The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes and opinions of circuit court judges in Kentucky concerning the issue of pregnancy and substance abuse. A questionnaire was mailed to all 90 circuit court judges in Kentucky. The questionnaire, consisting of both a Likert scale and open-ended questions, dealt with concerns relating to the criminalization of pregnant substance abusers, fetal rights, state intervention in the case of pregnant substance abusers, and mothers rights. The ages of the judges, as well as their years of experience on the bench, were used to determine their attitudes on these issues. Results showed that older judges and more experienced judges were more likely to favor criminalization of pregnant substance abusers. Younger judges and less experienced judges, however, were less likely to favor criminalization of pregnant substance abusers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:WKU/oai:digitalcommons.wku.edu:theses-3253 |
| Date | 01 May 1992 |
| Creators | DeGeorge, Michelle |
| Publisher | TopSCHOLAR® |
| Source Sets | Western Kentucky University Theses |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Masters Theses & Specialist Projects |
Page generated in 0.0014 seconds