A comprehensive theory of the ontogenesis of the delinquent personality is presented and supported by self-report data from a sample of American adolescents. The theory postulates that socialization requires the development of two complementary faculties: the ability to engage in prosocial behavior in the face of adversity (diligence) and the ability to avoid antisocial behavior despite temptation (self-control). Innate traits are thought to interact with particular experiences to create the mature personality. During development, a lack of diligence can inhibit the development of self-control, and can facilitate the development of a characteristic set of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors associated with delinquency, including the willingness to deceive and manipulate others, a callous disregard for their feelings, attitudes and beliefs justifying a lack of diligence and a continuation of antisocial behaviors, and short-term mating activity. The characteristic personality of the delinquent, then, is both low in diligence and high in antisociality. This contrasts with the conceptions of control theory, which subsumes diligence within the construct of self-control. The delinquent personality itself facilitates an adaptive strategy, or approach to life, that involves short-term mating and deception. Two kinds of deception related to delinquency are distinguished: overt deception and deception based on unpredictability. A cross-sectional version of this model was tested with data from 1139 adolescents from a medium-sized city in the Southeastern United States, and found to explain 58% of the variance in self-reported delinquency. Within a confirmatory structural equation model, the constructs thought to comprise factors relating to prosociality, antisociality, and social bonds loaded as expected. Each of these constructs significantly correlated with delinquency on their own. A longitudinal study will be necessary to test the full model, and a behavior genetics design will be necessary to determine the extent to which the constructs deemed important to this theory may be subject to environmental influences.

Does experiential avoidance predict PTSD severity among rape survivors? In the first of two studies, a hypothesized model was tested where causal attributions, cognitive schemas, and memory characteristics mediated the relationship between experiential avoidance and PTSD. Data were cross-sectional. Participants were rape survivors (N = 139; 23% with current PTSD). Results included a measurement model of social cognitive factors and PTSD and the structural model. Two sets of pathways were delineated--both exacerbated PTSD. Overall, 60% of the variance in PTSD was explained. The results suggested that the effects of experiential avoidance on psychological outcomes, although detrimental, were minimal. Causal attributions and maladaptive belief changes were far more powerful than any other predictors in explaining prolonged distress. Neither process was strongly affected by levels of avoidance. In a second study, several factors that could potentially influence and predict the use of experiential avoidance as a coping mechanism were investigated. Both pre-trauma survivor characteristics and characteristics of the rape were evaluated to help explain why some survivors engaged in a maladaptive avoidance coping strategy. Results suggested that a background of violence was an important predictor of experiential avoidance. Women who had already survived a history of violence were the most likely to engage in experiential avoidance to cope with an adult rape experience.

Research on juvenile delinquency and antisocial behavior has focused almost exclusively on males. The lack of knowledge about females who demonstrate antisocial behaviors is problematic because arrests involving females are increasing at a greater rate than those involving males. Although some would explain the development of female antisocial behavior using models developed for males, literature on gender differences suggests that this comparison is inappropriate. In a retrospective study of data from a local juvenile detention center, I investigated patterns over time and differences between males and females in number, severity, and type of referrals, number of risk factors, and age of first offense. Based on this analysis, similarities and differences between males and females in antisocial behavior are described and compared to existing literature. Categories of juvenile offenders are proposed and related to existing models of the development of female and male antisocial behavior. The sample was drawn from 46,374 males and 27,447 females referred to the Pima County Juvenile Detention Center between December 31, 1979 and December 31, 2000. Results of data analyses showed that males are responsible for substantially more referrals than females. Further, there may be differing influences on males and females based on differential changes in the rate of referrals for certain time periods. Results of cluster analyses supported three categories of male and of female juvenile offenders---normative, moderate, and severe. Cluster membership is based on total number of referrals committed, severity of most severe offense committed, and a part risk score. Results of an analysis of variance indicated that age of first offense is significantly different for each gender and cluster. Evidence supported the contention that previous models of the development of male antisocial behavior are not adequate to explain female antisocial behavior. Differences between males and females illustrate that although outcomes for male and female adolescents may be similar, the processes leading to these outcomes may be different. Future research should focus on increasing knowledge on risk factors, developmental pathways, and adult outcomes for females who exhibit antisocial behavior.

