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- All Subjects: criminology
- All Subjects: Sex Offenders
Description
More than 450,000 people work in public and private correctional institutions in the United States, collectively supervising over 2.2 million jail and prison inmates. The nature of correctional officers' work exposes them to numerous stressors which can have harmful effects on their health and their job performance. Several studies have examined the significance of environmental factors on work outcomes among prison staff. Less attention has been paid to external stressors such as negative images of correctional officers held by the community and correctional officers' perception of their own occupational prestige. This is an important omission considering the negative stereotypes associated with correctional officers and the tendency for media and entertainment outlets to perpetuate these stereotypes. The aim of this dissertation is to examine how perceived occupational prestige among correctional officers influences job stress. Specifically, the perceived occupational prestige associated with family and friends, the general public, and the media are assessed. To do so, the study employs multivariate analyses of data from a survey of 641 correctional officers employed in one Western prison system to examine the impact of perceived occupational prestige on an attitudinal and health measure of job stress. First, correctional officers believe that friends and family hold the most positive opinions about their profession, while the media has the most negative. Second, perceived occupational prestige among correctional officers does not appear to be a significant stressor, except for perceived occupational prestige associated with the media when predicting health job stress. Finally, when possible mediating variables are assessed for officers that had tenure longer than nine years perceived occupational prestige associated with the media has a significant effect on attitudinal and health job stress. In addition, for officers who identified themselves as non-White perceived occupational prestige associated with family and friends is a significant predictor of attitudinal job stress and perceived occupational prestige associated with the general public is a significant predictor of health job stress. This study concludes with a summary of these findings as well as its key limitations, and offers insight into potential policy implications and avenues of future research.
ContributorsVickovic, Samuel Gregory (Author) / Griffin, Marie L. (Thesis advisor) / Hepburn, John R. (Committee member) / White, Michael D. (Committee member) / Fradella, Henry F. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Since the 1990s, stop and frisk activities have been a cornerstone of the New York Police Department (NYPD). The manner in which the NYPD has carried out stop, question, and frisks (SQFs), however, has been a focal point of discussion, resulting in public outrage and two major lawsuits. Recently, the Federal District Court Judge ruled that the NYPD was engaging in unconstitutional stop-and-frisk practices that targeted predominately Black and Latino New Yorkers. Questions surrounding the NYPD’s SQF practices have almost exclusively focused on racial and ethnic disproportionality in the rate of stops without necessarily considering what transpired during the stop. This study will fill that void by examining the prevalence and nature of use of force during those stops, along with testing the minority threat hypothesis. By combining micro-level measures from the NYPD’s 2012 “Stop, Question, and Frisk” database with macro-level variables collected from the United States Census Bureau, the current study examines police use of force in the context of SQF activities. The results should help judges, policy makers, police officers, and scholars understand the nature of police use of force in the context of SQFs.
ContributorsMorrow, Weston (Author) / White, Michael D. (Thesis advisor) / Wallace, Danielle M (Committee member) / Wang, Xia (Committee member) / Fradella, Henry F. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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
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
This study hypothesizes that prosecutors would be more likely to prosecute juveniles who engage in sexual activity with an underage same-sex partner than those who engage in underage sexual activity with a member of the opposite sex. To test this hypothesis, surveys were mailed to 1,000 prosecutors around the United States with a between subject design, meaning that each participant was only exposed to one condition in the vignette they read. There were a total of four vignettes, creating four conditions of different “offender” sex and “victim” sex in sexually appropriate relationships. The vignettes contain conditions in which either a male or female junior in high school was videotaped having oral sex with either a male or a female freshman in high school. Prosecutors were asked questions about whether they would prosecute the older student for statutory rape. Results indicated that manipulations of “offender” sex and “victim” sex were not statistically significant on prosecutorial discretion or punishment severity/motives; however, these manipulations did alter the prosecutors’ perceptions of the offender.
