Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies

Research Interests

Interests include the social psychological ramifications of both the justice system and other organizations (e.g., business). More specifically, jury and judicial decision making; the use of visual stimuli (computer-generated demonstrative evidence) to produce attitude change; the intersection between science and the law; evaluation of justice systems; pre-trial publicity issues; research related to technology and the Internet; racial and ethnic issues; the construct of motivation; and role theory.

Recent Publications

Dahir, V.B., Richardson, J.T., Ginsburg, G.P., Gatowski, S.I., Dobbin, S.A., & Merlino, M.L. (in press). Judicial application of Daubert to psychological syndrome and profile evidence: A research note. Psychology, Public Policy, & Law. Manuscript under review.

Richardson, J.T., Ginsburg, G.P., Dobbin, S.A., Gatowski, S.I., Dahir, V.B., & Merlino, M. (2003). Judges and epidemiological evidence. Judicature, 87(1), 38-39.

Merlino, M. L., Dillehay, R.C., Dahir, V., & Maxwell, D. (2003). Science Education for Judges: What, Where, and by Whom? Judicature, 86, 210-213.

Dobbin, S. A., Gatowski, S.I., Richardson, J.T., Ginsburg, G.P., Merlino, M.L., & Dahir, V. (2002). Applying Daubert: How well do judges understand science and scientific method? Judicature, 85, 5, 244-247.

Dobbin, S.A., Gatowski, S.I., Ginsburg, G.P., Merlino, M.L., Dahir, V., & Richardson, J.T. (2001). Surveying difficult populations: Lessons learned from a national survey of state trial court judges. Justice System Journal, 22(3), 287-314.

Gatowski, S.I., Dobbin, S.A., Richardson, J.T., Ginsburg, G.P., Merlino, M.L., & Dahir, V. (2001). Asking the gatekeepers: A national survey of judges on judging expert evidence in a post-Daubert world. Law and Human Behavior, 25(5), 433-458.

Merlino, M.L., Dillehay, R.C., Dahir, V., & Maxwell, D. (2001). Science education programs for the state and federal judiciary at year 2001. Reno, Nevada: U.N.R., Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies. Submitted to the Federal Judicial Center, Wash.D.C.

Desrochers, S., & Dahir, V. (2000). Ambition as a motivational basis of organizational and professional commitment: Preliminary analysis of a proposed Career Advancement Ambition Scale. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 91, 563-570.

Dillehay, R.C., Barry-Gabier, P.J., & Dahir, V. (2000). La evalucion del jurado en los casos criminals: Una comparación psicosocial del jurado americano y español. (The evolving jury of laypersons in criminal cases: Some social psychological comparisons between the U.S. and Spain). Psicología Política, 20, 93-122.

Dobbin, S.A., Gatowski, S.I., Merlino, M.L., & Dahir, V. (2000). The results of pilot research aimed at expanding the scope and utility of judicial workload studies in child abuse and neglect cases. Reno, Nevada: U.N.R., Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies and the Permanency Planning for Children Department, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

Merlino, M.L., Dahir, V., & Dillehay, R.C. (2000). Master of Judicial Studies Program evaluation 2000. Final report. Reno, Nevada: U.N.R., Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies. Submitted to the State Justice Institute and the Master of Judicial Studies Program, U.N.R., Reno, NV.

Dahir, V., Polk, R.K., & Merlino, M. L. (1999). Juvenile and family court judges: The importance of "role" to an understanding of "workload":

An annotated bibliography. Reno, Nevada: U.N.R., Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies and the Permanency Planning for Children Department, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.

Recent Presentations

Dahir, V. (2000, March). Ku Klux Klan and the Internet: New social movement or same 'book,' different cover? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Pacific Sociological Association, San Diego, CA.

Gatowski, S.I., Dobbin, S.A., Merlino, M.L., Dahir, V., & Dillehay, R.C. (2000, May). The role of the juvenile and family court judge in context: The importance of judicial role in studies of judicial workload. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Law and Society National Conference, Miami, FL.

Gatowski, S.I., Dobbin S.A., Johnson, M.T., Cecil, J. S., Dahir, V., Merlino, M.L., Richardson, J.T., & Ginsburg, G.P. (2000, March). The experience of state trial court judges with respect to expert testimony: Problems encountered and solutions employed. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society (Division 41 of the American Psychological Association), New Orleans, Louisiana.

Gatowski, S.I., Dobbin, S.A., Richardson, J.T., Ginsburg, G.P., Merlino, M.L., & Dahir, V. (1999, July). Judges' definitions of "scientific evidence": Results of a national survey of state trial court judges. Invited paper presented as part of a panel entitled "Designating Evidence as Science, Technical or Specialized Knowledge: Implications for Admissiblity." Joint meetings of the International Conference of the American Psychological Law Society, Division 41 of the American Psychological Association and the European Society and Law Association, Dublin, Ireland.

Dobbin, S.A., Gatowski, S.I., Ginsburg, G., Richardson, J.T., Merlino, M.L., & Dahir, V. (1999, July). Judges' opinions of Daubert and the admissibility of scientific evidence: Results of a national survey of judges. Invited paper presented as part of a panel entitled: "The Use of Scientific Evidence: Empirical, Legal, and Comparative Perspectives." Joint meetings of the International Conference of the American Psychological Law Society, Division 41 of the American Psychological Association and the European Society and Law Association, Dublin, Ireland.

Dahir, V., Merlino, M.L., Dobbin, S.A, Gatowski, S.I., Richardson, J.T., & Ginsburg, G.P. (1999, May). A clash of cultures: When diverse disciplines meet in the legal arena. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Law and Society Association, Chicago, IL.

Gatowski, S.I., Dobbin, S.A., Ginsburg, G.P., Richardson, J.T., Merlino, M.L., & Dahir, V. (1999, May). Strategies for surveying difficult populations: Lessons learned from a national survey of judges. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Law and Society Association, national conference, Chicago, IL.

Dahir, V. (1998, June). Judicial discretion to exclude computer-generated demonstrative evidence: How do judges 'define' unfair prejudice? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Law and Society Association, Aspen, CO.

Dillehay, R.C., Dahir, V., Gatowski, S.I., & Dobbin, S.A. (1997, June). Conversations with district attorneys. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Law and Society Association, St. Louis, Missouri.

Dahir, V., Merlino, M.L., & Dittloff, S. (1997, April). The social construction of race and ethnicity: Shared and unshared definitions in the law. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Pacific Psychological Association, San Diego, CA.