Suchergebnisse

Victim age is commonly used in the classification of juvenile sexual offenders (JSOs). However, the results of studies comparing JSOs who offend peers (peer offenders) with those who offend children (child molesters) are variable and inconclusive. Reasons for this variability include the lack of attention to JSOs who offend both children and peers (mixed offenders) and the variability across studies in the classification criteria used to assign JSOs to subgroups. Some studies use victim age, others use offender—victim age discrepancies, and still others use a combination of victim age and age discrepancies to classify JSOs. These variations may result in samples of JSOs that are not comparable across studies. The primary purpose of the present research was to examine the strength of the relationship between JSO subgroup membership (child, peer, and mixed offenders) and personal, criminal history, and offense history variables using several different classification methods commonly used in JSO research. Patterns of relationships between subgroup membership and the dependent variables were then compared across the classification methods to determine whether changes in classification criteria changed the pattern of results. The results indicated that the pattern of relationships between subgroups and the dependent variables changed little when classification criteria varied. Consequently, variation in classification criteria is unlikely to be contributing to the inconsistencies of the findings when comparing victim age based subgroups of JSOs.

This study compared subgroups of juvenile sex offenders (JSOs) who victimized children (child offenders), peers (peer offenders), or both children and peers (mixed offenders) on sexual and nonsexual offense history, treatment outcomes, and recidivism to determine if these are distinct and valid subgroups. Though the group of mixed offenders was small, results showed that they exhibited a more diverse and more physically intrusive sexual offense history than the other JSOs and were less likely to successfully complete treatment. Sexual and nonsexual recidivism rates of mixed offenders did not differ from the other subgroups despite subgroup differences in juvenile sexual and nonsexual criminal records. However, differences in sexual recidivism rates of child versus peer offenders were found when the mixed offenders were either excluded from the sample or combined with child offenders. The results highlight the need to include mixed offenders in future research examining the etiology of sexual offending, treatment, and recidivism of JSOs.

AbstractChanges in feelings of self‐worth and peer acceptance associated with self‐enhancing perceptions of their peer acceptance were examined for a normative sample and for a group of peer‐rejected children. Whether the correlates of self‐enhancement differed as a function of the way in which perceptions were assessed (i.e., general versus specific measures of self‐enhancement) or by the degree of enhancement were also studied. Using a longitudinal design, 670 students in grades 3 through 5 were assessed across an academic year. For the normative sample, general self‐enhancement of peer acceptance was associated with positive outcomes; specific self‐enhancement of peer acceptance was unrelated to changes in outcomes. Both general and specific self‐enhancement scores were associated with gains in one or more outcome measures in the rejected group. No support was found for the hypothesis that mild to moderate self‐enhancement is predictive of adjustment whereas extreme self‐enhancement is related to maladjustment.

The true integration of interpersonal, social psychology, and cognitive-behavioral approaches is the most important theoretical issue in the field of the psychology of depression, and yet it has not been well addressed in any forum. The Interpersonal, Cognitive, and Social Nature of Depression was written to provide cutting-edge research and theoretical perspectives on this issue. Its goal is to concretize and celebrate an integrative approach to the understanding of depression, and to foster its sequelae, by bringing together primary figures from interpersonal, cognitive, and behavioral viewp

AbstractThe present study investigated possible ethnic contributions to overly positive self‐perceptions in middle childhood. The goals of this study were threefold. First, the present study sought to replicate the intriguing findings reported by Zakriski and Coie that African American children overestimate their acceptance, and European American children underestimate acceptance by other‐ethnicity peers. Second, this study examined possible explanations for ethnic differences in the pattern of perceptual bias. Finally, this study extended prior research by examining ethnic differences in the accuracy of children's perceived peer acceptance. Archival data consisting of 826 children in third (N = 284), fourth (N = 241), and fifth grades (N = 301) were used in the present investigation; 237 of which were African American children, and 589 were European American children. Results of this study replicated the findings of Zakriski and Coie. Moreover, African Americans' overestimation and European Americans' underestimation of acceptance by other‐ethnicity peers was found to be attributable to more positive views of self and others among African American children relative to European American children. Finally, children were found to be more accurate about judging their acceptance by peers of the same ethnicity than those of a different ethnicity. Possible explanations of what causes African American children to have more positive views of self and others than European American children are discussed.