This dissertation introduces to the tax evasion literature self-control theory (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990), a general theory of crime which explains criminal preferences using socio-psychological constructs, and regards specific criminal acts as manifestations of self-interested behavior. Self-control theory postulates that individuals with the least self-control will have the greatest preference for criminal behavior. By measuring those personality traits which indicate self-control, it may be possible to identify an enduring propensity towards law-abiding or criminal behavior. When combined with knowledge of an individual's decision-making ability and current opportunity, self-control theory is a general theory of crime. Self-control theory was used to develop research questions concerning the causes of tax evasion. A survey instrument was designed to address these questions, which was administered to two groups of taxpayers. The results suggest that measures of self-control are useful in explaining evasion, and that tax evaders are most easily identified by their propensity to engage in other criminal or imprudent activities. Opportunity is useful for explaining the type of evasion committed, but not for discriminating between evaders and compliers. Since self-control theory appears applicable to the evasion problem, it provides accounting researchers with an enhanced understanding of the causes of evasion. For criminology, empirical support for self-control theory in the area of tax evasion demonstrates robustness, supporting its claim to being a general theory of crime.

Data concerning delinquency, deviance, and development were collected on over 800 adolescents aged 10 to 17. Structural models were constructed to investigate the effects of development (pubertal development and physical development) on delinquency. The view that variables typically used to define delinquency form a unitary latent trait was rejected. Instead two moderately related traits (r =.28) were required: (1) Criminal Behavior as defined by theft, aggression, and vandalism and (2) Autonomy Seeking Behavior as defined by substance use, sexual experimentation, and sensation seeking behaviors. Gender effects were found in levels of criminal behavior whereas autonomy seeking behavior was not so differentiated. Age effected only autonomy seeking behavior while pubertal development effected both traits. Differential gender effects were discovered in the influence of age on autonomy seeking behavior and the effect of pubertal development on both traits. Girls appear to be more strongly influenced by pubertal development for both traits while boys appear to be more susceptible to age effects.

<p> This thesis explores the screening process in drug courts. Drug courts are known to be specialty courts, as much emphasis is put on efforts to rehabilitate drug offenders and not necessarily punish drug offenders by incarcerating them. An important aspect to note is drug courts operate in a non-adversarial model, whereby the philosophies and goals are different from the traditional courts. A drug court workgroup exists in drug courts, which typically include a judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, drug court coordinator, and probation officer. The drug court coordinator has the most discretion in drug courts, and it is due to this nature that the drug court coordinator is regarded as the gatekeeper in drug courts. I examined Yavapai County's Adult Probation to research the impact of gender characteristics and protocol variations within the screening process. Two interviews were conducted on the drug court coordinator, and the observations of ten drug offender's screening were done in between the two interviews. I researched the following question: Do gender characteristics and protocol variations have an impact on the treatment and services given to drug offenders? The data support my hypotheses. The first hypothesis was supported in the sense that the female drug offenders who had more gender characteristics (i.e., health and socioeconomic issues) received more recommendations for treatment and services than the male drug offenders. A separate gender characteristic that I found to have an impact on the recommendation for treatment was the drug offenders' difference in offending. All of the gender characteristics result from gender differences. It is important to note that the concept of gender itself did not have an influence on the recommendations for treatment and services. The second hypothesis was supported with the finding that the drug court coordinator's discretion had an impact on the use of various protocols (DUI/Court Screening Information, ASUS-R, and TCU Drug Screen II) and the recommendations for treatment and services.</p>

<p> A Specialized or Super Intensive-1 (SI-1) supervision level refers to a contact requirement imposed on special needs offenders (SNOs) under Texas parole supervision. SI-1 supervision requires greater contact with parole officers and treatment providers than supervision levels used on regular offenders (ROs), yet little is known about whether SI-1 supervision offenders violate terms of their parole or commit new crimes at a different rate compared to the regular offender population in the State of Texas. Reconstruction theory and the social construction of reality were used as theoretical underpinnings of this study, which examined whether differences in offenders' supervision levels created statistically significant differences in technical or new law violations in Texas parole hearings. A random sample of 200 SNOs and ROs data were analyzed using a 2-way ANOVA. Results indicated a positive and statistically significant difference between level of supervision and technical violations, with SI-1 offenders committing a greater number of violations of non-criminal terms of parole, but with SI-1 offenders being less likely than the regular offender population to commit new crimes. These findings challenge the social construction that SI-1 offenders introduce a higher element of risk to the community regarding new criminal activity. The positive social change implications of the study include policy recommendations to the Texas legislature and Texas Department of Criminal Justice to refocus resources on improving outcomes related to technical parole violations, including a reduction in SNOs' contact standards, which in turn, promote fiscal responsibility and improvements in public safety for the people of the state of Texas.</p>

