Age is one of the most robust correlates of prison misconduct, with younger inmates more likely to commit disciplinary infractions. There has been, however, little attention to the potential nonlinear effect of age on prison misconduct. Most research to date has assumed that the relationship is linear and modeled it as such. In so doing, prior work has been unable to identify the potential nonlinear relationship between age and prison misconduct. This dissertation thus attempts to examine the precise nature of the age-misconduct relationship. Furthermore, it addresses the call for more research that investigates how prison experiences may influence prisoner reentry outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to efforts to advance scholarship and better understand the relationship between age, prison behavior, and recidivism. First, it takes a nuanced look at the potential nonlinear relationship between age and prison misconduct. The approach taken here expands on prior research by examining granular age categories to predict several types of disciplinary infractions. Next, it investigates possible interaction effects of gender and, separately, race/ethnicity on the age-misconduct relationship. Finally, it explores the relationship between age, prison misconduct, and recidivism. Specifically, it examines the relationship between age and types of recidivism and whether various types of misconduct mediate this relationship. This dissertation draws on a Florida Department of Corrections admission cohort from 1995 to 2000 and a release cohort from 1995-2002. Negative binomial regression models were used to examine the relationship between age and prison misconduct and binary logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between age, prison misconduct, and recidivism. The findings of this study shed light on the significance of identifying and understanding the nonlinear relationship between age and prison misconduct, and, further, the mediating effect of misconduct on the age-recidivism relationship. Theory, research, and policy implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions are made regarding future research. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2012. / June 19, 2012. / Age, Corrections, Prison Misconduct, Recidivism / Includes bibliographical references. / Daniel Mears, Professor Directing Dissertation; Melissa Radey, University Representative; William Bales, Committee Member; Sonja Siennick, Committee Member.

The effects of delinquency and criminal behaviors during early adolescence on events over the life course have been well-established in the criminological research. A segment of this research has revealed that the apparent causal relationship between delinquency and later life course events may be due to a third exogenous confounding variable, namely: genetics. While biosocial research has illuminated the need to include recognition of the proportional influence of genetic factors and environmental factors the research lacks an overarching theoretical framework that allows precision in research and guidance for future research. An evolutionary approach may represent such a framework. Employing data from a large national sample of sibling pairs, this project seeks to assess this assertion by analyzing the influence of antisocial behaviors during adolescence on sexual and reproductive strategies over the life course. Three key findings emerged from the analyses. First, the majority of items tapping antisocial behavior and delinquency in adolescence, as well as measures of sexual, reproductive, and relationship behaviors in adulthood were shown to be influenced primarily by genetic and nonshared environmental factors. Second, multivariate analyses revealed that antisocial conduct during adolescence has an effect on sexual/reproductive outcomes in adulthood. However, when genetically sensitive methodologies are employed the association is significantly diminished. Third, even after controlling for the influence of shared genetic factors and shared environmental factors some forms of antisocial behavior in adolescence had an effect on sexual/reproductive behaviors across the life course. The findings are discussed within the context of life history theory and evolutionary psychology. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2013. / June 14, 2013. / EVOLUTIONARY CRIMINOLOGY, EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY, LIFE COURSE CRIMINOLOGY, LIFE HISTORY THEORY, REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR, SEXUAL BEHAVIOR / Includes bibliographical references. / Kevin M. Beaver, Professor Directing Dissertation; Lisa A. Eckel, University Representative; Eric P. Baumer, Committee Member; Eric A. Stewart, Committee Member.

