Professional perspectives on sexual sadism.

Significant controversy surrounds the diagnosis of sexual sadism. Research suggests that many characteristics attributed to sexual sadists fail to differentiate sexual offenders with and without this diagnosis. Furthermore, when there are differences between sadists and nonsadists, "sadistic" features are frequently associated with nonsadists.

Forecasting recidivism in mentally ill offenders released from prison.

Little research has focused on assessing the risk of mentally ill offenders (MIOs) released from state prisons. Here we report findings for 333 mentally ill offenders released from Washington State prisons. Logistic regression identified sets of variables that forecasted felony and violent reconviction as accurately as state-of-the-art risk assessment instruments.

Recidivism and use of services among persons with mental illness after release from prison.

Objective: Despite large numbers of mentally ill offenders in prisons, few studies of mentally ill offenders released from prison have been conducted. This study describes such a population of mentally ill offenders, the postrelease services they received, new offenses they committed, and factors associated with recidivism.

Methods: The authors reviewed electronic files and archived medical charts from the state corrections department to identify mentally ill offenders who left Washington state prisons in 1996 and 1997.

Comparative effects of acupuncture in Japan and the United States on dental pain perception.

The effect of low frequency electrical acupunctural stimulation on the perception of induced dental pain were compared in two cultural settings. Twenty Japanese and 20 American subjects (consisting of 10 Caucasians and 10 second or third generation Japanese) were tested in two functionally identical laboratories, one at Tottori University in Yonago, Japan and the other at the University of Washington. Each subject underwent a control and an acupuncture session on separate days wtih subjects counterbalanced for carry-over order effects.