Registered Sex Offenders in the Community: A Test of Agnew's General Strain Theory
Year of Dissertation:
2009
Over the past two decades, sexual offending and offenders have become a topic of interest among researchers, policymakers, and the public. Since the inception of Registration and Community Notification Laws (RCNLS), researchers have assessed the negative consequences associated with the laws and how they affect sex offenders in the community; however, no study has utilized a criminological framework to do so. Agnew's General Strain Theory, which should be able to account for all crime, suggests that when individuals do not achieve desired goals, have negative stimuli placed on them or positive stimuli taken away, they are more likely to engage in crime. These are conditioned by certain factors, such as coping strategies and self-esteem. This study will synthesize these two distinct fields of research to determine whether the negative consequences of RCNLSs lead to recidivism. In all, surveys were mailed to 4,500 sex offenders with (N=997) in Nebraska, (N=2086) and (N=1417) sex and violent offenders in Kansas and Montana, respectively. These states are similar in population and demographic aspects, though they differ in RCNLSs. Findings lend partial support to GST and suggest that, consistently, anger influences recidivism.
MENTORING IN THE LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTEXT: A CASE STUDY OF THE TURKISH NATIONAL POLICE
Year of Dissertation:
2009
The TNP has undergone many changes as a result of Turkey's decision to seek European Union (EU) membership. One ramification of these changes is the TNP codification and implementation of formal mentoring relationships to increase the effectiveness of mentoring relationship.
Where political extremists and greedy criminals meet: A comparative study of financial crimes and criminal networks in the United States
Year of Dissertation:
2011
Financial crime poses a serious threat to the integrity and security of legitimate businesses and institutions, and to the safety and prosperity of private citizens and communities. Experts argue that the profile of financial offenders is extremely diversified and includes individuals who may be motivated by greed or ideology. Islamic extremists increasingly resort to typical white-collar crimes, like credit card and financial fraud, to raise funds for their missions. In the United States, the far-right movement professes its anti-government ideology by promoting and using a variety of anti-tax strategies. There is evidence that ideologically motivated individuals who engage in financial crimes benefit from interactions with profit-driven offenders and legitimate actors that provide resources for crime in the form of knowledge, skills, and suitable co-offenders. This dissertation sheds light on the nexus between political extremism and profit-driven crime by conducting a systematic study of financial crime cases involving Islamic extremists, domestic far-rightists, and their non-extremist accomplices prosecuted by federal courts in 2004. Attribute and relational data were extracted from the U.S. Extremist Crime Database (ECDB), which is the first open-source relational database that provides information on all extremist crimes, violent and non-violent, ideological and routine crimes, since 1990. A descriptive analysis was conducted comparing schemes, crimes, and techniques used by far-rightists, Islamic extremists, and non-extremists, before moving into an in-depth social network analysis of their relational ties in co-offending, business, and family networks. The descriptive findings revealed considerable differences in the modus operandi followed by far-rightists and Islamic extremists as well as the prosecutorial strategies used against them. The subsequent exploratory and statistical network analyses, however, revealed interesting similarities, suggesting that financial schemes by political extremists occurred within similarly decentralized, self-organizing structures that facilitated exchanges between individuals acting within close-knit subsets regardless of their ideological affiliation. Meaningful interactions emerged between far-rightists and non-extremists involved in business ventures and within a tax avoidance scheme, indicating that the crime-extremism nexus was more prevalent within far-right settings compared to Islamic extremist ones. The findings were discussed in light of their implications for criminological theories, criminal justice and crime prevention policies, and methodological advances.
The Characterization of Black Inkjet Computer Printer Inks using Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Py-GC-MS), High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR FT-IR)
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Documents are prevalent in every aspect of daily life and hardly a day passes without using some sort of document. Problems arise, however, when the authenticity of these documents is raised. Forensic science has long been involved in the investigation and examination of suspect documents. One of the steps in the examination of questioned documents is for the examiner to analyze the type of material used to create the document. This could involve the analysis of the paper substrate and/or the medium used to create the written word, namely pen ink, typewriter ink or toner in photocopied documents.
