Post Exoneration Offending
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Much is known about risk posed by releasees who are returned to society after having fulfilled their obligation. Additionally, a few qualitative studies have explored the negative effects of being wrongfully imprisoned. Social scientists know very little, by contrast, about the post-release behavior and risk posed by exonerees.
Circumstances of Abuse: Examining Differences Between Male and Female Sex Offenders
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Over time, criminological research has focused predominately on male offenders. Sex offender research maintains the same focus, with little attention paid to female sex offenders. That focus is now shifting, and female sex offenders have been a rising area of interest for researchers. Research has focused on the individual aspects of these offenders; however, no study has applied traditional criminological theories, combined with male-centered models and frameworks, to the study of female sexual offending. Previous research has also neglected to consider other variables that can affect offending patterns like the victim-offender relationship, victim characteristics, location of the offense, a history of sexual abuse, and situational characteristics. The current study, utilizing data collected on registered sex offenders in three states, will fill those gaps by comparing male and female sex offenders on variables such as their sexual abuse history, thoughts, urges, and fantasies consistent with paraphilic interests, presence of a co-offender, access to victims, victim-offender relationship, the situational characteristics offense(s), victim characteristics, and victim preference. Findings indicate fewer differences between male and female sex offenders than research suggests and contributes to the routine activities and situational crime prevention theories.
Perceptions of Quality in Criminal Investigations: Police Investigators, Supervisors and Prosecutors
Year of Dissertation:
2011
The purpose of this research is to test whether the most meaningful qualities of a well-run investigation can be identified through an examination of actual investigation reports that have produced both successful and unsuccessful outcomes. Through the identification of these salient factors, case managers will be able to better monitor the work of their investigators, provide better training for them and possibly increase the number of cases with favorable outcomes within their agencies.
Examining the Criminal Histories of Homicide Offenders: A Comparison of Single-Victim and Serial Homicide and the Link between Prior Offending and Homicide Crime Scene Behaviors
Year of Dissertation:
2009
Advisor:
Gabrielle Salfati
This study was undertaken to test the assumptions of early behavioral typologies of homicide and serial homicide, which proposed that individuals committing similar homicides would have committed similar prior offenses. Additionally, due to the lack of empirical studies directly comparing single-victim and serial homicide offenders, these offenders were directly compared in the current study in terms of their criminal histories and homicide crime scene behaviors. The broad aim of this was not only to refine any true differences and similarities between single and serial homicide offenders' criminal histories, but also to explore whether an empirical link between prior offending and current crime scene actions could be established. If there is an underlying psychology to offender characteristics and crime scene actions as assumed in offender profiling, offenders should demonstrate thematic consistency between their prior crimes and current homicide behaviors and, therefore, investigators would be able to use such information to refine suspect lists in investigations.
ASSESSING FRONTAL LOBE FUNCTIONING IN THE CONTEXT OF VIOLENT AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR: A NEW MULTIMODAL APPROACH
Author:
Brigitte Vallabhajosula
Year of Dissertation:
2009
Numerous neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have suggested that there is a strong relationship between frontal lobe impairment and aggressive behavior. Most of the studies undertaken to date, however, have failed to use valid and reliable tests and techniques to assess this relationship, which calls into question the findings of these results. Furthermore, due to the inherent limitations of all currently available tests of frontal lobe functioning and neuroimaging techniques, such as CT and SPECT, basing a conclusion of frontal lobe dysfunction on a single test or technique, is inappropriate. In addition, Daubert requires that scientific evidence proffered in a court of law must have scientific validity and evidentiary reliability. Although Daubert does not specify at what point the error rate of a test or technique exceeds the reliability requirement, given the dramatic increase of defendants who assert various defenses due to frontal lobe impairment it is imperative that the diagnoses is based on a sound methodology and valid, and reliable tests, and techniques.
IDENTITY AND BEHAVIOR: EXPLORING AN UNDERSTANDING OF "BEING" AND "DOING" FOR CATHOLIC PRIESTS ACCUSED OF THE SEXUAL ABUSE OF MINORS IN THE UNITED STATES
Year of Dissertation:
2011
The problem of the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests in the United States has been problematized as a phenomenon that is, in part, a distinction of the priesthood. Although it is known that there are sex offenders in the world who are not, nor were they ever, priests, this study sets forth to uncover whether or not the priests in the sample are, in fact, different on typical psychological risk factors than the at-large sex offender. More importantly, in the absence of notable differences on risk factor characteristics, this study explores the ways in which narrative structures are used to tell difficult stories. It also supplements an understanding of the specificity of the problem of abuse in the Church, and the ways in which priests use both classic vocabularies of motive as well as vocabularies that are culturally rooted. The narratives paint a picture of the ways accused priests make sense of their identity as men, as moral leaders, and as men accused of sexual abuse, particularly as these are understood within the Catholic subculture of sin, repentance, and redemption. The specific risk factors described are deviant relationships to sexuality, social interaction deficiencies, and low esteem. In general, priests are no different on most of the measures, and when they are the comparative sample sizes are small, requiring a cautious use of the findings to make universal claims regarding priests. What is unique to the priesthood is the trajectory of the story of coming to this peculiar master status, and the mechanisms for managing the allegations made against them which, whether true or not, interrupt the priest's narrative. Priests use similar stigma management techniques as other sex offenders with victims who are minors and/or adults. Some priests in this sample denied allegations outright or, when they admitted to them, engaged in the process of disavowal from the "sick self", often after they had received some sort of treatment. Admitters also used typical techniques of neutralization, the content of which, at times, were illustrative of an understanding of self as fallible and forgivable.
