Insanity Defense
The insanity defense is one of the most controversial legal defenses in the U.S. legal system, as demonstrated through the...
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AMBER Alert System
The AMBER Alert system was designed to help rescue missing children. Law enforcement entities release information about the child and...
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Judges’ Nonverbal Behavior
Early studies by Martin Orne on demand effects and Robert Rosenthal on experimenter expectancy effects established the impact of a...
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Antisocial Personality Disorder
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is characterized by a lifelong pattern of behavior that violates the law and other people’s rights....
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Juries and Eyewitnesses
The role of an eyewitness can be extremely important in the legal system, as eyewitness testimony and eyewitness identifications play...
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Automatism
Automatism is an excuse defense against criminal liability for defendants who committed a presumptively criminal act in a state of...
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Juries and Joined Trials
Joinder is a legal term that refers to the combination of several counts, parties, or indictments in a single trial....
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Conduct Disorder
Conduct disorder (CD) is a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior that violates the rights of others or age-appropriate norms...
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Juries and Judges’ Instructions
When a jury trial is conducted, community members who typically have no special legal training or knowledge are called on...
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Embarrassment
Embarrassment Definition Embarrassment is the emotion that results when social predicaments increase the threat of unwanted evaluations from real or...
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Jury Competence
Many observers praise the abilities of juries in making decisions in both criminal and civil cases. Others, however, criticize the...
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Jury Versus Judges’ Decisions
In American trials, the verdict is reached by either a judge or a jury, raising questions as to how these...
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Dissociative Identity Disorder
Dissociative identity disorder (DID), formerly known as multiple-personality disorder, is one of the more controversial diagnoses in the Diagnostic and...
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Jury Deliberation
Jury deliberation begins when a trial ends and the jury moves to a secluded location to discuss the evidence and...
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Emotional Contagion
Emotional Contagion Definition Emotional contagion is the phenomenon that individuals tend to express and feel emotions that are similar to...
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Jury Nullification
Juries have the implicit power to acquit defendants despite evidence and judicial instructions to the contrary. This power, called jury...
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Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the processes involved in the recognition, use, understanding, and management of one’s own and others’...
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Jury Questionnaires
Jury questionnaires are often used during the voir dire process to help judges and attorneys identify prospective jurors who are...
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Jury Reforms
Over the past 15 years, courts have begun implementing a host of reforms to the jury system in response to...
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Jury Selection
Before a jury trial begins, attorneys must select a jury from a panel of community members who have reported for...
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Facial Expressions of Emotion
Facial Expressions of Emotion Definition Human beings and some other animals have remarkable control over their facial muscles. Facial expressions...
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Jury Size and Decision
Both the size of the jury and the number of jurors who must be in agreement for a verdict to...
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Facial-Feedback Hypothesis
The facial-feedback hypothesis states that the contractions of the facial muscles may not only communicate what a person feels to...
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Sentencing and Incarceration Topics
Two contrasting images of the public have emerged from the literature on public attitudes toward sentencing and incarceration: a punitive...
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Fear Appeals
Fear Appeals Definition Fear appeals, or fear-arousing communications, are communications that emphasize negative consequences of specific behaviors to motivate behavior...
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Community Corrections
Over the past 15 years, the number of people under correctional supervision in the United States has more than doubled....
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Hispanic Americans
Americans of Hispanic descent include people of any Mexican, Central and South American, and Caribbean nationality. Hispanics in the United...
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Conditional Release Programs
Conditional release programs for persons acquitted by reason of insanity (not guilty by reason of insanity or NGRI) are designed...
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Public Opinion About Crime
Hundreds of research studies that have examined a wide range of topics on public opinion about crime support the conclusion that...
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Domestic Violence Courts
Domestic violence courts (DVCs) are specialized court settings that deal predominantly with cases involving domestic violence. They have emerged in...
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Home Birth
Giving birth at home is a tradition in many parts of the world because of limited access to health care...
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Drug Courts
Drug courts are therapeutically oriented courts that attempt to reduce drug-related crime through a mixture of treatment and judicial oversight....
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Serial Killers
People are fascinated by violent crime, and serial murder may be the most fascinating crime of all. Books, newspapers, television...
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Juvenile Boot Camps
Correctional programs designed to be similar to military basic training are called “boot camps.” Although there are some programs for...
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Homosexuality
The construct of homosexuality can be conceptualized from two major perspectives: essentialist and constructivist. Essentialist assumptions have informed the thinking...
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Parole Decisions
Parole decisions have important implications. For prisoners, such decisions mean early release or define the conditions of release. For the...
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What is Hope?
References to a concept of hope can be found throughout historical writings and across many different disciplines. Despite the frequency...
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Sex Offender Notification
Sexual assault is a serious social problem of great concern. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that...
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Presentence Evaluations
Presentence evaluations are those assessments conducted prior to the sentencing stage of proceedings to assist the court in making an...
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Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) is a physician-prescribed program of treatment for women who are experiencing hormonal imbalances, during or after the...
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Sex Offender Treatment
Given the rising concern about the problem of sexual violence, increased attention has been given to the evaluation of existing...
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Prison Overcrowding
With well over 2 million individuals confined in jails and prisons in the United States, it is easy to understand...
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