<p> In order to be successful in the fight against drugs we must understand how the drug problem continues to evolve in the 21st century. Today, with access to the deep Web portion of the Internet, drug users no longer need to have face-to-face communication with their dealers, and hard cash in their wallets in order to get their fix. Just like buying a book from Amazon, marijuana, cocaine, or heroin can now be delivered securely to your front door by the U.S. Postal Service. Over the last decade there have been no shortages of studies about the deep Web from the health, criminal justice, and computer science disciplines. Additionally, there have been many news stories about the public FBI arrest of the Dread Pirate Roberts and the follow-on U.S. government seizure of his popular deep Web drug market, the Silk Road. Though helpful for general public awareness and to their field of study, these reviews typically limit cultural aspects. This study addresses this issue by exploring how the deep Web drug subculture was affected during the immediate days following the U.S. government seizure of the Silk Road market. The findings express the personal side of what the members of this culture went through and provide critical insights into this emerging form of crime and the communication and trust that shapes the subculture.</p>

<p> This study uses foodways theory to build knowledge about the lived experience of incarceration by analyzing women's narratives about prison food and eating. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 formerly incarcerated women in New Haven, CT. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed. Findings explain the different ways that inmates collect, prepare, distribute and consume food, and the centrality of these activities to incarcerated life. By shedding light on these daily routines, the world of prison life comes into greater focus. </p><p> Thematic analysis of the data further illuminates the prison experience by suggesting the positive and negative ways that food impacts inmate's perceptions of themselves, their social networks and the State. Negative foodways humiliated the women, accentuated their powerlessness, and reinforced their perceptions of the State as nonsensical and apathetic towards their needs. Positive foodways illustrated the inmates' capacity to resist State power, build/maintain relationships and construct positive self-narratives. Racialized foodways narratives began to reveal how food stories may be deployed to reinforce prison's racial character and construct the identities of self and other. </p><p> Foodways interventions to support the rehabilitative goals of correctional facilities are proposed. These data suggest that inmates want to build positive relationships and identities and that prison food systems could do more to help women realize these intentions.</p>

<p> In a global context of rapidly expanding security practices, those cast as social threats are themselves often most risk of harm. In this dissertation, I develop the concept <i>surveillance threat</i> (ST) to describe the perception or experience of impending or actual harm faced by targeted civilians when they are stopped or screened by law enforcement. Singled out by race and other lines of sociocultural force, those stopped risk physical, legal, sexual, and spatial consequences. Yet focusing solely on the risk of harm limits the full meaning of this encounter. As I show in my research, civilians persistently struggle against these threats. Using the police practice of "stop and frisk" in New York City as a case study, I analyze ST and civilian response from the civilian perspective. In my mixed methods approach, I bring together survey and narrative data on stop and frisk, widening the unit of analysis from unidirectional harm to multidirectional struggle. Shifting attention to the interaction as a dynamic reframes these relations of power as more than a simple, imbalanced opposition. Instead, based on my findings, I theorize an embodied civilian <i>psychology of responsiveness to threat</i> that enables those targeted to engage the encounter as an active site of conflict. I find civilians consistently claim their rights, protect themselves and others, assert social power, construct critical knowledge, and pursue justice. Applying Abu Lughod's (1990) insight "where there is resistance, there is power," I then study how civilians enact urban civil life through their interactions with police, recognizing a <i>collective imaginary </i> civilians draw on to influence the conditions of their daily lives. With concern for the ways police practice is restructuring urban environments by enforcing particular raced sexualities and genders, I bring a special focus to civilian constructions of racialized, sexual, and gender-infused space. </p>