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Papers by Kresenda L Keith

: This document contains detailed summaries for each of the U.S. Army Research Institute?s basic ... more : This document contains detailed summaries for each of the U.S. Army Research Institute?s basic research contracts for the fiscal year 2012. These summaries are grouped according to six research portfolios: Personnel Testing and Performance, Learning in Formal and Informal Environments, Leader Development, Organizational Effectiveness, Socio-Cultural Capabilities, and Psychophysiology of Individual Differences. In addition to summarizing what was done or is being done, each summary describes the contributions of that research effort to basic behavioral science and suggests how the findings might benefit the Army and other military services.

This document is an annual report of research done under contract for the United States Army Rese... more This document is an annual report of research done under contract for the United States Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Author's Note: This data was initially utilized for an unpublished undergraduate thesis on attrac... more Author's Note: This data was initially utilized for an unpublished undergraduate thesis on attractiveness, situational factors, and criminality. Cases were chosen for analysis, but true conclusions should be taken with caution as results are likely biased. Further, this reanalysis of the data implies multiple tests of this sample due to previous analysis, likely increasing the chance for Type I error. Please also note the literature review may be expanded if publication is sought.

After having held more or less constant for decades, the prison population in the United States h... more After having held more or less constant for decades, the prison population in the United States has quadrupled . Among the industrialized nations the U.S. has the highest rate of incarceration. At the end of the 20th century, over five million people were in state custody, including prison, jails, and probation. This growth has disproportionately impacted minority, racial, and ethnic groups .

This essay focuses on sentencing structure and guidelines for Alaska and Russia. The specific cri... more This essay focuses on sentencing structure and guidelines for Alaska and Russia. The specific crime of Online Child Enticement is utilized for comparison.

Essay prompt:
An important part of this class is to consider how the U.S. conducts sentencing and how it contrasts with other countries. The U.S. experience is considered “exceptional” due to the punitiveness associated with sentencing. Each student was expected to do an independent work by selecting one US state and one European Country. Try to answer the following questions: What is the framework for the sentencing guidelines? How do they affect sentencing concepts of proportionality, justice, fairness, and mass incarceration policies?

This paper is a section of a white paper on personality and cognitive pre-employment testing fo... more This paper is a section of a white paper on personality and cognitive
pre-employment testing for public trust positions and the application of tests for the Army.

This was a paper done for a Crime & Crime Policy class. It was a response to the February 22, 201... more This was a paper done for a Crime & Crime Policy class. It was a response to the February 22, 2012 Congressional Briefing entitled, “Reducing Gun Violence: Lessons from Research and Practice.” This briefing was put on by the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy. Led by Dr. Christopher Koper, Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society, the briefing addressed many of the issues with the policies, research, and nature of addressing gun violence.

you agree or disagree with this statement. How does current prison culture impact legitimacy of t... more you agree or disagree with this statement. How does current prison culture impact legitimacy of the correctional organization? Provide suggestions on how legitimacy within prisons can be improved.

the role of leaders in having great influence over their agencies. Discuss how much and how justi... more the role of leaders in having great influence over their agencies. Discuss how much and how justice organizational leaders impact organizational structures and practices. Also, discuss how the methods leaders use influence the organizational culture. Cite empirical literature in your answer.

It is conversely endorsed by penologists that incarcerated inmates are often looked down upon by ... more It is conversely endorsed by penologists that incarcerated inmates are often looked down upon by free society. Society views inmates and their institution as a lawless and disorderly arena, devoid of conventional mores. This assumption may be far too rushed. Based on the preponderance of law and society research, it makes more sense that just as humans assimilate to the norms, customs, and laws of society, inmates must assimilate to the self-contained community of a prison and adapt their own form of law. The prison society appears to still uphold the foundational values that shape outside society. Though some of the values of the prison may be discordant with societal values, the prison society appears to mirror the core values that flow through the outside world: a hierarchical society with socially construed laws that enforce order and organization through the values respect and morality.

Over the past decade, many law enforcement agencies have moved towards a community-oriented polic... more Over the past decade, many law enforcement agencies have moved towards a community-oriented policing concept. Community policing is based upon the concept that the community and police must work together to solve the community issues, including crime. Anarchistic theory asserts that a healthy community, one functioning without the oppression of a centralized government, will police itself. Though criticisms of community policing exist, the most convincing being that it does not reduce crime, and criticisms of anarchistic theory and social control abound; these definitions of success are overly narrow and too abrupt to judge community policing. Community policing is intrinsically valuable as a means of crime control, repairs community ties, and is a move towards the strong, self-enforcing community that anarchy values.

After a decade of courtroom battles and heated academic debate, the United States has entered an ... more After a decade of courtroom battles and heated academic debate, the United States has entered an age where the scientific validity of DNA evidence is not subject to dispute; however, the admittance of the evidence should be questioned. DNA's power to determine guilt challenges traditional notions that the scales of justice are balanced. Post-conviction DNA exonerations show that mistaken trial judgments surrounding DNA evidence can result in wrongful convictions. DNA profile tests are closer akin to rolling the dice or flipping a coin and not apodictic indicators of identity; however, jurors tend to place more faith in the scientific evidence, therefore assigning it more probative value than the evidence actually merits. Due to the burden DNA places on the defense via the presence of a DNA ‘match’ and the inability of a jury to correctly comprehend the evidence, DNA evidence, at this time, should be deemed prejudicial.

Issues of professional competence and accuracy are central issues in forensic assessment. Forensi... more Issues of professional competence and accuracy are central issues in forensic assessment. Forensic psychologists have the professional duty to adhere to legal statutes regarding standard of evidence. Utilizing ‘The Psychopathy Checklist Revised’ (PCL-R) while assessing the custody, substantial issues surrounding the reliability/validity and the relevance must be considered. Researchers have conducted considerable research with the PCL-R; however the vast majority of these studies have involved incarcerated or institutionalized samples. When applying the PCL-R research outside the study group, where the prevalence is lower than within the study group, the rate of false positives will increase, making the instrument even less valid than it appears in the core research. Further, there is a lack of research supporting the presence of psychopathic traits creates an inter-generational issue or displaying any continuity of psychopathy. Finally, the label of psychopathy appears to be often misleading and prejudicial, often resulting in bias and confusion, in a menagerie of cases. With this strong evidence base, the PCL-R can be an invaluable tool for assessing and predicting the interpersonal behavior of offenders; however, the use of psychopathy testing in child custody cases application will result in unreliable and invalid determinations that a person would be an unfit parent.

Though attorneys on both sides of the judicial equation have the professional duty to adhere to l... more Though attorneys on both sides of the judicial equation have the professional duty to adhere to legal statutes, unanswered and unguided issues of professionalism and ethical practice surround defense lawyers daily. Utilizing the dyadic example of factual guilt vs. legal guilt, this paper addresses the ethical and professional implications of defending a factually guilty client. Lawyers who are certain of their client’s guilt confront inescapable ethical conflicts when the client insists on a vigorous defense and have little to guide them down the correct path. This paper utilizes examples of past cases, popular culture, and a recently tried case to display issues within the courtroom, ethical dilemmas, and the general importance of the defense attorney. Drawing from the conclusions of Supreme and Appellate court cases dealing with the value of an attorney willing to differentiate between legal and factual guilt, one conclusion can be drawn: sometimes we must sacrifice legal truth and/or a conviction in order to protect the important principles and unalienable rights of current and future defendants.

Many police agencies throughout the United States and European countries have began to implement ... more Many police agencies throughout the United States and European countries have began to implement community policing initiatives to reduce crime and improve police-community relations by building partnerships, increasing trust, and utilizing research to ensure these policing initiatives are successful. Research corroborates what common sense predicts: The quality of police-community relations is associated with the police department's ability to engage the community to work together to solve problems and prevent crime. Using citizen satisfaction as a performance indicator demonstrates to individual officers that the quality of the police services they provide is important.

