Published pretrial publicity (PTP) research has been conducted almost exclusively with criminal cases and has focused on PTP that is detrimental to the defense. The current research examined the effects of PTP in a civil case to determine if PTP can have a biasing effect against either the defendant or the plaintiff in civil litigation. In Experiment 1, participants exposed to PTP biased agains...

Offense-defense theory offers an optimistic view of international politics based on the argument that war can be prevented if defense gains an advantage over offense. It also argues that an effective arms control can reduce the risk of arms races and war. The theory has been useful in foreign policy analysis and in international relations scholarship since it is used to explain theoretical and ...

This study examines the influence of the organizational strategy used to structure opening statements and closing arguments on presentation effectiveness in a simulated civil trial. Two organizational structures, a narrative and a legal-expository format, were manipulated to produce a 2 (plaintiff organizational strategy) x 3 (defense organizational strategy) experimental design. Results indica...

The guerrillas are not alone in using violence to control territory. As their presence and power have expanded, so have the illegal selfdefense organizations, also known as paramilitaries, dedicated to eradicating the insurgency. The autodefensas, or self-defense groups, are the third party in Colombia’s three-sided civil conflict.1 Local armed self-defense groups have developed throughout Colo...