Psych & The Law Exam 2

Eyewitness Testimony Is Amazingly Powerful

(Loftus, 1974) Ss read descriptions of crime and circumstantial evidence IVs: Eyewitness identification: -Present -Absent -Present (but unreliable) DV: Vote to convict or not Results: conviction rate and type of evidence -Circumstantial evidence only: 18% -Reliable testimony: 72% -Unreliable testimony: 68%

Children as Eyewitnesses

*Children are often the only eyewitness to crimes like sexual abuse *They are subject to the same biases as adults plus: -Less accurate as observers than participants -Generally less accurate in lineups --Especially false positive when perpetrator is absent -Training tasks and instructions don't help

Acquaintance rape

-3/4 of rape are committed by someone the victim knows --Least likely to be reported. -Differ from stranger assault Tend to occur on weekends, late in evening Tend to involve situations in which the victim or attacker have been using drugs and alcohol Less likely to involve weapons - attackers rely on verbal threats and physical prowess. Also associated with dates in remote locations, or when male paid all expenses

General memory effects

-Additions to remembrances -Removals from remembrances --At the heart of this is implications of a remembrance for the self --And the need to make things fit into existing remembrances/cognitive structures

Defining sexual harassment

-Civil Rights Act of 1965, Title VII --Provides legal basis of outlawing it. -Lots of confusion and debate about what constitutes sexual harassment. -United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) --Major force in definition and enforcement.

Social identity and the Police

-Derive self-esteem from group membership -Seek to differentiate our ingroup from the outgroup -Members of outgroup seen as being less variable than members of the ingroup

post-victimization disorders: acute stress disorder

-Dissociative symptoms: --Sense of numbing, detachment, absence of emotion, reduction of awareness -Persistent re-experience of traumatic event -Anxiety and/or increased arousal -Impairment of ability to complete necessary tasks -Lasts 2 days to 4 weeks after event

The Memphis Model

-Educate officer on mental illness -Teach skills for dealing with mentally ill -Redirect mentally ill to mental health outcomes rather than jail -May not effect arrest rates, but can reduce level of violence employed against the mentally ill

What psychological factors contribute to the risk of mistaken identifications in the legal system?

-Eyewitness accounts can provide important clues and permit suspects to be identified Witnesses can make mistakes, this has led to the conviction of numerous innocent people Errors can occur at the moment the crime is committed or any of the three phases of the memory process: encoding, storage and retrieval. Subsequent questioning and new experiences can alter what is remembered from the past.

Possible solutions to police stress

-Greater decision making authority and choice (with support) --Leads to greater sense of control and self-efficacy -Use of teams -Community policing

System vs Estimator Variables

-System variables are under the control of the justice system --Line up procedures --Questioning techniques -Estimator variables are beyond the control of the justice system --Poor lighting at crime scene --Stress level of witness (Wells, 1978)

Sexual harassment

-Term didn't exist until 1974 -Estimates of incidence are usually from surveys: --20,000 federal employees: 42% --Female lawyers in large law firms: 43% --Female graduate students: 60%

Hate crimes and victimization

-The case of Matthew Shepard: Beaten with a revolver and left for dead tied to a fence post. -Forty-five states now have hate crime laws. -What does this do beyond charging someone for murder?

perception diminished: the weapons focus effect

-Weapons-focus effect- Loftus (87) tracked eye movements of participants watching characters in a bank- gun vs. checkbook- net impairment of ability to identify person with gun. -Further, Pickel et al 2003 demonstrated that a weapon interfered with auditory comprehension.

Closing thoughts: the police

-While we tend to perceive police as being more moral/law abiding/honest than civilians, -There is absolutely no evidence to support this stereotype. -There is little in the hiring practices that effectively screens out "bad apples".

Ideal Characteristics of a Police Officer

-incorruptible -well adjusted -people oriented -free of emotional reactions -dedicated -logical

What is the role of police in our society?

-maintaining public order -balance public safety with civil liberties and criminal rights -police officers often face the dilemma of equality vs discretion: whether to treat all suspects of lawbreakers equally or to temper justice with mercy.

How has the training of police officers expanded into new areas?

-most are now frequently trained in crisis intervention, including handling situations involving individuals with mentally illness, resolving family disputes and responding to hostage-taking situations.

