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.

Using an interrupted time-series design, this paper analyzes the impact of Minnesota's sentencing guidelines on reducing unwarranted disparity in sentencing outcomes that fall within their scope of authority. Specifically, two questions are addressed: (1) whether the actuation of the guidelines had an immediate effect on reducing disparity for the no prison/prison and length of prison sentencing decisions, and (2) whether any initial reduction in sentencing disparity was sustained over time. The findings suggest that Minnesota's sentencing guidelines effectuated an immediate and substantial impact on curtailing sentencing disparities; there was a 22 percent decline in disparity for the no prison/prison outcome and a 60 percent reduction in sentencing inequality for the length of prison decision. Further analysis revealed that the effect of the guidelines for the no prison/prison outcome was only temporary. Two explanations for this reversionary trend are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: A, page: 2746. / Major Professor: Gordon P. Waldo. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

This study sought the answer to the following major research question: (1) Is there a significant difference among police agencies who employ some type of physical fitness program and those that do not employ any type of program? / The major hypothesis generated six sub-hypotheses. Each hypothesis was tested by population group to determine whether officers within agencies who employ some type of physical fitness program retire at a lower rate, receive on-duty injuries at a lower rate, use sick leave at a lower rate, and die as a result of medical/health factors at a significantly lower rate than officers in agencies who do not employ any type of physical fitness program. / The population of this study was comprised of full-time law enforcement officers at the municipal and county level. Five hundred and twenty full-time law enforcement agencies were surveyed with 303 or 58.3% of the agencies responding. / The survey instrument was studied and validated by three members of the Institute for Aerobics Research, Dallas, Texas. The data collected were analyzed through the Chi-Square Test. The .05 level of significance was used for all statistical tests in this study. / There was a statistically significant difference among the responding agencies that employ some type of physical fitness program and those agencies that do not employ any type of physical fitness program. / The process employed in this research project presented enough data to support statistically the implementation of some type of physical fitness training and evaluation program for law enforcement agencies. / The responding agencies provided some very meaningful data on causes for early retirement and limited duty assignments. The findings suggest the seriousness of medical/health conditions in general and heart-related conditions in particular, as well as the effects of stress, in terms of the numbers of officers who are forced to retire early or who are placed on limited duty assignments. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-12, Section: A, page: 3822. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

Currently in Canada no satisfactory method exists which determines the number of police personnel required to "police" a given jurisdiction. Several procedures are available which deploy existing police human resources within a given area. Such procedures however, assume that the "proper" number of police persons are available for deployment to the jurisdiction. That is, sufficient police personnel are available to respond to any "call for service" without that call experiencing an unnecessary long wait in queue. The premise of this research is that an inadequate number of police personnel are available in some police jurisdictions and that calls do experience unnecessary queueing delays. It is further surmised that a reduction in the response delay, prompted by an assessment and reevaluation of the number of personnel, will improve police operational performance in that department. / Various steps are followed in the research. These are: (1) The identification, by quantitative means, of an optimum performing police jurisdiction from within a sample jurisdiction, (2) Identify the demographic/ecological characters which contribute to the crime situation for the optimum performing police jurisdiction, (3) Regress these characteristics into a factor relating police performance to a single police person, and, in turn, establish a standard for comparison; and, (4) Realign existing police persons to the "standard". / For the study it is assumed that the policing function will improve with a rational and objective approach to human resource allocation. Such an approach will allow for the availability of sufficient human resources to deal with any call for assistance promptly and efficiently by the police. Prompt and efficient responses to calls for service, it is surmised, will contribute to a perceived improved performance on the part of the citizenry. / The study was confined by the quality of the secondary data and the sampling and non-sampling error which existed within each data set. At the conclusion of this study it was possible to identify a standard of policing. This standard had direct application to determining the required number of human resources needed to provide an optimum level of police performance in a given police jurisdiction. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-02, Section: A, page: 0651. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

Utilizing the field theory/group dynamics approach from social psychology, a cross-sectional correlational analysis of the relationship between police perceptions of the cohesiveness of their work groups and indices of stress frequency and intensity was conducted with a sample of 289 police officers from the St. Petersburg, Florida Police Department. Respondents ranged in age from 19 to 54 years with a mean age of 32.75 years. The mean educational level was 13.6 years and the mean length of service was 8.76 years. Approximately eighty-five percent (84.8%) of the respondents were white and the remaining 15.2% were black, hispanic, or oriental. Two hundred sixty-five (91.7%) of the officers were male and 24 (8.3%) were female. / Five substantive hypotheses were tested to assess the impact of job specialization, shift assignment, length of service, and area worked on group cohesion; and whether or not cohesive group membership intensified or reduced the strain effects of job stress. / The Likert scaling technique was utilized to construct indices of cohesiveness and stress (frequency and intensity). The data was analyzed at the five percent significance level utilizing Pearson's product moment correlational technique. / The study failed to support the proposition that cohesion among St. Petersburg Police Officers varies with job specialization; however, cohesion was observed to vary with shift assignment, area worked, and length of service when the combined effects of age and specialization, age and area worked, and age and race were controlled. Limited support was also found for the proposition that both the intensity and the frequency of job stress decrease as the cohesiveness of work groups increase. / The significance of the study lies in its practical and research implications. On a practical level, the study alerts police administrators to the potential benefit of reduced stress and anxiety resulting from cohesive group behavior among police officers. From a research perspective, the study provides an opportunity for retrospective evaluation of the utility and effectiveness of the field theory/group dynamics approach to the study of police behavior; and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Likert scaling technique for operationalizing and measuring police stress and cohesion. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-05, Section: A, page: 1535. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

