Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons^™

"This Is Not A Scam!": Assessment Of An Awareness Raising Program Tackling Older Adults' Scam Victimization In A Multi-Method Study, Katalin Parti, Pamela Teaster, Susanna Rinehart, Charles Dye

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Interactive theatre has long been used to educate and empower communities and prevent crime across all age groups. Although older populations are disproportionately victimized through fraudulent online schemes, effective educational interventions, like interactive theatre, have not been utilized to increase crime awareness. This paper describes an explorational research project, analyzing the results of a theatre-based fraud awareness program aimed towards educating victims and their communities about scams targeting older people. The study employs a mixed-method research design to examine program impact. In applying multifaceted tools of data collection, such as survey, participant observation, and follow-up interviews, the research team identified …

Aging On Parole: A Thematic Analysis Of The Parole Officer’S Perspective, Angela Murolo

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"A growing proportion of people leaving prison are over 50 years old and will live at least temporarily under the supervision of a parole officer. While recidivism rates are lower for older people, there are physical, mental, and societal challenges that accompany advancing age that make successful reentry and reintegration a challenging experience compared to their younger counterparts. This presents novel challenges for parole officers who are tasked with supervising and counseling elderly people on parole. Surveys containing closed and open-ended questions were administered to N=25 parole officers to understand the differences in working with, counseling, and supervising older and …

From Courtrooms To Classrooms: Experiments In Survival, Justin Surdyka

Journal of Prison Education Research

The transformative powers of college-in-prison programs are known, but students get the grave of continued incarceration—even if we are fully rehabilitated. For the college-in-prison student who spends years in classes, degrees and parole denials are synonymous, especially for those of us who have committed violent off enses. We are educated but not redeemed in the eyes of the system. My classmates and I are the degrees behind the denials, the students behind the degrees, the prisoners behind the students, the human beings behind the prisoners who are the reason higher education in prison is praised for being transformative. Yet we …

Domestic Violence In The Mountain West, 2026, Isabelle G. Graham, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet presents 2026 data on domestic violence in the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The World Population Review report, “Domestic Violence by State 2026,” reports data on the percentage of women and men in each state who report experiences of domestic violence in their lifetime.This fact sheet highlights state-level data on different forms of domestic violence reported across the Mountain West.

Teaching And Learning Math In Prison: A Systematic Review, Giulia De Rocco, Enrico Angelo Emili, Elisa Miragliotta, George Richard Paul Santi, Alessia Muratori

Journal of Prison Education Research

The paper presents the first results of a systematic review of the literature on mathematics teaching and learning in prison. The paper explores, through a systematic review based on the PRiSMA method, the state of the art on the mathematics teaching-learning in prisons, focusing on theoretical frameworks that identify good educational practices, the role of affective aspects, the focus on inclusiveness and accessibility. The study is part of the LeMP project, 'Learning Math in Prison', which aims at exploring the conditions of mathematics teaching-learning in a prison context.

More Rights, More Danger For Police: An Experimental Look At How Messaging Shapes Public Views About Constitutional Carry, Hunter M. Boehme, Paige Vaughn

Faculty Publications

Constitutional carry (CC) laws, now enacted in 29 states, allow individuals to carry firearms openly without permits, yet little is known about public perceptions of these laws. This study employs a pre-registered survey experimental design to investigate whether varying support for CC laws by police leaders and politicians influences attitudes toward the laws and their perceived consequences. One-third of respondents supported CC laws, with most disagreeing that they will make communities safer. The majority of the sample felt these laws would increase personal liberty but also felt these laws would increase police danger. Oppositional messaging increased agreement that the laws …

Facing State-Created Danger In Facial Recognition Technology, Esha Jain

Washington Law Review

When the police wrongfully arrest someone, that person faces distinct harms. Various scholarship, news articles, and studies document that AI-powered facial recognition technology (FRT) disproportionately misidentifies individuals from marginalized racial groups when used irresponsibly. Many of those sources indicate that police reliance on FRT without adequate vetting results in wrongful arrests. Yet law enforcement continues to misuse FRT.

