Showing papers in "Law and Human Behavior in 2006"
TL;DR: Police trainees either were or were not trained in strategically using the evidence when interviewing lying or truth telling mock suspects, and the trainees’ strategies as well as liars’ and truth tellers’ counter-strategies were analyzed.
Abstract: Research on deception detection in legal contexts has neglected the question of how the use of evidence can affect deception detection accuracy. In this study, police trainees (N=82) either were or were not trained in strategically using the evidence when interviewing lying or truth telling mock suspects (N=82). The trainees' strategies as well as liars' and truth tellers' counter-strategies were analyzed. Trained interviewers applied different strategies than did untrained. As a consequence of this, liars interviewed by trained interviewers were more inconsistent with the evidence compared to liars interviewed by untrained interviewers. Trained interviewers created and utilized the statement-evidence consistency cue, and obtained a considerably higher deception detection accuracy rate (85.4%) than untrained interviewers (56.1%).
252 citations
TL;DR: Multivariate models support the prediction that mental health courts reduce the number of new arrests and the severity of such re-arrests among mentally ill offenders.
Abstract: Mental health courts have been proliferating across the country since their estab- lishment in the late 1990's. Although numerous advocates have proclaimed their merit, only few empirical studies have evaluated their outcomes. This paper evaluates the effect of one mental health court on criminal justice outcomes by examining arrests and offense severity from one year before to one year after entry into the court, and by comparing mental health court participants to comparable traditional criminal court defendants on these measures. Multivariate models support the prediction that mental health courts reduce the number of new arrests and the severity of such re-arrests among mentally ill offenders. Similar analysis of mental health court completers and non-completers supports the prediction that a "full dose" of mental health treatment and court monitoring produce even fewer re-arrests.
233 citations
TL;DR: Analysis of gruesome and verbal evidence in a 2 × 3 study revealed that mock juror anger toward the defendant mediated the influence of the gruesome photographs in enhancing the weight of inculpatory evidence.
Abstract: Judges assume that gruesome evidence can influence juror verdicts, but little is known about the manner in which the influence is manifested. In a 2 × 3 study that varied the gruesome content of photographic and verbal evidence, gruesome verbal evidence did not influence mock juror emotional states, and had no impact on the conviction rate. Mock jurors who saw gruesome photographs, compared with those who saw no photographs, reported experiencing significantly more intense emotional responses, including greater anger at the defendant. The conviction rate when visual evidence in the form of gruesome or neutral photographs was included was significantly higher than the conviction rate without photographic evidence. Mean ratings of the inculpatory weight of prosecution evidence by mock jurors presented with gruesome photographs were significantly higher than those by mock jurors who did not view any photographs. Further analyses revealed that mock juror anger toward the defendant mediated the influence of the gruesome photographs in enhancing the weight of inculpatory evidence.
157 citations
TL;DR: Most courts (92%) reported using jail as a sanction for noncompliance, if only rarely, and jail sanction use was significantly predicted by increased judicial supervision and number of felons in the court.
Abstract: Mental health courts (MHCs) represent an important new development at the interface of the criminal justice and mental health systems. MHCs are criminal courts for persons with mental illness that were in part created to divert this population from jail/prison into community treatment. MHCs are proliferating rapidly despite limited knowledge regarding their characteristics or their efficacy. We surveyed the entire population of adult MHCs in the United States, n = 90. In the past 8 years, MHCs have been created in 34 states, with an aggregate current caseload of 7,560 clients in MHCs nationally. Most courts (92%) reported using jail as a sanction for noncompliance, if only rarely. Further, jail sanction use was significantly predicted by increased judicial supervision and number of felons in the court. Implications for MHCs and social monitoring are discussed.
135 citations
TL;DR: Research on the effects of emotions and moods on judgments of legal responsibility and blame is reviewed and a model is proposed that incorporates these effects and distinguishes among various affective influences.
