Criminology Commons^™

The Drug Economy And Youth Interventions: An Exploratory Research Project On Working With Young People Involved In The Illegal Drugs Trade, Matt Bowden

Reports

No abstract provided.

The Danger Of ‘No’: Rejection Violence, Toxic Masculinity And Violence Against Women, Lily Katherine Thacker

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study illuminates the relationship between toxic masculinity and rejection violence, here defined as instances where men react violently toward women who reject their expressions of romantic or sexual interest. It begins with an analysis of the definition and construction of toxic masculinity and, through the analysis of different cases as reported in the media, expands into a discussion on how toxic masculinity contributes directly to cases of rejection violence. The study analyzes over 40 cases of rejection violence to present a clear picture of the relationship between these occurrences and toxic masculinity.

Statement From The Indiana Academy Of The Social Sciences And Board Of Directors, Mssj Staff

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Senior Editor In Chief's Note, Kenneth D. Colburn

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Natural Disaster, Crime, And Narratives Of Disorder: The 1861 Mendoza Earthquake And Argentina’S Ruptured Social And Political Faults, Quinn P. Dauer

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Social scientists studying natural disasters have generally found an absence of panic, a decrease in crime, and survivors working together to find basic necessities in the days and weeks after a catastrophe. By contrast, political and military authorities implement measures such as martial law to prevent chaos and lawlessness threatening private property. The media amplifies narratives of disorder, creating the perception of uncontrolled masses wantonly committing crimes in a disaster’s aftermath. Historians study natural disasters to view political, social, economic, and cultural structures stripped of their everyday veneer. The 1861 earthquake that destroyed the provincial capital of Mendoza in western …

East Chicago Politics: A Cornucopia Of Corruption, Tina Ebenger, Tracey Mccabe

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Despite the comical title, there is a lot of corruption in East Chicago (IN) politics. One mayoral election had to have a “do-over” because of fraudulent absentee ballots, and a former mayor is doing time in jail for using public monies to remodel his home. This cornucopia of corruption extended to the indictment of six public officials (the so-called Sidewalk Six) in East Chicago for misusing public funds for political gain, specifically vote-buying, in the 1999 mayoral reelection of Robert Pastrick. These officials, ranging from a parks superintendent to a city engineer to several city council members, bought votes by …

Going To Extremes: The National Parent Teacher Association And Political Extremism In The 1960s, Sarah E. Heath

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

In the 1960s, the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) reported efforts at “infiltration” by conservative extremist groups, including the John Birch Society (JBS). Extremists sought to take over PTA meetings to obtain a mainstream platform for minority opinions. The PTA parried extremists’ efforts with a deluge of activities and publications dedicated to democratic fair play and research-based approaches to education. In spite of a coherent plan for dealing with such techniques in the 1960s, the methods used by the Birch Society and other conservative extremist groups appear to have resumed in contemporary educational discussions. Once again, opinions that appeal to …

Race And Racism In The Historical Imagination: Slavery And Civil Rights In Popular Culture, Denise Lynn, Sakina Hughes, Aimee Adam

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Because Hollywood films often lack black representation, films on slavery and civil rights often fail to recognize the roles that black Americans have played in their own emancipation from slavery and in the civil rights movement. Our contention is that historically inaccurate films perpetuate inaccurate understandings of Black history and thus inform contemporary race relations. We selected a more and a less accurate film about slavery and about the civil rights movement, discussing these four films in terms of their historical context.

We also conducted an experiment. After watching one of the four movies, or after viewing no movie, participants …

Effects Of Cisnormative Beauty Standards On Transgender Women’S Perceptions And Expressions Of Beauty, Delmira Monteiro, Mixalis Poulakis

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

The authors conducted a qualitative study exploring the effects of cisnormative beauty standards on transgender women’s perceptions and expressions of beauty. Twelve self-identified Caucasian transgender women completed a semistructured interview that provided descriptive data related to the women’s perceptions of societal beauty standards. Analysis of the data revealed the following primary themes: Participants viewed the beauty of transgender and cisgender women as diverse or as encompassing a broad range of variability; societal beauty standards were influential on participants’ expressions of beauty; and participants’ viewed out-group transphobia as a factor contributing to discriminatory and prejudicial perceptions of transwomen’s beauty.

