Ronald L. Akers Graduate Student Paper Award
Paper requirements and stipulations
This award will be given to outstanding scholarly work by (an) M.A. or Ph.D. student(s) in good standing, enrolled in the graduate program in Criminology, Law and Society, Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law, who has completed the work during the 2021-2022 academic year. Those who have previously won this competition are ineligible to submit a paper. Papers should not exceed 30 double-spaced pages (including references, tables, appendices, and figures). Graduate students are encouraged to submit papers that are conceptual and/or empirical (quantitative and qualitative), and which cover criminology, criminal justice, or law issues. Papers should be submitted in Times New Roman 12-point font with 1-inch margins. References should follow APA style or the journal Criminology guidelines. Manuscripts should be polished papers suitable for peer-review submission.
Papers may be co-authored with another student from UF or elsewhere, but the person submitting the paper should be the senior author. Faculty or others with a Ph.D. may not serve as co-authors. If a paper has one or more co-author(s), it must be submitted with a brief statement, articulating the role of each author (including the senior author) in contributing to the writing, methods and design, and data analysis of the submitted paper.
Selection
Papers will be reviewed and rated by the members of the Graduate Committee according to the following criteria: (1) conceptualization of the idea, (2) significance of the topic to the disciplines of criminology, criminal justice, and/or law, (3) clarity and correctness of method(s) used, (4) writing quality, (5) command of relevant work in the field, and (6) overall contribution to the discipline. The Graduate Committee reserves the right to not give an award if no entry is of satisfactory quality to select a winner.
Award
A plaque will be placed in conference room. The awardee will receive his/her name on plaque and travel support, if monies are available, to present the paper at a professional conference. The student may also be honored at a Research Symposium in the Fall 2022 semester (assuming the winner is on campus), which normally consists of a 30-45 minute presentation, followed by a 15-20 minute Q&A session. Finally, the award winner will be recognized for their accomplishment on the Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law website.
Winner:
Wonki Lee (Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Delinquency: The Role of Low Self-Control): Although recent studies found that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has been identified as a key predictor in the development of low self-control of children, few studies have addressed the relationship between exposure to ACEs, low self-control, and delinquency. To suggest effective intervention for preventing delinquency by children, the current study investigated the role of low self-control between exposure to ACEs and delinquent behavior. Longitudinal data from South Korean youth were employed via negative binomial regression and structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine this relationship. Results from negative binomial regression models indicated that ACEs had a significant effect on the delinquency of children, however, the significance disappeared when low self-control was included as a predictor. Findings from SEM analyses revealed that low self-control had a moderating effect between ACEs and delinquent behavior, which means that the relationship between ACEs and delinquency was greater for those with lower levels of self-control than for those with higher levels of self-control. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.