For decades, the United States has fought a “War on Drugs” with no success. This war has led to substantial increases in the number of individuals incarcerated in the United States prison system. The following dissertation investigates the impact of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (FSA 2010) on sentencing decisions for crack and powder cocaine offenders sentenced in the federal system. The FSA 2010 is a federal policy that reduced the crack-to-powder cocaine quantity from 100-to1 to 18-to-1 in an effort to reduce racial/ethnic disparity in sentencing associated with harsh penalties. Specifically, I examined federal crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenders sentenced during the years 2005-2009 (pre-FSA 2010) and 2011-2015 (post-FSA 2010). I begin with a discussion of how the social construction of drug use has framed society’s ideas about drugs and how drug offenders should be handled. Second, I outline how the perceived threat of racial/ethnic minorities has contributed the disproportionate number of racial/ethnic minorities in the United States prison system. Data for these analyses are drawn from the United States Sentencing Commission’s (USSC) Monitoring of the Federal Criminal Sentences program for the years 2005-2015 and state data from the American Community Survey, the United States Federal Election Commission, and the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. Multilevel analyses were used to examine the influence of extralegal, legal, and contextual factors on the incarceration decision and the determination of sentence length for federal drug offenders. Results revealed that the FSA 2010 has had some influence on federal sentencing decisions after its introduction. Additional analyses examined sentencing decisions for federal cocaine and methamphetamine offenses to determine whether the factors influencing sentencing decisions for federal drug offenders vary by drug type. The existing literature shows that cocaine and methamphetamine have been socially constructed in different ways, with cocaine production and use framed as a crime problem and methamphetamine as a public health concern. Supplemental analyses revealed that there was no substantive significance in the sentencing outcomes for federal cocaine and methamphetamine offenders. Theoretical and policy implications, limitations, and directions of future research are discussed.

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This dissertation conceptualized and evaluated the moderating effect of the treatment group on treatment responsiveness and recidivism among a sample of drug-involved offenders who received in-prison substance abuse treatment. Few studies of drug treatment simultaneously consider individual level variables and the context of group treatment. Those that have typically operationalize the treatment context with organizational indicators such as attributes of the staff, staff perceptions of the program, therapeutic orientation, and program accreditation. In contrast, the current work operationalized context from the perspective of the participant using as indicators client-based measures of treatment progress and satisfaction. The study expands existing theoretical models and extends what is known about treatment effectiveness by considering how the social group - the collection of individuals that constitute the prison unit in which the inmates received their 12 months of substance abuse treatment - may or may not moderate the influence of psychosocial functioning and treatment process variables and later outcomes. Such moderating impacts have theoretical implications for understanding the connections between treatment context, individual differences, and outcomes. Moderating impacts also have implications for the ways practitioners monitor treatment group climate and processes, thereby potentially improving service delivery. Finally, the present study contributes to the treatment literature by examining group influences of treatment on measures of recidivism - reincarceration and rearrest - that are of particular interest to practitioners and policymakers. The research was guided by three central questions: 1) Do significant differences on recidivism exist between treatment groups? 2) Does the treatment group moderate the impacts of psychosocial and treatment process variables on recidivism? 3) Does treatment modality have an effect on recidivism? To examine these questions, data from an evaluation of the treatment programs at the State Correctional Institution (SCI) at Chester, PA, were used (Welsh, 2006). The sample consisted of 618 adult male offenders who were randomly assigned to either the therapeutic community (TC) or the less-intensive group counseling treatment modality, each of which was 12 months in duration. A multilevel framework was applied to the data, as the offenders (level-1) were nested within 12 treatment units (level-2) in a single prison. The level-2 grouping was the prison unit where the offenders were housed and where they participated in the 12 months of treatment, and these units can be considered self-contained treatment programs. The predictors of primary importance were treatment responsiveness measures that were collected in the last month of the treatment experience. These included second-order factor analysis scores of measures of depression, anxiety, hostility, therapeutic engagement, trust in the treatment group, and peer support among others. Each was theoretically and empirically related to group functioning and later outcomes. Controls for other factors related to reoffending included time at risk, prior substance abuse and criminal history, age and race/ethnicity of the offender. These variables were all entered at level-1. A single level-2 variable was entered to examine and control for the effect of the type of treatment received (TC or group counseling). The data were analyzed using hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM). This was the appropriate method because the data were nested and the outcomes were the binary measures of reincarceration and rearrest. Notably, multilevel models revealed significant variation on the reincarceration outcome across treatment units (level-2), controlling for treatment modality. This supported the first hypothesis that treatment effects could be attributed to something other than individual level variables or type of treatment received. A similar significant finding across treatment units (level-2), however, was not detected for the rearrest variable. Further, this method allowed for the examination of treatment group impacts on the individual psychosocial functioning and treatment process measures controlling for the type of treatment received. The second hypothesis stated that the treatment group would differentially affect the impact of these variables on recidivism. To reduce the number of individual-level predictors, the various subscales were entered into a second order principal components factor analysis. Three factors emerged: negative affect, positive attitude, and treatment satisfaction. Controlling for the composition of the group, the negative affect factor had a significant, positive direct effect on reincarceration. When the slopes of the three factors were allowed to vary, the model with treatment satisfaction and positive attitude as random effects fit the model best, as the treatment group significantly affected the impact these variables had on reincarceration. With regard to the third research question, in no analyses conducted did the treatment modality have a significant effect on the outcome. The third hypothesis that stated TC participants would have lower rates of reincarceration and rearrest, therefore, was not supported. This was a surprising result, as TCs have been found to be effective at reducing recidivism in previous research. In none of the existing studies, however, did the comparison group receive professional treatment services as the group counseling participants at SCI-Chester received. Several findings have implications for treatment research and policy. First, reincarceration significantly varied across the treatment units, even when controlling for the treatment modality and time at risk in the community. Second, the analysis of level-2 group impacts on individual level variables and recidivism were new contributions to the research in this area. These findings have implications for both theory (macro-to-micro theoretical effects of substance abuse treatment) and treatment delivery to those in prison. This research supported the first and second hypotheses that the group-level dimensions of prison-based substance abuse treatment have not been adequately considered in prior studies. This study takes an important first step in the direction of a more complete view of treatment experiences and outcomes that considers individuals nested within treatment groups. / Criminal Justice

