Wednesday, February 27, 2013

STUDIES: Six-Part Series Explores Mental Illness and the Death Penalty in Texas

The Texas Tribune recently published a six-part series examining the plight of mentally ill defendants in the Texas criminal justice system. The series focused particularly on death penalty cases, including that of Andre Thomas, a man with a long history of mental illness. He pulled his own eye out in 2004, and later explained that he did it because he kept seeing his wife, whom he killed along with his children just days before. Thomas is among thousands of mentally ill inmates in the Texas system, which has seen years of budget cuts resulting in the reduction of programs. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, more than 20% of the 290 inmates on Texas death row are diagnosed with some type of mental illness. One former Texas death row inmate, Anthony Graves, recently told a U.S. Congressional committee that he lived under the "worst conditions imaginable" when he was on death row, which is a form of solitary confinement. He said the cells were filthy and the food contained rodent waste. Inmates with mental illness frequently deteriorated while on death row; some inmates set themselves on fire or smeared feces on their faces. Graves was later cleared of all charges and freed from death row, but said he still has not recovered from the experience. An average of 8,500 Texas prison inmates considered dangerous or troublesome are housed in administrative segregation, another form of solitary confinement, typically for 3 years. Most have no access to rehabilitative programs. 

Not all mentally ill murder defendants end up like Andre Thomas. Deanna Laney, a white housewife from Smith County, Texas, stoned her children in 2003, killing two of them and leaving her 14-month-old son permanently maimed. She said God told her to kill the children. She was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was transferred to a state mental hospital. She was released in 2012, but remains under court supervision.

(B. Grissom, "Andre Thomas: Struggling to Maintain Sanity in Prison" and "Andre Thomas: Questions of Competence," Texas Tribune, February 26, 2013, and earlier.)  See Mental Illness and Arbitrariness.








Thursday, February 21, 2013

Atkins Court Decision: 11th circuit stay of execution order for Warren Hill (GA, 2013)

 

Thanks to Kevin Foley for sending me a copy of the 11th Circuits stay of execution order for Warren Hill in Georgia. Click here to access. Links to prior Hill decisions can be found here.

 

Research Byte: IQ score differences in forensic settings--WAIS-III v WRIT

Click on image to enlarge

 

Journal Alert - LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR

Introducing a new blog feature...the TOC of law and law-related behavioral science journals. Will try for a while to see if folks find the feature useful...as many of the articles listed most likely will not be specifically related to Atkins issues.