What are the defining features of estimator system, and postdiction variables in the study of eyewitness testimony?

1. Estimator variables: impact on an identification can only be estimated not controlled 2. System variables: under control of the justice system 3. Postdiction variables: correlate with the accuracy of an identification. -Recent research has focused on a particular set of system variables to the way lineups are conducted.

police and domestic disturbances: two types of tactics

1. No arrest: attempt alternate means of resolution 2. Zero-tolerance: arrest all suspects --Major study: Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment (1984) randomly assigned 3 responses to Domestic Violence calls: -Arrest only -Order one party to leave residence -Give couple advice on reducing violence *Results: best results with "arrest-only" option

6 Steps in Criminal Profiling

1. PROFILING INPUTS: physical evidence, crime scene photos, autopsy report, victim info, police reports 2. DECISION PROCESS MODEL: What type of crime, what motive, risk (both victim and assailant), crime location, body location, length of time of crime 3. CRIME ASSESSMENT: Reconstruct behavior of victim and attacker, Organized or disorganized (Intelligence/planning vs impulsivity/psychotic), Attempts to mislead 4. CRIMINAL PROFILE: Formulate initial description, Check against data gathered in step 2 5. INVESTIGATION: provide report, revise as necessary 6. APPREHENSION: validate profile and add knowledge to decision process model (step 2)

What are the two types of sexual harassment recognized by the courts?

1. Quid pro quo- sexual demands made in conjunction with offers of benefits in exchange for compliance or threats of punishment if the respondent does not comply. 2. Hostile work environment- demeaning comments, acts of touching or attempted intimacy, or the display of provocative photographs or artwork.

Becoming a police officer

1. the interview process = structured interviews (standardized), still subject to impression management strategies and distortions 2. Situational tests = patrol observation, clues test, bull session 3. Psychological tests = MMPI (2), inwald personality inventory

Consequences of child abuse

1.) Direct effects (short term): Abused children experience increased mood and anxiety disorders Inappropriate sexual behavior Impaired school performance 2.) Long term effects: Abused children are more likely to: Develop mental disorders Suffer subsequent victimization Engage in criminal conduct as adults

Memory distortion at 3 possible phases of memory

1.) Encoding: Stress effects, Novelty 2.) Storage: Decay, Incorporation of new "post event" information, Use schemas to fill in the blanks 3.) Retrieval - Decay- ebbinhaus curve book points out Lipton 77- 18% memory loss after 1 week. For events in armed robbery film. Incorporation of new information- adds to the existing memory often through asking leading questions...

Two Separate (but related) Issues Concerning Witnesses

1.General Memory for events: Can draw from basic psychological research on memory 2. Eyewitness Identification- Much more specific evidence from psych and law research

Levels of Victimization

2002: 23 million victimizations -Violent crime: 7.4 million (2011: 5.8 million) Rape - 1.5 per 1000 persons (.9 per 1000) 6.9/1000 involved an offender with a weapon (4.6/1000) -Property crime: 18.5 million (17.1 million) -Murders: 15,980 in 2001 Most victims (75%) and offenders (90%) are male Most (76%) know their killer Majority (67%) involved a firearm. Violent: Rape, robbery and assault Property: burglary, motor vehicle and theft Personal: pocket picking and purse snatching

"Contributing" Disorders to Violence

ASPD Psychopathy Borderline Personality Disorder (up to 40% of batterers display some symptoms - Dutton, 2000) Narcissism

Eyewitness Identification Statistics

Arye Rattner (OSU grad) .5% of defendants are wrongfully convicted 53% of 200 wrongful convictions studied were due to eyewitness misidentification The Center on Wrongful Convictions (Northwestern University) Faulty eyewitness identifications played a role in more than 1/2 of 86 death-row inmates who were exonerated. In 38% of cases, this was the SOLE evidence against accused

Psychology of rape

As with battered women, myths abound: Women cannot be raped against their will Women secretly want to be raped Most accusations of rape are fixed. Due to the one-on-one nature of the event and the confusion about how it's defined, the victim is subject to great scrutiny.

Legislation and court decisions

Basic Definition: Non-consenting sexual contact by force or coercion. Until 1980's: 4/5 states imposed resistance standard If victim didn't reasonably resist, it wasn't rape. Didn't distinguish different degrees States didn't recognize spousal rape

Hostage "Negotiations"?

