Probation, credibility and justice

This paper explores the difficulties that arise for probation agencies or those that deliver community sanctions in developing and maintaining their credibility in prevailing ‘late-modern’ social conditions. It begins by questioning the limits of the pursuit and promise of ‘public protection’ as a source of credibility, and then proceeds to examine the emergence of an alternative strategy – based principally on reparation and ‘payback’ – in Scotland, arguing that these Scottish developments have much to say to the emerging debates in England and Wales (and elsewhere) about the ‘rehabilitation revolution’ and the proper use of imprisonment. The paper provides a critical account of the development and meaning of the Scottish version of ‘payback’, linking it to some important philosophical and empirical studies that may help to steer the development of payback away from a ‘merely punitive’ drift. In the conclusion, I argue that probation agencies and services need to engage much more deeply and urgently with their roles as justice services, rather than as ‘mere’ crime reduction agencies

Noncontact GMR measurements of synthetic spin valves using IR reflection spectroscopy

The magnetorefractive effect has been used in infrared reflection spectroscopy to study the magnetotransport properties of synthetic spin valves. This optical noncontact technique shows excellent correlation with the electrical giant magnetoresistance data

Reexamining evidence-based practice in community corrections: beyond 'a confined view' of what works

This article aims to reexamine the development and scope of evidence-based practice (EBP) in community corrections by exploring three sets of issues. Firstly, we examine the relationships between the contested purposes of community supervision and their relationships to questions of evidence. Secondly, we explore the range of forms of evidence that might inform the pursuit of one purpose of supervision—the rehabilitation of offenders—making the case for a fuller engagement with “desistance” research in supporting this process. Thirdly, we examine who can and should be involved in conversations about EBP, arguing that both ex/offenders’ and practitioners’ voices need to be respected and heard in this debate

Coffee inventory through orbital imagery

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

A nod in the wrong direction : Does nonverbal feedback affect eyewitness confidence in interviews?

Eyewitnesses can be influenced by an interviewer's behaviour and report information with inflated confidence as a result. Previous research has shown that positive feedback administered verbally can affect the confidence attributed to testimony, but the effect of non-verbal influence in interviews has been given little attention. This study investigated whether positive or negative non-verbal feedback could affect the confidence witnesses attribute to their responses. Participants witnessed staged CCTV footage of a crime scene and answered 20 questions in a structured interview, during which they were given either positive feedback (a head nod), negative feedback (a head shake) or no feedback. Those presented with positive non-verbal feedback reported inflated confidence compared with those presented with negative non-verbal feedback regardless of accuracy, and this effect was most apparent when participants reported awareness of the feedback. These results provide further insight into the effects of interviewer behaviour in investigative interviewsPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Can gaze-contingent mirror-feedback from unfamiliar faces alter self-recognition?

This study focuses on learning of the self, by examining how human observers update internal representations of their own face. For this purpose, we present a novel gaze-contingent paradigm, in which an onscreen face either mimics observers’ own eye-gaze behaviour (in the congruent condition), moves its eyes in different directions to that of the observers (incongruent condition), or remains static and unresponsive (neutral condition). Across three experiments, the mimicry of the onscreen face did not affect observers’ perceptual self-representations. However, this paradigm influenced observers’ reports of their own face. This effect was such that observers felt the onscreen face to be their own and that, if the onscreen gaze had moved on its own accord, observers expected their own eyes to move too. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed

The Saliency of Gestural Misinformation in the Perception of a Violent Crime

This is the accepted manuscript version of the following article: Daniel J. gurney, Louise R. Ellis & Emily Vardn-Hynard, ‘The saliencey of gestural misinformation in the perception of a violent crime’, Psychology, Crime & Law, Vol. 22(7): 651-665, first published online 18 April 2016. The version of record is available online via doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2016.1174860 Published by Taylor & Francis Online.Recent research has revealed that misinformation from gestures can influence eyewitness memory. However, while the effects of verbal influence have been shown to have major impacts on prosecution, gestural misinformation is yet to demonstrate misinformation effects to this extent. To investigate the salience of suggestions provided nonverbally, and how these compare to those made verbally, two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, participants watched footage of a crime scene and were presented with one of two types of gestures during questioning that suggested different interpretations of the crime. The results confirmed that the gestures influenced responses with participants altering their interpretation of the crime according to the information gestured to them. Experiment 2 built on this to investigate how comparable this gestural influence was to verbal influence. The results revealed that gestural misinformation caused participants to alter their interpretation of the crime and elicited the same effects as verbal misinformation. Additionally, participants were less likely to have felt misled from gestures as they were from speech. These results reveal new insights into the strength of gestural misinformation and show that, despite their subtle nature in communication, gestures can exert a powerful influence in eyewitness interviews.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio