Criminology Commons^™

An Argument For Interdisciplinary Programs In Cybersecurity, Dennis Giever

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

In this commentary Dr. Giever presents a compelling argument for interdisciplinary programs in cybersecurity at the university level. He argues that we no longer have the luxury of allowing barriers to exist between those tasked with IT security and those who provide physical security. He recommends that any security program take an “all possible paths” or “balanced approach” to the protection of assets within an organization. Students in computer science, criminal justice, business, human resources, and others should work collaboratively within education programs learning these necessary skills. A team effort is needed to accomplish the myriad of tasks necessary to …

Effects Of Senate Bill 4 On Wage-Theft: Why All Workers Are At Risk In Low-Income Occupations, Daniella Salas-Chacon

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

A Structural Equation Analysis Of The Relationships Between Ptsd, Depressive Symptoms And Suicidal Ideation : Is General Strain Theory A Viable Framework For Explaining Suicide Risk Among Correctional Staff?, Wm. Clay Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a large body of evidence, which suggests PTSD is strongly related to increased suicide risk, however, some studies suggest the true nature of their relationship is better explained through the development of depression due to the effects of PTSD. While a majority of the studies examining this relationship focus only on general populations, a growing body research suggests that high-risk occupations such as police, firefighters and correctional staff are developing PTSD at rates as high as 8 to 10 times that of the rate of these general samples. This study, then, aims to fill a small gap in …

Macro-Level Predictors Of Assaults Against Police In Kentucky., Virginia Paulette Redman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Law enforcement is one of the most dangerous careers. Every day, while performing their jobs, police officers may find themselves in situations that place them at a high risk of being victimized or even feloniously killed by members of the public. Over the past five decades, several quantitative and qualitative research studies tried to identify the circumstances and the individual-level factors associated with an increased risk of police victimization. While most of the research studies focusing on police victimization were descriptive and/or were based on micro-level analyses, macro-level research on this topic is relatively scant. This dissertation intends to reduce …

The Effect Of Maoa And Stress Sensitivity On Crime And Delinquency: A Replication Study, Christa C. Christ, Joseph A. Schwartz, Scott F. Stoltenberg, Jonathan R. Brauer, Jukka Savolainen

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Across several meta-analyses, MAOA-uVNTR genotype has been associated with an increased risk for antisocial behavior among males who experienced early life adversity. Subsequently, early life stress and genetic susceptibility may have long-term effects on stress sensitivity later in life. In support of this assumption, a recent study found evidence, in two independent samples, for a three-way interaction effect (cG × E × E) such that proximate stress was found to moderate the interactive effect of MAOA-uVNTR and distal stress on crime and delinquency among males. In light of recent developments in cG × E research, we attempted to …

Spreading Propaganda In Cyberspace: Comparing Cyber-Resource Usage Of Al Qaeda And Isis, Kyung-Shick Choi, Claire Seungeun Lee, Robert Cadigan

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

Terrorists in cyberspace are increasingly utilizing social media to promote their ideologies, recruit new members, and justify terrorist attacks and actions. This study explores the ways in which types of social media, message contents, and motives for spreading propaganda take shape in cyberspace. In order to empirically test these relations, we created a dataset with annual terrorism reports from 2011 to 2016. In our global cyberterrorism dataset, we used and connected cyber-resources (Facebook, online forum, Twitter mentions, websites, and YouTube videos) and legal documents of individual cases that were mentioned in the reports. The results show that YouTube videos were …

Undocumented Crime Victims: Unheard, Unnumbered, And Unprotected, Pauline Portillo

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

Pretrial Release And Failure-To-Appear In Mclean County, Il, Jonathan Monsma

Student Research – Stevenson Center

Actuarial risk assessment tools increasingly have been employed in jurisdictions across the U.S. to assist courts in the decision of whether someone charged with a crime should be detained or released prior to their trial. These tools should be continually monitored and researched by independent 3^rd parties to ensure that these powerful tools are being administered properly and used in the most proficient way as to provide socially optimal results. McLean County, Illinois began using the Public Safety Assessment-Court^TM (PSA-Court or simply PSA) risk assessment tool beginning in 2016. This study culls data from the McLean County Jail …

Neighborhood Parks And Playgrounds: Risky Or Protective Contexts For Youth Substance Use?, Marijana Kotlaja, Emily M. Wright, Abigail A. Fagan

