This dissertation examines the lives of trans men and their experiences with pathways to or avoidance of the criminal justice system. I used feminist criminological theory, specifically feminist pathways theory, as well as queer criminological theory, and intersectionality to explore these men’s experiences with child abuse, sexual victimization, homelessness, the presence of support systems, and coping strategies. Through the use of 27 semi-structured, in-depth phone interviews with trans men across the United States, I find common experiences among those who have been incarcerated (15) and those who have not (12). Regarding trans men’s pathways to offending, I find similar victimization and homelessness experiences among the fifteen men in the previously incarcerated group. Additionally, I find that the fifteen men who were previously incarcerated continue to face victimization, discrimination, and prejudice in the criminal justice system and upon their reentry to society. Victimization and discrimination in all four stages of the criminal justice system—arrest, sentencing, incarceration, and reentry—are all discussed in detail. Though many of the trans men in this study who have not been incarcerated faced similar victimization experiences to the previously incarcerated group, I find that the availability of social support and positive relationships, as well as positive coping mechanisms moderate the relationship between victimization and involvement in the criminal justice system. Furthermore, racial bias against transgender offenders in the criminal justice system is well-documented among cisgender offenders, specifically Black males. This dissertation too finds possible racial bias toward the Black and Hispanic trans men in the study. Race and ethnicity could also influence the access to resources and social support necessary to avoid arrest. Importantly, this dissertation extends the use of feminist pathways theory to populations other than girls and women and establishes the importance of intersectionality to criminological studies. Overall, this dissertation also demonstrates the need for more social support and resources for trans men, especially for trans men of color and those who have experienced common pathways to the criminal justice system.

This research examines how disability is conceptualized, responded to and experienced by prisoners within the federal prison system of canada , by attending to the constructs of disability and criminality as they relate to racial and colonial hierarchies. Drawing on anti-colonial theory and the concept of subalternity, this research aims to resist essentializing identity in a way that would limit ‘disability’ or ‘race’ to a particular spatial/temporal context. The constructs of race and disability will be attended to simultaneously, while engaging with how these identity categories have been co-constructed in relation to ‘criminality’, for the furthering of colonialism. Accordingly, this research contextualizes the mass-incarceration of racialized/disabled individuals within a broader, historic, colonial project of confinement and removal. I draw on 4 in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted for this study, with individuals who are living with disabilities and have been incarcerated in canadian federal prisons. Throughout this thesis, I couple my analysis of the ‘problem’ in question with attention to ‘how’ the problem is often discussed in dominant critical research and discourse, particularly attending to eurocentric articulations of race, disability and incarceration. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

When a family member is incarcerated, the task of emotionally and financially supporting the remaining family members and the incarcerated loved one often falls upon women, who are likely to be under-resourced and overwhelmed. Women whose husbands are incarcerated in India are likely to possess multiple marginalized identities, increasing their vulnerability to intersecting forms of oppression. Empirical research is lacking on wives of incarcerated men in India, contributing to their invisibility in policy-making and programmatic interventions. Guided by intersectional feminism and symbolic interactionism, the purpose of this study was to document the stories of women who had experienced spousal incarceration in the Indian context. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 wives of prison inmates who resided in or around the National Capital Territory of Delhi, all of whom either held a lower caste identity or a Muslim religious identity. Transcribed interviews were analyzed following the steps of narrative analysis. Results illustrate the diversity of storied experiences of wives of incarcerated husbands in India. First, by grouping narratives that conveyed the same overall storyline into the same cluster, I identified three story clusters: Ambivalent but Hanging On, Unconditionally Devoted, and Independent and Disillusioned. Second, by attending to how women's day-to-day lives are shaped by intersecting systems of privilege and oppression, particularly those tied to gender and class, I identified three overarching themes that spanned women's narratives: (a) a complicated relationship with patriarchy, (b) the weight of socioeconomic disenfranchisement, and (c) when resilience is not a choice. The results of this study emphasize the need to distinguish between feminist agency and welfare agency, to recognize women's experiences of ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief, and to critique the systemic injustices that forced women to be resilient. Documenting their stories is instrumental in bringing attention to the needs, challenges, and triumphs of this underserved and overlooked population. / Doctor of Philosophy / When a family member is incarcerated, the task of emotionally and financially supporting the remaining family members and the incarcerated loved one often falls upon women, who are likely to be under-resourced and overwhelmed. Women whose husbands are incarcerated in India are likely to possess multiple marginalized identities, increasing their vulnerability to intersecting forms of oppression. Empirical research is lacking on wives of incarcerated men in India, contributing to their invisibility in policy-making and programmatic interventions. The purpose of this study was to document the stories of women who had experienced spousal incarceration in the Indian context. Interviews were conducted with 14 wives of prison inmates who resided in or around the National Capital Territory of Delhi, all of whom either held a lower caste identity or a Muslim religious identity. Results illustrate the diversity of women's stories and experiences with spousal incarceration. First, by grouping narratives that conveyed the same overall storyline into the same cluster, I identified three story clusters: Ambivalent but Hanging On, Unconditionally Devoted, and Independent and Disillusioned. Second, by attending to how women's day-to-day lives are shaped by intersecting systems of privilege and oppression, particularly those tied to gender and class, I identified three overarching themes that characterized women's narratives: (a) a complicated relationship with patriarchy, (b) the weight of socioeconomic disenfranchisement, and (c) when resilience is not a choice. The results of this study emphasize the need to distinguish between feminist agency and welfare agency, to recognize women's experiences of ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief, and to critique the systemic injustices that forced women to be resilient. Documenting their stories is instrumental in bringing attention to the needs, challenges, and triumphs of this underserved and overlooked population.

