Other Legal Studies Commons^™

When Childcare Becomes A Crime Space In Contemporary Indonesia, Isyana Kurniasari Konoras, Dr. Dra. Vinita Susanti, M.Si

Jurnal Kriminologi Indonesia

Abstract. The increasing incidence of violence against children in daycare institutions reflects a structural crisis in contemporary child protection systems. This study examines the violence case at Little Aresha Daycare in Yogyakarta to identify the criminogenic factors underlying abuse in institutional childcare settings. The research applies a normative-empirical qualitative method through media-based case studies, legal analysis, and criminological interpretation. The findings demonstrate that violence emerged from the convergence of three major factors: structural strain experienced by caregivers, weak capable guardianship within daycare institutions, and the normalization of abusive disciplinary practices. Robert K. Merton’s Strain Theory explains how economic and occupational …

Las Voces Olvidadas Del Territorio: Infancias Mayas Ante El Conflicto Socioambiental En Ixil, Cielo María Ávila López, Myriam Montserrat Baca Canché, José Israel Herrera

Journal of Maya Heritage

Resumen: En la península de Yucatán, en el sureste de México, la comunidad maya de Ixil resiste ante los diversos intentos de implementación de megaproyectos en su territorio. En el marco de estas disputas territoriales, las voces de las infancias adquieren un matiz clave en el análisis de las dinámicas de desterritorialización y las respuestas de resistencia que devienen del contexto del conflicto socioambiental. Es así como, a partir de la ecología política y metodologías que favorecen el acercamiento a las voces de las infancias, emergieron los significados construidos en torno a dichos sucesos, lo que reveló que más allá …

Regulatory Innovation Through Authority: An Analysis Of India’S Central Consumer Protection Authority’S Functioning (2020–2025), Gaurav Pathak, Mohit Yadav, Anush Ganesh

International Journal on Consumer Law and Practice

This article presents the first comprehensive empirical analysis of India’s Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), since its establishment in 2020, based on an examination of 165 orders across 118 cases through 2025. The study fills a critical research gap by systematically analysing CCPA’s enforcement patterns, procedural efficiency, and regulatory evolution. The unique dataset reveals that CCPA has fundamentally transformed India’s consumer protection landscape through a distinctive dual approach that combines reactive enforcement with proactive regulation. This study finds that 72 per cent of cases were initiated suo moto, indicating a paradigm shift from complaint-driven to preventive market surveillance and that …

Perceptions Of Legitimacy In Three Forms Of Probation Supervision For People With Serious Mental Illness, Sophia Sarantakos, Emily Claypool

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"In the context of criminal-legal community supervision, standard and specialized probation officers are often tasked with coordinating services for adults diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) on their caseloads. The coordination of services varies across different programs including traditional probation, specialty probation, and mental health court. Given the proliferation of programs focused on mental health in the criminal-legal system, the perspectives of front-line workers or street-level bureaucrats in criminal-legal agencies are a rich source of information about what is happening on the ground and could provide insights into the potential translational barriers of policy to practice. A deeper examination of …

From Acrimony To Forgiveness: How Adolescents Make Sense Of Childhood Maltreatment, Katherine Irwin

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"This paper examines 16 adolescents’ narratives about the abuse they experienced during childhood. To date, most research examining child abuse (CA) survivorship and recovery has been conducted with adults who look back on their early experiences. Consequently, this study fills gaps in our knowledge by offering a youth-centered view of survivors’ efforts to cope with CA. The data come from a 12-year qualitative study of a group counseling program for high school students in Hawaiʻi. The findings revealed that a minority (n = 2) of the teens had negative views of their lives and futures, while the majority (n = …

A Content Analysis Of The Sutherland Address, 2001-22: A Qualitative Exploration, Phillip Shon

