The Competency Assessment Instrument (CAI) is a widely used testing device whose reliability and validity have not been firmly established. Performing well on the CAI is thought to depend heavily on the cognitive/conceptual abilities of the criminal defendants being assessed. / Correspondingly, tests of concept formation are presumed to inform clinicians about the kinds of cognitive processes available to examinees (e.g., abstract concrete thinking, symbolic thinking, and step-shifting), as well as the upper levels of conceptualization achievable by examinees. Information about these cognitive processes is of central interest to legal authorities attempting to determine competency to stand trial, especially in light of modern legal doctrine, which, following the so-called "Dusky" standard, requires that a person charged with a crime be able to understand, i.e. conceptualize, the proceedings and assist counsel rationally if he or she is to be considered competent to stand trial. / In this study, the validity of the CAI and the role of understanding and concept formation as they relate to competency to stand trail were examined. Fifty judicially determined incompetent inpatients at a state forensic hospital were evaluated using the CAI at their treatment wards. The patients then participated in a mock trial procedure during which they were rated globally, pass of fail, on their competency by three mock trial officials and were simultaneously evaluated by two independent raters using the CAI. Further, following initial assessment with the CAI at the treatment units, subjects were evaluated for their ability to form concepts by means of five commonly administered tests of concept formation and were assessed with behavioral ratings of their concept attainment during mock trial. / Comparisons were made between the CAI scores, the test scores and behavioral measures of concept attainment at mock trial. The degree of influence of conceptual ability and the other non-conceptual factors on whether patients passed or failed mock trail was calculated. The relationship of conceptual vs. non-conceptual factors and the role of the CAI in making competency decisions are discussed. Recommendations for future research are offered. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-08, Section: B, page: 3675. / Major Professor: Richard L. Hagen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

Assuring an individual's competency to stand trial is one of the principles of equality that sets this nation apart from many others. In addition, the fact that defendants hospitalized as incompetent to stand trial comprise the largest single group of criminal commitments to hospitals in the United States suggests that this is an area of research that cannot afford to be overlooked. Despite the importance of the topic, the information learned about defendants found incompetent to stand trial has been sporadic and often incomplete. The majority of research in this area has been comprised of comparison studies, which compare defendants found incompetent to stand trial to other groups of individuals, and prediction studies which attempt to formulate a prediction equation to decide a defendant's competency status. Knowledge gained in these studies provides more information about what characteristics are more frequently associated with a particular competency decision and what variables seem to be the best predictor for the decision reached. Having this information should help evaluators assess defendants' competency, treat those found incompetent, and help assess the potential restorability of defendants found incompetent. / This particular prediction study was unique in that it included a variety of reliable assessment methods to evaluate the defendants' psychological, organic, and intellectual functioning. The entire prediction equation consisted of the following information about the defendants: demographic variables, criminal history, current charges, psychological test data, and diagnosis. The results confirmed previous research regarding the defendants' demographic characteristics but were somewhat inconsistent with previous research regarding the defendants' intellectual level and diagnosis. The variables found to be most effective in the equation were associated with the defendants' organic functioning. Unfortunately, although this was a consistent finding, the low accuracy rate of the prediction equation, particularly when cross validated, suggests that the prediction formula was just slightly better than chance in its prediction abilities. This low rate of accuracy suggests a great deal of ambiguity in this decision making process and necessitates further research and better legislation for the construct of competency to stand trial. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-02, Section: B, page: 0993. / Major Professor: Joyce Lynn Carbonell. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

This study historically analyzes the development of the emerging feminist-based criminological theory. It focuses on the ideas and social roles that helped to establish the foundation for intellectual discourse of women's issues within criminology. The existing criminological literature on women is divided into three periods: (1) 1895 to WWII, (2) WWII to 1975, and (3) 1975 to the present. By examining the noted texts on female offenders by Lombroso and Ferrero (1895), Thomas (1924), Pollak (1950), and Adler (1975), the study relates the conditions of women in society in general to the development of a feminist-based theory within criminology. / By paralleling the treatment of women in criminological discourse with women's changing status in society and their depiction in popular culture, a context for the development of theory is established. The study illustrates the evolution of feminist ideas by ideas found in non-feminist works are incorporated into today's feminist perspectives. A strategy is proposed for a more comprehensive feminist-based criminological theory within a diverse social, economic, cultural, and political environment. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-12, Section: A, page: 3998. / Major Professor: Michael J. Lynch. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

