Papers by Tina Freiburger
An Assessment of the Training and Resources Dedicated Nationally to Investigation of the Production of Child Pornography
Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, Jan 7, 2011
Skip Navigation. ...
The Impact of Age, Race and Gender on Juvenile Court Outcomes
Corrections, Dec 8, 2018
There has been a significant increase in the older prison population over the past several decade... more There has been a significant increase in the older prison population over the past several decades, bringing a need to better understand how to effectively prevent and address misconduct among this age group. Research examining the factors that influence elderly inmates' engagement in misconduct remains scant. The present research sought to examine the correlates of misconduct among younger, middle-age, and elderly inmates, as well as investigate any differences in the factors associated with misconduct for elderly inmates as compared to younger inmates, and elderly inmates compared to middle-age inmates. The findings revealed several variables that significantly affected an inmate's likelihood of engaging in disciplinary infractions. Important differences were further revealed when the relationship between age and prison misconduct was examined.
International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 2008
The design of the Internet has made it an especially useful tool to terrorist groups. Using the I... more The design of the Internet has made it an especially useful tool to terrorist groups. Using the Internet, terrorist groups have been especially successful in recruiting new members and exciting them into action. Previous works have provided comprehensive accounts of ways that terrorists use the Internet. This article expands on the understanding of this phenomenon by framing the previous works in a systematic model of terrorist's use of the Internet through social learning theory. The article also offers counterterrorist strategies in accordance with the components of social learning.
The Effect of Race/Ethnicity on Sentencing: Examining Sentence Type, Jail Length, and Prison Length
Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, Jan 20, 2015
ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of race/ethnicity on criminal sen... more ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of race/ethnicity on criminal sentencing outcomes. The findings from prior studies tend to be mixed on this issue. Using 4 years of data from the State Court Processing Statistics (2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006) and propensity score matching, we examined the impact of race/ethnicity on sentencing outcomes among Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites. The findings suggest that racial/ethnic biases occur in the sentence type (community sanction, jail, or prison) and jail length decisions though not in the prison length decision. It is important to separate jail length and prison length when examining incarceration time. Combining the 2 distinct sentences may confound the true impact of factors on these outcomes.
Creating Identity on Social Network Sites
Crime & Delinquency, Dec 20, 2017
Using the focal concerns perspective, the present study examined possible gender, race, and ethni... more Using the focal concerns perspective, the present study examined possible gender, race, and ethnic disparities on judges' pretrial release, incarceration, and sentence length decisions in family violence cases. The results indicate that males were more likely to receive an order of bail (as opposed to release on own recognizance), received higher bail amounts, were less likely to make bail, were more likely to receive prison opposed to jail, and were incarcerated for significantly longer periods of time than women. Hispanic defendants were more likely than White defendants to receive higher bail amounts and were more likely to be detained until sentencing. Black defendants, on the other hand, were more likely to receive prison as opposed to jail than White offenders.
Security Journal, Aug 6, 2012
Researchers have long been interested in how inmates adjust to prison life and what characteristi... more Researchers have long been interested in how inmates adjust to prison life and what characteristics impact their behavior while incarcerated. The current research will attempt to fi ll a gap in the literature by evaluating the effectiveness of both the deprivation and importation models in explaining misconduct committed by both male and female inmates using all inmates incarcerated in West Virginia during July 2010. Additionally, the predictive factors of male and female inmate misconduct will be compared using these inmates. This research will add to the few studies that have examined both the deprivation and importation models among males and females, as well as provide possible policy implications that attempt to manage or reduce misconduct, and in turn, recidivism.
Chivalry Revisited
Feminist Criminology, Apr 21, 2015
There is limited research on the role of gender in charge reduction, particularly for domestic vi... more There is limited research on the role of gender in charge reduction, particularly for domestic violence cases.The purpose of this study is to test the direct and interactive effects of defendant gender, race/ethnicity, type of offense, and victim gender on charge reduction. A population census of 2,281 domestic violence cases in a large Midwestern county was obtained from the prosecutor’s office. The effect of gender varies depending on the operationalization of charge reduction. Female-on-female cases were least likely to be dismissed. Non-White females were least likely to receive a violent charge reduction. Future research on the underlying mechanisms of why female-on-female cases and non-White females are less likely to receive a reduction is needed.
Prosecutorial discretion for domestic violence cases: an examination of the effects of offender race, ethnicity, gender, and age
Criminal Justice Studies, Nov 22, 2012
Much of the existing literature on courts and sentencing has focused on judicial decision-making.... more Much of the existing literature on courts and sentencing has focused on judicial decision-making. Prior research on prosecutorial decision-making is more limited, with even less attention paid to the prosecution of domestic violence cases. The research that has been conducted has produced inconsistent results regarding the effects of legal and extralegal variables. The current study focuses on the effects of extralegal suspect characteristics on the decision to dismiss domestic violence cases in a large Midwestern county from June 2009 to December 2009. The findings demonstrate that gender and race have a strong influence on prosecutors’ decisions to dismiss charges in domestic violence cases. Contrary to the focal concerns perspective, however, the results indicate that males and Black and Hispanic offenders are more likely to have their cases dismissed. Implications for future research are discussed.
