Measuring a motivational interviewing practice orientation in criminal justice practitioners: initial validation of the response style screening questionnaire.

Introduction: The use of collaborative communication techniques by criminal justice practitioners has been identified as a component of core correctional practices (CCPs). Criminal justice agencies and programs are investing in motivational interviewing (MI) training for their staff with varying intensity, follow-up coaching, and expectations for integration into practice. The present article describes the development and initial validation of the Response Style Screening Questionnaire (RSSQ), a practitioner completed tool assessing an MI-consistent practice orientation. Over three studies, we examined the factor structure, reliability, and correlations between the scale and self-reported and behavioral validity indicators. Method: Study 1 examined the factor structure of the RSSQ with a sample of 825 criminal justice practitioners. In Study 2, data from 350 probation officers completing the RSSQ alongside measures of work-orientation and attitudes was used to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis and an initial assessment of its construct validity. In Study 3, correlations between the RSSQ and audio recorded office visits of 33 probation officers coded for MI and relationship building skills examined the scale's criterion validity. Results: In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis with an oblique rotation yielded 18 items on four factors. In Study 2, four and five factor models were tested, with the 4-factor model of Study 1 yielding the best fit. Two of the 4 factor-derived subscales reflect styles inconsistent with MI: (1) Confrontational style, and (2) Sustain Talk style; while the remaining two reflect styles consistent with MI: (3) Eliciting style, and (4) Change Talk style. Confrontational style scores were correlated with a work-orientation reflecting probation as a law enforcement endeavor, while Eliciting and Change Talk scores were correlated with a behavior change and resource broker work-orientations. In Study 3, Confrontational and Sustain Talk style scores were negatively correlated with a variety of MI skills and CCPs displayed on audio recordings, while Change Talk style scores were positively correlated with use of such skills. Discussion: Overall, the findings suggest the RSSQ is a potentially useful new practitioner self-report tool for assessing an MI practice orientation.

A Content Analysis of Posts to an Online Support Forum for "Girl Lovers".

The internet is an effective tool for studying the cognitive distortions among those with a sexual attraction to children. Identified through previous works, users of an online "boy love" forum were found to present a variety of justifications for adult-child sexual relations. The current study extends this line of inquiry, analyzing posts from an online "girl love" forum. We found that the most common justification to appear reflected a belief that societal attitudes and authority figures were to blame for the harms caused by adult-child sex. We also found that the forum provided users with support and reinforcement for such distorted beliefs. Overall, online forums provide a window into the cognitive life of individuals with a sexual attraction to children, and one that reflects beliefs that may be largely unexpressed in the confines of forensic treatment settings.

An Evaluation of the Methodological Underpinnings of a Laboratory Paradigm for the Study of Sexual Violence.

Ethically constructed laboratory paradigms can provide behaviorally based opportunities to study sexual violence as an addition to questionnaires. One such paradigm invites male participants to watch and show sexual materials to a female confederate as an analog of sexual perpetration. However, there has been inconsistency in the confederate's presentation, such that she either expresses a dislike of sexual material or her preferences are omitted. Some researchers have also questioned whether an expressed dislike is analogous to an expressed nonconsent. As such, the primary goal of the current study was to determine whether confederate expressions of dislike, nonconsent, or the omission of a preference, differentially affect male participants' behavior within a well-established paradigm. That is, we attempted to clarify the appropriate methodology for future researchers (i.e., the validity of the paradigm) and determine the impact of such a situational manipulation on laboratory-based sexual violence. Participants were 276 adult men, who were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) dislike, (2) nonconsent, or (3) said nothing (the omission of a preference) and then asked to show a brief video clip to the female confederate who expressed these preferences. Overall, exposure to experimental condition predicted sexual video-showing over and above that of social desirability, hostile sexism (HS), and sexual violence history, suggesting that situational variables can play a significant role in laboratory-based sexual violence. Greater HS was associated with greater likelihood of sexual video-showing in the nonconsent condition relative to the dislike condition. Sexual video-showing was most frequent in the said nothing condition. In sum, researchers should be mindful of the confederate expression (or lack thereof) of preferences for sexual materials when using the sexual imposition paradigm.

The Influence of Gender Ideology, Victim Resistance, and Spiking a Drink on Acquaintance Rape Attributions.

