Understanding the Role of Neighborhood Context in the Long-Term Criminal Consequences of Child Maltreatment

This study investigated how neighborhood conditions influence the relationship between early child maltreatment and criminal behavior, using official data from a sample of maltreated children (N = 908) and matched controls (N = 667), as well as census data about respondents' neighborhoods. Using multilevel data that incorporated information about individuals, families, and neighborhoods, 2 hypotheses (direct influence and interaction effect) were examined using hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM). The results indicated that neighborhood disadvantage and stability moderated the relationship between early child maltreatment and offending. Specifically, the effect of early child maltreatment on later juvenile and adult criminal behavior was strongest for those individuals from the most disadvantaged and most stable neighborhoods. These results suggest that studying the interaction between family functioning and neighborhood conditions provides a more comprehensive understanding of offending than does studying each factor separately.     

Evidence for dissociable neural mechanisms underlying inference generation in familiar and less-familiar scenarios

In this study, we investigated whether the left and right hemispheres are differentially involved in causal inference generation. Participants read short inference-promoting texts that described either familiar or less-familiar scenarios. After each text, they performed a lexical decision on a letter string (which sometimes constituted an inference-related word) presented directly to the left or right hemisphere. Response-time results indicated that hemisphere of direct presentation interacted with type of inference scenario. When test stimuli were presented directly to the left hemisphere, lexical decisions were facilitated following familiar but not following less-familiar inference scenarios, whereas when test stimuli were presented directly to the right hemisphere, facilitation was observed in both familiar and less-familiar conditions. Thus, inferences may be generated in different ways depending on which of two dissociable neural subsystems underlies the activation of background information.     

Hemispheric processing of anaphoric inferences: the activation of multiple antecedents

This research investigates the hemispheric processing of anaphors when readers activate multiple antecedents. Participants read texts promoting an anaphoric inference and performed a lexical decision task to inference-related target words that were consistent (Experiment 1) or inconsistent (Experiment 2) with the text. These targets were preceded by constrained or less constraining text and were presented to participants' right visual field-left hemisphere or to their left visual field-right hemisphere. In Experiment 1, both hemispheres showed facilitation for consistent antecedents and the right hemisphere showed an advantage over the left hemisphere in processing antecedents when preceded by less constrained text. In Experiment 2, the left hemisphere only showed negative facilitation for inconsistent antecedents. When readers comprehend text with multiple antecedents: both hemispheres process consistent information, the left hemisphere inhibits inconsistent information, and the right hemisphere processes less constrained information.     

Spatial awareness, alertness, and ADHD: the re-emergence of unilateral neglect with time-on-task

Studies examining a relationship between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and relative visual inattention towards left space have produced inconsistent results. Here, based on previous studies with adult neurological patients who show very severe inattention to the left, we examine whether any spatial bias in ADHD may be modulated by changes in alertness levels. In a single case, we found that inattention to the left--that was intermittently apparent--dramatically increased as a function of time-on-task. No significant changes were observed on the right. The implications for clinical assessment and research design are discussed.     

Use of mental health services among severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents in San Francisco

This study examined the mental health services available to severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents in San Francisco. Social, familial, developmental, and clinical data—as well as service use histories—on 192 youths were collected. Results indicated high levels of family dysfunction, physical and sexual abuse, and neglect in the total study population. The study also identified case history and demographic factors that were associated with repeated psychiatric inpatient hospitalizationand high annual rates of change in residential placement. These factors included being male, older, non-English-speaking, and having a history of physical and sexual abuse. The impact of the service system on the lives and course of illness of these youth is discussed and future directions for research are suggested.     

HOME SAFETY: DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF ONE COMPONENT OF AN ECOBEHAVIORAL TREATMENT PROGRAM FOR ABUSED AND NEGLECTED CHILDREN

Parents may be charged with child abuse or neglect or both on the basis of a variety of circumstances. Child neglect, for example, is often documented when caseworkers observe that the family's home itself is so poorly kept that it presents an environment in which young children have ready access to lethal hazards such as poisons, uncovered wall outlets, and firearms. In this study, we describe the development of a Home Accident Prevention Inventory (HAPI) which was validated and used to assess hazards in the homes of several families under state protective service for child abuse and neglect. The HAPI included five categories of hazards: fire and electrical, mechanical-suffocation, ingested object suffocation, firearms, and solid/liquid poisons. Following the collection of baseline data, parents were presented with a treatment package that included instructions and demonstrations on making hazards inaccessible to children, plus feedback regarding the number and location of hazards in the home. The multiple-baseline design across hazardous categories in each family's home showed that the package resulted in decreases in the number of these accessible hazards. These improvements were maintained over an extended period of unannounced follow-up checks. This research provides a model for the development and assessment of an area previously unexamined in the child abuse and neglect literature.     

Combating Foster Care Drift: An Ecosystemic Treatment Model For Neglect Cases

The neglect of children may take many forms, but always represents the diminished capacity of the entire system of which the children are a living part. Child, parent, family, neighborhood, and community variables mutually influence one another. Once children are removed from a home, these same individual, relational, and contextual factors may result in foster placements of indefinite term and goals. Families are not reunited nor are the children legally freed to be placed in permanent homes. Because of the multiplicity of transacting influences there needs to be a stage-wise, systemic approach to remediation. This begins with crisis intervention and life stabilization. Later it includes more traditional family therapy work. However, the marital and family therapist contributes substantially at each stage.     

基于物体的选择性注意理论的证据--对一例视觉忽视病人的研究

对一例视觉忽视病人的研究发现,线段划销任务中其忽视以基于相邻性组织而形成的知觉物体为中心;对视野两侧图形是否一样的判断受连通性组织的影响;报告数字时受基于颜色的相似性组织的影响.结果为基于物体的选择性注意理论提供了神经心理学证据.     

A Focus on Neglect: Comparing the Characteristics of Children and Parents in Cases of Neglect,Abuse, and Non-CAN (Child Abuse and Neglect) in Israeli Rulings on Termination of Parental Rights

This study attempts to expand the knowledge base about neglect by comparing the characteristics of children and parents involved in termination of parental rights proceedings in the Israeli legal system. Cases were classified as neglect (72.7%), abuse (19%) or non-child abuse or neglect (non-CAN; 8%) and were compared on a range of variables. The results show that neglected children have the most developmental problems, and generally come from single-parent families, compared to abused children, who suffer the most mental health problems and come from 2-parent families. Finally, neglect is associated with the mother’s history of drug abuse, and abuse is associated with the father’s drug abuse and criminal record. In non-CAN cases, the courts criticize the Child Protective Service more than in neglect and abuse cases. Implications of the findings for social work practice as well as future research directions are discussed.     

Neural implementation of probabilistic models of cognition

Bayesian models of cognition hypothesize that human brains make sense of data by representing probability distributions and applying Bayes’ rule to find the best explanation for available data. Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying probabilistic models remains important because Bayesian models provide a computational framework, rather than specifying mechanistic processes. Here, we propose a deterministic neural-network model which estimates and represents probability distributions from observable events—a phenomenon related to the concept of probability matching. Our model learns to represent probabilities without receiving any representation of them from the external world, but rather by experiencing the occurrence patterns of individual events. Our neural implementation of probability matching is paired with a neural module applying Bayes’ rule, forming a comprehensive neural scheme to simulate human Bayesian learning and inference. Our model also provides novel explanations of base-rate neglect, a notable deviation from Bayes.