Examining the Impact of Race and Ethnicity on the Sentencing of Juveniles in the Adult Court
Criminal Justice Policy Review, Dec 16, 2009
Several studies have examined the effects of race and ethnicity on the sentences of adult offende... more Several studies have examined the effects of race and ethnicity on the sentences of adult offenders in the criminal court. The findings of these studies often show that race and ethnicity influence defendants’ sentencing outcomes. Few studies, however, have examined how race and ethnicity influence juvenile defendants sentenced in the adult criminal justice system. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to determine how race and ethnicity affect the sentences of juveniles, utilizing a national dataset of youth convicted of a felony in adult court. The findings suggest that race and ethnicity do impact the sentencing outcomes of convicted youthful offenders. In addition, the results suggest that the combination of race and other factors (i.e., interactions) has an effect on sentencing. Implications for subsequent research also are discussed.
Crime & Delinquency, Feb 24, 2009
This study examined how race, gender, and age interact to affect defendants' sentences using a tr... more This study examined how race, gender, and age interact to affect defendants' sentences using a trichotomized dependent variable. The findings indicate that the racial and gender disparity found in sentencing decisions was largely due to Black men's increased likelihood of receiving jail as opposed to probation. The results also show that being young resulted in increased odds of receiving probation over jail for White men and for women but resulted in decreased odds for Black men. Separate analysis of incarceration terms to jail and prison further reveal that legal factors had a greater impact on prison than on jail sentence length. Overall, the results strongly support the argument that sentencing research needs to consider sentences to jail and prison separately.
Police Quarterly, Nov 14, 2010
There are no exhaustive statistics available on the crimes committed by law enforcement officers,... more There are no exhaustive statistics available on the crimes committed by law enforcement officers, and only a small number of studies provide specific data on police crimes. The purpose of the current study is to examine the character of police arrests known to the media. Cases were identified through a content analysis of news coverage using the internet-based Google TM News search engine and its Google News Alerts search tool. The study focuses on the crimes committed by experienced officers who are approaching retirement. The occurrence of these late-stage crimes presents a challenge to existing assumptions regarding the relationship between experience and various forms of police misconduct, and also provides an opportunity to examine a stage of the police career that has not been the subject of much research. The paper concludes with an identification of research and policy implications, and includes a discussion regarding how our data should be interpreted within the context of existing studies on police socialization and the production of misconduct.
International Journal of Police Science and Management, Feb 2, 2012
Deviant Behavior, May 1, 2012
The purpose of the present study is two-fold. First, the present study is designed to provide add... more The purpose of the present study is two-fold. First, the present study is designed to provide additional information about the link between off-line and virtual peers and music piracy. Second, the present study provides information about how off-line and virtual peers interact with self-control to understand music piracy. The results of this study show that low self-control has a link with digital piracy. This means that individuals who cannot resist temptation and do not see the consequences of their action have an increased likelihood to perform digital piracy, which is consistent with a growing literature in this area Makin 2004a, 2004b;.
Investigation of the Emphasis Placed on Cyber Crime Investigations by Police Departments in the United States
... Abstract: Multiple forms of innovative cyber crime have emerged in the recent years. This typ... more ... Abstract: Multiple forms of innovative cyber crime have emerged in the recent years. This type of criminality can include, but are not limited to, the following: digital piracy, identity theft, financial theft, computer hacking, embezzlement, and espionage. ... and Ricketts, Melissa. ...
The problem of "sexting," a word derived from the words "text" and "sex," has recently been broug... more The problem of "sexting," a word derived from the words "text" and "sex," has recently been brought to the public's attention through a number of nationally-publicized cases where teens have been charged with the production and possession of child pornography as a result of sexting. Although there is no universal definition for sexting, it commonly means to send a nude, or semi-nude, or suggestive picture or message to another person via cell phone.
The Impact of Race and Family Status on Criminal Sentencing Decisions
Sentencing Domestic Violence Offenders: The Influence of Gender, Race and Age
Criminal Justice Policy Review, Apr 10, 2018
This study examines sentencing decisions for older defendants, and how legal and extralegal varia... more This study examines sentencing decisions for older defendants, and how legal and extralegal variables differently affect older defendants. Using data from the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing, the results indicate that defendants above the age of 50 are less likely to be sentenced to prison and jail and are more likely to be sentenced to a community sanction. For sentence length, however, those aged 50 and above receive significant longer jail sentences than those aged 18 to 29 and longer prison sentences than both those aged 30 to 49 and 18 to 29. The results also indicate that offense severity and prior record have a more negative effect on older defendants during the incarceration decision. During the sentence length decision, however, the opposite is found for the effect of offense severity. These findings are discussed and are used to make suggestions for future research and policy implications. Sentencing research has focused a significant amount of attention on the impact of extralegal variables on punishment decisions. Such research has placed special emphasis on the impacts of race, ethnicity, gender, and age. This body of work has commonly found that minorities and males are treated the most harshly (e.g.
Uploads
Papers by Tina Freiburger