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Neighborhood parks and playgrounds are thought to reduce the stressors of disorganized urban environments by adding greenspace and fostering community cohesion, and, in doing so, may reduce crime and delinquency. Yet, they may also foster criminal behaviors, including substance use, as they can provide areas for would-be offenders to gather without surveillance or fear of being caught. This study provides one of the first examinations of the relationship between the number of parks and playgrounds in a neighborhood and adolescent substance use. To do so, we analyze data from 1,584 youth living in 76 neighborhoods in Chicago. Using multivariate, multilevel …

Examining The Association Between Massage Parlors And Neighborhood Crime, Jessica Huff, Danielle Wallace, Courtney Riggs, Charles M. Katz, David Choate

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Although massage parlors have been associated with illicit activities including prostitution, less is known about their association with neighborhood crime. Employing the Computer Automated Dispatch/Record Management System (CAD/RMS), online user review, licensing, Census, and zoning data, we examine the impact of massage parlors on crime in their surrounding neighborhoods. Using spatial autoregressive models, our results indicate the total number of massage parlors was associated with increased social disorder. The presence of illicit massage parlors in adjacent neighborhoods was associated with crime and physical disorder in the focal neighborhoods. This study has consequences for how police address crime associated with massage …

Finding Common Ground: Relationship Building And Communication Between Po And Client Within A Community Supervision Setting, Carl Eugene Appleton

Dissertations and Theses

Previous research on the community supervision model entitled Effective Practices in Community Supervision (EPICS) focuses on the increased attention trained probation officers (POs), as opposed to non-trained POs, pay to using core correctional practices (Smith et al. 2012). While studies like this present a picture of what POs do during face-to-face interactions, there is little focus on PO perceptions of these day-to-day practices. Furthermore, still less studies center the clients on supervision in order to better understand topics such as ideal PO, ideal relationship, and perceptions of common community supervision strategies. To address these gaps, this study uses 30 semi-structured …

Cons, Constructions And Misconceptions Of Computer Related Crime: From A Digital Syntax To A Social Semantics, M. R. Mcguire

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Has the framing of computer crime been a process which has, in effect, left us all framed? What is it that we think that we understand when we use terms like “internet crime,” “cybercrime,” or “technocrime,” and in what sense does this understanding constitute knowledge? In particular, the kind of knowledge which can be defined as “social scientific?” In this paper, I apply one of the key distinctions used to define computational processes – that made between a syntax and a semantics – to illustrate some of the problems that have affected our thinking about cybercrime and undermined our responses …

Technocrime At The Margins: Introduction To The Special Issue On Critical Or Marginal Perspectives And Issues In The Study Of Technocrime, Kevin F. Steinmetz

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"When first asked to guest edit a special issue of the Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology, I admit that I was hesitant. I knew from helping Willard Oliver start this journal and from working as its first book review editor that editorship can be trying—and often underappreciated— work. Tom Holt, the editor of the journal at the time, however, was ambitious and willing to take some risks in his mission to carry the journal forward. As such, he offered me tremendous latitude and support for pursuing my unique vision for a special issue on technocrime issues from …

The Cyborgian Deviant: An Assessment Of The Hacker Through The Lens Of Actor-Network Theory, Wytske Van Der Wagen

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"When we think of technocrime, it is immediately “the hacker” who comes to mind, a somewhat mystical figure who can do seemingly magical as well as malicious things with technology. Throughout history, various scholars, including criminologists, have sought to grasp the hacker phenomenon so as to unravel hackers’ techno-culture, identity, and mentality. The current study is one of them, yet it does so from a novel, less anthropocentric angle. Drawing on the cyborg-lens of actor-network theory, which considers the human and the technical as nonseparable, this study conceives the hacker as a “cyborgian deviant:” a transgressive blend of human and …

The Use Of Mythic Narratives In Presidential Rhetoric On Cybercrime, Joshua B. Hill, Nancy E. Marion

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"What politicians say about crime matters, both because of the impact their rhetoric has on public opinion and the policies and motives those words often portend. This is no different when presidents speak about the relatively new area of technocrime. As with other types of crime, political rhetoric on technocrime relies on previous social constructions of the problem, which are (in part) based on myths rooted in popular culture. These myths can be used to help forward political agendas in ways that may be useful to the politician, but that do not address the causes or effects of technocrime. Using …

