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Full-Text Articles in Law and Psychology

Police And Gangs: Undergraduates’ Perceptions Of The Similarities And Differences, Seroyah Williams May 2016

Police And Gangs: Undergraduates’ Perceptions Of The Similarities And Differences, Seroyah Williams

Honors College Theses

Police have been said to be the largest gang in America with badges. With recent events occurring throughout the United States, including police shootings of unarmed citizens, some may say that the police have shown various characteristics similar to those of gangs. Does the public also view officers, in general, in the same perspective? Surveys were administered to a large class of Georgia Southern University students to acquire their perceptions of both the police and gangs. Each student listed characteristics of the police and gangs, their opinion, and different ways those perceptions have been formed. The data collected revealed more …


Holding Canada Accountable: An Evaluation Of Canada's Compliance To The United Nations Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples, Jackson A. Smith Jan 2016

Holding Canada Accountable: An Evaluation Of Canada's Compliance To The United Nations Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples, Jackson A. Smith

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Compliance of human rights norms requires the application of pressure from a multitude of directions and levels. It takes individual advocacy, micro-system/organizational/community-level pressure, and macro-level pressure from other nation-states and international organizations and governance bodies. This MA study focuses on the mechanisms employed by the United Nations to monitor the compliance of signatory nation-states to the standards established in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), with particular focus on Canada. A crucial goal of this study is to translate the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNSRRIP), James Anaya’s, findings on the …


The Effect Of Victim Religion On Juror Perceptions Of Hate Crimes, Casey Magyarics Jan 2016

The Effect Of Victim Religion On Juror Perceptions Of Hate Crimes, Casey Magyarics

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

The present study investigated mock juror perceptions of hate crimes in the courtroom, specifically whether a victim’s religion (Atheist, Christian, Jewish, or Muslim) influenced the likelihood that a mock juror would render a hate crime verdict. I employed a mock juror methodology where participants read an assault trial summary, rendered a verdict, and answered a series of rating questions about the victim and defendant. Two theoretical explanations were proposed to explain the main effect of victim religion on participant verdict decisions; that participants would be most likely to render a guilty verdict when the victim is considered an in-group member …


The Influence Of Emotion On Memory For A Crime, Taylor Langley Jan 2016

The Influence Of Emotion On Memory For A Crime, Taylor Langley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have reported errors in recall or recognition of witnessed events, accounting for the most common cause of false convictions of innocent people. Tiwari (2010) indicated that 25% of suspects who were identified in a line-up were actually innocent. Jurors are strongly influenced by eyewitness testimony and this can lead to false convictions. The validity of eyewitness identification is critical in cases in which it is used as evidence. In the current study we examined specific emotion states by inducing fear, surprise, and neutral moods. We hypothesized that participants in the Fear group would be least susceptible to the effects …


Predicting Parole: Revolutionizing Risk/Needs Assessment In Louisiana, Chelsea Andre May 2015

Predicting Parole: Revolutionizing Risk/Needs Assessment In Louisiana, Chelsea Andre

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Perceptions Of Search Consent Voluntariness As A Function Of Race, Rebecca M. Gold Jan 2015

Perceptions Of Search Consent Voluntariness As A Function Of Race, Rebecca M. Gold

Scripps Senior Theses

The United States Constitution provides its citizens protection from unreasonable searches and seizures from government officials, including police officers, through the Fourth Amendment. This Amendment applies to searches that violate a reasonable expectation of privacy. However, the Fourth Amendment does not protect citizens when they consent to a search voluntarily. It is necessary to determine whether or not a search is voluntary by looking at a variety of factors. Although an infinite number of factors can be considered to make this determination, race of both the police officer and of the person being searched should be considered, due to societal …


The Effects Of Expert Testimony In Sexual Assault Trials, Lillybelle K. Deer Jan 2015

