Full Description
The research studies reported in this book were completed between June, 1976 and November, 1979, with a USPHS research grant (MH- 27849) from the Center for Studies of Crime and Delinquency, National Institute of Mental Health. Every phase of the project was an exercise in combining the research methods of psychology with the concerns of law, legal systems, and legal process. Research psychologists will be especially interested in our efforts to apply psychological constructs and research methods to a difficult decision-making problem in law. This report describes in some detail the project's development of experimental measures of psychological condi tions related to legal standards and demonstrates the ways in which research design was influenced by concerns of law and the juvenile justice system. Lawyers, judges, and youth advocate groups have already ex pressed considerable interest in the implications of the project's results for the formation and modification of juvenile law and procedure. In each chapter, I have attempted to describe carefully the ways in which the empirical research results are applicable to these concerns, and I have tried to specify the limits which must be acknowledged in inter preting the results for application in the legal process.
Contents
1 Introduction.- The Beginning of the Juvenile Court.- The Impact of Gault.- Miranda to West.- The Research Project and Outline of the Book.- 2 The Role of Interrogation in Juvenile Justice.- Law and Practice in the Interrogation of Juveniles: An Overview.- Site of the Research.- Frequency of Interrogation and Rights Waiver.- 3 From Legal Standard to Psychological Measurement.- Interpreting the Legal Standards: Competence and Its Components.- Component I: Comprehension of Rights.- Component II: Beliefs about Legal Context.- Problem-Solving Style (Secondary Component).- Preparation for the Studies of Competence.- 4 Juveniles' Comprehension of Miranda Warnings.- Legal Assumptions.- The Research Method.- Performance on the Three Miranda Measures.- Comprehension in Relation to Juveniles Characteristics.- Comparison to Legal Assumptions.- 5 Adults' Miranda Comprehension: A Standard for Juveniles' Competence.- The Adult Samples.- Adults' Performance on the Three Miranda Measures.- Comparison of Juveniles to Adults.- Conclusions.- 6 Perceptions of the Function of Rights.- Police, Lawyers, and the Power of Rights.- FRI Subscale I: Nature of Interrogation.- FRI Subscale II: Right to Counsel.- FRI Subscale III: Right to Silence.- FRI Total Scores.- Conclusion.- 7 Juveniles' Reasoning about the Waiver Decision.- Interpersonal Problem-Solving Skills.- The Waiver Expectancy Interview.- Subjects and Procedure.- Alternative Thinking.- Choices.- Consequences.- Discussion.- 8 The Presence of Parents at Juveniles' Interrogations.- The Law's View of Parents' Presence.- Parents' Attitudes toward Juveniles' Rights in Interrogation.- Parent-Child Communication in Interrogation.- Does Parents' Presence Satisfy Legal Concerns Regarding Safeguards in Juvenile Cases?.- 9Summary and Policy Recommendations: Protecting Juveniles' Rights.- Summary of Major Findings.- Exploring Legal and Social Remedies for Juveniles' Diminished Competence to Waive Rights.- Recommendations for the Legal Process.- Research Recommendations.- 10 Epilogue Fare v. MichaelC..- Appendix A Subject Sample Descriptions.- Interscorer Reliability for CMR and CMV.- Appendix C Data Supplementing Chapter 4.- Appendix D Function of Rights in Interrogation.- Administration Procedure.- Scoring Procedures.- Appendix E Waiver Expectancy Interview.- Appendix F Data Supplementing Chapter 8.- Appendix G Research Ethics Procedures.- Risks and Benefits.- Consent of Parents.- Screening and Court Approval.- Juveniles' Informed Consent.- Confidentiality.- Monitoring.- References.
