bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Content credibility of accounts derived from live and video presentations
Authors: Akehurst Lucy , Köhnken Günter , Höfer Eberhard
Published: February 2003

Purpose. The present experiment examined the success rate of well‐trained raters in judging the truthfulness of witness statements. Statements from children aged 7‐8 years, children aged 10‐11 years and adults were rated for the presence of 15 of the 19 original Criteria‐Based Content Analysis (CBCA) criteria (Steller & Köhnken, 1989).

Method. This experiment comprised a 3 (age of participant) × 3 (nature of account) design. One‐third of the participants took part in a photography session, one‐third watched a video recording of a peer taking part in a photography session, and one‐third were party to a verbal description regarding the photography session but neither participated in it themselves nor saw a video recording. The first two groups then gave truthful accounts of their experiences in a subsequent interview. However, the third group was asked, by the experimenter, to lie during the interview and to try to convince the interviewers that they also had taken part in a photography session.

Results. The CBCA criteria discriminated between truthful accounts based on actual involvement and fabricated accounts. However, the criteria did not significantly discriminate between those truthful accounts based on watching a video recording and fabricated accounts. Interestingly, there was a significant difference between the truthful accounts based on participation and the truthful accounts based on observation. Further, CBCA was equally effective in discriminating between participative truthful accounts and fabricated accounts for all three age groups.

Conclusions. CBCA was found to be a very useful tool in discriminating between truthful accounts based on direct experience of an event and fabricated accounts (overall hit rate, 70%). Also, CBCA was found to discriminate between truthful acounts based on actual experience and truthful accounts based on watching a video. This latter finding has implications for the real world when children and adults use information from television programmes and videos on which to base false allegations. Finally, CBCA was found to be equally effective for use with accounts from adults as well as children.
Deception detection based on repeated interrogations
Authors: Granhag Pär Anders , Strömwall Leif A.
Published: February 2003

Purpose. Suspects are often subjected to multiple interrogations. Research on deception has neglected this fact. To remedy this shortcoming this study was conducted focusing on how repeated interrogations affect deception detection performance. In addition, the previous finding that interrogators interacting face to face tend to be more credulous towards suspects than observers watching the same suspects on video was tested.

Method. After seeing a staged event, 12 lying and 12 truth‐telling witnesses were interrogated three times over a period of 11 days. After the final interrogation the veracity of each witness was assessed by his or her interrogator and by six observers who had seen the interrogations on video. In all, 144 observers were used and all participants were undergraduate students.

Results. The main findings were that (1) both interrogators and observers were poor at discerning truth‐tellers and liars; (2) observers who made veracity judgments after seeing one interrogation performed in line with observers who had seen three interrogations; (3) observers who assessed veracity after seeing one interrogation and then, again, after watching the additional two, significantly increased their performance; and (4) the interrogators showed a very pronounced truth bias.

Conclusions. The results suggest that interrogators should be careful not to hold a too lenient attitude towards suspects. Importantly, the study also shows that the number of veracity assessments made is more related to deception detection performance than is the number of interrogations a judge presides over. The finding that lie‐catchers' performance is affected by both how sequential information is presented and integrated has important psycho‐legal implications.
How do young offenders describe their parents?
Authors: Haapasalo Jaana
Published: February 2003

The study examined (1) what dimensions of parenting would emerge from retrospective reports of parental behaviour, and (2) whether childhood family violence and parental problems are associated with later perceptions of parenting among 89 young male Finnish inmates. The inmates completed the Parent Behaviour Inventory (PBI) and the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS). Data on childhood family violence and parental problems were obtained from two files. The PBI yielded three factors and the CTS two factors for both mothers and fathers. When the PBI and CTS factors were combined into a principalcomponents analysis, five dimensions of perceptions of parenting emerged: maternal rejection, paternal rejection, autonomy, control, and ineffective parenting in the family. The inmates' childhood family violence and parental problems were associated with maternal rejection, paternal rejection and ineffective parenting in the family.
Reconviction: A critique and comparison of two main data sources in England and Wales
Authors: Friendship Caroline , Thornton David , Erikson Matthew , Beech Anthony
Published: February 2003

Purpose and method. Crime reduction is a central feature of the current Government Home policy. This incorporates a wide variety of initiatives from crime‐prevention strategies to offending‐behaviour programmes. One key performance indicator for assessing crime reduction is reconviction. This article critically analyses the two main sources of criminal history data held in England and Wales from which reconviction is determined: first, the Offenders Index (OI), which is accessible to independent researchers; and second, the National Identification Service (NIS), available for limited Home Office personnel. Criminal history data were compared for 134 sexual offenders using both sources of data.

Results. Overall, there was a poor correlation for offence‐based criminal history summaries between the two data sources. Further analysis revealed that neither source appeared more reliable, with each source contributing unique and additional information. Sentencing occasion‐based summaries, however, showed a strong relationship between the two sources. Five‐year reconviction rates for the sample were highest using a combination OI and NIS data than reconviction rates using one source alone.

Conclusions. There is no evidence in this study to suggest that the NIS is more reliable than OI. OI users are urged to use sentencing occasion summaries over offence‐based summaries for control group matching purposes as these data appear to be more consistent between the two sources. In the future, when researchers have access to both sources of data, it is recommended that they use a combination of data sets for assessing past criminal history and deriving risk of reconviction in order to provide a more complete picture. A sound knowledge of the limitations of the data source being used is essential for researchers.
Stalking: The elusive crime
Authors: Sheridan Lorraine , Davies Graham M.
Published: February 2003

Purpose. Stalking has given rise to considerable media interest and public concern throughout the 1990s. The England and Wales Protection from Harassment Act 1997 was introduced to legislate against the crime, but failed to define it. This article discusses the difficulties of defining a crime in which the behaviour of perpetrators is often ostensibly innocuous. Arguments. A review of 12 studies reveals that stalkers engage in very similar patterns of activities. Consequently, it may be possible to create guidelines for what does and does not constitute stalking. Next, a simple method of constructing stalker typologies is suggested, the classification being affected by the manner in which stalking is defined. Conclusions. It is suggested that the difficulties inherent in framing anti‐stalking legislation may have been overestimated and that existing academic research can provide at least a working definition of the crime, provided that a common system of classifying stalking cases is adopted.
Underlying dimensions in young people's attitudes towards police weaponry in England: Some experiential influences from criminal victimization and police contact
Authors: Cooke Claire Ann , Puddifoot John E. , Brown Jennifer
Published: February 2003

Purpose. This study examines the influence of experiential variables, such as reported contacts with the police, upon attitudes towards the use of police weaponry in England and Wales. Method. A factor analysis (N = 605) of response to a specially developed questionnaire led to the identification of five underlying dimensions of public attitudes towards police weaponry. Further analyses explored the role of demographic and experiential variables in these attitudes. Results. Neither age nor sex were found to have a significant effect upon attitudes towards police weaponry, but specific experiential variables had a significant effect, notably respondents' personal experience of responsible or irresponsible behaviour by the police. For those participants who were themselves victims of crime, such experiences were important in altering their views of the police, whether positively or negatively. Trust in the police appeared to be a key mediating influence upon attitudes towards police weaponry. Conclusions. Experiential variables relating to perceptions of police behaviour and to actual contacts with police officers appear to be influential in forming attitudes towards police weaponry in England. The perceived character of response, assistance and support received from the police following criminal victimization were found to be significant predictors of favourable or unfavourable attitudes towards police weaponry, possibly through the mediation of increasing or decreasing trust in the police.
Goal‐setting and reputation enhancement: Behavioural choices among delinquent, at‐risk and not at‐risk adolescents
Authors: Carroll Annemaree , Hattie John , Durkin Kevin , Houghton Stephen
Published: February 2003

Purpose. The purpose of the present research was to investigate the relationships among goal‐setting, reputation enhancement (striving to project a nonconforming, tough image) and delinquent behaviour in adolescents. Methods. Participants were 80 incarcerated delinquent, 90 at‐risk and 90 not at‐risk adolescent males, ranging in age from 12 to 18 years, who completed four scales: the Adapted Self‐Report Delinquency Scale, the Importance of Goals Scale, the Reputation Enhancement Scale, and the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale. Results. Four second‐order factors (self‐reported delinquency, self‐presentation, conforming reputation, non‐conforming reputation) were derived from the 31 first‐order factors of the four scales. A series of multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) and univariate F tests were then performed on each of the four sets of dependent variables which revealed that the goals of delinquent and at‐risk participants were more congruent with a non‐conforming reputation, compared to those of the not at‐risk participants who set goals which were more congruent with a conforming reputation. Conclusions. The integration of goal‐setting theory and reputation enhancement theory tested in this research provides an alternative analysis of delinquency using a social‐psychological approach. Identification of the phenomenon of nonconforming reputation enhancement among delinquent and at‐risk adolescents highlights the necessity to provide a differentiated intervention for working with these particular young people.
Police officers' ability to detect deceit: The benefit of indirect deception detection measures
Authors: Vrij Aldert , Edward Katherine , Bull Ray
Published: February 2003