ContributorsCaraveo Parra, Diana Patricia (Author) / Fradella, Henry F. (Thesis advisor) / Salerno, Jessica M. (Committee member) / Telep, Cody W. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This thesis examines the demographic, clinical, and criminal characteristics and discharge dispositions of pre-trial defendants deemed incompetent to stand trial and non-restorable (IST/NR) in Pinal County Arizona. Currently, there is limited research on defendants who are deemed IST/NR and even less so on discharge dispositions. The study utilized comparative descriptive analysis of secondary data collected by the Pinal County Attorney Offices on IST/NR defendants and restored defendants. It employed chi-square analyses to compare key variables between defendant groups. The study found few variations in clinical, legal, and criminal characteristics observed by previous studies and no statistical differences amongst IST/NR and restored defendants. However, it found the re-offense rate of IST/NR defendants in Pinal County was considerably lower than the general prison population. Moreover, it identified a narrow use of civil commitment procedures and guardianship amongst the IST/NR defendants who have a mental illness. Implications for further research and policy for Pinal County and Arizona are made.
ContributorsSnyder, Matthew Mark (Author) / Shafer, Michael S (Thesis advisor) / Fradella, Henry F. (Committee member) / Ashford, José B. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Intimate partner homicide (IPH) is the most serious consequence of intimate partner violence (IPV). Current research on IPH focuses primarily on relationships in a heterosexual binary when men perpetrate violence against female partners or vice versa. Those in same-sex relationships that fall outside of this lens have not received much attention in criminological research. The current study utilizes data from the Preventing and Assessing Intimate Partner Homicide Risk (PAIR) Studies, on three same-sex IPHs to examine the characteristics and contexts of these homicides, as well as the perceptions of others. In order, to understand characteristics that are specific to those in same-sex relationships, a case study was conducted utilizing thematic analysis to identify recurring themes or patterns in the cases. Five themes became evident through analysis including: power and control, undertreated mental illness, cultural lag, overkill, and repeat offending. The results from this study indicate that same-sex intimate partner homicides share similar characteristics and contexts with opposite-sex IPH, regardless of the relationship dyad. However, based on the relationship dyad the manifestations and context of IPV leading to IPH differ. Future research must be conducted to determine the motivations leading to, and the impact gender roles have on same-sex IPH.
ContributorsSwisher, Carson (Author) / Pizarro, Jesenia (Thesis advisor) / Messing, Jill (Committee member) / Fradella, Henry F. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Although the earliest discussions on deliberate self-harm can be traced in medical literature as early as the mid-1800s, it wasn’t until the 1960s when the psychiatry community became interested in studying self-harming behavior (Favazza, 1998). Since then, psychiatrists and psychologists alike have spent time researching self-harm behaviors and evaluating treatment methods for individuals who engage in self-harming behaviors. The vast majority of the existing research focuses on patients in the community who self-harm. However, little research has been dedicated to examining self-harming behaviors among the incarcerated population. This dissertation seeks to fill the gap in the literature by analyzing self-harming behaviors among prison inmates in Arizona. Based on record reviews, data was gathered on every self-harm event that happened between September 1, 2018 until September 30th, 2019 by the inmate population incarcerated within the state of Arizona’s 16 state and private prisons. During the 13-month study time period, a total of 2,845 self-harm events were gathered, which were produced by 647 inmates. The results indicate that a large portion of the deliberate self-harm events that occurred in the prison setting served a functional purpose for those who engaged in the self-harm. Specifically, offenders who engaged in deliberate self-harm behaviors did so to obtain a desired outcome or for some kind of secondary gain. The results also indicated that many offenders engaged in deliberate self-harm to obtain a transfer to a safe housing location, and that the number of self-harm event these offenders engaged in decreased once they were transferred to their coveted housing location.
ContributorsRaak, Jessica Leigh (Author) / Fradella, Henry F. (Thesis advisor) / Hepburn, John R. (Committee member) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021