Domestic Violence against Women in Cambodia: Husband’s Control,Frequency of Spousal Discussion,and Domestic Violence Reported by Cambodian Women

This study sought to examine the effects of husband’s control and frequency of spousal discussion on domestic violence against Cambodian married women, using the 2005 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey data. The sample included 1,707 married women, aged 16–49 (M = 35.14). Structural Equation Modeling showed that husband’s control positively predicted both emotional and physical violence. Frequency of spousal discussion positively predicted emotional violence, an association consistent with the idea that a husband holding patriarchal beliefs would interpret women’s more frequent discussion as a violation of Cambodian norms for quiet, submissive wives. Frequency of spousal discussion and husband’s control were positively correlated. The role of gender issues in husband’s control and frequency of spousal discussion are discussed with respect to violence in the lives of Cambodian women.     

Comparing the effects of community service and short-term imprisonment on recidivism: a matched samples approach

This study uses longitudinal official record data on adult offenders in The Netherlands (n = 4,246) to compare recidivism after community service to that after short-term imprisonment. To account for possible bias due to selection of offenders into these types of sanctions, we control for a large set of confounding variables using a combined method of ‘matching by variable’ and ‘propensity score matching’. Our findings demonstrate that offenders recidivate significantly less after having performed community service compared to after having been imprisoned. This finding holds for both the short- and long-term. Furthermore, using the Rosenbaum bounds method, we show that the results are robust for hidden bias.     

Factitious Disorder in a Patient Claiming to be a Sexually Sadistic Serial Killer

Factitious disorder involves the conscious simulation of psychological or physiological symptoms of illness, for the purpose of fulfilling the unconscious desire to be taken care of or to assume the “sick role.” Typically patients with factitious disorder simulate conditions that are designed to arouse feelings of empathy in care providers with the intention to engage them in caretaking. However, patients might also simulate conditions that arouse revulsion or rejection and still meet full diagnostic criteria for factitious disorder. In this case report, we present a patient who fabricated an elaborate history of being a sexually sadistic serial killer with homicidal ideation with the intention of obtaining personal attention, nurturance, and empathy from his psychotherapist. However, given the nature of his feigned condition, the patient frightened the very person whom he sought to engage in caretaking.     

The determination of toxic metals in simulated stomach contents by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis and a fatal case of mercury poisoning

Soup is used as a simulated stomach contents matrix to determine the lower level of detection for 16 metals. All of the metals can be detected at the levels which might be expected for acute fatal doses even if the stomach contents are considerably diluted. However where small doses are administered over a prolonged period this method may not be sufficiently sensitive. A case of fatal poisoning by the ingestion of mercuric chloride is described to illustrate the effectiveness of the method. In this case mercury was also detected and determined at highly significant levels in blood and liver by the same technique. This energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) method is easy to use, rapid and non-destructive.     

Will words ever harm me?: escalation from verbal to physical abuse in sixth-grade classrooms

Based on in-depth qualitative interviews, this article gives the opportunity to 145 sixth graders to tell, in their own words, how they felt and reacted when verbally and emotionally abused by their classmates. Content analysis of interviews revealed gender differences in students' reactions to verbal aggression. Another interesting finding was the differentiation between verbally aggressive messages meant to be for fun from those that were not so meant based on (1) contextual cues, (2) other peers' reaction, and (3) the malleability of the personal features that were the topic of the attack. Observing friendly peers were found to play an important role in reducing tension and preventing the escalation of violence. However, when the verbally aggressive message targeted a permanent physical characteristic or the student's social or ethnic identity, then suffering, anger and humiliation legitimized the escalation from verbal to physical aggression for students of both genders.     

The emergency petition process in Maryland

Maryland's Emergency Petition statute allows a violent or suicidal person with a mental disorder to be brought to an emergency facility for rapid evaluation regarding the need for emergency treatment. Although many states have similar laws, little has been written in the psychiatric literature about the emergency petition process. The investigators evaluated emergency petition documents, demographic data, and the adequacy of emergency room records for all patients brought to a large county hospital in Prince Georges County, Maryland, by emergency petition during a one-month period. All emergency petition patients in Prince Georges County are brought to this hospital site. Of 94 petitioned patients examined during the study period, 92 records were available for review. The emergency petition was found to meet appropriate legal criteria in 94 percent of cases. More than half of all patients evaluated were intoxicated on alcohol or illicit drugs, and the majority of these patients were released from the emergency room as no longer dangerous after their acute intoxication resolved. In contrast to previous studies most of the patients evaluated were affluent, had health insurance, and were employed.