Age trends in eye-witness suggestibility and compliance

Abstract

This paper addresses two issues: whether there is a developmental trend in suggestibility to misleading post-event information, and whether suggestibility can be reduced by use of part of the cognitive interview. Twenty participants from each of three age groups (four-to-five year olds, eight-to-nine year olds and adults) watched a filmed event, and half of the participants in each age group were subsequently asked to recall everything they had seen using a method derived from the cognitive interview procedure. Following this, all participants were asked questions about the filmed event, some of which incorporated misleading information. Twenty four hours later the witnesses were interviewed again, this time critical questions were included about the truth of the presuppositions introduced in the initial questionnaire. It was found that although the eight-to-nine year olds were more suggestible than adults, the apparent greater suggestibility of very young children (four-to-five years) could potentially be explained in terms of heightened compliance to the perceived demands of the interviewer. The 'be complete' part of the cognitive interview only produced an improvement in performance for the eight-to-nine year olds.     

Those Who Hesitate are Lost: The Case for Setting Behavioral Health Treatment and Disability Standards, Part II

In the first article of this three-part series, an overview of systematic problems related to behavioral health (BH) treatment and disability was discussed. In this second article of the series, I discuss a number of factors that contribute to the lack of standardization regarding the work of all professionals in the area, including those in the BH field, which serve to introduce imprecision into the BH treatment and disability determination processes. From how professionals are trained and continuing to those who are providing clinical treatment, it is essential to understand how the lack of standardization impacts the treatment itself as well as treatment outcomes. This lack of standardization contributes to poorly identified mental health (MH) conditions, no identification of psychosocial issues, and an overreliance on subjective information, including professional clinical opinion, which leads to poorly defensible professional decision-making as well as poorer outcomes in treatment. In this litigious age, it is not sufficient to employ clinical opinion alone as the basis for treatment decisions. The more sophisticated professional recognizes the importance that one's assessment and treatment decisions may later be questioned in court or in a disability determination hearing. The importance of standardization and utilizing the current scientific standards has become imperative in today's professional evaluation and treatment in the area.     

Mapping design activities and methods of public sector innovation units through the policy cycle model

Policy Sciences - Over the last two decades, the design practice has been expanding to the public sphere to generate solutions for public challenges. In particular, the reflections on the design...     

The prevalence and nature of violent offending by females

The purpose of the current study was to examine the nature and prevalence of violent offending by females. Using National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data from 1998, this study examined the relationship between cooffending and type of offense as well as the type of weapon(s) used during violent incidents and the race of the perpetrators. The findings suggest that females are more likely to be involved in aggravated assaults compared with robberies and murder or nonnegligent manslaughter. This is particularly true for females who commit their violent crimes alone. When females cooffend with other females or males, however, they are more likely to commit robberies. Overall females are more likely to be involved in violent incidents where either personal weapons or knives are used. When females cooffend with males, however, more likely to be involved in incidents with guns. Finally, the current study found that Black females were more likely to commit violent offenses with other females, whereas White females were more likely to commit violent offenses with males.     

Crime Generators in Context: Examining ‘Place in Neighborhood’ Propositions

Journal of Quantitative Criminology - The present study tests hypotheses regarding the moderating influence of neighborhood-level criminal opportunity on the relationship between crime generators...     

Living Together Unmarried in the United States: Demographic Perspectives and Implications for Family Policy

This paper synthesizes research on the demographic correlates and consequences of unmarried, heterosexual cohabitation in the United States. First, we place cohabitation in the context of recent demographic trends in union formation and dissolution. Second, we consider the implications of cohabitation for child well-being. Third, we review population subgroup variation in the role of cohabitation in family patterns, focusing on social class and race and ethnicity. Finally, we discuss how and why unmarried cohabitation is implicated in recent dialogues about family policy.