Matching Items (28)
Description
The current study examines the social structure of local street gangs in Glendale, Arizona. Literature on gang organization has come to different conclusions about gang organization, largely based on the methodology used. One consistent finding from qualitative gang research has been that understanding the social connections between gang members is important for understanding how gangs are organized. The current study examines gang social structure by recreating gang social networks using official police data. Data on documented gang members, arrest records, and field interview cards from a 5-year period from 2006 to 2010 were used. Yearly social networks were constructed going two steps out from documented gang members. The findings indicated that gang networks had high turnover and they consisted of small subgroups. Further, the position of the gang member or associate was a significant predictor of arrest, specifically for those who had high betweenness centrality. At the group level, density and measures of centralization were not predictive of group-level behavior; hybrid groups were more likely to be involved in criminal behavior, however. The implications of these findings for both theory and policy are discussed.
ContributorsFox, Andrew (Author) / Katz, Charles M. (Thesis advisor) / White, Michael D. (Committee member) / Sweeten, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Criminologists have directed significant theoretical and empirical attention toward the institution of marriage over the past two decades. Importantly, the momentum guiding this line of research has increased despite the fact that people are getting married far less often and much later in the life course than in any point in American history. The aim of this dissertation is to address this disconnect by focusing attention to nonmarital romantic relationships and their instability during emerging adulthood. To do so, it uses data from the Pathways to Desistance Study, a longitudinal study of 1,354 at-risk males and females who were adjudicated from the juvenile and adult systems in Phoenix and Philadelphia between 2000 and 2003. The project focuses attention to the following issues: (1) the effect of romantic dissolution on aggressive and income-based offenses; (2) the extent to which strain
egative emotionality and peer influence/exposure account for the effect of romantic dissolution on crime; and (3) the extent to which certain relationship and individual circumstances moderate the effect of romantic dissolution. The models reveal a few key findings. First, romantic dissolution is strongly related to an increase in both aggressive and income-based crime, but is more strongly related to income-based crime. Second, the effect of romantic dissolution is reduced when measures of strain
egative emotionality and peer influence/exposure measures are added to models, but the peer influence/exposure measures account for the strongest reduction. Finally, romantic dissolution does not serve as a positive life event among these at-risk youth, but its effect is exacerbated under a number of contexts (e.g. when an individual is unemployed). This study closes with a summary of these findings as well as its key limitations, and offers insight into potential policy implications and avenues of future research.
egative emotionality and peer influence/exposure account for the effect of romantic dissolution on crime; and (3) the extent to which certain relationship and individual circumstances moderate the effect of romantic dissolution. The models reveal a few key findings. First, romantic dissolution is strongly related to an increase in both aggressive and income-based crime, but is more strongly related to income-based crime. Second, the effect of romantic dissolution is reduced when measures of strain
egative emotionality and peer influence/exposure measures are added to models, but the peer influence/exposure measures account for the strongest reduction. Finally, romantic dissolution does not serve as a positive life event among these at-risk youth, but its effect is exacerbated under a number of contexts (e.g. when an individual is unemployed). This study closes with a summary of these findings as well as its key limitations, and offers insight into potential policy implications and avenues of future research.
ContributorsLarson, Matthew Joseph (Author) / Sweeten, Gary (Thesis advisor) / Piquero, Alex (Committee member) / Spohn, Cassia (Committee member) / Wallace, Danielle (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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
Description
Research on the consequences of gang membership is limited mainly to the study of crime and victimization. This gives the narrow impression that the effects of gang membership do not cascade into other life domains. This dissertation conceptualized gang membership as a snare in the life-course that disrupts progression in conventional life domains. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Cohort of 1997 (NLSY97) data were used to examine the effects of adolescent gang membership on the nature and patterns of educational attainment and employment over a 12-year period in the life-course. Variants of propensity score weighting were used to assess the effects of gang joining on a range of outcomes pertaining to educational attainment and employment. The key findings in this dissertation include: (1) selection adjustments partially or fully confounded the effects of gang joining; despite this (2) gang joiners had 70 percent the odds of earning a high school diploma and 42 percent the odds of earning a 4-year college degree than matched individuals who avoided gangs; (3) at the 11-year mark, the effect of gang joining on educational attainment exceeded one-half year; (4) gang joiners made up for proximate deficits in high school graduation and college matriculation, but gaps in 4-year college degree and overall educational attainment gained throughout the study; (5) gang joiners were less likely to be employed and more likely to not participate in the labor force, and these differences accelerated toward the end of the study; (6) gang joiners spent an additional one-third of a year jobless relative to their matched counterparts; and (7) the cumulative effect of gang joining on annual income exceeded $14,000, which was explained by the patterning of joblessness rather than the quality of jobs. The theoretical and policy implications of these findings, as well as directions for future research, are addressed in the concluding chapter of this dissertation.
ContributorsPyrooz, David (Author) / Decker, Scott H. (Thesis advisor) / Pratt, Travis C. (Committee member) / Sweeten, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
As the population of the United States grows, child maltreatment will remain a constant problem in our society. Current victimization theories do not portray a clear picture of the factors and influences of victimization associated with children. By combining routine activities and lifestyles theories, a full picture of maltreatment emerges that can be applied to a wide range of types, areas, and victims. It is possible that the current policy on victimization and crime can be changed to incorporate this new view of maltreatment. Further research needs to be done to understand the applicability of such a theory and if high-risk populations will benefit.