Antidiscrimination Ordinances In Northwest Indiana: An Event-History Analysis Of Municipal Policies Since 1992, James Paul Old, Kimberly Palmer Fields

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

In recent years, municipalities throughout Indiana have passed antidiscrimination ordinances that protect the rights of individuals who belong to racial, ethnic, or sexual minorities. Political scientists have proposed competing theories of policy-adoption processes that suggest a number of internal factors (such as socioeconomic characteristics, governmental capacity, or issue salience) or external factors (such as mandates/incentives from higher-level governments or influence from neighboring communities) as predictors of policy adoption; however, most existing studies focus on state-level processes, and those that focus on municipalities consider only large cities in different states. To more clearly distinguish between state-level effects and local effects, this …

Table Of Contents, Mssj Staff

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Perspective In Identifying And Responding To Potential Sexual Misconduct: A Study Of University Students, Nichole Maki Weller, Kathy Parkison, Steven R. Cox, Michael Plummer

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Recent events have demonstrated a divergent understanding of sexual harassment and other forms of sexual misconduct. Although sociocultural standards regarding sexual misconduct have changed over time, including improved social and workplace standards and protections, it is clear that not everyone views these events through the same lens. The lens is even less clear when potential misconduct is viewed from the distinct perspectives of a “victim” and a “perpetrator.” We surveyed 424 undergraduate and graduate students at Indiana University Kokomo to identify the impact of perspective and various sociodemographic characteristics that may influence perceptions of what is, and is not, sexual …

Measures Of Challenging And Excitatory Parenting Behavior As Predictors Of Later Child Self-Regulation, Zachary Havlin

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Challenging and excitatory parenting behaviors play an important role in children’s development, particularly in regard to the development of selfregulation; however, no well-established measures of parent-child interactions exist that record such behaviors. In the current study, I compare two recently developed coding systems that intend to address this issue: the Risky Interaction Support and Challenging (RISC) and Marbach coding systems. A subset of videos from the New Parents Project (NPP) data set at 12 and 18 months was coded using both scales, then a factor analysis was conducted for each scale. Regressions were conducted to look at the predictive power …

Racial Segregation In Indianapolis, 1990–2010: A Spatial Perspective, Vijay Lulla, Owen Dwyer

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

The index of dissimilarity is the most widely used method for measuring racial segregation. When applied to Indianapolis, this index has returned results showing the city to be among the most segregated in the country. The resulting measure, however, suffers from two shortcomings. First, the index of dissimilarity is sensitive to the census-defined geographic unit chosen for the analysis; thus, this index returns different (though proportionate) results depending on whether the population data are aggregated to larger or smaller enumeration units. Second, the index of dissimilarity cannot account for the influence of spatial proximity; adjacent census blocks interact regardless of …

Citizen Initiative To Improve Local Government Ethics: Northwest Indiana Experience, Calvin Bellamy

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

After more than 50 years of widespread public corruption in Northwest Indiana, a small group of citizens and public officials met over a period of several months and developed a largely voluntary response. The result was the Shared Ethics Advisory Commission, which trains public employees on ethical decision making, provides specialized training for department heads and board and commission members, and hosts an annual ethics summit for the general public. Periodic employee ethics surveys indicate a positive effect of the training. In addition, the commission has developed a Candidate Ethics Action Pledge administered in each local election cycle, and a …

Analysis Of Colombian Trade Agreements From 2007 To 2013, Ryan Lee

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

I analyze the firm-level effects on Colombia entering into Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) between 2007 and 2013. The combination of detailed firm-level data and PTAs make this article unique. In particular, I look at two separate potential trade-promotion effects of the agreements. The first result deals with how exporting firms in Colombia respond to the tariff cuts in the agreements. The tariff cuts from the agreements increase the size of exports by Colombian firms (the intensive margin); however, tariff cuts do not increase the number of exporting Colombian firms (the extensive margin). The second result deals with how the signed …

Genealogical Trends In Solving Cold Cases: An Investigation Into The Merits And Concerns With New Cold-Case Lead Development, Katie Smolucha, Tyler Counsil

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

In the criminal justice system, not all offenders are brought to justice; unfortunately, cold cases exist and provide long-term challenges to investigators. From historic breakthroughs in forensic DNA analysis to today’s new trends, advancements in technology continue to give investigators hope of resolving unsolved mysteries with no clear-cut suspect. This article examines the progression of DNA analysis over the past three decades and explores the recent trends in the use of genealogy websites to solve cold cases. DNA technology’s innovative uses, from its early years to modern, are explored herein. By exploring traditional DNA analysis to advances that explore the …

