Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons^™

Pornography And Men's Violence Against Women And Children: From Production To Consumption, Gail Dines Phd., Mandy Sanchez Phd

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The average age of first viewing mainstream pornography for boys is around ten to twelve years old. The pornography they encounter is largely from “tube sites,” named after YouTube, which are popular because they require no registration, no payment, and no subscription. For the most part, an adolescent only needs access to a digital device to view hundreds of thousands of free videos. As we discuss in this article, the weight of the scientific evidence shows that viewing pornography is associated with multiple social, emotional, sexual, and cognitive harms. However, none of these studies provide a detailed analysis of …

Self-Governance, Social Order And Institutional Solutions To Collective Action In A Tent City, Karen A. Snedker, Jennifer Mckinney, Steven Pfaff

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Applying insights from the theory of collective action in self-governance, this paper addresses how a city-sanctioned homeless camp has successfully self-governed for over two decades. Based on a club goods model and democratic practices, this tent city attains social order and provides numerous collective benefits to its residents, who initially bring very little capital to the camp. Our case study, which includes in-depth interviews with residents of a tent city at four time points between 2012-2025, as well as observations from their weekly organizational meeting, illustrates how the possibility of exclusion for rule violation, norms emphasizing voice and service, and …

Zero Tolerance Policies In Schools & Subsequent Outcomes, Annalise Loucks

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Zero tolerance policies refer to policies and practices that disproportionately push marginalized students out of classrooms and into the criminal justice system. These patterns contribute to long-term negative outcomes, including higher dropout rates, increased incarceration, and reduced economic and social opportunities.

Corrigendum To “Decolonizing Knowledge As Epistemic Justice: Key Conceptual Tendencies From The Global South” [Tanzania Journal Of Sociology, Vol. 11, Issue No.2, December 2025: 113 - 128], Richard Sambaiga

Tanzania Journal of Sociology

This article registers corrections done to a reference section of "Decolonizing Knowledge as Epistemic Justice: Key Conceptual Tendencies from the Global South” [Tanzania Journal of Sociology, Vol. 11, Issue No.2, December 2025: 113 - 128]

Navigating Liminality: Building Resources For And With Undocumented Students, Yaneyry Delfin Martinez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Rooted in Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Liberation Sociology, this project outlines an institutional blueprint for the resources and support systems needed to address the lived realities of undocumented students at Cal Poly Humboldt (CPH). Conducted during the second Trump Administration amidst escalating hostility towards immigrants and attacks on DEI initiatives, this work documents both the structural conditions shaping undocumented students’ lives and the collective resistance that emerged in response. Furthermore, it examines how immigration policy, access to and restrictions on federal and state aid, geographic conditions, and on-campus barriers reproduce and maintain legal liminality within higher education. Grounded in …

You Are Your Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams: A Journey Beyond The Lens Blueprinting The Influence And Impact Of Media And Podcast Pedagogy On Black And Brown Creatives In Higher Education And Beyond, Diamond N. Morgan Dr.

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Explores the influence and impact of media and podcast pedagogy on Black and Brown creatives (BBC) in higher education. Grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT), the Black Creative Educational Experience (BCEEs) framework, and the conceptual lenses of sociological and public podcasting, this study examines how podcasting functions as a transformative pedagogical and sociocultural tool for storytelling, identity development, creative expression, and community building within collegiate environments. Utilizing a convergent parallel mixed methods design, the study integrates quantitative survey data from 65 participants with qualitative focus group discussions to provide a holistic understanding of participant experiences across personal, professional, academic, social, …

Vishing And Smishing Perpetrators And Their Victims In Nigerian Slums, Lateef J. Adeyemo, Tirimisiyu Y. Olabulo, Idenyi G. Peter

International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime

This study investigates the personal accounts of both perpetrators and victims to better understand the techniques and strategies used in vishing and smishing schemes. It adopts a qualitative cross-sectional design across three Lagos slums (Ajegunle, Amukoko, and Ijora-Badia), using snowball sampling to recruit 20 victims and 10 perpetrators for in-depth interviews. Findings reveal that perpetrators impersonate trusted entities using low-tech tools (pre-registered SIMs, bulk SMS apps) to exploit trust. Selective morality emerges among offenders, with some repaying known victims due to guilt while exploiting strangers, alongside a mentorship culture where experienced scammers train newcomers. Poverty and peer influence normalize the …

Undergraduate Awareness Of Sexual Harassment Law In Tanzania's Higher Learning Institutions: Case Studies Of Two Universities, Salma Ramadhan Fundi Phd Candidate