This Comment contends that the 42 U.S.C. § 1983 state-created danger doctrine offers a potential remedy for plaintiffs harmed by police reliance on FRT. To prevail under this doctrine, plaintiffs must prove affirmative conduct, deliberate indifference, and proximate causation. If successful, these …

Remedying Copyright For Indigenous Australians: A Stolen Generations Perspective, Elizabeth Serventy, Koutras

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study presents a Judicial Intersectionality method that incorporates knowledge from arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. It aims to examine how historical legal, political, and social injustices against Indigenous Australians have persisted in various spheres. When considering the Stolen Generations period, attention is directed on addressing the existing insufficient copyright rights and enhancing future legal results for Indigenous artists. In order to achieve that objective, a unique and distinct copyright system is regarded as the most suitable resolution. Philosophically and pragmatically, this approach was aligned with the Australian Government's 2023 Referendum, which aimed to grant constitutional status to …

Violent And Property Crime In The Mountain West, 2024-2025, Sydney Mitchell, Kian Parikh, Kristian Thymianos, Olivia K. Cheche, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

This fact sheet presents 2024-2025 violent and property crime data for the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Crime data are sourced from the Real-Time Crime Index (RTCI) created by AH Datalytics. The RTCI table, “Reported UCR Part One Crimes Year to Date” compares violent and property crime rates during the time frames of January-October 2024 and January-October 2025 for states across the U.S. This fact sheet highlights the violent and property crime rates in each Mountain West state and considers how these data have changed between January-October 2024 and January-October 2025.

Examining Crime Trajectories At Micro Geographic Locations Across Varied Urban Contexts In The U.S., Xiaoshuang Iris Luo

University Research

Objectives

There is a lack of research for the spatial distribution of crime at micro geographic units across a variety of places. To address the research gap, this study examines crime trajectories over the most recent decade across a wide range of cities in the U.S.

Methods

Using cities of different sizes, developmental stages, and employment levels as the three criteria, official crime data from 12 U.S. cities between 2010 and 2018 are analyzed to examine crime trajectories at the street segment level. Group-based trajectory models are used to determine the distinct longitudinal trajectory profiles of violent crime and property …

When Disaster Strikes Y’All Street: A Study On Cross-Sector Collaboration In Protecting U.S. Financial Critical Infrastructure, Rachael A. Zerr, John Friedlander

Publications and Research

This exploratory research examines public-private collaboration between corporate security leaders and local emergency responders in the North Texas financial corridor known as “Y’all Street.” Using perception-based survey data from senior representatives in the private and public sectors, the paper evaluates partnership strength, preparedness activities, information sharing, and operational coordination. Findings indicate that collaborative practices such as facility tours, joint exercises, and emergency planning are present, but that partnership maturity remains uneven and is not yet fully standardized across the corridor. The research concludes that more formalized and institutionalized coordination will be necessary to strengthen resilience as the region’s financial significance …

Incarcerated Youths In Canada And The United States: A Comparative Analysis, Grace A. Mastrangelo

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

Are children, who commit adult crimes, deserving of adult punishments? According to the United Nations, not if it harms their well-being. Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) adopted by the United Nations in November 1989, states that 1) the best interests of the child should be the primary consideration of all state actions involving children, 2) governments must allot children the protection and care necessary for their well-being, and 3) governmental institutions, services, and facilities that deal with children must uphold adequate standards for the safety, health, and supervision of children. The CRC is …

Cv: Natalia Tapia (Criminal Justice), Natalia Tapia

Justice, Law, and Public Safety Studies Department Faculty Curricula Vitae

No abstract provided.

Trauma-Informed Policing Training: Statewide Implementation And Outcomes, Ryan E. Spohn, Justin Nix, Sadaf Hashimi, Travis Carter

Reports

This report presents pre- and post-training survey results for Phase 1 of the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) grant. Law enforcement officers regularly interact with individuals who have experienced trauma. These encounters can be complex, unpredictable, and high stress. Trauma-informed policing training is intended to give officers practical tools to recognize trauma responses, communicate more effectively, and reduce unnecessary escalation during these interactions.

