ISSN:1355-3259    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8333.1996.tb00303.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Increased involvement of psychologists with legal processes and products has resulted in an indiscriminate use of the term ‘forensic psychology’. It is argued that forensic psychology denotes the provision of psychological information to facilitate legal decisions rather than a particular form of psychological knowledge or skill. This is a specialized function that can be exercised by any psychologist with expertise appropriate to a legal question and goes beyond clinical or criminal issues. It is also an activity undertaken for the agents of law. Stricter delineation of forensic psychology is needed to clarify the professional and ethical obligations of psychologists who offer services in legal contexts and to avoid misleading consum

ISSN:1355-3259    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8333.1996.tb00304.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Narrative has become an important paradigm in both psychology and semiotics (Section 1). Three applications of narrative theory to fact finding in criminal cases—Bennett&Feldman (1981), Jackson (1988a, derived from the semiotics of Greimas), Wagenaar (1995; Wagenaar, van Koppen&Crombag, 1993)—are here compared in terms of their conceptions of narrative, application to the courtroom process itself, and epistemological assumptions (Sections 2–4). A recent English case, regarded by some as a miscarriage of justice, is used as a case study to illustrate different approaches from psychology and semiotics (Section 5). The Conclusion (Section 6) considers the potential ‘remediability’ of the courtroom search for truth implied by these various approaches, and the implications of this analysis for the interdisciplinary study of witness testimony and jury research in the ‘normal’ case (where there is no suggestion of miscarriag

ISSN:1355-3259    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8333.1996.tb00305.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, 411 London males from 397 families of origin have been followed up from age eight to age 32 by interviews, and from age 10 to age 40 in records. This paper relates convictions of these males to convictions of their biological fathers and mothers, full brothers and sisters, and wives. Overall, 601 out of 2203 birth family members were convicted (1.5 convicted persons on average out of 5.5 persons per family). While 64 per cent of the families contained at least one convicted person, only 6 per cent of the families accounted for half of all the convictions. Convictions of one family member were strongly related to convictions of every other family member. In both generations, the majority of convicted mothers mated with convicted fathers. About three‐quarters of convicted fathers and convicted mothers had a convicted child, and about three‐quarters of families containing convicted daughters also contained convicted sons. Same‐sex relationships within generations and between generations were stronger than opposite‐sex relationships. Convictions of older siblings were more strongly related to convictions of the Study male than were convictions of younger siblings. Convictions of each family member were independendy related to convictions of the Study male. Very little of the association between convictions of family members was attributable to co‐offending. It is concluded that offending is strongly concentrated in families and tends to be transmitted from one generation to the next; however, this research does not establish the precise mechanism of transmission (genetic or envir

ISSN:1355-3259    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8333.1996.tb00306.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The Prison Behaviour Rating Scales were developed to measure three forms of disturbed behaviour, namely, anti‐authority, anxious‐depressed and dull‐confused. Prison officers rated 220 adult male prisoners on these dimensions and offences against prison discipline in the subsequent six months were recorded. The anti‐authority scale showed utility as a predictor of those who offended and those who did not offend. The combination of the anti‐authority and dull‐confused scales improved prediction. The relative value of a range of predictive statistics is discussed, it is concluded that the misuse of the variance explained statistic can lead to undue pessimism regarding the utility of psychometric

