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

Nihilistic Violence Aesthetics In Public Online Communication, Heath Nicholas Landress

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Public online communication has increasingly included violence-related content that is meme-based, ironic, visually stylized, multimodal, and only partially ideological. This comprehensive literature review synthesized research on online extremism, extremist memes, toxic multimodal content, dehumanizing digital communication, nihilistic violent extremism, warning behaviors, platform affordances, and youth-facing online environments. The purpose was to clarify what the literature had established; identify where the scholarship remained fragmented; and map research domains relevant to social, behavioral, public safety, and human services scholarship. The review used a structured, comprehensive literature review strategy supported by integrative synthesis procedures. The final corpus contained 34 scholarly sources, including 32 …

The Internet Did This To Me: Forms, Consequences, And Coping Strategies Of Cyberbullying, Isaac Oppong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined self-reported cyberbullying experiences recounted in a subreddit (r/cyberbullying) to identify forms of cyberbullying, its effects, and ways to cope with it. The findings indicate that there are several types of cyberbullying, such as verbal aggression, deceptive manipulation, privacy invasion, and coercive control. These experiences led to emotional, social, and behavioral consequences, including fear, anxiety, withdrawal, and decreased online activity. Based on concepts from Social Information Processing theory and Symbolic Interactionism, this study reveals how cyberbullying can produce the same or similar consequences as traditional bullying. People experienced disturbances in their self-presentation, contended with spoiled identities, and dealt …

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.

System Disparities: Racial Criminalization And The Risk Of Coerced And False Confessions In Youth, Cynthia J. Najdowski

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Black youth may be even more vulnerable than other youth to admitting to crimes they did not commit in the context of police interrogations. In support, analysis of data from the National Registry of Exonerations indicates that 65% of people who were wrongfully convicted on the basis of false confessions they gave when under 18 years old are Black, whereas only 14% of the U.S. population is Black. In this chapter, I seek to understand the overrepresentation of Black youth in samples of juvenile false confessors by examining the cultural stereotype about Black criminality in relation to both investigators and …

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, …

A Content Analysis Of Prison/Custodial Suicide In Bangladesh, Anisur Khan, Rasel Hussain

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Suicide is the leading cause of death in prisons and custodial settings globally. International studies have consistently shown that prisoners and detainees are at a higher risk of suicide compared to the general population. Despite Bangladesh having a large prison population, there is no scholarly work on suicide within these settings. Against this backdrop, this study explored online newspaper content analysis capturing the characteristics of prison and custodial suicide in Bangladesh from 2014–2024. A total of 20 suicide cases were identified during this period. The data were arranged based on year-wise trends, age, sex, type of custody, nature of criminality, …

Underlying Causes Linking Foster Care And The Criminal Justice System, Marcia D. Wheeler

Master of Arts in Human Services

This research expands on the ongoing statewide crisis within the foster care system that needs to be properly addressed to benefit future and current foster youth. Research has found a connection between foster care and prison, often referred as the “foster-care-to-prison-pipeline.” This study aimed to explore the impact of trauma experienced by current and former foster youth through a life course lens looking at crucial areas of development using a mixed methodology supported by theoretical theories that explored the connection between foster care and the criminal justice system. The results showed that current and former foster youth face many adversities …

Not Meant To Be Read: The Stories They Silence, The Resistance That Speaks, Cristina Onea

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I trace the evolution of surveillance from overt state violence to the more insidious forms of ideological policing embedded in everyday life. Through lived experience, oral history, and critical autoethnography, I explore how surveillance moves through bodies, families, institutions, and memory—not simply as external control, but as internalized rhythms of fear, vigilance, and self-surveillance. I move between my father's life under Romanian dictatorship, my own embodied inheritance, and the contemporary struggles of librarians facing ideological suppression to reveal surveillance as a structure that persists through generations, mutates across contexts, and demands new forms of resistance.

