Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2016, Sociology

Handgun ownership in the U.S. is associated with both risks and benefits with some research showing an increased risk of accidental death and suicide (Hemenway 2011) and other studies finding that crime and victimization reductions associated with handgun ownership are significant (Kleck 1988: Kleck 2004; Kleck & Gertz 2005). However, little of this research addresses a fundamental question about handgun ownership: Why do some people choose to buy handguns while most in the U.S. do not? Lack of knowledge about what motivates handgun ownership precludes an educated national discussion about gun ownership, gun control, and gun violence. Previous research on the motivations for handgun ownership has been hindered by a paucity of data, inconsistent measures of ownership, and consideration of only a limited number of possible motivating factors at one time. In the present study, I use multiple waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescence to Adult Health (ADD Health) to examine adolescent and adult correlates of handgun ownership in a nationally-representative sample of young adults. The motivations for gun ownership outlined in the prior literature include socialization (O'Connor & Lizotte 1979; Cao et al 1997), masculinity (Stroud 2012), victimization and fear of crime, (DeFronzo 1979; Hill et al 1985; Kleck et al. 2011; Turner et al 2015; Walllace 2015), political ideology (Cook and Ludwig 1997; Hepburn et al. 2007), and societal insecurities (Jiobu & Curry 2001l; Carlson 2015). Using logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression, I examine all of these correlates simultaneously in order to better understand handgun owners and the differences between “typical” handgun owners (i.e., those owning 1-2 handguns) and atypical owners (i.e. those owning 3 or more handguns). The findings showed that socialization, victimization, conservatism, and societal insecurity increase the likelihood of handgun ownership but none of the focal correlates differe (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Stephen Demuth (Advisor); Raymond Swisher (Committee Member); Jorge Chavez (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2015, Sociology

The goal of this study is to examine the association between collective perceptions of the police, social capital, and fear of crime in the neighborhood context. Extending Bahn's (1974) reassurance model, I argue that communities which perceive the police to be biased or ineffective at addressing neighborhood problems will have higher levels of fear. Few studies have examined how neighborhood social capital figures into this relationship, and the extant literature suffers from a lack of specificity and consistency in how social capital is conceptualized and measured. Drawing on the original formulation proposed by Bourdieu (1986), this study examines how four distinct dimensions of neighborhood social capital; social ties, attachment, neighboring, and collective efficacy; interact with perceptions of the police in their association with fear. Using the Seattle Neighborhoods and Crime Survey (2002-2003), I provide a between-neighborhood analysis which tests hypotheses of mediation and moderation specific to each dimension of social capital as they relate to perceptions of the police and fear of crime. I argue that the hypothesized negative association between social capital and fear will be amplified in neighborhoods where residents feel the police are ineffective at controlling crime or are biased in their policing. Thus, the stock of social capital in neighborhoods may compensate for the real or perceived lack of reassurance from sources of formal control. This study finds support for hypotheses overall, and indicates the importance of measuring dimensions of social capital separately, as different dimensions are found to operate independently and with varying associations with neighborhood fear.

Committee: Jorge Chavez (Advisor); Raymond Swisher (Committee Member); Danielle Kuhl (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Research; Social Structure; Sociology

Master of Science in Criminal Justice, Youngstown State University, 2011, Department of Criminal Justice and Consumer Sciences

The media often portrays an inner city overcome with violence. This research investigates whether citizens are emotionally responsive to this attention, as well as the self protective measures they utilize based on where they reside. Because the press devotes so much of its media coverage to violence, the main hypothesis to be tested here is that the more one is exposed to the media, the more they will be fearful of crime. The demographic variables included in this survey will be as follows: age, gender, race, average household income, and level of education. The predictor variable is the amount of media consumed, with the dependent variable being one's level of fear of violent victimization. Conclusions were drawn from data obtained from students attending a midsized urban university (N=134) in the Midwest in order to see what impact the media has on fear. The hypothesis that high media exposure would increase levels of fear and increase precautionary measure was unsupported. However, support was found for the hypothesis that respondents who were themselves a crime victim or knew the victim of a crime are more aware of the threat of victimization. Future researchers may want to operationalize media by other means such as specifying source of media and if this influences fear of crime.