The records of four groups of incarcerated adolescent offenders (N = 100) were compared for history of being victims of sexual and physical abuse and for the intensity and frequency with which the abuse occurred. The records were also reviewed for indicators of neurological impairment. In addition, the offenders were compared on measures of intelligence and on five scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. / Group membership was determined by the criminal history of each offender. Offenders who had committed crimes involving non-sexual, physical aggression or crimes where a weapon was involved comprised the aggressive offender group. Offenders who had committed nonsexual and physically nonviolent crimes were assigned to the nonaggresive offender group. Two, relatively homogeneous, groups of child molesters were also utilized. One group was comprised of offenders who had molested female children only, while the second group consisted of offenders who had molested either male children or children of both sexes. / Contrary to predictions based on clinical observations and suggested by social learning and psychoanalytic theories, no differences between the groups were found on any of the variables. It is argued that the collected data is consistent with data from previous, uncontrolled studies and that the lack of group differences reflects the actual nature of the severely delinquent sample, regardless of the type of offenses that had been committed. It is suggested that future studies examine antecedent events and the opportunity that is available for the commission of these crimes. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-05, Section: B, page: 2609. / Major Professor: Wallace A. Kennedy. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

This dissertation is an attempt to determine the impact of the "War on Drugs" in the United States. The focus is on the opportunity costs of scarce drug enforcement resources, that are often not emphasized enough, resulting in forgone opportunities and the inefficient allocation of scarce criminal justice resources. Hypotheses concerning the causes and consequences of drug enforcement policy during 1984 and 1989 are developed using empirical models that are standard in the economics of crime literature. / The data set used in the empirical models consists of somewhat unique state level drug arrest information compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1984 to 1989. Law enforcement agencies routinely report data on crime to the Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Other crime information was obtained from this source. / The empirical analysis suggests that one possible opportunity cost of increasing drug enforcement is a tradeoff between drug arrests and the deterrence of property crime. Another indirect cost of drug enforcement in the United States is a rising violent crime rate that occurs due to changes in the spatial distribution of drug markets. The variations in state asset forfeiture laws appear to explain some of the differences in cross-state drug enforcement policies. Results indicate that drug enforcement policy has been influenced in those states which allow police to keep a portion of confiscated assets as it exerts an important impact on the allocation of police resources. "Bureaucratic self interest" is thus supported as a cause of the war on drugs. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-10, Section: A, page: 4054. / Major Professor: David W. Rasmussen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

In this study, 38 adult males who were diagnosed as pedophiles and were in treatment as a condition of probation, and 38 males who were on probation for a non-sex related offense were both administered four assessment instruments (The Survey Of Personal Beliefs, The Abel And Becker Cognitions Scale, The Attributional Style Questionnaire, The Self-Efficacy Scale). These assessment instruments measured the following variables: general illogical cognitions, illogical sex cognitions, negative attribution styles, positive attribution styles, and self-efficacy beliefs. / A discriminant analysis was conducted and it was found that the resulting discriminant function was significant. Only one variable was found to significantly differentiate between the two groups and this was general illogical cognitions. However, the pedophile group indicated greater rational beliefs than the comparison group, contrary to the hypothesis which stated that the pedophile group would have greater irrational thoughts. Several post-hoc analyses were conducted and it was discovered that the length of time in treatment did not have any effect on the pedophile group responses and that the pedophile group admitted more deviant illogical sex cognitions before their behavior was discovered by others, rather than current beliefs. A third post-hoc analysis was conducted to assess the comparability of the two groups and the groups were found to be comparable. Implications for treatment and further research were discussed in light of these results. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-02, Section: B, page: 1068. / Major Professor: Kurt Johnson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