The current study examined observer's attributions about the victim and perpetrator of an alleged acquaintance rape. Participants included 504 college students from a public university in the northeastern United States who read a brief crime report and completed a series of questionnaires for course credit. While men tended to attribute more blame to the victim than women, gender ideology emerged as a stronger predictor of rape attributions, and some types of sexist beliefs were associated with greater victim blaming and others with less victim blaming. Endorsement of hostile sexism, rape myths, and heterosexual intimacy was generally associated with the attribution of greater victim culpability, as well as less perpetrator culpability, perpetrator criminality, and victim credibility. However, complementary gender differentiation was associated with greater perpetrator culpability and criminality, while protective paternalism was associated with greater victim credibility. Observers attributed lower victim culpability and greater perpetrator criminality when the victim's drink was spiked, and attributed greater perpetrator culpability when the victim verbally resisted the perpetrator's advances. Given the implications that observer attitudes can have on professional and personal support for survivors, as well as juror decision making, the ongoing examination of the complex interplay between the person and situational factors affecting attributions of rape is essential. Sexual assault prevention programs may also benefit from a psychoeducational component that targets reducing traditional gender ideology.

Men's Perceptions of an Acquaintance Rape: The Role of Relationship Length, Victim Resistance, and Gender Role Attitudes.

Sexual aggression is a persistent and prevalent issue in the United States, which often results in a number of psychological, emotional, and physical consequences for victims. The current study examined whether the length of relationship between the victim and perpetrator, level of victim resistance, and observers' gender role attitudes play a role in observers' perceptions of an alleged sexual assault. Participants included 297 male college students from a public university in the Northeastern United States. Contrary to hypotheses, there were no significant effects for length of relationship on participants' attributions. Relative to no resistance, verbal and physical strategies by the victim predicted higher levels of victim credibility, perpetrator culpability, and perpetrator guilt, as well as lower levels of victim culpability and perceived victim pleasure. Endorsement of traditional adversarial sex role beliefs and hostile sexist attitudes, as opposed to egalitarian attitudes, were associated with the attribution of less credibility to the victim, perceived victim trauma, perpetrator culpability, perpetrator guilt, and shorter recommended prison sentences, as well as greater victim culpability and perceived victim pleasure. Laypersons' perceptions of sexual assault merit further study, as they are relevant to juror decision making and third party responses to sexual victimization (e.g., peer support for victim) and can contribute to the secondary victimization and recovery of survivors of sexual assault.

Utility of the Dimensions of Anger Reactions-5 (DAR-5) scale as a brief anger measure.

BACKGROUND: Anger is a common emotional sequel in the aftermath of traumatic experience. As it is associated with significant distress and influences recovery, anger requires routine screening and assessment. Most validated measures of anger are too lengthy for inclusion in self-report batteries or as screening tools. This study examines the psychometric properties of a shortened 5-item version of the Dimensions of Anger Reactions (DAR), an existing screening tool. METHODS: Responses to the DAR-5 were analysed from a sample of 486 college students with and without a history of trauma exposure. RESULTS: The DAR-5 demonstrated strong internal reliability and concurrent validity with the State Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a single factor model of the DAR-5 for the trauma-exposed and nontrauma subsamples. A screening cut-off point of 12 on the DAR-5 successfully differentiated high and low scorers on STAXI-2 Trait Anger and PCL posttraumatic stress scores. Further discriminant validity was found with depression symptom scores. CONCLUSIONS: The results support use of the DAR-5 for screening for anger when a short scale is required.

Predicting perceptions of date rape: an examination of perpetrator motivation, relationship length, and gender role beliefs.

The purpose of the current study is to examine the influence of multiple offender motivations (including no indication of a motivation), relationship length, and gender role beliefs on perceptions of a male-on-female date rape. A sample of 348 U.S. college students read a brief vignette depicting a date rape and completed a questionnaire regarding their attributions about the victim (culpability, credibility, trauma, pleasure) and perpetrator (culpability, guilt, sentencing recommendations). Results indicate that providing observers with information about the perpetrator's motivation was associated with lower victim blame. Relationship length is not predictive of rape attributions. Egalitarian gender role attitudes are associated with lower levels of victim blame. Overall, gender role attitudes exert a more significant influence on rape attributions than participant gender. The findings suggest that knowledge of an offender's motivation as well as observers' gender role attitudes can influence attributions about the culpability of victims and perpetrators of date rape.

Conceptualization and measurement of criminal thinking: initial validation of the Criminogenic Thinking Profile.

This article describes two studies concerning the development of a new measure of criminal thinking, the CriminogenicThinking Profile (CTP), influenced by the construct of psychopathy, and traditional models of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). An experimental item pool based on verbalizations from offenders served as the pilot version of the instrument. Principal components analysis of the items resulted in a 62-item, eight-factor scale that was internally consistent. In terms of content, six of the resulting factors were conceptually related to psychopathy, one to CBT, and one to neutralization theory. The factor structure and internal reliability was supported by a subsequent confirmatory factor analysis. Initial support for the CTP's convergent validity was indicated by its positive correlations with psychopathy and personality disorders associated with criminal, aggressive, and impulsive behaviors. The CTP's divergent validity was supported by its inverse correlations with indices of healthy personality functioning. The CTP offers a somewhat different constellation of thinking patterns than those found on previously published criminal thinking instruments. The utility of the CTP to identify relevant cognitive targets for offender treatment is a recommended area of future research.

Effects of offender motivation, victim gender, and participant gender on perceptions of rape victims and offenders.

The primary purpose of the present study was to examine whether knowledge of the motivation of an offender can influence participant perceptions of victim and perpetrator responsibility for a sexual assault. In addition, the synergistic influence of victim gender and participant gender with offender motivation was explored. Participants were 171 men and women from a small Northeastern college exposed to a stimulus in which a rapist's motivation was varied as either sexual or violent. Participants were more certain that the stimulus described a rape, recommended a longer prison sentence for the offender, and assigned less blame to the victim when exposed to an offender motivated by violence as opposed to an offender motivated by sex. Offender motivation also interacted with participant gender and victim gender on participants' perceptions of victim blame and offender responsibility. The results suggest that an offender's motivation for rape can influence perceptions of the offender's and victim's responsibility for the assault.

Tolerance of sexual harassment: a laboratory paradigm.

The present study attempted to develop a laboratory analogue for the study of tolerance for sexual harassment by using an online speed-dating paradigm. In that context, the relation between participants' sexual harassment attitudes, perpetrator attractiveness, perpetrator status, and perceived dating potential of the perpetrator were examined as factors influencing participants' tolerance of sexually harassing behavior. Participants were 128 female college students from a small northeastern public university. Results indicated that attractiveness, high social status, and attitudinal beliefs about sexual harassment were all predictive of tolerance for sexual harassment, providing preliminary support for the validity of this paradigm. In addition, participants' self reported likelihood to date a bogus male dating candidate was also predictive of tolerance for sexual harassment, over and above the aforementioned variables, suggesting that dating potential can play a role in perceptions of sexual harassment. Further, this experiment demonstrated that perceptions of sexual harassment can be assessed using the in vivo measurement of behavior. In addition, using an online environment not only provides a contemporary spin and adds a greater degree of external validity compared to other sexual harassment analogues, it also reduces any risk of potential physical sexual contact for participants.

Frontal-midline theta from the perspective of hippocampal "theta".

Electrical recordings from the surface of the skull have a wide range of rhythmic components. A major task of analysis of this EEG is to determine their source and functional significance. The hippocampal "theta rhythm" has been extensively studied in rats and its rhythmicity has recently been shown to be functionally significant, per se. Here, we use relevant aspects of the hippocampal literature to provide perspective on one of the most studied human EEG rhythms: frontal-midline theta. We review its electrographic features, localization, prevalence, age distribution, behavioural modulation (particularly in relation to working memory, spatial navigation, episodic memory, internalised attention and meditation), relationship to personality, drug interactions, neurochemical relationships, and coherence with rhythmic activity at other sites. We conclude that FM-theta, like hippocampal theta, appears to play a role in (or at least occur during) processing of memory and emotion. It is correlated with working memory and/or sustained attention; but this does not entail a role in function since clear behavioural correlates of hippocampal theta have been demonstrated that are not sensitive to hippocampal damage. FM-theta is increased by anxiolytic drug action and personality-related reductions in anxiety, whereas hippocampal theta is decreased by anxiolytic drugs. In animals, frontal theta and hippocampal theta can be phase-locked or independent, depending on behavioural state. So, the cognitive functions of FM-theta, and their relationship to hippocampal theta, are unclear and definitive evidence for functional involvement in cognitive or emotional processing is lacking. One possible solution to this problem is analysis of FM-theta in animals-provided homology can be determined. The issues of sporadicity and low incidence of FM-theta also need to be addressed in the future. Changes in functional connectivity, indicated by changes in coherence, are also a largely untapped resource. We suggest that the most hopeful path to assessing the functions of FM-theta will be through the use of drugs, and the variation of their effects depending on baseline levels of FM-theta. Finally, we review some theories of theta function. Despite the apparent richness of the current data, we conclude that it is difficult (and may ultimately be impossible) to formulate a theory that attributes a specific cognitive function to FM-theta. However, the theories share some general computational assumptions and these should be a useful guide to future work and, ultimately, a definite theory of the function or functions of FM-theta.

