Public Policy Commons^™

Youth Offending In Denver: The Increasing Trend And Essential Elements To Successful Intervention, Olivia Crimaldi

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Recent years have witnessed an alarming increase in youth offending across Denver, necessitating a thorough analysis of factors influencing the surge, as well as areas of improvement for current intervention methods. Juvenile delinquency is largely affected by complications associated with the transition to adulthood, such as the development of personal identity or a decrease in parental supervision. A full understanding of at-risk individuals must consider risk, promotive and protective factors, as well as the interaction between these three components. Past successful prevention and intervention methods have included relationship-building implementation, therapeutic strategies, and consistent measures of quality and accountability. Despite many …

Offender Reintegration In Nevada: A Longitudinal Study Focusing On Transitional Challenges, Reentry Capital, And Recidivism, Carolyn S. Willis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Offender reintegration (reentry) depends on offender motivation, public policies, community efforts, and resources provided through government and nonprofit sectors. As individuals are released from incarceration and reintegrate into the community, they are often dependent on resources provided by different service providers and the community. The role of the community is crucial as resources are oftentimes not accessible. Lack of employment and housing, mental health issues, substance abuse, and the inability to reestablish personal relationships diminish the prospects of successful reintegration and increase the chances of reincarceration. Reentry capital delivered through community-based programs addresses the transitional issues justice-impacted individuals encounter post-incarceration. …

Elder Abuse In Canada: Dimensions And Policy Responses, Taylor Marekovic

Major Papers

Elder abuse and neglect continues to be a gray area when it comes to convicting perpetrators such as family, friends, strangers, and caregivers who commit any form of physical, psychological, financial, neglect, or sexual abuse towards an elder. This is due to the legal definition being vague and non-transparent. The legal and health systems rely on two different definitions of what is deemed to be elder abuse and neglect in Canada when reviewing or assessing allegations of such abuse. Elder abuse and neglect increased throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Ontario and the rest of Canada experienced staffing shortages in …

Underrepresentation Of Black Participants In Drug Court: Reasons Reported For Non-Admission In Six Jurisdictions, Kathryn J. Genthon

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the beneficial impacts of drug court participation, access to these programs may not be equitable across racial groups. The reasons behind racial disparities in access to these programs are not well-documented in the current literature. This study investigates disparities in access to drug court and the possible reasons they occur. Chi-square tests are used to assess for disparities in admissions between Black and White individuals referred to drug court. Additional statistical analyses addressed the association of sex and age with admission to provide a broader picture of the impact of a variety of demographic characteristics on admission to drug …

Examining The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Violent Crime In The City Of Pittsburgh, Brittany Urban

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to examine patterns of Part I crimes [including Part I Person/Violent: Homicide, Rape, Aggravated Assault, and Robbery, and Part I Property: Burglary, Larceny-Theft, Motor Vehicle Theft, and Arson, as defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Standards] in The City of Pittsburgh, framing the COVID-19 pandemic as a major stressor that Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory suggests may lead to increased opportunity for crime, due to the perceived unjustness of the associated lockdown orders and potential incentive for criminal coping (Agnew 1992). This descriptive analysis is based primarily upon …

Defund The Police: Snappy Slogan Or A Viable Solution? A Case Study Of Savannah, Georgia, Michayla F. Knox

Honors College Theses

The notion of defunding the police remains a hot-button political topic since the protests of Summer 2020. The forefront of the debate concerns how defunding the police will impact crime rates. Still, the topic has scarcely been investigated empirically. This thesis provides an early examination into the relationship between "defunding the police", reallocating funding, and crime rates in Savannah, Ga. Several experiments are performed to answer three research questions that involve comparing and manipulating the budget provided for policing and the budgets for neighborhood vitality and poverty reduction. The findings show that Savannah allocates significantly more money to the policing …

Exclusionary Spillage: A Reckoning Of Belonging And Mass Incarceration, Valentina Flores Mayen

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

The Implementation Of Tribal Provisions From The Vawa 2013 Reauthorization, Deejay E. Chino

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Recent changes in VAWA allows tribes – for the first time – to prosecute non-Indians for intimate partner violence. In order to do so, however, tribes have to first meet specific federal mandates. Implementation of federal regulatory policy by American Indian tribes is a dynamic and complex process but there is a dearth of information on the challenges tribes face or on factors that would facilitate successful implementation at the tribal level. This legislation has filled a serious gap in tribal jurisprudence but not all tribes are able to meet requirements, which include having specific legal codes and justice resources. …

