Case Explained: Monica Miller | Department of Criminal Justice – Legal Perspective

Summary

Monica Miller is a foundation professor with a split appointment between the Department of Sociology and the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Social Psychology. She is also an adjunct faculty member at the Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies and an affiliate of the Department of Gender, Race, and Identity.

Miller received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Nebraska College of Law and her doctorate in social psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Her interests involve the application of psychological theories and justice principles to laws and policies. Specifically, she is interested in social cognitive biases (i.e., gender and religion-based prejudice) and individual differences in moral and legal decisions (e.g., jury decisions); how the law regulates the family; how community sentiment and science relate to the law; juror responses to hate crimes and conspiracy theories; and the well-being of those who interact with the legal system (including the use of therapy dogs).

Please contact Monica Miller, Ph.D., if you are interested in working in her lab as an undergraduate or graduate student.

Selected publications

(Students in bold)

Books

• Miller, M. K., Yelderman, L. A., Huss, M. T., & Cantone, J. A. (Eds.) (2024). The Cambridge handbook of legal decision making. Cambridge University Press.
• Miller, M. K. (2024). The social science of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A call to action for researchers. Oxford University Press.
• Miller, M. K. (2023). The social science of QAnon: A new social and political phenomenon. Cambridge University Press.
• Miller, M. K., Blumenthal, J. A., & Chamberlain, J. (Eds.). (2015). Handbook of community sentiment. Springer.
• Miller, M. K., Chamberlain, J., & Wingrove, T. (Eds.). (2014). Psychology, law, and the wellbeing of children. Oxford University Press.
• Bornstein, B. H., & Miller, M. K. (2009). God in the courtroom: Religion’s role at trial. Oxford University Press.

Journal articles

• Giannetta, T. S., Cunius, M. K., & Miller, M. K. (under review).  A qualitative study investigating people’s lay theories and stereotypes about hate crimes

  
  

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• Meyer, A. R., McDermott, C. M., Miller, M. K., & Marsh, S. (2022). Judges’ perceptions of facility dogs in the courtroom. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 73, 41-55.
• Kirshenbaum, J. M., & Miller, M. K. (2020). Judges’ experiences with mitigating jurors’ implicit biases. Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law. 
• Miller, M. K., Clark, J., & Alvarez, M. J. (2020). Exploring the boundaries of societally acceptable bias expression toward Muslim and atheist defendants in four mock-juror experiments. The Social Science Journal. 
• DeVault, A. & Miller, M. K. (2019). Justification-suppression and normative window of prejudice as determinants of bias toward lesbians, gays, and bisexual adoption applicants. Journal of Homosexuality, 66, 465-486. 
• Edwards, C. P., & Miller, M. K. (2019). An assessment of judges’ self-reported experiences of secondary traumatic stress. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 70, 7-29. 
• Wood, S. M., DeVault, A. , Miller, M. K., Kemmelmeier, M., & Summers, A. D. (2019). Decision-making in civil litigation: effects of attorney credibility, evidence strength, and juror cognitive processing. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 
• West, M. P., Yelderman, L., & Miller, M. K. (2018). Gender differences in the evaluation of aggravating and mitigating circumstances: The mediating role of attributional complexity. Psychology, Crime and Law, 24, 761-789. 
• Yelderman, L. A., Miller, M. K., Forsythe, S., Sicafuse, L. (2018). Understanding crime control theater: Do sample type, gender and emotions relate to support for crime control theater policies? Criminal Justice Review.
• Alvarez, M. A., & Miller, M. K. (2016). Counterfactual thinking about crime control theater: Mock jurors decision-making in an AMBER Alert trial. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 22, 349-361. 
• Miller, M. K., Lindsey, S. C., & Kaufman, J. (2014). The religious conversion and race of a prisoner: Mock parole board members’ decisions, perceptions, and emotions. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 19, 104-130. 
• Miller, M. K., Wood, S., & Chomos, J. C. (2014). Relationships between support for the death penalty and cognitive processing: A comparison of students and community members. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 41, 731-750. 
• Sigillo, A., Miller, M. K., & Weiser, D. (2012). Attitudes toward non-traditional women using IVF: The importance of political affiliation and religious characteristics. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 4, 249-263. 
• Miller, M. K., Maskaly, J., Green, M., & Peoples, C. D. (2011). The effects of deliberations and religious identity on mock jurors’ verdicts. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 14, 517-532. 
• Reichert, J., Miller, M. K., Bornstein, B. H., & Shelton, D. (2011). How reason for surgery and juror bias against overweight patients affect verdicts in medical malpractice trials. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 29, 395-418. 
• Jehle, A., Miller, M. K., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2009). The influence of accounts and remorse on mock jurors’ judgments of offenders. Law and Human Behavior, 33, 393-404. 

Curriculum Vitae

Ph.D. students