Trauma-Informed Police Responses to Rape Victims

ABSTRACT

Rape victims can benefit from trauma-informed approaches when reporting rape to police. Police interviewing skill can prevent survivor re-victimization while eliciting useful crime statements. However, rape myth acceptance and police culture may pose obstacles to a trauma-informed approach. Client empowerment, demystification, trigger reduction, and expressed concern for victim safety can be implemented by police agencies. Interdisciplinary collaboration, combating sexual harassment, gender balancing, emotional debriefing of officers, accountability to victims, new reporting methods, and advanced training protocols are elements of a trauma-informed approach.     

Utrecht Gender Dysphoria Scale - Gender Spectrum (UGDS-GS): Construct validity among transgender,nonbinary, and LGBQ samples

Abstract

Background: Researchers combined both versions of the original Utrecht Gender Dysphoria Scale (UGDS) to create a single gender spectrum version (UGDS-GS) which measures dissatisfaction with gender identity and expression over time as well as comfort with affirmed gender identity.

Aim: This study examined the construct validity of the newly revised, UGDS-GS.

Method: Tests of measurement invariance were conducted in stages to assess measurement invariance of the UGDS-GS across three groups: cisgender, binary transgender, and nonbinary/genderqueer.

Results: Findings indicate that the UGDS-GS functions acceptably in all three gender groups (configural and metric invariance). Also, across binary transgender and nonbinary/genderqueer groups, the measure functions very similarly with all four types of invariance. Item level findings highlight the specificity of the measure to distinguish experiences of binary transgender and nonbinary/genderqueer persons differently from cisgender LGBQ individuals.

Conclusions: The UGDS-GS demonstrates a large degree of invariance across binary transgender, nonbinary/genderqueer, and cisgender LGBQ subgroups; and therefore, findings indicate this revision to be a substantial improvement. This 18-item self-report, Likert-type scale measure is a) inclusive of all gender identities and expressions (e.g., transfeminine spectrum, transmasculine spectrum, genderqueer, nonbinary, cisgender); b) appropriate for use longitudinally from adolescence to adulthood; and c) administered at any point in the social or medical transition process, if applicable, or in community-based research focused on gender dysphoria that examines cisgender and transgender persons.     

Are implicit affective evaluations related to mental rotation performance?

Conscious and unconscious emotions are related to mental rotation. In this study, we investigated if also unconscious emotional evaluations of the stimuli are related to mental rotation performance. 114 students (39 men, 75 women) solved implicit and explicit affective evaluations and a psychometric mental rotation test with cube and pellet figures. Furthermore, the use of spatial toys, the stereotyping of spatial abilities, and the self-rating in spatial abilities were registered. The mental rotation test with pellet figures was more difficult than the one with cube figures. Mental rotation performance was predicted by the self-rating of spatial abilities. For the cube figures, it was additionally predicted by the implicit affective evaluation of those figures. The results did not differ between men and women. The study provides evidence for a relation between affective emotional evaluations and mental imagery processes, although this does not hold true for all stimulus types.     

The Gender Congruence and Life Satisfaction Scale (GCLS): Development and validation of a scale to measure outcomes from transgender health services

Background: It is vital that the treatment offered at transgender health services can be evaluated to ensure a high quality of care. However, the tools currently used to evaluate treatment at transgender health services are limited by mainly focusing on mental health or because they have been developed for binary transgender people only. This study therefore aimed to develop and validate a tool that addresses these limitations. The Gender Congruence and Life Satisfaction Scale (GCLS) was developed through reviewing the literature, conducting interviews with transgender people, and holding discussions with experts working in transgender healthcare. An initial pool of items was developed and feedback on these was obtained. The tool was then validated.

Method: For the validation of the tool, a total of 789 participants (451 transgender [171 transgender females, 147 transgender males, 133 people identifying as non-binary], and 338 cisgender [254 females, 84 males]) were recruited from the United Kingdom to test the factor structure and validity of the GCLS.

Results: Exploratory factor analysis retained 38 items which formed seven subscales (psychological functioning; genitalia; social gender role recognition; physical and emotional intimacy; chest; other secondary sex characteristics; and life satisfaction). These seven subscales were found to have good internal consistency and convergent validity. The GCLS was also found to be capable of discriminating between groups (e.g., people who have and have not undergone gender affirming medical interventions). Transgender and cisgender subscale norms are provided for the GCLS.

Conclusion: The GCLS is a suitable tool to use with the transgender population to measure health-related outcomes for both clinical and research purposes.     

‘With Love from Band Aid’: Sentimental exchange,affective economies,and popular globalism

This paper discusses affective attachments to popular global imaginaries by examining the place of love in the popular humanitarianism associated with the 1984–85 music charity events Band Aid and Live Aid.The paper offers a materialist reading of the charity spectacles that situates them within a popular culture of sentimentality engaged in making and imagining forms of global community through social practices of exchange. It draws on the feminist scholarship on sentimental cultures and their imbrication with social reform movements and commodity capitalism to show how Band Aid can be understood as part of a popular culture of sentimental exchange, in which famine relief images, stories, tears, money and goods were passed along in affective exchanges that also involved sentimental stories and personalized commodities and capital such as wedding rings, household furniture and allowances. The circulation of feeling, concretized in the exchange of goods and money, confirmed the social fantasy of global community, imagined through the terms of intimate love and familial gift exchange. When combined with local, national and international commodity markets that allowed information, goods and images to travel among strangers, global gift giving appeared to replace geopolitical alliances and financial interests with an open, barrier-free, affective economy of love and cooperation.     

