Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2758

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End date: 2009Subject: search.filters.subject.Sociology, Criminology and Penology

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 89
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    Community Tolerance of Community-Based Reparative Boards in Vermont: A Closer Look at Community Members' Tolerance of Offense Types
    (2009) Miller, Noah Patrick; Wellford, Charles; McGloin, Jean; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Many people support harsh punishments for convicted offenders. Similarly there are large amounts of political resistance to any criminal justice policies that appear to be soft on crime. On the surface this is a self perpetuating circle, but when community views are probed it becomes clear they are much more complex. This article looks at respondents views on community-based reparative boards in Vermont. In particular, this study assesses their views on which offenders should go to such boards and the effects individual characteristics and victimization can have these opinions. Views were measured through a combination of frequency charts and ordinary lease squares regressions. They show that people have widely varied views on which offenders should be referred to reparative boards. Consistent with previous research, victimization status does not appear to effect respondent's support for reparative boards.
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    MAKING SENSE OF BROKEN WINDOWS: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEPTIONS OF DISORDER, FEAR OF CRIME, COLLECTIVE EFFICACY AND PERCEPTIONS OF CRIME
    (2009) Hinkle, Joshua Conard; Weisburd, David; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The broken windows thesis has had a profound impact on policing strategies around the world. The thesis suggests that police can most effectively fight crime by focusing their efforts on targeting disorder--minor crimes and nuisance behaviors such as loitering, public drinking and vandalism, as well as dilapidated physical conditions in a community. The strategy was most prominently used in New York City in the 1990s, and has been often credited for the crime drop observed in the city over that decade. Despite the widespread influence of the broken windows thesis, there has been relatively little rigorous empirical research which has sought to test the validity of its theoretical propositions. This dissertation aimed to address this shortcoming by using structural equation modeling to test the relationships between perceived disorder, fear of crime, collective efficacy and perceptions of crime suggested by the broken windows thesis using survey data collected during a randomized, experimental evaluation of broken windows policing in three cities in California. The results are supportive of the broken windows thesis, but also raise some challenges. Perceptions of disorder were found to increase fear of crime, reduce collective efficacy and lead to crime as suggested. However, fear of crime was not significantly related to collective efficacy as suggested, and the direct effect of perceived social disorder on perceptions of crime was the strongest effect in every model. Nevertheless, the findings do suggest that a reduction of disorder in a community may have positive effects in the form of reducing fear and promoting collective efficacy, and suggest the limitations of studies which only test for direct effects of disorder on crime and/or do not examine the variables at the perceptual level. Future research needs to further examine the broken windows thesis, ideally involving a prospective longitudinal study of crime at place.
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    Following the Leader: Examining peer influence on sexual behavior
    (2009) Bears, Megan Ann; McGloin, Jean M; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    A number of previous studies have found that peers influence adolescent sexual behavior. Still, it remains unclear how the mechanisms of peer influence operate on the sexual behavior of adolescents. This is unfortunate because it limits theoretical clarity and inhibits the production of policy aimed at reducing adolescent sexual behavior. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this thesis extends upon current literature and determines the role of peer attitudes and behaviors on different forms of adolescent sexual behavior as measured by peer self-report data while addressing other limitations of previous research such as whether or not mechanisms of peer influence are conditioned by adolescent involvement with peers. The discussion of this work centers around the theoretical implications of the findings that peers do not influence all forms of sexual behavior and peer behaviors seem to be the only mechanism of peer influence that predict sexual onset.
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    The Effect of Latino Immigration and Settlement Patterns on Neighborhood Homicide Rates in Philadelphia: 1990-2000
    (2009) Pendzich-Hardy, Margaret Mae; Kirk, David S.; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Since the year 2000, the Latino population in the United States has increased by over 25%. In Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-largest city, census data reveals immigrants from Latin America comprise the largest growing population in the city. Despite this surge in population, little attention in the research literature has been paid to the effect of Latino immigration on neighborhood crime rates. It remains unclear whether new immigrants destabilize inner-city neighborhoods or cause an increase in collective efficacy and a decrease in crime rates. This study examines the association between neighborhood crime rates and Latino immigration over a 10-year period (1990-2000) through the use of data from the U.S. Census and the Philadelphia Police Department. Latino immigration was found to be positively related to homicide in Latino ethnic enclaves, and had little to no effect on homicide in non-enclave neighborhoods.