Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons^™

An Exploratory Study Of Macro-Social Correlates Of Online Property Crime, Hyojong Song

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite the recent decreasing trend of most traditional types of crime, online property crime (OPC), referring to crime committed online with a financial orientation such as online frauds, scams, and phishing, continues to increase. According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, the number of reported complaints about OPC have increased by approximately sixteen fold from 16,838 cases in 2000 to 288,012 cases in 2015, and referred financial losses have also increased about sixty times from $17.8 million in 2001 to $1 billion in 2015. The increase in OPC might be directly related to advanced online accessibility due to the accelerated …

Chronic Runaway Youth: A Gender-Based Analysis, Michelle N. Jeanis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Runaway youth often face a multitude of negative experiences during their childhood, which often leads to trajectories of psychological disorder/distress, victimization, and offending. This propensity for negative life trajectories may be exacerbated by repetitive runaway behavior. Additionally, these negatives experiences may be further shaped by the gender of the youth, thus creating distinct gendered pathways to chronic runaway behavior, victimization, and offending. This study utilized a sample of youth runaways in the state of Florida (N=295) to build upon the classification/typology research on juvenile runaways by assessing the presence of latent groups of youth based on runaway frequency. In addition, …

Understanding Shoplifting Of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods: An Application Of The Craved Model, Brian T. Smith

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This study examines the variation in theft of shoplifted fast-moving consumer goods. Typically, shoplifting is estimated using shrinkage—a composite of several causes of lost retail merchandise. This study, however, benefits from access to a retailer’s database, in which extraordinary steps are taken to identify and record losses due to shoplifting only. This study is unique because of the more valid measure of shoplifting. A 1-year cross-sectional sample of 7468 products, sold in 204 U.S. chain supermarkets, was drawn from the retailer’s specialized database. Using Clarke’s (Hot products: understanding, anticipating, and reducing demand for stolen goods. Policing and Reducing Crime Unit, …

Rehabilitation And Reintegration Of Genocide Ex-Prisoners: Understanding The Correctional Role Of Prisons In Rwanda, Lulu Abdun

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

After the Genocide Against the Tutsi in 1994, over 120,000 people were imprisoned in Rwanda for the perpetration of genocide. Twenty-three years after the Genocide, numerous genocide ex-prisoners have been released. Throughout their prison time and after their release, rehabilitation and reintegration programming has been available. This paper looks at the rehabilitation and reintegration programming available to genocide ex-prisoners, the success and challenges they currently face or have previously faced, and recommendations for reforms for the future prison/rehabilitation/reintegration process. This paper also examines the correctional role of prisons in Rwanda and how that contributes to successful reintegration. From interviewing genocide …

The Prison Paradox: More Incarceration Will Not Make Us Safer, Don Stemen

Criminal Justice & Criminology: Faculty Publications & Other Works

No abstract provided.

Today's Porn: Not A Constitutional Right; Not A Human Right, Patrick Trueman

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Uni S A C Updates: Sociology, Anthropology, Criminology Newsletter, Summer 2017, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Sociology, Anthropology, And Criminology.

Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology Newsletter

Inside This Issue:
-- Purple and Old Gold Awards
-- SAC Internships
-- Alumni in Residence
-- Sociology Updates
-- Anthropology Updates
-- Criminology Updates
-- Alumni Testimonial
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Inextricably Bound: Strip Clubs, Prostitution, And Sex Trafficking, Dan O'Bryant

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Amend The Communications Decency Act To Protect Victims Of Sexual Exploitation, Samantha Vardaman

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Vocational And Life Skills Monthly Data Update: July 2017, Uno Nebraska Center For Justice Research, Johanna Peterson

Reports

Grantees use an online data management system to submit data on participants served under their Vocational and Life Skills programming. This data is due monthly and reflects all services provided during the previous month to participants. Evaluators at the Nebraska Center for Justice Research work with grantees directly to correct any data errors on an ongoing basis during monthly update calls and regular site visits.

Data presented below is from the most recent monthly data extract. Because this data comes for an active database with live data being entered and updated daily, data, including previously submitted information, may fluctuate depending …

Job Characteristics And Perceived Organizational Support Among Police Officers, Paul Reynolds, Richard Helfers

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research supports that treatment of employees, in terms of organizational policies, practices, and resources, are associated with employees’ perception of organizational support. Furthermore, research supports that there is often disparate treatment between employees’ work related factors. For this reason, it is reasonable to speculate that variances in police officers’ perception that their organization cares about them and values their work contributions may exist. The purpose of this exploratory research was to describe how police officers’ job characteristics (duty assignment, rank, tenure, and department size) might be associated with perceptions of organizational support. Utilizing OLS regression, the findings revealed that perceived …

Introduction To Dignity Special Issue: Freedom From Sexploitation, Lisa L. Thompson, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Beyond The War: The Evolving Nature Of The U.S. Approach To Drugs, Don Stemen

