Assessing psychopathy in young people: the validity of the Psychopathic Checklist: Youth Version for a sample of Spanish offenders

In this study, we assessed the validity of the Psychopathic Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) in a Spanish sample of juvenile court-involved youths. Although recent Anglo-Saxon literature on the topic supports the usefulness of psychopathic traits in adolescent offenders for predicting recidivism and future violence, little is still known about their predictive ability for other cultures. The results of this study suggest that the PCL:YV possesses adequate concurrent criterion-related validity (by using self-reported version of Antisocial Process Screening Device) and retrospective validity (particularly as regards the antisocial, but also the affective–interpersonal domain). Specifically, retrospective validity was confirmed by positive correlations with history of truancy at school, poor parenting, parental delinquency, self-reported antisocial behaviour and illicit behaviour patterns including violent offences recorded in official files; however, careful analysis revealed that the Lifestyle and Antisocial factors are the main dimensions related to past offences, whether violent or otherwise. In conclusion, the PCL:YV is a convenient instrument for assessing psychopathy, and, hence, the risk of criminality, in youths.     

Criminal Recidivism Among Juvenile Offenders: Testing the Incremental and Predictive Validity of Three Measures of Psychopathic Features

We studied the predictive, comparative, and incremental validity of three measures of psychopathic features (Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version [PCL:YV]; Antisocial Process Screening Device [APSD]; Childhood Psychopathy Scale [CPS]) vis-à-vis criminal recidivism among 83 delinquent youth within a truly prospective design. Bivariate and multivariate analyses (Cox proportional hazard analyses) showed that of the three measures, the CPS was most consistently related to most types of recidivism in comparison to the other measures. However, incremental validity analyses demonstrated that all of the predictive effects for the measures of psychopathic features disappeared after conceptually relevant covariates (i.e., substance use, conduct disorder, young age, past property crime) were included in multivariate predictive models. Implications for the limits of these measures in applied juvenile justice assessment are discussed.     

私法中的“人格”范畴含义辨析

在私法理论和制度中，“人格”范畴具有“主体资格”、“主体”、“主体特质”、“主体性要素”四种含义。其中，“主体资格”指特定的实体可以成为私法法律关系之主体的法定条件；“主体”指特定的实体获得主体资格后的法律状态；“主体特质”指特定的实体可以据之享有主体资格的其客观上所具备的属性；“主体性要素”则是人格权的客体，指自然入主体得以构成的且应得到尊重和保护的客观要素。这四种含义之间的区别主要体现为：“主体资格”是“主体”得以形成的法定条件，“主体资格”范畴也就是用来描述“（某种）实体”与“私法主体”之间的“转化关系”的概念；而“主体特质”和“主体性要素”都是指“主体”（或拥有主体资格的“实体”）在客观上所具有的属性，这两个范畴都属于描述某种“事物”的概念。     

The use of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) in assessing offenders

The intersection between the legal and mental health professions is sometimes marked by controversy, and the application of psychological assessments to forensic issues is no exception. However, the field of psychological assessment holds particular promise for clarifying decision making within the forensic arena, as it can bring a particularly well-established body of theory and data to bear upon clinical forensic practice. This article describes one psychometric instrument, the Personality Assessment Inventory, as an example of how particular assessment instruments can help inform this process.     

A brief measure of the triarchic model of psychopathy among community youths: psychometrics and measurement invariance

ABSTRACT

The development and validation of empirically sound measures that operationalize the Triarchic model of psychopathy among youth is currently in the nascent stage. The present study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of a brief refined measure of the Triarchic model of psychopathy based on the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI-Tri-S) among a mixed-gender school sample of 782 youth (M?=?15.87 years, SD?=?1.72) from Portugal. Confirmatory factor analysis offered support for the theoretically expected three-factor structure. Cross-gender measurement invariance using the present sample and cross-sample measurement invariance of the YPI-Tri-S using a previously collected forensic sample of institutionalized males was established. The YPI-Tri-S showed adequate psychometric properties in terms of discriminant validity, convergent validity, concurrent criterion-related validity, known-groups validity, and internal consistency. Findings indicate that YPI-Tri-S is a valuable brief and psychometrically reliable and valid self-report measure of the Triarchic model of psychopathy for use in diverse samples of youth.     

