The limited value of machine learning approach to improving predictive performance: The Ministry of Justice Case Assessment Tool.
This study aims to improve the predictive performance of existing risk assessment tools and the predictive validity of the original Ministry of Justice Case Assessment Tool (MJCA) concerning recidivism rates using machine learning (ML) and examine whether the tool’s predictive performance can be improved. With follow-up data on 5,942 individuals in Japanese Juvenile Assessment Centers, the study uses ML methods, such as the K-nearest neighbor algorithm, support vector machine, random forest, gradient boosting tree, and multilayer perceptron, to improve the MJCA’s prediction power. The results show that the predictive v...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - April 15, 2024 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
The utility of direct questions about actions with the hands in child forensic interviews.
This study evaluated the utility of asking direct hands questions (“what did he do with his hands” and “what did you do with your hands”) during forensic interviews with 197 five- to 17-year-old children disclosing sexual abuse. Interviewers had been previously trained to engage children in narrative practice, maximize their use of invitations and directives, and minimize their use of option-posing questions. We examined the extent to which direct hands questions elicited novel information about force, duress, resistance, and the nature of touch and body mechanics. Fifty-nine percent of children’s responses to th...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - April 15, 2024 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Evaluating the effectiveness of a 5-day training on science-based methods of interrogation with U.S. federal, state, and local law enforcement investigators.
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol 30(2), May 2024, 105-120; doi:10.1037/law0000422As accusatorial approaches to interrogation in the United States have increasingly come under scrutiny, interest in science-based methods of interviewing and interrogation has risen. The purpose of the current study was to assess the effectiveness of a 5-day science-based interrogation course delivered by the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group to U.S. federal, local, and state law enforcement investigators. Core aspects of the training included the use of productive questions, developing interrogator–suspect rapport, and conducti...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - April 15, 2024 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Open up and let us in: An introduction to the special issue on emerging issues in correctional policy, research, and practice.
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol 30(1), Feb 2024, 1-6; doi:10.1037/law0000414Correctional psychology tends to receive less attention in the psychology-law literature than topics more often associated with forensic psychology. While these subfields overlap to some extent, correctional psychologists encounter unique issues related to practice, policy, research, ethics, and training. In addition to the lack of attention within psychology, correctional institutions and departments can be slow to embrace new ideas and methods to advance these systems. Issues such as institutional overcrowding, limited financial resources...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - February 26, 2024 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Toward a multidimensional model of legitimacy: Validation of the Traffic Rules Perceived Legitimacy scale.
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol 30(2), May 2024, 206-222; doi:10.1037/law0000416Perceived legitimacy is important, often more so than deterrence, to explain and improve compliance with legal rules. However, several issues in the definition and measurement of perceived legitimacy have recently been highlighted in different fields. A previous review of the literature (Varet et al., 2021), carried out on this issue, in the field of road safety, proposed a multidimensional model of the perceived legitimacy of traffic rules. The present study developed and tested theses insights through the validation of a self-report s...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - February 8, 2024 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Do reasons for migration impact the elements of asylum applications? An investigation of participants in the 2018 “migrant caravan”.
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol 30(2), May 2024, 197-205; doi:10.1037/law0000407As migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers continue to arrive at the Mexico–U.S. border and solutions to this situation remain elusive, growing opportunities exist for research to inform policy decisions. One policy implemented (and subsequently rescinded) by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was to limit asylum claims to only those individuals who experienced abuse or maltreatment at the hands of government officials, limiting protections for those fleeing gang violence or abuse inflicted by family members. We surveyed 515 migr...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - February 8, 2024 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
The critical case file approach: A novel tool for critically analyzing mixed-method data as exemplified in a juvenile legal setting.
This article presents a novel methodological framework—the Critical Case File (CCF) approach—to advance methodological innovations in criminal and juvenile legal system research. Specifically, the CCF approach leverages the rich multisystem information available within case file data and analyzes it through a critical lens to examine (a) the structural factors (e.g., economic and housing precarity) undergirding legal system contact and (b) how the legal system responds to these structural factors to perpetuate the well-documented disparities that exist across the legal continuum. In this article, we present the CCF app...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - December 21, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Crossing the line: A comprehensive analysis of jurisdictional variations in sorna statutes.