Purpose. The main aim of the experiment was to examine whether participants would be more accurate at detecting lies while using an indirect measure (i.e. ‘Does the person have to think hard?’) than while using a direct measure (‘Is the person lying?’). Method. A total of 39 police officers watched a videotape of a number of truth tellers and liars being interviewed. Participating police officers were randomly allocated to one of two experimental groups. In one condition, participants were asked whether each of the people they saw on the videotape was lying; in the other condition they had to indicate for each person whether that person ‘had to think hard’. Data were analysed in two ways: (1) the extent police officers could recognize lies and truths by using the two detection methods; and (2) behavioural and verbal cues the observers were actually looking for when answering the questions. Results. The results revealed that police officers could distinguish between truths and lies, but only by using the indirect method. Moreover, it was found that only by using the indirect method did they pay attention to the cues that were actual indicators of deceit. Conclusions. The findings suggest that the use of indirect methods might be useful for police officers when they attempt to detect deceit.
Children's conceptualization of law enforcement on television and in real life
Authors: Low Jason , Durkin Kevin
Published: February 2003

Purpose. Television police dramas provide viewers with an inaccurate representation of police work, overemphasizing sensational and dramatic activities while underemphasizing routine duties. This raises the critical issue of whether such misrepresentations are reflected in children's perceptions of law‐enforcement activities in real life. Method. A total of 96 children (Grades 1, 3, 5 and 7) were asked to make estimates regarding how often various law‐enforcement activities occurred on TV police shows and in real life. The relative contributions of age, perceived usefulness of police shows and real life models for learning about law enforcement and viewing frequency of police shows in predicting children's estimations at law enforcement were assessed. Results. Activities overrepresented on TV were perceived by children to be relatively frequent in real life police work. Activities underepresented on TV shows were perceived by children to be relatively infrequent in real life. The more children (especially first graders) reported watching TV police shows, and the more they perceived them contributing to their knowledge about police work, the more inaccurate was their perception of law enforcement in real life. Perceived informativeness of real life models did not predict children's perceptions of law enforcement in real life.
Gender and perceptions of dangerousness in civil psychiatric patients
Authors: Elbogen Eric B. , Williams Angela L. , Kim Doyoung , Tomkins Alan J. , Scalora Mario J.
Published: February 2003

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between gender and clinicians' judgments of dangerousness in civil psychiatric facilities. Methods. Eighty‐one clinicians working in acute, chronic or crisis settings rated violence risk of actual patients, rendering a total of 648 judgments of dangerousness. Results. Statistical analyses revealed the expected higher ratings of dangerousness for male compared to female patients, but also showed a significant interaction between clinician's gender and patient's gender on judgments of dangerousness. Conclusions. One of the most interesting findings in this study was that female clinicians perceived a greater gender gap in violence potential among psychiatric patients than did male clinicians. In fact, male clinicians perceived male and female patients to show approximately the same risk of violent behaviour. The results raise important questions for future risk assessment research and for clinical decision‐making in the context of civil commitment.
Distinguishing the perpetrators and victims of bullying behaviour in a prison environment: A study of male and female adult prisoners
Authors: Ireland Jane L.
Published: February 2003

Purpose. The main aim of this study was to explore prison‐based behavioural characteristics and personal/descriptive characteristics of the different groups involved in bullying behaviour, with a subsidiary aim of exploring gender differences regarding these characteristics. Methods. The sample was selected from four separate prison establishments (two male and two female) and consisted of 406 adult prisoners (196 females and 210 males). Prisoners were placed into one of four groups (‘pure bullies’, ‘bully/ victims’, ‘pure victims’ or ‘not involved’) on the basis of a self‐report behaviour checklist (Direct and Indirect Prisoner behaviour Checklist (DIPC); Ireland, 1998). Results. Prison‐based behaviours shown by prisoners appeared to be more predictive of group membership than the personal/descriptive characteristics such as age, sentence length, offence and institutional history addressed in the present study. The victim groups (i.e. pure victims and bully/victims) showed the most drug‐related behaviour and negative behaviour towards staff. Gender differences were found with negative behaviour more predictive of group membership for female bully/victims, whereas for male bully/victims, drug‐related and proactive/positive behaviours were more predictive of group membership. Conclusions. The present research showed how the personal/descriptive characteristics that adult prisoners brought with them to the prison environment appeared to be less important in predicting group membership than the behaviours that they displayed within the prison. The importance of these findings for bullying intervention programmes and directions for future research are discussed.
Evolutionary theory and criminal behaviour
Authors: Quinsey Vernon L.
Published: February 2003

Purpose. To provide an introduction to evolutionary psychology by describing some of its applications in the literature on the psychology of criminal and antisocial behaviour.

