Where to Go From Here: Online Resources Part 2

Acknowledging the web's mind boggling wealth of knowledge, this week I once again decided to further probe it for resources in order to provide another ten relevant sites to add to my linkroll. My intention in doing so is to proliferate and expand the exponentially growing interlinking connections that is web 2.0. My linkroll comprises of sites ranging from policy making government organizations to opinionated personal blogs, all with their own merits and impact, all relevant to issues I am interested in and discuss in this blog.

The first site I added for this week was the American Psychology and Law Society. The organization's goal is to advance the understanding of law and legal institutions through basic and applied psychological research, and for this, parallels the intent of Grey Matters. However, the actual website is somewhat limited in available information without membership. The site's student section is a selling point, offering resources concerning internships, fellowships, grants, research, clinical training, and more, yet the visual design of this section is unappealing, rough, and uninspired. The Association for Psychological Science website is a very well organized collection of some of the most interesting psychology articles, an exhaustive link section, and journal access. The site is easily navigable and incorporates descriptive visuals for many of the article topics. Crime Library's The Criminal Mind website is perhaps the most entertaining and enjoyable place to visit on my linkroll. The site would earn high marks in all criteria sections for the Webby Awards; the content communicates a large body of knowledge in an engaging easily accessible manner; the functionality is superb, integrating interactive quizzes based on crime stories with multiple chapters and quick loading despite ample eye candy. Although being associated with a television station, the site's overall experience leaves you enlightened and does not come off as transplanted material from television of magazine. Psychology Today is the magazine of the same name's website but it is by no means an electronic version of the magazine. Exceeding the Crime Library's level of interactivity, Psychology Today offers dozens of online tests from coping skills to IQ, with immediate feedback to facilitate an informative experience. One of the site's main purposes is to provide help and resources to those in need, which it does very well. All About Forensic Psychology is a toss up when it comes the quality of the site. While a comprehensive bank of information can be found here in a style and language accessible to the layperson, finding what you are looking for might be cumbersome. An unorganized but extensive list of topics can be found on the left side of the main page, and following any one of these links will lead you to good info fragmented by ugly advertising and poor layout. Despite these drawbacks, this site is worth exploring.

PsyBlog, Maintained by a freelance writer and psychology graduate student, has gained gained a lot of attention through its stylistic use of the post miniseries, such as the "7 sins of memory", which unfold as multiple posts over a week or so. The blog's influence is recognizable by its high technorati authority rating along with a four year archive. The Innocence Project's Innocence Blog deals almost exclusively with current news related to psychological research on the fallibility of eyewitness identification of which I posted on a few weeks back. The blog is updated daily and its authority is of the highest on the topic. Wer're Only Human is affiliated with the Association for Psychological Science and takes a casual approach to psychology concepts but is written very well with good flow. The posts focus on everyday applications of the field and consequently has some highly engaging things to share. My only critique of the site is that it is too blue in color. In The News is a blog written by a PH.D. about forensic psychology, criminology, and law. A forensic psychologist in profession, the author bases her posts on current events and articulates an opinion through peer reviewed research. Although a bit biased against the legal system and media, the content of this blog is too important and relevant to dismiss. The final website I added to my linkroll was one that does this sort of work for me. PsychSplash is a blog maintained by a PH.D. in clinical psychology who's passion for everything psychology overflows in the effort he puts into exploring the web for psychology related websites. The blog reviews a new site everyday and describes who its audience would be, the topics it concerns itself with, and the features the site contains. Besides being a great resource for anyone interested in psychology, the blog's visual design is playful and very appealing.

Crack Time: New Sentencing Guidlines May Free Thousands of Inmates

In the largest single act ever to reduce the sentences of federal prisoners, the U.S. Sentencing Commission has produced guidelines that took effect last Monday, potentially letting free more than 20,000 inmates. The commission, which sets the rules to guide federal judges, reduced recommended sentences for federal crack cocaine offenders last year and has now made those reductions retroactive. 1,600 inmates convicted of possession or distribution of the the drug are available for immediate release based on their less-dangerous status, but 18,000 more violent inmates will be available for release in following years.

Crack cocaine is the cheaper and less pure version of powdered cocaine, and was developed in the early 1980's. With its emergence, there was an increase in murders and other crimes associated with the drug; typical of the introduction period of any illegal drug as dealers compete for shares in the new market. Media coverage claimed an epidemic and soon Congress instated the Anti-Drug Abuse Act in 1986. The act aimed to curtail violence related to the sale of crack by imposing mandatory minimum sentences to arrests concerning the drug. Possession of five grams of crack cocaine (equal to about two packets of sugar and about the daily consumption of an addict) would result in no less than five years in prison. This statute was significant because it created a huge gap in punishment for crack versus powdered cocaine related offenses. The disparity in conviction criteria was not small; after the act was instated, a person must have been caught with one hundred times as much powdered cocaine to have received the same conviction as if caught with crack. In fact, crack cocaine is the only drug for which the first offense of simple possession can trigger the federal mandatory minimum sentence of five years. on the other hand, under the same circumstances powdered cocaine possession of any quantity is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a maximum of one year.

Much controversy surrounded the act, and continues to this day. Opponents of the regulations protest it as clandestine racism considering that about 85% of crack defendants in the U.S. are Black and only about 6% are White. Conversely, most powdered cocaine convictions, resulting in far more lenient sentences, involve Whites. Many advocates and organizations claim that the policy reflects one of our justice systems most blatant and unjust forms of institutional racism. The U.S. Sentencing Commission has since filled four special reports over the last two decades, specifically focusing on the crack vs. cocaine sentencing disparity, all of which until this past month have been ignored or held up by congress.

