The role of corroborative evidence in child sexual abuse evaluations

Published studies of forensic child sexual abuse (CSA) evaluations by mental health and medical professionals and paraprofessionals (MHPs) were analysed in order to evaluate two widely held assumptions. These related assumptions are (1) evidence that corroborates children's reports of sexual abuse is rare in forensic CSA evaluations; and (2) in the vast majority of evaluations, MHPs base their judgements about whether or not sexual abuse allegations are true on their assessments of children's reports of sexual abuse and other psychosocial data. Data from five chart review studies of a combined total of 894 forensic CSA evaluations provided sufficient information to assess the validity of these assumptions. Corroborative evidence was present in 36% of the 894 evaluations and in 54% of evaluations in which MHPs judged the allegations likely to be true, contradicting the first assumption. In the evaluations in which corroborative evidence was present, the presence or absence of a child's report of sexual abuse was only weakly associated with MHPs' judgements about the validity of the allegations (allegations in almost all corroborated cases were judged likely to be true, even in the absence of a child's report), partially contradicting the second assumption. Implications of this analysis for research and policy are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Democratic pluralism and majority rule

Abstract

I argue that Metz’s undertaking, in seeking a ‘comprehensive basic norm’ to underpin African ethics, is similar to Hans Kelsen’s postulation of the Grundnorm in his Pure Theory of Law. But African ethics does not need to be underpinned by an approach such as Kelsen’s. In my view, Metz’s preference for seeking to develop a Grundnorm rests upon a failure to attend carefully to the distinctness of African ethical thinking from Western ethical thinking. This failure is manifest in a spurious distinction (on which Metz relies) between ‘moral anthropology’ / ‘cultural studies’ and ‘normative theory’. It is also manifest in Metz’s failure to attend carefully to the work of Wiredu and Bujo, both of whom present systematic, critical analyses of African ethical thinking while implicitly rejecting the quest for a Grund norm as being unAfrican.     

What is a Natural Conception of the World?

Continental philosophers such as Heidegger and Nicolai Hartmann and analytic philosophers such as Ryle, Strawson, and Jennifer Hornsby may be interpreted as using competing intellectual strategies within the framework of one and the same research programme, the programme of developing a natural conception of the world. They all argue that the Manifest Image of the world (to use Sellars's terminology) is compatible with, or even more fundamental than, the Scientific Image. A comparative examination of these strategies shows that Hartmann's strategy of stratification is superior to those of Heidegger, Ryle, and Strawson.     

Some Observations on Group Therapy with the Blind

This study integrates the theoretical assumptions underlying member preparation for group into a series of pregroup interview guidelines, which are then field tested for reliability and validity using a Solomon Four-Group design. Findings indicate a significant relationship exists between those individuals having the pregroup interview and a realistic perception of group membership and understanding of group purpose. The third dimension, which tested congruence between member goals and group purpose due to having the pregroup interview, was not significant. Implications of the study and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Books Received

Preliminary summaries of a few empirio‐semantical investigations¹ concerning such sentences as: can we say x, should we ever (ordinarily) say x, x is self‐evident (tautological, contradictory, nonsensical), P does not know what be is talking about, x is voluntary (involuntary) and: that is no excuse.     

The effects of scenario-based risk information on perceptions of susceptibility to Chlamydia and HIV

Abstract

Objectives: The Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI) was originally reported as one-dimensional; however, habit has been described as characterised by several features. Moreover, one-dimensional models for the SRHI have demonstrated poor fit. Therefore, we aimed to compare multidimensional models with a one-dimensional model in both snacking and physical activity habits, besides examining further instrument characteristics.

Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted with high school and university students (n?=?555).

Main outcome measure: The SRHI adapted for physical activity and for snaking habits was applied at one time point.

Results: Nested models with one factor, two factors and three factors were compared. Next, a hierarchical second-order model was tested, and further validity issues, as well as invariance between habits, were examined. Three-dimensional models represented a better fit for both habits. However, fit was still inadequate in the snacking version. In addition, discriminant validity concerns emerged for the physical activity SRHI. Moreover, invariance between the snacking and the physical activity versions was not confirmed.

Conclusions: Considering the SRHI as composed by the dimensions of ‘lack of awareness’, ‘lack of control’ and ‘history of behavioural repetition’ seems to be more accurate. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that further research is needed.     

When does it hurt? Intergroup permeability moderates the link between discrimination and self‐esteem

Research shows that personal discrimination and group discrimination have distinct effects on personal self‐esteem. Specifically, whereas personal discrimination negatively impacts self‐esteem, group discrimination increases it. We suggest that this pattern is dependent on the socio‐structural context in which individuals experience discrimination. To test this hypothesis, we manipulate intergroup permeability and examine its impact on the link between personal/group discrimination and personal self‐esteem. Results show that a control condition replicates previous research, that is, a positive association between group discrimination and self‐esteem and a negative association for personal discrimination. The positive association of group discrimination disappeared in a permeable context and reversed when the context was presented as impermeable. Moreover, the deleterious effect of personal discrimination on self‐esteem vanished in impermeable contexts. Results are discussed in light of the literature on stigmatization. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implicit and explicit attitudes toward fatness and thinness: The role of the internalization of societal standards

Two studies examined restrained and unrestrained eaters’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward fatness and thinness. Participants completed measures of implicit and explicit attitudes toward fatness and thinness (Studies 1 and 2), and a measure of the internalization of sociocultural attitudes toward thinness (Study 2). Restrained and unrestrained eaters both had strong implicit negative attitudes toward fatness, but restrained eaters had stronger negative explicit attitudes and beliefs about fatness. Explicit attitudes and beliefs were related to the degree of internalization of sociocultural attitudes, and the internalization of sociocultural attitudes partially mediated the relation between dietary restraint and explicit attitudes. These results suggest that most people are aware of societal standards regarding fatness and thinness and have developed negative implicit attitudes toward fatness, but that only some people (in particular, restrained eaters) have internalized these standards and developed negative explicit attitudes toward fatness that they endorse as personal beliefs.