Faculty of Social Science & Humanities
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The Faculty of Social Science & Humanities (FSSH) offers programs that enhance the social sphere. Areas of study include communication, digital media studies, criminology, justice, psychology, forensic psychology, legal studies and political science.
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Student Papers [18]
Student Papers (FSSH)
Collections in this community
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Doctoral Dissertations [14]
Doctoral Dissertations (FSSH) -
Faculty Publications [1]
Faculty Publications (FSSH) -
Master Theses & Projects [119]
Master Theses & Projects (FSSH)
Recent Submissions
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Acknowledging offender trauma at intake: a qualitative thematic analysis of Canadian correctional policy
(2023-08-01)Trauma has seldom been discussed in the literature in relation to incarceration. The research that does exist has tended to be gendered, focusing predominantly on the trauma experiences of female offenders. The current ... -
Silenced by the surname?: South Asian parents’ perceptions of child sexual abuse disclosure and recantation
(2023-08-01)Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a serious public health concern affecting millions. Identifying such abuse typically requires disclosure from victims—a challenging task considering potential social, familial, and ethnic barriers ... -
Dual-task interference and its influence on deception detection and memory
(2023-08-01)Using a dual-task paradigm, I examined how engaging in executive function tasks impacted deception detection and memory performance. University students (N = 185) were randomly assigned to detect deception while also ... -
Mapping the developmental trajectories of chronic offenders in Canada
(2023-07-01)The current study analyzed convicted chronic offenders that were charged with at least two offences in the region of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, between 2006 and 2019 (N = 11,426) in order to investigate the relationship ... -
Carrying the burden: a study on the reported experiences and the lifelong impact of growing up with a serial killer parent
(2023-08-01)This thesis explores the experiences of the offspring of serial killers and how they were impacted by their parent's crimes. The study employed a thematic analysis of six subjects who wrote biographies detailing their ... -
Examining the role of race in plea decision-making for defense attorneys and laypeople
(2023-08-01)Guilty pleas and trials both result in convictions, however, the plea process is significantly shorter, and most convictions are secured through guilty pleas. Defendants typically only see their defense attorney during ... -
Are we where we should be? Assessing investigative interviewing practices and training of officers in the Force Criminal Investigation Department of the Nigeria Police Force
(2023-06-01)In the criminal justice system, investigative interviewing is crucial for getting information that helps law enforcement agencies resolve cases. While there is a relative wealth of scholarly studies on investigative ... -
Squeegee Punks reunite: safe streets for all: an insider qualitative study
(2023-06-01)Squeegee Punks were a fixture on many busy street corners in urban cities in Canada in the mid to late 1990s. During the height of the squeegee kid phenomenon, multiple studies were conducted on how squeegee work impacted ... -
Development of the Interview and Interrogation Assessment Instrument
(2023-04-01)Confession evidence factors heavily in judicial decision making, and courts may call an expert social scientist to assess the coercive pressures of an interrogation and risk factors for false confession. At present, there ... -
Promoting self-determination amongst youth in conflict with the law: are advocates doing their part?
(2023-01-01)This thesis used data from eleven advocacy reports published between 1998-2017 in the province of Ontario. The reports ranged from specific youth facilities such as the Roy McMurtry and Hamilton Wentworth centers to reports ... -
Negative emotion and eyewitness memory
(2022-12-01)Witnessing or being the victim of a crime is often emotionally distressing, and this emotional distress reaction can influence the storage and retrieval of event-related memory. Eyewitness memory, therefore, cannot be ... -
Easy skins, easy life: a chronological case study of loot boxes and transferable cosmetic items in the video game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
(2022-12-01)Video game publishers have continually developed novel methods of maximizing revenues from video game titles. Modern gaming customarily involves paid downloadable content that further monetizes a base game. Loot boxes, ... -
What lies beneath: an examination of the underlying components of deception detection
(2022-12-01)Little is known about the underlying components that are responsible for the processes involved with decision-making in deception detection. Throughout this dissertation, I explored previous (mis)conceptions about ... -
#RodneyReed: a content and thematic analysis of a trending innocence campaign
(2022-12-01)Having spent 23 years (and counting) on death row for a murder conviction which is believed to be wrongful, Rodney Reed’s innocence campaign was shared on social media by celebrities, news organizations, and the public ... -
Parents’ perceptions of their children’s lie telling in the context of sibling relationships
(2021-08-01)Familial influences on children’s deception are understudied. This thesis examined children’s lie telling in the context of sibling relationships by surveying parents on the types of lies told by children in the sibling ... -
Impact of terrorism awareness training on civilian likelihood to report pre-incident behaviours
(2020-08-01)This study investigated whether terrorism awareness training impacts the likelihood to report pre-incident behaviours associated with terrorism using infographics from the U.S. “See Something, Say Something” campaign. ... -
Gendered pathways: family violence as a primary pathway into homelessness for women
(2022-08-01)This thesis analyzes secondary data from a study done on 30 homeless men and women in a region in Southern Ontario to assess the gendering of homeless pathways between each group. Qualitative and quantitative methods were ... -
Perceptions of police use of force: the role of context-specific factors, police legitimacy, and belief in a just world
(2022-09-01)This thesis explores various factors that could explain variations in how acceptable police use of force is perceived to be among a Canadian sample. Four text-based vignettes depicting a police use of force encounter were ... -
Toward assessing and improving the protective efficacy of Canadians’ interrogation rights: misinformation and caution comprehension
(2022-08-01)The right to silence and right to counsel serve to protect detainees facing the power imbalance of police interrogation. Unfortunately, research indicates people are misinformed about their rights and struggle to comprehend ... -
“Taking a chance and striking out”: an exploration of homelessness, housing pathways, and ‘self-sabotage’
(2022-08-01)Homelessness remains a prevalent social issue in Canada, though limited research has sought to explore the process of transitioning from homelessness to housing. Exits from homelessness are rarely straightforward and are ...