Ego identity status,ego development,and locus of control in college women

This study examined the relationship of identity status to ego development and locus of control in 75 college women. The identity statuses did not differ significantly in self-reported locus of control, but did differ on the depth measure of ego development. Consistent with identity theory and with previous research with males, identity achievers and moratorium (incrisis) women were more advanced in their ego development than fore-closure and diffusion women.This article is based in part on the doctoral dissertation of Sheila D. Ginsburg, Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy degree, University of Missouri—St. Louis.Received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Missouri—St. Louis. Current research interests include normative and dysfunctional development in children and adolescents.Received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at State University of New York at Buffalo. Research interests include personality and social development of adolescents and young adults.     

Implicit theories of criminal responsibility

Three questions relevant to insanity decisions were examined: (a) What informational cues are weighed most heavily in the attribution of criminal responsibility? (b) How do verdict forms influence these attributions? And (c) How do individuals' beliefs about insanity and responsibility influence decision making? Undergraduate subjects (n=181) responded to vignettes portraying an act by a mentally disordered defendant. Psychiatric jargon was avoided, so that attributions were not a function of diagnostic terminology. It was found that, under the traditional scheme of not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) vs. guilty, level of mental disorder (schizophrenia vs. personality disorder) was the primary determinant of insanity decisions. Also, insanity judgments were more likely to be made for acts performed without planful intentionality. Under the alternative scheme of NGRI vs. guilty but mentally ill (GBMI) vs. guilty, mental disorder still controlled NGRI verdicts; a bizarre act increased the likelihood of a GBMI over a guilty verdict; and the GBMI verdict option reduced markedly the proportion of psychotic defendants found NGRI and the proportion of personality disordered defendants found guilty. There were no significant differences between diagnostic groups in the likelihood of being found GBMI. Most subjects preferred to utilize the GBMI option as a compromise verdict even in the face of very severe mental illness. Attitudinal data revealed considerable variation in agreement with the classic moral logic of the insanity defense and accounted for a significant amount of the variance in insanity decisions. The implications for both social policy and future research are discussed.     

Race-Based Peremptory Challenges: An Empirical Analysis of Litigation from the U.S. Court of Appeals, 2002–2006

This paper examines race-based peremptory challenges. Such challenges occur during the voir dire jury selection process. The process allows both the defense and the prosecution to strike jurors who they believe will not decide cases fairly. However, in the case of Batson v. Kentucky 476 U.S. 79 (1986), the Supreme Court ruled that race could not be used as a factor in eliminating prospective jurors. This paper examines federal litigation for five years in which it was alleged that race was used as a factor in removing a juror. An examination of the cases revealed that most of the cases involved sole male litigants who allege that there were multiple race-based peremptory challenges used in their cases. Moreover, most of the cases that led to the allegations involved violent offenses. Other case characteristics are noted, but of most significance was the finding that most appellants lost their cases. As such, the courts felt that most of the challenges were, in fact, race neutral. The implications of this research are discussed. This study was funded by an undergraduate research grant from Penn State University.     

Is race-based medicine good for us?: African American approaches to race, biomedicine, and equality

This article presents a preliminary framework for exploring the intersection of science and racial politics in the public debate about race-based pharmaceuticals, especially among African Americans. It examines the influence of three political approaches to race consciousness on evaluations of racial medicine and offers an alternative critique.     

Old Assets,New Tricks: Insurance Portfolio Management in the Twenty-First Century

Two decades of rapid acceleration in the pace of merger and acquisition activity on the one hand, and litigation on the other, has led to broad recognition of the value of a company's portfolio of historic insurance assets. This article examines the trends in litigation, insurance industry practice, and mergers and acquisitions that are turning insurance portfolio management into a core component of risk management. It then outlines the new tools and techniques developed to document missing policies and to maintain quick access to the entire insurance portfolio. The return on investment is dramatic. Millions of dollars of coverage will be preserved and at the ready.