Christina L. Riggs Romaine

Psychometric Properties of the "Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments" with a Juvenile Justice Sample.

This article describes the psychometric properties of the Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments, the revised version of Grisso’s Miranda instruments. The original instruments demonstrated good reliability and validity in a normative sample. The revised instruments updated the content of the original instruments and were administered to a sample of 183 youth in pre- and postadjudication facilities. Analyses were conducted to establish the psychometric properties of the revised instruments and included similar analyses to those conducted by Grisso, as well as additional calculations (e.g., standard errors of measurement, intraclass correlation coefficients, Kappa coefficients). Results revealed sound psychometric properties, similar to those observed for the original instruments.

Forensic Evaluation in Delinquency Cases

This chapter reviews the advances in research and practice in the evaluation of youth in delinquency cases before the juvenile court. A brief history of juvenile courts examines how juvenile forensic evaluations have evolved across the past century. Then the current status of three specific types of evaluations is reviewed. These three sections address evaluation of mental health and dispositional needs of delinquent youths, assessing risk of violence and recidivism, and specific psycholegal questions arising in delinquency cases, including waiver to criminal court, competence to stand trial, and capacities to waive Miranda rights. The chapter closes with a review of selected advances that are anticipated in this field across the next decade. Keywords: forensic; evaluations; juveniles; delinquency; psychology

Evaluation of Juvenile Competency to Proceed: Applying the Dusky Standard

Despite the general lack of legal guidance in defining the minimum standard for juvenile competency to proceed, such evaluations are frequently requested. Research suggests that younger adolescents are found incompetent at higher rates than adults and may have unique deficits due to their developmental immaturity. Evaluators must consider these potential deficits when applying the Dusky standard to juvenile evaluations, and make reasonable recommendations regarding the likelihood of the achievement of competence if developmental immaturity plays a fundamental role. This case vignette illustrates how to evaluate and consider developmental immaturity when applying the Dusky standard to juvenile competency to proceed.

Psychosocial Maturity and Risk-Taking in Emerging Adults: Extending Our Understanding Beyond Delinquency

Risk-taking behaviors in adolescence and emerging adulthood are highly prevalent and come with far-reaching social, health, and safety implications. Understanding the factors influencing these beha...Risk-taking behaviors in adolescence and emerging adulthood are highly prevalent and come with far-reaching social, health, and safety implications. Understanding the factors influencing these behaviors remains an important priority. Psychosocial maturity (PSM) is known to influence one type of risk-taking: delinquency. This study examined how PSM relates to (1) broader risk-taking behaviors in emerging adulthood and (2) risk-taking style across domains (e.g., social and recreational risk) to explore if PSM may be an appropriate target for future risk-reduction interventions. Emerging adults (N = 538) completed measures of PSM, recent risky behavior, and risk-taking style in various domains. All aspects of PSM were related to different risk-taking styles, but only temperance (impulsivity) was consistently associated with various behaviors (e.g., alcohol consumed, distracted driving, and delinquency). Implications for prevention, intervention, and policy are discussed.

Teaching Psychology and Law: An Empirical Evaluation of Experiential Learning

Given the recent proliferation of undergraduate psychology and law courses, there is an increased need to empirically evaluate effective methods of teaching psycholegal material. The current study used a between- and within-subject design across four higher education institutions (N = 291 students) to evaluate the effectiveness of incorporating experiential learning activities in undergraduate psychology and law courses. Students who participated in the experiential activities performed significantly better than did control students on exam questions related to some, but not all, of the activities. In addition, experiential students consistently rated aspects of the course as more enjoyable than did control students. Results suggest that the inclusion of experiential learning activities has the potential to improve student performance and increase interest and motivation.

Can We Hasten Development? Effects of Treatment on Psychosocial Maturity:

Research continues to highlight factors associated with developmental immaturity, including persistent delinquency. This article examines whether aspects of developmental immaturity, psychosocial maturity, and emotion regulation are responsive to therapeutic intervention. Fifty-seven female youth in secure residential juvenile justice facilities participated in a randomized controlled trial of the Juvenile Justice Anger Management (JJAM) Treatment for Girls, an intervention that targets skills relevant to psychosocial maturity, including problem-solving, coping, and emotion regulation. Participants in JJAM showed increases in temperance, providing evidence that intervention might stimulate psychosocial development. Implications for treatment, evaluation, and measurement of psychosocial maturity are discussed.