Criminology Commons^™

“Were You Drunk At The Time?”: The Influence Of Parole Boards On Accounts And Neutralization Techniques In State Parole Hearings, Danielle Lavin-Loucks, Kristine Levan

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"This paper examines the collaborative nature of accounts and neutralization techniques that are employed in parole hearings. Prior research using neutralization theory has largely overlooked the role of other actors in the development of neutralizations, examining them through interviews or narratives where interaction is either scripted or limited and thus has little bearing on the production of such accounts. In contrast, this study evaluates real time interaction, examining how parole board members propose, respond to, and modify neutralizations issued by inmates seeking parole. Ethnographic observations of 438 regular parole and parole revocation hearings, videotapes of 40 such hearings from the …

Becoming A Hacker: Demographic Characteristics And Developmental Factors, Kevin F. Steinmetz

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Hackers are not defined by any single act; they go through a process of development. Building from previous research and through ethnographic interviews and participant observation, the current analysis examines characteristics which may influence an individual’s development as a hacker. General demographic characteristics are analyzed, the participants’ school experiences are discussed, and perceived levels of parental support and influence are defined. Finally, descriptions of first exposures to technology, the concept of hacking, and the hacking community are presented. The study concludes with theoretical implications and suggestions for future research."

Summer Cop: A Qualitative Study Of Summer Police Officers, Brad Campbell

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"There are approximately 18,000 police agencies employing 750,000 police officers in the United States in order to police a population over 300 million citizens. In addition, sketchy estimates state there are 400,000 police reserves assisting full-time sworn officers in their duties. One major subgroup of these police reserves are summer police officers (“summer cops”) who serve full-time during the tourist season in mostly beach communities. There has been little to no research into this subpopulation of police officers and little is known about their background and reasons for becoming summer reserve officers. In order to fill this gap in the …

From Burlesque To Grand Theft Auto: An Historical Analysis Of The Treatment Of The Media-Crime Relationship In Criminology Texts, Lisa A. Kort-Butler, Michael Killingsworth

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"The degree to which criminological scholarship on the mediacrime relationship has been subject to the tides of moral panics is not well-understood, although there are theoretical reasons to hypothesize about the role of scientists in moral panics. Textbooks are one location in which a discipline chronicles its scholarly history and speaks to the public, making texts an important site for understanding how scholars interpret the media-crime relationship. A content analysis of over 200 criminology texts, ranging in publication dates from 1880 to 2012, was conducted. Almost half the texts covered the media-crime relationship. These texts often appeared to be responding …

Sharon S. Oselin, Leaving Prostitution: Getting Out And Staying Out Of Sex Work, Melisa M. Jaris

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Leaving Prostitution highlights the critical role that prostitute-serving organizations (PSO) can play in prostitutes’ efforts to leave the sex industry. PSOs can provide prostitutes subsidized housing, employment opportunities, food, transportation, counseling, education, and mentoring. These fundamental amenities offer prostitutes the life choices and confidence needed to leave the sex industry."

Rachel Zimmer Schneider, Battered Women Doing Time: Injustice In The Criminal Justice System, Cortney A. Franklin

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Advocacy and scholarly attention directed toward the plight of battered women began in the mid-1970s (del Martin, 1975). Since that time, a host of research has been conducted on the incidence and prevalence of domestic violence, the dynamics of battering relationships (LaViolette and Barnette, 2014), the predictors of why men batter, and the risk of increasing harm for survivors who are courageous enough to leave domestically violent relationships. As Lenore Walker (1977) so insightfully recognized in her early work using a sample of sheltered women who had escaped a domestically violent partner, these relationships are characterized by specific stages and …

Nickie D. Phillips & Staci Strobl, Comic Book Crime: Truth, Justice, And The American Way, Jordan E. Mazurek

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"In what can be described as an ethnographic content analysis of (super) heroic proportions, Nickie D. Phillips and Staci Strobl’s Comic Book Crime: Truth, Justice, and the American Way provides an in-depth exploration of crime and justice discourses presented in the medium of the comic book in the first decade of the 2000s. The authors employ years of in-depth participant observation in the comic book subculture along with group interviews to inform their analysis of the story arcs in two hundred popular comic book series, along with a number of graphic novels, in the post-9/11 American context. Drawing on a …