Conference Presentations by Kresenda L Keith

: This document contains detailed summaries for each of the U.S. Army Research Institute?s basic ... more : This document contains detailed summaries for each of the U.S. Army Research Institute?s basic research contracts for the fiscal year 2012. These summaries are grouped according to six research portfolios: Personnel Testing and Performance, Learning in Formal and Informal Environments, Leader Development, Organizational Effectiveness, Socio-Cultural Capabilities, and Psychophysiology of Individual Differences. In addition to summarizing what was done or is being done, each summary describes the contributions of that research effort to basic behavioral science and suggests how the findings might benefit the Army and other military services.

This document is an annual report of research done under contract for the United States Army Rese... more This document is an annual report of research done under contract for the United States Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Author's Note: This data was initially utilized for an unpublished undergraduate thesis on attrac... more Author's Note: This data was initially utilized for an unpublished undergraduate thesis on attractiveness, situational factors, and criminality. Cases were chosen for analysis, but true conclusions should be taken with caution as results are likely biased. Further, this reanalysis of the data implies multiple tests of this sample due to previous analysis, likely increasing the chance for Type I error. Please also note the literature review may be expanded if publication is sought.

After having held more or less constant for decades, the prison population in the United States h... more After having held more or less constant for decades, the prison population in the United States has quadrupled . Among the industrialized nations the U.S. has the highest rate of incarceration. At the end of the 20th century, over five million people were in state custody, including prison, jails, and probation. This growth has disproportionately impacted minority, racial, and ethnic groups .

This essay focuses on sentencing structure and guidelines for Alaska and Russia. The specific cri... more This essay focuses on sentencing structure and guidelines for Alaska and Russia. The specific crime of Online Child Enticement is utilized for comparison.

Essay prompt:
An important part of this class is to consider how the U.S. conducts sentencing and how it contrasts with other countries. The U.S. experience is considered “exceptional” due to the punitiveness associated with sentencing. Each student was expected to do an independent work by selecting one US state and one European Country. Try to answer the following questions: What is the framework for the sentencing guidelines? How do they affect sentencing concepts of proportionality, justice, fairness, and mass incarceration policies?

This paper is a section of a white paper on personality and cognitive pre-employment testing fo... more This paper is a section of a white paper on personality and cognitive
pre-employment testing for public trust positions and the application of tests for the Army.

This was a paper done for a Crime & Crime Policy class. It was a response to the February 22, 201... more This was a paper done for a Crime & Crime Policy class. It was a response to the February 22, 2012 Congressional Briefing entitled, “Reducing Gun Violence: Lessons from Research and Practice.” This briefing was put on by the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy. Led by Dr. Christopher Koper, Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society, the briefing addressed many of the issues with the policies, research, and nature of addressing gun violence.

you agree or disagree with this statement. How does current prison culture impact legitimacy of t... more you agree or disagree with this statement. How does current prison culture impact legitimacy of the correctional organization? Provide suggestions on how legitimacy within prisons can be improved.

the role of leaders in having great influence over their agencies. Discuss how much and how justi... more the role of leaders in having great influence over their agencies. Discuss how much and how justice organizational leaders impact organizational structures and practices. Also, discuss how the methods leaders use influence the organizational culture. Cite empirical literature in your answer.

It is conversely endorsed by penologists that incarcerated inmates are often looked down upon by ... more It is conversely endorsed by penologists that incarcerated inmates are often looked down upon by free society. Society views inmates and their institution as a lawless and disorderly arena, devoid of conventional mores. This assumption may be far too rushed. Based on the preponderance of law and society research, it makes more sense that just as humans assimilate to the norms, customs, and laws of society, inmates must assimilate to the self-contained community of a prison and adapt their own form of law. The prison society appears to still uphold the foundational values that shape outside society. Though some of the values of the prison may be discordant with societal values, the prison society appears to mirror the core values that flow through the outside world: a hierarchical society with socially construed laws that enforce order and organization through the values respect and morality.