Tanzania Journal of Sociology

This study examines undergraduate students' awareness of legal provisions and guidelines concerning sexual harassment in Tanzanian higher education, focusing on the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) and the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) as case studies. Sexual harassment significantly impacts students’ well-being, safety, and academic success. Despite the existence of legal frameworks, students' knowledge of these provisions is often limited. The study employed a qualitative approach with a phenomenological research design to explore students’ experiences and perceptions of harassment policies. This design allowed participants to share the meanings they attach to their experiences and how such policies are understood …

The Impact Of Mental Health Courts On Public Attitudes Held Toward Justice-Involved Individuals With Mental Illness, Maeve Porter

Student Theses

Prior research has established that mental health court programs play an important role in reducing recidivism and mental health symptoms of defendants. However, there is a lack of understanding of the stigma that justice-involved individuals may encounter upon release from mental health court into the community, and the extent to which the general public is aware of mental health court programs. The present study sought to address public perceptions regarding mental health courts, their efficacy, and their participants based on the awareness and availability of these specialized courts in two similar states (New York and New Jersey), one in which …

Healing Communities With Police Divestment: Seeking Abolition Through Transformative Reform And Community-Government Collaboration, Jessica E. Gillson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Concerns about the efficacy and sustainability of the U.S. carceral system have persisted throughout the country’s history, recently fueling renewed activism and bipartisan calls for reform. However, proposed solutions remain divisive. This thesis first defines the current status of our prison systems, then explores collaborative alternatives to incarceration and policing that support communities and break cycles of incarceration.

Focusing on partnerships among local governments, community organizations, justice-involved individuals, and law enforcement, this study examines holistic approaches to crime prevention, reentry, and reintegration. Using an interdisciplinary framework incorporating restorative justice, community resilience, and systems theory, it investigates how community-based strategies can …

Remembering Lost Lives And Collective Healing From Trauma: Homicides, Incarceration, And Pain-Driven Advocacy In The Jane And Finch Community, Ardavan Eizadirad, Devon Jones, Greg Leslie, Tamasha Grant

Education Faculty Publications

This article serves as a vessel for knowledge mobilization and activism as research, intertwining remembrance of lost lives and communal healing by sharing collective pain amongst the authors and bolstering mutual support. Guided by personal encounters with violence including death, homicides, and incarceration, four authors comprising a teacher, social worker, and two community activists, unveil their 20-year+ advocacy journey in the Jane and Finch community in Toronto, Canada including their involvement with programs and services through the non-profit organization Youth Association for Academics, Athletics, and Character Education (YAAACE). The pain and suffering are shared as symptoms of systemic trauma inflicted …

Remembering Lost Lives And Collective Healing From Trauma: Homicides, Incarceration, And Pain-Driven Advocacy In The Jane And Finch Community, Ardavan Eizadirad, Devon Jones, Tamasha Grant, Gerg Leslie

Education Faculty Publications

This article serves as a vessel for knowledge mobilization and activism as research, intertwining remembrance of lost lives and communal healing by sharing collective pain amongst the authors and bolstering mutual support. Guided by personal encounters with violence including death, homicides, and incarceration, four authors comprising a teacher, social worker, and two community activists, unveil their 20-year+ advocacy journey in the Jane and Finch community in Toronto, Canada including their involvement with programs and services through the non-profit organization Youth Association for Academics, Athletics, and Character Education (YAAACE). The pain and suffering are shared as symptoms of systemic trauma inflicted …

Amadeusz’S Prosper: Effective Reintegration Of Adults Facing Firearm-Related Charges In Ontario, Canada, Ardavan Eizadirad, Tina-Nadia Gopal Chambers, Sheena Blake Brown

Education Faculty Publications

This study evaluates the impact of Amadeusz’ Prosper program which supports individuals with firearm-related charges between the ages of 18 to 29 in Ontario, Canada. Prosper offers intensive case management through caseworkers who co-create tailored support plans with participants based on their immediate needs and long-term goals. The program supports individuals during incarceration and post-release once back in community. This study engaged 44 participants through interviews conducted between October 2022 and April 2023. Participants included program beneficiaries (n=29), family members (n=8), community partners (n=4), and caseworkers (n=3). Intersectionality and Critical Race Theory paradigms were applied as part of data analysis …

Impact Of Race And Culture Assessments (Ircas) In Combatting Anti-Black Racism And Reducing Recidivism, Ardavan Eizadirad, Greg Leslie

Education Faculty Publications

The Gladue report, named after R. v. Gladue, is a landmark Supreme Court of Canada case which emphasizes the need to consider unique circumstances faced by Indigenous individuals when determining appropriate sentences. Given the overrepresentation of Black identities at all levels in the justice system, it is argued that the use of pre-sentencing reports referred to as Impact of Race and Culture Assessments (IRCAs), also needs to be comprehensively implemented for Black offenders in Canada. IRCAs are pre-sentencing reports that help sentencing judges better understand the effect of poverty, marginalization, racism, and social exclusion on the offender and their life …

Non-Fatal Intimate Partner Violence In Seminole County, Fl, 2016-2020, Jonzelle Bell Bs, Julio Montanez Ma, Amy Donley Phd

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

In 2024, the University of Central Florida's Institute for Social and Behavioral Science developed a white paper summarizing Uniform Crime Reports data for Seminole County, FL from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The white paper tabulates intimate partner violence offenses by victim-offender relationship, offense severity, and offense type.

