Behavioral Sciences & the Law最新文献

This study utilized a large-scale representative sample to explore the prevalence of sexting and its associated factors among adolescents in Taiwan. A total of 12,954 students in grade 5-12 countrywide were randomly selected to answer the sexting module of an online survey. 13.7% of the respondents reported having ever received sexts on cellphone, and 2.0% had sent sexts to others. The prevalence was higher among older adolescents. Gender differences were also found, in which female students were more likely to receive sexts (15.8% vs. 11.7%), while male students were at higher risk of sending sexts to others (2.9% vs. 1.1%). A series of hierarchical logistic regression were further performed to examine the associations between potential factors and receiving/sending sexts as the outcome variables. Age, gender, and time spending on texting were significantly associated with receiving and ending sexts. Online respect was found positively associated with receiving sexts but negatively associated with sending them. Privacy awareness was found not significantly associated with sexting. As the first national survey on this growing issue in Taiwan, the results of the present study highlighted the existence of sexting among local youth. Practice and policy implications were discussed.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a new measurement tool designed to capture endorsement of myths surrounding female perpetrated sexual violence against men, specifically in 'forced-to-penetrate' cases. Data were collected among a sample of 4152 UK adults aged 18-55+ (52% female). Dimensionality and construct validity of the Forced-to-Penetrate Myth Acceptance Scale (FTP-MAS) was investigated using traditional Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) techniques separately for the complete sample, males only, and females only. CFA results indicated that FTP-MAS scores are best captured by a three-factor model (1. Distorted Sex and Gender Roles; 2. Harm Minimisation; 3. Offence Denial) across all samples tested. Excellent composite reliability and differential predictive validity were observed for all three subscales. The validated 22-item FTP-MAS constitutes the first measurement tool which allows for the assessment and evaluation of public attitudes towards female perpetrators who force men to penetrate them without consent. As such, this tool enables researchers to better understand the multi-faceted nature of these myths, assess prevalence in different contexts, and can also be used as an outcome measure in research seeking to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions that aim to debunk endorsement of such myths and stereotypes.

The legal recognition of the gender status of transgender people in Europe (and indeed worldwide) is undoubtedly a complex and multifaceted issue, which has prompted academics and legal practitioners to raise numerous scientific questions and seek answers thereto. The gravity of this issue is heightened by the fact that the daily functioning of a transgender person in society as a person of registered (assigned at birth) sex that is incongruent with their self-perception exposes them to constant and conspicuous distress (the so-called gender dysphoria), often manifested in various forms of discrimination. The role of every European state should be to eliminate, or at least minimize, such distress and the risk of discrimination. One of the ways to attain these specified objectives may very well be the eponymous procedure of legal gender recognition for transgender people. This article was conceived with the perspective of human rights in mind. Consequently, its primary assertion is that the aim of every proceeding (be it judicial or administrative) concerning gender recognition is the realization of comprehensive protection of rights and freedoms for a transgender person. An additional aim of the present article is to attempt to facilitate the task of judges who adjudicate cases involving gender recognition, officials who process applications for changes in civil status records, and attorneys who represent transgender people in matters pertaining to changing a person's name and gender marker on identity documents.

Research on bullying in Indonesia remains limited, revealing significant gaps in understanding its prevalence and underlying factors specific to the Indonesian context. This study addresses these gaps through a three-pronged approach: (a) assessing the prevalence of poly-bullying victimisation, (b) identifying factors associated with poly-bullying experiences, and (c) evaluating subjective well-being (SWB) in cases of poly-bullying by comparing it with uninvolved children. Cummins' theory of SWB homeostasis was employed to interpret the findings. The study included 10,051 children aged 10 and 12 years (50% girls) who reported experiencing poly-bullying in the past month. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and linear regression. Poly-bullying was measured across five indicators: physical, verbal, and emotional bullying by siblings and other children at school. The analysis considered five independent variables: sociodemographic factors, perceptions of family, friends, and school, and reported fights among students. The results were statistically significant (p < 0.000), though the model explained only 5.1% of the variance in poly-bullying victimisation. Poly-bullying was prevalent in both public and non-religious schools. Significant contributors included the frequency of fights among students (β = 0.129) and the belief that friends would help (β = 0.045). The study's implications for preventing poly-bullying victimisation were also discussed.

Sexual assault affects many people of all gender identities, yet most cases do not result in conviction. This may be due to common, inaccurate misperceptions juries hold about how sexual assault is perpetrated and how victims respond to sexual assault. Research has examined misperceptions relating to cisgender victims, yet little is known about the unique misconceptions and stereotypes that may unfairly disadvantage transgender victims or whether courts are attempting to safeguard against them. This article presents a literature review of empirical research on (mock) jurors' perceptions of transgender victims and a review of judicial instructions about gender identity. We find that empirical research is extremely limited with mixed findings, but many jurisdictions allow for judicial instructions warning jurors against prejudice based on gender identity. Further research is urgently needed to identify common misperceptions jurors may have that are specific to transgender victims to inform legal safeguards and improve justice outcomes.

