Syndromes and Other Cultural Defenses Part II

1. Syndromes and Other Cultural Defenses Part II April 12, 2006 Law & Social Science

2. Jahnke v. Wyoming (1984) Facts: • 16 year old Richard John Jahnke shot his father 4 times, killing him almost instantly • Following an altercation with his father, Jahnke set up an ambush and awaited his father’s return with two shotguns, three rifles, a .38 caliber pistol and a Marine knife.

3. Jahnke Trial court: • Judge excluded psychiatric testimony on “battered youth syndrome” • Jahnke pleaded self-defense • Jury convicted on lesser included charge of voluntary manslaughter

4. Jahnke Comparing battered child syndrome (BCS) to BWS: • “While those cases deal with wives as victims of abuse, conceptually there is no reason to distinguish a child who is a victim of abuse. A perusal of those cases leads to a conclusion that the effort which is made on behalf of the defendants is to secure the recognition of a special defense in a homicide case for victims of family abuse. Succinctly stated, the attempt that is made is to establish the concept that one who is a victim of family abuse is justified in killing the abuser.” • Which will “amount to a lead into the abyss of ANARCHY”

5. Jahnke Court found no error: • At hearing to transfer case to juvenile court, psychologist testified that Jahnke suffered from a mental disorder • But admitted that BCS was not actually defined or recognized as a mental or personality disorder • Plus no subsequent effort to provide evidence about the state of scientific knowledge on the effect of the BCS Insufficient to satisfy criteria for admission of expert testimony

6. Jahnke Concurrence: • “I totally agree with the majority's excellent opinion.”

7. Jahnke Dissent: • “[O]ur courts admit expert testimony … upon the issue of sanity when that is the ultimate fact--and the plea is insanity--… [but] it is not acceptable that a psychiatrist testify about whether behavior … [is] sanely typical of the behavior of a reasonable person” • Although the evidence did not meet the ‘state of the art’ standard, it should have been admitted because it was central to Jahnke’s defense

8. Jahnke Dissent re: voir dire - • “Appellant was equally entitled to know how jurors felt about physical and mental abuse and the effect that might have on a child from the age of five until he reached sixteen years of age. Appellant claimed he acted in self-defense. His state of mind and his apprehension of fear under all of the circumstances was an important element of his defense; and how jurors might feel about that defense … was vital in jury selection.”

9. Jahnke Could psych testimony have been admitted? • Argued for the scientific community’s acceptance at trial court: • E.g. 1962: Kempe’s “The Battered Child Syndrome” in JAMA • BCS is diagnostic, unlike BWS • Medical records?

10. Zamora Facts: • 15 year old Ronny Zamora shot and killed 82 year old neighbor while robbing her home • Plead not guilty by reason of insanity • Found guilty on four counts, including first degree murder

11. Zamora Cases • Florida v. Zamora (1977) • Trial transcript to introduce expert witness • Zamora v. State (1978) • Appeal exclusion of expert testimony • Zamora v. Columbia Broadcasting System (1979) • Suit against TV station - dismissed • Zamora v. Dugger (1987) • Appeal on inadequate counsel grounds

12. Zamora Cases • Florida’s test for insanity • M'Naghten Rule or "right and wrong" test • A person is legally insane when he is precluded by mental disease from distinguishing between right and wrong at the time of the act • Irresistible impulse is not recognized as a defense. • Diminished capacity is not recognized as a defense, unless a defendant's capacity is so diminished that he cannot distinguish right from wrong pursuant to the M'Naghten Rule.

13. Florida v. Zamora (1977) • Trial transcript to introduce expert witness, Dr. Margaret Thomas. • Defense likened TV intoxication studies to those done on alcohol intoxication • Prosecution points out that alcohol has a biological impact; TV doesn’t • Judge shuts it down when Dr. Thomas cannot link TV with legal insanity • Though she does say TV affects the sense of right and wrong

14. Zamora v. State (1978) • “She would have been, however, unable to testify that watching violent television programs to excess affects an individual to the extent that said individual would not be able to distinguish between right and wrong” • “The only theory of the case that had support in the law was insanity, based upon the M'Naghten standard. Testimony that would not have tended to prove or disprove insanity was properly excluded, as being irrelevant.” • Agree? • Accurate portrayal from the transcript?

15. Other Zamora • Rubin stated: "Of course, Ronny knew right from wrong, but I don't think that any doctor has told you that he wasn't a sociopathic personality who could not refrain from doing wrong, and he didn't care whether he did wrong. And from thousands of murderers that he had seen this was a conditioned reflex." Zamora v. Wainwright, No. 84-1895, Second Report of United States Magistrate at 18 (S.D.Fla. Mar. 10, 1986)

16. Playing with Fire media-violence researchers are guilty of “a lot of sloppy thinking about causality” “doesn’t pass the giggle test” Jeffrey Fagan Issues: • Reliability • Time effects

17. Huesmann Study • Longitudinal (15 years) with boys and girls • Other studies • Mostly single-shot • Longitudinal study (22 years) done on only boys • 3 year study done on boys and girls

18. Huesmann Study Purpose: • To compare observational learning and desensitization theories with “preference for violence” and “third variable” theories • preference for violence • Provoking others; justified by violence in media • third variable • Other factors: SES; IQ; parental habits

19. Huesmann Study Sample: • Interviewed classmates to find aggressive children in late 1970s • Tracked down participants 15 years later

20. Huesmann Study Childhood Measures: • Childhood TV-violence viewing • Favorite shows & watching frequency • Ranking 1-5 by two ‘rankers’ for violence • very violent: Starsky and Hutch, The Six Million Dollar Man, & Roadrunner • Only 75% interrater reliability • Childhood identification with aggressive TV characters • Scale of 0-2 on how much they id with adult aggressive characters • Childhood judgments of realism of TV violence • Scale 1-3 of how much show is like real life • Childhood aggressive behavior • Peer Nominated Index of Aggression • Childhood intellectual ability • California Achievement Test

21. Huesmann Study Parent Measures: • SES • Education levels • Father’s occupation (for cross validation) • Aggression • Self-reports • Rejection of the child • Nurturance of the child • Harsh punishment of the child • Mobility orientation • TV usage • TV-viewing frequency • TV-violence viewing • self-reports How?

22. Huesmann Study Adult Measures: • Adult TV-violence viewing • interrater correlations from .39 to .96 • mean of .78 • Adult aggressive behavior • self-reports • “other” persons • archival state data

23. Composite Aggression Score

24. Huesmann Study Results:

25. Huesmann Study

26. Huesmann Study

27. Huesmann Study • For both male and female: • significant correlation between childhood TV-violence viewing and adult aggression • For only female • adult TV-violence viewing correlates with adult aggression • women’s adult TV-violence viewing predicted by childhood TV-violence viewing

28. Huesmann Study Controlling for parental variables: = No effect on adult aggression

29. Huesmann Study Limitations: • Reinterviewed participants vs. lost participants: • originally more aggressive and antisocial participants are underrepresented in the follow-up interview • reinterviewed sample scored higher than those not reinterviewed on childhood intellectual ability and on parents’ education  suggests that the reinterviewed sample is a less “at risk” part of the original sample • Self-reporting for parents and adults • Third variable? • Others?

30. The End