Safety, Security and Socio-Economic Wellbeing in Somaliland

This report documents the findings from a study on the relationship between safety/security and socio-economic wellbeing in Somaliland. The study was conducted for the Danish Demining Group (DDG) and Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining in twelve of DDG's project sites. It is based on a quantitative survey of 378 households and qualitative focus group interviews. Findings suggest a high degree of correlation between improvements in safety and security, many associated with the community safety work of DDG, and socio-economic benefits to communities. Reported benefits include fewer conflicts, more secure communities at night, fewer accidents involving small arms and explosive remnants of war, and better community-police relations. These are perceived to have contributed to improvements in access to markets, lengthening hours that businesses can remain open, improved opportunities for participating in savings activities, and generally increased household incomes. Recommendations for maximizing the benefits of improved security for socio-economic gains are provided

A predictive model of criminality in civil psychiatric populations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a predictive model of criminal risk in civil psychiatric populations, by determining the relative impacts of psychopathy, drug use, impulsivity and intelligence on levels of criminality. Design/methodology/approach The sample consisted of 871 civil psychiatric patients, selected from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study, who had been diagnosed with a mental illness or personality disorder, and hospitalised less than 21 days. Each participant was administered the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Screening Version (PCL:SV), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R). In addition, information on background demographics, drug use and criminality was obtained via a self-report questionnaire. Findings Pearson correlations identified significant positive relationships between past arrests, psychopathy, impulsivity and drug use. Intelligence was negatively related to past arrests. Multiple regressions identified a significant main effect for Factor 2 psychopathy on past arrests when controlling for all covariates, but not for Factor 1 psychopathy, intelligence or impulsivity. Drug use and gender had small univariate effects. Research limitations/implications It is suggested that future research investigates the influence of specific mental disorders on different types of offending. Originality/value By investigating predictors of criminal behaviour in civil psychiatric patients, the present study makes valuable contributions to the research literature, enhancing our theoretical understanding of the relationships between psychopathy and criminality/recidivism. It also has notable implications in applied practice, for example in the development and refinement of risk assessment methods

La piratería en Somalia: una amenaza para la seguridad interna y externa

El espectacular aumento de los ataques perpetrados con éxito por piratas somalíes ha suscitado llamamientos para que se incremente la seguridad en el Golfo de Adén. Sin embargo, el problema no puede resolverse aplicando tan solo medidas de seguridad. Debe hacerse un mayor hincapié en la formación de un gobierno legítimo en Somalia que pueda enfrentarse al problema con eficacia. Los piratas somalíes han capturado recientemente barcos mayores y más valiosos en aguas cada vez más alejadas de la costa de este atormentado país. Ello ha provocado acciones de respuesta por parte de varias de las más poderosas armadas del mundo. Sin embargo, una combinación de causas como la ausencia de leyes internacionales claras acerca del control de la piratería, la renuencia de las empresas de la marina mercante a armarse y de los buques militares a intervenir cuando un barco ha sido capturado ha desembocado en una serie de denuncias sobre lo poco que se está haciendo. En realidad, el problema es más complejo que todo eso, y las soluciones de seguridad por sí solas no pueden detener la piratería. Somalia, que ha estado en guerra durante casi dos décadas, carece de un Estado dispuesto a controlar la piratería y capacitado para hacerlo. Sólo cuando se cree tal Estado se podrá abordar el problema eficazmente

Psychological therapy for children with PTSD: impact on parents’ own post-traumatic stress symptoms and other mental health outcomes.

Context: Parents of children with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are recommended to be included in their child’s treatment as they are considered integral to the child’s recovery. Studies have found an association between child PTSD and parent PTSD and depression, making it likely that parents are experiencing their own mental health difficulties alongside their child’s. However, little work has been conducted exploring the impact of child PTSD therapy on parental mental health. Aim: This research portfolio aimed to investigate whether parents’ own mental health improves as a result of their child receiving a psychological intervention for PTSD. Design: The project is presented in a thesis portfolio format combining two main research papers: a systematic review with meta-analysis and a quantitative empirical paper. The systematic review searched the existing literature for studies measuring parent depression and PTSD and investigated whether these parent mental health outcomes improved as a result of their child receiving Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-BT) or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) for PTSD. The empirical paper investigated whether parents reported any improvements in PTSD, depression, anxiety or general mental health following the child receiving Cognitive Therapy for PTSD (CT-PTSD) in the early stages following a trauma. Results: The systematic review identified some tentative, preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of trauma-focused psychological interventions at reducing parent PTSD, emotional reactions and depression. The empirical paper found preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of CT-PTSD delivered to the child at reducing parent PTSD, depression, anxiety and general mental health. Conclusion: The findings provide preliminary evidence that parents’ own mental health outcomes improve following their child receiving a psychological intervention for PTSD. Further research is required to explore which parents are likely to benefit and why

Cognitive Bias in Line-Up Identifications: The Impact of Administrator Knowledge

Prior knowledge of the likely or expected outcome of a forensic investigation has been shown to produce biases in the results obtained, reducing objectivity. The wide prevalence of such cognitive biases in many judgments has long been recognised by social psychologists, but its importance is only now gaining appreciation within forensic science communities. It is therefore timely to draw attention to the power of cognitive biases found in a study of the influence of administrator expectations on photographic identifications. Data are presented to show that when a line-up administrator knows the identity and position of a target within a line-up choice, in which the ‘witness’ is ignorant of the actual target, that target is more than twice as likely to be selected compared with when the administrator is kept ‘blind’. These findings, taken together with related studies, support the recommendation that all forensic analyses are made ‘double-blind’—a method that has proven to be effective in reducing such effects within the social sciences

An Evaluation of the Greater St. Cloud Area Retired and Senior Volunteer Program: Do RSVP Volunteers Perceive Psycho-Social Benefits Related to their Volunteer Service?

According to the United States Census Bureau (2008), by the year 2030, nearly one in five United States residents are expected to be age 65 or older. The astronomical growth of the senior population will affect many aspects of society, challenging senior volunteer programs and many other service providers to meet the needs of aging individuals. In the 40 years since formal volunteer programs began, researchers have used various methods to determine what kind and how extensive benefits are for older adult volunteers. From additional social roles to feelings of generativity, volunteer programs seem to be a theoretically-grounded source of quality of life improving services to the growing population of seniors. The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) is a federally sponsored program for older adults, ages 55 and better, who utilize their skills and interests in a wide range of nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and faith-based groups to address critical community needs. The Greater St. Cloud Area RSVP engages volunteers living in Benton, Stearns, and Sherburne counties of Minnesota. This study evaluated whether or not results from the existing body of research on senior volunteerism held true for members of the Greater St. Cloud Area RSVP. A secondary analysis of survey data examined psycho-social benefits, or life satisfaction, that volunteers perceive related to their service with RSVP. Based on a modified version of the Volunteer Impact Scale (Gartland, 2001), Life Quality and Successful Aging Factors were coupled with reports of overall quality of life to determine the existence of and correlations between RSVP service and life satisfaction. Data analysis indicated that RSVP volunteers largely perceive positive, psycho-social benefits along the major variable groups (Life Quality, Successful Aging, and Overall Quality of Life) and that they credit positive changes in these areas of their life to involvement with RSVP