Invariance of Measures of Prevention Program Effectiveness: A Replication

Recent literature has suggested that measures of risk and protective factorsfor delinquency and substance use are not equally reliable or valid acrossgender and ethnic groups and has recommended differentiated programming andculturally specific evaluation methods. Three data sets containing up tofive ethnic groups were used to determine the degree to which risk andprotective factors are equally reliable and valid predictors of drug use anddelinquency across gender and ethnic groups. Congeneric measurement modelsand structural equation models were evaluated to determine if the factorstructures for these measures and their covariances with measures of druguse and delinquency were equivalent across gender and ethnic groups. Half ofthe risk and protective factors included in this analysis were found to beequally reliable across gender and ethnic groups. When controlling forreliability differences, all of the risk and protective factors were foundto predict both drug use and delinquncy for all gender and ethnic groups. Interms of the magnitude of these associations, no substantive differenceswere found in the validity of risk and protective factors for drug use anddelinquency. Differences in the validity of risk and protective factors weremore prevalent for delinquency than for drug use. However, all differenceswere substantively trivial. We conclude that measures of prevention programeffectiveness are invariant across gender and ethnic groups.     

“Is There a Getting Better From This,or Not?” Examining the Meaning and Possibility of Recovery From Mental Disorder

The concept of “recovery” from mental disorder is widely used in the national conversation about youth and adult mental health treatment as if everyone is on the same page about what it means. Fundamental disagreements among researchers and practitioners exist, however, on a variety of issues related to the precise nature and meaning of recovery from mental, emotional, and behavioral disorder generally. Among these issues are: (a) The meaning of recovery; (b) The possibility of full recovery; and (c) Effective support for recovery. After reviewing diverging responses for each of these three issues, we then trace practical implications of competing interpretations for treatment and recovery itself. As demonstrated throughout, the stance taken on these questions can have profound and lifelong consequences for youth and children in treatment.     

Are old witnesses always poorer witnesses? Identification accuracy,context reinstatement,own-age bias

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence suggests that it is unwise for a criminal defense lawyer to allow a law enforcement officer, former law enforcement officer, or relative/close friend of an officer to serve as a juror. This project examined the decisions of 2853 jurors of whom 235 reported being or having been a law enforcement officer and 1348 reported knowing a close friend or relative who is or was an officer. Participants watched a videotape of a trial of a burglary of a habitation and were asked to give individual verdicts. Results indicated that the average conviction rate was 57.6%. Past and present officers did not differ in their conviction rate from non-officer jurors. Jurors who indicated knowing a past or present law enforcement officer did not convict the defendant more than those who did not know anyone in law enforcement. Implications for this research are discussed.     

Influence of expert testimony regarding eyewitness accuracy on jury decisions

To determine the influence of expert testimony regarding the general unreliability of eyewitnesses, a two-phase study was conducted. In the first phase, 24 community residents served as jurors on four six-person juries. A burglary case was tried in 120 District Court. El Paso, Texas. Two juries heard all the evidence including the expert testimony of a psychologist and the other two heard all of the testimony except that of the psychologist. During the second phase, 24 student jurors constituting four six-person juries viewed a videotape of the trial. Two of these juries saw the entire proceeding from the first phase including the expert testimony and the remaining two saw all but the expert testimony. All juries acquitted the defendant; however, those who heard the expert testimony significantly lowered their judgments of the accuracy and reliability of eyewitness identification as well as its overall importance to the trial. Further, those juries that heard the expert testimony spent a significantly longer time discussing eyewitness identification as well as other relevant evidence. No differences between community residents and college student juries were obtained.The authors wish to thank Judge Brunson Moore, Mr. David Jeans, Mr. Ricky Glenn Smith, Detective James Christianson, D. Steven Cooper, Rachel Hanna, Daniel Torres, and Patricia Tetreault. All of these people participated in the trial and without them this research could not have been conducted. This research was supported by Gift Funds of the Department of Psychology, University of Texas at El Paso.     

Finance,technology transfer,and national security: A preliminary survey

Concern has been expressed within and outside the United States government about the implications for national security of foreign ownership of and control over aspects of the US defense industrial base and the transfer of militarily sensitive technology to other countries. The focus has rightly been placed on direct contact, through over or clandestine means, between US organizations that are engaged in the development or manufacture of such technology and foreign countries. Avenues of indirect contact and/or access have, however, received less attention. This survey is a review of the various elements of one such avenue-foreign control over or presence in the US financial community. Since finance is an essential element of economic activity and US policy strongly endorses the unfettered freedom of movement of all aspects of economic activity across national borders, a strong foreign presence in the American financial sector is expected and welcomed. Yet the obvious use of finance to control and channel production and distribution leads to consideration of the ways in which foreign interests in acquiring or affecting sensitive technologies can be advanced through financial means.     

Books in review

Her published work deals with citizenship and the administrative state. Her forthcoming books is Claiming Legitimacy: Feminism and Public Administration.     

Mental Illness and Legal Fitness (Competence) to Stand Trial in New York State: Expert Opinion and Criminal Defendants' Psychiatric Symptoms,

Fitness to Stand Trial is a critical concept in the adjudication of justice‐involved persons. A retrospective study was conducted to examine criminal defendants' specific psychiatric symptoms and those symptoms' associations with expert opinions on Competence to Stand Trial. One hundred charts were reviewed: 50 Cases (opined as Not Fit) were compared against 50 Controls (opined as Fit) with respect to ratings on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). A significance level of 0.001 was selected a priori. Statistically significant differences were found in seven of the eighteen BPRS symptom constructs (with the highest differences in Conceptual Disorganization and Unusual Thought Content) and two of the four BPRS higher‐order syndrome factors (Thinking Disorder and Hostile‐Suspiciousness). Consistent with previous reports, psychotic symptoms are found in this study to be inversely associated with Fitness. Validity, reliability, and limitations of this study, as well as directions for future research, are discussed herein.