Critical Reading - The USS Iowa: Equivocating on Death
Critical reading assignments evaluate how well you can summarize key concepts in academic papers. You are going to be graded on your ability to put the answers to each question INTO YOUR OWN WORDS. I am not interested in how well you can hunt out answers and copy them into a Word document - I need to know that you understand the material. Rarely (if ever) should you quote directly from the reading, and copying without proper paraphrasing is considered plagiarism and will result in a zero on the assignment and possibly an "F" in the course.
Read - Ewing, C., and McCann, J. (2006). Minds on trial: Great cases in law and psychology. NY: Oxford University. pp. 129-139.
Read the chapter provided and answer the following questions
1. Give a brief summary of the timeline of events in this case.
2. What is a psychological autopsy (equivocal death analysis)? Why was one ordered for the USS Iowa?
3. Who performed the psychological autopsy for the Navy?
4. What sort of evidence did the investigators use to support their belief that Hartwig caused the accident?
5. What was the final assessment of Hartwig by the FBI agents?
6. What four issues did the panel of experts, called by the House Armed Services Subcommittee, review?
7. List some conclusions from the panel. How did they differ from the FBI agents' conclusions?
8. What do YOU think happened? Support your theory.