Legal Studies Commons^™

The Crucial Role Of Grassroots Social Organizations In Advancing Immigrant Legal Protections And Reshaping Immigration Policy, Isabella Reynolds

McNair Summer Research Program

This research project examines how grassroots social organizations contribute to the advancement of immigrant legal protections and shape immigration policy, with a particular focus on formerly incarcerated migrants in California. I focus on case studies and the personal experiences of organizers from Homies Unidos, Border Angels, and other organizations that operate near the San Diego–Tijuana border region. The study illustrates how these groups provide essential services, mental health support, and community-based initiatives for vulnerable and formerly incarcerated immigrants. By conducting oral histories and ethnography as methods for preserving emotional labor and shared memory, this research challenges prevailing narratives that criminalize …

Unmasking The Shadows: A Comprehensive Exploration Of Serial Killers, Erica D. Lewis

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

Using a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative literature review and qualitative case study analysis, this capstone investigates the developmental pathways of serial killers. The study investigates a variety of biological, psychological, and sociological elements—such as genetic predispositions, neurological disorders, childhood traumas, and environmental stressors—interact to shape serial killers. The study offers a multidisciplinary perspective, grounded in criminological models such as routine activity and labeling theories, sociological frameworks such as social disorganization and strain theory, and psychological theories such as psychopathy and attachment theory. Theoretical findings are contextualized through case studies of notorious serial killers like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and …

Criminogenic Risk Factors For Delinquency In Relation To The Custodial Parent: Incorporating Parent-Child Gender Dyads, Behavioral Control, And Support, Niko Noel Piña-Anastasiadis

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Juvenile delinquency tends to be higher in single-parent households (Kroese et al., 2021). Research investigating this phenomenon has found conflicting results on whether a juvenile has lower rates of delinquency with a custodial father (paternal hypothesis), custodial mother (maternal hypothesis), or whether gender is secondary to other factors. Similarly, some studies found that the interaction of the juvenile living with a same-gendered parent was associated with lower levels of delinquency. Further complications include how parental variables, such as behavioral control and support levels, may interact with the juvenile and custodial parent gender (Hoeve et al., 2009). The current study utilizes …

The Impact Of Previous Police Contact And Attitudes Toward Police On Firearm Carriage In A College Student Population, Amanda Kroll

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines whether an association exists between police contact and firearm carriage. Additionally, the present study examines whether the intrusiveness of police contact has an association with firearm carriage. Questionnaires measuring participant demographics, perceptions of the police, contact with the police, and firearm carriage were administered to 222 participants recruited through undergraduate psychology courses at a state university in the Midwest. Results indicated that participants with a history of contact with the police were more likely to carry a firearm than participants with no contact with the police. Regarding frequency of firearm carriage, participants with a history of police …

Examining The Effects Of Firearm Lethality And Aggressors’ Intentions To Kill On Injurious Firearm Violence At American Schools: A Research Note, Brent R. Klein, Cory Schnell, Steven M. Chermak, Joshua D. Freilich

Faculty Publications

This study examined firearm lethality and aggressors’ lethal intent on injurious fatal and nonfatal school shootings using data from The American School Shooting Study, which covers 329 school shootings in the United States from 1990 to 2016. We developed a new multidimensional construct for measuring shooters’ determination to kill and examined firearm characteristics while considering confounding factors. We identified 11 distinct categories of shooters’ intent, with most showing a strong desire to kill. Both intent and weapon lethality significantly impacted school shooting homicides. Overall, we recommend that prevention and theoretical models should address both factors.

An Exploration Of Occupational Stress And Heart Health In Policing, Jenna Hayes

Honors Projects

The stress and heart health of police officers, looking at how stress on the job and heart health are directly related. Police Officers face many challenges on the job and they face high stress environments. Their stress levels rise every time they are working, what does that do for their heart health?