What Are We Waiting For? A Collection Of Poems And Essays About Family, Love, Loss, Time, And Hope, Right/Write To Heal, Skye Adams, D W, N L, D G, Jillian Foley, Madison Burke, Erica King, Becky Wurwarg

Justice Policy

This anthology is a collaboration with the Opportunity Scholars project and the Right/Write to Heal Initiative. The collection tells the stories of women and their families who have been impacted by incarceration in Maine and New York, the pathways that brought them to justice system involvement, and what inspires them to remain hopeful. These stories of family, love, loss, time, and hope were written by residents at the Southern Maine Women’s Reentry Center and the Women’s Center at the Maine Correctional Center, and partners from New York who participated in a weekly creative writing project together. The authors and editors …

Identifying Youth Appeals In Alcohol Alternative Social Media Content Through Framing, Melina Oneal

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Proposed regulations for alcohol advertising prevent beverage companies from targeting people under the legal drinking age. However, similar regulations for alcohol alternative beverages are less explored, which could allow alcohol alternative products to create awareness for alcoholic beverages among youth. Alcohol alternatives beverages, including no-alcohol and low-alcohol products, are increasing in popularity and can function as compliments to alcoholic products to decrease the total alcohol volume consumed or as substitutes for alcoholic products. Framing theory can be operationalized through the Content Appealing to Youth Index, an index of content elements found in research literature to be appealing to youth, to …

Law In Inaction: The Origins And Implications Of Chronic Drug Law Underenforcement In One Southern County, Kay L. Levine, Elizabeth Griffiths, Joshua M. Hinkle, Volkan Topalli

Faculty Articles

Common accounts of police and prosecutorial nonenforcement discretion tend to valorize individual declination choices as demonstrations of mercy and resource constraint. Simultaneously, these accounts critique blanket nonenforcement policies as being outside the bounds of executive authority. Both accounts fail to consider the origins and implications of nonenforcement decisions made by police officers and prosecutors in individual cases that, when taken together, amount to significant underenforcement of an otherwise valid law.

This Article fills the gap between these differing perspectives by empirically examining the hidden and habitual underenforcement of technically valid drug-free-zone (DFZ) laws in one Southern county. Data matching the …

A Blackgirl Artivisionary Mosaic: Art-Based Participatory Refusals To School Punishment, Tyese A. Brown

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The study participants were co-research partners and engaged in a Project Based Learning six-week summer project in an urban northeastern metropolis community-based non-profit where they received stipends for participation. This dissertation explored how Blackgirls (aged 14 -21) express their experiences with disparate school punishment through community-based participatory artmaking. We called the photos, poems, collages, sculptures, storyboards, digital art, visual art, songs, spoken word, and videos Artivisions (art I vision). In the Jam Sessions, a subset of the partners we called curators discussed the pieces, shared their experiences, and offered insight into Blackgirls’ responses, coping skills, and decision-making regarding school punishment. …

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

Female Perpetrators Of Ritually Motivated Pedicide And Mutilation Of Children, Chima Agazue

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Ritually motivated pedicide is among contemporary Africa’s most severe crimes against children. Most of these crimes involve brutal acts of violence or mutilation of the victim. While men are most often the perpetrators of violent crimes, ritually motivated pedicide and mutilation equally attract women. The role of women in these crimes is not restricted to the less violent aspects of the crimes; instead, they also extend to the most brutal elements, often involving mutilation, decapitation or outright murder of the victim. This article explored the involvement of women in these crimes that target children for mutilation and pedicide. The article …

Volusia County, Fl Mental Health And Substance Use Disorder Treatment Gap Analysis, Amy Donley Phd, Jacquelyn Reiss, Caroline Austin

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

The University of Central Florida's Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS) partnered with Volusia County to undertake a gap analysis focused on mental health and substance use disorder treatment. Specifically, we designed a study to determine the capacity of treatment options, identify barriers to seeking treatment, and illuminate what works particularly well. The gap analysis results can guide future decisions on allocating resources best to ensure that treatment is accessible to all in need.

