by rbartels | May 13, 2019 | Publications
Amanda Roberts and her colleagues have had two new papers accepted for publication on the topic of problematic gambling.
For those interested in reading the papers when they are published, the references are below:
Sharman, S., Murphy, R., Turner, J. & Roberts, A (2019). Psychosocial correlates in treatment seeking gamblers: Differences in early age onset gamblers vs later age onset gamblers. Addictive Behaviors.
Rogers, J., Landon, J., Sharman, J., & Roberts, A. (2019). Anonymous women? A scoping review of the experiences of women in Gamblers Anonymous (GA). International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.
In addition to these, Amanda and colleague also recently published a paper examining whether GPS should screen for gambling disorders.
Roberts, A., Bowden Jones, H., Roberts, D. & Sharman, S. (2019). Should GPs routinely screen for gambling disorders? British Journal of General Practice, 69 (682): 226-227.
by rbartels | Feb 16, 2017 | Publications
The most recent issue of the Journal of Sexual Aggression is a special issue on the topic of ‘Online Sex Offending – Approaches to Assessment and Intervention‘. This special issue has been guest edited by FCRG’s own Dr Hannah Merdian, in collaboration with Prof. Derek Perkins.
The area of online sex offending – including the downloading, viewing, and sharing of Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM), as well as online grooming and solicitation of children – is rapidly growing in terms of the depth and breadth of research and knowledge-base. Dr Merdian and Prof. Perkins are key figures in this area and, in this special issue, they have brought together a series of research articles by other key researchers (as well as book reviews and a letter from Dr Seto) that showcase some of the most recent findings, thinking, and practical advances in the area. This includes risk factors associated with undetected CSEM users, CSEM-related cognitions, an anthropological analysis of CSEM offending, sexual grooming of children, feedback from CSEM users regarding a risk-reduction programme,and more.
Many of the online articles in the Special Issue – including the Introduction by Dr Merdian and Prof. Perkins – are currently open-access and can be found by clicking on this link.
by rbartels | Jan 19, 2017 | Publications
FCRG member – Dr Ross Bartels – has just published a paper in Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment entitled “Assessing Sexual Interest in Children Using the Go/No-Go Association Test”, along with co-authors Prof. Anthony Beech, Dr Leigh Harkins, and Dr David Thornton.
The aim of this paper was to examine whether an indirect measure called the Go-No/Go Association Task (GNAT) is capable of assessing sexual interest in children. The authors found that men who have sexually offended against an extrafamilial child were faster at categorising child-related and sexual fantasy-related stimuli than adult-related and sexual fantasy-related stimuli (suggesting a stronger association between children and sexual fantasy). This pattern of responding was not seen in non-offenders or a group comprised of men with sexual offences against an intrafamilial child or against both adults and children.
Since individuals with extrafamilial offences tend to have a stronger sexual interest in children, these findings suggest that the GNAT is able to assess sexual interest in children. Moreover, the GNAT data correlated with the use of sexual fantasies about children in a manner that further supports this conclusion. Since the GNAT has some unique strengths as an indirect measure (e.g., it can assess single categories and absolute associations in addition to relative associations), this study provides preliminary support for the use of GNATs as a measure of sexual interest. Thus, with further corroboration, the GNAT may become a useful tool for both researchers and practitioners.
The article can be read here
by rbartels | Dec 10, 2016 | Publications
We are delighted to inform readers of a new publication from members of the FCRG. The paper in question is from Dr Ross Bartels and Prof Todd Hogue (led by FCRG associate Dr Craig Harper) entitled “Reducing Stigma and Punitive Attitudes Toward Pedophiles Through Narrative Humanization” published in ‘Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment’.
This study addresses an important (and very current) topic within the literature – namely, people’s view of paedophiles. Prior research has shown that such views are highly stigmatised and punitive in nature. This view is largely due to a misunderstanding of what a paedophile is, driven by a common misconception that a paedophilic individual is a sexual offender (against children). These views can have negative consequences for paedophilic individuals who have no desire to offend, including increasing their risk of offending. As such, there is a need to find strategies that can improve these views allowing for more rational discussions of this topic, rather than purely emotion-driven responses.
In this present paper (N = 100), Harper, Bartels, and Hogue found that presenting participants with a first-person narrative stimulus (i.e., a male discussing his experiences of being a non-offending paedophile) and an informative stimulus (i.e., an expert describing what paedophilia is and is not) both led to reduced stigmatising and punitive attitudes towards paedophiles as measured via self-report questionnaires. Moreover, they found that only the former – which they termed a ‘humanised narrative’ – resulted in reduced negative views at an implicit (or automatic) level, as measured by a mousetracking task. The findings offer an important contribution to the literature on how the to address the misconceived, stigmatising views that people tend to hold towards paedophiles. We look forward to seeing how this specific area of research continues.
