bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Social Skills Training, Prosocial Behavior, and Aggressiveness in Adult Incarcerated Offenders
Authors: Schippers Gerard M. , Märker Nicole , De Fuentes-Merillas Laura
Published: January 2006

This study reports on the short-term effects of a social skills training program for adult inmates. The method is based on Goldstein’s structured learning therapy, which emphasizes teaching social skills in a step-by-step manner. The participants were 102 male offenders ages 19 to 60 who were incarcerated at two correctional facilities in the Netherlands. Using a quasi-experimental design, participants were assigned to either an experimental or a control group. The effects were evaluated using self-report measures and staff observations 2 weeks after training. The experimental group showed significant improvement from pretest to posttest in social knowledge and social interaction. Participation in the training resulted in decreased social anxiety and increased positive feelings in everyday social situations but did not change direct or indirect aggressive behavior. Individual characteristics did not predict a better training outcome.
Characteristics of Inmates Admitted to Grendon Therapeutic Prison and Their Relationships to Length of Stay
Authors: Shine John
Published: January 2006

Data were collected on 1,053 men admitted to Grendon during the period 1984-1994 on age, number of previous convictions, the Ravens Progressive Matrices, the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. A correlation matrix between the assessment variables and time at Grendon was produced and subjected to principal component analysis. Four typologies of Grendon inmates were identified: Component 1 is described as younger, extrapunitively hostile, tough minded, and neurotic, and it had a negative correlation with length of stay. Component 2 is described as intropunitively hostile, neurotic, and introverted; and Component 3 is described as bright, emotionally stable, and truthful. Components 2 and 3 were positively correlated with length of stay. Component 4 is described as older, emotionally stable, recidivist, and it had a negative correlation with length of stay. Correlations between all four components and length of stay were of a low order of magnitude but highly statistically significant.
Decisions Not to Report Sexual Assault: A Comparative Study among Women Living in Japan Who Are Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and English-Speaking
Authors: Dussich John P. J.
Published: January 2006

A nationwide survey was conducted comparing Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English-speaking women in Japan. Variables focused on demographics, attitudes, social conditions, and culture. Japanese women had a different pattern of behavior from the other three groups. The greatest differences were between Japanese and English-speaking. The main reasons given for not reporting were the following: victim did not take the event seriously, victim thought she was too young, victim thought reporting would cause trouble, victim expected rude police, victim expected embarrassment, victim expected police to violate her confidentiality, victim expected offender’s revenge, and victim expected that the offender/acquaintance would get into trouble. These data suggest a much larger dark figure of sexual assault than is reported, especially among those who are not Japanese and those whose offenders were known. Police statistics do not accurately reflect the number of women sexually assaulted, nor is there any systematic information collected explaining their reporting behavior.
Predictors of Treatment Completion in a Correctional Sex Offender Treatment Program
Authors: Geer Tracey M. , Becker Judith V. , Gray Steven R. , Krauss Daniel
Published: January 2006

The purpose of this study was to examine what factors increase the likelihood that a sex offender will complete a correctional sex offender treatment program. Participants were 179 incarcerated adult male sex offenders who volunteered to participate in a sex offender treatment program. The two groups evaluated were treatment completers and noncompleters. By examining archival records the following data were collected: scores on the Multiphasic Sex Inventory II (MSI II), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Abel and Becker Adult Sexual Interest Card Sort, and plethysmograph. Demographic information was obtained from presentence investigation reports. Results from a logistic regression indicate that more years of education, not having a history of sexual victimization, and lower levels of minimizing or excusing sexual crimes predict treatment completion (p < .05). These results suggest that it is possible to predict which incarcerated sex offenders are likely to complete a prison-based sex offender treatment program.
The Confusion Over Psychopathy (I): Historical Considerations
Authors: Arrigo Bruce A. , Shipley Stacey
Published: January 2006

This article is the first in a two-part series on psychopathy. Psychopathy is an elusive and perplexing psychological construct. Problems posed by this mental disorder are linked to changing historical interpretations impacting the current clinical community’s general understanding of it, especially in relation to Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). Accordingly, the researchers provide a thorough analytical review of the major transitions associated with psychopathy’s historical development. This assessment demonstrates where and how the nomenclature, meaning, degree of social condemnation, and prognosis for this mental disorder have changed. Ultimately, this article clarifies much of the uncertainty surrounding this misunderstood psychological construct.
Illegal Chinese Immigration into the United States: A Preliminary Factor Analysis
Authors: Wang John Z.
Published: January 2006