The Continued Prohibition Of Cannabis & Racism At Canada’S Borders, Dara Vosoughi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Canada is one of the few jurisdictions in the world where cannabis for personal and recreational purposes is legal. Prior to October 17th 2018, the possession of any quantity of cannabis was a criminal offence, making individuals vulnerable to onerous criminal sanctions. The legislative act that resulted in the decriminalization and regulation of cannabis was framed as a means of advancing public health goals and reducing inequalities. Those once engaged in low level cannabis activities were no longer subject to criminal sanctions within Canada. However, the criminal status and practices upholding the prohibition of cannabis continues at Canada’s borders and …

Abandoned Allies: A Case Study Analysis Of The Special Immigrant Visa Program, Sarah Pedigo Kulzer

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Employing a qualitative case study approach, the current study aims to critically analyze the U.S.’s use of the Special Immigrant Visa program in Iraq and Afghanistan by examining the individuals it serves, the agencies through which services are rendered, and the state’s vested geopolitical interests in the program. Engaging in active participation, I observed and interacted with those who work within, assist, or utilize the services of Commonwealth Catholic Charities’ refugee resettlement program, including case workers, service providers, and resettlement clients themselves. Examined through the lens of neoliberal harm, the theoretical frameworks of realpolitik and Simmel’s (1950) concept of the …

Neither “Post-War” Nor Post-Pregnancy Paranoia: How America’S War On Drugs Continues To Perpetuate Disparate Incarceration Outcomes For Pregnant, Substance-Involved Offenders, Becca S. Zimmerman

Pitzer Senior Theses

This thesis investigates the unique interactions between pregnancy, substance involvement, and race as they relate to the War on Drugs and the hyper-incarceration of women. Using ordinary least square regression analyses and data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates, I examine if (and how) pregnancy status, drug use, race, and their interactions influence two length of incarceration outcomes: sentence length and amount of time spent in jail between arrest and imprisonment. The results collectively indicate that pregnancy decreases length of incarceration outcomes for those offenders who are not substance-involved but not evenhandedly -- benefitting white …

Understanding Fare Evasion Defendant Compliance: An Assessment Of Criminal Records, Nataly Nunez Vasquez

Dissertations and Theses

The present study sought to examine the factors that most distinguish fare evaders who do not pay their fines and fail to appear in court from fare evaders who pay their fines and appear in court. The relationship between prior criminal history and fare evasion offenders who do not pay their fines and fail to appear in court is also explored. A sample of 24,646 defendants who received a citation for fare evasion while riding the Tri-Met transit system in Portland, Oregon were divided into two groups of fare evaders who pay and appear in court and fare evaders who …

Non-Traditional Church Involvement As A Life-Course Turning Point: Qualitative Interviews With Religious Offenders, William Hunter Holt

Dissertations

This research project conducted and then analyzed qualitative interviews from former and current addicts and criminal offenders who are voluntarily participating in the Christian faith at the same non-traditional, Protestant church. An abridged case study of this church is also provided for background and context. Life-course theory and grounded theory are utilized.

Both the offenders and this church were chosen in an attempt to better understand how the offenders’ involvement at this house of worship, along with their faith in general, have impacted them. Obtaining the perspectives of the offender is essential for three reasons. First, qualitative research conducted in …

Investigations Of Fraud, Waste, Abuse, And Corruption In The Public Sector: A Survey Of Organizational And Software-Based Aids And Obstructions, Lawrence Kom

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Corruption present significant challenges to the efficient use of public resources and stifle government service improvement by detracting from policy development and undercutting funding for important initiatives. The purpose of this study is to better understand the aids and impediments to investigations of these offenses and provide a generalizable definition for the mission of Inspectors General, the group tasked with monitoring and addressing these offenses. This study also sought to identify the material role of software in investigations of Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Corruption. Through a purposive sampling, 18 Inspectors General from the federal, state, and …

Judicial Elections, Public Opinion, And Their Impact On State Criminal Justice Policy, Travis N. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