The Effects Of Expert Testimony In Sexual Assault Trials, Lillybelle K. Deer

CMC Senior Theses

Recently, expert testimony in sexual assault trials shifted from an emphasis on Rape Trauma Syndrome (RTS) to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and experts have tied these diagnoses either loosely or tightly to the victim’s condition following sexual assault. In the current study, 326 jury-eligible adults completed a survey on Amazon Mechanical Turk in which they read a synopsis of a sexual assault trial and an expert testimony with either RTS, PTSD or neither; along with either no, loose, or tight links made between the diagnosis and the victim’s condition. There was no main effect of diagnosis label but testimony linkage …


Psychopathy And Sentencing: An Investigative Look Into When The Pcl-R Is Admitted Into Canadian Courtrooms And How A Pcl-R Score Affects Sentencing Outcome, Katie Davey Apr 2013

Psychopathy And Sentencing: An Investigative Look Into When The Pcl-R Is Admitted Into Canadian Courtrooms And How A Pcl-R Score Affects Sentencing Outcome, Katie Davey

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Little is known about how and when the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) is being introduced into Canadian Courts or how it affects sentencing outcomes. Using the Lexis-Nexis Quicklaw Academic Database to retrieve judge’s sentencing decisions, all 274 cases with PCL-R information for Canadian courts were included in this study. It was hypothesized correctly that PCL-R information would most often be introduced in Long Term Offender (LTO) and Dangerous Offender (DO) applications as well as sentencing cases for murderers and sex offenders. The 274 cases were then reduced to 37 cases in order to focus on sentencing without Dangerous Offender or …


The Cultural Complex Of Innocence: An Examination Of Media And Social Construction Of Missing White Woman Syndrome, Sarah Land Stein Aug 2012

The Cultural Complex Of Innocence: An Examination Of Media And Social Construction Of Missing White Woman Syndrome, Sarah Land Stein

Dissertations

This study examined the etiology and promulgation of the sociological phenomenon known as missing white woman syndrome. It was hypothesized that missing white woman syndrome may not be entirely attributable to racial disparity as has been claimed in the past. Rather, citing the work of Dr. Carl Jung, the researcher believed that missing white woman syndrome may be partially explained by a concept known as a cultural complex. The cultural complex that was hypothesized for purposes of this study is one related to innocence: That is, as a western society, we have been culturally overexposed to the blonde, Caucasian female …


Jurors' Ability To Judge The Reliability Of Confessions And Denials: Effects Of Camera Perspective During Interrogation, Lindsey Nicole Sweeney Dec 2011

Jurors' Ability To Judge The Reliability Of Confessions And Denials: Effects Of Camera Perspective During Interrogation, Lindsey Nicole Sweeney

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research shows that some proportion of people interrogated confess, regardless of actual guilt. It has also been shown that the camera perspective from which an interrogation is videotaped influences later judgments of voluntariness and guilt, as well as sentencing recommendations. The present research extends the understanding of this phenomenon of false confessions and the camera perspective bias. Ecologically valid videotaped true/false confessions and denials were obtained in Experiment 1. The proportions of guilt participants and participants that confessed to cheating were found to be smaller in Experiment 1 than those in previous research. Participants in Experiment 2 viewed the …


Juvenile Competence To Stand Trial: An Examination Of The Effects Of Cognitive Ability, Psychiatric Symptomatology, And Psychosocial Maturity, Aaron John Kivisto Aug 2011

Juvenile Competence To Stand Trial: An Examination Of The Effects Of Cognitive Ability, Psychiatric Symptomatology, And Psychosocial Maturity, Aaron John Kivisto

Doctoral Dissertations

As the courts have evolved over the past 30 years towards increasingly punitive sanctions for youthful offenders, the fundamental protections afforded to adult defendants have become increasingly relevant for youthful offenders. Among these protections, the right of juveniles to be competent to stand trial has gained nearly universal recognition throughout this country’s courts. Congruent with theory and previous research, we hypothesized that age, intellectual ability, psychiatric symptomatology, and maturity would all be directly related to adolescents’ competence. It was also anticipated that adolescents in the detention sample would evidence lower maturity and competency-related abilities compared to the community sample. Expanding …


The Use Of The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Ii (Mmpi-2) In Pre-Employment Evaluations, Ana M. Gamez Sep 2010

The Use Of The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Ii (Mmpi-2) In Pre-Employment Evaluations, Ana M. Gamez