Blaring music/noise Tear gas Destruction of private property Carnival atmosphere Win at any cost

Memory in children

Children are especially eager to please Children are generally less accurate than adults Children are more open to suggestion

Memory as part of the perceptual process

Cognitive output/behavior Goals/motivation/emotion Selective attention/comprehension Encoding/simplification/elaboration Storage and retrieval

Battered Woman Syndrome

Collection of symptoms and reactions Sense of learned helplessness Increasing domination by batterer - socially isolated and economically dependent More and more fearful Most believe that batterer will eventually kill them. Shattered SE, guilt, shame, rage, resentment Finally, hypervigilance Notice subtle things that signal upcoming violence

Reporting Rates

Crimes are underreported 2002 - 49% of violent crimes and 40% of property crimes were reported Crimes against women more likely to be reported than crimes against men.

Police and Domestic disturbances

Deadliest calls for police to respond to, and they spend more time on these calls than on murders, rapes, and aggravated assaults COMBINED! Police officers often called upon to be amateur family counselors with two goals: -how to reduce repeat offenses -protect victims

Memory distortion: Storage

Decay- Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve: Recall decreases rapidly, then reaches a plateau, after which little more is forgotten Incorporation of new "post event" information: -Associations differ: content/time -Source confusion Use schemas to fill in the blanks Schemas are mental representations of concepts and behaviors that free cognitive resources.

Cycle of Violence

Early on batterers are attentive, loving a.) Tension building phase: Disappointment or disagreement occurs --Increased criticism of partner --Sometimes minor physical assault. b.) Acute battering incident: Serious abuse c.) Contrite Phase: Apologizes for attack, promises to reform

Comparing Simultaneous and Sequential Lineups

False positives: -Simultaneous= 39% -Sequential= 19%

Psychological contribution

Focus on predicting when it will occur - Pryor and colleagues Some men are more likely to harass than others High scores on Likelihood to Sexually Harass scale are associated with: More acceptance of myths about rape More coercive sexual fantasies More stereotypical beliefs about male sex roles Strong needs to dominate women and seek sexual contact. The Likelihood to Sexually Harass Scale uses hypothetical vignettes that focus on situations in which men could sexually harass and ask participants what they would do, if they could commit the behavior without getting caught. i.e. A professor whose student comes to him to get her grade raised.

unconscious transference

Forgetting the context of a remembered stimulus and subsequently mis-remembering the context of the stimulus. For example, can lead to the identification of someone at a crime scene as the suspect when they were actually present as a witness. Buckhout (74)- mock assault- 141 students- 7 weeks later students were asked to id suspect 60% identified innocent bystander

4. Criminal Profile

Formulate initial description, Check against data gathered in step 2

The Psychology of hostage negotiations

Four kinds of hostage situations require four types of psychological approaches -Mentally ill suspect requires knowledge of mental illness -Trapped criminal driven by panic, stress, and adrenaline -Prison takeover require understanding of prison roles and society -Terrorists are willing to give their own lives, so they are less responsive (if at all) to traditional, psychologically-based negotiation techniques Negotiations that include psychologists have sometimes had more positive results

Stress for Police

From the Police Stress Survey: -Physical and Psychological Stress -Evaluation Systems (negativity and high visibility) -Organizational Problems and Lack of Support Can derive from more general organizational problems -lack of rewards -lack of control -lack of clear expectations -lack of support from supervisors

Child abuse

Hard to estimate incidence Some claim 1/3 - 1/5 of all women and 1/7 of all men were sexually abused before 18. 1/5 children experience an injury as a result of abuse 1500 children die as a result of abuse each year - 80% of them are killed by their parents

Police Brutality

High arousal resulting from a chase? "High-speed pursuit syndrome"? Ineffective policies? Pre-existing attitudes? (Dr. Gloria Romero, UCLA) Defiance of officer --> anger/fear/arousal --> attitudes --> accountability --> aggression

Payne (2001) Journal of personality and social psychology

His research uses a fast-paced reaction time procedure on a computer: people first see a face quickly flashed on the computer screen, and the face is either black or white. Immediately afterwards they are flashed a picture of either a tool or a gun, and they have to quickly press a key to indicate which one it is. The question: do they mistakenly say a tool is a gun more often after a Black face, a white face, or is there no difference in the error rates? On the flip side, are they more likely to mistake a gun for a tool after seeing a white face than after seeing a Black face? *Results- more likely to identify tool as a gun after seeing a black face than after a white face

