I am the Quality Improvement and Program Evaluation Administrator for the Arkansas Department of Corrections. I received my Master of Arts and Ph.D. from the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Supervisors: Dr. Robert D. Lytle
A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward ... more A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward LGBQ individuals. To date, however, research on religious attitudes has focused primarily on Christians. We expanded upon existing research by including two of the three largest U.S. religions previously overlooked-Islam and Judaism. We used data from the 2014 Religious Landscape Study, which provided a larger sample of Jew-ish (n = 475) and Muslim (n = 135) respondents than most public opinion surveys. We found that Muslim and Protestant participants were the least accepting of homosexuality and supportive of same-sex marriage compared with Roman Catholic and Jewish participants. Results also showed that fundamentalism and religiosity were significant predic-tors of attitudes toward homosexuality and same-sex marriage across all participants, regardless of denomination. Implications for future research and data collection efforts learned from this study are discussed.
A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward ... more A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward LGBQ individuals. To date, however, research on religious attitudes has focused primarily on Christians. We expanded upon existing research by including two of the three largest U.S. religions previously overlooked-Islam and Judaism. We used data from the 2014 Religious Landscape Study, which provided a larger sample of Jew-ish (n = 475) and Muslim (n = 135) respondents than most public opinion surveys. We found that Muslim and Protestant participants were the least accepting of homosexuality and supportive of same-sex marriage compared with Roman Catholic and Jewish participants. Results also showed that fundamentalism and religiosity were significant predic-tors of attitudes toward homosexuality and same-sex marriage across all participants, regardless of denomination. Implications for future research and data collection efforts learned from this study are discussed.
A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward ... more A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward LGBQ individuals. To date, however, research on religious attitudes has focused primarily on Christians and Jews. We expanded upon existing research by including one of the three largest U.S. religions previously overlooked-Islam. We used data from the 2014 Religious Landscape Survey, which provided a larger sample of Jewish (n=475) and Muslim (n=135) respondents than most public opinion surveys. We found that Muslim and Protestant participants were the least accepting of homosexuality and supportive of same-sex marriage compared to Roman Catholic and Jewish participants. Results also showed that fundamentalism and religiosity were significant predictors of attitudes toward homosexuality and same-sex marriage across all participants. Implications for future research and data collection efforts learned from this study are discussed.
Social media is a relatively new global phenomenon. Virtual places provide criminogenic motivator... more Social media is a relatively new global phenomenon. Virtual places provide criminogenic motivators like financial gain, access to suitable targets, and massive amounts of information all under one virtual roof. Additionally, social media sites host large amounts of people in one space, generating significant opportunities for victimization. Despite the Internet's theoretical relevance to understanding victimization, scholarly research into the effects of social media activity in victimization is scarce. Using data from the Pew Research Center, I investigated the relationship between Facebook use and online harassment among adolescents between 13 and 17 years of age. The results showed that an adolescent's behavior on Facebook contributed to the likelihood of experiencing online harassment. Additionally, parental monitoring of their adolescent's Facebook activity did not have a significant moderating effect on adolescents' risk of online harassment. This research contributed to the literature by identifying specific behaviors in adolescents that increase their risk of online harassment.
Over the past two decades, there has been increased attention on offending behaviors and motivati... more Over the past two decades, there has been increased attention on offending behaviors and motivations of child pornography offenders (CPOs). Although existing research has provided a knowledgeable foundation in regard to this offending subpopulation, the literature has been relatively limited on examining changes in offender behaviors and motivations. This study used interviews with 25 online CPOs in a southern state to identify themes under- lying offending behaviors and motives at onset, as well as, continuation of offending over time. We found that offenders reported various circumstances (ranging from intentional to unintentional) and motivations (including thrill-seeking and attraction) at onset; however, CPOs reported thrill-seeking and attraction to be the most common factors driving their continued offending. We applied these themes to the existing literature on child pornography offending and recommended directions for future research. Based on our findings, we offered considerations for the treatment of CPOs.