Argument. Selectionist thinking is applied to five areas: the relationship of age and sex to crime, the inverse correlation between degree of kinship and homicide, paedophilia, persistent antisociality, and sexual coercion. In each of these areas, ultimate causes of behaviour are distinguished from proximal causes. Ultimate causes are produced by selective forces in ancestral environments and are responsible for species typical characteristics. Proximal causes, in contrast, are contemporaneous developmental, genetic, and environmental determinants of behaviour.

Conclusions. The interplay between ultimate and proximal causation provides new ways of understanding old problems and is a fruitful source of research hypotheses. Evolutionary psychology can provide a powerful integrative perspective on criminal and antisocial behaviour.
Witness competency—Truthfulness and reliability assessment: The role of the psychologist
Authors: Munro Fiona M. , Carlin Michael T.
Published: February 2003

Objectives. The primary objective is to report upon the assessments and procedures carried out in relation to an adult with learning difficulties whose competence as a witness in a criminal trial had been challenged.

Design. The participant had been referred to the first author by the court for assessment in the course of a criminal trial.

Method. The assessment instruments used were the WAIS‐R, GSS2, Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales (4th ed., Survey Version) and a set of structured questions devised for this particular participant. The functions being measured were intelligence, social function, suggestibility and the ability to accurately and truthfully report factual information.

Case outcome. The participant's scores on the intelligence test brought her within the category of someone with learning difficulties, but she was found to have a high level of social functioning. She was highly suggestible, but she showed she could distinguish between false and truthful statements, despite negative feedback. The conclusion was that she would meet the requirements of a competent witness.

Discussion. As a consequence of the procedures used in this case, it was decided that the approach of using a combination of standard psychometric testing and a series of structured questions was the most appropriate method of assessing witness competence.
Is offender profiling possible? Testing the predicted homology of crime scene actions and background characteristics in a sample of rapists
Authors: Mokros Andreas , Alison Laurence J.
Published: February 2003

Purpose. Conventional approaches to offender profiling assume a homology of the characteristics of offenders with their crime scene actions: the more similar two offenders are with respect to background characteristics, the higher the resemblance in their crime scene behaviour. This implicit working hypothesis is tested empirically.

Methods. The study is based on a sample of 100 British male stranger rapists. These individuals were indexed with respect to the similarity in their crime scene actions as derived from witness statements. They were then compared with respect to their socio‐demographic features and criminal histories as derived from police records. In a correlational analysis, we tested whether increased similarity in one domain (offence behaviour) coincided with higher resemblance in the other domains (socio‐demographic features and previous convictions).

Results. There is no positive linear relationship for any of the comparisons, i.e. rapists who offend in a similar fashion are not more similar with respect to age, socio‐demographic features (such as employment situation and ethnicity) or their criminal records.

Conclusions. These findings indicate no evidence for the assumption of a homology between crime scene actions and background characteristics for the rapists in the sample. We argue that this result suggests that the homology assumption is too simplistic to provide a basis for offender profiling. Implications for future research include the search for a suitable framework for offender profiling that is grounded in personality psychology. Further, methodological considerations are discussed, such as the potential application of probabilistic scales.
Characteristics of malingered amnesia: Consequences of withholding vs. distorting information on later memory of a crime event
Authors: Bylin Susanna , Christianson Sven‐Åke
Published: February 2003

Purpose. Perpetrators may be more motivated than other witnesses to withhold reporting crime‐related details that have a probative value for the police investigation. One strategy among suspects/perpetrators to absolve themselves from culpability is simply to feign memory impairment. The present study aimed to investigate how different kinds of simulation of memory impairment affect later genuine memory performance.

Methods. Individuals were tested as perpetrators after having read a story about ‘themselves’ committing a violent crime. There were four groups and two test occasions. At the first test occasion, one group was tested on what they actually recalled, a second group was not tested at all, while the two remaining groups were asked to simulate memory impairment by making either omission errors (SIM OM) or commission errors (SIM COM). At the second test occasion, all groups responded genuinely.

Results. Different kinds of simulation have different impact on later recall. Simulation by omission caused more detrimental effects than simulation by commission on free recall, while the reverse was true for responses to open‐ended questions. However, simulators showed no impairments on the multiple‐choice questions.

Conclusions. Simulators' worse memory performance is discussed in terms of non‐rehearsal effects and retrieval‐induced forgetting. Regarding the open‐ended questions, misinformation effects might come into play.
The role of facilitative prompts in interviews of alleged sex abuse victims
Authors: Hershkowitz Irit
Published: February 2003

Purpose. The aim of the present study was to explore the nature and effectiveness of neutral and minimal facilitative prompts in forensic interviews with children, and the extent to which their effectiveness varies depending on their location relative to other prompts or on the stage of the interview.

