Samuel Scaggs

Efforts to Reduce Consumer Fraud Victimization Among the Elderly The Effect of Information Access on Program Awareness and Contact

Concern about the risk of consumer fraud victimization among the elderly has led to programs that disseminate fraud prevention information and provide services. However, little is known about how seniors access such information or learn about or contact these programs. Drawing on scholarship on fraud, media consumption, and the fear of crime, this study contributes to efforts to understand and reduce consumer fraud victimization. Analyses of data from adults age 60 and above demonstrate that certain segments of the elderly population access a greater variety of information sources to learn about fraud prevention. In turn, such access is associated with greater fraud prevention program awareness and contact.

Researcher-practitioner partnerships: A case of the development of a long-term collaborative project between a university and a criminal justice agency

This paper describes the genesis, development, unanticipated complications, and short- and long-term value of a researcher–practitioner partnership between the Florida Department of Corrections and the Florida State University College of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Collaborations between criminal justice agencies and researchers are infrequent and, we argue, should be encouraged as a means to generate quality policy-relevant research and engender mutually beneficial relationships between researchers and practitioners. This results from the reality that practitioner agencies have a strong desire and need for quality empirical research to inform their policies and practices, have in-depth knowledge of their programs, and massive amounts of data. However, agencies are not funded adequately to devote dedicated resources to complex and time-consuming research. In contrast, non-practitioners such as universities have the expertise and ability to devote considerable dedicated time to conducting comprehensive research important to agencies and policy-makers with the benefit of independence from the agenda of an agency. We use our own experiences forming and maintaining a successful partnership through a grant by the National Institute of Justice to inform future partnerships of the many benefits of such collaborations as well as some potential obstacles that were encountered along the way.

Successful Transitions to Graduate School: Using Orientations to Improve Student Experiences in Criminology and Criminal Justice Programs

The initial transition to graduate school provides a critical opportunity for promoting a positive educational experience among incoming students. This study discusses the importance of this transition and then describes a novel student-led orientation approach to facilitating successful entry of new students into criminology and criminal justice graduate degree programs. Results from an evaluation of this approach are presented. Analyses of focus group and student survey data indicate that graduate students matriculating into a criminology and criminal justice program in a southern state felt welcomed and found the information, guidance, and social networks that they developed to be helpful. At the same time, students identified ways the orientation could be improved for future cohorts. A student-led orientation, along with evaluation of it, provides a promising strategy for criminology and criminal justice graduate programs to create positive educational and professionalization experiences for their students.

The Growth in the Elderly Inmate Prison Population The Role of Determinate Punishment Policies

State and federal prison systems have experienced an unprecedented and accelerating growth in their elderly inmate populations over the past three decades. While aging inmates have significant operational and cost implications for correctional systems, a clear understanding of the nature and mechanisms behind the growth in this special population does not exist. This article examines the trends in the older inmate population in Florida from 1980 to 2010 to assess whether significant changes in the punishment policies in the state over this period have contributed to this population’s growth and to better understand the composition of this special inmate group. We present annual data over a 31-year period to describe the trends in prison admissions, releases, stock populations, and the average length of stay for the age-groups of 49 or younger versus 50 and older. This trend analysis against a backdrop of changes in punishment structure over time will inform policy makers about how trends in demographic populations like the elderly inmate population in Florida have coincided with shifts in sentencing practices.