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Full-Text Articles in Other Psychology

Bargaining In The Shadow Of The Truth: How Client Assertion, Perception Of Guilt, And Predictive Inaccuracy Influence Plea Recommendations, Anna D. Vaynman Sep 2023

Bargaining In The Shadow Of The Truth: How Client Assertion, Perception Of Guilt, And Predictive Inaccuracy Influence Plea Recommendations, Anna D. Vaynman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Over the past few decades, the largely hidden, secretive, and widely used system of plea bargaining has caught the fervent attention of scholars. The Shadow of the Trial model has been central to much of the plea-bargaining literature, despite significant critiques about its oversimplification. The model posits that defendants and their attorneys make plea decisions based largely on the estimated probability of conviction and the severity of the sentence to which the defendant could be exposed at trial.

The model, however, assumes that all actors are rational, equally risk averse, have no competing interests, and possess high predictive accuracy. It …


Thematic Consistency Between Criminal History And Crime Scene Behaviors: Comparing Sexual Homicide Offenders With And Without Criminal Histories Of Sexual Offenses, Shannon E. Ettinger Dec 2022

Thematic Consistency Between Criminal History And Crime Scene Behaviors: Comparing Sexual Homicide Offenders With And Without Criminal Histories Of Sexual Offenses, Shannon E. Ettinger

Student Theses

Offender profiling research suggests that offenders may display behavioral consistency, meaning they may behave in some consistent manner between their crime scene actions and other aspects of their lives. Through behavioral themes, researchers can identify consistency in groups of individual behaviors that are thematically similar. Previous literature successfully applied the Expressive/Instrumental themes to homicide crime scene behaviors and criminal history. The current study aims to apply the Expressive/Instrumental thematic approach to analyzing the relationship between sexual homicide offender’s criminal history and their crime scene behaviors. The present study focuses on the distinction between sexual homicide offenders with a history of …


Exploring Criminal Thinking Patterns And Cognitions In High Risk Sexually And Non-Sexually Violent Offenders, Ruby L. Orth May 2022

Exploring Criminal Thinking Patterns And Cognitions In High Risk Sexually And Non-Sexually Violent Offenders, Ruby L. Orth

Student Theses

The current understanding of shared offense supporting attitudes between different offender types is limited. This study compares criminal thinking styles and rape supportive attitudes between high-risk offenders who have engaged in either sexual or violent behavior. A sample of 237 incarcerated male high risk sexually violent and non-sexually violent offenders participated in a study where they completed a series of self-report questionnaires including the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) (Walters, 1995) and Bumby’s (1996) MOLEST and RAPE scales. Significant differences in criminal thinking between offender types was hypothesized. Significant overlap of rape supporting cognitive distortions, regardless of offender …


Disinhibition And Persistent Maladaptive Behavior, Angela T. West Jun 2021

Disinhibition And Persistent Maladaptive Behavior, Angela T. West

Student Theses

Objective: There is an urgent need to reduce overpopulation in U.S. prisons, which are inundated with individuals needing substance use treatment. Research on both substance use and antisocial behaviors highlight maladaptive beliefs and behaviors, while also implicating disinhibition as an important factor. Disinhibition is a dynamic trait that can be targeted with therapeutic interventions. The current study explored the relationships between neurocognitive disinhibition, substance use, and recidivism among incarcerated men. The study hypothesized that disinhibition would be associated with history of substance use, history of antisocial behavior, and institutional misconduct, as well as predicting recidivism over and above history of …


Criterion Validity Of The Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification Method In A Criminal Justice Sample, Sarah M. Monaghan May 2021

Criterion Validity Of The Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification Method In A Criminal Justice Sample, Sarah M. Monaghan

Student Theses

The purpose of the current study was to determine the clinical utility of the Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification Method (OSU-TBI-ID) in a criminal justice sample, by evaluating the criterion-related validity of this instrument. It was hypothesized that this tool could differentiate between incarcerated individuals with or without a history of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) on measures evaluating important TBI-related sequalae. The sample consisted of 95 incarcerated men detained at a private correctional facility in a Mid-Atlantic state. Measures used in this study to evaluate executive functioning difficulties, psychiatric difficulties, substance use problems, institutional misconduct and recidivism were …


Wrongful Conviction Documentaries: Influences Of Crime Media Exposure On Mock Juror Decision-Making, Patricia Y. Sanchez Sep 2020

