Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

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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.
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.
Perpetuating Disadvantage: An Investigation of Racial Bias Embedded in Criminal History Records
(2024) Houlihan, Sean Patrick; Johnson, Brian D; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Criminal history records are an integral component of the criminal legal system. They are typically seen as unbiased measures of prior offending that inform assessments of an individual’s dangerousness and risk of reoffending. Criminal records are incorporated into the decision-making calculus of legal actors such as police, prosecutors, and judges. Moreover, they have significant influence in the development of legal policies across all sectors of the system. In consequence, individuals with criminal history records face significant disadvantages in the likelihood of contact with the legal system and subsequent criminal punishment. Scaling legal decision making and policy to an individual’s prior criminal history is largely implemented to focus resources on apprehending and punishing the most dangerous offenders. For this to be accomplished effectively, criminal history records are required to be unbiased representations of prior offending. However, the collective evidence of racial and ethnic inequality in the criminal legal system calls into question the neutrality of criminal history records. Rather than being unbiased, criminal history records may instead be a source of systemic racism, as these records are merely reflections of criminal legal outcomes often shown to be subject to racial and ethnic inequality.Utilizing a framework that outlines the pathways for decision making and policy structures to produce inequalities in legal outcomes, the current dissertation examines the extent to which criminal history records contain racial and ethnic bias. Theoretical predictions are tested using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97). Specifically, NLSY97 data are used to test for racial and ethnic differences in outcomes related to criminal records, net of self-reported engagement in delinquency. The results provide mixed evidence of racial and ethnic disadvantage in outcomes related to arrest, conviction, and incarceration. Evidence of inequality in the outcomes of interest is more consistent across race than across ethnicity. Both racial and ethnic inequalities, when evidenced, were mediated by external factors. In particular, measures of individual risk factors and socioeconomic status strongly mediated the relationship between race, ethnicity, and legal outcomes. Despite nuances, findings from the current study largely support the theoretical supposition that criminal history records are not unbiased measures of prior offending but are instead imperfect proxies that are influenced by inequalities in the apprehension and punishment of individuals in the criminal legal system. Future research is needed to further explore the extent to which criminal records are embedded with bias and compound racial and ethnic inequality.
Race, Disadvantage, and the Probability of Arrest: A Multi-Level Study of Baltimore Neighborhoods (2016-2018)
(2024) Placzkowski, Madisen; Velez, Maria; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This study examines the relationship among neighborhood racial composition, concentrated disadvantage, and the probability of an arrest following a Part 1 crime report. Racial threat theory predicts that as the proportion of Black residents increases over time (dynamic proxy for racial threat), the use of formal social control will increase, while the benign neglect hypothesis predicts that formal social control will diminish in areas with relatively higher proportions of Black residents (static proxy for racial threat). I test racial threat theory and the benign neglect hypothesis for both citizen-initiated and officer-initiated Part 1 crime reports, using Baltimore Police Department crime reports and arrest data, as well as block group characteristics from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey. Through multi-level modeling and including both static and dynamic measures of racial threat, I find that proportion Black is negatively associated with the probability of arrest; concentrated disadvantage has no effect. This finding supports the benign neglect hypothesis and is robust to alternative model specifications, including controlling for victim gender and race. Implications for policy and theories in the conflict tradition are discussed.
THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SUSPENSION OR EXPULSION AND LATER SCHOOL SANCTIONS: DIFFERENCES BY STUDENT RACE AND SCHOOL RACIAL COMPOSITION
(2024) Potter, Abbey Nicole; Jacobsen, Wade; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The present study investigates the relationship between early childhood suspension or expulsion and students’ odds of experiencing exclusionary discipline in adolescence. In particular, the study examines whether the relationship between childhood suspension and expulsion and the likelihood of experiencing exclusionary discipline in adolescence differs by the combination of student race and school racial composition. While labeling theory can speak to the role of individual student characteristics such as race in the labeling process, the theory is limited in that it says little about the role of social context. This study examines the impact of one aspect of school context, school racial composition, on the relationship between childhood and adolescent experiences of exclusionary discipline, drawing on insights from racial threat theory. The study uses data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a prospective longitudinal study of youth born in large US cities between 1998 and 2000. Main findings include a positive relationship between childhood and adolescent experiences of exclusionary discipline, an independent effect of student race on year 15 suspension risk, and heightened risk for Black, previously-suspended youth in majority-minority school settings. Implications for labeling theory in context and surveillance of youth are discussed.
AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF IMMIGRANT REVITALIZATION: UNVEILING THE CRIME-REDUCING POWER OF IMMIGRANT SOCIAL CAPITAL
(2024) Chen, Xuanying; Vélez, María; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The consensus in the immigration-crime literature is that immigration either has a null or an inverse relationship with neighborhood crime (Ousey & Kubrin, 2018). These findings align with the “immigrant revitalization thesis,” which argues that immigration reduces neighborhood crime by producing immigrant social capital and developing community social control. However, the proposed revitalization process has been rarely tested empirically. This dissertation contributes to the current literature by examining the immigration-crime relationship at the neighborhood level and the intervening mechanism of immigration social capital using a large sample of neighborhoods across the U.S. Specifically, it investigates the mediating influence of stable families, multigenerational families, local businesses, and self-employment in the immigration-crime nexus. Using the newly collected National Neighborhood Crime Study 3 Pilot Panel data, I employ a series of fixed-effects and structural equation models (SEM) for violent crime and burglary. The findings highlight the importance of stable families, namely that immigrant neighborhoods bring in stable family structures that translate into less violence in the neighborhood. However, analyses do not find significant mediating influences for other forms of immigrant social capital. The results provide partial support for the immigrant revitalization perspective and warrant further methodological development and theoretical revision when studying the immigration-neighborhood crime link.
EXPLORING THE ROLE OF MENTAL HEALTH IN PATHWAYS FROM INCARCERATION TO OFFENDING
(2024) Remrey, Lizabeth; Porter, Lauren; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Research on the link between incarceration and offending largely finds a null or positive relationship – that is, incarceration either has no impact on future offending or it increases the likelihood of future offending. However, there is a dearth of research examining the pathways to post-incarceration offending, particularly with respect to the role of mental health as a potential mediator or moderator. This dissertation explored these pathways using the Stress Process Paradigm and the concept of stress proliferation as a framework. Using 12 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, the current research examined mental health issues as a moderator and a mediator between incarceration and three measures of offending (delinquency variety score, binary delinquency, and arrest). Further, this dissertation examined how mental health issues as a mediator between incarceration and offending may vary by race and sex using moderated mediation. Finally, the influence of multiple post-incarceration stressors (specifically, being unemployed,being unmarried, and having physical health issues) on offending were examined, although mental health itself was examined as the primary interest and driver of differential offending outcomes. Results indicated that incarceration played a smaller role in the pathway to offending than expected, and mental health played a much larger role than expected – highlighting the importance of considering mental health when investigating the pathways to offending and other outcomes. The findings and their implications for theory and future research are discussed.
The Effect of The Legalization of Cannabis on Arrest Rates in Washington, D.C.
(2024) Rizk, Sabrina; Midgette, Greg; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Prior research has found that the legalization of medical and recreational cannabis can contribute to shifts in crime. Very few studies have examined the impact of legalization on racial disparities in arrests. Furthermore, extant findings may be influenced by the characteristics of state and local policies, institutional histories, and the demographics of the areas. This study uses publicly available administrative data on adult arrest rates in Washington, D.C. to measure the change in arrest disparities after legalization. Washington is unique from areas previously studied in its history of racialized policing and residential segregation, as well as a unique form of commercial cannabis legalization that allows cannabis possession but prohibits sales. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a theoretical framework, I argue that police use of discretion is influenced by policy change but is subject to personal attitudes on crime and societal norms that are slower to change than policy. The net effect of these forces is a shift in arrest rates and racial disparities following the legalization of cannabis. The findings show that increases in public disorder arrests and public cannabis consumption partially replace possession arrests that no longer occur following the legalization of cannabis. Prior to legalization, arrests of white civilians were relatively rare. After legalization, racial disparities in drug-related offenses fell, but the rate of Black arrests remained higher than non-Black arrests. The shift in arresting patterns is consistent with hypotheses that police may shift focus to both offenses that are related to cannabis consumption and to other forms of crime when cannabis possession is legalized. Among these substitute activities, differences in arrest rates by race persist.
REDUCING THE EFFECT OF PATERNAL INCARCERATION ON JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: THE ROLE OF PROSOCIAL FRIENDSHIP NETWORKS
(2023) Lebron, Michael Jacob; McGloin, Jean M; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Paternal incarceration is associated with a wide array of negative developmental outcomes for children who are reared in this context, thus perpetuating intergenerational patterns of cumulative disadvantage. Recent scholarship from Giordano et al. (2019) has called for research investigating factors associated with intergenerational discontinuities in the life-course trajectories of children with incarcerated parents. There is reason to believe that prosocial peers may serve as a potential protective factor capable of ameliorating the negative developmental consequences of paternal incarceration. This thesis uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to explore whether prosocial friends can attenuate the elevated risk of delinquency and substance use which are often associated with paternal incarceration. The results suggest that prosocial friends are generally related to decreased propensity for delinquency and substance use, but they do not buffer the effect of paternal incarceration on adolescent delinquency and substance use. In the end, prosocial friends show promise as a universal protective factor among adolescents, which has meaningful implications for future research and interventions designed to set youth on more positive developmental trajectories.
