Stand Your Ground Case Views
Stand Your Ground (SYG) laws which are used to allow an individual to defend themselves against anyone they believe to be an imminent threat in their dwelling or on their property, are presently growing throughout the United State. However, archival research has suggested that defense strategies based on SYG laws and are biased against people of color and women. This study aims to investigate mock jurors’ perceptions of a SYG homicide case summary where the defendant’s race and gender are manipulated. Racist and sexist attitudes will also be investigated as mediators between defendant demographics and case outcomes.
Mock Jurors' Perceptions of Race and SES in a Sexual Assault Case
Consistently, socioeconomic status (SES) has proven to have a substantial impact on laypeoples’ views of defendant culpability (Espinoza et. al., 2015). However, currently there is very little research on this impact of SES within sexual assault cases, especially in relation to populations of Native American individuals. The proposed research will investigate the influence of defendant SES and race on mock jurors’ legal judgements for a sexual assault case. Additional attitudinal surveys will be used. The study’s findings may be used to educate students, community members, and legal professionals about the impact of SES and race in a sexually-based criminal case.
Hybristophilia, Social Media, and College Students
Hybristophilia is the phenomenon in which an individual finds sexual attraction or arousal towards people who have committed violent crimes. As a research lab, we often study true-crime podcasts, and documentaries. This began to raise our interest in how the media often shapes the way people perceive crime, and criminals. Social media which also enhances these perceptions provide platforms for individuals to share opinions, and connect with other like-minded individuals. The purpose of this study is to identify how media consumption of criminal activity is related to criminal attractiveness or hybristophiliac tendencies. This study can help us better understand how much impact media has on shaping public perceptions and attitudes towards crime and criminal offenders which can be used to spread awareness of the impact of media and importance of media literacy.
Consent Education and Sexual Assault Awareness (Student Honors Project)
Research suggests that individuals may differ in their understanding of consent and their ability to identify sexual assault in situations involving coercion, intoxication, or relationship pressure. However, less is known if the age at which individuals learn about consent relates to their perceptions of sexual assault. This study aims to examine whether learning about consent at a later age is associated with lower awareness of non-consensual sexual situations. Participants will evaluate a series of sexual assault vignettes and make judgments about whether the depicted behavior is consensual or non-consensual. Gender differences in these judgments will also be examined, with the prediction that male participants will demonstrate lower sexual assault awareness than female participants. Males who report learning about consent later in life are hypothesized to demonstrate the lowest levels of awareness. The findings may provide insight into the importance of early consent education and its potential relationship to recognizing sexual coercion and sexual assault.
Literacy Relations in Rural Areas (Student Honors Project)
The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) has evidence that supports a decline in reading comprehension among high school students in the United States. There is little research that examines psychological states in relation to this decline. More specifically, self-esteem is largely absent from the conversation. Additionally, there is an abundance of research to support a positive correlation between self-esteem and performance in general education. This research will serve as a pilot study to bridge the gap between these two ideas: Is there a significant correlation between self-esteem levels and reading comprehension scores for high school students? The findings from this study may be used to implement educational interventions and improve the present decline in literacy scores.
Juror Decision Making for Traffic Offenses
Juror decision making is a research area that has been examined from various points of view (e.g. race and gender). However, there appears to be a gap in the research regarding defendant mental health. There is little research that examines how depression and anxiety claims impact juror decision making. The present study seeks to examine if jurors who report experiences of anxiety and depression present the similarity leniency bias effect when a defendant also has anxiety or depression. The hypothetical crime used to examine this is a hit and run case. Our study’s findings may be used to educate students, community members, and legal professionals about the presence of similarity leniency bias in the courtroom with regard to anxiety and depression.