A Multisite Comparison of Actuarial Risk Instruments for Sex Offenders.

Four actuarial instruments for the prediction of violent and sexual reoffending (the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide [VRAG], Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide [SORAG], Rapid Risk Assessment for Sex Offender Recidivism [RRASOR], and Static-99) were evaluated in 4 samples of sex offenders (N = 396). Although all 4 instruments predicted violent (including sexual) recidivism and recidivism known to be sexually motivated, areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) were consistently higher for the VRAG and the SORAG. The instruments performed better when there were fewer missing items and follow-up time was fixed, with an ROC area up to .84 for the VRAG, for example, under such favorable conditions. Predictive accuracy was higher for child molesters than for rapists, especially for the Static-99 and the RRASOR. Consistent with past research, survival analyses revealed that those offenders high in both psychopathy and sexual deviance were an especially high-risk group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The abusive personality: Violence and control in intimate relationships.

Reviews the book, The abusive personality: Violence and control in intimate relationships by Donald G. Dutton (see record 1998-06084-000). Having devoted much of his career to the study of men who abuse their wives, Donald Dutton is unquestionably well qualified to write this book. Through his extensive research on the topic and his hands-on experience with men who batter, he has gained valuable insights into these and other men. In the late 1970s, when my colleagues and I were planning a study on applying social learning theory to the reduction of violence, Don Dutton was one of the few people who had already made headway in that area, and his ideas about how to apply psychological knowledge were formative in our early efforts. Since that early work, Dutton's ideas have evolved based on where his research results led him, and that journey is the story told in this book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contributions of Canadian applied psychological research to correctional and psychiatric institutions.

Discusses Canadian psychological research relevant to the treatment of persons institutionalized in psychiatric and correctional settings. Studies are divided into 4 categories: prevention, assessment, treatment, and release. It is concluded that although some innovative and influential applied research has been accomplished, the amount of applied research is relatively small and tends to focus on assessment rather than treatment issues. A discussion of some of the factors responsible for the relative paucity of relevant research is followed by a consideration of what might be done to improve the quantity and quality of research efforts in the future. It is suggested that an area of high priority should be the identification of organizational features of institutions that affect the adoption and maintenance of improved practices. (French abstract) (6 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identifying persistently antisocial offenders using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist and DSM antisocial personality disorder criteria.

Early starting, lifetime criminal persistence has been called sociopathy, antisocial personality disorder, and psychopathy. There is, however, disagreement about its core features and which measure is best for identifying such individuals. In the 1st of 2 studies of male offenders (n = 74), we found a large association between scores on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 1991) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. [DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) antisocial personality disorder criteria scored as a scale. The second study (n = 684) replicated this finding and found that, as previously shown for PCL-R scores, a discrete class (or taxon) also underlies scores on items reflecting antisocial personality disorder. The high association among these sets of items and their similarity in predicting violence suggested that the same natural class underlies each. Results indicated that life-course-persistent antisociality can be assessed well by measures of psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Violent recidivism: Assessing predictive validity.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 73(4) of Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (see record 2007-16787-001). In this article, several errors are present on pp. 738 and 746. The corrections are listed in the erratum.] Until very recently, there has been little evidence of the ability of either clinicians or actuarial instruments to predict violent behavior. Moreover, a confusing variety of measures have been proposed for the evaluation of the accuracy of predictions. This report demonstrates that receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) have advantages over other measures inasmuch as they are simultaneously independent of the base rate for violence in the populations studied and of the particular cutoff score chosen to classify cases as likely to be violent. In an illustration of the value of this approach, the base rates of violence were altered with the use of data from 3.5-, 6-, and 10-year follow-ups of 799 previously violent men. Base rates for the 10-year follow-up were also altered by changing the definition of violent recidivism and by examining a high-risk subgroup. The report also shows how ROC methods can be used to compare the performance of different instruments for the prediction of violence. The report illustrates how ROCs facilitate decisions about whether, at a particular base rate, the use of a prediction instrument is warranted. Finally, some of the limitations of ROCs are outlined, and some cautionary remarks are made with regard to their use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The treatment of mentally disordered offenders.