Social and Legal Determinants on the Enforcement of Domestic Violence Laws by the Police: A Study of New Jersey Police Officers
Year of Dissertation:
2010
Advisor:
Maria (Maki) Haberfeld
A survey study of 425 police officers operating within fourteen police departments over a two countywide area of New Jersey examines police officer's attitudes and opinions concerning the enforcement of domestic violence laws. New Jersey is a jurisdiction with strict statewide mandatory arrest policies and procedures that apply to all police agencies. Extensive mandatory training is a key component to the New Jersey model of domestic violence enforcement. The first phase of the research examines similarities and differences by the setting in which officer's work: Urban, urban suburb, large suburban, and small suburban police agencies. The second phase examines six scenarios in which officers responded to questions as to how they would handle domestic situations. A follow-up question to each scenario explored the motivation and justification for the officer's action. The majority of police officers cited as their primary motivation in handling mandatory arrest situations of domestic violence that their actions were mandated under law. Yet, only about one-half of officers in the study had received all mandatory required training over the past four years. Police officers in a mandatory arrest jurisdiction for the enforcement of domestic violence laws rely heavily on their perception of the law to justify their enforcement activities. Significant correlations were found between a police officer's personal and professional positive opinions toward the enforcement of domestic violence legislation and his actions in mandatory arrest domestic violence situations. Police officers are more likely to make an arrest for a domestic violence offense in a mandatory arrest situation when they observe the offense as opposed to when they must rely on victim statements or physical evidence to establish probable cause.
Characterization of Motor Oils and Other Lubricants by High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Three-Dimensional Excitation Emission Matrices and Two-Dimensional Low Temperature Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Criminals often use automobiles during the commission of crimes. Criminalists routinely analyze automotive transfer evidence, including paint, rubber and glass in order to establish an association between a suspect car and a person or object that may have come in contact with that car. Currently, there is no routine forensic method to analyze transferred automotive undercarriage residue. This feasibility study will use fluorescence spectroscopy, both room-temperature and low-temperature (77K), and HPLC, to analyze this material and will investigate the use of compiled spectral libraries to assist in determining the evidentiary value of this process for this sample set.
Dynamics of retail methamphetamine markets In New York City
Year of Dissertation:
2011
Using Respondent Driven Sampling, this study piloted an innovative research design mixing qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, and social network analysis, that addresses a gap in information on retail methamphetamine markets and the role of illicit drug markets in consumption. Based on a sample of 132 methamphetamine users, buyers and sellers in New York City (NYC), findings describe a bifurcated market defined by differences in sexual identity, drug use behaviors, social network characteristics, and drug market behaviors. The larger sub-market is a closed market related to a sexual network of men who have sex with men (MSM) where methamphetamine (referred to as "tina") is used as a sex drug. The smaller submarket is a less-closed market not denominated by sexual identity where methamphetamine (referred to as "crank," "speed," or "crystal meth") overlaps with powder and crack cocaine markets. Participants in the MSM submarket viewed "tina" as very different from cocaine, due to what they characterized as the drug's intense sexual effects, whereas participants in the smaller non-sexual-identity-denominated submarket saw "crystal meth" as a cost-effective alternative to cocaine. While majorities of participants in all subpopulations studied reported that their use of methamphetamine primarily centered on sex, almost all (91%) MSM reported this. Many MSM reported that their sexuality had become indistinguishable from their drug use. Participants were more willing to discuss accessing or purchasing methamphetamine than they were to discuss providing or selling the drug, although all indications are that most market participants do both. Findings from the study indicate that the most striking characteristic of the methamphetamine market in New York City is the extent of the secondary market. Participants reported essentially no violence in connection with methamphetamine markets in NYC. Participants have a lifetime total of 13 methamphetamine possession arrests for the sample of 132; none has ever been arrested for methamphetamine distribution. Study findings may be useful to practitioners, policy-makers and researchers in fields including law enforcement, criminal justice, and public health and substance abuse treatment.
Building a Model for Policing Communities with Competing and Converging Interests
Year of Dissertation:
2011
The present study utilizes grounded theoretical methods to explore the distribution of police services across various public and semi-public spaces, local perceptions of police and policing, and the impact of police practices on diverse segments of the community. Using survey and focus group interviews, in conjunction with structured observation and content analysis, this work considers the function of race/ethnicity in the policing of commercial public and semi-public space. The study adds a new dimension to past research by examining the policing of African Americans across ethnically diverse shared public spaces within a tourism-driven resort area in a Southern metropolis. A multimethod approach has revealed variability in police practices across time and within places, allowing comparisons between varied public and semi-public spaces and among stakeholders of diverse backgrounds. Innovations in police policy and procedures within the target area have led to more stringent policing practices directed at select publics in efforts to create a "family friendly resort community". These findings contribute to the understanding of how competing group interests influence the allocation of police services in different environments, illuminating the process of negotiation that the police and the public pursue in the development of acceptable and effective policing.