Legal Studies Commons^™

Adult Justice In Nebraska 2017, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Ryan E. Spohn, Emily Wright, Joselyne Chenane, Sara Toto

Reports

From the Director: The Nebraska Center for Justice Research was established in 2014 with a mission to develop and sustain research capacity internal to the State of Nebraska, assist the Legislature in research, evaluation, and policymaking to reduce recidivism, promote the use of evidence-based practices in corrections, and improve public safety. The primary purpose of this report is to provide an overview of recent trends in Nebraska’s adult criminal justice system. Most of the data in this report is presented statewide as well as separated into Nebraska’s twelve judicial districts. Nebraska’s two most metropolitan counties are represented by District 4 …

Annual Report 2017, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

The Nebraska Center for Justice Research (NCJR) was established in 2014 with a mission to develop and sustain criminal justice research capacity internal to the State of Nebraska. Our goal is to assist the Legislature, justice agencies, practitioners, foundations, and stakeholders with research and evaluation to reduce recidivism, promote the use of evidence-based practices, and improve public safety. This annual report summarizes the activities and financial status of NCJR in its third year. In the 2016-2017 fiscal year, NCJR once again crafted our Adult Justice in Nebraska report to provide a foundation of data trends in areas such as law …

Evaluation Of The Crossover Youth Practice Model (Youth Impact!): Executive Summary 2017, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Emily Wright, Ryan E. Spohn, Joselyne Chenane

Reports

This project evaluated the Crossover Youth Practice Model (CYPM) – now Youth Impact! (YI!) – in Douglas County, Nebraska. The goals of the project were: a) to conduct an outcome evaluation of the initiative (does YI! decrease recidivism and increase prosocial outcomes among youth?), b) to conduct a process evaluation of the initiative (how does YI! achieve these goals?), c) conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the initiative, and d) explore a broader systems analysis of the impact of YI! on juvenile justice in Douglas County. The findings from the evaluation are presented below, and recommendations are provided as well.

The Transformation Project: Program Update 2015-2016, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Starr Solomon, Ryan E. Spohn, Marcia Van Dyke, Laura Schoenrock

Reports

In 2014 Nebraska took a giant step toward fixing pervasive issues plaguing agencies throughout the justice system culminating in a prison system that was bursting at the seams. The state enlisted the services of the Council of State Governments (CSG), a national organization dedicated to helping state governments problem-solve and develop policies for the common good. Over the next several years, the CSG worked to help Nebraska usher in policies that would begin to shape justice reinvestment in the state. Along with the CSG’s initial assessment procedures, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) asked the group to do an …

Marijuana Enforcement In Nebraska (2013-2015), Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

In our 2016 report, Marijuana Enforcement in Nebraska (2009-2014), the Nebraska Center for Justice Research (NCJR) examined whether marijuana-related arrests and jail admissions in Nebraska had increased significantly in the first year of recreational legalization in Colorado, by comparing counts and rates of marijuana-related criminal justice activity in 2014 as compared to 2009-2013. In that report, we found that Nebraska’s marijuana arrest rate had increased by about 11% from 2013 to 2014 and that counties along the Colorado border, in the panhandle, and along Interstate 80 had the highest rates of arrest in 2014. We also found that increases in …

Restricted Housing Among Juvenile Populations, Clara Braun, Emily Wright, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

Restricted housing among juvenile populations – the social and physical isolation of certain youth from other juveniles, recreational time, and educational materials – is a punitive method employed by juvenile correctional facilities that restricts youths’ physical movement for a prolonged period of time. Nebraska houses the third highest per capita number of juveniles residing in detention, correctional, or residential facilities in the United States, and many facilities across the state report using restricted housing for much longer period than surrounding states. Due to their age and associated developmental needs (e.g., brain development, social interactions, etc.), juveniles are at higher risk …

A Case For Empathy: Immigration In Spanish Contemporary Media, Music, Film, And Novels, Constantin C. Icleanu

Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies

This dissertation analyzes the representations of immigrants from North Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe in Spain. As engaged scholarship, it seeks to better the portrayal of immigrants in the mass media through the study of literature, film, and music about immigration spanning from the year 2000 to 2016. Because misconceptions continue to propagate in the media, this dissertation works to counteract anti-immigrant, xenophobic representations as well as balance out overly positive and orientalized portrayal of immigrants with a call to recognize immigrants as human beings who deserve the same respect, dignity, and rights as any other citizen.

