Niagara University Professors and Alumni Publish Article in Criminal Justice Studies

Dr. Talia Harmon, chair and professor of criminology and criminal justice; Dr. David Taylor, associate professor of criminology and criminal justice; Dr. Todd Schoepflin, associate professor of sociology; and Niagara University alumni Chelsea Henning, '18, M.S.'23, and Dr. Diana L. Falco, '01, M.S.'02, co-authored an article in Criminal Justice Studies. The article, "Does depth of information matter? An empirical test of the Marshall hypothesis," examined Justice Thurgood Marshall's second hypothesis in his concurring Furman opinion, where he suggested "people who were fully informed" regarding the death penalty "would find the penalty, shocking, unjust and unacceptable."

This is the third paper on the topic published by Drs. Harmon, Taylor and Falco. The authors analyzed data collected by an instructor who taught a full semester-long death penalty class, an instructor who taught only one lecture on the topic, and a comparison group of students enrolled in a class that did not cover death penalty or criminal justice topics to compare if the students changed their opinion on the death penalty. They found that the depth of information taught on capital punishment had a significant impact on the students' level of knowledge, and that increased knowledge gained over the course of a full semester of instruction reduced the level of students' support for the death penalty.

"These findings support Marshall's hypothesis that the depth of information given to subjects makes a difference in their perception of the death penalty," said Dr. Harmon, who has been studying capital punishment topics for more than 25 years. "They also support a better understanding of the ensuing academic and legal implications for an evolving standard of decency analysis under the Eighth Amendment."

Criminal Justice Studies is a quarterly journal that publishes theoretical, empirical and interpretive studies of crime and criminal justice. The journal is multi-disciplinary in nature, drawing on all social sciences that provide insights regarding issues of crime and criminal justice. All methodologies of social science are supported and encouraged. The journal is especially interested in publishing research that provides a critical assessment of criminal justice policy and practices.