Method. Fifty forensic interviews with alleged victims of child sexual abuse, which closely followed the NICHD investigative protocol, were analysed. Each of the interviewer's utterances was classified into one of five categories (invitation, facilitator, directive, option‐posing or suggestive) and the number of words and details provided in each of the child's responses were tabulated.

Results. Facilitators proved to play an important role in forensic interviews, with children providing an average of five new substantive details following each facilitator. However, the effectiveness of facilitators varied depending upon their context. Facilitators in the first part of the substantive phase and facilitators following responses to open‐ended invitations were most effective. Facilitators seem to function much like the previous eliciting utterance with respect to both the amount of information they elicit and the contents of reply.

Conclusions. The findings suggest that facilitators are not necessarily open‐ended in nature and are likely to function as option‐posing or suggestive questions when they follow responses to such questions.
Current and Historical content scales for the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS)
Authors: Walters Glenn D.
Published: February 2003

Purpose. The objective of this study was to identify and validate general criminal thinking scales for the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) formed on the basis of item content.

Methods. The 64 items that comprise the eight PICTS thinking style scales were rationally sorted into two general content scales: a scale composed of items believed to reflect current criminal attitudes and beliefs, and a scale that references past criminal attitudes and beliefs. Eliminating items that exhibited highly skewed distributions, that failed to discriminate between custody levels, that loaded weakly on the first factor of a principal components analysis, and that displayed minimal differentiation in correlations with the two content scales resulted in a 13‐item Current scale and a 12‐item Historical scale.

Results. Data analyses of PICTS results attained by several different samples of offenders revealed divergent patterns of strength for the two content scales, with the Historical scale demonstrating greater stability and correlating better with past criminality and the Current scale being more effective in predicting future disciplinary and release outcome.

Conclusions. The outcome of this study suggests that the Current scale furnishes a meaningful estimate of an offender's current criminal thinking which may be useful in predicting future criminality, while the Historical scale does a better job of assessing a person's criminal past which may or may not coincide with current criminal attitudes and beliefs.
How does assertiveness relate to bullying behaviour among prisoners?
Authors: Ireland Jane L.
Published: February 2003

Purpose. The purpose of the study was to address how assertiveness relates to bullying behaviour among adult prisoners.

Methods. The sample was selected from six separate prison establishments (three male, three female) and consisted of 502 adult prisoners (285 men, 217 women). Prisoners were placed into one of four bully‐categories (‘pure bullies’, ‘bully/victims’, ‘pure victims’ or ‘not involved’) on the basis of a self‐report behavioural checklist (DIPC: Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behaviour Checklist). They also completed the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS).

Results. Assertiveness among prisoners was made up of three components: social assertiveness, argumentative and combativeness, and a willingness to converse with others. Men reported significantly higher overall assertiveness and social assertiveness scores than women. Pure victims reported lower total assertiveness scores than the other categories and there was a trend for pure bullies to report higher total assertiveness scores than the other bully‐categories. Bully/victims scored significantly higher on the argumentative and combative scale in comparison to the overall mean and there was a trend in the same direction for pure bullies. There was a trend for pure victims to score lower on this scale and those not involved in bullying reported significantly lower scores on this scale. Those not involved also scored significantly higher on social assertiveness and there was a trend for both bully/victims and pure victims to score lower on this component.

Conclusions. The present research showed how certain components of assertiveness relate to bullying behaviour among prisoners. The findings are discussed in relation to previous research, and possible implications for intervention are outlined.
The role and sentencing of women in drug trafficking crime
Authors: Harper Rosalyn L. , Harper Gemma C. , Stockdale Janet E.
Published: February 2003

Purpose. There has been a great deal of debate concerning the role and sentencing of drug traffickers. Attention has been paid to the gendered organization of the drug trafficking trade whereby women tend to occupy the high‐risk, low‐status role of courier. The main aim of our study was to explore the role of women in drug trafficking crime. In addition, a particular interest focused on whether women were sentenced inequitably in comparison to men.

Methods. A secondary analysis was carried out of the demographic and sentencing characteristics of 1715 drug traffickers caught smuggling drugs through Heathrow Airport between July 1991 and September 1997.

Results. Women were adopting a more dangerous role by being significantly more likely to take the higher‐risk, lower‐status role of courier. Female couriers were physically carrying more drugs in terms of weight and value than male couriers. In addition, women were statistically more likely to carry Class A drugs rather than Class B. The results did not support claims of inequity in sentencing between men and women, allowing for the nature of the drug and its weight/estimated street value.

