<p> The general public knows very little about the criminal justice system overall, which can result in an assorted, often negative, opinions of the criminal justice system. The public's confidence in the criminal justice system is imperative to the operation of the criminal justice system. Our criminal justice system relies on the participation from the community in order to work. One speculation as to why the public has a less than favorable opinion of the criminal justice system is that the system is viewed a mystery. The public has no idea how each component of the criminal justice system works because the majority of the public has had no direct contact with the criminal justice system. Most information obtained about the criminal justice system, the public gathered from what they hear and see from the media or from other people. Using secondary data from a national survey, this dissertation analyzed mass media, specifically TV news, newspapers, and TV judge programs, to determine these variables have an influence on the relationship of the courts and public opinion in the United States. This dissertation can be viewed as ground zero in terms of how the media began to influence the public's opinion of the criminal justice system, especially the court component. For this study, a quantitative approach using a descriptive survey design was used. It was determined that the respondents were not as influenced by mass media as anticipated. The findings of this study were more consistent with the international literature than domestic literature on this topic. This dissertation offers a better understanding of the connection between mass media, even without the more modern aspects of the media such as the internet, and the public's views of the courts. This dissertation presents valuable information for satisfaction with the courts and attitude toward the courts that has not been seen in the current literature on this subject. In conclusion, recommendations were provided offered to further advance the research in this area.</p>

The ancient and picturesque sport of cockfighting has persisted in the United States, Latin America, and parts of Asia. In the United States this activity is popularly regarded as deviant, and is, indeed, a legally proscribed behavior in most jurisdictions. The persistence of cockfighting is explicable due to the existence of a deviant recreational subculture. / The deviant recreational subculture allows cockfighters a supportive setting in which to reinforce and affirm the disvalued cultural identity of its practitioners and, thus, serves as a boundary maintenance device. This particular deviant subcultural type is unique due to the fact that it possesses the following characteristics: (1) no criminal self-concept for members; (2) a religio-teleological rationale concerning the nature of the activity; (3) a strong overt identification with the existing socio-political order; and, (4) a high degree of intrastate, interstate, and international communication on topics of subcultural interest, and commerce in "tools of the trade." Furthermore, the cockfighting subculture has other attributes of a deviant behavior system consistent with the subcultural thesis proposed herein: its own rules, argot, customs, networks of obligation and reciprocity, and recruitment patterns. / The cockfighting subculture may be seen in an additional dimension--as an instrumental-expressive anachronistic voluntary deviant association. This means that cockfighters reject conformative and alienative attitudes toward dominant social values in favor of an anachronistic world-view. / Moreover, in terms of the dominant method by which it hopes to achieve its objectives, the subculture is both instrumental and expressive, hence the appelation "instrumental-expressive." Instrumental groups want to defuse or remove threatening legislation, thus removing or reducing stigma, while expressive groups are more concerned with providing recreational, social, and informational activities for their members. Expressive groups exist to furnish activities for their members while instrumental groups exist to resist or promote change. The cockfighting subculture has definite attributes of both types of groups. / This work suggests that the models of the deviant recreational subculture and the instrumental-expressive anachronistic voluntary deviant association might prove of heuristic value when applied to other socially and legally problematic deviant subcultures. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-02, Section: A, page: 0552. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: A, page: 5195. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between architectural and environmental factors and incidence of inmate violence within four correctional institutions in the Southeastern United States: Dade and Union Correctional Institutions, Florida State Prison, and Talahassee Federal Correctional Institution. The study investigated overcrowding, types of housing, amount of living space available, location of assaults, and seasonal influences in relation to the propensity for and frequency of noncollective (inmate-to-inmate or inmate-to-staff) violent incidents. The prisons differ structurally and architecturally--two are medium and two are close custody (maximum) security prisons--and the study examined differences, if any, in the inmates propensity toward violence at the two types of institutions. / Research issues in the study were: (1) Is there a relationship between the increase in prison population and the number and rate (per 100 inmates per prison) of incidents of violence? (2) Is there a relationship between the total number of square feet of living space and the number and rate (per 100 inmates per prison) of incidents of violence? (3) Is there a significant relationship between the number and rate of incidents of violence and the type of housing available in each prison? (4) Is there a relationship between the type of violent incidents committed in the prison and the location of the incident? (5) Is there a relationship between the number and rate of violent incidents and seasonal influences? / The data for the study included official disciplinary reports of violence. A violent environment questionnaire (VEQ) was administered to a sample of inmates and was designed to elicit their perceptions of the degree of violence, privacy, and safety within the prison. Staff interviews were also conducted which provided familiarization with the prison's administration and physical plant during initial site visits. / The results of the study determined what, if any, influence the architecture and design of the four prisons had on the frequency and character of noncollective inmate violence. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-03, Section: A, page: 0933. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