“We Are A Very Happy Family”: 19th-Century Familial Power Dynamics, Stella A. Ress

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

This article examines the roles of family members in the mid-19th century in America, using the Willard family as a case study. Ultimately, this thick description of the Willard family demonstrates that power within the family structure was neither intrinsic nor static; moreover, one person did not control the family and its decisions at all times. Instead, each family member, depending upon circumstances, situations, and his or her own nature, negotiated and laid claim to power through various sources of authority. Josiah Willard’s authority stemmed from his role as father and husband; society crowned him king of the household, and …

“But I Only Wanted Them To Conform”: A Detailed Look Into The Initial Cohort Of Girls At The Indiana Reformatory Institution For Women And Girls Between 1873 And 1884, Molly Whitted, Michelle Williams

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

For the past four years, as part of a group of currently and formerly incarcerated scholars, we have researched the “inmates” and staff at the Indiana Women’s Prison during the institution’s first decade. Then known as the Indiana Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls, the facility was located near downtown Indianapolis on Randolph and Michigan Street. We focused on a key constituent of the Indiana Reformatory for Women and Girls: the girls themselves, heretofore voiceless and uninvestigated.

Our primary sources include the annual reports of the reformatory and the original registries for the girls during the survey period of 1873–1884. …

Media Effects And Criminal Profiling: How Fiction Influences Perception And Profile Accuracy, Asha Bolton

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation was to investigate whether media and fictional information that is observed daily can influence perception to build a criminal psychological profile. Staggering between a distinguished art and science, the term profiling has been known by several different names – including criminal profiling, psychological profiling, offender profiling and more. Bandura (2009) believed that exposure to television and other media feeds into a socially constructed reality, where the audience is inevitably influenced by the beliefs and cognitions of observed media. The researcher believed that exposure to media can either influence criminal profiling and investigations with increasing accuracy …

การแปลงเปลี่ยนพฤติกรรมและความสำเร็จในการกลับคืนสู่สังคม: จากนักโทษสู่นักกีฬาอาชีพ, พรรณวดี คำไชยวงค์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้ มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษาปัจจัยที่เกี่ยวข้องกับการแปลงเปลี่ยนพฤติกรรมและความสำเร็จในการกลับคืนสู่สังคมของผู้เคยเป็นนักโทษสู่การเป็นนักกีฬาอาชีพ ศึกษาแนวทางการใช้กีฬาเพื่อฟื้นฟูผู้กระทำผิดและลดการกระทำผิดซ้ำ ใช้วิธีศึกษาเชิงคุณภาพโดยการค้นคว้าข้อมูลจากเอกสารทางวิชาการที่เกี่ยวข้องและการสัมภาษณ์แบบเจาะลึก เลือกกลุ่มตัวอย่างด้วยวิธีการเฉพาะเจาะจง โดยการศึกษาแบบกรณีศึกษา กลุ่มผู้ให้ข้อมูลสำคัญของการศึกษาวิจัยเชิงคุณภาพของการศึกษาวิจัยเรื่องนี้ คือ นักกีฬาอาชีพผู้ซึ่งเคยเป็นนักโทษ ผู้ทรงคุณวุฒิในระดับนโยบาย ผู้บริหารค่าย/สโมสรที่นักกีฬาสังกัดอยู่ และเพื่อนร่วมงานรวมถึงผู้ใกล้ชิด รวมทั้งสิ้น 22 ราย เครื่องมือที่ใช้ในการเก็บรวบรวมข้อมูลคือแบบสัมภาษณ์ วิเคราะห์ข้อมูลโดยพรรณนาเชิงวิเคราะห์เนื้อหา ผลการวิจัยพบว่า ปัจจัยที่เกี่ยวข้องกับการแปลงเปลี่ยนพฤติกรรมและความสำเร็จในการกลับคืนสู่สังคม ประกอบด้วย 1) แรงจูงใจ ประกอบด้วย แรงจูงใจภายนอก คือการมีเป้าหมายในความสำเร็จ การได้รับโอกาส การเป็นที่ยอมรับ การได้รับการยกย่องว่าเป็นแบบอย่าง การมีรายได้ที่เพียงพอในการดูแลครอบครัวและใช้จ่ายส่วนตัว และแรงจูงใจภายในประกอบด้วย การรับรู้ในความสามารถตนเอง ความรู้สึกว่ามีคุณค่า และความกลัวที่ต้องกลับไปรับโทษหากกระทำผิดซ้ำ 2) สภาพแวดล้อมที่ดีทางสังคม คือ ครอบครัวและเพื่อน 3) การฟื้นฟูและแก้ไขผู้กระทำผิดจากในเรือนจำ คือ การปรับเปลี่ยนทัศนคติและพฤติกรรมในระหว่างการรับโทษด้วยการใช้กีฬา โดยกรมราชทัณฑ์ได้ใช้กีฬาเพื่อฟื้นฟูผู้กระทำผิดซ้ำ เสริมสร้างสมรรถภาพร่างกาย พัฒนาด้านจิตใจ ส่งเสริมระเบียบวินัย รวมถึงมีการสนับสนุนนักโทษที่มีความสามารถในกีฬาเฉพาะด้าน ให้เข้ารับการแข่งขันในรายการต่าง ๆ ตลอดจนโครงการด้านกีฬาจากภาครัฐและเอกชนที่ให้ความร่วมมือในการสร้างโอกาสในการกลับคืนสู่สังคม