Conclusions. The results consolidate previous research on the disproportionate number and specific role of women involved in drug trafficking. This role appears to be counter‐intuitive given the theories concerning gender stereotyping and criminality.
A typology of child abduction events
Authors: Erikson Matt , Friendship Caroline
Published: February 2003

Purpose. This study examined the offence of child abduction in England and Wales. Specifically, the relationship of perpetrator to victim and motivation of the perpetrator were considered. It was hypothesized that discrete types of child abduction would be identifiable.

Methods. The sample consisted of all offenders convicted of child abduction between 1993 and 1995 identified by the Offenders Index. For each conviction further data were gathered from police records at New Scotland Yard. The resulting sample comprised 149 offenders. These offenders were categorized in terms of relationship to victim and motivation.

Results. Four different motivational types of child abduction were identified: sexual, custodial, maternal desire, and ‘other’. The majority of child abductions were sexually motivated, and most child abductions involved female victims.

Conclusions. Offence categories are useful for summarizing criminal data but mask factors such as relationship of the perpetrator to the victim, and motivation.
An examination of the degree to which IQ, memory performance, socio‐economic status and gender predict young children's suggestibility
Authors: McFarlane Felicity , Powell Martine B. , Dudgeon Paul
Published: February 2003

Purpose. This study examined whether several interrelated cognitive and socio‐demographic factors predict the degree to which 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children acquiesce to an interviewer's misleading yes/no questions.

Method. 220 children were administered the Yield subscale of the Video Suggestibility Scale for Children. The independent variables included Intelligence Quotient (IQ), memory performance (the number of details recalled about the video), socio‐economic status (SES) and gender.

Results. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that all the variables made a significant independent contribution to predicting children's suggestibility when age (in months) was controlled for. Intelligence was the main predictor (uniquely explaining 6% of the variance); children with higher IQ scores were less suggestible than children with lower IQ scores. SES and memory performance inversely predicted children's suggestibility, uniquely explaining 2% and 1% of the variance respectively. Gender explained 2% of the variance, indicating that girls were more suggestible than boys.

Conclusion. Suggestibility is a complex, multidimensional construct. Thus, more informative and consistent results in the area of individual differences in children's suggestibility can only emerge from the adoption of larger scale investigations of the combined and independent contributions of numerous interrelated cognitive and demographic factors.
The prevalence, nature and psychological correlates of bullying in Irish prisons
Authors: Leddy Joanne , O'Connell Michael
Published: February 2003

Purpose. The objectives of the study were to analyse the prevalence and nature of bullying reported among a representative sample of prisoners in Irish custodial institutions, to identify potential correlates of bullying behaviour and vulnerability to victimization, and to assess the psychological impact of the experience of bullying.

Methods. The sample was selected from seven separate custodial institutions and consisted of 213 male and 19 female inmates. In a structured interview, prisoners were asked to report their experience of bullying and were categorized as ‘pure bullies’, ‘bully‐victims’, ‘pure victims’ or ‘not involved’. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ, short version) was used to assess the psychological well‐being of the interviewees.

Results. The level of victimization was very high, with almost half of the interviewees reporting at least one type of victimization. Slightly over a quarter reported bullying another inmate, although the majority of these had themselves been victimized. Bullying took many forms but the most common were verbal abuse, theft and assault with and without an implement. Females reported engaging in bullying more frequently than males, especially in less direct forms. Victims (including bully‐victims) had significantly higher GHQ scores, indicating greater psychological distress than those not bullied. ‘Pure victims’ were older than other inmates and had entered the prison system at an older age.

Conclusion. Definitional differences make cross‐national comparisons difficult but bullying in Ireland shows many of the same characteristics as reported in UK studies. The phenomenon of older victims may be a distinctive feature. The category of ‘pure bully’ is a useful one to include in future research.
The validity of North American risk assessment tools in predicting in‐patient violent behaviour in England
Authors: Doyle Mike , Dolan Mairead , McGovern John
Published: February 2003

Purpose. Empirical support for the predictive validity of North American actuarial violence risk assessment tools in Britain is lacking. The purpose of the study was to explore the validity of the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL: SV), Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG) and the Historical part (H‐10) of the Historical/Risk/Clinical (HCR‐20) scheme, in predicting in‐patient violence in 87 mentally disordered patients in a medium‐secure unit.

