Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

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

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    The Association of Early Conduct Problems and Early Marijuana Use in College Students
    (2007-12-06) Falls, Benjamin Jacob; Wish, Eric D; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    While several studies have documented a strong association between early conduct problems and adolescent drug use, similar research has not been conducted among college students. The current study examines the association between early conduct problems and early marijuana use in a sample of 1,076 college students. A new early conduct problem scale is developed for purposes of analysis. Regression models are developed to test the strength of the association, holding constant covariates that have been shown in prior research to be related to marijuana use. Results reveal a significant positive association between early conduct problems and early marijuana use even after controlling for the covariates. The new scale produces results similar to a previously accepted scale studying early conduct problems in a non-college sample. The results have important prevention implications and suggest the importance of early interventions for reducing the risk for early marijuana use.
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    A Typological Approach to Exploring Pathways for Rapists, Child Molesters and Incest Offenders
    (2004-05-12) Harris, Danielle Arlanda; Dugan, Laura; Criminology and Criminal Justice
    This research assumes offense specialization and distinguishes between rape, child molestation and incest. I hypothesize that child molesters will reveal the earliest age of onset (self-reported age of first sexually aggressive behavior) when compared to rapists and incest offenders respectively. Second, I hypothesize that sexual risk factors (pornography exposure and use) will characterize a specific pathway to child molestation and non-sexual risk factors (poor peer associations and substance use) will be more relevant in rape and incest pathways respectively. A descriptive univariate analysis supports the first hypothesis and a principal components factor analysis supports the second hypothesis. Child molesters are indeed characterized by a high rate of exposure to and use of pornography and rapists are more likely than other sexual offenders to use drugs and alcohol and to have extensive criminal histories. Incest offenders are distinguished by their 'social competence' and by variables criminologists consider to be 'protective' factors.