Sociology Commons^™

The Fast & The Furious…Torturous?: Examining The Impact Of Torture Scenes In Popular Films On Public Perceptions Of Torture Policy, Erin M. Kearns, Casey Delehanty

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Entertainment media regularly depict torture as effective. Indeed, most popular films contain torture—often outside of counterterrorism-specific plotlines. In the counterterrorism-specific context, watching a scene where torture works increases support for the practice. Yet counterterrorism-specific media is a niche genre, and we do not know if this holds for torture scenes more generally. We address this gap with a 4 (movie rating) x 3 (scene type) experiment with U.S. adults. While participants recognized that torture scenes are in fact torture, viewing these scenes did not impact support for the practice. Findings suggest that media’s influence on views about torture is more …

Gender And Criminal Justice Responses To Terrorism In The United States, Summer Jackson, Jeff Gruenewald, Katie Ratcliff

Research Projects

This brief summarizes findings from a recent study published in Crime & Delinquency titled "Gender and Criminal Justice Responses to Terrorism in the United States" (available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287211047535 ). Using data from the American Terrorism Study (ATS), this study examine show gender varies across federal terrorism cases, how gender shapes federal terrorism case outcomes, and how combinations of relevant case attributes uniquely impact court outcomes for males and females.

Data include a sample of 2,147 defendants in terrorism-related cases across several types of legal measures: charge type, number of charges, whether or not the prosecutor references terrorism (e.g., relying on …

Race, Gender, And Domestic Violence, Faith Harris, Katrina Cokain

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Race and gender, as significant social locations, have an impact on many facets of life. One of these areas is the experience of victimization, particularly Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Race and gender impact who perpetrates, their views towards IPV, who is victimized, the victim's experiences with the Criminal Justice System, and the preparedness of supportive services to assist these victims.

Schools On The Frontlines Of Governance: How The Convergence Of Criminal Justice And Education Shapes Adolescent Perceptions And Behavior, Jennifer O'Neill

Dissertations

Theories of legal socialization posit that individuals’ interactions with both nonlegal (e.g., teachers) and legal (e.g., police officers) authorities impact our broader orientation towards governance our compliance with rules and laws. Examining the process of legal socialization in adolescents is critical for understanding individuals’ relationships with major institutions of social control, and further, predicting delinquency. Extant literature tends to consider legal socialization in the school and in interactions with the police as distinct processes related to offending, neglecting the potential influence of school contextual factors; and yet, because the incorporation of carceral features (e.g., exclusionary discipline, restrictive security, and enhanced …

Bench Vs. Jury Trials: Sentencing And Conviction Outcomes For Criminally Charged Police Officers, Bethany R. Sager, Chloe Wentzlof, Philip M. Stinson

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Criminal Justice Association in Chicago, IL, on September 24, 2021.

On-Duty Fatal Police Shootings:Patterns Of Officers Charged With Murder Or Manslaughter, 2005-2020, Chloe Wentzlof, Philip M. Stinson

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Criminal Justice Association in Chicago, IL, on September 24, 2021.

The Effects Of Family Structure Stability And Parenting Practices On Juvenile Delinquency: Variations By Immigrant Generational Status And Race/Ethnicity, Lanmeng Ma

Doctoral Works at the University of New Haven

While the important role of various psychosocial factors in the development of criminality has long been acknowledged, many researchers, criminologists and criminal justice professionals firmly believe that family is specifically at the core. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relationships among family structure stability, parenting practice dimensions, and concurrent/subsequent delinquent behaviors, both theoretically and empirically. This study investigates how immigrant generational status and racial/ethnic disparities modulate associations between the stability of family structure, aspects of parenting practices, and adolescent delinquency, using a nationally representative sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). …

The Victims’ Voices: A Routine Activity Approach To Jail And Prison Victimization, Victor St. John

