Theses and dissertations

This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students. 

Displaying 1 - 4 of 4
Filtering by

Clear all filters

136308-Thumbnail Image.png

Nopal En La Frente"": Latino(s) Perceptions of Disorder and Neighborhood Ethnicity

Description
Wilson and Kelling's (1982) broken windows theory (BWT) says that disorder causes crime at the neighborhood level. More specifically, this theory posits that perceptions of disorder increase fear of crime, which then reduces community involvement, making crime more likely. Recent studies show that race plays a pivotal role in people's…

Wilson and Kelling's (1982) broken windows theory (BWT) says that disorder causes crime at the neighborhood level. More specifically, this theory posits that perceptions of disorder increase fear of crime, which then reduces community involvement, making crime more likely. Recent studies show that race plays a pivotal role in people's perceptions of disorder. In short, people tend to associate race with low socioeconomic status, high arrest rates, and lack of policing. Therefore, race plays a central role in the BWT framework as it is linked to perceptions of disorder and crime. However, ethnicity is less well understood when analyzing the perceptions of disorder. To explore this further, the current study examines Latino responses regarding safety and ethnicity to a photograph depicting a religious mural of importance for the Mexican community (La Virgen de Guadalupe). This paper qualitatively analyzes a sample of 299 survey responses of undergraduate Latino students to better understand how Latinos recognize and identify their own culture/heritage and disorder. Implications for understanding ethnicity and broken windows theory are discussed.
ContributorsEsparza, Karla N (Author) / Wallace, Danielle (Thesis director) / Ready, Justin (Committee member) / Lyons, Christopher (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor)
Created2015-05
134618-Thumbnail Image.png

Law Enforcement Use of Force: An Analysis of the Literature in Criminal Justice and Psychology

Description
Highly publicized cases involving citizen fatalities due to police use of force raise questions about perceptions of danger. Arrest-related deaths due to weapons, accidental injuries, and natural causes remain high year after year. Communities are greatly affected, and mistrust with the police continues to increase when these situations happen. There…

Highly publicized cases involving citizen fatalities due to police use of force raise questions about perceptions of danger. Arrest-related deaths due to weapons, accidental injuries, and natural causes remain high year after year. Communities are greatly affected, and mistrust with the police continues to increase when these situations happen. There seem to be inaccurate perceptions that may stem from implicit associations, stereotypes, and social learning. These psychological concepts may provide theoretical explanations of how decisions are made when police officers are faced with danger. Some elements of this decision-making process may include suspect characteristics, officer experience, and police sub-culture. In this review, race/ethnicity and socio-economic status are examined as factors that contribute to police use of force. Disparities in use of force data often involve young, Black males living in low-income neighborhoods. The stereotype that this group is more dangerous than others stems from underlying prejudices and previous situations where Black people are targeted more in certain areas. Training, education, and community outreach programs can assist in mending relations between police and affected communities. Acknowledging these inaccurate perceptions, making the adjustments to police training and community relations, and being open to exploration in future research of other minority groups will assist in eliminating prejudices and creating better connections between law enforcement and the community.
ContributorsGarcia-Johnson, Anastacia Maria (Author) / Szeli, Eva (Thesis director) / Pizarro, Jesenia (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor, Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05

Examining the Relationship Between Regional Implicit Racial Biases & Racial Disparities in the Outcomes of Civil Trials

Description

Even though criminal justice outcomes frequently receive more media, public, and research attention than civil legal outcomes, civil legal outcomes are equally important in ensuring fairness, accountability, and justice for both individuals and society as a whole. This provides individuals an avenue to pursue justice and restitution for civil wrongs,…

Even though criminal justice outcomes frequently receive more media, public, and research attention than civil legal outcomes, civil legal outcomes are equally important in ensuring fairness, accountability, and justice for both individuals and society as a whole. This provides individuals an avenue to pursue justice and restitution for civil wrongs, protects civil rights, and compensates those who have been harmed financially. This study examined the relationship between regional implicit racial bias and racial disparities in outcomes of real-world civil trials. In particular, I explored whether the racial composition of the attorneys on the defense teams or race of the plaintiff predicted plaintiff verdicts and greater damage awards. I hypothesized that all-White defense attorney teams and plaintiffs would win their cases at higher rates and would subsequently be awarded more in damages than their non-White counterparts, especially in regions reporting high levels of implicit racial bias. Using real-world civil trials and Project Implicit Race IAT data, I conducted logistic and linear regression analyses to test the effects of race and regional bias on trial outcomes. The results showed that the likelihood of a pro-plaintiff verdict increased when the defense team included at least one non-White attorney. That is, more racially diverse defense teams won their cases less then all-White defense teams. Additionally, I found that the likelihood of a pro-plaintiff verdict decreased in regions reporting relatively higher levels of regional implicit racial bias. Future research aimed at understanding and reducing disparities and bias in the legal system should be extended to include civil trials and both attorney and client demographics.
ContributorsThomas, Sara (Author) / Salerno, Jessica (Thesis director) / Smalarz, Laura (Committee member) / Hall, Deborah (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor)
Created2023-05
165842-Thumbnail Image.png

Equity Issues Involved in Using Letters of Recommendation to Evaluate Undergraduate Students

Description
Mounting evidence suggests that gender biases favoring men and racial biases favoring whites and Asians contribute to the underrepresentation of women and underrepresented minorities (URM) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Systemic issues caused by gender and racial biases create barriers that prevent women and URM from entering STEM…

Mounting evidence suggests that gender biases favoring men and racial biases favoring whites and Asians contribute to the underrepresentation of women and underrepresented minorities (URM) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Systemic issues caused by gender and racial biases create barriers that prevent women and URM from entering STEM from the structure of education to admission or promotions to higher-level positions. One of these barriers is unconscious biases that impact the quality of letters of recommendation for women and URM and their success in application processes to higher education. Though letters of recommendation provide a qualitative aspect to an application and can reveal the typical performance of the applicant, research has found that the unstructured nature of the traditional recommendation letter allows for gender and racial bias to impact the quality of letters of recommendation. Standardized letters of recommendation have been implemented in various fields and have been found to reduce the presence of bias in recommendation letters. This paper reviews the trends seen across the literature regarding equity in the use of letters of recommendation for undergraduates.
ContributorsKolath, Nina (Author) / Brownell, Sara (Thesis director) / Goodwin, Emma (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2022-05