Probation Officers’ Perceptions of Supervising Probationers with Mental Illness in Rural and Urban Settings

As part of a larger study of probation workload and workforce challenges in one southeastern state, this study reports the results from a statewide survey of probation officers’ experiences supervising probationers with mental illness. A total of 615 officers responded to closed- and open-ended questions about the challenges and barriers to supervising offenders with mental illness, and the responses of officers from rural versus urban settings were compared. Officers reported that probationers with mental illness are difficult to supervise and supervision challenges are exacerbated by a scarcity of mental health and substance abuse treatment resources, limited social support, and a lack of employment opportunities for this population of probationers. Officers report unique and similar challenges across rural and urban settings. This study contributes to our understanding of the challenges of supervising probationers with mental illness and informs practice, policy and research at the interface of the criminal justice and mental health systems.     

The effects of tenure on police officer personality functioning

The study compared pre-employment and current MMPI/MMPI-2 Basic Scale scores of small- and mid-size city Texas municipal police officers to assess longitudinal personality change. Participants had at least five years continuous, “street level” police experience. Twenty-three veteran police officers from a mid-size city and 19 small-city police officers volunteered to participate. Pre-employment MMPI/MMPI-2 information was obtained from police department records. Current MMPI-2 data was collected in small group or individual administrations. Significant increases in K-corrected T-Scores occurred on Scale F and eight of the Basic Scales; L and K decreased significantly. Mean scores remained within the normal range. Mid-size city officers produced higher K and 5 scores than small-city officers. Authors' Note: We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Rick Bradstreet, Ph.D., and E. S. Collins, Chief of Police, in the data collection process. The results of this study were presented at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Society in Denver, Colorado, in June 1999.     

Framing morality policy issues: state legislative debates on abortion restrictions

Policy Sciences - Scholars of “morality policies” have often assumed a signature characteristic of such policies is that advocates will frame them as clashes between fundamental moral...     

The Dud Effect: Adding Highly Dissimilar Fillers Increases Confidence in Lineup Identifications

Recent research in decision-making has demonstrated the “dud-alternative effect”—the tendency to become more confident that a chosen response option is correct if it is surrounded by implausible response options (Windschitl & Chambers, J Exp Psychol 30:198–215, 2004). This finding may be applicable to a lineup task: The presence of duds (i.e., highly dissimilar fillers) may increase a witness’s confidence that an identified (non-dud) lineup member is the criminal. Four studies (N = 665) demonstrate that the mere presence of highly dissimilar fillers inflates witnesses’ confidence in a mistaken identification (Studies 1–4), provides evidence that this confidence inflation is due to the duds inflating the perceived similarity of the other lineup members to the criminal (Studies 2, 3), and delineates some conditions under which the effect holds (Studies 3, 4). The addition of highly dissimilar lineup members, far from being inert, as is often implicitly assumed, can bias witnesses’ confidence reports.     

Regulating the Influence Game in Australia

In this research note we describe the introduction and evolution of Australia's approach to regulating lobbyists. We examine how the lobbying regulations in place across Australia today compare with each other, as well as with lobbying regulations in some other countries around the world. The regulations in each Australian jurisdiction are classified according to their characteristics, providing insights into their commonalities and differences.