Criminal Justice & Political Science Doctoral Work

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    An Examination of the Relationship Between Individual Risk Factors and Drug Court Success: An Application of the Risk, Needs, Responsivity Model
    (North Dakota State University, 2010) Richardson, Katie Ann
    Research has documented that drug courts can and do work; however, recent attention has focused on how individual characteristics may be related to program success and post program recidivism. It was the purpose of this study to further examine how participant characteristics may impact post program recidivism by applying the Risk, Needs and Responsivity framework. A sample of 104 drug court participants and a matched sample of similar offenders who received treatment as usual was used to test the hypotheses that those who possess certain risk factors may be less likely to recidivate post program because they have been appropriately matched to drug courts-a high intensity treatment experience. Gender and group membership were also explored as potential moderators of the relationships between individual risks and post program recidivism. Results found no support for the hypotheses, and no evidence was found suggesting an interaction effect. Among the entire sample of drug court participants and comparison group members, only the control variable age was significantly related to post program recidivism; those who were older were less likely to recidivate. Among only a subsample of completers, group membership was the only variable significantly related to post program recidivism; those who were drug court participants were less likely to recidivate.
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    Integrating the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Approaches for an Enhanced Police Performance Measurement System
    (North Dakota State University, 2021) Lee, Myungwoo
    An effective performance measurement system is an integral part of modern police management. Police agencies have measured their performance against a very restricted set of crime-focused indicators, such as crime rates, arrests, response times, and clearance rates. Police performance should be measured across multiple dimensions to capture public values produced by modern police agencies. This study set out to present an enhanced performance measurement system for police agencies by integrating the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approaches. The BSC provides the theoretical foundation for building a comprehensive performance measurement framework, while the DEA provides the analytical tool to test the theoretical framework. Integrating the DEA and the BSC approaches can create many synergy effects because they are complementary to each other. A case-study approach was used to assess the feasibility of the integrated performance measurement system; to critically examine the ways in which performance information can be used for performance management in police agencies; and to put forward some recommendations regarding its successful application in practice. Police stations under the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) were chosen for conducting this case study. The Dynamic-Network (DN) DEA, with assumptions of input-orientation, variable returns-to-scale (VRS), and slack-based measure (SBM), was run to estimate the proposed police performance measurement model. The DN DEA presented the overall performance over the entire observed period as well as dynamic changes of the perspective-period performance. The DN DEA also presents the practical ways in which inefficient police stations become more efficient by reporting the specific benchmarking objects and the target input and output levels for the inefficient police stations. When network and dynamic dimensions, derived from the BSC, are incorporated in a DNDEA model, a more comprehensive information can be obtained and thus enables accurate estimate of organizational performance as well as identify potential improvements in more detail.
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    Correctional Case Planning: An Examination Into the Impacts of Case Plans on Offender Recidivism
    (North Dakota State University, 2021) Borseth, Jenna Lynn
    Case planning has become common practice within many correctional intervention programs. While the practice of case planning is not a new idea, it remains a largely neglected field within the study of offender rehabilitation. The current study seeks to expand this literature by investigating the effects of four case plan components: compliance, specificity (consisting of positively stated, measurable, and singular objectives), breadth, and expiration. To do so, the study examines 859 correctional case plans of offenders receiving treatment at a Halfway House facility. The results indicate that case plan compliance, breadth, and expiration are not significantly associated with offender recidivism. Additionally, only one of the specificity domains, positively stated, is significant. The positive relationship indicates that more positively stated objectives are associated with higher recidivism when other case plan specificity variables are controlled for. While the results fail to support the initial hypotheses, supplemental analyses demonstrate the importance of continued research on impacts of case plans. As a result, this paper should not be used as a justification to dismiss case planning but rather as a call for more research. The discussion section provides a continued narrative on how future research can expand on what is currently understood about the impacts of case planning on offender recidivism outcomes.
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    Unsettling Settlements: Examining Police Misconduct Lawsuits in the City of Chicago
    (North Dakota State University, 2020) Robinson, Chloe Nichele
    There is limited empirical research related to lawsuits involving the police due in part to limited accessibility to relevant data sources. This study aims to examine the relationship between citizen, situational, and lawsuit factors and police misconduct litigation in the city of Chicago. Data were collected from two separate databases: The Chicago Reporter and The Invisible Institute. The analyses in this study demonstrate that there is a relationship between lawsuit payout amounts, lawsuit misconduct type and various situational factors. Policy implications are discussed.