In recent years such innovative programs as arbitration, restitution, diversion, victim assistance and compensation have exploded throughout the United States. To date diversion has been the program model with the greates degree of proliferation. / The State of Florida, for example, initiated the Juvenile Alternative Services Project (JASP) in three pilot districts in 1979. The pilot project was aimed at diverting juvenile offenders from judicial processing thereby limiting system penetration. It was anticipated that assignment to community service alternatives would result in a more effective juvenile correction system and fewer subsequent law violations. / Evaluation of diversion programs is most often addressed by one of two approaches: fixed-goal or unintended outcome. Fixed-goal assesses the realization of stated goals; unintended outcome seeks to identify collateral effects of diversion programs. Evaluations of diversion programs, therefore, characteristically focus on determining negative or positive results. What a program does or does not do, and for whom, is absent from current diversion evaluation practice. / The purpose of this study is to implement the multi-goal approach as a diversion program evaluation technique. The conceptual approach of this study is retrospective-empirical analysis; it utilizes data from the JASP evaluation for the purpose of demonstrating the additional program information provided by the multi-goal approach. This study provides the first evidence of the feasibility and utility of the multi-goal approach and provides a starting point for evaluators who choose to try the multi-goal evaluation technique. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, Section: A, page: 1878. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

A time-series analysis of the deterrent effect of criminal sanctions (execution and incarceration) on homicide in the state of Florida is presented in this study. Four alternative deterrence models of the possible negative relationship between sanction and homicide were examined. / Both the Federal Bureau of Investigation's homicide rate and the Florida Vital Statistics homicide rate were used as measures of the dependent variable. Furthermore, two operational definitions for each certainty of sanction (execution and incarceration) were used in the analysis. The first measure of the certainty of sanction was the ratio of the number of sanctions to the number of homicides. In order to avoid the problem of ratio bias due to the presence of a common term (number of homicides) in the homicide rate and the first measure of the certainty of sanction, the actual number of each sanction was used as the second measure of the certainty of sanction. / Although there was some evidence of the deterrent effect of execution and incarceration on the homicide indicated by the finding of the negatively significant relationship between sanction and homicide rate, the relationship was not consistent when different measures of the certainty of sanction or different measures of the homicide rate were substituted. Socioeconomic and demographic variables, especially the nonwhite population rate, have been found to be better determinants of both homicide rate variables. / Finally, it was found that the best analysis, using the Vital Statistics homicide rate and the actual number of executions or the actual number of incarcerations as the measure of the certainty of sanction, did not support any deterrent hypothesis at all. This is because none of the analyses in each of the four deterrence models found any significant negative relationship between the Vital Statistics homicide rate and each of the sanction variables. In fact a counter deterrent effect or brutalization effect has been detected. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-11, Section: A, page: 3502. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

In its sixty years of existence, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has become one of the most important law enforcement organizations in the world. Within Interpol, African member states predominate. As of April 1983, forty-four African countries have subscribed to membership in Interpol. This constitutes 32 percent of all 136 Interpol member countries. / This study attempted to answer the following questions: (1) Does the participation of African nation-states in Interpol jeopardize or endanger their national sovereignty? (2) Does Interpol disseminate personal or political information about African nationals neither accused or suspected of criminal activity? (3) Do Africans and African governments view their involvement in Interpol as being an asset or a liability? / Data were gathered by (1) visiting Interpol National Central Bureaus (NCBs) in various countries and examining records and files; (2) interviewing staff members in NCBs; (3) reviewing Interpol operating policies and procedures; and (4) administering a questionnaire to African students attending American universities, Interpol-affiliated African police officials, and non-Interpol-affiliated police officials. / The results revealed (1) that African Interpol member states do not believe their membership in Interpol represents a threat to their national sovereignty, (2) no evidence that Interpol has ever disseminated personal or political information about African nationals neither accused nor suspected of criminal activity, and (3) that Africans and African governments view their involvement in Interpol as an asset. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-11, Section: A, page: 3501. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.