I argue …

#Protestpolicing: Intersecting Race And Social Media Activism In The Mile High City, Nancy Rios-Contreras

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Demonstrations addressing police use of force stress the importance of revisiting the organization strategies of social movements. Fatal use of force against individuals of color continues to tarnish police-community relations. Social media helps elevate the political movement addressing police use of force, but understanding social media as an activist resource remains underdeveloped. Resource mobilization theory is applied to the conceptualization of protest activities to describe how activists use social media as a resource to initiate and create local community change. This exploratory study consists of 20 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with activists over 18 years old and fieldwork observation. While social …

Affect, Efficacy, And Protest Intentions: Testing A Multilevel, Dual-Pathway Model Of Collective Action, Blaine G. Robbins, Steven Pfaff, Ross L. Matsueda

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

What are the consequences of affect and efficacy for protest intentions, and do these consequences stem from personal disposition and/or situational characteristics? Here, we test a dual-pathway model of collective action in which anger and efficacy operate at multiple levels of analysis. To test this model, we administer a factorial survey experiment of student protest to a random sample of undergraduate students (N = 880). We find that the effect of anger on protest intentions follows two routes—one dispositional and one situational—and that the effect of efficacy flows through a situational channel. We also find that anger and efficacy are …

Deep-Fake Revenge Porn: The Intersection Of Artificial Intelligence And Revenge Porn For A Modern Attack On Women, Eva C. Hunt

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This study aims to provide a legal analysis grounded in gender legal theory to critique current legislation enacted in the United States. It focuses on the societal and gendered impacts of revenge porn, particularly examining how victimization differs across genders. The legal analysis explores state-by-state legislation addressing revenge porn, assessing the severity of criminal penalties and the timeline of enactment. For current contextual reasons, the study evaluates how emerging Deepfake artificial intelligence technologies intersect with and complicate existing revenge porn laws. Finally, it analyzes the extent to which each state has incorporated Deepfake AI considerations into its legal framework.

Marginalized, Secularized, And Popularized? The Prevalence And Patterns Of Paranormal Belief In The United Kingdom, Tom Clark, Joseph O. Baker, Christoper D. Bader

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

There is growing recognition of the prevalence of paranormal beliefs in Western countries. However, most of this interest has been focused on the United States and robust, comparative data remain limited. This study extends this literature to report findings from a national survey of the United Kingdom designed to assess the prevalence and patterns of paranormal beliefs. Although there are many similarities to previous research, the results also suggest that there are significant differences in the scope, clustering, and patterns of paranormalism across contexts. The study makes four contributions to research on the paranormal by a) reiterating the continuing popularity …

Understanding The Transitional Needs Of Servicemembers To Veterans: A Focus On Mental, Social, And Behavioral Health, Marieann C. Raguso

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to fill the gaps on the transitional American veterans’ lived experience using their own voice. The reconstruction of an American Veteran’s identity after transitioning back into civilian life is a process with many challenges. Transitional practices often fail to help veterans to acculturate back into the civilian world. This includes the formulation of identities and associations. There is a lack of consistency in military transitional practices leading to identity loss and the formulation of mental and behavioral disorders. The aim of this study is to examine the lived experiences of veterans who have transitioned back …

H. H. Holmes: Savage Monster Or Cruel Conman?, Max Ewoldt

Bakerman Student Research Awards

No abstract provided.

Barriers In Reporting Sexual Violence On College Campuses, Amber Hartman

Honors Theses

This thesis is designed to examine the underreporting of sexual violence on college campuses by exploring the systemic, cultural, and logistical barriers that hinder victims from disclosing their assault. Using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the research identifies three overarching influences for non-reporting. Fear, shame, and lack of resources are presented as the basis of the decision that victims make to not report. Meta-analysis of the research concludes that there is a profound impact of internalized victim-blaming narratives, fear of repercussions and institutional deficiencies in providing accessible support. Recommendations for solutions emphasize creating trauma-informed policies, improving communication and accessibility of …

A Gaze Of Cruelty, Deferred: Actualizing The Female Gaze In Cate Shortland’S Berlin Syndrome (2017), Natasha Chuk

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Australian director Cate Shortland’s dramatic thriller Berlin Syndrome (2017) follows the conventions of the genre involving a psychologically unstable male perpetrator and his female victim, thus could hinge on patriarchal control. Instead, based on a close reading of feminist film scholar Laura Mulvey’s theoretical definition of the former, Shortland’s cinematic apparatus can be read as an inverse of the male gaze, a type of systematic ‘female gaze’. This observation both warrants clarification of the term and concept behind the female gaze and suggests a pressing need to re-evaluate the language of cinema and its habitually damaging depictions of women. In …

