The Longitudinal Relationship between Callous-Unemotional Traits and Exposure to Community Violence: Examining Primary and Secondary Psychopathy in Serious Adolescent Offenders

in youth, psychopathy is often represented by callous-unemotional traits, characterized by a lack of guilt and empathy. While justice-involved youth can exhibit such traits, less research has been done in adolescents than has been with adults in the justice system. Still, previous research supports that callous-unemotional traits in particular can predict higher risk for adverse outcomes and violent behavior in youth. Various vulnerabilities and experiences contribute to the development of callous-unemotional traits, and while some individuals with psychopathic traits are thought to have been born with an innate inability to feel empathy (primary psychopathy), others may experience psychological distress in response to trauma and emotionally desensitize to cope (secondary psychopathy). Prior research shows exposure to community violence, a common and chronic experience for justice-involved adolescents, is one such traumatic event associated with callous-unemotional traits, but there remains a need to better understand how these variables influence one another over time in serious adolescent offenders, and how aggressive behaviors may be affected. Information provided by male adolescent offenders in the Pathways to Desistance study was used to investigate 1) whether youth displayed differing patterns of psychological distress that may indicate primary and secondary pathways to callous-unemotional traits, 2) how exposure to community violence and callous-unemotional traits influence one another over time across youth with primary versus secondary pathways, and 3) whether there were differences in the associations between exposure to community violence, callous-unemotional traits, and violent offending in later adolescence/early adulthood across the primary versus secondary groups. Results from a latent profile analysis resulted in larger groups of youth with low and medium levels of psychological distress, and one small group of youth with uniquely high distress. a subsequent multigroup cross lag panel model incorporating the low and medium distress participants revealed differences in the associations between callous-unemotional traits and exposure to community violence as a function of distress level. Lastly, callous-unemotional traits did not predict later aggressive offending in either group, but exposure to community violence negatively predicted later aggressive offending for youth with higher distress levels. Results support the use of psychological distress levels to better understand the longitudinal associations between exposure to community violence and callous-unemotional traits, but did not indicate increased callous-unemotional traits or exposure to community violence could positively predict later violent offending. Future studies related to the development of psychopathic traits in youth should continue to further explore what types of distress specifically may increase vulnerability for youth developing callous-unemotional traits as a way to cope with adverse experiences. Clinically, connections between violence exposure and emotional desensitization should be utilized in trauma-informed therapies with adolescents involved in the justice system who are at high risk for trauma and distress

Elizabeth Sargent to Mr. Meridth (4 October 1962)

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/mercorr_pro/1929/thumbnail.jp

Institutional Experiences of Justice-Involved Adolescents: Profiles, Predictors, and Post-Release Associations

Experiences within juvenile justice placements have long been a topic of concern amongst researchers and policy makers, with institutional violence exposure and harsh treatment being two such reasons for concern. The majority of adolescents who enter the justice system already have extensive violence exposure, which can continue while they are detained through victimization and witnessed violence. One’s adjustment to justice settings is influenced by characteristics and experiences prior to placement, and institutional experiences may also have influences on mental health and behavior after release. In the current study, reports from justice-involved adolescents were used to 1) identify profiles of institutional experience via measures of violence exposure, sanctions, and restrictions during stays in justice settings, 2) identify demographic/historical, institutional, and psychological correlates of institutional experience profiles, and 3) examine the association between institutional experience and outcomes of reoffending and psychological symptoms post-release. Results showed three classes of youth with differing patterns of institutional experience. One of these classes, with the highest reported violence exposure and sanctions in institutional settings, had the highest levels of pre-institutional violence exposure and hostility in comparison to the other two classes. Demographic factors including age and gender appeared to influence post-release reoffending, but institutional experience profiles did not predict significant differences in mental health or offending beyond the effects of pre-institutional covariates. Results of this study may be used to identify adolescents at increased risk for violence exposure and victimization within institutional settings. Future research is needed to examine additional institutional factors’ impact on youth behavior and psychological functioning. The current study may be useful for justice staff and health professionals working with adolescents in institutional settings, especially in understanding the connections between trauma histories and acting out behaviors in such settings

Does Your Provider Care: A Mixed Methods Study of Empathy in Medical and Graduate Counseling Students

Undergraduate Applie

The Darker Side of Americas Wonderland A Study of the First Four Decades of Yellowstone National Park

Those who first stumbled across the steaming, bubbling land of Northwestern Wyoming in 1860s and early 1870s described it as “Hell on Earth.” Over the course of a few decades, the land underwent a vast transformation, which replaced “Hell” with “Wonderland” in visitors’ minds. The year 1872 represents a turning point in environmental legislation and marks the conception of Yellowstone, America’s first national park. While creating a national park preserved, for the first time, the country’s natural wonders, the 1872 act included no direction for management, no allocation of funds for upkeep, and no system set in place to manage tourists. This thesis examines the darker past of America’s Wonderland, demonstrating that the vagueness of the original act affected the first four decades of Yellowstone’s history for the worse, which led to a multitude of problems that plagued the park from 1872 to 1916, when the National Park Service was established. Through the examination of park superintendent reports, legislative acts, newspapers, and personal accounts, this thesis reveals the way political and commercial interests shaped Yellowstone’s first forty years. These documents tell of the difficulties of protecting a vast area with no laws and minimal funding. Poor management led to poaching, widespread vandalism and a lack of respect for park administration. Until the passage of the Lacy Act twenty-two years after the park’s creation Yellowstone lacked legal consequences for wrongdoers. Administration represents one of many areas in which the Department of the Interior failed in its understanding of a national park