Abstract: Research on the effects of emotions and moods on judgments of legal responsibility and blame is reviewed. Emotions and moods may influence decision makers in 3 ways: by affecting their information processing strategies, by inclining their judgments in the direction of the valence of the emotion or mood, and/or by providing informational cues to the proper decision. A model is proposed that incorporates these effects and further distinguishes among various affective influences in terms of whether the affect is provoked by a source integral or incidental to the judgment task, and whether it affects judgment directly (e.g., by providing an informational cue to judgment) or indirectly (e.g., by affecting construal of judgment target features, which in turn affects the judgment). Legal decision makers' abilities to correct for any affective influences they perceive to be undesirable and normative implications for legal theory and practice are briefly discussed.
134 citations
TL;DR: The first empirical test of the Behaviour Analysis Interview showed that, compared to liars, truth-tellers were more naive and evasive when explaining the purpose of the interview, and were less likely to name someone who they felt certain did not commit the crime.
Abstract: The present experiment is the first empirical test of the Behaviour Analysis Interview (BAI), an interview technique developed by F. E. Inbau, J. E. Reid, J. P. Buckley, & B. C. Jayne (2001) designed to evoke different verbal and non-verbal responses from liars and truth-tellers. Inbau et al. expect liars to be less helpful than truth-tellers in investigations and to exhibit more nervous behaviours. Just the opposite predictions, however, follow from the deception literature, which notes that liars take their credibility less for granted and are therefore more aware of their responses and their impact on others. This suggests that liars' answers should be more helpful than truth-tellers' answers, and liars' non-verbal responses should appear more relaxed than truth-tellers' non-verbal responses. In the present experiment, 40 participants (undergraduate students) lied or told the truth about an event during a BAI interview. The interviews were coded according to Inbau et al.'s guidelines. The results showed that, compared to liars, truth-tellers (a) were more naive and evasive when explaining the purpose of the interview, and (b) were less likely to name someone who they felt certain did not commit the crime. Truth-tellers also exhibited more nervous behaviours. The results were consistent with the predictions of the deception literature, and directly opposed to the predictions of BAI.
125 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that adopting a criminologically informed framework that takes into account within-person changes over time will contribute greatly to the authors' understanding of the factors that affect violence among people with mental disorder living in the community, and enhance the capacity of research to support effective evidenced-based case management programs aimed at reducing violence.
Abstract: This paper offers a criminologically informed framework to guide research on the relationship between mental disorder and violence. Criminological theories examined include social learning, social stress, social control, rational choice, and social disorganization. In addition, the “criminal careers” and “local life circumstance” methodologies are reviewed. It is argued that adopting a criminologically informed framework that takes into account within-person changes over time will contribute greatly to our understanding of the factors that affect violence among people with mental disorder living in the community, and enhance the capacity of research to support effective evidenced-based case management programs aimed at reducing violence.
122 citations
TL;DR: Inadmissible evidence has a reliable effect on verdicts consistent with the content of the IE, and if judges provide a rationale for a ruling of inadmissibility, juror compliance may be increased.
Abstract: The effect on juror verdicts of judicial instructions to disregard inadmissible evidence was evaluated using meta-analysis One hundred seventy-five hypothesis tests from 48 studies with a combined 8,474 participants were examined Results revealed that inadmissible evidence (IE) has a reliable effect on verdicts consistent with the content of the IE Judicial instruction to ignore the inadmissible evidence does not effectively eliminate IE impact However, if judges provide a rationale for a ruling of inadmissibility, juror compliance may be increased Contested evidence ruled admissible accentuates that information, resulting in a significant impact on verdicts Suggestions for how the courts may mitigate the impact of inadmissible evidence more effectively are discussed
118 citations
TL;DR: Self-report data, correctional officer and counselor reports, and disciplinary report information obtained for 98 male inmates provided partial evidence that psychopathic individuals tend to respond aggressively when confronted with an ego threat and exhibited this pattern of aggression more strongly than did narcissistic individuals.