Qualitative and Quantitative X-Ray Diffraction Analysis for Forensic Examination of Duct Tapes
Year of Dissertation:
2010
Duct tapes are an increasingly important class of forensic evidence. This research has studied the value of using x-ray diffraction (XRD) to extend the ability of evidence examiners to gain additional information about a duct tape specimen.
Perceptions of Community Corrections: Understanding how Women's Needs are met in an Evidence-Based/Gender-Responsive Halfway House
Year of Dissertation:
2011
This dissertation presents a qualitative study on how women perceive and experience services at an evidence-based, gender-responsive halfway house. The primary focus was to understand how the halfway house helps women address their needs as they prepare to reenter the community. The secondary focus was to understand how the halfway house implements evidence-based principles and gender-responsive strategies. This study analyzed in-depth qualitative interviews with 33 women. Data from these interviews were triangulated with observations of treatment groups and daily interactions, review of program documents, review of participant case files, and informal conversations with staff. Findings suggest that many positive and negative features of the halfway house - including social context, relationships with staff, and program policies - contribute to women's ability to address their needs and prepare for reentry. Findings also draw attention to the influence of external factors including outside resources, social networks, housing availability, the stigma of a criminal record, systemic policies, geographic boundaries, and program length of stay. The interconnections between ecological systems also influence the transitional process and were highlighted in this study. Recommendations for improving community correctional services for women were discussed.
Extremist Networks and Lethality: A mapping of violent white supremacist group networks and an investigation of the relationship between network location and ideologically motivated murder
Year of Dissertation:
2010
Empirical evidence indicates that domestic extremists in the United States pose a greater risk to the American public than international terrorism (Carlson, 1995; Hewitt, 2003; Blewas, Griggs, and Potok, 2005; LaFree, Dugan, Fogg & Scott, 2006). This dissertation attempts to further our understanding of domestic extremists by employing Social Network Analysis (SNA) methodology to investigate the network of white supremacist groups associated with - via formal members - extreme ideologically motivated violence (homicides). SNA focuses on how actors (i.e. people, organizations) are linked in patterns of interaction and the meaning of those connections. The general hypothesis of SNA is that entities, like people or groups, are interdependent, and therefore more likely to network with those who share common interests, goals, belief systems, etc. Ultimately, choices are influenced by the company one keeps (Wassserman and Faust, 2006).
Inmate-Perpetrated Harassment: Exploring the Gender-Specific Experience of Female Correction Officers
Year of Dissertation:
2009
Perhaps no other work environment is as mysterious to non-participants as is the institute of corrections in America. Other than the officers and inmates of a correctional institution, few people understand, or even care to venture into, the dynamics of a prison or jail. Because of this disregard, many important sociological studies have failed to explore the correctional institution as a legitimate workplace. In particular, sexual harassment studies have all but neglected the correctional workplace. Nevertheless, as in any work environment, sexual harassment is a significant issue in jails and prisons, even more commonplace and more often ignored than that harassment in other workplaces. Furthermore, a significant portion of harassment against female correction officers is perpetrated, not by their coworkers, but by the inmates for whom these officers are responsible.
LONG-TERM INCARCERATION AND PUBLIC SAFETY: PREDICTING THE RECIDIVISM RISK OF LONG-TERM PRISONERS
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Since the 1970s, the number of people incarcerated in the United States has grown exponentially. The United States has now reached a historical moment as it incarcerates more of its citizens that it ever has before. Moreover, the rate at which it does surpasses all other nations. Increased length of sentences and time served have contributed substantially to America's prison growth, calling into focus the need for research that examines the impact long prison sentences have on an individual's likelihood of recidivism. To date, little is known about the relationship between long prison sentences and public safety outcomes. Unfortunately, in recent years, long-term incarceration has received minimal attention from the academic world.
The Lost Children of New York City: Population estimate, network attributes and the role of social capital in the commercial sexual exploitation of children in New York City
Year of Dissertation:
2009
Abstract