MA, Kent State University, 2023, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Sociology and Criminology

Poly-victimization refers to the experience of multiple victimizations of different kinds, such as bullying, sexual or physical assault, physically abusive punishment, and intimate partner violence, among others. Much attention has been given to the relationship between poly-victimization and adolescent outcomes, especially substance use, but little research attention has been given to the relationship between poly-victimization and adult substance use. This relationship, along with social support as a potential moderator, is important to explore for the sake of implementing non-punitive interventions and reducing our reliance on incarceration. The present study examines the relationship between adolescent poly-victimization and subsequent substance use in adulthood, as well as the potential moderating effect of social support. Publicly available data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) are used to assess the impact of multiple measures of violent victimization, as well as multiple measures of social support, such as religiosity and school and parental support, on adult substance use. Past-year marijuana and hard drug use are assessed as outcome variables. Findings suggest that adolescent poly-victimization is positively associated with the odds of using marijuana and hard drugs during adulthood, while higher levels of social support are negatively associated with the odds of using these substances during adulthood. Avenues for future research and policy implications are discussed.

Committee: Starr Solomon (Advisor); Katrina Bloch (Committee Member); Christopher Dum (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2019, Sociology

On any given day there are approximately 31 million youth under the supervision of the U.S. court system (Hockenberry and Puzzanchera 2018). In 2015 alone there were nearly 900,000 juvenile delinquency cases brought before the court. Currently, there are approximately 70 million juveniles in the United States, with this number expecting to continually rise based on projections into 2060. These numbers demonstrate the necessity of research to determine which factors and circumstances contribute to juvenile delinquency. This research aims to predict juvenile delinquency by extending the understandings of Hirschi's (1969) social control theory. There is an extensive amount of research on social control theory which indicates the importance of social bonds with regards to deviance. However, despite the abundance of previous studies, there remain substantial gaps among the literature. First, previous literature has significantly relied upon cross-sectional data– measuring specific bonds and/or specific forms of deviance at one point in time. Second, the majority of research focuses only on one or two of Hirschi's (1969) social controls. Utilizing Hirschi's (1969) social control theory, this research will do three things. First, it will predict juvenile delinquency in adolescence by measuring all four types of social bonds (i.e. attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief). Second, it will examine the impacts of social controls on deviance in young adulthood. Third, it will assess whether early bonds have a lasting effect beyond adolescence into young adulthood. Results indicate that early social bonds are significant in adolescence and in young adulthood. Moreover, findings show that bonds formed in adolescence have, at least, marginal lasting effects on deviance into young adulthood. This research demonstrates the importance and longevity of early social bonds in the crucial transition from adolescence to young adulthood. These findings could be essential to (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Stacey Nofziger (Committee Chair); Kathryn Feltey (Committee Member); Robert Peralta (Committee Member); Shannon Zentall (Committee Member); John Zipp (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Sociology

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

Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) general theory of crime has received considerable attention over the years. At the heart of their theory is the concept of low self-control, which has emerged as a strong predictor of antisocial and delinquent behaviors. The primary purpose of this dissertation is to expand criminology's current understanding of low self-control and its relationship with delinquent behaviors by using a behavioral genetic approach. Using the twin subsample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), several genetic analyses are conducted to examine the genetic and environmental contributions to low self-control and its relationship with delinquency. The results from the best fitting models revealed that both low self-control and delinquency are influenced by genetic and nonshared environmental factors with the effects of shared environmental factors being negligible. Furthermore, the results from the qualitative and quantitative sex differences analyses suggest that the genetic factors that are influencing low self-control and delinquency are the same for males and females and that the magnitude of the genetic effects is the same across the sexes. In addition, the co-occurrence of low self-control and delinquency appears to be largely due to the same genetic and nonshared environmental factors operating on both phenotypes. Interestingly, low self-control and delinquency do not appear to be associated over time because of a common genetic and/or environmental etiology. Rather, different genetic and environmental factors appear to be operating on both traits across time. The implications of these findings on the current understanding of Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime are discussed.

Committee: John Wright PhD (Committee Chair); Francis Cullen PhD (Committee Member); Michael Benson PhD (Committee Member); Kevin Beaver PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2010, Sociology

Negative consequences associated with both teen and unintended pregnancies have been widely examined within a broad array of sociological literature. Analyses studying both unintended and teen pregnancies come to similar conclusions; children born to adolescent mothers or born unintentionally are more likely to face aversive outcomes than their counterparts. Of particular importance, children born to teen mothers are at greater risk of chronic, physical aggression during the early years of childhood. However, the combined influence of both unintended and teen pregnancy on aggressive behavior has been largely neglected throughout past research. Therefore the current analysis focuses on the impact of unintended pregnancy on the child's aggressive behavior, paying particular attention to the mediating factors of the mother's bond to and involvement with her child. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, findings from this analysis indicate that a mother's unintended pregnancy does increase the child's use of physical aggression. While maternal age is also predictive of increased offspring aggression, the effect of age is significantly reduced once accounting for the intention status of the pregnancy. Additionally, OLS regression analyses suggest that when both bond and involvement are added to the model, maternal bond and involvement mediate the relationship between unintended pregnancy and child's aggressive behavior. Finally, when controlling for all other variables, conceiving unintentionally significantly reduces a mother's bond with her child, while giving birth at a young age reduces the mother's involvement with her child.

Committee: Jorge Chavez PhD (Advisor); Alfred DeMaris PhD (Committee Member); Raymond Swisher PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Sociology