Call for Papers

Call for Papers

Call for Papers     

Personality Disorder in Psychological Injury: A Biopsychosocial and Forensic Perspective

The present paper explores personality disorder from a biopsychosocial and developmental perspective, in particular, while considering forensic applications. It reviews criticisms of the current approach to classification, especially about its categorical in nature. Then, the paper focuses on the Five-Factor Model of personality dimensions and the attempts to relate it to understanding and assessing personality disorder (Costa and Widiger 2002). Developmental research is revealing that from early in life, temperament and personality seem to conform to a five-factor structure akin to the Big Five, although there are exceptions. Next, the paper examines the biopsychosocial model of personality and considers how personality disorder in the healthcare context affects treatment, relations with providers, and so on. Lastly, the paper examines Young’s (1997) stage model of development in relation to the Big Five and shows how the manner in which it deals with the development of the self may facilitate understanding of personality development and its disturbance. Recommendations and implications are considered.     

Risk Factors for Family Abduction: Demographic and Family Interaction Characteristics

Previous research in the study of family abduction has been plagued by three problems in efforts to establish risk factors for the experience of these events: (1) failure to use appropriate comparison groups; (2) focus on only the most severe cases of abduction, without consideration of the full spectrum of these events; and (3) use of data drawn only from some “reported” source (i.e., police, court, or missing children agency reports). This paper addresses these three methodological difficulties, using data drawn from a national sample of families, and including both abducted and nonabducted children. We find that race, age of children, family size, and incidence of violence in the family all appear to bear on the risk of experiencing a family abduction event. Further, recency of divorce or separation appears to be associated with the risk for more serious or alarming cases of family abduction.