Methods. Actuarial scores were obtained retrospectively from pre‐admission/ admission case records. The presence/absence, severity and frequency of in‐patient violence was recorded by an independent researcher. The predictive accuracy and associations between predictors and outcome measures were evaluated using correlational analyses, regression procedures and receiver operator characteristics (ROC) analyses.

Results. Scores on all three risk assessment tools were significantly higher in the violent cohort. The PCL: SV is the most robust predictor of in‐patient violence, and contributes significantly to the predictive validity of the VRAG and H‐10 scale of the HCR‐20.

Conclusions. The PCL: SV appears to be a valid predictor of in‐patient violence within 12 weeks of admission to an English MSU and predictive validity is similar to that reported in North American studies.
Compliance and eyewitness testimony: Do eyewitnesses comply with misleading ‘expert pressure’ during investigative interviewing?
Authors: Roper Rachel , Shewan David
Published: February 2003

Purpose. This study examined how simple procedures can lead eyewitnesses to behave in a manner compliant to those held in authority. It was hypothesized that eyewitnesses will alter their responses to questions if they think that an authority figure (in this case the experimenter) sees them as unhelpful and/or unobservant.

Methods. The experiment had a repeated measures design in which a participant's eyewitness ability was measured before and after being labelled a ‘good’ or ‘poor’ eyewitness. Participants watched a short video clip and were then asked specific questions regarding what they had just witnessed. After watching a second similar video, participants were labelled as either ‘good’ or ‘poor’ eyewitnesses. Forty undergraduate university students took part in the study.

Results. Results confirmed that those participants who had received a negative label (‘poor’ eyewitness) altered their original responses and submitted to leading questions, whereas those who had received a positive label (‘good’ eyewitness) actually improved their eyewitness observation scores.

Conclusions. Results suggest that a simple manipulation by a figure perceived to be in authority can alter the responses of eyewitnesses.
Malingered post‐traumatic stress symptoms on the Impact of Event Scale
Authors: McGuire Brian E.
Published: February 2003

Purpose. The Impact of Event Scale (IES) is widely used as a measure of emotional distress following a traumatic experience. This study aimed to assess the ability of trauma simulators to feign a trauma response on the IES.

Method. The IES was administered to 30 litigating trauma patients and to 20 students who were instructed to simulate trauma symptoms while attempting to avoid detection.

Results. The simulators scored more highly on the Intrusion scale but not on the Avoidance and Total scores. Using Receiver Operator Characteristic analysis to estimate the diagnostic efficiency of the scores, the simulators could not be reliably differentiated from trauma patients on the three scores. Correct classification of participants into their respective groups was only 60% on the most diagnostically efficient scale (Intrusion).

Conclusions. The IES appears to be vulnerable to symptom magnification and manipulation and caution is urged in using the scale in medicolegal or forensic assessments.
Photograph reminders and young children's event reports: The influence of timing
Authors: Salmon Karen , Irvine Penelope
Published: February 2003

Purpose. We compared the influence on preschoolers' event recall of photograph reminders presented at different points between the event and the interview.

Methods. Seventy‐seven children aged 3.5‐4.5 years participated in a quasimedical event and were interviewed 10 weeks later. The children were allocated to one of three reminder conditions: early reminder (3 or 4 days after the event); late reminder (24 hours before the interview); and reminder‐at‐interview (at the beginning of the interview). There were two control groups: no reminder and reminder only (children who did not take part in the event but received the reminder at the beginning of the interview).

Results. The photograph reminder did not facilitate recall relative to no reminder. Nonetheless, the event reports of children in the late reminder condition contained a greater proportion of information consistent with the event than of those in the no‐reminder and reminder‐at‐interview conditions, and a strong trend toward reporting more event‐consistent information than of those in the early‐reminder condition. Notably, children in the reminder‐only condition reported moderate amounts of information consistent with the event, including event‐consistent information that was not present in the reminder photographs.

Conclusions. A photograph reminder presented 24 hours before the interview enhances children's recall to a greater extent than reminders presented at other points. Photographs may not be optimal reminders for preschoolers, however. The impact of reminders may be masked when children have scripted knowledge relevant to the event.
Perceptions of the environment, suicidal ideation and problem‐solving deficits in an offender population
Authors: Eidhin Mairead Ni , Sheehy Noel , O'Sullivan Maura , McLeavey Breda
Published: February 2003

Purpose. This study was designed to explore relationships that exist among suicidal ideation, perceptions of the prison environment and problem‐solving deficits in an offender population.

Method. Participants were 46 male offenders in two separate prisons in the Republic of Ireland. A semistructured interview ascertained demographic and personal history details. Participants were (i) non‐ideators with no previous parasuicide history (control group), (ii) non‐ideators with a past parasuicide history (past parasuicide group), and (iii) current ideators. Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory II, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Beck Suicidal Ideation Scale, Means‐Ends Problem‐Solving Scale and Prison Preference Inventory.

