From a criminological life-course and developmental perspective, military service acts as a positive life event for most individuals. For others, it can serve as a catalyst for maladaptive life-course outcomes, including criminal justice system involvement. However, despite the well-documented negative risks of military service on veteran life-course outcomes and the increased prevalence of veterans in the justice system, relatively little inquiry exists that investigates first-hand accounts of the life-course experiences of veterans enmeshed within the criminal justice system. This dissertation begins to fill this gap by exploring the life-course experiences of justice-involved veterans in three separate, yet interconnected ways: (1) trajectories of deviance across the life-course and the impact of military service on deviance (Chapter 2); (2) the relationships between military service, mental health, and negative life-course outcomes (Chapter 3); and (3) the daily experiences of justice-involved veterans, including who they spend time with, what they spend time doing, and how these factors impact emotion (Chapter 4). This work is one of the few to utilize qualitative inquiry to better understand the relationship between military service and trajectories of deviance for justice-involved veterans, and is the first to use ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methodology to examine the daily experiences of justice-involved veterans. Findings suggest that the role of military service as a turning point is nuanced, and for many the military directly impacted both deviance and mental health outcomes. Further, emotionality of these veterans is quite variant over time, while social togetherness and engagement in activity show to be impactful on emotional well-being. Overall, this dissertation expands the understanding of the role of military service in the life-course, and provides an in-depth look into the daily and life-course experiences of justice-involved veterans, ultimately giving voice to the veterans themselves to articulate their own experiences and needs.

This thesis will explore the causality and link between Child Crisis Arizona (or “CCA'') and the applicability of the life-course framework. Child Crisis Arizona operates an emergency children’s shelter in Maricopa County, AZ, under the broader Arizona Department of Child Safety (or “DCS”) mission of providing safe and effective interventions for children at risk of being displaced from their homes. Utilizing a framework initially designed under a sociologist’s purview, the life-course perspective has evolved into a multidisciplinary approach to illuminate the complex nature of criminal behaviors, especially early in life in childhood. As such, the first section will detail the current issues regarding Arizona’s child safety system, the background of CCA, and the fundamental principles of the life-course framework to address how CCA provides beneficial results to a child’s life-course. The thesis will then discuss the policy measures provided by CCA that positively intervene in a child’s educational, medical, and other holistic developments. This is followed by examining the applications of CCA and course while incorporating various scholarly literature to link the two. The thesis will conclude with a brief discussion of this paper’s research limitations, future implications, and concluding remarks. Ultimately, this thesis highlights how children who go into Child Crisis Arizona’s emergency children’s shelter present significant potential of utilizing the event as a turning point to lead conventional lives through an early positive life experience.

From a theoretical and policy perspective, little is known about the life-course development of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people in criminology. In particular, turning points for LGBTQ+ people have not received much theoretical discussion or testing. The lack of theoretical discussion persists even though LGBTQ+ people are overrepresented in the criminal legal system. To address this gap, the current dissertation seeks to queer the life-course perspective in criminology. This dissertation takes stock of the relevancy of traditional turning points (marriage and employment) for LGBTQ+ people, examines through a critical lens the cis- and hetero-normative construction of life-course and theoretical criminology, and theorizes turning points specific to LGBTQ+ people. This dissertation draws on scholarship from various disciplines to present and test an interdisciplinary framework that theorizes three queer turning points: (1) the coming-out process (Chapter 2), (2) family reaction to LGBTQ+ identity (Chapter 3), and (3) establishing a chosen family (Chapter 4). This study is among the first to collect original data via life history interviews with 25 formerly incarcerated LGBTQ+ people to offer comprehensive and in-depth examinations into the relationships between the coming out process, family reaction to LGBTQ+ identity, and chosen family on offending and desistance trajectories. Collectively, findings indicate that these queer turning points are significant life experiences that shape the development and offending/desistance trajectories among formerly incarcerated LGBTQ+ people. In particular, these queer turning points are linked to increases and decreases in offending across the life-course, which are highly contextualized by generational and structural factors. In addition, this work explores how coming out, family reaction, and chosen family shape interactions with the criminal legal system among LGBTQ+ people. Overall, this dissertation expands the queer perspective within life-course criminology through the lens of queer turning points and can shape future policies that meet the needs and best support LGBTQ+ people.

This study utilizes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosive (ATF) eTrace data provided by the Crime Gun Intelligence Unit of Phoenix Police Department to examine firearms recovered from January 2016 to September 2019. The purpose of the study is to examine how firearm characteristics differ between gang members and non-gang members with the intent of identifying the types of firearms to target in a supply-side enforcement approach towards reducing gun violence. Specifically, this study examines the type of dealer the firearm was sold from, the state from which the original purchase of the firearm was traced to, the quality of the firearm as determined by its manufacturer, and the age of the firearm as determined by the number of days between its first original purchase and its recovery by law enforcement. Findings indicate that the odds of a firearm being recovered from a gang member significantly decreases when the firearm is older than three years and has a medium-sized caliber.