WOMEN IN ORANGE: HOW WOMEN IN PRISON ADAPT, NAVIGATE RELATIONSHIPS, AND MAINTAIN IDENTITY
(2023) Philippon , Cassandra Nicole; Porter, Lauren; Ellis, Rachel; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The body of literature describing women’s prisons and the adaptations of women in prison largely overlook the role femininity plays in structuring life in the single-sex space of a women’s prison. Virtual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifty-six women housed at a women’s prison in Arizona. Participants described providing care for others and care for the self. Life in the prison was therefore structured primarily around care, which refers to a feeling of concern or interest, providing for the needs of someone, or paying close attention to doing something to avoid harm.
Victim Participation: Does it Impact Sentencing Departures?
(2023) Neff, Heidi; Johnson, Brian D; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Prior analyses of sentencing practices find that victim characteristics affect sentencing decisions. Yet, the impact of victim participation on sentencing departures has largely been ignored in research on victim involvement in the punishment process. The present study examines this important, although rarely empirically tested, aspect of sentencing. Using data from the Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy, this study examines the impact of multiple forms of victim participation on sentencing departures in the context of both person and property offenses. Given that victim characteristics are known to influence sentencing, the study also investigates whether victim vulnerability moderates the relationship between victim participation and departure decisions. Findings support that victim participation influences sentencing decisions for both offense types, demonstrating that sentences are more severe, on average, when victim participation significantly affects departures. Findings for the interaction between victim participation and vulnerability, however, are less clear, which raises questions about whether certain victims’ participation influences decision-making differently.
Latino Threat: The Role of Political Threat on City Capacity for Social Control
(2023) Donohue, Frank; Vélez, María B.; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
In recent years, police killings of minority individuals have come to the forefront ofscholars and the minds of the general public, with the highly publicized murders of George Floyd, Freddie Gray, and Breonna Taylor. Extant literature largely focuses on police killings of African Americans, and while this is of great importance, less attention has been paid to police-involved homicides of Latinos. The current study seeks to understand city level variation in police killings of Latinos, paying particular attention to a “dynamic” measure of racial threat -- change in the Latino population, and the presence of open political opportunity structures. I draw on an original dataset of 233 cities, with data curated from Fatal Encounters, Decennial Census, the American Community Survey, the Uniform Crime Report, the National Immigration Law Center, and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Regarding racial threat, I find that static Latino threat operates in a nonlinear fashion as it relates to police killings, and moreover that cities that experience more pronounced change in the Latino population over time (i.e., dynamic threat) translates to higher city-level rates of police killings of Latinos. Additionally, I find that sanctuary jurisdictions and gateway cities serve as a protective buffer for Latinos against lethal police violence. Implications for this complex and nuanced issue, including police-community relationships, the functionality of the police, and extralegal consequences for minority populations are also discussed.
INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE IN BLACK MIDDLE-CLASS FAMILIES DURING ECONOMIC DOWNTURNS AND SOCIAL UNREST
(2022) Johnson, Kalani; Dugan, Laura; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
In domestic violence scholarship, the literature finds that Black women experience higher intimate partner violence (IPV) rates across all income levels. However, little attention is given to understanding the intersectionality of these women. This study investigates IPV against Black women from a Black feminist lens. Using Straus and Murray’s 1976’s Physical Violence in American Families survey, class status (emphasizing the occupational, as defined by Black-middle class studies), economic strain, and race provide the opportunity to assess the varying effects on husband-to-wife abuse rates. This data was used because of the social context at the time (i.e., social unrest, recession) of collection and availability of the occupational title variable. The data is analyzed using a negative binomial, while a second model explores the use of a three-way interaction variable. Results suggest income remains a strong predictor of husband-to-wife violence; however, occupational becomes a predictor for abuse (verbal and/or physical violence). Economic strain was not significant for violence or abuse. The results suggest that income remains the better predictor of IPV against women for both races, while the occupational is tangential. Moreover, future research should explore how to capture and measure social strain to understand the potential impact on IPV rates.
