Reassessing the reliability and validity of self-report delinquency measures

Several issues related to the reliability and validity of self-report delinquency measures are raised and discussed. These include problems associated with the use of internal consistency as the measure of reliability, the level of reliability or precision required for different types of analyses, problems with the content validity of self-report measures, problems of overreporting and underreporting, problems with the use of official records as a validity check on self-reports, and the lack of any good criterion as a major obstacle in assessing the empirical validity of self-report measures. In the light of these problems, some cautions about the use of self-report measures are made.     

Aggressive and Non-Aggressive schizophrenics: Symptom profile and neuropsychological differences

Abstract

The present experiment examined the ability of fifty-two uniformed police officers to detect deception. The experiment differed from previous experiments into detecting deceit because of its high stake lies scenario. The judges were exposed to videotaped press conferences of people who were asking the general public for help in finding their relatives or the murderers of their relatives. They all lied during these press conferences and they all have been found guilty of killing their own relatives. The judges did not perform better than could be expected by chance. Additional analyses showed that accuracy was unrelated to confidence, age, years of job experience in the police force, or level of experience in interviewing suspects. There was, however, a significant positive correlation between having experience in interviewing suspects and being confident in detecting deception. Finally, men were better at detecting deception than women.     

Inter-rater reliability of dynamic risk assessment with sexual offenders

Abstract

This paper describes the inter-rater reliability of the Structured Assessment of Risk and Need (SARN, formerly known as Structured Risk Assessment). The SARN is a structured framework for identifying sexual offenders’ dynamic risk factors. The SARN comprises 16 dynamic risk factors, categorized into four domains: Sexual Interests, Distorted Attitudes, Socio-Affective Functioning and Self-Management. Two studies, utilizing three samples, are reported. Study 1 examined the inter-rater reliability of four SARN cases with a sample of seven expert raters. Results indicated high inter-rater reliability amongst these participants. Study 2 examined the reliability of SARN with two samples who had received training before supplying inter-rater data (N=88). Results provided some support for the reliability of SARN. However, strength of reliability was dependent upon the method of analysis applied (percentage agreement, Cohen's Kappa, intra-class correlation coefficients). These results are discussed in terms of their clinical and methodological implications.     

保障会计信息真实性的法律思考

市场经济对会计信息具有依赖性。而原始凭证的质量严重制约着会计信息的真实性。本文认为经济业务的职能部门作为原始凭证的提供者,他们也应对会计信息的真实性承担责任,为此应当完善原始凭证的法律制度。     

国外企业社会责任界说述评

文章对国外具有代表性的企业社会责任界说进行了评价 ,并在此基础上抽象出企业社会责任的应有之义。     

Two-Year Reliability of the Propensity for Abusiveness Scale

The Propensity for Abusiveness Scale (PAS; Dutton [1995a] J. Fam. Violence 10[2]: 203–221) has been shown to correlate with both physical and psychological abuse in a variety of samples including gay men, assaultive males, and male and female college students (Clift, 2001; Dutton et al., 2001). For the current study, 27 male and 37 female university students completed the PAS during the 1998–1999 and the 2000–2001 school years. A 2-year test–retest reliability coefficient of r = .851 was found for women and a reliability coefficient of r = .629 was found for men. The combined sample had a reliability coefficient of r = .774. Moderate test–retest reliability coefficients were also found for each of the subscales.     

证据的采纳和采信从两个“证据规定”的语言问题说起

司法人员审查认定证据应该分为两个阶段，即证据的采纳和证据的采信。司法人员审查认定证据的内容应该包括“四性”，即合法性、关联性、真实性、充分性。采纳证据应该遵循带有一定刚性的规则；采信证据则应该依据带有一定弹性的标准。科学证据的采纳和采信具有一定的特殊性。     

Validation of the Propensity for Abusiveness Scale in Diverse Male Populations

The Propensity for Abusiveness Scale (PAS; Dutton, 1995) was designed as a self-report perpetrator profile for intimate abusiveness. It was empirically validated through reports of abuse by intimate partners. The original PAS (Dutton, 1995) was given to 144 men in treatment for partner abuse and 44 demographically matched controls. It correlated significantly with partner reports of abusiveness and correctly classified men 82.2% of the time, as one standard deviation above or below the mean partners' report score for abusiveness. In the present study, the PAS was given to clinical outpatients, gay males, male college students, and a group of spousal assaulters. A criterion measure for abusiveness (the Psychological Maltreatment of Women Inventory; Tolman 1989, or the Psychological Maltreatment Inventory; Kasian & Painter, 1992) was collected from intimate partners. In all groups, the PAS correlated significantly with partners' reports of both physical and psychological abusiveness on subscales of the criterion measures: Dominance/Isolation and Emotional Abuse. For the college students and wife-assault groups, a new criterion measure was used: the Severity of Violence Against Women Scale. The PAS correlated significantly with partners' reports of threats and violence measured by this scale. The PAS appears to provide a nonreactive assessment instrument that is a strong predictor of intimate abusiveness across a variety of populations.     

暴力危险量表中文版的信度

目的引入、修订具有评估暴力危险及危险变化的暴力危险量表(Violence Risk Scale,VRS),对修订后的暴力危险量表中文版(VRS-C)进行信度检验。方法通过标准的翻译程序形成VRS-C,3位评估者独立评估14个案例以检验评分者信度,以125例来自成都安康医院监管病区、四川华西法医学鉴定中心法医精神病学教研室及华西心理卫生中心的精神疾病患者为被试,对VRS-C的信度进行检验。结果初步修订的VRS-C具有较好的评分者信度(ICC=0.80)、同质性信度(克朗巴赫α系数=0.921)、分半信度(0.906)及题总相关性(0.246～0.849)。结论初步修订的VRS-C具有较好的信度。     

Reliability of the Walker Cranial Nonmetric Method and Implications for Sex Estimation

The cranial trait scoring method presented in Buikstra and Ubelaker (Standards for data collection from human skeletal remains. Fayetteville, AR: Arkansas Archeological Survey Research Series No. 44, 1994) and Walker (Am J Phys Anthropol, 136, 2008 and 39) is the most common nonmetric cranial sex estimation method utilized by physical and forensic anthropologists. As such, the reliability and accuracy of the method is vital to ensure its validity in forensic applications. In this study, inter‐ and intra‐observer error rates for the Walker scoring method were calculated using a sample of U.S. White and Black individuals (n = 135). Cohen's weighted kappas, intraclass correlation coefficients, and percentage agreements indicate good agreement between trials and observers for all traits except the mental eminence. Slight disagreement in scoring, however, was found to impact sex classifications, leading to lower accuracy rates than those published by Walker. Furthermore, experience does appear to impact trait scoring and sex classification. The use of revised population‐specific equations that avoid the mental eminence is highly recommended to minimize the potential for misclassifications.     

Aggressive reactions to social injustice by individuals and groups as a function of social norms,gender, and anonymity

Two conflicting approaches to the study of group aggression are compared: the deindividuation theory of Zimbardo (1970) and the emergent norm theory of Turner and Killian (1972). To test these two conflicting hypotheses, the frustration-aggression theory of Brown (1986) is used which assumes that individuals and groups, male or female, will react with angry aggression when important social justice norms are violated. It was hypothesized (i) that groups will be more aggressive than single individuals; (ii) males will be more aggressive than females; and (iii) that more aggression will occur when people can be easily identified than when they remain anonymous to each other. These hypotheses received some support. Unexpected interactions between these variables are discussed in some detail. Generally, more support is found for the emergent norm theory than for deindividuation theory.     

电子数据司法鉴定工具可靠性评估研究

探讨建立对电子数据司法鉴定工具进行科学性及可靠性的评估方法。在已有的国内外取证工具评测方法的基础上,借鉴国家强制认证认可和可靠性工程等因素,对电子数据司法鉴定工具可靠性评估体系中的工具基本认可和定性评估二阶段进行详细分析,为保证司法鉴定实践的科学性和准确性提供理论依据。     

Attributions for episodes of marital aggression: The effects of aggression severity and alcohol use

This study examined attributions for husband to wife marital agression as a function of aggression severity and husbands' alcohol use. Subjects were a community sample of 117 wives and 109 husbands who reported an episode of serious physical aggression during a structured interview, conducted at one year of marriage. The results showed that husbands' attributions were influenced by both severity and alcohol use. In particular, sober husbands tended to blame their wives for severe aggression, but, unexpectedly, drinking husbands tended to assume responsibility for severe aggression. In contrast, wives' attributions were influenced mainly by severity. Wives also discriminated between the locus and stability dimensions of causal attributions, whereas husbands relied solely on the locus dimension. Specifically, wives held husbands' behavior more responsible for severe aggression than their own behavior and held husbands' character much more responsible than their own character. Additional findings with regard to relationship attributions were discussed.     