Dr. Matthew Robinson (2004) proposed a new inclusive theory of human criminal behavior, entitled Integrated Systems Theory. This theory put forth by Robinson (2004) and later Robinson and Beaver (2009), hypothesizes that human behavior is far too complex for any one theory or any one behavioral discipline to accurately predict and examine; rather the study of human behavior should include factors from multiple theories and disciplines. Integrated Systems Theory hypothesizes that human behavior is influenced by multiple factors across the life course, both biological and environmental. These proposed factors are exhaustive and include six different levels of influence, the cellular level, the organ level, the organism level, the group level, the community level, and the societal level. These factors include, but are not limited to, deviant peers, brain development, toxin exposure, genetic functioning, neighborhood characteristics, family structure, routine activities, and gender and racial inequality across the societal level. Integrated System Theory further expounds upon its hypotheses by positing that while these various factors all influence behavioral development, one key relationship also plays an important role, the interplay between genes and environment. It hypothesizes that all human behaviors are the result of interactions between genes and the environments that an individual is exposed to across the life course (Robinson, 2004; Robinson & Beaver, 2009). Currently, due to the exhaustive nature of this theory no empirical study has yet sought to test its various tenants. Therefore, this dissertation seeks to examine facets of this theory by focusing on the role played by both biological and social factors in the prediction of antisocial phenotypes. Focusing on the risks of prefrontal cortex development, cumulative genetic risk, deviant peers, maternal risk, socioeconomic status, school attachment, and neighborhood disadvantage, the influence of these contributors upon human behavior will be examined. Further, gene-environment interaction terms will be developed between cumulative genetic risk and the chosen environmental risks, to determine if these five different gene-environment interaction terms are strong contributors to antisocial phenotypes. To determine the relationship between these environmental and genetic factors in influencing human behavior, a range of antisocial outcomes will be predicted within negative binomial models. Outcomes include drug abuse, violent crime, property crime, and arrest rates. This dissertation seeks to determine if tenants of the Integrated Systems Theory are supported or refuted by the data and analyses. Results generated within the analyses indicated partial support for Integrated Systems Theory. Within the models brain development played a significant role in behavioral development. The importance of direct environmental effects were also generally supported within the data; deviant peer and school attachment emerged as some of the more robust environment contributors to antisocial phenotypes. Direct genetic effect failed to display consistent predictive power across the various negative outcomes. The importance of gene-environment interplay was generally supported within the models as well, especially when interacting with deviant peers and in the prediction of drug abuse and arrests rates. The meaning of the results, potential limitations, and contribution to the literature are discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2013. / June 17, 2013. / Biosocial, Criminology, Gene-Environment Interplay / Includes bibliographical references. / Kevin M. Beaver, Professor Directing Dissertation; Anne Barrett, University Representative; Eric Stewart, Committee Member; Patricia Warren Hightower, Committee Member.

Social threat theory argues that the dominant group can be threatened in a variety of ways by minorities. Illegal immigrants are an example of one such group that has been described as posing a threat. Illegal immigrants have been identified by some as criminally, culturally, and economically problematic for native-born Americans. However, prior research on social threat has rarely examined perceptions regarding illegal immigrants. This research uses data from a telephone survey of a random sample of adults in the United States (N=1534) to test several of the propositions of social threat theory as they relate to illegal immigrants. Specifically, this study tests how contextual threat influences both perceptions of threat and punitive attitudes as well as how perceived threat affects support for punitive controls. Not only is this study one of the first to focus specifically on illegal immigrants, but it also examines multiple links in the theory's causal chain, making it perhaps the most thorough test to date. Overall, findings are supportive of social threat theory. Individuals who live in more threatening contexts, as indicated by a dynamic measure of the exposure of non-Latinos to Latinos, perceive more criminal, cultural, and economic threat from illegal immigrants. These individuals are also more likely to express support for both border and internal controls. Additionally, all types of perceived threat considered here are significant predictors of support for the punitive controls. Additional analyses suggest the effect of perceived threat may vary by subsample. Most notably, there is evidence of a ceiling effect for conservative respondents. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2013. / June 5, 2013. / Immigration, Public opinion, Social control, Social threat / Includes bibliographical references. / Ted Chiricos, Professor Directing Dissertation; Kathryn Tillman, University Representative; Gary Kleck, Committee Member; Brian Stults, Committee Member.

Prior neighborhood crime research has sought to explain differences in crime between black and white communities using such criminological theories as social disorganization and concentrated disadvantage. While supportive in their findings, these perspectives did not explain the entirety of neighborhood crime differences. The current study attempts to add to this literature by integrating concepts from the larger urban sociological tradition from which criminology grew out of, such as spatial assimilation and place stratification. Research in this tradition has found that African Americans have not been able to translate higher levels of income into more desirable communities, including those with low crime rates, due to a dual housing market steering them away from the best residential areas in a city. By including city level measures that could either eliminate or dampen the efforts of these channeling processes, the hierarchical linear models used found support for variations in place stratification across urban and suburban areas. However, convergence in crime levels for white and black communities was dependent on the social class of the community and crime type. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2014. / April 4, 2014. / Crime, Neighborhoods, Place Stratification, Race, Spatial Assimilation / Includes bibliographical references. / Brian J. Stults, Professor Directing Dissertation; Rebecca Miles, University Representative; Eric P. Baumer, Committee Member; Eric A. Stewart, Committee Member.