การวิเคราะห์บทบาทและการทำหน้าที่ “คนกลาง” ในกระบวนการยุติธรรมเชิงสมานฉันท์, มณีรัตน์ ชื่นเจริญ

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

จากผลการศึกษาพบว่าสภาพปัญหาและอุปสรรคในการทำหน้าที่ของคนกลางภายในหน่วยงานของกระบวนการยุติธรรมในสังคมไทยนั้นเกิด คนกลางยังขาดความรู้ความเข้าใจในหลักการพื้นฐานของกระบวนการยุติธรรมอย่างแท้จริง ในด้านบุคลากรปฏิบัติงานนั้นพบปัญหาในเรื่องคุณสมบัติ เทคนิค ทักษะ การสมัครใจ และความเป็นกลางของคนกลาง การมีบุคลากรที่ไม่เพียงพอ และค่าตอบแทนของบุคลากรในการปฏิบัติงานยังไม่เหมาะสม ในส่วนของปัญหาและอุปสรรคด้านกระบวนการและการบริหารจัดการในการดำเนินงานนั้นหากคนกลางไม่เตรียมความพร้อมก่อนเข้าสู่กระบวนการและในระหว่างการดำเนินการไม่สามารถควบคุมสถานการณ์ความขัดแย้งที่เกิดขึ้นได้ก็จะทำให้กระบวนการฯ ไม่สำเร็จ ส่วนทางด้านปัญหาและอุปสรรคด้านนโยบายนั้นพบว่าขาดนโยบาย แนวทาง การติดตามประเมินผลและแรงจูงใจในการปฏิบัติงานที่ต่อเนื่อง ส่วนผลการวิเคราะห์เปรียบเทียบการทำหน้าที่ของคนกลางในกระบวนการยุติธรรมเชิงสมานฉันท์ระหว่างหน่วยงานกระบวนการยุติธรรมของสังคมไทยและหลักการพื้นฐานฯ ขององค์การสหประชาชาติพบว่าการทำหน้าที่ของคนกลางนั้นมีความสอดคล้องกับหลักการพื้นฐานฯ โดยคนกลางจะมีบทบาทและทำหน้าที่เป็นผู้อำนวยความสะดวกในการเตรียมการประชุม ดำเนินการประชุม ทำการประเมินและตอบสนองต่อความต้องการของแต่ละฝ่าย พร้อมทั้งพัฒนาและดำเนินการตามแผนลดความเสี่ยง และปฏิบัติต่อผู้เข้าร่วมอย่างเป็นธรรม บริหารจัดการเวลาให้เพียงพอสำหรับกระบวนการเพื่อให้ประสบความสำเร็จ และมีการติดตามผลทั้งกับผู้กระทำความผิดเพื่อให้มั่นใจว่าได้ปฏิบัติตามข้อตกลงแล้ว และกับผู้เสียหายว่าได้รับการชดใช้เยียวยาตามข้อตกลง ในส่วนของข้อเสนอแนะและแนวทางที่เหมาะสมในการทำหน้าที่คนกลางในกระบวนการยุติธรรมเชิงสมานฉันท์นั้นพบว่าคนกลางควรมีองค์ความรู้และเข้าใจในหลักการอย่างแท้จริง และควรให้มีการเพิ่มบุคลาการปฏิบัติงาน พร้อมทั้งจะต้องผ่านการฝึกอบรม เทคนิค และทักษะ รวมทั้งจะต้องมีนโยบายอย่างต่อเนื่องในการให้ความสำคัญและการใช้กระบวนการยุติธรรมเชิงสมานฉันท์