Community Crime And Safety: An Investigation Of Gender Differences In The Daily Stress Process, Jennifer W. Robinette, Jennifer R. Piazza, Robert S. Stawski

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Few studies have investigated the associations between community crime rates and affective well-being, and how that relationship may differ according to gender. Using data from the National Study of Daily Experiences and the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the current study examined gender differences between daily affective experiences, crime rates, and perceptions of neighborhood safety. Although feeling unsafe in one's neighborhood was related to worse affective well-being (i.e., higher negative affect/lower positive affect) and larger affective responses to daily stressors, crime rates were not. Women's negative affect was more strongly tied to daily stressors, whereas men's was more strongly tied to …

Ideational Diffusion And The Great Witch Hunt In Central Europe, Kerice Doten‑Snitker, Steven Pfaff, Yuan Hsiao

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

The great upsurge of witch trials in early modern Europe remains a historical puzzle. Popularly known as the “witch craze”, this eruption of persecution is puzzling because belief in witchcraft had existed for centuries, but large-scale witch-hunting appeared rather abruptly, spread widely, and was remarkably brutal in comparison with the past. We define a theory of ideational diffusion to describe the general process of the emergence and spread of a new idea along with its prescribed behavioral change, in this case the adoption of witch-hunting. Ideational diffusion distinguishes between the adoption of new ideas, which lead social actors to reinterpret …

How Threat Mobilizes The Resurgence And Persistence Of Us White Supremacist Activism: The 1980s To The Present, Pete Simi, Robert Futrell, Adam Burston

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Despite a centuries-long history of violent mobilization, white supremacist activism (WSA) has received relatively little sociological attention outside a small, specialized subfield. Disciplinary interest began to change after Trump's 2016 election; the 2017 violent attack in Charlottesville, Virginia; and the January 6, 2021, insurrection. In recognition, this review article focuses on what has been learned about contemporary WSA since the 1980s. We categorize studies by their unit of analysis—individual or micro, meso, and macro levels—to highlight analytic commonalities and distinctions and to underscore the central role that threat plays in the ebb and flow of WSA. As part of our …

Risk Factors For Online And In-Person Stalking, Intrusive Harassment, And Violence Within A Community Sample, Elisha J. C. Chan

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Stalking and intrusive harassment (SIH) and stalking violence are prevalent and serious public health concerns associated with significant physical, psychological, financial, and social consequences. The growing proliferation of technology and the internet has only exacerbated the problem as SIH behaviors can be easily perpetrated via electronic means. Given its prevalence and negative impact, it is imperative to investigate the risk factors for online and in-person SIH and stalking violence to better predict and mitigate its detrimental effects. The current study therefore aimed to 1) examine the descriptive characteristics associated with online and in-person SIH and stalking violence; and 2) identify …

Harassment, Stalking, And Violence On Campus: An Examination Of Persistent Cases, Madeline M. Eyer

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Stalking, harassment, dating violence, physical assault, and sexual assault continue to occur at elevated frequencies on college campuses. Most subjects cease engagement in these behaviors within a short period; however, a subset of individuals will engage in these intrusive behaviors over an extended length of time. While persistence has been examined in the stalking literature, only one study has examined risk factors of persistence in a college sample, and no studies have examined persistence for adverse behaviors outside of stalking (i.e., harassment, dating violence, physical assault, and sexual assault). Given the risk for physical and psychological harm toward targets as …

A Trauma-Informed Socially Just Approach To Working With Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth Utilizing Expressive Arts Therapy, Ciara Carr

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Youth involved with the juvenile justice system often have a history of trauma and oppression resulting from their positionality and circumstances. Most juvenile justice-involved youth are boys, youth of color, low-income, LGBTQIA2S+, disabled, and traumatized. This literature review explores the history of the juvenile justice system, issues with the present-day model, and trauma-informed and transformative justice approaches to practice. The implementation of socially just, trauma-informed expressive arts therapy programs is proposed as a more equitable practice to replace commonly used punitive practices across the United States. More research is needed to understand the impact of such programs on this population …

