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- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
Description
Gender disparity in sentencing outcomes has a long tradition in sentencing literature, with a substantial body of evidence indicating that women offenders are treated with greater leniency over male counterparts. The prior literature on gender and sentencing, however, has ignored broader social contexts within which judicial decision-making occurs. This dissertation attempts to address this limitation by dissecting the nature of gender disparity through ecological lenses. Using federal sentencing data for FY 2001 through 2010 and other complementary data sets, this dissertation, divided into two major sub-studies, has examined the roles of two social contextual variables, such as religioius and political conservatism, in producing gender differentials in sentencing outcomes.
ContributorsKim, Byung Bae (Author) / Spohn, Cassia (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Xia (Committee member) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The purpose of this project is to better understand police perceptions of sexual assault complainants by assessing their likelihood of questioning a complainant’s credibility and by examining police attitudes toward victims of sexual assault. To advance understanding of these issues, this dissertation (1) expands upon prior research by drawing on a sample of officers from one of the largest metropolitan police departments in the United States and, (2) through the use of framing theory, contributes to the literature by focusing on the attitudes of police toward sexual assault complainants and how these beliefs are shaped by day-to-day experiences.
This dissertation investigates two research questions using a mixed-methods approach. The data come from 400 sexual assault complaints that were reported to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and 52 LAPD detective interviews. I quantitatively examine the factors that influence officer perceptions of complainant credibility, focusing on indicators of “real rape,” “genuine” victims, “inappropriate” victim behavior, and “character flaws.” I contextualize this work by examining police attitudes toward sexual assault victims using qualitative data taken from interviews of sex crimes detectives. This research contributes to the broader case processing literature by focusing on victim credibility, a factor consistently found to influence case processing decisions. Moreover, this study contributes to research on the frames officers assign to women who report sexual assault.
Analyses from the quantitative portion of the study confirm that indicators of “real rape,” and complainant “character issues” were key explanatory factors influencing credibility assessments. Regarding qualitative results, three sexual assault victim frames were identified. These frames include depictions of victims as they relate to: (a) the suspect/victim relationship, (b) problematic victim behavior, and (c) age. These three frames indicate that certain types of victims are viewed as problematic.
This dissertation contributes to three broad bodies of literature: law enforcement decision making, law enforcement perceptions of sexual assault victims, and framing theory. This dissertation was able to tap into officer attitudes to shed light on the ways officers treat women who come forward to report sexual assault, providing valuable insight into officer attitudes, credibility assessments, and victim framing.
This dissertation investigates two research questions using a mixed-methods approach. The data come from 400 sexual assault complaints that were reported to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and 52 LAPD detective interviews. I quantitatively examine the factors that influence officer perceptions of complainant credibility, focusing on indicators of “real rape,” “genuine” victims, “inappropriate” victim behavior, and “character flaws.” I contextualize this work by examining police attitudes toward sexual assault victims using qualitative data taken from interviews of sex crimes detectives. This research contributes to the broader case processing literature by focusing on victim credibility, a factor consistently found to influence case processing decisions. Moreover, this study contributes to research on the frames officers assign to women who report sexual assault.
Analyses from the quantitative portion of the study confirm that indicators of “real rape,” and complainant “character issues” were key explanatory factors influencing credibility assessments. Regarding qualitative results, three sexual assault victim frames were identified. These frames include depictions of victims as they relate to: (a) the suspect/victim relationship, (b) problematic victim behavior, and (c) age. These three frames indicate that certain types of victims are viewed as problematic.
This dissertation contributes to three broad bodies of literature: law enforcement decision making, law enforcement perceptions of sexual assault victims, and framing theory. This dissertation was able to tap into officer attitudes to shed light on the ways officers treat women who come forward to report sexual assault, providing valuable insight into officer attitudes, credibility assessments, and victim framing.