> Journal Name: LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR (ISSN: 0147-7307)
> Issue: Vol. 36 No. 5, 2012
>
>
> Title:
> "That Never Happened": Adults' Discernment of Children's True and False Memory Reports
>
> Authors:
> Block, SD; Shestowsky, D; Segovia, DA; Goodman, GS; Schaaf, JM;
> Alexander, KW
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (5):365-374; OCT 2012
>
> Abstract:
> Adults' evaluations of children's reports can determine whether legal
> proceedings are undertaken and whether they ultimately lead to justice.
> The current study involved 92 undergraduates and 35 laypersons who
> viewed and evaluated videotaped interviews of 3- and 5-year-olds
> providing true or false memory reports. The children's reports fell into
> the following categories based on a 2 (event type: true vs. false) x 2
> (child report: assent vs. denial) factorial design: accurate reports,
> false reports, accurate denials, and false denials. Results revealed
> that adults were generally better able to correctly judge accurate
> reports, accurate denials, and false reports compared with false
> denials: For false denials, adults were, on average, "confident" that
> the event had not occurred, even though the event had in fact been
> experienced. Participant age predicted performance. These findings
> underscore the greater difficulty adults have in evaluating young
> children's false denials compared with other types of reports.
> Implications for law-related situations in which adults are called upon
> to evaluate children's statements are discussed.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 375-389 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314274300002
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> A Victim-Centered Approach to Justice? Victim Satisfaction Effects on Third-Party Punishments
>
> Authors:
> Gromet, DM; Okimoto, TG; Wenzel, M; Darley, JM
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (5):375-389; OCT 2012
>
> Abstract:
> Three studies investigated whether victims' satisfaction with a
> restorative justice process influenced third-party assignments of
> punishment. Participants evaluated criminal offenses and victims'
> reactions to an initial restorative justice conference, and were later
> asked to indicate their support for additional punishment of the
> offender. Across the three studies, we found that victim satisfaction
> (relative to dissatisfaction) attenuates people's desire to seek
> offender punishment, regardless of offense severity (Study 2) or
> conflicting reports from a third-party observer (Study 3). This
> relationship was explained by the informational value of victim
> satisfaction: Participants inferred that victims felt closure and that
> offenders experienced value reform, both of which elevated participants'
> satisfaction with the restorative justice outcome. The informational
> value communicated by victim satisfaction, and its criminal justice
> implications, are discussed.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 390-393 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314274300003
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> The Constant Multiplier Assumption Misestimates Long-Term Sex Offender Recidivism Rates
>
> Authors:
> Wollert, R; Cramer, E
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (5):390-393; OCT 2012
>
> Abstract:
> Many clinical psychologists have claimed that long-term sexual
> recidivism rates are a fixed multiple of short-term rates and have
> estimated that the true value of this constant falls somewhere between
> 1.5 and 3.0. They have also proposed that it is "mathematically sound"
> for evaluators to estimate the long-term rate for any actuarial score in
> sexually violent predator civil commitment cases by multiplying its
> short-term rate by this constant. The present paper questions the
> "constant multiplier assumption" and summarizes disconfirming data
> collected by its proponents and others showing that the fixed ratios for
> groups with low short-term rates are actually greater than the ratios
> for groups with high short-term rates. These results rule out the use of
> the constant multiplier assumption by risk evaluators. It is concerning
> that this assumption has not been previously tested. The authors call on
> the developers of risk assessment systems to collect and report data
> that clearly validate the assumptions that underpin their actuarial
> tables before they are disseminated or administered. The American
> Psychological Association ethical standards also require forensic
> evaluators to acknowledge the limitations of their risk assessments when
> they testify, a practice that is invaluable to the trier of fact.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 394-403 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314274300004
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Assessing Nonchoosers' Eyewitness Identification Accuracy From Photographic Showups by Using Confidence and Response Times
>
> Authors:
> Sauerland, M; Sagana, A; Sporer, SL
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (5):394-403; OCT 2012
>
> Abstract:
> While recent research has shown that the accuracy of positive
> identification decisions can be assessed via confidence and decision
> times, gauging lineup rejections has been less successful. The current
> study focused on 2 different aspects which are inherent in lineup
> rejections. First, we hypothesized that decision times and confidence
> ratings should be postdictive of identification rejections if they refer
> to a single lineup member only. Second, we hypothesized that dividing
> nonchoosers according to the reasons they provided for their decisions
> can serve as a useful postdictor for nonchoosers' accuracy. To test
> these assumptions, we used (1) 1-person lineups (showups) in order to
> obtain confidence and response time measures referring to a single
