Decades of research from numerous academic fields has provided unequivocal support that both genes and the environment are critically involved in shaping human behavior. More recently, researchers have begun to explore the manner in which genetic and environmental factors intertwine to sculpt behavioral outcomes. A growing body of evidence suggests that the expression of certain genetic tendencies may be directly moderated by exposure to certain environmental conditions. Research on the interaction between genes and the environment is helping to shed light on the developmental origins of a number of pathological outcomes including mental illness, aggression, violence, and criminality. To this point, researchers have tended to focus almost exclusively on the capability of early-life environments to condition the effects of genes on behavior. While this line of inquiry has greatly increased the knowledge base concerning the development of deviant tendencies, there remains a need to examine whether alternative environmental pathogens condition genetic predispositions for deviance. Schools represent one type of environment that has been exhaustively examined by criminologists, and that has been consistently linked with the deviant behavior of adolescents. Currently, however, almost no evidence exists related to whether school conditions moderate genetic influences on adolescent misbehavior. Using data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the current dissertation addresses this question by examining the moderating effects of school environments on a range of antisocial outcomes. The results of the analysis revealed partial evidence that school-level factors condition the effects of genes on a range of antisocial behaviors. The implications of these findings for the field of criminology are discussed in detail. / 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. / June 4, 2010. / Behavior genetics, Schools, Antisocial Behavior / Includes bibliographical references. / Kevin M. Beaver, Professor Directing Dissertation; Lisa Eckel, University Representative; Eric A. Stewart, Committee Member.

Within the field of criminology, there is no shortage of theoretical perspectives. While these theoretical perspectives are quite diverse, they do share a common thread: an exclusive focus on social factors that contribute to criminal behavior. Despite the limited explanatory power of both classic and more recent criminological theories, an overt sociological focus persists within criminological theory. In direct contrast, the biosocial perspective offers a more comprehensive explanation of behavior, with a focus on both biological and environmental influences. Despite the contributions of the biosocial perspective in elucidating the underlying etiology of antisocial behavior, there is currently a paucity of theories which can be effectively situated within the biosocial perspective. In an effort to spark theoretical development within the biosocial perspective, this dissertation proposes a biosocial integration model which allows for various forms of theoretical development and integration. In addition, four mainstream criminological theories--rational choice theory, social learning theory, classic strain theory, and social bonding theory--were empirically examined using genetically sensitive research designs in an attempt to fit such theories within the biosocial perspective. The results revealed three key findings. First, nearly all (more than 80 percent) of the measures examined in this dissertation were significantly influenced by genes. Second, while multivariate regression models identified a large number of significant associations between key theoretical concepts and antisocial behavior, many of these associations fell from statistical significance after controlling for genetic and shared environmental influences. Third, even after controlling for genetic influences, some theoretical concepts were significantly associated with antisocial behavior and substance use. Additional models revealed that several theoretical concepts also significantly moderated genetic influences on the examined outcomes. The findings are contextualized within the extant literature and suggestions for future research and theoretical development 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, 2014. / May 22, 2014. / Behavior Genetics, Criminological Theory, Gene-Environment Interplay, Theoretical Integration / Includes bibliographical references. / Kevin M. Beaver, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stephen J. Tripodi, University Representative; William B. Bales, Committee Member; Thomas G. Blomberg, Committee Member.

Prior empirical research has shown that a large proportion of a city's total crime arises from a relatively small number of locations within its jurisdiction. Drawing from results of research on the distribution of crime in a handful of cities, scholars have suggested that this dramatic "concentration" of crime is likely to be comparable in cities across the U.S. Although evidence from existing research is compelling, there are theoretical reasons to believe that the concentration of crime may not be as invariant as suggested in the past. Additionally, the traditional measures of concentration utilized in prior research fail to account for how tightly clustered these high-crime places are within space, leading to a relatively ambiguous definition of the term concentration. Finally, there are theoretical reasons to believe that accounting for the concentration of crime may add to our knowledge on the factors which contribute to the between-city difference in crime. To date, this possibility has not been explored in prior research. Thus, our knowledge of the concentration of criminal activity and its consequences remains relatively limited. To expand our knowledge on the concentration of crime, this dissertation addresses two primary research questions: (1) Does the concentration of crime vary across cities?, (2) Does variation in the concentration of crime have a significant impact on between-city differences in crime? These questions are answered by first exploring the variation revealed from two measures that reflect slightly different dimensions of concentration (i.e. evenness and clustering), disaggregated by crime-type, for a relatively large sample of American cities. Subsequently, the study assesses the effects of these measures on between-city difference in city crime rates. Tract-level crime data drawn from the National Neighborhood Crime Survey, a multicity database on crime in 91 cities from across the country, provided the information from which the measures of concentration and clustering were created. In combination with city-level data on socioeconomic and demographic characteristics drawn from a number of sources, the impact of crime's concentration on city crime rates was then examined in an empirical context. Results indicate that the concentration of crime is not as invariant as suggested in prior research. Additionally, multivariate analyses indicate that greater concentration of homicide is associated with lower homicide rates. Similar findings are observed for robbery, though in this instance conclusions are sensitive to model specification and sample composition. No significant link is found between concentration and crime rates for assault and burglary. The implications of the results of this dissertation for theory and research on the concentration of crime and aggregate crime rates 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, 2014. / June 19, 2013. / Clustering, Concentration, Crime, Criminological Theory / Includes bibliographical references. / Eric Baumer, Professor Directing Dissertation; Mark Horner, University Representative; Eric Stewart, Committee Member; Brian Stults, Committee Member.

The courts are recognised as playing an increasingly important role in the realisation and concretisation of socio-economic rights. However, the implications of these activities for notions of voice, engagement and access to decision-makers and those in power, are largely not understood. This study seeks to address key questions around what type of platform for engagement the courts are providing for more marginalised groups beyond sites of redress, as well as to consider the impacts of court cases, decisions and remedies on policy, practice and the everyday life of urban residents. The study utilises a comparative approach between India and South Africa, and examines two seminal court cases - one in Delhi, the Sealings Case, and the other in Johannesburg, the Olivia Road Case. The case studies demonstrate that the litigants’ decision to go to court is, in part, closely linked to the failure of representative democracy and is influenced by the coalitions and alliances of urban actors. Furthermore, the case studies look at the court as a site of engagement between citizens, residents and the state in order to see what benefits or dangers exist when engaging in litigation. The case studies further provide some insights into the implications of being denied access to the courts and how alternative modes of power-seeking and voicing issues come to the fore. Lastly, the case studies offer an account of the consequences of litigation and looks at the impact of court cases on policy, policy-making process, practice and the lives of citizens and notes that these are not only highly differentiated but also extremely unpredictable. In making sense of the role of the court in urban governance, the study argues for a conceptualisation of courts as institutions of hegemony, and pushes Gramsci’s notion to explain courts and court cases as platforms on which litigants can promote their own hegemonic or counter-hegemonic project. However, courts are not neutral containers in which these politics unfold; rather they are engaged actors with their own agendas and hegemonic visions, which they seek to enforce through the decisions that they make and the roles that they carve out for themselves within the urban governance terrain.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 199-203).

published_or_final_version / abstract / Law / Master / Master of Philosophy

Thesis (LL. M.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 356-389). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2005. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Bibliography: leaves 261-274.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 149-192). Also Available online.

Zugl.: Utrecht, Univ., Diss.