Criminology Commons^™

The Impact Of Racial Stereotyping On Juror Perception Of Criminal Offenders, Tameka T. Price

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For decades, research has consistently demonstrated that minorities are overrepresented in the prison population, yet relatively little is known about whether juror perceptions about race and criminal culpability may impact this problem in the United States. Using Hill's folk theory of race and racism as the theoretical foundation, this cross sectional study examined the relationship between perceptions of the race of the defendant and the verdicts to be handed down. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 25 people who self-reported having served on a jury or were eligible for jury service within the past 5 years in a …

Effects Of The Walters Criminal Lifestyle Program On Offenders' Criminal Thinking Styles, Alessandre Singher Singher

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have documented the high prevalence of crime in society and the need for programs to assist in the reduction of crime. Social cognitive and criminal lifestyle theories were the two major theoretical frameworks applied to this study due to their focus on the influence of cognitive change on behavioral modifications. A lifestyle approach in such programs reshapes criminal thoughts and transforms criminal behaviors. The efficacy of a lifestyle program in a community correctional facility outside of federal prison walls, modified to run 3 months with parolees and probationers, lacks evidenced research. Using a 2x3 between groups factorial ANCOVA, archival …

The Policing Strategy Of Racial Profiling And Its Impact On African Americans, Derrick Paul Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Prior literature on racial profiling indicates that African Americans have been mistreated, harassed, and discriminated against by law enforcement because of this controversial policing strategy. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to bridge the gap in knowledge by analyzing the impact of racial profiling on African American adults and discover whether it contributed to unintentional violence in racial and ethnic minority communities. The theoretical framework for this research study was critical race theory. The research question for this study was: How does racial profiling impact African Americans' perception of the police? This phenomenological research study used purposeful sampling …

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 …

The Impact Of Court Ordered Sobriety: A Test Of Labeling Theory, Monica B. Andress

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Alcohol is a common thread in the fabric of American culture. This ever-expanding industry continues to benefit the economy, however the success is not without a cost to communities across in the United States as alcohol is a leading contributor to criminal activity. Laws related to crimes in which alcohol is a driving factor have evolved in recent years which has inspired the development of new tools available to assist in reducing alcohol use and abuse. One such tool, which was developed in the 1990s and is now used by the criminal justice system across the country, is the Secured …

White-Collar Crime: Should You Be Afraid?, Logan Smalley

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A secondary data analysis was conducted to determine relationships between US State, dollar amount of fraud, and type of savings and loan fraud committed. Using a dataset created by Pontell et al. (1999), this paper investigates the impact of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 on prosecuting those who commit crimes within the savings and loan industry. This paper also includes research into the theoretical components of society's perception into white-collar crime and sociological theories that could explain motives behind white-collar offenses.

Socioeconomic Status, Academic Success, And Relationship With Parent/Guardian: Contributions To Marijuana Use In Teens, Justin Hamas

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

As illicit drug use has steadily increased over the last decade, marijuana use has become much more prevalent among a variety of age groups. According to the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 8.6 million adolescents and young adults (age 12-25) use marijuana. This is significant as prior studies have found that marijuana use has damaging effects on the brain, especially teens whose brains are still developing. In order to gain a better understanding as to why individuals engage in marijuana use and how it may act as a coping mechanism, this study looks at how sources of …

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 …

Roles And Services Of Probation Officers Among Rural Female Juvenile Offenders, Amy Marie Warmingham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Each year, hundreds of thousands of youth move through juvenile justice systems in the United States, and the number of female offenders is increasing. At the probation level, there appears to be a lack of services, such as mentoring, mental health services, sex education, and counseling, to meet the gender-specific needs of female juvenile delinquents in rural settings. The purpose of this study was to discover county probation officers' perceptions of girls' needs and the officers' decision-making processes related to recommending services. This case study was based on feminist criminology theory. The research questions sought to learn how probation officers …

Predictors Of Job Satisfaction Among County Jail Correctional Officers, Richara Simmons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Job satisfaction among jail correctional officers is important because it ensures the continuity of officers who can promote and maintain a safe environment inside the jail for all staff and inmates. Most job satisfaction studies on correctional officers, however, are focused on prison officers and not county jail officers. The purpose of this correlational study was to test and extend Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene theory by exploring job satisfaction and motivation among jail correctional officers in Miami-Dade Florida. Survey data were collected from 149 correctional officers using Specter's (1994) Job Satisfaction Survey. Data were analyzed through correlational and multiple regression analyses. Findings …

Police And Citizens' Perceptions Of Community Policing In Richmond, Virginia, Denita R. Square-Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Community policing is an initiative that requires public cooperation and participation to be successful. Little is known, however, about police and citizens' perceptions of community policing and its impact on Richmond, Virginia neighborhoods. Using policy feedback theory as a lens, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and gain a better understanding of RPD's and Richmond citizens' perceptions of community-oriented policing strategies in Richmond neighborhoods. Research questions focused on how officers and citizens perceive the impact of community policing strategies and the specific strategies they viewed as most successful in building public trust. Data were collected from a …

