Child sexual offenders typologies: An exploratory profile model using multiple correspondence and cluster analysis of portuguese convicted offenders sample

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is not a recent phenomenon. However, it increased visibility in Portugal in 2002, when a news piece raised suspicions about numerous public figures. Since then, there has been an upward trend in complaints and has stabilized in recent years. Nevertheless, even though the research emerging, it presents gaps in the characteristics and modus operandi of the child sex offenders in the Portuguese context. This article presents an exploratory study, where 66 case reports of inmates in Portugal (Lisbon District) were convicted for CSA crimes recorded in the last ten years. We used the Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis as statistical procedures, focusing on the dynamics of the offense, context, number of victims, relationship, and characteristics of the offense. With this analysis, we identified four distinct profiles, which occurs with both techniques. In addition, we found differences regarding the use of aggressivity and/or treating during or after the offense, nature of abuse and introduced the crime admission as an active variable, with contributions to the model definition. According to these results and international literature, we defined our groups in four types: Regressed, Indiscriminate, Inadequate, and Violent. We discuss our results based on the international models and demonstrate affinities with them. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Response of vegetation to fire disturbance: short-term dynamics in two savanna physiognomies

Fire is a constitutive ecological force in savanna ecosystems, but few studies have monitored its short-term effects on plant community dynamics. This study investigated changes in plant diversity in the South American savanna (Cerrado) after severe disturbance by fire. We monitored 30 permanent plots (10 m × 5 m) distributed in two Cerrado physiognomies (típico: more forested; ralo: grass-dominated), being 10 plots in the area disturbed by fire, and five in a preserved control area (undisturbed). From August 2010 to June 2011, we evaluated changes in species richness, abundance and composition of savanna vegetation. Monitoring started one week after the fire; disturbed plots were surveyed monthly, while control plots were surveyed every two months. We observed rapid reassembling in both physiognomies: plots affected by fire showed rapid increase in species richness and plant density during the first four months after the disturbance. Concerning species composition, disturbed plots in the cerrado típico tended to converge to control plots after one year, but each local assemblage followed particular temporal trajectories. A different pattern characterized cerrado ralo plots, which showed heterogeneous trajectories and lack of convergence between disturbed and control plots; the structure of these assemblages will likely change in next years. In conclusion, our results showed that fire significantly affected plant diversity in the two savanna physiognomies (cerrado típico and ralo), but also indicated that community reassembling is fast, with different dynamics between Cerrado physiognomies