Delinquenzverläufe jugendlicher Sexualmörder

Sexual homicides by juvenile offenders are statistically rare and until now only a few studies explored this phenomenon. Studies on forensic psychiatric court reports and follow-up data from federal criminal records were used to investigate the delinquency of a sample of 19 juvenile sexual homicide perpetrators from their childhood up to the mean age of 45 years of age. More than the half (58%) committed or attempted sexual assaults prior to the sexual homicide. Seven from 13 who were released from custody (54%) committed sexual or violent reoffences. In a long-time analysis as much favourable as unfavourable developments were found. The results suggest that most of the persons who commit sexual homicides as juveniles already committed sexual offences before and have a high risk of sexual and violent reoffending even a long time after the homicide.     

A social functional approach to emotions in bargaining: when communicating anger pays and when it backfires

Previous research on the communication of emotions has suggested that bargainers obtain higher outcomes if they communicate anger than if they communicate happiness because anger signals higher limits, which in turn leads opponents to give in. Building on a social functional account of communicated emotions, the authors demonstrate that the behavioral consequences of communicated anger strongly depend on structural characteristics of the bargaining situation. The results of 3 experimental studies on ultimatum bargaining corroborate the notion that communicated anger signals higher limits and that emotion effects are contingent on bargainers' expectation that low offers will be rejected. The data also indicate, however, that communicating anger in bargaining may backfire. The findings suggest that bargainers who communicate anger may obtain lower outcomes (a) when their opponent has a possibility to deceive them during bargaining and (b) when the consequences of rejecting their opponent's offer are low. Taken together, the current article reveals the boundary conditions of successful communication of anger in bargaining.     

Husserl and Haugeland on Constitution

Both Husserl and Haugeland develop an account ofconstitution to address the question of howour mental episodes can beabout physical objects and thus, through the intentionalrelation, bridge the gap betweenthe mental and the physical. The respectivetheories of the two philosophers of very differentbackground show not only how mentalepisodes can have empirical content, but also howthis content is shaped by pastexperiences or a holistic background of other mentalepisodes. In this article I first outlineand then contrast their positions in order to showhow the notion of constitution can beadopted to address major problems of contemporaryphilosophy of mind, especially thequestion of how the mind can be related to itsphysical environment.     

The presence of the past: using memory work to search for psychological traces of the Nazi past in contemporary Germans

This study examines how far traces of the Nazi past can still be found in the psychological family environment of college students and academics attending a counselling centre two generations after the end of World War II. It considers how such traces can be elicited in discussions and tackled systematically within a therapeutic context. It was found that many families had never talked about their memories of the Nazi period, ignoring or repressing them. This study showed that the failure to discuss such topics within families was of decisive significance during counselling sessions, and that current problems often relate to an unprocessed family past.     

Sozialmedizinische Begutachtung der beruflichen Leistungsfähigkeit

The ?Interview for the Evaluation of Psychosocial Dimensions of Performance Capability“ represents a potentially suitable instrument for the assessment of performance capability in various contexts. Regarding time expenditure, it is very viable and can be applied without special training. Test statistics for subscales derived from factor analysis are satisfying. The modified scales should be subject to further studies of validity and reliability. However, the instrument is already suited as a tool for the assessment of performance capability, represents an algorithm for decision-making and is related to the concepts of the International Classification of Functioning (ICF).     

Fokale psychodynamische Psychotherapie der Anorexia nervosa

The paper presents a manual for the focal psychodynamic psychotherapy of anorexia nervosa (AN). The manual was developed in the context of the largest randomized controlled trial of outpatient psychotherapy for AN so far [Anorexia Nervosa Treatment of OutPatients (ANTOP), n=234]. The study compares focal psychodynamic psychotherapy with cognitive-behavioral therapy and with a control group with free choice of therapy outside the study. The manual comprises instructions for the working through of typical focal emotional and interpersonal issues of AN. Also recommendations for anorexia-specific therapeutic difficulties in the course of treatment are given. First results concerning the efficacy of the therapies carried out based on the manual are expected after completion of the ANTOP study in the middle of the year 2010.     

Busy doing nothing: Evidence for nonaction-effect binding

Research on voluntary action has focused on the question of how we represent our behavior on a motor and cognitive level. However, the question of how we represent voluntary not acting has been completely neglected. The aim of the present study was to investigate the cognitive and motor representation of intentionally not acting. By using an action-effect binding approach, we demonstrate similarities of action and nonaction. In particular, our results reveal that voluntary nonactions can be bound to an effect tone. This finding suggests that effect binding is not restricted to an association between a motor representation and a successive effect (action-effect binding) but can also occur for an intended nonaction and its effect (nonaction-effect binding). Moreover, we demonstrate that nonactions have to be initiated voluntarily in order to elicit nonaction-effect binding.