Arts In Criminal Justice And Corrections: International Perspectives On Methods, Journeys And Challenges, Edited By Amanda Gardner And Laura Caulfield, Kirstin Anderson Dr

Journal of Prison Education Research

It was the first day of my study I had planned as part of my PhD research. I had prepared all the materials the night before, took an early train to ensure I was on time, went through all the checks at the prison gate, set up my room and waited for the first participant to come in for their interview. I welcomed him with ease, introduced myself and went through the consent form. I turned on the audio recorder. ‘It’s just like the fucking police’. My heart sank. I don’t think I told anyone about how big a misgiving …

Recalibrating The Risk Of False Confession Wrongful Convictions: Interrogation Tactics And Inverse Probability, Scott M. Mourtgos, Ian T. Adams

Faculty Publications

False confession wrongful convictions (FCWCs) are a serious failure of the criminal justice system. Although scholars have identified interrogation tactics thought to elevate this risk, existing research rarely estimates the population-level probability that legally permissible methods will produce an FCWC. Instead, inference relies on outcome-selected case series and laboratory diagnosticity ratios that ignore base rates and the far larger universe of interrogations without false confessions. This article offers a methodological recalibration. We formalize the outcome-selection problem and apply inverse probability logic to derive posterior FCWC risk integrating base rates, sensitivity, and specificity. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we synthesize available empirical …

Boiling A Frog: Pre-Adaptive Processes And Prison Riot Dynamics, Hayden P. Smith

Faculty Publications

This study explores the adaptive mechanisms and survival strategies deployed by incarcerated individuals during the Lee Prison Riot of April 15, 2018. Drawing solely on in-depth interviews with 25 incarcerated men (predominantly Black, aged 25–61) at Lee Correctional Institution, and utilizing the importation and deprivation models as analytical frameworks, the analysis reveals that early-life trauma, neighborhood disruption, and the construction of survival pride significantly shape inmate adaptation. In particular, the research documents how inmates are channeled into “high‑alpha dorms” where collective violence becomes both predictable and deeply ambiguous, and where post‑riot behaviors signal the emergence of a “new normal” in …

Meet Me At The Rock: The Behavioral Patterns Of Collective Violence In Prison, Hayden P. Smith

Faculty Publications

This study explores the behavioral dynamics of collective violence in prisons, focusing on the largest prison riot in the United States in twenty-five years at Lee Correctional Institution, using an ethnographic approach and Crime Script Analysis (CSA). The sample consisted of twenty-five incarcerated men, predominantly African American, aged 25 to 61, with extensive incarceration histories, experiences of violence, and influencer status within the prison community. It identifies key factors such as situational awareness, gang affiliations, and chronic understaffing that escalate violence. Themes include the "pressure cooker" environment, elevated tensions, and stages of confrontation, escalation, and de-escalation. A key finding is …

Police Staffing Shortages, Public Awareness, And Policy Preferences, Hunter M. Boehme, Joshua Mccrain, Scott M. Mourtgos, Brandon Tregle

Faculty Publications

Since the summer of 2020, police agencies across the United States have continued to experience police staffing shortages. The consequences of understaffed police agencies are well studied, but little is known about whether the public is aware of the staffing problem and its consequences for public safety and police behavior. This study presents a pre-registered factorial survey experiment to 3105 US adults, varying the information respondents see on the consequences of staffing shortages (e.g., public safety, police behavior) and the messenger of this information (e.g., police chief, mayor). Respondents are then asked about their levels of concern about police staffing, …

Statewide Sanctuary Policies And Female Homicide Rates, 2016–2021, Kaitlin M. Boyle, Sophia Shaiman, Veronica Valencia Gonzalez, Wendy Regoeczi

Faculty Publications

The current study examines whether state immigration enforcement policies, such as sanctuary policies that limit local police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, are associated with female homicide rates in the United States (2016–2021). We examine crude female homicide rates from the National Violent Death Reporting System (N = 244 state-years), which we stratify by race and ethnicity (Hispanic of all races, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White) and victim–suspect relationship (domestic vs. stranger homicide). State-years with policies that are more protective of immigrants were not associated with higher homicide rates for any group. Instead, state-years with these policies reported significantly lower …