> lineup member, and (2) asked nonchoosers about their reasons for making
> a rejection. Three hundred and eighty-four participants were asked to
> identify 2 different persons after watching 1 of 2 stimulus films. The
> results supported our hypotheses. Nonchoosers' postdecision confidence
> ratings were well-calibrated. Likewise, we successfully established
> optimum time and confidence boundaries for nonchoosers. Finally,
> combinations of postdictors increased the number of accurate
> classifications compared with individual postdictors.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 404-412 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314274300005
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Psychopathy and Crime: Testing the Incremental Validity of PCL-R-Measured Psychopathy as a Predictor of General and Violent Recidivism
>
> Authors:
> Walters, GD
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (5):404-412; OCT 2012
>
> Abstract:
> It has been argued that psychopathy plays a vital role in the criminal
> justice system. To test this assumption, the incremental validity of the
> psychopathy construct was examined in 198 male Canadian prison inmates
> serving time for nonsexual offenses and 122 male U. S. inmates
> undergoing forensic evaluations. When these two samples-which had been
> used previously to test the incremental validity of the four Psychopathy
> Checklist-Revised (PCL-R: Hare, 2003) facet scores (Walters, Wilson, &
> Glover, 2011)-were treated as a single group, second-order confirmatory
> factor analysis and item response theory principles indicated that a
> three-factor hierarchical model of the PCL-R facets (interpersonal,
> affective, lifestyle) fit the data better than a four-factor
> hierarchical model (interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, antisocial).
> When the two samples were examined separately, a composite of the first
> three PCL-R facets (interpersonal, affective, lifestyle) failed to
> predict general and violent recidivism above and beyond the
> contributions of age and criminal history. These results bring into
> question the utility of the psychopathy construct, as measured by Facets
> 1, 2, and 3 of the PCL-R, to predict important criminal justice outcomes
> like recidivism. Additional research using alternative measures of
> psychopathy and a wider array of outcome measures is required to
> determine the extent to which the psychopathy construct contributes to
> our understanding of criminal behavior.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 413-422 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314274300006
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> The Predictive Validity of Criminogenic Needs for Male and Female Offenders: Comparing the Relative Impact of Needs in Predicting Recidivism
>
> Authors:
> van der Knaap, LM; Alberda, DL; Oosterveld, P; Born, MP
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (5):413-422; OCT 2012
>
> Abstract:
> Most instruments used to assess offenders' risk of recidivism were
> developed and validated on male samples. Use of these instruments with
> female offenders is, however, common practice. This use with female
> offenders implies the assumption that the risk of recidivism can be
> predicted on the basis of the same risk factors for women as for men.
> Yet, this implied gender-neutrality of offender risk instruments has
> been the topic of much debate. This study compared criminogenic needs in
> male and female offenders and their relevance in predicting recidivism.
> A large sample of male and female offenders (N = 16,239) charged with a
> range of index offenses was studied. Results mainly support the gender
> neutrality of existing offender risk and needs assessment. However,
> results do suggest that some criminogenic needs may indeed have a
> different impact on recidivism for men and women. Problems with
> accommodation, education and work, and relationships with friends were
> more strongly correlated to general recidivism in men than in women. For
> women, difficulties with emotional well-being had a stronger correlation
> with recidivism than for men. In addition, relative to all other
> criminogenic needs, problems with emotional well-being were more
> important for women than for men in predicting general as well as
> violent recidivism. However, because the bivariate correlation for
> female offenders between emotional difficulties and recidivism is weak
> (as it is for male offenders), the question remains whether the relative
> importance of emotional difficulties in predicting recidivism in women
> actually has clinical relevance.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 423-438 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314274300007
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Prediction of Adolescent Sexual Reoffending: A Meta-Analysis of the J-SOAP-II, ERASOR, J-SORRAT-II, and Static-99
>
> Authors:
> Viljoen, JL; Mordell, S; Beneteau, JL
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (5):423-438; OCT 2012
>
> Abstract:
> Several risk assessment tools, including the Juvenile Sex Offender
> Assessment Protocol-II (Prentky & Righthand, 2003), the Estimate of Risk
> of Adolescent Sexual Offense Recidivism (Worling & Curwen, 2001), the
> Juvenile Sexual Offense Recidivism Risk Assessment Tool-II (Epperson,
> Ralston, Fowers, DeWitt, & Gore, 2006), and the Static-99 (Hanson &
> Thornton, 1999), have been used to assess reoffense risk among
> adolescents who have committed sexual offenses. Given that research on
> these tools has yielded somewhat mixed results, we empirically
> synthesized 33 published and unpublished studies involving 6,196 male
> adolescents who had committed a sexual offense. We conducted two
> separate meta-analyses, first with correlations and then with areas
> under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs). Total scores
