The secluded minds of violent patients

In this paper, I will present two violent patients suffering from severe Personality Disorders, illustrating the changes that can arise during the course of several years' psychoanalytic treatment in high security hospital. Progress was monitored using the Operationalised Psychodynamic Diagnostics (OPD) system. The clinical presentations will indicate how secluded these patients' minds are to themselves and to those involved in their care. The psychoanalytic treatment, as one part of the overall treatment, is described to show how the secluded parts of the patients'' minds can be approached, including references to the regular regressions that arise, provoked by ‘getting better’.     

Construct Validity of Multi‐Source Performance Ratings: An Examination of the Relationship of Self‐, Supervisor‐, and Peer‐Ratings with Cognitive and Personality Measures

Although more and more organizations prefer using multi‐source performance ratings or 360° feedback over traditional performance appraisals, researchers have been rather skeptical regarding the reliability and validity of such ratings. The present study examined the validity of self‐, supervisor‐, and peer‐ratings of 195 employees in a Dutch public organization, using scores on an In‐Basket exercise, an intelligence test, and a personality questionnaire as external criterion measures. Interrater agreement ranged from .28 to .38. Variance in the ratings was explained by both method and content factors. Support for the external construct validity was rather weak. Supervisor‐ratings were not found to be superior to self‐ and peer‐ratings in predicting the scores on the external measures.     

A social competence intervention for young children with high functioning autism and Asperger syndrome: a pilot study

The key features of Asperger Syndrome (AS) and high functioning autism (HFA) include marked and sustained impairment in social interactions. A multi-session, small group program was developed to increase social perception based on the assumption perceptual or interpretive problems underlying these social difficulties. Additionally, the group format espoused a play therapy orientation and the use of sociodramatic play was the primary therapeutic modality used. Qualitative analyses of the data resulted in an explanation of the key changes in social interactions that took place through the course of the intervention. Although each participant's experience in this group was unique, all children in this program demonstrated improvements in their social interactions, as they experienced development both emotionally and behaviorally. Findings suggest that, despite their rigid interests and behavior patterns, the social limitations of these children improved when provided with the necessary environmental resources.     

Psychoanalytische Beiträge zur Behandlung in der forensischen Psychiatrie

Two psychoanalytic treatments are described for patients suffering from severe personality disorders who have killed. These treatments have been conducted in a high security hospital and are part of the overall treatment plan for any patient. Structural changes can emerge in the course of long-term continuous treatment which is conducted within the framework of a multidisciplinary team under conditions of physical security. These changes are described and clinically illustrated using the model of mental structure of the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnostics (OPD) system. The traumatic effect of “improvement” is emphasized as well as the risk of further enactment of lower severity. The latter might however trigger considerable anxiety in those who are contributing to the care of these patients. This is of importance for the gradual steps of integrating the patient back into the community. The psychoanalytic contributions are considered as necessary immunization against the contagiousness of these disturbances in these settings and also can help clinical teams to have more realistic prognostic expectations.     

Direct and Indirect Measures of Social Perception,Behavior, and Emotional Functioning in Children with Asperger’s Disorder,Nonverbal Learning Disability,or ADHD

Understanding social interactions is crucial for development of social competence. The present study was one of the first to utilize direct and indirect measures of social perception to explore possible differences among children with nonverbal learning disability (NLD), Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-Combined (ADHD-C), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-Predominately Inattentive (ADHD-PI), and controls (N = 342). Multiple informants provided ratings of the child’s behavioral and social functioning. Results indicated that the NLD and AS groups experienced the most difficulty understanding emotional and nonverbal cues on the direct measure. In addition, children with AS or NLD showed significant signs of sadness and social withdrawal compared to the other groups. Attentional skills, while related to social perception, did not predict social perception difficulties to the same degree as number of AS symptoms.     

A child’s loss becomes a young man’s violence

Abstract

This paper describes the contribution of earlier traumatic loss to the later violent eruptions, with fatal consequences, of two young men, one who killed his mother and one who killed an unknown woman. Their developing personalities became disordered during their disturbed childhoods and the link between these developing personality disorders and psychoses is referred to. The need for long-term treatments is emphasised, as well as the importance of communication between therapist and clinical team.     

Enterprise,culture and television

Television must be used as a means of spreading knowledge: potentially, it could offer permanent access to a common fund of knowledge, allowing everyone to follow the evolution of knowledge. Experiments abroad illustrate this idea and plead in favor of a cultural channel, which need not be incompatible with maintaining the eclectism of the audiovisual scene.