by rbartels | Sep 21, 2014 | Forensic
In April of this year, an academic community blog – named nextgenforensic – was set up by a number of next generation sex offender researchers from the UK, US, and Canada. The aim of the blog is to provide a platform for discussing new ideas regarding the theory, assessment, treatment, and prevention of sexual abuse and violence, as well as offering a space for researchers and practitioners to communicate their work and ideas to a wider audience.
FCRG member Ross Bartels sits on the editorial team for the blog as an Associate Editor, along with the two main Editors (Ian Elliott, Ian Mcphail), and two other Associate Editors (Caoilte Ă Ciardha, Kelly Babchishin). More recently, Danielle Kettleborough (of the FCRG) was appointed as the Student Editor for nextgenforensic. Over the past six months, the editors have posted numerous discussionary pieces, some of which have prompted responses from major figures in the field. There have also been a number of posts written by external contribitors, including doctoral researchers (one of which is a post by Craig Harper of the FCRG) and prominent researchers (e.g., Michael Seto offered valuable advice for nextgen researchers). As a result, the blog has attracted a growing interest from around the world.
nextgenforensic aims to continue in its endeavor to promote and encourage thought-provoking discussions, as well as disseminate cutting-edge knowledge and research to those interested in learning more about the complex field of sexual offending. If you would like to contribute by sharing some of your academic ideas, research, or insights regarding sexual abuse and violence, please click here for details on how to submit a post. You can also follow nextgenforensic on Twitter, Facebook, and/or Linkedin.
by rbartels | Sep 18, 2014 | Forensic
The FCRG are delighted to welcome a new member to team; Dr Amanda Roberts. Amanda joined the University of Lincoln last week as a Reader in psychology and today, at the first FCRG meeting of the academic year, the team heard about the exciting research projects that Amanda has undertaken, is currently working on, and plans to conduct. For those not familiar, Amanda adopts an epidemiological approach to the study of clinical and forensic phenomena. Broadly speaking, Amanda’s current academic interests revolve around the subject of risk, both at the individual and population level. Recently, this has involved looking into two particular behaviours; namely, pathological gambling and extensive pornography use. Amanda’s findings so far have highlighted some important gaps in the literature (e.g., gambling and pornography use by children and adolescents) that warrant future investigation.
Given that some clinical members of the FCRG research gambling behaviour (e.g., Dr Adrian Parke, Julie Pattinson) and some forensic members research pornography used by sexual offenders (e.g., Dr Hannah Merdian, Danielle Kettleborough), Amanda is an ideal addition to team. We are all eager to see (and share) more of Amanda’s research as it unfolds and look forward to collaborating with her on future projects.
If you wish to contact Amanda, you can do so at – aroberts@lincoln.ac.uk.
by rbartels | Sep 15, 2014 | Forensic
Two months ago, the British Medical Journal published a letter written by Rachel Orritt, a Research Assistant and PhD student member of FCRG. The letter (which can be accessed via this toll free link) addresses concerns over the way dog bites are talked about by members of the medical profession and in other spheres. Orritt called for an evidenced based approach, and suggested that medical professionals adopt a balanced viewpoint, taking into account the benefits of dog ownership alongside the risks. Orritt also pointed out that the figures that are frequently used by the government, academics and the media to describe the incidence of dog bites are incorrect.
The letter has generated a lot of interest, from coverage in the veterinary journal âThe Veterinary Recordâ to posts on popular science blogs such as âThe Dodoâ. Other sites that have discussed the letter include Science Daily, Read Medical News, Science Codex, Medical News Today, Entrepreneur.MD, AABSL, CAROdog, DoggyMom, PHD Tree, and Veooz.
The letter has also received a number of responses from various medical professionals, which Orritt has individually addressed. These can viewed here.
Orrittâs research focusses on aggressive behaviour in pet dogs. To learn more about her work, you can follow her on Twitter and read about her projects on her website http://rachelorritt.com. Rachel Orritt can be contacted at rorritt@lincoln.ac.uk
by rbartels | Sep 15, 2014 | Forensic
In February of this year, a study on psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNESs) – conducted by clinical psychologists Dr Lian Dimaro, Dr David Dawson and Dr Nima Moghaddam (in collaboration with researchers from the University of Sheffield, University of Nottingham, and Arizona State University) – was published in Epilepsy & Behavior. Unlike epileptic seizures, PNESs are thought to arise from complex psychological processes. Thus, in an attempt to understand PNES further, the study examined whether explicit and implicit anxiety was associated with seizure frequency and experiential avoidance in PNES sufferers (relative to epileptic seizure sufferers and controls). The findings offer insights into the aetiology of PNES and provide important implications for clinical practice. As such, the study has received growing interest and impressive coverage via websites such as Reddit, Sciencedaily, Sciencecodex, and epilepsyresearch.
