European Journal of Psychology Applied To Legal Context最新文献

The aim of this study was to determine which of the factorial solutions proposed for the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) of two, three, four factors, and unidimensional fitted best the data. Two trained and experienced independent raters scored 197 prisoners from the Villabona Penitentiary (Asturias, Spain), age range 21 to 73 years (M = 36.0, SD = 9.7), of whom 60.12% were reoffenders and 73% had committed violent crimes. The results revealed that the two-factor correlational, three-factor hierarchical without testlets, four-factor correlational and hierarchical, and unidimensional models were a poor fit for the data (CFI ≤ .86), and the three-factor model with testlets was a reasonable fit for the data (CFI = .93). The scale resulting from the three-factor hierarchical model with testlets (13 items) classified psychopathy significantly higher than the original 20-item scale. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for theoretical models of psychopathy, decision-making, prison classification and intervention, and prevention.

Etiological models of intimate partner violence (IPV) identify general risk factors in delinquency (sociodemographic, delinquent, and psychopathological) and specific factors in this type of aggression (characteristics of the couple relationship and attitudes favoring IPV). The goal of the present work is to study these factors in individuals convicted for drug trafficking and/or theft, so-called common delinquents (n = 89), comparing them with a group of partner aggressors (n = 50). Assessment was carried out with a mixed method, reviewing case files, clinical interviews for personality disorders, and self-reports. The results show a similar profile in sociodemographic and criminal characteristics and in attitudes favoring IPV. The differences emerge in variables of the couple relationship and psychopathological variables, finding higher prevalence of the antisocial disorder in common delinquents and of the borderline disorder in aggressors. The final model identifies the level of relationship satisfaction, control over the partner, blaming female victims, and incidence of borderline personality disorder as relevant variables. The implications of these results for penitentiary treatment as a preventive measure of IPV, both in IPV aggressors and in the general prison population, are discussed.

In recent decades, legal Acts, norms, and regulations have proliferated in order to ensure equal opportunities for women and men in multiple contexts, including public and private organizations. Nevertheless, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that, to date, real and legal equality do not match. The current context of the global economy suggests that there may now be a new barrier, related to the fact that women have been partially excluded from positions abroad which would facilitate the acquisition of professional and personal skills which are essential in the present century. This new inequality in access to senior management seems to be in contradiction with the different pressures and initiatives put in place to achieve equality of opportunities between women and men, protected in our national and international laws. In this paper, the main causes excluding women from international assignments, and consequently from senior management, are reviewed, highlighting the motivational and legal aftereffects that this trend may have.

Both real-life events and research show that rape victims are sometimes blamed for their victimization. The effect of perpetrator characteristics on victim blaming has rarely been studied. In an experiment using a community sample (N = 161), we investigated the effect of the perpetrator's previous conviction and age, as well as participants’ gender and belief in a just world (BJW) on blame attributions using a vignette methodology. It was predicted that less victim blame and more perpetrator blame would be attributed when the perpetrator had a previous conviction. Results showed that level of BJW was associated with victim blame (positively) and perpetrator blame (negatively). Men blamed the victim more and women blamed the victim less when the perpetrator had a previous conviction. Women blamed the perpetrator more and men less when the perpetrator had a previous conviction. Hence, gender is an important factor in explaining variation in blame attributions.

The number of complaints filed by parents against their children nationwide has increased dramatically, particularly since 2005. The aim of this study was to examine whether young offenders who had been charged for violence against their parents presented different psychological problems from youngsters charged with other types of offence and non-offenders. Data from 231 adolescents of both sexes aged 14 to 18 years and living in the Basque Country (Spain) were analyzed. Of these, 106 were offenders and the rest were from a community sample. Some of the offenders had been charged with child-to-parent violence (n = 59), while the rest of them had not (n = 47). Offenders who had assaulted or abused their parents presented more behavior problems outside home and more characteristics associated with depressive symptomatology than offenders of other types or non-offenders. Certain psychological problems in adolescents could precipitate family conflict situations and leave parents unable to control their children. Findings highlight the need for offenders charged with child-to-parent violence to receive individual psychological therapy.

Sexual harassment is one of the most widespread forms of gender violence. Perceptions of sexual harassment depend on gender, context, the perceivers’ ideology, and a host of other factors. Research has underscored the importance of coping strategies in raising a victim's self-confidence by making her feel that she plays an active role in overcoming her own problems. The aim of this study was to assess the men's perceptions of sexual harassment in relation to different victim responses. The study involved 101 men who were administered a questionnaire focusing on two of the most frequent types of harassment (gender harassment vs. unwanted sexual attention) and victim response (confrontation vs. non confrontation), both of which were manipulated. Moreover, the influences of ideological variables, ambivalent sexism, and the acceptance of myths of sexual harassment on perception were also assessed. The results highlight the complexities involved in recognizing certain behaviors as harassment and the implications of different victim responses to incidents of harassment. As the coping strategies used by women to confront harassment entail drawbacks that pose problems or hinder them, the design and implementation of prevention and/or education programs should strive to raise awareness among men and women to further their understanding of this construct.

The opinions of legal professionals about child and adult witnesses might influence the likelihood that a case is allowed to proceed through the different stages of the legal process. With the aim of knowing the opinions of legal practitioners about child and adult witnesses, 84 legal professionals (Swedish police, prosecutors, and attorneys) were surveyed about their beliefs about child and adult eyewitness memory (and metamemory) abilities. The respondents answered 27 questions relating to nine forensically relevant belief areas in which they compared the memory ability of children (ages 7 to 11 years) and adults. The results showed no differences in assessment among members of different professions and a general trend suggesting that, across the professions, children were believed to be poorer witnesses than adults regarding their memory abilities. Moreover, the professionals’ within-group consensus was very low. These results are discussed in the context of eyewitness research findings and with respect to the implications for both legal and research practice.

In Spain, there are two types of sentence for partner aggressors: prison sentence and the alternative measure, specifically psychosocial intervention programs. The goal of this study was to determine differences in the delinquent and psychopathological profile of these aggressors as a function of the prison sentence received, for which the models proposed by Dutton (1995) and Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994) were followed. The sample was made up of 50 incarcerated aggressors and 40 men sentenced to mandatory community orders. The variables were obtained through a mixed method, with supervision of penitentiary case files, clinical interview for personality disorder (SCID-II), and self-reports for the personality profile (NEO-PI-R). Binary logistic regression was used to identify the final model, which best reveals the differences between both groups. The results describe the incarcerated aggressors’ profile as having more altered risk factors at the socioeconomic, delinquent, and psychopathological levels. The three variables that increase the probability of belonging to the prison inmate group, according to the final model obtained were: use of weapons, drug consumption, and personality disorder. In contrast to other investigations, the high incidence in the outcomes of the target variables, mainly drug use and personality disorder, makes us wonder whether the diagnostic method used influenced the results in contrast to the exclusive use of self-reports, a goal to be confirmed in future studies.