Seductive Events: A Critical Examination Of Youth Sexting, Karen Holt

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"The social impact of technologies is evident among both teenagers and young people. Youth now experience and engage in most aspects of daily life “online” through the use of social media, mobile phones, and the Internet. This has led to a host of concerns, from parents, educators, advocates, and law enforcement regarding the ways in which this technology is being used, with the debate focused primarily on the issue of “sexting” or sharing of naked and semi-naked selfies. This paper explores sexting behavior from a critical perspective, examining the individual and institutional narratives that continue to shape and influence opinion …

Coping With Cybercrime Victimization: An Exploratory Study Into Impact And Change, Jurjen Jansen, Rutger Leukfeldt

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"An increasing number of Internet users are dealing with cybercrime victimization. In order to find out whether victims adequately recover from cybercrime incidents, it is important to gain insight into its effects and impact on users. However, as it stands now, there is not much literature on the impact of cybercrime. We address this gap by qualitatively examining the impact of two types of cybercrime, namely phishing and malware attacks targeting online banking customers. We used the coping approach as a framework to study how victims deal with the negative events they have experienced. In order to study the impact …

A Multi-Level Study Of Clearance: The Role Of Gender, Jenna Dole

Sociology ETDs

Objective. To examine the role that gender plays in the clearance of a reported criminal incident, and whether it varies across places. Methods. Using multi-level logistic regressions, data from the 2014 National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), 2010 Census data, 2013 Law Enforcement Management Statistics, and the 2010 Municipal Yearbook are used to examine the effects of a victim’s sex on crime clearance. Results. Women are initially advantaged in clearance before controlling for any evidentiary factors. However, most of the relationship is explained away when controlling for the relationship between the victim and the offender. Women are more likely to be …

Who Am I? Criminal Social Identity As A Mediator In The Relationship Between Criminal Peers And Criminal Attitudes Within A Sample Of Probationers/Parolees, Quinton Thomas Alexander

Dissertations and Theses

Previous research has shown there to be a relationship between criminal peers and an individual's antisocial behavior and attitudes. Social literature lacks however empirical support for social identity theory, which suggests social identity serves as a mediator in the development of attitudes. Rather than a direct relationship where criminal peers influences the presence of criminal attitudes, this research suggests that criminal peers actually influences a mediator (i.e. an individual's social identity), which in turn influences their criminal attitudes. Thus, this mediation serves to clarify the nature of the seemingly apparent relationship between peers and attitudes. The current study, then, attempts …

Why The Uk Needs A Separate Justice System For People With Mental Illness, Karen A. Snedker

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

"Severe mental illness is on the rise in the UK, and an increasing number of people with mental illness are behind bars and supported by inadequate mental health services. This is a situation that could be improved by the introduction of courts specifically geared for hearing cases involving defendants with mental health issues."

Understanding Police Officer Resistance To Body-Worn Cameras, Jessica Huff, Charles M. Katz, Vincent J. Webb

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have been adopted in police agencies across the USA in efforts to increase police transparency and accountability. This widespread implementation has occurred despite some notable resistance to BWCs from police officers in some jurisdictions. This resistance poses a threat to the appropriate implementation of this technology and adherence to BWC policies. The purpose of this paper is to examine factors that could explain variation in officer receptivity to BWCs.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors assess differences between officers who volunteered to wear a BWC and officers who resisted wearing a BWC as part of a larger randomized controlled …

Remember My Chains: New Testament Perspectives On Incarceration, Matthew L. Skinner

Faculty Publications

Understanding the physical realities and social attitudes concerning incarceration in the ancient world provides a fuller context to the New Testament’s unadorned and ambiguous references to people’s experience of being held in custody. The context is crucial for interpreting biblical passages that commend caring for prisoners, that reaffirm God’s strength and nullify the ignominy associated with incarceration, and that declare God’s power over the means and motives of imperial coercion. Such passages also compel the contemporary church to advocate on behalf of prisoners and to denounce the systems that regularly victimize them.

