Browsing by Author "William R. Smith, Committee Chair"

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An Ecological Analysis of Burglary, Auto Theft, and Robbery Using Hierarchical Linear Methodology: An Investigation of a Strategy for Theoretical Integration.
(2003-04-18) Rice, Kennon John; William R. Smith, Committee Chair
Social disorganization theory posits that spatial patterns of crime emerge because neighborhood characteristics contribute to differences in propensity for criminality. Routine activity theory, on the other hand, asserts that spatial patterns emerge due to contextual differences in opportunity for criminal acts. Given that a criminal event requires both a motivated offender and an opportunity, scholars have recently recognized that these two independent traditions are complementary in nature. Spatial characteristics associated with the production of criminality and the creation of opportunity may both be independently associated with the patterns of distribution of criminal events, but when they occur simultaneously in the same location an interaction may occur whereby there is a multiplicative, rather than an additive, effect. This dissertation contributes to the growing body of literature that seeks to integrate these two lines of research on the basis of empirical interaction effects. However, a contentious dilemma has emerged around the choice of an appropriate unit of analysis for the measurement of the concepts involved in these interactions. On the theoretical front, there is general debate as to the role of 'awareness space' versus the role of an emergent milieu of a larger social context. On the methodological front, large units are suspected of introducing error through within unit heterogeneity, while small units are suspected of heightening autocorrelational errors. Through the use of Hierarchical Linear Analysis, this dissertation improves the understanding of these issues by developing multi-level models of robbery, burglary, and auto theft using data from a mid-sized south-eastern city. That is, distinct models for each of these crimes are built which simultaneously measure the associates of crime at relatively micro- and macro-levels of analysis. Both micro- and macro-level social contexts are found to be important to understanding the ecology of street crime, and the influence of micro-level characteristics are found to be contingent on the macro-level environments in which they are nested. The empirical findings in conjunction with the theoretical interpretation of these findings aid the development of an integrated ecological theory of crime and contribute to knowledge about the unique factors that are associated with the specific crimes of burglary, auto theft, and robbery.
The Effects of Prior Stages of Criminal Justice Decision-Making on Criminal Sentencing: A Test of Three Models
(2002-11-15) Godwin, Melissa Hunt; William R. Smith, Committee Chair; Patricia L. McCall, Committee Member; Rodney L. Engen, Committee Member
Previous research has analyzed the effects of legal and extralegal factors on criminal justice decision-making. Most of this research analyzes discrete stages, rather than multiple stages of the criminal justice process. Using data on felony convictions in a New Jersey State Court, this study compares the utility of a legal model of decision-making, an organizational model of decision-making and Black's (1976) theory of law in predicting several criminal justice outcomes. Providing some support for both the legal model and Black's theory of law, the results indicate the influence of both legal case characteristics and extralegal factors during initial stages of criminal justice processing. However, the influence of extralegal factors on later sentencing decisions through their effects on initial outcomes indicates the operation of organizational factors in criminal justice processing. While offenders are directly penalized by extralegal factors during initial criminal justice processing, they are penalized indirectly at sentencing stages by these same factors. Overall, the results of this analysis provide overwhelming support for an organizational model of criminal justice processing, in which later criminal justice outcomes are greatly a function of outcomes at previous stages. Previous research fails to systematically include prior outcomes in analyses of criminal sentencing. Criminal sentencing research that fails to consider the impact of initial criminal justice outcomes may falsely conclude that extralegal factors have no affect on decision-making.
Everyday Racism in the Context of Full-Service Restaurants
(2009-12-02) Brewster, Zachary W.; William R. Smith, Committee Chair; Maxine S. Thompson, Committee Member; Rick L. Della Fave , Committee Member; Michael D. Schulman, Committee Member
Despite popular claims that racism and discrimination are no longer salient issues in contemporary society, racial minorities continue to experience disparate treatment in everyday public interactions. The context of full-service restaurants is one such public setting wherein racial minority patrons, African Americans in particular, encounter discriminate treatment. To further understand the pervasiveness and processes implicated in restaurant serversÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ proclivity to discriminate against their racial minority customers, I analyze primary survey data derived from a local sample of servers (N=200) nested in eighteen restaurant establishments. Subjects were asked a series of questions ascertaining information about the racial climate of their workplaces. I utilize ordinary least squares regression and hierarchical linear modeling to assess the effects of both restaurant- and server-level variables on discriminatory server behaviors. Findings highlight the persistence of everyday racial discrimination in settings of public accommodations. A sizable number of sampled subjects self-reported to discriminate racially in their service delivery. Such discrimination can partially be understood as an adaptation to the economic uncertainty inherent in the institution of tipping. Results show that servers are motivated to discriminate statistically in their service delivery, to some extent, due to perceived differences in tipping and dining behaviors across racial groups. However, the economic motivation to provide discriminate service explains only a modest amount of the overall variation in serversÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ self-reported discriminatory behaviors. Results also reveal a considerable amount of anti-black server discourse within the cultures of restaurant establishments and such discourse is shown to be an important factor towards understanding both within and between-restaurant variation in server discrimination. Contrary to my expectations, the proportion of minorities working as servers/bartenders was not shown be a salient organizational-level predictor of discriminatory server behaviors. These research findings are interpreted as reflecting processes of everyday racism in contemporary America. Implications of these findings for restaurant officials are discussed and directions for future research are outlined.
Fear of Crime and Social Networks: A Community Study of Two Local Public Housing Complexes
(2003-04-17) Bissler, Denise L.; Stacy M. De Coster, Committee Member; Rodney L. Engen, Committee Member; Patricia L. McCall, Committee Member; William R. Smith, Committee Chair
This dissertation is an exploration of fear of crime and the impact of social networks on fear among residents of two local public housing complexes. Fear of crime is operationalized as perceived risk of victimization in which interviewees assessed their likelihood of victimization. Several theories of fear will be tested including direct victimization theory, physical vulnerability theory, incivilities theory, social vulnerability theory, and a social network theory. In addition, an exploratory study of the differences among the two complexes is conducted. The two public housing complexes studied here are similar in sociological characteristics such as demographic composition and size, but differ in management, tenure limitations, and perceptions of incivilities. Support is found for direct victimization theory and the empowerment effect of networks. No support for incivilities theory, physical vulnerability theory, or social vulnerability theory was found. Policy implications point toward increasing community cohesion.
The Social Context of Inmate Misbehavior: A Contextual Analysis of Infractions in North Carolina Prisons
(2003-04-08) Frazee, Sharon Glave; William R. Smith, Committee Chair; Patricia McCall, Committee Member; Rodney Engen, Committee Member; Matthew Zingraff, Committee Member
Inmate misbehavior is a relatively common phenomenon in correctional facilities throughout the United States. While many steps have been taken by correctional authorities to curb such behavior, their level of success is hampered by the lack of information on how social context affects inmate behavior. This research proposes to look at how context interacts with individual characteristics to affect rates of prison infractions in a variety of prison settings. Two major theories of inmate misbehavior, importation and prisonization, are tested and extended using hierarchical linear models on 1997 North Carolina prison population data.
Theoretical Investigation of the Causes of Juvenile Delinquency in Ukraine: Toward Integration of Classic Strain and Control Theories
(2008-07-31) Antonaccio, Olena; Patricia L. McCall, Committee Member; Ronald F. Czaja, Committee Member; William R. Smith, Committee Chair; Charles R. Tittle, Committee Member