A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward ... more A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward LGBQ individuals. To date, however, research on religious attitudes has focused primarily on Christians. We expanded upon existing research by including two of the three largest U.S. religions previously overlooked-Islam and Judaism. We used data from the 2014 Religious Landscape Study, which provided a larger sample of Jew-ish (n = 475) and Muslim (n = 135) respondents than most public opinion surveys. We found that Muslim and Protestant participants were the least accepting of homosexuality and supportive of same-sex marriage compared with Roman Catholic and Jewish participants. Results also showed that fundamentalism and religiosity were significant predic-tors of attitudes toward homosexuality and same-sex marriage across all participants, regardless of denomination. Implications for future research and data collection efforts learned from this study are discussed.
A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward ... more A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward LGBQ individuals. To date, however, research on religious attitudes has focused primarily on Christians. We expanded upon existing research by including two of the three largest U.S. religions previously overlooked-Islam and Judaism. We used data from the 2014 Religious Landscape Study, which provided a larger sample of Jew-ish (n = 475) and Muslim (n = 135) respondents than most public opinion surveys. We found that Muslim and Protestant participants were the least accepting of homosexuality and supportive of same-sex marriage compared with Roman Catholic and Jewish participants. Results also showed that fundamentalism and religiosity were significant predic-tors of attitudes toward homosexuality and same-sex marriage across all participants, regardless of denomination. Implications for future research and data collection efforts learned from this study are discussed.
A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward ... more A number of studies have found a relationship between religious affiliation and attitudes toward LGBQ individuals. To date, however, research on religious attitudes has focused primarily on Christians and Jews. We expanded upon existing research by including one of the three largest U.S. religions previously overlooked-Islam. We used data from the 2014 Religious Landscape Survey, which provided a larger sample of Jewish (n=475) and Muslim (n=135) respondents than most public opinion surveys. We found that Muslim and Protestant participants were the least accepting of homosexuality and supportive of same-sex marriage compared to Roman Catholic and Jewish participants. Results also showed that fundamentalism and religiosity were significant predictors of attitudes toward homosexuality and same-sex marriage across all participants. Implications for future research and data collection efforts learned from this study are discussed.
Social media is a relatively new global phenomenon. Virtual places provide criminogenic motivator... more Social media is a relatively new global phenomenon. Virtual places provide criminogenic motivators like financial gain, access to suitable targets, and massive amounts of information all under one virtual roof. Additionally, social media sites host large amounts of people in one space, generating significant opportunities for victimization. Despite the Internet's theoretical relevance to understanding victimization, scholarly research into the effects of social media activity in victimization is scarce. Using data from the Pew Research Center, I investigated the relationship between Facebook use and online harassment among adolescents between 13 and 17 years of age. The results showed that an adolescent's behavior on Facebook contributed to the likelihood of experiencing online harassment. Additionally, parental monitoring of their adolescent's Facebook activity did not have a significant moderating effect on adolescents' risk of online harassment. This research contributed to the literature by identifying specific behaviors in adolescents that increase their risk of online harassment.
Over the past two decades, there has been increased attention on offending behaviors and motivati... more Over the past two decades, there has been increased attention on offending behaviors and motivations of child pornography offenders (CPOs). Although existing research has provided a knowledgeable foundation in regard to this offending subpopulation, the literature has been relatively limited on examining changes in offender behaviors and motivations. This study used interviews with 25 online CPOs in a southern state to identify themes under- lying offending behaviors and motives at onset, as well as, continuation of offending over time. We found that offenders reported various circumstances (ranging from intentional to unintentional) and motivations (including thrill-seeking and attraction) at onset; however, CPOs reported thrill-seeking and attraction to be the most common factors driving their continued offending. We applied these themes to the existing literature on child pornography offending and recommended directions for future research. Based on our findings, we offered considerations for the treatment of CPOs.
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Papers by Tabrina M Bratton