An Analysis of the Correlation Between the Attitude, Belief, Opinion, and Demographic Components of Voluntary Forfeiture of One's Fourth Amendment Constitutional Right in Order to Permit Police Officers the use of New Concealed Weapons Detection Technology
(2002) Vann, Diane Hill Esq.; Wellford, Charles; Criminology & Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
The primary purpose of the study is to determine and analyze relationships between the major components of the participants' opinions, attitudes, and beliefs as to the effectiveness and willingness of individuals to voluntarily forfeit their Fourth Amendment Constitutional rights to permit the use of the new Concealed Weapons Detection Technology ("CWDT"). The new CWDT, as described in this study is capable of performing hands-off, non-intrusive body searches for contraband such as plastic explosives, drugs, and concealed weapons, specifically concealed guns. The study questions that Constitutionality of permitting police officers the use of such CWDT, and the Constitutionality of one's voluntary forfeiture of a Constitutional right to permit such use. Data collected for the study is from 100 residents of Madison, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C., aged 18 years or older. The study analyzes Frequencies, Crosstabs, Chi Square, and Pearson's (r) and Spearman's (rs). The study although conducted before September 11, 2001, found that crime and terror remain great oppressors in the Nation, and that citizens are desparate for a resolution. The study reveals that the great majority of the study participants consider CWDT a positive solution.
The Effects of Police Systems and Their Environments on Police Homicides: An Exploratory Analysis
(1988) Taylor-Greene, Helen Elizabeth; Wellford, Charles; Criminology & Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of police systems and their environments on police homicides. Data from five sources, the Crime Control Institute, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Joint Center for Political Studies, Police Executive Research Forum, and the United States Bureau of the Census were used to create the database which included information on police systems, their environments and reported police homicides. This study provided an exploratory analysis of the effect, if any, of the following on police homicides: (1) police administrative review and investigation policies, (2) firearms training standards, (3 ) police system resources (4) demographic community characteristics, (5 ) political community characteristics, and (6 ) community crime characteristics. The most significant findings of the research were the following: (1) In a multivariate analysis of police homicides, the civilian homicide rate was the best predictor of police homicides. (2) There was no significant association between restrictiveness of review and investigation policies (Control), moral, legal and ethical aspects of firearms training, financial resources or education of sworn personnel and police homicides. (3) Race as a system environment variable was correlated with other environment variables at the zero order level but not significant in the multivariate analyses. (4) Civilian Homicides, Race, Black Political Empowerment and Family Ratio were moderately associated with police homicides at the zero order level. (5) Demographic characteristics had little, if any, effect on police homicides. (6) Interjurisdictional variation existed not only in police homicides but also in system management, resources and environments. These findings suggest that police system environmental factors are the best predictors of police homicides. While police departments should continue to strengthen the internal management of police homicides through policies and training, they should include other approaches to controlling and preventing police homicides. One approach should be the development of a model program to educate officers and civilians on police use of deadly force. These programs should focus on (1) attitudes and fears of police officers towards Black citizens and vice versa (2) human relations training and (3) the role of community violence in police violence. The systematic collection and dissemination of police homicide data is essential to future police use of force research. The data should include fatal and nonfatal shootings and be easily accessible. Future research should examine race as an organizational factor. Analyses of the effect, if any, of racial attitudes of police officers and racial composition of police departments on police homicides are needed.
Anti-LGBTQ Hate Crime and Place in Washington, DC: A Multilevel Analysis
(2023) Kindall, Casey; Vélez, María B; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The current study assesses how neighborhood-level LGBTQ prevalence, concentrated disadvantage, residential mobility, and racial diversity and the micro-spatial presence of LGBTQ establishments uniquely and jointly predict anti-LGBTQ hate crime. Extant research utilizes neighborhood-level explanations of crime to understand anti-LGBTQ hate crime but does not account for the influence of opportunity at the micro-place, and particularly the role of LGBTQ establishments as facilitators of anti-LGBTQ crime opportunity, for understanding where anti-LGBTQ hate crimes occur. The current study uses official hate crime data, demographic data from the US Census Bureau, and publicly available data on the location of LGBTQ-centered establishments to assess the roles of neighborhood-level and micro-spatial predictors of anti-LGBTQ hate crime in Washington, DC from 2017 to 2019. Results suggest that more anti-LGBTQ hate crimes occur in places with higher LGBTQ prevalence, more residential mobility, and more LGBTQ establishments. Residential mobility also interacts with the presence of LGBTQ establishments. Findings indicate that LGBTQ establishments are associated with more risk of hate crime in less mobile (i.e., more stable) neighborhoods.