Recent times have seen a steady growth in studies about gangs and their membersin prison. Despite the increased interest on gangs in prison, there is much to learn about their members. Specifically, emerging research indicates that gang members disengage from their gangs while in prison, however, explanations for why members leave have been limited to individual level factors. Little is known about how the gang context influences the process of disengagement in prisons. Further, despite disengaging from their gangs, former members continue to be at a higher risk for recidivism upon release, when compared to non-gang members. The current body of literature fails to explicate the mechanisms that increase a former member’s risk for recidivism. Accordingly, this dissertation seeks to advance the literature by asking three primary questions: 1) Does gang organization matter for disengagement from gangs in prison?; 2) Do reentry experiences differ by gang membership status—current, former and non-gang member?; 3) Do reentry experiences impact reintegration outcomes? Data from the LoneStar Project—a multi-wave study that explores thetrajectories, associations and reentry among 802 gang and non-gang involved inmates released from Texas prisons—are used. Regression models are estimated to assess the effects of the gang organization on disengagement and to compare the reentry and reintegration experiences of current, former and non-gang members. The results indicate that gang organization is important for disengagement in prison. Further, upon release, former gang members show no differences in their reentry and reintegration experiences when compared to non-gang members. Former members, however, show higher levels of motivation for change and better mental health 1 month after release, when compared to current members. Additionally, current gang members are found to have the lowest levels of psychological reintegration 9 months after release. These differences are found to be mediated by levels of motivation for change and mental health at 1 month after release. The findings are discussed in light of their implications for continued theoretical development, future empirical research and the creation of public policy concerning gang members

There is a large debate surrounding the legality of prostitution that leads to a negative portrayal of sex entertainment. Research examining the history of sex entertainment was reviewed to establish common themes. There are many arguments in support of or against the legalization of prostitution. Public support for the legalization of prostitution has increased over time meriting research on recent perceptions. This study was based on a newly collected opinion survey (N=302). It is used to examine attitudes towards individuals who sell sex by using sex, education, religion, and age as independent variables against the Attitudes Towards Individuals who Sell Sex (ATISS) scale. The data set provided that a majority of individuals prefer the legalization of prostitution and webcamming models. Results indicated that religion was the only statistically significant predictor of attitudes towards those who sell sex which is aligned with past research. Moving forward, it is important to understand the discrepancies between attitudes towards those who sell sex and legalization of prostitution and current laws and policies.

This study examined whether periods of secure confinement in juvenile detention, jails, and prisons are associated with short- and longer-term increases in adolescent males’ internalizing problems during adolescence and young adulthood. Data came from a longitudinal community sample of 506 male adolescents who were assessed every six months for three years and annually for ten subsequent years. At each assessment, participants reported on their confinement experiences and internalizing problems (i.e., anxiety, depression) during the recall period. Fixed-effects models examined within-individual changes in internalizing problems before, during, and after youth reported any overnight stay in a correctional facility, after controlling for the time-varying confounds of externalizing problem behaviors and previous justice system contact. Additionally, this study tested whether changes in the participants’ internalizing problems varied depending on the confinement facility (i.e., juvenile detention, jail, prison). Overall, results indicated that internalizing problems increased during periods where participants had been confined in a facility. In contrast, there were no changes in internalizing problems in the period prior to confinement and internalizing problems returned to baseline levels in the year following confinement. Facility-specific analyses indicated confinement in prison was associated with the largest increase in internalizing problems. Findings from this study indicate confinement does influence internalizing problems and interventions sensitive to internalizing problems should focus on providing services during confinement and immediate reentry period.

This study examines what factors have influenced the St. Louis homicide spike between 2011 and 2018. The study uses data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau and the St. Louis Missouri Police Department, including information on population, poverty levels, race, homicide demographics, and homicide toxicology reports to analyze possible explanations for the high rates in homicide. In this study, I explore literature on elements associated with homicide that could be responsible for the high levels in St. Louis. Concepts of concentrated disadvantage, drug markets, firearms, regional differences, and the Ferguson Effect are reviewed and then evaluated in regard to the St. Louis data. I found that the high rates of homicide are related to high levels of concentrated disadvantage, increased use of drugs, increased homicide by firearm, and regional differences within the broader context of the city.

Although the interpersonal (e.g., deceitful, manipulative, grandiose) and affective (e.g., lack of empathy/guilt) features of adult psychopathy have been associated with an increased risk for criminal activity (Boccio & Beaver, 2018; Hare, 1993; Porter, Birt, & Boer, 2001), there remains a subgroup of individuals with these features who are able to avoid being convicted of a serious crime. However, it remains unclear what factors differentiate individuals with high psychopathic traits who are convicted for serious offending from those who are not convicted. To address this gap, the current study aims to answer the following: 1.) Do economic, social, or intelligence factors differentiate convicted versus non-convicted individuals with high psychopathic traits? and 2.) Are non-convicted individuals with high psychopathic traits less likely to engage in self-report offending than convicted individuals with these traits? Data was drawn from the youngest and oldest cohorts of the Pittsburgh Youth Study (N=806), a longitudinal study that followed adolescent (ages 13-16) males from Pittsburgh, PA over 22 years in order to examine the development of delinquency, substance use, and mental health problems. Significant between-group differences were examined using ANOVA and chi-squared analyses. Results showed no difference between convicted and non-convicted men with high psychopathic traits in terms of intelligence or relationship quality. However, non-convicted men with high psychopathic traits were more likely to be employed and less likely to be on public assistance that men with high psychopathic traits. Further, high psychopathic trait non-convicted men were less likely to report adult offending than their convicted counterparts, but were more likely to offend than men with low psychopathic traits who were not convicted. These results suggest that men with high psychopathic traits who elude conviction exhibit better adult adjustment than men with these characteristics that have been convicted, even though they report engaging in adult offending.