Understanding Adults’ Perceptions of Juvenile Offenders

In adult criminal court, cases involving juveniles can be decided by jurors rather than by family or juvenile court judges. It is, therefore, important to understand adults\u27 perceptions of juvenile defendants and the factors that influence jurors\u27 decisions in criminal cases involving juveniles. This research has value for research psychologists interested in legal decision making and for professionals within the legal system who seek to understand how jurors react to juveniles accused of crimes and how they reach their verdicts in cases involving juveniles. In this chapter, we consider three broad categories of factors that affect perceptions of juveniles: (1) juror individual difference factors, including jurors\u27 gender and stereotypes about juveniles; (2) courtroom and trial factors, including attorneys\u27 attempts to induce jurors\u27 empathy for and stereotypes about juvenile defendants and jury deliberation as a potential moderator of such tactics; and (3) juvenile individual difference factors, including gender, race, history of maltreatment, intellectual disability, and tendency to confess

What Pediatricians Need to Know About the CDC Guideline on the Diagnosis and Management of mTBI

Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a growing health concern, with over half a million TBI-related emergency department (ED) visits annually. However, this is likely an underestimate of the true incidence, with many children presenting to their pediatrician. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a guideline on the diagnosis and management of pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). We outline key points and a decision checklist for pediatricians based on this evidence-based guideline

Developing a health communication campaign for disposal of unused opioid medications

Introduction Communities throughout the United States have implemented medicine disposal programs to prevent diversion of unused opioid analgesics from homes but a general lack of awareness may contribute to low rates of utilization. The objective of this study was to develop and test community-based campaign messages promoting appropriate disposal of unused opioids at disposal programs. Methods In Fall 2019, 491 residents (79% female, 97% White, mean age: 40 years) of five rural, Appalachian counties (3 in Kentucky and 2 in North Carolina) completed a web-based, experimental survey. Participants were randomly exposed to two of four messages and rated each message separately. A pretest–posttest design was utilized to assess change in beliefs about retaining unused prescription opioids in the home following exposure to message sets. Results All messages favorably influenced participants’ perceptions related to concerns and risks of retaining unused prescription opioids and importance of - and self-efficacy in disposing of unused opioid medications. After controlling for social and demographic characteristics and baseline beliefs in generalized linear mixed models, Message 1 outperformed other messages in increasing participants’ concern about retaining unused prescription opioids in the home and Message 3 was most effective in increasing self-efficacy to dispose of unused prescription opioids. Conclusions Messages including young children and pictorially demonstrate how to dispose of medications may have the greatest impact on behavioral actions related to medication disposal. The findings from this study can be used to inform community-based campaigns to facilitate disposal of unused prescription opioids

Neural circuits in the brain that are activated when mitigating criminal sentences

In sentencing guilty defendants, jurors and judges weigh 'mitigating circumstances', which create sympathy for a defendant. Here we use functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure neural activity in ordinary citizens who are potential jurors, as they decide on mitigation of punishment for murder. We found that sympathy activated regions associated with mentalising and moral conflict (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, precuneus and temporo-parietal junction). Sentencing also activated precuneus and anterior cingulate cortex, suggesting that mitigation is based on negative affective responses to murder, sympathy for mitigating circumstances and cognitive control to choose numerical punishments. Individual differences on the inclination to mitigate, the sentence reduction per unit of judged sympathy, correlated with activity in the right middle insula, an area known to represent interoception of visceral states. These results could help the legal system understand how potential jurors actually decide, and contribute to growing knowledge about whether emotion and cognition are integrated sensibly in difficult judgments

Teens and seat belt use: What makes them click?

Problem:Motor vehicle crashes killmore adolescents in the United States than any other cause, and often the teen is notwearing a seat belt. Methods: Using data fromthe 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys from38 states, we examined teens\u27 self-reported seat belt use while riding as a passenger and identified individual characteristics and environmental factors associated with alwayswearing a seat belt. Results: Only 51% of high school students living in 38 states reported alwayswearing a seat beltwhen riding as a passenger; prevalence varied from32% in South Dakota to 65% in Delaware. Seat belt use was 11 percentage points lower in states with secondary enforcement seat belt laws compared to states with primary enforcement laws. Racial/ethnic minorities, teens living in states with secondary enforcement seat belt laws, and those engaged in substance use were least likely to alwayswear their seat belts. The likelihood of always being belted declined steadily as the number of substance use behaviors increased. Discussion: Seat belt use among teens in the United States remains unacceptably low. Results suggest that environmental influences can compound individual risk factors, contributing to even lower seat belt use among some subgroups. Practical applications: This study provides the most comprehensive state-level estimates to date of seat belt use among U.S. teens. This information can be useful when considering policy options to increase seat belt use and for targeting injury prevention interventions to high-risk teens. States can best increase teen seat belt use by making evidence-informed decisions about state policy options and prevention strategies

Influence of stereotypes on individual and group decisions in a novel context: Juvenile offenders in court.

Influence of stereotypes on individual and group decisions in a novel context: Juvenile offenders in court