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Criminal Law Commons™

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Law and Psychology

Selected Works

2009

Articles 1 - 14 of 14

Full-Text Articles in Criminal Law

13. Interviewing Children., Thomas D. Lyon Nov 2009

13. Interviewing Children., Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

There is sufficient empirical evidence and consensus to begin to build guidelines, including the interview structure, setting, interviewer demeanor, children's reluctance and suggestibility, rapport development, narrative practice, introducing the topic of abuse, avoiding concepts that confuse children, instructions to children, phrasing of questions, evidence-based strategies for eliciting details, and multiple interviews.

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12. Disclosure Of Child Sexual Abuse., Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern Oct 2009

12. Disclosure Of Child Sexual Abuse., Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern

Thomas D. Lyon

The research supports the proposition that CSA victims often delay disclosure or fail altogether to disclose abuse and that delays and nondisclosure are most common among children abused by a familiar person, especially a family member living in the child's household. The implications of the research are that inconsistencies and recantations in children's reports may be due to reluctance rather than a false allegation.

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John Contracts Skin Disease At Spa, Donna M. Hughes Dr., Melanie Shapiro Esq Oct 2009

John Contracts Skin Disease At Spa, Donna M. Hughes Dr., Melanie Shapiro Esq

Donna M. Hughes

A virus that causes a skin disease called Molluscum contagiosum is being spread at a spa-brothel in Providence. Molluscum contagiosum is a skin disease caused by a virus. The infection causes small white, pink, or flesh-colored bumps or growths on areas which came in contact with the infected skin of another person. Molluscum contagiosum can be treated or will disappear on its own, although it takes time. According to the Center for Disease Control “the bumps disappear on their own within 6 months. However, they may not go away completely for up to 4 years.” The person can infect another …

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Rhode Island Left Out Of Fbi Initiative, Donna M. Hughes Dr. Aug 2009

Rhode Island Left Out Of Fbi Initiative, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Rhode Island has been excluded from federal law enforcement investigations of sex trafficking of children because there is no law against prostitution.

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Asian Woman Fled Middletown Brothel Last Year, Melanie Shapiro Esq, Donna M. Hughes Dr. Jul 2009

Asian Woman Fled Middletown Brothel Last Year, Melanie Shapiro Esq, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

A business owner has told Citizens Against Trafficking that late last year, an Asian women fled a spa-brothel nearby and came to their shop to ask for assistance.

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Analysis Of The Arrest Of A Pimp And The Identification Of A Victim, Donna M. Hughes Dr. Jul 2009

Analysis Of The Arrest Of A Pimp And The Identification Of A Victim, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

An illustration from Cambridge, Massachusetts, on why Rhode Island needs a prostitution law to assist victims of pimps and traffickers

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Recent Private International Law Developments Before The Supreme Court Of Canada, Antonin I. Pribetic Mar 2009

Recent Private International Law Developments Before The Supreme Court Of Canada, Antonin I. Pribetic

Antonin I. Pribetic

A trilogy of interesting cases involving private international law recently wended their way to the Supreme Court of Canada: (1) King v. Drabinsky (an Ontario case addressing the applicability of the Charter in respect of the enforcement of a foreign judgment); (2) Teck Cominco Metals Ltd. v. Lloyd's Underwriters (a British Columbia case involving declaratory relief in the context of parallel proceedings and forum non conveniens); and (3) Yugraneft v. Rexx Management Corporation (an Alberta case which affirmed that the two-year limitation period under s.3 of Alberta's Limitations Act, governs when a party seeks the recognition and enforcement in Alberta …

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20. Maltreated And Non-Maltreated Children’S Evaluations Of Emotional Fantasy., Nathalie Carrick, Thomas D. Lyon, Jodi A. Quas Jan 2009

20. Maltreated And Non-Maltreated Children’S Evaluations Of Emotional Fantasy., Nathalie Carrick, Thomas D. Lyon, Jodi A. Quas

Thomas D. Lyon


Objectives: The purpose of the study was to examine differences between maltreated and nonmaltreated children’s ability to differentiate emotionally evocative fantastic and real events.
Methods: Four- and 5-year-old (n = 145) maltreated and nonmaltreated children viewed images depicting positive and negative fantastic and real events and reported whether the events could occur in real life and how the images made them feel. Children also completed a measure of verbal ability.
Results: Maltreated children were more accurate than nonmaltreated children in stating that negative real events could occur, but less accurate in stating that frightening fantastic events …

