Competence to Stand Trial: A Neuropsychological Inquiry

Law and Human Behavior - How might the deconstruction of the legal theory of competence be related to modern neuropsychological models of cognition? To address this question, we examined...     

Call For Papers: Legal Issues Involving Children and Families

Law and Human Behavior -     

The relationship between psychosocial maturity and assertiveness in males and females

The relationship between psychosocial maturity (psychological health) and assertiveness was investigated in a sample of United States college males and females. Results revealed a moderately high positive relationship between psychosocial maturity (PSM) and self-reported assertiveness on the Rathus and Galassi scales for both sexes. This relationship was slightly stronger (in terms of variance accounted for) for males than females, significant differences being obtained for Intimacy on the Rathus scale and PSM and Intimacy on the Galassi scale. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the personality components most consistently accounting for major portions of the variance in predicting male assertiveness scores on both the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule and the College Self-Expression Scale were Intimacy and Initiative, while in predicting female assertiveness, only Initiative was involved. The findings were related to previous research, recent work on the androgyny construct (instrumental vs. expressive behaviors), and exhortations for increased cooperation between schools of psychotherapy to establish it as a more unified discipline.Received his Ph.D. from Syracuse University in 1971. He has also been a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Clinical-Community Psychology at the University of South Carolina and a Clinical Psychologist at the Behavioral Medicine Unit of St. Joseph's Hospital- McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Current research interests include personality moderators of social cognition and self-concept theory.Received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Northern Illinois University in 1972. Current research interests include personality moderators of social cognition and behavior change, and psychological assessment.     

The social,behavioral, and health effects of phencyclidine (PCP) use

This study examined the perceived social, behavioral, and health effects of phencyclidine (PCP) use among a sample of 200 users in northern California. The study population, generated through snowball sampling techniques, included heavy chronic, light chronic, and recreational users; the vast majority of subjects were not in treatment facilities. Subjects reported that PCP use—particularly long-term, extensive use—resulted in frequent disruption of education and employment, impairment of relationships with parents and with lovers or spouses, involvement with the criminal justice system, and deterioration of physical and mental health. These findings provide systematic documentation of the extent to which problems previously associated with PCP use occurred among this population of users. In addition, the results illustrate the importance of examining the effects of PCP use in light of the psychosocial developmental processes of adolescence and early adulthood.This research was supported by Research Grant No. DA02293 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.Received M.S. in psychology from California State University, Hayward.Received Ph.D. from University of Iowa.     

Review essay / the scope and limits of police ethics

John Kleinig, The Ethics of Policing Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. viii + 335pp.