Due Process and the Death Penalty: The Role of Prosecutorial Misconduct in Closing Argument in Capital Trials

Prosecutorial misconduct in closing argument during the penalty phase of capital trials can be defined as any disparaging or prejudicial statements calculated to influence the jury to consider improper factors in determining life in prison or the death penalty (Gaskill, 1991, p. 13). Improper statements made by the prosecutor during closing argument may jeopardize a defendant's right to a fair trial. While acknowledging such statements as misconduct, courts sometimes permit them on the theory that the presence of improper statements in closing argument would not change the juries' verdicts and therefore are not fundamentally unfair (Chapman v. California, 1967). The present study examined whether improper statements made by the prosecutor in closing argument during the penalty phase of a capital trial would result in more death penalty recommendations. Three hundred and twenty jury-eligible individuals viewed a videotape based on the penalty phase of an actual capital trial (Brooks v. State, 1977). Individuals exposed to improper statements made by the prosecutor in closing argument recommended the death penalty significantly more often than those not exposed to the statements.     

Toward the development of an objective assessment of ego-identity status

Four investigations were completed to develop a self-report measure of ego-identity status. Following James Marcia's definition of diffusion, moratorium, foreclosure, and identity achievement status, a series of Likert-type items were constructed and validated for use in the study of ego-identity formation. Convergent-divergent, concurrent, and predictive validity and test-retest reliability are documented in the reported data. Cross-sectional data suggest the measure will be sensitive to intraindividual change in identity formation. The new Objective Measure of Ego-Identity Status allows researchers to use either a typology or a distribution of stage responses in future longitudinal investigations.This research was supported by a Division of Research Grant at Utah State University.Received his Ph.D. in human development from the Pennsylvania State University. Current research interests include adolescent personality and social development, interpersonal attraction, and family relations.Received her M.S. from Utah State University and is currently a doctoral student at Pennsylvania State University.Received his B.S. from Utah State University and is currently a graduate student at that institution.     

The Australian Cross-border Justice Scheme: an evaluation of a unique policing experiment

Abstract

Spanning the three jurisdictions of Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, the central Australian cross-border region is sparsely populated, with an estimated 7000 people living in some 26 communities. In 2009 a new initiative was introduced to the region – the Cross-border Justice Scheme. Its creation was driven primarily by a need to deliver a more people-centred system. The new arrangements were designed to promote high quality trans-jurisdictional practice by all key criminal justice institutions, namely police, prosecutions, courts and corrections, but especially police. This paper looks at the impetus of the Scheme from its political roots. It describes its implementation, and the evaluative process completed in 2013. Finally, it takes readers through the pivotal role played by police services, both in changing the environment in which the Scheme operated and in contributing to some positive but limited changes in cross-jurisdictional co-operation     

Assessment of Stress and Resiliency in Emergency Dispatchers

Although they are technically the first responders on most critical incidents, emergency dispatchers have received a modicum of attention from researchers and clinicians. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate job-related stress, psychological distress, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), stress resiliency, and posttraumatic growth in this high-risk group. These areas were evaluated via an assessment battery administered to 90 emergency dispatchers working in a law enforcement agency. Results showed that dispatchers experienced an average amount of occupational stress, with 24% of the current sample reporting significant job stress. Between 13.34 and 15.56% reported symptoms consistent with a PTSD diagnosis, and 16.67% indicated sub-threshold PTSD symptomatology. The findings revealed that, overall, dispatchers experience occupational stress, psychological distress, and sub-threshold PTSD at similar or higher rates compared to police officers. Further, dispatchers reported posttraumatic growth at an average rate, also similar to that reported by police officers. Clinical implications of the results are discussed. Suggestions for directions that future research might take are offered.     

The relationship between domestic violence and animal abuse: an Australian study

Several North American studies have found a connection between domestic violence and animal abuse. This article reports on the first Australian research to examine this connection. A group of 102 women recruited through 24 domestic violence services in the state of Victoria and a nondomestic violence comparison group (102 women) recruited from the community took part in the study. Significantly higher rates of partner pet abuse, partner threats of pet abuse, and pet abuse by other family members were found in the violent families compared with the nondomestic violence group. As hypothesized, children from the violent families were reported by their mothers to have witnessed and committed significantly more animal abuse than children from the nonviolent families. Logistic regression analyses revealed, for the group as a whole, that a woman whose partner had threatened the pets was 5 times more likely to belong to the intimate partner violence group.     

Rationalizing pay inequity: women engineers,pervasive patriarchy and the neoliberal chimera

This article argues that neoliberalism with its pervasive patriarchy and co-option of feminism, renders women tacitly complicit in gendered pay inequalities. We show that in New Zealand, one of the world’s most neoliberal nations, women who might precisely be best equipped to argue for equal pay – engineers – do not do so because neoliberalism makes many feel responsible for, and accepting of, their lower salaries. In interviews and focus groups, many women engineers talk of deserving less pay than men because of their ‘choices’, their ‘personality’ and their lack of ‘responsibility’. In a disempowering environment, some women show agency by disavowing gender as a reason for the pay gap. Such narratives of individualized shortcomings reduce hope of collective action that might uncover and dismantle the systemic causes of pay inequity, which are not due to a woman’s choice or personality but rather what we frame as the neoliberal chimera.     

Parent-Child Conflict during Elementary School as a Longitudinal Predictor of Sense of Purpose in Emerging Adulthood

Having a sense of purpose is viewed as a benchmark of adaptive development. Though adolescence and emerging adulthood are viewed as central periods for the development of a purpose, work still is needed to understand the childhood factors that influence this developmental process. The current study provides an initial investigation into whether parent-child conflict during elementary school predicts later sense of purpose, assessed during emerging adulthood (mean age: 21.01 years; range: 19.97–23.53). The sample included 1074 students (50% female), and their parents, who both reported on their levels of parent-child conflict during grades 1–5. Higher levels of parent-child conflict were associated with lower levels of purpose in emerging adulthood. Moreover, the study examined whether these effects remained when predicting the variance unique to purpose while accounting for other indicators of well-being in emerging adulthood. Bi-factor models demonstrated that the child’s perception of mother-child conflict has a unique prospective effect on purpose in emerging adulthood, above and beyond its negative association with general well-being. The findings are discussed with respect to how positive parent-child relationships may prove important for starting youth on the path to purpose.

     

Quality of work life among public administration professors

This research report discusses the quality of work life of professors in public administration from a job satisfaction perspective. Nine independent variables are subjected to a bivariate and/or multivariate analysisin assessing their impact on professorial role satisfaction. A major finding is the salience of partici-pation in policy formation in explaining the degree of job satisfaction of public administration professors. The implications of the findings to administrative theory and behavior are discussed.