Lifetime Abuse, Mental Health, and African American Women

This study examined the relationship between lifetime abuse and mental health among 126 African American women and 365 White women from a primary health care setting who participated in a telephone interview as part of a larger study. Seven types of childhood and adult intimate partner abuse were measured. Consistent with hypotheses, (1) lifetime abuse was associated with elevated levels of anxiety and depression, and (2) women who experienced childhood abuse were more likely to report adult partner abuse. African American and White women showed more similarities than differences in the associations between most abuse experiences and depression and anxiety, as well as types of childhood abuse. African American abused women reported more excessive jealousy by partners. Nonabused African American women reported higher levels of depression and anxiety than their White counterparts. Results are interpreted and discussed taking into account relevant social and cultural factors.     

The lack of experimental research in criminology—evidence from Criminology and Justice Quarterly

Journal of Experimental Criminology - Despite experiments being termed the “gold standard,” criminology has been slow to adopt experimentation as a methodology. The goal of this...     

Attitudes and beliefs about domestic violence: results of a public opinion survey: I. Definitions of domestic violence, criminal domestic violence, and prevalence

This study reports analyses and findings from a public opinion survey designed to explore beliefs about domestic violence (DV)-what it is, when it is against the law, and how prevalent it is. The project interviewed 1,200 residents from six New York communities. The analyses reveal substantial firsthand and secondhand experience with DV and strong consensus that acts of physical aggression should be labeled as DV, but substantially less certainty about the illegality of the abusive behaviors. Overall, the respondents were less inclined to define women's aggressive behavior in pejorative or unlawful terms than men's. Respondents believed that DV was common in their communities, and that it affected a significant minority of couples. Multivariate analyses provide little support for conventional wisdom about the impact of socioeconomic background on tolerance for or knowledge about DV, although gender, generation, and secondhand familiarity with DV incidents play a role in opinions and beliefs.     

Judicial Narratives of Ideal and Deviant Victims in Judges’ Capital Sentencing Decisions

Although the Victim’s Rights Movement has led to advances for victims of crime, the use of victim impact evidence in criminal trials remains controversial due to the suspicion that such evidence enhances punitive attitudes and arbitrariness in capital sentencing outcomes. Despite a growing body of literature in this area, it remains unclear if some victims are viewed more favorably than others, particularly from the perspective of judges. The current study examines the construction of victims by judges in capital cases and how this portrayal impacts sentencing outcomes in Delaware, which vests the final capital sentencing authority in judges rather than juries. In examining this gap in the literature, we consider if judges make distinctions between ideal and deviant victims, if these distinctions are associated with victim and offender characteristics, and if the construction of victims impacts offender sentencing. Findings from this study lend support to the idea that judges describe some victims as more “worthy” than others, that victims described in ideal ways are more likely to be white and female, and that “ideal victims” are more likely to result in death sentences.     

Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation Predict Different Moral Signatures

Moral Foundations Theory posits five distinct foundations of morality: Harm/Care, Fairness/Reciprocity, In-group/Loyalty, Authority/Respect, and Purity/Sanctity. In combination, this should yield between four-to-six moral signatures—distinct combinations or patterns of support for these aspects of morality. We extend previous research by examining the replicability of these moral signatures in a New Zealand-based national sample (n = 3,635). Latent Profile Analysis identified four distinct moral signatures: Individuators, Moderates, Neutrals, and High Moralists. We integrate these moral signatures within the Dual Process Model (DPM) framework and show that Social Dominance Orientation predicts membership in the Neutral moral signature (moderate/lukewarm support for multiple moral foundations); whereas Right-Wing Authoritarianism predicts membership in the High Moralist signature (undifferentiated high support across moral foundations). These findings were observed controlling for Big-Six personality and various demographics. Thus, the authoritarian and dominance-based motives identified by the DPM independently predict categorical differences in the signatures people use to judge morality.