An Arbitrary Aesthetic: Cultural Reproduction And Hegemonic Canonical Formations In The Western Theatrical Academy, Sim C. Rivers

Theses and Dissertations

Theatre as an artistic practice has often been celebrated as an art of and for the people, being a modality that in theory the common person has access to learn, explore and experience. In recent years I have become preoccupied with the growing rarification and privileging of this art form, particularly in how it is cognized and taught in the academic world. As such, I set out to investigate the mechanisms at work at levels structural, artistic, and personal that determine how theatre is taught and understood within the western academy.

This thesis seeks to examine and unpack the perceived …

Orange County, Fl Substance Use Disorder Treatment Gap Analysis, Amy Donley Phd, Caroline Austin, Jacquelyn Reiss

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

The University of Central Florida's Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS) partnered with the Orange County Drug-Free Office to undertake a gap analysis focused on substance use disorder treatment. Specifically, we designed a study to determine the capacity of treatment options, identify barriers to seeking treatment, and illuminate what works particularly well. The gap analysis results can guide future decisions on allocating resources best to ensure that treatment is accessible to all in need.

Does Crime Trigger Genetic Risk For Type 2 Diabetes In Young Adults? A G X E Interaction Study Using National Data, Fangqi Guo, Kathleen Mullan Harris, Jason D. Boardman, Jennifer W. Robinette

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Living in neighborhoods perceived as disordered exacerbates genetic risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D) among older adults. It is unknown whether this gene-neighborhood interaction extends to younger adults. The present study aims to investigate whether crime, an objectively measured indicator of neighborhood disorder, triggers genetic risk for T2D among younger adults, and whether this hypothesized triggering occurs through exposure to obesity.

Methods

Data were from the Wave I (2008) National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. A standardized T2D polygenic score was created using 2014 GWAS meta-analysis results. Weighted mediation analyses using generalized structural equation models were conducted …

The Great Resignation: A Content Analysis Of News Sources' Portrayals Of The Covid-19 Labor Shortage., Mackenzie Williams

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

When workers left the labor market in large numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, proclamations of a labor shortage emerged extensively throughout the news. In this study, I analyze the coverage of the worker shortage among three news sources with different political orientations. Several themes emerged from analyzing a total of 75 articles. The findings showed that the perspective shown in the article, the cause of the labor shortage, restaurant worker portrayal, support of solutions, and opinion of the labor shortage all differed based on the political identity of the news source. This research supports previous findings that show there is …

Contextualizing The 2019 “Chile Despertó” Movement: The Impact Of Historical Relational Processes On Mobilization And Repression, Tanya Leon

International Studies (MA) Theses

To expand our theoretical and empirical understanding of mobilization and repression in Latin America, this thesis asks three critical questions. Are economic indicators sufficient predictors of social movement emergence in Latin America? What other factors contribute to large-scale mobilization in Latin America? How do government’s respond to large-scale Latin American social movements? Specifically, when, and why do democratic governments choose to employ repression against social movements? Accordingly, I construct a quantitative model to test the correlation between rise in protest and worsened economic conditions. I apply it to a comprehensive dataset of political events in multiple South American countries throughout …

Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission Comment Tool On Changes To Trapping Regulations, Jacquelyn Reiss, Amy Donley Phd, Brian Hall

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

To collect public comments on the modernization of trapping rules and analyze the feedback provided, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the FCRC Consensus Center contracted with the Institute for Social and Behavioral Sciences (ISBS). Together the FWC, FCRC Consensus Center, and ISBS constructed a comment tool that was comprised of 5 different sections.

Survey Measures On Substance Use Amongst College Students, Jacquelyn Reiss, Amy Donley

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

The Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS) reviewed measures utilized in 3 major surveys administered within middle schools, high schools, and colleges state-wide and nationally to compile a list of tested survey measures on youth substance use. The 3 surveys that were assessed are the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS), the American College Health Association National Collegiate Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA), and the Monitoring the Future Survey (MFS).

What Predicts How Safe People Feel In Their Neighborhoods And Does It Depend On Functional Status?, Alfredo J. Velasquez, Jason A. Douglas, Fangqi Guo, Jennifer W. Robinette

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

Feeling unsafe in one's neighborhood is related to poor health. Features of the neighborhood environment have been suggested to inform perceptions of neighborhood safety. Yet, the relative contribution of these features (e.g., uneven sidewalks, crime, perceived neighborhood physical disorder) on perceived neighborhood safety, particularly among people with disabilities who may view themselves as more vulnerable, is not well understood. We examined whether sidewalk quality assessed by third party raters, county-level crime rates, and perceived neighborhood disorder would relate to neighborhood safety concerns, and whether functional limitations would exacerbate these links. Using data from the 2012/2014 waves of the Health and …