Adult fire-raising: Law and psychology

Abstract

Adult fire-raising (arson) is reviewed in brief historical text and some legal and statistical issues are discussed. A classification system is suggested followed by a brief discussion of motivation and management of this type of offender.     

Young Adult Offending: Intersectionality of Gender and Race

It is an accepted criminological fact that gender and race affect involvement in crime. What has been examined less frequently is the effect of intersectionality of gender and race across the early life course. This research uses Delinquency in a Birth Cohort II: Philadelphia, 1958 to examine the longer term effects on crime of intersectionality during the adolescent and young adult portions of the life course. Findings indicate that intersectionality of gender and race is fundamental for young adults. It is argued that multiracial feminism can best explain why intersectionality must be taken into consideration when looking at offending across the early life course.     

Female victims of child sexual abuse: Adult adjustment

A questionnaire administered to a University sample of 245 female victims of sexual child abuse and 750 nonvictims attempted to determine whether abuse is related to poor adult social and psychological adjustment. The instrument consisted of three outcome measures of adjustment, variables directly related to abuse, perceived satisfaction with early family life, and demographic data. Only one of the outcome measures — the Texas Social Behavior Inventory — yielded a statistically significant difference between the samples. There was a steady, significant and progressive increase in maladjustment between the nonabused, the nonincestuously abused and the incest victims. When controls were applied for levels of satisfaction with early family life, differences between the abused and nonabused samples disappeared. Those abused as children who reported good treatment by parents exhibited no ill effects as adults on the TSBI.     

Obligations Between Adult Partners: Moving From Form to Function?

It was observed at the end of the twentieth-century that inrelation to family law policy in the UK, the ‘parent-childrelationship was the only clearly ascertainable family relationshipto which legal consequences can be attached’ and it waspredicted that relational obligations between adult partnerswould become individually negotiable. Some considered that whileparenthood would remain subject to normative obligations, thelegal position of married and unmarried couples would be equatedvia the gradual de-regulation of marriage through increasingthe capacity of adults to define the terms of their own relationships.However, recent policy and practice-based developments reveala different picture. The purpose of this article is to considerthe interaction between these mutually informing discoursesand to suggest that rather than developing a more function-basedapproach to the imposition of intra-familial obligations, relationshipstatus continues to carry determinative weight. Particular attentionwill be paid to evolving jurisprudence in the ancillary reliefcontext which has given the fact of marriage, by itself, greaterdistributive consequences on divorce. It will be argued thatcontrary to predictions at the end of the twentieth century,the regulatory gap between married and unmarried relationshipsis becoming wider, and that obligations between parents whichare created by the ‘joint parenting exercise’ arebeing confined, in both arenas, to remedial awards based uponthe disadvantaged economic position of the primary caregiver.     

论成年人监护制度的最新发展:支持决策

支持决策是为响应联合国《残疾人权利公约》第12条的要求在成年人监护领域出现的新理念和新措施。支持决策的核心价值是使残疾人在他人的帮助下自主做出决定,从而维护残疾人的人格尊严与自由。支持决策在世界范围内受到极大关注,很多国家都在尝试建立支持决策的法律模式。我国正处于民法典编纂过程中,支持决策理念的出现为我国成年人监护立法提供了新思路、新方向。我国民法典婚姻家庭编在设计成年人监护制度时应以辅助制度体现支持决策的指导思想及具体内容。     

Revictimized Adult Women: Perceptions of Mental Health Functioning and Associated Services

In this study, using a sample of adult women (N = 418) from various environments, mental health outcomes and perceptions about different types of support following childhood and adulthood sexual and physical violence were assessed. The respondents were from three locations: general community, state prison, and sexual assault and domestic violence service providers. A cluster analysis based on victimization experiences was conducted; subsequent analyses showed that women who endured more types of abuse had more self-reported mental health difficulties. Somewhat paradoxically, women who utilized more therapeutic services held more negative perceptions of their mental health functioning, while use of tangible services had no significant association. Those who found therapeutic services helpful had significantly higher self-reported concurrent mental health functioning.     