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Previous indicators of scholarly influence have been primarily quantitative, measuring a scholar’s influence through citation counts. This body of literature has overlooked the reflections of distinguished scholars, such as the recipients of the Sutherland Award, in the discipline as a form of scholarly influence. The current paper examines the Sutherland Address from 2001 to 2022. The key findings indicate that the majority of Sutherland Addresses reproduced existing sociological canons, while a minority of Sutherland Award winners explicitly rejected Sutherland’s sociological assumptions and their influence on criminology. Such findings suggest that Sutherland exerts a hidden influence on the recipients of the …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Gender Inequality In Southeast Missouri Law Enforcement Agencies, Madeline Marie Whistler, Christopher Bradley, H. Hamner Hill

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Does gender inequality impact the careers of female law enforcement officers in the Southeast Missouri region? Using a qualitative single instrumental case study, seven cis-gendered female law enforcement officers who were employed at local law enforcement agencies within the Southeast Missouri region were interviewed to investigate the central research question. Four themes emerged from the data that illustrated their experiences: sexual exploitation and harassment, a lack of work-life balance, the presence of gender stereotypes, and patriarchal hierarchy and male dominance in the workplace. The findings suggest that the experiences of female law enforcement officers are heavily impacted by the behavior …

A Plea For Open Access To Qualitative Criminology: With A Python Script For Anonymizing Data And Illustrative Analysis Of Error Rates, Scott Jaques, Andrew Wheeler

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Qualitative researchers are expected, sometimes required, to publish their data open access (OA). This is for the sake of science, impact, and social justice. Yet, understandably, qualitative criminologists are worried about what this means for their workload and their ability to protect subjects’ confidentiality. To be solutions-oriented, we developed an open-source Python script for anonymizing qualitative data. It uses named-entity recognition and fuzzy-rule based merging to identify and replace personally identifiable information (PII) with unique pseudonyms. This tool doesn’t eliminate the need for manual work, but it reduces the cost and associated risk. In this article, we describe and explain …

The Disproportionate Impact Of Legal Deserts: A Policy Proposal To Address The Legal Needs Of Rural Nevadans, Madelyn Wold

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Despite the large number of attorneys in the United States, the disproportionate concentration of attorneys in urban areas leaves rural residents to navigate the complex legal system on their own. This uneven distribution creates ‘legal deserts’, or areas where residents lack access to attorneys. The Southwestern United States has especially dire legal deserts, and Nevada is no exception. While defendants in criminal matters are guaranteed legal representation, parties in civil legal issues are not granted the same right to representation. Civil legal issues largely impact vulnerable populations and can have profound impacts on individuals’ family, economic circumstances, and physical wellbeing. …

The Autonomy Plan In Morocco: Legal Foundations, Political Dimensions And Prospects For Resolving The Sahara Conflict, Limam Boussif, Jalila Ait Soudane

Journal of Maya Heritage

Summary: The territorial conflict over the Sahara is one of the most enduring territorial disputes in international relations, involving issues of sovereignty, self-determination, and regional stability. In this context, Morocco’s 2007 Autonomy Plan is presented as a negotiated framework of self-government under Moroccan sovereignty.

This article analyzes the evolution and consolidation of the Autonomy Plan using a conceptual approach based on self-determination, territorial governance, and conflict resolution theories. It shows that the initiative has progressively evolved from a national proposal into an internationally recognized framework, particularly through growing diplomatic support and developments within the United Nations Security Council, including Resolution …

Operational Responsibility In Ai Governance: A User-Centric Liability Framework, Zhengyang Chen

Faculty Publications

Who bears responsibility when artificial intelligence systems cause harm? This question has become central to AI ethics and governance. Most existing approaches focus on developers, yet this faces serious practical and theoretical problems. Drawing on tort law, agency law, and philosophy of technology, this paper argues that AI should be understood as an instrument whose outputs remain the responsibility of human operators rather than developers. We call this 'user-centric governance.' Placing accountability with deployers promotes public trust by creating clear lines of responsibility, a concern that governance approaches have often overlooked. It preserves democratic accountability by keeping human actors answerable …

