Showing papers in "Psychology, Public Policy and Law in 2005"

VIOLENCE RISK ASSESSMENT: Getting Specific About Being Dynamic

Abstract: Substantial strides have been made in the field of violence risk assessment. Numerous robust risk factors have been identified and incorporated into structured violence risk assessment instruments. The concepts of violence prevention, management, and treatment have been infused into contemporary thinking on risk assessment. This conceptual development underscores the necessity of identifying, measuring, and monitoring changeable (dynamic) risk factors--the most promising targets for risk reduction efforts. However, empirical investigation of dynamic risk is virtually absent from the literature. In this article, the authors (a) differentiate risk status (interindividual risk level based largely on static risk factors) from risk state (intraindividual risk level determined largely by current status on dynamic risk factors), (b) analyze the relevance of contemporary risk assessment measures for capturing dynamic risk, and (c) distill potentially important dynamic risk factors from the literature in order to facilitate future research. Suggestions for theory development and research design are provided.

DISCLOSURE OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE What Does the Research Tell Us About the Ways That Children Tell

Abstract: The empirical basis for the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome (CSAAS), a theoretical model that posits that sexually abused children frequently display secrecy, tentative disclosures, and retractions of abuse statements was reviewed. Two data sources were evaluated: retrospective studies of adults’ reports of having been abused as children and concurrent or chart-review studies of children undergoing evaluation or treatment for sexual abuse. The evidence indicates that the majority of abused children do not reveal abuse during childhood. However, the evidence fails to support the notion that denials, tentative disclosures, and recantations characterize the disclosure patterns of children with validated histories of sexual abuse. These results are discussed in terms of their implications governing the admissibility of expert testimony on CSAAS. Although it is widely acknowledged that the sexual assault of children is a major societal concern, it is not known how many children are victims of sexual abuse in the United States (Ceci & Friedman, 2000). There are two major reasons for this lack of data. First, present estimates of the incidence of child sexual abuse (CSA) are primarily based on reports received and validated by child protection agencies. These figures, however, do not reflect the number of unreported cases or the number of cases reported to other types of agencies (e.g., sheriff’s offices) and professionals (e.g., mental health diversion programs). Second, the accuracy of diagnosis of CSA is often difficult because definitive medical or physical evidence is lacking or inconclusive in the vast majority of cases (Bays & Chadwick, 1993; Berenson, Heger, & Andrews, 1991), and because there are no gold standard psychological symptoms specific to sexual abuse (Kendall-Tacket, Williams, & Finkelhor, 1993; Poole & Lindsay, 1998; J. M. Wood & Wright, 1995). Given these limitations of medical and psychological evidence, children’s statements typically represent the central evidence for judging the occurrence of

Thirty years of research on race differences in cognitive ability

Abstract: The culture-only (0% genetic–100% environmental) and the hereditarian (50% genetic–50% environmental) models of the causes of mean Black–White differences in cognitive ability are compared and contrasted across 10 categories of evidence: the worldwide distribution of test scores, g factor of mental ability, heritability, brain size and cognitive ability, transracial adoption, racial admixture, regression, related life-history traits, human origins research, and hypothesized environmental variables. The new evidence reviewed here points to some genetic component in Black–White differences in mean IQ. The implication for public policy is that the discrimination model (i.e., Black–White differences in socially valued outcomes will be equal barring discrimination) must be tempered by a distributional model (i.e., Black–White outcomes reflect underlying group characteristics).

Criteria-Based Content Analysis: A Qualitative Review of the First 37 Studies.

Abstract: Statement Validity Assessment (SVA) is used to assess the veracity of child witnesses’ testimony in trials for sexual offences. The author reviewed the available SVA research. Issues addressed include the accuracy of Criteria-Based Content Analysis (CBCA; part of SVA), interrater agreement between CBCA coders, frequency of occurrence of CBCA criteria in statements, the correlations between CBCA scores and (i) interviewer’s style and (ii) interviewee’s age and social and verbal skills, and issues regarding the Validity Checklist (another part of SVA). Implications for the use of SVA assessments in criminal courts are discussed. It is argued that SVA evaluations are not accurate enough to be admitted as expert scientific evidence in criminal courts but might be useful in police investigations.