Abstract: The primary purpose of this study was to examine psychopathy within a model of aggressive behavior that encompasses narcissism and “threatened egoism.” This model was advanced by Baumeister and his colleagues (e.g., R. F. Baumeister, L. Smart, & J. M. Boden, 1996; B. J. Bushman & R. F. Baumeister, 1998). We examined whether the threatened egotism model extends to the construct of psychopathy and whether the two factors underlying psychopathy exhibit different associations with aggression within this model. Self-report data, correctional officer and counselor reports, and disciplinary report information obtained for 98 male inmates provided partial evidence that psychopathic individuals tend to respond aggressively when confronted with an ego threat. Moreover, psychopathic individuals exhibited this pattern of aggression more strongly than did narcissistic individuals. These findings bear potentially useful implications for the understanding and treatment of aggression in forensic populations.
117 citations
TL;DR: Effective correctional treatment should be considered as one of the approaches in the management and rehabilitation of incarcerated gang members.
Abstract: Gang violence creates serious safety and security concerns in the community and prisons. Treated gang and nongang members recidivated significantly less in a 24-month follow-up than their untreated matched controls. Treatment consisted of high intensity cognitive-behavioral programs that follow the risk, need, and responsivity principles (Andrews & Bonta, 2003). The treated gang members who recidivated violently after treatment received significantly shorter sentences (i.e. they committed less serious offences) than their untreated matched controls. Untreated gang members had significantly higher rates of major (but not minor) institutional offences than the other three groups. Correctional treatment that follows the risk, need and responsivity principles appears able to reduce recidivism and major institutional misconduct. Effective correctional treatment should be considered as one of the approaches in the management and rehabilitation of incarcerated gang members.
113 citations
TL;DR: The notion that reason and emotion are cleanly separable, and that law rightly privileges and admits only of the former, is deeply engrained in the notion of "reason and emotion".
Abstract: Scholars from diverse fields have begun to study the intersection of emotion and law. The notion that reason and emotion are cleanly separable—and that law rightly privileges and admits only of the former—is deeply engrained. Law and emotion scholarship proceeds instead from the belief that the legal relevance of emotion is both significant and deserving of (and amenable to) close scrutiny. It is organized around six approaches, each of which is defined and discussed: emotion-centered, emotional phenomenon, emotion theory, legal doctrine, theory of law; and legal actor.
TL;DR: The effect size was more than twice as large for ‘transference’ studies involving mugshot exposure in proximate temporal context with the target than for “bystander” studies with no subsequent mugshots exposure.
Abstract: More than 25 years of research has accumulated concerning the possible biasing effects of mugshot exposure to eyewitnesses Two separate metaanalyses were conducted on 32 independent tests of the hypothesis that prior mugshot exposure decreases witness accuracy at a subsequent lineup Mugshot exposure both signifi cantly decreased proportion correct and increased the false alarm rate, the effect being greater on false alarms A mugshot commitment effect, arising from the identifi cation of someone in a mugshot, was a substantial moderator of both these effects Simple retroactive interference, where the target person is not included among mugshots and no one in a mugshot is present in the subsequent lineup, did not signifi cantly impair target identifi cation A third metaanalysis was conducted on 19 independent tests of the hypothesis that failure of memory for facial source or context results in transference errors The effect size was more than twice as large for "transference" studies involving mugshot exposure in proximate temporal context with the target than for "bystander" studies with no subsequent mugshot exposure
TL;DR: White public opinion on both punitive and preventive crime policies is at least partially driven by racial prejudice, and the impact of symbolic racism on policy attitudes was substantial.
Abstract: This study analyzes the determinants of Whites’ support for punitive and preventive crime policies. It focuses on the predictive power of beliefs about race as described by symbolic racism theory. A dataset with 849 White respondents from three waves of the Los Angeles County Social Survey was used. In order to assess the weight of racial factors in crime policy attitudes, the effects of a range of race-neutral attitude determinants were controlled for, namely individual and structural crime attributions, perceived seriousness of crime, crime victimization, conservatism and news exposure. Results show a strong effect of symbolic racism on both types of crime policies, and in particular on punitive policies. High levels of symbolic racism are associated with support for tough, punitive crime policies and with opposition to preventive policies. Sub-dimensions of symbolic racism qualified these relationships, by showing that internal symbolic racism (assessing perceived individual deficiencies of Blacks) was most strongly predictive of punitiveness, whereas external symbolic racism (denial of institutional discrimination) predicted opposition to structural remedies. On the whole, despite the effects of race-neutral factors, the impact of symbolic racism on policy attitudes was substantial. Thus, White public opinion on both punitive and preventive crime policies is at least partially driven by racial prejudice.
