Crime Victims’ Experiences with Seeking Compensation: A Qualitative Exploration

This article discusses the results of a qualitative study regarding the experiences of victims of crime with damage recovery. What steps do they take to obtain compensation, what are their considerations in whether or not to follow different legal ‘pathways’ and what are their actual experiences in their attempts to obtain compensation for their losses? Thirty-six in-depth interviews offer a unique insight into Dutch ‘law in action’ with regard to the joinder in criminal proceedings, the submitting of applications to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund, attempts to reach a settlement with help from the police, and civil proceedings with a claim for damages. Predictable, but also notable experiences and considerations have been described by the victims with respect to these redress routes. Although the representativeness of the sample may raise some doubts, this data has raised some important questions and some recommendations can also be made: the question should be assessed whether insurance companies are able and willing to create a first-party insurance product for damage caused by crime, and communication towards victims should continue to (at least) be improved

I am bold, and do not care for social norms: The role of faux pas recognition in the relation between psychopathy and aggression

Psychopathy is found to be associated with aggression. However, the role of “understanding the mental states of others” in this relation is not clearly understood yet. The current study aimed to increase our understanding of a specific ability of understanding the mental state of others, namely recognizing a faux pas, and understand the relation of this “social misstep” in self-reported aggressive behavior. The sample consisted of 105 individuals from the community (both males and females) who were tested with the Faux Pas test and several self-report questionnaires assessing triarchic psychopathic personality traits and aggression. We found a positive relationship between the triarchic constructs and self-reported proactive and reactive aggression. Additionally, although all psychopathy constructs were negatively related to self-reported empathy, only the boldness trait was negatively associated with faux pas recognition. No mediation effect of faux pas on the relation between psychopathy and aggression was found. Current findings underline the importance of differentiating different Theory of Mind and empathic abilities in relation to psychopathy and aggression, which is essential to develop effective interventions

Sensation seeking and its relationship with psychopathic traits, impulsivity and aggression: A validation of the Dutch Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS)

Sensation seeking is a personality trait that manifests as a preference for change, variety and novelty. Sensation seeking has been positively associated with different externalising behaviours. However, its associations with psychopathic traits, impulsivity and aggression are unclear. These associations were examined via the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS) using individuals from the general population and forensic patients. The results show that the BSSS has good psychometric properties, including test-retest reliability and a four-factor structure. Additionally, the results support associations between sensation seeking and psychopathic traits, impulsivity and total scores of aggression but revealed no specific associations with different types of aggression (e.g. proactive and reactive). The Dutch BSSS is a valuable tool for assessing sensation seeking in both the general population and forensic patients. Future research should further examine its utility and explore the role of sensation seeking in antisocial conduct

Child Neuropsychological Functioning and Interpersonal Callousness as Predictors of Externalising Behaviour in Early Adolescence: A Prospective Population-based Study

Externalizing problems are a key predictor of individual functioning in adulthood. Therefore, identifying possible risk factors for externalising problems is valuable for optimising prevention and treatment programmes. Previous research has shown that (domains of) neuropsychological functioning predict externalising problems later in life. However, the influence of callous traits, and sex as potential moderators in this relation remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine associations between neuropsychological functioning in children (at age 8 years) and later externalising behaviour in adolescence (at age 14 years), as well as to test the role of callous traits (at age 10 years) and sex as moderating factors. The analyses were conducted using data from 661 Dutch children from the population-based Generation R Study (47.2% female). We found no association between neuropsychological functioning and later externalising behaviour. However, callous traits predicted externalising problems at age 14 years. Further, callous traits moderated the association between neuropsychological functioning and externalising behaviour, though this association dropped below the statistical significance level when adjusted for confounders. Specifically, while higher neuropsychological functioning was associated with more externalising behaviour in children with high callous traits, lower neuropsychological functioning was not associated with externalising behaviour in children with low callous traits. Although boys showed significantly higher externalising behaviours compared to girls, no moderating effect of sex was found on the association between neuropsychological functioning and externalising behaviour. These results add to a growing body of evidence supporting a distinct neurocognitive profile in children with high vs low callousness

Transcranial direct current stimulation targeting the ventromedial prefrontal cortex reduces reactive aggression and modulates electrophysiological responses in a forensic population

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that impairments in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex play a crucial role in violent behavior in forensic patients who also abuse cocaine and alcohol. Moreover, interventions that aimed to reduce violence risk in those patients are found not to be optimal. A promising intervention might be to modulate the ventromedial prefrontal cortex by high-definition (HD) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). The current study aimed to examine HD-tDCS as an intervention to increase empathic abilities and reduce violent behavior in forensic substance dependent offenders. In addition, using electroencephalography, we examined the effects on the P3 and the late positive potential of the event-related potentials in reaction to situations that depict victims of aggression. METHODS: Fifty male forensic patients with a substance dependence were tested in a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized study. The patients received HD-tDCS 2 times a day for 20 minutes for 5 consecutive days. Before and after the intervention, the patients completed self-reports and performed the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm, and electroencephalography was recorded while patients performed an empathy task. RESULTS: Results showed a decrease in aggressive responses on the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm and in self-reported reactive aggression in the active tDCS group. Additionally, we found a general increase in late positive potential amplitude after active tDCS. No effects on trait empathy and the P3 were found. CONCLUSIONS: Current findings are the first to find positive effects of HD-tDCS in reducing aggression and modulating electrophysiological responses in forensic patients, showing the potential of using tDCS as an intervention to reduce aggression in forensic mental health care