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The study explores the occurrence of victimization while incarcerated in American jails and prisons. Consistent with the Routine Activity Approach – which explains that victimization occurs due to the convergence of a suitable target and a motivated offender in time and space, and the absence of a capable guardian, handler, and place manager –, this study investigates the applicability of the approach within the correctional setting, namely the influence of place management, access to informal guardians, and the victims’ perception of correctional officers’ capability on preventing victimization (the formal guardian). A mixed methods design was employed, analyzing 87 semi-structured interviews …

The Value And Scope Of The Term Femicide, Robert Brannon

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The term femicide is useful in naming a wide range of sexist killings of women by men, just as “genocide” and “sexual harassment” named these respective other crimes and civil violations. Definitions and example of killings that are, and are not, femicides clarify the scope of the term. A number and variety of misogynistic killings of women can be documented. There is evidence that learning of the term of femicide has helped women to see and to combat femicides in their spheres. The term femicide has been embraced by the United Nations and by eight Latin American countries to date.

Sanctuary In The City Of Brotherly Love: Probing The Effectiveness And Broader Implications Of Philadelphia’S Sanctuary City Policies, Thomas A. Koenig

Gettysburg Social Sciences Review

Amidst the already fraught politics of immigration, “sanctuary” policies, whereby state and local law enforcement agencies limit their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement authorities to varying degrees, have emerged as a particularly contentious issue. This paper sifts past the political vitriol surrounding the issue of “sanctuary” and uses original survey research in Philadelphia to answer a straightforward question: Are these policies working? That is, are the city of Philadelphia’s sanctuary policies actually building trust between its undocumented residents and local law enforcement, thereby laying the groundwork for higher rates of crime reporting and safer communities? My results from a survey …

Editorial Introduction To The Special Issue: Supporting Future Scholarship On Cybercrime, Jaeyong Choi, Brandon Dulisse, Richard L. Wentling, Nathan Kruis

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

This editorial introduction will present an overview of the three papers published in this special issue of the International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence and Cybercrime. The winners of the student paper competition during the 2021 Whitehat Conference have prepared their papers for this special issue. Their research directs our attention to key issues regarding cybercrime that have often been overlooked in the literature ranging from North Korean cyberterrorism to the relationship between COVID-19 and cybercrime and to fear of online victimization.

North Korean Cyber Attacks And Policy Responses: An Interdisciplinary Theoretical Framework, Jeeseon Hwang, Kyung-Shick Choi

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

No abstract provided.

Malware Infections In The U.S. During The Covid-19 Pandemic: An Empirical Study, Sydney Gero, Sinchul Back, Jennifer Laprade, Joonggon Kim

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world in many ways, especially in the landscape of cyber threats. The pandemic has pro-vided cybercriminals with more opportunities to commit crimes due to more people engaging in online activities, along with the increased use of computers for school, work, and social events. The current study seeks to explore cybercrime trends, in particular malware infections, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, this study examines the relationship between the number of malware in-fections, COVID-19 positive cases, closed non-essential businesses, and closed K-12 public schools in the United States. Data utilized in this study derives from (1) …

Level Of Engagement With Social Networking Services And Fear Of Online Victimization: The Role Of Online Victimization Experiences, Yeonjae Park, Lynne M. Vieraitis

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

No abstract provided.

A Study On The Beliefs Of Juvenile Justice Practitioners On Youth Behavior And Treatment, Chase S. Christenson

Masters Theses

The following study was conducted to determine the beliefs juvenile justice practitioners (police officers, juvenile probation officers, and youth specialists) have about youth behavior through the lens of Wolfe’s (1998) Entitlement Theory. The four beliefs explored between juvenile justice practitioners are: (1) beliefs about why youth act out, (2) what changes youth behavior, (3) an expectation of youth obedience to authority, and (4) attachment relationships influencing youth behavior. The researcher used a 43-item survey measured with a 5-point Likert scale and open-ended questions that were administered to West Michigan’s juvenile justice practitioners through Qualtrics. Responses were analyzed using an ANOVA …

Racial Disparities In Police Crime Victimization, Philip M. Stinson, Chloe Wentzlof, John Liederbach, Steven L. Brewer

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Recreation And Realization: Reported Motivations Of Use Among Persons Who Consume Psychedelics In Non-Clinical Settings, Cindy Brooks Dollar

