Competence to proceed in SVP commitment hearings: Irrelevant or fundamental due process right?

Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) civil commitment, intended to incapacitate offenders and protect the public, has been implemented in 21 jurisdictions. While respondents in traditional civil commitment proceedings need not be competent to proceed, SVP commitment may present a greater deprivation of liberty and therefore greater procedural protections may be merited. Statutes and case law regarding competence in this context address two issues: competence to challenge unproven sexual offense allegations and competence to participate in the SVP commitment process. Of the 14 states that have addressed the issue, one concluded that respondents must be competent to challenge unproven allegations and one concluded that all SVP respondents must be competent to participate in the commitment process. Differences between SVP and traditional civil commitment, the rationale underlying the competence requirement, and decisions regarding competence in SVP commitment are reviewed to inform debate regarding whether SVP respondents must be competent to proceed with the commitment process. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Construct Measurement Quality Improves Predictive Accuracy in Violence Risk Assessment: an Illustration Using the Personality Assessment Inventory

Much of the risk assessment literature has focused on the predictive validity of risk assessment tools. However, these tools often comprise a list of risk factors that are themselves complex constructs, and focusing on the quality of measurement of individual risk factors may improve the predictive validity of the tools. The present study illustrates this concern using the Antisocial Features and Aggression scales of the Personality Assessment Inventory (Morey, 1991). In a sample of 1,545 prison inmates and offenders undergoing treatment for substance abuse (85% male), we evaluated (a) the factorial validity of the ANT and AGG scales, (b) the utility of original ANT and AGG scales and newly derived ANT and AGG scales for predicting antisocial outcomes (recidivism and institutional infractions), and (c) whether items with a stronger relationship to the underlying constructs (higher factor loadings) were in turn more strongly related to antisocial outcomes. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) indicated that ANT and AGG items were not structured optimally in these data in terms of correspondence to the subscale structure identified in the PAI manual. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted on a random split‐half of the sample to derive optimized alternative factor structures, and cross‐validated in the second split‐half using CFA. Four‐factor models emerged for both the ANT and AGG scales, and, as predicted, the size of item factor loadings was associated with the strength with which items were associated with institutional infractions and community recidivism. This suggests that the quality by which a construct is measured is associated with its predictive strength. Implications for risk assessment are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perception of behavioral contagion of adolescent suicide

In order to assess perceptions of behavioral contagion of suicide (what people thought a disturbed adolescent would do if the teen knew about a suicide in the community), and to assess actor-observer differences in such perceptions, 142 college students were asked to view a videotaped vignette of a distressed high school student, and then to assess her potential for committing suicide, running away, entering therapy, or abusing alcohol. Subjects who were told that the teenager knew of two recent suicides in the community (contagion group) rated the young woman as more likely to commit suicide or run away than did the subjects who were not told of the suicides (noncontagion group). Subjects who were instructed to imagine that they were the teenager (actors) blamed situational factors, and in particular the teen's parents, more for her distress than did subjects who were instructed just to rate the teenager on the videotape (observers). Contagion/actors rated suicide as more likely than did any other group. Apparently, people believe that behavioral contagion occurs when a suicide is reported, and they especially perceive themselves to be influenced by such information.     

Punishing Repeat Offenders in the Netherlands: Balancing between Incapacitation and Treatment

In the Netherlands, punishing repeat offenders is not a foregone conclusion. After a decades-long search for an appropriate punishment, repeat offenders are currently punished by means of a custodial security measure. A custodial security measure is additional incarceration often beyond the original penalty. This new penal measure can be imposed for a maximum of 2 years, and is designed to ensure public safety and reduce recidivism by way of incapacitation. However, given the fact that nearly every repeat offender suffers from severe comorbid problems (e.g., a mental illness and substance abuse disorder), judges tend to consider these objectives from a long-term perspective by insisting on as much treatment during detention as possible. Consequently, the punishment for repeat offenders balances between incapacitation and treatment. While some have argued that the current Dutch sentencing scheme represents a new way of sentencing, this article demonstrates that the reliance on the sometimes dichotomous goals of punishment and rehabilitation is characteristic not only of the current type of repeat offender punishment, but of all previous types as well. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Arrangements and rules of distribution of burdens and duties: the case of household chores

Two studies explored the arrangements and rules which are used in the division of household tasks and their frequencies of use with different kinds of tasks. In addition, the studies analysed justice evaluations of the arrangements and rules and the covariation of justice ratings with different kinds of tasks, gender, and relative size of raters' own contributions to the household labour. Data were obtained from two different types of household systems: households of students sharing flats and family households with adolescent children. Eight different arrangements and rules were distinguished. The frequencies of use differed significantly and were influenced by considerations of practicability, usefulness and efficiency. The justice ratings were guided by the ideal of an equal allocation of labour and additionally shaped by functional considerations of applicability and usefulness, and self-serving tendencies. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.