Criminology Commons^™

The Benefits Of Prison Art: Providing Rehabilitation And Positive Implications, Eliese Maxwell

Social Sciences

This research paper aims to examine how artists in prison have been impacted from creating art while incarcerated. Previous research has shown that participating in the arts while incarcerated can help the individual create a new identity for themselves. The formation of this new identity can help the individual with rehabilitation because they find a new purpose for their actions and future, and they change their behavior to be accepted to the artist subgroup. Art also provides other benefits that help with improving their personal skills, interpersonal skills, and character improvement. To demonstrate how the arts help incarcerated individuals cope …

Cumulative Sexual Victimization And Mental Health Outcomes Among Incarcerated Women, Jennifer Hartsfield, Susan F. Sharp, Sonya Conner

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This research explores the relationship between three different types of self-reported sexual victimization and subsequent mental health problems in a sample of incarcerated women. Previous literature establishes a link between victimization histories and poor mental health outcomes. This study focuses on sexual victimization experienced as a child, as an adolescent and as an adult, both individually and cumulatively, in relation to entering prison with a mental health diagnosis as well as reporting current depressive symptoms while incarcerated. Each type of victimization is significantly related to both prior mental health diagnosis and current depression in prison. Furthermore, there is an additive …

Pathways To Self-Injury: A Qualitative Exploration Of Social Psychological Processes, Thomas W. Wojciechowski

The Qualitative Report

Self-injury is a deviant behavior often understood as the intentional infliction of harm onto one’s own body that exists absent of suicidal. This study uses a qualitative methodology to examine the etiology and perpetuation of self-injury using the terminology of relevant social-psychological theories to determine which processes best describe a causal pathway leading to self-injury and its perpetuation after the onset of the behavior. Data obtained from 16 semi-structured interviews with former and current self-injurers indicate that the processes described in general strain theory, social learning theory, and social control theory are all important for understanding the etiology and perpetuation …

Death And Destruction: Insight Into The Rhino Poaching Epidemic In South Africa, Richard Wayne Charlton

Theses and Dissertations

The poaching of wildlife has been a concern to many involved in the protection of wildlife. Poaching is found throughout the world and has been around for thousands of years. In the past century, poaching has reached new heights and the concern of an extinction of a species has bought the topic of poaching to new light. Whilst poaching has been seen as a biological or conservation topic in the past, criminologists around the world have now started to delve into the topic. The poaching of wildlife and more so in recent years, rhino poaching, has been a concern in …

Book Review: Peer Pressure, Peer Prevention: The Role Of Friends In Crime And Conformity, Samantha S. Clinkinbeard

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Barbara Costello and Trina Hope contribute to the literature on peer influence in the areas of crime and conformity by exploring questions and using simple methodologies that have been long overlooked by criminologists. The authors argue that despite decades of work confirming that delinquent youth often have delinquent friends and a lot of deviant behavior happens in groups, we still know little about the mechanisms of peer influence. The authors note that because criminologists have long operated based on the assumption that peer influence is negative, the field has ignored the potentially positive effects that peers can have on one …

Crime Stats Should Inform The Public: Trump Is Misusing Them To Scare Us Instead, Philip M. Stinson

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Do Race And Ethnicity Matter? An Examination Of Racial/Ethnic Differences In Perceptions Of Procedural Justice And Recidivism Among Problem-Solving Court Clients, Cassandra A. Atkin-Plunk, Jennifer H. Peck, Gaylene Armstrong

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Over the years, a distinct body of research has emerged that examines procedural justice in problem-solving courts. However, there is virtually no research to date on racial and ethnic differences in perceptions of procedural justice among problem-solving court clients. The present study seeks to understand the complexities of judicial procedural justice and race/ethnicity within problem-solving courts. Using a convenience sample of 132 clients from two problem-solving courts in a southern state, this study addresses a void in the literature by examining the influence of race/ethnicity on perceptions of procedural justice as well as the impact of race/ethnicity and procedural justice …

Doing Sustainable Trauma Research, Michael Salter

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This article reflects on the lessons that I’ve learnt on how to make trauma-intensive research a sustainable professional practice. I draw on my own experiences and emphasise, firstly, the development of a reliable ethical framework for trauma research, and, secondly, key aspects of self-care that can be woven into trauma research to ensure that the work enriches rather than defeats us.

