209 research outputs found
Risk of sexual recidivism as a function of age and actuarial risk
The study of risk for sexual recidivism has undergone substantial development in recent years. The foundation for advances in this area has been the use of actuarial measures to identify subgroups of offenders with different observed rates of sexual re-offending over time. An unresolved issue within this research area has been the moderating function of age in the assessment of risk. The current study examined sexual re-offending as a function of age and actuarial risk in a large sample of sexual offenders released from prison between 1990 and 2004. There was an overall decrease in the rate of sexual re-offending over the age of 50. However, a small group of offenders from the higher actuarial risk categories of the older age groups continued to re-offend at higher rates than their lower-risk peers. <br /
Measuring deviant sexual interest in Adolescents using the emotional Stroop task.
Adolescent sexual abusers are a heterogeneous group of offenders that often receive generic assessment and treatment services that are modeled on research findings from adult sex offender samples. The emotional Stroop task has been used to measure deviant sexual interest in adult samples. The purpose of the present study was to test whether the emotional Stroop task could also be used to assess deviant sexual interest in adolescent samples. Three groups of adolescents (a) sexual abusers (n = 24); (b) offending controls (n = 21); and (c) nonoffending controls (n = 21) completed two emotional Stroop tasks related to deviant sexual interest and tests of executive function. Adolescent sexual abusers were significantly slower to color-name some word stimuli than both adolescent offending controls and adolescent nonoffending controls. However, the task was unable to differentiate between the groups on most of the Stroop word categories. Very little research has been conducted with adolescent offender samples and the emotional Stroop task. Reaction time (RT) and Stroop bias outcome data for adolescent samples appear to be more unsystematic and weaker than has been observed in previous adult data. Based on potential difficulties with reading and development, the emotional Stroop task may not be a task suitable for measuring deviant sexual interest in adolescent samples
Risk assessment for the spread of Serratia marcescens within dental-unit waterline systems using Vermamoeba vermiformis
Vermamoeba vermiformis is associated with the biofilm ecology of dental-unit waterlines (DUWLs). This study investigated whether V. vermiformis is able to act as a vector for potentially pathogenic bacteria and so aid their dispersal within DUWL systems. Clinical dental water was initially examined for Legionella species by inoculating it onto Legionella selective-medium plates. The molecular identity/profile of the glassy colonies obtained indicated none of these isolates were Legionella species. During this work bacterial colonies were identified as a non-pigmented Serratia marcescens. As the water was from a clinical DUWL which had been treated with Alpron™ this prompted the question as to whether S. marcescens had developed resistance to the biocide. Exposure to Alpron™ indicated that this dental biocide was effective, under laboratory conditions, against S. marcescens at up to 1x108 colony forming units/millilitre (cfu/ml). V. vermiformis was cultured for eight weeks on cells of S. marcescens and Escherichia coli. Subsequent electron microscopy showed that V. vermiformis grew equally well on S. marcescens and E. coli (p = 0.0001). Failure to detect the presence of S. marcescens within the encysted amoebae suggests that V. vermiformis is unlikely to act as a vector supporting the growth of this newly isolated, nosocomial bacterium
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Nesting ecology of Marbled Murrelets at a remote mainland fjord in southeast Alaska
Studying the ecology of endangered species in portions of their range where the population remains abundant can
provide fundamental information for conservation planners. We studied nesting by radio-tagged Marbled Murrelets
(Brachyramphus marmoratus) during 2007 and 2008 in Port Snettisham, a relatively pristine, remote mainland fjord in
southeast Alaska with high at-sea densities of Marbled Murrelets during the breeding season. Of 33 active Marbled
Murrelet nest sites located during the study, we found 15 within forested habitat (tree nest sites), 16 in nonforested
habitat (ground nest sites), and 2 that could not be determined. Some nests were located farther inland from the coast
(range: 1–52 km) and at higher elevations (range: 42–1,100 m) than previously documented in Alaska. Nesting success
to ≥ 20 days posthatch (0.20 ± 0.07 [SE]) was less than half of similar estimates in British Columbia and more
comparable to estimates from California and Washington. A logistic regression found that nesting success did not
differ between years, but nesting success was higher for tree nests than for ground nests. Conservation planners
should consider that Marbled Murrelets will use certain nonforest habitat types for nesting in mainland southeast
Alaska. Our reported nesting success was likely a maximum, and our results indicate that nesting success can be low