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the provincial system for administering justice in rural Ontario was criticized in the press and by some local justice officials in the counties. Criticisms were in response to apparent moments of criminal crisis. The public learned about the crimes of violent groups and gangs mainly through the press. There were stories of sensational property crime, violent attempts at social control, and more rarely, vigilantism. Ontario, however, appeared to be a peaceable province, which moderated calls for improvement in the system. The slow pace of reform, and evidence of a system that functioned well under most circumstances, suggests that the province had only marginal interest in reform. An antiquated system of rural constables was useful to critics advocating reform. In some cases however, the local knowledge of the county constable complimented the investigative strength of the provincial detectives. The rise of the Ontario Provincial Police in the 1910s and 1920s promised a change for the better, but the force was not designed to meet the needs of rural Ontarians, and did not take over rural policing until 1929. The challenges faced by the force in its early years, as well as issues of performance, leaves open for consideration the extent to which crime management in rural Ontario actually improved. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Yes / The Internet has become a vital part of our daily lives in the last two decades. However, as a double-edged sword, such reliance has increased the chance of being targeted by various cybercrimes, including cyberstalking. Furthermore, when the crime transcends into the real world, it can result in rape and even murder. Hence, the MYStalk Alert application aims at helping and facilitating the victims of stalking and victims of harassment generally to understand, cope, and document their experience on the crime for a compelling trail of evidence in the criminal justice process. This Application aims to remedy the circumstances by giving access to users to the features that make it easy to document the evidence and provides them with available information on the crime and the legal landscape of stalking in Malaysia. Furthermore, MYStalk Alert also focused on the user’s physical and psychological by providing self-assessment and tips for the wellbeing including mental health test under the feature of victims’ support. The Application is a first of its kind in Malaysia and aims to support victims of stalking in getting the justice they deserved. The preliminary findings revealed contradictory views on the effective response of the criminal justice system towards cyberstalking, which explains the under-reporting of such crime. Significantly, the findings illustrate that the current Malaysian legal framework on cyberstalking is deficient in protecting cyberstalking victims, which calls for an urgent need for a review in the Malaysian laws. / This work was supported by research grant FRGS/1/2019/SSI10/UITM/02/2 by the Research Management Centre, UiTM Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.

Serial murder investigations are normally hard for police to handle because of problems that appear internal and external to the police department. While the traditional techniques of investigating a crime (presence witness or witnesses, collecting evidence, and obtaining a confession from the suspect) are helpful in normal situations, their rare application to serial murder cases is only further complicated by other issues. This recognition of investigative issues is critical for not only apprehending these dangerous types of individuals but also for preventing more murders. Case studies of six serial killers have been examined to clarify the issues, using the traditional techniques of investigation as a reference. The data have been interpreted in terms of the factors present in helping to apprehend the offender as well as the problems that hindered the investigation. A final discussion of solutions and the identification of other problems that have not been previously addressed in other works are offered. It is imperative to take note of these issues and work to diminish and/or resolve them for more effectively pursuing serial killers. With acknowledgement of where law enforcement is deficient, a larger effort can be made to not only minimize but possibly even eliminate the errors within an investigation.

No / This article highlights the importance of examining physical and psychological health in the context of youth sexual exploitation by drawing on findings from an empirical research study undertaken between 2006 and 2011. Data were drawn from interviews with 24 sexually exploited young people and 61 professionals working in agencies supporting sexually exploited young people. A sequential mixed-method approach was employed to address the research study aims using interviews and a questionnaire survey. A significant range of physical and psychological health problems were reported alongside risks to health and barriers to health support for sexually exploited young people. Intentional self-harm and substance abuse were concordant themes from phases 1 and 2. Psychosocial vulnerability factors appear to undermine health and affect health-seeking behavior. Novel themes that emerged from this study included taxonomy of risk behaviors related to health.