Assessing the probability of patients reoffending after discharge from low to medium secure forensic mental health services: An inductive prevention paradox

Citizens of developed societies are troubled by those who commit ‘irrational' crimes against the person. Reoffending by ex-patients following their release from secure mental health services triggers particularly intense angst when amplified by media and political scrutiny. Forensic mental health service providers are expected to minimise the occurrence of such transgressions by releasing only those patients who are judged acceptably unlikely to reoffend. However, reoffending probabilities can only be estimated by observing behaviour in secure institutional settings designed specifically to prevent patients from transgressing. The article explores this ‘inductive prevention paradox' which arises when the implementation of measures designed to avoid an adverse event obscures direct observation of what might have happened if prophylaxis had not been attempted. The analysis presented draws on data obtained in 1999–2003 from two qualitative studies in medium to low secure UK institutions, one providing forensic mental health services and the other forensic learning disability services. We explored the views of 56 staff members and 21 patients about risk management in forensic services and undertook additional 25 staff interviews for case studies of the 21 patients. The wider applicability of the inductive prevention paradox will be considered in the Discussion. We argue that the prognostic limitations arising from prevention have been underestimated by policy makers and in official inquiries; and that the prevailing personal risk assessment framework needs to be complemented by greater attention to the environments which patients will be discharged into

Behavioral Differences Between Urban and Rural American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

The consequences of transforming a natural environment into a human-modified environment (i.e., urbanization) on wildlife has long been a topic of concern, but has been hampered by a lack of empirical evidence focused on animal behavior. The current study was designed to explore behavioral differences between urban and rural American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) by installing baited perches in urban and rural settings in Kittitas County, Washington. In order to observe differences in urban and rural crow behavior to approach or avoidance-oriented stimuli, perches included custom cameras and audio equipment that alternated between periods of playing crow calls or Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) calls. As originally designed, this experiment hypothesized that stress behaviors such as caching, preening, vigilance, and boldness (i.e., approach/avoidance) would differ in response to environmental setting (i.e., urban, rural) and audio stimulus type (i.e., approach call, avoidance call). Unfortunately, total sample size of crows did not provide enough power to investigate dependable behavioral outcomes. When examining overall bird data, birds visited rural areas more often compared to urban areas but spent shorter periods of time on perches in rural environments. Overall, there were no observed behavioral differences in response to audio stimuli, suggesting that conspecific and heterospecific communication is more complicated than indicated in previous research

Behavioral Ecology of the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in Human-Dominated Landscapes of Coastal South Carolina

When wildlife habitat is developed to accommodate growing human populations, wildlife are forced to move to undisturbed landscapes or to acclimate to a novel, anthropogenic environment. In this dissertation, we investigated the behavior and ecology of the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in coastal, residential resort communities with an overarching goal of identifying behavioral patterns of alligators that can inform risk management strategies. In Chapter One, we compared the space use of male and female alligators in primarily wetland versus residential landscapes across three seasons to determine if and how space use behaviors of alligators differ. We found that alligator home ranges in residential landscapes were constrained around discrete freshwater features and included greater access to saline aquatic resources, and sex and seasonal differences in resource selection were muted compared to that of wetland alligators. Establishing that residential alligators use space differently, we estimated alligator abundance in seven golf courses to understand how many alligators humans encounter in residential landscapes and the factors influencing humans’ abilities to detect alligators that are present in Chapter Two. We found that alligator abundance was greater in areas with more freshwater alligator habitat potentially reaching similar densities to alligator populations in relatively undisturbed environments, and humans’ ability to detect alligators was related to the configuration of alligator habitat in the landscape and physiological and behavioral limits of an alligators’ risk-taking behaviors. In Chapter Three, we investigated how human-alligator interactions impact alligators’ tolerance of closely approaching humans in residential landscapes. We found that alligators exposed to aversive treatment by humans over ten years were 2.57-11.11 times more likely to flee from approaching humans, depending on alligator size, than alligators with primarily benign experiences with humans. In Chapter Four, we built on evidence of alligator sensitization from Chapter Three using a before-after-control-impact experimental design to investigate if short-term capture-mark-release efforts produce similar sensitization effects on alligator behavior. We found that alligators exposed to one week of capture-mark-release were 1.65 times more likely to flee from humans after captures occurred than before captures. Collectively, our findings suggest that chronic exposure to humans can alter alligator space use behaviors in a way that can support similar population sizes to those in relatively undisturbed environments, but that acute experiences with humans can alter alligators’ perceptions of humans to promote alligator behaviors that correspond to tolerance or avoidance of humans. Risk management strategies can use this information to proactively manipulate alligators’ experiences with humans in a way that both increases alligators’ probability of flight and humans’ ability to detect alligators, and to improve residents’ education of when and where alligator interactions are most likely to occur

