Theory and research suggests that criminal courts operate as organized communities, where both bureaucratic influences and court actor action systems play an important role in case processing (Eisenstein & Jacob, 1977; Eisenstein, Flemming, & Nardulli, 1988; Flemming, Nardulli, & Eisenstein, 1992; Nardulli, Eisenstein, & Flemming, 1988; Ulmer, 1997). Specifically, these factors are expected to impact operational certainty within the courthouse and the efficient management of cases (Heumann, 1981; Pollitz Worden, 1990; Skolnick, 1967; Thompson, 197). While a significant amount of research focuses on the external and internal organizational influences placed on criminal courts, less attention has been devoted to the effect of workgroup interaction and influence (Hoskins Haynes, Ruback, & Cusick, 2010; Nardulli et al., 1988; Pollitz Worden, 1995). In order to address this issue, the current study uses a sample of felony plea and trial cases from a courthouse in the Southeast to assess the impact of courtroom actors on certainty and efficiency in case processing, operationalized as the decision to plea and time from arrest to case disposition. The study (1) determines the extent to which familiarity, similarity, and influence among the judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney impact certainty and efficiency, (2) assesses whether there is variation in certainty and efficiency of case processing across actors, and (3) evaluates the impact of individual court actor characteristics on variation in case processing. Attending to the limitations of prior research, the study quantifies court actor interaction and influence, focuses on an earlier phase of case processing, links court actors to their respective cases, and determines the contribution of court actors to the guilty plea system. The findings indicate that court actor familiarity and experience have important effects on certainty and efficiency in case processing. Additionally, variation in the decision to plea and time to disposition is detected across judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys, and court actor influence is able to explain some of this variation. Contrary to expectations, the findings reveal that familiarity and influence of defense attorneys can hinder certain and efficient case processing. The implications of these findings and potential avenues for future research 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. / April 28, 2014. / Court communities, Courtroom workgroup, Organization theory, Plea / Includes bibliographical references. / Marc G. Gertz, Professor Directing Dissertation; James S. Bowman, University Representative; Ted Chiricos, Committee Member; Carter Hay, Committee Member.

As the incarceration rate expanded in the late 20th century, social threat theory was increasingly utilized to explain this growing punishment trend. While primarily finding support, this research has gone only so far as to examine the incarceration decision and sentencing severity. It is a common practice throughout the United States to employ what is known as gaintime in order to reduce an offender's actual time served. As a result, sentence length frequently does not reflect the true punishment experienced. This study seeks to assess the role of racial, ethnic, and economic threat in terms of the previously unutilized measure of the punishment experienced, rather than the punishment prescribed. By means of HLM analysis, dynamic measures of percent black, percent Hispanic, and percent unemployed within Florida's 67 counties were assessed in terms of their relationship to individual level outcomes of sentence length, time served, and percent of sentence served for all Florida inmates admitted to prison between 1990 and 2010. While there were significant threat effects found for the primary outcomes of interest, they were in an unexpected negative direction. These results necessitate further exploration of both the processes by which growth in threat groups affects punishment outcomes, and also the aspect of actual time served in prison as a separate form of social control in the threat relationship. / A Thesis submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2014. / July 8, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references. / William Bales, Professor Directing Thesis; Ted Chiricos, Committee Member; Brian Stults, Committee Member.