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    Chasing the Dragon: The Social Construction of the U.S. Opioid Epidemic
    (North Dakota State University, 2019) Vondal, Jennafer
    Utilizing a social construction perspective, this study uses a mixed method approach to examine the opioid epidemic. The study begins by identifying the numerous claims-making groups along with conducting a content analysis of the rhetoric and symbols used to legitimize the claims about the opioid epidemic. The data for the content analysis was obtained through a search of the websites, newsrooms, and pressrooms of claims-making groups. Additionally, the study examines and assesses the volume of money that is generated and allocated towards opioid research and prevention in an effort to determine who has more power to influence the policy initiatives. Findings show that the frequency of rhetoric and the number of claims-making groups releasing information about the opioid epidemic increased from 2010-2016. Most of the rhetoric consists of groups proposing resolution strategies and formulating new policies. Only a few claims-makers are making financial contributions towards opioid prevention initiatives and in most cases, it is a very small amount of money.
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    Officers on Patrol: A Qualitative Examination of Patrol Officer Behavior and Decision Making
    (North Dakota State University, 2018) Heley, Frank Anton
    The understanding of what patrol officers do, and why, suffers from a lack of perspective presented from the officers themselves. To develop this understanding, a qualitative methodology was employed in the current study which entailed ride-alongs and semi-structured interviews with 59 patrol officers of the Fargo, ND police department. Research inquires focused on how officers viewed patrol work, how they conducted it, and how they viewed, and utilized different forms of intelligence that might assist them in their patrol duties. In the context of patrol work, officers discussed the purposes of patrol and how they serve them, their personal goals, and feelings, obstacles, beat coverage, dispatch, prioritization of duties, techniques, patrol focuses and departmental expectations. Officers also discussed the utility and value of departmental and officer derived intelligence and the nature and quality of communication between both officers and the department. Results revealed the importance officers place on the act of patrolling, the patrol obstacles generated through short staffing, high call volume, and what officers referred to as nuisance calls. Also revealed was a set of officers’ informal working rules that constituted a beat management philosophy known as beat integrity. Results also uncovered the importance that officers place on communication with both the public and the department, the problem natured focus of their patrol activities, their self-reliance on officer generated intelligence, and the negative views they held regarding the quality of departmental intelligence. Results suggest how this deeper understanding of officer behavior and decision-making can improve officer development, officer satisfaction by addressing their focuses and concerns, and the dissemination and quality of intelligence.
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    Is Justice Delayed Justice Denied? : Examining the Timeliness of Completing Police Misconduct Investigations
    (North Dakota State University, 2018) Mrozla, Thomas John
    This study aims to examine how patrol officer and complaint characteristics influence the timeliness of completing police misconduct investigations. Further, it analyzes how the timeliness of the investigation influences the disposition and discipline of complaint investigations while controlling for relevant police officer and complaint characteristics. Data were collected from a Midwestern municipal police agency for all complaints filed against patrol officers from 2006-2015. The analyses in this study demonstrate that the nature of the complaint and number of police officers present influences the length of the investigation. This study also finds that police officer and complaint characteristics are relevant predictors of the disposition and discipline outcomes of complaint investigations. Policy implications are discussed.
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    Citizens’ Perception of Police Services in an Oil Boomtown
    (North Dakota State University, 2018) Huynh, Carol
    Past research indicates that various factors influence citizens’ perception of police services, including citizen characteristics, prior criminal victimization, personal safety, and fear of crime. However, less is known about the influence that these variables have on citizens’ perceptions in a community experiencing rapid population growth as a result of increased energy production. Thus, the focus of the current research was to examine how such variables impact citizens’ perception of crime control by police officers in a town experiencing rapid changes. This study also examined the role of residential longevity by testing for perceptual differences among long-time and boom residents. Finally, this research considers the influence of neighborhood social cohesion/trust on citizens’ perception of police services. Data for this study was gathered from surveys completed by a random sample of residents living in Williston, North Dakota during the fall of 2015 (N=301). Overall, results suggest a number of factors related to citizens’ characteristics, prior criminal victimization, and personal safety impact residents’ perception of police services. Second, long-time residents were more likely than boom residents to agree that the police were doing a good job delivering services to their community. Lastly, neighborhood trust (but not neighborhood reliability) influenced residents’ perception of police services. The implications of these findings are discussed.
