Melissa J Stacer
Biographic Data
| ID | 225161 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Melissa J Stacer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Melissa J |
| FAMILY NAME | Stacer |
| SIGNATURE | STACER M J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Southern Indiana |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0078-3661 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 22 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 14 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Still a soldier
Incarcerated veterans are a unique segment of the prison population, but despite growing research, the voices of incarcerated veterans remain largely absent from literature. Drawing upon Narrative Identity Theory, this study examines how veterans construct and negotiate their military identity while incarcerated. Analyzing 91 essays from 48 incarcerated veterans who voluntarily submitted to the American Prison Writing Archive, we identified three…
Criminal Thinking in a Sample of Men and Women Attending a Multi-Site Batterer Intervention Program
The study investigated differences and similarities in criminal thinking between men and women attending a multi-site Batterer Intervention Program (BIP). Overall, rates of criminal thinking were low. However, the results of the multivariate analyses suggest that, after controlling for demographic characteristics (i.e., race, ethnicity, education, SES) and personal experiences (i.e., prior convictions, mental health problems, substance abuse, exp…
Inmate Attitudes about Prison Tours for Students
Correctional facility tours are common within criminal justice programs as a way for students to experience real-world criminal justice. While tours have received praise for solidifying learning, they have also been criticized for objectification of inmates. In this research, individuals who were incarcerated in a Midwestern state were surveyed about their attitudes toward students touring prisons. While participants, in general, viewed tours fav…
Justice-involved veterans
With increasing focus on military veterans returning to civilian life and the multitude of difficulties they face, a population of increasing concern is the justice-involved veteran. In this manuscript we provide a thorough review of extant literature on incarcerated veterans and veterans involved in specialized correctional programmes, exploring the historical and contemporary research on this unique correctional population. An examination of th…
The Impact of Correctional Facility Tours on Student Perceptions and Realizations of the Correctional Environment
Jail and prison tours have become an important educational tool in many criminal justice programs. This study uses an inductive approach to explore student perceptions of the physical and social environment of jails and prisons following tours of correctional facilities. The study draws from Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) which supports the focus on student reflections following experiential learning activities. Eighty essays were analyzed. T…
New Opportunities or Closing Doors? How Correctional Facility Tours Impact Students’ Thoughts about Correctional Careers
Children may say they want to grow up to be a police officer, but we typically do not hear children saying they want to work in a prison or jail when they grow up. Given negative media attention of correctional facilities, it may not be surprising that many students enter criminal justice programs uninterested in correctional careers. Correctional facility tours can be useful for exposing criminal justice students to careers they may not have pre…
Teaching & learning guide for
Fighting labor market discrimination with ban the box (BTB)
We develop a theoretical commentary on the implementation and expansion of the ban the box (BTB) movement as a legal response to the formal and informal discrimination ex‐offenders face every day in the labor market, in particular the racial impacts of such policies. We first provide a thorough overview of the numerous laws that have created barriers to ex‐offender employment. Then we focus on the advent of BTB legislation across the U.S. and the…
Exploring the impact of correctional facility tours on the perceptions of undergraduate criminal justice students
Students’ negative perceptions of inmates are a challenging aspect of teaching criminal justice. Scholars suggest exposing students to the criminal justice system may provide a realistic approach to understanding offenders. Prison tours have become a viable solution for instructors who want to create such exposure, but contrasting perspectives on the impact of prison tours on students’ learning are present in research. Drawing upon theories of ex…
An Analysis of 'Ban the Box' Policies through the Prism of Merton's Theory of Unintended Consequences of Purposive Social Action
After decades of 'tough on crime' policies, the number of ex-offenders in the USA has increased dramatically. Felony convictions limit ex-offenders' opportunities in the labor market. In an effort to reduce these barriers, many US jurisdictions have implemented closed records policies such as 'ban the box.' By limiting employers' access to applicants' criminal history records, these policies attempt to eliminate the discrimination that qualified …
