Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2758
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Item 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.Item 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; Wellford, Charles; Criminology and 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 his study is capable of performing hands-off, noninrusive body searches for contraband such as plastic explosives, drugs, and concealed weapons, specifically concealed guns. The study questions the 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(r5). The study although conducted before September 11, 2001, found that crime and terror remain great oppressors in the Nation , and that citizens are desperate for a resolution. The study reveals that the great majority of the study participants consider CWDT a positive solution.Item A Life Course Analysis of the Relationship Between Military Service and Criminal Behavior(2000) Allen, Leana Cristine; Laub, John H.; Criminology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)Throughout U.S. history, the military has served as one of the largest employers and educators of young men and women. As such, it has had a great influence in the lives of a large proportion of the U.S. population. Despite the potential impact of military service in later life, little research attention has focused on this topic, particularly in criminology. The few studies that have examined the relationship between military service and criminal behavior tend to have ignored pre-military characteristics, and results vary depending on the time period during which the sample served in the military. This study applies a life course framework to the question of how military service influences later criminal behavior. The main purpose of this research is to determine whether military service changes existing trajectories of criminal behavior and/or whether the military provides another setting for the continuation of pre-military behavior patterns. Other important considerations include selection into the military, the timing of military service in an individual's life, and the historical context of service. For example, do those who enter the military at an earlier age experience greater change in criminal behavior than those who enter later in life? Additionally, does the influence of military service on criminal behavior differ by historical context? To address these questions, this study uses four data sets; three birth cohorts (1942, 1945, and 1949) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Men in these samples served during different historical periods from the beginning of the Vietnam War to the early period of the all-volunteer force. Statistical methods were used to account for potential differences in selection and the presence of unobserved heterogeneity. Results suggest that there is an important influence of military service on later criminal behavior, but the specific direction of the effect depends on the historical period in which service occurred. In particular, serving in the military during the Vietnam era was related to reduced offending, and service during the volunteer era was related to increased offending. These results were significant even after controlling for race, education, socioeconomic status, age, and prior criminal behavior patterns.Item Local Economic Investment and Crime: Neighborhood Change in Washington, DC(2009) Matsuda, Mauri; Piquero, Alex R; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this analysis is to shed light on the relationship between large-scale economic investment and crime in Washington, DC neighborhood clusters (N=39) from 2001 to 2007. Using panel data and a two-way fixed effects analytic strategy, results indicate that investment in large scale economic development projects (in millions of dollars) and crime rates (per 1,000) are inversely related controlling for disadvantage and time effects. Further analyses indicate that the relationship is dependent on a number of investment related factors, including major use of investment project (e.g. industrial, retail), financing source (public versus private), construction type (new versus renovation), as well as outcome variable (i.e. violent versus property crime). Residential investment has the strongest and most consistent relationship with both violent and property crime suggesting that the changes which accompany residential investment may be responsible for reduced crime. Theoretical mechanisms and future research directions are discussed.Item Alternatives to punishment: Counterterrorism strategies in Algeria(2009) Lesniewicz, Amber Lee Stoesser; LaFree, Gary D; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Rational choice theory has been one of the key theories used to explain the effectiveness of counterterrorism policies (Dugan, LaFree & Piquero, 2005; Enders & Sandler, 1993; 2003; Frey, 2004; LaFree, Dugan & Korte, 2009). These investigations have examined policies focused on increasing the costs of committing political violence, such as criminalization, increased police presence, and government strikes. However, few investigations have looked at policies that increase the benefits of not committing political violence such as negotiations and amnesties. In this study, I investigate the effectiveness of counterterrorism policies that seek to increase the benefits of not committing terrorism. I use Algeria as a case study and examine three counterterrorism policies between 1994 and 2004. One of the policies is a traditionally deterrent policy that increases the consequences of committing terrorism while the two other policies represent alternatively deterrent policies that increase the benefits of not committing terrorism. To analyze these policies, I use ARIMA modeling (N=120 months) and the Global Terrorism Database to determine whether each policy led to a significant change in overall attacks and the proportion of fatal attacks. While researchers have found mixed results when studying the effectives of traditional deterrence counterterrorist measures (Dugan, LaFree & Piquero; Enders & Sandler, 1993; Enders, Sandler & Cauley, 1990; LaFree, Dugan & Korte, 2009), I found that the Civil Concord Act, an amnesty program, as well as the Rome Platform, a negotiation policy, were related to a significant reduction in terrorism in Algeria.Item An Experimental Evaluation of After School Program Participation on Problem Behavior Outcomes: Does Pre-Existing Risk Moderate the Effects of Program Participation?