A Descriptive Study of Psychosocial Characteristics and Offense Patterns in Females with Online Child Pornography Offenses.

Despite a growing body of literature on females who sexually offend, there is a dearth of research on online sexual offending in women. This study collected descriptive psychosocial and offense conduct data on 98 females convicted of online sexual offenses housed in United States federal prisons. Psychosocial history results demonstrated that 60% of the subjects reported a history of sexual abuse (n = 59), while 46% reported physical abuse (n = 45). In addition, 47% reported a history of outpatient mental health treatment (n = 46), and 15% reported prior inpatient mental health treatment (n = 15). The majority (n = 70) of the women's offenses involved the victimization of accessible minors to produce child pornography for distribution on the Internet, most often in association with a male co-offender. Typically, the subject's child was the victim and the focus of the child pornography. Contact offending frequently (n = 39) occurred in the context of the production of child pornography. The implications of these findings, especially regarding the role that women play in the creation and distribution of child pornography, are discussed as well as important directions for future research.

Pilot testing the Daily Activities List for Inmates (DALI): Item evaluation and content validity.

Scheduling enjoyable daily activities is a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy intervention used in the treatment of depression and substance abuse disorders that are prevalent disorders among inmates. To effectively use this intervention with inmates, an activities list with items ecologically sensitive to the correctional setting needs to be created. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate items; thus, establishing a content valid Daily Activities List for Inmates (DALI). Fifteen corrections professionals representing a wide range of disciplines and managerial backgrounds served as subject matter experts (SMEs). Each SME evaluated 403 daily activity items that were aggregated from 4 separate lists. Each item was evaluated in relation to appropriateness for corrections, availability to inmates, need for editing, and where the activity could take place (in cell, out of cell, or both) then analyzed for removal following a criteria-driven, stage-based approach. The final daily activity list consisted of a total 227 items with the majority of the items developed by inmates in a correctional environment enduring through each stage. The majority of all 227 final DALI items were also considered to be used as both in and out of cell activities. An additional 22 items were created through SME suggestions or edits and were reserved for possible future use. With an ecologically sensitive daily activities list for inmates developed, implications for using the DALI to deliver psychological services to inmates are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Alabama Structured Assessment of Treatment Completion for insanity acquittes (The AlaSATcom).

The most complex and risky decisions made by forensic psychiatrists revolve around the decision to release insanity acquittes from custody. This decision has several levels of risk, including the potential liability to the psychiatrist as well as the possible risk to the community. A single bad outcome, even if not predictable, can have disastrous results, not only for victims, but also for the releasing facility. Since predicting violence has so many problems, we chose to look at completeness of treatment instead, so we could say to the Court, "We don't know about violence, but we do know that he has vastly improved." Since many NGRI (Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity) patients spend years in the hospital, they are also expensive. They have rights, as well; therefore the complex assessment must be done as quickly and as accurately as possible. We have developed a spread sheet program to compare these multiple factors, and have compared it against the clinical decisions we have made in more than 100 discharges. We believe this gives a framework for decision-making that will increase the consistency of this process.

Promoting cognitive complexity in corrections practice: Clinical supervision processes with psychotherapist trainees.

Practicing psychotherapy with inmates in correctional settings is challenging. Psychotherapists may be asked to address multiple treatment targets including severe mental illness and disruptive behaviors, alongside other recidivism-related factors such as substance abuse, criminal thinking errors, and deviant peer networks. In addition, the practice occurs with the secure confines of the correctional facility where an appreciation of culture, including cultures of staff from nonpsychology disciplines, is paramount. These are just a few of the factors highlighting the importance of sound clinical supervision. Unfortunately, clinical supervision processes in this realm have not been systematically explored. Using the therapist's cognitive complexity model elucidated by Owen and Lindley (2010), two clinical supervision processes are described. Each demonstrates an opportunity for psychotherapist trainees to build cognitive complexity into their correctional psychotherapy practices and repertoire. With supervisor-led framework development, better student engagement with corrections practice and higher quality psychological services for inmates may emerge.

Exploring clinical and personality characteristics of adult male internet-only child pornography offenders.

Despite the dramatic increase in the number of convicted child pornography offenders, little is known about their potential clinical needs. The few studies that do explore this subgroup of sex offenders suggest clinical heterogeneity compared with other sex offender subgroups. However, research designs used in many studies have limited generalizability, have examined primarily treated or treatment samples, and have not included comparisons with nontreatment, community samples of men. The current study addresses such limitations by using nontreatment samples and multiple comparison groups to examine mean scales score differences on a commonly used clinical and personality assessment, the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI). The sample, drawn from an admissions cohort of federal offenders, those Internet-only Child Pornography Offenders (ICPOs; n = 35) and those with a history of child molesting exclusively (child molesters, n = 26). They were compared with each other and the male normative sample from the PAI. Results indicate that interpersonal deficits and depression featured most prominently in the profiles of the ICPOs. Consistent with prior research, they also obtained lower scores on aggression and dominance compared with the child molesters and the male normative sample. Implications for future research, training, and clinical practice with incarcerated ICPOs are offered.