by craigharper | Oct 23, 2014 | Forensic
Dr. Ruth Mann (Head of Evidence at the National Offender Management Service [NOMS]) came to the University of Lincoln on Wednesday 22nd October to present some insights about sex offender treatment programmes as part of the School of Psychology Research Seminar Series.
As part of her talk, Dr. Mann suggested that some aspects of sex offender treatment (specifically around ‘victim empathy’ and ‘taking responsibility’) may be less suitable treatment targets than more general cognitive deficits in relation to generalised empathy and problem-solving. Some of the points raised also reflected Ross Bartels‘ view that general antisocial/criminal cognition be addressed in research as much as sex-related cognition is (see FCRG post here for more on this).
Dr Mann’s slides can be viewed here
by rbartels | Oct 20, 2014 | Forensic
A new study has been published in the Journal of Sexual Aggression (see here) that explores the use of gaze patterns (via eye-tracking) to detect deviant sexual preferences in child abusers.
The authors – Dr. Charlotte Hall (University of Nottingham), Prof. Todd Hogue, and Dr. Kun Guo (University of Lincoln) – found that, when presented with images of (clothed) male and female children and adults, heterosexual child abusers (with female victims) exhibited longer fixations to the upper body region of female children than male children. In addition, child abusers showed different gaze patterns in relation to the upper body of female and male children, compared to non-offender controls.
This research adds to the growing body of research that aims to establish more sophisticated methods of assessing sexual deviant interests (a core research focus within the FCRG).
by rbartels | Oct 15, 2014 | Forensic
PhD student, Craig Harper, has contributed to a forthcoming book entitled ‘A Companion to Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Risk‘, edited by Paul Taylor, Karen Corteen, and Sharon Morley. The book provides short introductions (in alphabetical order) to various topics related to criminal justice, mental health, and risk, and is sure to be a useful text for professionals, academics, and students working in these areas. Craig’s contribution is on the ‘Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’ (DSM).
A Companion to Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Risk is set to be released on the 22nd October (2014).
by rbartels | Oct 7, 2014 | Forensic
The FCRG are delighted to welcome Charlotte Wesson to the team. Charlotte has recently begun her PhD at the University of Lincoln (under the supervision of Prof. Todd Hogue). Her research involves developing novel measures to understand and assess human sexuality, including deviant sexual interests. We look forward to hearing more on Charlotte’s work as it unfolds.
by rbartels | Oct 7, 2014 | Forensic
Prof. Todd Hogue has been invited to give the opening keynote presentation at the 7th Cracow Conference of Psychology and Law in Poland on Saturday 11th October. Prof. Hogue will presenting his research on the use of cognitive measures (in particular eye-tracking) to measure and assess offence-related sexual interests.
The conference program can be accessed here
by rbartels | Oct 6, 2014 | Forensic
What: One-day professional training workshop
Title: “Internet-based Sex Offending: Case Formulation and Intervention Planning”
When: 20th November, 2014
Where: Hamilton House, London
OnlinePROTECT is a research and development group led by psychologists Dr. Hannah Merdian (University of Lincoln) and Prof. Derek Perkins (University of Surrey and West London Mental Health NHS Trust) that addresses the safety of children and young people in online and offline environments. The programme focuses specifically on those who view and produce child exploitation material (CSEM) and aims to gain insight into who the offenders are, examining the possible causes that led them to offend in the first place.
OnlinePROTECT invites professionals working in the assessment, treatment, management, and rehabilitation of offenders who used to the internet to sexually offend against children and young people to a one-day workshop on case formulation and intervention planning. Based on their research on CSEM offenders, onlinePROTECT developed the Pathway Model of CSEM offending. Workshop attendees will hear about the latest research developments on internet-based sex offending, be trained on the pathway model, receive a range of practical assessment tools for their client work, and be able to discuss their own case material and issues.
Click here for some additional information about the course.
Or if you want to sign-up straight away, then please click here
You can keep up-to-date with onlinePROTECT events and research by following them on Twitter
by rbartels | Oct 1, 2014 | Forensic
Within the School of Psychology and the FCRG here at UoL, Dr Amanda Roberts will soon be setting up a centre for gambling research. In the current October issue of The Psychologist, a news story was written about Amanda’s plans for the new centre (see here). In the article, Amanda explains that the focus of the centre is “on understanding the psychological causes and effects of gambling, including addictive gambling, risk-taking behaviour, treatment programmes and the impact of new technologies such as betting smartphone apps” (p. 735).
This is a very exciting development that will certainly place the University of Lincoln on the map for gambling and risk-related research. We are eager to hear more and will keep you posted as things move forward.
by rbartels | Sep 30, 2014 | Forensic
In a new nextgenforensic post, Ross Bartels discusses sexual offender cognition. Specifically, he argues that there has been a heavy focus on distorted cognitions related to sex. Drawing upon some existing research and theory, Ross highlights the importance of understanding antisocial (non-sexual) cognition. As a result, he calls for researchers to start exploring sexual offenders’ cognitions that are not sex-specific but which have an aetiological role in their offending behaviour.
Read the full post here
Ross is an Associate Editor of nextgenforensic, which is an academic community blog for the next generation of researchers and practitioners that want to communicate their ideas and work to a wider audience. If you wish to contribute, please click here for more info.
by rbartels | Sep 29, 2014 | Forensic
Recently, PhD student Craig Harper attended and presented at the International Association for the Treatment of Sexual Offenders’ (IATSO) biennial conference in Porto (Portugal). The FCRG team caught up with Craig to hear how he found the experience.
1) Hi Craig, can you briefly describe the IATSO conference and why you wanted to attend/present there?
IATSO is one of the largest societies within which members either research sexual crime or work directly in the treatment, sentencing and management of sexual offenders. I wanted to attend the conference in Porto in order to hear about the latest research developments in the field, as well as to present my own work, and be able to network with some of the biggest names in the world that work in a similar area to the one that I am currently researching.
2) What did you present?
I was fortunate enough to have both of my submitted abstracts accepted. Firstly, I presented a poster based on my work that reimagines and reconceptualises the Community Attitudes Towards Sex Offenders (CATSO) scale. This work uses classic and contemporary theoretical work into the differences between ‘attitudes’ (which typically involve emotionally-driven judgements) and ‘stereotypes’ (which typically involve knowledge-based judgements), and applying these theories to the CATSO scale. When we looked at the questions of the CATSO, we realised that many of them referred to stereotypes, rather than attitudes, so we have submitted a paper (currently under review with the journal ‘Psychology, Crime & Law’) reconceptualising the CATSO as an outcome measure, rather than one of attitudes. This new scale is called the ‘Perceptions of Sex Offenders Scale’ (PSO).
Secondly, I gave a talk on my first piece of PhD research, within which I identified that a small number of sexual crime cases dominated news coverage of this issue, and subsequently appeared to impact upon public and political discussions about how we should respond to sexual crime at both the legislative and social levels. From these findings, I developed a theoretical model called the ‘Prototype-Willingness Model of Sexual Crime Discourse’, which is essentially a dual-process model of thinking, within which the activation of a ‘prototype’ (or an example case) brings about a more punitive response to sexual crime than would otherwise have been suggested. For more information on this work, you can see a post that I wrote for the growing nextgenforensic blog, or see the paper that I published (co-authored with my PhD supervisor, Prof. Todd Hogue) in the Howard Journal of Criminal Justice.
3) How did you find that experience/s?
Having the opportunity to present my work to some of the leading names in my area was both quite nerve-wracking and exciting. I found the experience to be a positive one, though, and received many complimentary comments about my work. I was even stopped in the street in Porto after the event by a delegate from the USA who said he enjoyed the talk that I delivered – which was great to hear! Since the conference, we have been contacted by several researchers who are interested in using the PSO, and are planning to launch a study looking at pan-European (and beyond) perceptions of sex offenders at some point, based on some of these discussions.
4) How did this conference differ to others you have presented at?
IATSO was probably the largest conference that I have presented at so far, but it was also one of the friendliest. There was a really positive atmosphere at the majority of the talks, with comments and questions being generally constructive. The one thing that did jump out at me was how approachable some of the bigger names in the field were, and how interested they were in hearing about your research. Being able to have conversations with people who I’ve been citing in essays and theses as an undergraduate and postgraduate was the biggest thing I’ll take away from the conference.
5) What was the best part/s of the conference for you and why?
The friendly nature of the conference was a big highlight. With there being such an ‘all-star cast’ of keynote speakers, I expected the conference to be quite formal, but was pleasantly surprised by how laid-back and responsive people were to both new ideas and new researchers. As I said previously, being able to see and speak to some of the biggest names in the field was also a highlight.
6) Finally, what would be your advice to other postgrad students who are thinking of attending/presenting at IATSO (or indeed any conference in the forensic field)?
Go for it! Having the opportunity to get your work heard about, network with leading names, and hear about the latest developments in the field is something that cannot (and should not) be missed. The next IATSO will be hosted in Copenhagen in 2016, but before that is ATSA, next year, in Montreal. Why not submit something there, where there’s a great postgraduate/young researcher community, too!
by rbartels | Sep 22, 2014 | Forensic
To kick off this year’s Research Seminar Series at the University of Lincoln, Dr Kyla Pennington will be giving a talk about the biological mechanisms thought to play a role in psychopathology, as indicated by evidence from neuropathological, biochemical, and genetic research findings. During the talk, Kyla will also be discussing her recent research investigating biological vulnerabilities to psychopathology and the role that stress and environmental factors play.
All are welcome to attend! If you’re interested in attending, the talk will be taking place on Wednesday 24th October at 4pm in the Co-Op Lecture Theatre (Minerva Building). Refreshments will be available from 3:45pm.