The Consequences Of Dobbs V. Jackson Women’S Health Organization, Kimber Garcia

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization came into effect in 2022, and the right to get an abortion was withdrawn for many birthing people; abortion care was no longer protected federally, and states could make their own legislation. This work reviews abortion care procedures, abortion legislation history in the United States, how religion and sexism influence legislation, and the negative effects of antiabortion legislation. The research finds that antiabortion legislation that makes it difficult or illegal to get abortion care inflicts health risks upon birthing people as well as a fear of prosecution. This fear extends to medical professionals, burdening …

The Legacy Of Lead: Lead Exposure's Harmful Effects And Its Concentration In Poc Communities, Layla Sophronia Barber

Student Theses 2015-Present

This thesis examines the disproportionate burden of lead exposure carried by low income, POC communities. The systemic nature of this problem is a symptom of a longstanding legacy of environmental injustice in the United States. Decades of federal neglect are reflected in the higher statistics of lead exposure and poisoning in predominantly black communities. While it is understood that lead exposure poses a serious threat to physical health and early cognitive development, there is a discouraging lack of urgency to remove the toxin from non-wealthy communities. The material covered by this thesis aims to identify and correct the discriminatory social …

Law-Related Education: An Alternative To School Suspension, Tammy Thurman, Huma Zia

Justice, Law, and Public Safety Studies Department Faculty Conferences

This session explores the intersection of law-related education and youth courts through a demonstration from the presenter's 'Legal Literacy' program, which was implemented in a school district as an alternative to out-of-school suspension.  The program exposes students to practical and relevant legal principles and promotes student accountability and skill-building.

A Qualitative Study Of Journalism Course Syllabi In Relation To The First Amendment, Elizabeth L. Bunnell

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

The goal of this research is to gain more insight into collegiate journalism course syllabi and the First Amendment. The First Amendment is a foundational aspect for a career in journalism, and one way to learn how college journalism students are interacting with the First Amendment is to conduct a qualitative analysis of the syllabi. A syllabus is the contract between professor and student for the course; therefore, it should contain the most important information relating to the course. 47 syllabi were collected from the School of Journalism and Strategic Media from the Spring 2025 semester. After reading through each …

Gender And Emotional Expression In The Courtroom: Mock Juror Perceptions Of Attorney Effectiveness, Emma Cantrell

Undergraduate Theses

This quantitative study examines how gender and emotional expression influence mock jurors' perceptions of an attorney's courtroom effectiveness. Using mock jurors, this study extends previous research suggesting that assertiveness and emotional displays are evaluated differently by gender. Participants were randomly assigned to view one of four closing statements in a mock burglary trial. The videos were of either a male or a female attorney delivering a passive or an aggressive argument. Participants then evaluated the attorney’s effectiveness across four categories: competence, persuasiveness, ability to instill confidence, and emotionality. Male participants generally rated female attorneys as less effective than female participants …

Online Recruitment For Interview Participants Impacted By The Criminal Legal System, Sarah Lageson, Carolina R. Caliman, Elsa Chen, Ericka Adams

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"As technology has altered communication, qualitative criminologists have turned to digital spaces for a cost-effective approach to recruit participants who have been impacted by the criminal legal system. This paper analyzes the limits and benefits of online recruitment, detailing our experience recruiting 93 interviewees online for a qualitative study of criminal record expungement. We compare three approaches: social media advertisements, Amazon’s crowdsourced MTurk platform, and the opt-in survey platform Prolific, and analyze the financial and labor costs associated with each. We detail our experience individually screening 685 interested participants to obtain 86 qualitative interviews suitable for analysis. Our experience shows …

Fragmented Responses: Variability In Law Enforcement And Prosecutorial Approaches To Sexual Assault Cases, Veronica Gonzalez