Chapter 1 …

Acknowledging Children’S Voice And Participation In Family Courts: Criteria That Guide Western Australian Court Consultants, Vicki Banham, Alfred Allan, J. Bergman, Jasmin Jau

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The Australian family courts introduced Child Inclusive Conferencing after the country adopted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The legislation governing these conferences is minimalistic but the Family Court Consultants in the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court have well-developed and documented guidelines. The Family Court of Western Australia is, however, a separate entity and in the absence of regulatory guidelines its Family Consultants developed their own process and criteria. This model is unique, in Australia at least, because it has been organically developed by the practitioners providing the Child Inclusive Conferences with …

Investigating Individual Pathways To Recovery, Mackenzie R. Mcbride

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Drug use is most prevalent among young adults between ages 18 and 24; this is just one factor that contributes to the high rates of substance use on college campuses. Collegiate recovery programs (CRPs) have been growing in number, awakening the “youth in recovery” movement. This paper presents literature on various tools and elements of recovery, with a focus on CRPs and their significance. This study aims to fill the knowledge gap by examining individual pathways to recovery and learning about the characteristics of students participating in CRPs, including their life events and decisions to seek treatment. Semi-structured interviews were …

Protecting Future Rights For Future Citizens: Children’S Property Rights In Fragile Environments, Sandra F. Joireman

Political Science Faculty Publications

The property rights of children is an understudied area that straddles the development/humanitarian divide. Access to assets is important to the livelihood choices and economic well-being of adults. Yet, adults’ ability to claim property can be significantly impaired by humanitarian emergencies that occurred in their youth. We typically do not think of children as economic actors because of their age; their property rights are future rights not yet realized. This paper addresses the future rights to property held by children and examines how fragile environments, characterized by conflict, displacement and disease, can undermine their ability to claim those rights when …

Motivations To Return To A Gang After Severe Physical Victimization, Nora Vlaszof

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

Gang violence is a social concern because of the risks of victimization among gang members and their communities. Many gang members have been victims of gang violence, and some choose to remain involved with their gang even after being victimized. Researchers have explored why people join gangs, but less is known regarding the gang-victimization link, which is the focus of this study. Social bond theory guided the study's research question on the motivation of gang members to rejoin their gang after severe physical victimization. A multiple case study design was employed with a purposeful sample of six English-speaking men, …

Police Officers' Perceptions Of Social Media's Involvement On Delinquent Behavior By Juveniles, Rachel K. Wisnefski

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The rapid growth of social media platforms coupled with the technological savviness of juveniles has led to their delinquent behavior involving social media. Researchers should investigate this phenomenon in order to establish its extent and to minimize the harmful effects this behavior may have. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate and explore potential connections between social media and delinquent acts committed by juvenile offenders through the use of police officers' perceptions of those types of acts. The primary research question focused on determining what the perceptions and experiences of police officers in a southeastern state were relative …

Law Enforcement Officer Knowledge Of Mental Illness, Nashira Funn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Media and activist groups have recently exposed the problem of negative interactions between law enforcement officers and civilians. Many of these civilians have a mental illness. Various researchers attribute these negative interactions to insufficient officer knowledge of mental illness due to a lack of training, education, and personal experiences. Very little research addresses how insufficient knowledge of mental illness may influence interactions. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and analyze self reported law enforcement knowledge using Malcolm Knowles' conceptualization of adult learning theory and andragogy as the theoretical framework. This framework bases self-directed learning/training on a needs …

Lived Experiences Of Secondary Victims During The Parole Process: A Phenomenological Approach, Jessica Millimen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Secondary victims of traumatic violent crimes are subject to continuing the process of fighting for the loved ones they have lost. Once the offender is incarcerated, such victims may still have to face the process of parole if the offender has been granted a possibility of parole after years served. There is a gap in the literature and a need for research in the area of lived experiences for secondary victims as they progress through the parole process. For this study, a phenomenological study was utilized with 10 secondary victim participants. Participants were interviewed questions via telephone and the data …

Recidivism: An Analysis Of Race, Locus Of Control, And Resilience, Danisha Latrell Thomas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Recidivism is a growing problem in the United States that has contributed to prison overcrowding. In the United States, this is especially true for minorities, who have the highest incarceration, conviction, and recidivism rates. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the relationship between race, recidivism, locus of control, and resilience. For the quantitative component, the Connor-Davidson Resilience scale (CD-RISC) and the multidimensional locus of control scales were used to measure resiliency and locus of control differences among racial groups (N = 126) on parole at a Fort Worth, Texas parole office. For the qualitative component, in-depth …

The Psychological Impact Of Taser Utilization In Police Officers, Yolanda Waters

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A substantial body of scientific and medical research has examined the relationship between conductive energy devices and their physical risk to humans. This phenomenological study focused on the psychological impact of Taser utilization in police officers. This research explored how the experience of using a Taser in the line of duty affected officers from the conceptual framework of stress inoculation training and its applicability to Taser certification; the typical mental processes associated with using less-lethal weapons, perceptions of Taser training; and, the preparation provided in training for citizen injuries and deaths. Fifteen officers who had deployed a Taser were included …

Keeping The Children: Nonviolent Women Offenders In Two Michigan Residential Programs, Denise Smith Allen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Seventy-five percent of women offenders confined to prison, jails, or residential treatment programs are custodial parents of minor children at the time of their separation. Little is known, though, about how prosocial networks are used to address the effects of separation from children. Using Bui and Morash's conceptualization of the theory of gendered pathways, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to better understand, from the perspective of incarcerated women, the experience of using prosocial networks to cope with the effects of separation. Data were collected through interviews with 10 mothers from 2 residential treatment programs in Michigan. Interview data …

Common Psycholinguistic Themes In Mass Murderer Manifestos, Laura E. Hamlett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mass murder in the United States is increasing, yet understanding of mass murderers is still relatively limited. Many perpetrators compose manifestos, which include journals, blogs, letters, videos, and other writings. Previous research has indicated that personal messages are of great social and psychological importance; however, there remains an important gap in the current literature regarding studies specific to these manifestos. As such, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to provide greater understanding of mass murderers' motives and mindsets through psycholinguistic analysis of their recorded words. The constructivist conceptual framework enabled gathering, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting thematic language …

Offender Recidivism: A Quantitative Study Of Motivational Risk Factors And Counseling, Nazak Dadashazar

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The prison system releases over 590,000 inmates annually, adding to the current 5 million ex-offenders on supervised release. The purpose of this study was to explore the problem of increasing recidivism by identifying ex-offenders' dynamic risk and criminogenic need factors using the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R), coupled with or without mental health services during reentry in relation to recidivism. This quantitative, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study included data collected from a sample of 128 male recidivist and nonrecidivist federal ex-offenders currently on supervised release, who were recruited during probation office meetings within the South Texas region. Regression analysis yielded statistical significance …

Domestic Violence Recidivism: Restorative Justice Intervention Programs For First-Time Domestic Violence Offenders, Tamika L. Payne

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Domestic violence impacts millions of Americans annually and, in spite of the use of rehabilitative programs, recidivism in domestic violence continues to be more likely than in any other offense. To date, batterer intervention programs (BIPs) have not proven to be consistently impactful in reducing recidivism in cases of domestic violence. The purpose of this quasi-experimental, quantitative study was to examine differences in recidivism for first-time male domestic violence offenders who have participated in a BIP and a more recently developed alternative: victim-offender mediation (VOM). The theories of restorative justice and reintegrative shaming frame this study to determine if offenders …