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While some little girls dream of becoming princesses and ballerinas, Julie Pate has always had a dream to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Maryville College sociology graduate wrote her Senior Study on prison riots. More specifically, she decided to focus on why prison riots occur and how to predict and prevent future riots.

In her 49-page study, Pate analyzed three notable prison riots to determine their causes: the 1971 riot at Attica Correctional Facility in New York, the 1980 riot at the New Mexico State Penitentiary, and the 2002 riot at Folsom Prison in California.

Pate said the keys to preventing prison riots are improving rehabilitation programs and solving the problem of overcrowding.

"One of the reasons prisons are overcrowded is because prisoners are not being rehabilitated. They get out and do not know how to achieve success legally and end up committing a crime and going back to prison. Rehabilitating prisoners would help to reduce overcrowding so that they can make it once they get out of prison."

In addition to identifying patterns of behavior that may predict future riots, Pate hopes that her study will function as a conversation piece for graduate school and future employers.

As an intern with the Knoxville Police Department this summer, Pate spent time in the crime lab with the forensics team, learning about evidence collection, handwriting analysis and fingerprinting. She plans to pursue a master's degree in criminal justice and is currently exploring her graduate school options.