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.
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This paper includes information pertaining to Native Nations and their need for innovative policing practices. Native Nations need their tribal police agencies to gain responsibility when it comes to advancing their community policing first before their tribal courts can begin to commit to greater prosecutions. Utilizing information from interviews and literary review sources, this paper includes the law background, information on tribal sovereignty, information attained from interviews, and census data. This information shared in this paper will help individuals within Criminal Justice studies to gain a better understanding of tribal courts, tribal police, and tribal jurisdictional issues. Not only will this paper help inform Criminal Justice students, but this paper will help other Indigenous students understand the resources, strategies, and implementation of previous Supreme Court Cases among their tribal governments, courts, and police departments. My findings will indicate that there has already been an implementation towards cross-deputization among an Arizona Tribe and how they are successfully sworn among their tribe, state, and federally.
We gathered qualitative data on criminal justice professionals because we wanted to debunk myths associated with their professions. Professions within the criminal justice field can be extremely dangerous and even life-threatening, therefore it is important that individuals looking to enter these professions are well-informed. With technology improving daily, more and more people have easy access to social media, news, and television shows. Some people rely solely on these platforms to receive information. Another key reason we chose qualitative methods is because we wanted our information to be applicable for criminal justice professionals themselves. Maureen McGough from the National Institute of Justice describes that for police officers, policy related research tends to be geared towards academics (McGough, 2019). We used qualitative methods to provide more actionable and relatable feedback. However, these platforms do not always reveal the full story. Our research reveals how television shows and movies are not always accurate in portraying the roles of criminal justice professionals.
Our findings revealed that there are both realistic and overexaggerated aspects in the portrayal of criminal justice professionals in television shows and movies. Some of the overexaggerated aspects include how nearly all the television shows and movies only captured action parts of criminal justice professionals’ roles. Which creates the illusion that these roles are all about action and never have dull moments. None of the scenes captured the research and paperwork that goes along with being a criminal justice professional. On the other hand, there were some aspects of television shows and movies that the professionals found realistic. These aspects include the unusual humor police officers use to cope with the pressures of their job and the tactics lawyers use to sway a jury.
Aside from the information we received about what was real and overexaggerated in television shows and movies, we also identified some of the aspects of criminal justice roles that are omitted from television shows and movies. The professionals we interviewed also shared some of the rewarding and fulfilling aspects of their roles that are often overlooked or just unknown to the public. With the valuable information we gathered from our thesis project, we created a website (See Appendix B). The website includes profiles on the criminal justice professionals we interviewed and a summary of our findings. The purpose of this website is to reach a larger audience, so that we can inform more people about the reality of criminal justice professionals’ roles. Individuals can use our website to learn more about what the role of a criminal justice professional entails and how to prepare.
Eyewitness identification has been one of the most crucial components in identifying perpetrators in criminal cases. Misidentification of a suspect often has detrimental effects, with many innocent individuals being wrongfully convicted. In order to fully understand the causes of misidentification, a proper understanding of the process of eyewitness identification must be understood in order to ensure that fewer individuals are falsely imprisoned.
When major sporting events such as the Super Bowl occur, there is a perceived increase in the amount of sex trafficking that occurs in the host city of the event. This study sought to determine if there was a direct causal relationship between major sporting events and sex trafficking, or if the perceived spike in sex trafficking was due to increased scrutiny and attention sex trafficking receives during these events. Ultimately, after examining other studies and statistics, the conclusion was that while a direct causal relationship could not be determined between major sporting events and sex trafficking, there is a lucrative opportunity and higher risk for sex trafficking to occur at these major sporting events due to the risk factors associated with the event such as the high concentration of people in the area, the party atmosphere the event fosters, and the high amount of disposable income people at the event possess. This study also examined other aspects of sex trafficking such as the scope of the crime across the world, common characteristics among victims and offenders, and strategies used to combat the problem.