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An Attack On Self-Defense, Reid G. Fontaine Jan 2009

An Attack On Self-Defense, Reid G. Fontaine

Reid G. Fontaine

Debate about the distinction between justification and excuse in criminal law theory has been lively during the last thirty years. Questions as to the nature and structure of various affirmative defenses continue to be raised, and the doctrine of self-defense has been at the center of much discussion. Three main articulations have been advanced: a purely objective theory, a purely subjective theory, and an objective/subjective hybrid. In the present Article, I support a hybrid model and propose a three-requirement framework that delineates the criteria that must be met to satisfy self-defense as a legitimate justification. Because this three-requirement framework raises …

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10. Witnesses, Children As Legal., Thomas D. Lyon Dec 2008

10. Witnesses, Children As Legal., Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

Child witnesses present challenges for both law and psychology. The question is how to elicit statements from children without sacrificing the truth, the rights of those against whom the child is testifying, and the welfare of the child.

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11. Abuse Disclosure: What Adults Can Tell., Thomas D. Lyon Dec 2008

11. Abuse Disclosure: What Adults Can Tell., Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

This book chapter reviews 14 retrospective surveys inquiring into respondent’s child abuse experiences and whether they ever disclosed abuse as children. I discuss the advantages of retrospective surveys (representativeness, reduced likelihood of false allegations, reduced suspicion bias). However, I also emphasize the likelihood of survey reluctance, and explain how this biases upwards estimates of abuse victims’ prior disclosure. If respondents who previously disclosed abuse are more likely to acknowledge abuse to a surveyor than respondents who never previously disclosed abuse, respondents who acknowledge abuse are disproportionately likely to be those who have previously disclosed. Difficulties notwithstanding, the research supports the …

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9. Authors’ Response To Vieth, Thomas D. Lyon Dec 2008

9. Authors’ Response To Vieth, Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

In 2007, Lamb, Orbach, Hershkowitz, Esplin, and Horowitz published in Child Abuse & Neglect a review of empirical research on the National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) Investigative Interview Protocol in which they provided extensive research supporting the conclusion that the NICHD Protocol “comprises a useful and usable set of guidelines that allow trained interviewers to conduct investigative interviews that hew more closely than they otherwise would to universally endorsed professional guidelines” (p. 1212).

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19. Young Children’S Competency To Take The Oath: Effects Of Task, Maltreatment, And Age., Thomas D. Lyon, Nathalie Carrick, Jodi A. Quas Dec 2008

19. Young Children’S Competency To Take The Oath: Effects Of Task, Maltreatment, And Age., Thomas D. Lyon, Nathalie Carrick, Jodi A. Quas

Thomas D. Lyon

This study examined maltreated and non-maltreated children’s (N = 183) emerging understanding of ‘‘truth’’ and ‘‘lie,’’ terms about which they are quizzed to qualify as competent to testify. Four- to six-year-old children were asked to accept or reject true and false (T/F) statements, label T/F statements as the ‘‘truth’’ or ‘‘a lie,’’ label T/F statements as ‘‘good’’ or ‘‘bad,’’ and label ‘‘truth’’ and ‘‘lie’’ as ‘‘good’’ or ‘‘bad.’’ The youngest children were at ceiling in accepting/rejecting T/F statements. The labeling tasks revealed improvement with age and children performed similarly across the tasks. Most children were better able to evaluate ‘‘truth’’ …

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Adequate (Non)Provocation And Heat Of Passion As Excuse Not Justification, Reid Griffith Fontaine, Jd, Phd Dec 2008

Adequate (Non)Provocation And Heat Of Passion As Excuse Not Justification, Reid Griffith Fontaine, Jd, Phd

Reid G. Fontaine

For a number of reasons, including the complicated psychological nature of reactive homicide, the heat of passion defense has remained subject to various points of confusion. One persistent issue of disagreement has been whether the defense is a partial justification or excuse. In this Article, I highlight and categorize a series of varied American homicide cases in which the applicability of heat of passion was supported although adequate provocation (or significant provocation by the victim) was absent. The cases are organized to illustrate that even in circumstances in which there is no actual provocation, or the provocation is not sourced …

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