Examining psychopathy from an attachment perspective: the role of fear of rejection and abandonment

A key feature of psychopathy, a self-centered orientation towards others and a failure to truly connect, is poorly understood. The attachment framework can be used to examine underlying interpersonal mechanisms. Because of the overall failure to connect, we anticipated, and found, in a large undergraduate sample (n?=?1074) that both affective-interpersonal traits and impulsive-irresponsible psychopathy facets were positively related to attachment avoidance. Different dynamics may underlie this distancing from others, as evidenced by the fact that callous-unemotionality was negatively related to attachment anxiety, whereas grandiose-manipulative and impulsive-irresponsible traits were positively related to attachment anxiety. Although effect sizes were small and are of correlational nature, our results are in line with a dual deficit model that differential developmental trajectories, largely heritable callousness vs. neglecting and abusive parenting, may lead to adult psychopathy. The differentiating role of fear of rejection and abandonment for the psychopathy construct is discussed.     

Survival analysis: A survey

This paper is a survey of statistical methods used to analyze the length of time until a specified event occurs. These models have often been used to analyze the survival times (i.e., time until death) of medical patients, and so the term survival analysis is natural. In criminology, the main application of these models has been to analyze the time until recidivism, but many other applications are possible. The paper summarizes the statistical literature on survival analysis, and describes its applications in criminology. The methods are illustrated by an application to the prediction of time until recidivism for a sample of North Carolina prison releasees.     

Ethnic differences in the relationship between psychopathy and (re)offending in a sample of juvenile delinquents

The present study focused on the relationship between psychopathy and delinquency in a multiethnic sample of juvenile offenders (N=207, n=105 native Dutch, and n=102 immigrants) referred to a treatment program. Aims were (1) to examine the cross-ethnic equivalence of the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD); (2) to compare the mean levels of psychopathic traits in native Dutch and immigrant juvenile delinquents and (3) the strength of the associations between psychopathic traits and delinquency in both the native Dutch and immigrant samples. Measurement invariance was established for APSD factors assessing callous-unemotional (CU) traits and impulsivity. However, there were ethnic differences in the factor structure of narcissism. No differences were found between ethnic groups in mean levels of CU traits and impulsivity. Finally, the association between impulsivity and self-reported delinquency was stronger for native Dutch than for immigrant juveniles. Further research is needed in order to make the treatment of juvenile delinquents with psychopathic traits in ethnic minority groups more effective according to the specific needs of these juveniles.     

New Zealand's special treatment units: the development and implementation of intensive treatment for high-risk male prisoners

In the late 1980s, New Zealand developed two highly innovative residential treatment programmes for serious offenders that blended together the strengths of structured cognitive behavioural group programmes and therapeutic community approaches. Since the mid-1990s this hybrid model – recently advocated as a fruitful direction for future offender programme development – was adopted and further refined for use in New Zealand's four high-risk special treatment units (HRSTUs). We outline the HRSTU model, noting the challenges and potential benefits of providing an intervention that integrates therapy, resocialisation and reintegration experiences for high-risk, high need, low responsivity clients: many with significant psychopathic features. On average, the majority of those referred to HRSTUs complete the programme and make small but significant amounts of change on important treatment goals. But most changes remain tentative, suggesting the importance of more supportive aftercare. Although an earlier evaluation of the first unit to open found the programme to be modestly effective in reducing recidivism, an outcome evaluation currently underway will help establish whether improvements since that time are associated with reductions in disciplinary infractions and recidivism.     

The Strategic Timing behind Position-taking in the US Congress: A Study of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act

Roll call voting by members of the US Congress has been frequently studied. In contrast, the various decisions leading up to roll call voting are relatively unexplored. This article analyses one of those decisions: when senators announce their final passage vote intention. The authors use the same set of variables to analyse both the timing of the announcement and the final passage vote. They find that different independent variables predict these two different decisions, though the constituency and the senator's institutional setting matter in both. Furthermore, this study corroborates an assumption in the rational choice literature that those members with the most information are the first movers.     

中国电影产业受众反应的定量分析与文化阐释

电影票房和网络评分是衡量电影产业中受众反应的重要指标。经统计学的定量分析表明,2002至2013年每年票房排名前二的国产影片,其影片票房与网络评分存在线性关系。受众是具有差异性的群体,其观影过程是复杂的解码过程,经历着各自情感的共鸣或者间离。电影的受众群体应区分为专业化的观众和大众化的观众,两者有着不同的逻辑、表述不同的话语、对票房与评分的作用也不尽相同。了解受众的心态与行为,才能更好地促进电影产业的发展。     

Disputes in Japan: A cross-cultural test of the procedural justice model

Research on procedural justice has provided ample evidence that people are concerned not only with the outcome of disputes but also with the fairness of the procedures used to resolve disputes. The majority of the studies examining the importance of procedural justice have been conducted in the United States and Western European countries. This study tests the generality of the procedural justice model by examining the importance of fair procedures to people in a non-Western country, Japan. This study also examines the meaning of a fair procedure from a legal perspective. Past studies have drawn the procedural justice criteria considered from social psychology. We examine several additional criteria derived from the legal concept of due process of law. Results indicate that fair procedures are more important to subjects than fair outcomes in both a traffic accident dispute and a breach of contract case. Furthermore, across both types of disputes, fairness concerns are more important than nonfairness concerns. These results are consistent with findings from studies conducted in Western countries. A new finding that emerges from the study is that the clarity with which a procedure is formulated and presented is a strong determinant of procedural justice judgments.     

