Background: Non-fatal strangulation (NFS) is a life-threatening event in cases of sexual assault. The incidence of NFS during sexual assault is increasing on a global scale. NFS is a gendered crime as most victims are women and most assailants are men and is more common in intimate partner violence. Strangulation victims only have visible neck injuries around 50% of the time, but visible injuries are not a reliable indicator of the severity of the assault. NFS can cause neurological damage from lack of blood flow to the brain and result in physical and psychological trauma. NFS indicates a high degree of lethality in cases of sexual assault and victims of NFS are more likely to become homicide victims in the future. Methods: Information was gathered through a retrospective chart review of sexual assault medical forensic examination forms in a Mountain West state from 2019-2022. Descriptive statistical and Chi-square analyses were conducted. Interrater reliability (Cohen's Kappa) was calculated. Results: This retrospective, exploratory study of 2,077 sexual assault cases found the following variables statistically significant in NFS cases (~27.01% of total cases): age; gender; prior history of sexual assault; established suspect relationship; pain reports post assault; victim hit by assailant; victim reports of breathing changes; increased number of penetrative acts; and anogenital and non-anogenital injuries. Conclusion: NFS in SA are overall more violent assaults. Increased awareness and understanding of NFS during sexual assault will lead to improved medical management, nursing care, and services for victims experiencing NFS.

Jerome Skolnick’s (2011) "symbolic assailant" is a result of police attributing particular demeanor, gestures, language, and a style of dress to people they believed were most likely to commit violent crimes. The challenge became when police applied these characteristics to specific groups such as juveniles. Literature published before and after Skolnick (2011) indicated police were more likely to stop, arrest, interrogate, or surveille juveniles based on their demeanor, gestures, style of dress, lack of respect, deference to authority, the severity, and remorse for their offenses in addition to race. However, current research indicated race, gender, and Socioeconomic Status (SES) determined if police perceived juveniles as the symbolic assailant regardless of offense type. The current research also suggested the symbolic assailant is the foundation for related theories such as racial profiling and the “juvenile offender type-script.” Thus, this dissertation sought to determine if juveniles’ demeanor, gestures, race, gender, and offense type predicted if police perceived them as having characteristics analogous to the symbolic assailant. The researcher conducted a nonexperimental predictive correlational research design analyzing secondary data from Connecticut’s Effective Police Interactions with Youth’s Pretest Survey. The results showed weak to moderate relationships between the predictor and criterion variables such as police believed juveniles’ fidgeting, pacing, and mouthing off as signs of guilt indicated a weak relationship. The strongest predictor was a combination of race and offense type as the patrol officers responded all races and ethnicities were most likely to carry weapons equally in the past 30 days, which differed from the current symbolic assailant and related literature.

The New Orleans Police Department history dates back to the 1800’s. Since its inception, the department has been pledged by misconduct, low morale, and low public opinion. This research used Akers Social Structure, and Social learning theory or SSSL to understand the socialization process of the department and determine if the process could attribute for misconduct, the blue wall of silence, and the thin blue line. A case study was conducted in which twenty former NOPD officers on the department from 1979 to 2004 were interviewed. They were only identified by race, gender, and the number of years on the police department. The interviews were transcribed coded and two themes emerged: “Journey to Blue” and “Cop’s Eyes.” Journey to Blue, was the transformation process to become a police officer. The steps involved the hiring process, the police academy, field training officers (FTO), mentors, and the early years on the department. Cop’s Eyes was the process of seeing the world as a police officer. It was determined training, experience, and social integrity were integral parts of being able to see the world as a cop. Cop’s Eyes became the way an officer sees the world both on and off-duty, they were not able to turn it on or off. Further, it was determined, socialization changes throughout decades, socialization influences policy violations, and officers rarely if ever see corruption. The academy was the beginning of the development of cop’s eyes, and field training officers were the primary source of socialization both good and bad. Future research would involve duplicating and comparative analysis of twenty former NOPD officers who were involved in misconduct.