The study proposed to evaluate the consequences of adopting alternative approaches to the reform of the Florida juvenile justice system as mandated by the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1978. The purpose of the study was to make recommendations regarding the reforms for juvenile justice admini / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-01, Section: A, page: 0399. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

This is an exploratory survey study of the determination of work-related stress of state criminal trial court judges. A multi-disciplinary review of research and theory concerning work-related stress, especially for professionals, and concerning the trial judicial role was the basis for the statement of hypotheses concerning forty-six variables predicted to operate as stressor, stress moderator, or determinant of vulnerability to being stressed. / A questionnaire, utilizing generally one-item measurement of variables, was developed through a four-stage draft-pretest process. Two single-item subjective ratings of work-related stress and a modified fourteen-item scale indicating physiological symptoms of stress were the dependent variable measures. / Questionnaires, with letters of endorsement by the major United States judge-training institution and a senior trial judge, were mailed to a random sample of 500 state criminal trial court judges above the traffic court level. An adjusted response rate of 40% was achieved. / After tests using oneway analysis of variance and stepwise multiple regression for hypothesized nonlinearity of relationship, hierarchical-entry, theory-determined group stepwise multiple regression was conducted with the three different measures of stress as dependent variables. The same procedure was conducted using a combination of all usable sample responses and 96 usable responses by students attending courses at the National Judicial College. / Conclusions regarding outcome of hypothesis tests were based primarily on semi-partial correlation coefficients obtained from the hierarchical entry multiple regression and secondarily on zero-order correlations, oneway analysis of variance results, and listings by respondents of stressful factors concerning the role and function relating to criminal cases and reasons for preferring other work. / Conclusions are stated concerning the apparent extent to which state criminal trial court judges experience work-related stress and concerning the relative importance of specific variables and types of variables. Possible implications of findings for judges' health, court organization, judicial decisionmaking, and future research are discussed. The broad, exploratory design and resulting limitations regarding generalization is emphasized. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-10, Section: A, page: 4595. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the applicability of a multidisciplinary model to the study of criminality. The limited success of the sociological approach to criminology has suggested consideration of promising new models and methodologies drawn from an integration of the academic disciplines. The model adapted to the study of criminality is Professor Vernon Reynolds' "biology of human action", presented in his 1976 book by the same name. The aim of Reynolds' work was to explore and establish the true nature of the links between biological functioning and social phenomena. Consideration of the applicability of this broad theory of human behavior to the more narrow range of behavior termed criminal or antisocial was the goal of this dissertation. / The distillation of bridging or linking propositions from Reynolds' theoretical model was followed by an examination of each proposition in light of research and empirical evidence relating to criminal and antisocial behavior. The investigation did not propose to bring together all of the relevant knowledge which related to each proposition, but rather, contemporary evidence which was empirically tested or testable was sought. In four chapters, five basic propositions regarding "human action" were applied to the criminological science area. Beginning with an examination of biologically deterministic theories, the relative contribution of genetic input to criminality and antisociality was assessed based upon recent empirical data. The next section considered whether criminals are different from noncriminals, and if criminals could be characterized reliably. Based on the considerable anthropological evidence that man, in general, is not innately aggressive (although many would consider this to be be basically a theoretical argument), the issue of innate aggression in criminals was explored. The physiological links which mediate an individuals' biology and his/her observable functioning are discussed next, within the context of a learning model. This section was organized by three major systems: the central nervous, the autonomic nervous and the endocrine. / The literature dealing with the impact of an adverse family environment, and in particular, of parental deprivation, neglect and abuse was reviwed and related to later criminal or antisocial behavior. A discussion of socialization and social organization concludes the application of the propositions drawn from Reynolds to criminology. Finally, a framework or model for interdisciplinary investigation in the criminological science area, based on those propositions which were supported (or not refuted) was developed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-09, Section: A, page: 4170. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