There is evidence in the literature that regulation may be a more efficient means of harm reduction in prostitution than criminalization. However, prostitution is illegal everywhere in the United States except for eight counties in Nevada where regulated brothels are licensed. Studies indicate these brothels are effective at controlling the violence, sexually transmitted diseases, and community disorder typically associated with prostitution. What remains unknown is whether they deter demand for illegal prostitution, which remains plagued by these harms. Comparisons of prostitution arrest rates among counties with and without brothels in Nevada, prostitution arrest rates among all U.S. states, and drug arrest rates among counties in Nevada were completed. While existing data are largely insufficient for evaluating the viability of Nevada's legal brothels as model alternatives to criminalization, it is clear that the brothels, which are located in Nevada's more rural areas, do not adequately address illegal prostitution in urban areas. Debate about the appropriateness of legalization will continue. Nevertheless, some consensus options, such as increasing access to resources for women trying to escape prostitution and emphasizing demand-side controls over supply-side controls, have emerged. / A Thesis Submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester, 2010. / October 20, 2010. / Nevada, brothels, prostitutes, prostitution, legalization, regulation, harm reduction, violence, women, sex, disease, community disorder / Includes bibliographical references. / Daniel Mears, Professor Directing Thesis; Sonja Siennick, Committee Member; William Bales, Committee Member.

The impact of victim SP on the outcomes in a given criminal events has rarely been examined or fully understood. This study develops a new theory of victimization, which I will refer to as the Power Advantage Theory (PAT), that holds crime victimization is completed only when there are motivated offenders who have contact to victims and possess physical or psychological power advantage over the victims. Based on PAT, this study assesses the impact of 16 types of victim self protection (SP) actions on three types of outcomes of criminal incidents: whether the incident resulted in property loss, whether it resulted in injury to the victim, and whether it resulted in serious injury. Data on 27,595 personal contact crime incidents recorded in the National Crime Victimization Survey for 1992-2001 are used to estimate multivariate models of crime outcomes with logistic regression. Results indicate that self-protection in general reduces the likelihood of property loss and injury, compared to nonresistance. A variety of mostly forceful tactics, including resistance with a gun, appear to have the strongest effects reducing the risk of injury, though some of the findings were unstable due to the small numbers of sample cases of such resistance. The appearance, in past research, of resistance contributing to injury is found to be largely attributable to confusion concerning the sequence of SP actions and injury. In crimes where both occurred, injury followed SP in only 10 percent of the incidents. Combined with the fact that injuries following resistance are almost always relatively minor, victim resistance appears to be generally a wise course of action. In two auxiliary test, it was found that victims used forceful self-protection, especially weapon use and defensive gun use, in the most adverse circumstances and that victims' perceptions of the efficacy of SP were much more favorable than those implied by rates of actual post-SP injury although two measures were highly significantly correlated. These findings imply that actual effects of SP may be stronger than they appear to be in the previous study. Taken together, the results of three empirical tests generally support the hypotheses of PAT. / A Dissertation Submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2005. / June 24, 2005. / Power Advantage Theory, Victimology, Self-Defense, Self-Protection, Victim Resistance / Includes bibliographical references. / Gary Kleck, Professor Directing Dissertation; James Orcutt, Outside Committee Member; Spencer Li, Committee Member.

The deskilling of labor and the loss of social networking has accounted for part of the crime problem in recent decades. Vocational training and other correctional programming is meant to reverse the effects of these problems by providing inmates with usable, legal, and employable skills. Over the last five to ten years, the role of rehabilitative services has become highly questionable. The lack of confidence in such services has led to a decline in the number and type of prison programming available to inmates. In addition, fiscal concerns on the part of privately owned correctional industries have sharpened this decline. This paper reports results of an evaluation performed on PRIDE Enterprises, one of the largest providers of privately operated inmate vocational training in Florida, in regards to its effect on inmates' post release employment and recidivism. This study found that working in the vocational program, PRIDE, significantly increases the likelihood of the participant being employed after release. This study also found that PRIDE has no direct effect on recidivism. / A Thesis Submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2005. / July 6, 2005. / Vocational Training, Life Course, Social Capital, Recidivism / Includes bibliographical references. / Gordon Waldo, Professor Directing Thesis; William Bales, Committee Member; Marc Gertz, Committee Member.

