Women Victims of Violent Partners: The Italian Situation Amid Culture and Psychopathology

In 2006, the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) conducted a survey over the entire national territory of women victims of sexual, physical, and psychologic violence, a few years after the first survey, conducted in 2002. For the 2002 survey, respondents were 60,000 women, 22,759 of whom were aged 14–59 years. For the 2006 survey, the sample consisted of 25,000 women aged 16–70 years. Owing to the sensitivity of the issues, the telephone survey technique seems best suited because it provides more anonymity and guarantee of protection. The survey showed that the phenomenon of violence against women is most commonly perpetrated by the partner or ex‐partner, even in cases of homicide. A comparison of the Italian data with those of the U.S.A. for the period 2001–2006 showed a specificity of Intimate Partner Violence in Italy, that seems to be related to cultural elements and psychologic and psychopathologic factors.     

Assessing for bruises on the soul: identifying and evidencing childhood emotional abuse

The term ‘emotional abuse’ is acknowledged by law in the Children Act 1989 and refers to the wider social concept of harm that occurs in the psychosocial domain. Emotional abuse is a contested notion and a form of harm that statutory child protection social workers find difficult to recognise and gather evidence of. Early preventative intervention approaches, which occur outside the legal system, are the preferred course of action in work with emotional abuse. However, child protection social workers may use their statutory powers and duties to implement interventions when cases are deemed to require attention within legal frameworks.Professionals routinely fear legal work in cases of emotional abuse, feeling inadequately equipped to engage effectively with the law. This article draws on rich research data, gathered for an Economic and Social Research Council funded doctoral project. The data offers an original perspective on the interaction between social work and law, adding to existing literature on the frictions that exists. Using psychosocial methods, the research explores social worker experiences of identifying and evidencing emotional abuse, with particular attention to the application of ‘attachment theory’. The article shines a light on some practice complexities of identifying and evidencing emotional abuse.     

Bullying,peer victimization,and emotional problems in Cypriot adolescents referred to mental health services—a comparison of normative and clinical data

This study explores the prevalence of bullying and victimization among Cypriot adolescents diagnosed with mental health problems. Their psychosocial adjustment in relation to bullying is studied. The sample consisted of 187 adolescents (60.2% boys; M age = 13.2) and their parents. The present sample reported significantly higher rates of victimization than existing published normative values χ² (1, N = 187) = 27.0, p < .001. An alarming finding was that a total of 25.8% reported to be involved in bullying. There was a significant positive correlation between bullying and emotional symptoms (r = 0.36, p < .001), conduct problems (r = 0.35, p < .001), hyperactivity (r = 0.23, p < .003) and peer problems (r = 0.48, p < .001). The study suggests that there is increased victimization and psychosocial difficulties among Cypriot clinical population in regards to bullying.     

Coping with Interpersonal Stress and Psychosocial Health Among Children and Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis examines the relationship between active coping and psychosocial health among youth. Results from 40 studies of coping with interpersonal stress were synthesized using a random-effects model. Four areas of psychosocial functioning were examined: externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, social competence, and academic performance. The magnitude of the relationship between active coping and psychosocial functioning was small, with correlations ranging from 0.02 for internalizing behavior to 0.12 for academic performance. Mean effects were moderated by stressor controllability: youth who used active coping in response to controllable stressors had fewer externalizing problems and higher social competence, as compared to those who used active coping in response to uncontrollable stressors. Implications for primary prevention programs and directions for future research on child and adolescent coping are discussed.

Keeping Secrets from Parents: Advantages and Disadvantages of Secrecy in Adolescence

Traditional views regard secrecy as problematic, and associated research among adults almost exclusively focuses on its physical and psychological disadvantages for the secret-keeper. Contrary to this negative view on secrecy, this paper proposes that secrecy may have developmental functions that bear particular importance in the period of adolescence. Specifically, it should be associated with adolescents' feeling of emotional autonomy. A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the links between secrecy and psychosocial well-being and emotional autonomy among 227 younger (12–13 years) and older (16–18 years) adolescents. Results showed that keeping secrets from parents is associated with physical and psychological disadvantages in adolescence. Confirming the prediction, however, secrecy was also related to adolescents' emotional autonomy. The theoretical and empirical implications of our findings are discussed in the context of adolescent development.     

