Filtering by
- All Subjects: Incarceration
- Creators: Borucki, Melinda
- Status: Published
The purpose of this study is to determine if cultivation theory and its suggestion that society cultivates ideals of a mean world because of heavy exposure to violent media, pertains to those already incarcerated. Adults, 18 and over, living in the United States completed a survey that measured empathetic and apathetic views of the incarcerated through the viewing of positive and negative portrayals of incarceration. Results indicated that viewer's empathy was significantly higher when viewers watched positive portrayals of incarceration than when they watched negative portrayals. Correlation between age and empathic views was tested. No correlation was found between empathy for positive portrayals of the incarcerated, and the age of the viewer. However, there was a significant negative, albeit weak, relationship between age and empathy toward character in negative portrayals of incarceration. Implications of the findings specifically examining potential for future research and practical applications to destigmatize incarceration are discussed.
The emergence of COVID-19 has ravaged through the United States generally and prison facilities in particular. By reducing prison populations and protecting a facility's most vulnerable members, compassionate release is a means of mitigating the consequences of COVID-19 facing prison facilities across the country. This thesis will examine compassionate release requests for the months of March 2020 through May 2020 from minimum and low-security prison facilities within the Bureau of Prisons. By examining this data, the goal of this thesis will be to determine whether the Bureau’s use of compassionate release was conducted in a manner that would protect the well-being of incarcerated individuals in response to the emergence of COVID-19. Similarly, the data will be examined in order to identify any significant differences between prison facilities in their use of compassionate release and subsequent outcomes from COVID-19 infections and deaths. Lastly, this thesis will examine this data to determine whether the Bureau’s use of compassionate release was consistent with the general objective of reducing prison populations and overcrowding in response to COVID-19.