Since August 1991, a new type of international criminal activity, using oceangoing ships, has appeared. Illegal Chinese immigrants are entering various countries throughout the world, including the United States. This new wave of illegal global migration has promoted several social problems in the countries and areas affected: unauthorized employment, substandard housing, political asylum schemes, and related crimes such as murder, kidnapping, ganging, and prostitution. This article will analyze some of the causal factors that lead to the situation. Furthermore, a theoretical explanation of the “demand and supply/pull and push” model will be discussed. Finally, some countermeasures are offered as policy recommendations to combat or curtail this worldwide smuggling operation. Based on a content analysis and personal interviews with illegal Chinese immigrants, the current article suggests that this new crime phenomenon involves transnational criminal groups. It results from the demand for cheap labor in Chinatowns in the United States, the abundant labor supply in China’s coastal regions, and the huge profit from such smuggling activities.
Restoration to Competency Practice Guidelines
Authors: Noffsinger Stephen G.
Published: January 2006

Courts frequently adjudicate criminal defendants as incompetent to stand trial and order defendants to psychiatric hospitals for treatment and education designed to restore the defendant to competence. However, little information is available on effective restoration to competency techniques. This article summarizes the existing literature on restoration to competency programs, describes a competency restoration program at one Ohio hospital, and offers basic restoration to competency practice guidelines that may be applied to any facility performing competency restoration.
Attitudes about Sanctioning Elder Abuse Offenders among Police Chiefs, Nursing Home Employees, and Students
Authors: Payne Brain K. , Berg Bruce L. , James La Donna Flanagan
Published: January 2006

Since the early 1970s, demographers and other social scientists have predicted an increase in the number of elderly people living in America. What has not increased to the same magnitude, however, is our understanding of the criminal victimization of elderly persons or our understanding how to respond to offenders who abuse elderly persons. Of concern in this research was the way that four groups perceive the sanctioning of offenses committed against elderly persons: police chiefs, nursing home administrators, nursing home staff, and students enrolled in sociology and criminal justice courses. By conceptualizing the perceptions of abuse among these four groups, steps can be taken toward either preventing or responding to crimes against elderly persons.
A Theoretical Framework of Ethics Therapy as a Distinctive Forensic Therapeutic Specialization
Authors: Martens Willem H. J.
Published: January 2006

In this article, the usefulness of ethics therapy in forensic psychiatric settings is discussed. Its aims and guidelines and its possible therapeutic approaches are presented. It is theorized that ethics therapy will be a valuable addition to the existing therapeutic methods because of its specific, exclusive, and differentiated attention for and directness to the moral basis of personality in its behavioral manifestations. Moral and ethics patterns are intrinsic to people’s personality and largely determine behavior. Without serious and stable moral improvement, any behavioral changes in the antisocial and criminal individual’s conduct will be no more than superficial cosmetic interventions, which do not really diminish the risk of reoffending in those persons.
The Confusion over Psychopathy (II): Implications for Forensic (Correctional) Practice
Authors: Shipley Stacey , Arrigo Bruce A.
Published: January 2006

This article is the second in a two-part series on psychopathy. The first article systematically, although provisionally, reviewed the major transitions associated with psychopathy’s historical development, focusing on how changes in nomenclature, meaning, degree of social condemnation, and prognosis significantly affect the current understanding of this mental disorder. This article assesses the most pressing forensic practice issues stemming from the convoluted history of psychopathy. In particular, this article comments on assessment concerns related to the convergence and divergence of the antisocial personality disorder–psychopathy continuum, on diagnostic and treatment concerns related to countertransference and misdiagnosis, and on courtroom testimony concerns related to competent forensic evaluations particularly when clinical assessments of sexually violent predators are administered. On this latter point, this article explores the limits of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised, especially in regard to predicting accurately violent sexual recidivism. Ultimately, this article clarifies much of the confusion surrounding psychopathy and forensic (correctional) practice.
Efficacy of a Decompression Treatment Model in the Clinical Management of Violent Juvenile Offenders
Authors: Caldwell Michael F. , Van Rybroek Gregory J.
Published: January 2006

Criminal recidivism was assessed for 10 highly disruptive and aggressive, incarcerated juvenile offenders who received decompression treatment, for 10 matched controls who received mental health treatment services, and for 10 assessment-only controls. Treated participants were matched with controls on a number of demographic, behavioral, and personality variables. Decompression treatment was developed to improve the institutional adjustment of mentally disordered adult offenders and is adapted here for juvenile offenders. Participants in the decompression treatment and usual treatment groups were both significantly less likely to recidivate in the approximately 2-year follow-up period than were assessment-only subjects who received mental health assessment only and received the usual juvenile corrections rehabilitation services (10%, 20%, and 70% recidivism, respectively). The results suggest that decompression treatment may be successfully applied to the most unmanageable and disruptive institutionalized juvenile offenders.
Homicides with Partial Limbic Seizures: Is Chemical Seizure Kindling the Culprit?
Authors: Pontius Anneliese A.
Published: January 2006