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Psychological testing is an important facet in the selection and hiring processes of law enforcement and public safety personnel. Research in this area suggests that the MMPI-2 scales have been correlated with problematic behavior among police officers, poor job performance, and officer misconduct. This study examined the extent to which suitability for hire could be predicted by the MMPI-2 scale L (Lie), scale K (correction), Infrequency scale (F), scale 4 Psychopathic Deviate (Pd), scale 6 Paranoia (Pa), scale 7 Psychasthenia (Pt), and scale 9 Hypomania (Ma). It examined whether profile differences emerged as a function of suitability across gender, between …


Child Custody Disputes: Bridging The Gap Between Psychologists And Family Court, Kate Pratsides Jan 2004

Child Custody Disputes: Bridging The Gap Between Psychologists And Family Court, Kate Pratsides

Theses : Honours

The number of divorce cases that come before judges and registrars within the Family Court system is steadily increasing, and so is the use of psychologists as expert witnesses. However, little is known about what the judges and registrars think of the psychologist's use of psychometric test results when writing their forensic report, this study attempts to answer that. This thesis is presented in two sections. The first is a literature review of guidelines that are available to psychologists when writing a forensic report. These guidelines include (1) broad guidelines provided by professional associations, such as the American Psychological Association; …


Predictors Of Jurors' Decisions And Post-Trial Perceptions Of Child Witness Credibility In A Child Sexual Assault Trial, Janet Murvin Gibson Jan 1998

Predictors Of Jurors' Decisions And Post-Trial Perceptions Of Child Witness Credibility In A Child Sexual Assault Trial, Janet Murvin Gibson

Masters Theses

The effect of judge’s instructions and jurors’ preconceptions about children’s credibility on juror decision making and post-trial perceptions of children’s credibility was investigated. Also, the relationship between jurors’ post-trial perceptions of children’s credibility and measure of guilt was explored. Jurors’ level of authoritarianism was utilized as a covariate and jurors’ comprehension of the judge’s instructions was considered as a possible mediating influence on their decision making. One hundred and twenty five undergraduate women enrolled in psychology classes at Eastern Illinois University viewed a videotaped simulation of a child sexual assault trial. Participants heard either standard instructions in which the judge …


Trust In Courtroom Participants: A Question Of Bias In Prospective Jurors, Robin Leslie Adrian Jan 1994

Trust In Courtroom Participants: A Question Of Bias In Prospective Jurors, Robin Leslie Adrian

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.


Implications Of Process Control And Decision Control In Victim Mediation And Restitution, F. L. Cefalo Jan 1994

Implications Of Process Control And Decision Control In Victim Mediation And Restitution, F. L. Cefalo

Theses : Honours

This study examines the perceptions of victims and non-victims towards legal procedures which provide a hypothetical victim of property crime varying opportunities to actively participate in the justice process. Some of the variations of victim participation in the procedures examined are comparable to opportunities for victim participation in the procedure victim offender mediation. Other variations represent court procedures In which participation in the justice process by victims of crime is not required. In an experimental scenario study, the first part of this study examines perceptions of fairness of different variations of victim participation in the justice process. The second part …


Eyewitness Suggestibility Across Presentation Modalities, David Van Norman Jan 1992

Eyewitness Suggestibility Across Presentation Modalities, David Van Norman

Theses Digitization Project

Misleading post-event information--Cognitive processing differences.


Sentencing: A Study Of The Effects Of Presentence Report Recommendations Upon The Sentencing Practices Of Judges In Multnomah County, Oregon, John George Gardin Ii Oct 1975

Sentencing: A Study Of The Effects Of Presentence Report Recommendations Upon The Sentencing Practices Of Judges In Multnomah County, Oregon, John George Gardin Ii

Dissertations and Theses

The process of judicial decision-making is not well understood. This paper has tried to shed some light on that process by examining the impact of presentence report recommendations upon the sentences handed down by the judges of a circuit court. Very little empirical work has been done on this problem, even though the presentence report recommendation is generally regarded by those in the judicial system as extremely important to the sentencing process.