This dissertation explores whether and how the re-election prospects faced by trial court judges in many American states influence criminal justice policy, specifically, state levels of incarceration, as well as the disparity in rates of incarceration for Whites and Blacks. Do states where trial court judges must worry about facing reelection tend to encourage judicial behavior that results in higher incarceration rates? And are levels of incarceration and racial disparities in the states influenced by the proportion of the state publics who want more punitive policies? These are clearly important questions because they speak directly to several normative and empirical …

The Ferguson Effect In Contemporary Policing: Assessing Police Officer Willingness To Engage The Public, Christopher Mercado

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Researchers suggest that as public scrutiny and video recording of violent/tumultuous police encounters increase, police would back away from proactive enforcement, resulting in an increase in crime—the Ferguson Effect. Recent scholarship refined these concerns over police disengagement with the study of de-policing, while other scholars explored police self-legitimacy, in order to explain law enforcement behavior, given the immediacy and ubiquity of social media and digital communication. This study surveyed 792 law enforcement officers from 10 different police agencies in the United States, to ascertain if police officers’ personal and contextual characteristics influence their decision to either take enforcement action (i.e., …

Impartiality, Social Network Effects And Collective Memory: Three Essays On Trust In Police., Matthew Robert Fischer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an historical and empirical examination of police organizational efforts at influencing public perceptions of trust in police. It begins with an historical overview of police organizational reform, focusing on the various strategies employed by police reformers have attempted to influence public perceptions of police trustworthiness and legitimacy. It uses Rothstein’s impartiality as Quality of Government thesis and the theory of collective memory to argue for an understanding of the importance of the normative context in which police tactics and strategies are deployed for garnering trust in police and how the presence of social network effects for trust …

Understanding Trauma And Victimization In Women's Incarceration: California's Treatment Response, Marissa Tuttle-Roache

Social Sciences

The purpose of this review is to provide an exploration of past research on women's pathways to incarceration, specifically discussing how this problem affects California women. Using research from various case studies, both quantitative and qualitative, this review examines the correlation between life experiences and incarceration for women. California laws and policies that mitigate the impact incarceration has historically had on women will be discussed. This research provides a better understanding of the treatment needs of incarcerated women and the programs that could provide them with some positive resources to succeed post incarceration and avoid recidivism.

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

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

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

Marijuana Legalization And Traffic Fatalities Involving Cannabinoids, Mark Lewn Hake

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Washington State and Colorado were the first states to legalize recreational marijuana. According to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, the number of drivers who tested positive for marijuana in traffic fatalities increased 48% from 2013 to 2014, and marijuana legalization may have influenced this increase. Since marijuana legalization is new to the United States, the effects of this change in policy are untested in the literature. The purpose of this quantitative study using a regression point displacement design was to examine the relationship between traffic fatalities involving cannabinoids in Washington State before and after marijuana legalization. Rational choice theory and …

The Ferguson Effect On Police Officers' Culture And Perceptions In Local Police Departments, Rarkimm K. Fields

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Ferguson effect is a recent hypothesis that suggests police officers have been influenced by negative media coverage of police conduct. The problem this study addressed is how policing continues to deal with perception, civil liability, and accountability issues related to police misconduct when interacting with Latino and African-American communities. The research was conducted to examine influence the Ferguson effect may have had on the culture and perceptions of police officers in local police departments. With a phenomenological qualitative approach, the research data were collected from interviews with 7 police officers across 3 police departments. The theoretical background of Merton's …

The Use Of Compassionate Release Policies For Elderly Offenders, Lindsey Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This research examined the use of compassionate release policy in response to the fastest-increasing segment of the prison population- elderly offenders. Though this policy is an approach to this problem, there was little available research regarding which correctional organizations in the United States adopt compassionate release and how it is used. The purpose of this nonexperimental comparative quantitative study was to examine the use of the policy in neighboring and distant state correctional systems relative to those organizations that used the policy more frequently to determine if the leader-laggard theory of policy diffusion was an effective policy-implementation framework. The research …