Recreational intermittent, subthreshold amounts of alcohol and/or drugs might evoke chemical kindling of nonconvulsive, simple partial seizures in the limbic system, with secondary, brief, prefrontal lobe dysfunctioning; preserved core consciousness; and memory for the bizarre, out-of-character, motiveless, unplanned homicidal acts performed during a fleeting psychosis. Such acts persisted for 2 to l0 minutes despite forceful external interruption in three single, white male loners. In contrast, five nonusers, with otherwise similar symptomatology, aborted their homicidal attacks on external interruption, in a previously proposed syndrome with only experiential kindling with memory revival of past hurts in limbic psychotic trigger reaction. Thus, this article hypothesizes that either chemical kindling alone or as a superimposition on experiential kindling might occur in the form of unusual persistence or enhancement of partial seizures.
Victimological Developments in the World during the Past Three Decades: A Study of Comparative Victimology–Part 2
Authors: Schneider Hans Joachim
Published: January 2006

During the past three decades, 10 international symposia on victimology have taken place in different parts of the world. This article presents in two parts a comprehensive over- view of the discussion results of these symposia and of the most important literature contributions to criminological victimization research over the past three decades. In the first part of the report, the risk and causes of victimization are discussed. In this second part of the article, the deliberation of damage suffered by the victims—the negative psychical and social effects— is emphasized. Damage suffered by the indirect victim (covictim) is highlighted. The significance of the victim-offender sequence is mitigated to a certain extent. As far as recidivist victimization is concerned, the model of the victim career is developed. The constitutional and procedural legal rights of the victims and potential victims are elucidated.
The Contribution of Family Adversity and Verbal IQ to Criminal Behavior
Authors: Gibson Chris L. , Piquero Alex R. , Tibbetts Stephen G.
Published: January 2006

Several scholars have employed the risk factor prevention paradigm in identifying risk factors and protective factors that increase and decrease the odds of offending. Farrington suggested that multiplicative interactions of such factors should be explored in an attempt to understand how they are linked to differential offending behaviors such as offending prevalence and early onset of offending. The authors examine Moffitt’s interactional hypothesis that states that two specific risk factors, verbal IQ and family adversity, interact to increase the probability of particular types of criminal behavior. Using data from the Philadelphia portion of the Collaborative Perinatal Project of 987 African American youth, logistic regression analyses indicate that the combined effect of verbal IQ and family adversity did not significantly increase the odds of becoming an offender, whereas the combined effect of low verbal IQ scores at age 7 and family adversity significantly increased the odds of early onset of offending.
Youth Court Dispositions: Perceptions of Canadian Juvenile Offenders
Authors: Peterson-Badali Michele , Ruck Martin D. , Koegl Christopher J.
Published: January 2006

In North America, the approach to youth crime and juvenile offenders has become increasingly punitive, and deterrence is seen as a significant goal of sentencing. Young people’s views about their sentences can provide insight into the meaning of these experiences and their perceived connection to offending behavior. The authors interviewed 53 young male offenders about their perceptions of youth court dispositions and explored what offender, offense, and disposition characteristics predicted their beliefs about the specific and general deterrent value of their sentences. Juveniles varied in their perceptions about their sentences as deterrents, but the characteristics examined did not adequately account for this variation. Their perceptions reflected multiple approaches to achieving deterrence, including not only the get-tough focus on dispositions as punishments but the role that sentences play in helping young offenders achieve personal change. Implications of the findings for the get-tough approach to youth justice and study limitations are discussed.
Family Interventions with Incarcerated Youth: A Review of the Literature
Authors: Perkins-Dock Robin E.
Published: January 2006

Juvenile delinquency is a widespread societal problem threatening the well-being of families and communities throughout the country. In 1997, approximately 125,000 juveniles were incarcerated in public and private residential facilities as a result of a law violation. The rearrest rate for juveniles illustrates the need to develop effective interventions for incarcerated youth and their families. Although treatments focusing on the family as a unit may be more effective than individual treatment with delinquent youth, it is often difficult to involve families in the treatment process while juvenile offenders are incarcerated. This article discusses familial influences on delinquent and antisocial behavior, provides a review and critique of the literature related to family intervention models for juvenile offenders, and discusses treatment dilemmas in working with incarcerated juvenile offenders. A pilot project comparing the effectiveness of a conjoint family intervention and a systemic individual intervention with incarcerated youth is described with preliminary results.
Motivation and Sex Offender Treatment Efficacy: Leading a Horse to Water and Making It Drink?
Authors: Terry Karen J. , Mitchell Edward W.
Published: January 2006