(2009) Cross, Amanda Brown; Gottfredson, Denise C; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Background: Some prevention programs negatively affect participants. Previous research indicates that peers can cause these negative effects. However, little is known about which students may be most vulnerable to negative peer effects in prevention interventions. Purpose: This study tests the effect of participation in an after-school program (ASP) on student outcomes of peer delinquency, problem behavior and antisocial attitudes and beliefs for students of differing pre-test levels of risk for those outcomes. Drawing on social learning theory, this study examines whether low- and moderate- risk students in the intervention are more likely to acquire delinquent behaviors and beliefs in the ASP than their already-delinquent counterparts. Participants: 447 middle school students attending underperforming schools in Baltimore County, Maryland. Intervention: The data are drawn from an experimental evaluation of an after school program which operated in five middle schools in Baltimore County during the 2006-2007 academic year. The overall evaluation of the program found null effects on the wide range of measured outcomes (including academic achievement and delinquency). I explore whether the lack of beneficial program effects is partially attributable to negative effects among low and moderate risk participants who absorbed negative beliefs and behaviors from high-risk peers in the ASP. Research Design: Randomized, controlled field trial. Findings: Results indicate that low- and moderate- risk youth are not more likely to experience negative outcomes than high-risk youths. On the contrary, low-risk participants are less likely to experience negative effects than high-risk participants. Students who began the program with elevated negative peer influences grew in this characteristic if they often participated in the ASP but declined in negative peer influences if they less often attended the program. Implications for universal prevention are discussed.Item RACE AND THE DEATH PENALTY IN GEORGIA 1995-2004: HAS ANYTHING CHANGED?(2009) Joseph, Patricia; Paternoster, Ray; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examines the relationship between the race of victim and combination of victim and offender races on a prosecutor's decision to seek the death penalty. The objective is to offer an updated look at the Georgia capital sentencing system between 1995 and 2004. In an older Georgia study based on data from the 1970s, race of victim was found to be of critical importance in capital case processing. Given the changes that have occurred in Georgia's death penalty system to address disparate sentencing along with the number of years that have gone by, an argument can be made that a more current investigation may yield new findings. Using data from the Atlanta Constitution Journal, a logistic regression analysis is conducted. Results reveal that although race of victim is still relevant to a prosecutor's decision to seek a death sentence, its influence has diminished.Item Displaced Discretion? An Empirical Test of Prosecutorial Charge Bargaining Before and After the District of Columbia Sentencing Guidelines(2009) Vance, Stephen Edward; Wellford, Charles; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Though significant research has found that sentencing guidelines systems have reduced sentencing disparity, few studies have examined whether sentencing guidelines have shifted discretion and disparity from judges to prosecutors. Using data from the District of Columbia Superior Court, this research examines whether charge bargaining practices changed after the District of Columbia Sentencing Guidelines. This study also examines whether legal, offender, and case processing characteristics had different effects on charge bargaining outcomes before and after the Sentencing Guidelines. The analyses show that, while there were changes in the plea bargaining process after the Sentencing Guidelines, there was not significant evidence of a displacement of discretion or disparity to prosecutors. Policy implications are discussed.Item STRAIN EXPERIENCED IN PRISON AND ITS IMPACT ON PERCEPTION OF THE PRISON ENVIRONMENT AND THE RATE OF RECIDIVISM(2009) Smith-Kea, Nicola Denise; McKenzie, Doris L; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Agnew's General Strain Theory (GST) is unique in that it emphasizes individual relationships and focuses on negative relationship at the individual level. It claims that if people are not treated the way they want to be treated, then that will generate negative emotions, which would in turn lead to crime. Originally designed to explain adolescent delinquency and adolescent drug use, majority of empirical work testing GST has been done on juvenile populations. Using a sample of incarcerated adult males, this study examines the relationship between strain experienced while incarcerated and the inmates' perception of the prison environment, as well as its impact on recidivism. The present study uses secondary data from the "Experimental Study of the Maryland Correctional Boot Camp for Adults." OLS indicates that there is a weak relationship between strain and perception of the prison environment; while a logistic regression reveals no relationship between strain and recidivism.Item CHILD ABUSE HOMICIDE INFLICTED BY A CHILD'S CARETAKER: A POTENTIALLY PREVENTABLE TYPE OF CHILD MURDER(2009) Rezey, Maribeth Lorraine; Simpson, Sally S; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Child abuse inflicted by caretakers has been reported the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children. Although researchers have attempted to estimate the rate of child abuse homicide nationwide, its true scope is unknown. Quantifying child abuse homicide is important since this type of homicide is arguably preventable. This study utilizes the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) to analyze child abuse homicides inflicted by the child's caretaker across 17 U.S. states during the years they participated from 2003 to 2005. The NVDRS reports violent death data from multiple official sources, providing this analysis with a more accurate number of child abuse homicides than previously available. In this thesis, I established if the NVDRS ascertains more abuse or non-abuse homicides than death certificates. I reviewed ascertained and misclassified deaths to assess whether a common set of victim or incident characteristics exist across these homicides. A logistic regression was also conducted to examine the probability of child abuse homicide given these characteristics.