Naomi E. S. Goldstein

Promoting academic success and preventing disruptive behavior disorders through community partnership

Research suggests that childrens educational achievement can be improved by addressing issues of aggression and disruptive behavior, because academic difficulties and problem behaviors create a cycle in which each problem exacerbates the other. The relationship between academic development and behavior problems begins early, suggesting that programs to address these issues should start with young children. Furthermore, efforts to improve achievement are most likely to succeed when they focus both on childrens academic skills and on their interest in academic activities. As part of the research, programs at home and at school are being coordinated and community partnerships are being developed to test these approaches and facilitate childrens healthy development.

Juvenile Offenders’ Miranda Rights Comprehension and Self-Reported Likelihood of Offering False Confessions:

This study examined whether age, IQ, and history of special education predicted Miranda rights comprehension and the self-reported tendency to falsely confess to a crime among 55 delinquent boys. The Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments–II, a revised version of Grisso’s Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights, were developed for this study and are described in detail in this article. Results revealed that age, IQ, and special education were related to comprehension of Miranda rights. When Miranda comprehension, age, and IQ were simultaneously tested as predictor variables of the self-reported likelihood of false confessions, only age served as an independent predictor. Research and policy implications of this study are presented, and recommendations for use of the original and revised instruments are reviewed.

Mental Health Disorders

Once a neglected area of study, the relationship between mental health and delinquency has recently become a major focus in juvenile justice jurisprudence. Attention to the mental health of juvenile delinquents is particularly important because rates of mental illness in this population are substantially higher than those found in the general adolescent population. The rate of mental illness in the general adolescent population is approximately 20%, and although estimates in the juvenile offender population vary greatly, rates are at least twice those associated with nonoffending youth. This chapter reports the prevalence and characteristics of common mental health disorders in this population and describes the most promising mental health treatment options for juvenile delinquents. Further, risk factors that predispose juveniles to delinquent behavior and mental health problems are reviewed. Finally, the higher rates of mental health-related problems among female juvenile offenders are addressed.

Knowledge of American sign language and the ability of hearing individuals to decode facial expressions of emotion

The relation between knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL) and the ability to decode facial expressions of emotion was explored in this study. Subjects were 60 college students, half of whom were intermediate level students of ASL and half of whom had no exposure to a signed language. Subjects viewed and judged silent video segments of stimulus persons experiencing spontaneous emotional reactions representing either happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, or fear/surprise. Results indicated that hearing subjects knowledgeable in ASL were generally better than hearing non-signers at identifying facial expressions of emotion, although there were variations in decoding accuracy regarding the specific emotion being judged. In addition, females were more successful decoders than males. Results have implications for better understanding the nature of nonverbal communication in deaf and hearing individuals.

Evaluating capacity to waive Miranda rights

Forensic mental health assessment (FMHA) has grown into a specialization informed by research and professional guidelines. This series presents up-to-date information on the most important and frequently conducted forms of FMHA. The 19 topical volumes address best approaches to practice for particular types of evaluation in the criminal, civil, and juvenile/family areas. Each volume contains a thorough discussion of the relevant legal and psychological concepts, followed by a step-by-step description of the assessment process from preparing for the evaluation to writing the report and testifying in court. Volumes include the following helpful features: - Boxes that zero in on important information for use in evaluations - Tips for best practice and cautions against common pitfalls - Highlighting of relevant case law and statutes - Separate list of assessment tools for easy reference - Helpful glossary of key terms for the particular topic In making recommendations for best practice, authors consider empirical support, legal relevance, and consistency with ethical and professional standards. These volumes offer invaluable guidance for anyone involved in conducting or using forensic evaluations. This book considers those legal, ethical and assessment issues that arise when forensic mental health professionals are asked to evaluate an individuals capacity to waive his or her Miranda rights, and the subsequent validity of the confession.

Anger Management for Female Juvenile Offenders: Results of a Pilot Study

ABSTRACT In recent years, while the violent crime arrest rate has decreased for boys, it has increased for girls. Anger-related behaviors, such as physical and relational aggression, account for a significant proportion of the crimes for which these youth are arrested. Nevertheless, there exists no empirically evaluated anger management intervention designed specifically for a female juvenile offender population. This pilot study is a first step in developing such an intervention. Participants were 12 girls in a post-adjudication facility who were randomly assigned to either the 18- session anger management treatment condition or the treatment-as-usual control condition. Although significant differences between the groups on measures of anger and aggression were difficult to detect because of the pilot studys small sample size, medium- to large-effect sizes were obtained. These findings suggest promise for a larger-scale efficacy study. Further revisions to the treatment manual for the larger-scale efficacy study are discussed.

Predictors of Juveniles' Noncompliance With Probation Requirements

Probation is the most common disposition for adjudicated youth, but little is known about which specific requirements are commonly imposed on juveniles, the requirements with which juveniles most often fail to comply, and how certain youth characteristics and/or imposed requirements might relate to probation noncompliance. An investigation of 120 archived files of youth represented by an urban public defenders office identified 29 probation requirements imposed on youth and 18 requirements with which youth commonly failed to comply. Results revealed that 52% of youth failed to comply with at least one probation requirement; prior probation noncompliance and race were both significantly associated with noncompliance in the examined probation disposition. In addition, the probability of probation noncompliance was significantly higher when youth received either of two substance-related probation requirements: drug tests or drug and alcohol counseling. Such results may prompt further investigation of juvenile probation-related predictors, identify areas of need for clinical service provision to foster successful completion of probation requirements, and help identify areas of potential biases among juvenile court personnel.

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.

APA handbook of psychology and juvenile justice

The APA Handbook of Psychology and Juvenile Justice consolidates and advances knowledge about the legal, scientific, and applied foundations of the juvenile justice system. In addition to an overview of the area, it contains chapters in the following sections: Relevant Law (focusing on important legislation and on U.S. Supreme Court decisions from Kent and Gault to Eddings, Roper, Graham, and Miller-Jackson, and on the relevant legal theory of preventive justice for dolescents) Human Development (describing research on adolescent development and brain development as they apply to behavior in the juvenile justice context) Patterns of Offending (including evidence about offending in juveniles and the persistence vs. desistance into adulthood) Risk Factors for Offending (evidence about risk factors for juvenile offending including Risk-Need-Responsivity theory, juvenile psychopathy, substance abuse, gangs, and trauma/adverse experience, as well as threat assessment and bullying prevention in schools) Forensic Assessment (assessing risk, needs/amenability, and sophistication-maturity as part of legal decisions on commitment, transfer, and reverse transfer, as well as legal decisions on Miranda waiver capacity and competence to stand trial) Interventions (evidence on risk-reducing interventions, both in the community and in residential placement, including for specialized offending of sexual offenders) Training and Ethics (including the updated MacArthur curriculum on adolescents in the juvenile justice system and an analysis of the ethical issues particular to juvenile justice)

Advocating a functional approach to determining adjudicative competency in juveniles

ABSTRACT The U.S. Supreme Court required extending to juvenile delinquency proceedings those due process rights guaranteed in criminal proceedings. Most states have recognized the legal concept of adjudicative competence for participation in juvenile cases, although the Supreme Court has never established a standard for adjudicative competence in juvenile proceedings. Consequently, competency requirements for participation in delinquency cases vary considerably across states. With the extensive variability and the ambiguity of many states statutes on the subject, forensic evaluators and attorneys are frequently confused about appropriate competence procedures with youthful defendants. This article recommends a functional-ability-based approach to evaluating competency in juvenile defendants. Such an approach promotes effective understanding and participation in adjudicative proceedings without requiring a specific age, mental health status or IQ-cutoff for incompetency findings.