Matching Items (115)
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- All Subjects: criminology
- Genre: Masters Thesis
Description
Prior research has looked at the effects of low self-control, unstructured socializing, and risky behaviors on victimization. In previous studies, however, the differences between routine activity and lifestyle theory have been overlooked. The aim of this study is to test the unique characteristics of both theories independently. Specifically, this study addresses: (1) the mediating effects of unstructured socializing on low self-control and victimization and (2) the mediating effects of risky behaviors on low self-control and victimization. Data were collected using a self-administered survey of undergraduate students enrolled in introductory criminal justice and criminology classes (N = 554). Negative binomial regression models show risky behaviors mediate much of the effect low self-control has on victimization. Unstructured socializing, in contrast, does not mediate the impact of low self-control on victimization.
ContributorsWattanaporn, Katelyn A (Author) / Reisig, Michael D (Thesis advisor) / Holtfreter, Kristy (Committee member) / Ready, Justin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Although prior research has identified negative consequences from marijuana use, some states are legalizing marijuana for medical use due to its medical utility. In 2010, the State of Arizona passed medical marijuana legislation, yet, to date, little research has been published about the specific population characteristics of medical marijuana users or their criminal activity. The purpose of this study is to present the characteristics of medical marijuana users and examine the relationship between medical marijuana use and crime, including substance use, by comparing four groups which are medical marijuana users with authorized medical marijuana ID card (authorized medical marijuana users, AuMM users), medical marijuana users without authorized medical marijuana ID card (non-authorized medical marijuana users, NonAuMM users), illegal marijuana users without authorized medical marijuana ID card (non-authorized marijuana users, NonAuM users), and non-marijuana users (Non-users). Data were collected from a sample of recently booked arrestees in Maricopa County, Arizona through the Arizona Arrestee Reporting Information Network (AARIN) project. A total of 2,656 adult arrestees participated in the study. Findings show that authorized medical marijuana users were more likely to be male, younger, and high school graduates. Medical marijuana users, on average, were likely to acquire more marijuana and spend more money on obtaining marijuana compared to non-authorized marijuana users. Whereas the authorized medical marijuana users had a higher probability for DUI and drug selling/making than non-marijuana users, non-authorized medical marijuana users had a higher probability for involvement property crime, violent crime, DUI, and drug selling/making than non-marijuana users. Authorized medical marijuana users were less likely to use meth compared to non-authorized medical marijuana users and non-authorized marijuana users. This study suggests that it is important to recognize the non-authorized medical marijuana users under medical marijuana policy as well as the DUI regulations and medical insurance.
ContributorsCheon, Hyunjung (Author) / Katz, Charles (Thesis advisor) / White, Michael (Committee member) / Shafer, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Juvenile delinquency is a complex issue that effects youth, families, and society. Studies have found that parenting styles are a significant contributor to numerous behaviors that influence juvenile delinquency, specifically substance use and poor academic achievement. This literature has been used by to the juvenile justice system to develop family based interventions for delinquent youth in efforts to reduce recidivism. However, previous studies have primarily sampled from the general population, which has limited their usefulness in creating selective interventions for the delinquent population. This thesis offers Baumrind (1966) and Maccoby & Martin's (1983) theory of parenting style typologies as a framework for understanding the effects of parenting style on substance use and academic achievement among delinquent youth. Using juvenile court case files from Maricopa County collected from 2005-2010, (N = 181), logistic regression was performed to test the hypotheses that (1) delinquent youth with Authoritarian, Uninvolved, and Permissive parenting will be more likely to use substances than youth with Authoritative parenting and that (2) delinquent youth with Authoritarian, Uninvolved, and Permissive parenting will be more likely to have poor academic achievement than youth with Authoritative parenting. Using Authoritative parenting as the reference group, it was found that delinquent youth with Permissive and Uninvolved parenting had a higher likelihood of substance use than delinquent youth with Authoritative parenting, and that delinquent youth with Permissive parenting had a higher likelihood of poor academic achievement than youth with Authoritative parenting. These findings have important theoretical implications as well as practical implications for intervention strategies for delinquent youth, which are additionally discussed.
ContributorsPosey, Brianne M (Author) / Rodriguez, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Burt, Callie (Committee member) / Zatz, Marjorie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Since Gottfredson and Hirschi proposed the general theory of crime, the direct link between self-control and delinquency has gained strong empirical support, and low self-control is now considered as a significant predictor of individual delinquent behaviors. However, the indirect link between self-control and delinquency still remains understudied. This study fills this void by introducing thoughtfully reflective decision making (TRDM), an important factor intimated by rational choice theory, as the mediator of the relationship between low self-control and delinquency. Using self-reported data from the city of Changzhi, China, this study finds that self-control is closely related to TRDM, low self-control is a significant predictor of general and non-violent delinquency, and TRDM does not mediate the effect of low self-control on delinquency. Findings from this study largely support the generalizability of self-control theory under the Chinese cultural environment, and also suggest that it might be fruitful to test other criminological theories in the Chinese context. The study's findings and their implications for theory and research are discussed.