For more information on the study, click on this link or contact Dr. Dimaro at lian.dimaro@gmail.com
by rbartels | Sep 13, 2014 | Forensic
Last week on the 10th Sept, (Prof. Todd Hogue) presented at National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers’ (NOTA) Annual Conference in York, UK. Alongside Prof. Derek Perkins (of West London Mental Health Trust & University of Surrey), Prof. Hogue presented a workshop on “Assessing offence-related sexual interests in perpetrators of adult sexual violence”. The workshop involved explaining and demonstrating (via case examples) the various ways in which deviant sexual interest can be assessed in individuals who sexually offend against adults. Profs. Hogue and Perkins also provided insights from their own research during the workshop.
by rbartels | Aug 29, 2014 | Forensic
A number of forensic members of the FCRG will be attending and presenting at the International Association for the Treatment of Sexual Offenders’ (IATSO) 13th Annual Conference in Porto (Portugal) next month (3-6th Sept). More specifically:
– Prof. Todd Hogue will be chairing a symposium entitled “Cognition and Sexual Interests/Behaviours:Â New Theoretical, Assessment, & Treatment Insights’. Within this symposium, Prof. Hogue (alongside Prof. Derek Perkins) will present findings from their eye-tracking studies on sexual violence. Also, Dr. Ross Bartels will present his theoretical model of sexual thinking and fantasies.
– Dr Hannah Merdian will be presenting her research on Child Sexual Exploitation Material offenders within a symposium entitled “And yes, they ARE different!â (Treatment) Needs of Offenders who use Child Sexual Exploitation Materialâ (chaired by Prof. Doug Boer). Within this same symposium, Dr. Bartels will present a talk about the implicit theories of CSEM offenders. Finally, Dr. Merdian will present Danielle Kettleborough’s (PhD student) research about the development of a measure for assessing distorted cognition in CSEM offenders.
– PhD student, Craig Harper, will be presenting a talk about how sexual crime prototypes guide social and political discourse regarding sexual crime legislation. Craig will also be presenting a poster detailing a study that reimagines the Community Attitudes Towards Sex Offenders Scale (CATSO).
Finally, alongside Prof. Perkins, Dr. Merdian is running a workshop on how to manage CSEM offences and offenders.
The full programme for the conference can be found here:
http://www.iatso.org/images/stories/Porto2014/programm_web_08082014.pdf
If you’re interested in attending as a delegate, the registration information can be found here: http://www.iatso.org/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=60&vmcchk=1&Itemid=60
by craigharper | Aug 29, 2014 | Forensic
Dr Hannah Merdian recently published an article on The Conversation, looking at the links between the consumption of online child sexual exploitation material (i.e. indecent images/videos of children) and contact sexual offending. Â Her article was sparked by the recent uncovering of hundreds of arrests that were made by the National Crime Agency in relation to online sexual exploitation of children.
Dr Merdian’s article can be viewed here:Â http://theconversation.com/severity-and-risk-are-not-the-same-when-it-comes-to-indecent-images-of-children-29507
by craigharper | Jun 2, 2014 | Forensic
An international group of researchers, led by FCRG member, Dr Hannah Merdian, have recently published research findings relating to the cognitive distortions of child sex offenders.
The abstract for the paper, published in Psychology, Crime & Law, reads:
This study examined the endorsement of cognitive distortions in child pornography offenders (CPOs), using an established assessment tool, the Abel and Becker Cognition Scale. The scale was expanded to include cognitions specific to child pornography offending, extracted from Howitt and Sheldonâs Children and Sexual Activities Inventory (C&SA). Three samples of CPOs, child sex offenders and offenders with both offence types responded to the cognition items. An exploratory Principal Component Analysis suggested six main components of the scale. CPOs were significantly less likely to endorse these statements in general, and this was more pronounced on items that project blame onto the child or other people, describe a need for power and consider children as sexually active. The statements extracted from C&SA did not differentiate between the groups. These findings are discussed under consideration of the relationship between cognitive distortions and contact sex offending, and in reference to the general criticism concerning the definition and appropriate measurement of cognitive distortions
You can access the full paper here:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1068316X.2014.902454#.U4z3BPldWT8.
Alternatively, please contact Dr Merdian (hmerdian@lincoln.ac.uk) directly.
by craigharper | Jun 2, 2014 | Forensic
FCRG PhD Student, Craig Harper, recently presented work from his MSc thesis, supervised and subsequently co-authored with group lead, Professor Todd Hogue, at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society. Â The work that was presented examined the representations of sexual offending within the national British press between August-November 2012, with a full-length paper currently being under review for publication.
For more information about this talk, please contact Craig Harper (charper@lincoln.ac.uk).
by craigharper | Nov 19, 2013 | Forensic
Dr Hannah Merdian was recently invited to present her work on ‘Typologies of Internet Sex Offenders’ at the New Directions in Sex Offender Practice conference hosted by Professor Leam Craig at the University of Birmingham.
This talk drew on Dr Merdian’s previous research and included a detailed analysis of some of the work she has been doing into her ‘three dimensions’ model of child sexual exploitation use.
For more information on this work, please contact Dr Merdian directly.
