System memory in violent incidents: Evidence from patterns of reoccurrence.

For 20% of a sample of 1,078 violent incidents reported in British bars and pubs, another incident was reported at the same premises within 6 months. Log-survival analysis revealed nonrandom sequences that demonstrate a system memory effect separate from any biases involving particular venues. The rate of reoccurrence was not constant during the 6 months following incidents but was significantly higher for Weeks 1–4 approximated to the mean value for Weeks 5–12, and declined for Weeks 13–26. Reoccurrence was particularly likely in the first 3–4 days after an incident. Risk of reoccurrence was further increased for incidents that involved either threats or the exit and return of the assailants within that original incident. Results support the view that "violence breeds violence" and demonstrate the need for increased staff vigilance for up to 12 weeks following a violent incident, and particularly during the first few days and weeks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transference issues concerning victims of violent crime and other traumatic incidents of adulthood.

This article examines transference in the assessment and treatment of trauma resulting from incidents of adulthood, with particular focus on the experience of victims of violent crime. In furtherance of treating the individual rather than a diagnosis, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, it proposes the term violence-based parataxic distortion (V-PD) to differentiate between projections and distortions based on traumatic experiences of the crime as distinct from transference reactions that relate to past object relationships, specifically with significant others from early development, self-organization, and characterological formation. The interplay between transference reactions, V-PDs, and the real relationship is examined, with illustrations. It is noted that distortions may arise regarding organizations, institutions, and governmental entities, as well as individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of violent incidents by patients in a general hospital psychiatric facility

Reports of attempted or actual physical assaults by patients in the inpatient, outpatient, and emergency settings of a psychiatric facility within a general hospital were prospectively surveyed during a one-year period. Among 397 patients discharged during the period, 46 patients were responsible for 133 violent incidents. Most incidents occurred on the locked inpatient unit during the daytime and after the first week of admission. Schizophrenia was the only diagnosis significantly associated with violence. Hitting was the most prevalent form of violence, and nurses were the most frequent targets.     

Treatment issues arising in working with victims of violent crime and other traumatic incidents of adulthood.

This article examines treatment issues in the assessment and treatment of trauma resulting from incidents of adulthood, as exemplified by the experience of victims of violent crime. Issues addressed include resistance, trauma-engineered identifications, roles based on violence-based parataxic distortions, and recommendations for an integrative ongoing listening perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathy and violent crime.

Examined the relations between psychopathy, violence, and impulsiveness of criminal behavior within a White prisoner sample of 76 Ss, using level of intelligence as a moderator variable. Prisoners were given the MMPI, the California Psychological Inventory, the Wide Range Achievement Test, and the IPAT Culture Free Intelligence Test (Scale 2). Unlike most prior research, psychopathy was found to be predictive of violence but only for less intelligent criminals; about 90% of this group had committed a violent crime compared to 58% for the remainder of the sample. Similarly, the psychopaths with limited intelligence evidenced the greatest impulsivity in the commission of their crimes relative to bright psychopaths or nonpsychopathic criminals at either level of intelligence. The implications of the findings for the importance of moderating cognitive variables in personality predictions are discussed. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of violent versus nonviolent recidivism from prior violent and nonviolent criminality.

Analyzed frequencies of prior violent and nonviolent criminal convictions among 198 adult male felony offenders (mean age 27 yrs) in relation to probation outcome defined as success, nonviolent failure, or violent failure. The probation follow-up was conducted after 32 mo. Only the results for prior nonviolent offenses were significant, and although nonviolent failures on probation were nearly 4 times more common than were violent failures, the nonviolent predictor set was equally sensitive to the 2 types of recidivism. The association between prior nonviolent offenses and probation outcome was attenuated by the influence of age. Persistent nonviolent criminality usually reflects a generalized propensity for social deviance and is therefore of some predictive value with heterogeneous groups of offenders. In contrast, because violence is often due to transitory psychological states that emerge in response to atypical circumstances, it is a relatively poor indicator of the likelihood of future similar behavior. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Curriculum assessment with critical incidents.

Training improvement was sought from a Junior Officer Training Requirements Checklist sent to 340 high officials of destroyer-type vessels. The checklist had 10 forms, each with about 100 incidents. A "time expectancy for satisfactory performance" was determined for each incident with high reliability. "The findings indicate that the new ensign most frequently and most immediately will be called upon to draw on background relevant to human relations, leadership, and personnel administration skills; technical skills are expected to be developed later." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling violent couples using Walker's model.