Recognizing that stress is a significant problem in law enforcement and following the pattern set by other researchers in analyzing general stress, this research developed a Critical Professional Life Events Scale for law enforcement. As a result of an open-ended questionnaire distributed to selected law enforcement officers, and following review by a panel of academic and law enforcement personnel, 144 events were identified as stressful in the professional life of a police officer. Many of these were commonly experienced, including court appearances, "writing a routine report," "making a routine traffic stop," "making a routine arrest," "work on a holiday," and "changing work shifts." Less common events identified as stressful included "violent death of a partner in the line of duty," "dismissal," "murder committed by a police officer," "taking a life in the line of duty," and "suicide of an officer who is a close friend." Many of the events, particularly those concerned with violence and with personnel and administrative issues, were suggested as stressful by a considerable number of preliminary questionnaire respondents. / Ordered through the use of a table of random numbers and placed in questionnaire format, these 144 events were evaluated on a scale of 1 to 100 by 378 law enforcement officers attending the FBI National Academy. The overall geometric mean of the individual estimations of the magnitude of each event determined the ultimate ranking and value assigned the event on the Law Enforcement Critical Life Events Scale. Final scale values ran from a high of 88 for the most stressful event, "Violent death of a partner in the line of duty," to a low of 13 for the least stressful, "Completion of a routine report." / The twenty-five events reflecting the highest level of stress, and consequently requiring the greatest amount of readjustment, were related to violence, personnal issues, and ethical concerns. The twenty-five least stressful, i.e., those requiring the least amount of readjustment after the event, were predominantly concerned with community relations, legal/judicial, administrative, and operational issues, many of which are routine events experienced on a regular basis by a majority of law enforcement officers. / The value of the study lies in its practical and research implications. On a practical level, it can allow for better analysis, prediction, and control of stress within police agencies and can foster improved preparatory training for coping with job-related stress. On a research level, the study can act as a springboard for more in-depth analysis of differing individual responses to the unique stressors of law enforcement and, with increased sophistication, can increase the understanding of the problem of police stress. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-12, Section: A, page: 5251. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

The major objective of this study was to attempt to empirically test and validate a portion of conflict-critical theory using the Panama Canal society as a base for this research. According to conflict-critical theory, the law may be used as an instrument to maintain the status quo of a society by the vested-interest group for their own self-serving interests. More specifically, two propositions of Chambliss and Seidman's conflict-critical theory state that: the lower one's social class, the more likely laws against his illegal behavior will be enforced and the more likely the sanctions will be severe (1971: 475). / The Panama Canal society provided a unique population to test Chambliss and Seidman's proposition due to the existing division between the upper and lower social classes based on ethnic nationality of the offender population. / All ethnic nationality groups who were convicted of committing a crime and subsequently sentenced within the U.S. Federal Court operating in the Panama Canal Zone between 1963 and 1979 were compared on punitive enforcement (type and degree of punishment) after being matched on prior criminal history and present offense. Type of punishment referred to the actual case disposition which varied from fine, probation, to incarceration. Degree of punishment referred to the actual severity of sentence (amount of fine or length of sentence) within the five possible sentencing categories of fine, probation, incarceration, parole, and incarceration with parole. Chi square analysis was then utilized to determine the relationship between ethnic nationality and sentencing. / The statistical findings in regard to punitive enforcement and severity of punishment based on ethnic nationality were found to be significant. It was learned that the lower social class offender (Panamanian) in the Panama Canal Zone did experience more punitive enforcement (type of punishment) than did the upper social class offender (Zonian, American, or both), and thus experienced differential sentencing. This finding did appear to support Chambliss and Seidman's proposition. However, severity of sanction (degree of punishment) based on ethnic nationality was found to be significant but it was the upper social class offender (American and Zonian) who experienced severity of sanction and thus differential sentencing. This finding did not appear to support Chambliss and Seidman's proposition. / The ultimate finding of this study was that punitive enforcement is correlated with ethnic nationality factors in the population studied. As predicted by conflict-critical theory, it apeared that the law--and judges within the U.S. Federal judicial system who applied the law--were used as an instrument of the vested-interest group to maintain the status quo of the dominant society for their own self-serving interest during the sixteen-year period studied. This finding, therefore, appeared to support the position taken by conflict-critical theorists, that the lower one's social class, the more likely he is to experience negative enforcement sanctions for his behavior. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-03, Section: A, page: 1328. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The present research presents an exploratory study of selected internal factors that are particularly important to the probation and parole officer occupation, and how they impact on the career stability of Florida probation and parole officers. Two models were developed to represent the conceptualized relationships. The first model suggests that the identified internal factors are key dimensions upon which the expectations of new officers are met, or not met. The degree to which the new officer's idealized expectations are met by the reality of the work environment are viewed as being directly linked to the level of strain experienced by the officer, with the level of strain linked to career stability. The second model suggests that career stability is linked to an officer career continuum with four identifiable positions: stayers, passive potential leavers, active potential leavers, and actual terminations. / Internal factors identified in the model are role orientation, work practice orientation, and professional autonomy. It was hypothesized that individual offices, and the organization as a whole, would manifest an agency personality encompassing