ICF脑卒中核心分类组合功能的图形建模研究

目的依据《国际功能、残疾和健康分类(ICF)》脑卒中核心组合,探讨脑卒中相关功能类目之间的关系,绘制ICF脑卒中核心分类组合的功能地形图,为脑卒中的伤残评定提供科学理论依据。方法收集106例脑卒中被鉴定人样本,采用"最小的绝对缩减和变量选择算子",研究脑卒中ICF核心组合功能的59项类目变量之间的条件依存关系,并用图形建模分析类目之间的内在联系,绘制功能地形图。结果 59项类目之间的相互联系构成了功能地形图,b340、b735、b175和b152因关联性较高而居于地形图的中心位置。结论脑卒中功能地形图可以揭示ICF功能类目之间复杂的关系结构及关联程度。可以为应用ICF进行脑卒中的伤残评定提供科学理论依据。     

Analyzing the Performance of Risk Assessment Instruments: A Response to Vrieze and Grove (2007)

In a recent article, Vrieze and Grove (Law Hum Behav, doi: 10.1007/s10979-007-9092-x , 2007) argue that, because of low recidivism base rates and limited predictive accuracy, an actuarial risk assessment instrument (ARAI) may produce decisions about sex offenders that are worse than simply predicting that no one will commit another sex offense. This article examines: (1) the construction and potential overfitting of ARAIs; (2) the meaning, value, and limitations of ROC areas; and (3) the relationship between the operating point that maximizes an ARAI's correct classifications and the legal criterion-"likely to reoffend"-used for sex offender designations. Contrary to what Vrieze and Grove suggest, ARAIs of modest accuracy yield probabilistic information that is more relevant to legal decision-making than just "betting the base rate."     

A new perspective in the estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) based on vitreous

The relation between the potassium concentration in the vitreous humor, [K+], and the postmortem interval has been studied by several authors. Many formulae are available and they are based on a correlation test and linear regression using the PMI as the independent variable and [K+] as the dependent variable. The estimation of the confidence interval is based on this formulation. However, in forensic work, it is necessary to use [K+] as the independent variable to estimate the PMI. Although all authors have obtained the PMI by direct use of these formulae, it is, nevertheless, an inexact approach, which leads to false estimations. What is required is to change the variables, obtaining a new equation in which [K+] is considered as the independent variable and the PMI as the dependent. The regression line obtained from our data is [K+] = 5.35 + 0.22 PMI, by changing the variables we get PMI = 2.58[K+] - 9.30. When only nonhospital deaths are considered, the results are considerably improved. In this case, we get [K+] = 5.60 + 0.17 PMI and, consequently, PMI = 3.92[K+] - 19.04.     

The parole performance of offenders released from shock incarceration (boot camp prisons): A survival time analysis

The parole performance of offenders who were released after successfully completing a shock incarceration program was examined and compared to the performance of offenders who were serving time on probation or parole after a period of incarceration. Separate survival analyses were performed for recidivism as measured by (1) arrests and (2) failures (jailed, absconded, or revoked). Prior incarceration, age, age at first arrest, and risk assessment score were related to recidivism but type of sentence was not. Intensity of supervision was significantly related to recidivism but this relationship was eliminated when risk level was controlled. There was no evidence that shock incarceration reduces recidivism. Future research should focus on methods of reducing failures during community supervision for these young, nonviolent offenders within the framework of either a shock incarceration program or some other sentence.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the American Probation and Parole Association 14th Annual Training Institute, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 1989.     

综合语篇分析模式与公安英语口语教学

综合语篇分析模式是指将文体分析、语域分析、体裁分析综合运用于英语语篇教学的模式,将该模式应用于公安英语 口语教学将有利于培养学生在将来的公安工作中用英语办事的能力。     

农民工的政策实践与政策范式新检讨

政策范式是一种关于政府主导的解决社会问题的程序的理论,目前受到多种质疑,有重新审视的必要。因此,本文从农民工参与政策过程的角度进行观察,发现了政策范式存在的问题,并进行了具体分析。