Stockholm Syndrome

Hostages grow to identify with captors Hostages are completely dependent on captors Food Affiliation Safety and Survival

Witnesses as a resource

Identification of suspect(s) Recounting of the crime -Affects decisions to question/arrest -Affects decisions to prosecute -Affects decisions for which crime to prosecute -Affects readiness to plea bargain

Own race bias

In general, it's easier to process and remember familiar objects Faces are no exception Cross races identifications are impaired Maybe cross gender too, but effect is smaller White eyewitnesses are particularly bad at cross-race identification

Child abuse consequences

In the short term, children are likely to suffer from increased mood and anxiety disorders, inappropriate sexual behavior and impaired school performance. The long term effects are more controversial.

Battered Women

Incidence of battery: Walker, 1992 1/2 - 1/3 of American women are abused at some point. Domestic violence is as likely to female on male as male on female Men inflict more damage though. Women are 3.7 times more likely to be killed by their partner than by a stranger.

Cycle of violence- note

It appears that in general they type of men who become batterers are insecurely attached - that means they're hostile and suspicious and are constantly doubting their partner's affection for them. They can go from loving in one instant to jealous and suspicious the next. They keep very close tabs on their partner and are paranoid about infidelity. Note: by the time the serious abuse occurs, he has isolated her socially and she honestly believes that if she can find the exact right way to reassure him of her love, he'll be fine and violence will end. Note: this cycle is not found in at least 1/3 of cases and Donald Dutton says that it describes a particular type of batterer - one with borderline personality disorder. Unstable moods, drawn into intimate relationships Demandingly dependent

What stressors do the police face?

Job related stress and burnout. Job duties and perceptions of police work can be modified to reduce burnout.

How do jurors evaluate the testimony of eyewitnesses, and how can psychological research help jurors understand the potential problems of eyewitness testimony?

Jurors are heavily influenced- tend to overestimate the accuracy of such witnesses Some trial judges permit psychologists to testify as expert witnesses about the problems inherent in eyewitness testimony. Judge can give the jurors a "cautionary instruction" sensitizing them to aspects of the testimony of eyewitnesses that they should consider.

Describe the different activities of the police. Is law enforcement central?

Law enforcement- investigation of complaints, arrest and prosecution of suspects and efforts at crime prevention, accounts for only about 10% of police activity Maintaining order- intervening in family and neighborhood disputes, keeping traffic moving and responding to disturbances of the peace accounts for about 30% Social services: even more time consuming

Wells' Recommendations

Limit feedback provided to witness Positive feedback makes them overconfident Use double-blind, sequential procedures only Neither officer or witness knows whether suspect is in lineup Can help eliminate both intentional and unintentional cuing by officers. Note: he also advocates teaching lawyers about these techniques

Psychological research of memory

Long history of memory research- since the late 1800s Key findings: Memory is a constructive (and reconstructive) process

stereotypes are automatic: famous study- Devine 1989

Low Prej / High Prej Participants Everyone was primed one of two ways: subliminal presentation of Black stereotype words or non-stereotypic (neutral) words Later, rate how positively you feel toward "Donald", described ambiguously Question: does the stereotype activate negativity toward "Donald"? Only for high prejudice people? -Implication: everyone, regardless of prejudice level, can have a stereotype activated

Post-victimization Disorders: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

May experience intense guilt from surviving when others did not Phobic avoidance of situations that resemble or symbolize original trauma Impaired affect modulation Feelings of hopelessness, despair, hostility Increased risk of phobia: Social, obsessive compulsive disorder, agoraphobia, substance related disorders.

