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
Prior research looking at procedural justice has largely focused on legal authorities, such as the police. There is a gap in the research regarding the influence of procedurally-just treatment of other criminal justice professionals, including 911 operators. These individuals are often the first contact citizens have when initiating police services, and it is likely that 911 operators set the stage for how police encounters with the public unfold. Using a factorial vignette design, this study tests the causal links between procedural injustice and several outcome measures, including cooperation, satisfaction, callback likelihood, and willingness to testify in court. Data from a university-based sample (n=488) were used to estimate a series of ordinal regression models. The results show that participants who received the injustice stimuli were generally less likely to report they would call 911 in the future, cooperate with the 911 operator if asked additional questions, cooperate with the police once they arrived on the scene, and had lower levels of satisfaction with the how the operator handled the call. These results were significant across two different scenarios (i.e., breaking and entering and traffic accident). Seriousness of the encounter also varied across these outcomes, but the magnitude of the effect was more modest. The results demonstrate the effect non-sworn personnel, such as 911 operators, can have on the outcome of police-citizen encounters.
ContributorsFlippin, Michaela R (Author) / Reisig, Michael D. (Thesis advisor) / Young, Jacob T.N. (Committee member) / Trinkner, Rick (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
The Effect of Time Since Last Incarceration Spell in Situations of Trust: A Factorial Vignette Study
Description
Studies on what shapes public perceptions of ex-prisoners are abundant. One omission is the detailed investigation of how perceptions of former inmates might vary by the amount of time since their last incarceration term. More specifically, it remains unknown whether increased length since an ex-prisoner’s last incarceration spell is positively linked to higher levels of trust. This study (N = 448) uses a factorial vignette design to test the perceived trustworthiness of former inmates across two hypothetical scenarios. Time since last incarceration spell is used as the independent variables in a series of ordered logistic regression models. The role of gender is also explored. Results show that trust perceptions of ex-prisoners minimally vary by time since last incarceration spell when personal victimization is at risk, but the magnitude is small and shows no clear pattern of declining risk over time. Less support is observed in situations where property victimization is at risk. These findings illustrate the complexity of how people perceive and feel about ex-inmates in situations of trust.
ContributorsSimonds, Raven (Author) / Reisig, Michael D (Thesis advisor) / Holtfreter, Kristy (Committee member) / Trinkner, Rick (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Research on legal socialization aims to develop an understanding of how individuals develop their relationship with law and legal actors, as well as how this relationship influences their behavior. One perspective of the legal socialization framework typically considers two models: the coercive model, where behavior is altered by authoritative force, and the consensual model, where behavior is altered by a sense of obligation. Legal socialization is not limited to the actual legal system and can be understood by applying the concepts to other rule-based systems. The current study applied the legal socialization framework to a previously unexplored rule system: motocross and supercross. The goal of this study was to see how formal and informal rule systems of motocross and supercross incorporate aspects of the coercive and consensual models to influence riders’ behaviors. To achieve this aim, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 professional motocross and supercross riders. Findings demonstrate that, although aspects of both models influenced rider behavior, riders expressed more desire for elements from the consensual model, including a penalty process that was clear, consistent, and allowed for rider voice. Findings also highlighted additional factors that influenced riders’ behaviors, including safety, image, relationships, and respect.
ContributorsRosenthal, Jessica Melonnie (Author) / Henson, Abigail (Thesis advisor) / Maguire, Edward (Committee member) / Trinkner, Rick (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Calling 911 with the goal of mobilizing a response rarely results in a direct line to the entity one wishes to summon (e.g., police or fire). Rather, individuals connect with call-takers—those who are commonly considered “gatekeepers”—who gather pertinent information from callers and determine whether there is a need to allocate resources accordingly. Importantly, this interaction serves as the first point of contact with the criminal justice system for much of the public. As such, it is particularly troubling to consider how grossly understudied this facet of the criminal justice system is relative to other justice system components. After all, call-takers set the tone and trajectory of an entire incident. For this reason, it is critical to understand their role independently, as well as the impact of their actions on subsequent potential interactions. This dissertation aims to shed light on this matter. Using a mixed model factorial vignette design embedded in online surveys administered to a quasi-representative sample of U.S. adults, this study will assess the impact of call-taker variability in adherence to procedural justice practices on citizens’ willingness to cooperate and the perceived legitimacy of both call-takers and police, as well as the ability of police officers to assuage citizen negative affect via procedurally-just tactics. This work will advance the understanding of how perceptions of one criminal justice actor (e.g., call-takers) impacts the perceptions and deference offered to subsequent criminal justice actors (e.g., police), a process referred to as the “spill-over effect,” as well as the salience of procedural justice tactics.