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Sexual assault (SA) remains a pervasive issue in the United States, marked by low reporting rates, inconsistent investigations, and limited convictions. In response, researchers and practitioners have promoted a range of best practices aimed at improving law enforcement and prosecutorial responses. This qualitative study draws on interviews with 13 law enforcement agencies and 12 prosecutors' offices to explore how recommended practices—such as victim advocacy, specialized units, interagency collaboration, and case reviews—are interpreted and operationalized in the field. Findings reveal substantial variability, shaped not only by resource availability but also by leadership priorities, organizational culture, and the ambiguity of guidance documents. …

To Protect And To Serve? A Phenomenological Exploration Of Interactions Between Black Transgender Women And Law Enforcement In The Midwest, Anthony Banks, Kelli E. Canada, Erin L. Robinson, Mansoo Yu, Lynn Mie Itagaki

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Current research indicates transgender women of color are experiencing what is being referred to as an “epidemic of violence.” Law enforcement personnel are in a unique position to mitigate this violence among transgender women of color, however past research shows that law enforcement may in some instances perpetuate already existing violence with this population instead of preventing and intervening in these situations. This study aimed to add to the limited research by using an intersectional theoretical framework to better understand these interactions. Research questions were answered using a phenomenological research design. Data from 36 semi-structured interviews with Black transgender women …

"This Is Not A Scam!": Assessment Of An Awareness Raising Program Tackling Older Adults' Scam Victimization In A Multi-Method Study, Katalin Parti, Pamela Teaster, Susanna Rinehart, Charles Dye

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Interactive theatre has long been used to educate and empower communities and prevent crime across all age groups. Although older populations are disproportionately victimized through fraudulent online schemes, effective educational interventions, like interactive theatre, have not been utilized to increase crime awareness. This paper describes an explorational research project, analyzing the results of a theatre-based fraud awareness program aimed towards educating victims and their communities about scams targeting older people. The study employs a mixed-method research design to examine program impact. In applying multifaceted tools of data collection, such as survey, participant observation, and follow-up interviews, the research team identified …

Aging On Parole: A Thematic Analysis Of The Parole Officer’S Perspective, Angela Murolo

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"A growing proportion of people leaving prison are over 50 years old and will live at least temporarily under the supervision of a parole officer. While recidivism rates are lower for older people, there are physical, mental, and societal challenges that accompany advancing age that make successful reentry and reintegration a challenging experience compared to their younger counterparts. This presents novel challenges for parole officers who are tasked with supervising and counseling elderly people on parole. Surveys containing closed and open-ended questions were administered to N=25 parole officers to understand the differences in working with, counseling, and supervising older and …

Legal Reform And Cultural Resistance: Examining The Role Of Law And Custom In Ending Fgm In Egypt, Souhaila Hafez Abo Seada

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the persistent gap between legal reform and social practice in efforts to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Egypt. Although FGM has been criminalized since 2008, with stronger penalties introduced in 2016 and 2021, the practice continues, revealing the limits of law when it operates alongside powerful social, religious, familial, and medical norms. Using a qualitative case-based approach grounded in legal pluralism and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis, the study draws on 11 semi-structured interviews with participants from civil society, religious institutions, the legal profession, the medical sector, and communities where FGM persists, alongside legislative, demographic, and documentary …

Finding Luis: A Creative Nonfiction Account Of Law & Society, Jason M. Leggett

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This essay explores the contradictions in legal theory and human experience through creative nonfiction. Its main purpose is to argue that a truly just society requires acknowledging the profound influence of individual narratives on the law. This is supported by blending personal narratives, critical analysis, and philosophical inquiry to reveal the gap between codified law and lived realities for marginalized individuals. This unique Legal Poetics methodology employs a series of six vignettes, such as the author's and Luis's shared experiences with traumatic brain injury and the denial of justice, as data. By integrating autoethnography, law as narrative, and performativity theories, …

When Words Flow Like Water: How The Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline Environmental Impact Statement Failed To Prevent Hydrogeologic Harm In Minnesota, Carly Gutzmann

