Biographical Sketch
Elizabeth Cauffman is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Law & Psychiatry Research at Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic, University of Pittsburgh. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Temple University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center on Adolescence at Stanford University. Dr. Cauffman's current research efforts involve the assessment of mental health and psychosocial maturity among juvenile offenders, the exploration of factors associated with female delinquency, and the study of maturity of judgment as it develops during the course of adolescence. She is interested in identifying developmental trajectories of delinquency, developing diagnostics to improve the identification of treatment needs among youthful offenders, and exploring the legal implications of research on the development of mature judgment (which include such interrelated issues as competence, amenability, and accountability).
Dr. Cauffman recently received a 5-year career development award from the National Institute of Mental Health and has four additional active research grants. Dr. Cauffman is a consultant for the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency/Juvenile Detention Center of Pennsylvania Mental Health Initiative and a member of the MacArthur Foundation's Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice.
Selected Publications:
Cauffman, E., Feldman, S., Waterman, J. & Steiner, H. (1998). Posttraumatic stress disorder among incarcerated females. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 37, 1209-1216.
Cauffman, E. & Steinberg, L. (2000). (Im)maturity of judgment in adolescence: Why adolescents may be less culpable than adults. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 18, 741-760.
Edens, J., Skeem, J., Cruise, K., & Cauffman, E. (2001). The assessment of juvenile psychopathy and its association with violence: A critical review. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 19, 53-80.