However narrowly defined, mentally disordered offenders (MDOs) are heterogeneous in demographics, diagnoses, offense characteristics, risk, and clinical needs. Treatment planning for MDOs should begin with an assessment of risk of future violent behavior in the community and risk of violence toward self or others inside an institution. Purposes of treatment among MDOs include treatments both to reduce risk of future violence and to alleviate the mental disorder. Relevant outcome measures include criminal and violent behavior, psychiatric symptomatology, admission to correctional or psychiatric facility, and quality of life. Clinical problems include aggression and problems of institutional management, criminal propensity, life skills deficits, substance abuse, active psychotic symptoms, social withdrawal, and depression. Because evidence relating them to risk of future violence is highest for the first 4 problems, it is argued that inpatient treatments should especially target them. Whenever risk levels and legal circumstances permit, community treatment is to be preferred. Sex offenders are discussed as a group for whom specialized services are indicated.… (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving the social skills of males in a maximum security psychiatric setting.

34 male patients (mean age 26 yrs) in a maximum security psychiatric hospital, selected on the basis of their low ratings on role-play situations, the Communication and Social Contact subscales of the MACC Behavior Adjustment Scale, and the Social Adjustment Rating Scale, were assigned to either social skills training (SST) or client-centered therapy (CCT) and were given either contingent or noncontingent reinforcement for social behavior. Ss in the SST condition received 10 wks of SST; Ss in the CCT condition participated in 2 90-min nondirective group psychotherapy sessions per week for 10 wks. Ss in all conditions showed dramatic improvements on the assessment battery when tested postintervention. Consistent with other studies of SST, Ss in the SST condition showed significant improvements in role-play measures of social skills during treatment, while Ss given CCT did not. However, there was no evidence of transfer of training onto the ward nor evidence that the effects persisted at 1-mo follow-up. Thus, the data question the application of SST in maximum security settings. (French abstract) (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shaping futures: A dialogue on chemical engineering education

Engineering as a discipline, profession, practice, and area of study continues to add substantial value in an increasingly complex world. With continually evolving complexity around the planet, such as the need for massive energy transition, global health technologies, or sustainable food systems, how might engineering education practices and theory be considered within these rapid and necessary changes? This paper presents an experiment of co-creation through experiential reflection about the state of chemical engineering education. Four chemical engineering professors engaged in a dialogue, facilitated by a researcher in education, through collaborative and actionable research. This dialogue uncovered innovative possibilities, educational themes, experiences, and opportunities for others in the profession to consider. The process of dialogue also encouraged the development of an imaginative future sense-making, known as futuring, through a collective experience. The findings reveal instructive perspectives on the shape of chemical engineering education that should be of value not only to engineers, but also other professionals, practitioners, or those in various science, technology, and math fields.     

Relative leaching and aquatic toxicity of pressure-treated wood products using batch leaching tests

Size-reduced samples of southern yellow pine dimensional lumber, each treated with one of five different waterborne chemical preservatives, were leached using 18-h batch leaching tests. The wood preservatives included chromated copper arsenate (CCA), alkaline copper quaternary, copper boron azole, copper citrate, and copper dimethyldithiocarbamate. An unpreserved wood sample was tested as well. The batch leaching tests followed methodology prescribed in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP). The wood samples were first size-reduced and then leached using four different leaching solutions (synthetic landfill leachate, synthetic rainwater, deionized water, and synthetic seawater). CCA-treated wood leached greater concentrations of arsenic and copper relative to chromium, with copper leaching more with the TCLP and synthetic seawater. Copper leached at greater concentrations from the arsenic-free preservatives relative to CCA. Arsenic leached from CCA-treated wood at concentrations above the U.S. federal toxicity characteristic limit (5 mg/L). All of the arsenic-free alternatives displayed a greater degree of aquatic toxicity compared to CCA. Invertebrate and algal assays were more sensitive than Microtox. Examination of the relative leaching of the preservative compounds indicated that the arsenic-free preservatives were advantageous over CCA with respect to waste disposal and soil contamination issues but potentially posed a greater risk to aquatic ecosystems.     

The functions of aggression by male teenagers.

A selectionist theory states that violence by males toward male peers originally served specific functions and violence to female peers served others. Differences in self-reported victimization and perpetration in studies of 1,452 high school students were hypothesized. In Study 1, male-to-male aggression was reported to be more prevalent than male-to-female aggression. For male-to-male aggression, perpetrator reports agreed with or exceeded victim reports, and victims were more often strangers than close friends. In contrast, for male-to-female aggression, there were consistently fewer reports from perpetrators than from victims, and victims were less often strangers than girlfriends. Study 2 obtained similar findings for reported frequency, number of victims and perpetrators, and sexual aggression. Study 3 showed that girls' aggression contrasted with that by boys with respect to intra- versus intersex aggression and perpetrator–victim agreement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)