This research utilizes the case study method to examine the effectiveness of truancy statutes recently implemented in Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit prior to the 1999-2000 school year. The statutes were implemented state wide, but this study concentrates on the Fourth Judicial Circuit. The Fourth Judicial Circuit in Northeast Florida consists of Duval, Clay, and Nassau Counties. The legislation examined requires individual schools to conduct an initial truancy intervention when a student has accumulated 5 unexcused absences in a calendar month or 10 unexcused absences in any 90-day period. An exploratory case study was conducted that consisted of interviews with school attendance social workers, data collection from the Truancy Arbitration Program run from the State Attorney's Office in each county, and state wide attendance data. An additional Program in the Duval County State Attorney's Office was also studied. Data for three school years, one before the new statutes and two after, were analyzed to see if the implementation of these statutes was successful. The study concludes that the implementation of these new statutes by the schools in the Fourth Judicial Circuit has been a failure. This research demonstrates that the schools are conducting a fraction of the required interventions to students in need and therefore other intervention programs have had a reduction in referrals since the initial intervention in not taking place. Finally, the research also discovered that there seems to be a bias in the handling of truant females, already well documented in other jurisdictions.

Police-community relations are a frequently discussed topic in both academe and the media. Many factors are believed to influence individuals’ perceptions and views of law enforcement, including demographic variables (race and socioeconomic status), experiences with law enforcement, and media consumption. With an emphasis in the news and on social media regarding police misconduct or police brutality, this research seeks to inquire about college students' perceptions of law enforcement and racial injustice within the criminal justice system. While controlling for key demographic variables, this project specifically examines how individuals’ personal experiences with law enforcement and their exposure to news media and social media impact their perceptions and attitudes of police or racial injustice in the criminal justice system. Other variables, such as ideological views, obligation to authority, and delinquent behaviors were also analyzed to provide more specific insight into what factors influence student perceptions. Using ordinal logistic regression, researchers analyzed student perceptions of racial injustice in the criminal justice system and police legitimacy. Findings for this study indicate that variables other than standard demographics, contact with law enforcement, and media consumption had a significant impact on student perceptions of police.

Research was completed on a 300-person sample of 1985 arrestees in Jacksonville, Florida. The original focus of the study was to explore the possible relationship between crime and chemical use. Data was obtained from forms that were routinely used in the jail booking and interview process. Two booking/intake forms were used: The Arrest and Booking Report and the Medical Screening Information (P-075) form. Only 24 arrestees in the 300-person sample admitted to using chemicals. Hence, the data did not support the hypothesis of this thesis that a correlational relationship exists between crime and chemical use. This researcher observed and interviewed medical personnel closely and reviewed both forms used in the study to determine why chemical use data was under-represented in the sample. Organizational and individual deviance by the medical staff was discovered. The nurses had not asked chemical use questions during a majority of the medical screening interviews.

Offender reentry, felony declassification, and the opioids epidemic have led to quick and widespread implementation of substance abuse and mental health treatment programming in justice settings. This tremendous increase in offender treatment programming has outpaced applied research on program quality and treatment efficacy. This study examined whether designated evidence-based practices are actually delivered in funded treatment initiatives. Secondary data was utilized from the National Institute of Justice’s CrimeSolutions.gov, a national evidence-based practice and program registry. A content analysis methodology examined CrimeSolutions.gov program profiles and topical refereed literature through systematic analysis of five offender treatment evidence-based practices (actuarial screening, co-occurring disorders treatment, medication assisted treatment, individual treatment planning, and isolated therapeutic communities). Findings indicate a variable degree of evidence-based practice delivery and orient discussion around how to improve the implementation of evidence-based practices toward enhancing offender substance abuse programming.

This study reports on survey research into Florida Probation Officers' attitudes towards the causes of crime, the criminal offender and rehabilitation and treatment. The views on crime and on the offender are shaped by at least three major theoretical perspectives. First, this paper examines whether probation officers identify more with the classical theories, the biological theories or the sociological theories of criminology. Secondly, the probation officers' attitudes toward offenders are examined. For example, do probation officers express any positive opinions about the population they interact with, or do they feel that all offenders are equally bad? The third part of this research is geared towards the officers' attitudes about rehabilitation and treatment of offenders. Some current literature suggests that the field of probation is presently moving in a more punitive direction and away from the concept of rehabilitation. This research examines if this trend is reflected in probation officers' beliefs. In addition, the study shows how the probation officers in this sample feel about their jobs.

This research study seeks to enhance previous mentoring literature (Converse & Lignugaris, 2008; Cavell, Elledge, Malcolm, & Faith, 2009; Devenport & Lane, 2009) by further identifying the strategies and skills which help mentors form quality relationships and ultimately impact the resilience of at-risk adolescent mentees. Specifically, this study investigates volunteer mentors’ perceptions of incorporating the positive coping strategies of active listening, emotional regulation, conflict resolution, and future orientation within the initial stages of the mentoring process. Participants in this study are divided into two groups: the Coping Strategies (CS) Group and the Untrained Group (UG). The CS Group mentors have been individually trained to use the aforementioned coping strategies prior to being matched with mentees. The Untrained Group consists of mentors who received no formal training. Semi-structured interviews, which were conducted between three and four months into each mentoring relationship, reveal that focusing on relationship building and creating a level of comfort and trust with mentees were viewed by mentors from both groups as the paramount objectives during these beginning stages. Active listening is identified by a majority of participants as crucial for establishing a connection between mentor and mentee, building trust within the relationship, and engendering meaningful dialogue during beginning mentor sessions. Ultimately, this study finds that active listening training can be useful for helping mentors establish the foundation for a quality mentoring relationship, as well as for the use of additional coping strategies.