Legal Studies Commons^™

Online Radicalization Case Study Of A Mass Shooting: The Payton Gendron Manifesto, Daniela Peterka-Benton, Bond Benton

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

On May 14th, 2022, 18-year-old Payton S. Gendron of Conklin, New York, drove his car more than 200 miles to a predominantly black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York. At around 2:30 p.m., Gendron arrived at a Tops supermarket wearing body armor, tactical gear and a helmet with a video camera attached. He utilized the camera to livestream the event and carried an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle because of its proven deadly nature. He began firing his assaultrifle in the parking lot of the supermarket, killing three victims. He then went inside the store where he killed a security guard and nine …

Understanding Wellness In Law Enforcement: A Crisis, Phil Baebenroth

Doctorate in Education

This study investigates the perceptions of current licensed peace officers in Minnesota regarding reforming their profession. From 2017 to 2020, more police officers in the United States died by suicide than officers killed by gunfire, assaults, crashes, or accidents in the line of duty (Officer Down Memorial Page, 2023 & Blue H.E.L.P, 2023). These statistics present a wellness crisis in the policing profession that deserves immediate attention. There have been worldwide calls for changes in policing from people outside of law enforcement, but few incorporate the practical insights of police officers and even fewer are concerned with officer wellness aspects. …

Candidate-Related Distress And Voting: Examining Political Behavior Through The Lens Of General Strain Theory, Katelyn N. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines voting as a legitimate coping strategy through the lens of general strain theory. Drawing on previous research on the correlates of voting and general strain theory, this study seeks to evaluate the influence of different beliefs and negative emotions on voting, as well as the role of voting as a way to alleviate the negative emotions brought on by presidential elections. Using an analytic sample of 664 American adults with perceived voting eligibility, two structural equation models are used to evaluate the relationship between beliefs, negative emotions, and voting. Results suggests that individual beliefs and negative emotions …

Efficacy Of Online Social Movements For Sparking Change: The Case Of The Missing Murdered And Indigenous Women Movement (#Mmiw), Kacy A. Bleeker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined the context of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Movement (#MMIW) in the context of activist engagement, media representations, and public awareness and beliefs related to the movement. The present study framed the movement within the context of social movement theory, intersectionality, and feminism, to determine the applicability of these frameworks in explaining an Indigenous social movement. While the use of social media to facilitate and mobilize social movements is not a new phenomenon, limited research has examined the functionality of online social movements, particularly in the context of movements concerned with intersectional identities. Research highlights, …

Threats To School Safety: Examining Levels Of Community Violence And Its Relation To School-Related Threats, Dorie Ross

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite significant media attention provided to school-based acts of violence, these tragic incidents are relatively rare across school environments, leading to increasing challenges in identifying students who may pose a threat. Previous approaches to school discipline, including policies such as zero tolerance, resulted in significant racial disparities among students who received disciplinary consequences inconsistent with the severity of their behaviors or threats. Alternatively, a relatively recent approach that emerged following a series of school shootings in the 1990s was school threat assessment, which focuses on prevention rather than prediction. While it is important to determine students who may pose a …

“Prison Tiktok”: Incarcerated Life Shared On Social Media, Kayla Reid, Nicole Niebuhr

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Different areas of the criminal justice system interact with social media, but not much is known about how those incarcerated may be using it. A thematic analysis of “Prison TikTok” videos was conducted in order to gain a better understanding of what those incarcerated are sharing. The most represented themes in the sample are performance, food, prison views, and pains of imprisonment. Performance and food demonstrate creativity within the sample, and highlight how those incarcerated may be looking for creative outlets. Prison and pains of imprisonment include the realities of life incarcerated, and contain messaging that those incarcerated may be …

Blowing In The Wind: Cannabis Legalization, Insiders, And Methodological Insights From British Columbia, Jon Heidt, Johannes Wheeldon

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Legalizing cannabis in Canada has proven momentous in some ways and insufficient in others. This paper presents findings from a re-analysis of two studies on cannabis legalization conducted in British Columbia (B.C.) before and after legalization. Prioritizing public health over access appears to prolong stigmatization, complicate policing, and undermine efforts to disrupt illicit cannabis markets. We outline three contributions to the nascent post- prohibition cannabis research agenda. First, we demonstrate the potential for secondary data analysis (SDA) and model an approach to address recent concerns about this practice. Second, we show the value of insiders when assessing cannabis policy by …

“I’M Not Unemployed, I’M Unemployable”: Challenges Finding And Sustaining Work For People Requires To Register As Sex Offenders, Jennifer L. Wooldridge, Danielle J. S. Bailey

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Many individuals convicted of a sexual offense (ICSOs) experience various collateral consequences due to registration requirements, including income loss, unemployment, harassment, social isolation, homelessness, and more. Finding employment post-conviction is a difficult endeavor for many reentering citizens with criminal records, but for ICSOs, the difficulty increases due to their label as sex offenders. When these individuals are unsuccessful in obtaining steady, living-wage employment, it can result in mental health impacts such as depression, hopelessness, and other reactions. This paper seeks to analyze participants’ emotional and mental health reactions to their direct experiences with employment struggles due to registration. What feelings …

Stroking Reflexivity Into Practice: The Pros And Cons Of Resorting To Gatekeepers To Conduct Qualitative Criminological Research, Gabriela Mesquita Borges, Ana Guerreirro, Leonardo Conde

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

Accessing research settings and participants can be deeply challenging for scientific research, especially when gatekeepers are involved. Gatekeepers are known to affect research through, among other reasons, their position inside institutions, their knowledge of the research topic, and their power over prospective participants. This article explores the methodological and ethical challenges that may arise from resorting to gatekeepers to access participants in qualitative criminological research. Using reflexive notes from the fieldwork of two doctoral research projects in criminology, this article emphasizes the central role gatekeepers can assume in qualitative research regarding gaining access to participants for a study and conducting …

Dying In Prison: End-Of-Life Care Services In A State Correctional Facility, Brook Cooley Webb, Mollee K. Steely Smith, Tusty Ten Bensel

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

The aging inmate population in American prisons has noticeably increased, contributing to a more significant number of offenders who will die in prison, thus forcing correctional facilities to aid in caring for prisoners at the end of life. Two common responses have emerged to deliver adequate healthcare to inmates, including hospice programs and End-of-Life (EOL) care services. This study aimed to explore the nature of EOL care in a state prison by interviewing correctional administrators, correctional officers, and relevant medical personnel (N=17). The current study provided insight into the inclusion criteria for inmates who utilized EOL care in the prison …

A Historic Review Of Community Policing & The Implementation Issues We Have Faced, Emily Bell

University Honors Theses

Community Policing has existed around the world for decades, despite becoming increasingly popular in the later 1990s and early 2000s in the United States. There have been multiple ways that the United States has tried to implement community policing, which this paper will review. Starting in the 1960s when the 12th street race riots caused Lyndon B. Johnson to publish government reports calling for an overhaul of policing and an increased focus on community relations, and looking all the way to 2014, when President Barack Obama created the Task Force on 21st Century Policing, which also put out a report …

Do Frameworks Matter? Testing The Framing Effect On Public Support For Prison Pell Grants, Natalie Miles Burke

Dissertations and Theses

Postsecondary college education (PSCE) services are a rehabilitative program that offers adults in custody (AICs) the opportunity to earn a college degree while incarcerated. Research has shown that AICs participating in PSCE services reduce the likelihood of future incarceration as well as higher self-esteem and confidence levels. In 2015, President Obama’s Second Chance Pell Pilot program reinstated federal financial aid for AICs to access PSCE services. Although the Second Chance Pell Pilot program has continued to grow since then, little research has been done on public perceptions toward prison Pell Grants.

