Reexamining predictors of trial outcomes in New York State's sex offender civil management process.
| Autor: | Kemper NS; Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York., Reilly ML; New York State Office of Mental Health., Freeman NJ; New York State Office of Mental Health., Sandler JC; New York State Office of Mental Health. |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Zdroj: | Law and human behavior [Law Hum Behav] 2024 Feb; Vol. 48 (1), pp. 67-82. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jan 22. |
| DOI: | 10.1037/lhb0000550 |
| Abstrakt: | Objective: In 2007, New York enacted the Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act, empowering the state to civilly manage individuals who have committed sexual offenses (respondents) and are deemed to have a mental abnormality (MA) that predisposes them to sexually recidivate after serving their criminal sentences. We sought to replicate and extend a previous study (Lu et al., 2015) to identify factors predicting legal decisions. Hypotheses: We predicted, on the basis of previous research, that clinical information (e.g., diagnosis) as well as empirically supported risk factors (e.g., sexual deviance) would predict trial outcomes. Method: We analyzed multiple pieces of demographic, criminogenic, and clinical data on three nested subsamples of respondents on the basis of the legal process: MA consent ( n = 713), MA trial ( n = 316), and disposition hearing ( n = 643). The binary outcomes of interest were as follows: For the MA consent subsample, it was whether the respondent waived their MA trial; for the MA trial subsample, it was whether the respondent was found at trial to have an MA; and for the disposition hearing, it was whether the respondent was ordered to inpatient or outpatient civil management. Results: The strongest predictor of waiving the trial was geographic location; respondents outside New York City and Long Island were more likely to waive their trials ( OR s = 2.38-3.37). The strongest predictors of MA trial and disposition hearing outcomes were Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders diagnoses; pedophilia ( OR s = 4.05-7.22) and sexual sadism ( OR s = 2.68-7.03) diagnoses increased the likelihood of an MA finding and confinement order. Conclusions: Judges and juries give significant weight to clinical information, particularly pedophilia diagnoses, when making civil management legal decisions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved). |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
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