Juror's reactions to rape victims

Mock jurors who are low in empathy for rape victims rate attacker less responsible Also tend to interpret facts differently

Measuring Victimization

National Crime Victimization Study: Sponsored by the US Department of Justice First survey conducted in 1973 (only includes non-fatal crimes) Uniform Crime Reports - Submitted to FBI by law enforcement agencies Both UCR and NCVS provide good estimates but they tap different things NCVS measures both reported and unreported victimization UCR is designed to give feedback to law enforcement - the NCVS is a supplement

Memory distortion: Retrieval

Not always easy or a sure thing Source confusion Unconscious transference The question asked

Perceptions of Victims

Often met with deep uneasiness, or even hostility Seen as doormats, "delusional alarmists" Often charged with, and found guilty of, serious crimes if they retaliate Only a small minority kill their mates If tried most claim either insanity or self-defense

The Gift of Fear: Premise

Premise: -We have a pretty good system for detecting threat in our brain. -We constantly talk ourselves out of the cautionary messages that system sends us. -Intuition is remarkably accurate and yet we often ignore it.

Rape shield laws

Provide victims with more protection. All states have them Typically prohibit inquiries about defendants sexual past except for special circumstances In reality, rape victims are still subjected to intense scrutiny by lawyers, judges and jurors.

Justice Department Guidelines for Lineups

Psychologists were instrumental in developing them. Use open-ended questions "Is here here?" NOT "Which one is he? Instruct the witness that the lineup may or may not contain the perpetrator. Record witnesses own words about certainty Select appropriate foils Match as closely as possible

Rape shield laws: notes

Raises issue of consent by showing prior sexual contact between defendant and victim Shows that defendant was not source of evidence Attacks victim's credibility, after testifying about sexual behavior on direct It's so relevant to a crucial issue in the case that excluding it would violate defendant's rights.

Effects for victims

Rape Trauma Syndrome a.) Emotional responses Fear, guilt, shame, blame, loss of autonomy and control over body, lack of trust b.) Disturbance in Functioning Changes in sleeping and eating patterns, social withdrawal, problems in sexual functioning c.) Changes in lifestyle Obsessive checking behavior, major life changes, more likely to lose job or income, and get divorced

What is the difference?

Rather than comparing suspects to each other, witnesses evaluate each separately and compare it to their image of the suspect. Renders an absolute judgment rather than a relative judgment (as in a simultaneous presentation)

3. Crime Assessment

Reconstruct behavior of victim and attacker, Organized or disorganized (Intelligence/planning vs impulsivity/psychotic), Attempts to mislead

repeated questioning leads to

Repeated rehearsal, retrieval Implication that something in the original memory is incorrect or missing (untested as far as I know) Child witness are often interviewed as many as 11 times in abuse cases

Why can memories go so wrong in Testimony?

Repeated rehearsal, retrieval We like to tell these stories and we do it often (the "Where were you when?" game )

Environments also impact

Some environments make sexual harassment more likely to occur. Affect norms about appropriate behavior i.e. Sexually oriented entertainment at office parties or functions Playboys hanging on factory walls In general, environments that encourage objectification of women or prime sexual harassment motives Men who are already predisposed to do so are more likely to act out in these places.

Eyewitness identification: Wells et al, 1979

Staged a theft for witnesses IV: Viewing conditions (good, moderate, poor) DV: accuracy of identifying perpetrator Accuracy: Good= 74%, Moderate= 50%, Poor 33% Jurors were not very sensitive to differences in viewing conditions. Believed witnesses with good viewing conditions slightly more Good - 69% Moderate - 57% Poor - 58%

Memory distortion: Encoding

Stress Effects Yerkes/Dodson Morgan et al: high stress had a failure rate of 34% when asked to identify interrogator 24 hours later Novelty can make memory encoding more difficult- less to associate new info with.

Effect of Victims past sexual history

Studied rape laws and developed a study to test whether what some jurisdictions classified as prejudicial really was. IV: Type of Info presented about victim DV: Conviction of defendant Results: Restrictive states were right - mock jurors were less likely to convict when they heard evidence about past sexual history

Rape basic definition

The basic definition leaves a lot of wiggle room. There's no consistent legal defining for non-consenting so again, the victim's behavior is placed under a lot of scrutiny. Degrees: 1st is forcible rape with aggravating circumstances (weapon or kidnapping). 2nd: Just forcible 3rd: Not getting consent.

Myths about battered women

They're masochists They provoke assaults They get what they deserve They're free to leave at any time Violence isn't that common Men who are not violent with others aren't violent with their spouses either Only a low SES/minority problem They're passive, never try to defend themselves Clear majority of adults subscribe to some and 1/3 endorse most!