Tools and Technologies for Advancing Professional Development

A large number of professional development studies have focused on the possible impact of professional development activities to improve practice and learning; for example, the impacts of the professional development on the learner (Buczynski & Hansen, 2010; Desimone, 2009; Ingvarson, Meiers, & Beavis, 2005). Other studies have looked at developing and implementing evaluation models to improve practice and learning (e.g. Guskey, 2000; Van Veen, Zwart, & Meirink, 2012). However, these approaches tend to focus on the end outcome of a process rather than a continue cycle for improvement, change and reflection. As Merchie et al. (2018) state, investigators and practitioners have been working towards making more innovative, thoughtful and informed ways to develop relevant, updated and personalised professional development initiatives that goes beyond processes (Desimone, 2009; King, 2014). Professional development can be viewed from both a top-down, organisational perspective and also from a bottom-up, life-long learning view. This presentation will show how these perspectives can be related through 3 key factors: Context, Philosophy and Delivery (CPD), which through a connection of top-down and bottom-up, leads to what we describe as the CPD2 cycle. A number of different delivery tools, methods and approaches have been used in the CPD2 cycle through the work of colleagues at the OU, such as games-based learning, evidence cafés, tricky topics, social media, video conferencing, personalisation and multimodal delivery. We focus on games-based learning, social media and multimodal delivery as examples of technologies that have produced positive impacts on professional development and professional digital learning

Cumulative Incidence of Physical and Sexual Dating Violence: Insights From A Long-term Longitudinal Study

Decades of inquiry on intimate partner violence show consistent results: violence is woefully common and psychologically and economically costly. Policy to prevent and effectively intervene upon such violence hinges upon comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon at a population level. The current study prospectively estimates the cumulative incidence of sexual and physical dating violence (DV) victimization/perpetration over a 12-year timeframe (2010–2021) using diverse participants assessed annually from age 15 to 26. Data are from Waves 1–13 of an ongoing longitudinal study. Since 2010 (except for 2018 and 2019), participants were assessed on past-year physical and sexual DV victimization and perpetration. Participants (n = 1,042; 56% female; Mage baseline = 15) were originally recruited from seven public high schools in southeast Texas. The sample consisted of Black/African American (30%), White (31%), Hispanic (31%), and Mixed/Other (8%) participants. Across 12 years of data collection, 27.3% experienced sexual DV victimization and 46.1% had experienced physical DV victimization by age 26. Further, 14.8% had perpetrated at least one act of sexual DV and 39.0% had perpetrated at least one act of physical DV against a partner by this age. A 12-year cumulative assessment of physical and sexual DV rendered prevalence estimates of both victimization and perpetration that exceeded commonly and consistently reported rates in the field, especially on studies that relied on lifetime or one-time specified retrospective reporting periods. These data suggest community youth are at continued and sustained risk for DV onset across the transition into emerging adulthood, necessitating early adolescent prevention and intervention efforts that endure through late adolescence, emerging adulthood, and beyond. From a research perspective, our findings point to the need for assessing DV on a repeated basis over multiple timepoints to better guage the full extent of this continued public health crisis

Introducing the Remote Mentoring of Undergraduate Research Students (ReMentURS) Workshop Series: Initial Evaluation and Plans for Wider Implementation

The primary objective of the Remote Mentoring of Undergraduate Research Students (ReMentURS) workshop series is to design a remotely available professional development training that will provide rigorous research concept and skills introduction to incoming undergraduate research students. This pilot run eight-week remote learning workshop series includes digital presentations, informational videos, virtual demonstrations, and aligned comprehension checks to foster student mindsets towards becoming independent research scientists. Preliminary assessment of the of ReMentURS program reveals that participants self-report gaining a variety of skills through the series and are likely to use the content in their future course and research laboratories. ReMentURS material can be shared with any undergraduate student who is interested in joining a research group to familiarize them with basic research techniques. Student learning gains will continue to be evaluated throughout the series and this initial assessment will be used towards the betterment of the future workshops

A microcredentials-based Postgraduate Certificate of Academic Practice (PGCAP)

This paper presents a new certificate that consists entirely of microcredentials: a stackable model. The postgraduate qualification was piloted extensively with staff members at the Open University (OU) and will soon become available for a global audience. The successful completion of study entitles the certificate holder to become a Fellow of the Higher Education Agency in the UK, a highly regarded first stage professional membership and a proxy for teaching excellence. We will present key elements of the programme, key steps in the approval of the qualification and initial feedback from the pilot cohorts

Evidence for polyploidy in the globally important diazotroph Trichodesmium

Polyploidy is a well-described trait in some prokaryotic organisms; however, it is unusual in marine microbes from oligotrophic environments, which typically display a tendency towards genome streamlining. The biogeochemically significant diazotrophic cyanobacterium Trichodesmium is a potential exception. With a relatively large genome and a comparatively high proportion of non-protein-coding DNA, Trichodesmium appears to allocate relatively more resources to genetic material than closely related organisms and microbes within the same environment. Through simultaneous analysis of gene abundance and direct cell counts, we show for the first time that Trichodesmium spp. can also be highly polyploid, containing as many as 100 genome copies per cell in field-collected samples and >600 copies per cell in laboratory cultures. These findings have implications for the widespread use of the abundance of the nifH gene (encoding a subunit of the N2-fixing enzyme nitrogenase) as an approach for quantifying the abundance and distribution of marine diazotrophs. Moreover, polyploidy may combine with the unusual genomic characteristics of this genus both in reflecting evolutionary dynamics and influencing phenotypic plasticity and ecological resilience