S.F. Sharp, Mean Lives, Mean Laws: Oklahoma’S Women Prisoners, Kerri Bellamy

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Using a feminist strain approach, Susan Sharp’s Mean Lives, Mean Laws: Oklahoma’s Women Prisoners, investigates the impact of incarceration on women in the Oklahoma prison system and their families. Oklahoma incarcerates women at a rate of 135 per 100,000, the highest in the nation. The book examines this high incarceration rate by investigating factors such as childhood abuse and neglect which may continue into adulthood and that contribute to women’s imprisonment. Sharp makes it clear that once in prison there are few avenues for the women to obtain education and healthcare or to maintain relationships with family on the …

Sutherland, Edwin H., The Professional Thief, Jurg Gerber

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Perhaps because he was the son of a minister and raised in a very traditional home (Geis & Meier, 1977, p.24), Edwin Sutherland (1883-1950) had a populist streak and is known for two major contributions to American criminology: the theory of differential association (DA) and the concept of white collar crime (WCC). His classic book entitled The Professional Thief is at the intersection of these two interests, although its influence has been more acknowledged with respect to DA than WCC. This review traces scholarly reactions to the book and its enduring contributions to American criminology."

Alice Goffman, On The Run: Fugitive Life In An American City, Dzhamilia Makashova

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Alice Goffman’s On the Run is an ethnographic study of the impacts of the war on drugs and policing in an American urban neighborhood. Her research started during her sophomore year at the University of Pennsylvania in Dr. David Grazian’s urban ethnography class. As a part of the class, Goffman’s assignment was to pick a site to observe and take notes, and she got a job at a cafeteria at the west edge of Penn’s campus with Miss Deena, a Black woman in her sixties who managed the staff. Through this job, Goffman was introduced to Miss Deena’s family and …

Sex Registries And Juvenile Offenders: An Examination Of College Student Perception, Ebony D. Bryant

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Juvenile sex offenders are included in sex offender registration laws based on the assumption that they pose a high risk for future reoffending. Without doubt sex offender laws are quite controversial. Given the recent support in applying sex offender registry laws to juveniles, laws originally designed to protect children of these same ages, this study addresses the following: 1. How do the disciplines of psychology and criminal justice impact student perception of juvenile sex offender registration? 2. How do major of study, race, and gender impact student perception of juvenile sex offender registration? 3. To what extent do social science …

Violence-Related Police Crime Arrests In The United States, 2005-2011, Philip M. Stinson, Steven L. Brewer Jr, Joelle K. Bridges

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This study is a quantitative content analysis of news reports and court records on 3,328 violence-related arrest cases of 2,586 individual sworn law enforcement officers during the years 2005-2011. The arrested officers were employed by 1,445 nonfederal state, local, special, constable, tribal, and regional law enforcement agencies located in 805 counties and independent cities in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Binary logistic regression and classification and regression tree (CART) analyses were conducted to predict criminal conviction in violence-related police crime arrest cases. Finding indicate that conviction of police officers on one or more offenses charged are driven by …

Student Criminality: The Influence Of Strain, Family And Peers, Annie Cvetan

Theses and Dissertations

General strain theory suggests that a number of conditioning factors affect who is more likely to respond to strain with crime. Research has also demonstrated that an individual's self-complexity plays a role in how an individual responds to strain. Self-complexity refers to (1) the number of identities individuals perceive as important to themselves; and (2) the varied characteristics they ascribe to these identities. This research study analyzed if college students were committing crime, whether the crimes were major or minor in nature, and if criminality was a new behavior or an imported one. This study also looked at who, if …

Homeland Security And Community Policing: Shift In Federal Funding Post Sep. 11: From Community Policing To Homeland Security, Mohsen S. Alizadeh

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the aftermath of the 9/11, Homeland Security became the major model of the American Policing system, thus superseding community policing model. The purpose of this research is to use "before and after study design" to follow the grant trends of policing systems in order to examine whether the catastrophic events of 9/11 had a positive or negative impact on the grant funds of the mentioned policing models. Preliminary analyses revealed that there is significant difference in the mean level of funding prior and after the event for Homeland Security, community policing, and general policing programs. Segmented and Stepwise Regressions …

Child Abductors Who Have Killed Their Victims: A Theoretical Approach To Spatial Analysis, Tonya M. Desa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Despite the intense and prolonged public attention received when a child is abducted and killed, there are major gaps in the academic literature. One of the gaps pertains to the distances traveled by the offender between key crime locations. The overall aim of this study was to provide information concerning typical travel distances of offenders. This project utilized an archival data set compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. The database constructed for this project consisted of 72 victims who were abducted and murdered by 68 offenders. The date range for these …

