Karen Franklin is an American forensic psychologist. For her doctoral dissertation, she conducted research on anti-gay violence.[4][5][6][7] She has also published commentaries about sex crimes, primarily expressing her opposition to the use of the hebephilia and other diagnoses in sexually violent predator regulations. She received the 2012 Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award in Psychology[2] and the Monette-Horwitz Trust Award in 2001.[3]
Franklin's research focused the psychological basis for anti-gay hate crimes,[12][13][14][15]hebephilia,[16][17] and the interpersonal dynamics of gang rape.[18] In addition, she published articles on subjects such as ethics in forensics issues,[6][19] whether child molesters could outsmart tests,[20]criminal justice decisions,[6]false confessions,[21] the nature of psychopathy,[22][23] and other topics in forensic psychology. Her analysis of hate crimes identified four main motives: ideology, thrill seeking, peer dynamics and perceived self-defense;[24][25] she elaborated that "offenders perceive that they have societal permission to engage in violence against homosexuals."[14] She presented her paper Psychosocial Motivations of Hate Crimes Perpetrators to a congressional hearing in 1998.[26] She asserted that laws to punish people who commit hate crimes may not be the best way to prevent such crimes; she argued that many criminals don't curtail their violence based on their estimate of possible future punishment.[27] She argued in 2015 that the objectification of women can desensitize viewers to the humanity of women, but that such objectification had little direct impact on group violence.[18] She argued that group-perpetrated violence can serve a variety of purposes for men who feel disempowered, by promoting group adhesion and camaraderie, as well as giving the members a chance to "demonstrate and celebrate their masculinity."[18]
Franklin has also criticized the usefulness of the concept of psychopathy. In 2011, she wrote, "By foregrounding intrinsic evil, psychopathy marginalizes social problems and excuses institutional failures at rehabilitation"; she also calls diagnoses of psychopathy "essentially subjective."[28]
Franklin questioned whether childhood behaviors such as a history of abusing animals, or setting fires, or bedwetting, sometimes called the homicidal triad, were good predictors of future psychopathic behavior; she claimed that they were less effective than commonly thought.[29]
^ abMiranda A.H Horvath, Jessica Woodhams, (editors), 2013, Routledge Publishers, Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape: A multidisciplinary response to an international problem, Karen Franklin, Accessed July 27, 2014, (see page ix:) "She received the 2012 Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award in Psychology...."
^James Brooke, October 14, 1998, The New York Times, Homophobia Often Found In Schools, Data Show, Accessed July 26, 2014, "...The study was conducted this year by Karen Franklin, a forensic psychologist... at the University of Washington..."
^Psychology Today, Experts, Accessed July 26, 2014, "..Karen Franklin, Ph.D., is a forensic psychologist in Northern California and an adjunct professor at Alliant International University. She is a former criminal investigator and legal affairs reporter. ..."
^Jeffrey Kaye (August 25, 2011). "APA "Casebook" On Psychologist Ethics, Interrogations Fails To Convince". The Public Record. Retrieved August 31, 2015. ...But according to forensic psychologist Karen Franklin, "These guidelines are not enforceable. And, like all such professional guidelines, they will be subject to diverse interpretations."...
^ abc"Karen Franklin". Alliant International University. 2015. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
^2014, The Guardian, Karen Franklin, Accessed July 26, 2014, "...Karen Franklin is an award-winning researcher, professor and forensic psychologist in the San Francisco Bay area ... evaluation of criminal defendants.."
^Joel Stashenko (May 4, 2015). "Diagnosis at Issue in Sex Offender's Civil Confinement Case". New York Law Journal. Retrieved August 31, 2015. ...Another of Harris' experts, clinical psychologist Karen Franklin, said that by the very nature of the diagnosis as "unspecified" meant it lacked the "uniformity, validity or reliability" needed to be accepted generally in the medical community...
^ abFrontline (PBS),Interviews, Accessed July 26, 2014, "...forensic psychologist, Karen Franklin's dual interests in psychology and the law brought her to question the roots of anti-gay hate crimes... badly needed empirical data on the nature and extent of negative reactions to gays..."
^ abKaren Franklin, Frontline (PBS), Inside the mind of people who hate gays, Accessed July 26, 2014, "...Bias-related violence against homosexuals is believed to be widespread in the United States, with perpetrators typically described by victims as young men in groups .."