The second generation of mental health courts

Abstract: Mental health courts (MHCs) generally began to appear in 1997. Today, more than 80 courts exist in the United States. In the present article, the authors argue that the 2nd generation of MHCs has arrived. The authors compare 8 previously described courts (P. A. Griffin, H. J. Steadman, & J. Petrila, 2002) with 7 newer courts that have not been previously described in the psycholegal literature. The authors identify 4 dimensions distinguishing 1stfrom 2nd-generation courts: (a) the acceptance of felony versus misdemeanant defendants, (b) preversus postadjudication models, (c) the use of jail as a sanction, and (c) the type of court supervision. The 4 dimensions are interdependent in that the acceptance of more felony cases contributes to the rise in processing cases postadjudication, using jail as a sanction and more intensive supervision. Potential reasons for the evolution of a 2nd generation are discussed.

Measuring the effectiveness of mental health courts: Challenges and recommendations.

Abstract: How will we know if mental health courts are effective? The answers provided by future evaluation research will reflect the extent to which the social and procedural complexity of mental health courts drives the research design and plan. This article identifies the research challenges associated with studying the effectiveness of an intervention that is nonstandardized by nature and highly dependent on macro and local influences within the environment as well as personal preferences and relationship dynamics within the intervention itself. Explored are the research challenges related to isolating the independent effects associated with mental health courts. The article concludes with recommendations for how best to evaluate mental health courts to inform best practice and policy.

Mental health courts: A misguided attempt to address the criminal justice system's unfair treatment of people with mental illnesses.

Abstract: Mental health courts have proliferated in tandem with rising concerns about large numbers of people with mental illnesses cycling through the criminal justice system. Although the goals of these problem-solving courts are laudable, they have flourished because of systemic failures in public mental health and the criminal justice system. In addition to raising various civil rights and public policy concerns, these specialty courts are inherently flawed, unintentionally signaling an acceptance of the rates at which people with serious mental illnesses are entering the criminal justice system. Their very presence makes it more difficult to generate political will to address the root of the problem. Alternative, evidence-based programs address the same concerns without raising the same civil rights and policy questions.

Building trust and managing risk: A look at a felony mental health court.

Abstract: Although many mental health courts are restricted to misdemeanors, the Brooklyn Mental Health Court primarily handles felonies. This article describes a felony mental health court and explores the decision to focus on felonies, including the planning team’s experiences with problem-solving courts and the effort to balance a fair court process with effective, but lengthy, treatment mandates. The author describes several ways by which the court and its partners manage potential public safety risks posed by felony offenders: thorough evaluations of offenders, individualized treatment plans, shared decision-making, candid communications between the court and its partners, and close judicial monitoring. The author also describes the ongoing program evaluation of the court and suggests areas for future research for felony mental health courts.

Voluntary, but knowing and intelligent: Comprehension in mental health courts.

Abstract: The number of mental health courts (MHCs) is steadily increasing. Although the courts are voluntary, it is unknown whether decisions to enter MHCs are made knowingly and intelligently. However, the ability to make these decisions is important given that MHCs are informal (and thus may lack built-in safeguards against constitutional violations) and given their rate of growth. Relevant research on other types of legal competencies suggests there may a substantial number of MHC participants who do not fully comprehend court processes and requirements. Furthermore, the level of comprehension at entry may predict future success or failure in the court. Thus, for both legal and practical reasons, the issue of MHC comprehension among its participants is critical.