Examining Theoretically Derived Mechanisms Underlying The Relationships Between Sexual Arousal, Alcohol Use History, And Sexual Aggression, Kailey Ann Richner

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Various interventions have attempted to reduce the rates of sexual violence perpetrated by college men; however, meta-analyses suggest interventions need to further evaluate theoretically derived mechanisms to improve outcomes (Malamuth et al., 2018; DeGue et al., 2014; Vladutiu, et al., 2011). To address this concern, the present study utilized the Integrated Theory of Sexual Offending (ITSO; Ward et al., 2016; Ward & Beech, 2008; 2006) to explore mechanisms underlying the relationships between sexual arousal, alcohol use history (AUH), and sexual aggression. Working memory, impulsivity, and affective forecasting paradigms were selected to map onto the ITSO’s neuropsychological mechanisms. The interaction between …

The Viral Spread Of Xenophobia: Analyzing The Influence Of Far-Right Politics On Anti-Asian Sentiment Expressed On Social Media During Covid-19., Robert F. Arnold Iii

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Throughout history, viral outbreaks have frequently led to the emergence of biased and discriminatory attitudes, often targeting populations that deviate from Western norms. These sentiments commonly manifest as xenophobia and racism (Chen, 2020; Chou, 2021). This report serves as an in-depth analysis of the role far-right political phrasing of Covid-19 as the “Chinese Virus,” played in the proliferation of anti-Asian and xenophobic attitudes, expressed on the social media platform X (Twitter). This study also aims to better understand the various different factors that cause followers of far-right politics to engage and believe in anti-Asian sentiment online. Using Integrated Threat Theory …

Emergence: Social Movements, Law Enforcement, And Defending The Sanctity Of Life, Diana Elizabeth Aroche

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the aftermath of national social movements advocating for police reforms and accountability, with San Francisco emerging as a pivotal city at the forefront of criminal justice and policing transformations. Rebuilding community trust and implementing substantive police reforms aimed at preserving lives has proven to be a formidable challenge. The convergence of interests among all stakeholders, driven by a shared commitment to dismantling institutional racism and implementing reforms that fostered trust with communities of color and law enforcement, played a pivotal role.

A significant aspect of this reform process has been the development of social movement convergence, where …

Controlling The Narrative: The Effects Of Media Coverage On Fear Of Crime And Socio-Political Ideology, Andrew Koppelman

Theses

Several decades of study have established an understanding that media have a unique power to influence the perspectives and worldviews of audiences. This phenomenon has been explored through the lenses of Social Learning and Cultivation theory, wherein media appeal to base human tendencies of self-preservation and teaches audiences how to maximize rewards for their actions by acting as a sort of instructor or friendly warning from members of the community. While prior studies have suggested the presence of this effect, little research has been devoted to understanding the ways that this may influence behaviors in viewers. My research seeks to …

The Perception Of Children As Reliable Eyewitnesses, Shelby Mcdonald

Psychology Student Papers and Posters

Eyewitness accounts have been integral to the criminal justice system. However, given that not every criminal case has forensic evidence that is available or admissible, the reliance on eyewitness accounts conjures questions about believability. This is an important area of research because the over-belief of witnesses may lead to wrongful convictions, yet under-belief may leave the victim without justice. The current study investigated how child-witness age, race, role as a witness (bystander versus victim), and the gender of the juror influenced the perception of child eyewitnesses through the lens of the Witness Credibility Model. Participants were presented with the testimony …

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 …

Power Projection And Counter-Terrorism: Strategies For Small States Like Brunei Darussalam, Brice Tseen Fu Lee, Gulshan Bibi Ms

Journal of Terrorism Studies

This study delves into the intricacies of power projection strategies and counter-terrorism measures, emphasizing their relevance to small states, with a specific focus on Brunei Darussalam. Using a dual matrix model, the research categorizes various strategies based on risk-reward parameters, offering a structured insight into potential approaches these states can employ against potential aggressors. The counter-terrorism matrix is the initial focal point, recognizing the contemporary significance of terror threats and their unique challenges for small nations. Subsequently, the power projection matrix offers a broader view of defense tactics beyond counter-terrorism. By synthesizing information from primary academic sources, the study aims …