> on each of the tools significantly predicted sexual reoffending, with
> aggregated correlations ranging from .12 to .20 and aggregated AUC
> scores ranging from .64 to .67. However, in many cases heterogeneity
> across studies was moderate to high. There were no significant
> differences between tools, and although the Static-99 was developed for
> adults, it achieved similar results as the adolescent tools. Results are
> compared to other meta-analyses of risk tools used in the area of
> violence risk assessment and in other fields.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 439-447 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314274300008
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> The Information Gained From Witnesses' Responses to an Initial "Blank" Lineup
>
> Authors:
> Palmer, MA; Brewer, N; Weber, N
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (5):439-447; OCT 2012
>
> Abstract:
> Wells ("The psychology of lineup identifications," Journal of Applied
> Social Psychology, 1984, 14, 89-103) proposed that a blank lineup (an
> initial lineup of known-to-be-innocent foils) can be used to screen
> eyewitnesses; witnesses who chose from a blank lineup (initial choosers)
> were more likely to make an error on a second lineup that contained a
> suspect than were witnesses who rejected a blank lineup (initial
> nonchoosers). Recent technological advances (e. g.,
> computer-administered lineups) may overcome many of the practical
> difficulties cited as a barrier to the use of blank lineups. Our
> research extended knowledge about the blank lineup procedure by
> investigating the underlying causes of the difference in identification
> performance between initial choosers and initial nonchoosers. Studies 1a
> and 1b (total, N = 303) demonstrated that initial choosers were more
> likely to reject a second lineup than initial nonchoosers and witnesses
> who did not view a blank lineup, implying that cognitive biases (e. g.,
> confirmation bias and commitment effects) influenced initial choosers'
> identification decisions. In Study 2 (N = 200), responses on a
> forced-choice identification test provided evidence that initial
> choosers have, on average, poorer memories for the culprit than do
> initial nonchoosers. We also investigated the usefulness of blank
> lineups for interpreting identification evidence. Diagnosticity ratios
> suggested that suspect identifications made by initial nonchoosers (cf.
> initial choosers) should have a greater impact on estimates of the
> likely guilt of the suspect. Furthermore, for initial nonchoosers,
> higher confidence in blank lineup rejections was associated with higher
> diagnosticity for subsequent suspect identifications. These results have
> implications for policy to guide the collection and interpretation of
> identification evidence.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 448-457 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314274300009
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> "How Did You Feel?": Increasing Child Sexual Abuse Witnesses' Production of Evaluative Information
>
> Authors:
> Lyon, TD; Scurich, N; Choi, K; Handmaker, S; Blank, R
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (5):448-457; OCT 2012
>
> Abstract:
> In child sexual abuse cases, the victim's testimony is essential,
> because the victim and the perpetrator tend to be the only eyewitnesses
> to the crime. A potentially important component of an abuse report is
> the child's subjective reactions to the abuse. Attorneys may ask
> suggestive questions or avoid questioning children about their
> reactions, assuming that children, given their immaturity and
> reluctance, are incapable of articulation. We hypothesized that How
> questions referencing reactions to abuse (e. g., "how did you feel")
> would increase the productivity of children's descriptions of abuse
> reactions. Two studies compared the extent to which children provided
> evaluative content, defined as descriptions of emotional, cognitive, and
> physical reactions, in response to different question-types, including
> How questions, Wh-questions, Option-posing questions (yes-no or
> forced-choice), and Suggestive questions. The first study examined
> children's testimony (ages 5-18) in 80 felony child sexual abuse cases.
> How questions were more productive yet the least prevalent, and
> Option-posing and Suggestive questions were less productive but the most
> common. The second study examined interview transcripts of 61 children
> (ages 6-12) suspected of being abused, in which children were
> systematically asked How questions regarding their reactions to abuse,
> thus controlling for the possibility that in the first study, attorneys
> selectively asked How questions of more articulate children. Again, How
> questions were most productive in eliciting evaluative content. The
> results suggest that interviewers and attorneys interested in eliciting
> evaluative reactions should ask children "how did you feel?" rather than
> more direct or suggestive questions.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 458-467 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314274300010
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> "Ordinary Men" or "Evil Monsters"?: An Action Systems Model of Genocidal Actions and Characteristics of Perpetrators
>
> Authors:
> Hollows, K; Fritzon, K
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (5):458-467; OCT 2012
>
> Abstract:
> This study aimed to address the limitations of the existing genocide
> literature with the development of an empirically based classification
> system. Using Shye's (1985) action systems model, it was hypothesized
> that four types of perpetrators would exist and would be distinguishable
> by differences in the sources and target of individual criminal actions.
> Court transcripts from 80 perpetrators sentenced by the international
