Native American Sexual Assault Research
Native American women are sexually assaulted at more than twice the rate of other women in the United States which has reached epidemic proportions. When prosecuting these sexual assault crimes, it can be extremely difficult and complex, especially when they involve nonindigenous individuals (Begay & Zandamela, 2018). We have designed a survey in hopes to gain a better understanding regarding the prevalence of reports and specific protocols utilized during sexual assault investigations. Additional aims of the study include learning more about available survivor services, as well as issues that impact cultural sensitivity surrounding the topic of sexual assault cases that occur on reservations.
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.
The Maternal Impact on the Dark Triad Meta-Analysis
The dark triad is a set of three personality traits: psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism, that are predominantly negative and harmful within a person’s life. They are developed environmentally through parenting styles and home life, interactions with social groups, childhood trauma, and maladaptive tendencies like risk taking among other things (Ferencz et al, 2023). Often these traits can be identified early on in childhood and are extremely predictive of future behavior and personality (De Clercq et al., 2017). If intervention is done early, it is possible that these traits could be avoided, and positive coping strategies may be taught in order to prevent further development of the dark triad into adulthood. The goal of the current study is to further understand the specific and most influential factors of maternal influence on the development of the dark triad traits as well as the triad as a whole.