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol 30(2), May 2024, 159-170; doi:10.1037/law0000409The 2006 Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) was established as a means of enhancing public safety by increasing supervision and limiting opportunities to reoffend among individuals convicted of a sex offense. Though SORNA established a federal mandate, jurisdictions are independently tasked with the creation, implementation, and enforcement of specific restrictions and procedural policies. The lack of uniformity and clarity in SORNA statutes places additional burdens on registrants and can jeopardize compliance effor...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - December 14, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Getting traction on positive youth justice: Prosocial identity as a promising target for intervention.
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol 30(2), May 2024, 132-148; doi:10.1037/law0000410The positive youth justice (PYJ) paradigm emphasizes building youths’ strengths and prosocial attributes to promote healthy development and desistance from antisocial behavior. Despite broad support for PYJ, direct application of the model to juvenile justice interventions has been limited by its multitude of components and global targets. In this article, we chart an innovative pathway from theory to intervention that centers on promoting prosocial identity, or the extent to which young people view themselves as prosocial. We synthes...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - December 7, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Crowd reactions to the police use of force at the 2017 Phoenix Trump rally.
This study examines crowd reactions to police use of force at a protest outside of a 2017 campaign-style rally held by U.S. President Donald Trump in Phoenix, Arizona. We rely on a mixed-method analysis that draws on three primary data sources: direct observations, video footage of the protest, and interviews with protesters. We use thematic analysis of the interview responses to identify a set of themes characterizing protesters’ psychological and behavioral responses to the police use of force against the crowd. Our analysis integrates the findings from this thematic analysis with evidence from direct observations and ...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - November 13, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Factors contributing to the delayed submission of competence to stand trial reports and the jail-based competency crisis in Washington.
This study examined rates of CST evaluation delays in Washington State and evaluator-cited barriers to timely report submission for jail-based CST evaluations. The study used data from N = 17,874 court-ordered jail-based CST evaluations and N = 1,739 Good Cause Exception (e.g., extension) requests submitted by forensic evaluators to local courts from June 2018 to November 2022. Results indicated the number of jail-based CST evaluations increased annually, as did the percentage of evaluations with an accompanying extension request. Although Washington evaluators could have asked for a Good Cause Exception in any case that a...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - November 13, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Working toward desistance: Canadian public attitudes and policy endorsement for the treatment, management, and prevention of sexual offending.
We examined Canadian attitudes toward persons who commit sex offenses, support for sexual violence prevention policy (i.e., incapacitation/control [IC] vs. rehabilitative/reintegrative [RR]), and the interrelations among attitudes, demographic variables, and policy endorsement in a representative sample of English-speaking adult Canadians (N = 1,008) who completed an online survey battery. Results demonstrated that the Canadian public had largely negative feelings toward individuals with a history of sex crimes, especially those who target children; beliefs about the population, in general, tended to be more neutral, and r...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - November 2, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
The protective effects of prior military service on burnout in criminal justice professions: A multiagency comparison.
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol 30(1), Feb 2024, 7-21; doi:10.1037/law0000406Job burnout and turnover among those who work for correctional agencies have increased dramatically in recent years and are of primary concern to administrators and staff alike. Recent efforts to curb the exodus have focused on recruiting individuals who are theoretically well-suited for prison work, including former or current members of the U.S. military. We evaluate this strategy by assessing the presence of a “veteran effect” for those employed by the Utah Department of Corrections while also examining its impact across other crimi...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - November 2, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Deaf community experiences in the Canadian justice system.
This study has implications for justice officials, policy makers, and those tasked with the administration of the judicial system, as the findings point to significant gaps in the system that result in inequities and accessibility issues for Deaf Canadians. Finally, we offer recommendations that, if implemented, would affirm the legal rights of Deaf victims and Deaf perpetrators. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law)
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - November 2, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
Adult male rape myths in England since 1994: A systemic mixed methods review.
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol 29(4), Nov 2023, 497-511; doi:10.1037/law0000402Adult male rape, defined as a man sexually assaulting another man, became legally recognized by English law through the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (1994). However, the rate of reporting male rape in England remains low compared to female rape and other nonsexual intimate partner violence. Scholars suggest that the low reporting rate could be partly attributed to the persistence of male rape myths (MRM) in society. For this reason, this article reviews the literature on MRM in England and Wales since 1994. This period is signi...
Source: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law - November 2, 2023 Category: Medical Law Source Type: research
