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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Reading Between The Crimes: Online Media’S Representation Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People’S Interaction With The Criminal Justice System In Post-Apology Australia, Jonathan Cannon Jan 2018

Reading Between The Crimes: Online Media’S Representation Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People’S Interaction With The Criminal Justice System In Post-Apology Australia, Jonathan Cannon

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Australian research confirms that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience high levels of social inequality, racism and injustice. Evidence of discrimination and inequality is most obvious within the criminal justice system where they are seriously over-represented. The Australian news media plays a large part in reinforcing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inequality, stereotypes and racist ideology within specific situations such as the Northern Territory Emergency Response and the Redfern riots. This study widens the scope from how the media reports a single criminal justice event to how the media reports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s interaction with the …


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. …


Biases Toward Defendants In Joint Criminal Trials, Catherine J. Korda Jan 2001

Biases Toward Defendants In Joint Criminal Trials, Catherine J. Korda

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Under the Criminal Code Compilation Act 1913 (WA), any number of individuals may be joined as co-defendants in a single trial, fanning a situation known as a joint trial. The charge/s against each defendant are considered separately and given a separate verdict by the jury. There is considerable debate in the legal arena as to the utility of joint trials, although to date little empirical research exists to substantiate any of the claims made. The present study aimed to contribute to the sparse knowledge base on joint trials by examining the impact of evidence strength on juror decision making in …


Sentencing Decisions : The Public View Of The Effects Of Consequences Of Crime, Offender Remorse And Type Of Crime, Jodie S. Wright Jan 2001

Sentencing Decisions : The Public View Of The Effects Of Consequences Of Crime, Offender Remorse And Type Of Crime, Jodie S. Wright

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The Australian justice system is based in a conventional model of justice with the aim of uniformity in sentencing. It is important to ascertain public opinion on the relevance of different factors to be taken into account at sentencing as accurately as possible, in order to provide informed public opinion which may assist policy makers in making legislation or educating the public on these matters. The current study examined the impact of varying levels of victim harm (high or low) and offender remorse (high or low) for both person and property crimes on sentencing decisions made by both male (n …


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 …


Justice Or Differential Treatment? : Adult Offenders With An Intellectual Disability In The Criminal Justice System, Judith Cockram Jan 2000

Justice Or Differential Treatment? : Adult Offenders With An Intellectual Disability In The Criminal Justice System, Judith Cockram

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of the study was to present a thorough examination of the extent of participation of adult offenders with an intellectual disability within all levels of the criminal justice system in Western Australia, that is, from arrest to charge, to court appearance and finally to conviction. Western Australia provides a unique opportunity to examine the operations of the criminal justice system, because it possesses comprehensive computerised data sources on offenders, and by utilising the State central register on people with disabilities; it was possible to include in the study a significant proportion of those people with an intellectual disability …


The Defendant And The Criminal Trial : Does Providing Knowledge About The Criminal Justice System Help?, Daniel B. Hurley Jan 1999

The Defendant And The Criminal Trial : Does Providing Knowledge About The Criminal Justice System Help?, Daniel B. Hurley

Theses : Honours

Defendants are required to make many decisions during their encounter with the criminal justice system (i.e., plea, venue, representation, bail and, possibly, appeal). The assumption exists that defendants possess sufficient organizational and pragmatic knowledge of the system to make these decisions. However, research suggests that many defendants lack sufficient knowledge of the criminal justice system to make these decisions, and that this lack of knowledge may lead to feelings of anxiety. As a consequence of these findings, many defendants may be unable to effectively participate in the criminal justice system. By way of remedying this situation, it has been argued …


Effects Of Joint Trials On The Proportion Of Guilty Verdicts Assigned To Defendants, Stacy Lyn Gall Jan 1999

Effects Of Joint Trials On The Proportion Of Guilty Verdicts Assigned To Defendants, Stacy Lyn Gall

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

When two or more people are alleged to have committed a crime together they are automatically tried together in a joint trial. Defendants can apply to have a joint trial severed into separate trials, but they are rarely granted. However, joint trials might be biasing against defendants in that they might have a greater likelihood of obtaining aguilty verdict than if they had separate trials. A review of the literature indicated that authors have several hypotheses why joint trials might be biasing, though there is no conclusive evidence that this is the case. This study used a mock juror paradigm …