The Persistent Labor Market Effects Of A Criminal Conviction And “Ban The Box” Reforms, Joshua M. Congdon-Hohman

Economics Department Working Papers

Past literature has established that individuals who have been incarcerated face difficulties reentering the work force following their release, while finding and keeping a job can significantly reduce recidivism amongst individuals with prior criminal convictions. In attempt to improve employment outcomes, many local and state governments in the United States have initiated "Ban the Box" regulations. These initiatives delay inquiries regarding criminal history on job applications. Versions of ban the box regulations covering public sector employment have been enacted in 31 states and more than 150 local governments. Ban the box laws have included private employers in eleven states and …

Willingness To Speak In The Context Of Police Use Of Force, Rachel Italiano

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Police use of force has become a common phrase in the current United States society, especially in the context of law enforcement encounters with Black men. However, even with extensive media coverage of protests and incidents between police and Blacks, not much is known about peoples’ willingness to speak out about the topic. Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann’s spiral of silence theory, which states that peoples’ perceptions of others and media exposure is largely responsible for determining an individual’s willingness to speak, is uniquely positioned to examine this topic. This study utilized a Qualtrics panel of 905 participants and a questionnaire to examine …

Teaching Note—Reification And Recognition In The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, Molly Malany Sayre

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

At an Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program course in a correctional facility, roughly half the students are from the university (outside students) and half are residents of the facility (inside students). I participated as a teaching assistant in an Inside-Out social work course on drugs and crime that was offered in a prison for men and interpreted the observed and reported experience of students using Lukács’ concepts of recognition and reification as discussed by Axel Honneth. This teaching note explores the implications of the Inside-Out course for outside students’ reification and recognition of people who are incarcerated, and by extension, members …

More Than What Meets The Eye: An Examination Of Characteristics That Impact Juvenile Justice Detention Decisions, Ashley Maria Buchanan

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Research shows that disparities still exist in the juvenile justice decision-making process, but there is a gap in our understanding of neighborhood characteristics that may affect those detention decisions. Therefore, this research examines structural factors influenced by social disorganization theory to explore the impact they have on juvenile detention decisions. Neighborhood parks and recreation centers are examined as important local institutions that provide informal social control to the neighborhood. The Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) for the city of Norfolk compiled juvenile justice data, and 2016 Census data were also used to obtain neighborhood structural information. Non-White juveniles were …

Exploring The Association Between How Social Media Affects Attitudes Toward Marijuana Legalization, Troy Adam Aubut Ii

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

As support for marijuana legalization continues to rise, it’s important to explore how the use of social media may be affecting the attitudes of Americans around this controversial topic. Social media has become a part of everyday life for most as it allows easy communication to anyone anywhere and allows the exchanging of influential ideas over a broad range of topics, especially marijuana legalization. As such, this study utilized data from the 2016 General Social Survey to examine the relationship between how the general use of social media affects attitudes toward marijuana legalization. The findings of this study suggest that …

Exploring Factors That Enhance Career Advancement For African-Americans Across Various Criminal Justice Occupations: A Qualitative Examination, Antonio Jon Bryer

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the factors that are important for African-Americans to reach executive-level positions within the field of corrections. Using nine semi-structured interviews with current and former executive-level corrections professionals, it was found that investments in social capital and human capital are the main career advancement enhancers. However, when it came to factors that were specific to African-American corrections professionals, a majority of the respondents mentioned proficiency as an enhancer.

Risk Factor Profile Of Youth Incarcerated For Child To Parent Violence: A Nationally Representative Sample, Gaylene Armstrong, Calli Cain, Lindsey Wylie, Lisa Muftic, Leana A. Bouffard

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Purpose

Intra-familial violence occurs in many forms yet few researchers examine child to parent violence (CPV), which occurs in almost 20% of single parent homes. Studies have neither developed a risk factor profile for youth involved in the most severe cases of CPV resulting in incarceration, nor included a comparison of gender-specific correlates.

Methods

Data from the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement (SYRP) 2003, a large-scale, nationally representative sample of justice-involved youth between the ages of 10 and 20 who were survey using a multi-stage cluster sampling procedure is utilized.

Results

Youth incarcerated for CPV are typically white and …

"It's Not Equality": How Race, Class, And Gender Construct The Normative Religious Self Among Female Prisoners, Rachel Ellis

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Works

Prior sociological research has demonstrated that religious selves are gendered. Using the case of female inmates—some of the most disadvantaged Americans—this article shows that dominant messages constructing the religious self are not only gendered, but also deeply intertwined with race and class. Data from 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork on religion inside a U.S. state women’s prison reveal that religious volunteers—predominately middle-class African American women—preached feminine submissiveness and finding a “man of God” to marry to embody religious ideals. However, these messages were largely out of sync with the realities of working class and poor incarcerated women, especially given their …