> courts were subject to content analysis and revealed 39 offense action
> variables, 17 perpetrator characteristic variables, and 6 perpetrator
> motive variables. A smallest space analysis using the Jaccard
> coefficient of association was conducted on the offense variables. The
> results supported the proposed framework, producing four distinct types
> of genocidal perpetrators. Correlational analyses were then conducted to
> examine the relationships between each of the perpetrator types and the
> remaining variables. The results of those correlations provided further
> support for the proposed framework. The implications of these findings
> are discussed.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 469-477 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314275300001
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Cry Me a River: Identifying the Behavioral Consequences of Extremely High-Stakes Interpersonal Deception
>
> Authors:
> ten Brinke, L; Porter, S
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (6):469-477; DEC 2012
>
> Abstract:
> Deception evolved as a fundamental aspect of human social interaction.
> Numerous studies have examined behavioral cues to deception, but most
> have involved inconsequential lies and unmotivated liars in a laboratory
> context. We conducted the most comprehensive study to date of the
> behavioral consequences of extremely high-stakes, real-life
> deception-relative to comparable real-life sincere displays-via 3
> communication channels: speech, body language, and emotional facial
> expressions. Televised footage of a large international sample of
> individuals (N = 78) emotionally pleading to the public for the return
> of a missing relative was meticulously coded frame-by-frame (30 frames/s
> for a total of 74,731 frames). About half of the pleaders eventually
> were convicted of killing the missing person on the basis of
> overwhelming evidence. Failed attempts to simulate sadness and leakage
> of happiness revealed deceptive pleaders' covert emotions. Liars used
> fewer words but more tentative words than truth-tellers, likely relating
> to increased cognitive load and psychological distancing. Further, each
> of these cues explained unique variance in predicting pleader sincerity.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 477-477 (Correction)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314275300002
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Failure-to-Register Laws and Public Safety: An Examination of Risk Factors and Sex Offense Recidivism (vol 36, pg 555, 2012)
>
> Authors:
> Levenson, JS; Sandler, JC; Freeman, NJ
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (6):477-477; DEC 2012
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 478-487 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314275300003
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Retrieval Does Not Always Enhance Suggestibility: Testing Can Improve Witness Identification Performance
>
> Authors:
> LaPaglia, JA; Chan, JCK
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (6):478-487; DEC 2012
>
> Abstract:
> Verbally recalling the appearance of a perpetrator and the details of an
> event can sometimes hinder later eyewitness memory performance. In two
> experiments, we investigated the effects of verbally recalling a face on
> people's ability to resist subsequent misinformation about that face.
> Participants watched a video of a theft and then completed either a
> recall test or a distractor activity. After a delay, some participants
> heard a piece of misinformation. Memory was assessed with a recall test
> in Experiment 1 and with a target-present lineup in Experiment 2. In
> both experiments, initial testing reduced eyewitness suggestibility for
> the face.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 488-495 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314275300004
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Cross-Race (but Not Same-Race) Face Identification Is Impaired by Presenting Faces in a Group Rather Than Individually
>
> Authors:
> Pezdek, K; O'Brien, M; Wasson, C
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (6):488-495; DEC 2012
>
> Abstract:
> This study extends the research on cross-race identification by
> examining how group presentation of faces influences the cross-race
> effect (CRE) and confirming systematic qualitative differences between
> the cognitive processes involved in memory for same-and cross-race
> faces. White individuals viewed 16 target faces (8 White, 8 Black)
> presented individually or each in a 3-face group. The conditions that
> impaired cross-race but not same-race face recognition memory were (a)
> group compared to individual presentation of target faces (Experiment
> 1), and (b) presentation of target faces in homogeneous (foil faces
> matched the race of the target face) rather than heterogeneous groups
> (foil faces did not match the race of the target face; Experiment 2).
> These findings are interpreted within the context of social-cognitive
> processes that operate on same-and cross-race faces, specifically, the
> dual-process account of the CRE. Together, results of these two
> experiments suggest that the CRE is moderated by viewing conditions that
> are likely to vary in real world eyewitness memory and identification
> situations.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 496-505 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314275300005
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Firm, Fair, and Caring Officer-Offender Relationships Protect Against Supervision Failure
>
> Authors:
> Kennealy, PJ; Skeem, JL; Manchak, SM; Louden, JE
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (6):496-505; DEC 2012
>
> Abstract:
> A growing body of research suggests that high quality dual role
> relationships between community corrections officers and offenders
