When selecting fillers to include in a police lineup, one must consider the level of similarity between the suspect and potential fillers. In order to reduce misidentifications, an innocent suspect should not stand out. Therefore, it is important that the fillers share some degree of similarity. Importantly, increasing suspect-filler similarity…

This paper examines the impact of school accountability on adult crime and economic self-sufficiency. We employ a unique source of linked administrative data from a Southern state and exploit exogenous variation generated by the state's accountability regime. Our findings indicate that a school's receipt of a lower accountability rating, at the…

The identification procedure can greatly affect eyewitness performance, but this may be contingent upon a relatively weak memory for the perpetrator. In a large preregistered experiment (N = 13,728), we manipulated memory strength and tested participants with a target-present or -absent showup or lineup (size 3 or 6). All fillers were…

The movie "Lansky" presents a version of the memoirs of Meyer Lansky, a central figure in the origin and management of the national crime syndicate. The development of the Syndicate accompanies the story of Lansky's life and career. The evolution from a traditional to a modern organization is discussed as an example of the use by…

The juvenile justice system is charged with the welfare of the children it serves, yet less is known about the prosocial behaviors of adolescent youthful offenders. This study identifies patterns of prosocial behavior for 7 years among serious adolescent offenders, the correlates of each pattern, and associated patterns of secure placement. Using…

A single latent fingerprint consists of ~50 µg of matter for which the anionic content often provides a differentiating characteristic between individuals. This forensic-themed, analytical chemistry experiment exploits this difference and has students employ ion-exchange chromatography to quantitatively analyze the anionic content of both…

Most eyewitness identification research simulates single perpetrator crimes, but real-world crimes often transpire at the hands of multiple perpetrators. It is unclear how multiple perpetrators might impact the ability of eyewitnesses to discriminate between the guilty and innocent. To address this issue, we conducted two experiments in which…

People do not constantly watch for accidents and crimes. With their attention focused elsewhere, potential witnesses may fail to notice a crime and experience inattentional blindness. We investigated the impact of inattentional blindness on eyewitness awareness and memory. Participants watched a video in which a theft occurs. We manipulated the…

We examined the effects of acute alcohol on eyewitness memory for a simulated armed robbery under laboratory conditions. Alcohol and placebo participants viewed a slide series showing a target male taking a laptop from a helpdesk assistant, either on loan or at gunpoint. Following a brief retention period, participants responded to…

This study examined the beliefs, perceptions, and lived experiences of justice-impacted Black males and focused on the impact of life skills coaching on their ability to overcome barriers to affordable housing, healthcare, and employment. The study affirmed the important role life skills coaching played in the sustainable success of…

Although people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are not more likely to commit crimes, they are overrepresented in the criminal justice system as reported by Howlin (Autism and Asperger syndrome: Preparing for adulthood, Routledge, 2004). This may, in part, be due to unfavourable interactions with the criminal judiciary. Evidence…

Artificial intelligence is already all around us, and its usage will only increase. Knowing its capabilities is critical. A facial recognition system (FRS) is a tool for law enforcement during suspect searches and when presenting photos to eyewitnesses for identification. However, there are no comparisons between eyewitness and FRS accuracy using…

Background: Concerns have been expressed regarding the impact of Transforming Care (TC) an English deinstitutionalisation mandate, on forensic services. With nursing staff positioned as significant in delivering TC; this research explored nursing experiences. Method: Nine face-to-face semi-structured interviews were completed with nursing staff…

Higher education provides an opportunity for career development, enhanced societal contributions, and individual awareness of self and others. Individuals with criminal records represent a significant demographic struggling to access higher education due to barriers often created to address safety concerns (Bressler & Von Bergen, 2018).…

This experiment was designed to examine how viewing conditions could affect witnesses' vulnerability to suggestive influence. It was predicted that when the encoding conditions were stronger, accurate witnesses would be less likely to shift their decisions when prompted to reexamine the lineup, and that confirming feedback would effectively…