Comparing the Validity of Prospective,Retrospective, and Official Onset for Different Offending Categories

Using data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, a prospective longitudinal study of 411 London males, the main aim of this research is to compare the age of onset of six types of offenses according to different methods of measurement – prospective self-reports, retrospective self-reports, and official records – and also to explore self-reported and official onset sequences. Results showed that ages of onset reported in retrospective accounts generally tended to be higher than those reported prospectively. Agreement rates between prospective and retrospective accounts were lowest for minor forms of offending, and highest for more serious offenses such as theft of vehicles. Males with heavy substance use habits were less likely to report the same age of onset retrospectively compared with prospectively. Denial rates were substantial in all comparisons, particularly for minor forms of offending. Comparisons between self-reported and official measures of onset revealed that there was a greater degree of agreement between the two measures for serious offenses. Whereas self-reported onset sequences suggested that minor crimes were committed before more serious offenses, official onset sequences suggested the reverse. The findings show that retrospective reports are not suitable to address research questions requiring detailed information (i.e., most criminal career parameters: age of onset, frequency, age of termination, etc.), for studying minor forms of offending, and for samples of individuals with serious substance use habits. Furthermore, official measures of offending can also produce misleading results, particularly when studying minor forms of offending.     

论刑事诉讼中鉴定意见的可靠性、可信性——基于权利保障视角的分析

司法实践中时有发生的轰动案件引发人们对于鉴定意见可靠性、可信性问题的思考。作为证据制度的司法鉴定是刑事司法公正的基础和保障，必须符合客观可靠、公正可信的基本要求。而有关保障鉴定意见可靠性和可信性基本要求的证据规则却在修改后的刑事程序中依旧缺失，因此，刑事司法鉴定制度的后续立法应当完成从注重职权便利的需要到重视权利保障的转变。     

Validity and reliability of the Self-Report Delinquency among a sample of at-risk youths

Self-Report Delinquency scales have formed the basis of much understanding of juvenile delinquency today, but further improvement and extensive measurement research on self-report measures of crime are needed. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the shorter general delinquency scale version of the classic commonly used Self-Report of Delinquency (SRD) measure created for the original National Youth Survey (NYS) using a sample (N = 412) of male (n = 200) and female (n = 212) at-risk Portuguese youths. The shorter version of the SRD demonstrated satisfactory validity and reliability, namely in terms of its latent one-factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, divergent validity, concurrent criterion validity and discriminant groups validity that overall justifies its use among this population. The shorter general delinquency scale version of the SRD is a valid and reliable measure from a modern psychometric perspective that can be used with at-risk youths.     

Empirical Evaluation of the Reliability of Photogrammetry Software in the Recovery of Three-Dimensional Footwear Impressions

This paper examines the reliability of Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry as a tool in the capture of forensic footwear marks. This is applicable to photogrammetry freeware DigTrace but is equally relevant to other SfM solutions. SfM simply requires a digital camera, a scale bar, and a selection of oblique photographs of the trace in question taken at the scene. The output is a digital three-dimensional point cloud of the surface and any plastic trace thereon. The first section of this paper examines the reliability of photogrammetry to capture the same data when repeatedly used on one impression, while the second part assesses the impact of varying cameras. Using cloud to cloud comparisons that measure the distance between two-point clouds, we assess the variability between models. The results highlight how little variability is evident and therefore speak to the accuracy and consistency of such techniques in the capture of three-dimensional traces. Using this method, 3D footwear impressions can, in many substrates, be collected with a repeatability of 97% with any variation between models less than ~0.5 mm.     

精神病人限定刑事责任能力评定量表信效度多中心研究

目的对自行研制的《精神病人限定刑事责任能力评定量表》的信效度进行多中心研究。方法：在国内四地七家精神疾病司法鉴定机构取样,对被评定为限定责任能力的案例按量表手册进行评分,并与各中心鉴定专家按辨认能力和控制能力受损大小将限定刑事责任能力所作的三级划分进行比较。结果共纳入702例案例,根据专家意见限定责任能力分为三级：小部分责任能力组、部分责任能力组和大部分责任能力组。小部分、部分和大部分组量表均分分别为21.32±3.85、25.91±5.69和29.54±5.19,差异具有统计学意义;量表各条目与总分相关系数在0.27～0.61之间,再测信度为0.85,评分者一致性kappa在0.5～0.91之间;主成分分析提取六个因子,累积贡献率为67.26%,主要反映被鉴定人的作案预谋、作案动机、作案后的行为表现、反映精神疾病对被鉴定人自我状态和社会功能的影响、案发前被鉴定人面临的环境及其反应程度;判别分析显示,作案动机、对作案时间的选择性、作案后逃避责任、检验或审讯时伪装、对作案行为的罪错性认识、自知力损害和自控能力损害纳入判别式,回代正确率为62.3%。结论《精神病人刑事限定责任能力评定量表》构建合理,有较好的信效度。