Forensics Talk

Behavioral Approaches to Educating Children/Parents about Child Sexual Abuse Prevention

 Journal of Behavior Analysis of Offender & Victim

Sandy K. Wurtele                                                                                   

     Child sexual abuse (CSA) has been defined as “contacts or interactions between a child and an adult [or older child/adolescent] when the child is being used for the sexual stimulation of the perpetrator or another person” (NCCAN, 1978, p. 2).

     Whether perpetrated by adults or teenagers, sexual abuse involves the exploitation of children’s naïveté, trust, and obedience. CSA can include experiences of physical contact between a perpetrator and victim (e.g., fondling, intercourse) and also “interactions” where there is no physical contact (e.g., voyeurism, photographing or videotaping a child in sexual poses or actions). Although estimates vary depending on the type of sample and definition of sexual abuse used, several studies indicate a high frequency of CSA in the United States.

     Results of the most recent National Incidence Study revealed that there were an estimated 78,188 confirmed cases of child molestation in the U.S. in 2003 (U.S. DHHS, 2005). According to results from the Adverse Childhood Experiences survey one in four girls and one in six boys in the U. S. are sexually abused before they turn 18 (Dube et al., 2005). Sexual victimization can result in a broad array of problems, including emotional disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety), cognitive disturbances (e.g., poor concentration, dissociation), academic problems, physical problems (e.g., sexually transmitted diseases, teenage pregnancy), acting-out behaviors (e.g., prostitution, running away from home), and interpersonal difficulties (Berliner & Elliott, 2002; Kilpatrick et al., 2003; Noll, Trickett, & Putnam, 2003; Paolucci, Genuis, & Violato, 2001; Roberts et al., 2004; Tyler, 2002).

     Along with robbing children of their innocence and causing psychological, physical, and behavioral difficulties, it also affects families, communities, and the entire United States. A 1996 report from the Department of Justice estimated that each year, the rape and sexual abuse of children costs the U. S. $1.5 billion in medical expenses and $23 billion total (Miller, Cohen, & Wiersema, 1996).

     Based on the magnitude of the problem and its association with a range of health outcomes, CSA has been identified as a significant public health challenge by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and its prevention has been listed as a priority concern (Hammond, 2003)... Read More

Editorial: Behavior analysis’s forgotten promise

 The Journal of Behavioral Analysis of Offender and Victim Treatment & Prevention

Matt Tincani, Kirk A. B. Newring & Joseph Cautilli

         In the 1960s and 1970s, behavior analysis strongly influenced the criminal justice field (Cautilli & Weinberg, 2007). The importance of behavior analysis was evidenced by numerous promising applications of operant conditioning with offenders and at-risk youth. Unfortunately, the following decades accompanied a decline in the application of behavior analysis with offender populations.

The Journal of Behavior Analysis of Offender and Victim Treatment and Prevention aims to rectify the current situation by disseminating innovative research and applications of behavior analysis to minimize and prevent criminal behavior. A closer look at the history of behavior therapy reveals the importance of behavioral approaches with offender populations. A recent meta -analysis of studies found that behavior therapy interventions produced the largest effect size over other treatments, except for cognitive -behavioral treatments1, in reducing recidivism (Redondo-Illescas, Sánchez-Meca, & Garrido-Genovés, 2001).

     With special populations, behavior analysis has also produced some interesting and promising results. For example, behavioral interventions with sex offenders led to the reduction of deviant arousal (Marshall, Jones, Ward, Johnston, & Barbaree, 1991; Marshall & Barbree, 1988) with techniques like satiation therapy (Marshall, 1979), signaled punishment (Quinsey, Chaplin, & Carrigan, 1980), and covert sensitization (Grossman, Martis, & Fichtner, 1999). This reduction in arousal did not consistently coincide with reductions in recidivism (e.g., Rice, Quinsey, & Harris, 1991 found no effect), suggesting the need to improve these behavioral techniques.

     Indeed, the third wave of behavior therapies may potentially address shortcomings of past behavioral approaches. For example, Wheeler and colleagues have demonstrated the applicability of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) approaches to empirically derive risk factors for sexual recidivism (Wheeler, George, & Stephens, 2005; Wheeler, George & Stoner, 2005). Newring and Wheeler have extended this approach with the inclusion of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) as a component of sex offender treatment (Newring & Wheeler, in press).

     Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may also be an appropriate intervention for sexualized misbehavior when that misbehavior is motivated by factors such as emotional avoidance and cognitive fusion (Penix Sbraga & Brunswig, 2003). Taken together, ACT, FAP and DBT can provide a behavior analytic roadmap for intervention based on empirically-derived risk factors... Read More

Inside The World of The Forensic Psychologist

  All About Forensic Psychology

     One of the most frequently asked questions I receive, is what does a forensic psychologist actually do?

Well we know from my preferred definition, that forensic psychology relates to:

That branch of applied psychology which is concerned with the collection, examination and presentation of evidence for judicial purposes’ (Haward 1981).

So it's fair to state that the role of the forensic psychologist will to a varying degree involve the provision of psychological information for the purpose of facilitating a legal decision (Blackburn 1996).

Given the number of branches within psychology (social, cognitive, physiological etc) and the variety of topic areas within these branches, it's also fair to state that the nature of psychological information employed to faciliate a legal decision can vary widely.

It is, therefore, very difficult to offer a specific answer to the question what does a forensic psychologist actually do; as this will depend on the individual forensic psychologist's experience, background, working environment, psychological/forensic expertise etc.

With this in mind, perhaps a better question to ask would be what does this particular forensic psychologist do?

Poor Sleep Quality And Insomnia Associated With Suicidal Symptoms Among College Students

 

Medical News Today

Main Category: Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia
Also Included In: Depression;  Conferences;  Mental Health
Article Date: 11 Jun 2008 - 3:00 PDT

     Poor sleep quality and insomnia are significantly associated with suicidal symptoms among college undergraduates, according to a research abstract presented on Monday at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

The study, authored by Rebecca A. Bernert, of Florida State University, focused on 322 college undergraduates between 19-24 years of age. The following symptom measures were administered: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI); Insomnia Severity Index (ISI); Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); and Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS).

According to the results, consistent with past research, PSQI and ISI total scores were significantly associated with greater BDI scores. Elevated scores on the BSS were significantly predicted by higher scores on the ISI and the PSQI, although the latter emerged only as a non-significant trend. Importantly, after BDI scores were entered into the model as a co-variate, ISI and PSQI scores jointly predicted greater BSS scores, though they failed to significantly predict these symptoms independently.

"This investigation attempted to clarify whether self-reported sleep disturbances serve as a risk factor for suicide ideation in a nonclinical sample of young adults," said Bernert. "We found that insomnia and poor sleep quality jointly predicted elevated suicidal symptoms, even after controlling for depression... Read More

NARSAD Researchers Identify Specific Genes And Family Traits Linked To Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder And Depression

Medical News Today
Main Category: Schizophrenia
Also Included In: Bipolar;  Depression;  Mental Health
Article Date: 03 Jun 2008 - 1:00 PDT

     New findings from research supported by NARSAD, the world's leading charity dedicated to mental health research, and conducted by Harvard-affiliated scientists are providing important clues into how genes work to impair various aspects of attention, memory and perception -- the behaviors associated with many psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression.

Presented at NARSAD's 3rd annual Boston Mental Health Research Symposium on May 30 at the Harvard Medical School, the studies shed new light on how specific genes contribute to the susceptibility to and pathology of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, some of the most severe, chronic and disabling mental illnesses that collectively affect an estimated 40 million Americans. Coming at a time when some treatments for mental illnesses are a matter of trial and error, these findings have relevance in the development of novel therapies targeted to specific patients and to specific genes.

Donald C. Goff, MD, director of the Schizophrenia Clinical and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and a leading researcher on the role of genetics in the development of new treatments for schizophrenia, moderated the discussion.

Folate as a Cause and Treatment for Schizophrenia: Who Will Benefit?

Do genes explain why some people with schizophrenia are helped when they take supplements of the common B vitamin, folate? The answer is yes and now, new NARSAD funded research is examining the reasons why... Read More

Stress During Pregnancy Associated With Schizophrenia Of Children

Medical News Today
Editor's Choice
Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Anxiety / Stress;  Schizophrenia;  Mental Health
Article Date: 07 Feb 2008 - 0:00 PST

  A recent article in the Archives of General Psychiatry reports that women who undergo an extremely stressful event during the first three months of pregnancy have an increased risk of having children who develop schizophrenia.

Researcher Ali S. Khashan of the University of Machester, England and colleagues note that there is some consensus that a mother's psychological state influences her unborn baby. "Severe life events during pregnancy are consistently associated with an elevated risk of low birth weight and prematurity." Schizophrenia is a disabling condition associated with abnormal brain structure and function, and it is believed to begin in early brain development. Risk of the condition is influenced by susceptibility genes that can interact with environmental factors that occur during pregnancy... More