Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2758
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Item Variation in the Drug-Crime Relationship Across Rural-Urban Contexts(2024) Pierce, Jordan; Bersani, Bianca E; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the past several decades, a significant amount of research has examined the relationship between substance or drug use and crime. Empirically, there appears to be a positive relationship between these phenomena, but the reasons for this are unclear. While scholars often focus on how individual characteristics may influence this relationship, there is emerging evidence that social context may matter as well. For example, the drug-crime relationship may not manifest in the same way or be as strong in some contexts given variables such as social norms and values, opportunity structures, and informal social controls. One such context that should be considered is rural areas. In these spaces, despite having a similar incidence of substance use to urban areas, other types of crime are comparatively low. Furthermore, patterns of substance use and crime diverge across these contexts in a variety of ways. It may be that different features of these areas, including environmental characteristics and social processes, help explain this patterning. Using the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2019), the current study examined whether the relationship between substance use (including alcohol) and delinquency is moderated by rural contexts. Differing levels of informal social controls or social bonds (parental attachment, school attachment, and religious involvement) in rural areas are proposed as a possible mechanism in this relationship, and their influence on the substance-delinquency relationship is assessed both independently and in combination with rural context to determine whether these variables explain any contextual variation. Findings suggest mixed support for the moderation of rural context. While those living in nonmetropolitan areas appear to have a weaker association between substance use and delinquency than their metropolitan counterparts, data and measurement issues reduce confidence in this finding. For instance, context may be related to how substance use relates to engagement in delinquency but not the extent of that delinquency. In contrast, those with higher levels of parental and school attachment exhibit a stronger relationship between substance use and delinquency; more highly attached individuals tend to engage in less delinquency when they use no or few substances, but they engage in similar levels and perhaps even more delinquency than their less attached peers as substance use variety increases. Finally, accounting for how rural context and informal social controls both may change the strength of the substance-delinquency relationship does not yield any substantially different results, indicating that the informal social controls examined in this study do not act as a mechanism of any contextual variation in this relationship. The findings of this research help fill the gap in the drug-crime literature concerning social context, contribute to the rural criminological literature regarding how crime manifests in these areas, and provide new evidence about the role of informal social controls in understanding the drug-crime relationship.Item DELINEATING DEMOGRAPHIC PATTERNS: ANALYZING PARTICIPATION IN PRISON MISCONDUCT AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS(2024) Shepherd, Gwynne Laurel; Tahamont, Sarah; Stewart, Robert; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)While it is acclaimed that participation in educational programming reduces the likelihood of an individual engaging in misconduct, the body of literature describing prison misconduct and educational programming participation largely treats the two as isolated processes. However, the contexts of how prison education and misconduct intersect are obscured in the limited scholarship. Using the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Survey of Prison Inmates collected in 2016, individuals were categorized into four groups (1) “Rule Breakers” who only participated in misconduct, (2) “Students” who participated in only educational programming, (3) “None” who participated in neither, and (4) “Both” for those who participated in both. Weighted cross-tabulations of each group were conducted across multiple demographic characteristics to determine the demographic distribution within each group. The findings of this analysis demonstrate that the characteristics of race, level of prior educational attainment, and age all show disproportional distributions depending on group participation. Additionally, this analysis could inform prison policy, emphasizing the importance of providing educational opportunities even for those who engage in misconduct. Such policies could offer broader societal benefits, reducing recidivism and aiding reintegration.Item WHAT'S RACE GOT TO DO WITH IT?: EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF RACE ON THE IMMIGRATION-CRIME RELATIONSHIP(2024) Henry, Diomand; Vélez, Maria B; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Existing literature on immigration and crime suggests a negative correlation betweenimmigration and neighborhood crime rates. However, the influence of race on this relationship has been understudied. This thesis addresses this gap by examining the immigration-crime relationship at the neighborhood level with a focus on the racial background of the foreign born population and the dominant racial composition of the community. Utilizing data from the National Neighborhood Crime Study II (NNCS2) and the 2008-2012 American Community Survey, this study incorporates race in three ways: categorizing immigrants by racial group (Black, White, Latino, and Asian), analyzing the impact of immigration across distinct racial