Young adult sexual offenders with emerging personality disorders: developmental and offence-related characteristics and treatment engagement

ABSTRACT

In the context of the UK Government’s Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Strategy, large numbers of high-risk young adult sexual offenders with emerging personality disorders are being screened for inclusion onto specialist intervention pathways (the OPD Pathway). However, little is currently known about the clinical and offence-related needs of this population or their impact on treatment engagement. The current study investigated the developmental, personality and offence-related characteristics of 87 incarcerated young adult sexual offenders, comparing those screened in to the pathway and those not screened in. Fifty per cent of the sample were potentially eligible for the OPD pathway. OPD eligible cases were found to have significantly higher rates of parental difficulties, developmental trauma, and childhood behavioural difficulties and to present with significantly higher rates of previous violent and sexual offences, previous allegations of sexual offences, and to have used physical coercion in their offences. The OPD sample was also significantly less likely to have pre-pubescent victims and more likely to refuse treatment, with over 70% failing to engage with the Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP). SOTP non-engagement among OPD cases was most strongly predicted by categorical offence denial. Comparisons are made with the broader adolescent sexual offender literature.     

Youths who sexually harm: A multivariate model of behaviour

Abstract

This study investigates the variations in behaviour displayed by young people who sexually harm, as previous research has shown that they are not a homogeneous sample. Three conceptually distinct sets of behaviour were hypothesized, relating to various modes of interaction between the young people with harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) and their victim, victim as object, victim as person and victim as vehicle. Thirty-three behaviours were drawn from an extensive review of the files of 300 youths who had sexually harmed. The pattern of co-occurrence of the presence or absence of these behaviours was revealed by a multidimensional scaling procedure, Smallest Space Analysis (SSA). The results provide empirical support for three distinct behavioural themes; 258 (86%) of the youths could be assigned to one dominant mode of interaction (victim as object, victim as person or victim as vehicle). The findings have implications for the ways in which practitioners differentiate between young people with HSB.     

Developing a therapeutic environment for boys in secure settings who have sexually offended

Abstract

The role of secure units in helping sexually abusive adolescent boys to change their behaviour and attitudes is examined. The problems presented by 23 adolescent sex offenders at Glenthorne Youth Treatment Centre were used to identify issues for management and treatment. These boys had committed a variety of non-sexual offences, and were responsible for 691 recorded crimes. Many had committed violent offences and had emotional, educational, relationship and substance-abuse problems. In contrast to the situation in community settings, the use of offence-focused groupwork and individual psychological therapy is limited in secure units. Many of these boys are not suited to this kind of work, or are not yet ready to benefit from it. Secure units also have difficulty resourcing these types of intervention. Nevertheless, the secure unit environment can be organised and structured to effect changes in behaviours and attitudes associated with sexual offending. Attention should be given to particular aspects of residential practice, including anti-discriminatory practice, organisational values, establishing behavioural boundaries, challenging unacceptable behaviour and language, reinforcing appropriate behaviour, encouraging interpersonal problem-solving, providing effective supervision based on an evaluation of risk, and education to raise victim awareness and respect for others. Liaison with community programmes for sexually abusive adolescents should be encouraged.     

青少年消费者民族中心主义对购物意愿影响的实证研究——对理性行为理论的拓展

在经济全球化的今天,我国青少年在购物时是否受到民族中心主义的影响,这种影响的程度如何,对于本土企业的未来发展具有重要的实践意义。本研究以理性行为理论为基础探讨青少年消费者民族中心主义对购物意愿的影响。结果表明加入消费者民族中心主义(CET)是对理性行为模型的有效的拓展。我国青少年消费者民族中心主义的得分总体偏低。CET对购买国产品牌意愿有显著正向影响,对购买国外品牌意愿有显著负向影响。     

厘清“青少年”和“青年”概念的分野——国际政策举措与中国实证依据

有关青少年和青年概念的混淆和年龄边界的游移已成为相关研究、政策及干预的一个盲点。本文首先勾勒联合国系统在厘定年龄界限并推出相关政策措施上的发展轨迹,继而利用首次全国青年性与生殖健康调查的定量数据和定性资料描述并解释未成年和成年的青年人在性与生殖健康风险与脆弱性方面的异同,最后阐明了厘清青少年和青年概念的现实和政策涵义。为了与国际接轨,也念及中国国情,笔者力主在有关青少年和青年的研究、政策及实践中使用国际通用的年龄划分标准,并在本土化努力中赋予这些静态范畴以更符合真实世界的动态内涵。     

Objective and Self-Perceived Resources as Predictors of Depression Among Urban and Non-Urban Adolescent Mothers