ContributorsZhang, Wenrui (Author) / Wang, Xia (Thesis advisor) / Decker, Scott (Committee member) / Sweeten, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Neuroimaging has appeared in the courtroom as a type of `evidence' to support claims about whether or not criminals should be held accountable for their crimes. Yet the ability to abstract notions of culpability and criminal behavior with confidence from these imagines is unclear. As there remains much to be discovered in the relationship between personal responsibility, criminal behavior, and neurological abnormalities, questions have been raised toward neuroimaging as an appropriate means to validate these claims.
This project explores the limits and legitimacy of neuroimaging as a means of understanding behavior and culpability in determining appropriate criminal sentencing. It highlights key philosophical issues surrounding the ability to use neuroimaging to support this process, and proposes a method of ensuring their proper use. By engaging case studies and a thought experiment, this project illustrates the circumstances in which neuroimaging may assist in identifying particular characteristics relevant for criminal sentencing.
I argue that it is not a question of whether or not neuroimaging itself holds validity in determining a criminals guilt or motives, but rather a proper application of the issue is to focus on the way in which information regarding these images is communicated from the `expert' scientists to the `non-expert' making decisions about the sentence that are most important. Those who are considering this information's relevance, a judge or jury, are typically not well versed in criminal neuroscience and interpreting the significance of different images. I advocate the way in which this information is communicated from the scientist-informer to the decision-maker parallels in importance to its actual meaning.
As a solution, I engage Roger Pielke's model of honest brokering as a solution to ensure the appropriate use of neuroimaging in determining criminal responsibility and sentencing. A thought experiment follows to highlight the limits of science, engage philosophical repercussions, and illustrate honest brokering as a means of resolution. To achieve this, a hypothetical dialogue reminiscent of Kenneth Schaffner's `tools for talking' with behavioral geneticists and courtroom professionals will exemplify these ideas.
This project explores the limits and legitimacy of neuroimaging as a means of understanding behavior and culpability in determining appropriate criminal sentencing. It highlights key philosophical issues surrounding the ability to use neuroimaging to support this process, and proposes a method of ensuring their proper use. By engaging case studies and a thought experiment, this project illustrates the circumstances in which neuroimaging may assist in identifying particular characteristics relevant for criminal sentencing.
I argue that it is not a question of whether or not neuroimaging itself holds validity in determining a criminals guilt or motives, but rather a proper application of the issue is to focus on the way in which information regarding these images is communicated from the `expert' scientists to the `non-expert' making decisions about the sentence that are most important. Those who are considering this information's relevance, a judge or jury, are typically not well versed in criminal neuroscience and interpreting the significance of different images. I advocate the way in which this information is communicated from the scientist-informer to the decision-maker parallels in importance to its actual meaning.
As a solution, I engage Roger Pielke's model of honest brokering as a solution to ensure the appropriate use of neuroimaging in determining criminal responsibility and sentencing. A thought experiment follows to highlight the limits of science, engage philosophical repercussions, and illustrate honest brokering as a means of resolution. To achieve this, a hypothetical dialogue reminiscent of Kenneth Schaffner's `tools for talking' with behavioral geneticists and courtroom professionals will exemplify these ideas.
ContributorsTaddeo, Sarah (Author) / Robert, Jason S (Thesis advisor) / Marchant, Gary (Committee member) / Hurlbut, James B (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Perceptions of legitimacy are an important antecedent of rule-abiding behavior. However, most research on the link between legitimacy and compliance has focused on legal authorities (i.e., police, courts, and corrections). To help fill this gap, the present study investigates the relationship between students' perceptions of the legitimacy of institutional authority and compliance with a code of conduct in a university context. This study uses cross-sectional data from pencil-and-paper surveys administered to 517 individuals 18 years and older that were enrolled in 12 undergraduate classes at a large southwestern university. Results from the multivariate regression models show that procedural justice judgments are associated with perceived legitimacy. The evidence also supports the link between legitimacy and compliance in that the former is inversely related to students' behavioral intentions to cheat on an exam. However, legitimacy was not significantly associated with plagiarism. Overall, findings support the application of the process-based model of regulation to the university context in regards to academic misconduct. In addition to contributing to the process-based model literature, this study emphasizes the utility of the process-based model as a guide for the development of fair processes, in order to reduce the prevalence of student academic misconduct.
