Criminology Commons^™

Brain Injury And Psychosocial Trauma: Outcomes Among Justice-Involved Individuals, Mahathi D. Kosuri

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Justice-involved individuals experience disproportionately high rates of both traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and psychosocial traumas. However, these traumas have yet to be conceptualized together, leaving a chasm of research on how they interact and influence this population. The current study was the first to measure the effects of TBIs as well as psychosocial trauma among justice-involved men, within the context of executive functioning, history of justice involvement, and recidivism. A sample of men (N=95) from a private correctional facility were given the Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire (OSU-TBI-ID), the Lifetime Stressor Checklist- Revised (LSC-R), along with …

Mind Your Business Or Be Your Brother's Keeper? Managing Vulnerability In The New York City Subway, Maria Barrera-Vilert

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This qualitative study investigates the management of safety and vulnerability in the New York City subway by analyzing public communication campaigns focused on counterterrorism, COVID-19, and deviance awareness. It explores how New Yorkers navigate the tension between adhering to a dominant New York cultural imperative to mind one’s business and being called upon to be their “brother’s keepers” and intervene when something risky happens.

The study is structured around three central elements that align with the three primary processes of public communication campaigns: representation, interpretation, and reaction. This study analyzes visual images associated with public communication campaigns and 43 …

Woman Abuse In Sports-Related Contexts: Social Scientific Knowledge, Walter Dekeseredy

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

There was a vibrant surge in the 1980s and 1990s of social scientific work on men’s abuse of women in sports-related contexts, but this wave receded over the past two decades and eventually disappeared. Recently, however, an international cadre of scholars has revisited the off- and online victimization of women in these settings. The main objective of this paper is to examine what the extant scholarly literature tells and does not tell us about this social problem.

Motivation And Treatment Readiness Of Those Participating In Correctional Educational Programming, Kelly Eileen O'Bryan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study examined what motivated male inmates in a private Oklahoma prison to participate in general education diploma or the Microsoft Office Specialist certification program. Research questions explored, what factors motivated program participants to participate in educational programs while incarcerated? Next, whether those who were eligible to participate in the program exhibited treatment readiness? Finally, were those who exhibited higher levels of treatment readiness and motivation were more likely to participate in and complete the program? A survey was used to collect demographic information and assess treatment readiness and motivation through the Corrections Victoria Treatment Readiness Questionnaire for 48 inmates. …

Carceral Liberalism: Feminist Voices Against State Violence, Andrea Michaels

Feminist Pedagogy

The following book review of Shreerekha Pillai’s Carceral Liberalism: Feminist Voices against State Violence (2023) is an expansive and timely collection of essays on the carceral state in its implications for feminist educators. This review focuses on the connections and connectivity of two essays in the collection that attempt to address a minor examination of the person as political.

The Experiences Of Decision Making In Gangs, Julian Geoffrey Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Gang violence and illicit gang activities continue to be a major problem to society and law enforcement. Gang violence is responsible for much of the violence death and illicit drug trade. The decision juveniles make to initiate into a gang increases these unwelcome behaviors. The ways in which juveniles make decisions about gang initiation and how to assess the ramifications of those decisions are understudied and reflect a gap in the literature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to better comprehend the experiences of juveniles who make decisions to initiate into a gang and to better understand how they …

Unpacking The Relationship Between Legitimacy, Procedural Justice, Identity, And Desistance, Qassim Bolaji

Theses and Dissertations

Knowing why people stop offending over time and the criminal justice agencies' role in this process is essential for designing effective crime control interventions. Legal authorities have the core function of ensuring that social norms and laws are obeyed. However, the coercive and punitive tactics that police, judicial, and penal authorities typically resort to have been shown to have only limited impact on controlling and preventing crime while having the unintended consequence of worsening the public's perception of their institutional legitimacy. Specific to policing, the use of coercive policing tactics and their perceived ineffectiveness has, in recent decades, led to …

Past And Present Of The Cvs: Empirical Research And Evidence-Based Policy, Kevin T. Wolff

Publications and Research

In this keynote address, I emphasized the critical role of accurate crime measurement in developing evidence-based policies. I discussed the "dark figure of crime," highlighting how many crimes go unreported, and stressed the importance of victimization surveys in uncovering these hidden crimes to provide a more complete picture of criminal activity.

I also explored how technological advancements, particularly AI, are transforming how we collect and analyze crime data. While AI offers significant benefits in predictive policing and resource allocation, I cautioned about the risks of bias and privacy issues that must be managed carefully.

Regional collaboration, standardization, and inclusivity are …

Strategies For Addressing Substance Abuse And Gambling Among Youth, Kevin T. Wolff

Publications and Research

This keynote address opens with a description of recent trends in substance use and gambling among youth, sharing insights from relevant research. I highlight that while some global trends indicate a decline in adolescent substance use, other areas, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, have seen increases. I emphasize the importance of comprehensive prevention strategies, such as school-based, community-based, and family-based programs, and effective treatment approaches like behavioral interventions and integrated mental health services.

