Attributions for Different Types of Traumatic Events and Post-Traumatic Stress Among Women

This study investigated the relationship of attributions to post-traumatic stress symptoms among women exposed to different types of traumatic events. Participants were 424 female undergraduates who previously experienced a serious accident, natural disaster, child abuse, or adult interpersonal violence. Path analysis indicated a significant indirect pathway from event type to post-traumatic stress through global attributions. Interpersonal-violence survivors exhibited the highest levels of global attributions and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Regression analyses revealed significant interactions between event type and attributions in predicting post-traumatic stress. Stable attributions were associated with increased symptoms in sexual-assault survivors and decreased symptoms in natural-disaster survivors. These findings have implications for improving cognitive interventions for survivors of different types of traumatic events.     

Personality,Parental, and Media Influences on Aggressive Personality and Violent Crime in Young Adults

Debate remains regarding the interaction between predictor variables for aggression, including family environment, media violence, and personality. The current study examined the contributions of gender and personality, exposure to physical abuse and violence in the family, and exposure to media violence in both television and in video games on violent criminal activity. Data from young adults (n = 355) indicated that personality characteristics and direct physical abuse significantly predicted violent crime. Exposure to television and video game violence were not significant predictors of violent crime. These results elucidate the complex interplay between multiple factors related to the etiology of violent crime. These results also call into question the belief that media violence is involved in the etiology of violent crime.     

Is Fear of Crime Mainly Social and Economic Insecurity in Disguise? A Multilevel Multinational Analysis

Using the 2006 Eurobarometer data (representative sample of the European population, N = 16 306, 27 countries), we performed a multilevel analysis aimed at predicting fear of crime. A significant proportion of the variation in fear of crime was at country level. Of the individual predictors included, being a woman, being poorly educated, being unemployed, and being an urban dweller showed positive relations with fear of crime. Fear was highest among people who considered themselves to be socially marginal, among people with negative expectations regarding themselves and their country's future, and among people who considered their nation's welfare system to be unsatisfactory. Among the ecological predictors we took into consideration, nations' degree of economic inequality and low expenditure on education and on social protection showed a positive association with fear of crime, whereas the crime, immigration, and employment rates did not. Implications and limitations of this research are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does Religion Suppress,Socialize, Soothe,or Support? Exploring Religiosity's Influence on Crime

A negative association between religiosity and crime is commonly documented in the United States and other Western contexts. In this study, we examine associations between religiosity and criminal probability among randomly selected survey respondents in a non‐Western Christian context (Lviv, Ukraine) and a non‐Western Islamic context (Dhaka, Bangladesh). In addition, we explore whether religiosity is associated in these contexts with various theoretical mechanisms identified in prior research, including self‐control, social control, moral beliefs, negative emotions, and social support. Results confirm that religiosity is negatively correlated with projected criminal probability in non‐Western contexts as well as among both Christian and Muslim respondents. Furthermore, net of social and demographic characteristics, religiosity appears to indirectly influence crime through moral beliefs and, to a lesser extent, through self‐control and informal social control.     

Memory Bias for Faces that are Perceived as Hostile by Crime Victims with Acute Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

The present study tested, and found support for, the hypotheses that crime victims with acute post-traumatic stress disorder have: (i) a general memory impairment for faces; and (ii) a memory bias for faces that they perceive as hostile, even when these faces are not arranged to show any hostile face expressions. It is suggested that crime victims with acute post-traumatic stress disorder perform worse on recognition memory due to impaired concentration, and that they allocate their limited attentional resources to the detection of hostility in others in order to avoid being victimized again. This produces a memory bias for perceived hostility even in relatively innocuous everyday interactions with others, which contributes to maintaining the sense of serious current threat that characterizes post-traumatic stress disorder.     

Associations Between Delay Discounting and Risk‐Related Behaviors,Traits, Attitudes,and Outcomes

Delay discounting—preference for immediate, smaller rewards over distal, larger rewards—has been argued to be part of the “generality of deviance”, which describes the co‐occurrence of various forms of impulsive and risky behaviors among individuals. Some studies have linked laboratory‐measured delay discounting to behaviors, traits, attitudes, and outcomes associated with risk, but these associations have been inconsistent. Furthermore, many of these studies have been conducted with exclusively undergraduate samples, or in samples offering low statistical power. In a large community sample (n = 328) diverse in age and socioeconomic status, we examined associations between two measures of behavioral delay discounting (single‐shot and canonical k‐parameter estimation) and behavioral risk‐taking, personality traits associated with risk, domain‐specific risk attitudes, gambling and problem gambling, antisocial behavior, and criminal outcomes. In addition, we explored whether a novel response time latency measure of delay discounting explained variance in these risk‐related outcomes. Results indicated that behavioral delay discounting was consistently associated with all variables related to impulse control: high trait impulsivity, low trait self‐control, risk‐averse attitudes toward financial investment, risk‐prone attitudes toward gambling and health/safety risks, gambling and problem gambling, antisocial conduct, and criminal outcomes. Latency‐measured delay discounting was inconsistently associated with behavioral delay discounting and risk‐related measures. Together, results suggest that delay discounting is associated with poor impulse control consistent with a generality of deviance account. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fear of crime and community concerns: Mediating effect of risk and pragmatic fear