Wrongful Conviction Documentaries: Influences Of Crime Media Exposure On Mock Juror Decision-Making, Patricia Y. Sanchez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Psychology and law researchers have urged colleagues to collaborate with the makers of popular media, such as documentary filmmakers, in efforts to educate the general public about wrongful convictions (Kassin, 2017; Wells et al., 2000). Recently, programs depicting wrongful convictions, such as Making a Murderer (Demos & Ricciardi, 2015) and When They See Us (DuVernay, 2019) have garnered substantial viewership. Research on general and case-specific pretrial publicity (Daftary-Kapur et al., 2014; Kovera, 2002) and the effects of crime media (Baskin & Sommers, 2010; Schweitzer & Saks, 2007) demonstrate that although consuming crime-related media and being exposed to information about a …


The Criminalized Victim: Can Knowledge Of Trauma And Coercion Influence Free Will Doubt And Perception Of Culpability For Sex Trafficked Individuals?, Megan Korovich Jun 2020

The Criminalized Victim: Can Knowledge Of Trauma And Coercion Influence Free Will Doubt And Perception Of Culpability For Sex Trafficked Individuals?, Megan Korovich

Student Theses

Individuals who have been sex trafficked are continuously being targeted for prostitution and other related offenses instead of being recognized for their victimization. This may occur due to a fundamental lack of understanding of the sex-trafficked experience, allowing for misperceptions to form unhindered. Individuals with these misperceptions then go on to form laws and services intended to aid victims, but instead leave them vulnerable and criminalized. This study assessed whether an educational intervention on the experience of a sex-trafficked individual could influence public perceptions of free will doubt and criminal culpability. This study used a nonequivalent groups posttest-only design to …


The Romanticization Of Violent Male Offenders: How Trauma And Internalized Sexism Can Explain Women's Fascination With Serial Killers, Ella R. Johnson Jun 2020

The Romanticization Of Violent Male Offenders: How Trauma And Internalized Sexism Can Explain Women's Fascination With Serial Killers, Ella R. Johnson

Student Theses

Past research has noted that women are interested in true crime more than men (Vicary & Fraley, 2014), and that some women romanticize violent male offenders (Isenberg, 1991). This study investigated women’s fascination with serial killers compared to other offenders and the psychological correlates of women who are fascinated with serial killers. I hypothesized women’s fascination was unique to serial killers and may be related to safe and culturally acceptable ways of coping with interpersonal trauma. Results largely support these hypotheses, indicating women were more fascinated with serial killers compared to other offenders, and with PTSD, child abuse, intimacy attitudes, …


Substance Use, Neurocognitive Deficits, And Criminal Recidivism, Emily H. Kim May 2020

Substance Use, Neurocognitive Deficits, And Criminal Recidivism, Emily H. Kim

Student Theses

Many offenders demonstrate substance use and neurocognitive impairments. Substance use directly impacts executive functioning due to poor impulse control, leading to impaired decision- making. Substance use and neurocognitive deficits also contribute to recidivism. Incarcerated individuals with substance use disorder have higher rates of recidivism, and executive dysfunction has been shown to contribute to recidivism due to low behavioral inhibition skills and deficiency with cognitive flexibility. There is a discontinuity in literature, however, since many studies only investigate either substance use or neurocognitive deficits to predict recidivism. However, it is important to examine the interaction of these factors to predict future …


Linguistic Features Of False Confessions And Confessions Not In Dispute: A Corpus Analysis, Lucrezia Rizzelli Jun 2019

Linguistic Features Of False Confessions And Confessions Not In Dispute: A Corpus Analysis, Lucrezia Rizzelli

Student Theses

Confessions are considered the gold standard of evidence, and yet many cases of false confessions causing wrongful convictions have come to the surface in the past decades. Currently, a method to identify false confessions does not exist and studies focusing on the content of the confessions have found similarities rather than points of distinction. In this study, we approached confessions from a stylistic rather than qualitative point of view, utilizing corpus analysis to outline the linguistic features of two samples of confessions: false confessions (n=37) and confessions not in dispute (n=98). Subsequently, we created a model …


‘Affluent’ Justice: The Role Of Ses In Sentencing Severity, Sonia Pappachan Oct 2018

‘Affluent’ Justice: The Role Of Ses In Sentencing Severity, Sonia Pappachan

Student Theses

Imprisonment is the harshest punishment the law can give a defendant; it has considerable consequences on the incarcerated, during and after. Therefore, the sentencing phase of the criminal proceedings should be fair and balanced. However, the literature and researches that have explored the biases in sentencing found that there is a disparity in sentencing due to the characteristics of both the victim and the defendant. The current study used a sample of 209 online survey participants to explore the effect of the socioeconomic status of the victim and defendant on sentencing length. Participants reviewed a vignette of a criminal offense …


