Matching Items (11)
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- All Subjects: criminology
- Genre: Masters Thesis
- Creators: Wright, Kevin
Description
ABSTRACT Research on self-control theory (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990) consistently supports its' central proposition that low self-control significantly affects crime. The theory includes other predictions, which have received far less empirical scrutiny. Among these is the argument that self-control is developed early in childhood and that individual differences then persist over time. Gottfredson and Hirschi contend that once established by age ten, self-control remains relatively stable over one's life-course (stability postulate). To determine the empirical status of Gottfredson and Hirschi's "stability postulate," a meta-analysis on existing empirical studies was conducted. Results for this study support the contentions made by Gottfredson and Hirschi, however the inclusion of various moderating variables significantly influenced this relationship. Keywords: self-control, self-control stability, absolute stability, relative stability
ContributorsMeyers, Travis J (Author) / Pratt, Travis (Thesis advisor) / Burt, Callie (Committee member) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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
The prison classroom offers a transformative educational opportunity for incarcerated and non-incarcerated students alike. The current study uses place-conscious educational theories and the intergroup contact theory to examine how a prison education program can offer deeply impactful experiences for students. Using a pre/post-intervention survey design, this thesis analyzes differences in attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions about crime and criminal justice between and within groups of incarcerated (n=24) and university (n=20) students participating in two semester-long prison-based criminal justice courses in Arizona. Results show that prior to participating in the Inside-Out Prison Exchange programs, inside students had less favorable views about the criminal justice system compared to outside students, and outside students had less favorable attitudes about people who are incarcerated. Throughout the course, positive attitudes toward the criminal justice system increased for inside students and positive attitudes about incarcerated people increased among outside students, such that at the end of the course, the differences in attitudes between the two groups were no longer significant. Additionally, outside students’ punitive attitudes decreased throughout their participation in the course. Overall, the magnitude of the changes experienced by each student group were different, such that outside students experienced more significant changes in attitudes and beliefs about crime and criminal justice than did inside students.
ContributorsPhilippon, Cassandra Nicole (Author) / Wright, Kevin (Thesis advisor) / Telep, Cody (Committee member) / Young, Jacob (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
Description
Mentally ill offenders continue to contribute to mass-incarceration within the United States. The cost, both social and economic, of housing a large number of mentally ill inmates in our prison system has reached a breaking point. The need for empirically founded correctional research, with an emphasis on individuals who suffer from a mental illness, is crucial to reducing the number of incarcerated individuals in the United States. The current study analyzes whether mentally ill inmates reported statistically significant differences in levels of perceived reentry social support, when compared to their non-mentally ill counterparts. The current study utilized data from the APVP. The APVP contained a sample of 231 individuals, 121 female and 110 male, from two Arizona Department of Corrections facilities. The majority of respondents were white (44.58%), medium security (40.26%), non-married (77.49%), and had a mean age of 36.04 years (SD=11.74). The current study conducted both bivariate and multivariate analyses to determine whether mentally ill inmates perceived differences in the reentry social support available to them as compared to non-mentally ill inmates. Further multivariate analyses were conducted to determine whether there were any significant differences the key independent variable and the dependent variables across gender. Mentally ill female inmates reported significantly lower rates of perceived reentry social support in a number of emotional support factors. The findings of this study are a crucial first step for future empirical research on inmate perceptions of social support—perceptions that may directly affect successful reentry.
ContributorsOstertag, Nathan L (Author) / Wright, Kevin (Thesis advisor) / Telep, Cody (Committee member) / Young, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Many working in the criminal justice system and beyond are trying to ascertain whether there should be continued use of restricted housing or solitary confinement. This study examines knowledge of and general support for restrictive housing. Using randomly assigned, factorial vignettes, the survey manipulates populations and reasons for placement in restrictive housing to determine situational support for the correctional practice. Results indicate that among a sample of students (N=363), little is known about restrictive housing, despite substantial exposure to both fiction and nonfiction media on the subject. Averages of approval ratings indicate the public is neutral on whether the practice is humane, including its placement procedures and conditions, though there was slight disapproval of the placement of mentally ill inmates in segregation. Analysis shows that age, some reasons for placement, whether placement is voluntary, and extreme durations of time in isolation are significantly associated with public approval.
ContributorsRuffner, Chelsea (Author) / Wright, Kevin (Thesis advisor) / Telep, Cody (Committee member) / Young, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This study examined whether periods of secure confinement in juvenile detention, jails, and prisons are associated with short- and longer-term increases in adolescent males’ internalizing problems during adolescence and young adulthood. Data came from a longitudinal community sample of 506 male adolescents who were assessed every six months for three years and annually for ten subsequent years. At each assessment, participants reported on their confinement experiences and internalizing problems (i.e., anxiety, depression) during the recall period. Fixed-effects models examined within-individual changes in internalizing problems before, during, and after youth reported any overnight stay in a correctional facility, after controlling for the time-varying confounds of externalizing problem behaviors and previous justice system contact. Additionally, this study tested whether changes in the participants’ internalizing problems varied depending on the confinement facility (i.e., juvenile detention, jail, prison). Overall, results indicated that internalizing problems increased during periods where participants had been confined in a facility. In contrast, there were no changes in internalizing problems in the period prior to confinement and internalizing problems returned to baseline levels in the year following confinement. Facility-specific analyses indicated confinement in prison was associated with the largest increase in internalizing problems. Findings from this study indicate confinement does influence internalizing problems and interventions sensitive to internalizing problems should focus on providing services during confinement and immediate reentry period.
ContributorsTom, Kelsey E (Author) / Pardini, Dustin (Thesis advisor) / Sweeten, Gary (Committee member) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
People who participate in correctional treatment programming are viewed as making positive steps towards their reentry into society. However, this is often assessed through a simple “yes” or “no” response to whether they are currently participating without much emphasis on how, why, or to what degree that participation is meaningful for reentry preparedness. The present study aims to a) identify to what extent there is variation in the degree to which women participate in programming and are prepared for reentry, b) identify the characteristics that distinguish highly-involved programmers from less involved programmers, c) identify the characteristics that distinguish women who are highly-prepared for reentry from women who are less prepared, and d) assess whether levels of involvement in programming relates to levels of reentry preparedness. The sample comes from interviewer-proctored surveys of 200 incarcerated women in Arizona. Two indices were created: one for the primary independent variable of program involvement and one for the dependent variable of reentry preparedness. Logistic and multivariate regressions were run to determine the indices’ relatedness to each other and the characteristic variables. The two indices did not have a statistically significant relationship with each other. However, variation across them is found. This indicates that programmers may not be a homogenous group and that they may engage with programming to varying degrees based on a multitude of indicators.
ContributorsRodriguez, Bianca (Author) / Wright, Kevin (Thesis advisor) / Young, Jacob (Committee member) / Telep, Cody (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020