Antecedents of abusive personality and abusive behavior in wife assaulters

One hundred and forty men referred for wife assault and 45 demographically matched controls were assessed for psychological variables associated with abusive personality (anger, cyclical (borderline) personality organization (BPO) and chronic experience of trauma symptoms) and abusive behaviors (both physical and emotional) as reported by their female partners. Predictor variables for these abuse measures included the EMBU which assesses recollections of parental warmth and rejection and the Conflict Tactics Scale which assesses physical abuse in the family of origin. A composite of BPO, anger, trauma symptoms and fearful attachment called Abusive Personality (ABP) correlated .42 with wives reports of emotionally abusive behaviors. ABP was positively and significantly correlated with recollections of negative parental treatment by the abuse perpetrator. A compositive of parental rejection and verbal and physical abuse by parents correlated .41 with ABP. A discriminant function of high and low ABP found that ABP was predicted by paternal rejection, physical abuse, and absence of maternal warmth. Physical abuse by either parent correlated significantly with all subscales and total scores on the ABP measure. When combined with data showing ABP to correlate significantly with frequency of use of violence by wife assaulters (Dutton, 1995b, Dutton and Starzomski, 1993), the current study suggests a personality syndrome of assaultive males that has antecedents in the early experiences of these men. The present data suggest that family of origin experiences may have effects beyond modeling of abusive behaviors. These effects include development of a specific personality form associated with abusiveness.     

Fatal accidents and blood ethanol levels in adolescents and adults. The Wayne County experience, 1978-1988

The files of 874 fatal traumatic accident victims, aged 12-25 years, examined at the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office during the period 1978-1988 were reviewed. Postmortem blood alcohol results of individuals who died after less than 15 min of hospitalization were utilized to approximate alcohol levels at the time of the fatal injury. Relationships between types of accidents, sex, age, race, and time of accident were examined. White victims were far more likely to have been drinking than blacks, and the data indicated that underaged drinkers were involved in fatal accidents at lower levels of blood alcohol than their counterparts of legal drinking age. Consistent racial differences in average alcohol levels were not observed, however. Unlike female and black victims, who much less frequently tested positive for alcohol when underage, white male victims 16-21 years of age were just as likely to have been drinking as those aged 21-25. The results of the study show that postmortem blood alcohol level can be used to identify differences in alcohol consumption among groups of accident victims in a major metropolitan area.     

MEDIATOR STRATEGIES FOR LAWYERS

This article explores the use of a four-way conference by attorneys to effect settlement. The author describes the process, analyzes factors leading to success, and gives a case example.     

Courting the President: How Circuit Court Judges Alter Their Behavior for Promotion to the Supreme Court

We examine whether circuit court judges sacrifice policy purity for career goals. We compare the behavior of contender judges–those most likely to be elevated to the Supreme Court–during vacancy periods with their behavior outside vacancy periods. We also examine the behavior of noncontender judges during those same times. The data show that during vacancy periods, contender judges are more likely to vote consistently with the president's preferences, to rule in favor of the United States, and to write dissenting opinions. Noncontender judges fail to evidence such behavior. These findings provide empirical support for the argument that federal judges adapt their behavior to specific audiences, and provide new avenues for research into judges' goals and the role of audiences in judicial decision making.     

Emotion Dysregulation,Gender, and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration: An Exploratory Study in College Students

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent problem, as it is bidirectional and perpetrated by both men and women. Emotion dysregulation may influence IPV perpetration among men and women. This cross-sectional survey study of 598 college students investigated the associations between two important factors related to IPV perpetration: gender and emotion dysregulation. Findings illustrated an association between emotion dysregulation and IPV perpetration. The bivariate association between physical violence and one facet of emotion dysregulation differed by gender, such that lack of emotional awareness was associated with violence perpetrated by women, but not men; however, this was not supported in multivariate analyses. These preliminary findings suggest that future work should examine how different emotion regulation deficits may increase IPV by gender.     

Can Item-Level Error Correlations Correct for Projection Bias in Perceived Peer Deviance Measures? A Research Note

Objectives

Research indicates respondents overestimate the similarity between their own deviance and that of their peers. Extending Rebellon and Modecki’s (J Quant Criminol 30:163–186, 2014) study, we examine if item-level error correlations in structural models reduce bias for non-peer-based, theoretically derived covariates such as self-control. Our specific interest lies in investigating the theoretical implications and practical value of using the correlated error technique in ‘everyday’ structural equation modeling.

Methods

Using dyadic data and multiple constructs of deviance, we present three sets of structural equation analyses. The first assesses the relationship between peer behavior and deviance via perceptual measures. The second uses identical constructs, but estimates item-level error correlations between perceptual and deviance items. The third replaces perceptions of peer deviance with items measuring peers’ self-reported behavior.

Results

Self-control and demographic variables have equivalent effects in perceptually-based correlated error models and models controlling peer self-reported deviance. However, latent variable adjustments to perceptions of peer behavior fail to bring perceived peer deviance coefficients into line with corresponding coefficients from models using peer self-reports, indicating that perceptions and peer self-reports are distinct constructs.

Conclusion

Researchers cannot use item-level error-correlations to model peer effects without collecting data from peers. They may, however, use these correlations to control for peer effects even when peer self-reports are not available. Because we find strong effects of self-control while maintaining social learning theory’s emphasis on perceptions, we argue that the technique is a form of theoretical reconciliation and recommend criminologists adopt the use of correlated errors in all social influence-based structural models.