ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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- All Subjects: criminology
Description
Driving under the influence (DUI) is a problem in American society that has received considerable attention over recent decades from local police agencies, lobby groups, and the news media. While punitive policies, administrative sanctions and aggressive media campaigns to deter drinking and driving have been used in the past, less conventional methods to restructure or modify the urban environment to discourage drunk driving have been underused. Explanations with regard to DUIs are policy driven more often than they are guided by criminological theory. The current study uses the routine activities perspective as a backdrop for assessing whether a relatively new mode of transportation - an urban light rail system - in a large metropolitan city in the Southwestern U.S. can alter behaviors of individuals who are likely to drive under the influence of alcohol. The study is based on a survey of undergraduate students from a large university that has several stops on the light rail system connecting multiple campuses. This thesis examines whether the light rail system has a greater effect on students whose routines activities (relatively unsupervised college youth with greater access to cars and bars) are more conducive to driving under the influence of alcohol. An additional purpose of the current study is to determine whether proximity to the light rail system is associated with students driving under the influence of alcohol, while controlling for other criminological factors
ContributorsBroyles, Joshua (Author) / Ready, Justin (Thesis advisor) / Reisig, Michael (Committee member) / Telep, Cody (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
General Strain Theory (GST) posits that different types of strain lead to different types of negative emotions, some of which increase the likelihood of maladaptive coping. Much research on GST has focused on anger and depression. Far less attention has been directed toward other negative emotions, including anxiety and envy. The current study uses cross-sectional data from surveys administered to a university-based sample (N = 500) to address these voids and explore gender differences in the effects of strain and negative emotions in maladaptive coping. Results indicate that when gender differences existed in levels of strain and negative emotions, females experienced higher levels than males. Strain significantly predicted all four measures of negative emotions examined in this study. Finally, different negative emotions were found to have differing effects on different measures of maladaptive coping. Implications of this study for theory, future research, and policy are discussed.
ContributorsZuniga, Ana Rosa (Author) / Holtfreter, Kristy (Thesis advisor) / Reisig, Michael (Committee member) / Wang, Xia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Although much has been done to examine the relationship between unemployment and crime, little consideration has been given to the impact neighborhood-level factors such as informal social control may have on the strength of unemployment as a predictor of crime. The present study seeks to fill this gap by assessing whether the declining crime rates over a period of surging unemployment under the financial crisis are due to unchanged levels of informal social control. To examine these relationships, the present study utilizes data from Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), calls for service to the police, and the United States Census and American Community Survey. These data are longitudinal in nature covering the period 2007-2011 and are all related to Glendale, Arizona. The results indicate that the financial crisis predicts lower rates of property crimes as well as lower rates of calls for service relative to UCR crimes. Additionally, the present study finds that unemployment is a significant predictor of increases in UCR property crime, UCR violent crime, and engagement in each of my measures of informal social control.
ContributorsHoyle, Mary Elizabeth (Author) / Wallace, Danielle (Thesis advisor) / Chamberlain, Alyssa (Committee member) / Reisig, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Recently, videos of negative police interactions have gone viral on social media causing riots and protests nationwide. However, police scholars have spent little time exploring how these videos affect the legitimacy of this authority or why these videos are interfaced with—e.g., shared, liked, direct messaged, and quoted—on social media. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which the content of police videos and the source of who is sharing them impacts the legitimacy of the police as well as the likelihood of social media interfacing. This study used a factorial vignette design with an online sample (N = 179) that presented one of six experimental vignettes describing a scenario in which the participant received a video of a police interaction via social media. Within each vignette, the officer behaved in a procedurally just or unjust way and the video was shared by either a local news source, best friend, or online friend. Participants were asked questions assessing the legitimacy of the officer, as well as the likelihood they would share, like, direct message, or quote the video on social media. Participants in the procedurally unjust condition perceived the officer as less legitimate and were more likely to share the video than those in the procedurally just condition. The manipulation of source had no significant effects. The results from this study indicate that police departments need to be sensitive to these videos that are being interfaced with on social media by striving for a strong and positive social media presence in order to aid in being deemed as a legitimate authority that represents the community.
ContributorsGeoghan, Stephanie Jena (Author) / Trinkner, Rick J (Thesis advisor) / Reisig, Michael (Committee member) / Wallace, Danielle (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022