Trans,gender diverse and non-binary adult experiences of social support: A systematic quantitative literature review

Abstract

Background: Trans, gender diverse and non-binary (TGDNB) adults experience significant health disparities relative to their cisgender peers. While social support is a known health-protective factor within the general population, no systematic reviews of TGDNB experiences of social support exist.

Aim: To systematically review prior research of social support for TGDNB adults. We sought to assess the defining characteristics of the research, the participants and the research findings, mapping emerging trends across disciplines.

Methods: Six electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, LGBT Life and PsycNet) were searched for literature pertaining to TGDNB adults, social support, and health or well-being published in the past decade.

Results: The findings illustrate a predominance of USA-based quantitative research that measures social support of friends, family and a singular intimate partner. The majority of participants were white, binary-identified transgender women and TGDNB people living in metropolitan settings. Social support was commonly reported as a protective factor, with TGDNB peer support the most frequently reported correlate of health and well-being for TGDNB adults.

Discussion: The results suggest standardized inventories do not capture the emic nature of social support for TGDNB adults. A key opportunity lies in an inductive, hypothesis-forming approach to the study of what is socially supportive for TGDNB adults. In turn, this knowledge will enable the appropriate measurement, implementation and interpretation of social support studies.     

Using circular questions to explore individual family member experiences of youth gender dysphoria in Australia

Abstract

Background: The number of young people reporting gender dysphoria is increasing worldwide, with gender dysphoria known to affect everyone in the family in unique ways. Previous research has highlighted the importance of family support and understanding; however, much less is known about individual and collective family member experiences, particularly for siblings under the age of 18?years.

Aims: This study sought to identify, describe and interpret individual family member experiences of youth gender dysphoria using semi-structured interviews, incorporating circular questioning, within a whole of family, clinical and wider social context.

Methods: Thirty-five individual family members living in Australia (nine young people aged 12-17?years experiencing gender dysphoria, 10 mothers, eight fathers, and eight siblings aged 11-17?years) were interviewed, exploring positive and negative experiences of youth gender dysphoria, within and outside of the family. Family relationships, support and healthcare experiences were also explored.

Results: All participants reported a mixture of positive and negative experiences of youth gender dysphoria. Levels of acceptance tended to change with the duration of transition, with most family members adapting with time. Siblings reported mixed experiences within the same family, with some struggling to adapt. Most family members felt that including the whole family in the healthcare of the young person was important, although dependent on individual circumstances and family context. Specialist gender care experiences were unanimously positive, although services were considered difficult to access.

Discussion: Family members reported shared and individual positive and negative experiences of youth gender dysphoria across social contexts. Accepting and facilitating gender transition for young people appeared to improve individual and family functioning. Most participants valued a whole of family approach within specialist healthcare. The use of circular questioning in the study helped dispel assumptions and facilitated curiosity for others’ experiences in the family.     

Gender Categories as Dual-Character Concepts?

Seminal work by Knobe, Prasada, and Newman (2013) distinguished a set of concepts, which they named “dual-character concepts.” Unlike traditional concepts, they require two distinct criteria for determining category membership. For example, the prototypical dual-character concept “artist” has both a concrete dimension of artistic skills, and an abstract dimension of aesthetic sensibility and values. Therefore, someone can be a good artist on the concrete dimension but not truly an artist on the abstract dimension. Does this analysis capture people's understanding of cornerstone social categories, such as gender, around which society and everyday life have traditionally been organized? Gender, too, may be conceived as having not only a concrete dimension but also a distinct dimension of abstract norms and values. As with dual-character concepts, violations of abstract norms and values may result in someone being judged as not truly a man/woman. Here, we provide the first empirical assessment of applying the dual-character framework to people's conception of gender. We found that, on some measures that primarily relied on metalinguistic cues, gender concepts did indeed resemble dual-character concepts. However, on other measures that depicted transgressions of traditional gender norms, neither “man” nor “woman” appeared dual-character-like, in that participants did not disqualify people from being truly a man or truly a woman. In a series of follow-up studies, we examined whether moral norms have come to replace gender role norms for the abstract dimension. Implications for the evolution of concepts and categories are explored.     

Alcohol intoxication alters cognitive skills mediated by frontal and temporal brain regions

Alcohol intoxication affects frontal and temporal brain areas and may functionally impair cognitive processes mediated by these regions. This study examined this hypothesis by testing the effects of alcohol on sustained attention, impulsivity, and verbal memory. Sober and placebo control groups were used to distinguish pharmacological from expectancy effects of alcohol. One hundred nine university students were assigned to an alcohol (low, medium, or high dose), placebo or sober group. Moderate and high doses of alcohol impaired all cognitive measures. A gender effect was revealed in that alcohol impaired sustained attention in males, but not females. Both sustained attention and verbal memory exhibited a U-shaped pattern, in that the medium-dose alcohol group showed the greatest impairment. This study adds to knowledge about the effects of alcohol intoxication on frontally- and temporally-mediated cognitive function. These findings have specific relevance for heavy-drinking undergraduate populations, particularly in light of the fact that repeated alcohol administration produces persistent changes in brain neurocircuitry.