Describes L. E. Walker's (1979) model of conjoint counseling for battering couples. The model includes individual and conjoint therapy session, male and female cotherapists, and a cognitive-behavioral focus that helps couples learn to deal with anger and recognize how their own behavior patterns contribute to the cycle of violence. Useful techniques and important issues to be considered in using this model are discussed, and differences between this model and more traditional models on couples and family counseling are reviewed. A treatment and follow-up study of 30 cases using this model is presented. Client/couple and therapy factors associated with successful treatment were identified from the study, including increased age of the batterer, higher income, later onset of violence in the relationship, and more sessions attended by the couple. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exposure to violent media: The effects of songs with violent lyrics on aggressive thoughts and feelings.

Five experiments examined effects of songs with violent lyrics on aggressive thoughts and hostile feelings. Experiments 1, 3, 4 and 5 demonstrated that college students who heard a violent song felt more hostile than those who heard a similar but nonviolent song. Experiments 2-5 demonstrated a similar increase in aggressive thoughts. These effects replicated across songs and song types (e.g., rock, humorous, nonhumorous). Experiments 3-5 also demonstrated that trait hostility was positively related to state hostility but did not moderate the song lyric effects. Discussion centers on the potential role of lyric content on aggression in short-term settings, relation to catharsis and other media violence domains, development of aggressive personality, differences between long-term and short-term effects, and possible mitigating factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathy in instrumental and reactive violent offenders.

Can violent offenders who commit acts of instrumental aggression for goal-oriented purposes such as robbery be distinguished from those who commit acts of reactive (or hostile) aggression in response to provocation? Because violent offenders often have a history of both instrumental and reactive aggression, this study distinguished between offenders with a history of at least 1 instrumental violent offense and offenders with a history of reactive violent offenses. Two studies tested the hypothesis that instrumental offenders would score higher than reactive offenders and nonviolent offenders on R. D. Hare's (1991) Psychopathy Checklist. The first study sample consisted of 106 violent and nonviolent offenders recruited from a medium-security correctional facility. The second study sample consisted of 50 violent offenders referred for pretrial forensic evaluation. In both samples, instrumental offenders could be reliably distinguished from reactive offenders on the basis of violent crime behavior and level of psychopathy. Group differences could not be attributed to participant age, race, length of incarceration, or extent of prior criminal record. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dangerousness: Assessing the risk of violent behavior.

Results of discriminant analyses for identifying dangerous inpatients and prison inmates are presented. Analysis of a hospital sample (N?=?100) yielded a discriminant function containing 5 variables, which was 85% accurate in classifying the sample. Analysis of a prison sample (N?=?100) yielded a discriminant model with 6 variables, which was 72% accurate in classifying the sample. Stepwise discriminant analysis of the combined hospital and prison derivation sample (N?=?200) yielded a discriminant function containing 8 variables, which was 75% accurate in classifying the sample as dangerous or nondangerous. It was concluded that the derived population-specific (i.e., hospital or prison) models constitute empirically valid measures of dangerousness for the populations studied. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal generalization.

In 6 experiments, responses of 26 rats were reinforced following a signal of a certain duration, which led to a positive temporal generalization gradient with a maximum at the reinforced duration in 6 experiments. The location of the maximum and breadth of the gradient increased with the duration of the reinforced signal. Reduction of reinforcement, either by partial reinforcement or reduction in the probability of a positive signal, led to a decrease in the height of the generalization gradient. There were large, reliable individual differences in the height and breadth of the gradient. When the conditions of reinforcement were reversed (responses reinforced following all signals longer or shorter than a single nonreinforced duration), 8 additional Ss had a negative generalization gradient with a minimum at a signal duration shorter than the single nonreinforced duration. A scalar timing theory is described that provides a quantitative fit of the data. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal experience.

To many Freudians the time sense is the result of frustrations, but the extensive literature (159 titles) is not so simple. A fundamental distinction is that between time perception and time perspective. The latter is again variously conceived by many authors; some add time orientation. The authors effectively survey and criticise the literature. The time concept is said to be fully developed only at the age 13. "The distinction between filled and unfilled time may be in the mind of the E rather than in the S." Little children think of the future rather than of the past. But 1 writer asserts that the past is more significant to them. The authors conclude that the precise relationship between perception and perspective is in need of empirical and experimental underpinning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal construal.