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Criminological research has often overlooked an important segment of offenders' lives - incarceration. Furthermore, the existing research on inmate behavior has focused primarily on male inmates. This dissertation adds to corrections literature by using a sample of female inmates to examine relationships between personality disorders and prison adjustment. The results of the analyses indicate that personality disorders are widespread among female inmates and are somewhat associated with adjustment. Certain Cluster B personality disorders - antisocial, histrionic, and narcissistic - were associated with decreased adjustment. Dependent personality disorder, on the other hand, was associated with increased adjustment, since these inmates self-reported less misconduct than other inmates did. The remaining personality disorders did not have any significant relationships with the measures of adjustment. Other factors, such as age, sentence length, time served, and security classification, had a more consistent association with adjustment than personality disorders. When female inmates with personality disorders were examined separately, unique patterns of adjustment were found. Age was associated with an increased number of infractions that the inmate was reported by prison staff to have committed and increased self-reported misconduct. Age, however, was not significantly related to violent infractions. For female inmates with personality disorders, race was not significantly related to adjustment. On the other hand, being a parent was associated with an increased number of violent infractions reported. Limitations to this dissertation and policy implications for corrections and criminology 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. / Fall Semester, 2011. / October 3, 2011. / Disciplinary Infractions, Inmates, Mental Illness, Personality Disorders, Prison Adjustment / Includes bibliographical references. / Kevin Beaver, Professor Directing Dissertation; Joyce Carbonell, University Representative; Daniel Mears, Committee Member.

Judicial decision-making has been a long-standing subject of criminological inquiry. It has been the explicit focus of theory (e.g. Steffensmeier, Ulmer, & Kramer, 1998; Albonetti, 1991; Farrell & Holmes, 1991) and is implicit in discussions of unwarranted sentencing disparity, determinate sentencing, and extra-legal offender attributes such as race. Central to each of these topics is the judge's sentencing decision and the differences in sentences that flow from the use of discretion. However, few studies have actually directly examined variation in judges' sentencing behavior and how this variation corresponds to judge and offender attributes. This dissertation fills that void by using data from Florida Circuit Courts to examine how judges' indelible attributes and experiences influence their use of imprisonment. Results demonstrate that judges are far from homogenous in their sentencing behavior and, in spite of sentencing guidelines, extra-legal offender attributes continue to matter but in nuanced ways. Findings include statistically significant effects for the judges' political party affiliation, age, time on bench, sex, race, and Hispanic ethnicity; several of these effects are conditioned by offender attributes. These effects are modest in magnitude but when considered cumulatively, they result in consequential differences in the probability that an offender is imprisoned. Judges also show considerable variation in their propensity to imprison even after controlling for differences in their traits. While judge attributes like race and sex matter, they do not adequately capture the bulk of inter-judge variation in the use of imprisonment. In short, criminal sentencing remains a highly individualized activity. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2012. / October 17, 2012. / decision-making, extralegal attributes, judicial attributes, logistic regression, multi-level models, sentencing / Includes bibliographical references. / Theodore Chiricos, Professor Directing Dissertation; Marc Gertz, Committee Member; William Bales, Committee Member.

The empirical relationship between inmates with and without tattoos upon post-release recidivism has been virtually ignored in modern criminological research. Only one published study has directly examined the relationship between inmate tattoos and recidivism (Putnins, 2002). This study tracked 898 released Australian juvenile offenders for a brief period and found support for a link between tattoos and violent recidivism. The purpose of the current study is to provide a rigorous empirical assessment of the consequence of inmate tattoos on the likelihood of recidivism among a large cohort of offenders released from prison. The study examines a cohort of 79,749 released inmates from Florida prisons from 1995 through 2001 and tracks them over a three year follow-up to assess the impact of several tattoo variables on recidivism. Findings reveal that released inmates with tattoos, particularly numerous and highly visible ones, are more likely to be reconvicted during the follow-up period. Further, the findings indicate that there are two distinct inmate profiles namely the younger novice to the corrections system and the older, longer-term prisoner that are distinguishable by the numbers of tattoo possessed that increase the odds of recidivism. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of policy, theory, and future research. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2012. / April 2, 2012. / inmate, prisoner, recidivism, tattoo / Includes bibliographical references. / Thomas G. Blomberg, Professor Directing Dissertation; Joyce L. Carbonell, University Representative; William D. Bales, Committee Member.