The authors conducted a study to analyze the outcome of a cognitive behavioral treatment program for incarcerated sex offenders. Specifically, the study aimed to determine whether motivation to participate in the program had an impact on the reduction of cognitive distortions (CDs). Seven CDs were analyzed in pretreatment and posttreatment assessments, and the treatment was considered effective for offenders who eliminated more than half of the CDs by the end of the program. The results showed comparable success rates for sex offenders with adult victims who were and were not motivated to change their offending behavior. Motivation did have an effect on offenders with child victims, although the reasons for this are unclear and should be explored with a larger sample of offenders.
The Stabilization of Self-Esteem among Incarcerated Adolescents: Accommodative and Immunizing Processes
Authors: Greve Werner , Enzmann Dirk , Hosser Daniela
Published: January 2006

The negative effect of a custodial sentence on juvenile self-esteem is discussed. It is argued that individual coping resources offer an explanation for the inconclusive findings of earlier studies in this field. Findings of a cross-sectional study of 299 prisoners (14 to 24 years) are presented. The results show that the stability of self-esteem during incarceration depends on both accommodative and immunizing coping reactions. Prisoners who do not possess at least one of these coping resources show particularly low self-esteem at the start of their term of imprisonment. This creates the misleading impression that for the average individual, selfesteem increases during a period of custody. The study also shows that in the latter period of a prison term, accommodative coping resources also tend to support an increase in immunizing reactions. Implications for longitudinal studies and for practical interventions in the juvenile custody system are discussed.
Law, Psychology, and the “New Sciences”: Rethinking Mental Illness and Dangerousness
Authors: Williams Christopher R. , Arrigo Bruce A.
Published: January 2006

Clinical and legal research on the meaning of mental illness and on definitions (and predictions) of dangerousness continue to offer the mental health law arena mostly disappointing results. In this article, the authors argue that much of this failure is linked to the prevailing Newtonian paradigm of cause-effect relationships, linear logic, and absolute order. In its place, the authors draw attention to the “new sciences”; that is, advances generated from quantum physics and chaos theory. To situate the analysis, the authors explore how psycholegal decision making unfolds. Specifically, the authors examine what contributions the new sciences offer society on the nature and meaning of psychiatric disorder and on the forecasting of violence. Along the way, the authors suggest how the new sciences advance the regard for citizen justice within the domain of mental health law.
Developmental Trajectories, Transitions, and Nonlinear Dynamical Systems: A Model of Crime Deceleration and Desistance
Authors: Walters Glenn D.
Published: January 2006

Research on crime-related developmental trajectories is reviewed with outcomes revealing the existence of several trajectories rather than a single general pattern. Each trajectory is marked by transitions that define the pattern’s path and direction over time. These anticipated transitions differ from the unanticipated transitions known to precipitate crime deceleration and desistance. Borrowing principles from nonlinear dynamical systems theory—sensitive dependence on initial conditions, chaotic attractors, and self-organization in particular—this article offers a model of crime deceleration and desistance in which belief systems congruent with crime are altered in phases—initiation, transition, maintenance—to create belief systems incongruent with crime. The practical implications of this model are discussed and suggestions for future research are outlined.
Stalking, Homicide, and Catathymic Process: A Case Study
Authors: Schlesinger Louis B.
Published: January 2006

Despite the proliferation of research on various aspects of stalking, there has been relatively little study of stalkers who commit homicide. In this article, a man who stalked and killed a casual acquaintance is reported. He developed an idea to kill her that, at first, seemed ego-alien and unreal but eventually became fixed and was accompanied by a mounting inner pressure to act. The concept of catathymic process—a change in thinking whereby the offender comes to believe that he can resolve his inner conflict by committing an act of extreme violence against someone to whom he feels emotionally bonded—is of particular help in understanding this case, as well as similar cases of stalking that culminate in homicide.
The Link between Recurrent Maltreatment and Offending Behaviour
Authors: Hamilton Catherine E. , Falshaw Louise , Browne Kevin D.
Published: January 2006

