Assessment and Treatment of Sexual Offenders Detained by TBS-Hospital Order

Sexual offending is a widespread international problem. Deviant sexual interests and antisocial orientation/lifestyle instability are identified as the primary criminogenic needs of sexual offenders. As a consequence, a proper understanding of these constructs is required for the supervision, (risk) assessment, and treatment of sexual offenders. The general aim of this dissertation was to explore to what extent various risk factors of (sexual) (re)offending are relevant for the (risk) assessment and treatment of sexual offenders detained by TBS-hospital order

Аналіз кількісних та якісних характеристик динаміки наукових кадрів вищої кваліфікації України

Обговорюється проблема кількісних характеристик та індикаторів якості науково-кадрового потенціалу науки, методики їх оцінки. Наведено кількісну оцінку динаміки та сучасного стану науково-кадрового потенціалу вищої кваліфікації України, оцінку динаміки та сучасного стану його якісних показників.Обсуждается проблема количественных характеристик и индикаторов качества научно-кадрового потенциала науки, методики их оценки. Приведены количественная оценка динамики и современного состояния научно -кадрового потенциала высшей квалификации Украины, оценка динамики и современного состояния его качественных показателей.The discussion concerns the problem of quantitative parameters and indicators reflecting the quality of R&D personnel, and their measurement methodology. A quantitative measure is given of the dynamics, current conditions and qualitative indicators of the Ukrainian R&D personnel of the highest qualification

Criminogene factoren van seksueel gewelddadige terbeschikkinggestelden

_ACHTERGROND_ In Nederland is tot op heden niet gepubliceerd over criminogene factoren bij subgroepen seksueel gewelddadige terbeschikkinggestelden. _DOEL_ Onderzoeken van criminogene factoren bij kindmisbruikers en verkrachters en die vergelijken met nietseksueel gewelddadige terbeschikkinggestelden. _METHODE_ In een exploratieve studie onderzochten wij 16 kindmisbruikers, 22 verkrachters en 59 niet-seksueel gewelddadige terbeschikkinggestelden. We maakten daarbij gebruik van een risicotaxatie-instrument, een checklist voor psychopathie, Implicit Association Tests en zelfrapportagevragenlijsten. _RESULTATEN_ De kindmisbruikers en verkrachters verschilden niet van elkaar in recidiverisico. De kindmisbruikers scoorden lager op psychopathie en associeerden onderdanigheid minder met seksuele aantrekkelijkheid dan de verkrachters. Bij een vergelijking van de drie groepen onderling bleek dat de kindmisbruikers en verkrachters niet significant verschilden van de niet-seksueel gewelddadige patiënten wat betreft psychopathie. Tussen de drie groepen werden ook geen verschillen gevonden in seksuele voorkeur, neuroticisme, altruïsme, woede als trek, vijandigheid en sociale vaardigheden. Wat betreft agressie scoorden de kindmisbruikers lager dan de verkrachters en de niet-seksueel gewelddadige patiënten. Daarnaast rapporteerden de kindmisbruikers meer angst bij het geven van kritiek dan de niet-seksueel gewelddadige patiënten. _CONCLUSIE_ Gezien de gevonden effectgroottes van de verschillen tussen de drie groepen raden wij een vervolgonderzoek met grotere groepen aan. Daarnaast adviseren wij de svr-20 nader op een valide factorstructuur te onderzoeken. Verkrachters dienen behandeld te worden voor zowel seksueel als algemeen geweld

Robotically driven construction of buildings: Exploring on-demand building components production

Robotically Driven Construction of Buildings (RDCB) is an exploration into design to production solutions for robotically driven construction of buildings initiated by the faculties of Civil Engineering and Architecture, TU Delft and Architecture, TU Eindhoven and implemented 2014 within the 3TU Lighthouse framework. The aim of was to involve the disciplines of architecture, robotics, materials science, and structural design in order to integrate knowledge from the individual disciplines and develop new numerically controlled manufacturing techniques and building-design optimisation methods for adding creative value to buildings in a cost-effective and sustainable way.RDCB builds up on expertise developed at Hyperbody with respect to applications of robotics in architecture and this paper presents the contribution of the Robotic Building team from Hyperbody, Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft to the RDCB project. The contribution is in line with Europe’s aim to improve material and energy efficiency of buildings and efficiency of construction processes. Robotically driven construction and customised building materials have the potential to realise this in a cost-effective way and at the same time reduce accidents and health hazards for workers in the building sector. In order to achieve this RDCB is distributing materials as needed and where needed. This requires exploration of a variety of techniques and implies working with customised materials and techniques while finding the best methods of applying materials in the logic of specific force flows or thermal dissipation patterns.RDCB advances multi- and trans-disciplinary knowledge in robotically driven construction by designing and engineering new building systems for the on-demand production of customisable building components (Bier, 2014). The main consideration is that in architecture and building construction the factory of the future employs building materials and components that can be on site robotically processed and assembled

Psychomotor Therapy as an Additive Intervention for Violent Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients: A Pilot Study

textabstractThe first results of psychomotor therapy (PMT) as an additional component to Aggression Replacement Training (ART) were explored in a group of forensic psychiatric inpatients (N = 37). Patients were divided into two groups: ART+PMT (experimental group) and ART+Sports (control group). Primary outcome measures of aggression, anger, and social behavior, and secondary outcome measures of coping behavior and bodily awareness during anger were administered on three occasions: pretreatment, posttreatment (after 35 sessions), and follow-up (15 weeks after the final session). The combined group (experimental and control group) showed clinically significant improvements on observed social behavior, observed aggressive behavior, and self-reported anger, but there were no differences in treatment effects between the experimental group and the control group on these primary outcome measures. However, on secondary outcome measures of bodily awareness during anger and coping behavior, the experimental group displayed somewhat more improvement than the control group. Altogether, the results of this pilot study indicate that the addition of PMT to a treatment program for violent forensic inpatients may indeed result in improvements on specific treatment goals of PMT, whereas its effects on aggressive behavior needs further examination

Aggression Replacement Training for Violent Young Men in a Forensic Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic

Abstract The effects of Aggression Replacement Training (ART) were explored in a group of Dutch violent young men aged 16 to 21 years, who were obliged by the court to follow a treatment program in a forensic psychiatric outpatient clinic. To evaluate the training, patients completed a set of selfreport questionnaires at three moments in time: at intake/before a waiting period, after the waiting period/before the training, and after the training. During the waiting period, the patients did not change on most measures, although they displayed a significant increase in anger. The patients who completed the therapy scored significantly lower on psychopathy than the patients who dropped out. The training produced significant decreases in physical aggression and social anxiety and showed trends toward a decline in self-reported hostility, general aggression, and anger. After the training, the patients scored comparably with a reference group on measures of hostility Aggression Replacement Training (ART) is a multimodal intervention originally developed to promote prosocial behavior in children and adolescents who display aggressive and violent behavior. The training was designed by ART has been applied not only to juvenile but also to adult offenders. In the Netherlands, three studies in criminal youth have been devoted to the effect of EQUIP The Present Study The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Various issues of ART were investigated in our group of violent male forensic psychiatric outpatients aged 16 to 21 years. To explore whether ART would result in any effect, we measured the patients at three moments in time: at intake/before a waiting period (intake measurement), after the waiting period/before the training (pre-training measurement), and after the training (post-training measurement). Criminogenic needs Method Participants The study was carried out in a nonrandom group of 123 patients of forensic psychiatric outpatient clinic "het Dok" at Rotterdam (Netherlands) with a at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on October 6, 2016 jiv.sagepub.com Downloaded from Hornsveld et al. 5 mean age of 17.35 years (SD = 1.82, range = 15-21 years). These patients were convicted by the court for a violent offense (e.g., assault, robbery with violence, or serious threats with violence) and ordered to follow a treatment program in a forensic psychiatric outpatient clinic. The decision of the court was based on the conclusion of a psychiatric or psychological evaluation (Pro Justitia report) that recidivism was probable because of a mental disorder The patients had conduct or oppositional defiant disorder as their main diagnosis on Axis I or, when they were 18 years or above, an antisocial personality disorder on Axis II of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). The classifications were based not only on the psychiatric and/or psychological evaluation (Pro Justitia report) used by the court in deciding to impose a forensic psychiatric outpatient treatment but also on the evaluation of an experienced clinical psychologist during the intake interview. Almost all patients gave the impression of being unmotivated to follow the obligatory training. They claimed to have been treated unfairly by the court, which implied that their conviction was the result of a judicial flaw. Measures In this study, we used a standard set of measures for personality traits and problem behaviors for individuals aged 16 years or above; these measures were chosen because of their relation to determinants of violent behavior, such as hostility, anger, social anxiety, and social skills. This standard set of measures comprises the following instruments. Journal of Interpersonal Violence consists of 20 items that have to be rated on a 3-point scale, with 0 = does not apply, 1 = applies to some extent, and 2 = applies. The NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; The Trait Anger subscale of the Spielberger (1980) State-Trait Anger Scale (STAS; An adapted version of Rosenzweig's (1978) Picture-Frustration Study (PFS-AV; Hornsveld, Nijman, Hollin, & Kraaimaat, 2007) was used to measure hostility. This test asks participants to write down their reactions to 12 cartoon-like pictures. The subjects are instructed to examine the situations shown in the pictures (e.g., to a shopkeeper: "This is the third time that this watch has stopped.") and to write in the blank text box the first appropriate reply that enters their mind. The answers are scored by an experienced and independent research assistant (psychologist) on a 7-point scale, ranging from 1 = not hostile at all to 7 = extremely hostile. In a sample of 231 Dutch at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on October 6, 2016 jiv.sagepub.com Downloaded from Hornsveld et al. 7 violent forensic psychiatric patients (all males), the internal consistency (Cronbach's α) turned out to be .76, the inter-rater reliability .77, and the testretest reliability .67 The Aggression Questionnaire (AQ; The NAS part of the Novaco Anger Scale-Provocation Inventory (NAS-PI; Novaco, 1994; Dutch version: Hornsveld, Muris, & Kraaimaat, 2011) was used to study the self-reported responses of the participants to 48 anger-eliciting situations (e.g., "When someone yells at me, I yell back at them."). The items are scored on a 3-point Likert-type scale: 1 = never true, 2 = sometimes true, and 3 = always true. In a sample of 194 Dutch violent forensic psychiatric outpatients (all males), for the NAS total score, the internal consistency (Cronbach's α) was found to be .95 and the test-retest reliability in a subgroup of 90 outpatients was .80 The Inventory of Interpersonal Situations (IIS; Van Dam-Baggen & Kraaimaat, 1999) assesses how much anxiety people experience during social interactions (e.g., "Refusing a request to lend out money") and how often they are able to actually perform the appropriate behavior in such situations. For social anxiety, the scores range from 1 = "no tension at all" to 5 = "very tense"; the frequency scores range from 1 = "never" to 5 = "always." The internal consistency (Cronbach's α) and test-retest reliability of the IIS can be qualified as good (i.e., αs > .80 and test-retest correlations > .70; Procedure In the Netherlands, the supervision of convicted offenders has to be carried out by an after-care and resettlement organization. Such an organization usually at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on October 6, 2016 jiv.sagepub.com Downloaded from 8 Journal of Interpersonal