A pre-proof copy of the paper can be viewed here
by rbartels | Nov 18, 2016 | Publications
Last week, a new book on sexual offending (containing three volumes) was published. The work, entitled “The Wiley Handbook on the Theories, Assessment, and Treatment of Sexual Offending”, is the result of a large project involving 6 editors across 3 volumes (Vol 1. on Theory was edited by Tony Beech & Tony Ward; Vol 2. on Assessment by Leam Craig & Martin Rettenberger; and Vol 3. on Treatment by Bill Marshall & Liam Marshall), and 1 overseeing editor (Douglas Boer) who brought all the volumes (including over 80 chapters) together.
We are happy to say that three members of the FCRG contributed to three chapters!
First, Dr Ross Bartels (along with Tony Beech) have a chapter on ‘Theories of Deviant Sexual Fantasy’ in Volume 1 (Theory). This marks one of the only existing publications that consolidates the existing literature pertaining to the theoretical underpinnings of deviant sexual fantasies (and also includes the authors’ new model – the ‘Dual-Process Model of Sexual Thinking’).
Second, Ross also contributed another chapter (along with Nicola Gray and Robert Snowden) entitled ‘Indirect Measures of Deviant Sexual Interest’ (in Vol.2 on Assessment). The chapter provides a review of studies that use response-latency measures of deviant sexual interest. While many studies are being frequently published in this area, the chapter provides researchers, clinicians, & other forensic professionals with a general overview of the field.
Third, Prof. Todd Hogue and Charlotte Wesson (along with Prof. Derek Perkins) have contributed a chapter entitled ‘Eye-tracking and assessing sexual interest in forensic contexts‘ to Vol. 2 (Assessment). The chapter focuses a relatively new method of assessing sexual interest (both typical and atypical) – eye-tracking. Todd and Charlotte review the existing studies, concluding that it holds promise as a reliable and hard-to-fake assessment tool.
For more about the book – click here
by rbartels | Oct 19, 2016 | Publications
Good news!
PhD student Danielle Kettleborough and her supervisor Dr Hannah Merdian have had a paper published in the Journal of Sexual Aggression. The paper is entitled “Gateway to offending behaviour: permission-giving thoughts of online users of child sexual exploitation material” and involved thematically analysing the views of 16 forensic professionals regarding their views on the thinking patterns of child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) users. Four overarching themes were identified. (1) Perceived Nature of Children (perception of children portrayed in CSEM, as well as children in general), (2) Non-sexual Engagement with CSEM (motivating factors that are not inherently sexual in nature), (3) Denial of Harm (perception of the level of harm caused by CSEM), and (4) Expression of a General Sexual Preference (general interest in deviant sexual behaviour). Danielle and Hannah discuss the important implication that this study offers, including theoretical insight (e.g., differences between CSEM subtypes) and practical utility (e.g., moving towards developing a scale). The article can be found here
Hannah Merdian has also had another paper published (in Psychology, Crime, & Law) along with two of her ex-MSc students (Rebecca Crookes & Charlotte Hassett). The paper is entitled ” ‘So what about the stories?’ An exploratory study of the definition, use, and function of Narrative Child Sexual Exploitation Material”. It reports a study on a topic that has received very little attention in the field; namely, CSEM that is narrative-based (i.e., non-visual) or N-CSEM. In an attempt to define and conceptualise N-CSEM, the authors interviewed 11 professionals who had worked with N-CSEM users. Using thematic analysis with the interview data, 3 overarching themes emerged with regards to N-CSEM: (1) conceptual and legal definitions; (2) considering harm of N-CSEM; and (3) function of N-CSEM. As the authors state, “the study provides insight into N-CSEM as a separate entity from visual CSEM, challenging and informing legal decision-making and assessment and treatment providers for users of CSEM”. The study also provides researches with a base from which to begin exploring N-CSEM more deeply. The article can found here
by rbartels | Jul 15, 2016 | Publications
Good cheer!!! Dr Amanda Roberts (of the the FCRG) has just had two papers accepted for publication
The first reports the results of six focus-groups conducted with 40 gamblers to uncover the aspects of Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs) that they found most attractive. Results revealed that two broad groups of characteristics emerged from the data; one linked to winning and the other with betting. For more info, follow the link below.