This article considers recurrent maltreatment and offending behaviour. The sample was 60 males and 19 females (11 to 18 years) resident within a secure institution in England and considered a risk to themselves and/or others. Overall, 20.8% had not experienced maltreatment, 6.5% had experienced a single incident, 11.7% were repeat victims (same perpetrator), 6.5% were revictimised (different perpetrators), and more than half (54.5%) had suffered both repeat and revictimisation. Of those who had committed a violent and/or sexual crime, 74% had experienced some form of revictimisation, compared to 33% of those who committed nonviolent offences. Those young people most likely to have committed violent and/or sexual crimes were those who had been victims of recurrent extrafamilial maltreatment (many of whom had also experienced recurrent intrafamilial maltreatment). Thus, in this sample, revictimisation was associated with serious crimes. However, these findings are preliminary, and prospective research with a larger sample is needed.
Causal Factors of Corporate Crime in Taiwan: Qualitative and Quantitative Findings
Authors: Mon Wei-Teh
Published: January 2006

Street crimes are a primary concern of most criminologists in Taiwan. In recent years, however, crimes committed by corporations have increased greatly in this country. Employing the empirical approach to collect data about causal factors of corporate crime, the research presented in this article is the first systematic empirical study concerning corporate crime in Taiwan. The research sample was selected from a corporation with a criminal record of pollution caused by the release of toxic chemicals into the environment and a corporation with no criminal record. Questionnaire survey and interviews of corporate employees and managers were conducted, and secondary data were collected from official agencies. This research indicated the causal factors of corporate crime as follows: the failure of government regulation, lack of corporate self-regulation, lack of public concern about corporate crime, corporate mechanistic structure, and the low self-control tendency of corporate managers.
Violations of Out-Group and In-Group Regulations in the Eyes of Ordinary and Protected Prisoners: An Instance of Judgmental Modularity
Authors: Wolf Yuval
Published: January 2006

According to the functional theory of cognition, everyday life blaming for wrongdoing reflects individuals’functional morality. The judgments of normative people were found to be modular, that is, changeable as a function of the social role taken at the moment of the judgment. This article presents several empirical indications that prisoners’functional moral judgments are modular as well. These studies were conducted within the experimental framework of functional measurement, which was chosen due to its ability to bypass prisoners’suspicion and resistance to out-group investigations. The studies focus on delinquents’core moral issues such as eyewitness testimony and informing to out-group authorities. As expected, the judgments of ordinary and protected inmates were modular. It is claimed that these findings are applicable to offender rehabilitation and correction and to offender therapy.
An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Substance Abuse Programming for Female Offenders
Authors: Dowden Craig , Blanchette Kelley
Published: January 2006

Although a recent meta-analysis reported that substance abuse treatment was associated with moderate reductions in recidivism for female offenders, very few of the tests of treatment (k = 4) focused on adults. The purpose of this study was to contribute to this relatively sparse area of scientific inquiry by exploring the effectiveness of substance abuse programming in reducing recidivism for a sample of 98 federally sentenced female offenders in Canada. Results revealed a significant reduction in general recidivism for treated substance abusers. Moreover, the data indicated that violent reoffending was also reduced for the treated group, although the difference did not reach statistical significance.
Intimacy Training in a Forensic Psychiatric Setting: An Experiment
Authors: van den Berg-Lotz Yvonne , le Grand Bram , Kriek Carla , Verhagen Thieu
Published: January 2006

This article is about intimacy training in two forensic psychiatric hospitals. This training is an experiment in which patients are trained in skills relating to intimacy and sexuality through real physical contact with a therapist. It is a way of treatment in those cases in which other, usually verbal methods, have failed to accomplish (sexual) behaviour change, and it can feed or revitalise verbal therapy. The purpose of the training is (a) to make the patient aware of the feelings intimate contact with a woman provokes and (b) to increase the patient’s social and sociosexual skills so that he learns how to handle his intimate and sexual wishes, needs, and limits, and those of his partner. The training aims at diminishing the risk of new offences. The experiment is intended to provide answers to questions about the effectiveness of this kind of training in relationship to this aim.
Treatment Planning with the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R)
Authors: Loving James L.
Published: January 2006

The Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R) is an essential component of any assessment protocol within forensic and correctional settings. Both nomothetic and idiographic interpretations aid the clinician in screening and treatment planning. Whereas the PCL-R can be effective in identifying those who are at highest risk of disrupting treatment efforts and jeopardizing the safety of those around them, through item analysis, it also provides clues to the nonpsychopath’s unique treatment needs. Specific recommendations are offered regarding the implementation of the PCL-R for screening and treatment planning, and illustrative case examples are provided to enliven essential points.
Object Relations in Criminal Psychopaths
Authors: Brody Yosef , Rosenfeld Barry
Published: January 2006