Women, Domestic Violence Service Providers, And Knowledge Of Technology-Related Abuse, Nadine White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many victims of domestic violence face continued exposure to abuse through technology because intimate partners may use technology as weapon against them. Some domestic violence service professionals lack necessary information or training to educate victims. The impact on victims has not been thoroughly examined. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to assess the impact on women when domestic violence service providers do not provide current information about technology-related abuse to promote safety when providing service to victims. The conceptual framework was the Duluth model of power and control and the feminist perspective on intimate partner violence. The primary …

Certainty Versus Suspicion: Incapacitated Sexual Assault On Campus, Amanda Ellen Quade

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

One in four women experience sexual assault during college. With rates of sexual assault on college campuses continuing to increase, the need for advanced analysis utilizing contemporary variables is justified. The purpose of this quantitative study was to compare two groups of female college-attending students. One group was certain and the other suspected that they were sexually assaulted while incapacitated (independent variables). Dependent variables compared between groups were offender type (interest on offenders with fraternal affiliations), law enforcement reporting decisions, and barriers to reporting sexual assault. Four research questions measured whether there was a statistically significant difference amongst the dependent …

Central California's Juvenile/Dependency And Criminal Courts' Treatment Of Parent-Child Contact, Cheryl Oslinker Spano

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Parties to a legal action of child abuse can be prosecuted criminally as well as charged with allegations within the jurisdiction of juvenile/dependency court. This can lead to seemingly conflicting goals regarding contact and visitation between the two parties (victim and defendant; child and parent). In essence, restraining orders or visitation orders from one court can contradict the case goals of another court. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to (a) determine if there is a pattern of inconsistent goals in cases of concurrent jurisdictional child-abuse cases, (b) evaluate the effect of conflicting court orders on each jurisdiction's …

Perceptions, Lived-Experiences, And Environmental Factors Impacting The Crime-Reporting Practices Of Private College Students, Kelly Lynn Arney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was assessing the perceptions of student's on how the campus climate impacts their likelihood of reporting crime. Victimization studies have been conducted at large universities and community colleges; however, there remains a lack of research regarding private colleges. This study was designed to examine the reasoning behind students' crime-reporting behaviors and the influencers that impact their decisions. Cohen and Felson's routine activity theory along with the collective-efficacy theory were used as frameworks to analyze the crimes that occur to college students as well as to explore the reasons for not reporting some crimes to law …

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 …

Relationship Between Race, Gender, And Elder Abuse Awareness, James Earl Burrell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Lack of elder abuse awareness and underreporting is an increasing problem in the United States in that only 1 in 14 cases of elder abuse is reported. The failure to report incidents of elder abuse and suspected elder abuse allows further abuse of elders and for elder abusers to go unpunished. The purpose of this quantitative nonexperimental study was to understand the relationship between race, gender, and elder abuse awareness and fill the gap in elder abuse literature. Research questions tested mean differences between race and gender, respectively, and elder abuse awareness. The theoretical frameworks for this study were the …

Valuation Of Ex-Offender Motivation For Participation In A Restorative Justice Praxis, Kenneth Lang

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Restorative justice (RJ) is an emerging concept of justice in the American penal system that seeks equality for all stakeholders involved. While RJ is vastly under researched--especially concerning RJ and violent offenses--current studies have only focused on determining victims' motivations for participating in RJ. Determining and evaluating offender motivations for participating in RJ remains unexplored. The purpose of this study was to explore the possible motivations of criminal offenders and their willingness to participate in RJ. The social construction framework and the narrative policy framework were employed to understand the social context. A mixed-method approach was used that began with …

Psychological Characteristics Of Sex Offenders, Patrick Mcmunn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Current therapeutic treatment methods are ineffective in identifying at-risk sex offenders and reducing recidivism of known offenders, likely due to inadequate identification of specific traits of sex offenders. Previous research and prominent theories in the area of sex offender treatment, in terms of the biological foundation of substance abuse, behaviors of sex offenders, and the presence of aggression, helped to guide this research. Data about sex offenders were collected, as reported by mental health professionals who treat them and focused on three characteristics: maladaptive interpersonal behaviors, impulsivity, and antisocial behaviors, on which the research questions were formed to detect commonality. …