Matching Items (4)
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- All Subjects: Prisoners
- All Subjects: Sex Offenders
- Genre: Masters Thesis
- Creators: Wright, Kevin
- Creators: Arenas, Lauren
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
The purpose of this preliminary study is to determine if sentencing disparities exist between male and female teachers who have been convicted of sexual misconduct with a student in Maricopa County, Arizona over a ten-year period. The hypothesis is that male teachers convicted of sexual misconduct with a student will receive harsher punishment than their female counterparts. In addition, this research will analyze the sentencing decisions of Arizona judges and prosecutors through plea-bargaining when compared with the presumptive sentence set by the Arizona Legislature. Issues that will be addressed include: a brief review of gender disparities in sentencing, sex offender sentencing, Arizona's rules of criminal procedure, and a review of the Arizona Revised Statutes pertaining to sexual crimes as well as the Arizona Supreme Court sentencing guidelines. The data set consists of fifteen different Maricopa County teachers who committed a sexual offense against a student and were convicted of that offense from February 2000 through September 2009. According to the results of this study, male teachers do receive harsher penalties than their female counterparts within Maricopa County.
ContributorsSimmon, Christopher (Author) / Holtfreter, Kristy (Thesis advisor) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / Spohn, Cassia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
While there is a good amount of research focused on sex offenders as a whole, only a limited number of studies examine variations within these offenders, how people view the variations, and why their opinions may differ. This study focuses on the interconnections among gender norms, rape myth acceptance, and the perception of sex offenders by administering an online student survey. The survey measured rape myth acceptance and adherence to traditional gender roles to see how they affected perceptions of sex offenders. Perceptions were measured using vignettes that were varied by gender and the situation described. Results showed that higher rape myth acceptance would decrease the blameworthiness of the offender, that the offender was seen as more blameworthy when the offender was a male, and that women tended to see the offender as more blameworthy than men did. The type of sexual situation did not have an impact on blameworthiness, nor did adherence to gender roles. The findings support past research that suggests that rape myth acceptance can impact people’s opinions about offenders in sexual situations and specifically that these opinions differ depending on the gender of the offender. With some offenders being viewed as more blameworthy than others, it is necessary to examine sex offense laws to see how they may disproportionately affect some offenders and implement harsher punishments than the public may deem necessary.
ContributorsArenas, Lauren (Author) / Spohn, Cassia (Thesis advisor) / Fradella, Henry F. (Committee member) / Stolzenberg Roosevelt, Stacia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
There has been a rise in heroin use throughout the United States due to doctors increasingly prescribing painkillers to patients with chronic pain (Kanouse & Compton, 2015; Compton, Boyle, & Wargo, 2015). Individuals get addicted to painkillers and, when their doctor will no longer prescribe them, turn to alternative methods of relief; heroin is often their cheapest option (Kolodny, Courtwright, Hwang, Kreiner, Eadie, Clark, & Alexander 2015). Heroin users are three to four times more likely to die from overdose than other types of drug users (Darke & Hall, 2003). The purpose of this study is to determine the likelihood that heroin users successfully reenter the community upon release from prison in comparison to other types of drug users. There are several re-entry outcomes that can be considered “success”; this study measures success as an index of the quality of the returning offender’s familial relationships as well as recidivism. The data used for this analysis is the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI). The sample consists of male offenders, aged 18 years and older, who have been convicted of and imprisoned for a serious or violent crime. Findings suggest familial social support does not have an effect on heroin use, but heroin use increases the risk of recidivism. These findings will provide a context for rehabilitation of heroin offenders and will launch future research focusing on the differences between heroin users and other types of drug users.
ContributorsGriffin, Amber (Author) / Wallace, Danielle (Thesis advisor) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / Chamberlain, Alyssa (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Many parents are incarcerated, and most are eventually released. Parents that have to return home from prison may encounter difficulties adjusting to being a parent on the outside. Two competing criminological theories – social control and strain – build the framework for two pathways after release from prison – desistance or recidivism. The principal question of this study examines how being a parent to a minor child has an effect on the reentry pathways, and an interaction between being a parent and gender tests the differences between mothers and fathers. Existing studies have produced mixed results with some studies suggesting that minor children are a protective factor, and some suggesting the struggles of returning parents. Research has also shown that incarcerated mothers and fathers experience their incarceration differently, and it is surmised that this would have an impact on their reentry. Data used in this study were obtained through structured interviews with 952 inmates housed in the Arizona Department of Corrections in 2010 (n= 517 males (54%); n= 435 females (46%)). Logistic regression models show that having at least one minor child does not significantly impact the reentry outcomes for parents as compared to nonparents. In addition, the interaction between minor children and gender was also not significant – there were no differences between mothers and fathers. The statistically insignificant findings most likely show the cancelling effects of two distinct pathways for reentry. Implications of the findings are discussed below.
ContributorsGricius, Matthew (Author) / Wright, Kevin (Thesis advisor) / Chamberlain, Alyssa (Committee member) / Wang, Xia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016