On the topic of youth gambling, I highlight the rising normalization and accessibility of gambling, particularly through the internet. I describe specific challenges in regions like South …

Never Going To Let You Down: Preventing Predictive Shrinkage Via The Strong-R Assessment Method, Zachary Hamilton, Alex Kigerl, Baylee Allen-Flores, John Ursino, Amber Krushas

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Risk-needs assessments (RNAs) are an evidence-based practice used by practitioners to assign supervision and programming. While foundational to day-to-day practices, these tools are typically applied ‘off-the shelf,’ and are mistakenly assumed to demonstrate equivalent prediction accuracy regardless of location or population. Although researchers and providers are aware these tools experience performance shrinkage, the issue is commonly ignored. In 2016 the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) collaborated with the developers of the Static Risk Offender Needs Guide – Revised (STRONG-R) to create a staged development of a locally developed risk needs assessment. Using propensity score matching, a proxy sample was used …

Impact Of Veteran Treatment Courts On Lived Experiences Of Male Military Veterans With Misdemeanor Criminal Records, Verona Ann Cabbagestalk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Support for criminal justice reform is growing due to scrutiny of high incarceration rates and recidivism. Military veterans within the criminal justice system are included in correctional populations. Veterans’ unique experiences involving combat trauma require alternative treatments to reduce their involvement with the justice system. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to explore lived experiences of male military veterans with misdemeanor criminal records. This phenomenological qualitative study involved using the homecoming theory to explore lived experiences of male military veterans with criminal records. Research questions related to understanding lived veteran experiences that led to their involvement with the …

Introduction To The Special Issue

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Mission And Editorial Policy

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Volume 26, Issue 2 (Special Issue) -- Full Contents

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Displacement, Social Justice, And The Right To The City: A Review And Critical Reflections In The 21st Century, Tara Fitzgerald, Brij Maharaj

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

This paper aims to review the literature and themes relating to displacement, social justice, and the right to the city in the 21st century. Displacement, in its various forms, is central to understanding the human rights abuses and livelihood implications when urban rights are revoked, forcing inhabitants to the periphery, and is the focus of this paper. Whereas the city’s services, resources, and opportunities should be a collective right advanced by local authorities for all who occupy urban space, displacements lead to resettlement and impoverishment, especially as livelihoods are disrupted. Urban renewal, through mega-projects, clean-up campaigns, and speculative gentrification processes, …

Economic Development In Legacy Cities: Current And Emerging Challenges And Opportunities, Neil Reid, Sujata Shetty, Jane Adade

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

As manufacturing employment has declined in the traditional manufacturing regions over the past decades, many communities have experienced population loss and overall economic decline. Local economic development professionals have had to grapple with long-term structural changes in the economy as well as short-term jolts. To gain insights into the changing landscape of economic development, we interviewed economic development practitioners in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The interviews focused on their perception of current and emerging challenges and opportunities with respect to economic development in their respective communities. Having identified the major challenges and opportunities, we asked them to articulate the …

Author Biographical Notes

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Notes On The Future Possibilities Of Engaged Anthropological Research: Why Decolonizing Anthropology Needs Black Diasporic Feminist Theory And Methodologies, Meryleen Mena

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

While in the past decade there have been more ethnographic accounts that shed light on minoritized stories and demystify the specific challenges that women and femmes experience during their research, much is desired to prepare students and junior scholars from marginalized identities for fieldwork research. Reflecting on a moment of precarity in the context of pre-impeachment São Paulo, I explain why the integration of Black diasporic feminist thought, method, and praxis is critical to further decolonizing efforts in anthropology. Beyond reflection, this narrative calls for sustained politically active engagement to establish an anthropology of liberation.

Guest Editor's Note, Rajiv Thakur

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Spaces Of Progress And The Challenge Of “Mindfulness” In A Postcolonial World, M. Satish Kumar

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Progress implied both change and improvement in the colonial and postcolonial world. Such a concept of progress came to be enshrined in specific geographical places. The notions of development and underdevelopment in the postcolonial context thereafter supplanted this idea. Over time, while the structures of colonial domination dissolved, those of embedded regional inequalities came to be deeply entrenched, thereby urging for Thich Nhat Hanh’s approach to “mindfulness” in a “postcapitalist,” postcolonial world. The key question is whether postcolonialism has reached an impasse in its delivery and deployment of ideas across the widening gulf between the spaces of progress and stagnancy. …

The Decline Of Republican Democracy And Rise Of The Techno-Authoritarian State: Reading Dystopian Novels In Hindi Literature, Manindra Nath Thakur

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

In the past few decades, the nature of capitalism has changed fast as it has lost its philosophical justification based on the principle of the common good. There have been many avatars of the idea of the “common good”: “white man’s burden to civilize the world,” “welfarism,” and “neoliberal concept of freedom of choice.” Capitalism now seems to have moved in a new direction, however, and it has failed to produce any further philosophical justification for its existence as a mode of production despite generating unprecedented economic inequality. Consequently, there is a rising tension between capitalism and democracy in societies …

