While a growing body of literature in the field of criminal justice documents the relationship between victimization and offending, only recently has this knowledge been applied to the study of intimate partner violence (IPV). Accordingly, questions remain with regard to the theoretical origins of mutual violence between intimates. In an effort to fill this void in the literature, the current study examines the etiology of moderate forms of mutual IPV, specifically assessing self-control theory's applicability to the victim-offender overlap in IPV. Data were obtained from Waves I and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to investigate whether low self-control at Wave I predicts IPV victimization, IPV offending, or both IPV victimization and offending at Wave IV. The present study extends prior literature examining the role of self-control in IPV by (1) investigating the influence of self-control on the victim-offender overlap in IPV, (2) using longitudinal data, and (3) utilizing a sample of U.S. adults ages 24 to 33. While low self-control was found to significantly predict IPV offending and the overlap in IPV victimization and offending, low self-control failed to significantly predict IPV victimization. Policy implications, study limitations, and directions for future research …

The primary goal of this study was to investigate the awareness and prevalence of Spice and K2 usage among a population of college students, as well as the demographics of such users. The study also sought to determine whether or not students prefer these products over natural cannabis, in addition to examining the most popular methods of obtainment and the most commonly reported side effects of K2 and Spice usage. Participants consisted of 643 undergraduate students enrolled at the University of North Texas during the fall 2011 semester. Findings indicate that while students exhibit a relatively high awareness of K2 and Spice, usage of these products is not a prevalent occurrence. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Numerous studies have been conducted to determine predictors of perceptions and attitudes toward police. Less effort has been spent on determining university and college students' perceptions of campus police departments. The purpose of this thesis was to fill this gap in the literature with an added emphasis on exploring potential differences in perceptions between students involved in Greek Life organizations and students not involved in Greek Life organizations. Prior literature found that Greek Life students engage in risk-taking behaviors at higher rates than their counterparts, so it was hypothesized that Greek Life students would have higher levels of distrust in the campus police due to their increased engagement in risk-taking behaviors. The survey questionnaire measuring trust and procedural justice/legitimacy perceptions of campus police was distributed through convenience sampling to university students. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, and multivariate analyses were utilized to analyze the data. The results showed that students overall had positive perceptions of campus police, that Greek Life students had more negative perceptions of the campus police than non-Greek Life students, and that students with prior interactions with the campus police were more likely to perceive the police to be less procedurally just/legitimate. Race/ethnicity was not found to be …

Electronic commerce was expected to grow exponentially, but the actual rate of growth in recent years has been disappointing. Recent surveys of perceptions of the development of electronic commerce clearly focus our attention on the perception and fear of computer crime as the major cause of this disappointing growth pattern. The thesis critiques existing private law solutions to this problem and argues from a normative theory on “the commons” for the application of new public law enforcement solutions in the public trust, sanctions, and public coproduction of order. The thesis argues that given the failures of existing private law solutions to the problem, these public law enforcement solutions should be more effective, efficient, and more satisfactory.

Terrorism has been claimed to be a major problem by hundreds of thousands of people in the international arena for years. Either it has been very difficult to determine and understand the reasons for terrorism, or those reasons have never been studied because of the immediate threat of terrorism. This research analyzed the recruitment process of terrorists by studying the DHKP/C terrorist organization and by answering the following questions. The first is "What factors are correlated with joining a terrorist organization?" And the second is "What is the recruitment process of the DHKP/C?" IN the course of this research, I used specific reports written by DHKP/C members and personal experience to come to better understanding of the motivation behind terrorism and the process by which people are recruited in the terrorist organizations.

Research has shown that the police industry has entered into an era of homeland security. However, whether the core functions of policing have significantly changed since September 11, 2001, has been the topic of considerable debate. Using secondary data, the research identifies variables that are most influential in predicting whether Texas police chiefs understand their departments’ homeland security roles and responsibilities. The data was originally obtained in 2007 through self-administered surveys of police chiefs attending the Texas Chief Leadership Series (TPCLS) and the New Chief Development Program (NCDP).

Even if the main criminals of an organization are incarcerated, they will be replaced by others who would continue illegal activities, unless their financial assets are removed. Thus, civil forfeiture intends to dismantle the economic infrastructure of drug trafficking networks. Civil forfeiture considers the property as guilty, rather than the owner, and it may exist even if there is not a criminal action. Therefore, it is claimed that police agencies have chosen easy targets, such as wealthy drug users rather than major drug traffickers. Consequently, it has been particularly challenged on the basis of the Excessive Fines, Double Jeopardy, and Due Process Clauses. The use of criminal forfeiture instead of civil forfeiture and the elimination of the equitable sharing provision are considered to be the primary solutions.

The primary goal of this thesis is to provide a comparative analysis of the institutional and organizational mechanisms designed to monitor and control political corruption at the national level. The paper will provide comparisons of these arraignments and control systems across three nations. The thesis will identify differences across countries in terms of organizational and institutional political corruption control mechanisms, and use the CPI index to suggest and identify those control mechanisms that appear to be present in nations with low CPI measurements. Finally, the thesis will conclude with the discussion concerning the future prospects for controlling political corruption in Turkey based on the comparative analysis described above.

