In this paper, the author proposed psychological mechanisms of divorce based on the stress and coping theory devised by Lazarus, R. S. In this model, divorce is proposed as a stress response. This model focuses on coping strategies, such as constructive communication, demand/withdraw communication, excuses or justification for the partner, criticism, disagreeing, denying responsibility, agreeing, approving, and accepting responsibility, which are characterized as marital stressors, particularly in daily hassles. In this study, we show how these coping strategies increase or decrease marital satisfaction/dissatisfaction, and marital distress, and discuss other coping strategies to prevent divorce.

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This paper examines the mental development of children with divorced parents, particularly their loss experiences and resilience. The Japanese version of the Beck Depression Inventory was administered to a sample of college students with divorced parents. The results showed that children's age at the time of their parents' divorce strongly relates to their mental development. Family relationships before the divorce are strongly associated with various mental problems in children. These associations are particularly important for individuals who have experienced parental conflict and divorce as adolescents.

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Uncontested divorces do not go through courts; however, mediated divorces, post-filing divorce settlements, and divorce decrees do go through courts. Meanwhile, the parties to the dispute, facing conditions such as living separately, spend days and months dealing with court procedures from the beginning to the end of the dispute. Care of children caught in the midst of their parents' disputes is the most problematic aspect of divorce cases. The civil law imposes a single-parent custody system following divorce; however, there is still joint custody before the divorce, even if the parents are separated. Despite this, the law does not entertain the assumption that joint custody is in the child's best interest. In single-parent custody-based procedures, the courts set parents against each other to inquire, "Which parent can be a better guardian?" The resulting judgments exclude the parent that loses from the child's life. In contrast, in joint custody-based procedures, the courts encourage mediation between the parties. The inquiry in such cases is, "How should the disputing parents go about raising the child?" In the former "trial," the "facts" are abstracted, and a legalistic regime is imposed, leaving no role for science. In the latter mediation-supportive procedures, clinical psychology, psychiatry, science, and other factors play an indispensable role.

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This study investigated the relationship between lay citizens' judgment and critical thinking for dispositions in criminal courts. One hundred and forty four undergraduate and graduate students were asked to (1) read a trial scenario based on an actual case (2) judge guilt or innocence (3) write down the reason for their judgment (4) complete a scale measuring their critical thinking disposition. The scenario used was devised to induce a guilty judgment, but an impartial judge would not be biased toward the presumption of innocence. A text data analysis of the responses was conducted to extract frequently appearing words within participants' stated rationale for their judgment. This was followed by a corresponding analysis in four categories, which were combinations of judgments (guilt or innocence) x critical thinking disposition (high or low). The results revealed that participants with a high critical thinking disposition, who chose "innocent" tended to mention absence of evidence, while those with a low critical thinking disposition, who chose "guilty" tended to mention remarks made by the witness, defendant, and attorney during the trial. Participants with a low critical thinking disposition also used words such as "wrong," "contrived," and "unconvinced."

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The present study investigated how the public perceives the citizen-judge system through causal explanations of a determined punishment. In the first study, participants were asked to think about the rationale for citizen judges to determine the appropriate punishment for a particular crime. They were instructed to write their reasons as free descriptions. Three general themes emerged: characteristics of the citizen judges, type of crime, and system procedures. The second study further revealed a psychological factor that directed respondents' attention to gender categories as explanations for the determined punishment. Psychological essentialism (i.e., belief in immutable and inherent categorical essence) was used as a psychological factor to distinguish respondents' degree of making categorical inferences. People who strongly (vs. weakly) endorsed psychological essentialism made more causal inferences for male gender categories, regardless of the types of crime. Through these studies, we have suggested a potential framework for examining the citizen-judge system from a public perspective.

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Jurors have some different standards from judges. In Saiban-in deliberation, judges' instructions play an important role in filling the gap of standards. However they are not clear that the process of filling the gap, the effect on juror's confident in post-deliberation period, and the effect of timing on the verdict. Therefore we examined these process and effects. 48 undergraduate and graduate students, divided into groups of four, participated in a mock jury deliberation with a mock judge (Juris Doctorate). As a result, three strategy of filling the gap; (1) accommodation of judgment standards, (2) accommodation of rigidness of the judgment standards, and (3) examining rationality of the judgment. The confidence of one-seventh of the participants in their decisions decreased one week after the deliberations. On the other hand, there is no effect of the timing of judge's instruction which makes accommodation of judgment standards. These results suggest that the effect of judgment schema, which jurors have, decrease, and it tend to be reconstructed in the field of deliberation.

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The present study aimed to examine the conditions of shoplifting. This study examined coping and preventive measures of shoplifting from the perspectives of shop leaders and shop assistants. Participants in Study 1 included 90 full-time shop managers. In Study 2, the participants included 110 part-time shop assistants. In Study 1, shoplifting was reduced using preventive measures such as classes in loss prevention and intangible preventive measures. In Study 2, part-time shop assistants were less aware of their role in crime prevention and did less to prevent shoplifting. With this group, results showed that improving their awareness was necessary for shoplifting prevention.

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