Childhood Violence Exposure: Cumulative and Specific Effects on Adult Mental Health

Childhood exposure to violence and victimization is a significant public health problem, with potentially long-lasting, deleterious effects on adult mental health. Using a longitudinal study design, 123 young adults—identified in adolescence as at-risk for high school dropout—were examined for the effects of multi-domain childhood victimization on emotional distress and suicide risk, net of adolescent risk and protective factors, including family dysfunction. The hypothesis that higher levels of cumulative childhood victimization would be significantly associated with mental health maladjustment in young adulthood was confirmed by the analysis. However, the victimization predictors of adult emotional distress were different than the predictors of adult suicide risk. These findings indicate the need for prevention and intervention approaches that include thorough assessment, and focus on the childhood and adolescent problem areas that are most consequential for long-term psychological well-being.     

INTERPERSONAL CALLOUSNESS TRAJECTORIES ACROSS ADOLESCENCE: Early Social Influences and Adult Outcomes

The current study examined the relation between interpersonal callousness trajectories during adolescence (ages 14 to 18) and characteristics of antisocial personality and internalizing problems in young adulthood (age 26), using a community sample of 506 boys. The influence of several parent and peer factors on callousness trajectories during adolescence was also explored. Although the mean interpersonal callousness trajectory for the entire sample was relatively flat, there was substantial individual variability in both the initial status and rate of change of interpersonal callousness over time. Trajectories of interpersonal callousness were associated with higher levels of antisocial personality features in early adulthood but were unrelated to adult internalizing problems. Conduct problems and parent-child communication difficulties were the best predictors of elevated levels of interpersonal callousness throughout adolescence. However, none of the parenting and peer factors examined predicted substantive changes in interpersonal callousness over time.     

Treating Adult Survivors of Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Relational Strengths-Based Approach

Sibling sexual abuse is a far more common manifestation of family violence than is often recognized. Researchers agree that it has received less attention than other forms of child abuse trauma despite the fact that good evidence suggests it is no less injurious than child sexual abuse when a parent or other adult is the perpetrator. This paper describes a relational, strengths-based approach to psychotherapy with adult survivors of sibling sexual abuse guided by trauma-informed principles. Cultural considerations are discussed as well as an overview of the clinical research on sibling sexual abuse and its harmful effects. Clinical case material, treatment strategies and a case illustration demonstrate therapeutic principles of the approach in action.     

Empowerment through group support: Adult women who are survivors of incest

This article describes the need for professional recognition of the magnitude of the problem of incest and the long-term effects on the lives of survivors. It suggests that women can be empowered to make positive lifestyle changes through long-term support. The educational opportunity provided for graduate students is also addressed. The intake process and the three phases of the group which extend over 56 sessions are described in detail.     

欠缺行为能力成年人保护的法律重构

本文所述欠缺行为能力成年人的含义与我国民法规定不同,它是指认知和判断能力完全障碍或者有一定的障碍的人,并不以成年精神病人为限。那些除成年精神病人（我国司法解释将其扩展为痴呆病人）外的欠缺意思行为的人,如酗酒成性、吸毒成瘾、不履行任何家庭责任的人,因为其理智判断幼稚,理性程度低下,缺乏控制自己行为能力,社会生活经验很不成熟,对较复杂的行为尚不能预料其应有的后果,不能有效地保护自己和相关家人。因此,法律应给予特别保护。     

Maturity in Adolescent and Young Adult Offenders: The Role of Cognitive Control

This study examined the role of cognitive control in explaining the psychosocial maturity of adolescent (n = 43) and young adult male (n = 40) offenders. We separated psychosocial maturity into prosocial and criminal components, which were statistically unrelated and were explained by different variables. Individuals with higher levels of prosocial maturity were older, had better proactive cognitive control, and had better short-term memory than those with lower levels of prosocial maturity. Individuals with higher levels of criminal maturity were older and had better reactive cognitive control than those with lower levels of criminal maturity. We discuss the implications of these findings with regard to juvenile justice policy and practice.