Age is one of the most robust correlates of prison misconduct, with younger inmates more likely to commit disciplinary infractions. There has been, however, little attention to the potential nonlinear effect of age on prison misconduct. Most research to date has assumed that the relationship is linear and modeled it as such. In so doing, prior work has been unable to identify the potential nonlinear relationship between age and prison misconduct. This dissertation thus attempts to examine the precise nature of the age-misconduct relationship. Furthermore, it addresses the call for more research that investigates how prison experiences may influence prisoner reentry outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to efforts to advance scholarship and better understand the relationship between age, prison behavior, and recidivism. First, it takes a nuanced look at the potential nonlinear relationship between age and prison misconduct. The approach taken here expands on prior research by examining granular age categories to predict several types of disciplinary infractions. Next, it investigates possible interaction effects of gender and, separately, race/ethnicity on the age-misconduct relationship. Finally, it explores the relationship between age, prison misconduct, and recidivism. Specifically, it examines the relationship between age and types of recidivism and whether various types of misconduct mediate this relationship. This dissertation draws on a Florida Department of Corrections admission cohort from 1995 to 2000 and a release cohort from 1995-2002. Negative binomial regression models were used to examine the relationship between age and prison misconduct and binary logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between age, prison misconduct, and recidivism. The findings of this study shed light on the significance of identifying and understanding the nonlinear relationship between age and prison misconduct, and, further, the mediating effect of misconduct on the age-recidivism relationship. Theory, research, and policy implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions are made regarding future research. / 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, 2012. / June 19, 2012. / Age, Corrections, Prison Misconduct, Recidivism / Includes bibliographical references. / Daniel Mears, Professor Directing Dissertation; Melissa Radey, University Representative; William Bales, Committee Member; Sonja Siennick, Committee Member.

The effects of delinquency and criminal behaviors during early adolescence on events over the life course have been well-established in the criminological research. A segment of this research has revealed that the apparent causal relationship between delinquency and later life course events may be due to a third exogenous confounding variable, namely: genetics. While biosocial research has illuminated the need to include recognition of the proportional influence of genetic factors and environmental factors the research lacks an overarching theoretical framework that allows precision in research and guidance for future research. An evolutionary approach may represent such a framework. Employing data from a large national sample of sibling pairs, this project seeks to assess this assertion by analyzing the influence of antisocial behaviors during adolescence on sexual and reproductive strategies over the life course. Three key findings emerged from the analyses. First, the majority of items tapping antisocial behavior and delinquency in adolescence, as well as measures of sexual, reproductive, and relationship behaviors in adulthood were shown to be influenced primarily by genetic and nonshared environmental factors. Second, multivariate analyses revealed that antisocial conduct during adolescence has an effect on sexual/reproductive outcomes in adulthood. However, when genetically sensitive methodologies are employed the association is significantly diminished. Third, even after controlling for the influence of shared genetic factors and shared environmental factors some forms of antisocial behavior in adolescence had an effect on sexual/reproductive behaviors across the life course. The findings are discussed within the context of life history theory and evolutionary psychology. / 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, 2013. / June 14, 2013. / EVOLUTIONARY CRIMINOLOGY, EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY, LIFE COURSE CRIMINOLOGY, LIFE HISTORY THEORY, REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR, SEXUAL BEHAVIOR / Includes bibliographical references. / Kevin M. Beaver, Professor Directing Dissertation; Lisa A. Eckel, University Representative; Eric P. Baumer, Committee Member; Eric A. Stewart, Committee Member.

