Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Texas at Arlington, 2009.

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity International University, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-147).

This study examined as risk and protective factors which may promote or deter physical punishment use across generations. This study used self-report information from parents (N = 211) who had a child between the ages of 2-6. Additionally, the participating parents were also asked if they would like to invite one of their parents (e.g., the grandparent) to participate. Grandparents (N = 65) completed the same questionnaires as their adult child, though grandparents were asked to reflect upon when they were parenting the adult child. Four risk factors promoting physical punishment were examined: childhood histories of physical punishment, favorable attitudes towards physical punishment, feeling of anger and stress. As expected, parents’ childhood physical punishment, high feeling of anger and stress were associated with parents using physical punishment techniques with their own children. This study also investigated the salience of such risk factors in promoting physical punishment to continue, above the influence of receiving physical punishment as a child. Parents’ current favorable attitudes towards physical punishment predicted their use of physical discipline with their children, even after controlling for childhood histories of being physically punished. When parents’ childhood experiences of physical punishment and feelings of anger were considered together, parents’ childhood experiences significantly predicted using physical punishment; feelings of anger were marginally related to physical punishment practices. Similar results were found when parents’ childhood experiences and feelings of stress were considered together. Additionally, four risk factors deterring physical punishment were examined: feelings of resentment about childhood experiences of physical punishment, effective anger regulation and stress coping techniques. Parents who were spanked frequently as a child, but had low feelings of resentment about being spanked were at greater risk of using physical punishment on their child, compared to parents who were spanked frequently, but had higher feelings of resentment. Parents’ abilities to regulate their feeling of anger and cope with stress were not associated with parents less use of physical punishment. Finally, grandparents’ and parents’ reports of physical punishment use were different, with parents using less physical punishment on their child than what they experienced as a child. / text

This dissertation contains three essays analyzing how institutions affect punishment choices and levels of offending. / Economics

No description available.

This study investigated attitudes of students, parents and teachers towards the use of corporal punishment in three senior secondary schools. The sample consisted of 360 students, 175 parents and 60 teachers (n = 595 respondents). Parents' and teachers' ages ranged between 23 and 79 years, whereas students' ages ranged between 13 and 29 years. Three researcher-designed questionnaires and an interview schedule were used to collect data aimed at measuring attitudes of respondents through the Likert Scale as well as open-ended items requiring opinion. Having been granted permission by the Education Department to administer questionnaires in schools, a pilot study was carried out on a relatively small scale, with respondents roughly similar to those of the final study. This was followed by the administration of questionnaires to each school in turns. Parents' meetings created an opportunity of administering questionnaires for parents and an audiotape was used for recording interviews. This study presents the first step in the development of a measuring scale, the validity of which will only become apparent after extensive use by subsequent researchers, subjecting their data to meta-analysis. The collected data were analyzed through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The crosstabulation of raw data was used to investigate differences among subjects that fall into different categories. To find the significance of differences, the chi-squared test was used. Only items reflecting significant differences were discussed, with the level of significance set between 0.01 and 0.05. This findings of the study suggest support for the view that corporal punishment should be retained as it is believed to instil good discipline which produces good results: provided there is proper supervision, which was lacking with the past education department. Some teachers, and even principals, have been found guilty of sexually abusing schoolgirls. Teachers, when on strike, pledge solidarity with students. Some students assault teachers and hold them hostage. All this points to the collapse of authority and morals for both students and teachers, and thus some respondents feel that even if caning is retained, for as long as teachers' behaviour is not monitored and scrutinized by the Department of Education, it would be dangerous to allow students to be caned by such irresponsible people (teachers), hiding under the protective cover of the unions. The study recommends that, now that corporal punishment in schools has been banned, there should be an in-built mechanism in schools to monitor caning to protect children from victimization. History has warned that even if 'official' caning ceases, but 'unofficial' caning will never stop. The code of conduct for both teachers and students should be in place, and strictly adhered to, in order to restore sound morals and mutual respect. Rigorous in-service training and work shopping to empower teachers with alternative management skills which could render corporal punishment unnecessary, should be conducted. Caution should be taken as alternatives have their limitations and shortcomings, more especially in the South African context, with its multi-cultural characteristics and diversification. It is not sufficient to conclude that respondents in this study seem to be satisfied with the retention of the cane as these results may not reflect the general view of the students, teachers and parents country-wide. An urgent country-wide research on caning should be embarked upon to get the general and different views, as the decision to ban corporal punishment seemingly does not reflect any prior nationwide research which, in turn, should inform practice and benefit changes. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1997.

