I’m writing an APA-style reaction paper to an article about capital punishment of mentally ill convicts. We’re required to use at least six sources (professional journals, peer-reviewed articles, etc.) and coming up with these sources has proven more difficult than I anticipated. Most of the searching I’ve done leads me to articles from Amnesty International and other interest groups, none of which are acceptable sources.
I suppose I’m looking for a search engine or specific site that taps into these channels with a narrow focus, unlike a standard google or yahoo search.
It might be difficult to do from home. Go to a decent university research library, and their computer system should access search engines that allow you to search academic and professional journals.
You might want to look for books/articles by Dan Shuman. He’s a law professor and his specialty is mental health issues and the law. This is broader than your topic, but I’m sure he’s covered the death penalty before and you might get some new leads from this cites.
Does you school have PsychINFO search engine? I have found that pretty useful. I think I saw somebody saying Nexis search too. THat would be a good one. There was a story last week on NPR about I.Q. tests and one of the cases they examined was a guy who was on death row and if he tested above a 75 on his next I.Q. test he would be executed. The thing is that he has taken the test 5 or 6 times and has improved his score every time. So his lawyer is saying that they have to find a different way of assessing his mental ability because he has learned how to take the test.
Thanks all, I was able to access a local university’s online journal database & found everything I was looking for. The PubMed website was very helpful as well.