ContributorsHaverkate, Danielle Lynn (Author) / Sweeten, Gary (Thesis director) / DeCarolis, Claudine (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Though problem-oriented policing and hot spot policing are both effective modern policing strategies, some critics have argued that the risk of crime displacement can outweigh the returns of hot spot policing, ultimately rendering it inefficacious. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that crime displacement is not only uncommon, but significantly rarer than diffusions of benefits. As diffusion is a desirable side effect of any policing strategy, it follows that police officers should use the phenomenon to their advantage. Using the data and methodologies of a number of hot spot policing studies—especially Koper’s (1995) research on temporal diffusion—this paper proposes a number of simple steps a police department can take to maximize their department’s effectiveness in high-crime areas.
ContributorsShermett, Nathanael Paul (Author) / White, Michael (Thesis director) / Sweeten, Gary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The Zero Tolerance Policy began appearing in secondary schools in the early 1990's. In the late 1980's, crimes committed by juveniles were at an all-time high. Fears that the violence would spill onto campus propelled lawmakers and school officials to take preventative measures. With the creation of the Gun-Free School Zone Act of 1990 and Gun-Free Act of 1994, any individual caught with a weapon on campus would be found in violation of the Act and be punishable by law. In addition to the Acts, School Resource Officers (SROs) became more prominent on campus. SROs were originally on campus to teach drug prevention programs, however SROs began to take on more of a disciplinary role to support the Zero Tolerance Policy. Furthermore, educators began turning towards SROs to handle less serious incidents such as behavioral outbursts. As SROs took a more active role, arrests among students started to rise. Many think this is a direct pathway to our criminal justice system, more commonly known as the school-to-prison pipeline. This pipeline disproportionately affects African Americans. This paper will examine the creation, aims and purpose of the Zero Tolerance Policy as well as what incidents helped create and install the policy. This paper will look at what the Zero Tolerance Policy looks like since it has been enacted. Moreover, there will be a focus on which students are affected the most and if this policy will lead to criminal justice contact in the future. Lastly, alternatives to the Zero Tolerance Policy will be discussed and if the policy can be improved or should it be eliminated.
ContributorsSoto, Tatyana E. (Author) / Sweeten, Gary (Thesis director) / Stolzenberg, Stacia (Committee member) / School of Social Work (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This study examines what factors have influenced the St. Louis homicide spike between 2011 and 2018. The study uses data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau and the St. Louis Missouri Police Department, including information on population, poverty levels, race, homicide demographics, and homicide toxicology reports to analyze possible explanations for the high rates in homicide. In this study, I explore literature on elements associated with homicide that could be responsible for the high levels in St. Louis. Concepts of concentrated disadvantage, drug markets, firearms, regional differences, and the Ferguson Effect are reviewed and then evaluated in regard to the St. Louis data. I found that the high rates of homicide are related to high levels of concentrated disadvantage, increased use of drugs, increased homicide by firearm, and regional differences within the broader context of the city.
ContributorsMercer, Mackenzie (Author) / Chamberlain, Alyssa (Thesis director) / Sweeten, Gary (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Although the interpersonal (e.g., deceitful, manipulative, grandiose) and affective (e.g., lack of empathy/guilt) features of adult psychopathy have been associated with an increased risk for criminal activity (Boccio & Beaver, 2018; Hare, 1993; Porter, Birt, & Boer, 2001), there remains a subgroup of individuals with these features who are able to avoid being convicted of a serious crime. However, it remains unclear what factors differentiate individuals with high psychopathic traits who are convicted for serious offending from those who are not convicted. To address this gap, the current study aims to answer the following: 1.) Do economic, social, or intelligence factors differentiate convicted versus non-convicted individuals with high psychopathic traits? and 2.) Are non-convicted individuals with high psychopathic traits less likely to engage in self-report offending than convicted individuals with these traits? Data was drawn from the youngest and oldest cohorts of the Pittsburgh Youth Study (N=806), a longitudinal study that followed adolescent (ages 13-16) males from Pittsburgh, PA over 22 years in order to examine the development of delinquency, substance use, and mental health problems. Significant between-group differences were examined using ANOVA and chi-squared analyses. Results showed no difference between convicted and non-convicted men with high psychopathic traits in terms of intelligence or relationship quality. However, non-convicted men with high psychopathic traits were more likely to be employed and less likely to be on public assistance that men with high psychopathic traits. Further, high psychopathic trait non-convicted men were less likely to report adult offending than their convicted counterparts, but were more likely to offend than men with low psychopathic traits who were not convicted. These results suggest that men with high psychopathic traits who elude conviction exhibit better adult adjustment than men with these characteristics that have been convicted, even though they report engaging in adult offending.
ContributorsKrob, Casaundra Kendal (Author) / Pardini, Dustin (Thesis director) / Sweeten, Gary (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Officials employed in the criminal justice system have a duty to serve, protect, and uphold the law. Nevertheless, previous research has found problematic drinking and illegal substance use exists among criminal justice system employees. Criminal justice employees may be more likely to use substances due to strains or due to increased access to drug. On the other hand, self-selection and screening processes may result in a pool of employees who fewer substances than the general population. Using waves 1 through 17 of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, the current research examines substance use patterns of criminal justice system employees, assessing how their rate of substance use compares to a nationally representative sample, and how their substance use changes once employed with the criminal justice system, this research surveys the alcohol and illicit drug use of people who went on to work in the criminal justice system and how their substance use compares to the general population. In addition, this research compares police officer substance use to the general population. When compared to a nationally represented sample, criminal justice system employees consistently use illegal substances at lower rates. However, the prevalence of alcohol use among police officers specifically is higher when compared to the general population and increases once employed with the criminal justice system. Information from this research can be used to help agencies with employee selection procedures and employee assistance programs for current employees.
ContributorsRobin, Angela Evelina (Author) / Sweeten, Gary (Thesis advisor) / Scott, Michael (Committee member) / Decker, Scott (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019