Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Psychology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 10 of 10

Full-Text Articles in Psychology

The Characteristics And Effectiveness Of Treatment For Young Sex Offenders In Australia And New Zealand: A Systematic Review, James Finney Jan 2021

The Characteristics And Effectiveness Of Treatment For Young Sex Offenders In Australia And New Zealand: A Systematic Review, James Finney

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Sexual offending by young people presents a serious and devastating issue effecting victims, families, and wider society. This has led investigative efforts to understand the efficacy of treatment programs to cease or at minimum reduce sexual recidivism. Evaluations examining treatment efficacy have predominately been conducted in the United States and Canada, with limited research focused exclusively on young sex offenders in Australia and New Zealand. To address the paucity of information, a systematic review of young sex offender treatment research in Australia and New Zealand was conducted. The systematic review employed a comprehensive search strategy and rigorous vetting procedure, which …


Do Sequential Lineups Impair Underlying Discriminability?, Matthew Kaesler, John C. Dunn, Keith Ransom, Carolyn Semmler Dec 2020

Do Sequential Lineups Impair Underlying Discriminability?, Matthew Kaesler, John C. Dunn, Keith Ransom, Carolyn Semmler

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020, The Author(s). Debate regarding the best way to test and measure eyewitness memory has dominated the eyewitness literature for more than 30 years. We argue that resolution of this debate requires the development and application of appropriate measurement models. In this study we developed models of simultaneous and sequential lineup presentations and used these to compare these procedures in terms of underlying discriminability and response bias, thereby testing a key prediction of diagnostic feature detection theory, that underlying discriminability should be greater for simultaneous than for stopping-rule sequential lineups. We fit the models to the corpus of studies …


Apology Effectiveness: The Impact Of Prior Wrongful Behaviour And Voluntariness Of Apologies Within Juvenile Justice, Isolde Larkins Jan 2018

Apology Effectiveness: The Impact Of Prior Wrongful Behaviour And Voluntariness Of Apologies Within Juvenile Justice, Isolde Larkins

Theses : Honours

The justice system diverts young offenders away from further contact through restorative justice processes. Juvenile justice conferencing allows for the goals of restorative justice to be met, including meeting the needs of victims and offenders. Apologies, when offered by offenders to victims within a conferencing setting, can assist with meeting these restorative goals. Apologies, however, need to be effective to have the desired outcome. Several variables influence the effectiveness of apologies, including the perceived voluntariness of apologies, with prompted apologies reducing apology effectiveness. The reduced effectiveness of prompted apologies might be an issue during conferencing as some offenders are prompted …


The Connection Between Drug Use And Crime In Western Australia, Kathryn Riordan Jan 2017

The Connection Between Drug Use And Crime In Western Australia, Kathryn Riordan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite decades of research, there is no consensus as to the factors that explain the association between drug use and criminal behaviour. While the evolving sophistication in research methodology has identified factors that are associated with involvement in both drug use and crime, exploration of the idiosyncratic factors that contribute to initiation, maintenance and desistence in drug use and criminal behaviour over time, across culture and social context remains unknown. In this research a grounded theory approach was used to develop an explanatory model based on the reported experiences of 22 non-Aboriginal and 11 Aboriginal adult male offenders, incarcerated in …


Aboriginal Perspectives About Child Sexual Abuse: Informing The Cultural Dimension In Sex Offending Theories For Use With Aboriginal Offenders, Victoria Elizabeth Hovane Jan 2015

Aboriginal Perspectives About Child Sexual Abuse: Informing The Cultural Dimension In Sex Offending Theories For Use With Aboriginal Offenders, Victoria Elizabeth Hovane

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Child sexual abuse (CSA) and its consequences constitute a serious social issue in Aboriginal and other communities throughout the world. As a result, a number of influential psychological theories about sexual offending have been developed. These theories suggest that the early socialisation and developmental experiences of offenders are implicated in the onset, development and maintenance of sexual offending behaviour. While these theories suggest that culture is important for understanding such behaviour, their specific role has largely been ignored in the literature. Given the paucity of research in this area the aim of this study was to understand the perspectives of …


