Components underlying sex offender treatment refusal: an exploratory analysis of the Treatment Refusal Scale—Sex Offender version

Abstract

Approximately half of sexual offenders in prison and community settings refuse to participate in sex offender treatment programmes; however, the reasons for this remain largely unexplored. This pilot study used the previously untested Treatment Refusal Scale—Sexual Offender Version in an English prison, with 72 adult males (63 treatment accepters and nine treatment refusers) imprisoned for sexual or sexually motivated offences. Principal factors analysis revealed three factors within the scale: “pressured to take part in programmes”; “fear of negative effects”; and “programme is not relevant to/appropriate for me”. Treatment refusers scored more highly than treatment accepters on the first and last components, while there was no statistically significant difference in the scores of the two groups on the “fear of negative effects” component. Suggestions for further development of the scale are discussed, along with the practice implications of these findings.     

Why do French MPs Focus More on Constituency Work than on Parliamentary Work?

The relationship between French members of the National Assembly and citizens is paradoxical. On the one hand, the French political culture, constitution and history favour a very abstract conception of representation: MPs are supposed to act as trustees and collectively to embody the French Nation. On the other hand, they are deeply involved in their constituencies and express a great level of satisfaction being there. In order to understand how French MPs reconcile the national and local dimensions of their mandate, the data gathered through face-to-face interviews with MPs are described. Then a scale analysis is provided in order to sum up the local–national orientations of the MPs. Using this scale, it is possible to test the impact of several variables on the territorial focus of MPs: electoral incentives, political ambition, ideological factors and working conditions at the local and the national level.     

Space,scale and jurisdiction in health service provision for drug users: the legal geography of a supervised injecting facility

Sydney's Medically Supervised Injecting Centre delivers the significant benefits of harm reduction, but has been controversial regards the law. Its contested history is examined here through the lens of legal geography. Narrative analysis reveals that the arguments for and against the centre's establishment referenced matters ranging from international treaties through to municipal governance. These arguments and their outcome were variously shaped by the different spaces and scales of jurisdiction but not simply in a zero sum game of law played out through the hierarchically ordered nesting of container-like territories. The implications for legal geography and for public health are discussed.     

Psychopathy,intelligence and emotional responding in a non-forensic sample: an experimental investigation

This study examined the relationships between psychopathy (primary and secondary), intelligence and emotional responding in a sample of 50 university students, using a task measuring autonomic responses to 40 pictorial stimuli (20 neutral and 20 emotionally provoking). Results indicated no significant direct relationship between primary or secondary psychopathy and emotional response, or primary or secondary psychopathy and intelligence. However, a significant moderating effect of intelligence on the association between both psychopathy factors and emotional response was observed, indicating those scoring higher on psychopathy but with lower intelligence portray the expected emotional responses to the affective stimuli (primary: β?=??.56, p?β?=?.80, p?<?.001). These findings indicate abnormal reactivity to emotional stimuli in lower intelligence, higher psychopathic individuals, and suggest differing roles for the two facets of psychopathy in affective responsiveness deviations.     

合理政府规模理念及其对我国行政组织改革的启示

政府规模的合理选择不能简单地以大政府、小政府来定位,而应根据不同时期的社会、经济、政治的发展状况,以提高政府能力的有效性,满足广大公众的需求为标准来确定。我国政府组织改革应突破小政府、大社会理念框架的限制,以合理政府规模理念为基础,寻求一种适合我国国情、符合我国市场经济运行以及社会发展的、适度规模的合理、高效政府。