Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2758
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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 THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY: HOMICIDE, DYNAMIC CHANGE, AND DETERRENCE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. NEIGHBORHOODS, 1998-2006(2014) Goodison, Sean Edmund; Paternoster, Raymond; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Studies examining homicide rates often have two limitations. First, there is a lack of rich, dynamic data to account for change, and second, no consideration of formal social controls at the neighborhood-level. To address these limitations, longitudinal data from Washington, D.C. was collected at the neighborhood level. This homicide incident and neighborhood demographic data, which spans from 1998-2006, allow for a test of two theoretical perspectives within a classical/social control sphere, namely social disorganization and deterrence. This work poses two main questions: Do dynamic structural factors influence homicide rates across neighborhoods? Does aggregate deterrence influence homicide rates across neighborhoods? Results suggest that dynamic structural factors predict homicide rates better than static factors, though deterrence results are insignificant. Implications and avenues for future research are also discussed.Item Homicide Clearances: An Examination of Race and Police Investigative Effort(2012) Alexander, Thomas Stanley; Wellford, Charles F.; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Violent crime saw a decrease from 1999 through 2008. Coupled with this decrease have been decreasing homicide clearance rates. Homicide clearance rates have declined from 91% in 1965 to a 64% in 2008 (U.S. Department of Justice, FBI, 1965 & 2008). Research interest is increasing on homicide clearances yet there is still paucity in the literature. Racial disparity has been a concern throughout the criminal justice system and the effects of race on homicide clearances is an area of concern. Along with the extralegal variable of race, very little attention has been given to the role that the police investigator plays in clearing a homicide case. Investigators are key role players since they are responsible for investigating the crime and bringing it to a conclusion. Despite the emergence of additional research addressing homicide clearances, there has been little attention paid to police practices. The two main hypotheses used to explain homicide clearance rates are the discretionary and non-discretionary hypothesis. The discretionary hypothesis focuses on the victim's characteristics stating that the amount of law applied in a case will depend on victim or offender status. The non-discretionary hypothesis states that the seriousness of the offense and the pressures to solve it, both within and outside the organization, will lead to maximum investigative effort no matter what the race, age, or gender of the victim or offender (Roberts and Lyons, 2009). This dissertation is a secondary analysis of the Wellford and Cronin (1999) study which examined factors affecting the ability of police agencies to clear homicides. My research tests the effects race has on homicide case status when effort is considered and when the covariates of severity were also considered since severity can drive the effort used in working a case. The results are supportive of the non-discretionary hypothesis where case characteristics and not the extra-legal factor of race have an effect on case status. Race dyad effects are spurious and results indicate that both effort and severity are significant in predicting homicide case closure. Future research should continue to explore investigative effort, intra-severity, as well as the race dyad effects.