Bruce D. Sales

The effects of clinical and scientific expert testimony on juror decision making in capital sentencing.

The Supreme Court and many state courts have assumed that jurors are capable of differentiating less accurate clinical opinion expert testimony from expert testimony based on more sound scientific footing and of appropriately weighing these two types of testimony in their decisions. Persuasion and jury decision-making research, however, both suggest that this assumption is dubious. The authors investigated whether mock jurors are more influenced by clinical opinion expert testimony or actuarial expert testimony. Results suggested that jurors are more influenced by clinical opinion expert testimony than by actuarial expert testimony and that this preference for clinical opinion expert testimony remains even after the presentation of adversary procedures. Limited empirical evidence was found for the notion that various types of adversary procedures will have a differential impact on the influence of expert testimony on juror decisions.

Juridic decisions: In ignorance of the law or in light of it?

Pattern jury instructions have been criticized for being less than understandable to the average juror and thus for causing arbitrary juridic decisions. Two studies were conducted to establish whether these criticisms are justified and to find solutions to these problems. Both studies established the validity of the criticisms by demonstrating that the presentation of presently used Michigan negligence instructions is about as effective in helping jurors understand the laws as the presentation of no instructions at all. It was found that by rewriting these instructions in accordance with empirical knowledge of what elements affect perception, memory, and comprehension of language, their effectiveness was significantly improved. Furthermore, it was found that the presentation of instructions both at the beginning and at the end of a case would allow jurors a greater opportunity to focus their attention on relevant evidence and to remember it. The studies demonstrate the urgent need for jurisdictions around the country to improve the way jury instructions are written and delivered, Jf they expect jurors to reach verdicts in light of the law rather than in ignorance of it.Pattern jury instructions have been criticized for being less than understandable to the average juror and thus for causing arbitrary juridic decisions. Two studies were conducted to establish whether these criticisms are justified and to find solutions to these problems. Both studies established the validity of the criticisms by demonstrating that the presentation of presently used Michigan negligence instructions is about as effective in helping jurors understand the laws as the presentation of no instructions at all. It was found that by rewriting these instructions in accordance with empirical knowledge of what elements affect perception, memory, and comprehension of language, their effectiveness was significantly improved. Furthermore, it was found that the presentation of instructions both at the beginning and at the end of a case would allow jurors a greater opportunity to focus their attention on relevant evidence and to remember it. The studies demonstrate the urgent need for jurisdictions around the country to improve the way jury instructions are written and delivered, if they expect jurors to reach verdicts in light of the law rather than in ignorance of it.

Family mediation : facts, myths, and future prospects

Some believe it is quicker, less expensive, and less painful to mediate support, custody, and visitation issues rather than battle over them in court. But how valid are the claims of meditations wide-ranging benefits? Family Mediation traces the development of the field of mediation and discusses the state of current practices.

Perceived parental deviance, parent-child bonding, child abuse, and child sexual aggression

Structural equation modeling was used to test a theoretical model of the etiology of deviant sexual aggression by adolescents. The subjects were 117 juvenile male sexual offenders who had been referred from either criminal justice or social service agencies to a clinic that treated offenders. The tested theoretical model included several family factors: perceived parental deviance, child physical and sexual abuse history, and childrens bonding to their parents. The model as a whole fit the data well. Results indicated that physical abuse by the father and sexual abuse by males increased sexual aggression by adolescents. Also, childrens bonding to their mother was found to decrease their sexual aggression. These results are explainable from a social learning perspective and from a parent-child attachment, or social control, perspective, but the alternative perspectives of evolutionary psychology are also considered. Directions for future research are suggested.

The trial process

According to the democratic principles on which American society is built, every person should have a free and equal opportunity to pursue individual goals and desires. However, so that one individual’s pursuit of happiness does not infringe upon another’s, the citizens of this country, through the electoral and legislative processes, agree upon certain guidelines for their behavior. These guidelines comprise our system of law.