these factors and that this collective position could be quantified. Additionally, it was hypothesized that former officers, or officers strongly contemplating terminating service, would differ from the agency norm on these selected factors. Thus, some former officers were theorized to be organizational rejects. Two similar questionnaires were designed to survey former (N = 67) and in-service (N = 88) officers. / Initially, the study found that officers with a criminology/criminal justice education were more likely to leave, or contemplate leaving, than colleagues with an alternate educational background. However, subsequent analysis discovered that 52 percent of the ex-officer sample terminating for new employment remained in the criminal justice field, and 24 percent of that same group went to different probation and parole agencies. There was evidence that a specialized criminology/criminal justice education may actually increase expectations about the officer role in relation to the actual reality eventually encountered. / The nature of the relationship between career stability and work practice orientation proved quite elusive. A high work practice orientation score signified that the individual viewed the primary responsibility of the officer role as service to the probationer/parolee. Conversely, a low score signified the individual's belief that community protection was the officer's primary responsibility. The differences between scores of in-service and ex-officers, for both the state and district levels were not significant. However, when type of new employment was controlled for, it was discovered that all former officers going into law enforcement were below the work practice orientation median, and that all former officers going into social services were above the median. The distribution was significant at the .0011 level. The latter finding suggests that the work practice orientation of the individual in relation to the aggregate agency orientation does impact on career stability. / The relationship between low perceived autonomy and low career stability was much clearer and stronger. It was discovered that officers wishing to leave service at the time of the survey were much more likely to be below the autonomy median (highly restricted) than those wishing to stay in service. The distribution was significant at the .15 level. Additionally, the autonomy scores between in-service and former officers at the state level and for one of the ten districts were significant, .0074 and .00015, respectively. These results are supportive of the position that autonomy impacts on career stability and that autonomy related terminations may be viewed as organizational rejections. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-03, Section: A, page: 1326. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Prior to the implementation of Florida's Objective Parole Guidelines, many considered the state's parole release process to be capricious. Consequently, the guidelines were formulated to approach "offender fairness." Although the professional literature stresses various equity issues such as similar treatment for similarly situated offenders, there is little consensus on definitions of "similar." This research attempts to more precisely define "equal treatment of equally situated offenders" and, thereby, more accurately analyze "offender fairness." The thrust of the research analyzes Florida's parole process both prior to and during the first year's implementation of objective parole guidelines with a focus on length of incarceration, consistency of the parole release decision, capriciousness due to the parole release decision, and predictive factors which may enter into the parole release decision. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-07, Section: A, page: 3312. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The present study attempted to examine the relationship between status and deviant behavior. An experiment was designed to determine whether an individual possessing low status in a small group would be more likely to cheat when presented with the opportunity than an individual occupying a middle or high status position. / Sixty female undergraduate students volunteered to participate. Each subject met in a small group with two (2) female confederates and one (1) male confederate who posed as subjects. Differential levels of status were induced by assigning each group member an objective status source consisting of a false score on a test. Subjects had been led to believe the test measured sensitivity and had been correlated with I.Q. and leadership potential. The confederates then conferred status on the subjects by either flattering a higher scorer or by obviously ignoring a low scorer. Middle scorers were treated in a neutral manner. Subjects were then provided an opportunity to cheat on a subsequent test. No statistically significant differences were found among the number of subjects who cheated in each status condition. In addition, the experiment attempted to identify whether the effects of status stemmed from an objective status source (i.e., level of competency on a test) which subjects might value in and of itself, or the response of their peer group to their objective level of achievement. Subjects were no more likely to cheat when their peers recognized their objective status source then when no one recognized their objective level of achievement. / It was suggested that the small sample size and the use of a nominal-level dependent variable may have contributed to the lack of statistically significant findings. Therefore, the experiment was reexamined in terms of its methodology. Recommendations were made for an increase in sample size as well as modification in the measurement of the dependent variable (i.e., cheating). / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-10, Section: A, page: 4596. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: A, page: 5198. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

The purposes behind this study of political terrorism were to determine if there is unity in underlying principles of terrorism and whether practical conduct of terrorist acts adheres to the principles. A group of 12 advocates of political violence was established, guided by three criteria. Fi / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-11, Section: A, page: 4845. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.