Although many empirical studies have documented the range and severity of problems caused by psychopaths, considerably less attention has focused on understanding its origins. Efforts to treat this potentially dangerous population have been equally frustrating, as psychotherapeutic approaches have almost always proven ineffectual. Because of the limited understanding of the psychological and interpersonal dynamics underlying psychopathy, the authors sought to assess the extent to which object relations theory could inform our understanding of psychopathy. In addition to eliciting background information, 74 men sentenced to probation following a criminal conviction were assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version, a clinician-rated measure of psychopathy, and were administered the BORI, a self-report measure of object relations. Results showed significant correlations between object relations dimensions, psychopathy scores, and childhood environment data. Furthermore, object relations scores added to the prediction of psychopathy even after demographic and behavioral variables were considered, suggesting that object relations deficits comprise a significant component of psychopathy. Results suggest that psychopaths harbor profound underlying psychosocial damage including intense anxiety, anger, bitterness, and resentment. Implications for interventions and future research are discussed.
Potentially Dangerous Behavior in the Mentally Ill: Attitudes of Journalists and Medical Students toward Compulsory Admission
Authors: Holzinger Anita , Kaup Barbara , Gutiérrez-Lobos Karin
Published: January 2006

Compulsory admission is a critical measure that may lead to stigmatization of patients. The authors investigated what medical students and journalists consider legitimate conditions for compulsory admission. The most frequently quoted conditions in both groups were violent attempts against others. About one third of each group considered continuous neglect as a reason. Students significantly more often than journalists advocated for civil commitment in the case of suicide attempts and violent attempts. Medical students with personal contact with mentally disordered persons advocated significantly more often for coercive measures in the case of suicide attempts. Comparing journalists and medical students having personal contact with mentally disordered persons revealed that medical students significantly more often supported commitment. Journalists displayed a more liberal attitude toward the mentally ill than did medical students.
Serial Killers with Military Experience: Applying Learning Theory to Serial Murder
Authors: Castle Tammy , Hensley Christopher
Published: January 2006

Scholars have endeavored to study the motivation and causality behind serial murder by researching biological, psychological, and sociological variables. Some of these studies have provided support for the relationship between these variables and serial murder. However, the study of serial murder continues to be an exploratory rather than explanatory research topic. This article examines the possible link between serial killers and military service. Citing previous research using social learning theory for the study of murder, this article explores how potential serial killers learn to reinforce violence, aggression, and murder in military boot camps. As with other variables considered in serial killer research, military experience alone cannot account for all cases of serial murder. Future research should continue to examine this possible link.
A Criminological Research Agenda for the Next Millennium
Authors: Farrington David P.
Published: January 2006

This article reviews key issues in criminology concerning the development of criminal careers, risk factors or causes of offending, and effective prevention methods. In order to advance knowledge about criminal careers and risk factors, prospective longitudinal surveys are needed. In order to advance knowledge about prevention methods, randomized experiments are needed. A new research agenda for the next millennium is recommended, including (a) multiple-cohort longitudinal surveys with experimental interventions, and (b) a coordinated program of cross-national comparative research.
Forensic DNA Profiling in the 21st Century
Authors: Friedman Alan L.
Published: January 2006

During the past 14 years, DNA technology has undergone a remarkably rapid evolution from an exotic, slow, and expensive forensic method to a routine practice. Where a blood stain 2 centimeters across was once required, now an individual can be identified from the DNA recovered from a postage stamp or a cigarette butt. Given the remarkable progress of DNA profiling technology, what can we expect in the 21st century? Several new technologies are on the horizon. These include capillary array electrophoresis, microchip capillary electrophoresis, and mass spectrometry. These new methods will increase the speed and genetic differentiation while dramatically lowering the cost of DNA profiling. Speed and lower cost will facilitate the compilation of DNA databases that are currently under way in the United States and Europe as well as other industrialized countries. As these DNA databases grow, society must balance the needs for law enforcement with privacy concerns.
Type III Trauma: Toward a More Effective Conceptualization of Psychological Trauma
Authors: Solomon Eldra P. , Heide Kathleen M.
Published: January 2006

Research on offenders and crime victims underscores the importance of identifying trauma-related events and treating their effects. The authors build on the work of psychiatrist Lenore Terr, who distinguished Types I and II psychological trauma, by proposing a third category, Type III trauma. Type III trauma occurs when an individual experiences multiple, pervasive, violent events beginning at an early age and continuing over a long period of time. Diagnostic criteria include alterations in memory and consciousness, frequently including dissociation; emotional numbing; major developmental deficits; poorly developed, often fragmented, sense of self; a core belief that he or she is fatally flawed and has no right to be alive; a sense of hopelessness and shame; trust issues that interfere with normal relationships; and no concept of a future. Treatment of individuals who have sustained Type III trauma is more complex and demanding relative to survivors of Types I or II trauma.
To Get Rich is Glorious: Rising Expectations, Declining Control, and Escalating Crime in Contemporary China
Authors: Deng Xiaogang , Cordilia Ann
Published: January 2006