ISSN:1355-3259    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8333.1996.tb00307.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The Edinburgh Prison (Scodand) Drug Reduction Programme was evaluated to assess its impact on clients' drug‐using behaviour during their current prison sentence. Thirty drug users who were being prescribed as part of the Drug Reduction Programme (DRP) and who had completed the programme's educational and groupwork sessions were compared with 30 drug users who had not. Participants were interviewed approximately a month after either completing the programme (intervention group) or after being admitted to prison (control group). A smaller sample of participants drawn from both groups were interviewed again within two weeks of their release from prison. The intervention group had used a significantly lower number of drugs during their current sentence than had the control group, and was less likely to have used cannabis, dihydrocodeine, buprenorphine, temazepam, diazepam, and LSD, or to have used these drugs less frequently and in smaller amounts. When compared with other independent variables, not completing the Drug Reduction Programme was found to be the sole predictor of using cannabis more often and in greater amounts; of being more likely to have used dihydrocodeine and to have used it more often and in greater amounts; of being more likely to have used buprenorphine and diazepam, and a co‐predictor of having used a higher number of drugs and of using diazepam more often. Other independent variables which were co‐ or sole predictors of drug use at the time of the first interview were all related to previous drug use. The previous drug use of DRP clients and the control group was broadly comparable, indicating that completing the DRP is associated with reducing the reinstatement of previous behaviour. Prior to release, the differences in drug use between DRP clients and the control group had largely been maintained, and not completing the programme was still a co‐predictor of having used a higher number of drugs. The Edinburgh Prison Drug Reduction Programme provides a model which could be adopted by other prisons. This follows the principle argued for by the WHO of providing health care in prison comparable to that available in the community, and also enables the development of prison‐based drug services which can have a beneficial effect on client's drug‐usin

ISSN:1355-3259    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8333.1996.tb00308.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

A treatment component aimed at enhancing empathy among child molesters is described and evaluated using a victim‐specific measure of empathy. Twenty‐nine non‐familial child molesters were assessed prior to and immediately after this treatment component. The results revealed a significant improvement in the offenders' scores on the measure of their empathy toward their own victims and in their reports of their own feelings of distress concerning victims of child abuse in ge

ISSN:1355-3259    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8333.1996.tb00309.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This study explored the development of children's understanding of telling the truth in court. Ninety‐six children, from 7 to 13 years of age, were presented individually with hypothetical vignettes in which a child had witnessed, or had been involved with a crime and was required to give testimony in court. The vignettes varied in terms of type of crime, whether the child character in the vignette had sworn or promised to tell the truth in court, and type of external influence pressuring the child to withhold the truth in court. Children were interviewed on what the child in the story should say in court and why. Based on the findings a four‐level scale was developed to describe children's understanding of telling the truth in court: level 0 (irrelevant or no response), level 1 (concern with negative consequences to self), level 2 (concern with exhibiting good qualities and behaviour), and level 3 (concern with the laws of society). Younger children were more likely to perceive giving truthful testimony in court as a way to avoid punitive consequences, while older children were more concerned with upholding the laws and rules of society. The findings are discussed in terms of age‐related considerations and applied implications for the legal system with regard to the assessment of competency examinations for child witn

ISSN:1355-3259    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8333.1996.tb00310.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Three studies investigated the effect of the amount of detail in a statement on the impact of that statement on participants' judgements of someone's guilt. When the honesty of the person making the statement was not an issue, over a broad range, more details increased impact. However, when there was some possibility that the person was lying, maximum impact was produced by an intermediate level of detail. It is suggested that similar effects may occur with other factors that ordinarily increase acceptance of a statement.

ISSN:1355-3259    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8333.1996.tb00311.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In the present paper, the author discusses 450 forensic cases on which he has worked between 1980 and 1992. Of these 420 (93 per cent) were criminal cases. Murder (33 per cent) and sexual offences (25 per cent) were the most common offences. The civil cases were mainly concerned with compensation, due to alleged post‐traumatic stress disorder or head injury. Although the author has worked on a large number of different types of problems and issues, 60 per cent of the criminal cases involved disputed confessions. The author testified in court in 89 (20 per cent) of the 450 cases, with 33 of the cases being heard at the Old Bailey. The author concludes that in recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the demand for psychological services, particularly in the cases of disputed confessions and post‐traumatic stress disorder which are highly specialized areas of court work. At present there appears to be an insufficient number of psychologists in England with the necessary experience and expertise to cope with the increased dem

ISSN:1355-3259    

DOI:10.1111/j.2044-8333.1996.tb00312.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY