Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons^™

Examining The Effect Of Changes In The Peer Group On Attitudes: A Longitudinal Study, Dena C. Carson

Dissertations

Peer interactions are an important part of adolescence and have been the focus of much research in both psychology and criminology. The relationship between peer behavior and a youth’s own behavior has been demonstrated multiple times in prior research. Little is known, however, about how peer behavior may affect individual attitudes. This is surprising given that many prevention programs, particularly skills building programs, focus on changing and shaping individual attitudes to change/prevent behavior. This dissertation partially addressed this gap by focusing on the relationship between peer behavior and individual attitudes. This dissertation accomplishes three main goals through the use of …

The Economy-Crime Relationship Revisited: The Significance Of Recent Macroeconomic Conditions And Social Policy Changes For Child Poverty And Youth Violence Trends, White Nicole

Dissertations

The relationship between economic deprivation and violent crime has been one of the most widely studied in the field of criminology, yet little is known about the impact of recent macroeconomic conditions and welfare reform policies on the poverty-youth violence relationship. Therefore, the current study utilizes data from the 1993-2004 National Crime Victimization Survey to assess the association between poverty and youth violent victimization trends variously disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and family structure, and the impact of welfare reform and macroeconomic conditions on this relationship. In addition, the potential impact of welfare reform on the individual-level relationship between poverty and …

Stereotype Threat In Criminal Interrogations: Why Innocent Black Suspects Are At Risk For Confessing Falsely, Cynthia J. Najdowski

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Little theoretical attention has been paid to evidence that Blacks are overrepresented in samples of false confessors compared to Whites. One possible explanation is that innocent Black suspects experience stereotype threat in interrogations and that this threat causes Black suspects to experience more arousal, self-regulatory efforts, and cognitive load compared to White suspects. These psychological mechanisms could lead innocent Black suspects to display more nonverbal behaviors associated with deception and, ironically, increase the likelihood that police investigators perceive them as guilty. In response, investigators might engage in more coercive tactics and exert more pressure to confess on Black suspects than …

Executions In America: How Constitutional Interpretation Has Restricted Capital Punishment, Andrea Paone

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

In upholding the constitutionality of capital punishment, the United States Supreme Court has utilized a strict construction interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, which has led the opponents of capital punishment to abandon the Due Process approach and look to the Eighth Amendment, for which the justices utilize a loose construction interpretation.

Differences In Community Policing Definitions Of County And City La W Enforcement Agencies In Colorado, Jenna J. Slabaugh

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

While community policing has been around for decades and is widely adopted in law enforcement agencies throughout the US, there is no one accepted definition of this philosophy. This has led to departments around the country defining community policing differently. This comparative study utilized content analysis to compare the community policing definitions in county and city agencies located in Colorado. Further, a comparative analysis determined whether the type of agency influences how a department defines community policing. Survey research was be used to collect data for this study and a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods were employed.

Animal Assisted Therapy: The Perception Of Animal Assisted Therapy Clinicians Regarding Active Participation In Treatment Therapies Of Juveniles In Detention Center Settings, Julia M. Lowe

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Juvenile delinquent facilities have witnessed an increase in youthful offenders experiencing mental health disorders. Mental health clinicians have been required to implement new forms of mental health treatments to address the rise in this special population of juveniles. Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) has become a popular form of treatment in detention facilities. Qualitative data collection was administered using a focus group of three participants to examine clinicians' perceptions of juvenile participation during AAT. Clinicians perceived increased participation of juveniles participation in AAT. Clinicians also witnessed changes in juvenile behaviors within the detention facility, indicating juveniles participating in AAT were more …

Media Perception Of Excessive Police Force Based On Unemployment Rate: An Analysis Of Colorado Springs, Denver, And Pueblo, Jennifer Meckstroth

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Excessive police force is reported in newspaper articles throughout the country on a regular basis. The purpose of this project was to determine whether the unemployment rate of a city had an effect on how the media perceives excessive police force in local newspapers. A content analysis of articles combined from Colorado Springs, Denver, and Pueblo examined the current perception of police in the media and how the unemployment rate effects how the media portrays excessive police force. The results of this study analyzed how the newspaper are analyzed the results determine whether a city with high a unemployment rate …

Using John Grisham's The Innocent Man To Create A Significant Learning Experience For Undergraduate Students In A Psychology And The Law Course, Emily Stark

Psychology Department Publications

Imagine a man, suffering from alcoholism and schizophrenia, drifting through his small town, known mostly for getting thrown out of bars. When a graphic murder occurs, this man’s name gets linked to the victim, and police focus on him as a suspect. Although there is no evidence against him, a combination of poor police work and a town’s desire for closure lead to this innocent man being convicted of the crime and sentenced to death. Down to his last appeal, after spending 12 years on death row, a fair and honest judge is finally convinced to take a closer look …

Prevention Of Identity Theft: A Review Of The Literature, Portland State University. Criminology And Criminal Justice Senior Capstone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Senior Capstone Project

With advances in technology and increases in impersonal electronic transactions, identity theft IT) is becoming a major problem in today’s society. One may ask why IT is growing in America. The answer is simple, as a review of literature reveals: IT is extremely hard to detect, prevent, and prosecute.

There are many ways people can protect themselves, their identities and secure their personal information; many do not concern themselves with this knowledge, however, until they become victims of this crime, themselves. With advances in technology, offenders are often turning to new methods to access information and use it for financial …

The Demographics Of Healthcare Fraud In South Florida, Jennifer K. Pond

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Health care fraud is a large problem in this country. Experts in the field estimate that 3-10% of all health care expenditures in the United States are fraudulent (National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, n.d., Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2009). "Financial losses due to health care fraud are estimated to range from $70 billion to a staggering $234 billion a year" (The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, 2010). With this problem identified, it is important to identify and isolate possible influences and factors which perpetuate this type of fraud. Using South Florida as the subject area and health care fraud as …

Medical Marijuana Centers And Urban Resident's Perception Of Crime In Their Neighborhood, Maura L. Scherrer

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Due to the ambiguity of constitutional amendments, multiple state legislations, and municipal ordinances, medical marijuana has become quite a contentious subject. Despite the fact that many Americans approve the use of medical marijuana, they are opposed to medical marijuana centers opening in their own neighborhoods. People are concerned about the "element" that these centers bring into their neighborhoods as a result of increased pedestrian and vehicle traffic, loitering, open display of drug usage, and the fear of organized crime; comparable to the theory of broken windows, where crime is invited into a community when the wrong element is allowed to …

Effect Of Crime Type, Citizenship Status, Ethnicity, And Location Of Interrogation On Perceptions Of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, Brianna Correira

Honors Senior Capstones and Theses

The current study asks when, if ever, is it acceptable to use "enhanced" interrogation techniques? A mostly White (90.4%), female (55%) sample of 240 participants read a vignette describing an Italian or Saudi Arabian suspect, who was a U.S. citizen or illegal immigrant, who was interrogated on either a U.S. army base or abroad for one of two crimes: child molestation or terrorism. The study failed to find the hypothesized interaction that participants would be more likely to endorse the use of harsh interrogation tactics when the suspect was Saudi Arabian, an illegal immigrant, accused of terrorism, and interrogated abroad. …

An Analysis Of The Handwriting Of Elderly Chinese Subjects., Dongfang Liu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nowadays, one of the issues of concern that brought on by the aging population is legal disputes that have been increasing in number every year. One core problem in these legal disputes involves handwriting identification. There are however not many previous studies in China that have been concentrated on this field. Hence, the study on elderly Chinese subjects' handwriting has an extremely broad potential value for its application for academic usage and practical meaning. This study uses an empirical technique, gathering first hand data and analysing them by employing proper methods. There are 7 handwriting features and characteristics that have …

Can Routine Activities Theory Be Applied To Explain White Collar Crime? A Crime-Specific Analysis Using Reverse Redlining, Jory A. Maes

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Scholars have examined white collar crime through lenses of classical criminological theories such as: anomie theory, learning/differential association, rational choice/opportunity, strain, and social control theory. Little research has been done using Routine Activities Theory to analyze white collar crime. The author's intention is to offer one example of how Routine Activities Theory can be applied to explain the contextual significance of a white collar crime. The research methodology utilized is centered upon reverse redlining, a predatory lending practice. The research models the application of Routine Activities Theory which is seated in the idea that crime emerges when there is a …

Victims Of Identity Theft: Can Existing Victim Assets Mitigate The Emotional And Psychological Impact, Carolyn M. Billecci

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Since Sutherland coined the phrase "white-collar crime" in 1939 during his address to the American Sociological Society (Barnett, n.d.), an array of crimes now fall under that heading. In particular, the crime of identity theft is an area of great concern and the subject of this study. The first identified task in this study was to achieve an understanding of what has been learned thus far about the emotional impact of identity theft on victims. The second resided in seeking to understand if a correlation exist between assets and income, and the emotional impact felt by identity theft victims. The …

Obama's Failed Attempt To Close Gitmo: Why Executive Orders Can't Bring About Systemic Change, Erin B. Corcoran

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Measuring Intervention Success In Countering Terrorism, Summer Marie Jackson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the shift of Attorney General Guidelines in the wake of September 11th, 2001, and the consequences for both federal law enforcement and federal prosecutors. Previous research has found that prosecutors are more apt to use an exceptional vagueness approach and try terrorists like traditional offenders. Likewise, terrorist are more likely to act like traditional offenders and plead guilty in the post-9/11 era. This study further supports the existing knowledge by providing evidence of increased plea bargain rates post-9/11 of terrorists. In addition, this study is important because it examines the consequences of the early intervention approach and …

Do Youths Lacking Proper Adult Role Models, Guidance, And Supervision, Respond To The Stresses Of Their Transition From Adolescents To Adulthood, With Gang Membership?, Uraina Owens

Criminal Justice

No abstract provided.

Incomplete Sentences: Predictors Of Failure To Complete Court-Mandated Domestic Violence Counseling, Meredith Dedopoulos

Criminal Justice

No abstract provided.

Women’S Sexual Orientations And Their Experiences Of Sexual Assault Before And During University, Sandra L. Martin, Bonnie S. Fisher, Tara D. Warner, Christopher P. Krebs, Christine H. Lindquist

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Purpose — We sought to examine relationships between women’s sexual orientations and their sexual assault experiences before and during university.

Methods — Self-reported responses on a web-based survey of 5,439 female undergraduates who participated in the Campus Sexual Assault study were analyzed to compare three groups: bisexuals, lesbians, and heterosexuals. Groups were compared in terms of the prevalence of sexual assault before and during university, and the extent to which sexual assault before university predicted sexual assault during university.

Findings — The prevalence of sexual assault before and during university was higher among bisexuals and lesbians compared with heterosexuals (25.4% …