Ross has had a new paper published (with colleagues from other institutions) entitled “Exploring the stigmatisation of offending and non-offending paedophiles: A terror management approach” in the Journal of Criminal Psychology.
The study examined whether the stigma towards paedophilic individuals is related to negative associations regarding severe mental illness and extreme violence, and used a Terror Management Theory (TMT) approach to provide insights into why paedophilia is so highly stigmatised. The results showed that judgements were harsher in the offending conditions than the non-offending conditions, and also indicated that the stigmatisation of paedophilic individuals may be mediated by terror management processes.
The British Board of Film Classification has published their work on non-photographic images of child sexual abuse, which includes a commissioned report by FCRG member Dr Hannah Merdian and the onlinePROTECT team.
The work has been endorsed by the Internet Watch Foundation, Barnardo’s, Childnet, and NSPCC.
FCRG member, Dr Tochukwu Onwuegbusi, presented at the Science and Psychology Conference 2022 in London (29th Nov) and Bristol (30th Nov). His talk was titled: “Crime – How do we solveit?” where he described the application of a novel eye-tracking method that can be used to aid police crime investigation, particularly in suspect identification. Tochs presented data suggesting that fixation patterns may be repeated during the recognition of familiar scenes. Thus, tracking eye fixations could give insight as to whether the suspect under police interrogation is lying about having memory of the crime scene.
In October 2022, FCRG lead (Dr Ross Bartels) attended and presented at the 41st Annual Conference of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abuse (ATAS) in Los Angles, USA.
Ross gave a talk entitled “The Effect of Bilateral Eye-Movements on Sexual Fantasies” as part of a larger symposium titled “Can EMDR Be Helpful in the Treatment of Sexual SelfRegulation?” (chaired by Wineke Smid).
The talk (and session overall) was very well received, generating interesting discussion and interest in Ross’ work (which he is currently following up).
We are very happy to inform that PhD student – Charlotte Wesson – has just had an article published in this month’s issue of The Quarterly– the official publication of the Psychology Postgraduate Affairs Group (PsyPAG). This particular issue is a Special Issue coordinated by the ‘Psychology of Sexualities Section’ of PsyPAG; of which Charlotte is the section representative.
In the article, entitled “The Fairer Sex – Literally: A Brief Review of Sexual Fluidity“, Charlotte discusses what sexual fluidity is (i.e., “the amount an individual’s sex drive can be moulded by social, situational and cultural pressures (Baumeister, 2000); Wesson, 2016, p. 34); provides an overview of the existing theories that attempt to explain sexual fluidity; and examines research on sexual fluidity in both women and men. Charlotte ends the paper with some points on why this research is important and what areas should be researched further.
To read Charlotte’s article, it can be found on page 34 of the online version of this month’s issue of The Quarterly. Click here to be taken this online version.
For further updates on Charlotte’s work, follow her on Twitter @CharWesson
On 14-19th July, Dr. Dave Dawson, Dr. Nima Moghaddam, and Dr. Aidan Hart will be attending and presenting at the 13th Association for Contextual Behavioural Science (ACBS) World Conference in Berlin, Germany. The ACBS is dedicated to the advancement of functional contextual cognitive and behavioral science and practice so as to alleviate human suffering and advance human well being. A core interest of this conference relates to research and practice associated with ‘Acceptance and Commitment Therapy’; an evidenced based psychological therapy designed to increase ‘psychological flexibility’ through mindfulness and behavioural change strategies.
Dr. Dawson and Dr. Moghaddam will be presenting 4 research posters at the ACBS conference (all of which were led by trainees enrolled on the Clinical Psychology Doctorate at the University of Lincoln). These include:
1) “Developing a new repeatable measure of ACT processes”. This poster will report on the development of the ‘Complete measure of ACT Processes’ (CompACT); a new measure of the core processes underpinning psychological flexibility (a central tenet of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy). The core features (i.e., scoring, items, factor structure) and psychometric properties of the CompACT will be presented. It is hoped that this new measure will be a valuable contribution to the ACT (and clinical psychology) literature.
2) “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Public Speaking Anxiety – a Case Series Study of Effects on Self-reported, Implicit, Imaginal, and In-vivo Performance Outcomes”.This poster will report a multiple case experimental design looking at the efficacy of self-help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in treating public speaking anxiety. Treatment-based change was evaluated using the above-mentioned ACT process measure and the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). The findings have implications for the delivery of ACT in a self-help format for client’s wishing to address their public speaking difficulties independently (or for clients with wider social anxiety who do not seek treatment).
