Thesis (PH. D.) -- University of Cincinnati, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 214-221).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Supervisor: Aditi Gowri. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (PH.D.) -- Syracuse University, 2004 / "Publication number "

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-127).

Thesis (M.A.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Master of arts in arbitration and dispute resolution, City University of Hong Kong, School of Law. Title from title screen (viewed on Sept. 20, 2006) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Adviser: Donald Clarke. Includes bibliographical references (p. 212-232)

Includes bibliographical references / The thesis researches literacy practices in South Africa's criminal justice system by focusing specifically on the production and flow of police dockets across institutional boundaries in a police station and regional courts renamed Blue Hills police station and Blue Hills regional courts in the Western Cape Province respectively. Through the use of ethnography, the production and flow of police dockets are tracked across three moments - Moment One, Moment Two and Moment Three - in the criminal justice system. The three moments also show how the production of the police docket allows humans and nonhumans to be displaced across these institutional boundaries. Apart from drawing on the New Literacy Studies (also referred to as Literacy Studies in this thesis), the research draws extensively on Actor Network Theory - a theory which argues that the social world and therefore reality are constructed through the creation of networks of associations or networks of relations consisting of human and nonhuman entities. In this study, these associations or relations are referred to as material - semiotic relations. When the relations between human and nonhuman entities achieve some form of stability, that is when they hold, they can have intended and unintended ordering effects on the social world. Therefore, the primary focus of the research is to understand how trans-contextual order is created by building the network of the criminal justice system - referred to as "the network" in this study - through the production of the police docket by police officers (Uniform Branch police officers and detectives) and state prosecutors. The three moments that are identified in the study highlight the complexity of the literacy practices which lead to the production and flow of the police docket across institutional contexts. These moments are snapshots of the possible ways in which the network can be built through assemblies of con figurations of material - semiotic relations. Moment One focuses on the opening of a police docket. During this moment the literacy practices between Uniform Branch police officers and detectives are highlighted when they attempt to classify the crime which should be recorded in the police docket after a member of the public visited the police station to report a possible crime. Moment Two deals with the investigation of crimes. This moment documents the literacy practices of detectives as they attempt to produce written witness statements for inclusion in the police docket from potential state witnesses. The literacy practices that are highlighted here focus on the strategies detectives employ to encode potential state witnesses with meaning and their strategies to ensure that witnesses do make it to court to act as spokespersons on behalf of the network and circulate in the network. Moment Three, the final moment, deals with how state prosecutors animate witnesses and their written witness statements in court so that the network can secure a successful prosecution. By highlighting the literacy practices and text production that characterize the three moments, the research concludes that network stability is contingent on three factors which are inter-related. The first, 'material durability', refers to the level at which material - semiotic relations are successful at staying intact. The second, 'strategic durability', refers to the successes of various strategies (which include specific literacy practices) employed by officials to ensure that entities in the network perform their specific functions in order to ensure trans-contextual stability. Finally, 'discursive stability' refers to institutional ways of measuring productivity in the criminal justice system and which must have trans - contextual reach and ordering effects on literacy and literacy practices across the three moments so that the network can achieve some form of stability.

archives@tulane.edu / In this dissertation, I analyze the development and dissemination of state-level policies to prohibit colleges from considering criminal history for purposes of admissions otherwise known as ban the box in higher education. This research engages with practical and instructive questions of how individuals or coalitions can learn from other policy campaigns to strategically reduce the collateral consequences of criminal convictions. I conducted a collective case study of the first five states to introduce ban the box in higher education legislation, namely New York, Illinois, Maryland, Louisiana, and Washington. I used critical discourse analysis to analyze all available media and social media content to identify where legislation was filed and major stakeholders. I then transcribed and analyzed all available legislative hearings and interviewed key stakeholders to determine the dominant discourses within and across five states. The study found that legislators and advocates evoked the following arguments in opposition to ban the box in higher education: positive self/ negative other, paternalistic decision making, uselessness, and fear of the undeserving. In support, advocates and legislators used arguments that emphasized individual benefits, community benefits, and diversity. Advocates in support also presented personal testimony from formerly incarcerated students and alumni to humanize people with convictions. The findings illuminate possible strategies and barriers to passing supportive policy that reduces collateral consequences and limits the reach of the criminal legal system. / 1 / Annie Phoenix