Three Essays On Mental Health Courts, Taylor E. Le Moal

All Dissertations

Mental illness in the criminal justice system is a major issue, with 2 in 5 incarcerated people in the US having a serious mental illness (Criminalization of People with Mental Illness, n.d.). Prisons have turned into “de facto” mental health facilities when these facilities are not equipped to do so. This means once individuals are released from incarceration, they are often ill-equipped to return to regular life and may get caught up in the cycle of recidivism (Slate, 2017). One method that policymakers have used to solve this problem is mental health courts (MHCs), which are pre-trial diversion …

An Examination Of Legal Status, Law Enforcement Perception, And Crime Victimization And Reporting Among Hispanic Immigrants, Guadalupe C. Cabrera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study relied on in-depth interviews with naturalized citizens and lawful permanent resident Hispanic immigrants to explore their perceptions of law enforcement and experiences with crime victimization and reporting. Past literature has explained that the absence of legal status may deter crime reporting. We added to this body of work by investigating relationships among legal status, trust, and reporting behaviors. This study finds that direct experiences with law enforcement and acquired knowledge may be a better indicator of law enforcement trust and crime reporting compared to legal status. While most participants expressed trust in law enforcement, others felt neutral due …

Oriented Data-Generating Processes: A Categorization Of Roc Curves, Claude Fluet, Murat C. Mungan

Faculty Scholarship

Decision makers attempting to classify a binary state of the world may commit two types of errors. Even when the two alternative states have equal prior probabilities and when the two types of errors are equally costly, a classification criterion may be chosen which leads to one type of error being committed more frequently than the other, because of asymmetries in the data that informs their decisions. We formalize this possibility through a categorization of data-generating processes (DGPs), which may be ‘oriented’ towards evidence favoring one of the two alternatives, or which may be ‘unoriented’. We identify the shape properties …

Exploring Variability Of The Cg18562578 Methylquant Assay For The Forensic Discrimination Of Monozygotic Twins, Sydney E. Arnold

Student Theses

Monozygotic (MZ) twins possess identical DNA sequences, posing a problem for forensic scientists, as they are incapable of distinguishing MZ twins from each other using traditional DNA identification methods. However, the epigenomes of MZ twins will differ and might be used for their forensic discrimination. Here, we explored the variability of an assay previously developed by our laboratory that showed high discrimination potential for MZ twins using buccal swab DNA, cg18562578 MethylQuant. We measured precision at each step: bisulfite conversion, nested PCR, and qPCR, reproducibility, and repeatability. DNA methylation ratios were compared between two analysts carrying each step using the …

Further Investigation Of Environmental Factors On Rapid Shear In Fibers Of A Polyester-Cotton Blend, Daniel K. Oh

Student Theses

Rapid shear is a process that occurs in thermoplastic materials when they interact with a high-velocity impact. In forensics, these interactions would typically be from a bullet interacting with clothing that consisted of synthetic fibers. When the interaction occurs, bulb-like shapes appear on damaged fiber ends, distinguishing them from other kinds of damage. The reason why these shapes occur is varied, but one prevailing factor seems to be the heat generated by the impact.

In prior experiments, the factor of temperature being important to the formation of the phenomenon, different environmental simulations that affected the sample’s temperature were done on …

Judicial Independence, The Separation Of Powers, And Criminal Investigations Of Judges, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In Haris Ibrahim [2023] 2 MLJ 296, the Federal Court of Malaysia discussed the legal limits to executive authorities’ powers to investigate judges on suspicion of crime. The case is a rare contribution to the jurisprudence on judges’ criminal liability at common law, as well as a case study in the challenges of reconciling judicial independence with other principles of the constitutional framework and other actors’ roles therein. The Court held that the implied constitutional principle of judicial independence requires that executive authorities follow a “set of protocols” (which the Court formulated) when investigating sitting judges. This was not wrong …

Where Are The Criminologists?: The Persistent Absence Of The Field In Genocide Research, Grace Allbaugh, Susan A. Woollen, Jacqueline L. Schneider, Joanne Savage

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The rallying cry of “Never Again” was heard worldwide after the Nazis’ annihilation of Jews and other victims were discovered after WWII. The global community promised that the crime of genocide would be prevented and signatory parties of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (December 9, 1948) would do everything in their power to prevent another Holocaust from occurring. Unfortunately the “crime of all crimes” remains an almost permanent fixture in international news while signatory parties remain reluctant to call the ongoing conditions genocide. The field of genocide studies is built upon an interdisciplinary field …

