Victim to offender: A review

It has been suggested that victimization during childhood may be a primary factor in the adoption of offending behaviour during adolescence. Why is it, therefore, that the majority of child abuse victims do not become delinquent? Although empirical and theoretical evidence abounds in the victim to offender literature, the pathways responsible for vulnerability towards and protection against criminal activity have so far been unidentified. The significance of detecting these influencing factors is apparent, specifically in relation to termination of the cycle either before or after it has begun.     

Exploring the Individual's Perception of Sources and Credibility of Feedback in the Work Environment

This study reports on the construction of an instrument to assess individuals' perceptions of feedback from various sources in a work environment, and to investigate the effects of the sources' credibility on those perceptions. Six dimensions were found to reflect the sources of feedback and the type of information they convey, and 10 dimensions were found to represent the degree of credibility the individual attributes to the sources of feedback. Data collected from a heterogeneous sample of 706 employees in the UK and Brazil were analysed to establish the reliability and construct validity of the questionnaire.     

Eyewitness Testimony: The Effects of Discussion on Recall Accuracy and Agreement

While some previous research has suggested that group discussion may facilitate eyewitness accuracy, other research has drawn attention to the potential dangers of such discussion. The present studies examine this controversy and the interaction between accuracy and agreement following group discussion. It was found that individuals tend to agree in their testimony following group discussion, and are liable to change their original replies to bring themselves into agreement with group leaders' recall. A second experiment focused upon the actual items which witnesses agreed on following discussion. Changing the mode of questioning from interrogative to narrative eliminated differences in magnitude of agreement between discussion and no-discussion groups. As narrative recall leads to reporting of "easy" items, it was suggested that only certain "difficult" items are susceptible to discussion effects. The need for caution regarding the reliance on testimony following witness discussion was stressed.     

A skills training approach to the reduction of institutional offending

Offenses committed by those held in institutions can have repercussions at several levels: the individual must suffer the consequences of his or her actions; there may be a victim; and valuable staff time is spent adjudicating the outcome. A number of studies have suggested that an adjunct to behavioural training in institutions is a reduction in institutional misbehaviour—a suggestion which the present study sought to capitalize upon in a direct manner. In a borstal for young male law-breakers, referrals of individuals who received above average numbers of discipline reports in the institution were gathered. These people were then offered a place on a training course designed to attempt to modify behaviour towards authority figures, prison officers in particular. The course was carried out in two forms: a ‘Short’ Course of 4 days duration, and a ‘Long” Course spread over 8 weeks. Assessment of the effects of training was made by monitoring levels of discipline reports, and also by the administration of self-report and personality scales. Compared with No-training and Non-referred Controls, no significant changes in the frequency of receiving discipline reports was found following either mode of training. However, a number of changes on the self-report and personality measures suggested some degree of change after training. Implications for the construction of future courses with similar objectives are discussed.     

Notes and shorter communications: Psychoticism and unemployment

The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) was given to male skilled and semi-skilled workers facing redundancy, in an attempt to ascertain whether any of the factors measured contributed towards a predispositional tendency for unemployment. Psychoticism was found to be a sound predictor of future work status for the school group, whilst no differences of merit were noted for any variable for the redundant group. The results are discussed in relation to other findings with regard to EPQ trait factors, and in particular to Psychoticism.     

Language familiarity effects in short-term memory: The role of output delay and long-term knowledge

Four experiments examined the origins of language familiarity effects in bilingual short-term recall. In Experiments 1A and 1B, bilingual adults were tested on serial recall and probed serial recall of words and nonwords in their first and second languages. A first-language advantage was obtained on both measures, indicating that the beneficial effects of language familiarity are not exclusively attributable to lesser output delay during overt recall. In Experiments 2A and 2B, the same group of bilinguals was tested on serial recall and serial recognition of word lists in both languages. Although a sizeable first-language advantage was obtained on the serial recall measure, recognition performance was comparable in the two languages. On the basis of these results it is suggested that language differences in bilingual immediate memory arise in large part as a consequence of the differential availability of language-specific long-term knowledge with which to support retrieval processes in serial recall.