Should We Talk?: Examining Individual And Aggregate Level Predictors Of Mediation Selection At The New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, Cynthia-Lee Williams

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Currently, there are few studies that examine mediation programs within civilian complaint review boards. Research that analyzes these programs mainly focus on the degree of citizen satisfaction. This study adds to existing research by examining possible individual and aggregate-level characteristics linked to mediation selection. Specifically, this study considers the long standing tensions shared between the police and certain groups (e.g. minorities, youths, and residents of disadvantaged communities), and attempts to uncover which groups are more or less likely to meet with officers to resolve police complaints. The data (obtained by the CCRB and US Census 2010) allows for the analysis …

The Fear Factor: Exploring The Impact Of The Vulnerability To Deportation On Immigrants' Lives, Shirley P. Leyro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This qualitative study explores the impact that the fear of deportation has on the lives of noncitizen immigrants. More broadly, it explores the role that immigration enforcement, specifically deportation, plays in disrupting the process of integration, and the possible implications of this interruption for immigrants and their communities. The study aims to answer: (1) how vulnerability to deportation specifically impacts an immigrant’s life, and (2) how the vulnerability to deportation, and the fear associated with it, impacts an immigrant’s degree of integration. Data were gathered through a combination of six open-ended focus group interviews of 10 persons each, and 33 …

Local Immigration Enforcement Entrepreneurship In The Punishment Marketplace, Daniel L. Stageman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The contemporary neoliberal economic order plays a significant role in American social organization and policy-making. Most importantly, neoliberal ideology drives the creation and imposition of markets in public goods and services and the valorization of free market ideology in cultural life. The neoliberal ‘project of inequality’ is in turn delimited and upheld by an authoritarian system of punishment built around mass incarceration, surveillance, and an unprecedented level of social control directed at the lowest strata of American society – a group that includes both the urban underclass, and unauthorized immigrants.

This study lays out the theory of the punishment marketplace …

"Tough On Crime, Tough On The Causes Of Crime": Liberal Carceral Logics And The Reproduction Of Settler Colonial Violence In Winnipeg, Mb, Canada, Bronwyn Dobchuk-Land

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation illustrates how settler colonialism is reproduced in present-day Canada through the governance of crime, and how political struggles against policing, imprisonment, and colonialism are linked. It focuses on the politics of crime in the Province of Manitoba from 1999–2016, during which the left-of-center New Democratic Party (NDP) government engineered a significant expansion of the carceral state, overseeing unprecedented increases in policing and jail growth. In Manitoba, the vast majority of prisoners are Indigenous. This dissertation explores the logic through which the NDP integrated their support for policing and imprisonment into their “progressive” value system, packaging their carceral expansion …

Ideology, Race, And The Death Penalty: "Lies, Damn Lies, And Statistics" In Advocacy Research, Anthony Walsh, Virginia Hatch

Journal of Ideology

We use the literature on race in death penalty to illustrate the hold that ideology has on researchers and journalists alike when a social issue is charged with emotional content. We note particularly how statistical evidence become misinterpreted in ways that support a particular ideology, either because of innumeracy or because—subconsciously or otherwise—one’s ideology precludes a critical analysis. We note that because white defendants are now proportionately more likely to receive the death penalty and to be executed than black defendants that the argument has shifted from a defendant-based to a victim-based one. We examine studies based on identical data …

Cognitive Sociology, Michael W. Raphael

Publications and Research

Cognitive sociology is the study of the conditions under which meaning is constituted through processes of reification. Cognitive sociology traces its origins to writings in the sociology of knowledge, sociology of culture, cognitive and cultural anthropology, and more recently, work done in cultural sociology and cognitive science. Its central questions revolve around locating these processes of reification since the locus of cognition is highly contentious. Researchers consider how individuality is related to notions of society (structures, institutions, systems, etc.) and notions of culture (cultural forms, cultural structures, sub-cultures, etc.). These questions further explore how these answers depend on learning processes …

