Retributivism revisited

I’ll raise a problem for Retributivism, the view that legal punishment is justified on the basis of desert. I’ll focus primarily on Mitchell Berman’s recent defense of the view. He gives one of the most sophisticated and careful statements of it. And his argument is representative, so the problem I’ll raise for it will apply to other versions of Retributivism. His insights about justification also help to make the problem particularly obvious. I’ll also show how the problem extends to non-retributive justifications of punishment. I’ll argue that Berman’s argument makes a questionable assumption about the standard of justification that justifications of punishment must meet to be successful. If we think about what it takes to justify punishment and reflect on the intuitions that retributivists appeal to, it turns out that the intuitions aren’t obviously up to the task.     

School-Associated Problem Behavior in Childhood and Adolescence and Development of Adult Schizotypal Symptoms: A Follow-Up of a Clinical Cohort

How school-associated behavioral problems in childhood and adolescence precede distinctive adult schizotypal symptoms was examined. Gender specific findings were explored. After 11.6 (SD?=?3.1) years, 159 patients of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands were reassessed for adult schizotypal symptoms. Severity of behavioral symptoms in childhood and adolescence using Teacher Report Form (TRF; Verhulst et al. 1997) and adult schizotypal symptoms using Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Revised (Raine in Schizophrenia Bulletin 17:555–564, 1991) were examined by Spearman’s bivariate correlations. Multiple regression analyses were performed to determine the combined predictive value of significant TRF subscales for schizotypal symptomatology. Moderation was tested by adding the interactions of gender with TRF subscales to the models. Disregarding gender, correlational analyses revealed that TRF Total problems, in specific thought problems, social problems, and attentional problems were associated with disorganized schizotypal symptoms in adult life. TRF thought problems was also associated with future positive schizotypal symptoms. When gender was taken into account, for boys only thought problems was associated with adult positive schizotypal symptoms, whereas for girls externalizing problems, specifically attentional and aggressive problems, were associated with the higher levels of adult disorganized schizotypal symptoms. Moderated regression analyses provided trend significant evidence confirming that in girls externalizing problems were positively associated with general and disorganized schizotypal symptoms. When using teachers as informants, it was found that juvenile behavioral abnormalities were differentially associated with type of adult schizotypal symptoms, with these associations being further modified by gender.     

Why Do Members of Disadvantaged Groups Strike Back at Perceived Negativity Towards the In‐group?

Against the background of riots in communities across London in 2011, this paper examines the implications of negative meta‐stereotypes on stigmatized group members' reactions towards members of privileged out‐groups within their communities. We hypothesized that concerns over negative opinions that the dominant out‐group is expected to hold of the in‐group (i.e. meta‐stereotypes) would be negatively associated with group members' perceptions of societal fairness and that this relationship would be mediated by members' recall of personal experiences with discrimination. We further hypothesized that views about societal fairness that are challenged in this way would lower an inclination to express discontent with the status quo via normative means while at the same time, increase nonnormative expressions. Results from two surveys (study 1, N = 50; study 2, N = 132) provided support for these hypotheses and are discussed in terms of their meaning for community relations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DISCRIMINATION LEARNING IN ADULTS WITH NEUROCOGNITIVE DISORDERS

Alzheimer's disease is the most commonly known neurocognitive disorder characterized by deterioration in areas such as memory, attention, and activities of daily living. From a behavioral perspective, memory and attentional deficits may be described as deterioration of stimulus control. This paper provides a case study of discrimination behavior in a patient with neurocognitive disorder. The purpose of the current study was twofold: (i) to study the effect of using presumed familiar pictures in arbitrary matching‐to‐sample tasks and (ii) to study variables that affect stimulus control in a patient diagnosed with vascular dementia. There were 12 conditional discrimination experimental conditions with various types of stimuli, from familiar pictures to identity matching. The results showed that the participant's responses were not in accord with experimenter‐defined stimulus classes when using familiar pictures. However, intact stimulus control by sample stimulus was established following systematic procedural changes in the conditional discrimination tasks. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Associations between attachment‐related symptoms and later psychological problems among international adoptees: Results from the FinAdo study

We examined the associations between attachment‐related symptoms (symptoms of reactive attachment disorder (RAD), symptoms of disinhibited social engagement disorder (DSED), and clinging) and later psychological problems among international adoptees. The study population comprised internationally adopted children (591 boys and 768 girls, 6–15 years) from the ongoing Finnish Adoption (FinAdo) study. Data were gathered with self‐administered questionnaires both from adoptive parents and from adoptees aged over 9 years. Attachment‐related symptoms were measured using of a short (8‐item) questionnaire and later behavioral/emotional problems were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Five to Fifteen (FTF) scale for attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. RAD and DSED symptom subscales were associated with an increased risk of emotional and behavioral problems and ADHD. Especially the mixed type of attachment‐related symptoms was strongly associated with later emotional and behavioral problems.     

Psychology Without Psy Professionals: Exploring an Unemployed Centre Families Project as a Mental Health Resource

The activities and technologies of the psychology (Psy) disciplines, in the process of privileging professional understandings of distress, could be seen to be potentially facilitating corrosion in the capacity of the lay public to understand and ameliorate their distress. This paper draws on the experiences of people who use an Unemployed Centre Families Project in the South of England to provide an example of community mental health work that does not draw on the dominant discourses, institutions or practitioners of the Psy sciences. Through interviews with centre users, staff and volunteers, a picture emerges of a community space that provides a variety of services, projects and opportunities that have a very considerable positive impact on the mental well‐being of the centre users. This picture highlights non‐medical intersubjective processes that offer possibilities for recoveries from mental distress but that are often neglected and subordinated in the professional worlds of Psy and psychiatry. Such centres facilitate social networks and practical help, and transitions in identity can be beneficial for those experiencing mental distress. In so doing, they make prominent some of the key limitations of biomedical approaches to recovery. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.