Criminology Commons^™

The Effectiveness Of Motivational Interviewing On Intimate Partner Violence Clients, Chelsea Drake

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The criminal justice response to perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) is often a rehabilitative group treatment called Batterers Intervention Programs (Bl). This thesis assesses the effects of motivational interviewing (Ml) on clients ordered to local probation for IPV. Records were collected on IPV offenders enrolled in BI, within a small city in the Southeast Criminal Justice Agency. The pre-MI data were gathered from 2006, and post-MI data from 2007-2008 after the implementation of Ml. This thesis focuses on the use of MI as an intervention to enhance clients' motivation to change. This research is guided by questions that involve …

A Cross-National Analysis Of The Impact Of Conscription On Crime Rates, Nicolette G. Rose

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This paper examines the relationship between conscription laws (mandatory military or social service) and crime rates across countries. This cross-national study focuses on three major crimes: burglary, robbery, and homicide. In addition to conscription laws several control variables have been included in the analyses are: percent of the labor force that is military, level of civil liberties/freedom, level of industrialization, illiteracy rates, percent of urban population, unemployment rates, percent under the international poverty line, income disparity (measured using the Gini index), and population.

This study assesses the impact of conscription on crime rates by formulating and testing three hypotheses. First, …

Exploring Police Shootings And Officer Survivability: A Case Study, Amanda Leigh Farrell

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Police shootings are incidents that have lasting effects on the officers involved, the department to which they belong and the community at large, yet these events are rarely discussed holistically with consideration given to the multiple parties impacted. Given the significant impacts, officer survivability and resilience in the aftermath of a shooting incident have become a topic with which most modern police agencies are concerned. While this number of lethal incidents may seem surprisingly low, there is often a narrow focus on the shooting incident itself, with little attention paid to pre-event factors or to the long and short term …

The War On Drugs In The American States: Variations In Sentencing Policies Over Time, Katherine Anna Neill

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

Since the 1970s US drug policy has focused on harsh punishments for drug offenders. A wealth of research indicates that the social and political context of the drug policy discourse is a greater factor in determining drug policy than rising rates of drug use or drug-related crime. While considerable research has examined the factors driving federal drug policy, fewer studies have examined drug policy at the state level. This dissertation studies state drug sentencing policy to determine what factors may explain variation across states. By focusing on the period from 1975 to 2002, this study concentrates on policies passed during …

Patriarchal Ideology And Violence Against Women: A Theoretical Contribution Using Longitudinal, Individual-Level Analyses, Jesse Robert Mckee

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Feminist researchers have recently highlighted the need to revive patriarchy as a theoretical tool in regards to violence against women. Patriarchy is typically considered to be a structural concept, but a theory of patriarchy for violence against women must also include an individual-level component of patriarchal ideology. Patriarchal ideology has not been clearly conceptualized and is rarely operationalized. Very little research has assessed patriarchal ideology as a dependent variable and almost none has done this longitudinally. This research aims to fills these gaps. The current study also seeks to identify significant predictors of change in patriarchal ideology, an issue of …

Agent-Based Simulation Of Mass Shootings: Determining How To Limit The Scale Of A Tragedy, Roy Hayes, Reginald Hayes

VMASC Publications

An agent-based simulation was created to examine key parameters in mass shootings. The goal of the simulation was to examine the potential effectiveness of Senator Dianne Feinstein's (D-Calif.) assault weapons and high-capacity magazines bill. Based on the analysis, the proposed law would have a negligible effect on the number of people shot during mass shootings. The assault weapons portion of the proposed bill will have no effect on the number of people killed or wounded in a mass shooting. The assault weapons ban does not seek to decrease the rate of fire of any firearm. Of the parameters tested a …

Crime And Natural Resource Booms: Evidence From Unconventional Natural Gas Production, Timothy M. Komarek

Economics Faculty Publications

The USA has experienced a sudden expansion of oil and natural gas production due to the combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The energy extraction boom has had many localized impacts, most notably in areas with substantial shale gas reserves. This paper exploits a natural experiment in the Marcellus region to examine one channel of the so-called resource curse, the effect of resource extraction on local crime. The results show that areas experiencing a natural gas extraction boom suffer an increase in overall violent crimes, while property crimes remain similar to non-boom areas. Furthermore, the violent crime increase appears …

A Façade Of Normalcy: An Exploration Into The Serial Murderer's Duplicitous Lifestyle, Maryann Stone White

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The crime of serial murder both fascinates and repulses a myriad of academic disciplines, law enforcement agencies, news media, and popular culture. Despite the vast attention the phenomenon of serial murder has received, serial murderers are poorly understood. The current study used an interdisciplinary approach, combining insights from criminology and psychology to explore what mechanism(s) allow serial murderers to maintain a seemingly normal existence, frequently maintaining personal relationships, steady employment, and reputable social networks.

The data were analyzed using a deductive approach guided by a set of research questions as well as an inductive approach, which allowed emergent themes and …

The Darfur Name Game: Use Of Realpolitik By The United Nations In Decision-Making And Intervention, Angela Overton

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Violence has plagued the westernmost region of Sudan, known as Darfur, since 2003. The conflict contains elements of political and ethnic divisiveness, desertification, and resource scarcity. The violence there continues to date. Many have declared genocide in Darfur while others maintain that the conflict is instead a crime against humanity. The labeling of the conflict is critical because this process determines the interventions available. This paper focuses on the decision-making process of the United Nations and its Security Council to determine if the labeling of the conflict impacted the discourse and intervention decisions by those bodies. Discourse analysis results indicate …

President's Message, Brian Payne

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The article describes the author's experience regarding the 2014 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) Meeting held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The author recognized the participation and efforts of ACJS members in making the event a success, including Christine N. Famega, Nicky Piquero, and Jim Frank.

Beyond The Strait And Narrow: The Import Of Queer Criminology For Criminology And Criminal Justice, Vanessa R. Panfil, Jody Miller

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

[Introduction] In March 2014, as part of its community relations service, the U.S. Department of Justice held a community service training for police officers that focused on developing strategies to better prevent and respond to bias crimes against transgender citizens. While the impetus for the training was recognition that this group is disproportionately affected by hate violence (see NCAVP, 2013), attendees of the training also highlighted the tumultuous relationships transgender individuals have had with law enforcement as another impetus for change. Transgender activists and the DOJ lauded the event as an important step for improved relationships between law enforcement and …