Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2758
Browse
2 results
Search Results
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 EXPLORING TRENDS IN THE TARGETING OF VIOLENCE IN IRAQ THROUGH THE LENS OF CONFLICT THEORY: MARCH 2003 TO MAY 2006(2008-08-27) Foster, David Robert; LaFree, Gary; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Elements from Weber's Conflict theory are combined with a focus on legitimacy in order to predict the effects that major social and political events have on political violence in the Diyala province of Iraq. Using 39 months of time-series data from Diyala in an ARIMA analysis, this research determines the effects of eight major events on the targeting of violence across Diyala as well as against four specific target sectors: law enforcement, government, military and civilian. This research finds mixed support for conflict theory, although a clearer picture emerges when findings are summarized by target sector, hypothesis and by event. This model is particularly effective at explaining trends in political violence directed against civilian targets. Despite the suboptimal data used, this research provides support for conflict ability to offering insight into the causes and course of political violence in a nation undergoing rapid social and political change.