After the Communist revolution, China had a relatively low crime rate. However, since the economic reform of the late 1970s, the crime rate has increased considerably. Why has crime increased when most people are doing better economically and have access to many more opportunities to improve their lives? Part of the reason may be found in the strong official emphasis on the radical new goal of making money, along with the unequal distribution and inadequate legal regulation of the means to economic success. Another factor is the loosening of formal and informal controls as a result of the changes in social structure that accompany economic reform. Control theory, developed to explain crime inWestern societies, is applied in new ways in this article to fit the unique control structures that existed in prereform China.
Family Education for Adults in Correctional Settings: A Conceptual Framework
Authors: Klein Shirley R. , Bartholomew Geannina S. , Bahr Stephen J.
Published: January 2006

This article examines family education programs for strengthening family ties between prison inmates and their families. To advance the development of a conceptual basis for family education in prisons, we suggest a classification based on three criteria: the program purpose, the program content, and the level of interaction between professional and participant. We give an example of a family education program at an optimal level of involvement and provide evaluation data about the program. These data provide more information about the internal workings of the family system to provide guidelines for more appropriate, useful content and interaction in family programming.
Rural Juvenile First Offenders Describe What Is Working and What Is Not
Authors: Smith Marilyn , Usinger-Lesquereux Janet , Evans William
Published: January 2006

Interviews held with program graduates 1 year after completing a court-ordered program for entry-level juvenile offenders are presented. The interviews contain insights obtained directly from rural youth regarding delinquency prevention and intervention programming. Their reflections give us useful insight about the challenges that former offenders face. These include (a) how they feel about themselves and their concern about how they are perceived by others, (b) their complex and often conflictual relationships with others, and (c) their lack of goals for the future. Results provide insight regarding the coping strategies adopted by program graduates to stay out of trouble. Implications for prevention and intervention programming, as well as future research are discussed.
Normalisation in an Abnormal World: A Study of Prisoners with an Intellectual Disability
Authors: Glaser William , Deane Kirsten
Published: January 2006

The most appropriate means of dealing with offenders with an intellectual disability has become a contentious issue of postdeinstitutionalisation. Proponents of normalisation argue that offenders should be held accountable and responsible for their actions in the same way as nondisabled citizens. Critics argue that such an approach fails to recognise the multiple disadvantages under which most offenders labour. Unfortunately, much of this debate is carried out at the level of rhetoric only because comparatively little is known about the experiences of offenders within the system. This study examines the characteristics and experiences of two groups of offenders with an intellectual disability held in custody: one within the mainstream prison system, the other within a secure facility on the grounds of an institution. Although not without its disadvantages, the secure facility appears better equipped to meet the multiple and complex needs of this grossly disadvantaged group of offenders.
Bonds to the Work Unit and Official Offense Status in Urban China
Authors: Zhang Lening , Messner Steven F.
Published: January 2006

This research examines the relationship between bonds to one’s work unit (danwei) in China and official criminal status, as reflected in placement in a correctional facility. The authors describe the distinctive features of the Chinese work unit and hypothesize that the strength of the worker’s bonds to his or her work unit is negatively related to the likelihood of being officially identified as a criminal. The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis for a sample of young workers from Tianjin support the hypothesis. Workers who have strong bonds to their work unit are at significantly lower risk of becoming official criminals (inmates) than are their counterparts with weaker bonds.
Marcel: A Case Report of a Violent Sexual Psychopath in Remission
Authors: Martens W. H.J.
Published: January 2006

The author presents a report of the etiology and remission in a former forensic psychiatric patient who was found guilty for 13 crimes, including traffic offenses, fraud, thefts, rape, and assaults. He committed these crimes over a period of 11 years (from age 15 to 26). The patient was cured by therapeutic and psychosocial influences and by life events that made a strong impression on him. At present, he has been living for more than 20 years in freedom, leads a normal life, is happily married, and has never reoffended.
The Psychological Typology of Criminal Homicidal Aggression
Authors: Kudryavtsev Joseph A. , Ratinova Natalya A.
Published: January 2006

The results of a Russian study of the psychological aspects of criminal homicidal aggression are presented. The authors propose a typology of homicidal aggressors based on an analysis of their criminal behavior, their psychological structure, the dysfunction of the self-control mechanism, and their differing personality characteristics. They identify the following types of aggression: functional-utilitarian; habitual noncontrolled; situational- defensive, motivated by an affective goal; and catastrophic aggression. They present the differential criteria as useful to criminal experts in their analysis of offenders, particularly in cases involving the determination of criminal responsibility.
Social Control, Delinquency, and Victimization among Kibbutz Adolescents
Authors: Cohen Ben-Zion , Zeira Ruth
Published: January 2006