This study expands upon the study of racial stereotyping through looking at the realm of professional sports. An athlete’s race, the sport an athlete plays, and the crime the athlete commits were all investigated to determine whether racial stereotyping plays a role in verdict and sentencing decisions. Participants were exposed to one of eight vignettes in a 2 (Race: White or Black) X 2 (Sport played: professional football or professional soccer) X 2 (Crime: sexual assault or performance enhancing drug use) design. The dependent variables measured are classified as “seriousness, guilt, and responsibility” and “sentencing.” Results from this study show that racial stereotyping does still play a role in terms of sentencing. While most of the hypotheses are partially supported, there is no full support of any one hypothesis. Data was expected to support the hypotheses that black athletes will be more harshly punished than white athletes. Results showed that there was a significant 3-way interaction on the variable “seriousness of crime” (p < .05; F(1, 151) = 5.20). The independent variable of crime type had a significant main effect on all of the variables excluding monetary fine and the sport violence variables (p < .05 for all). However, the direction of this effect differed per dependent variable. Race of the athlete only had a main effect on the variable of monetary fine (p < .05) in the direction of white athletes. No pattern was found in the results suggesting that perhaps participants may have responded opposite to racial biases.

Racial discrimination in capital punishment has been documented from the 1700s to today. Among the 32 states that still have the death penalty, some have implemented measures at a legislative or judicial level to prevent the arbitrary imposition of the death penalty. The goal of this thesis is to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the result of one such effort, the North Carolina Racial Justice Act. Doing so will help determine if this is a model that other states should replicate, and if so, how it should be altered for a successful reimplementation.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Legal punishment is frequently regarded as a cornerstone of both the legal system and of society more broadly yet (surely to its detriment) it is a practice which lacks a firm philosophical foundation. In spite of exercising many extremely capable legal and philosophical minds (particularly during the twentieth century) no generally agreed upon justification of punishment has been found. The nub of the problem has however been acknowledged as the inability of either of the major candidate theories (utilitarianism or retributivism) to provide an account able to address all the relevant parties. Whilst utilitarianism is often regarded as competent to the task of justifying punishment to society in terms of the attainment of some greater good, it seems entirely inadequate when it comes to formulating a justification to the criminal to explain why he has been singled out for punishment. And in the case of retributivism the situation is reversed. To the criminal it can be put that through punishment he is treated in accordance with what has done, but in the matter of justifying punishment to society, the key principle of desert is unable to be properly grounded. Thus the central motivation of this thesis is to attempt to redress this shortcoming in the philosophical literature and to formulate a viable justification of legal punishment. Ultimately it will be argued that the accounts of both Kant and Hegel offer a way of resolving the dilemma of punishment, and in particular their idealist orientation over and above their more widely acknowledged characterization as retributivists. In Kant’s case his contribution is derived from a reworked and more sophisticated version of his retributivism than is generally found in the literature, inspired by the work of Susan Meld Shell. Following Shell’s lead Kant’s construction of justice is explored and found to both enhance and support the traditional justification of punishment he can offer to the criminal, and to furnish an otherwise elusive justification of punishment to society more broadly. A reading of Hegel on punishment is also developed by taking seriously his theory of recognition and aspects of his logic, particularly regarding negation and contradiction. His account then addresses quite neatly and straightforwardly the three audiences for whom a justification of punishment is sought – the criminal, the victim and society itself. Not only does the thesis address the problem of punishment but it has further implications for Kant and Hegel scholarship as well as philosophy more broadly. One of the key points to come out of this thesis is that Kant and Hegel (if given adequate intellectual consideration) seem potentially able to offer up significant contributions to contemporary problems and issues beyond just the one argued for here regarding punishment. Their work is not merely of historical interest but has real and wide ranging possibilities which provide a rich resource for future research.

Thesis (M.S.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (ℓ. 62-64)