Violence In Prostitution, Serena Maszak May 2018

Violence In Prostitution, Serena Maszak

Student Theses

It is estimated that the majority of prostitutes are victims of violence, including rape and homicide. Some research has suggested that the clients of sex workers perpetrate most of these acts of violence. While several qualitative studies have examined specific incidents of violence, the prevalence and causes of violence in prostitution remain largely unaddressed by the existing literature. This study compares attitudes towards sexual violence and prostitution between men who have purchased sexual services and those who have not. Participants were 170 men recruited online, with 35 (20.6%) participants self-identifying as those who had previously purchased sex. Overall, a significant …


The Effects Of Media Exposure On Perceptions Of Residence Restrictions, Stephanie Simeone May 2018

The Effects Of Media Exposure On Perceptions Of Residence Restrictions, Stephanie Simeone

Student Theses

Public perceptions impact the formation of sex offender policy, yet much of what the public knows about sex crimes is based in stereotypical narratives provided by the media. The present study investigated the effects of media exposure on perceptions of sexual offending and the efficacy of residence restrictions. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three media exposure groups and then asked about their opinions about sexual offending and residence restrictions. Results indicated that participants who viewed sensationalized media reports were more likely than individuals who viewed informed media and no media to endorse more stereotypical views of individuals convicted …


Multiple Perpetrator Sexual Assault: The Relationship Between The Number Of Perpetrators, Blame Attribution, And Victim Resistance, Yi Jin Genevieve Lim Dec 2017

Multiple Perpetrator Sexual Assault: The Relationship Between The Number Of Perpetrators, Blame Attribution, And Victim Resistance, Yi Jin Genevieve Lim

Student Theses

Sexual assault has been and continues to be a prevalent public health and social problem that can lead to severe ramifications for the victim. There has been growing research on multiple perpetrator sexual assault (MPSA) and how it qualitatively differs from single assailant offenses. However, there is a paucity of studies investigating the differences between sexual assault perpetrated by duos versus three or more individuals and how it affects victim behavioral responses and blame attribution. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the perceived level of victim blame and the number of perpetrators in MPSA cases contingent on the …


911 Dispatchers: Their Role As Evidence Collectors, Brittany P. Kassis Dec 2017

911 Dispatchers: Their Role As Evidence Collectors, Brittany P. Kassis

Student Theses

911 dispatchers are often the first point of contact after an individual is in an accident, needs emergency assistance, or witnesses a crime. In an emergency involving a crime, a dispatcher can play an important role in assisting the investigative process and collecting evidence, such as an eyewitness’ description of the suspect. While trained in how to gather situational and locational information from a caller so that relevant first responders can be notified, dispatchers may not be trained on how the specific language they use with a caller can impact the caller’s memory for the event. Thus, if dispatchers are …


Criminal Responsibility: Meta-Analysis And Study Space, Lauren E. Kois Sep 2017

Criminal Responsibility: Meta-Analysis And Study Space, Lauren E. Kois

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Criminal responsibility (CR; i.e., sanity) has garnered significant research attention over the years. While some variables predicting insanity outcomes are consistent, others are not. Study-level characteristics, such as sample selection, variability in the operational definition of insanity, or other unknown influences may explain discrepant findings. It is critical to consolidate these variables and systematically assess differences in methodology to understand the state of the literature and to guide future research. As such, I conducted the first meta-analysis and study space analysis (see Malpass et al., 2008) in this area. Only 16 studies met inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. Summary effects …


Victim-Offender Relationships In Sexual Assault And Subsequent Disclosure And Reporting Styles, Amy R. Ramapuram May 2017

Victim-Offender Relationships In Sexual Assault And Subsequent Disclosure And Reporting Styles, Amy R. Ramapuram

Student Theses

There is a discrepancy between the number of perpetrated sexual assaults and the number of reported sexual assaults. Past research has shown that one factor that could contribute to this discrepancy in reporting and disclosure of sexual assaults is the victim-offender relationship. Furthermore, there is evidence that victims of sexual assault minimize when describing their offense and their offender, which could further impact reporting and disclosure. The current study seeks to look into whether the victim-offender relationship influences the disclosure, reporting, and use of minimization, in reference to sexual assault. The victim-offender relationships that were analyzed were “stranger”, “friend/acquaintance”, “partner”, …


An Exploration Of Youth Experiences In Chatrooms, Emily A. Greene-Colozzi May 2017

An Exploration Of Youth Experiences In Chatrooms, Emily A. Greene-Colozzi

Student Theses

Internet predation of minors has increasingly become a focus of child abuse research and legislation. Concerns have arisen regarding “online grooming,” the ongoing process during which an adult offender prepares a child for sexual abuse by gaining emotional access to the child through an intimate online relationship. The present study provided one of the first comprehensive examinations of a victim's perspective of online grooming. Participants were 374 male and female college students at a public undergraduate institution who completed an online survey covering demographics, lifestyle factors, and experiences online of sexual solicitation or online grooming. Results showed that approximately 30% …