Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

David Milen

Abstract

Adult criminals' use of minors to commit crimes associated with the support of terrorist organizations is a significant problem in the United States. Despite strict laws prohibiting adult offenders from exploiting youth, these individuals aggressively pursue minors to commit crimes associated with the support of terrorist organizations. This quasi-experimental, cross-sectional study used resource dependency theory to explore the likelihood that adult criminal offenders in the U.S. will use minors for crimes that are associated with the support of terrorist organizations, based on crime typology, country of origin, and location of crime. Data were collected from a crime database maintained by the United States Sentencing Commission for 2012. Logistic regression was conducted to assess if crime typology, country of origin, and location of crime predicted the use of minors for crime by adult offenders in support of terrorist organizations. Results of the analysis were significant: Ï?2(7, N=485) = 180.18, p < .001, suggesting that crime typology, country of origin, and location of crime were significant predictors of the use of minors in crimes that are associated with the support of terrorist organizations. Drug trafficking and robbery crimes, and crimes committed in the Southern regions of the U.S. were most likely to involve minors when compared to other types of crimes and regions of the U.S., respectively. Positive social change implications stemming from this study include a recommendation to Congress to increase federal funding for law enforcement agencies and social programs, thereby improving the lives of minors that otherwise may become victims of adult criminal offenders who seek to use them to commit crimes in support of terrorist organizations.

Download

Share

 
COinS