Sociology and Legal Studies

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This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Sociology and Legal Studies.

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Browsing Sociology and Legal Studies by Author "Schulenberg, Jennifer"

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    Constructing Crime: Understanding the Roles, Functions and Claims-Making Activities of Media Relations Officers in Ontario
    (University of Waterloo, 2019-02-22) Buffone, Sonya; Schulenberg, Jennifer
    Despite a growing body of prior research, little attention has been paid to media relations officers (MROs) and how media releases are constructed for the public. This research begins to address this gap by examining the roles and claims-making capacity and activities of police MROs throughout the province of Ontario. Using a sequential qualitative-dominant mixed methods research design, survey data from 19 police services informed the semi-structured interviews conducted with MROs, corporate communication specialists, and civilians (N=26). The findings suggest risk management has a significant influence on how MROs report on crime, inform the public of risk, but also, to educate the public in their role as risk managers. Specifically, crime is constructed so that the likelihood that “something will happen” is emphasized and the public is strongly encouraged to adopt measures to manage their own safety (responsiblization strategies). Thus, I argue that claims-making activities are used by police as a tool of legitimation that is shaped by two dominant discursive frames: (1) As primary definers, constructing crime in terms of risk and promoting citizen risk management; and (2) Projecting positive images of the police to the public. Thus, as legitimation agents, MROs play a key role in justifying and attaining support for the organizational ideals and goals police services value.
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    Examining the Application of the Principles of Therapeutic Jurisprudence in a Mental Health Court
    (University of Waterloo, 2015-12-17) Simpson, Anne; Schulenberg, Jennifer
    Therapeutic jurisprudence is commonly cited as the theoretical foundation for a range of specialized problem solving courts, including Mental Health Courts (MHCs). However, studies to date have failed to explicitly examine how MHCs apply the principles of therapeutic jurisprudence. Moreover, an extensive review of the literature failed to locate a single-sourced consolidation of these principles (a “model”), which in turn, has imposed a barrier to the rigorous examination of how MHCs have applied the theory. To address both circumstances, the present study first conducted an extensive review of the literature to extract three overarching principles of therapeutic jurisprudence, including: 1) Therapeutic jurisprudence promotes supports and services in line with rehabilitation and reintegration; 2) Therapeutic jurisprudence promotes therapeutic rules and procedures over those considered anti-therapeutic; and 3) Therapeutic jurisprudence promotes therapeutic interactions over those considered anti-therapeutic. The researcher then reviewed the literature to extract indicators of how each principle is applied in a MHC setting. These principles and associated indicators were consolidated into a “MHC Model”. This Model serves as an original contribution to the literature, and is suitable for use as a rubric in examining how the principles of therapeutic jurisprudence have been applied. Guided by the MHC Model, the researcher then sought to determine how a specific MHC applies the identified principles of therapeutic jurisprudence. Data were collected through the researcher’s observation of the court and through interviews with ten subjects whose involvement covers the spectrum of services and functions provided by this MHC. Observations of the researcher and data obtained from respondents were compared to the MHC Model to establish the degree of consistency. The findings suggest that the court applied the first and second principles of therapeutic jurisprudence in a manner that is weakly consistent with the literature. The court’s application of the third principle is essentially congruent with the literature, and is therefore considered highly consistent. These findings shed light on the reality that MHCs may face constraints beyond their control that prevent rigorous application of therapeutic jurisprudence principles in line with the ideal reflected in the literature. In light of these findings, the study has been able to develop recommendations for stronger alignment with the principles, which the court might consider adopting in order to improve its functioning and, potentially, outcomes. Further, this study highlights the need for future research to consider how MHCs might best apply the principles of therapeutic jurisprudence in less than ideal circumstances.
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    Gender, Schooling, and Antisocial Behaviour: Perspectives of School Personnel
    (University of Waterloo, 2019-10-11) Chenier, Allison; Schulenberg, Jennifer
    This thesis examines gender, schooling, and antisocial behaviour and aims to shed light on how gender contextualizes the interpretations and reactions by personnel working in secondary schools. Drawing on data from 49 semi-structured interviews with school personnel working in a public school board in Southwestern Ontario collected in 2011 and 2016, I examine the ways that gender shapes the interpretation of female antisocial behaviour in schools and consider the specific ways that personnel respond to that behaviour. First, I use Milner’s (2004) theory of status relations as an analytic framework to examine common adolescent antisocial behaviour such as theft, relational aggression, and sexualized social media use. The theory of status relations posits that since youth are unable to achieve political and economic power due to their age, they gain status through peer group status systems. Thus, while behaviours are interpreted by those working in schools as antisocial, the behaviours can also be understood as attempts on the part of adolescents to gain status. Through a grounded theory analysis, I argue that those working in schools interpret the status behaviours of male and female students differently, perceiving the behaviour of girls to be more problematic and aberrant than boys. As well, I suggest that the proliferation of technology and social media adds a new dimension to status behaviours, as many of the status behaviours involve access to technology or occur via social media. Next, I draw on feminist criminology and gender-responsive programming literature to examine how school resource officers (SROs) interpret and make sense of their interactions with female students, especially as it compares to the interpretations of other school personnel. I suggest that SROs are both similar and distinct from other school personnel in their perceptions of female students, and particularly dissimilar in their perceptions of risk of gender-based violence. SROs in this study suggest that responding to gender-based violence is a common part of their role, whereas other school personnel view it as uncommon. I then argue that the SRO program in schools contains elements deemed important in the gender-based programming literature, especially compared to officers working on patrol. SROs suggest that working in schools affords them the time necessary to build trust with youth, ultimately improving youth-police relations. I argue further that the studies of school safety should be expanded beyond victimization in the form of bullying, fighting, and extreme cases of school violence to include gender-based victimization. Finally, I examine how the organization of schools intersects with girls’ antisocial behaviour in schools. Drawing on concepts from organization deviance derived inductively from the data, I argue that the loosely coupled nature of secondary schools has gendered implications, particularly in the case of vulnerability to victimization in human trafficking. Elements of the organization of schools such as structural secrecy can lead to missed opportunities for school personnel to intervene with students at-risk for involvement in human trafficking, as personnel may not share vital information on warning signs. The implication of the results is that all loosely coupled organizations, such as the police, may be unwittingly failing to intervene on behalf of vulnerable girls. The thesis concludes with areas for future research and recommendations in the areas of policy and training.