National Strategy Against Narcotics, Drug Control Policy, And Law Enforcement Experiences In Kosovo, Ferid Azemi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This research is focused on evaluation of National Strategy Against Narcotics (NSAN) enacted in 2012 in Kosovo. The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of NSAN through visualizing data and gaining deeper insight from experiences of antidrug experts. Convergent parallel mixed methods were used to answer the main research questions. The central research questions examined the impact of strategy implementation in juvenile drug arrest reduction, and its effectiveness on Kosovo criminal justice system. Markwood's comprehensive theory of substance abuse prevention (CTSAP) was used to assess and explore the NSAN. Deidentified juvenile arrest rates taken from Kosovo official …

Human Error In Police Involved Shootings, Paul L. Taylor

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Police use of deadly force has become one of the most contentious and controversial aspects of the U.S. criminal justice system. Yet, the vast majority of police shootings never rise to the level of public consciousness (Zimring, 2017). Instead, the public discourse and controversy tends to center on a handful of cases that appear excessive and/or are difficult to understand (Pickering & Klinger, 2016). As a result, these cases have a disproportionate impact on the public’s perception of police legitimacy and competence, particularly when it comes to their use of deadly force (Gua, 2014). The outcomes of many of these …

Bias-Motivated Homicides: Toward A New Typology, Lindsey Sank Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Despite significant progress towards equal protection under the law for women, LGBT individuals, and people of color in the United States, hate crime remains a pervasive problem, and rates appear to have increased in recent years. Bias-motivated homicide – arguably the most serious form of hate crime – is statistically rare but may have far-reaching consequences for marginalized communities. Data from the Uniform Crime Reports and the National Crime Victimization Survey have suggested that, on average, fewer than 10 bias-motivated homicides occur in the United States per year; however, data from open sources indicate that the rate of bias-motivated homicide …

The Predictors Of Juvenile Recidivism: Testimonies Of Adult Students 18 Years And Older Exiting From Alternative Education, La Toshia Palmer

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was to identify and describe the importance of the predictors of juvenile recidivism and the effectiveness of efforts to prevent/avoid juvenile recidivism as perceived by previously detained, arrested, convicted, and/or incarcerated adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education in Northern California. A second purpose was to explore the types of support provided by alternative schools and the perceived importance of the support to avoid recidivism according to adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education.

Methodology: This qualitative, descriptive research design identified …

Relationship Between Victims Of Urban Violence And Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Jashon Anthony Banks Sr.

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Urban violence has become common in lower-income communities that have high rates of shootings and African-American victims. Urban violence causes victims and their family and friends to experience trauma and puts them at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) injuries. However, there is a gap in knowledge in the framework of urban communities and their range of needs to address PTSD. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether a relationship exists between reinforcement of needs, membership, influence, shared emotional connection, and post-traumatic stress symptomology (PTSS) of urban violence victims in a large metropolitan city. Albert Bandura's self-efficacy …

A Global Perception On Contemporary Slavery In The Middle East North Africa Region, Kimberly Anne Pavlik

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although human trafficking continues to be a growing problem around the world, there are scarce quantitative methodologies for evidence-based research because it is hard to gather reliable and comparable data on human trafficking. It is also difficult to track patterns in human trafficking on a regional or global scale because the victims are a vulnerable population. Using Datta and Bales conceptualization of modern slavery as the theoretical foundation, the primary purpose of this study was to establish a baseline measurement of trafficking predictors in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) as well as understand the statistical relationship between measurements of …

Predictors Of Conviction: An Examination Of Arson Trial Outcomes In Florida, Timothy York

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The influences that crime control, due process factors, and individual demographic characteristics have on the criminal trial outcomes of accused arsonists was unknown. Absent this knowledge, it was not clear if public policy ensures justice for the accused, particularly for the disadvantaged. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate, using Packer's due process and crime control model as the theoretical framework, the relationship between time to trial, number of defense and prosecution witnesses, access to fire origin and cause experts, legal representation type, age, race, education, and gender and criminal arson case outcomes. A sample size of 165 …

Media Exposure And Social Response As Predictors Of Citizen's Attitudes Toward Police, Tara A. Garrison

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Police-involved deaths of African Americans have increased over the past two decades, with continued high-profile media exposure. The problem is that extant research provided only a partial understanding and disparate focus about how media exposure, social responses, social media use, and attitudes towards police were possibly related to citizens witnessing acts of police-initiated actions against African Americans in the United States. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the predictive nature of media exposure, social response, and social media use concerning citizens' attitudes towards police. The two theories supporting this study and shaped this hypothetical system are media …