Ecological studies of crime explore how crime and delinquency are distributed within a geographical area. The most famous of these studies was done by Shaw and McKay (1942). The present study analyzes juvenile incarceration data by geographic location, measures of social disorganization, gender and race for the years 1993, 1994, and 1995 for each county and independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Regression analysis indicated that a rural/urban difference does not exist for all incarceration categories used in the study. When the control measure of arrest rate was added to the regression, no rural/urban difference was found. The percent non-white yielded the only consistently significant variable related to incarceration rates, except female incarceration for which no independent variable was found to have a significant relationship. / Master of Science

abstract: While incarceration can be detrimental for inmates, the children of prisoners can suffer from behavioral issues, poor school performance, and a higher risk of crime and delinquency across the life-course. Separation from one's family is part of what makes incarceration a punishment, but what can be done to ensure that this punishment has the least harmful effect on children? Prison visitation presents an intriguing opportunity to lessen the potential harms of parental incarceration. Using data from the Arizona Prison Visitation Project (APVP), the current study focuses on inmates who were parents to minor children and seeks to determine: 1) do different types and different amounts of prison contact (in-person, phone, and mail) correlate with changes in the quality of parent-child relationships and 2) does a change in parent-child relationship quality correlate with a change in child behavior. The results from the analysis suggest that visitation and mail contact are associated with positive increases in parent-child relationship quality. Also, positive changes in parent-child relationship quality were associated with a decrease in the odds of children having behavioral problems during incarceration. This study provides some support for the ability that prison contact can have to increase relationship quality, which in turn, may decrease the presence of behavioral issues in the children of incarcerated parents. Future directions in policy should consider measures to subsidize or refund contact costs, encourage contact between parents and their children, and involve children in in-prison programming designed to improve contact and relationships between parents and their children. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Criminology and Criminal Justice 2017

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America has the highest incarceration rate in the world with an estimated 2.2 million inmates, and more than five million American children have at least one parent in jail (Murphey, 2015). Prior to imprisonment, many parents are employed, contribute economically to family life, and are engaged in parenting their children. Parent-child relationships that may have been strong pre-incarceration may not thrive once the parent goes to jail due to limited communication and the inmate’s inability to provide financial support for his/her family. Further, once the parent is released from prison, s/he faces fewer options for employment with a criminal history. Developmental programs in prison such as job training and parenting skills exist to mediate these negative outcomes. Although program participation is associated with a 20% likelihood of increased employment among inmates, little research explores the motivating factors behind program participation (Visher, Debus, & Yahner, 2008). This study poses three research questions that explore child contact and program participation as factors of increased employment post-release. In detail, the first research question explores factors related to child contact in prison, focusing on the history of parent-child financial support prior to incarceration. The second research question explores the relationships between child contact in-prison and program participation. Finally, this paper tests a third research question to explore child contact and program participation as factors of employment outcomes post- release. Interesting findings from the study suggest that parental inmates with frequent child contact in-prison are likely to have been their child(ren)’s primary source of financial support prior to incarceration. Inmates with frequent reports of child contact are also more likely to participate in developmental programs during their sentences and more likely to be employed post-release. These associations may exist because parental inmates have a sense of responsibility after being in touch with their children. Therefore, policymakers should consider removing contact barriers that complicate phone access and visitation privileges between parental inmates and their minor child(ren).