Socialization Effects in the Forensic Classroom :

1. Socialization Effects in the Forensic Classroom: Exploring the Influence of Police and Science Cultures through Attitude Change Victoria Springer University of Nevada, Reno November 28, 2007

2. The Forensic ProfessionForensic science is defined as the application of the natural sciences to matters of law. Forensic examiners are the professionals who perform analyses, tests, inspections, and investigations on evidence for legal purposes (Karagiozis & Scaglio, 2005). Researchers have found that the use of forensic evidence increases rates of arrest, the filingof criminal charges, and conviction (Peterson, Ryan, Houlden & Mihajlovic, 1986). The Forensic Lab EnvironmentForensic examiners are typically orphans left in the ward of multiple agencies and examiners typically think of themselves as working for the police or prosecution within the criminal justice system (Koppl, in press). Due to budgetary concerns, police departments often do not treat their crime labs as a priority, and lab directors are placed in a subordinate position to police officials (Model Prevention and Remedy, 2001). Law enforcement officials typically do not think like scientists but instead view science as just another part of making a case (Model Prevention and Remedy, 2001).

3. Forensic ErrorsMadrid Train Bombing (2004)Spanish authorities questioned the latent fingerprint pulled from a plastic bag found near the explosion site but the FBI persisted. FBI wrongfully accuses a Portland-area lawyer named Brandon Mayfield who had ties to the Islamic community (via marriage to his Muslim wife). The resulting Report on the Erroneous Fingerprint Individualization in the Madrid Train Bombing Case, also known as the Stacey Report which blamed confirmation bias (or context effect) for the error. Forensic ResearchDror, Charlton, andPéron (2005) found that forensic fingerprint examiners were vulnerable to the influence of misleading contextual information. Three out of four examiners in Dror and associates’ study reversed a previous correct fingerprint identification based solely on the context in which the evidence was presented on a second occasion. The methods the examiners used in both instances were scientifically correct, but it was the biasing influence of the context that led to the erroneous reversals

4. Applying a Cultural PerspectiveForensic examiners are in a unique position by virtue of their scientific training applied for legal purposes. This may introduce some fundamental conflicts when the values of science conflict with the prosecutorial or enforcement aims of the police. Because of the potential for conflict, the forensic examiners that practice science within a legal environment operate at the nexus of these two potentially combatant cultures. Occupational CultureOccupational cultures are a product of the various situations and problems which all vocational members confront and to which they equally respond (Manning, 1995). This cultural view can be applied not only to professional scientists, police, and forensic examiners, but also to a wide variety of other groups, including social workers (Meyerson, 1991), miners (Vaught & Wiehagen, 1991), construction workers (Steiger & Form, 1991), and correctional guards (Farkas, 1997; Kauffman, 1988; Webb& Morris, 1978). Across all fields of study, the assertion is that members are confronted with a variety of tasks and problems, from which shared attitudes, values, and norms for the resolution of such problems are developed and transmitted across members.

5. Science Culture There are four widely endorsed codes of scientific conduct: Merton (1973)1) Universalism(commitment to discovering universal truths)2) Communism(dedication to sharing data and credit with colleagues) 3) Disinterestedness(unbiased detachment from any single ideology)4) Skepticism(unwillingness to declare truth without strong empirical support) Others also contend that openness to new ideas and conceptual diversity are also essential features of science culture (Lakatos, 1970; Laudan, 1977; and Popper, 1972). Science is simultaneously a unique culture and shaped by its surrounding cultures. Segal emphasizes that "science cannot be accepted as the detached mirror of reality that many hope for, neither truth nor objectivity turn out to be the unproblematic concepts that scientists (and a world so dependent upon the fruits of their labour) once imagined they might be" (2003, p. 6).

6. Police Culture Manning (1977) first defined police culture as core skills, cognitions, and affect, latter adding “accepted practices, rules, and principles of conduct that are situationally applied, and generalized rationales and beliefs”. The personality traits that are most commonly associated with the police are:machismo suspiciousnessbravery solidarityauthoritarianism conservative valuescynicism feelings of alienationaggression bigoted attitudes (Twersky-Glasner, 2005) (Balch, 1977; Skolnick, 1977) Successful police officers differ from unsuccessful applicants (e.g., those who were turned down after standard screening procedures) in a number of ways, including: Higher degree of assertiveness (dominance)Poise and self-confidence (social presence) Need for autonomous achievement (independence) More masculine (Twersky-Glasner, 2005)

7. Police Culture Situational or Dispositional? Rokeach, Miller, & Snyder (1971)Investigated the value gap between officers and non-officers and concluded that the police personality does exist and is pre-dispositional rather than the result of occupational influences.Bennett & Greenstein (1975)Found that students studying police science who did not intend to join the police force (non-police) did not differ in values from police science students who anticipated becoming officers but did statistically significantly differ from experienced police officers. Based on these findings Bennet and Greenstein came to the conclusion that although the police personality is a distinct phenomenon there is no empirical evidence that it is pre-dispositional and instead advocated an occupational socialization interpretation. This study follows the occupational socialization interpretation, but includes methods to collect data to explore this issue.

8. Socialization and Attitude Change in the Classroom • Guimond and Palmer (1996), during their college years students become: • More tolerant • Less prejudiced, and • More liberalin general on a wide array of social and political issues.Peer group theory Academic influenceNormative influence (social)Informational influence (cognitive)*students, friends, and other peers *academic programs, courses content, and faculty membersGuimond and Palmer (1996):Studied the effect of academic major on attitude change.-- Found support for academic / information influence (professors, courses, etc.)Inkso et al. (1983) propose that the underlying motivation for attitude change due to informational influence is rooted in the desire to be right, as contrasted with the normative pressure to be liked.