Spohn and Holleran (2002) have stated that "little evidence exists that the crime control polices pursued during the past 20 years have produced a predicted reduction in crime (p. 336)." This sentiment has been voice by many researchers for the last 30 years. As early as 1973, the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, concluded that "the prison, the reformatory and the jail have achieved only a shocking record of failure (p. 358)," and recommended that "no new institutions for adults should be built" (p. 358). Notably absent from the literature are studies that examine the effectiveness of sentencing policies that incarcerate offenders with their effectiveness to reduce recidivism. This study responds to this void in the prior literature on incarceration and recidivism. The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of Florida's Minimum 85% Sentence Served Law on recidivism rates. Specifically, what is the effect of the 85% law on the probability of recidivism among released inmates and does the effect vary across different demographic characteristics, offense categories or prior recidivism events? The major findings are that sentencing offenders to serve at least 85% of their court-imposed sentence significantly reduces the probability of recidivism regardless of the time served incarcerated. It was found that the 85% law reduces the likelihood of recidivism among violent and drug offenders. Moreover, when evaluating the effectiveness of the 85% law across different types of offender demographic characteristics it was found that the effect of the 85% law on recidivism was statistically greater for younger than older offenders, males than females and blacks than whites. However, the 85% law had an equivalent effect on recidivism for Hispanic's and non-Hispanics. Finally, the effect of 85% law in reducing recidivism is greater for those with more prior recidivism events. The findings from this study lend support that punishment certainty may explain the consistent impact of the 85% law on recidivism rates. Since the length of sentence and numerous known recidivism factors were controlled for, certainty of punishment may explain the findings. After serving 85% of their court imposed sentence some people may reason that the cost-benefit calculation of the consequence of doing another 85% of a sentence is too costly. While the 85% law has been shown to be an effective sentencing policy, as shown by the reduction in recidivism, it has not been determined what it is about the policy that reduces the likelihood of recidivism. However, these findings do suggest that states contemplating a move towards a more determinate sentencing strategy will not necessarily experience increased prison populations and the associated increase in correctional expenditures. The differential effects presented in this study suggest policymakers could change sentencing policies to those it has the biggest impact (i.e., age 20 to 40 year olds, those with prior recidivism events and drug or violent offenses). This would potentially reduce the growing impact on the prison system while maintaining public safety. Future studies should focus on the 85% laws theoretical underpinnings, cost-effectiveness, impact on crime rates, effect on ex-offender behavior and if the results found in this study can be replicated in other states. / A Dissertation Submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2010. / April 1, 2010. / Policy, Recidivism, Sentencing / Includes bibliographical references. / Thomas G. Blomberg, Professor Directing Dissertation; Joyce Carbonell, University Representative; William Bales, Committee Member.

Labeling theory studies have generally focused on the creation of secondary deviance through the process of internalizing the applied label. The combination of labeling theory studies focusing on secondary deviance and the belief that labeling theory was 'dead' as of the 1980s has created a dearth of research regarding the impact of labels on criminal or juvenile justice processing. The purpose of the current study is to determine if there is a relationship between the gang member label and juvenile justice decisions at three stages: (1) intake, (2) disposition, and (3) incarceration release. There are a total of five primary findings related to the impact of the gang member label on juvenile justice recommendations and incarceration length. Three of the five findings are significant (p<.05), including one intake decision, one disposition decision, and the length of incarceration. These three findings all support the hypothesis that the gang member label increases the severity of the recommendation and the number of days incarcerated. Variables representing the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice staffs' perception of offender attitudes are incorporated into the analyses to determine if these variables mediate the hypothesized relationship between the gang member label and juvenile justice decisions. The findings weakly support the hypothesis that perceptions of the offenders will partially mediate the relationship between the gang member label and recommendation severity or the number of days incarcerated. However, the variables only mediate a small portion of the impact of the gang member label on the dependent variables. Finally, interaction terms are included in the analyses to see if the hypothesized impact of the gang member label on juvenile justice decision-making varies based on individual characteristics (e.g., race, sex). The hypothesis that the impact of the gang member label will vary based on demographic characteristics is largely unsupported. / A Dissertation Submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2010. / April 19, 2010. / Labeling, Gangs, Juveniles / Includes bibliographical references. / Gary Kleck, Professor Directing Dissertation; Irene Padavic, University Representative; William Bales, Committee Member; William Doerner, Committee Member.