Committee: Christopher Bellas PhD (Advisor); John Hazy PhD (Committee Member); Susan Clutter MFS (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2009, Education : Criminal Justice

The relationship between the physical and social environment to the behavior of individuals is an intrinsic part of sociology and criminology. This relationship exists in every environment regardless of size, yet typically we apply theory at the neighborhood level. In this work I test the propositions of the disorder model on the environment – behavior dynamic in high schools. I argue in this work that the high school, in many ways is similar to the neighborhood environment and thus can serve as a laboratory environment. Accordingly, I have addressed a variety of disorders and their relationship to behavioral adaptation through fear. Result of regression analysis ultimately provide only moderate support for the disorder model, but these findings provoke do have value. First, the fear and victimization hypothesis emerges as a possibly more important means of understanding the nature of adaptive behavior. Second the data facilitate the exploration of places within places, or micro-places, which illustrate the need to better direct efforts in schools. Finally, and most fundamentally, this study contributes to the existing debate on how exactly fear and adaptive behaviors are related. Various opinions exist in the literature which range from fear as a predictor of behavior to fear as an outcome of risk perception and constrained behavior, and fear as a co-occurrence to behavioral adaptation and risk perception. The data presented here suggest merely that fear and behavior are positively correlated. I feel that a more appropriate model can be developed, and should be explored in future research. I propose one such model above and am hopeful that it will serve as a good starting point for further theoretical refinement. Ultimately, this data provide only moderate support for the proposed theoretical “broken windows” mechanisms, and thus should be thought of as only generally supportive of such theory. Yet clearly the findings leave room for other theoretical possibilities (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Pamela Wilcox Ph.D. (Committee Chair); John Eck Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lawrence Travis Ph.D. (Committee Member); David May Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2002, Education : Criminal Justice

Recent increases in sexual victimization rates for children, combined with the highly publicized tragedies of such victimizations, fostered public demands for legislatures to take stronger action against those who commit sexual and violent crimes against children. Legislative response to public demands took the form of sex offender registration and notification statutes. Sex offender notification statutes allow for community dissemination of information about an adjudicated sex offender. The purported goals of sex offender notification legislation are two-fold: (1) to reduce the risk of individual sexual victimization, by prompting protective behaviors; and (2) improve public safety through the surveillance and reporting of “risky” behaviors (e.g. conversing with children) exhibited by sex offenders. Very little is known, however, about how community members respond when they receive sex offender notification. The primary focus of this research is to assess whether the goals of sex offender notification are being achieved. This study also explores the effect of notification on perceived risk of victimization, and fear of victimization. Survey data are derived from a purposive sample of 88 Hamilton County, Ohio, residents having received sex offender notification, and a comparison group of 148 Hamilton County residents who had not received notification. Analyses indicate that notified respondents were significantly more likely to report the risky/illegal actions of sex offenders subject to notification, and significantly more likely to engage in behavior to protect household members from victimization. Although notification is not a significant predictor of perceived risk of victimization, the direction of the relationship between notification and perceived risk is positive – indicating that notified respondents were more likely to perceive risk of victimization for themselves and household members. The relationship between notification and fear of victimization for (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Lawrence F. Travis, III (Advisor) Subjects: Sociology, Criminology and Penology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2012, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Criminal Justice

The study at hand assessed the relative importance of situational and dispositional factors in predicting victimization, perceived risk, and fear of crime at work as a first step to developing practices and procedures that minimize employees' experiences of workplace victimization. The theoretical approach to the matter in question took into consideration the situational tenets of lifestyle/routine activity theory and the individual tenets of negative affectivity and low self-control theories. The domain-specific empirical assessment was based on data from a survey administered to a representative sample of professional journalists working in two southern European countries: Greece and Cyprus. The multivariate statistical techniques of correspondence analysis, multiple regression, and logistic regression were employed for the analysis of the data. The results indicated a relatively high prevalence of physical victimization among professional journalists, an exceptionally high prevalence of psychological victimization and an average prevalence of property victimization. Male journalists were found to be significantly more likely to be victims of both physical violence and property victimization. Older journalists were found to suffer significantly more property offenses and younger journalists significantly more psychological abuse. Compared to married journalists, single ones were found to be victimized significantly more by psychological abuse. Furthermore, it was found that journalists have low-to-moderate levels of perceived risk and relatively low levels of fear of crime. The perception of risk among journalists was invariant across sociodemographic characteristics. However, female journalists and younger respondents expressed higher levels of fear of being verbally threatened. Male journalists and those less educated expressed higher levels of fear of being physically attacked. Moreover, the gender-age categories who suffered more from physical victimization w (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Bonnie Sue Fisher PhD (Committee Chair); Giannis Panousis PhD (Committee Member); Francis Cullen PhD (Committee Member); Pamela Wilcox PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology