Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2012, Sociology

Using Waves 1, 3, and 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), this study analyzed how early criminal justice involvement, net of juvenile delinquency was related to three distinct outcomes in early adulthood among a recent cohort of young men. My research questions examined how being detained or arrested prior to the age of 18, in addition juvenile delinquent involvement, influence first co-residential union formation (Chapter II), levels of psychosocial maturation in early adulthood (Chapter III), and adult criminal offending (Chapter IV). In general, I found that criminal justice contact prior to the age of 18 and juvenile delinquency exert independent effects on social and psychosocial outcomes in early adulthood. More specifically, I found that being detained and engaging in crime as a juvenile were associated with an increased likelihood of entering a co-residential union prior to the age of 25. Of the three components that make up psychosocial maturation (e.g., temperance, perspective, and responsibility), temperance was the only factor hindered by early criminal justice contact. I also found that being detained was associated with a decrease in overall levels of psychosocial maturation in early adulthood. In Chapter IV I found that being detained or arrested prior to the age of 18 were each associated with higher levels of criminal offending in early adulthood. Furthermore, co-residential union status, romantic history, and psychosocial maturation independently influenced criminal offending in early adulthood. In particular, being currently married or cohabiting were each related to lower levels of criminal offending than being single. Yet consistent with limited prior research, cohabiting men reported, on average, higher levels of criminal offending, compared to their married counterparts. Numbers of cohabiting and sexual partners were also associated with higher levels of offending in early adulthood. Finally, higher levels o (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Susan Brown PhD (Advisor); Jorge Chavez PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Jeffrey Brown PhD (Committee Member); Stephen Demuth PhD (Committee Member); Kara Joyner PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Sociology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Criminal Justice

This individual-level study draws from Elijah Anderson's (1999) Code of the Street theory to examine racial/ethnic differences in levels of code-related attitudes and criminal offending with special attention to Latinos. The code of the street is a normative system of values that emphasizes the use of violence to achieve respect among peers and avoid moral self-sanctions. Using a racially/ethnically diverse sample of serious adolescent offenders from two large U.S. cities and controlling for socio-demographic and risk factors, this study tests whether code-related attitudes are a mediating mechanism linking race/ethnicity and criminal offending. Net of a series of socio-demographic and risk factors, results obtained from path mediation models showed negative direct and total effects of Black non-Latino status on aggressive offending, and negative direct and total effects of Latino status on aggressive and income offending, relative to non-Latino Whites. More importantly, there is evidence of at least one mediation effect of race/ethnicity on criminal offending. Specifically, path mediation models revealed a positive indirect effect of Latino status on aggressive offending. That is, net of statistical controls, differences on aggressive offending among Latinos compared to non-Latino Whites operated indirectly through the adoption of code-related attitudes. Whereas the hypothesized mediation effect of code-related attitudes on aggressive offending was confirmed for Latinos, there is no support for the mediation effect of Black non-Latino status on aggressive and income offending through the adoption of code-related attitudes, nor for the effect of Latino status on income offending through the adoption of code-related attitudes. These results confirm and extend Anderson's theory to describe adherence to street codes among serious adolescent offenders, and among other racial/ethnic minorities such as Latinos. Based on these findings, theoretical and policy implicatio (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Christopher Sullivan Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Anthony Peguero Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ben Feldmeyer Ph.D. (Committee Member); Pamela Wilcox Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2016, Clinical Psychology (Arts and Sciences)

The symptoms and correlates of externalizing disorders place youth with those disorders at-risk for criminal offending. Indeed, externalizing disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders among detained juvenile offenders. Thus, effective treatments, that are appropriate for both the population and for delivery in juvenile detention, are needed. Yet, the state of the pertinent science is in its early stages and with limitations. Some limitations are methodological and some are clinical. Of import, the tested treatments do not systematically and simultaneously target emotion dysregulation and social impairment, despite basic findings indicating that both are associated with externalizing disorders and confer risk for criminal offending. To begin addressing these limitations, the purpose of the current study was to examine participant satisfaction with the Interpersonal Skills Group — Corrections Modified (ISG-CM) as well as the preliminary effectiveness of ISG-CM, in a controlled trial conducted at a juvenile detention facility and using multi-method and multi-informant measurement. Twelve detained juvenile offender youth (100% male; Mage = 16.30, SDage = 1.16) participated. Results indicated that youth found the treatment highly satisfactory and that they found each of three treatment elements likeable and beneficial/helpful. Contrary to expectations, results were mixed with regard to changes in emotion regulation and social functioning. In line with expectations, ISG-CM, relative to no treatment, was associated with either an attenuation of an increase in or with a decrease in self- and staff-rated verbal aggression, staff-rated aggression against property, and self-rated anger, across analyses. When in ISG-CM, relative to when not in treatment, youth also exhibited an increase in daily behavior points and those in in ISG-CM had fewer unsuccessful days in this domain than those not in treatment. Taken together, these results indicated that ISG-CM may be (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Steven Evans Dr. (Committee Chair); Zoccola Peggy Dr. (Committee Member); Julie Owens Dr. (Committee Member); Julie Suhr Dr. (Committee Member); Gillian Ice Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Criminology; Psychotherapy