Dr. Matthew Robinson (2004) proposed a new inclusive theory of human criminal behavior, entitled Integrated Systems Theory. This theory put forth by Robinson (2004) and later Robinson and Beaver (2009), hypothesizes that human behavior is far too complex for any one theory or any one behavioral discipline to accurately predict and examine; rather the study of human behavior should include factors from multiple theories and disciplines. Integrated Systems Theory hypothesizes that human behavior is influenced by multiple factors across the life course, both biological and environmental. These proposed factors are exhaustive and include six different levels of influence, the cellular level, the organ level, the organism level, the group level, the community level, and the societal level. These factors include, but are not limited to, deviant peers, brain development, toxin exposure, genetic functioning, neighborhood characteristics, family structure, routine activities, and gender and racial inequality across the societal level. Integrated System Theory further expounds upon its hypotheses by positing that while these various factors all influence behavioral development, one key relationship also plays an important role, the interplay between genes and environment. It hypothesizes that all human behaviors are the result of interactions between genes and the environments that an individual is exposed to across the life course (Robinson, 2004; Robinson & Beaver, 2009). Currently, due to the exhaustive nature of this theory no empirical study has yet sought to test its various tenants. Therefore, this dissertation seeks to examine facets of this theory by focusing on the role played by both biological and social factors in the prediction of antisocial phenotypes. Focusing on the risks of prefrontal cortex development, cumulative genetic risk, deviant peers, maternal risk, socioeconomic status, school attachment, and neighborhood disadvantage, the influence of these contributors upon human behavior will be examined. Further, gene-environment interaction terms will be developed between cumulative genetic risk and the chosen environmental risks, to determine if these five different gene-environment interaction terms are strong contributors to antisocial phenotypes. To determine the relationship between these environmental and genetic factors in influencing human behavior, a range of antisocial outcomes will be predicted within negative binomial models. Outcomes include drug abuse, violent crime, property crime, and arrest rates. This dissertation seeks to determine if tenants of the Integrated Systems Theory are supported or refuted by the data and analyses. Results generated within the analyses indicated partial support for Integrated Systems Theory. Within the models brain development played a significant role in behavioral development. The importance of direct environmental effects were also generally supported within the data; deviant peer and school attachment emerged as some of the more robust environment contributors to antisocial phenotypes. Direct genetic effect failed to display consistent predictive power across the various negative outcomes. The importance of gene-environment interplay was generally supported within the models as well, especially when interacting with deviant peers and in the prediction of drug abuse and arrests rates. The meaning of the results, potential limitations, and contribution to the literature 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, 2013. / June 17, 2013. / Biosocial, Criminology, Gene-Environment Interplay / Includes bibliographical references. / Kevin M. Beaver, Professor Directing Dissertation; Anne Barrett, University Representative; Eric Stewart, Committee Member; Patricia Warren Hightower, Committee Member.

Social threat theory argues that the dominant group can be threatened in a variety of ways by minorities. Illegal immigrants are an example of one such group that has been described as posing a threat. Illegal immigrants have been identified by some as criminally, culturally, and economically problematic for native-born Americans. However, prior research on social threat has rarely examined perceptions regarding illegal immigrants. This research uses data from a telephone survey of a random sample of adults in the United States (N=1534) to test several of the propositions of social threat theory as they relate to illegal immigrants. Specifically, this study tests how contextual threat influences both perceptions of threat and punitive attitudes as well as how perceived threat affects support for punitive controls. Not only is this study one of the first to focus specifically on illegal immigrants, but it also examines multiple links in the theory's causal chain, making it perhaps the most thorough test to date. Overall, findings are supportive of social threat theory. Individuals who live in more threatening contexts, as indicated by a dynamic measure of the exposure of non-Latinos to Latinos, perceive more criminal, cultural, and economic threat from illegal immigrants. These individuals are also more likely to express support for both border and internal controls. Additionally, all types of perceived threat considered here are significant predictors of support for the punitive controls. Additional analyses suggest the effect of perceived threat may vary by subsample. Most notably, there is evidence of a ceiling effect for conservative respondents. / 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, 2013. / June 5, 2013. / Immigration, Public opinion, Social control, Social threat / Includes bibliographical references. / Ted Chiricos, Professor Directing Dissertation; Kathryn Tillman, University Representative; Gary Kleck, Committee Member; Brian Stults, Committee Member.