Statement From The Indiana Academy Of The Social Sciences And Board Of Directors

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

The Adaptation Wedge: Capacity-Building Scenarios For India’S Cities, Jagan Shah

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

The increasing frequency and severity of floods, heat waves, and storm surges impacting global cities, combined with the growing morbidity in public health, necessitates prompt and effective climate action. Adaptation and mitigation require adequate and appropriate institutional, technical, and societal capacities—all of which are in short supply in most low- and middle-income country cities that are experiencing growth while suffering vulnerabilities. Although national governments are alerted to climate risk and the imperatives of planning, financing, and managing climate transitions, their responses to capacity constraints and approaches to capacity building display neither urgency nor scale. We use a scenario-building methodology to …

Never Going To Let You Down: Preventing Predictive Shrinkage Via The Strong-R Assessment Method, Zachary Hamilton, Alex Kigerl, Andrew Peterson, Grant Duwe, John Ursino

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Widely used sources of crime data, such as the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), provide invaluable information on patterns in reported crime and justice processing. Yet, due to their measurement of crime at the incident level, these data have not been used to determine an individual’s likelihood of justice system involvement. By contrast, in the correctional field, individuals are used as the unit of analysis and common definitions to establish state-level base rates. Used for decades, base rates provide an estimate of justice system involvement, per individual, for a given jurisdiction’s population.

Mental Health Calls For Service During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Examining The Geographic Distribution And Correlates Of Service Requests In Little Rock, Arkansas, Mckayla Bishop

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In response to the Covid-19 global crisis, the United States implemented social interaction restrictions to curb the infection rate amongst citizens, affecting residents' mental health by adding strain from daily routine change. This study examines how mental health has changed during the pandemic by focusing on geospatial differences of volume and concentration within 311 calls in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2018 and 2020. Our data comes from the City of Little Rock’s open database to construct geospatial maps (n= 155 block groups), along with Census survey data logistic regression models to show differences in community characteristics. Overall, mental health worsened …

Ticket Punch: The Consequences Of Fare Evasion Enforcement In New York City Subways, Sheyla A. Delgado, Gina Moreno, Fidel L. Osorio, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Researchers at the John Jay College Research and Evaluation Center studied transit fare evasion in New York City subway stations from 2018 to 2023 as part of the NYPD's Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. Analyzing fare evasion alongside arrest data and neighborhood characteristics, the study found no significant link between fare enforcement and overall arrest rates. However, fare evasion enforcement was concentrated in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, highlighting the influence of social factors on public safety practices.

Fines And The Federal Court System: Exploring The Differences And Intersection For Male And Female Defendants With Dependents, Hali Higgins

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Past research has consistently found that women are treated more leniently compared to men in the criminal justice system. Little research has examined gender and its relation to fine amounts imposed in the federal court system, and almost no research has examined if dependents plays a role in determining fines. This thesis operates under focal concerns theory, and addresses a gap by examining if gender and presence of dependents impacts the likelihood and amount of a fine imposed. Using the Monitoring of Federal Criminal Sentences from 2020-2021 data, this thesis examined if men are more likely to get fines imposed …

The Effect Of Crime On Tourism In Indonesia, Muhammad Farhan, Hera Susanti

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Tourism sector is widely known as one of economic sectors that can be the engine of economic growth in an effort to reduce poverty in a country. However, growth in the tourism sector can be influenced by safety factors. Tourists tend to avoid tourism destination areas with high crime rates in order to avoid becoming victims of crime. This study aims to analyze the effect of crime on the number of tourist arrivals in Indonesia by using four proxies of crime, which are total crime rate, property crime rate, violent crime rate, and fraud crime rate. This study utilizes a …

Suicide And Its Nexus: A Theoretical Reconstruction Of Suicide, Nastiti Soegeng Lestari

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

In Indonesia, suicide research has largely overlooked structural factors at the meso and macro levels, whether as primary causes, contributing factors, or considerations for prevention strategies. The dominance of psychological and psychiatric approaches has marginalized sociological perspectives, limiting a more holistic understanding of suicide. Existing heuristic models primarily frame suicide as a consequence of mental health disorders or economic conditions, reinforcing a dichotomy: one perspective views suicide as a psychological and/or psychiatric phenomenon, while the other treats it as a sociological fact. However, suicide encompasses a far more complex reality that transcends this binary. This study offers a comprehensive theoretical …

Bunuh Diri Dan Untai Problematikanya: Sebuah Rekonstruksi Teoritik Atas Bunuh Diri, Nastiti Soegeng Lestari

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

In Indonesia, suicide research has largely overlooked structural factors at the meso and macro levels, whether as primary causes, contributing factors, or considerations for prevention strategies. The dominance of psychological and psychiatric approaches has marginalized sociological perspectives, limiting a more holistic understanding of suicide. Existing heuristic models primarily frame suicide as a consequence of mental health disorders or economic conditions, reinforcing a dichotomy: one perspective views suicide as a psychological and/or psychiatric phenomenon, while the other treats it as a sociological fact. However, suicide encompasses a far more complex reality that transcends this binary. This study offers a comprehensive theoretical …