Criminology Commons^™

Hentai And The Pornification Of Childhood: How The Porn Industry Just Made The Case For Regulation, Gail Dines, Mandy Sanchez

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

One of the most popular genres of online pornography today is hentai, sexualized animation, and cartoons in the style of Japanese anime. Data from Pornhub, the world’s best-known pornography website, as well as a recent report from a British regulatory agency and our research, show that much of hentai appeals to children and depicts child-like characters engaged in sexual violence. In almost every instance, this violence targets female characters. Hentai, we show, encourages adults to see minors, especially girls, as legitimate targets of sexual violence. Until the day when these depictions of sexual violence are eradicated, we call for three …

A Structural Examination Of Organizational Justice, Self-Legitimacy, Employee Engagement, And Civic Engagement In Police, Mary Isis Wuestewald

Theses and Dissertations

Recently, the concept of police self-legitimacy has spurred research interest. Several studies have demonstrated beneficial outcomes associated with officers who are confident in their own authority. The current dissertation builds on this emerging area of study by examining the influence of organizational justice on police self-legitimacy, as well as self-legitimacy’s impact on employee engagement and civic engagement in police officers. Survey data were gathered from a sample of 1,391 officers from variously sized agencies across seven regions of the United States. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that organizational justice is a key component …

Investigating Key Risk Factors Across Violent And Non-Violent Extremists In The United States, Leevia Dillon

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Problem Statement: This study investigated risk factors commonly highlighted by prior studies and risk assessment tools (e.g., Violent Extremism Risk Assessment Version 2 (VERA-2) and Extremism Risk Guidance 22+ (ERG22+)). It compared the risk factors across and within two groups – violent extremists (i.e., jihadists and far-right extremists) and non-violent extremists (i.e., jihadists and far-right financial/material support crime extremists) in the U.S. Jihadists and far-rightists are the two greatest security threats facing the U.S., and the findings can aid counterterrorism efforts on assessment development, identifying effective risk factors across varying groups, and assessing violence risk. Research Questions/Objectives: This study aimed …

Bearer Negotiable Instruments: Addressing A Financial Intelligence Gap And Identifying Criminogenic Weaknesses, Hollis B. Kegg

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Bearer Negotiable Instruments (BNI) are a long-standing category of financial instruments used to transfer large amounts of money in ways that may not be subject to regulation, reporting, tracking, review, or oversight. There is limited information available on BNIs, and no evidence that any studies have been undertaken on BNIs alone, much less reported. Increasingly, BNIs are being used for illegal purposes including money laundering. This study gathers information about their characteristics, nature, purpose, legal status, and numbers. It also focuses on the crime risks associated with BNIs, the crime opportunities they facilitate, and the criminal weaknesses in the financial …

From Prostitution To Sex Trafficking: Dilemmas Of Victim Service Workers Helping Chinese Immigrant Women At The Courts, Yen-Chiao Liao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study aims to explore the policy ambivalence towards commercial sex trade, resulted by prostitution laws and anti-trafficking policies in the United States. It focuses on Chinese immigrant women and those who served them in the Human Trafficking Intervention Courts (the HTICs) in New York City. Specifically, it investigates the process of Chinese immigrant women becoming potential “victims” of sex trafficking from the perspectives of the service workers, the social workers and the public defenders. Though research on human trafficking seems to be exploding for the past decades since the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000, …

National De-Escalation Training Center - Year 1 In-Person Data Archive, Morgan Steele

Criminal Justice Research Data

This dataset includes the demographics, education, perceptions, and assessment of de-escalation skills of law enforcement officers, and other professionals, which were collected as a part of in-person de-escalation training. Many of these trainings were funded as a part of the Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services (U.S. Department of Justice). All of the data is anonymous, and can be linked based on the trainee generated identification number. This data was collected across three separate activities. The first was a pre-training survey that included questions about the trainees' demographics, perceptions, and experiences, and was collected via a Qualtrics survey link. The second …

The Theorizing Of Terrorism Within Criminology, Daren Fisher, Erin M. Kearns

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Objectives. While terrorism studies were once castigated as atheoretical and unempirical, criminology has been well suited to apply theories of crime to terrorism and to then test those theories with rigorous methods and robust data. The present study takes stock of how criminologists have theorized about terrorism and tested those theories over time in 13 of the discipline’s leading journals. Methods. The study systematically examines theoretical framing, hypotheses, methodological approach, focus within criminology and criminal justice, and policy recommendations in terrorism-focused articles. Results. While terrorism has become more central within top journals, sparse attention has been paid to many criminological …

Finding Forensic Evidence In The Operating System's Graphical User Interface, Edward X. Wilson Mr.