The need for prison-based drug treatment programs can be seen by the high incidence of severe drug problems among inmates. Much of the programmatic research aimed at elucidating effective treatment has been hampered by design flaws. The lack of control groups or adequate outcome measures, prospective designs and insufficient follow-up have been the most common insufficiencies. This study matched volunteer subjects on race and primary drug of abuse and then assigned them to either a Relapse Prevention-based (RP) or Drug Education group. Outcome measures chosen were objective and verifiable to avoid reliance on self-report data. Inmates were followed-up, after their release from prison, into either a community half-way house or while on parole. Half-way houses and parole officers were sent announcement letters one week prior to a telephone contact in order to collect information on the individual inmates. The hypotheses were that the RP group would have lower rates of recidivism, would have fewer occurrences of positive body tests for drugs or alcohol, would have a slower rate of return to drug/alcohol usage, would have fewer reports of rule infractions at the half-way house and on parole and would have fewer number of rule infractions that were related to drug/alcohol usage. / The statistical analyses failed to support the hypotheses. There were no main effects for treatment between the two groups. The rate of recidivism was similar to that achieved by incarceration alone. Recommendations regarding future research based upon the limitations of this study are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-02, Section: B, page: 1046. / Major Professor: Jon Bailey. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

The interface of psychology with law enforcement is a growing field of interest. A prime example of this interface can be found in the area of eyewitness identification and lineup construction. Results from lineups and eyewitness accounts are crucial to decisions made throughout the chain of prosecution procedures. The focus of this study was to examine how cross-racial identification affects the ability of law enforcement officers to construct fair lineups without exhibiting a bias toward their own race. / One hundred forty-one law enforcement officers constructed four photograph lineups with different targets: a white male, a black male, a white female, and a black female. Dependent measures were number of photos chosen and average time per photo surveyed. Seven variables were assessed through a multivariate analysis of covariance and a subsequent hierarchical step-down regression analysis. Between-subject variables were (a) race of the subject, (b) number of years of experience in law enforcement, (c) racial attitudes, (d) lineup experience, and (e) cross-racial experience. Within-subject variables were race and gender of the photographs. The results of this study indicate that law enforcement officers generally do not exhibit own-race bias. Only the conditions of high prejudice and low lineup experience resulted in own-race bias. Practical implications were noted and suggestions for a more accurate measure of own-race bias were recommended. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-10, Section: B, page: 4601. / Major Professor: Steve Rollin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.

This study is an attempt to determine the impact of the "War on Drugs" in the State of Florida. The focus is on the possibility of a relationship between the increased police emphasis on the illicit drug market and the incidence of property crime. Hypotheses concerning the police's ability to prevent crime (deterrence), geographic spillovers of criminals, functional spillovers, and the budgetary impacts of the drug war are developed using a structural model familiar in the economics of crime literature. / The data set used in the empirical model consists of observations for each of the municipal police and sheriff departments in the State of Florida from 1984 to 1987. The data set is somewhat unique in that it is confined to a state where most exogenous institutional factors are similar. / The empirical analysis suggests: Police appear to be able to deter property crime at the margin; relative differences in police efforts (across jurisdictions) against both property crime and drug crime result in the geographic spillover of property crime; there appears to be a property crime--drug arrests tradeoff; police agency budgets are, in part, determined by the number of drug arrests they make. Overall, there is evidence of unintended consequences of the increased effort against drugs in Florida. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-03, Section: A, page: 1013. / Major Professor: Bruce L. Benson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

This study is an evaluation of a decision-making program specifically designed to increase the career maturity of incarcerated youths. The program was developed by the researcher and was designed with the needs of the target population in mind. / The study included 2 groups of incarcerated youths who were part of an on-going program at the Dozier School in Marianna, Florida. The subjects' growth in career maturity was measured by the Career Development Inventory. The decision-making program was presented in 5 instructional modules. The dependent measures were administrated pre, post and after a 6 week follow-up period. / Analysis of the results employed a t-test of the pretest-posttest differences between groups on all measures, a t-test of the pretest, follow-up differences of the experimental group and the pretest-posttest differences of the comparison group, and a repeated measures test on all measures for the pretest, posttest, follow-up tests of the treatment group. These analyses indicated that the decision-making program positively affected components of career maturity. This positive effect was found to increase over time. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-12, Section: B, page: 3670. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.