Matching Items (7)
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- Creators: Department of Psychology
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
Previous studies exploring variability in sentencing decisions have consistently found gender differences, such that women receive lighter sentences than men. In the proposed study, I present a new framework for understanding gender differences in sentencing preferences, including circumstances under which no gender differences should emerge. The Affordance Management Approach suggests that our minds are attuned to both group- and individual-level threats and opportunities that others afford us. I conceptualize the sentencing difference between men and women as driven by perceived affordances that assist or hinder an individual in achieving certain fundamental goals. When faced with sanctioning an offender in our community, the offender's sex, the victim's age, and environmental variables such as the ratio of men to women may influence our decision-making, because these factors have affordance implications. Thus, I hypothesized that individuals will express differences in the sentencing of offenders who commit assault, and that these differences vary by offender sex, victim age, and sex-ratio. The results indicate that, as predicted, female offenders received lighter sentencing than men when the offender committed an assault against a same-sex adult, but received equally punitive sentences as men when the assault was committed against a child. In general, results do not support a consistent effect of sex ratio as a factor when making sentencing decisions. Although results do not fully support the current study's specific hypotheses, there remains much to be gained from applying an affordance management perspective to understanding variability in sentencing between the sexes.
ContributorsUzzanti, Charlene Ann (Author) / Neuberg, Steven (Thesis director) / Knight, George (Committee member) / Salerno, Jessica (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Scientists, lawyers, and bioethicists have pondered the impact of scientifically deterministic evidence on a judge or jury when deciding the sentence of a criminal. Though the impact may be one that relieves the amount of personal guilt on the part of the criminal, this evidence may also be the very reason that a judge or jury punishes more strongly, suggesting that this type of evidence may be a double-edged sword. 118 participants were shown three films of fictional sentencing hearings. All three films introduced scientifically deterministic evidence, and participants were asked to recommend a prison sentence. Each hearing portrayed a different criminal with different neurological conditions, a different crime, and a different extent of argumentation during closing arguments about the scientifically deterministic evidence. Though the argumentation from the prosecution and the defense did not affect sentencing, the interaction of type of crime and neurological condition did.
ContributorsMeschkow, Alisha Sadie (Author) / Schweitzer, Nicholas (Thesis director) / Robert, Jason (Committee member) / Patten, K. Jakob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Modern Americans ignorantly live under a blanket of unread terms, conditions, and binding contracts. Often, these contracts (mostly associated with products and services) come and go with little effect. Periodically, the products or services cause the consumer harm, leading them to seek repair. The consumer then realizes that all the fine print they failed to read makes an impactful legal difference. This paper analyzes the work of Professor Radin through her book, Boilerplate. It goes on to explore many other arguments presented by contract theorists and makes substantial claims regarding the dangers of boilerplate (unread terms and conditions).
ContributorsBecker, Alexander Daniel (Author) / Koretz, Lora (Thesis director) / Calleros, Charles (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
My thesis explores the role that implicit gender bias plays in the courtroom. From personal experience, I have seen the way that gender has been a factor in the courtroom as a result of both competing in and coaching Mock Trial. As a competitor, my gender was always a factor in that I was told that I couldn't do something because I am female. As a coach, I found myself reinforcing these ideas of gender because that was what I was taught, even though I didn't agree with them. I decided to explore the role of gender in the courtroom using Mock Trial as a framework to study how implicit gender biases is present. As a result of my research, I argue that implicit gender bias is present in the courtroom, and that these biases create barriers for female success. I have conducted research based on a variety of sources, beginning with looking at the role women have historically played in the courtroom to current issues facing women attorneys today. I have researched the role of implicit gender bias and studied how these biases impact women and hinder their success. I conducted research through distribution of the coach survey and analyzed the responses. From these finding I have concluded that implicit gender bias is a factor in the courtroom and that these biases tend to negatively affect women competitors. I conclude that that more research and studies need to be done to make individuals aware of how implicit gender bias functions in the courtroom and how coaches in Mock Trial may be contributing to the reinforcement of these biases.
ContributorsDuarte Luna, Ariana Maria (Author) / Stoff, Laurie (Thesis director) / Amazeen, Nia (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
It is interesting to reflect that the American legal system has not seriously applied any significant technological advances in many decades. It is fascinating that the same processes used to draft a will or estate plan are virtually the same as they were in the 1960’s. This seems to be a problem that should be concerning in this modern age. We would be hard pressed to observe doctors in the U.S. currently performing medical procedures as they would have in 1960 considering the technological advancements that have taken place in society since then. Many of the processes in the legal system are extremely static and even archaic. It seems to be an opportune time to revolutionize the whole system as advancements continue; but, this revolution must take into account both the positive and negative repercussions that are possible moving forward.
ContributorsWilladson, Conor Calista Carolena (Author) / Koretz, Lora (Thesis director) / Forst, Bradley (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The United States (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) have a long and complicated history, but through this they have learned an abundance of things from each other. In this paper, I will argue that the two countries still have much to learn from each other to this day about how to enforce the law and manage crime. An important structure that the United Kingdom helped influence the United States in was the development of their criminal justice system. Although the two country’s values differ, there are great similarities in the ways the two countries deal with crime but numerous differences as well. Looking deeper into the differences between the two systems can help future research identify new and innovative ways to combat crime and actively reduce crime rates. This paper will compare violent crime rates in the USA and UK for four years (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017). Doing so will provide evidence regarding the degree to which the police in each country have been able to effectively enforce the law. After evaluating these differences, I will conclude with a discussion of the key items that I believe each country should take from the other to create a path forward to better justice. Our societies are constantly evolving, creating a necessity to progress our laws and aspects of the criminal justice system, and examining internal workings will only tell so much. There is never a reason to stop learning from each other, which is why this type of research is important.
ContributorsEubanks, Hannah E. (Author) / Spohn, Cassia (Thesis director) / Fradella, Hank (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
I created an annotated bibliography on the many factors that affect eyewitnesses recollection and testimony.
ContributorsWood, Paul (Author) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Thesis director) / Litwak, Jack (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor)
Created2022-05