ContributorsO'Neal, Eryn Nicole (Author) / Spohn, Cassia (Thesis advisor) / Holtfreter, Kristy (Committee member) / Telep, Cody (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The most prominent theories for explaining the incidence and prevalence of misconduct in prison are deprivation (Clemmer, 1940; Sykes, 1958; Colvin, 1992), importation (Irwin and Cressey, 1962; Harer and Steffensmeier, 1996; Cao Zhao, and Van Dine, 1997), and administrative control (DiIulio, 1987; Useem and Kimball, 1989; Useem and Reisig, 1999). Administrative control does not supersede deprivation and importation theories, but rather adds to them by asserting quality management is essential for the maintenance of an orderly environment jeopardized by the effects of deprivation and importation. Even though research has supported administrative control, researchers have disagreed over which aspects of management are most effective for mitigating disorder, and have thus far only proven that poor management leads to administrative breakdowns in policies and practices that predicate disorder. This dissertation introduces the concept of positive administrative control, based on social exchange theory, as the mechanism prison administrators should use to induce staff to act in accordance with agency desires and avoid administrative breakdowns. The results show that when prison employees experience quality relationships with their supervisors, they are more likely engage with inmates in a similar fashion, which is associated with reductions in misconduct rates. At the same time, when prison employees are supported and rewarded for their good behavior, they are more likely to actively monitor inmates, which is associated with increases in misconduct rates. Additionally, the results support importation theory by demonstrating that the aggregated criminogenic characteristics of inmates in a prison are representative of cultural influences on prison misconduct.
Based on these findings, recommendations are made to restructure leadership training to emphasize relational leadership skills that positively influence staff to act in accordance with agency desires and more closely follow policy guidelines. It is also recommended that future studies consider including aggregated demographic variables in studies of misconduct in order to capture cultural/environmental influences that may otherwise be missed, and should avoid overuse of composite variables, in particular institution security level.
Based on these findings, recommendations are made to restructure leadership training to emphasize relational leadership skills that positively influence staff to act in accordance with agency desires and more closely follow policy guidelines. It is also recommended that future studies consider including aggregated demographic variables in studies of misconduct in order to capture cultural/environmental influences that may otherwise be missed, and should avoid overuse of composite variables, in particular institution security level.
ContributorsBenefiel, Rodger (Author) / Spohn, Cassia (Thesis advisor) / Hepburn, John R. (Committee member) / Griffin, Marie L. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The study of non-U.S. citizens in criminal justice system outcomes has often been neglected in the sentencing literature. When citizenship is considered, there are generally no distinctions made within this group. The research fails to consider differences according to legal status, race/ethnicity, nationality and other distinctive markers that might play a role in sentencing outcomes. Using federal sentencing data collected by the United States Sentencing Commission for fiscal year 2006 through fiscal year 2008, this study examines the effect of offender citizenship status, legal status, and national origin on the likelihood of imprisonment and length of imprisonment for offenders convicted of drug offenses. The current study considers differences among foreign-born and Latino immigrant subgroups (e.g., Colombian, Cuban, Dominican, and Mexican nationals). The key findings in this dissertation include: (1) non-U.S. citizens have greater odds of imprisonment than U.S. citizens. However, non-U.S. citizen offenders receive significantly shorter prison terms relative to U.S. citizen offenders; (2) undocumented immigrants are more likely to be incarcerated compared to similarly situated authorized immigrants and U.S. citizens. However, legal status does not have an effect on sentence length; and (3) with respect to national origin, Mexican nationals are significantly more likely than Colombians to be incarcerated and are given significantly longer prison sentences than Dominican nationals. The implications of these findings and future research are addressed in the concluding chapter.
ContributorsValadez, Mercedes (Author) / Spohn, Cassia (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Xia (Committee member) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Criminologists have directed significant theoretical and empirical attention toward the institution of marriage over the past two decades. Importantly, the momentum guiding this line of research has increased despite the fact that people are getting married far less often and much later in the life course than in any point in American history. The aim of this dissertation is to address this disconnect by focusing attention to nonmarital romantic relationships and their instability during emerging adulthood. To do so, it uses data from the Pathways to Desistance Study, a longitudinal study of 1,354 at-risk males and females who were adjudicated from the juvenile and adult systems in Phoenix and Philadelphia between 2000 and 2003. The project focuses attention to the following issues: (1) the effect of romantic dissolution on aggressive and income-based offenses; (2) the extent to which strain
egative emotionality and peer influence/exposure account for the effect of romantic dissolution on crime; and (3) the extent to which certain relationship and individual circumstances moderate the effect of romantic dissolution. The models reveal a few key findings. First, romantic dissolution is strongly related to an increase in both aggressive and income-based crime, but is more strongly related to income-based crime. Second, the effect of romantic dissolution is reduced when measures of strain
egative emotionality and peer influence/exposure measures are added to models, but the peer influence/exposure measures account for the strongest reduction. Finally, romantic dissolution does not serve as a positive life event among these at-risk youth, but its effect is exacerbated under a number of contexts (e.g. when an individual is unemployed). This study closes with a summary of these findings as well as its key limitations, and offers insight into potential policy implications and avenues of future research.
egative emotionality and peer influence/exposure account for the effect of romantic dissolution on crime; and (3) the extent to which certain relationship and individual circumstances moderate the effect of romantic dissolution. The models reveal a few key findings. First, romantic dissolution is strongly related to an increase in both aggressive and income-based crime, but is more strongly related to income-based crime. Second, the effect of romantic dissolution is reduced when measures of strain
egative emotionality and peer influence/exposure measures are added to models, but the peer influence/exposure measures account for the strongest reduction. Finally, romantic dissolution does not serve as a positive life event among these at-risk youth, but its effect is exacerbated under a number of contexts (e.g. when an individual is unemployed). This study closes with a summary of these findings as well as its key limitations, and offers insight into potential policy implications and avenues of future research.