TL;DR: Results across two studies lend greater support to the notion that people expect victims to match the intensity of their emotional response to the seriousness of the event (i.e., a proportionality rule), although there are also instances in which expectations of the victim are not strong.
Abstract: Victims who express less emotion in response to a crime are perceived as less deserv- ing, less sympathetic, and they have less punishment assigned to the offender who committed the crime. This study considers the extent to which emotion norms underlie perceptions of victims who testify. Two studies investigate the circumstances in which emotional reactions to a crime are seen as "unusual" and whether a more general emotion norm underlies responses to victim testimony. We test a "victim-role" norm against a "proportionality" norm by crossing the severity of victim's emotional response (severe or mild) with the seriousness of a crime (serious or less serious). Results across two studies lend greater support to the notion that people expect victims to match the intensity of their emotional response to the seriousness of the event (i.e., a proportionality rule), although we also find instances in which expectations of the victim are not strong. Gender of the victim exhibited small and contingent effects. We discuss the relevance of emotion norms to legal settings.
TL;DR: This study compares credibility ratings by Norwegian court judges with those made by lay people and shows that, in contrast to lay people, the credibility ratings of court judges and their votes for a guilty verdict were not influenced by the emotions displayed by the witness.
Abstract: Previous studies have shown that the emotional behavior displayed during testimony may affect the perceived credibility of the witness. The present study compares credibility ratings by Norwegian court judges with those made by lay people. The participants viewed one of three video-recorded versions of a rape victim's statement, role played by a professional actress. The statement was given in a free-recall manner with one of three kinds of emotions displayed, termed congruent, neutral, and incongruent emotional expression. The results show that, in contrast to lay people, the credibility ratings of court judges and their votes for a guilty verdict were not influenced by the emotions displayed by the witness. Results are discussed in terms of professional expertise.
TL;DR: PCL-R assessments may not meet relevant evidentiary standards with regard to the prediction of institutional violence and violence among females, adolescents and ethnic minorities, and has increased considerably in recent years.
Abstract: We examine the application of Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) assessed psychopathy in U.S. courts from the time of the introduction of the PCL-R in 1991, through the end of 2004, and consider the PCL-R in light of relevant evidentiary standards and the empirical support for the construct of psychopathy. Our review of the Westlaw legal database indicates that the evidentiary introduction of PCL-R assessed psychopathy extends across state and federal jurisdictions, and has increased considerably in recent years. We identify nine contexts in which PCL-R evidence has been introduced and examine the appropriateness of such introduction. In most contexts the PCL-R was considered with regard to the prediction of violence in the community, and in such context the introduction of PCL-R scores appears appropriate, at least with regard to European American male offenders. However, PCL-R assessments may not meet relevant evidentiary standards with regard to the prediction of institutional violence and violence among females, adolescents and ethnic minorities.
TL;DR: It is suggested that men are more likely than women to respond to stressors such as threat delusions with violence, and within-person results from two-level hierarchical models support the idea that men and women cope with threat delusions differently.
Abstract: This study brings together the threat/control-override perspective and the literature on gender and stress coping to argue that gender moderates the association between threat delusions and violence. We suggest that men are more likely than women to respond to stressors such as threat delusions with violence. We test these ideas using data from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study, a multi-wave study of post-discharge psychiatric patients. Within-person results from two-level hierarchical models support the idea that men and women cope with threat delusions differently. Specifically, we find that men are significantly more likely to engage in violence during periods when they experience threat delusions, compared with periods when they do not experience threat delusions. In contrast, women are significantly less likely to engage in violence during times when they experience threat delusions, compared with periods when they do not. We discuss these findings in light of the literature on gender and stress coping.
TL;DR: It is suggested that, when evaluating sex offenders for SVP status, actuarial instruments designed to predict violent recidivism (as measured by rapsheet violent reoffenses) might be preferable to those designed to predictions of sexual recidivist behaviour.
Abstract: In the United States, sexually violent predator (SVP) commitment statutes generally require assessment of an offender's risk of subsequent sexual violence. Current actuarial methods for predicting sexual reoffending were actually designed to predict something else—charges or convictions for offenses deemed sexual based on information obtained from police “rapsheets” alone. This study examined the referral and past offenses of 177 sex offenders. Results showed that police rapsheets (and data based on them) underestimated the number and severity of sexually motivated violent offenses for which sex offenders were actually apprehended. Rapsheet violent offenses seemed a more accurate index of the conduct addressed by SVP legislation than were rapsheet sex offenses. We suggest that, when evaluating sex offenders for SVP status, actuarial instruments designed to predict violent recidivism (as measured by rapsheet violent reoffenses) might be preferable to those designed to predict sexual recidivism (as measured by rapsheet sexual reoffenses).
TL;DR: It is proposed that domestic violence perpetrators in a clinical sample could be categorized into distinct subgroups and that a particular subgroup of batterers would exhibit sufficient psychopathic characteristics to be clinically meaningful.
Abstract: This study proposed that domestic violence perpetrators in a clinical sample could be categorized into distinct subgroups and that a particular subgroup of batterers would exhibit sufficient psychopathic characteristics to be clinically meaningful. Participants were interviewed in order to gather a relevant social, familial, educational, criminal, and substance abuse history. They were then administered several psychological measures including the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV). Results lent support to the empirical batterer typology identified by Holtzworth-Munroe, A., Meehan, J. C., Herron, K., Rehman, U., & Stuart, G. L. (2000). However, despite the presence of a more antisocial subgroup, psychopathy did not consistently differentiate among batterers across the measured dependent variables.
TL;DR: Analysis of observers' abilities to detect lies in children and adults revealed that observers were biased toward judging adults' but not children's statements as truthful, consistent with the notion that there are stable individual differences in the ability to detect Lies.
Abstract: In this study, observers' abilities to detect lies in children and adults were examined. Adult participants observed videotaped interviews of both children and adults either lying or telling the truth about having been touched by a male research assistant. As hypothesized, observers detected children's lies more accurately than adults' lies; however, adults' truthful statements were detected more accurately than were children's. Further analyses revealed that observers were biased toward judging adults' but not children's statements as truthful. Finally, consistent with the notion that there are stable individual differences in the ability to detect lies, observers who were highly accurate in detecting children's lies were similarly accurate in detecting adults' lies. Implications of these findings for understanding lie-detection accuracy are discussed, as are potential applications to the forensic context.
TL;DR: It is shown that the optimum time boundary varies with overall response latency under manipulations of retention interval and nominal lineup size, and that the accuracy rate inside the optimumTime boundary is much less impressive than previously reported.
Abstract: Eyewitness identification research has reliably shown that accurate identifications are faster than inaccurate identifications. Recently, D. Dunning and S. Perretta (2002) claimed that an identification latency of 10–12 s not only best discriminates between accurate and inaccurate identifications but also produces extremely high accuracy rates, approaching 90%. Consistent with predictions from recognition memory theory, however, we show that the optimum time boundary varies with overall response latency under manipulations of retention interval and nominal lineup size, and that the accuracy rate inside the optimum time boundary is much less impressive than previously reported. We outline directions for clarifying the accuracy and latency relationship to assist the reliable diagnosis of identification accuracy.
TL;DR: This paper draws on research in social and cognitive psychology to show how theories of judgment and decision making that incorporate decision makers' affective responses apply to legal contexts and discusses the advantages of modifying existing approaches to information processing to include the influence of affect.
