“[It's] what you do after the mistake that counts”: Positive employment credentials,criminal record stigma,and potential pathways of mediation

The findings from prior research indicate that positive credentials, or documentation of prosocial accomplishments, can vary in strength and perceived value in mitigating aversions to hiring individuals with criminal records. In the current study, we examine why certain types of positive credentials may be more influential in reducing stigma than others. Using data from a nationwide survey of American adults (N = 3,476), we combine a mediation analysis with content-coding of open-ended responses to identify key themes and patterns in decision processes. The results indicate the factors examined here—employee dependability, trustworthiness, recidivism risk, and workplace crime—explain a large proportion of the total effect across credentials and are the strongest for reference letters. Trustworthiness is the most influential mediator across credentials, whereas general recidivism risk is consistently the lowest. An analysis of open-ended responses provides further context and insight into these patterns. Although policy strategies often target risk reduction on the employer's end, credentials that also relay information about skills, character, and the timeline of recent life events are especially influential.     

Colleen Jollie,State Tribal Liaison: A Story of Transformational Change

Colleen Jollie, the state tribal liaison at the Washington State Department of Transportation, practices a form of transformational public administration that, at its heart, reflects a Coyote or “trickster” style of management. In indigenous stories across the world, the trickster uses his or her wiles to disrupt, refuse, and dismantle ways that are not working in order to creatively, and sometimes chaotically, build new ways. Jollie’s work as lead tribal liaison has transformed the agency, the tribes, and the relationships between tribes and the agency, creating a culture of cooperation across significant differences and honoring the transformational energy required to cooperate across difference. Like the Coyote, who does what needs to be done through many means, but mostly through thoughtful effort, Jollie works to create change that serves both the state and the tribes. As this profile indicates, the work isn’t always easy and the outcomes don’t always spell success, but the work is necessary for tribes and state governments to forge the kinds of relationships imagined in treaties and in other agreements between sovereign governments.     

A Two Decade Examination of Historical Race/Ethnicity Disparities in Academic Achievement by Poverty Status

Research on achievement gaps by race/ethnicity and poverty status typically focuses on each gap separately, and recent syntheses suggest the poverty gap is growing while racial/ethnic gaps are narrowing. In this study, we used time-varying effect modeling to examine the interaction of race/ethnicity and poverty gaps in math and reading achievement from 1986–2005 for poor and non-poor White, Black, and Hispanic students in three age groups (5–6, 9–10, and 13–14). We found that across this twenty-year period, the gaps between poor White students and their poor Black and Hispanic peers grew, while the gap between non-poor Whites and Hispanics narrowed. We conclude that understanding the nature of achievement gaps requires simultaneous examination of race/ethnicity and income.     

Protecting the Continuing Duties of Loyalty and Confidentiality in Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claims

The success or failure of an ineffective assistance of counsel claim turns largely on the testimony of trial counsel. It is therefore common for the government to communicate ex parte with trial counsel in order to formulate its response to such a claim. But even after the representation has ended, trial counsel continues to be bound by duties of loyalty and confidentiality to their former client, as well as the attorney-client privilege, subject to a limited waiver relative to information that is reasonably necessary to respond to the ineffectiveness claim. Because of their interests in the litigation, however, neither trial counsel nor the government is positioned to objectively decide what information is covered by that waiver. In order to ensure that trial counsel respects their ethical duties to their former client and to protect the sanctity of the attorney-client relationship, post-conviction courts should prohibit trial counsel from communicating ex parte with the government. These courts should instead require that all such communications take place on the record—ideally at a deposition, but alternatively through affidavits.     

Stay With or Leave the Abuser? The Effects of Domestic Violence Victim’s Decision on Attributions Made by Young Adults

While negative attributions are often made toward female victims of domestic violence, studies have not explored whether attributions shift contingent upon whether women stay with or leave abusive husbands. Further, no studies investigated whether negative attributions decrease if the participants receive information about the prevalence of domestic violence or the risks inherent in leaving an abuser. Therefore, two studies were designed that investigated attributions made by young adults when women either stay with or leave an abusive husband and whether educating the participants about prevalence of domestic violence and risks of leaving mitigate negative judgments. In both studies, young adults responded to surveys assessing attributions toward a female heterosexual victim of domestic violence. Results indicated that participants made more positive attributions about her personality characteristics and parenting ability if a woman left the relationship. Informing students beforehand about potential risks of leaving and personal experience with domestic violence did not erase this effect, but interactions mitigated some of the effects. Results suggest that educating young adults about risks of violence while useful, is not sufficient to change blaming attitudes. Educators may instead need to challenge the attribution process. Further research involving attributions toward gay and lesbian victims of domestic violence is suggested.     

Caught in the Act: States Doing Some Things Right in Juvenile Justice

Bashing of juvenile justice systems in the United States is commonplace. We wondered if this is justified. As a product of our everyday practice and academic assessment, this article draws attention to salutary developments on several fronts, including reduced confinement, systematic assessment of child risks and needs, including use of structured decision‐making tools, evidence based services, and construction of comprehensive service plans. Our goal is to draw attention to best practices such as these that can lead to further advancements in juvenile justice systems.     

Defendant and Victim Sex,Sexism, and Decision Making in an Ambiguous Assault Case

The aim of the present study was to better understand how the sex of a defendant and of a victim in an ambiguous assault case impact juror verdicts and perceptions of the defendant. Juror sexist attitudes and the impact of these beliefs on decision making were also investigated. Mock jurors completed a measure of sexist attitudes and read a brief summary of an assault case in which the sexes of the defendant and victim were manipulated. Participants then rendered a verdict and provided sentencing recommendations. Mock jurors recommended the harshest sentence for the male defendant who assaulted a female victim. However, the female defendant, regardless of victim sex, was perceived as more psychopathic. Results are discussed in terms of the selective chivalry theory of sexism.