> reduce risk of recidivism. This study assesses whether this finding
> generalizes from offenders with mental illness to their relatively
> healthy counterparts. More importantly, this study tests the possibility
> that this finding is spurious, reflecting the influence of pre-existing
> offender characteristics more than a promising principle of practice. In
> this study of 109 parolees without mental illness, the authors found
> that (a) firm, fair, and caring relationships protect against rearrest,
> and (b) do so even after accounting for offenders' pre-existing
> personality traits and risk for recidivism. These findings are
> consistent with the theoretical notion that good dual role relationships
> are an essential element of core correctional practice, even (or
> particularly) for difficult or high risk offenders.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 506-512 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314275300006
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Substance Abuse and Criminal Thinking: Testing the Countervailing, Mediation, and Specificity Hypotheses
>
> Authors:
> Walters, GD
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (6):506-512; DEC 2012
>
> Abstract:
> The purpose of this study was to determine (a) which of 2 dimensions of
> criminal thinking (proactive and/or reactive) correlates with prior
> substance abuse; (b) whether criminal thinking mediates the relationship
> between prior substance abuse and recidivism; (c) if a direct
> relationship exists between specific drugs of abuse and specific
> criminal thinking styles. First, the reconstructed Proactive (P(rc)) and
> Reactive (R(rc)) Criminal Thinking scores from the Psychological
> Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS; Walters, 1995) were
> correlated with a dichotomous measure of prior substance abuse and a
> continuous measure of the number of substances abused in a sample of
> 2877 male federal prisoners (age: M = 34.96, SD = 9.89, range = 18-84;
> race: 63.6% Black, 17.3% White, 17.6% Hispanic, 1.4% other). The results
> indicated that only the R(rc) score correlated significantly with prior
> substance abuse when the effect of the alternative measure (P(rc) in the
> case of R(rc) and R(rc) in the case of the P(rc)) was controlled through
> partial correlations. Second, reactive criminal thinking was found to
> mediate the relationship between a history of prior substance abuse and
> subsequent recidivism in a subsample of 1101 inmates who were released
> from prison during a 1- to 76-month follow-up. Third, both specific
> (alcohol with cutoff; marijuana with cognitive indolence) and global
> (heroin, cocaine, and amphetamine with cutoff, cognitive indolence, and
> discontinuity) drug-criminal thinking correlations were obtained. These
> results suggest that reactive criminal thinking plays a potentially
> important role in the drug-crime relationship.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 513-526 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314275300007
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Impact of Disguise on Identification Decisions and Confidence With Simultaneous and Sequential Lineups
>
> Authors:
> Mansour, JK; Beaudry, JL; Bertrand, MI; Kalmet, N; Melsom, EI; Lindsay,
> RCL
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (6):513-526; DEC 2012
>
> Abstract:
> Prior research indicates that disguise negatively affects lineup
> identifications, but the mechanisms by which disguise works have not
> been explored, and different disguises have not been compared. In two
> experiments (Ns = 87 and 91) we manipulated degree of coverage by two
> different types of disguise: a stocking mask or sunglasses and toque
> (i.e., knitted hat). Participants viewed mock-crime videos followed by
> simultaneous or sequential lineups. Disguise and lineup type did not
> interact. In support of the view that disguise prevents encoding,
> identification accuracy generally decreased with degree of disguise. For
> the stocking disguise, however, full and 2/3 coverage led to
> approximately the same rate of correct identifications-which suggests
> that disrupting encoding of specific features may be as detrimental as
> disrupting a whole face. Accuracy was most affected by sunglasses and we
> discuss the role metacognitions may have played. Lineup selections
> decreased more slowly than accuracy as coverage by disguise increased,
> indicating witnesses are insensitive to the effect of encoding
> conditions on accuracy. We also explored the impact of disguise and
> lineup type on witnesses' confidence in their lineup decisions, though
> the results were not straightforward.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 527-537 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314275300008
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> When Experts Disagreed, Who Was Correct? A Comparison of PCL-R Scores From Independent Raters and Opposing Forensic Experts
>
> Authors:
> Rufino, KA; Boccaccini, MT; Hawes, SW; Murrie, DC
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (6):527-537; DEC 2012
>
> Abstract:
> Researchers recently found that Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R;
> Hare, 2003) scores reported by state experts were much higher than those
> reported by defense experts in sexually violent predator cases pursued
> for civil commitment (Murrie, Boccaccini, Johnson, & Janke, 2008), which
> raised the question of which scores were more accurate. In this study,
> two independent raters rescored the PCL-R from file review for 44
> offenders from that sample who had opposing evaluator scores (allegiance
> cases) and 44 who had state expert, but not defense expert, scores
> (comparison cases). The independent raters agreed with one another in
> their scoring of the allegiance and comparison cases (Intraclass
> Correlation Coefficient [ICC] ICC(A,1) = .95), but they disagreed with