Agnew, Robert
Robert Agnew is an American sociologist best known for his work extending Emile Durkheim's work on anomie and Robert Merton's strain theory to explain crime and delinquency. His general strain theory attempts to explain why people commit crime and posits that negative events and relationships result in people feeling negative emotions. The strain of these negative emotions can lead to criminal coping as a way to deal with these strains. Agnew's w…
Anderson, Elijah
Elijah Anderson is an American sociologist best known for his urban ethnographies on African Americans in the inner city. Anderson published Streetwise: Race, class, and change in an urban community in 1990 and Code of the street: Decency, violence, and the moral life of the inner city in 1999, both of which explore how inner‐city life has changed and how African Americans in these communities have adapted their behavior when in public places. An…
The Interaction of Race/Ethnicity and Mental Health Problems on Visitation in State Correctional Facilities
This paper explores the relationship between mental health problems and visitation for prison inmates. Logistic regression analyses indicated that inmates with mental health problems have lower odds of visitation. Interaction effects indicated that visitation for Hispanic inmates differed depending upon whether inmates reported mental health problems. Hispanic males reporting a history of mental health problems had increased probabilities of visi…
Self-Control, Opportunity, and Substance Use
We examine the effect of self-control and opportunity on adolescent substance use. When theorizing about the role of opportunity, we believe the "sanction potential" of a given situation should be considered. Our results suggest the effect of self-control on substance use does not depend on the availability of substances in the home (high sanction potential), but friends' substance use (low sanction potential) conditions the effect of self-contro…
Self-Control, Opportunity, and Substance Use
We examine the effect of self-control and opportunity on adolescent substance use. When theorizing about the role of opportunity, we believe the "sanction potential" of a given situation should be considered. Our results suggest the effect of self-control on substance use does not depend on the availability of substances in the home (high sanction potential), but friends' substance use (low sanction potential) conditions the effect of self-contro…
An Analysis of 'Ban the Box' Policies through the Prism of Merton's Theory of Unintended Consequences of Purposive Social Action
After decades of 'tough on crime' policies, the number of ex-offenders in the USA has increased dramatically. Felony convictions limit ex-offenders' opportunities in the labor market. In an effort to reduce these barriers, many US jurisdictions have implemented closed records policies such as 'ban the box.' By limiting employers' access to applicants' criminal history records, these policies attempt to eliminate the discrimination that qualified …
Fighting labor market discrimination with ban the box (BTB)
We develop a theoretical commentary on the implementation and expansion of the ban the box (BTB) movement as a legal response to the formal and informal discrimination ex‐offenders face every day in the labor market, in particular the racial impacts of such policies. We first provide a thorough overview of the numerous laws that have created barriers to ex‐offender employment. Then we focus on the advent of BTB legislation across the U.S. and the…
The Interaction of Race/Ethnicity and Mental Health Problems on Visitation in State Correctional Facilities
This paper explores the relationship between mental health problems and visitation for prison inmates. Logistic regression analyses indicated that inmates with mental health problems have lower odds of visitation. Interaction effects indicated that visitation for Hispanic inmates differed depending upon whether inmates reported mental health problems. Hispanic males reporting a history of mental health problems had increased probabilities of visi…
Self-Control, Opportunity, and Substance Use
We examine the effect of self-control and opportunity on adolescent substance use. When theorizing about the role of opportunity, we believe the "sanction potential" of a given situation should be considered. Our results suggest the effect of self-control on substance use does not depend on the availability of substances in the home (high sanction potential), but friends' substance use (low sanction potential) conditions the effect of self-contro…
Agnew, Robert
Robert Agnew is an American sociologist best known for his work extending Emile Durkheim's work on anomie and Robert Merton's strain theory to explain crime and delinquency. His general strain theory attempts to explain why people commit crime and posits that negative events and relationships result in people feeling negative emotions. The strain of these negative emotions can lead to criminal coping as a way to deal with these strains. Agnew's w…
Anderson, Elijah
