Publication Date

7-1-2003

Degree Program

Department of Psychology

Degree Type

Master of Arts

Abstract

The current research focuses on parents' level of understanding of Miranda rights and parents' likelihood of encouraging their teenagers to waive their Miranda rights. The previous research suggests that parents alone may not adequately protect juveniles' rights during interrogation and waiver. Prior research also suggests that parents' and juveniles' past experience with the justice system may not help them during their current interrogation and waiver. A 17-item questionnaire was used to assess the two dependent variables and the two independent variables. The two dependent variables were parents' understanding of Miranda rights and parents' likelihood of encouraging arrested teens to waive their rights. The two independent variables were whether or not a parent has been arrested and whether or not the teenager has been arrested. There were four conditions: parents who had been arrested with teenagers who had been arrested, parents who had been arrested with teenagers who had not been arrested, parents who had not been arrested with teenagers who had been arrested, and parents who had not been arrested with teenagers who had not been arrested. Several ANOVAs (Analyses of Variance) and one ANCOVA (Analysis of Covariance) revealed patterns in the data supporting the hypothesis that parents may not provide adequate support for teenagers during the waiver process. Overall, past experience was shown not to have an effect on the likelihood for parents to encourage waiver or on their score on the Comprehension o/Miranda Rights - Recognition (CMRR) (used to measure level of understanding of the Miranda warnings) (Grisso, 1998). Furthermore, the implications for this study supported the notion that having legal counsel present during the waiver process is beneficial to the arrested teenager.

Disciplines

Criminology and Criminal Justice | Psychology

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