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    A Big Deal: Examining Routine Activities Variables Related to Sexual Victimization on the College Campus
    (North Dakota State University, 2015) Wood, McKenzie Ann
    The sexual assault and sexual coercion of women on college campuses is a pervasive and ongoing problem. It is estimated that over 15% of women attending college experience some type of sexual assault or coercion each year (Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000). While sexual victimization ranging from mild, verbal, sexual coercion, to rape has been studied, more recently a newer form of sexual victimization has been researched: Stalking. The current study uses results from 873 surveys at a Midwestern university to examine the prevalence of sexual victimization and stalking on a college campus. Cohen and Felson’s (1979) routine activities theory is used to explain why sexual victimization and stalking are common on university campuses, and what variables might contribute to their occurrence.
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    Sexual Assault Cases and the Funnel of Justice: An Examination of Police and Prosecutorial Decision-Making
    (North Dakota State University, 2014) Wentz, Ericka Ann
    In order to improve responses to sexual assaults so that fewer cases drop out of the criminal justice funnel, it is important to understand the decision-making processes of the police and prosecutors in these cases. The focal concerns perspective posits that legal and extralegal variables factor into the police and prosecutors' decisions about how to proceed with sexual assault cases. Although decisions made at the prosecutorial stage are largely reliant on the actions of the police, the prosecutors' charging decisions often differ from how the police classify the incidents. This study examined 11 years of adult sexual assault incidents reported to the police in a Midwestern city to determine the level of congruence in the charging decisions made by the police and prosecutors. Unique from past research, this study used a mixed methods approach to analyze the data from police reports and court documents. Quantitative data examined the extent to which charging decisions were congruent between the police and prosecutors and assessed which factors in sexual assault cases predict the agreement in police and prosecutors' charging decisions. Qualitative data was used to determine which factors were cited most frequently within sexual assault case documents in congruent and incongruent cases. The quantitative analysis revealed that the police and prosecutors' decisions were in agreement in 34% of the cases, and distinct from prior research, the only statistically significant predictors of congruent charges were legally-relevant variables. Findings from the qualitative analysis mirrored those from the quantitative analysis, as legally-relevant characteristics such as the amount of evidence collected and the use of physical force were cited more frequently in congruent cases than incongruent cases. Overall, the results suggest that the focal concerns of the police and prosecutors in this study revolve primarily around the level of evidence available in sexual assault cases. Implications resulting from these findings are discussed.
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    Blessings and Curses: The Impact of the North Dakota Oil Boom on Offender Reentry and Reintegration into the Community
    (North Dakota State University, 2016) Buchholz, Maria Mae
    Education, employment, housing, and substance abuse pose significant problems to the successful reentry of individuals released from prison. The current research project utilized a natural experiment, an oil boom in a Midwestern state, to examine changes in offender reentry and recidivism outcomes overtime. The first part of the study compared a sample of offenders released from prison prior to the oil boom to a sample of offenders released from prison during the highest peak of the oil boom. Comparisons were made on variables known in the literature to be predictive of recidivism during the reentry process; these include risk, education, employment, housing, substance abuse, and treatment. Recidivism was measured as a new conviction, technical violation, and re-incarceration. The follow-up period for both samples was two years. The second part of the study incorporated the perspectives of probation and parole officers. All officers in the Midwestern state were surveyed on their perception of offender reentry and how it may have changed as a result of oil boom influences. Officer attitudes, philosophies, and supervision strategies were analyzed in relation to their perceptions on offender reentry and the oil boom.
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    No Time for Stolen Yard Gnomes: Changing Styles of Policing during an Oil Boom
    (North Dakota State University, 2016) Dahle, Thorvald
    Western North Dakota law enforcement agencies have experienced dramatic changes in the policing landscape as a result of an oil boom. These agencies were forced to deal with a rapidly growing population that brought different cultural expectations and a substantial rise in crime. Using Klinger’s (1997) framework of formal and informal policing behaviors, the current study explores how policing styles have changed in these agencies. Researchers interviewed 101 officers from eight agencies to determine how the oil boom impacted the way they conduct their work, interact with citizens, and handle calls for service.