The Ethno-Racial Divide in Neighborhood Crime Change: The Role of City Segregation and Immigration (2000-2013)
(2023) Sahani, Shradha; Velez, Maria; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Despite continuing crime declines in the early 2000s, the ethno-racial divide in neighborhood crime remains a durable feature of American city life. During this period, cities also transformed in drastic ways, two of which were through decreasing levels of Black/White (B/W) residential segregation and increasing immigration. City levels of immigration may interact with the continuing deleterious influence of B/W segregation to shape how different neighborhoods fare in this continuing crime decline and explain the disparate levels of crime decline evidenced across ethno-racial neighborhoods. With panel data (2000-2013) from the National Neighborhood Crime Study, I use fixed effects linear regressions to examine how changing city-level immigration and B/W segregation work together to shape neighborhood crime change for ethno-racial neighborhoods. My findings suggest that when in cities with increasing segregation and immigration, durably Black neighborhoods have smaller associated crime declines compared to all other ethno-racial neighborhoods. Additionally, durably Black neighborhoods only experience the crime reduction benefits of increasing immigration in cities when B/W residential segregation drastically declines.
Dissecting the Dark Figure of Dis/ablist Violence: Intersectional Variations in Reporting Across Dis/ability Types
(2023) Castillo, Isabella Elena; Hitchens, Brooklynn; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Individuals with dis/abilities are at a heightened risk for lifelong violent victimization. Although victimized by the same types of crimes as non-dis/abled individuals, a deeper examination reveals dis/abled individuals experience unique circumstances that increase opportunities for victimization and barriers to reporting. Using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey from 2017-2020, the present study seeks to understand how intersecting identities (dis/ability, race, ethnicity, and gender) affect the likelihood of reporting violent victimization to the police across types of dis/ability (hearing, vision, cognitive, and physical). Findings indicate statistically significant associations between Black individuals with cognitive dis/abilities and other or mixed racial/ethnic females with cognitive dis/abilities with reporting outcomes. Results inform policy and practice regarding the critical need for solutions that consider the impact intersecting identities have on reporting violent victimization across dis/ability types.
CAN SOCIAL PROTESTS CHANGE LOCAL SENTENCING PATTERNS? EVIDENCE FROM THE 2015 BALTIMORE UPRISING
(2023) Li, Dixin; Johnson, Brian D; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Research examining the effects of violent protests has long produced mixed results and more recent studies are no more definitive. Very little work explicitly considers their potential impact on the criminal justice system, and particularly on the courts, the institution that primarily distributes punishment and exerts formal social control. At the same time, criminologists and sociologists agree that courts do not operate in a social vacuum but are embedded in layered contexts. Although some court research examines contextual effects, it has treated them as relatively inert over time, and little is known about how court decisions may deviate from their patterns in the face of sudden political turmoil. Bringing together varied lines of theories, this research discusses the effect of social protests on criminal courts, using data from the Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy (MSCCSP) to examine local sentencing pattern shifts in the aftermath of the 2015 death of Freddie Gray and the subsequent social unrest that follwed. This study analyzes (a) whether the overall punitiveness of courts changed after the event, (b) whether the change disparately impacted different racial and ethnic groups, and (c) whether these effects vary geographically across the state of Maryland.
GENDER AND SEXUAL MINORITY MENTAL HEALTH AND USE OF CARE IN PRISON
(2023) Sherrick, Alyse Natalyn; Bersani, Bianca E.; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Non-white and gender and sexual minority (GSM) individuals experience minority stress through stigmatization and marginalization which can lead to higher rates of mental health issues, and limited access to healthcare. Using an intersectionality framework, these mental health issues are compounded for individuals with both GSM and non-white identities. Within the incarceration setting, mental health issues may be exacerbated due to the pains of imprisonment which can lead to frustration and psychological distress, along with differentially adverse experiences for GSM and non-white individuals. This study examines mental health symptoms, diagnoses, and use of care for GSM, non-white, and the intersection of GSM and non-white individuals in correctional facilities using the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates (N=24,234). In nearly all the analyses GSM individuals and GSM non-white individuals had higher rates of mental health symptoms, diagnoses, and care, and non-white individuals had significantly lower rates of mental health symptoms, diagnoses, and use of care. This may indicate that GSM individuals continue to experience pains of imprisonment despite higher use of mental health care, and that there may be a need for GSM-specific mental health care. Non-white individuals may have lower rates of symptoms and diagnoses due to White-centric frames of evaluation and fear of approaching providers for needed healthcare. It may be useful to develop culturally sensitive evaluation criteria for non-white individuals. This study is the first of its kind to look at mental health symptoms of GSM individuals in prison in a nationally representative sample.

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