National commissions studying police have urged the hiring of college educated police officers, many experts in the field have urged the hiring of college educated police officers, and numerous police agencies have actually hired college educated police officers--but little is known of the effects of hiring college educated police officers. Most of the arguments made for and against hiring college educated police officers are based more on conjecture than on hard empirical facts. / To help fill this information void, the present study entails a study of the education and work performance of police officers from two Southeastern United States police departments (a sample of 603 officers from one department and a population of 137 officers from the other department). / Numerous educational and other background variables were used as independent variables, and the following were used as the dependent, work performance variables: Awards and Commendations; Suspensions; Reprimands, Complaints to Internal Affairs Department; Evaluations; Sick Leave; Discharge of Firearms; Promotional Test Scores; Felony Arrests; Felony Arrest Filing Rates; and Misdemeanor Arrests. Multiple regression was used as the statistical means to determine the relationships among these variables. / The data revealed that college education made a difference in ten of the eleven dependent variables. Only in the case of the dependent variable Discharge of Firearms did college education not make a difference in performance. Moreover, based on a paradigm formulated for the study, college education was found to be a factor in the superior work performance for the following dependent variables: Sick Leave; Awards and Commendations; Reprimands; Promotional Test Scores; Felony Arrests; Felony Arrest Filing Rates; Misdemeanor Arrests; and Performance Evaluations. College education made no difference in the dependent variables Suspensions and Discharge of Firearms; and there was some evidence that college education was a factor in more Complaints to the Internal Affairs Department. Implications for future research and for deployment of college educated officers were discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-03, Section: A, page: 0935. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The U.S. Parole Commission in 1974, initiated parole decision guidelines articulating a national cohort justice parole policy model which theoretically reduced criticism of arbitrary and capricious decision-making. In 1976, reparole guidelines were implemented which unlike the parole guidelines, were not founded upon scientific research. Reparole is the procedure whereby a conditional release violator is considered for reparole supervision. / This dissertation examines reparole decision-making and attempts to demonstrate an alternative policy which would reduce criticism of "fixed and mechanical" decision-making, and the potential for the appearance of unfairness in weighting parole violation accountability. Additionally, this dissertation examines "relative improvement" as it relates to the efficacy of parole decision-making and supervision. Relative improvement is defined as the commission of a "less" serious parole violation compared to the original imprisoned behavior. / Lastly, the study attempts to discover if by the employment of decision-making parole guidelines, there is produced an unwelcomed policy by-product, what Robert Merton calls goal displacement. He expresses goal displacement as strict adherence to agency policies, which originally conceived as a means, then becomes transformed into an end-in-itself. / The study findings demonstrated that generally the introduction of violation guidelines structured discretion well and did not appear to have a "chilling effect" on the exercise of discretion where warranted. / In respect to the efficacy of pre-quideline (clinical) parole decision-making and supervision, recidivism data failed to demonstrate "relative improvement", to the contrary data suggested an increase in reported crime severity violation behavior. / Lastly, an alternative reparole policy is suggested by the writer which incorporates an existing parole risk "Burgess" type actuarial instrument that should reduce the potential criticism of "fixed and mechanical" decision-making, as well as the potential for the appearance of unfairness in weighting parole violation accountability. / Unfortunately for the U.S. Parole Commission the development of a cohort justice model for parole decision-making may have created an unwelcomed dysfunctional agency by-product of power emasculation, in that pending congressional determinate sentencing legislation has transferred the decision-making scheme to the judiciary for administration. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-05, Section: A, page: 1699. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The study tests a theory of homicide. Previous research in the area has found the Southern portion of the United States to experience rates of homicide which exceed those of the non-South even when controlling for various etiological variables. The high rates of deadly violence in the Southern states have been attributed to violent cultural patterns which are assumed to exist in these areas. This study dispenses with the practice of inferring the existence of a Southern subculture of violence from measures of region and attempts to explain the variation in homicide with more concrete etiological variables. / It is argued that homicide is often the result of a violent outburst in which the intention to kill is ambiguous. If this is true, then the deadliness of the weapon which is used in an attack should have some bearing on the extent to which violent outbursts culminate in the death of the victim. Since firearms are perceived to be the deadliest of weapons which are likely to be used in an assault situation, it is hypothesized that homicide rates should vary directly with the accessibility of firearms. Homicide is seen as being largely a function of the extent to which assaults are carried out with deadly weapons. This is consistent with the findings of Gastil (1971) and Hackney (1969) since firearms appear to be most accessible in the South. / The theory is generally supported by the data. However, although the accessibility of firearms is found to be an important determinant of homicide, this is not the case for the restrictiveness of gun control legislation. It is concluded that gun control laws, as they currently exist in the United States, do not seem to effectively reduce the accessibility of firearms. Several reasons are given regarding why the currently existing gun control legislation cannot logically be expected to reduce homicide and it is suggested that perhaps a nation-wide system of restrictive firearms legislation would be more effective. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-12, Section: A, page: 5258. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

In this study the author has undertaken an empirical assessment of O. H. Mowrer's theory of psychopathology applied to a therapeutic community. Mowrer has asserted that much of all psychopathology is rooted in the inability of an individual to successfully assuage the dissonance created by guilt that is justified by prior misbehavior. Accordingly, recovery from psychopathology requires one to extricate oneself from immoral (dissonance-creating) behavior, confess openly to significant others the nature of the misdeeds, and to commit oneself to some form of appropriate restitution which will result in social reintegration for the individual. A detailed review of Mowrer's theory and treatment ideology is presented. Mowrer's rationale has been credited with providing the raison d'etre of the self-help therapeutic community model used for treating drug addicts. / An organizational and psychosocial perspective is presented of Daytop Village, the current research site. The intent of the study was to gather socialization and anxiety data from six groups of subjects (N = 232) selected on the basis of their length of time in treatment at Daytop. Seven dependent measures were selected: trait anxiety (from the STAI); six scales from the CPI; and a constructed variable, Social Maturity Index (SMI), from the CPI scales. SMI was not distinguishable from the So scale in assessing the level of socialization exhibited by the groups. The STAI indicated all subjects were within the normal range of anxiety. The So scale was the sole dependent measure found to be significantly related to the groups. The greatest difference in level of socialization occurred between Groups One and Two. / The data indicate that once the initial impact of the socialization change is made, it is sustained and moderately increases over time. No definite conclusions can be drawn in deciding whether the sociopath, mixed-type personality possesses the characteristics ascribed to it by Mowrer and if it is capable of responding to treatment as predicted by Mowrer. The data do appear to support that aspect of Mowrer's theory that asserts one's level of socialization increases over time while one continues to practice the tenets of Mowrer's theory of social reintegration. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-12, Section: A, page: 5259. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Since 1967 the two major reforms of due process and diversion have been implemented by the juvenile justice system. This study subjects these two reforms to an empirical examination designed to answer three questions. (1) What is the influence of selected social and legal factors on juvenile justice decision-making? (2) Does the level of due process in the juvenile justice system influence the disposional pattern? and (3) Does the introduction of a new sentencing alternative (i.e., diversion) influence the disposional pattern in ways intended? / These questions are developed into a series of hypotheses and tested by examining the disposional patterns of four juvenile courts involving a total of 667 youth. The results of the study indicate that social and legal factors are important when considered in relation to the organizational factors of due process and diversion. The age, race, and gender of youth are not strongly associated with the severity of the disposition whereas the reason for referral (seriousness of offense) and the status at time of referral (prior record) are important influences on the dispositional pattern. The level of due process afforded the youth does not strongly influence the disposition whereas the introduction of a new sentencing alternative (i.e., diversion) alters the dispositional pattern, in that certain categories of youth (young, white, female) are disproportionally selected for less severe sanctions. The study concludes by discussing the implications of these findings and suggesting areas and techniques for future research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-12, Section: A, page: 4050. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The Rusche and Kirchheimer thesis, which argues that labor market marginality engenders larger confinement populations, has amassed substantial empirical support in recent years. However, there still remains the question whether these studies represent a valid empirical test of the Rusche and Kirchheimer thesis because most prior research relies on convicted offender data. A proper test of this thesis must consider pretrial defendants who more accurately represent the surplus labor population. To address this problem, this dissertation uses longitudinal data calibrated in monthly intervals to examine the impact of unemployment rates, arrest rates, court processing factors, jail capacity rates, jail population rates, judge rates, and jail staff rates on pretrial misdemeanor and felony jail incarceration rates for Florida (1986-1991). / The results of the time series analysis reveal no statistically discernible relationship between the unemployment rate and the pretrial misdemeanor incarceration rate. The incarceration rate for pretrial felony offenders also varies independently of the unemployment rate. The implications of these findings are discussed as they relate to the theoretical adequacy of the Rusche and Kirchheimer thesis. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: A, page: 2744. / Major Professor: Frederic L. Faust. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.