ContributorsLarson, Matthew Joseph (Author) / Sweeten, Gary (Thesis advisor) / Piquero, Alex (Committee member) / Spohn, Cassia (Committee member) / Wallace, Danielle (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The purpose of this project is to better understand the factors associated with, and effects of, prison visitation for children during maternal and paternal incarceration. As gatekeepers, caregivers play a pivotal role in the facilitation of parent-child prison visitation. Yet, some caregivers may be more likely to take children to visit than others. Additionally, among those children who do visit, visitation may be positive in some ways and negative in others. To advance prior work, this study (1) assesses the relationship between caregiver type and parent-child prison visitation and (2) investigates the emotional and behavioral responses of children who visit. The current research uses mixed-methods and is carried out in two phases. For Phase 1, quantitative data on 984 children collected from structured interviews with incarcerated parents (N=279 mothers; N=143 fathers) in the Arizona Department of Corrections are used to examine the relationship between caregiver type and the likelihood of parent-child prison visitation. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses are conducted separately for maternal and paternal incarceration. Phase 2 draws on caregivers' accounts of 40 children who visit their parent in prison to assess children's emotional and behavioral reactions to visitation. Data are coded to identify positive and negative responses, "visitation paradox" indicators, prior life circumstances and child age. Thematic content analyses are conducted to capture major themes. Analyses from Phase 1 confirm a significant relationship between caregiver type and mother-child and father-child visitation. Other factors that affected the likelihood of parental visitation included child situational factors, parent stressors, institutional barriers and child demographics, although these effects differed depending upon which parent was in prison. Results from Phase 2 revealed overwhelmingly negative responses among children to parental prison visitation. Key themes that accounted for child reactions included institutional context and parental attachment. This research adds to the collateral consequences of incarceration literature by providing greater insight into the imprisonment experience for vulnerable families. Further, these results have direct implications for correctional policy and practice pertaining to the manner and regulation of prison visits and also inform reentry efforts through a family-centric approach.
ContributorsTasca, Melinda (Author) / Rodriguez, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Spohn, Cassia (Committee member) / Zatz, Marjorie S (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Over the past 40 years, the rate at which women are incarcerated has increased dramatically. Of the 111,000-plus female inmates currently in prison, most will be returned to the community and reenter the labor market. Despite its significance in prisoner reentry and in how ex-offenders remain crime-free, previous research finds that employers are unwilling to hire employees with a criminal record. Moreover, Pager (2003) and Pager, Western, and Bonikowski (2009) found that White job applicants with a prison record were more likely to be interviewed or hired than Black or Hispanic applicants without a record. These troubling findings regarding the effect of race/ethnicity, however, are from research that focuses on men's employment. Given the already low job prospects of ex-prisoners makes it more difficult for women with a prison record to find employment, who also face labor market barriers on account of their race/ethnicity and gender. This dissertation research uses two audit methods with an experimental design to examine the independent and interaction effects of race/ethnicity and incarceration on the likelihood women job applicants will advance through the hiring process. Job applications were submitted online and in-person. The effect of race/ethnicity varied by the method used to apply for jobs. When applying for jobs online, Black women had lower odds of employment than White women. Hispanic women, however, had higher odds of employment than White women when food service jobs were applied for in-person. The effect of a prison record was significant in both experiments; the effect was direct online, but conditioned by ethnicity in-person. Hispanic women with a prison record were less likely than White women with a prison record to advance through the hiring process. The results point to the importance of understanding how women are disadvantaged by incarceration and how mass incarceration contributes to racial/ethnic inequality through its effect in the labor market. Several recommendations follow for future research and policies concerning prisoner reentry and the use of criminal record information by employers.
