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Full-Text Articles in Law

Psychological Mechanisms Underlying Support For Juvenile Sex Offender Registry Laws: Prototypes, Moral Outrage, And Perceived Threat, Margaret C. Stevenson, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Jessica M. Salerno, Tisha R.A. Wiley, Bette L. Bottoms, Katlyn S. Farum Nov 2014

Psychological Mechanisms Underlying Support For Juvenile Sex Offender Registry Laws: Prototypes, Moral Outrage, And Perceived Threat, Margaret C. Stevenson, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Jessica M. Salerno, Tisha R.A. Wiley, Bette L. Bottoms, Katlyn S. Farum

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

We investigated whether and how a juvenile’s history of experiencing sexual abuse affects public perceptions of juvenile sex offenders in a series of 5 studies. When asked about juvenile sex offenders in an abstract manner (Studies 1 and 2), the more participants (community members and undergraduates) believed that a history of being sexually abused as a child causes later sexually abusive behavior, the less likely they were to support sex offender registration for juveniles. Yet when participants considered specific sexual offenses, a juvenile’s history of sexual abuse was not considered to be a mitigating factor. This was true when participants …


Effects Of Jurors’ Gender And Attitudes Toward Intellectual Disability On Judgments For Disabled Juvenile Defendants, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Bette L. Bottoms May 2014

Effects Of Jurors’ Gender And Attitudes Toward Intellectual Disability On Judgments For Disabled Juvenile Defendants, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Bette L. Bottoms

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Because many juvenile offenders are intellectually disabled and have their cases tried by jurors in adult criminal court, it is important to understand factors that influence jurors’ judgments in such cases. Using a mock trial methodology, we explored the relations among jurors’ gender, attitudes toward intellectual disability, and judgments in a criminal case involving an intellectually disabled 15-year-old girl accused of murder. Men mock jurors’ judgments were not influenced by their preexisting biases, but women's were: the more women favored special treatment for disabled offenders, the less likely they were to suspect the disabled juvenile was guilty and the less …


Applying Sex Offender Registry Laws To Juvenile Offenders: Biases Against Adolescents From Stigmatized Groups, Jessica M. Salerno, Margaret Stevenson, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Tisha R.A. Wiley, Bette L. Bottoms, Liana Peter-Hagene Apr 2014

Applying Sex Offender Registry Laws To Juvenile Offenders: Biases Against Adolescents From Stigmatized Groups, Jessica M. Salerno, Margaret Stevenson, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Tisha R.A. Wiley, Bette L. Bottoms, Liana Peter-Hagene

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

The need to protect children from dangerous sex offenders has led to policies that require juvenile sex offenders to register on public online registries. It is important to determine the implications of these laws for the wellbeing of child victims and also for juvenile offenders on these registries. Is the application of these laws—designed for adult offenders—to juveniles appropriate, necessary, and supported by public sentiment? The chapter reviews current sex offender registration policies and psychological research addressing whether the assumptions underlying these laws are supported by research, public sentiment toward these laws, factors that might drive biases against stigmatized youth …


Talking Rights, Talking Politics : The Development Of Abortion Policy In New York And New Jersey, 1970-2010, Jonathan Parent Jan 2014

Talking Rights, Talking Politics : The Development Of Abortion Policy In New York And New Jersey, 1970-2010, Jonathan Parent

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Policy can be made by all three branches of government, and the institutional location of change will have an impact on the shape of policy outputs. This dissertation examines the question of what factors will make courts more or less likely to undertake and continue policymaking in a given issue area. In particular, the study presented here considers the development of abortion policy in New York and New Jersey over a forty-year period beginning in 1970. Using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, this work proposes a theoretical framework whereby issue framing, coupled with institutional first movement, will greatly influence …


Receptivity Of Capital Jurors To Mitigating Factors Of Mental Illness, Intellectual Disability, And Situational Impairments In Death Penalty Decisions : The Capital Trial Analyzed As A Mitigating "Weight And Counterweight" To Premature Decisions And Pro-Death Bias, Leona Deborah Jochnowitz Jan 2014

Receptivity Of Capital Jurors To Mitigating Factors Of Mental Illness, Intellectual Disability, And Situational Impairments In Death Penalty Decisions : The Capital Trial Analyzed As A Mitigating "Weight And Counterweight" To Premature Decisions And Pro-Death Bias, Leona Deborah Jochnowitz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This research presents aspects of juror receptivity to mitigating factors of mental, cognitive/intellectual and situational impairments in capital sentencing decisions. The study examined types of mental factors, as well as the gender of defendants, the aggravating nature of the crime and victim vulnerability. An exploratory cross-tabulation analysis evaluated the percentages and relationships between juror closed-ended CJP survey responses to mental sentencing factors and mental evidence presented at trial for 38 cases. While the sample size was too small in some cells for significance testing, the percentages demonstrated patterns. A detailed qualitative analysis of 12 cases with strong evidence of mental …


Marriage And Family Law : Court Centered Legal Development, 1942-2012, Natalie Priya Johnson Jan 2014

Marriage And Family Law : Court Centered Legal Development, 1942-2012, Natalie Priya Johnson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The goal of this dissertation was to explore the internal problem solving nature of state courts and thus produce a narrative about court-created legal development. By examining four policy areas related to marriage: divorce/annulment, alimony, adoption/custody and loss of consortium, I show the courts turn to performance as a way to adjudicate questions from individuals and couples operating at the margins of marriage, couples who do not live to the marriage ideal or more broadly the breakdown in the marriage ideal. Through an analysis of four unique policy areas I offer conclusions in this dissertation as to why performance matters …


African American Families' Expectations And Intentions For Mental Health Services, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Richard Thompson, Barbara L. Dancy, Tisha R. A. Wiley, Sylvia P. Perry, Jason Wallis, Yara Mekawi, Kathleen Knafl Jan 2014

African American Families' Expectations And Intentions For Mental Health Services, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Richard Thompson, Barbara L. Dancy, Tisha R. A. Wiley, Sylvia P. Perry, Jason Wallis, Yara Mekawi, Kathleen Knafl

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

A cross-sectional qualitative descriptive design was used to examine the links among expectations about, experiences with, and intentions toward mental health services. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 32 African American youth/mothers dyads. Content analysis revealed that positive expectations were linked to positive experiences and intentions, that negative expectations were not consistently linked to negative experiences or intentions, nor were ambivalent expectations linked to ambivalent experiences or intentions. Youth were concerned about privacy breeches and mothers about the harmfulness of psychotropic medication. Addressing these concerns may promote African Americans’ engagement in mental health services.