An examination of implicit theories among francophone child molesters

Abstract

According to Ward (2000), cognitive distortions emerge from “implicit theories” (ITs). Ward and Keenan (1999) established a typology of the ITs of child molesters in which they classified existing knowledge on their cognitive distortions into five categories: “entitlement”, “nature of harm”, “uncontrollability”, “child as sexual being” and “dangerous world”. The purpose of this research was to examine whether the cognitive distortions of child molesters are encapsulated fully by these five categories of ITs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 convicted francophone child molesters and their cognitive distortions were analysed. Results indicate that six ITs were present in this sample. “Entitlement”, “nature of harm” and “uncontrollability” were identical to those of Ward and Keenan. “Child as sexual being” and “dangerous world” were present, but varied from their original versions. A new IT emerged, which we called “child as partner”. We discuss these findings in comparison to their original versions.     

证人的目击面孔心理重建及认知检测

提取目击证人对犯罪嫌疑人的面孔记忆是一项困难的工作,由于证人在识记面孔时有多种影响因素,在提取和再认记忆时又会有各种认知因素的影响,导致面孔心理重建的失真。因此,从认知心理学和实验心理学的角度入手,分析影响心理重建的因素,并用最佳的手段提取记忆,可以使面孔重建的可靠性最大化。认知相关电位在记忆检测领域的日臻完善,使目击证人的再认正确与否有了可靠的参照,从记忆反应的脑电图形分析,可以有效判断证人对列队辨认中的面孔是否存有记忆。     

The politics of ‘wrongful life’ itself: discursive (mal)practices and Tay-Sachs disease

Abstract

This article examines eight wrongful life/wrongful birth suits filed by parents of children born with Tay-Sachs disease. Their legal claims are analysed in terms of the biopolitics of genetic risk that has emerged in recent decades with a view to arguing that, as health and disease are increasingly understood within a genetics framework, the individual is becoming responsibilized to be proactive and undergo genetic testing. At the same time, this responsibilization is being defined as a kind of entitlement rooted in historically specific ideas about personhood and quality of life. The only option for reconciling this contradiction has been simply to define responsibilization as the individual's right, thereby calling into question the notion of agency in genetic decision-making and revealing that choice in this context is in fact becoming the unfreedom to choose.     

Negotiating the meaning of brands

How does a brand become meaningful, and how does certain lifestyle values become integrated into a brand so that the brand appears like a trustworthy statement? The paper investigates the ongoing negotiation processes between brand maker and brand users as a key to understand how brands become meaningful. The result of the negotiation processes is the creation of a common consent of meaning, which the brand rests upon. This implies that a brand can only be meaningful if the brand maker and brand users can create this brand habit.     

A note on cognitive branding and the value profile

The aim of this paper is to present a pragmatic inspired branding method called a value profile, within the theory of cognitive branding. The method is theoretical anchored in Charles S. Peirce's pragmatic theory and can be used to identify the core values of brands and also identify the possible consequences of how these values influence people to purchase products. Moreover, it can be used to analyze the values themselves.     

试析实案心测技术与实验心理学原理

心理测试是一项现代刑侦工作中应用较广泛的辅助侦查技术,其实测操作严格遵循实验心理学理论和原则,有很强的科学性。文章以中国心理测试技术（武氏测试法）的实测模式为例,详细解读其实验心理学的科学性因素。     

Social Class is Dead. Long Live Social Class! Stereotype Threat among Low Socioeconomic Status Individuals

Stereotype threat effects occur when members of a stigmatized group perform poorly on a task because they fear confirming a negative stereotype that is associated with their ingroup. The present study investigates whether the observed achievement gap in standardized testing between high- and low-socioeconomic status (SES) American students can be due, in part, to this phenomenon. Participants were placed in one of four conditions that varied in level of “threat” related to socioeconomic status. Results show that when socioeconomic identity is made salient before taking a test, or when the test is presented as diagnostic of intelligence, low-SES students perform significantly worse, and report much lower self-confidence, than low-SES participants in the non-threatening conditions. When threatening conditions converge, performance of low-SES students is at its worst level. These results help us better understand the role stereotyping plays in the academic performance of low-SES students, and may partly explain the disparity on standardized test scores between low- and high-SES students.

犯罪过失类型论

犯罪过失作为犯罪主观罪过形态之一，并非仅仅是犯罪故意的补充，而具有其自身的价值蕴涵，需要重新研究其内涵与意义。对不同类型的犯罪过失进行深入研究有利于对犯罪过失的全面认识。犯罪过失的种类很多，根据不同的标准，主要有疏忽大意过失与过于自信过失、单纯过失与业务过失、通常过失与重大过失、危险过失与实害过失、法律过失与事实过失、积极过失与消极过失以及纯正过失与非纯正过失几组类型。     

X-chromosome STR typing in deficiency paternity cases

It is presented a deficiency paternity casework where the ChrX-STRs were crucial to solve the case. Twenty-two autossomal STRs studied in biological samples from a child, his mother and alleged paternal grandmother and grandfather revealed insufficient information to provide a clear conclusion. Fifteen additional ChrX-STRs confirmed the exclusion of the putative father.