Deterrence, Opportunity, and Choice

Traditional studies of deterrence have focused on punishment with less regard for the rewards of both crime and noncrime. Influenced by work in economics and behavioral psychology, more recent studies have departed from tradition by incorporating rewards for crime. To this extent, they should be regarded as advances over the more traditional approaches. Notwithstanding these advances, variations in both the probability and magnitude of reward for noncrime have not been systematically included in these more recent theories of choice. In an attempt to determine whether opportunities for noncrime are either central or trivial to the criminal decision-making process, the present study fitted two alternative models to experimental data involving risk-taking: (a) the economic utility model employed by Piliavin, Gartner, Thornton, and Matsueda (1986) in their study of criminal choice; and (b) the satisfaction balance model developed by Gray and Tallman (1984). Results showed that while both models explained significant amounts of variation in the dependent variable, the Gray-Tallman model provided a substantially better fit of the data. Despite limitations inherent in experimental studies as, for example, limitations surrounding the issue of external validity, the findings strongly suggest that opportunities for noncrime are as important as rewards and costs for crime in the process by which criminal decisions are made.     

Responsibility Attributions for Drunken Behavior: The Role of Expectancy Violation1

Research on attributions about drunken aggression has suggested that intoxication serves to excuse the aggressor while increasing blame to the victim. In this study, we examined subjects' responses to a scenario depicting a violent interaction in which intoxication of aggressor and victim, victim's behavior, and aggressor's previous violent background were varied. We predicted that to the extent that the violent act violated the expectations of the observer, alcohol intoxication would serve to decrease dispositional and responsibility attributions to the aggressor. Instead, the findings showed that alcohol use led to increased attributions of causality, blame, and responsibility for both aggressor and victim. The results are discussed in terms of both attribution theory and societal factors influencing the acceptability of excuses involving alcohol.     

Ethnocentrism and Authoritarianism in the Police: Challenging Stereotypes and Reconceptualizing Ingroup Identification1

Reports of community alienation and high ingroup identification in the police suggest that they are a particularly ethnocentric group. To empirically test this hypothesis, a sample of urban police officers was surveyed to ascertain their social identity pattern. Results indicated a high level of peer solidarity, community alienation differentiated on the basis of race and social class, and the perception that the source of alienation lies more with the community than with the officers themselves. A central finding was that those officers who identified most strongly with peers also tended to report lower levels of alienation from the community groups. This finding, in conjunction with unremarkable levels of authoritarianism and perceived stress in the sample, challenges the stereotype of the ethnocentric, authoritarian, and stressed out police officer. Results are placed within a novel framework for understanding the police solidarity phenomenon, and implications for police-community relations are discussed.     

Effect of Persuasive Appeals in AIDS PSAs and Condom Commercials on Intentions to Use Condoms1

The study compared the effect of five persuasive appeals used in AIDS PSAs and condom commercials (fear arousal-no sex/condom theme; fear arousal-sex/condom theme; erotic; humorous; factual) on 122 male and 114 female college students' i]ntentions to use and taking of condoms. Results showed that the two fear appeals were more effective than other appeals in increasing intentions to use condoms with a new partner. The fear appeal–no sex/condom theme was more effective than other appeals for increasing intentions to use condoms with a steady partner. Compared to men, women rated commercials as more effective for increasing intentions to use condoms with a new partner. Persuasive appeals had no effect on the taking of free condoms. The best predictor of commercial effectiveness was the degree to which a commercial evoked a high fear of AIDS. Other significant predictors were subjects' a]ttitude toward condom use and commercial qualities of being humorous, romantic, credible, and factual. Implications are that all five types of appeals are potentially effective for use in AIDS PSAs. Recommendations include combining appeals (e.g. fear with erotic) and emphasizing the positive features of condom use.     

Heterogeneity in the Unemployment Experience: A Cluster Analytic Investigation1

Two hundred forty-seven unemployed individuals completed a battery of scales assessing constructs relevant to the unemployment situation. These constructs included: financial situation, employment commitment, job-seeking confidence, time structure, mental health, cognitive impairment, physical symptoms, and unemployment negativity (how upset an individual is about being unemployed). The results on a subset of these variables were cluster analyzed to assess whether the unemployed individuals in this sample formed meaningful subtypes. The cluster analysis revealed four distinct subtypes of unemployed individuals. The subtypes that were identified can help us to understand the heterogeneity inherent in the unemployment experience. The differences among the subtypes also have implications for designing outplacement and intervention workshops for the unemployed.     

Assisting At-Risk College Students With Attributional Retraining and Effective Teaching1

Attributional retraining appears to be an effective remedial intervention for college students. However, the potential moderating effects of student and classroom characteristics have not yet been investigated systematically. In two studies, attributional retraining was provided to low- and high-risk students, followed by a videotaped lecture presented by either an ineffective or effective instructor. Attributional retraining enhanced achievement on a lecture-based achievement test only when combined with effective teaching, improving the achievement of students who had previously performed poorly (Experiment l), and of low-achieving externals (Experiment 2). The intervention provided no advantage for previously successful students and low-achieving internals. Moreover, attributional retraining induced a more internal attribution profile in students with an external locus, and increased expectations of future success in both externals and internals, but again only when students also received effective instruction. These results suggest that contextual factors related to the classroom, such as quality of instruction, and individual differences have to be considered when developing attributional retraining programs.     

On seeing oneself as “left out”: The chronically complaining patient in psychotherapy

A clinical observation regarding patients who complain about feeling left out and/or second best provides the framework for this paper. What is expressed is a form of separation anxiety coupled with a loser self-concept. It is suggested that these patients represent a milder form of the moral masochism. Early theoretical formulations include Freud and his emphasis on the superego and Reich's emphasis on the masochist's fear of being left alone. Kramer's little man phenomenon is an example of a more current theoretical formulation which takes account of the complexities of the ego, and composite self and identity in the clinical phenomena observed. A case of a latency-aged child is provided.     

The Heritability of Characteristics Associated with Dispositional Empathy

ABSTRACT This investigation used data from Loehlin and Nichols's (1976) study of over 800 sets of twins to examine evidence for the heritability of three facets of empathy: empathic concern, personal distress, and perspective taking. Expert judges first identified sets of adjectives, included within Loehlin and Nichols's original data, which reflected each empathy construct; these items were then validated in an independent sample. Comparisons of the responses given to these items by identical and fraternal twins in the Loehlin and Nichols investigation revealed evidence of significant heritability for characteristics associated with the two affective facets of empathy—empathic concern and personal distress—but not for the nonaffective construct of perspective taking. This pattern is consistent with the view that temperamental emotionality may underlie the heritability of affective empathy.