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 …

Youth Justice Arbitrators' Experiences With Restorative Justice In Rural American Areas, Leigh Dezuraye Hicks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The rise in the number of Black, male, incarcerated, rural youth and the retributive juvenile justice system is a prominent problem in the United States, creating a revolving door for youth in conflict with the law. Restorative justice is an alternative approach that diverts youth from court and focus on rehabilitation, but lacks sufficient experiential evidence from those involved in the process to support broader implementation. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of restorative justice arbitrators and the role they play in facilitating resolution of youth criminal charges in a rural setting in a southern U.S. …

Women's Quest To Occupy Executive Positions In Corporate America, Erica Charles-Lynch

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Women comprise 50.8% of the United States population and 47% of the workforce, and over the past few decades, many women have been promoted to midmanagement positions in Fortune 500 and other major corporations, but few run companies at the executive levels. The research problem addressed the underrepresentation of women in top leadership positions in the executive suite. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of women in upper level management in large corporations on rising to the C-suite. A basic qualitative naturalistic inquiry was used employing interviews in collecting and analyzing the data. The targeted population …

Media Coverage Of Domestic Extremists And The Influence On Police Emotions, Jamie Porter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The media have influenced domestic extremists who are targeting the police, and this is related to negative emotions among the police. These extremists are targeting police officers based on how events are framed by the media. In this way, the media have influenced domestic extremists' target selection and caused negative emotions among police officers because they are now the targets. The purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to understand the perceptions of police officers about how the media have influenced domestic extremists to target them. The narrative of this qualitative inquiry was guided by a semistructured interview sample consisting …

Cctv As A Tool For Early Police Intervention: Preliminary Lessons From Nine Case Studies., Eric Piza, Joel M. Caplan, Leslie W. Kennedy

Publications and Research

This study explores the prospect of utilizing CCTV as an early intervention mechanism to detect and disrupt street-level activity that can lead to violence. The analysis focuses on nine case studies in Newark, NJ, incorporating data from several sources, including video footage, computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system incident data, CAD event chronologies and face-to-face interviews with CCTV operators. The findings suggest that the benefits offered by CCTV, namely the instantaneous discovery and reporting of crime, may be rendered incon- sequential by the process times associated with the differential-response policy of police dispatch. Potential methods by which police can more proactively utilize …

The Influence Of Community Areas, Neighborhood Clusters, And Street Segments On The Spatial Variability Of Violent Crime In Chicago, Cory Schnell, Anthony A. Braga, Eric L. Piza

Publications and Research

Objectives: The influence of three hierarchical units of analysis on the total spatial variability of violent crime incidents in Chicago is assessed. This analysis seeks to replicate a recent study that found street segments, rather than neighborhood units of analysis, accounted for the largest share of the total spatial variability of crime in The Hague, Netherlands (see Steenbeek and Weisburd J Quant Criminol. doi:10.1007/s10940-015- 9276-3, 2015).

Methods: We analyze violent crime incidents reported to the police between 2001 and 2014. 359,786 incidents were geocoded to 41,926 street segments nested within 342 neighborhood clusters, in turn nested within 76 community areas …

The Crime Kaleidoscope: A Cross-Jurisdictional Analysis Of Place Features And Crime In Three Urban Environments, Jeremy D. Barnum, Joel M. Caplan, Leslie W. Kennedy, Eric L. Piza

Publications and Research

Research identifies various place features (e.g., bars, schools, public transportation stops) that generate or attract crime. What is less clear is how the spatial influence of these place features compares across relatively similar environments, even for the same crime. In this study, risk terrain modeling (RTM), a geospatial crime forecasting and diagnostic tool, is utilized to identify place features that increase the risk of robbery and their particular spatial influence in Chicago, Illinois; Newark, New Jersey; and Kansas City, Missouri. The results show that the risk factors for robbery are similar between environments, but not necessarily identical. Further, some factors …

The Influence Of Job Assignment On Community Engagement: Bicycle Patrol And Community-Oriented Policing, Victoria A. Sytsma, Eric L. Piza

Publications and Research

The purpose of this study is to compare a specialized community-oriented policing (COP) unit to a reactive unit on officer perceptions of public contact and officer perceptions of job performance. We also compare bicycle patrol officers to motor vehicle patrol officers within these units. Using a static group comparison design, questionnaires were distributed to officers within the Toronto Police Service (n = 178). Bicycle patrol is associated with more contacts with the public and higher rates of proactive policing when compared to motor vehicle patrol and bicycle officers are more likely to rate higher on several measures of crime control. …

Predicting Initiator And Near Repeat Events In Spatiotemporal Crime Patterns: An Analysis Of Residential Burglary And Motor Vehicle Theft, Eric L. Piza, Jeremy G. Carter

Publications and Research

Near repeat analysis has been increasingly used to measure the spatiotemporal clustering of crime in contemporary criminology. Despite its predictive capacity, the typically short time frame of near repeat crime patterns can negatively affect the crime prevention utility of near repeat analysis. Thus, recent research has argued for a greater understanding of the types of places that are most likely to generate near repeat crime patterns. The current study contributes to the literature through a spatiotemporal analysis of residential burglary and motor vehicle theft in Indianapolis, IN. Near Repeat analyses were followed by multinomial logistic regression models to identify covariates …