Criminal Justice & Criminology: Faculty Publications & Other Works

Over the last forty years, perhaps no issue has affected the United States’s criminal justice system as profoundly as has drug policy. Since President Nixon declared drug abuse “America’s public enemy number one,”1 concerns about the manufacture, distribution, and possession of drugs have remained at the fore of criminal justice policy discussions.2 President Reagan’s subsequent pronouncement of drugs as “an especially vicious virus of crime” set a course for national drug policy that emphasized enforcement and punishment over treatment to “win the war on drugs.”3 Throughout the 1980s, increasing public concern about the effects of drug abuse4 further pressured policymakers …

School Resource Officers And The School-To-Prison Pipeline: A Mixed Methods Application Of The Behavior Of Law In Schools, Caitlin Grace Lynch

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The implementation of school resource officer programs has been a popular response to school-based violence in the United States. Parents, school officials, and policy makers believe that police presence makes students and staff feel safer on campus, deters school-based crime and violence, and creates positive relationships between youth and the police. However, there is a growing concern that school resource officers hypercriminalize trivial student misbehavior, contribute to a culture of youth punishment and control, and are instrumental in facilitating a link between schools and the juvenile justice system. Despite the rapid rate at which school resource officer programs have expanded …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Their Role As Mitigators For Youthful And Non-Youthful Offenders In Capital Sentencing Cases, Jessica R. Trapassi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their role as mitigators in capital sentencing is an important, yet relatively unexplored, topic in criminological literature. Using data from the North Carolina Capital Sentencing Project, this study explores the role of ACEs as mitigating factors for youthful and non-youthful capital offenders: whether youthful offenders are less likely to be sentenced to death, whether or not ACEs are effective as mitigating factors, and whether ACE mitigators are more effective for youthful or non-youthful offenders. Results show that youthful capital offenders are less likely to be sentenced to death than adult capital offenders, and while ACE …

Female Incarceration And Prison Social Order: An Examination Of Gender Differences In Prison Misconduct And In-Prison Punishments, Elisa L. Toman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The dramatic increase in the U.S. prison population has renewed scholarly interest in the prison experience. Researchers have built upon and extended classic theories of inmate behavior to better understand the mechanisms that lead to inmate violence and misbehavior. Yet, scholars still consider what happens to inmates inside of prison a “black box,” due to limited systematic assessments of the prison experience. This body of scholarship is also limited by its narrow focus on males, as theories of inmate behavior have been developed around male experiences and, in turn, ignore the possibility that gender may influence prison life. Feminist theory …

Prison Programming And Recidivism As A Method Of Social Bond Theory: A Meta-Analysis Of Research From 2000-2015, Madalyn Smith

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Prior research indicates that completion of prison programs significantly decreases recidivism amongst offenders. This research classifies prison programs as an aspect of Social Bond Theory to determine if these types of programs improve the recidivism rate. Social Bond Theory has four elements: commitment (time invested into education or career), attachment (relationships with family and friends), involvement (time spent in activities outside of crime), and belief (agreement with social norms). Research articles were compiled from 2000-2015, published and unpublished, with a three year recidivism rate or less (several exceptions were made), and a sample size of greater than 50. An odds …

A Test Of Wikström’S Situational Action Theory Using Self-Report Data On Intimate Partner Violence, Lauren Nicole Miley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wikstrӧm’s Situational Action Theory (SAT) proposes a general theory of crime causation that addresses two sets of interactions between individuals and their situation/environment. These interactions predict whether or not individuals choose a criminal action. The current study utilized self-report data on intimate partner violence collected at a large urban university in Florida (n=1124) to test this process by examining both direct and interactive effects proposed by the theory. Specifically, this study examines the direct effects of moral propensity, temptations/provocations, self-control and perpetual deterrence on intimate partner violence as well as the various interactions among them as derived from the theory. …

School Shootings In The United States From 1997 To 2012: A Content Analysis Of Media Coverage, Victoria N. Iannuzzi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study is a content analysis of news articles of school shooting incidents that occurred within the United States between 1997 and 2012. This paper was designed to (a) address the current profile of school shooting offenders and offenses, (b) assess a proposed typology of school shootings, (c) consider common case processing characteristics for offenders of school shootings incidents, and (d) address the potential for offender and offense characteristics to affect the amount of media coverage an incident receives. The database of “Major School Shootings in the United States Since 1997” by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was …

“They Teach You How To Weather The Storm, But They Don’T Teach You How To Dance In The Rain:” Veterans’ Perspectives On The Pathways To Criminal Justice Involvement, Kelli E. Canada, Clark Peters

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Some veterans face elevated risk of mental illness, alcohol, and drug use, and difficulty adjusting post-deployment, which can increase the risk of homelessness and contact with the criminal justice system (Elbogen et al., 2012). This study adds to the limited and mixed findings regarding factors associated with criminal offending among veterans. It explores, from veterans’ perspectives, what contributes to their criminal justice involvement. In-depth interviews with 28 U.S. Veterans on probation or parole explored their military service, mental health, and the events surrounding arrests. Findings indicate that substance use was a significant contributor to arrests. Alcohol and drugs were used …