Behavioral Sciences & the Law最新文献

Much of the rape myth literature ignores the experiences of LGBTQ+ people, and studies that do consider LGBTQ+ people's attitudes commonly treat LGBTQ+ respondents as a homogenous group or rely on small sample sizes that limit LGBTQ+ heterogeneity. In the current study, we use a large sample (n-total = 2962; n-LGBTQ+ = 634) composed of students and MTurk workers to explore rape myth acceptance among people with cisgender, transgender, heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, and other identities. We found that LGBTQ+ people had higher RMA than cisgender-heterosexual people. Disaggregating the LGBTQ+ group revealed important and unexpected intragroup differences. Notably, cisgender bisexual men had the highest RMA followed by heterosexual men and trans people. Given the empirical relationship between RMA and sexual assault victimization, help-seeking, and criminal-legal responses, elevated RMA among bisexual men and trans people indicates a need for targeted, identity-specific and LGBTQ+-sensitive rape prevention programs and victim support services.

Research indicates that marital rape is viewed by the public as less harmful to a victim than stranger/acquaintance rape. The aim of the study is to extend the research conducted by Robinson in 2017, investigating how levels of force influence perceptions of marital rape. The study also examines how rape perception is influenced by rape myth acceptance and attitudes towards women. The current study improves on previous work by controlling for individual differences across groups using a repeated-measures design. The results indicate that as the level of force increases the perception of marital rape increases. Positive attitudes towards women and low rape myth acceptance are also found to have a positive impact on perceptions of marital rape. Based on these findings, it is possible to recommend that further awareness of legislation regarding coercion and marital rape is required within the public domain.

Mental health courts (MHCs) are a growing component of the U.S. criminal justice system's response to individuals with mental illness. Yet, key aspects of contemporary MHC practices, such as eligibility criteria, assessment of risk-need-responsivity principles, integration of trauma-informed care, use of sanctions and incentives, and access to community resources, remain understudied. In response, we conducted a survey study of 70 U.S. adult MHCs to explore these domains. Our findings indicate broadened eligibility criteria, with increases in acceptance of violent offenses and greater inclusion of non-traditional primary diagnoses (e.g., developmental disabilities and traumatic brain injuries). Fewer than a quarter of respondents reported bilingual MHC staff and translated program materials. Most MHCs employed at least one risk assessment tool. Just over 90% of MHCs included jail sanctions on their menu of options, with the majority incarcerating participants for 6 days or less on average. Tailored sanctions and incentives were perceived as being most effective, but expansion of available incentives is hindered by lack of funding. MHCs identified housing, inpatient psychiatric units, and co-occurring disorders resources as the most needed resources for participants. Our findings highlight the differences across MHCs that persist across jurisdictions.

Criminal sentencing in sexual assault cases exhibits systematic disparities based on victim-offender relationships, yet existing theoretical explanations remain inadequate for understanding the underlying cognitive mechanisms. This study reconceptualizes rape myth theory by distinguishing between two distinct cognitive structures: consent myths that operate through everyday cultural reinforcement, and norm violation responses that activate through moral boundary violations. Analyzing 7701 Chinese rape case judgments (2012-2020), we demonstrate that these mechanisms produce opposing sentencing effects. Consent myths lead to sentencing discounts of 5%-9% for acquaintance and intimate partner cases, while norm violation responses trigger 25% longer sentences for familial cases. This dual-structure framework explains previously puzzling cross-cultural patterns, including why Chinese courts impose harsher punishment on family members than strangers. We identify two critical moderating factors that interact differently with these myth types. Lay assessor participation produces "accidental equity" through generalized punitiveness, compressing relationship-based disparities via universal severity rather than bias correction. Provincial modernization demonstrates contradictory effects: reducing consent myth influence through changing gender norms while simultaneously amplifying norm violation responses through heightened moral sensitivity. Crucially, female educational advancement proves more effective than general economic growth in reducing rape myth influence.

Bankruptcy and financial distress commonly precipitate suicidal crises, putting bankruptcy attorneys in potentially difficult situations with clients. This qualitative study explored attorneys' experiences with clients' risk for suicide and attorneys' recommendations for suicide prevention. Bankruptcy attorneys and trustees (n = 11) were recruited via outreach to attorney groups (e.g., National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys). Semi-structured interviews explored clients' distress, responses to clients' suicidal disclosures, and previous suicide prevention training. The research team established a codebook from transcribed interviews within Dedoose software, using peer debriefing and consensus building to iteratively identify themes. Nearly all attorneys had experiences with clients discussing suicide, but most did not know how to intervene. Common themes included clients' co-occurring stressors (e.g., divorce, unemployment), destigmatizing the bankruptcy process, and navigating attorney-client privilege. Major themes for prevention were correcting misconceptions about and destigmatizing bankruptcy and suicide prevention training that is sensitive to the context of the legal profession.

This study examined the effectiveness of a brief educational intervention designed to reduce sex trafficking (ST) myth acceptance. Using a 2 × 2 mixed design, participants (N = 189) viewed either an educational video addressing common ST myths or a control video on human memory. Measures of ST myth acceptance and victim empathy were collected before, immediately after, and 1 month following the intervention. Participants also evaluated a vignette describing an alleged ST case and responded to items assessing empathy, victim blaming, and perceptions of the defendant's guilt. The intervention did not significantly reduce ST myth acceptance or influence vignette-based judgements, which may reflect a ceiling effect given participants' already supportive baseline attitudes. However, a protective effect emerged over time: participants in the intervention condition maintained supportive victim attitudes at follow-up, whereas control participants demonstrated increased victim blaming and decreased empathy.

The aim of this study was to better understand juror decision-making in a less typical rape trial scenario where even prior acquaintance is disputed. Adopting an improved mock trial paradigm including a video-recorded recreation of a genuine rape allegation and jury-group deliberation, 156 jury-eligible participants took part in 1 of 13 identical 12-person mock trials. Pre-trial, a psychosocial questionnaire was conducted and post-trial, juries deliberated attempting to reach a unanimous verdict. Regression analyses revealed that male jurors, those with greater belief in rape myths and lower scores in interpersonal manipulation were most likely to return not guilty verdicts pre-deliberation. Post-deliberation, increased self-esteem and rape myth acceptance scores were associated with not guilty verdict selections. Female and Caucasian jurors were most likely to change their decision following group-deliberation. This research has important implications for understanding the role that juror biases can have on rape trial outcomes with jury reform initiatives discussed.

We compared the performance of large language models (LLMs) and humans with various levels of expertise in child investigative interviewing on tasks related to question formulation. Two tasks were employed: a static Interview Excerpt Task where participants (60 psychologists, 60 naive participants, GPT-4, and Llama-2) formulated follow-up questions to 100 interview excerpts, and a dynamic Avatar Interviewing Task where participants (32 professionals, 32 students, and GPT-4) conducted 10-min interviews with AI-driven child avatars. In the dynamic task, LLMs used fewer recommended questions (M = 8.69 vs. 18.75) and more non-recommended questions (M = 17.69 vs. 6.81) than professionals. Conversely, in the static task, GPT-4 outperformed psychologists, using more invitations (67.8% vs. 5.4%) and fewer option-posing questions (3.7% vs. 31.4%). While LLMs demonstrated strong question formulation skills in controlled environments, they struggled with adaptive dialogs.