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Panelists

Panel Session 1: Identifying Public Policy Solutions to Public Sector Problems

Moderator: Prof. Dan Feldman, Program Director, M.P.A. in Inspection and Oversight

Panelist Graduate Program Title Abstract
Arlinda Xhuveli International Crime and Justice M.A. Role of Contentious Food Policies in State Development, State Legitimacy, and the Welfare State First, while there is a well-established literature on food riots, where consumers riot over the price of food, there is less work that has been done to understand the dynamics under which farmers, the producers of food, also protest for their own economic security. This project seeks to create a global database of farmer protests in order to understand how these protests are different and similar to food riots, and to contribute to literatures on welfare, state legitimacy and the relationship between protest and policy. This project is at the data-gathering stage and I plan to present an initial analysis of the trends I have uncovered in my research.

Second, despite global consensus on the need to divert non-violent drug offenders to treatment, there are patchwork efforts around the globe to ensure this occurring. This panel will feature the results of a global mapping project of Alternatives to Incarceration (ATIs) for Substance Use Disordered Offenders (SUDs), conducted as part of a U.S. State Department Diplomacy Lab project. Using the available literature and internet resources, we compiled information on all UN member states regarding the legal provisions for ATIs, the consideration for ATIs in national drug control strategy, ATIs currently in place or being considered for implementation, public opinion of ATIs for SUDS, and the availability of evidence-based treatment, using a standardized data gathering instrument. Across world regions we found a number of barriers to the use of ATIs for SUDs: legal punitiveness, stigmatization of drug users, lack of drug treatment capacity, and cultural and religious barriers. We analyze these barriers and propose policy solutions.
Priti Bali-Kahn MPA: Inspection & Oversight Identifying Causes of & Countering Accountability-Avoidance in US Administrative Agencies In accounting, audit, and public administration, financial and non-financial measures are used to understand the “Internal Control Environment” of an organization. These are based on COSO’s Five Elements of Internal Control Framework, which inform us “Tone at the Top” can help accountants, auditors, and other oversight providers, understand the risk of fraud and non-approved conduct within an organization. Based on this framework, the main hypothesis of this thesis is: Campaign contributions to primary/secondary legislative bodies, led to “Displacement” of low-income residents of New York City from 1990-2020. Through initial regression analysis of publicly available data, campaign contributions from the Finance/Insurance/Real Estate industries could be linked causally to various levels of affordable housing crisis in NYC. Furthermore, these continued contributions led to more than harmful legislation, they led to accountability avoidance in the administrative agencies mandated with protecting New York City’s affordable housing.
Genevieve Trapani Forensic Science M.S. The Determination of Human Shedding Propensity Based on STR Results Trace DNA evidence is often discovered at various crime scenes after being deposited by a person of interest. Passive transfer of one’s DNA is influenced by their shedding propensity, or probability of depositing a detectable amount of DNA through touch. The primary purpose of this project was to determine the shedding propensities of individuals in a general community using STR profiles acquired from skin samples. The ability to detect complete STR profiles varied among different sampling locations. As expected, unwashed fingers showed a higher prevalence of mixtures than washed fingers. Accordingly, shedding propensity was determined based on the STR profile quality from washed finger samples only. Three individuals were high shedders (10.7%), 18 individuals were intermediate shedders (64.3%), and seven individuals were low shedders (25.0%). No significant trends were seen based on biological sex or hand dominance. Out of the 112 finger sample sets, 52.7% were consistently high-quality profiles, 10.7% were consistently low-quality profiles, and 14.3% were inconsistent.
Anne Fatooh International Crime and Justice M.A. Diplomacy Lab Project: Review of Alternatives to Incarceration Efforts in Non-Francophone Africa The United States and many other countries around the world have faced the growing challenge of prison overcrowding, high recidivism rates and increased disease transmission while incarcerated. For persons with substance use disorders especially, evidence has shown that incarceration is not effective in the long-term for curbing such issues. Through participation in the Diplomacy Lab Project 2010304 “Review of Alternatives to Incarceration Efforts Worldwide,” students in region-specific teams researched alternatives to incarceration for persons involved in the criminal justice system with substance use disorders, culminating in a global report. This segment of the research project includes the state of current legislation pertaining to developing alternatives to incarceration and whether they allow for alternatives, the national drug control strategy of each respective country, the nature of the drug treatment community, the types of alternatives currently in operation as well as those under consideration and lastly, an analysis of various barriers to the development of alternatives to incarceration in 28 African countries. Findings were included in an analysis memorandum and presented to staff of the Drug Demand Reduction Section, Office of Global Policy and Programs, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, U.S. State Department, Washington, D.C.

