Matching Items (8)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Recidivism
- All Subjects: Sex Offenders
- Creators: Wright, Kevin
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
Recidivism occurs when an individual is released from prison and then, through a violation of parole or a new offense, ends up back in prison. Durose and colleagues (2014) cite that 55.4% of individuals go back to prison after a five-year post release. Considerable attention has been focused on reducing the cycle of these individuals going back to prison. One of the attempts to remedy this issue is through offering pre-release programs for prison inmates. These programs seek to provide individuals skills that will reduce their likelihood of reoffending. But existing research shows that the effectiveness of these programs is limited. Moreover, few attempts have been made to look at differences between individual’s dosage of program participation. This thesis aims to determine if participation in a pre-release program reduces recidivism. Using data from the state’s Department of Corrections, there is a comparison of previously imprisoned individuals who participated in a pre-release employment program and those who declined participation, to understand if participation influences recidivism. Additionally, dosage of the center will be analyzed to determine whether length of program participation influenced recidivism. Participating in the program and a longer dose of the program should allow more time for the individual to learn the material and fully absorb what the program is offering such as skills and training. The results show that participation in the pre-release employment program did not significantly affect recidivism as individuals who went through the program were no less likely to be reincarcerated. In addition, a longer dosage of the program did not significantly influence recidivism among those who went through the program.
ContributorsMoore, Deana (Author) / Young, Jacob T.N. (Thesis advisor) / Telep, Cody W. (Committee member) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
A music therapy informed music group program was created and implemented at the Maricopa Reentry Center in Phoenix. This program \u2014 entitled Building Hope Through Music \u2014 utilized music therapy techniques including lyric analysis, songwriting, singing, musical games, and guided visualization in order to improve self-awareness, provide a medium for self-expression, increase teamwork and collaboration, promote relaxation, facilitate emotional processing and awareness, and improve tolerance of non-preferred activities in participants. This group was conducted for seven months and had participation from over 400 male ex-offenders.
ContributorsQuirbach, Rachel Marie (Author) / Wright, Kevin (Thesis director) / Thompson, Jason (Committee member) / Belgrave, Melita (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / School of Music (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The primary purpose of this project is to study the correlation between exposure to sexually-explicit materials and sexual offending. A thorough literature review has been conducted. The analyses include the definitions and history of sexual deviancy and paraphilia, a review of existing research that examines the complex relationship between said materials and criminal behavior, methods individuals use to access sexually-explicit materials, and case studies of individuals whose behavior is relevant to the purposes of this study. There does not appear to be a causal relationship between these two factors. However, there is an intricate, interrelated dynamic between the two that is worth examining more thoroughly. Further research should study the timeline in which sexual offenders first consumed sexually-explicit material, as well as the genesis of their sexually-deviant behaviors. This may lead to a clearer comprehension of their psychosexual criminality. Further understanding will hopefully lead to improved policies proposed by law makers, refined prevention/intervention strategies by law enforcement, and more effective rehabilitative methods for offenders.
ContributorsDwyer, Brittny Elise (Author) / Rebecca, Loftus (Thesis director) / Randall, Snyder (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Recidivism rates in the United States are alarmingly high. The vast number of inmates who re- offend upon release and re-enter into correctional facilities upsets people and many individuals focus their blame on the private and public prisons. Currently, the research that is available on private and public prisons is unpersuasive because it creates a harsh polarization between the two prison systems. The benefits as well as the detriments of each sector are explained in great detail, but all of the current research is lacking one thing: insider experience. The majority of the available research is conducted by people behind a computer screen or behind the binding of a book. While a wide variety of different articles, short stories, and journals have been published and are readily available to eager readers and researchers, these arguments repeat themselves and fail to weigh the complex merits of each system against the other; specifically, each body of work is lacking knowledge from people who have experienced both private and public prisons from an internal perspective. To compensate for this lack of ethnographic research, the current study allows the reader to get an internal perspective of public and private prisons. This was done by interviewing two wardens who have served on the federal, state, and private levels as well as touring a private correctional facility in Arizona. These experiences paved the way for novel research to be conducted and was used as a tool to weave the complicated web of private and public prisons in the United States. Findings, interviews, and ideas for the future of prisons are discussed.
ContributorsTometich, Drake (Author) / Wright, Kevin (Thesis director) / Young, Jacob (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Prison re-entry is a complicated process and is associated with a number of challenges for offenders to overcome. Unfortunately, many are not successful at navigating this process, and consequently, recidivism is a prevalent concern within the criminal justice system. These concerns are problematic with drug offenders, specifically, as this group is a quite pervasive component of the correctional population in America and one that tends to face more difficult experiences with reintegrating into society. In addition, a substantial need for substance abuse treatment in the community is in place for these offenders, yet is not necessarily readily available. This study examines the accessibility and nature of such treatment through the use of interviews with community treatment providers. It also assesses the barriers offenders face accessing help as well as potential solutions to these obstacles. The findings suggest that independence, support networks, resistance to treatment, motivation to change, rule conformity, mental illness, institutionalization, a lack of resources, and restrictions within the agencies that provide treatment are all significant factors in recovery. The results then demonstrate that treatment providers are able to provide incentives to bolster motivation, encourage healthy mindsets, help gain access to the resources that are available, and validate success through celebration in order to overcome these difficulties. The study may be limited by a potentially non-generalizable sample and a lack of specificity could be addressed by more expansive but focused research in the future as well as financial analyses to raise awareness regarding the severity of the situation.
ContributorsJohnson, Nicole Jolene (Author) / Chamberlain, Alyssa (Thesis director) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
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