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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
ABSTRACT Research has shown that the manner in which people are treated in their interactions with agents of the criminal justice system matters. People expect criminal justice officials to treat them fairly and with honesty and respect, which is the basis for procedural justice. When people are treated in a procedurally just and equitable manner they will view the system as legitimate and will be more likely to voluntarily comply and cooperate with legal system directives. People who have personal or vicarious experiences of unfair or unjust interactions with the legal system tend to view the system as less legitimate and are less likely to comply and cooperate when they have contact with representatives of the system. This study examines a random sample of 337 arrestees in Maricopa County, Arizona who have been interviewed as a part of the Arizona Arrestee Reporting Information Network. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis are used to examine views of the procedural justice experienced by arrestees during arrest, perceptions of police legitimacy by arrestees, voluntary compliance to the law, and voluntary cooperation with police. Results of the study show that perceptions of legitimacy work through procedural justice, and that procedurally just interactions with police mediate racial effects on views of legitimacy. Views of procedural justice and legitimacy increase cooperation. No variables in this study were significantly related to compliance.
ContributorsJorgensen, Cody (Author) / Ready, Justin (Thesis advisor) / White, Michael (Committee member) / Katz, Charles (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Cultivation theory states that consuming television cultivates a social reality in the real world which aligns with the reality present in television. When the television show CSI was released, researchers studied a form of cultivation stemming from the show titled the "CSI Effect." One of the components of the CSI Effect is the tendency of those who watch CSI to be more likely to overestimate the presence of forensic evidence present in a trial and place more trust in such evidence. In recent years, several true crime documentaries that examined controversial cases have been released. In a similar vein of research conducted on CSI, the current study examines true crime documentaries and their possible impacts on viewers’ judgments and beliefs about the criminal justice system. In the current study, participants were provided with a mock case and asked about their perceptions of the case along with their viewership habits. While overall true crime documentary viewership did not influence judgments of evidence manipulation or perceptions of police, findings point to viewership of the targeted documentaries being associated with feelings of mistrust towards the criminal justice system overall, while the lesser-viewed documentaries correlated with judgments of strength and responsibility of the defendant in the case. One possible explanation is that individual characteristics may serve as the driving factor in how individuals choose what to watch when the popularity of the show is not as well-known.
ContributorsDoughty, Kathryn A (Author) / Schweitzer, Nicholas J. (Thesis advisor) / Neal, Tess (Committee member) / Salerno, Jessica (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The vigorous efforts of advocates to help victims of domestic violence have resulted in the criminalization of domestic violence in the United States and in various countries around the world. However, research studies indicate mixed success in the protection of victims through the use of the legal system. This study examines the experiences of 16 victims/survivors and their perspectives on the criminal justice system's (CJS) response to domestic violence through in-depth interviews throughout the state of Arizona. This comparative study analyzes the experiences of U.S. born non-Latinas, U.S. (mainland and island) born Latinas and foreign born (documented and undocumented) Latinas who are victims/survivors of domestic violence. The empirical cases reveal that at the root of the contradictory success of the criminal justice system are a legal culture of rationalization and a lack of recognition of the intersection of systems of power and oppression such as gender, class, race/ethnicity, and of essence to this study, legal status.
ContributorsSalcido, Maria Olivia (Author) / Menjivar, Cecilia (Thesis advisor) / Cruz-Torres, Maria L. (Committee member) / Varsanyi, Monica (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Research on Tyler’s process-based model has found strong empirical support. The premise of this model is that legitimacy and legal cynicism mediate the relationship between procedural justice and compliance behaviors. Procedural justice and legitimacy in particular have been linked to compliance and cooperation and a small, but growing body of literature has examined how these factors relate to criminal offending. There remains a number of unanswered questions surrounding the developmental processes and underlying mechanisms of procedural justice and legal socialization. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, this study will build upon recent trends in the literature to examine what factors influence changes in perceptions of procedural justice and legal socialization attitudes over time. In order to do so, the effects of a number of time-stable and time-varying covariates will be assessed. Second, this study will evaluate the effects of four possible mediating measures—legitimacy, legal cynicism, anger, and prosocial motivation—underlying the relationship between procedural justice and criminal offending. This section of the study will use a multilevel mediation method to assess whether mediation occurs between or within the individual.
Data from the Pathways to Desistance Study—a longitudinal study of 1,354 adolescents adjudicated of a serious offense followed-up for seven years—are used to address this research agenda. Results from this study offer three general conclusions. First, results show that perceptions of procedural justice are malleable, that is, they can change over time and are influenced by a number of factors. Legal socialization beliefs, however, demonstrate only marginal change over time, suggesting these beliefs to be more stable. Second, analyses indicate differing pathways and effects for direct and vicarious experiences of procedural justice. Finally, the multilevel mediation analyses reveal that within-individual changes in direct experiences of procedural justice remains a robust predictor of offending, regardless of the presence of mediating variables. Legitimacy was found to have the strongest mediation effect on between-individual differences in direct procedural justice, whereas anger partially mediated the effects of between-individual differences in vicarious procedural justice. This study concludes with a discussion of policy implications and avenues for future research.
Data from the Pathways to Desistance Study—a longitudinal study of 1,354 adolescents adjudicated of a serious offense followed-up for seven years—are used to address this research agenda. Results from this study offer three general conclusions. First, results show that perceptions of procedural justice are malleable, that is, they can change over time and are influenced by a number of factors. Legal socialization beliefs, however, demonstrate only marginal change over time, suggesting these beliefs to be more stable. Second, analyses indicate differing pathways and effects for direct and vicarious experiences of procedural justice. Finally, the multilevel mediation analyses reveal that within-individual changes in direct experiences of procedural justice remains a robust predictor of offending, regardless of the presence of mediating variables. Legitimacy was found to have the strongest mediation effect on between-individual differences in direct procedural justice, whereas anger partially mediated the effects of between-individual differences in vicarious procedural justice. This study concludes with a discussion of policy implications and avenues for future research.
ContributorsKaiser, Kimberly A (Author) / Reisig, Michael (Thesis advisor) / Sweeten, Gary (Committee member) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016