LSU Master's Theses

A branch of cyber security known as memory forensics focuses on extracting meaningful evidence from system memory. This analysis is often referred to as volatile memory analysis, and is generally performed on memory captures acquired from target systems. Inside of a memory capture is the complete state of a system under investigation, including the contents of currently running as well as previously executed applications. Analysis of this data can reveal a significant amount of activity that occurred on a system since the last reboot. For this research, the Windows operating system is targeted. In particular, the graphical user interface component …

Raising The Cyber Guard: Analyzing The Cost And Use Of The National Guard In Local Municipal And State Cyber Defense, Hunter Lacroix

Theses and Dissertations

Cybersecurity is a national priority for the Homeland Security enterprise. Yet, despite a prioritization at the federal level, municipal and state governments have struggled to incorporate the National Guard in cyber incident response. Cyber incidents strain municipalities and states, which have spent significant resources to mitigate cyber threats. The glaring gap in the National Guard’s role in municipal and state cyber incident response warrants two key questions as to why the National Guard isn’t more readily used. “Is it cost prohibitive to use National Guard assets when compared to private entities?” Or “is there an underlying sociological disconnect regarding the …

A Study Of Public Opinion: The Importance Of Mental Illness Diagnosis And Perceptions Of Recidivism On Parole Eligibility, Emily Pedigo

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The present study examined the impact a mental illness diagnosis has on parole eligibility mediated by the participants’ perceptions of whether the prospective parolee would commit future crimes if released. Participants watched a video vignette of an individual charged with second degree manslaughter and diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, or bipolar disorder while incarcerated. Results indicated that a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder indirectly reduced parole success compared to bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder when mediated by participants’ perceptions of whether the convict would recommit a crime following release.

Statistical Abstract, Fiscal Year 2023, Tennessee. Department Of Correction

Annual Statistical Abstract

This document is the annual statistical report for the Tennessee Department of Correction during the fiscal year.

Conflict And Conflict Resolution In The Workplace: The Cost Of Neglect And Mismanagement, Tina Ann Collins

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

AbstractWorkplace conflict has become part of our everyday work life for many years, from retail shops to office buildings, and it can occur for many different reasons. Research has shown that employees spend most of their lifetime in the workplace and that unsolved conflict is one of the costliest aspects of an organization. These conflicts should be addressed and resolved promptly by management. With the rise of workplace conflict, the literature suggests that a more powerful attack to resolve that conflict is warranted. This Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study explored the experiences of workers and the effect the conflict had …

The Challenges And Transformative Experiences Of Promoting Nonkilling With Anti-Nuclear Weapon Activists And Realists, Roland Joseph

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Decades ago, Glenn D. Paige questioned killing and violence in politics, presenting nonkilling political science as an alternative. Activists and researchers from other disciplines have joined the movement by considering this new paradigm in their disciplines. Since then, some scholars analyzed the experience of activists promoting notions related to nonkilling, including peace and nonviolence. However, no previous research focuses specifically on the experience of scholars promoting nonkilling to anti-nuclear weapon activists and realists. To fill this gap and give voice to nonkilling and nuclear weapon risks, a qualitative phenomenological study using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was conducted to answer the …

Medical Imaging Professionals Experiencing Workplace Interprofessional Conflict: A Phenomenological Study, Robert Carroll Moody

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Workplace interprofessional conflict in hospitals presented serious concerns regardingpatient care delivery and hospital efficiency at the systemic level. Literature evaluating conflict in hospitals inconsistently defined interprofessional conflict and oversampled nurses and physicians in research studies. An unknown systemic factor was likely influencing interprofessional conflict between healthcare professionals. Complex systems theory, the theory of professions, and social conflict theories were utilized to organize the literature review and guide research design targeting allied health professionals and their lived experiences with interprofessional conflict. Medical imaging professionals were selected as a purposeful sample within the larger population of allied health. Interpretive phenomenology was used …