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Psychedelic research is said to be going through a renaissance with widespread public and political attention on psychedelics’ ability to clinically resolve various medicalized issues. The prevailing cultural narrative of psychedelics almost touts it as a panacea when used in regulated, clinical settings under the supervision of a trained guide. While clinical studies are certainly informative, it is important to recognize that most psychedelic use takes place in social settings, not clinical ones. This paper seeks to expand the narrative on psychedelic research by presenting in-depth interview data on a diverse sample of 30 persons who report using psychedelic substances …

Everyday Aesthetics, Space, And The Sensory: Fear Of Crime And Affect In Inner Sydney, Murray Lee, Jonathan Jackson, Justin R. Ellis

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"In this paper we explore pre-conscious aesthetic and sensorial aspects of affect in fear of crime. Drawing on data from focus groups undertaken in inner Sydney, Australia, we link the sensory and aesthetic preconditions of fear of crime to its affective, behavioural and cognitive elements. We argue that fear is grounded in the structural, personal and inter-subjective components of individual’s lives and their interaction with physical and social environments, which then influence how individuals cognitively understand their own risks and react behaviourally to these emotional responses. By bringing alive the importance of environmental cues and the cultural and structural positions …

Conducting A Systematic Social Observation Of Body-Camera Footage: Methodological And Practical Insights, Vijay Chillar, Eric Piza, Victoria Sytsma

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Increased use of video recording technologies such as drones, smartphones, CCTV, and body-worn cameras (BWCs), provides researchers with modes for observing human behavior in their natural settings. Although not originally intended for empirical inquiry, these data sources facilitate a video data analysis (VDA) framework used in the social sciences. BWCs represent an emerging technology within this framework, and BWC footage provides valuable insight into situational dynamics at play during various social phenomena. When combined with systematic social observation (SSO), researchers are well-equipped to unpack social phenomena in a manner that overcomes many challenges of traditional qualitative methodologies. This article incorporates …

“I’M Doing Everything Right All Over Again”: How Women Manage Exiting Street Prostitution Over Time, Nili Gesser, Corey Shdaimah

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Exiting the criminalized sale of sex, which we refer to as prostitution, is a complex, recursive process which has been rarely studied longitudinally. Using typical case sampling, we selected two respondents from a two-year ethnographic study of a courtaffiliated diversion program in Philadelphia who participated in a total of eight interviews. Saldaña’s (2009) seldom-used longitudinal coding method was applied to conduct a fine-grained analysis of participants’ perceptions of exiting prostitution over time, focusing on participants’ motivations and actions. Respondents managed expectations of others and themselves and their sense of self-worth within a context of changing relationships, structural opportunities, accomplishments and …

The Truth(S) Behind “True Crime”: Examining The Role Of Narrative In The Retellings Of The Rafay Family Murders, Samantha L. Richard

FIMS Major Projects and Creative Projects

In April of 1995, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) launched their second ever “Mr. Big” operation: one that involves an intricate interrogation technique designed to elicit a confession from suspected criminals in cases where physical evidence cannot link the accused to the crime. The targets of this operation were suspected murderers Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafay. The highly publicized case was discussed extensively through traditional news coverage, as well as in various stories of the true crime genre. Through the use of narrative theory, this paper examines the role of narrative in the retelling of the Rafay family murders. …

The Ideology Of The Carceral State: Examining The Prison Through Film, Ryan Phillips

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Mass incarceration began almost fifty years ago and has proliferated to the point that the United States is the world leader in incarceration. Much work has been done that examines the history and nature of mass incarceration and the carceral state. However, an area that has received far less attention is how people think about prisons. To address this gap, I ground my analysis in the works of Louis Althusser, Slavoj Zizek, and Mark Fisher to formulate “Carceral Realism”, which I argue is the ideology of mass incarceration. To better understand the nature of this ideology, I employ a content …

Editor's Introduction To Comments On The Crimcon Controversey, Scott Jacques

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

This piece introduces two comments and a rejoinder on the “CrimCon Controversy.” I learned of the controversy on Twitter, in early January 2021.