As the nature of transgender condition becomes better understood and the legal rights of transgender individuals are defined through court decisions and legislation, intersexuality ought not be overlooked. Potential commonalities as well as differences between intersexual and transgender individuals, clinically and psychosexually, may be mutually informing and relevant to their legal rights in ways that could implicate mental health services. In this review, the concepts of intersexuality and Disorders of Sexual Development are defined followed by a brief synopsis of the evolution of ancient conception of hermaphroditism into the vastly heterogenous biological conditions of today referred to as DSDs. A growing corpus of scholarly literature today argues that intersex persons should be regarded as having diverse sexual characteristics and as not disordered. Nonetheless, various conditions require understanding if the intersex person is to make informed decisions and if health providers are to recognize those conditions that constitute medical emergencies. This review and analysis compares intersex with transgender persons and provides current clinical and scientific knowledge as essential background for Part II, our following article on the advancement of legal rights of intersex persons.

Individuals housed in prisons or forensic hospitals experience significant restrictions on their sexual rights. There is a lack of data on how sexual behavior and sexual health of institutionalized persons are managed and to what extent they are based on shared guidelines or decisions of the individual staff. Using a standardized online questionnaire, the heads of 35 prisons and 32 forensic psychiatric hospitals across 14 German federal states were surveyed, reflecting the situation of 16,902 inmates and patients. The findings reveal an absence of shared guidelines as well as an institution-specific approach to sexual behavior and sexual health. Exploratory multiple linear regression identified four variables that predict differences in the regulation of individual's sexual behavior and sexual health: type of institution (prison or forensic hospital), percentage of institutionalized sex offenders, number of housed individuals, and an item concerning the sexuality-related attitudes of the respondent. Respondents, particularly in the field of forensic psychiatry, expressed a general desire for guidelines. Our study shows that possibilities for sexual expression and sexual health vary strongly, depending on the institution. Therefore, it appears useful and desirable to develop guidelines on how to regulate sexual behavior and sexual health of institutionalized individuals.

Best practice in violent extremist risk assessment and management recommends adopting a Structured Professional Judgement (SPJ) approach. The SPJ approach identifies relevant, evidence-based risk and protective factors and requires experts to articulate hypotheses about a) what the person might do (risk of what), and b) how they've come to engage in the concerning behaviour (and why) (Logan 2021) to inform who, needs to do what, and when. Whilst the field continues to move towards adopting an SPJ approach, there remains a gap between what is known empirically and what is needed in practice. We apply psychometric network modelling to a sample of 485 individuals entered into Channel, the UK's preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) program. We model the system of interactions from which susceptibility to violent extremism emerges, providing data driven evidence which speaks to risk of what and why. Our research highlights a way to generate evidence which captures the multifactorial nature of susceptibility to violent extremism, to support professional decision making in the context of an SPJ approach.

Research on sexual homicides has primarily focused on male offenders, and thus little is known about female offenders who perpetrated sexual homicides. This study aimed to develop the first statistical classification of female single-victim (SV) sexual homicide offenders (SHOs) using the U.S. FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports database that spanned over a 47-year period (1976-2022). A latent class analysis (LCA) was computed to detect subtypes of female SHOs in a sample of 158 offenders. Findings of the LCA identified two unique classes of female SHOs exist within the data: White intra-familial offenders and Black extra-familial offenders. The distinguishing features of these two classes were the offender's racial group, the victim's age and racial groups, the offender-victim relationship, the geographical urbanness level of crime location, and weapon use. This empirically-derived offender classification can be informative to law enforcement agents and security professionals in their investigative strategies.

Victims of sexual homicide may be deceived by perpetrators who use a friendly approach to gain access to them, making it difficult for the victim to assess the danger posed by the stranger. When investigating sexual homicides committed by strangers, investigators often lack direct information, including how the perpetrator gained access to the victim. To identify potential predictors of the approach method used in sexual homicides, this study analyzed the preferences and behaviors of sexual murderers who target strangers based on their approach method. The results of the logistic regression analysis showed that in comparison to offenders using "blitz" or "surprise" attacks, those using a deceptive "con" approach tended to have more male victims, exploit vulnerability, and exhibit post-crime organization by relocating the victim's body and successfully disposing of the weapon used in the crime. Their crimes also more frequently involved oral sex and had lower rates of victim beating. This study discusses the investigative implications of these findings.