Services offered by Gavin de Becker & Associates

Threat Assessment Protective Services Training Services

What do the courts say?

Two types 1. Quid pro quo: Sexual demands in exchange for employment benefits-Sexual coercion 2. Hostile workplace harassment: Includes both gender harassment and unwanted attention-Focus is on how harassment affects workplace-Frequency and severity are taken into account--Isolated incidents do not qualify

Lineups- Presenting the Suspect to the Witness

Two types 1.) Simultaneous Presentation: "Law & Order-y" live lineups, also done with pictures Suspects presented in groups with foils 2.) Sequential Presentation: Suspects presented one at a time

Incidence of rape

US has highest in industrialized world 75 - 85 for every 100,000 females In addition, these are probably only a small portion of the rapes that actually occur - they are often unreported. Maybe as low as 1/5 or 1/10 of total Go unreported for a variety of reasons Young are more likely to be victims

EEOC definition

Unwelcome sexual advances, verbal or physical conduct when: -Acceptance is condition/term or employment. --Either implicit of explicit -Submission is used to make employment decisions -It reasonably interferes with work, or creates intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment --Whether this is the intention or not.

2. Decision Process Model

What type of crime, what motive, risk (both victim and assailant), crime location, body location, length of time of crime

Can children accurately report on their experiences of victimization? What factors affect the accuracy of their reports? Are they likely to disclose abuse?

When children are questioned in a non-suggestive manner and are asked open-ended questions the resulting report will be more accurate. Also less accurate in answering specific questions than more general questions Multiple interviews can facilitate memory recall.

Is it a good defense?

Without a doubt, no! Most women who kill abusive partners are convicted. Hard to make self-defense claim Typically requires an immediate physical threat At time of killing, many batterers are unarmed, or even asleep.

Recent Advances in Lineup Procedures

Witnesses pick on the basis of face, body and voice separately. Lindsay (2004) reports these false positive rates: Simultaneous: 27% Sequential: 9% Multiple ID: 3%

The Police Personality

a.) Authoritarianism (Adorno et al): -Identification with submissiveness -Endorsement of power and toughness -Intolerance of outgroups and minorities -Pressure to conform to group norms -Rejection of anything unconventional as deviant or sick --None of these are in anyway at levels to be considered pathological b.) Social Dominance (Sidanius) - do rank higher than general population c.) Isolation and secrecy (Lefkowitz) d.) Defensiveness and suspiciousness (Lefkowitz) e.) Cynicism (Lefkowitz)

To Remember, We Must First Perceive

a.) NOVELTY- stimuli that are novel more readily attract attention b.) MOVEMENT- stimuli that move more readily attract attention c.) IMPORTANCE TO SELF- stimuli that has implications for the self attract more attention -These are basic perceptual phenomenon that have adaptive value to animals and humans.

What procedures are used to select police?

completion of psychological tests and clinical interview. Assessment device: situational tests- role plays responses to real life challenges that would face a police officer, such as intervening in a dispute between a wife and her husband.

The Supercop

is concerned with protecting society from serious crime: he or she is prepared to use force in fighting 'real crimes' such as rape and robbery, probably ignoring minor crimes.

The Service-Oriented officer

is more akin to a social worker than a crime-fighter; his or her aim is to help and rehabilitate within the community rather than to use the power of the law. Hochstedler suggests that these types of officers are the most likely to experience frustration as their goal is long-term change which, in many instances, he or she is unable to achieve.

What are the components of battered woman syndrome?

learned helplessness, lowered self-esteem, impaired functioning, fear or terror, loss of the assumption of invulnerability, and anger or rage.

The Professional Officer

perceives him or herself as performing a difficult and complex task which demands a range of skills and abilities. Such officers are generally competent and efficient in their work.

1. Profiling Inputs

physical evidence, crime scene photos, autopsy report, victim info, police reports

5. Investigation

provide report revise as necessary

What is the relationship between the police and the communities they serve?

some community groups have been critical of police behavior, focusing on unequal and sometimes brutal treatment of poor and racial minorities. Efforts to improve police- community relations include -team policing -crisis intervention training -community based policing -reorganization of the police department that restructures the traditional chain of command

The Avoider

tries to do as little as possible; this is not always because of laziness, but may be due to confusion, fear, or 'burn out'.