Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper attempts to explain the behavior of the American guards who tortured or watched the torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib in 2004, as well as that of Joseph Darby, the whistle-blower, who was responsible for bringing the atrocities to the attention of the media. Various public accounts of these events have focused on the perpetrators and have relied on individualistic explanations of their behavior--the "bad apples in a good barrel" perspective.

In contrast to this perspective, a symbolic interactionist approach suggests that all of the role-players involved acted in accordance with pre-existing definitions of the situation, as well as definitions shaped by various situational contingencies. In particular, reference group theory enables us to understand how ordinary people can engage in extraordinary behavior. The paper argues that for these perpetrators who were far from home, the definitions of significant others in their immediate environment became all-important. Conversely, Darby maintained a prosocial value orientation as a result of his continued attachment to his family back home.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The risk of intimate assaults may be greater when one or both persons involved are drinking, however few studies have examined the effects of victim and perpetrator alcohol use on intimate assault outcome severity. The role of victim and perpetrator alcohol use in the injury outcomes of intimate assaults (physical injury and need for medical attention) will be analyzed using National Violence against Women Survey data. Suggestions for future research on the relationship between alcohol and intimate assault outcomes will be presented.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This presentation describes rationale and curriculum of a short-term, multi-couple program for heterosexual couples who have experienced intimate partner violence. Special focus is given to an exercise used to promote empathy within the perpetrator in hopes of validating the survivor and the depth of suffering that she has endured.

Publication Type: Poster
Abstract: While most earwitness research has focused on speaker identification, little has explored earwitness memory for other legally-relevant information. Participants watched a video of a perpetrator describing and admitting to a crime. One half of participants were interviewed immediately about the video, and all were tested for accuracy of and confidence in their recall via interview after one day or one week. Results indicated significant effects of repeated interviewing and delay on overall recall accuracy and accuracy-confidence correlations for individual key details, despite nonsignificant effects on the AC correlation for overall recall. Implications and future research directions will be discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Studies consistently find that gang members are involved in a disproportionately high rate of violence. The association between gangs and violence is largely based on the legal definition of violence, however. The current study moves beyond the legal definition of gang violence by examining the relationship between gang involved incidents and the likelihood of victim injury, using 1992 through 2005 National Crime Victimization Survey data. Overall, results reveal that gang members are not more likely than are non-gang members to injure their victims. Similarly, when restricting analyses to weaponed violence only, gang members are not more likely to injure the victim than non-gang members. Strengths and limitations of the study are discussed