Secondary Victims' Perceptions Of Justice : Implications For Forensic Psychology, Benjamin Bannister Jan 2013

Secondary Victims' Perceptions Of Justice : Implications For Forensic Psychology, Benjamin Bannister

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

An emerging area of study has begun to look at the perceptions of justice of the family and friends of crime victims – or, secondary victims. It is important to improve understanding of secondary victims’ experiences of justice, partly because knowledge about how they perceive justice may help forensic psychologists assist them more effectively. This research attempted to assess how well existing justice theories could account for secondary victims’ perceptions of justice, and also help determine what is important to them. Using the largely ignored group of secondary victims of non-sexual violent crime, the research consisted of two interrelated stages. …


The Impact Of Crime Outcomes On Public Opinions On Sentencing: In Particular Regards To Recent "One Punch" Legislation, Teneke Kuek Jan 2010

The Impact Of Crime Outcomes On Public Opinions On Sentencing: In Particular Regards To Recent "One Punch" Legislation, Teneke Kuek

Theses : Honours

Australia has recently experienced a punitive swing in sentencing policies and legislation. Consequently, politicians have responded favourably to popular demands for harsher sentencing. A comprehensive review of the current literature has been undertaken to understand why the community has adopted such a punitive position. It has been suggested that the media have hypersensitised the public into believing that crime is much more prevalent than it actually is, resulting in the individual fearing becoming a victim of crime. The public then chooses to elect politicians who appear to be concerned with their safety and the associated legislation. Expectancy/value theory contends that …


Public Opinion On The Sentencing Of Mentally Ill Female Offenders; Factors That Influence People's Perceptions Of Appropriate Punishments And The Impact Of Personal Experience On Sentencing Judgements, Claire Adams Jan 2010

Public Opinion On The Sentencing Of Mentally Ill Female Offenders; Factors That Influence People's Perceptions Of Appropriate Punishments And The Impact Of Personal Experience On Sentencing Judgements, Claire Adams

Theses : Honours

The aim of the current study was to explore public opinion on mentally ill female offenders in Western Australia, and the influence of these views on sentencing decisions. This study aimed to determine whether the mental health of a female offender influenced how people view a crime and the punishment they consider most appropriate for an offender. In addition, it aimed to investigate whether knowing someone with a mental illness influences people's perception of a crime and the sentencing decisions favoured for a mentally ill female offender. The study involved a between-subjects design comprising 118 participants, who received one version …


Attributions Of Criminal Responsibility Of Children : An Exploratory Study Of The Role Of Wrongdoer Age, Victim Harm And Perceptions Of Intent And Consequence, James Mccue Jan 2003

Attributions Of Criminal Responsibility Of Children : An Exploratory Study Of The Role Of Wrongdoer Age, Victim Harm And Perceptions Of Intent And Consequence, James Mccue

Theses : Honours

Recent cases, such as that of James Bulger, have provided anecdotal evidence of children's capacities to commit illegal acts. Currently however, the public's attributions of children who engage in antisocial and criminal behaviour, and whether they should be held criminally responsible for their actions, has received little attention in terms of empirical research. The aim of the present study was to examine these attributions and establish whether they concur with the guidelines for criminal responsibility set down by the Western Australian criminal justice system. Two independent variables were manipulated using vignettes and included the age of the wrongdoer (7, 10 …


Principles In Public Reasoning About Criminal Justice : Victim Vulnerability, Trust, And Offender Status, Dianne R. Mckillop Jan 2001

Principles In Public Reasoning About Criminal Justice : Victim Vulnerability, Trust, And Offender Status, Dianne R. Mckillop

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

It is popularly assumed that the public is highly punitive toward criminal offenders and that its reasoning about criminal offences is emotionally and morally based. This assumption has been challenged by social scientists who cite influences of news media and methodological flaws in empirical studies as contributing causes. Public sentiment is a basis for law and the increasing responsiveness of legislator to what is perceived to be public opinion on crime means that accurate information on enduring principles in the public's intuitive reasoning about criminal justice is vital. An initial exploratory study (N = 34) presented members of the public …