Author ORCID Identifier
Semester
Fall
Date of Graduation
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Sociology and Anthropology
Committee Chair
Corey Colyer
Committee Co-Chair
James Nolan
Committee Member
Jason Manning
Committee Member
John Kilwein
Abstract
The study sought to explore the impact of the New York State “Bail Reform Act of 2019,” in rurality. It examined some of the legislative goals of the law, the claim that it caused crime, and offender experiences in rurality. Secondary data was used to map the rural crime landscape and primary data was collected from offenders during face to face interviews. The study was framed using deterrence and opportunity approaches and situated within the broader field environments; legislative, courtroom, and community. The research failed to find support for the claim that bail reform caused crime. Instead, it revealed that the crime nexus claim tracked with changes in positions and capital that occurred in the legislative field as a result of bail reform. It also showed that bail reform was used as a cudgel between challengers and incumbents vying for power. The most significant finding in the work was the bail reform promoted social interaction - social bonding - social ties between offenders and others in the community. Interactions or bonds with family, friends, employers, groups, functioned as informal social control and helped to deter reoffending. Interactions or formal bonds with probation, pretrial services, mental and substance abuse treatment providers functioned as formal social control aimed at helping the defendant avoid reoffending. Thus, rather than causing crime, the study concluded that bail reform promoted ties that led to communal closeness. Those outcomes have been associated with less crime and deviance in the literature.
Recommended Citation
Turner, Scott Kevin, "The Sociology of Bail Reform: Crime, Social Interaction, and Offender Experiences in Rurality." (2024). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 12683.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/12683
Included in
Courts Commons, Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Criminology Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Jurisprudence Commons, Law and Society Commons, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Public Policy Commons, Rural Sociology Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons, Social Justice Commons