^Hannah Osborne (July 17, 2014), International Business Times, Hebephilia: No, It's Not Normal for Men to Have Sex with Pubescent Girls, Accessed July 26, 2014, "..One of his biggest critics, Karen Franklin, claimed hebephilia is normal for men because in terms of evolution and reproduction, it is beneficial to be attracted to a girl when she becomes fertile: ..."
^James M. Cantor, Research Gate,The Errors of Karen Franklin's Pretextuality., Accessed July 26, 2014, "..in her recent article, Hebephilia: Quintessence of Diagnostic Pretextuality (published in Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 2010), Karen Franklin expands on her previous argument that psychologists and psychiatrists should not diagnose..."
^ abcG.S. Mudur and Ananya Sengupta (2015). "Rape spotlight on item numbers". Telegraph India. Archived from the original on September 7, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2015. ..."The objectification of women ...said Karen Franklin ... there is little evidence that such depictions have a direct impact on rates of sexual violence.... Group-perpetrated violence, according to Franklin, can serve many purposes for disempowered men ...
^May 31, 2014, Marvin W. Acklin, Ph.D., Hawaii Forensic Psychology, PROFESSIONAL ETHICS,"PARTISAN ALLEGIANCE," AND EXPERT WITNESS LIABILITY, Accessed July 26, 2014, "..Franklin ... experts have an ethical duty in the quality of their forensic work, to know ... relevant literature and controversies, acknowledge scientific limitations, and understand...."
^Rob Kall (July 19, 2015). "Transcript: Interview M.E. Thomas Author, Confessions of a Sociopath". OpEdNews. Retrieved August 31, 2015. ... forensic psychologist, Karen Franklin... "The psychopath is irredeemable. A dangerous outsider who must be contained or banished, circular in its reasoning, psychopathy is never, none the less a warring in its simplicity"....
^Rob Kall (June 27, 2013). "Interview with a Sociopath". OpEdNews. Retrieved August 31, 2015. ... Karen Franklin, a researcher in forensic psychology, ... The psychopath is irredeemable, a dangerous outsider who must be contained or banished...
^Elizabeth P. Cramer (June 2015). "Hate Crime Laws and Sexual Orientation". The Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare. Retrieved September 1, 2015. (see page 17)...Volume 26, Issue 3, September... based on work by Karen Franklin...
^Karen Franklin, American Psychological Association, Prevalence of Antigay Aggression among a College Sample, Retrieved September 1, 2015, "..Four distinct motivations were found in bias crimes against sexual minorities. These are Self-Defense, Ideology, Thrill Seeking, and Peer Dynamics...."
^Dan Quinn (June 10, 1997). "the crime that's not necessarily a crime". Here Publishing; The Advocate. Retrieved September 1, 2015. ...No. 735, ISSN 0001-8996, page 51...Karen Franklin ... in the real world, criminals don't calculate their moves based on the specific punishment they will suffer if caught...
^Karen Franklin (May 26, 2011). "Masking Bias With Science". WBUR. Retrieved November 19, 2019. By foregrounding intrinsic evil, psychopathy marginalizes social problems and excuses institutional failures at rehabilitation... Although modern psychopathy is more nuanced than its 19th century ancestor, diagnosing it remains an essentially subjective task.
^Franklin K (2002). "Good Intentions: The Enforcement of Hate Crime Penalty-Enhancement Statutes". American Behavioral Scientist. 46: 154–172. doi:10.1177/0002764202046001010. S2CID144220013.
^Franklin Karen (2004). "Enacting masculinity: Antigay violence and group rape as participatory theater". Sexuality Research and Social Policy. 1 (2): 25–40. doi:10.1525/srsp.2004.1.2.25. S2CID143439942..
^Franklin Karen (2008). "Malingering as a Dichotomous Variable: Case Report on an Insanity Defendant". Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice. 8: 95–107. doi:10.1080/15228930801949241. S2CID143143763.
^Franklin K (2000). "Antigay Behaviors Among Young Adults: Prevalence, Patterns, and Motivators in a Noncriminal Population". Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 15: 339–362. doi:10.1177/088626000015004001. S2CID146242009.