The Age, Period, And Cohort Effects On Crime Rates In The Republic Of Korea, Byunggu Kang

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The age–crime relationship has been a theoretical and empirical puzzle for criminologists for decades. Although the age–crime curve is often considered a stylized fact, a large body of research suggests that the age–crime relationship is dynamic under the influence of age, period, and cohort effects. The impact of these effects can vary across different social contexts, as the consistency or variability in socio-economic and cultural factors experienced by consecutive generations or populations differs in each context. Thus, the extent to which age, period, and cohort effects contribute to the age–crime relationship in various social contexts is a question that requires …

Race And Ethnicity In Juvenile Justice Sentencing: The Role Of Static And Dynamic Community Threat, Victoria Lynn Nelson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Research consistently finds that Black and Hispanic youth are overrepresented at various stages of juvenile justice processing. However, less research has considered the role of community characteristics in juvenile justice processing, and much of this research has been mixed. This is particularly concerning given the explicit reliance on extralegal factors, and on the local organization of juvenile justice systems which likely make them considerably more vulnerable to community anxieties. Racial threat theory posits that as “threatening” populations increase, they begin to threaten economic and political resources of the dominant group. As this happens, the dominant group will retaliate with discriminatory …

When Payday Is Not Enough : The Impact Of Small Loan Regulation On Reported Crime In Cincinnati, Ohio, Colleen D. Mair

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Legislators have largely regarded payday lending, a type of alternative financial service through which borrowers obtain unsecured loans for fast cash, as predatory and detrimental for already vulnerable areas. Critics of this industry suggest that the use of payday loans creates a cycle of debt that can lead to several negative outcomes, including an increase in crime in the areas in which they are located. In an effort to address the negative effects of payday lending, several laws have been passed to regulate or eliminate traditional payday lending. Despite these intentions, prior research has produced mixed results about whether or …

Morality, Context, And Crime Decision-Making, Shaina Herman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Recent criminological advancements increasingly aim to better understand criminal behavior in context. This is particularly true regarding how perceptions of legal sanction risk are anchored in reality and influence offending decisions. Yet research on extralegal considerations such as morality has not kept pace. The current dissertation integrates criminological morality literature, with psychological research on Self Concept Maintenance Theory (SCMT) and moral identity, into a perspective on moral decision-making dynamics that integrates personal and situational factors. I utilize three data collections containing randomized experiments to investigate the situational malleability of moral evaluations and the interrelatedness with moral identity and criminal intentions. …

Lay Judges Vs. Lawyer Judges : How Much Difference Can A Law Degree Make?, Jingyi Fei

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

With about 13.2 million misdemeanor cases processed through the criminal justice system each year, an increasing number of researchers has shifted their interests from felony courts to lower criminal courts (Smith & Maddan, 2019). One aspect of these lower criminal courts that is of particular interest is the eligibility of non-lawyers to run for and hold judgeships. Although New York and 18 other states have permitted the employment of lay judges, court reformers have long questioned their ability to safeguard defendant’s due process rights. However, at no point in the history of agitation against lay judges have their critics sought …

Public Opinion And The Morality Of Drug Use : Experimental And Time-Series Analyses, Benjamin Kuettel

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Trends in public opinion research suggest that Americans are becoming more liberal with respect to drugs. This research is limited by the absence of a reliable and valid indicator of drug sentiment, which inhibits our understanding of how and why public opinion toward drugs evolves over time. Recent studies also suggest that Americans are morally approving of drug use in certain contexts and are supportive of “harm reduction” or other progressive drug policies viewed as solutions to the drug war, but the underlying reasons as to why are not completely understood. This dissertation uses time-series analysis and two survey experiments …

Living A Nightmare: A Study On The Reluctance Of Native American Women To Report Violent Crimes To Police, Misty Marie Neal

Theses and Dissertations

To address this problem, this study will explore, if at all, the differences and relationships between Native American women’s reluctance to report a violent crime to the police with their perception of police, previous interactions with police, prior victimization, tribal affiliation, and specific demographic factors. The population for this research will be Native American women from federally recognized tribes between 18 and 55 years of age. In addition, the participant's marital status, sexual affiliation, religion, level of education, and geographic location will be examined.