neighborhoods (Black, White, Latino, and Multi-Ethnic), and examining the interaction between the racial groups of immigrants and neighborhood types on crime rates. The findings reveal that: (1) consistent with prior literature, immigration is associated with lower neighborhood crime rates; (2) the strength of this relationship varies across different racial backgrounds of immigrants and (3) the relationship differs across varying levels of racial composition at the neighborhood level, indicating that race significantly influences the immigration-crime dynamic. Overall, the results underscore the critical importance of incorporating race into discussions about immigration and crime.Item Understanding the Unthinkable: A Comparative Analysis of Mass Shooters, Homicide Offenders, and Violent Extremists Using Criminological Theory(2024) Yanez, Yesenia A.; LaFree, Gary; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)As mass shootings continue, the need for more theoretically driven solutions grows. Criminologists can offer tremendous insight, though they should be wary of applying existing theories to this relatively new phenomenon. In this dissertation, I explore how mass shootings fit into our understanding of crime and violence. I begin by describing mass shooter demographics and motives over time. I then compare mass shooters to homicide offenders and violent extremists. Focusing on social control and general strain variables, I find that mass shooters are significantly different than single-victim homicide offenders in terms of common correlates of crime. Mass shooters and violent extremists, on the other hand, show fewer differences and greater definitional overlap. Finally, I consider how mass shooting definitions shape our perception of mass shooters. Considering these results, I conclude that a mass shooter’s path to violence does not resemble that of a common homicide offender but rather one of a violent extremist. Future scholars can thus reimagine existing criminological theories to help explain mass shootings and provide solutions that are more appropriate.Item Federal Probation Officers and Sentencing Disparity: Examining the Role of Extralegal Factors in Guidelines Calculations(2024) Mullaly, Cara; Johnson, Brian; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Over the years, the relationship between extralegal factors and federal sentencing disparity has attracted a significant amount of research attention. Much of this work, however, has focused on judicial and prosecutorial decision-making, largely ignoring other influential actors. One such actor is the federal probation officer. Using data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, this study explores the relationship between extralegal factors and federal probation officer’s guidelines calculations. This study uses a theoretical framework that combines focal concerns and causal attributions to argue that federal probation officers attribute the causes of criminal activity differently across demographic groups, shaping their perception of the defendant’s blameworthiness and dangerousness and ultimately resulting in differing guidelines calculations. Findings showed mixed support for the hypotheses in this study. After discussing the results and limitations of the current study, I provide direction for future study of federal probation officers and their influence on federal sentencing outcomes.Item RATIONAL CHOICE, CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR, AND THE ECO-GENDER GAP(2024) Evens, Jocelyn Elizabeth; Simpson, Sally S; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Gender is a strong correlate of crime-including white-collar and corporate crime, with men having a higher propensity compared to women (Steffensmeier & Allen, 1996; Fagan, 2002; Kruttschnitt, 2013; Benson & Harbinson, 2020). This project specifically focuses on how men and women think about or make decisions regarding corporate environmental crime. Of particular interest is whether and how gender may be linked to corporate environmental offending and its counterpart "overcompliance" given that some research has uncovered an "eco-gender" gap in attitudes toward the environment. Using a factorial survey of environmental noncompliance and overcompliance vignettes that asks about their willingness to act as the depicted manager, I assess their evaluation of factors manipulated in the scenario and whether other characteristics (not experimentally manipulated) affect their behavioral intentions. I use a subjective utility model and employ regression analyses to further understand whether and how gender plays a role in decision-making. The evidence from the analyses forces me to fail to reject the null hypothesis that there is an eco-gender gap in corporate environmental decisions.Item Queering our conclusions: Understanding measurement's influence on queer criminological research(2024) Raskauskas, Jessica; Stewart, Robert; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)To effectively understand how people end up in prison, criminologists need to understand who is in prison; especially given the novelty of the concept, queer criminology has yet to standardize a definition of “queer," “LGBT,” etc. In leaving these definitions up to researchers, there is no consensus on how much of the prison population is queer and, consequently, to what degree, if at all, queer individuals are differently represented in the prison system. Based on a review of the literature, and simple quantitative models, this study attempts to understand the definitions and conclusions in existing literature, to standardize how criminologists measure “queer,” and to understand to what extent, if any, this population is differently represented in prison.Item Exploring the Nuances of the School-to-Prison Cycle(2024) Tinney, Erin; Jacobsen, Wade; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Discussions of the School-to-Prison