Pennsylvania Academic Career/Technical Training Alliance Initiative: Engaging Youth In School And Work, Marna Goodman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research offers a feasibility study on the effectiveness of the Pennsylvania Academic Career Technical Training Alliance (PACTT) at engaging youth in school and work upon return to the community. The sample included adjudicated youth from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania committed to PACTT-affiliated residential facilities and who discharged between July1, 2011 and June 31, 2012. An overview of the PACTT Initiative, with specific attention to its core elements, is presented and examined in the context of Ecological Systems Theory. Secondary data was analyzed using logistic regression to measure the overall impact of the five PACTT elements, dosage of PACTT elements, and …

The Impact Of Police Misconduct In Kings County On New York City's Civil Liability 2006-2010, Brian A. Maule

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The confluence of police misconduct and civil liability is an issue of growing concern for many communities throughout the U.S. today. The gravamen of the issue is evident in increases in the number of lawsuits alleging police misconduct and the civil liability that results from these lawsuits.

In New York City during the period 1997-2005 the cost for police misconduct went from $27.9 million in 1997 to $40.4 million in 2005 (Thompson, 2007). Concerns over these increases have resulted in efforts to curb both the number of lawsuits brought against the New York Police Department and the civil liability to …

Inmate-, Incident-, And Facility-Level Factors Associated With Escapes From Custody And Violent Outcomes, Bryce E. Peterson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Introduction: Preventing escapes from custody is a critical function of prisons, jails, and the individuals who run these correctional facilities. Escapes are a popular topic in the news, among lawmakers, and in public discourse. Much of this interest stems from the widespread notion that escapees pose a serious threat to public safety, as well to the safety of correctional staff and law enforcement officers tasked with preventing and apprehending them. However, despite the importance of preventing escapes and minimizing violence, there has been very little empirical research on these issues in the past several decades. Extant research has also been …

Challenging The Political Assumption That “Guns Don’T Kill People, Crazy People Kill People!”, Heath J. Hodges, Mario Scalora

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Every time an infamous mass shooting takes place, a storm of rhetoric sweeps across this country with the fury of a wild fire. “Why are we letting these people carry guns?” “Why were they not hospitalized?” “The government needs to crack down on this issue!” What is the government’s response to these cries of concern? Politicians and the media attempt to ease public fears by drawing tenuous connections among a handful of poorly understood tragedies. The salient commonality is that these high-profile shooters had some history of mental illness. A cursory review of the Internet will paint a troubling picture …

Police Crime: The Criminal Behavior Of Sworn Law Enforcement Officers, Philip M. Stinson

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This essay examines the criminological conceptualizations and research on police crime, that is, the criminal behavior of sworn law enforcement officers. It starts with an overview of the conceptualization of police crime as it relates to organizational and scholarly perspectives of social deviance. Police deviance is often conceptualized to include various misconduct, corruption, and/or crime committed by police organizations and police officers. This essay focuses on police crime resulting in the arrest of a sworn law enforcement officer and is organized within a conceptual framework that incorporates five types of police crime: sex-related police crime, alcohol-related police crime, drug-related police …

Alleviating Risks Of Parental Incarceration Through Mentorship, Sonia Murrey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The focus of the present study was on the lack of positive socialization of children affected by parental incarceration. Researchers have indicated the need to broaden the examination of the effects of parental incarceration on children. Mentorship has demonstrated a positive influence for youth who display at-risk behaviors. However, there is little research regarding the effectiveness of mentorship programs for youth who have experienced the negative effects of parental incarceration. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of youth who have completed an individualized mentorship program following parental imprisonment. Flyers were distributed to case managers …

Critical Factors In Police Use-Of-Force Decisions, Orville Nickel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study investigated law enforcement officers' perceptions of the legal, normative, and practical considerations that are implicit in their decisions when faced with using physical force. Law enforcement officers observe and protect fundamental human rights. A significant problem, however, is that physical force is sometimes misused, impacting public confidence in police services. The study was framed by Durkheim's conflict theory and Beirie's concepts of police corporate culture and social control. It used a grounded theory method and predeveloped case scenarios presented to 2 male focus groups of 7 and 6 participants respectively, and 2 female focus groups of 5 and …