What if the hereditarian hypothesis is true

Abstract: Rushton and Jensen (this issue) review ten bodies of evidence to support their argument that the longstanding, worldwide Black-White average differences in cognitive ability are more plausibly explained by their “hereditarian” (50% genetic causation) theory than by “culture-only” (0% genetic causation) theory. This commentary evaluates the relevance of their evidence, the overall strength of their case, the implications they draw for public policy, and the suggestion by some scholars that the nation is best served by telling benevolent lies about race and intelligence.

Terror Management in the Courtroom: Exploring the Effects of Mortality Salience on Legal Decision Making.

Abstract: ... When considering the powerful intimations of mortality an event like 9/11 could elicit, the legal ramifications can be quite disturbing. ... TMT research has explicated some of the cognitive and psychodynamic processes through which conscious and unconscious awareness of death impacts human social behavior (see Arndt, Cook, & Routledge, 2004; Pyszczynski, Greenberg, & Solomon, 1999 for reviews). ... Thus, on the surface, one would expect more punitive reactions to hate crime offenders when mortality is salient and people hear of a specific instance of a hate crime. ... The direction of bias instigated by thoughts of death would then depend on the nature of the juror's worldview. ... Whether a juror responds in a particular trial by upholding a legal process or by being more punitive or lenient toward a defendant can be understood as a function of the centrality of that domain to the person's belief system. ... First, recall that terror management findings have been obtained in a variety of countries, with a variety of participant populations (including actual municipal court judges), and with a variety of ecologically valid techniques of activating thoughts of death (e.g., prosecutors' statements, proximity to a funeral home) and measuring their effects. ... An existentialist view on mortality salience effects: Personal hardiness, death-thought accessibility, and cultural worldview defense. ...

The cultural malleability of intelligence and its impact on the racial/ethnic hierarchy

Abstract: This commentary highlights previous literature focusing on cultural and environmental explanations for the racial/ethnic group hierarchy of intelligence. Assumptions underlying definitions of intelligence, heritability/genetics, culture, and race are noted. Historical, contextual, and testing issues are clarified. Specific attention is given to studies supporting stereotype threat, effects of mediated learning experiences, and relative functionalism. Current test development practices are critiqued with respect to methods of validation and item development. Implications of the genetic vs. culture-only arguments are discussed with respect to the malleability of IQ. Rushton and Jensen (2005) review decades of literature to support a genetic basis for the racial/ethnic group hierarchy in intelligence, a position they have held unwaveringly for over 30 years. Their report gives little mention to findings that point to the impact of environment and race (i.e., race as a social construction) on intellectual development or performance—what they term the culture-only perspective. We are not among the culture-only adherents as characterized by Rushton and Jensen. While acknowledging the impact of biological factors on intelligence test performance, we have examined the impact of cultural/environmental factors that affect performance on aptitude and achievement measures. Our work, and that of others (e.g., Aronson, 2002; Sternberg, 1996), show us that intellectual performance is much more fragile and malleable than what is often noted in the current literature. The goals of our commentary are to highlight, briefly, assumptions underlying definitions (i.e., intelligence, heritability, genetics, culture, race) and clarify historical, contextual, and testing issues that were only briefly mentioned by Rushton and Jensen. Finally, we comment on the heuristic value and on policy implications of the research.

A dialogue on mental health courts.

Abstract: In this Foreword, the co-guest editors of this symposium on mental health courts introduce the topic by defining the concept, describing the reasons for its inception, and noting the controversies it has provoked. It then summarizes the articles in the symposium. Finally, the editors, who disagree about the value, effectiveness, and consequences of this new model, air their differences in a dialogue designed to delineate the issues and educate the reader.

Wanted: more race realism, less moralistic fallacy

Abstract: Despite repeated claims to the contrary, there has been no narrowing of the 15to 18-point average IQ difference between Blacks and Whites (1.1 standard deviations); the differences are as large today as they were when first measured nearly 100 years ago. They, and the concomitant difference in standard of living, level of education, and related phenomena, lie in factors that are largely heritable, not cultural. The IQ differences are attributable to differences in brain size more than to racism, stereotype threat, item selection on tests, and all the other suggestions given by the commentators. It is time to meet reality. It is time to stop committing the “moralistic fallacy” that good science must conform to approved outcomes.