3) “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A case series approach”. This poster will report a multiple single case series approach to the efficacy of using ACT to treat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; a disabling and not uncommon disorder associated with a poor reported quality of life. Treatment-based change was assessed over-time using self-report, the IRAP, and behavioural activity measured via wearable technology. The results provide valuable insight into the use of ACT with this particular disorder.
4) “Regulating Eating through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (RE-ACT)”. This poster will report a study using AB single case series design to evaluate the effectiveness of a guided ACT self-help intervention for weight management of emotional eaters. Six participants took part in a five week guided self-help ACT intervention involving the completion of a range of implicit, explicit, and behavioural assessments. Preliminary results indicate that theintervention resulted in increased values pursuance, with participants reporting positive experiences about treatment.
In addition, Dr. Hart will be presenting a poster entitled “Using Implicit Measures to Predict Known Groups: An IRAP v IAT Comparison“. In conjunction with his co-author (Dr. Ross Bartels), Dr. Hart used the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) to measure women-sex and men-sex associations in a sample of self-identifying heterosexual women (n = 92) and men (n =91). The scores from each measure were subjected to binary logistic regression and discriminant function analysis to determine their ability to differentiate between groups (i.e., heterosexual women and men). The results contribute to the known-groups validation of each measure and provide further insight into the beliefs underlying sexual interest in non-offending heterosexual men and women.
We wish the speakers all the best at the ACBS conference!
Craig will be convening a symposium entitled ‘Attitudes Towards Sexual Offenders: Theory and Measurement‘ on the first day. In this symposium, Craig will be giving two talks based on his doctoral research; one entitled ‘The Perceptions of Sex Offenders Scale: Development and validation of a new measure‘ and ‘Sexual crime prototypes and their link to public and political discourse’.
In the same symposium, Gemma Stirland (finishing 2nd year undergrad) will be presenting the main results from a systematic review in a talk entitled ‘Attitudes toward sexual offenders: What do we know, and why are they important?‘ In addition, Prof. Hogue will present a talk entitled ‘Attitudes to Sex Offenders Scale: Development and validation of a 21 item short form’.
On the first day of the conference, Lauren Mumby (PhD student) will be presenting a poster entitled ‘Attributes Associated with Homelessness in Offenders’.
In addition, Katie Boardman (finishing 3rd year undergrad) will present the results of her dissertation research in a poster entitled ‘The Ads May Work: Public Perception of Sexually Deviant Males‘ (along with Dr. Bartels).
The DFP programme and keynote talks look to be really interesting this year. We wish all presenters the best of luck at the conference and look forward to hearing how the presentations went.
On the 28th May, Dr. Ross Bartels was awarded £3160 from the British Psychological Society (BPS) as part of their International Conference Symposium Scheme. This scheme is designed to aid BPS Member Networks in showcasing – to an international audience – the variety and calibre of psychological research undertaken in the UK.
More specifically, the symposium will include three oral presentations each reporting novel research using: 1) eye-tracking to assess areas on interest when viewing moving images (videos) of sexual coercion; 2) mouse-tracking to assess real-time decision processes during the appraisal of sexual stimuli; and 3) tablet-based technology to investigate kinaesthetic indicators of sexual interest.
More on this will be posted following the EAPL conference.
Last weekend (6-7th June), Prof. Todd Hogue joined a line-up of eight top canine behaviour experts (some of whom were also from the University of Lincoln) to present at the The National Dog Bite Prevention and Behaviour Conference. The event was run by renowned dog trainer Victoria Stilwell and was held at the University of Lincoln and was a great success. More info can be found here
Prof. Hogue’s talk – entitled “A Forensic Psychology Approach to Managing Dog Bite Risk” – involved discussing the idea that the principles underpinning research on offenders’ risk of reoffending can also be applied to dog bite risk (see image). Also, during the talk, Prof. Hogue discussed some of the novel research being undertaken by his PhD student Rachel Orritt.
The work discussed within the talk marks a novel approach to how techniques and insights from forensic psychology can be applied to other areas (in this case dog bite risk and dog aggression). Moreover, it demonstrates a unique way in which the area of dog bite prevention can be academically tackled. The FCRG looks forward to hear more about this new and fascinating topic.
Julie’s research focuses on gaining a deeper understanding of problematic gambling in older adults and her talk (entitled “Predictive Risk Factors for Problem Gambling Behaviour in UK Older Adults“) will report some new findings from a recent study. Also, Julie has been awarded a small bursary from the University of Lincoln to attend the PsyPAG conference.
Well done Julie!
This will be a notable PsyPAG conference as it marks their 30th anniversary. In light of this, it’s great to see the postgraduate members of the FCRG making a strong appearance at this event!