From this population, a sample size of 500 - 600 participants will be constructed for this …

Evaluating Higher Education In Prison Effectiveness By Modality Through Student Success And Retention Rates In California Community Colleges, Peter Michael Fulks

Theses and Dissertations

There is a strident body of empirical research evidence that Higher Education in Prison (HEP) has a direct impact on reducing recidivism. Additionally for participants, it also increases the economic mobility and employability post-release. However, the ability to conduct randomly controlled trials with a distal measurement of recidivism is hindered due to the inconsistent industry definitions of recidivism. Considering the implementation of credit bearing college programs from California Community Colleges since Senate Bill 1391 in 2014, the study conducts statistical analysis through independent and paired t tests to determine which modality of delivery, face-to-face (F2F) or correspondence (COR), to provide …

Haitian Immigrants Lived Experiences With Police In South Florida, Christie Laroche

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a qualitative phenomenological exploration of the interactions between Haitian immigrants residing in South Florida and law enforcement. Despite existing research on the experiences of Blacks with the police, there is a noticeable gap concerning the unique encounters of Haitian immigrants, who bring distinct cultural, historical, and linguistic backgrounds to their interactions with law enforcement. Given the increasing population of Haitian immigrants in the United States, this study sought to comprehensively examine their encounters, treatment, and experiences with the police, including aspects such as demeanor, contact handling, and the resultant impact on their perceptions. Through in-depth interviews with …

สนามวาทกรรม “ความผิดเพศ” และความเกลียดชังทางเพศวิถีที่มีต่อกลุ่มเกย์เพศชายกลุ่มต่างๆภายใต้บริบท “สังคมนิยมชาย” ในประเทศไทย ในศตวรรษที่ 21, ธนา ร่างน้อย

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การศึกษาวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์และข้อถกเถียงเพื่อศึกษาวิเคราะห์การก่อตัวของการเกิดสนามวาทกรรม “ความผิดเพศ” ภายใต้บริบท “สังคมนิยมชาย” ในสังคมไทย โดยมุ่งศึกษาภาคปฏิบัติการของสนามวาทกรรม “ความผิดเพศ” ในศตวรรษที่ 21 ที่เป็นการปะทะกันระหว่างชุดวาทกรรมรักต่างเพศและชุดวาทกรรมรักเพศเดียวกันแบบคู่ตรงข้าม เพื่อวิเคราะห์ความสัมพันธ์และการเกิดความเกลียดชังทางเพศวิถีที่มีต่อกลุ่มเกย์เพศชายกลุ่มต่างๆ ในสังคมไทย ผ่านการวิเคราะห์สื่อทางสังคมในรูปแบบต่าง ๆ และสื่อวัฒนธรรมป๊อป อาทิ ละครชุด ภาพยนตร์ บทเพลง หรือหนังสือ ตลอดจนการแสดงออกเชิงสัญลักษณ์อย่างเทศกาลไพรด์ รวมไปถึงการวิเคราะห์ชุดวาทกรรมทางการอย่าง “กฎหมาย” ได้แก่ ร่างพระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขประมวลกฎหมายแพ่งและพาณิชย์เพื่อการสมรสเท่าเทียม และร่างพระราชบัญญัติคู่ชีวิต ที่สังคมไทยยังคงมีปัญหาด้านตัวบทกฎหมายการเข้าถึงกระบวนการยุติธรรมและการได้รับความคุ้มครองทางสิทธิและเสรีภาพของกลุ่มเกย์ที่มีข้อจำกัด สะท้อนให้เห็นการแย่งชิงพื้นที่ทางวาทกรรมในสนามวาทกรรมความผิดเพศที่นำไปสู่การเกิดความเกลียดชังทางเพศวิถีที่มีต่อกลุ่มเกย์ ซึ่งผลการศึกษาพบว่า กลุ่มเกย์เพศชายในสังคมไทย ยังคงได้รับผลกระทบจากสนามวาทกรรม “ความผิดเพศ” โดยเฉพาะเรื่องการได้รับความคุ้มครองด้านสิทธิเสรีภาพและการเข้าถึงสิทธิตามกฎหมาย และขาดกฎหมายที่รองรับการแสดงออกและการเข้าถึงสิทธิของกลุ่มผู้มีความหลากหลายทางเพศที่นำไปสู่การเกิดความเกลียดชังทางเพศวิถีที่มีต่อเกย์เพศชายกลุ่มต่าง ๆ โดยงานวิจัยชิ้นนี้ได้สร้างคุณูปการทางวิชาการด้านการศึกษาวาทกรรมและการวิเคราะห์วาทกรรม และสร้างองค์ความรู้เกี่ยวกับความหลากหลายทางเพศ ตลอดจนสร้างความรู้ความเข้าใจด้านอาชญาวิทยาเกี่ยวกับความเกลียดชังทางเพศวิถีที่มีต่อกลุ่มเกย์ให้เกิดความชัดเจนมากยิ่งขึ้น