Abstract The issue addressed in this study was the increasing number of prisoners in U.S. prisons and the related issue of recidivism after release. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of 8 formerly incarcerated adults. The conceptual foundation of this study was based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory and Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development and transformational learning. The research question for this study inquired about how released prisoners perceive their educational experiences in the MTM program. Participants were selected among adults who were incarcerated for at least 12 months and living in the community for at least 3 to 6 months since their release and are participants in a work skills program titled "Men Transforming Men" (MTM), which is designed to develop resilience and productive work skills to increase their ability to find a job. Data were collected from 8 participants in face-to-face interviews. To identify patterns and themes, the data were transcribed and coded using a web-based software application called Dedoose. The results of this study revealed four relevant themes: personal improvement goals, connecting with family and community, early release from prison, and improving their lives outside of prison. Further findings discovered the perception of each participant pertaining to the educational program overwhelmingly voiced their feelings about getting another opportunity to change. The positive social change implications of this research involves reducing the percentage of recidivism rates of formerly incarcerated individuals in the United States by increasing the number of parolees obtaining employment after release from prison.

Recent research has led to a growing awareness that the dominant method of settling criminal cases in the United States involves disposition without trial. The overwhelming majority of criminal cases are settled by guilty pleas, and the majority of guilty plea dispositions involve some kind of bargain on the charge or sentence. The purpose of the present study was to examine and analyze the phenomenon of negotiating the guilty plea in terms of its relationship to the functional needs and ideal goals of the court system. A basic assumption of this study was that case disposition through a bargaining process provides for both functional needs and ideal goals which are not clearly provided for in the trial system. A detailed examination of felony case disposition without trial in one Pacific Northwest urban court system was undertaken to ascertain the precise nature of the bargaining process. Records regarding the nature and outcomes of felony dispositions in 1976 and 1977 were researched, along with information on the formal structure, procedures and pOlicies of the court organization. Interviews with prosecutors, public defenders and judges in the felony court system provided attitudinal data. Observations of guilty plea hearings and negotiation conferences allowed the researcher to record actual activities in the disposition process. The data indicated that the majority of cases were settled by guilty pleas and that the majority of guilty pleas involved some kind of bargain. Plea negotiation in this court system was routinized, formalized and highly structured. The bargaining process was prosecutor-dominated, in part due to the District Attorney Office policy which was noticeably inflexible in terms of bargaining criteria. The one commodity of power held by the defense attorney was strength of case. If the defense could find legal "loopholes" in the state's case, the chances of the defendant getting a good deal improved. This emphasis on legal factors appeared to strengthen the professional orientation as well as the adversary perspective of the opposing attorneys. Pleading guilty to a reduced charge resulted in the greatest likelihood of a defendant receiving a non-incarceration sentence. The majority of reductions were to offenses necessarily included in the initial charge. Conviction by trial resulted in the highest, proportion of incarceration sentences of all closing types. However, there was evidence that circumstances of the case and the defendant were influential regarding the likelihood of incarceration at the sentencing stage. A balancing factor aFpeared to be at work according to comparisons of the 1976 and 1977 data. Changes in the District Attorney Office policy instituted in 1977 expanded the list of non-reducible offenses. While the proportion of trial closings consequently increased for these non-reducible offenses, this increase was offset by a decrease in the proportion of trials for offenses not included in the non-reducible category. Generally, the findings supported the theoretical assumption that disposition by guilty plea negotiation could fulfill functional needs of the court system within a legalistic framework.