HEREDITY, ENVIRONMENT, AND RACE DIFFERENCES IN IQ A Commentary on Rushton and Jensen (2005)

Abstract: J. P. Rushton and A. R. Jensen (2005) ignore or misinterpret most of the evidence of greatest relevance to the question of heritability of the Black–White IQ gap. A dispassionate reading of the evidence on the association of IQ with degree of European ancestry for members of Black populations, convergence of Black and White IQ in recent years, alterability of Black IQ by intervention programs, and adoption studies lend no support to a hereditarian interpretation of the Black–White IQ gap. On the contrary, the evidence most relevant to the question indicates that the genetic contribution to the Black–White IQ gap is nil. Rushton and Jensen’s (2005) article is characterized by failure to cite, in any but the most cursory way, strong evidence against their position. Their lengthy presentation of indirectly relevant evidence which, in light of the direct evidence against the hereditarian view they prefer, has little probative value, and their “scorecard” tallies of evidence on various points cannot be sustained by the evidence.

The execution of legal documents by sexual minority individuals

Abstract: Sexual minority individuals (specifically bisexual, gay, lesbian and transgendered [BGLT]) have identities and relationships that are socially stigmatized and legally unrecognized An online survey of 398 BGLT individuals was conducted concerning their execution of 5 legal planning documents: a will, powers of attorney for finances and health care, a living will, and hospital visitation authorization We found support for the hypothesis that BGLT individuals who are in committed relationships, have disclosed their sexual orientation to immediate family, and have more income are more likely to have executed some or all of these documents The authors discuss implications for BGLT individuals and same-sex couples, the need for policy changes and therapeutic intervention, and future directions for research in this area Sexual minority individuals have important chosen relationships, including long-term partners and close friends who function as “family” Yet, the identities of sexual minority individuals (herein referring specifically to bisexual, gay, lesbian and transgendered identified individuals [BGLT]), and the relationships they form, are socially stigmatized and most often legally unrecognized Persons who are biologically or legally related to BGLT individuals, their families of origin or “relatives,” may refuse to honor or even acknowledge the individual’s identity or chosen relationships Under these circumstances, these important relationships may be particularly vulnerable from a legal standpoint in the event of a physical or emotional crisis if relatives challenge the legitimacy of the BGLT individual’s chosen family Sexual minority individuals can attempt to protect certain aspects of their chosen relationships through the execution of legal documents available to every individual These documents include a will or living trust, powers of attorney for finances and health care, a living will, and hospital visitation authorization Individuals can use combinations of these documents to specify their wishes and convey rights to chosen others outside of their legally assumed family In the absence of marriage (or equivalent) rights, these documents take on particular importance for individuals with same-sex partners Without these documents, an individual’s family of origin is presumptively given rights as a matter of law or legal determination Despite the immediate importance of this situation to millions of self-identi

Test Accommodations for Postsecondary Students: The Quandary Resulting From the ADA's Disability Definition.