Abstract: This paper draws on research in social and cognitive psychology to show how theories of judgment and decision making that incorporate decision makers' affective responses apply to legal contexts. It takes 2 widely used models of decision making, the rational actor and lens models, and illustrates their utility for understanding legal judgments by using them to interpret research findings on juror decision making, people's obedience to the law (e.g., paying taxes), and eyewitness memory. The paper concludes with a discussion of the advantages of modifying existing approaches to information processing to include the influence of affect on how legal actors reach judgments about law and legal process.
TL;DR: Based on 2064 judicial decisions of Canadian criminal complaints of HCSA, the trial, the complainant, the accused, and the offence of historic child sexual abuse are described.
Abstract: Recently, in many English-speaking countries, legal principles that had the effect of barring delayed criminal prosecutions have been abrogated. In these jurisdictions, criminal prosecutions of child sexual abuse that is alleged to have occurred in the distant past (historic child sexual abuse or HCSA) are a growing legal challenge. These cases raise myriad issues relevant to research and the development of public policy that would benefit from a considered exchange of ideas that is informed by a clear understanding of the phenomenon. Based on 2064 judicial decisions of Canadian criminal complaints of HCSA we describe the trial, the complainant, the accused, and the offence. In the context of these legal cases, we raise some of the germane issues as well as suggestions for future research and discussion that we believe are particularly current and pressing.
TL;DR: This study investigated adults’ judgments of the honesty of children's coached true and fabricated mock testimony, and revealed girls were rated as more competent than boys, and their testimony was more likely to be believed.
Abstract: This study investigated adults’ judgments of the honesty of children's coached true and fabricated mock testimony. Adults saw video clips of children testifying in a mock court about a true or fabricated event in their lives. They were asked to make an assessment of the truthfulness of the testimony, and respond to questions about their perception of children's credibility. Half of the adults saw children testifying after a competence examination, and the other half saw children testifying without a competence examination. Overall, girls were rated as more competent than boys, and their testimony was more likely to be believed. Younger children were more likely to be rated as incompetent than older children. A factor analysis of adults’ responses revealed six factors which significantly predicted adults’ overall assessment of children's credibility, and their evaluations of children's competence to testify. Adults’ detection accuracy was at chance, with the majority of children rated as truthful. Viewing the competency examination and cross-examination did not improve the adults’ detection accuracy. However, seeing the cross-examination made adults’ less likely to believe children's testimony. The implications of these results for the judicial system are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined sentenced US and UK prisoners' forecasts of recidivism, and how well UK prisoners believed they would fare compared to the average other prisoner in both samples.
Abstract: Prisoners' forecasts of post-release success may have implications for how they respond to imprisonment, release, and parole decisions. We examined sentenced US and UK prisoners' forecasts of recidivism, and how well UK prisoners believed they would fare compared to the average other prisoner. In both samples, forecasts of recidivism were unrealistically optimistic when compared to official statistics on recidivism. UK prisoners also demonstrated a self-enhancement bias by forecasting that they were less likely to re-offend than other prisoners. Prisoners' forecasts of recidivism were predicted by only a few of the pre-prison, in-prison, and post-prison factors that have been shown to be associated with actual recidivism. We discuss the implications of these findings and propose avenues for future research.
TL;DR: Investigation of the effects of presentation of children's out-of-court statements on jurors' perceptions of witness credibility and defendant guilt, and on jurors’ abilities to reach the truth revealed that jurors had difficulty discerning accurate from deceptive child statements regardless of testimony format.
Abstract: Researchers and courts are focusing increasing attention on the reliability of children's out-of-court statements, especially in relation to trials of child sexual abuse. The main goal of this study was to investigate the effects of presentation of children's out-of-court statements (e.g., hearsay) on jurors’ perceptions of witness credibility and defendant guilt, and on jurors’ abilities to reach the truth. Child participants experienced either a mock crime or were coached to say they experienced the crime when in fact they had not. During elaborate mock trials involving community member jurors, children's testimony was presented either: (1) live, (2) on videotape, or (3) via a social worker. Analyses revealed that testimony format directly influenced jurors’ perceptions of child and social worker credibility (e.g., children were perceived as less likely to provide false statements if they testified live) as well as jurors’ sympathy toward the child, all of which then predicted jurors’ confidence in defendant guilt. Jurors had difficulty discerning accurate from deceptive child statements regardless of testimony format. Implications for psychology and the legal system are discussed.