Results. Participants in the current ideator and past parasuicide groups had significantly higher preferences for privacy and significantly lower preferences for social stimulation within the prison environment than did the control group. There were no significant differences in the number of problem‐solving means produced among the three groups. Participants in the control group offered significantly more active relevant problem‐solving means than did participants in the other two groups. The current ideator group produced significantly more passive relevant problem‐solving means than did the past parasuicide and control groups.

Conclusions. The significant differences in perceptions of the prison environment may be indicative of different coping mechanisms used to adapt to time in prison. It is concluded that the lack of significant differences in the generation of passive relevant problem‐solving means are related to parasuicide history. The lack of significant differences in the number of problem‐solving means produced is accounted for by the prevalence of problem‐solving deficits among an offender population.
Expressed Emotion in relationships between staff and patients in forensic services: Changes in relationship status at 12 month follow‐up
Authors: Moore E. , Yates M. , Mallindine C. , Ryan S. , Jackson S. , Chinnon N. , Kuipers E. , Hammond S.
Published: February 2003

Background. Research on Expressed Emotion (EE) has demonstrated substantial consistency across cultures and over time, endorsing the social environment as important in determining the course and outcome of problems in mental health. The aim of this study was to measure EE in staff‐patient relationships in three forensic services for in‐patients with a history of mental disorder and offending, using a prospective, naturalistic design, with a 12‐month follow‐up of staff and patient outcomes.

Methods. Keyworker or team nurse and patient pairs (N=75) consented to participate in an interview which included an audiotaped task. Twelve months after this interview, information on outcome for staff and patients was collected by researchers blind to the EE status of participants.

Results. Comparatively high levels of criticism were rated during staff speech samples: N=55 high‐EE relationships as determined by conventional criteria. Principal component analysis of the EE rating scales comprising the Five‐MinuteSpeech‐Sample (FMSS) established a composite of ‘low‐EE’ vs. ‘high‐EE’ variables. The staff ‘continuum’ measure of high criticism, low positive remarks and ‘negative’ relationship quality was significantly associated with change in the relationship 12 months later. There was no association between patient EE ratings and rehabilitative outcome, nor EE and staff outcome.

Conclusions. The study replicates recent findings that staff attitudes and behaviour in professional relationships influence clinical outcomes.
Faking interrogative suggestiblity: The truth machine
Authors: Baxter James S. , Bain Stella A.
Published: February 2003

Purpose. The aim of the present study was to investigate possible indicators of malingering or ‘faking bad’ on the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales. It was hypothesized that participants who were issued with a set of instructions that primed them to appear gullible and susceptible to pressure would exhibit a unique pattern of scores on the scales that would differentiate them from both normal adults and genuinely vulnerable populations.

Methods. The study had a single factor between participants design. Participants were tested in either one of two conditions: standard or faking. Forty‐two participants took part in the study. Participants were a mix of undergraduates, postgraduate students, and professionals.

Results. Only Yield 1 scores were found to be significantly different between the two conditions. Participants in the faking condition gained higher scores on this measure on both the GSS 1 and GSS 2.

Conclusions. Results indicate that whilst fakers may identify the need to yield to leading questions as a strategy for faking interrogative suggestibility, they do not identify the need to make shifts in their responses. An elevated Yield 1 score in the absence of any other raised scores on the scales may therefore be indicative of faking bad on the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales.
The effects of alcohol on interrogative suggestibility: The role of State‐Anxiety and mood states as mediating factors
Authors: Santtila Pekka , Ekholm Magnus , Niemi Pekka
Published: February 2003

Purpose. The goal of this study was to determine whether alcohol would increase or decrease interrogative suggestibility. Methods. Four groups of participants (N = 51) were administered the story and immediate recall of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale 2. After this they were administered one of three doses of alcohol or a placebo followed by delayed recall and the questioning part of the scale. Changes in mood and anxiety were monitored with the help of Profile of Mood States and Spielberger State‐Anxiety Scale. Results. Alcohol decreased yielding to leading questions both before (Yield 1) and after (Yield 2) interrogative pressure was applied but had no effect on changing answers in response to the pressure (Shift). State‐Anxiety and Clearheaded‐Confused mood were found to mediate the effects of alcohol on Yield 2. No other significant mediational relationships were found. Conclusions. Alcohol appears to decrease suggestibility with the exception of reactions to applied interrogative pressure. This decrease is not totally explainable by the mediating effects of either mood states or anxiety.