Landon, J., du Preez, K. P., Page, A., Bellringer, M., Roberts, A., & Abbott, M. (2016). Electronic Gaming Machine Characteristics: It’s the Little Things That Count. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1-15. DOI: 10.1007/s11469-016-9666-2
The second reports the results of a study examining gambling and violence in a sample of 3025 adults males from the UK. It was found that, after adjusting for alcohol and drug dependence, comorbid mental disorder and impulsivity, problem gambling was shown to be predictive of various measures of violent behaviour. For more, follow the link below.
Roberts, A.D. L., Coid, J., King, R., Murphy, R., Turner, J., Bowden-Jones, H & Landon, J (2016). Gambling and violence in a nationally representative sample of UK men. Addiction. DOI: 10.1111/add.13522.
by rbartels | Jul 2, 2016 | Publications
A new study has just been published in Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research & Treatment by FCRG members Craig Harper and Dr Ross Bartels, entitled “Implicit Theories and Offender Representativeness in Judgments About Sexual Crime“.
Using a sample of 252 community participants, the paper examines the interacting effect of implicit theories about sexual offenders and offender type (i.e., adult male; adult female; or male juvenile) on judgements of moral character and sentencing. The results showed that people with an entity implicit theory about sexual offenders (i.e., believing they cannot change) held more negative attitudes towards sexual offenders than did those with incremental implicit theories (believing sex offenders change).
Moreover, compared with those with an incremental implicit theory of sexual offenders, entity theorists judged sexual offending to be: (a) more indicative of the perpetrator’s moral character; and (b) more deserving of punishment. However, these scores were greater in relation to the adult male offender than the adult female and juvenile offender. Finally, a greater number of participants with an entity implicit theory provided dispositional explanations for the perpetrator’s offending behaviour than did the incrementalists, who provided more situational explanations.
The study indicates that implicit theories about sexual offenders affect judgements about sexual offenders, although for entitists, this is moderated by whether the case they are judging is representative of a stereotypical sexual offender.
For more information, please contact with Craig Harper at craigaharper19@gmail.com or Dr Ross Bartels at rbartels@lincoln.ac.uk
by rbartels | Apr 12, 2016 | Publications
We are pleased to announce that FCRG members Dr Hannah Merdian, Dr Nima Moghaddam, and Dr Dave Dawson (in conjunction with numerous other external co-authors) have just had a new paper published in Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment.
Using a sample of 68 offenders, the study had two core goals: (1) to determine whether the offending profile of ‘child sexual exploitation material offenders’ (CSEMOs) is distinct to contact child sexual offenders (CSOs); and (2) to investigate whether distinct subgroups of CSEM users can be empirically differentiated.
Using numerical and spatial methods of data analysis on a variety of clinical and risk-related variables, the results supported the dichotomous distinction between fantasy-driven versus contact-driven CSEM offending. Further analyses identified three dimensions as crucial for the classification of these two subgroups: (a) direct sexual contact with a minor; (b) possession of fantasy-generating material, and (c) social contact with other users that have a sexual interest in minors. This study offers important new insights into the understanding the risks and needs of CSEM users.
Citation: Hannah L. Merdian, Nima Moghaddam, Douglas P. Boer, Nick Wilson, Jo Thakker, Cate Curtis, and Dave Dawson (2016). Fantasy-Driven Versus Contact-Driven Users of Child Sexual Exploitation Material: Offender Classification and Implications for Their Risk Assessment. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment. doi:10.1177/1079063216641109
by rbartels | Dec 16, 2015 | Publications
FCRG members – Dr. Ross Bartels and Dr. Hannah Merdian – have recently published an article detailing an initial conceptualisation of the implicit theories held by fantasy-driven child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) users. Using a grounded theory approach to analyse the existing literature on CSEM users, Bartels and Merdian propose five CSEM-related implicit theories, each of which is contextualised by a general assumption about the reinforcing nature of the Internet. The five implicit theories include:
Unhappy World (a view that the world is uninterested and/or rejecting – linked to self-regulatory online behaviour)
Self as Uncontrollable (perception of oneself as “addicted” to the online behaviour)
Children as Sex Objects (dehumanising view of children as sexual objects)
Self as Collector (detached perception of CSEM as collectibles)
Nature of Harm (CSEM variant) (denial of role in the abuse cycle and minimisation of harm in CSEM)
.
This paper marks the first published article on this topic and is hoped to be a valuable contribution to the literature.
The article can accessed for free (up until 02/02/16) via this link