Enhancing Law Enforcement Skills: A 2-Year Report On Level 3 De-Escalation Training From The National De-Escalation Training Center, Morgan Steele Ph.D., Tamara J. Lynn, Laurelle Augustine, Abigail A. Hayes

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Police officers must approach volatile situations that may escalate on a frequent basis. As first responders, they often do not have the luxury of ignoring conflict in public and must work to resolve the situation. However, officers’ presence may inadvertently escalate situations, leading to coercive responses, injury, or worse. The National De-Escalation Training Center (NDTC) has received $4.75 million dollars to provide de-escalation training that incorporates rapid personality assessment, mental health issue recognition, and situational awareness built on a procedural justice foundation. Using data from the first 2 years of trainings conducted across the United States, we have found that …

Qanon Affiliated Accounts Are Making 64% Fewer Social Media Posts About Human Trafficking, Bond Benton, Daniela Peterka-Benton

College of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works

A joint social media study from Montclair State University faculty in the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the College of Communication and Media and the Global Center on Human Trafficking shows a 64% decrease in the total number of posts about human trafficking made by prominent QAnon affiliated and adjacent accounts when compared to the highpoint of such posts in 2023. Results from the study produced by the Center for Strategic Communication and the Global Center on Human Trafficking include a 64% decrease in human trafficking posts from significant QAnon affiliated accounts …

When Culture Becomes Law: Mayan Heritage And The New Constitutional Recognition Of Collective Rights In Mexico, José Israel Herrera, Victor Manuel Colli Ek

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract. The constitutional reform of September 30, 2024 to article 2 marks a substantive change in the recognition of indigenous peoples as subjects of public law, with their own patrimony, valid normative systems and express right to conserve, protect and develop their cultural, material and immaterial heritage. This article analyzes the legal implications of this reform in the context of the Maya people, especially with regard to collective intellectual property, the right to prior consultation and the constitutional recognition of bioculturality. A critical reading of the new normative framework is proposed, with emphasis on its transformative potential for the territorial …

The Criminal Record As A Death Sentence: Unmasking The Ignored Realities Of Formerly Incarcerated University Graduates On Professional Licencing Challenges, Mbongiseni Mdakane, Bongani Innocent Nkambule, Sindile Amina Ngubane

Journal of Prison Education Research

Recently it is increasingly common practice for universities and professional registration councils to probe into applicants’ criminal records as a precondition for admission. Using social constructionism, this qualitative study explored the experiences of six formerly incarcerated individuals previously sentenced to life imprisonment, who hold professional university degrees in Law, Education, Psychology and Social Work and investigated whether having a criminal record had any bearing when applying for professional registration. The results indicate that due to the perceived stigma of, and discrimination against a criminal record, there exist varying degrees of criminal record disclosure ranging from partial, to full and non-disclosure. …

On Bodies In The Middle: Black Women, Sexual Violence, And Complex Imaginings Of Justice By Maya Hislop, Domale Dube

Criticism

Review of Bodies in the Middle: Black Women, Sexual Violence, and Complex Imaginings of Justice by Maya Hislop. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2024. Pp. 184. $29.99 paperback.

Global Studies Initiative Faculty Report: Criminal Justice 127: Juvenile Delinquency Course Redesign, Cristina Prestin

Global Studies Initiatives in Arts and Sciences 2025

No abstract provided.

Extractivism And Water Crisis In The Moroccan Draa Oasis: Global South Reflections On Responsibility And Resistance, Ahmed El Khatabi

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract. The Draa Oasis in southeastern Morocco is experiencing severe water scarcity, driven by climate change and intensified by the expansion of watermelon agribusiness and desert tourism. This article explores how external investors, empowered by national agricultural policies, have disrupted traditional water governance systems rooted in collective management. Through ethnographic fieldwork involving interviews, focus groups, and spatial mapping, the study examines the socio-environmental consequences of groundwater depletion and land commodification. It argues that investors fail to assume ethical accountability for the ecological degradation they cause, despite being aware of the oasis’s fragile ecosystem. Meanwhile, local communities and civil society actors …