Elijah Anderson is an American sociologist best known for his urban ethnographies on African Americans in the inner city. Anderson published Streetwise: Race, class, and change in an urban community in 1990 and Code of the street: Decency, violence, and the moral life of the inner city in 1999, both of which explore how inner‐city life has changed and how African Americans in these communities have adapted their behavior when in public places. An…
An Analysis of 'Ban the Box' Policies through the Prism of Merton's Theory of Unintended Consequences of Purposive Social Action
After decades of 'tough on crime' policies, the number of ex-offenders in the USA has increased dramatically. Felony convictions limit ex-offenders' opportunities in the labor market. In an effort to reduce these barriers, many US jurisdictions have implemented closed records policies such as 'ban the box.' By limiting employers' access to applicants' criminal history records, these policies attempt to eliminate the discrimination that qualified …
Exploring the impact of correctional facility tours on the perceptions of undergraduate criminal justice students
Students’ negative perceptions of inmates are a challenging aspect of teaching criminal justice. Scholars suggest exposing students to the criminal justice system may provide a realistic approach to understanding offenders. Prison tours have become a viable solution for instructors who want to create such exposure, but contrasting perspectives on the impact of prison tours on students’ learning are present in research. Drawing upon theories of ex…
Teaching & learning guide for
Fighting labor market discrimination with ban the box (BTB)
We develop a theoretical commentary on the implementation and expansion of the ban the box (BTB) movement as a legal response to the formal and informal discrimination ex‐offenders face every day in the labor market, in particular the racial impacts of such policies. We first provide a thorough overview of the numerous laws that have created barriers to ex‐offender employment. Then we focus on the advent of BTB legislation across the U.S. and the…
New Opportunities or Closing Doors? How Correctional Facility Tours Impact Students’ Thoughts about Correctional Careers
Children may say they want to grow up to be a police officer, but we typically do not hear children saying they want to work in a prison or jail when they grow up. Given negative media attention of correctional facilities, it may not be surprising that many students enter criminal justice programs uninterested in correctional careers. Correctional facility tours can be useful for exposing criminal justice students to careers they may not have pre…
Inmate Attitudes about Prison Tours for Students
Correctional facility tours are common within criminal justice programs as a way for students to experience real-world criminal justice. While tours have received praise for solidifying learning, they have also been criticized for objectification of inmates. In this research, individuals who were incarcerated in a Midwestern state were surveyed about their attitudes toward students touring prisons. While participants, in general, viewed tours fav…
Justice-involved veterans
With increasing focus on military veterans returning to civilian life and the multitude of difficulties they face, a population of increasing concern is the justice-involved veteran. In this manuscript we provide a thorough review of extant literature on incarcerated veterans and veterans involved in specialized correctional programmes, exploring the historical and contemporary research on this unique correctional population. An examination of th…
The Impact of Correctional Facility Tours on Student Perceptions and Realizations of the Correctional Environment
Jail and prison tours have become an important educational tool in many criminal justice programs. This study uses an inductive approach to explore student perceptions of the physical and social environment of jails and prisons following tours of correctional facilities. The study draws from Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) which supports the focus on student reflections following experiential learning activities. Eighty essays were analyzed. T…
Criminal Thinking in a Sample of Men and Women Attending a Multi-Site Batterer Intervention Program
The study investigated differences and similarities in criminal thinking between men and women attending a multi-site Batterer Intervention Program (BIP). Overall, rates of criminal thinking were low. However, the results of the multivariate analyses suggest that, after controlling for demographic characteristics (i.e., race, ethnicity, education, SES) and personal experiences (i.e., prior convictions, mental health problems, substance abuse, exp…
Still a soldier
Incarcerated veterans are a unique segment of the prison population, but despite growing research, the voices of incarcerated veterans remain largely absent from literature. Drawing upon Narrative Identity Theory, this study examines how veterans construct and negotiate their military identity while incarcerated. Analyzing 91 essays from 48 incarcerated veterans who voluntarily submitted to the American Prison Writing Archive, we identified three…
Criminology (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Political science (7 works) · Prison (7 works) · Criminal justice (5 works) · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Medicine (5 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (4 works)