ContributorsFlippin, Michaela Reed (Author) / Reisig, Michael D. (Thesis advisor) / Young, Jacob T.N. (Committee member) / Trinkner, Rick (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Over the last decade, scholars have become increasingly attentive to the role of procedural fairness in shaping police officer attitudes and behaviors. In Chapter 1, I review key developments within this research, and identify several theoretical and methodological issues present in the current literature. I then outline the issues I seek to address through the three studies presented in this dissertation. In Chapter 2, I explore a divergence in how scholars conceptualize and measure sources of internal procedural fairness (IPF) within police departments. I discuss the implications of these divergences, and then compare three conceptualizations of IPF sources. I find that officers appear to form separate IPF judgement for each source, and that each procedural fairness judgment has unique associations with several outcomes. In Chapter 3, I examine the relationship between internal procedural fairness and officer engagement in external procedural fairness (EPF). Drawing upon the group engagement model (GEM), I argue that the relationship between IPF and EPF is mediated by organizational identification. Comparing the GEM against the prevailing explanation for this relationship, I find that the GEM better accounts for the relationship between IPF and EPF. In Chapter 4, I explore the role of organizational emphasis in shaping police officer support for several different policing strategies. The GEM suggests that IPF will simply bond officers to organizational goals and norms; it is this bond that motivates officers to adopt the strategies emphasized by their department. Examining support for several policing strategies, I find that officers who are more committed to their agency are more sensitive to changes in the emphasis placed on specific strategies. In Chapter 5, I review the findings of the various studies presented in this dissertation and discuss the implications of this research. Collectively, these three studies offer several insights into how IPF shapes police officer attitudes and behaviors. They highlight the importance of officer identification with organizational norms and value in shaping police officer attitudes and behaviors and establish new avenues for IPF research within police organizations.
ContributorsTyler, David H. F. (Author) / Maguire, Edward R. (Thesis advisor) / Wallace, Danielle (Committee member) / Trinkner, Rick (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Legal socialization is the process through which individuals develop their attitudes and relationships with the law. Although different types of socialization have been identified, four primary assumptions drive the perspective. These include ubiquity (process occurs in multiple contexts), continuity (process occurs across the lifetime), foundationality (law is an important regulatory institution), and reciprocity (law and citizens are influencing each other). The procedural justice model of legal socialization proposes that direct and vicarious police interactions judged to be procedurally unjust lead to lower levels of police legitimacy, higher levels of legal cynicism, and ultimately, lower compliance with the law. Recent scholarship has extended this model to non-legal authorities, finding that procedurally just interactions with parents and teachers improve child outcomes. Given its novelty, models assessing parental effects on legal attitudes have yet to consider how problematic child behaviors, including delinquency, contribute to the legal socialization process. Using 8 waves of data from a community sample of Swiss children (N = 1360), the primary goal of this study is to identify the potential direct, indirect, and reciprocal effects of child externalizing problem behaviors (as measured by aggression and hyperactive/impulsive/inattention) and parenting behaviors (as measured as prosocial and aversive) on legal cynicism. In addition, this study seeks to identify reciprocity within concepts from the procedural justice model, namely between legal cynicism and delinquency. Multivariate Latent Curve models with Structured Residuals (LCM-SR) were used to assess these relationships while also distinguishing “between-person” and “within-person” changes in these constructs over time. Results demonstrated that the relationship between child behaviors and parenting behaviors was not reciprocal, but aversive parenting did have a direct relationship with legal cynicism and delinquency over time. An unconditional LCM-SR model demonstrated that legal cynicism and delinquency were related both between-person and within-person over time. However, the reciprocal effects were inconclusive. While this study did not identify conclusive evidence of reciprocity, the results do provide more support for the ubiquity assumption, i.e., legal socialization occurs in nonlegal contexts. Parenting behaviors during childhood do influence legal cynicism and delinquency from adolescence to early adulthood.
ContributorsGifford, Faith Elise (Author) / Reisig, Michael D (Thesis advisor) / Pardini, Dustin (Thesis advisor) / Trinkner, Rick (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021