ContributorsBain, Stacy Nicole (Author) / Reisig, Michael D. (Thesis advisor) / Holtfreter, Kristy (Committee member) / Ready, Justin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The literature on hopelessness suggests youth living amid impoverished conditions, social disorganization, and limited resources are more likely to experience increased feelings of hopelessness. Similarly, many of the aforementioned aspects are considered, in some capacity, in the research on gangs. Though a considerable amount of gang literature alludes to the fact that loss of hope may be present, it neither directly addresses it nor references it. This study attempts to converge the present literature on hopelessness among minority youth to minority youth in street gangs. This is done using data obtained from an earlier evaluation of the Mesa Gang Intervention Project, using self-report data from 197 youth, asking questions about socio-demographic information, gang activity, education, employment, crime and delinquency, family and individual crisis, and self-reported detention. Findings implicate a connection exists between gang membership and increased levels of hopelessness. Moreover, results suggest education and self-esteem help to reduce loss of hopelessness.
ContributorsRedner-Vera, Erica N (Author) / Katz, Charles M. (Thesis advisor) / Decker, Scott (Committee member) / Roe-Sepowitz, Dominique (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Though police-involved homicides have generated controversy and caused community disruptions and riots for many years, few efforts to systematically capture and study these events exist. The lack of research on arrest-related deaths (ARDs) is particularly troubling not only because of the consequences of these events, but also because the nature of how these deaths occur may also be changing. In particular, recent attention has shifted away from incidents where police use firearms to incidents where other less-lethal tools are used but death still occurs (e.g., TASERs). In 2000, the Federal Government sought to address this problem through the creation of the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP), a national-level voluntary reporting system managed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. There have been few efforts, however, that have assessed the accuracy and completeness of the DCRP data collection. The current study seeks to accomplish this through a comparison of ARDs in the DCRP to open-source, web-based media reports of ARDs in a stratified, random sample of 12 states during 2005. The study finds that all types of ARDs, not just police-involved homicides, are not accurately and reliably reported. Furthermore, the information provided is not reliably reported or interesting to research initiatives. Improvements in how the data is collected and what type of data is collected are needed. This adds to the scholarly research that advocates for a systematic and reliable national dataset of all deaths that occur in the process of arrest.
ContributorsBorrego, Andrea (Author) / White, Michael D. (Thesis advisor) / Kane, Robert (Committee member) / Fornango, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The crime of human trafficking has received increased national attention over the past decade. However, the subject of human trafficking is rarely mentioned in criminal justice and criminology curricula in colleges and universities. This study discusses findings from a review of listed courses in 100 criminology and criminal justice bachelor degree programs in colleges and universities in the United States. Implications for further research, including examining criminal justice education programs outside of academe, are discussed. The author advocates adding courses on human trafficking in criminology and criminal justice curricula and makes recommendations for undergraduate criminology and criminal justice education.
ContributorsZhilina, Tatyana (Author) / Stancliff, Michael (Thesis advisor) / Bernat, Francesc (Committee member) / Vaughan, Suzanne (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The controversy over law enforcement use of TASER devices and the potential for the devices to cause death has proliferated in recent years. In 2005 the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) published national-level policy guidelines for the use of TASER devices, with one of the goals being to reduce the occurrence of deaths proximal to their use. What remains unknown in regard to these guidelines is whether or not departments that adhere to these guidelines are experiencing fewer TASER-proximate arrest related deaths (ARDs) than departments who are not. This study seeks to determine preliminary answers to this question by conducting a comparison of the policies of departments with three or more TASER-proximate ARDs to a matched sample of police departments that deploy the TASER, but have no (or one to two) TASER-proximate ARDs. The departments were matched on the number of full time sworn officers, geography (region, division, or state), and department type. Once matched, all department policies were coded based on how closely they adhered to the following areas of PERF and IACP guidelines: use of force against vulnerable/at risk populations, policies governing the TASER device deployment, training, reporting, and post-exposure requirements. Study departments, when compared to matched departments, had a greater number of policy areas with higher failure to comply rates. The same was true when looking at the category totals, as well as the overall totals, with the difference in failure to comply rates being larger for PERF than IACP. These findings show an association between departments with three or more TASER-proximate ARDs and higher failure to comply rates with national model policies. Additionally, it appears that many departments are failing to heed research findings or advice from outside their department. Based on this, future research may want to address the ways in which greater compliance with national policies can be obtained nationwide.
ContributorsRiggs, Courtney (Author) / White, Michael D. (Thesis advisor) / Ready, Justin (Committee member) / Sweeten, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012