General Strain Theory As A Predictor Of Occupational Fraud, Timothy Bergsma

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The world economy loses an estimated $3.5 trillion annually due to fraud. A weakened economy leads to additional hardships for individuals, families, and organizations. General strain theory (GST) posits that certain strains lead to negative emotional responses, and the result is delinquent behavior. The purpose of this research was to analyze the relationship between strain and occupational fraud through the theoretical framework of GST. The research questions addressed (a) occupational frauds as measured by strain levels of perpetrators, (b) the relationship between strain scores and the different occupational fraud types, and (c) the significance of the relationship between fraud motivation …

Predictors Of Recidivism For Offenders With Mental Illness And Substance Use Disorders, Linda Buckmon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental illness and substance use disorders have been determined to be leading predictors for recidivism among criminal offenders in the United States who are released to community supervision. Women make up an increasing in percentage of this criminal justice population; however, few studies have explored the role that gender plays in determining men and women's recidivism. Offender's education, employment, and peer association have also been reported to be predictors increasing the likelihood of recidivism among criminal offenders. This study was designed to determine if gender, mental illness, substance use disorder, employment, education, and peer association predicted recidivism. Differential association theory …

Police Perceptions And Decision Making Related To Domestic Minors Trafficked Through Prostitution, Donna Sue Belin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In spite of a paradigm shift redefining domestic minors trafficked through prostitution as victims instead of criminal offenders, many police officers experience uncertainty in the way they evaluate the nature of domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) and assess the culpability status of prostituted minors. This problem often results in revictimizing children and hindering their ability to access needed services. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore police officers' perceptions of minors engaged in prostitution and derive an understanding of the experiences, beliefs, and values that underlie these perceptions. The study also focused on how these factors influence …

Predictors Of Community Supervision Failures Among Female Offenders, Fayola Wolfe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study explored the predictors of community supervision failures amongst female offenders in the United States criminal justice system. Female offenders have, in comparison with male offenders, particular challenges for community reintegration. This study used the relational theory and Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory to investigate the effects of childhood trauma on adult female offenders' behaviors, including substance use disorder and mental health issues. Secondary archival data were obtained from the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency's AUTO Screener and Supervision and Management Automated Record Tracking System; this data pool included information on 1,085 female offenders who had served at …

The Influence Of A Juvenile's Abuse History On Support For Sex Offender Registration, Cynthia J. Najdowski, M. C. Stevenson, J. M. Salerno, T. R. A. Wiley, B. L. Bottoms, K. M. Farnum

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

We investigated whether and how a juvenile’s history of experiencing sexual abuse affects public perceptions of juvenile sex offenders in a series of 5 studies. When asked about juvenile sex offenders in an abstract manner (Studies 1 and 2), the more participants (community members and undergraduates) believed that a history of being sexually abused as a child causes later sexually abusive behavior, the less likely they were to support sex offender registration for juveniles. Yet when participants considered specific sexual offenses, a juvenile’s history of sexual abuse was not considered to be a mitigating factor. This was true when participants …

Police Opinions Of Digital Evidence Response Handling In The State Of Georgia: An Examination From The Viewpoint Of Local Agencies’ Patrol Officers, Tanya Macneil

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

This research examined opinions of local law enforcement agencies’ patrol officers in the State of Georgia regarding preparedness and expectations for handling of digital evidence. The increased criminal use of technology requires that patrol officers be prepared to handle digital evidence in many different situations. The researcher’s goal was to gain insight into how patrol officers view their preparedness to handle digital evidence as well as their opinions on management expectations regarding patrol officers’ abilities to handle digital evidence. The research focused on identifying whether a gap existed between patrol officers’ opinions of digital evidence and the patrol officers’ views …

Immigration And Family Violence At The Household Level Of Analysis: Examining The Effects Of Immigrant Culture And Neighborhood Structure, Jorge Luis Hernandez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study concerns the relationship between immigration and family violence at the household level of analysis. Previous studies have suggested that immigrant status - particularly first generation immigrant status - is not associated with crime. However, the same cannot be said about their descendants the second and third generations; as they are not as insulated from crime as their forefathers. This study measures the following variables which are relevant to the immigration and family violence relationship; immigrant generational status, acculturation levels, patriarchy, family oriented values, collective efficacy, surveillance, and measures of informal social control. This study finds that there is …

The Psychology Of Workplace Deviant & Criminal Behavior, William Brice, Deborah E. Rupp

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

The 2013 book Deviant and Criminal Behavior in the Workplace addresses the psychological constructs, situations, and environments underlying active counterproductive workplace behaviors. Building on a diverse range of psychological findings, this book highlights that the field of criminology needs to expand outside of the realm of violence and instead look at how deviant workplace behaviors can tie into—and motivate—other types of crime.