Construal level theory proposes that temporal distance changes people's responses to future events by changing the way people mentally represent those events. The greater the temporal distance, the more likely are events to be represented in terms of a few abstract features that convey the perceived essence of the events (high-level construals) rather than in terms of more concrete and incidental details of the events (low-level construals). The informational and evaluative implications of high-level construals, compared with those of low-level construals, should therefore have more impact on responses to distant-future events than near-future events. This article explores the implications of construal level theory for temporal changes in evaluation, prediction, and choice. The authors suggest that construal level underlies a broad range of evaluative and behavioral consequences of psychological distance from events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A typology of critical incidents in intergroup dialogue groups.

Latent semantic analysis (Landauer & Dumais, 1997) was used to derive pairwise similarity ratings based on the content of 102 critical incidents (CIs) identified by participants in four intergroup dialogues. The resulting similarity matrix was then analyzed with cluster analysis to identify the content themes of these CIs. The cluster analysis identified three superordinate clusters and nine content themes in the CIs. The three superordinate clusters were labeled: Cognitive, Affective, and Consciousness Raising change processes. The three Cognitive change processes were labeled: (1) Talking At, (2) Talking With, and (3) Facilitating the Conversation. The three Affective change processes were labeled: (1) Working Toward Acceptance, (2) Learning from Others’ Feelings and Experiences, and (3) Reflection on Felt Differences. The three Consciousness Raising change processes were labeled: (1) Having Eyes Opened, (2) Realizations about People, and (3) Personal Engagement. Similarities and differences between these change processes and change processes described in the group counseling literature are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The violent 4-3 MMPI personality type.

Attempted to replicate and extend the study of K. R. Davis and J. O. Sines (see PA, Vol. 46:Issue 2) which found the MMPI high point pattern of 4-3 to be associated with commission of violent acts. 48 4-3 male inmates were compared with the 3 most frequently occurring other MMPI code types in a prison and with the institutional base rate for commission of violent criminal offenses. 4-3 Ss committed significantly more violent acts than any of the other personality groups and significantly more violence than the base rates of inmates in general. The other 3 personality groups did not differ from the base rate. Of the 4-3 Ss, 85% had a history of violence. Personality variables, e.g., guilt and anxiety, and race of the offender, are discussed. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological profiles of violent and nonviolent maritally distressed couples.

Compared 42 couples seeking counseling who had equal levels of marital distress but different levels of violence. 32 couples had experienced at least 1 episode of physical assault in the last year. Measures included the Profile of Mood States, the Index of Self-Esteem, assessments of violence in family and peer milieus, and assessment of alcohol use. More violent males reported alcohol problems than distressed males. Women in violent couples were significantly more anxious, confused, fatigued, and marginally more depressed than maritally distressed women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal References and Temporal Relations in Sentence Comprehension.

The author investigated the interpretation of temporal references during comprehension of sentences containing a main and subordinate clause. Experiments 1 and 2 examined state and event subordinate clauses, respectively, and showed that subordinate temporal references overlapping with or close to the time of the main clause event were read faster than nonoverlapping distant references. Experiment 3 examined temporal references in nonsubordinate main clauses and confirmed that temporal relations between main and subordinate clauses were established on-line in the previous experiments. Experiment 4 independently manipulated temporal overlap and distance and suggested that event and state clauses are processed according to distinct temporal parameters. The results are explained by the contingency relations that events and states establish with other discourse events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overloading Temporal Memory.

This study tested the hypothesis that memory is a major source of variance in temporal processing. Participants categorized intervals as short or long. The number of base durations and interval types mixed within blocks of trials varied from 1 session to another. Results revealed that mixing 2 base durations within blocks increased categorization errors, but mixing 2 marker types did not. Results are attributed to the involvement of more than 1 memory representation, which is argued to show the critical role of memory in temporal processing. Because mixing modalities has no such effect, it was argued that modalities share a common representation in memory. Finally, there was no difference in the perceived duration of auditory and visually marked intervals, which is inconsistent with most reports on this effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)