Pipeline often focus on a unidirectional pathwaybetween the education and justice systems, but prior research suggests that it is important to also assess the reverse relationship: how justice system involvement impacts one’s education. I expand on this prior work by exploring how justice system involvement in adolescence impacts key educational outcomes and testing some of the potential nuances of this relationship. The current study examines the relationship between justice system involvement in high school and educational outcomes for the 2013 Maryland public school ninth grade cohort. I utilize propensity score matching to compare justice-involved and similarly situated non-justice-involved youth in their likelihood of suspension in the 12th grade, graduation, and postsecondary enrollment. I compare these impacts across school district and the level of one’s system involvement, which includes arrest, adjudication, in-community placement, and out-of-community placement (i.e., incarceration). I also explore the potential role of absence from school in the relationship between justice system involvement and educational outcomes and how the impact of system involvement may vary between youth of different racial identities and sexes, including at the intersection of one's race and sex. I conduct sensitivity analyses that further assess the nuances of this relationship based on the timing and dosage of one’s system involvement and different specifications of my educational outcomes. I find that justice system involvement is associated with worse educational outcomes and that the impact of involvement varies by school district, one’s level of system involvement, and their demographic characteristics. I also find that school absence may impact this relationship. Overall, this study builds upon prior research of the consequences of justice system involvement, particularly on one’s education, by exploring the nuances of this relationship based on one’s demographic characteristics, educational context, and factors related to their system involvement. The results of this study suggest that perhaps the School-to-Prison Pipeline may be best conceptualized as a School-to-Prison Cycle that could impact adolescents long after their system involvement.Item Childhood Abuse and Institutional Misconduct(2024) Brownstein, Carly Brooke; Ellis, Rachel; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Youth with histories of physical and sexual abuse are over-represented in the juvenile justice system. Though an extensive literature exists detailing the relationship between traumatization and subsequent delinquent offending, fewer studies examine how this relationship functions in carceral settings. Using data from the National Survey of Youth in Custody, 2018, the current study examines the relationships between physical and sexual abuse, mental health, gender, and violent institutional misconduct among incarcerated youth. Findings indicate that both boys and girls who experienced physical abuse prior to custody are more likely to be written up for violent misconduct within the facility. However, while girls who were sexually abused are also significantly more likely to receive a write-up for violent misconduct, boys who were sexually abused are not. Further, symptoms of poor mental health partially mediate the association between abuse and violent misconduct write-ups for boys, but not for girls. These results inform policy and practice by highlighting the need for court-based diversion programs for this at-risk group, and/or for further development of needs- and gender-sensitive programming for incarcerated and abused youth.Item STATE GUN LEGISLATION STRENGTH AND KILLINGS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DANGER PERCEPTION THEORY(2024) Millsap, Kristen Alyse; Brame, Robert; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The Danger Perception Theory hypothesizes that the use of lethal force by a law enforcement officer can be explained by the level of threat (real or perceived) that an individual officer feels during an encounter. With firearms being ubiquitous throughout the country, I theorize that a state’s gun law permissiveness may contribute to an officer’s perception of “threat” by increasing the probability that a citizen will have a firearm during any given encounter. Using the strength of gun legislation as a proxy for the level of threat an officer might feel, this thesis aims to empirically test the Danger Perception Theory. This thesis uses three years of data (2017 - 2019) from Mapping Police Violence, a crowd-sourced database that tracks police killings, and the legislative scorecards given by Gifford’s Law Center that measures the strength of state gun legislation, to look at individual state variations and test the Danger Perception Theory (DPT). States were matched on thirteen demographic, social, and economic variables, and states that fit the criteria of falling within one standard deviation on each variable and being contiguous with each other, were compared to see if they aligned with the DPT by showing a higher Gifford’s score and a lower rate of police killing per million residents. Using an equal-tailed Jeffrey’s prior interval, two confidence intervals were constructed for each of the three years to find the probability of support for the DPT. None of the tests conducted were statistically significant, but while the tests lacked statistical significance, the results show a pattern of state that tend to follow the reasoning of the DPT, following the conclusions drawn in previous literature on the topic. These findings suggest that more research is needed in this area, specifically analyzing a greater number of comparable two-state comparisons, could strengthen the argument for (or against) the DPT. This thesis adds to the literature suggesting that a possible avenue for reducing the rate of police killings could be in gun legislation.