Threat-sensitive learning and generalization of predator recognition by aquatic vertebrates

Many prey species lack innate recognition of their potential predators. Hence, learning is required for them to recognize and respond to predation threats. When wild-caught, these same species may show amazing sophistication in their responses to predator cues. They are able to adjust the intensity of their antipredator responses to a particular predator according to the degree of threat posed by that predator. This ability is therefore acquired through learning. While many studies have shown that prey can learn to respond to predator cues through different learning modes, little is known about what the prey are actually learning. The results presented in this thesis show that learned predator recognition goes beyond the simple labelling of predators as dangerous. Using fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas), woodfrog (Rana sylvatica) tadpoles and boreal chorus frog (Pseudacris maculata) tadpoles, I demonstrated that a one time learning event, either through pairing with alarm cues or through social learning, was enough for prey to learn the level of threat associated with the novel predator cues. I showed that the level of danger associated with the predator cues was determined by the concentration of alarm cues when learning through pairing of alarm cues, or by the intensity of antipredator response displayed by the tutors and by the tutor-to-observer ratio when learning occurred through cultural transmission. Moreover, when subsequently exposed to predator cues, prey adjusted their antipredator responses according to the change in concentration of predator cues between the learning event and the subsequent exposure. Prey displayed stronger antipredator responses when exposed to higher concentrations of predator cues and vice versa. When minnows were provided with conflicting information about the danger level associated with a predator, they displayed a safety strategy and used the most recent information available to respond to predation threats. On a longer time scale, the data also suggest that woodfrog tadpoles are able to learn to respond to predation threats according to the risk posed by the predator at different times of day. Finally, I showed that prey learn to recognize particular characteristics of predators and can generalize their antipredator responses to novel species sharing those characteristics. However, generalization of predator recognition is dependent on the level of risk associated with the predator. Threat-sensitive learning is an extremely complex process shaped by the millions of years of selection imposed by predators on prey

The Invasion Ecology of Common Wall Lizard (Podarcis Muralis): Population Dynamics, Interactions and Adaptations

The potentially damaging outcomes of species introductions to areas outside of their natural range are well known, and invasive non-native species are regarded as one of the most significant threats to biodiversity worldwide. Social perceptions of non-native species are open to subjective influence, and in a rapidly changing world the implications of species introductions are becoming less defined. Understanding the ecology of invasions and the human perceptions of them, is therefore fundamentally important for managing all stages of species introductions, relying on a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the invasion process. Invasions can also provide opportunities to study adaptive responses of organisms to novel or changing environments, which in turn can provide insight into mechanistic workings of the invasion process and range expansion. In this study I investigate the ecology of introduced populations of the Common Wall lizard (Podarcis muralis). Using a multidisciplinary approach including population ecology, functional ecology, predictive modelling, social science, and behavioural experiments, I focus on the species’ invasion potential, adaptive responses, and implications for ecological impacts on native lizards in the UK and on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. I found that morphological differences between populations were associated with ancestral origins and infer a greater invasion potential for animals of Italian origin over French. Comparison of physical and performance traits, and a broad dietary niche of P. muralis, indicate considerable overlap between P. muralis and native lizards, suggesting high potential for competitive interaction. However, the varied behavioural responses observed towards scent cues in P. muralis and native lizards suggests an interplay between naivety and threat sensitivity may influence interspecific interaction. Models of predicted range expansion suggest P. muralis populations are likely to remain localised, but that potential for secondary translocation is likely to increase with increasing population size, particularly in urban habitats. I also found clear indication that charismatic non-native species such as P. muralis, may have use as model species with which to raise awareness and minimise the subjectivity shaping perceptions of invasive species in general

Human experience in the natural and built environment : implications for research policy and practice

22nd IAPS conference. Edited book of abstracts. 427 pp. University of Strathclyde, Sheffield and West of Scotland Publication. ISBN: 978-0-94-764988-3