9. Forensic Education The only extent reviews of forensic science education and its relation to the larger forensic science community emerged in the late 1980s. This research revealed that the forensic science community has placed a great deal of importance on forensic science education as a source of continued advancement of the practice of forensic science (Higgins & Selvaka, 1988). However, approximately half of the managers surveyed felt that there was not a distinct advantage in pursuing advanced degree work. Most desired degrees forensic-related degrees (Siegal, 1988; ranked 1 to 4; low to high). Practicing examiners employed by the Michigan State Police compared to members of a national forensic lab group. It’s time to look again at the desired level of education for entry-level examiners. Over the last 20 years, there have been dramatic changes in forensic technology, collaborative / organizational databases, and legal rules governing forensic evidence (e.g., RFLP to PCR in DNA analysis, CODIS (1994), IAFIS (1999), the Daubert trilogy, etc.).

10. Research Questions and Hypotheses: Are forensic examiners being socialized through advanced degree programs to hold values, attitudes, or embody traits that resemble those of successful police officers? Are forensic examiners “more like cops” after completing advanced degree programs in forensic or forensic-related sciences? Theoretical foundation: Normative influence (peer) Information influence (academic)-- It is anticipated that this study will yield results that support Guimond and Palmer’s (1996) findings that supported an informational influence interpretation. Situational vs. Dispositional (police culture)-- This proposal is in line with the situationnal interpretation, but by examining multiple waves of data (new) the dispositional interpretation can be at least partially addressed.

11. Research Questions and Hypotheses: Hypothesis 1:Examiner attitudes will change in a direction that reflects heightened authoritarianism, aggression, cynicism, masculinity, and conservative values. *Changes in this direction differ from those reported of typical attitude change (more liberal, more tolerant, less prejudiced) during the college years as reported by Guimond and Palmer (1996). Hypothesis 2:Predispositional attitudes will not be the strongest predictor of attitude change. This challenges the findings by Rokeach, Miller, and Snyder (1971) and lends support to the socialization effects interpretation.Hypothesis 3: (normative / peer influence)a) The perceived influence of peer groups (i.e., fellow students) will be correlated with strong identification with peers and will influence attitude change. If normative influence via peer group theory is valid, peer group identification will act as a predictor of attitude change. b) In line with the normative influence via peer group theory hypothesis, group size and group cohesion will mediate the effect of peer group identification on attitude change. Hypothesis 4: (Informational / academic influence)a) Professor attitudes and accessibility (i.e., perceived availability to students) will act as predictors of forensic science student attitude change.b) Exposure to police officers or other law enforcement personnel also constitutes an information influence on forensic science students and accordingly will act as a predictor of attitude change.

12. Research Design: Population:Forensic science and forensic science-orientated Masters-level degree programs offered in the United States (N=37). Sample and Sampling Method:The student sample for this study will be drawn using stratified sampling and will include students enrolled in their first year of study in one of forensic science and forensic science-orientated Masters-level degree programs, having completed no more than one academic session (i.e., quarter, semester, trimester) worth of coursework. Design: Longitudinal Panel DesignThis study will look at two waves of data (approx. 3 years); each wave consisting of forensic science students surveyed during their first and final years. The longitudinal panel design samples a cohort of respondents over time and the inclusion of multiple cohorts facilitates between-cohort comparisons. Survey Instrument:Students and faculty will be asked to complete the following surveys as part of a longitudinal study. The surveys will only be offered online through an online survey hosting and data collection service (e.g. SurveyMonkey.com). Students will be sampled once at the beginning of their forensic program and again during their final semester of study. Faculty will only be sampled once. Students will be asked to enter contact information during the first survey (time 1) in order to be reached for the second survey (time 2). Students information will be linked from time 1 to time 2 using their school-issued student ID numbers after which all identifying information will be permanently discarded.

13. Research Design: Survey Measures Authoritarianism: F-scale (Adorno, 1950) / Altemeyer’s work on “right-wing authoritarianism” Aggression: aggression scale (Buss & Perry, 1992)Cynicism: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)Masculinity: Bem Sex-Role Inventory (Bem, 1974)Conservative values: - Attitudes toward convicts and ex-convicts (Bégin & Couture, 1980, 1989)- Feelings regarding the causes of unemployment and poverty (Guimond, Bégin, & Palmer, 1989). Other Measures Group size: will be established using the admission criteria reported by the academic program. The size cohort of students admitted during the time 1 year will act as the group size measure.Faculty accessibility: will be created by calculating the student to faculty ratio within the forensic science program including all active students and faculty – not restricted to the ratio based on the target cohort of first-year students. The ratios will be split according to indications of low, medium, and high student to faculty ratios and will be evaluated as low, medium, and high accessibility.

14. Research Implications: What does it matter if forensic examiners come out of advanced degree programs “looking like cops”? Karagiozis and Scaglio (2005) Explicitly state that a forensic scientist, like all scientists should not be an advocate for any one opinion, position, or hypothesis (e.g. they must uphold the code of disinterestedness and maintain objectivity). They insist that even when employed by law enforcement, forensic examiners must not develop “a consciousness of enforcement” (p. 8) – a purview that is rightfully restricted to the police investigating the crime, the federal and state attorneys arguing the case, and ultimately the judges and juries that are responsible for rendering the decisions that establish fault, innocence, or guilt. Social science scholars have posited that in order to understand the source and persistence of fallible interpretive practices in the forensic sciences researchers need to look beyond the science to the sociology of the field (Thompson, 1997).