What Is An Authentic Relationship?, Joseph B. Johnston

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Research

There is perhaps nothing more hopeful in the world than to attempt to develop a truly meaningful relationship with another human being. The formation of authentic relationships can be powerful for many reasons including contributing to the formation of collective movements and social change. But, what does an authentic relationship look like in an inherently-time-limited community-engaged learning (CEL) experience? I utilize the case of a CEL class, rooted in some of the aims of the Jesuit Justice Circle (experience, understanding, imagination), which offers the opportunity for college students to enjoy early morning walks to school with youth. I analyze student …

Psychology And Criminology Students' Attribution Of Factors Contributing To Criminal Behaviors, Ava Marie Leahy

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in the attribution of contributing factors to criminal behaviors between psychology and criminology majors. To gauge participant perception, a carefully crafted vignette was presented to participants accompanied by questions asking participants to what extent eight variables (conformation to labels, hostile attribution bias, rational choice based on circumstances, poor attachments, mental illness, upbringing, insufficient deterrence, and learned behavior through observation) contributed to the perpetrator’s criminal behavior and for participants to rank-order these same variables from the largest contributors to the least. Participants were also asked to provide a sentencing recommendation for …

The Challenges And Transformative Experiences Of Promoting Nonkilling With Anti-Nuclear Weapon Activists And Realists, Roland Joseph

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Decades ago, Glenn D. Paige questioned killing and violence in politics, presenting nonkilling political science as an alternative. Activists and researchers from other disciplines have joined the movement by considering this new paradigm in their disciplines. Since then, some scholars analyzed the experience of activists promoting notions related to nonkilling, including peace and nonviolence. However, no previous research focuses specifically on the experience of scholars promoting nonkilling to anti-nuclear weapon activists and realists. To fill this gap and give voice to nonkilling and nuclear weapon risks, a qualitative phenomenological study using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was conducted to answer the …

The Decline Of Union Membership And The Resulting Conflicts, Cynthia Cushman

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine how private-sector union members and union leaders viewed the changes in organized labor in the United States over the past ten years. This study explored the impact of union membership decline in the United States labor force through the perceptions of union members and union leaders. There were four macro-level factors examined in this study: a move in dominant occupations from manufacturing to service-orientated work; changes in federal and state regulation; the ability, flexibility, and success of union leadership; and the aggressive counter-union moves of business management. This study was constructed …

Cause For Complaint: A Case Study Exploring Office For Civil Rights Complaints And Resolutions Related To Digital Accessibility At Public Colleges And Universities, Helen Gema Muñiz Bermudez

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

As the number of students with disabilities pursuing postsecondary opportunities continues to grow, along with an increase in digital educational content and technology, the issue of digital accessibility becomes increasingly urgent - both as a matter of equity and access for disabled students and as a matter of social and fiscal responsibility for postsecondary institutions. When postsecondary institutions fail to meet the requirements of disability legislation, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is the federal entity responsible for enforcement and complaint investigations, handling hundreds of complaints related to digital accessibility at postsecondary institutions since 2013. There …

Strength In Numbers: An Exploratory Case Study On The Impact Of Conflict In Multi-Institutional Higher Education Collaborations, Michele Robyn Dinicola

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The higher education landscape is changing. Students seeking access to college are increasinglydiverse, geographically dispersed, socioeconomically challenged, and will require higher education administrators to closely examine their models to ensure they are well-suited to serve the needs of these students. Responding to these shifts will require higher education administrators to shed traditional approaches in favor of innovative, cost-effective, flexible models of education delivery. Many institutions address this challenge through a reliance on higher education consortia and collaborations. In Maryland, one approach to collaboration takes the form of multi-institutional Regional Higher Education Centers (RHEC) like the largest of them, the Universities …