Contact the Graduate Director
Graduate student life
The Graduate Student Association at NAU invites CCJ criminology students to join us
In the program, graduate students participate in activities led by the departmental graduate student association (GSA). The GSA organizes social gatherings for students, sometimes on their own as students and other times with faculty to get to know each other outside of the classroom. The GSA also helps to coordinate workshops for students, such as planning a program of study or a thesis workshop. The criminology GSA also organizes and participates in community projects depending on the interest of its members.
Northern Arizona University MS Criminology capstone projects
Students apply their advanced knowledge and skills about contemporary crime and justice issues through completion of an independent capstone project focused on research, teaching, or a justice agency. Through this experience, students work with expert faculty to develop a unique project while preparing for their chosen profession or career.
The following examples illustrate the kinds of capstone projects completed by some of our recent criminology master’s students.
Recent capstone projects from students in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Thesis projects Accordion Closed
2017
Abdullah Alameri Barriers and Facilitators of Intervening: The Case of Campus Sexual Assaults
Sarah Edmiston Primed for Action: The Unique Role of Greek Life in Bystander Helping Behaviors
Jenna Fejervary Words Matter: Measuring Rape Myth Acceptance Through Survey Design
Brittney Harmon Understanding How Victim Advocates Perceive and Deliver Services Based on Organizational Structure and Institutional Location
Kaloni Heggen Is it in the Name? Ethnicity as an Intervening Factor in Bystander Behaviors
Viola Sawyer Intersecting Identities, and Attitudes Towards Police Violence and Strategies for Social Change
Madeline Stenger The Imprisonment Penalty: The Impact of Citizenship and Ethnicity in Hypothetical Sentencing Decisions in the “Age of Color Blindness”
Robert Watson Investigating the Effects of Sports Participation on Rape Myth Acceptance
2016
Skyler Bosworth GMO Labeling Initiative 522: An Analysis of Discourse
Heather Foster How Do Video Games Normalize Violence? A Qualitative Content Analysis of Popular Video Games
Keith Hullenaar Negotiating Sex in College: An Investigation into the Sexual Consent Process on One College Campus
Mark Willingham Evaluating a 21st Birthday Campus e-Card: A Harm Reduction Intervention”
2015
Samantha Brokenshire Evaluating Bystander Intervention Training: Creating Awareness on College Campuses
Colin Burke State-Corporate Crime in the Digital Age: A Case Study of U.S. Government Surveillance, 2011-2014
Taylor Lawrence Punitive Attitudes of Criminology & Criminal Justice Students
Stella Riskin Is Bullying Being Pushed Online? An Exploratory Analysis of Method Displacement
Allison Robb The Social Mediated Construction of “Bad” Laws: An Ethnographic Content Analysis of Arizona SB 1062
Verlena Tso Perspectives of Domestic Violence Victim Advocates
2014
Nour Alnabhany Ethnic Microaggressions against Arab Americans: A Critical Analysis of Semi-Structured In-Depth Interviews of Arab Americans
Tricia Hall Legalization of Marijuana and its Effect on Anticipated Use
Joshua Lepley Homosexuality and High School Bullying
Doris Schartmueller “Life” With or Without Parole: A Comparative Analysis of Life Sentences in Alabama, California, Massachusetts, and Nevada
2013
Erika Hendrickson Understanding How Victim Advocates View Organizational Peer Support Groups to Reduce or Prevent Compassion Fatigue
Gwantel Lee The Impact of Gender and Protocol Variations within the Screening Process of Drug Courts: Yavapai County
Kasey Ragan Rhetoric vs. Reality: Using Feminist Scholarship to Assess an Anti-Human Trafficking Campaign
Justin Strong Citizenship, Incarceration, and the Dual Regime of Control: Shading Social Death
2012
Kelly Anderson Social Identity Theory and Conflict Rape
Caro Banuelos
Samantha Brown Koori Courts and Fairness
Chris Duarte Transgender/Gender Variant Individuals who have been Incarcerated: Issues, Policies, and Practice
Laura Hentges The Challenges of International Oversight of Nuclear Proliferation: A North Korean Case Study
Nancy Lubick Nonmedical Use of Prescription Stimulant Drugs by Students Attending a Rural, Southwestern University
Brianna McGill Defense Attorneys, Mentally Ill, and Substance Abusers: A Study of Coconino County Public Defense Attorneys
Jennifer Willson Juvenile Attitudes About the Police
2011
Connie Adamovich A Historical Analysis of European Witch Hunts: A Comparative Study of Moral Panic
Kathryn Hermelin Angry, White and Armed: An Examination of Extremism in Mainstream Social Movements
Pamela Merino Exploring Bribery and Corruption in Mexico
Jodi Schorr The Arizona Court of Appeals: A Quantitative Analysis of Reversal and Remand Decisions from 2003 to 2008
Amanda Smith The Construction of Text Messaging While Driving as a Social Problem in Arizona
Ryan Staab Boundary Spanning and Offender Reentry and Reintegration: Models for Developing a Reentry Plan in Arizona
Kimberlee Waggoner Globalization and the Sex Work Policy: Service Agency Responses in the U.S. and Norway
Internship projects Accordion Closed
Joseph Alvillar (2014) Park Ranger Training Program Including a Corrective Action
Rachelle Barr (2015) Eyewitness Identification: The Case of Norberto “Beto” Ramos-Madrid
Kristin Braley (2012) Recreating a Victim Services Program
Zarina Enriquez (2011) Costs of Working in Law Enforcement for the Officers of the Tucson Police Department
Laura Giacobbe (2009) Bringing the Homeless Court Program to Flagstaff: Practicing Alternative Sentencing
Toni Hall (2012) Assessing LGBT Inclusivity of Bullying Policies in Arizona Schools
Ashley Holloman (2009) Promoting a Reality: An Analysis of My Experience (with a Yavapai County substance abuse program)
Joshua Johnson (2012) Communication and its Impact on Client Satisfaction
Jennifer Koyanagi (2013) Trial Preparation and Defense of Jacqes Lehayan in State of Arizona v. Jacqes Lehayan
Jessica Lurkins (2013) Coconino County Deferred Prosecution: A Program Evaluation
Michael McCasland (2015) Domestic Violence: Risk Assessments
Gregory Neville (2012) Developing a Statewide Data Gathering Tool for Domestic Violence Fatality Review in Arizona
Carissa Scarpa (2009) Masculinity and Sexual Assault: The M.A.R.S. Project
Mark Zollinger (2013) Compliance Audit of the Coconino County Sex Offender Registry
Teaching capstone projects Accordion Closed
Margaret Bentzen (2009) Teaching Crime and Justice: A Pedagogical Recommendation for the Classroom and the Field
Ralph Garcia (2017) Inspiring Student Engagement and Collaboration Using Critical Pedagogy Across Three Different Modalities
Jaimee Limmer (2013) It’s Your Education, Be in It: Enhancing Success for First Year Criminal Justice Students
Jason Tabor (2010) Seven Tools of Teaching
Flexibility in courses, emphasis areas, and capstone options
Students have flexibility in their program of study, as our program allows students to choose 3 courses from the elective course offerings to “specialize” in one of three areas. These emphasis areas include transnational crime & justice; communities & justice; and law, policy, & social change.