Pregnant and parenting adolescents often cope with a lack of resources as they struggle to negotiate the tasks of motherhood and adolescence. Previous research has determined that young mothers have an increased rate of depression when compared to older mothers. In this study, self-perceived resource adequacy, education, income, age, and environment (urban vs. non-urban) were investigated as predictors of depression at approximately 14 and 36 months after birth in adolescent mothers (N=523). Self-perceived resources accounted for significant variance in depression at 14 and 36 months while controlling for education and income. However, education and income were not significant predictors while controlling for self-perceived resources. Age and environment did not predict depression. Researchers would be wise to focus on a young woman’s view of her situation, as it appears that self-perceived resources play an important role in predicting depression.Post-Doctoral Research Associate at Juniper Gardens Children’s Project, University of Kansas. She received her Ph.D. from Iowa State University in 2005. Her major research interests are adolescent parenthood, mental health, and parenting interventions.Professor at Iowa State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1976. His major research interests are stress and coping, mental health, and adolescence.Assistant Professor at Iowa State University. She received her Ph.D. from Iowa State University in 1997. Her major research interests are assessment and program planning for children with disabilities and early literacy.     

Family Structure, Community Context, and Adolescent Problem Behaviors

A number of models have been proposed to explain the relationship between family structure and adolescent problem behaviors, including several that consider parent-child relations, family income, stress, and residential mobility. However, studies have not explored whether the different types of communities within which families reside affect the association between family structure and problem behaviors. A community context model also suggests that the relationship between family structure and problem behaviors may be conditioned by community characteristics. The results of a multilevel regression model that used data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS; n = 10,286) indicated that adolescents from homes with a recently divorced mother, a mother and stepfather, a single mother, or a single father reported more problem behaviors regardless of the community context. Moreover, adolescents living in communities with a high proportion of impoverished residents, female headed households, or jobless males reported more problem behaviors irrespective of family structure.

Parental Smoking-specific Communication,Adolescents’ Smoking Behavior and Friendship Selection

In this study, we investigated whether parental smoking-specific communication is related to adolescents’ friendship-selection processes. Furthermore, we investigated whether adolescents and their best friends influence each other over time, and what role parents play in this process. In the present study we used data from the Family and Health project in which at baseline 428 full families participated. In this 2-year, three-wave longitudinal study data were available from fathers, mothers, early adolescents (aged M = 13.4 years, SD = .50), and middle adolescents (aged M = 15.2 years, SD = .60). The majority of the participating adolescents were of Dutch origin (>95%). There was an almost equal distribution of boys and girls, and adolescents with lower, middle, and higher educational levels were equally represented. Analyses were conducted by means of Structural Equation Modeling. Results demonstrate that a high quality of the smoking-specific communication is related to a lower likelihood of adolescent smoking, whereas the frequency is positively associated with adolescent smoking. Both the quality and frequency of parental smoking-specific communication were related to adolescents’ selective affiliation with (non-)smoking friends. The findings suggest that parental smoking-specific communication is associated with adolescent smoking directly but also indirectly by influencing the friends the adolescents will associate with.

On risking risk assessment of delinquent juveniles: some questions concerning the role of psychopathy

In recent years much research effort has been directed at assessing psychopathic personality disorder in juveniles and at devising structured assessment procedures for recidivism risk. Clinicians, however, are often reluctant to incorporate this recent research into their practice. While accepting the importance of a better understanding of the development of psychopathic personality disorder, we discuss three arguments against the uncritical application of current research findings concerning the disorder and its clinical value as a risk factor. We briefly review empirical evidence for the role of the disorder in risk assessment. A developmental psychopathology argument against current thinking about juvenile psychopathic personality disorder, and a criminological argument against risk assessment but in favor of a desistance approach to delinquency are discussed.     

Adolescents’ Reports of Parental Engagement and Academic Achievement in Immigrant Families

The purpose of this study was to add to the understanding of the effects of perceived parental engagement on adolescents’ academic achievement in immigrant families. Self-report data were collected from 1,245 adolescents in immigrant families from four high schools in Los Angeles County. The sample characteristics follow: 13–16 years old (M = 14.5); 58.9% female, 41.1% male; 57.5% Latino; 40.6% 1st generation youth (i.e., foreign born), 59.4% 2nd generation youth. After controlling for parental educational attainment, parental engagement variables were indirectly related to grades through youths’ academic engagement. Multigroup SEM indicated some differences between genders, generational statuses, and ethnicities (Latinos versus others). Adolescents’ perceptions of monitoring by mothers and fathers were indirectly related to grades through academic engagement. Perceived educational advice by mothers was indirectly related to grades through academic engagement for non-Latinos, boys, and 2nd generation youth. Perceived mothers’ schoolwork help was positively related to adolescents’ academic engagement in all the models (except 2nd generation youth), yet fathers’ schoolwork help was significant only for girls and 2nd generation youth.