The purpose of this project is to better understand police perceptions of sexual assault complainants by assessing their likelihood of questioning a complainant’s credibility and by examining police attitudes toward victims of sexual assault. To advance understanding of these issues, this dissertation (1) expands upon prior research by drawing on a sample of officers from one of the largest metropolitan police departments in the United States and, (2) through the use of framing theory, contributes to the literature by focusing on the attitudes of police toward sexual assault complainants and how these beliefs are shaped by day-to-day experiences.

This dissertation investigates two research questions using a mixed-methods approach. The data come from 400 sexual assault complaints that were reported to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and 52 LAPD detective interviews. I quantitatively examine the factors that influence officer perceptions of complainant credibility, focusing on indicators of “real rape,” “genuine” victims, “inappropriate” victim behavior, and “character flaws.” I contextualize this work by examining police attitudes toward sexual assault victims using qualitative data taken from interviews of sex crimes detectives. This research contributes to the broader case processing literature by focusing on victim credibility, a factor consistently found to influence case processing decisions. Moreover, this study contributes to research on the frames officers assign to women who report sexual assault.

Analyses from the quantitative portion of the study confirm that indicators of “real rape,” and complainant “character issues” were key explanatory factors influencing credibility assessments. Regarding qualitative results, three sexual assault victim frames were identified. These frames include depictions of victims as they relate to: (a) the suspect/victim relationship, (b) problematic victim behavior, and (c) age. These three frames indicate that certain types of victims are viewed as problematic.

This dissertation contributes to three broad bodies of literature: law enforcement decision making, law enforcement perceptions of sexual assault victims, and framing theory. This dissertation was able to tap into officer attitudes to shed light on the ways officers treat women who come forward to report sexual assault, providing valuable insight into officer attitudes, credibility assessments, and victim framing.

General Strain Theory (GST) posits that different types of strain lead to different types of negative emotions, some of which increase the likelihood of maladaptive coping. Much research on GST has focused on anger and depression. Far less attention has been directed toward other negative emotions, including anxiety and envy. The current study uses cross-sectional data from surveys administered to a university-based sample (N = 500) to address these voids and explore gender differences in the effects of strain and negative emotions in maladaptive coping. Results indicate that when gender differences existed in levels of strain and negative emotions, females experienced higher levels than males. Strain significantly predicted all four measures of negative emotions examined in this study. Finally, different negative emotions were found to have differing effects on different measures of maladaptive coping. Implications of this study for theory, future research, and policy are discussed.

A large body of research links victimization to various harms. Yet it remains unclear how the effects of victimization vary over the life course, or why some victims are more likely to experience negative outcomes than others. Accordingly, this study seeks to advance the literature and inform victim service interventions by examining the effects of violent victimization and social ties on multiple behavioral, psychological, and health-related outcomes across three distinct stages of the life course: adolescence, early adulthood, and adulthood. Specifically, I ask two primary questions: 1) are the consequences of victimization age-graded? And 2) are the effects of social ties in mitigating the consequences of victimization age-graded?

Existing data from Waves I (1994-1995), III (2001-2002), and IV (2008-2009) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) are used. The Add Health is a nationally-representative sample of over 20,000 American adolescents enrolled in middle and high school during the 1994-1995 school year. On average, respondents are 15 years of age at Wave I (11-18 years), 22 years of age at Wave III (ranging from 18 to 26 years), and 29 years of age at Wave IV (ranging from 24 to 32 years). Multivariate regression models (e.g., ordinary least-squares, logistic, and negative binomial models) are used to assess the effects of violent victimization on the various behavioral, social, psychological, and health-related outcomes at each wave of data. Two-stage sample selection models are estimated to examine whether social ties explain variation in these outcomes among a subsample of victims at each stage of the life course.

The results indicate that the negative consequences of victimization vary considerably across different stages of the life course, and that the spectrum of negative outcomes linked to victimization narrows into adulthood. The effects of social ties appear to be age-graded as well, where ties are more protective for victims of violence in adolescence and adulthood than they are in early adulthood. These patterns of findings are discussed in light of their implications for continued theoretical development, future empirical research, and the creation of public policy concerning victimization.

