The Role of Cognitive Distortion in the Relationship Between Abuse,Assault, and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between childhood abuse, assault, cognitive distortion, and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in a clinical adolescent sample. The sample included one hundred eighty-five psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents and their parents. Adolescent participants were predominantly female (71.4%), Caucasian (84%), and of non-Hispanic ethnicity (9.2%). Participants completed a diagnostic interview and self-report measures to assess youth history of abuse and assault, cognitive errors, negative self-views, and recent NSSI. No relationship was found between childhood abuse and NSSI. However, a history of assault was associated with NSSI among youth who reported higher cognitive errors and more negative self-views, even after controlling for gender and internalizing disorders. These results suggest that existing affect regulation models of NSSI may be enhanced by incorporating the role of cognitive distortion. Clinically, results also suggest that assessing adolescent victims of assault for cognitive errors and negative self-views, and helping them restructure these cognitive distortions when present, may reduce the likelihood of NSSI.     

A comparison of the isoelectric focusing patterns of red cell phosphoglucomutase separated on an ampholine, ampholine/separator and immobilised pH gradient

The isoelectric focusing patterns of red cell phosphoglucomutase (PGM1) separated on Ampholine, Ampholine/separator and rehydratable immobilised pH gradients have been compared. The sharpest and most intense zymograms have been observed on immobilised pH gradients provided that Ampholine was added during the rehydration of the gel. The addition of ampholine in the rehydration of Immobiline plates has been shown to improve the sharpness and intensity of the zymogram obtained and the potential of immobilised pH gradients for PGM typing has been demonstrated.     

The application of a simple RIA technique for the detection of 19-OH F1 alpha/F2 alpha prostaglandin, a specific semen marker, in semen contaminated vaginal swabs: time since intercourse studies

The specificity of the 19-OH F1 alpha/F2 alpha prostaglandin antisera for the detection of semen in seminal/vaginal mixtures, has been evaluated. Using a parallel curve test we found that the antibody showed a high specificity for these seminal prostaglandins in seminal/vaginal mixtures at concentrations of between 2 pg and 40 pg/100 microliter. The precision of the assay has been improved by the use of a donkey-anti-rabbit ferritin-bound second antibody. The application of this detection system makes it possible to complete an assay within 4.5 h. A survey of 50 semen-free vaginal swabs obtained from 3 donors, taken throughout the menstrual cycle, showed no trace of these prostaglandins. They were also not detected in the vaginal secretions of two further donors who were undergoing medication. Using only 10-microliter aliquots of a seminal/vaginal swab extract, prepared in 500 microliter, it was possible to detect semen up to approx. 80 h after one sexual act.     

Getting tough on mothers: regulating contact and residence

This article critically examines the relationship between shared residence and contact after the breakdown of the parents’ relationship. It examines the background to the government’s main emphasis on methods of monitoring, facilitating and enforcing contact as the most efficacious method of proceeding in respect of the law reform agenda, focussing particularly on the potential impact of punitive enforcement measures on primary carers, usually mothers. The article sets the discussion within its wider cultural context in respect of fathers’ rights claims that family law currently favours mothers, and shows how recent legal developments constitute part of a package to manage post-separation relationships between parent and children. It also examines some of the emerging case law to show how the judiciary is using shared residence orders and transfer of residence to deal with protracted and very difficult contact disputes, and in ways which were not anticipated when shared residence orders were first introduced. Drawing on feminist legal commentaries the argument will be made that the use of transfer of residence and shared residence orders in these disputes is extremely worrying, especially in light of the growing body of empirical research which heralds caution. The article will conclude by suggesting that far from favouring mothers, both the law reforms and the case law effectively construct mothers as integral to the problem of contact. They are treated as the site of and solution to the ‚problem’ of contact, and the means of dealing with the problem is by increasingly punitive measures which are inappropriate in a family law context. At the same time non-residential fathers who do not uphold contact escape legal sanctions.     

Menstrual cycles and criminal responsibility

Since at least the turn of the century, there have been reports indicating that women have an increased tendency toward criminal behavior during certain phases of the menstrual cycle. Recently these reports have served as the basis for a proposal to expand the insanity defense to recognize the impact of menstrual cycles in diminishing criminal responsibility. This paper reviews the empirical literature on the link between menstruation and crime and raises several critical questions regarding interpretation of this data. In light of these questions it is suggested that at this time an insanity defense based on menstrual symptomology would be inappropriate.