The Crimcon Controversy: An Essay Addressing Irb Approval, Informed Consent, And The Interpretation Of Results, Kevin Buckler, Eryn O'Neal

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"In “COVID-19 and academia: Considering the future of academic conferencing,” Reinhard, Stafford, and Payne (2021) present findings based on an analysis of video and audio-recorded CrimCon presentations. The study’s ethics are questionable. A concern is that the investigators did not seek the informed consent of participants. In this essay, we discuss the federal human subjects regulatory definition of “human subjects,” and explain how it substantiates our concern in light of the facts.1 Key among them is that a coinvestigator, Payne, was also on the board that organized the conference, the Criminology Consortium. As such, he was involved in the development …

A Test Of Leadership: Insight From Two Women From The Founding Crimcon Board, Joan Antunes, Breanna Boppre

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"We write this commentary as two former members of the founding Criminology Consortium (CrimCon) board. In this essay, we share our gendered experiences with respect to the board’s role in Reinhard, Stafford, and Payne’s (2021) article, “COVID- 19 and academia: Considering the future of academic conferencing.” The paper’s third author, Payne, was on the board with us, and remains on it as we write. We will discuss issues with the study process and conclusions. We wish to share our perspectives on the board to inform future leadership and efforts towards public scholarship within criminology."

Seeing The Vision And Moving Forward: The Future Of The Crimcon Conference From The New Board, Bobbie Ticknor, Jessica Warner, Carlos Rojas, Arelys Madero, Daniel Lytle

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"The Criminology Consortium (CrimCon) was created during one of the worst international pandemics seen in modern history. A group of innovators keenly perceived the need to create a new way to disseminate knowledge in the field because many of our existing conferences and annual meetings were postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic. There was a major void felt in the field by the cancellation of our traditional face-to-face conferences. There are many advantages to attending and participating in conferences in our field. These annual meetings give academics, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers ways to communicate their research, learn about the …

Compilation Of Mentoring Programs In San Diego And Imperial Counties, Nohelia Ramos, Caitlyn Lauchner, Andrew Blum

Kroc IPJ Research and Resources

This document compiles information on mentoring programs in San Diego and Imperial Counties. The goal is to provide a clear picture what mentoring programs are being implemented and to give basic information about those programs as of June 2021.

The purpose of the document is three-fold. First, as a deliverable under the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative (PSN), it is designed to provide basic information to the US Attorney’s Office and others involved in the PSN on the range of mentoring programs that exist. Mentoring programs have proven to be an effective program strategy for producing a range of positive youth …

Changes In The Black-White Sentencing Gap After United States V. Booker, 2008-17, Shuhao Zhang

Student Theses

The Black-White sentencing gap, as defined by the differences between the average sentences received by Black defendants and those by White defendants, is an under- research area. In the federal court, after United States v. Booker, this gap has decreased from 25 months in 2008-2010 to 0 in 2016-2107. By using Oaxaca decomposition, I find that the differences in criminal history, offense levels, and pretrial detention status between Black and White defendants are the main source of the gap. The unexplained portion of the gap, resulting from judges finding Black defendants more culpable to their offenses and thus imposing harsher …

Quantitative And Qualitative Assessment Of Interrogation Expectations, Shereen R. Lewis

Student Theses

Interrogation expectations (IE) is a construct that suggests expectations of custodial interrogations affect suspects’ Miranda waiver decisions while under interrogation. Prior research has examined IE quantitatively but there has been no prior research examining IE qualitatively. This current research conducted both a quantitative and qualitative analysis of IE using a sample of 335 participants from the United States. This research took the form of an online survey using Prolific (www.prolific.co) to recruit participants, Qualtrics (www.qualtrics.com) to record data, and SPSS and Nvivo to analyze quantitative qualitative data. It was hypothesized that substantial individual variation in IE will be found in …

Early Survivor Voices And Primary Sources. Modern Slavery: A Documentary And Reference Guide By Laura J. Lederer, Sandra Morgan

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.