even when nesting habitat is seemingly abundant and marine habitat appears excellent.Keywords: Breeding, Alaska, Marbled Murrelet, Brachyramphus marmoratus, Telemetry, Alci
Investigating the effect of child maltreatment on early adolescent peer-on-peer sexual aggression: testing a multiple mediator model in a non-incarcerated sample of Danish adolescents
Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between child maltreatment and severe early adolescent peer-on-peer sexual aggression, using a multiple mediator model. Methods: The study comprised 330 male Grade 9 students with a mean age of 14.9 years (SD=0.5). Results: Estimates from the mediation model indicated significant indirect effects of child physical abuse on sexual aggression via peer influence and insecure-hostile masculinity. No significant total effect of child sexual abuse and child neglect on sexual aggression was found. Conclusions: Findings of the present study identify risk factors that are potentially changeable and therefore of value in informing the design of prevention programs aiming at early adolescent peer-on-peer sexual aggression in at-risk youth
Developing an ecologically relevant heterogeneous biofilm model for dental-unit waterlines
This study monitored the biodiversity of microbes cultured from a heterogeneous biofilm which had formed on the lumen of a section of dental waterline tubing over a period of 910 days. By day two bacterial counts on the outlet-water showed that contamination of the system had occurred. After 14 days, a biofilm comparable to that of clinical waterlines, consisting of bacteria, fungi and amoebae had formed. This showed that the proprietary silver coating applied to the lumenal surface of the commercial waterline tubing failed to prevent biofilm formation. Molecular barcoding of isolated culturable microorganisms showed some degree of the diversity of taxa in the biofilm, including the opportunistic pathogen Legionella pneumophila. Whilst the system used for isolation and identification of contaminating microorganisms may underestimate the diversity of organisms in the biofilm, their similarity to those found in the clinical environment makes this a promising test-bed for future biocide testing
Free will, punishment and criminal responsibility
Retributive attitudes are deeply held and widespread in the general population and
most legal systems incorporate retributive elements. It is probably also the dominant
theory of punishment among contemporary philosophers of criminal justice.
However, retributivism relies on conceptions of free will and responsibility that
have, for millennia, fundamentally divided those who have thought seriously about
the subject.
Our legal system upholds the principle that the responsibility of the offender has to
be proven beyond reasonable doubt, before the accused can be punished. In view of
the intractable doubts surrounding the soundness of retributivism’s very conception
of responsibility, my thesis argues that it is ethically dubious to punish individuals
for solely retributive reasons. Instead, my thesis proposes that a person should only
be punished if the main theories of punishment agree that punishing that person is
appropriate – I call this ‘the convergence requirement’. This approach, I argue, is in
accordance with the considerations underlying the beyond reasonable doubt standard.
In addition to considering the question of ‘whom to punish’ my thesis considers what
methods of responding to criminal behaviour are acceptable. In particular, it attempts
to explain, without appealing to the contested notions of free will or retributive
desert, what is problematic about ‘manipulative’ methods of dealing with criminal
offenders (focussing in particular on the possibility of modifying their behaviour
through neurological interventions). The final part of this thesis also gives an
overview of some of the practical implications for Scots criminal law of taking
doubts about free will and retributivism seriously. Given the severe treatment that
offenders undergo within the Scottish penal system (e.g. deprivation of liberty,
stigma) and the high rate of recidivism, it is important to consider whether our
current penal practices are justified, what alternatives are available and what goals
and values should guide attempts at reforming the system
Validity of the Modified Child Psychopathy Scale for Juvenile Justice Center Residents
Adult psychopathy has proven to be an important clinical and forensic construct, but much less is known about juvenile psychopathy. In the present study, we examined the construct validity of the self report modified Child Psychopathy Scale mCPS; Lynam (Psychological Bulletin 120:(2), 209–234, 1997) in a sample of 57 adolescents residing in a Dutch juvenile justice center, aged between 13 and 22 years. The mCPS total score was reliably related to high externalizing problems, low empathy, high anger and aggression, high impulsivity, high (violent) delinquency, and high alcohol/drug use. Unique relations were found for the antisocial-impulsive (mCPS Factor 2), but not the callous-unemotional facet of psychopathy (mCPS Factor 1). Our findings support the validity of the mCPS in that it encompasses the antisocial-impulsive facet of psychopathy, but it is less clear whether the mCPS sufficiently captures the affective-interpersonal facet of psychopathy
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