Violence "delegates" the execution of an obligatory treatment to a forensic psychiatric outpatient clinic. It is the duty of the probation officer to motivate the patient, his girlfriend, or his parent(s) to contribute to the success of the training. Depending on the age and living conditions of the patient, the probation officer maintains relations with the school, employer, and social or welfare services. The intake interview was carried out for late adolescents, together with their youth probation officer and preferably with at least one of the parents. However, most of these adolescents lived with their mother, who, according to the probation officer, was often not able or not motivated to attend the interview. Young men aged 18 to 21 years who lived on their own were interviewed in the presence of their probation officer only. The participation of the probation officer during the intake interview was important for the provision of additional information about the current situation of the patient, in addition to the Pro Justitia report. The presence of the probation officer also considerably enlarged the chance that the patient would attend the interview. During the training, there was occasionally contact between one of the two trainers and the probation officer, especially when a patient did not show up. When a patient failed to attend for two sessions or did not show up at the start of the training, he could no longer follow the training except when there were valid reasons for his absence. The policy was that non-completers were sent to prison, but in reality this punishment was rarely imposed. Young men who were referred to the outpatient clinic for obligatory treatment because of a violent crime were interviewed within a week and put on the waiting list when indicated for ART. When the waiting list group reached six to eight patients, a new training group was formed. In practice, this meant that the first patient had to wait about 8 weeks and the last one about 2 weeks until the start of the training. To explore whether ART would have any effect, sets of questionnaires were administered, particularly for the effect study; these questionnaires were to be completed individually. Participation in the study (but not in the training) was voluntary and was rewarded with a fee of €7 for each measurement. The assessment of the PCL-R scores and the ART were done by experienced clinical psychologists who completed additional education of 6 years after their 4-year university study of psychology. The trainers had a training scenario at their disposal, whereas the patients could do their homework assignments in a workbook Aggression Replacement Training The outpatient version of the ART consists of 15 weekly sessions lasting 1½ hours each and three 5-weekly follow-up meetings for 6 to 8 patients: (a) at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on October 6, 2016 jiv.sagepub.com Downloaded from Hornsveld et al. 9 anger management, sessions 1 to 5; (b) social skills, sessions 6 to 10; (c) moral reasoning, sessions 11 to 15; and follow-up and evaluation, sessions 16 to 18. Role-playing was an essential part of the sessions. Participants had to complete homework assignments for the generalization of learned skills to new situations. Altogether, the training meant an investment of approximately 40 hr for the patient, which is often a requirement of the court for juvenile offenders. Design and Statistics The study was approved by the Dutch Review Committee for Patient-Linked Research in Arnhem, the Netherlands, and by the Scientific Research and Documentation Center of the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice. Data sets were analyzed through the statistical program IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0. The problem behaviors of the patients at the intake (intake measurement) were compared with those at the start of the training (pretraining measurement) through a two-tailed paired samples t test (p < .05). The behaviors at the start of the training (pre-training measurement) were also compared with those after the training (post-training measurement) through a one-tailed paired samples t test (p < .05). Differences between dropouts and completers were evaluated with a two-tailed t test (p < .05). To determine the factors that predicted dropout, a stepwise binary logistic regression analysis was applied. Multiple ANCOVAs (two-tailed; p < .05) were used to compare the intake measurement and the posttreatment measurement with a reference group. Because comparable norm groups for the used measurement instruments were lacking, a group of secondary vocational students functioned as a reference group. These students were measured once only as part due to another study. Age was used as a covariate because the mean age of the reference group (M = 18.14 years, SD = 1.81) was significantly higher (t (396) = −4.03, p < .001) than the mean age of the patients (M = 17.35 years, SD = 1.76). Results Criminogenic Needs To assess the criminogenic needs of the patients, we compared the personality traits and problem behaviors of the patients with those of the reference group, consisting of 275 secondary vocational students (all men). The patients scored significantly higher than the students on trait anger (STAS), F(2, 395) = 2.52, p = .041; hostility (PFS-AV), F(2, 280) = 18.90, p < .001; and at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on October 6, 2016 jiv.sagepub.com Downloaded from 10 Journal of Interpersonal Violence aggression (AQ), F(2, 395) = 2.74, p = .033; and significantly lower on agreeableness (NEO-FFI), F(2, 395) = 2.39, p = .047, and social anxiety (IIS), F(2, 395) = 10.19, p < .001. The patients who withdrew prematurely (nonstarters plus non-completers) seemed to score significantly higher on psychopathy (PCL-R Total), t(121) = −2.57, p = .006, than did the completers, in particular on the factor antisocial behavior, t(121) = −3.36, p < .001. No differences were found on the other measures. To determine which intake measures could differentiate completers from dropouts, a stepwise binary logistic regression analysis was done with each individual measure. Only the PCL-R Total could independently differentiate completers from dropouts, B (SE) = 0.09 (0.037), odds ratio = 1.094, p = .014. More specifically, completers and dropouts were differentiated by Factor 2 of the PCL-R, B (SE) = 0.214 (0.069), odds ratio = 1.239, p = .002, and not by Factor 1 of the PCL-R, B (SE) = 0.063 (0.058), odds ratio = 1.065, p = .281