Police misconduct is a relatively rare event, though typically, it is a male dominated event. As such, research on police misconduct has largely ignored women. Generally, research examines differences in misconduct by using sex as a control variable, or has focused on small samples of female officers using qualitative methods. Neither of these methods is able to explore or explain the possibility that factors related to officers' decisions to commit misconduct may differentially impact males and females. As a consequence, we are left with a shallow understanding of when and why women commit misconduct.

This research fills this gap by a large sample (N=3,085) of matched police officers in the New York City Police Department, half of which committed career-ending misconduct between 1975 and 1996. Additionally, unlike previous research, this data includes a large sample (N=435) of females. Research has determined that some factors, such as having children or employment problems, are risk factors for misconduct regardless of sex; likewise, other factors, such as age and higher education, create protection against misconduct. Using logistic regression and split-sample z-score comparisons, analyses will focus on examining how the predictors differentially explain the likelihood of police misconduct for men and women.

As expected, some predictors of misconduct that are salient for women, such as getting divorced, are not statistically significant for men; likewise, some variables that are significant for both men and women have a larger effect size for one sex, such as citizen complaints, which are of more predictive value for women than for men. These findings yield important theoretical, empirical, and policy implications. Notably, there is evidence that a gendered theory of police misconduct may be necessary. Additionally, conceptualizations within mainstream criminological theories may need to be rethought; for example, divorce was found to be a protective factor for women in this study, rather than a risk factor as both strain and life-course criminology would indicate. The findings also demonstrate the need for gender-specific models when studying police misconduct. Finally, the results of this study yield important policy implications, such as the utility of gender-specific hiring considerations and early-intervention "red flags."

Perceptions of legitimacy are an important antecedent of rule-abiding behavior. However, most research on the link between legitimacy and compliance has focused on legal authorities (i.e., police, courts, and corrections). To help fill this gap, the present study investigates the relationship between students' perceptions of the legitimacy of institutional authority and compliance with a code of conduct in a university context. This study uses cross-sectional data from pencil-and-paper surveys administered to 517 individuals 18 years and older that were enrolled in 12 undergraduate classes at a large southwestern university. Results from the multivariate regression models show that procedural justice judgments are associated with perceived legitimacy. The evidence also supports the link between legitimacy and compliance in that the former is inversely related to students' behavioral intentions to cheat on an exam. However, legitimacy was not significantly associated with plagiarism. Overall, findings support the application of the process-based model of regulation to the university context in regards to academic misconduct. In addition to contributing to the process-based model literature, this study emphasizes the utility of the process-based model as a guide for the development of fair processes, in order to reduce the prevalence of student academic misconduct.

Prior research has looked at the effects of low self-control, unstructured socializing, and risky behaviors on victimization. In previous studies, however, the differences between routine activity and lifestyle theory have been overlooked. The aim of this study is to test the unique characteristics of both theories independently. Specifically, this study addresses: (1) the mediating effects of unstructured socializing on low self-control and victimization and (2) the mediating effects of risky behaviors on low self-control and victimization. Data were collected using a self-administered survey of undergraduate students enrolled in introductory criminal justice and criminology classes (N = 554). Negative binomial regression models show risky behaviors mediate much of the effect low self-control has on victimization. Unstructured socializing, in contrast, does not mediate the impact of low self-control on victimization.

Maternal cigarette smoking and marijuana use during pregnancy are risk factors that can adversely affect offspring. Although a large body of empirical literature has examined the adverse health effects of maternal cigarette smoking and marijuana use during pregnancy, few studies have looked at criminological factors associated with prenatal cigarette smoking and marijuana use. This thesis uses strain theory and social learning theory to explain a number of underlying mechanisms behind why some pregnant women decide to smoke tobacco and marijuana cigarettes during pregnancy. Previous drug involvement before pregnancy is also used to determine if it is a predictor of maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy. Logistic regression was used to analyze data collected from the 1988 National Pregnancy and Infant Health Survey. This data set consists of information gathered from three different national samples of maternal and infant data occurring in 1988, which included 13,417 live births, 4,772 fetal deaths, and 8,166 infant deaths. The mothers in the sample were mailed questionnaires. Results showed that pregnant women who have unexpected pregnancies and experience financial hardship during pregnancy are more likely to smoke cigarettes and use marijuana during pregnancy, which is consistent with the general strain theory. Results also indicate that pregnant women who live in households with other people who smoke are more likely to smoke cigarettes during pregnancy, which may be explained by social learning, and that women who use illegal drugs are less likely to smoke cigarettes during pregnancy, even after controlling for strain and social learning. The practical and theoretical implications for this research are discussed.