This thesis studies how offender crime type and sentence …

Motor Vehicle Theft In Portland Oregon, Io Nicholls

University Honors Theses

Residents and stakeholders are increasingly concerned about trends related to motor vehicle theft (MVT) in Portland, Oregon. Currently there are no in-depth studies regarding this crime. This analysis identifies trends in vehicle theft over time, compares Portland to other similar cities, and assesses demographics of neighborhoods with high counts and rates of MVT. First, a broad overview of MVT over a 21-year period spanning from 2000 to 2021 provides context. Then, a more focused analysis of this crime in Portland during more recent years provides information about offenders, types of vehicles stolen, and hot spots where vehicles are most likely …

The Impact Of Juvenile Transfer Laws, Kerina Lynn Ibarra

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study will examine the relationship between juvenile transfer laws, certified juveniles, the criminal justice system, and the potential collateral consequences juveniles face when subjected to juvenile transfer laws. To obtain a deeper understanding of the impact of juvenile transfer laws and their potential collateral consequences, a qualitative study will be conducted utilizing several methods of data collection to include interviews; observations; and textual analysis of adult 1, adult 2, and criminal justice practitioners, to include, jail administrator, corrections officer, police, probation and parole officer, prosecuting attorney, and DOC staff. In the interview process, information will be gathered to contribute …

Good State, Bad State: Gender, Multiculturalism And Religious Law In India, Rina V. Williams

Future Journal of Social Science

What role(s) can the state play when cultural rights come into conflict with women’s rights? This article compares conceptions of the state in the normative literature against two empirical cases of multicultural debate in modern India: Islamic law in the 1980s and Hindu law in the 1950s. I find that three conceptions of the state found in the normative literature—oppressive, facilitative, and vacated states—are only partially supported in the empirical cases, which proffer some support for the state as oppressive, but little or none for the state as facilitative or vacated. They also indicate a fourth model …

What Makes An Impartial Jury? Perceptions Of Jury Impartiality And Court Legitimacy, Joshua P. Freitag

Quantitative Social Science Undergraduate Senior Theses

In light of decreasing trust in courts at all levels of the American justice system, it is more important than ever to understand what affects people’s perceptions of the courts as fair, just, and legitimate. The Black Lives Matter protests highlighted a racial element to perceptions of impartiality in the jury system. Existing literature reveals a complex historical relationship between race and the jury, but little research has been done on public perceptions of race in the jury box.

With a novel two-experiment design using a survey instrument and a half White–half Black respondent sample pool fielded using Prolific, I …

Criminal Justice Update - June 2023, Michael Klatt

Criminal Justice Updates

The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania's courts and legislature as well as the US Supreme Court.

Contents:

• Updates from PA Governor's Office (no updates this month)
• Updates from the PA Legislature
• Updates from the Courts
• U.S. Supreme Court
• PA Supreme Court
• PA Superior Court

Student Evaluations Of Teaching Are Mostly Awfully Wrong, Noel Otu, Ntiense E. Otu

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) have been used, researched, and debated for many decades. It is a common practice in higher education institutions, with the supposed purpose of improving course quality and effectiveness, but with unintended consequences of encouraging and motivating poor teaching and causing grade inflation. There is strong evidence that SET “effectiveness” does not measure teaching effectiveness. This paper reviews empirical research examining common concerns about the usefulness (positive and negative) and accuracy of SETs. The findings reveal that student satisfaction relates to their anticipated/expected grades in their courses; hence, they want to get good grades and their …

Pathways To Offending: Domestic Sex Trafficking, Julie Williams

Dissertations

Multidisciplinary professionals across criminal justice, public policy, education, and health and

human services have all attempted to understand the complex phenomenon of sex trafficking to assist victims, correct offenders, and prevent future abuse. However, current research has struggled to agree on terms, definitions of terms, best measures of prevalence, and recommendations to address sex trafficking in the United States. This review of current literature aims to offer a synthesized framework to conceptualize domestic sex trafficking perpetrator behaviors (what they do), their uses of force, fraud, and coercion (how they do it), and their motivations and justifications/rationalizations for those behaviors (why …

Impact Of Blood Preservatives And Anticoagulants On Cannabinoid Quantitative Analysis, Bridget O'Leary

Student Theses

The expanded use of recreational and medicinal cannabis products, as well as the appearance of new cannabinoid derivatives, increases the importance of implementing pre-analytical (sample collection) protocols and the development of recommendations for cannabinoid testing in biological samples. The accurate quantification of cannabinoids in biological samples is critical for providing a correct result interpretation, especially if specific thresholds have been legally set, as in drugs and driving cases in certain states. Previous studies have mainly focused on the impact of time and temperature on the stability of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-THC) and metabolites in blood samples; however, the influence of the type …