College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item Queering our conclusions: Understanding measurement's influence on queer criminological research(2024) Raskauskas, Jessica; Stewart, Robert; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)To effectively understand how people end up in prison, criminologists need to understand who is in prison; especially given the novelty of the concept, queer criminology has yet to standardize a definition of “queer," “LGBT,” etc. In leaving these definitions up to researchers, there is no consensus on how much of the prison population is queer and, consequently, to what degree, if at all, queer individuals are differently represented in the prison system. Based on a review of the literature, and simple quantitative models, this study attempts to understand the definitions and conclusions in existing literature, to standardize how criminologists measure “queer,” and to understand to what extent, if any, this population is differently represented in prison.Item SEX, CRIME, AND SELF-CONTROL: COMPARING OUTCOMES OF LOW SELF-CONTROL FOR HETEROSEXUAL AND GAY/BISEXUAL MEN(2022) Scocca, Jacob; Dugan, Laura; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Objective: The purpose of the current thesis is to further explore Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime by examining adult outcomes of low self-control in a heterosexual and gay/bisexual sample. It argues that self-control in these populations is differentially related to outcomes of violent crime and analogous behaviors, which contradicts the general nature of the theory. Methods: The current study uses self-reported measures in the Adolescent Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) for self-control (Wave 3) to examine outcomes of violent crime and risky sexual behavior (Wave 4). Risky sexual behaviors in this study are conceptualized as number of different sexual partners, sex without prophylactics, or sex with more than one person around the same time. Men are the primary focus of this thesis due to the presence of culturally and socially specific factors in the heterosexual and gay male community that could differentially affect the outcomes of interest. Hypothesis: I hypothesize that both the relationship between low self-control and violent crime and low self-control and risky sexual behavior will differ based on the sexual orientation of the respondent. To frame this hypothesis, I argue that the gay male subculture is more openly accepting of risky sexual behaviors, and therefore that this analogous behavior will be less related to self-control in gay populations. I also argue that heterosexual masculinity facilitates violent behavior/crime within heterosexual men, meaning that self-control plays a larger role in controlling urges in this group. Results: Differences in the association between self-control and risky sexual behaviors were found between heterosexual and gay/bisexual men indicating support for the hypothesis. Differences in the relationship between self-control and violent criminal activity in the two groups were not found in the tested samples. These findings provide evidence that Gottfredson & Hirschi's theory may not be generalizable for analogous behaviors in all populations, but that it still may hold for violent crime.Item LGBTQ Community Belonging and Involvement as Predictors of Sexual Minorities' Well-Being(2021) Burrows, Michael; Mohr, Jonathan J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Sexual minorities (SM; i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and asexual+) experience high rates of discrimination and stigma, which account for mental health disparities based on sexual orientation (Cochran, 2001; Meyer, 2003). A growing body of research suggests that LGBTQ community may be a source of resilience. This thesis examines two ways that SM can interact with and experience LGBTQ community: LGBTQ community belonging (a subjective sense of belonging or being a part of LGBTQ community; Frost & Meyer, 2012; Puckett et al., 2015) and community involvement (engagement in LGBTQ nightlife, social clubs, politics, and community sports; Foster-Gimbel et al., 2020).Across two time points over an approximately 6.5 week period, 171 SM completed surveys assessing LGBTQ community belonging and community involvement, psychological well-being (depression, anxiety, loneliness, positive affect, and satisfaction with life), perceived social support, and internalized stigma. Analyses focused on (a) relations between community variables (belonging and involvement) and well-being over time, and (b) the potential mediating roles of social support and internalized stigma in these relations. Most hypothesized relations between community variables and future well-being did not emerge. However, results supported associations between community involvement and future satisfaction with life, even after controlling for LGBTQ community belonging. Results also suggested that specific types of community involvement related in unique ways to facets of well-being in the future. Results did not support any of the hypothesized mediated relationships.Item Daily Heterosexism Experiences and Well-Being among LGB People: The Moderating Role of Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and LGB-Affirmative Support(2020) Chong, Siu Kwan; Mohr, Jonathan J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Research has shown that perceived discrimination, including heterosexism, is linked to poorer mental and physical health across a variety of stigmatized populations. Given the deleterious effect of discrimination on health, scholars have called attention to resilience research and the importance of understanding factors that can protect lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people from the adverse effect. To date, most research on LGB people’s resilience relied on retrospective reports of heterosexism experiences. This limits the understanding about resilience factors that help LGB people effectively cope with discrimination as it occurs on a day-to-day basis. The present study addressed this gap by using an experience sampling design to test whether internal resources (mindfulness, self-compassion) and external resources (LGB-affirmative social support) reduce the impact of daily heterosexism experience on affective and somatic well-being. A sample of 254 LGB adults completed a baseline survey that assessed resilience factors, as well as brief online surveys twice daily for 14 days that assessed heterosexism experiences and well-being, providing a total of 3,346 days of data. As anticipated, results of multilevel modeling showed that heterosexism experiences were positively related to negative affect and somatic symptoms both at the daily and person levels. Inconsistent with my hypotheses, mindfulness, self-compassion, and LGB affirmative support did not moderate the within-person associations between daily heterosexism experience and daily well-being. These factors also did not moderate the between-person association between mean heterosexism and health. They were, however, positively linked with affective well-being regardless of heterosexism experiences. These findings provide insights for practitioners to support LGB clients to thrive.