> both state (ICC(A,1) = .29) and defense (ICC(A,1) = .14) experts in the
> allegiance cases. Agreement was stronger between state experts and
> independent raters for the comparison cases (ICC(A,1) = .63), but the
> independent raters assigned significantly higher PCL-R scores than
> experts for both the allegiance and comparison cases. These findings
> suggest that offenders who were selected for rescoring by the defense
> may have been more difficult to score. Findings also raise questions
> about the extent to which PCL-R scores based on correctional file review
> only are comparable to those based on file and interview.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 538-547 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314275300009
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> The Effect of Attorneys' Work With Trauma-Exposed Clients on PTSD Symptoms, Depression, and Functional Impairment: A Cross-Lagged Longitudinal Study
>
> Authors:
> Levin, A; Besser, A; Albert, L; Smith, D; Neria, Y
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (6):538-547; DEC 2012
>
> Abstract:
> To date, few studies have examined mental health consequences among
> attorneys exposed to clients' traumatic experiences. A longitudinal,
> 2-wave, cross-lagged study was used in a cohort of attorneys (N = 107)
> from the Wisconsin State Public Defender's Office. We assessed changes
> in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and functional
> impairment over a 10-month period and tested the effects of intensity of
> contact with trauma-exposed clients on symptom levels over time.
> Attorneys demonstrated strong and significant symptom stability over
> time in PTSD, depression, functional impairment, and levels of exposure.
> Analyses involving cross-lagged panel correlation structural equation
> modeling path models revealed that attorneys' levels of exposure to
> trauma-exposed clients had significant positive effects, over time, on
> PTSD, depression, and functional impairment. Gender, age, years on the
> job, and office size did not predict any of the outcomes. Level of
> exposure to trauma-exposed clients predicted reduction of weekly working
> hours over time, but there was no reciprocal relationship between PTSD,
> depression, and functional impairment and level of exposure over time.
> These findings underscore the central role of exposure to trauma-exposed
> clients in predicting mental health outcomes and emphasize the need to
> support attorneys by managing the intensity of exposure as well as
> addressing emerging symptoms.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 548-554 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314275300010
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Innumeracy and Unpacking: Bridging the Nomothetic/Idiographic Divide in Violence Risk Assessment
>
> Authors:
> Scurich, N; Monahan, J; John, RS
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (6):548-554; DEC 2012
>
> Abstract:
> Structured methods to assess violence risk have proliferated in recent
> years, but such methods are not uncontroversial. A "core controversy"
> concerns the extent to which an actuarial risk estimate derived at the
> group level should-morally, logically, or mathematically-apply to any
> particular individual within the group. This study examines the related
> psychological question: When do people apply group-level risk estimates
> to the individual case? We manipulated whether an actuarial risk
> estimate is "unpacked;" that is, whether the risk factors on which the
> estimate is based are articulated. Our findings indicate that the degree
> of unpacking (e. g., listing six vs. three risk factors) increased the
> likelihood that jury-eligible citizens will apply an actuarial risk
> estimate in their decision to civilly commit a particular respondent.
> Unpacking also increased the perceived relevance of the group-level risk
> estimate to the individual case. We then split the sample based on
> self-reported numeracy, defined as " ability with or knowledge of
> numbers." Numeracy moderates the unpacking effect in that unpacking only
> made a difference for the innumerate participants. The psychological
> approach we take to the question of group-to-individual inference is not
> limited to violence-risk assessment, and may apply to many other areas
> of law in which group-to-individual inferences are frequently, if
> controversially, made.
>
> ========================================================================
>
>
> *Pages: 555-565 (Article)
> *View Full Record: http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=CCC&DestLinkType=FullRecord;KeyUT=CCC:000314275300011
> *Order Full Text [ ]
>
> Title:
> Failure-to-Register Laws and Public Safety: An Examination of Risk Factors and Sex Offense Recidivism
>
> Authors:
> Levenson, JS; Sandler, JC; Freeman, NJ
>
> Source:
> *LAW AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR*, 36 (6):555-565; DEC 2012
>
> Abstract:
> The goals of this study were to describe the characteristics of a sample
> of sex offenders charged with failure to register (FTR) in New York
> State, compare the FTR and non-FTR groups on relevant risk factors,
> identify risk factors associated with failing to register, and
> investigate the relationship between registration noncompliance and both
> general and sexual rearrest. FTR offenders were found to be younger,
> more likely to be a minority race, and have more extensive and varied
> prior criminal histories as well as a record of supervision violations.
> Results also indicated that FTR was more strongly correlated with
> nonsexual recidivism (r = .44) than sexual recidivism (r = .09). FTR
> contributed to the likelihood of sexual recidivism for rapists of adult
> victims, but not for sex offenders with child victims, and occurred in
> combination with a history of prior sexual crimes and versatility in
> criminal offending.
>

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

11th Circuit Grants Stay of Execution for Warren Hill

 

Warren Hill granted stay of execution

US federal appeals court for the 11th circuit spares prisoner from death chamber to consider issue of his intellectual disabilities

Warren Hill
Warren Hill, 53, has been granted a stay of execution from the federal appeals court for the 11th circuit. Photograph: Ho/AFP/Getty Images

Warren Hill, an intellectually disabled prisoner, has been spared the death chamber just 30 minutes before he was due to die by lethal injection in Georgia despite a US supreme court ban on executions of people with learning difficulties.


Hill, 53, had already taken an oral sedative of Ativan to help calm himself for the gurney before he learned of the stay of execution from the federal appeals court for the 11th circuit. The court agreed to consider the issue of his intellectual disabilities in the light of a 2002 US supreme court ruling that prohibits executions of "mentally retarded" prisoners as a breach of the constitutional safeguard against cruel and unusual punishment.

Georgia is the only state in the union that insists prisoners must prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that they have learning difficulties – a standard that experts say is almost impossible to achieve.

Hill had been scheduled to be executed at 7pm at the same prison where Troy Davis was put to death in September 2011 amid massive international outcry. Davis's death, despite substantial evidence of his innocence, prompted dramatic scenes at the prison where hundreds of protesters were confronted by armed Swat police armed with a police helicopter flying overhead.

Hill's scheduled execution attracted a comparatively small response, with few protesters and campaigners present in the prison grounds as the appointed hour approached. This was the second time in seven months that Hill has come close to the death chamber: last July he was spared by just 90 minutes and the experience was repeated on Tuesday night with just 30 minutes to go.

Behind the scenes, last-ditch efforts to stave off the sentence have now mostly been exhausted. Former president Jimmy Carter repeated his appeal for a postponement, saying that "Georgia should not violate its own prohibition against executing individuals with seriously diminished capacity."

The European Union also made formal protests through the British and Irish consulates in Atlanta focusing on Hill's disabilities. "This case has raised attention around the world, with particular concern around Mr Hill's intellectual disability, said Annabelle Malins, the British consul general.

In the end, two courts stepped in to stop the execution. While the 11th circuit of the federal courts wanted to take a look at the issue of Hill's intellectual disabilities, the Georgia appeal court also wanted to stave off the death penalty to give it time to consider the process that would have been used to kill the prisoner.

Hill's attorney, Brian Kammer, issued a statement after the stay: "All the doctors who have examined Mr. Hill are unanimous in their diagnosis of mental retardation, so there is no question that his execution would have been in violation of the US supreme court's 2002 ruling in Atkins v Virginia."

"The state of Georgia remains an extreme outlier in requiring that defendants prove they have mental retardation 'beyond a reasonable doubt'. This is the strictest standard in any jurisdiction in the nation. Even Warren Hill, a man with an IQ of 70 who is diagnosed as mentally retarded by every doctor who has examined him, found it impossible to meet this standard of proof."


Since last July the state has opted to use just one massive dose of the sedative pentobarbital as its lethal injection, instead of a cocktail of three different drugs. The triple injection had become problematic because Georgia was running out of the drugs in question.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Vol. 29, Issue 1 - New Issue Alert



Monday, February 11

Dear Valued Customer,
We are pleased to deliver your requested table of contents alert for Journal of Quantitative Criminology. Volume 29 Number 1 is now available on SpringerLink.

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In this issue:
Editorial
Introduction
Daniel Nagin
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Original Paper
What Do Panel Studies Tell Us About a Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment? A Critique of the Literature
Aaron Chalfin, Amelia M. Haviland & Steven Raphael
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Original Paper
Pitfalls in the Use of Time Series Methods to Study Deterrence and Capital Punishment
Kerwin Kofi Charles & Steven N. Durlauf
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Original Paper
Sanctions, Perceptions, and Crime: Implications for Criminal Deterrence
Robert Apel
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Original Paper
Capital Punishment and Deterrence: Understanding Disparate Results
Steven N. Durlauf, Chao Fu & Salvador Navarro
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Original Paper
Deterrence and the Death Penalty: Partial Identification Analysis Using Repeated Cross Sections
Charles F. Manski & John V. Pepper