This treatise represents a descriptive study of the intelligence community in the United States. It explores the ramifications of terrorism on the intelligence function, post September 11, 2001. In-depth discussions concerning the structure of the U.S. intelligence community are presented as well as a focus on the defined steps of the intelligence process: planning and directions, collection, analysis, production, and dissemination. The final aspect of this study poses questions and issues relating to the restructuring of the U.S. intelligence community in light of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

Each year over half a million children are victims of childhood maltreatment. While a plethora of interdisciplinary research has evaluated the detrimental outcomes of these experiences, few studies have analyzed the effects contextual components of child abuse and neglect can have on the life-course of maltreated youth. Juvenile delinquency has been identified as a prominent outcome of maltreatment, however, a lesser portion of the empirical literature has focused on outcomes among more serious justice-involved juveniles. This study analyzed the effects of childhood maltreatment severity on the recidivism outcomes of 853 blended-sentenced juveniles in a large southern state. Previous studies demonstrated worsened outcomes associated with more severe maltreatment, thus higher recidivism rates were expected for more severely maltreated juveniles. The results indicated only sexual abuse severity impacted recidivism rates, and the direction of the relationship was negative. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

The primary goal of this study was to analyze the characteristics of current registered sex offenders in Collin County, Texas, as well as to compare age and gender of the victims of these offenders in order to know who sex offenders primarily target in these crimes. The study also sought to discover geographic patterns of where the registered sex offenders reside for the purpose of keeping communities aware. Participants consisted of 175 registered sex offenders (N = 175) in Collin County, Texas, found on Collin County's and the Texas Department of Public Safety's online public registries. The findings demonstrate that there were significant trends among the sex offenders, their victims, location of residence, and housing complications as a result of progressing sex offender laws. Treatment programs and the reintegration of offenders in the community were also addressed. The meaning of the results in this study can aid in the development of safety and prevention strategies, provide an understanding about the utilization of sex offender registries, and can benefit law enforcement to predict the movement of current sex offenders, along with knowing where to find other potential offenders.

Juvenile homicide offenders pose a significant risk to society considering the severity of the crime, yet this population of delinquents receives little attention in terms of recidivism research. This study examined the recidivism outcomes of a group of 256 determinately sentenced homicide offenders in Texas. Each of these juveniles had be confined to and subsequently release from the Texas Youth Commission, and were followed for three years following release. The aim of this research study was to distinguish recidivists from non-recidivists across demographic, delinquent history, and risk factor measures. These same measures were then used to predict recidivism among the entire sample. Overall, the measures of race, gender, and previous delinquent adjudications emerged significant. First, Black youth were significantly more likely to recidivate than both Hispanic and White youth. Additionally, recidivism among males was significantly greater than non-recidivism among males. In contrast, there were fewer females in recidivist group than the non-recidivist group. Finally, youth with a greater number of previous delinquent adjudications were significantly more likely to recidivate, and the risk of recidivism increased as the number of previous adjudications increased. These findings are consistent with previous literature and indicate that these factors are prevalent in analyzing the recidivist …

This exploratory study investigated the relationship between attachment style and offense types of juvenile offenders to determine whether there were commonalities among the cohort and their attachment style. Much of the peer-reviewed literature focuses on adult sex offenders and attachment style but neglects the juvenile population. The present study utilized secondary data from the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) which included adjudicated juveniles with Positive Achievement Change Tool (PACT) data (n = 4,521) from 2009 to 2013. Juveniles were grouped into three attachment groups (secure, anxious-avoidant, or other) based on attachment correlates found in their PACT data. Logistic regression analyses were then used to investigate the relationship between attachment styles and offense types among the adjudicated juveniles. Results indicated that attachment style does not have an overwhelming influence on offense type of juvenile offenders. However, juveniles with an attachment style other than secure or anxious-avoidant were more likely to be adjudicated for assault/aggravated assault, sexual assault/aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, and other offenses not captured. Whereas juveniles with an anxious-avoidant attachment are at increased odds of being adjudicated for drug offenses. However, it should be noted that juveniles adjudicated for sexual assault/aggravated sexual assault with an anxious-avoidant attachment style reflected a …

With criminal cases continuing to be exonerated across the United States, research must be done on the subject to advance current practices to reduce its occurrence in the future. This study combines county population data with the National Registry of Exonerations to analyze the contributing factors to wrongful convictions and the possible effect of population on their frequency. The objective of this study was to identify specific policy changes based on the five contributing factors to wrongful convictions that could be applied to population specific areas. The results yielded multiple patterns that are discussed thoroughly. These findings allowed the introduction of policy changes and proposals for future research.

Sexual victimization is a pervasive mental and physical health issue with overarching implications for university campuses and victim service providers alike. While a large expanse of research exists on sexual violence and the factors associated with victimization, less is known about the potentially unique experiences faced by Black college women in particular. Utilizing data collected by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study examines the prevalence of college sexual victimization, levels of social support for victims and non-victims, intimate partner sexual victimization (IPSV), and the predictability of self-esteem on sexual victimization. In addition, comparisons are made between Black college women and their White counterparts. After conducting multiple t-tests and logistic regression analyses, results indicated that Black college women were more likely to experience IPSV than White college women, and Black college women received less social support following sexual victimization than Black non-victims. These findings can help in establishing more efficient and accessible assistance for victims.

The primary goal of this study was to analyze existing racial profiling data collected and reported by law enforcement agencies in Texas. The internet-based data used was obtained through TCOLE, as it is the state mandated repository in which all law enforcement agencies must submit their annual racial profiling reports to. In analyzing a collection requirement of these reports, this study sought to determine how frequently law enforcement officers know the race or ethnicity of drivers prior to traffic stops. Furthermore, the study sought to determine if there are differences in the rates of race or ethnicity known prior to stops across Texas geographical regions, county population sizes, agency types, as well as between counties with and without interstate thoroughfares. This analysis consisted of 3,250,984 traffic stops conducted by 1,186 law enforcement agencies in 2014. Findings revealed that law enforcement officers rarely know the race or ethnicity of drivers prior to traffic stops, as was consistently found across all measures. Findings and implications are discussed.

This two-part study of the criminal investigation process first evaluated the frequency with which patrol officers solve cases assigned to the investigations division and then examined how detectives spent their time, both on case assignments and on other activity not related to current case assignment. Cases assigned to the investigations division for follow up were examined to determine how often a case was cleared by the patrol officer. The detective's time was then evaluated in order to determine how much time detectives spent on investigative tasks and other activities. This study confirms that the patrol officer should be given more time to conduct preliminary investigations for specific cases, and that tasks performed by detectives could be shifted to other personnel in the department. Both actions should serve to positively impact case clearance rates.

Comprising many airplanes, airports, aircrew, and employees, aviation industry is a large sector that is very vulnerable to attacks, whether it is from terrorists or criminals. Aviation history is fraught with examples of airport bombings, hijackings, and sabotage terrorist attacks. The most destructive of which is the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the cornerstone of today's aviation security policies. This study uses risk assessment tools to determine the dimensions of danger and threats against the aviation industry and addresses how vulnerable the aviation sector is. After vulnerabilities and threats are examined, possible impacts of attacks against the aviation security are discussed. This study also explores the pre and post September 11 policies that governments and policy makers develop to reduce risks in aviation sector. In addition, it discusses weaknesses and strengths of these policies which surfaced during the implementations. Finally, this study proposes some recommendations based on vulnerabilities and threats of aviation security.

The work of a police officer is stressful and could potentially lead to burnout. As a result, a variety of reactions may occur which include, cynicism, abuse of authority, and in extreme cases suicide. One method which has been proven to be effective in treating officer stress is counseling; however, because of the policing subculture the opportunity to seek counseling has been ignored. In order to successfully manage officer stress, the subculture must be dealt with. Additionally, the officers' family must also be acknowledged as being affected by officer burnout. Counseling services must be made available to the officer's family and through training they can become a source of support instead of an added source of stress to the officer.

Transnational organized crime has been prevalent during the last century, but it recently has been recognized as a threat to the world order. Governments throughout the world, along with the intergovernmental organizations identified this phenomenon as a new threat to domestic and international security. This paper attempts to explain the impacts of transnational organized crime on the functioning of democratic societies by adopting the Russian Organized Crime as case study. The descriptive research with regard to definition, scope and organization of transnational organized crime, along with the objectives, limitations and methodology of this research will be included in the first chapter. Recent trends observed in organized crime`s character and the impact of organized crime on the political economies of democratic regimes will be contained in the following chapters. Pre-conditions for a broader response to transnational organized crime and conclusive remarks will be the context of the last chapter.

Change in government has characterized the development of most nations. Sometimes this change has been marked by continued evolution, in a peaceful attempt to move forward. Other times, change has been fraught with violent revolution and terrorism. This process has been the subject of much debate by political scientists and economic philosophers. Today, Turkey suffers from continued threats to its government through violent acts of terrorism conducted by various groups, expressing ideologies of leftist and rightist organizations, as well as ethnic and religious extremists. This thesis examines DHKP/C as the primary leftist revolutionary group effecting Turkey, exploring its historical background in Europe and the Middle East, as well as its philosophical link to Marxism. Further, this treatise discusses the implication of revolution and terrorism expressed by DHKP/C; and explores innovative and peaceful solutions, strategies, and techniques to be used by the police forces of Turkey in combating this group

This research seeks to understand the reasons for failures of Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat, and Ehud Barak's Camp David Summit that was held in July, 2000. The Summit was arranged to complete the last phase of Oslo Peace Process. Numerous researches have attempted to reveal the facts of the summit but, so far, they have failed to present the complete details of what happened before, during, and after the summit. This research explores all aspects of the problem including the various variables that would have had effected the breakdown of the Middle East peace process. Finally, the researcher determines the parameters needed to maintain a substantial peace in the Middle East and what proposed strategies might be followed in order to avoid the previous mistakes in future peace negotiations.