 2017

Loose Coupling And Defining Deviance Down: Correctional Officers’ Perceptions Of Organizational Responses To Mental Health And Well-Being., Victoria M. Baker

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Correctional work is characterized by high rates of occupational stress, which can produce a plethora of negative outcomes for the officers employed within such institutions. The present study examines Canadian provincial correctional officers’ perceptions of how occupational stress is created within the context of their employment. Through in-depth interviews with 11 correctional officers, I examine the political, organizational, and cultural factors that are perceived to negatively affect employee stress and well-being. From this analysis, I present three principal arguments. First, I uncover how correctional officers perceive ministerial policies to be loosely coupled from frontline practices. I argue that this loose …

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