Panel Session 2: Solutions & Perspectives: Prisons, Incarcerated Populations and Drug Cartels

Moderator: Dr. Gohar Petrossian, Program Director, M.A. in International Crime and Justice

Panelist Graduate Program Title Abstract
Judith Vargas International Crime and Justice M.A. Mexican Drug Cartels: Are they Terrorists or Not? The recent scope of violence in Mexico has caused many scholars and government officials wanting to refer to Mexican drug cartels as terrorists. However, there are critical differences between Mexican drug cartels and terrorist organizations. The purpose of my research paper is to identify the pros and cons regarding this topic. I will explain the reason why Mexican drug cartels should and should not be designated as a terrorist organizations. I will compare how Mexican cartels such as the Los Zetas cartel are involved in terrorist activities and how terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah are involved in organized crime activities. Finally, I will summarize the challenges of designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations and the possible solutions.
Eric Seligman and Geert Dhondt Economics M.A. Prison Labor in U.S. State Prison, 1974-2016: New Slavery or Enforced Idleness Much has been made of the legality of forced prison labor in assessments of mass incarceration, but the amount and type of work done by prisoners since prison populations began to explode in the 1970s is notably understudied. In this paper, we use prisoner survey data from 1974 to 2016 to track these facts of prison labor in the U.S. throughout the prison boom and into the modern era. In short, levels of idleness in prisons vis-à-vis labor steadily grow such that by 2004 the majority of prisoners do not work or work up to ten hours per week, and by 2016, nearly 40% of prisoners do not work and an estimated additional 25% work ten hours or less per week. While declines in jobholding are consistently so as a matter of percentage, they also become declines in absolute terms after 2004, a remarkable fact given the continually rising prison population (albeit at slower rates). As for type of work, incarcerated workers primarily perform the nonmarket domestic chores required to reproduce prisons and prisoners rather than the production of goods and services for state correctional industries or private enterprise, the former consistently comprising about three times as many work assignments as the latter throughout the period in study. These findings have important implications for economic understandings of mass incarceration. They suggest a gradual decline in correctional commitments to rehabilitation through labor and an ascension of a modern imprisonment qua mere segregation and containment. They also indicate a relative absence of private corporations among the determinants of the contours of modern prison labor, which is less a program of captive labor exploitation than that of a carceral workfare, or, work obligations to the state in exchange for the carceral welfare of prison room and board.
Abagail Ramos Law and Public Accountability MPA/JD Dual Degree The Educational Success and Well-Being for Children of Incarcerated Parents As the incarcerated population continues to grow exponentially in the United States, youth, specifically from New York City, will face their K- 12 public school years without a parent. The separation of a parent for the child has destabilizing effects, including economic insecurity, family instability, and mental health issues. Among the difficulties students come up against, their educational success and wellbeing is often overlooked or unknown to educators. Studies have revealed that once educators learn about a parent’s incarceration, they lower their educational expectations for their students. How then, can schools provide students with a well- resourced and informed environment for them to gain academic success? By conducting a content analysis, this paper puts forth policy recommendations for the City’s Department of Education on how to not only maintain a student’s privacy about their parent’s incarceration but also the necessary components for a student’s academic achievement.
Katelyn Ferguson International Crime and Justice M.A. Drug Trafficking and Advanced Technology This research study (led by Dr. Jana Arsovska, Dr. Melanie Knieps and Dr. Maria Helen-Maras) examines the use of advanced technology, including Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), by drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). Due to lucrative profits, DTOs, in general, remain opportunistic; they seek out new routes and strategies to produce, smuggle, and distribute drugs; they also exploit new manufacturing and communication technologies, recruit vulnerable individuals into the work of trafficking, and find ways to launder the proceedings. The exploitation of new technologies is particularly relevant in our modern world, as technological advancements continue to occur at a rapid pace. This project studies how DTOs have utilized advanced technologies at the various stages of the drug trafficking process (e.g., growing/cultivating, manufacturing, trafficking/transporting, and wholesale/retail) as well as for the purpose of communication. This poster presentation will focus specifically on the use of technology during the transport stage and for the purpose of communication throughout the different stages of the DT process. The research done for this poster presentation is based on systematic review of the literature. This research is connected to a larger research project on drug/fentanyl trafficking and Darknet sites funded by the NIJ (Dr. Maria Helen-Maras, Dr. Jana Arsovska, Dr. Adam Wandt, Dr. Melanie Knieps and Kenji Logie).