ContributorsOrtiz, Natalie Rose (Author) / Decker, Scott (Thesis advisor) / Spohn, Cassia (Committee member) / Holtfreter, Kristy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This dissertation explores the lives of women who are on the Severely Mentally Ill (SMI) caseload at Maricopa County Adult Probation in Arizona (The Phoenix metro region). The project focuses on three primary issues: (1) what are the pathways to the criminal justice and mental health systems for women on the SMI caseload (2) how does discretion and expansive formal social control (both benevolent and coercive) impact the lives of these women on the SMI caseload and (3) what are the gendered aspects to successful completion of SMI probation. To answer these questions a mixed-methods research design was employed. First, in-depth semi-structured interviews were completed with 65 women on the SMI caseload. Second, these interviews were supplemented with a case file review of each participant, and field observations (encompassing roughly 100 hours) were conducted at the Maricopa County Mental Health Court. Third, analysis also included 5.5 years of quantitative intake data from the SMI caseload, exploring demographic information and risk and assessment needs scores. The biographies of the women on the SMI caseload revealed similar histories of victimization, substance abuse, and relationship difficulty that previous pathways research has noted. Additionally, mental health problems directly impacted the path to the criminal justice system for some women on the SMI caseload. Results also showed many aspects of expanded social control for women on the SMI caseload. This expanded control appeared to be gendered at times and often created double binds for women. Finally, quantitative analysis showed that some predictive factors of SMI probation completion were gendered. Policy implications and summaries of findings are discussed.
ContributorsMulvey, Philip (Author) / Decker, Scott H. (Thesis advisor) / Spohn, Cassia (Committee member) / Holtfreter, Kristy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The effectiveness of community-based reentry programs is dependent on several factors, including financial and human capital resources, a clear organizational mission, the establishment and implementation of evidence-based practices and an effective referral network. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Offender Aid and Restoration (OAR) reentry program in Arlington, Virginia from the client's perspective as well as to identify challenges faced by the organization in meeting the needs of ex-offenders. The study used a mixed methods case study approach using three primary sources of data including a client satisfaction survey, semi-structured staff interviews and the review of client records. Client satisfaction surveys were used to evaluate services received by clients in the reentry program. Staff interviews were conducted to document OAR's service delivery model as well as highlight challenges faced in meeting the needs of ex-offenders. Client case records where reviewed to determine the alignment of needs identified during intake with services provided.The findings of this study show that overall, clients are highly satisfied with services received. Staff interviews indicated a need for additional staff to support program operations, training for program staff, increased funding and community-based resources as a key challenge in meeting the needs of ex-offenders in the program. A review of client case files identified a need for systematic collection and documentation of client goals and outcomes. Implications for theory and practice suggest areas for future research and strategies for implementing effective community-based reentry programs.
ContributorsDean, Sanzanna C (Author) / Svara, James (Thesis advisor) / Spohn, Cassia (Thesis advisor) / Wright, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
There is little doubt that policing is a stressful occupation. Officers must manage a variety of situations, under oftentimes less-than-ideal circumstances. While departments may provide Employee Assistance Programs or a Departmental Psychologist, there is often little support for officers to utilize these services. Certainly, the culture surrounding policing has often acted as an additional barrier for officers to seek out mental healthcare services. What is more, there is a dearth of research examining the experiences of Hispanic/Latinx police officers, as compared to their White or Black counterparts. The current project was conducted in collaboration with the Las Cruces Police Department as part of a larger series of projects. These data include self-report surveys completed by 109 officers of all ranks from within the police department in 2019. I utilized a modified version of Spielberger and colleagues (1981) Police Stress Survey, Cohen’s (1994) Perceived Stress Scale, and Reisig and Mesko’s (2009) procedural justice scale, in addition to questions regarding their personal methods of coping, knowledge of services, and willingness to access services. I examined three research questions. First, what do officers in this department identify as stressful? Second, how are the officers in this department currently coping with stress, including through both prosocial and maladaptive ways? Finally, what barriers do these officers identify to accessing mental healthcare services?
Using a series of regression models, I found that officers generally ranked organizational sources of stress, such as political pressure within the department or inadequate salaries as more stressful than occupational sources of stress, such as writing traffic tickets or going to court. Additionally, while officers generally coped with stress in prosocial ways such as physical fitness or family activities, they did not access departmentally provided services. Importantly, however, these officers indicated a willingness to access specific types of services, such as educational classes or check-ups. Finally, officers predominately identified resource-related barriers, such as knowledge about services, to accessing mental healthcare services. These findings suggest that the culture within policing may be shifting to one that is less stigmatizing towards mental health services and welcome increased knowledge disbursement about such services.
ContributorsPadilla, Kathleen E (Author) / Spohn, Cassia (Thesis advisor) / Decker, Scott (Committee member) / Terrill, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021