An index based on Hirschi’s theory designed to measure social control in kibbutz society was applied to a random sample of 440 high school students in the kibbutzim of Northern Israel. The delinquency variable was measured by self-report on the frequency of two illegal behaviors condemned by adult kibbutz society but not excessively stigmatized by the youth: driving without a license and stealing from the kibbutz mini-market. Victimization was measured by self-report on incidents during the past year involving person or property. Seventy percent of the participants in the study reported having committed at least one offense. Approximately 80% reported at least one victimization. At the bivariate level, the social control index generated weak but statistically significant negative correlations with both delinquency and victimization.
Law Enforcement Versus Battered Women
Authors: Adelman Madelaine , Morgan Phoebe
Published: January 2006

Since the early 1970s, law enforcement agencies have made great strides in improving their response to domestic violence. However, attempts to reform the 1996 Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban Act (P.L. 104-208, section 658, 1997) pitted law enforcement against the battered women’s movement. Contra predictions of system equilibrium, in this competition—between the victims of the new law (law enforcement officers) and the victims whom the new law intended to protect (battered women)—decision makers chose battered women over law enforcement officers. This article examines why this conflict developed, identifies the strategies that won in this conflict, and considers the impact of this conflict on domestic violence.
Our “Ideal Girl”
Authors: Bay-Cheng Laina Y. , Lewis Amanda E.
Published: January 2006

Adolescent girls must contend with several sets of competing expectations at the discursive intersection of sexuality, age, gender, and race. This article examines how a feminist mentorship program for early adolescent girls engaged the issue of sexuality. Despite the program’s self-described feminist orientation, ethnographic analysis revealed its reliance on moralistic, age-based standards of appropriate sexual interest and behavior; the suppression of sexuality; and girl-as-victim discourse. These data bolster the call for reformed, sex-positive approaches to adolescent sexuality and reveal some of the complexities involved in cross-generational feminist interventions.
Weathering: Stress and Heart Disease in African American Women Living in Chicago
Authors: Warren-Findlow Jan
Published: January 2006

Researchers have suggested that lifelong chronic and cumulative exposure to social and economic stressors is associated with early onset of chronic illness in African American women. Recent literature has demonstrated that socioeconomic aspects of neighborhoods contribute to health disparities in heart disease morbidity and mortality. In this article, the author analyzes the stories of older African American women concerning stress and other events related to heart disease, triangulated with individual- and neighborhood-level socioeconomic and environmental data, from the perspective of the weathering conceptual framework. She conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with urban, older Black women with early-stage heart disease. Women described lifelong and recent incidents of stress that they perceived as contributing to their “bad heart.” The episodes described were a mixture of chronic social, environmental, and family-related challenges. Findings reveal substantial evidence supporting the weathering conceptual framework and the Sojourner syndrome in this sample of older, chronically ill Black women.
Perspectives of Carers on the Move From a Hospital to a Transitional Care Unit
Authors: Daff Darren , Stepien Jacqueline M. , Wundke Rachel , Paterson Jan , Whitehead Craig H. , Crotty Maria
Published: January 2006

The authors describe carers’ experiences of the traditional process of moving a relative into residential care from an acute hospital admission and how a transitional care unit affected this experience. Telephone interviews (total 31) confirmed that looking for permanent care was a stressful, time-consuming, and confusing process for all carers. The transitional care unit did not make a great difference to the stress of finding a residential care vacancy, but the overall experience of transitional care was positive, with carers feeling that it gave them time to consider residential care options. Carers felt that a hospital was not the best environment to assess ongoing care needs. The implementation of transitional care did not reduce the stress felt by carers when looking for a residential care facility, but it was an acceptable alternative to waiting for residential care in hospital.
Patients Who Use E-Mediated Communication With Their Doctor: New Constructions of Trust in the Patient-Doctor Relationship
Authors: Andreassen Hege K. , Trondsen Marianne , Kummervold Per Egil , Gammon Deede , Hjortdahl Per
Published: January 2006

The introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) into the patient-doctor relationship represents a significant change in modern health care. Communication via computers—e-mediated communication—is affecting the context of patient-doctor interaction, touching core elements of the relationship. Based on data from a qualitative study conducted among Norwegian patients who had used ICT to communicate with their doctors, the authors argue that patients’ use of ICT and the element of trust in the patient-doctor relationship influence each other. Furthermore, they contend that patients’ constructions of trust in this relationship can be understood in light of basic mechanisms in modern society. The study sheds light on some potential concerns and benefits as communication technology increasingly is integrated into the patient-doctor relationship.