This study investigates the relationship between community concerns (i.e., perceived crime, incivilities, and infrastructure) and fear of crime (FOC) while examining the mediating role of risk of victimisation and pragmatic fear. Gender and ethnic differences were also explored. Data were collected using a proportionate multistage random sample of 3,003 participants from a southern Caribbean island in 2015. The following self‐reported measures were used: risk of victimisation and FOC scales, a general (noncrime) fear scale measuring pragmatic fear, and a community concern scale. Data were analysed using path analysis, Sobel tests, and multiple group analysis. Findings revealed that perceived crime and incivilities significantly predicted FOC, whereas infrastructure was insignificant as a direct predictor. Females had higher FOC, and among ethnic groups, Indo‐Trinidadians had the highest FOC than Afro‐Trinidadians and Mixed participants. Risk of victimisation and pragmatic fear had significant mediating effects on community concerns and FOC. Findings are discussed in the context of the social psychology of social disorganisation and previous research.     

An examination of blue- versus white-collar workers’ conceptualizations of job satisfaction facets

This study examined the degree to which blue- versus white-collar workers differentially conceptualize various job facets, namely the work itself, co-workers, supervisors, and pay. To examine these potential differences, we conducted a series of analyses on job satisfaction ratings from two samples of university workers. Consistent with the study hypothesis, results revealed that blue- and white-collar workers held different conceptualizations regarding the nature of co-workers, pay, and the work itself, but not of supervisors. In general, more dimensions for each facet emerged for the white-collar workers, suggesting that these individuals possess more differentiated and multidimensional evaluations of these job facets than do blue-collar workers. Discussion focuses on the meaning and implications of the findings.     

The consistency of inconsistency in serial homicide: patterns of behavioural change across series

Linkage analysis is a crucial part of the investigative process when faced with a possible series of related offences. Establishing behavioural consistency (i.e., offender's behaviours consistently present across the series) is at the core of linkage. Recent empirical studies have found little evidence of consistency looking at either individual or groups of behaviours in serial homicide. It is argued that behavioural changes are rooted in the changing cognitive strategies that offenders use to reach their ultimate goal (i.e. the commission of multiple homicides). Factors that could account for these changes include learning, situational factors, loss of control, and changes in the offender's fantasy. Patterns of behavioural change have been identified in serial crimes, such as rape. However, no empirical studies have looked at patterns of behavioural change in serial homicide. The present study examined patterns of consistency and change using a combination of thematic and behavioural subgroup approaches that use Multidimensional Scaling. Thematic differentiation indicative of behavioural manifestations of cognitive strategies was found in all three examined subgroups: planning, wounding, and offender–victim interaction, and patterns of change within these subgroups provided support for the above theories. Looking at behavioural patterns rather than individual behaviours, may be a more fruitful way of examining consistency in serial homicide, and could have significant implications for linkage analysis. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perceived discrimination and well‐being: a victim study of different immigrant groups

In this study, we compared perceived discrimination and its influence on psychological stress symptoms, and general health status in a nation‐wide probability sample of immigrants in Finland (N = 3595, 42% males, 58% females). The study represents an expansion of a previous work (Liebkind, K., & Jasinskaja‐Lahti, I. (2000a). Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 10, 1–16) by drawing on a representative sample of the adult immigrant population (age group 18–65), and by assessing not only perceived ethnic discrimination but also experiences of racist crimes. The results obtained regarding group differences in perceived discrimination were consistent with previous studies, with results from attitude surveys indicating the hierarchy among the host population regarding preferred immigrant groups, and with our predictions based on the length of residence, cultural distance and visibility of the different immigrant groups studied. Perceived racism and discrimination, especially everyday racism, was highly predictive of the psychological well‐being and general health status of the immigrants. The differences between grouping are discussed in the light of additional factors potentially mediating and moderating the effects of perceived discrimination on well‐being and general health. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.