Perpetrator programmes for partner violence: A rejoinder to Respect

Purpose. To reply to the comments made by Debbonaire and Todd (2012) in relation to our critique of Respect's Position Statement. Method. We examined their reply in relation to our original article and to the wider research literature. Results. We show that Debbonaire and Todd's reply is largely a series of assertions, for which little or no supporting evidence is offered. Their argument is first that we are misplaced in criticizing their Position Statement, and second that the main points of the statement are defendable. We indicate why our criticisms of the statement still stand. Conclusions. We argue that Respect have not countered our overall criticism of their position that intimate partner violence (IPV) can only be addressed as a gendered issue, that is as a consequence of patriarchal values enacted at the individual level. Instead we advocate a gender‐inclusive approach applying a knowledge base derived from robust empirical research on IPV and more widely from research on human aggression.     

A psychometric evaluation of the Defence Style Questionnaire-40 in a UK forensic patient population

Psychological defence mechanisms have been considered important personality processes in the onset, maintenance and recovery of mental disorders. More recently, their application to understanding presenting problems and as potential outcome indicators for forensic patients has been recommended. However, to date there have been no investigations into the reliability and factor structure of defence mechanism assessments for this population. The current study investigated the factor structure, internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the Defence Style Questionnaire-40 (DSQ) for 160 adult male UK forensic patients. The three-factor model of defences proposed by the DSQ-40 developers was not confirmed in the study sample. Reliability indices of the three factors indicated that the Immature factor was the most ‘acceptable’ in terms of internal consistency. Test-retest reliability coefficients ranged from .70 to .91. A revised three-factor structure that closely corresponds to the original validation study is recommended following an exploratory factor analysis. The findings are compared with previous reliability and factor analytic evaluations of the DSQ-40, and recommendations for its use with forensic patients are discussed.     

Integrating Growth Variability of the Ilium,Fifth Lumbar Vertebra,and Clavicle with Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines Models for Subadult Age Estimation

Subadult age estimation should rely on sampling and statistical protocols capturing development variability for more accurate age estimates. In this perspective, measurements were taken on the fifth lumbar vertebrae and/or clavicles of 534 French males and females aged 0–19 years and the ilia of 244 males and females aged 0–12 years. These variables were fitted in nonparametric multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) models with 95% prediction intervals (PIs) of age. The models were tested on two independent samples from Marseille and the Luis Lopes reference collection from Lisbon. Models using ilium width and module, maximum clavicle length, and lateral vertebral body heights were more than 92% accurate. Precision was lower for postpubertal individuals. Integrating punctual nonlinearities of the relationship between age and the variables and dynamic prediction intervals incorporated the normal increase in interindividual growth variability (heteroscedasticity of variance) with age for more biologically accurate predictions.     

Keeping the Family Together: Why New York Must Amend Evidence Rules to Protect a Parent's Right to be a Parent

In New York, hearsay statements made by children may be admissible in a child protective proceeding. Under Article 10 of the Family Court Act, an out‐of‐court statement only requires corroboration to support the statement's reliability. The Family Court has the choice to determine what evidence will be sufficient for corroboration. In comparison to other statutes from different states, New York's statute is very broad. This Note proposes amending the current evidence statute under Article 10 of the Family Court Act to strengthen the standard for admitting hearsay statements in child protective proceedings.     

Crisis Management in Hindsight: Cognition, Communication, Coordination, and Control

This article argues that cognition is central to performance in emergency management. Cognition is defined as the capacity to recognize the degree of emerging risk to which a community is exposed and to act on that information. Using the case of Hurricane Katrina to illustrate the collapse of the standard model of emergency management without a clear focus on the role of cognition, the author reframes the concept of intergovernmental crisis management as a complex, adaptive system. That is, the system needs to adjust and adapt its performance to fit the demands of an ever-changing physical, engineered, and social environment. The terms of cognition, communication, coordination, and control are redefined in ways that fit the reality of practice in extreme events. A reframed intergovernmental crisis management system may be conceived as a dynamic interorganizational system that is characterized by four primary decision points: (1) detection of risk, (2) recognition and interpretation of risk for the immediate context, (3) communication of risk to multiple organizations in a wider region, and (4) self-organization and mobilization of a collective, community response system to reduce risk and respond to danger.     

Reaching suicidal people with media campaigns: new challenges for a new century

Five variables were investigated in the evaluation of Suicide Prevention Weeks (SPW) held in 1999, 2000, and 2001 in Québec, Canada: exposure to the campaign, previous suicide ideation, knowledge, attitudes, and intentions. After the year 2000 campaign, a telephone survey conducted on a representative sample of 1020 men revealed that only those actually exposed to the SPW had gained more knowledge of suicide facts and resources. However, the SPW did not influence attitudes or intentions to seek help. Results are not surprising, considering the low intensity of the campaign, especially in the media. Campaigns aimed at changing suicidal behaviors must be intensive.     

Monitoring deliberate self-harm presentations to general hospitals

Monitoring of deliberate self-harm (DSH) presentations to hospitals (and in other settings) is receiving increased attention in many countries. This is due to greater recognition of the size of the problem and awareness of its relevance to suicide prevention policy initiatives, because of the strong association between DSH and suicide. A system for monitoring all DSH presentations has been in place in the general hospital in Oxford for 30 years. Based on our experience, in this paper we describe procedures for monitoring, including case definition and identification, linkage of persons and episodes in order to investigate repetition of DSH and other outcomes (including deaths), and data protection and ethical issues. We also provide details of how to carry out monitoring, including different models of data collection, and what data to collect. Finally we consider the potential uses of the data for both clinical and research purposes, including evaluation of national suicide prevention initiatives.