TL;DR: Prosecution appeals did not affect verdict decisions; however, use of religion by the defense affected both verdicts and the weighing of aggravators and mitigators.
Abstract: Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have presented religious appeals and testi mony about a defendant's religious activities in order to infl uence capital ju- rors' sentencing. Courts that have objected to this use of religion fear that religion will improperly infl uence jurors' decisions and interfere with their ability to weigh aggrava- tors and mitigators. This study investigated the effects of both prosecution and defense appeals. Prosecution appeals did not affect verdict decisions; however, use of religion by the defense affected both verdicts and the weighing of aggravators and mitigators. These results could be due to differences in perceived sincerity and remorse that are conveyed in the various appeals.
TL;DR: It is concluded that a small set of static predictors yielded a good estimate of future reconvictions; inclusion of dynamic predictors did not add predictive power.
Abstract: If clinicians in forensic psychiatry want to reduce risk of reoffending in their patients, they require insight into dynamic risk factors, and evidence that these add predictive power to static risk indicators. Predictors need to be evaluated under clinically realistic circumstances. This study aimed to validate dynamic and static variables as predictors of reconviction in a naturalistic outcome study. Data on static and dynamic risk factors were collected for 151 patients discharged from Dutch forensic psychiatric hospitals. Community follow-up was prospective, with a 5.5 year minimum. A prediction model was developed using Cox regression analysis. The magnitude of the predictive power of this model was estimated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The final prediction model contained four static and no dynamic predictors. The model's ROC area under the curve was .79 (95% CI .69-.89). Clinical risk ratings were non-predictive. Post hoc analyses exploring the influence of subgroups of patients did not yield better models. It is concluded that a small set of static predictors yielded a good estimate of future reconvictions; inclusion of dynamic predictors did not add predictive power.
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that age can both increase and decrease the accuracy of children’s lineup identification accuracy depending on the task at hand and the content of a lineup.
Abstract: Children from 5 to 12 years of age (N=779) were shown a videotape where a preschool teacher has money stolen from her wallet. Children were shown a lineup, and for children in the bystander condition, the lineup contained a familiar bystander without the thief. Children in the control condition viewed the same lineup but they had not seen the bystander in the videotape. Among the 11–12-year olds, participants in the bystander condition were significantly more likely than control participants to misidentify the familiar bystander. This effect was not found in children from 5 to 10 years of age. When children in the control condition were shown a lineup that contained the thief without the bystander, the 11–12-year olds were significantly more likely than the younger children to correctly identify the thief. These findings demonstrate that age can both increase and decrease the accuracy of children’s lineup identification accuracy depending on the task at hand and the content of a lineup.
TL;DR: Mock jurors considered a trial online which varied the presence of a nullification instructions, whether the trial raised issues of the law's fairness, and emotionally biasing information (that affected jurors’ liking for the victim) providing the strongest support to date for the chaos theory.
Abstract: A widespread presumption in the law is that giving jurors nullification instructions would result in "chaos"-jurors guided not by law but by their emotions and personal biases We propose a model of juror nullification that posits an interaction between the nature of the trial (viz whether the fairness of the law is at issue), nullification instructions, and emotional biases on juror decision-making Mock jurors considered a trial online which varied the presence a nullification instructions, whether the trial raised issues of the law's fairness (murder for profit vs euthanasia), and emotionally biasing information (that affected jurors' liking for the victim) Only when jurors were in receipt of nullification instructions in a nullification-relevant trial were they sensitive to emotionally biasing information Emotional biases did not affect evidence processing but did affect emotional reactions and verdicts, providing the strongest support to date for the chaos theory