Characteristics of Child Molesters Implications for the Fixated-Regressed Dichotomy

This study attempted to empirically validate the fixated-regressed typology used in the child sexual abuse literature. The sample consisted of 136 consecutive cases of convicted child molesters tried in Pima County, Arizona, over a 2-year period (1984-1985) for whom case history, MMPI, presentence reports, and police report data were collected prior to sentencing. Application of the criteria defining fixated versus regressed status yielded a unimodal and continuous distribution of child molesters rather than the bimodal distribution predicted by theory. In a multiple regression analysis, two independent variables (i.e., whether the victim and offender were related and an offenders prior non-sex-criminal record) significantly predicted an offenders degree of regression, and a third independent variable (i.e., offender age) approached significance. Alternative conceptualizations to the fixated-regressed typology are described, and implications for understanding child molesters are discussed.This study attempted to empirically validate the fixated-regressed typology used in the child sexual abuse literature. The sample consisted of 136 consecutive cases of convicted child molesters tried in Pima County, Arizona, over a 2-year period (1984-1985) for whom case history, MMPI, presentence reports, and police report data were collected prior to sentencing. Application of the criteria defining fixated versus regressed status yielded a unimodal and continuous distribution of child molesters rather than the bimodal distribution predicted by theory. In a multiple regression analysis, two independent variables (i.e., whether the victim and offender were related and an offenders prior non-sex-criminal record) significantly predicted an offenders degree of regression, and a third independent variable (i.e., offender age) approached significance. Alternative conceptualizations to the fixated-regressed typology are described, and implications for understanding child molesters are discussed.

A critical reappraisal of divorce mediation research and policy

Because of the many problems associated with litigating divorce disputes, mediation has been proposed as an alternative. Its proponents, claiming wide-ranging benefits for both the litigants and the legal system, have had tremendous success in advancing mediation in social policy. This article critically assesses the validity of these claimed benefits. The article first considers the role of pro se representation and its potential consequences for evaluating divorce mediation because of the increased use of pro se representation in these cases. The article then articulates the goals attributed to the mediation procedure and its clients, identifies the behavioral assumptions underlying those goals, and critically reviews the social science research and theory that have directly tested the validity of the goals and assumptions or are indirectly relevant to the analysis (B. D. Sales, 1983). It is concluded that the goals of divorce mediation may have been and may be overly optimistic. The implications of these findings for mediation practice and policy are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Rape Trauma Experts In The Courtroom

This article analyzes the scientific legitimacy of using expert testimony relating to psychological sequelae of rape victimization in the courtroom and attempts to determine boundaries within which such testimony should remain to respect the limitations of current knowledge. Descriptions of the rape-related diagnoses currently used in expert testimony are followed by a discussion of the problematic issues associated with using rape trauma syndrome in the courtroom and a review of the validity and reliability issues associated with diagnosing posttraumatic stress disorder in forensic settings. The authors consider the scientific appropriateness of admitting different levels of rape expert testimony on the basis of the limitations of the scientific knowledge discussed.

The Science Of Infanticide And Mental Illness

Women who murder their children have been the subject of intensive media and public scrutiny. Reactions have varied from horror at the cruelty of the act to sympathy for the perpetrator, based on the belief that the mother must have been severely mentally disordered or at least suffering from a diminished mental capacity at the time of the offense. As a result, the English and American legal systems have adopted very different legal responses to this crime. Underlying these legal positions are assumptions about the effect of childbirth on mental status and the relation of mental status to the legal criteria necessary to meet a legal defense (e.g., insanity) or necessary to justify charging the offender with a lesser crime. This article critically considers the scientific knowledge on infanticide and mental illness to determine the appropriateness of these assumptions.

Improving Comprehension for Jury Instructions

“What happens if a jury misunderstands the judge’s instructions and finds a defendant guilty when it really meant to free him? Last week in Washington, D.C., Judge Joseph M. Hannon was confronted with this question— and had precious few precedents to draw on.