Abstract: Legal wrangling precipitated by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) has resulted in courts adopting a narrow view of disability. This narrow categorical disability definition is in conflict with current mental health and educational practice that presumes an inclusive view of disability. Test accommodations for licensing exams based on learning impairments provide an example of the conflict generated by legal versus mental health views of disability. Mental health practitioners often support test accommodation requests for students who do not meet the ADA’s strict threshold for disability determination. Mental health practitioners must understand the ADA definition of disability, and test organizations need to examine goals and alter standard practice in a manner that is fair and equitable independent of learning impairments. A recent Supreme Court decision ruled that professional golfer Casey Martin should be allowed to ride a cart in tournaments (PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin, 2001). In his case, brought under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), it was successfully argued that Martin has a disability in walking that is covered by the ADA and that the professional golfers’ tour organizers have an obligation to provide this reasonable accommodation. The flurry of opinion articles expressing polarized views concerning the merits of this decision ranged from viewing it as atrocious to admirable (Feinstein, 2001; Leo, 2001; Rohrer, 2001). This decision did not lead to the downfall of professional sports, as suggested by some detractors, nor did it level the playing field for untold numbers of disabled individuals who merely needed some reasonable accommodation to succeed at this level. In fact, it may not be sufficient to help Casey Martin reach his goal of success at the professional tour level. The criticism of this decision highlights significant underlying conflict surrounding the various views of disability, how best to accommodate the disabled, and the role of the ADA in this process. Lost in the hyperbole of criticism surrounding the Martin (2001) decision was the fact that many legal scholars are expressing significant concern that the courts are taking an extremely narrow view of disability as defined by the ADA (Anderson, 2000; Burgdorf, 1997; Friedland, 1999; Lanctot, 1997; Locke, 1997; Mayerson, 1997). In less publicized decisions, the Supreme Court ruled that one is not disabled under this law if mitigating measures effectively remedy the problem (Albertsons, Inc. v. Kirkingburg, 1999; Murphy v. United Parcel Service,

There are no public-policy implications: A reply to Rushton and Jensen (2005).

Abstract: J P Rushton and A R Jensen (2005) purport to show public-policy implications arising from their analysis of alleged genetic bases for group mean differences in IQ This article argues that none of these implications in fact follow from any of the data they present The risk in work such as this is that public-policy implications may come to be ideologically driven rather than data driven, and to drive the research rather than be driven by the data The quest to show that one socially defined racial, ethnic, or other group is inferior to another in some important way, such that “the public must accept the pragmatic reality that some groups will be overrepresented and other groups underrepresented in various socially valued outcomes” (Rushton & Jensen, 2005, p 283), has what I believe to be a long, sad history Since ancient times, cynical political, religious, and other leaders have used such arguments to justify discriminatory ideological positions Does science want to provide them the ammunition? Scientists might argue that their work is value free and that they are not responsible for the repugnant or even questionable values or actions of opportunistic leaders Rushton and Jensen (2005) seem to believe, as have others, that they do perform a kind of value-free science and that they merely respect the truth However, using tests and scoring them in itself represents a value judgment: Taking a test means different things for diverse groups, and the backgrounds of varied groups who take these tests are different (Greenfield, 1997) Studying so-called races represents a value judgment because race is a social construction, not a biological concept, and Rushton and Jensen’s entire article is based on the false premise of race as having meaning other than in their and other people’s imaginations (Sternberg, Grigorenko, & Kidd, 2005) Deciding to study group differences represents a value judgment—that the problem is worth studying Deciding to show that one group is genetically inferior on an index is a value judgment as to what is worth showing These decisions, among others, indicate that there is no value-free science Few of us can hear our own accents when we speak—only other people have accents! In the same way, supposedly “value-free science” reflects the values of investigators who cannot see their own values underlying their research

There's No Place Like Home: Sexual Harassment of Low Income Women in Housing

Abstract: Although sexual harassment in the workplace has received considerable attention, harassment in rental housing is a virtually unresearched phenomenon, despite informal data that it is widespread. This article reviews empirical data and legal remedies on sexual harassment in rental housing, comparing these with harassment in employment contexts. Using data drawn from Title VIII sexual harassment cases, the authors present 3 studies designed to examine the nature of sexual harassment in housing. Despite overall similarities to its workplace counterpart, a number of distinctive characteristics of residential harassment were evident; in particular, the phenomena of home invasion and masculine possessiveness have no apparent workplace parallels. Housing sexual harassment often takes place in the victim's home, creating an intensely threatening atmosphere. Legal and public policy implications are discussed.