Date of Graduation

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts in Criminology

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Sociology and Criminology

Advisor/Mentor

Shields, Christopher

Committee Member

Williams, David

Second Committee Member

Leong, Josiah

Third Committee Member

Dominguez, Freddy Cristobal

Abstract

Before the attacks of September 11th, material support of terrorism using the 18 U.S.C § 2339B statute was hardly investigated and prosecuted. In the years following 9/11, however, the government began to charge and prosecute material support offenders at an increasing rate. Structural-contextual theory is used to explain this phenomenon by analyzing how the government utilized tightened coupling to expand what they looked for and charged under 18 U.S.C § 2339B. The current study furthers past literature by analyzing 2339B offender demographics, case outcomes, counts outcomes, conviction rates, and the length of sentences. The findings solve discrepancies in past literature regarding sentence length and the use of the statute in federal courts before 9/11. The results demonstrate that defendant's demographics vary in 2339B cases. Additionally, the findings show that case outcomes and average sentence length can be predicted after 9/11. Conviction rates under the 18 U.S.C § 2339B material support statute can be expected to increase after 2001. Ultimately, it is found that the widening of what the government was investigating and prosecuting as material support affected conviction outcomes, sentence lengths, and count outcomes. These findings suggest that future research should analyze the effects that terrorist group category and the type of material support provided have on outcome variables.

Keywords

Material Support; 18 USC 2339B; Prosecuting; Post-9/11

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