Adolescents’ Experiences of Victimization: The Role of Attribution Style and Generalized Trust

Positive attribution style, negative attribution style, and generalized peer trust beliefs were examined as mediators in the relationship between adolescents’ peer victimization experiences and psychosocial and school adjustment. A total of 280 (150 female and 130 males, M_age = 13 years 4 months, SD_age = 1 year 1 month) adolescents completed measures of peer victimization, global self-worth, depressive symptoms, social confidence, school liking, loneliness, attribution styles, and generalized trust beliefs. Multigroup path analysis revealed that: (a) negative attribution style mediated the relationship between cyber victimization and school liking and depressive symptoms for males and females; (b) positive attribution style mediated the relationship between cyber victimization, school liking, global self-worth, and depressive symptoms for females; and (c) generalized peer trust beliefs mediated the relationship between social victimization, depressive symptoms, social confidence, and loneliness for females. Consequently, attribution style and generalized trust beliefs differentially influence the relationship between peer victimization and adjustment.     

Psychotropic Medication Experiences of Incarcerated Women: A Qualitative Inquiry into Conundrums of Access and Identity

The study examines narrative data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 25 women in a medium security prison with the hope of deepening the knowledge base related to women’s beliefs about their mental health problems, mental health care during incarceration, and especially their experiences with psychotropic medication. The findings highlight the functional role of psychotropic medication in the lives of incarcerated women, while also emphasizing problems with limited access to prescribers, preferred medications, and other forms of mental health treatment. Trauma, substance use, and the impact of medication use on sense of self all emerged as interfacing with quality of life.     

Contact,welfare and children in care: revisiting the significance of birth family relationships after finding significant harm

The focus of this paper is the issue of continuing birth family involvement in the child’s life once the child is living in care. Drawing on a psychosocial study and free association narrative interviews with care leavers it focuses on the harm to a young woman called Frances, caused by direct contact with her birth family and the cessation of such contact. The paper addresses the tension between these two types of harm, in particular the role of contact in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in care. It presents an argument for the child’s care plan to emphasise the need for ongoing review of the role and impact of the child’s close relationships and contact with their birth family once the child is in care. This includes ongoing consideration of the child’s changing relationship with the birth mother and siblings with a view to reconciliation in young adulthood.     

Contrasting psychosocial outcomes in Chinese delinquent adolescents with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder symptoms and/or reading disability

Many studies reported high prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and reading disability (RD) among delinquent adolescents. Very few have examined their psychosocial outcomes. The present study compared the psychosocial outcomes and delinquency outcomes in Chinese juvenile delinquents with ADHD symptoms (AS) and/or RD. Delinquents with AS (n = 29), RD (n = 24) and their comorbidity (n = 35) were recruited from juvenile institutions along with typically developing controls (n = 29) from local schools; all completed questionnaire on psychosocial characteristics and delinquency outcomes. Participants with AS were associated with poor academic orientation whereas participants with RD were characterized with negative main effects across all psychosocial constructs being tested. The comorbid group performed similar to the RD group yet it exhibited a significantly higher delinquency severity. The present findings provide a better picture of the unique psychosocial profile associated with different groups, allowing for better matching for future identification and intervention programme.     

Analyzing the Psychological and Social Contents of Evidence—Experimental Comparison between Guessing,Naturalistic Observation,and Systematic Analysis

To improve inferences about psychological and social evidence contained in pictures and texts, a five‐step algorithm—Systematic Analysis (SA)—was devised. It combines basic principles of interpretation in forensic science, providing a comprehensive record of signs of evidence. Criminal justice professionals evaluated the usefulness of SA. Effects of applying SA were tested experimentally with 41 subjects, compared to 39 subjects observing naturally (naturalistic observation) and 47 subjects guessing intuitively intuitive guessing group. After being trained in SA, prosecutors and police detectives (N = 217) attributed it a good usefulness for criminal investigation. Subjects (graduate students) using SA found significantly more details about four test cases than those observing naturally (Cohen's d = 0.58). Subjects who learned SA well abducted significantly better hypotheses than those who observed naturally or who guessed intuitively. Internal validity of SA was α = 0.74. Applying SA improved observation significantly and reduced confirmation bias.