Journal of Earth and Life Science

For the aquifers of Minnesota, the environmental impact statement (EIS) was a promise of protection that never left the page. An environmental impact statement is meant to be an aid in the decision making process in order to ensure that projects consider potential environmental harms that may occur. However, they are often used instead as another regulatory box to check, rather than as active considerations when planning. As such, a project plan can be flawed from the start—if project developers only consider environmental impacts after they have already put considerable time, effort, and funding into their project as-is, they may …

Eroding Protections: The Decline Of Miranda Rights And Its Impact On Due Process In Contemporary America, Autumn G. Pelfrey

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis examines whether the protections established in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), remain robust within contemporary criminal justice practice or have been weakened through doctrinal and practical developments. Miranda warnings were originally designed to mitigate the risk that coercive custodial interrogation would produce compelled or unreliable self-incrimination. Since 1966, however, both judicial interpretation and evolving law-enforcement practices have created a growing gap between Miranda’s formal legal promise and its practical operation in real-world interrogations.

The study evaluates the erosion of Miranda’s protective force through three primary mechanisms. First, doctrinal developments have narrowed Miranda’s scope by redefining …

The Equity Dead Zones: Legal Intersectionality Failure Points In Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, Tearria N. Simmons

The Guardianship Journal

Legal intersectionality failure points describe the systemic fractures that occur where overlapping legal, social, and economic inequalities converge, potentially producing compounded barriers to relief. Each failure point marks a site of marginalization. In what ways do individuals already recognized as vulnerable in Chapter 13 bankruptcy face a heightened risk when multiple forms of disadvantage intersect? When these intersections combine in mutually reinforcing ways—racial, economic, and relational disparities colliding with structural deficiencies in family, property, and bankruptcy law—does it result in pronounced negative outcomes, and, if so, what are those outcomes? Within this convergence, could there be a space where compounded …

Engaging Seminars: The Impact Of Storytelling In Public Safety Education, Mimi Gough, Glenn L. Walton

The Guardianship Journal

This paper examines the important role of storytelling in higher education as a technique for engaging students in course content and applies its relationship to the experiential learning theory (ELT) in which learners are actively seeking knowledge through authentic application. Storytelling can be a particularly effective method when used during live online seminars in public safety education, since this particular program of study often relies on verbally communicating realistic and credible information. Sharing various examples of actual encounters can help students better prepare for these types of situations when they face them in their future careers. Incorporating evidence to support …

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

#Falseflag: Exploring Themes In Conspiracy Theory Tweets Regarding The Robb Elementary School Active Shooter Event, Madison K. Doyle, Carolyn Willis

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Little is known about the content of conspiratorial posts on social media, specifically regarding active shooter events. This study explores the content of conspiracy theory tweets during the six months following the active shooter event at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. 194 tweets were analyzed. The analysis resulted in two main themes: False Flag and Hypothesized Reasoning. These themes represent the similarities and variations in content among the tweets. In line with research suggesting that people are most vulnerable to conspiratorial thinking when trying to explain unusual and unsettling events, results indicate that many posts were attempting to provide …

“Oh, Are You Gay?”: An Exploration Of Lgbtq+ Students’ Lived Experiences With Microaggressions And Finding Safety On A University Campus, Christina Policastro, Courtney Crittenden, Jadon Clark, Rileigh Arrington

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Studies demonstrate that LGBTQ+ college students experience explicit and covert discrimination with research documenting various microaggressions reported by university students whose gender and/or sex identities are minoritized. Building off existing models of LGBTQ microaggressions, the current study adds to this literature by utilizing focus groups to explore campus safety perceptions among a sample of U.S. undergraduate students who identify as LGBTQ+. Findings highlight the diverse microaggressions experienced by students at the interpersonal and environmental level. Moreover, the results displayed the mechanisms students employed to avoid or disengage from situations where microaggressions may be encountered, as well as underscored ways in …