An exploration of readiness to change processes in a clinical sample of military service members.

The purpose of this project was to examine readiness to change (RTC) processes in a sample of substance dependent military service members who completed an intensive substance abuse treatment program. The patients completed the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES), which is an RTC assessment instrument, at intake and completion of the treatment program. It was predicted that patients would show positive changes in their RTC from intake to treatment completion. Scores on two of the three SOCRATES subscales were significantly improved. The findings suggest that RTC processes measurably change during treatment and further suggest that the SOCRATES is an appropriate tool for assessing short term changes in RTC.

Assessing the validity of the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale with treatment-seeking military service members.

The purpose of this project was to assess the concurrent and predictive validity of the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES) for military service members undergoing substance abuse treatment. Concurrent validity was assessed by examining the correlation of SOCRATES subscales with subscales from the Addiction Treatment Attitude Questionnaire. Predictive validity was assessed by examining the ability of SOCRATES subscales to predict length of stay in treatment and successful completion of treatment. Scores on the SOCRATES were correlated in the expected direction with scores on the Addiction Treatment Attitude Questionnaire and predicted length of stay in treatment and successful completion of treatment. The findings provide support for the validity of the SOCRATES with substance abuse treatment-seeking military service members.

Within treatment drinking and surreptitious drinking during brief substance abuse treatment.

This project examined the frequency of within treatment drinking and surreptitious drinking among patients who attended a brief substance abuse treatment program that mandated within treatment abstinence. We defined surreptitious drinking as within treatment drinking that is kept hidden from treatment staff. Data for this project came from the anonymous exit surveys of 275 patients. Forty-eight patients (17.45%) indicated that they engaged in within treatment drinking at least once. Forty-one of those patients (87%) kept the drinking hidden from treatment staff. The most common reason for patients keeping their drinking hidden was a fear of discharge from treatment. Within treatment drinkers were compared to within treatment abstainers in the extent to which their treatment was coerced, the extent to which treatment was perceived as helpful, and their posttreatment intentions for substance use and follow-up care. Differences between these two groups, and their implications, are discussed.

The psychometric properties of the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES) in a clinical sample of active duty military service members.

The increasing prominence of the construct of readiness to change in the field of substance abuse treatment has led to the development of instruments designed to assess the construct. We examined the psychometric properties of one such instrument, the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES), in a sample of treatment-seeking, active duty, U.S. military service members diagnosed with alcohol and/or drug dependence. A principal components analysis of the items was consistent with the tridimensional structure of the SOCRATES found among treatment-seeking civilians but resulted in a 14-item scale, as opposed to the 19-item version found for civilians. Normative data, in the form of means and decile rankings for the SOCRATES subscales, for substance-dependent military patients are provided to complement those available for civilian patients. Future research should examine the concurrent and predictive validity of the scale.

A case of factitious disorder presenting as alcohol dependence.

Factitious disorders involve the feigning of physical or psychological symptoms in order to assume the patient role. Pseudologia fantastica, which involves the pathological creation of fabrications about one's background, is an associated feature of factitious disorders. Substance abuse disorders are also associated with factitious disorders. However, the manifestation of factitious complaints as substance abuse has yet to be reported in the literature. This case study describes a patient referred to a residential substance abuse treatment program who was discovered to have factitious alcohol dependence and prominent pseudologia fantastica.

Peer modeling and college men's sexually impositional behavior in the laboratory.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of peer modeling on sexually impositional behavior in the laboratory. Male participants with and without a self-reported history of sexually aggressive behavior viewed video clips depicting nonaggressive and sexually aggressive behavior and then chose one of the clips to show to a female confederate. Half of the participants were first exposed to a male confederate who showed the sexually aggressive video clip to a female confederate. The other half of the participants were exposed to a male confederate who showed a nonaggressive video clip to a female confederate. Exposure to a male confederate who showed a sexually aggressive video clip to a female was associated with participants choosing to engage in this same behavior. A self-reported history of sexually aggressive behavior was also associated with participants showing the sexually aggressive video clip in spite of believing the effect on the female viewer would be negative.