Over the past decade, many law enforcement agencies have moved towards a community-oriented polic... more Over the past decade, many law enforcement agencies have moved towards a community-oriented policing concept. Community policing is based upon the concept that the community and police must work together to solve the community issues, including crime. Anarchistic theory asserts that a healthy community, one functioning without the oppression of a centralized government, will police itself. Though criticisms of community policing exist, the most convincing being that it does not reduce crime, and criticisms of anarchistic theory and social control abound; these definitions of success are overly narrow and too abrupt to judge community policing. Community policing is intrinsically valuable as a means of crime control, repairs community ties, and is a move towards the strong, self-enforcing community that anarchy values.

After a decade of courtroom battles and heated academic debate, the United States has entered an ... more After a decade of courtroom battles and heated academic debate, the United States has entered an age where the scientific validity of DNA evidence is not subject to dispute; however, the admittance of the evidence should be questioned. DNA's power to determine guilt challenges traditional notions that the scales of justice are balanced. Post-conviction DNA exonerations show that mistaken trial judgments surrounding DNA evidence can result in wrongful convictions. DNA profile tests are closer akin to rolling the dice or flipping a coin and not apodictic indicators of identity; however, jurors tend to place more faith in the scientific evidence, therefore assigning it more probative value than the evidence actually merits. Due to the burden DNA places on the defense via the presence of a DNA ‘match’ and the inability of a jury to correctly comprehend the evidence, DNA evidence, at this time, should be deemed prejudicial.

Issues of professional competence and accuracy are central issues in forensic assessment. Forensi... more Issues of professional competence and accuracy are central issues in forensic assessment. Forensic psychologists have the professional duty to adhere to legal statutes regarding standard of evidence. Utilizing ‘The Psychopathy Checklist Revised’ (PCL-R) while assessing the custody, substantial issues surrounding the reliability/validity and the relevance must be considered. Researchers have conducted considerable research with the PCL-R; however the vast majority of these studies have involved incarcerated or institutionalized samples. When applying the PCL-R research outside the study group, where the prevalence is lower than within the study group, the rate of false positives will increase, making the instrument even less valid than it appears in the core research. Further, there is a lack of research supporting the presence of psychopathic traits creates an inter-generational issue or displaying any continuity of psychopathy. Finally, the label of psychopathy appears to be often misleading and prejudicial, often resulting in bias and confusion, in a menagerie of cases. With this strong evidence base, the PCL-R can be an invaluable tool for assessing and predicting the interpersonal behavior of offenders; however, the use of psychopathy testing in child custody cases application will result in unreliable and invalid determinations that a person would be an unfit parent.

Though attorneys on both sides of the judicial equation have the professional duty to adhere to l... more Though attorneys on both sides of the judicial equation have the professional duty to adhere to legal statutes, unanswered and unguided issues of professionalism and ethical practice surround defense lawyers daily. Utilizing the dyadic example of factual guilt vs. legal guilt, this paper addresses the ethical and professional implications of defending a factually guilty client. Lawyers who are certain of their client’s guilt confront inescapable ethical conflicts when the client insists on a vigorous defense and have little to guide them down the correct path. This paper utilizes examples of past cases, popular culture, and a recently tried case to display issues within the courtroom, ethical dilemmas, and the general importance of the defense attorney. Drawing from the conclusions of Supreme and Appellate court cases dealing with the value of an attorney willing to differentiate between legal and factual guilt, one conclusion can be drawn: sometimes we must sacrifice legal truth and/or a conviction in order to protect the important principles and unalienable rights of current and future defendants.

Many police agencies throughout the United States and European countries have began to implement ... more Many police agencies throughout the United States and European countries have began to implement community policing initiatives to reduce crime and improve police-community relations by building partnerships, increasing trust, and utilizing research to ensure these policing initiatives are successful. Research corroborates what common sense predicts: The quality of police-community relations is associated with the police department's ability to engage the community to work together to solve problems and prevent crime. Using citizen satisfaction as a performance indicator demonstrates to individual officers that the quality of the police services they provide is important.