But it is not simply an issue of race when it comes to the sentencing disparity. Those supporting the more severe punishments associated with crack over powdered cocaine cite important differences between the two forms of the drug. The United States Sentencing Guidelines Manual 2D1.1(c) assigns the aforementioned 1:100 ratio between crack and powder cocaine offering five main reasons for the distinction: (1) crack is more addictive than powdered cocaine; (2) there is a greater relationship between crack and serious crimes than with other drugs; (3) crack has a more dangerous physiological effect than powdered cocaine; (4) young people are more prone to use crack than powdered cocaine; and (5) cracks affordable cost per dose leads to more widespread use.

But mainly opponents contest Congress's reasoning for the overwhelming disparity. They acknowledge some (research has shown that crack is not more addictive than powdered cocaine) of the distinctions as warranting more severe punishment, but denounce the hundred-fold quantity criteria as grossly excessive. With all of their work, the Sentencing Commission's recommendations only resulted in a 50% decrease in quantity regulation. Thus, 5 grams of crack is equivalent to 250 grams of cocaine instead of 500 grams, and sentences are only slightly reduced. Mandatory minimum sentences are still in effect for crack cocaine simple possession, meaning that even with small amounts and no proof of intent to sell, federal trafficking charges can be litigated. As such, low-level crack dealers and first-time offenders receive an average sentence of ten years and six months; which is 59% longer than the average sentence for rape and only 18% shorter than the average sentence for murder.

So while it seems disturbing that 20,000 criminals might be released from prison, the ones eligible now are only the least violent and least likely to commit another crime, and the release is not automatic. Each eligible prisoner's case must be reviewed and a judge must consent with the release. These prisoners therefore face a slow and expensive process of freeing themselves from the prejudiced system that incarcerated them for an excessive period of time. This is not to argue that criminals shouldn't be punished or that drugs shouldn't be illegal, but any government system purporting to advocate justice must do so in a just and egalitarian manner. If Congress is not convinced that the punishment of crack possession is too severe, then they should at least recognize the punishment for cocaine possession is by comparison, too lenient.

Crime and drugs do often come hand in hand, but law makers are clearly reluctant to recognize that substance abuse is an illness that can be treated. Substance Abuse Disorder is a psychological condition defined in the DSM-IV-TR, and has many treatment paradigms and significant rehabilitation potential. Yet in the late twentieth century, our justice system shifted away from policies of rehabilitation back to inflexible and unproductive principles of retribution. Too many people suffering from addiction are being incarcerated with violent criminals because we are quick to label drug users as morally flawed and hopeless. Considering the disparate conviction of crack cocaine use against Blacks, we must either acknowledge the institutional racism upholding this legal trend, or recognize a psychological susceptibility resulting from societal racism and oppression of the Black community.

Where to Go From Here: Online Resources

While I wish I could say that this blog holds all of the information there is to offer concerning psychology, I must concede that there are places on the internet that have far more to offer. Therefore, this week I probed the internet for pertinent resources of which I have added to the linkroll on the right side of my blog. I have striven to filter out the tangential and irrelevant content in an attempt to produce a list of resources of only the highest quality and authority based on the criteria of The Webby Awards along with Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) guidelines for blog evaluation assessment.

To start with the broad but highly authoritative, the information base and influence of the American Psychological Association is unsurpassed in this domain. APA's website can be used as a starting point for any endeavor into psychology of any discipline considering its adept structure in which you can start in the topic directory and proceed to narrow in on your area of interest with ease. A strong aggregation of psychology news and headlines is backed up with a wealth of literature and databases to further any scholarly pursuit. Psychology Matters, a site produced by the APA, organizes a multitude of psychological research studies that are directly relevant to daily life making it a considerably effective and efficient site for the kind of issues and news that this audience is interested in. Another official and authoritative website I included is that of the National Institute of Justice. Considering that the NIJ is a program devoted to the research, development, and evaluation of the U.S. Department of Justice, the site makes contains ample psychological research that is highly relevant to public policy. The site layout is very organized and utilizes branching subdirectories for almost every topic you click on making it very easy to hone in your search. Continuing with the theme, The National Institute of Mental Health is a good place to stop if you are interested in clinical research that has influenced public policy or government positions on mental health issues. The site is a good resource and its simplicity is a plus but as such, it lacks in visual appeal. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers website is a great place to check out if you are more concerned with the legal side of a psychological issue or legislative implications of current research. Most helpful here are the News & Issues along with the Federal Legislation sections of the site.

To move on to more exclusively psychology related content, PsychCentral is a excellent website with perhaps the most all-encompassing collection of resources from news and research to medication information along with a highly regarded blog, all in a easy to navigate package. An unceasingly updated site that was recognized by a Best of the Web-Blog award for its quality is Furious Seasons. The blog focuses on the state of mental health in the United States and contains one of the most prolific and expansive linkrolls available itself. Cognitive Daily is another eminent blog maintained by an acclaimed professor of psychology and her experienced writer husband. The blog reports daily on peer-reviewed psychological literature but in a language that anyone can understand. Another long-established blog is Mind Hacks. This blog caters to the curious mind who seeks a very current analysis of the neuroscience and psychology's most interesting discoveries and studies. The psychology section of Research Blogging is only one blog in a conglomeration of blogs of various topics all devoted to discussing and creating peer-reviewed research. Because of this designation and purpose, the site is scholarly yet entirely accessible as blog format. These ten websites are superlative in the realm of issues that Grey Matters is devoted to, and exploring them will lead to an education and understanding of the issues to a degree far greater than I can offer.