Although recent studies have report that many stressors and strains (i.e., financial, educational and psychological) arise from being an adolescent mother, whether adolescent motherhood influences delinquency remains an unanswered empirical question. Using data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents (National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health), the current study examines the relationship between motherhood, depression, and delinquency (N = 676). The sample is comprised of solely females between ages 13 and 21-years-old. The female subjects were categorized either as an adolescent mothers, non-mother adolescents, or adult mothers. This study tests the following hypotheses: (1) adolescent mothers are prone to involvement in delinquent behavior; and, (2) adolescent mothers who experience depression are at greater risk of delinquent behavior. The results indicate that there is a decrease in delinquency among adolescent mothers who do not experience depression. However, there is an increase in delinquency among adolescent mothers who experience depression.

Over the past 40 years, the rate at which women are incarcerated has increased dramatically. Of the 111,000-plus female inmates currently in prison, most will be returned to the community and reenter the labor market. Despite its significance in prisoner reentry and in how ex-offenders remain crime-free, previous research finds that employers are unwilling to hire employees with a criminal record. Moreover, Pager (2003) and Pager, Western, and Bonikowski (2009) found that White job applicants with a prison record were more likely to be interviewed or hired than Black or Hispanic applicants without a record. These troubling findings regarding the effect of race/ethnicity, however, are from research that focuses on men's employment. Given the already low job prospects of ex-prisoners makes it more difficult for women with a prison record to find employment, who also face labor market barriers on account of their race/ethnicity and gender. This dissertation research uses two audit methods with an experimental design to examine the independent and interaction effects of race/ethnicity and incarceration on the likelihood women job applicants will advance through the hiring process. Job applications were submitted online and in-person. The effect of race/ethnicity varied by the method used to apply for jobs. When applying for jobs online, Black women had lower odds of employment than White women. Hispanic women, however, had higher odds of employment than White women when food service jobs were applied for in-person. The effect of a prison record was significant in both experiments; the effect was direct online, but conditioned by ethnicity in-person. Hispanic women with a prison record were less likely than White women with a prison record to advance through the hiring process. The results point to the importance of understanding how women are disadvantaged by incarceration and how mass incarceration contributes to racial/ethnic inequality through its effect in the labor market. Several recommendations follow for future research and policies concerning prisoner reentry and the use of criminal record information by employers.

This dissertation explores the lives of women who are on the Severely Mentally Ill (SMI) caseload at Maricopa County Adult Probation in Arizona (The Phoenix metro region). The project focuses on three primary issues: (1) what are the pathways to the criminal justice and mental health systems for women on the SMI caseload (2) how does discretion and expansive formal social control (both benevolent and coercive) impact the lives of these women on the SMI caseload and (3) what are the gendered aspects to successful completion of SMI probation. To answer these questions a mixed-methods research design was employed. First, in-depth semi-structured interviews were completed with 65 women on the SMI caseload. Second, these interviews were supplemented with a case file review of each participant, and field observations (encompassing roughly 100 hours) were conducted at the Maricopa County Mental Health Court. Third, analysis also included 5.5 years of quantitative intake data from the SMI caseload, exploring demographic information and risk and assessment needs scores. The biographies of the women on the SMI caseload revealed similar histories of victimization, substance abuse, and relationship difficulty that previous pathways research has noted. Additionally, mental health problems directly impacted the path to the criminal justice system for some women on the SMI caseload. Results also showed many aspects of expanded social control for women on the SMI caseload. This expanded control appeared to be gendered at times and often created double binds for women. Finally, quantitative analysis showed that some predictive factors of SMI probation completion were gendered. Policy implications and summaries of findings are discussed.