The Uncatchable Crook: Pursuing Effective State Crime Control, Daniel J. Patten

The Hilltop Review

This article investigates an interesting conundrum of addressing crime when the state commits a crime itself, and most often is the primary apparatus of crime control. Even more difficult in pursuing state crime control, the state typically plays a major role in defining crime. Criminologists commonly suggest state sanctions to address crime, and states to sanctions other states for their crimes. However, such an approach struggles when faced with the punishment of a powerful state’s criminal actions such as the United States. After laying out the controversy at the heart of controlling state crimes, several criminological theories traditionally employed to …

Creepers, Druggers, And Predator Ambiguity: The Interactional Construction Of Campus Victimization And The University Sex Predator, Leah C. Butler, Holly Ningard, Brandie Pugh, Thomas Vander Ven

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

In response to the pervasive problem of sexual victimization on campus, many colleges in the United States have adopted bystander intervention programs which seek to educate students and provide them with the tools necessary to intervene in potentially risky situations. Research shows that how potential bystanders construct potential victims and perpetrators of campus victimization significantly impacts their progression to intervention. As an extension of Pugh, Ningard, Vander Ven and Butler’s (Deviant Behavior, 2016) work on victim ambiguity, the present study drew from intensive interviews of 30 undergraduates from a large university in the American Midwest to examine …

Public Health Framing And Attribution: Analysis Of The First Lady’S Remarks And News Coverage On Childhood Obesity, Jennifer A. Andersen, Lindsey Wylie, Eve M. Brank

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

First Lady Michelle Obama’s public health promotion “Let’s Move” seeks to place children on a path to better health by giving families access to health education and fostering healthier environments. We examined the use of public health framing and attribution of responsibility in the First Lady’s remarks and newspaper articles reporting on childhood obesity. We coded the Whitehouse.gov website for remarks made by the First Lady regarding the childhood obesity prevention program “Let’s Move.” Of the 103 remarks coded, 35% of the remarks used public health framing. The First Lady’s remarks attributed responsibility and solutions for the childhood obesity crisis …

Cyber Violence: What Do We Know And Where Do We Go From Here?, Jillian K. Peterson, James Densley

College of Liberal Arts All Faculty Scholarship

This paper reviews the existing literature on the relationship between social media and violence, including prevalence rates, typologies, and the overlap between cyber and in-person violence. This review explores the individual-level correlates and risk factors associated with cyber violence, the group processes involved in cyber violence, and the macro-level context of online aggression. The paper concludes with a framework for reconciling conflicting levels of explanation and presents an agenda for future research that adopts a selection, facilitation, or enhancement framework for thinking about the causal or contingent role of social media in violent offending. Remaining empirical questions and new directions …

Perceptions On Police Use Of Force: A General Strain Theory Approach To Explicate Use Of Force Incidents, Clint Edward Apaza

Master’s Theses and Projects

This mixed method study focused on stress and its influence on police officers’ use of force. As a theoretical frame, Agnew’s General Strain Theory (GST) was applied to measure police officers’ decision making process in use of force, and the evaluation was compared to the college population. Data derived from law enforcement officers and college students via survey questionnaires reflecting strain factors and the Use of Force Model of case-vignettes. The magnitude of strain is measured via the assessment three major psychological diagnostic criteria: 1) STAI (State Trait Anxiety Inventory, 2) PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), and 3) DI (Depression Inventory). …

Mobile Phone Technology And Online Sexual Harassment Among Juveniles In South Korea: Effects Of Self-Control And Social Learning, Kyung-Shick Choi, Seong-Sik Lee, Jin Ree Lee

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Mobile phones are increasingly developing into a technology-based device that everyone is dependent on. While previous research has been extensive in examining different theoretical explanations for interpreting juvenile delinquency, research on mobile induced online sexual harassment among juvenile populations have been rather scarce and limited. As a result of this dearth, the present study employs a theoretical approach in rationalizing why juveniles commit online sexual harassment using their mobile phones. Elements from both social learning and self-control theories are used to assess the causes for online sexual harassment using mobile phones. By conducting binomial logistic regression analyses, this study finds …