Characteristics of adolescents subjected to restraint in acute psychiatric units in Norway: a case-control study.

Objective: Use of restraint in psychiatric treatment is controversial. This study compared social, mental health, and treatment characteristics of restrained and nonrestrained adolescents in acute psychiatric inpatient units.

Methods: In a retrospective case-control design, we included all adolescents restrained during 2008-2010 (N=288) in all acute psychiatric inpatient units that accepted involuntarily admitted adolescents in Norway (N=16).

Female sexual offenders in the educational system: a brief overview.

Female sexual offenders comprise the minority of sexual offenders in the criminal justice system. However, empirical research reveals that sexual offenses against adolescents by females are a bigger problem than previously thought, particularly in the educational system. The authors review some of the data in the criminal justice system as well as in empirical research studies about female sexual offenders, with a specific focus on females who commit sexual crimes against students who are minors.

The Severe Sexual Sadism Scale: cross-validation and scale properties.

The Severe Sexual Sadism Scale (SSSS) is a screening device for the file-based assessment of forensically relevant sexual sadism. The SSSS consists of 11 dichotomous (yes/no) items that code behavioral indicators of severe sexual sadism within sexual offenses. Based on an Austrian sample of 105 sexual offenders, the present study replicated the 1-dimensional scale structure of the SSSS, as evidenced by confirmatory factor analysis.

A comparison of criminal sexual conduct defendants based on victim age.

This study compared defendants charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct whose victims were <6 years of age with defendants whose victims were 12 or more years of age. The study included 163 men referred to the evaluation unit of a state center for forensic psychiatry. Thirty-eight men had younger victims (YVs) and 125 men had older victims (OVs).

A case control study: White-collar defendants compared with defendants charged with other nonviolent theft.

We examined the clinical, criminal, and sociodemographic characteristics of all white-collar crime defendants referred to the evaluation unit of a state center for forensic psychiatry. With 29,310 evaluations in a 12-year period, we found 70 defendants charged with embezzlement, 3 with health care fraud, and no other white-collar defendants (based on the eight crimes widely accepted as white-collar offenses). In a case-control study design, the 70 embezzlement cases were compared with 73 defendants charged with other forms of nonviolent theft.

Juvenile sexual delinquents: contrasting child abusers with peer abusers.

Background: There is growing concern regarding juvenile sex offenders, and concomitant interest in a more scientific database which could help direct management and treatment resources.

Aims: To investigate whether juveniles who sexually offend against children (or those at least five years younger than themselves) differ from those who sexually assault their peers or older victims.

Method: The study is based on data from psychological screenings conducted for the juvenile courts in the Netherlands.

Murderous parents.

This article offers observations regarding some of the major manifestations of family violence, neonaticide, infanticide, and filicide with the purpose of aiding in the early identification of parents at risk. They are discussed within the past and present historical and cultural milieu. A brief review of pertinent literature is presented.

Affect regulation in borderline personality disorder: experimental findings from psychophysiology and functional neuroimaging.

Background: Intense and rapidly changing mood states are a major feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD), which is thought to arise from affective vulnerability.

Objective: There have been only a few studies investigating affective processing in BPD, and particularly neither psychophysiological nor neurofunctional correlates of abnormal emotional processing have been identified so far.

Methods: Studies are reported using psychophysiological or functional neuroimaging methodology.

From mental health professional to expert witness: testifying in court.

Our democratic principles rest on the belief that truth is discovered through the fair and open combat of ideas in a court of law. When mental health professionals participate in this adversary process as expert witnesses, it is essential for them to understand that attorneys will attempt to impeach their credibility. Mental health professionals who appreciate the spirit and mechanics of courtroom communication will be best prepared to protect the integrity of their testimony.

The Digit Vigilance Test: reliability, validity, and sensitivity to diazepam.

The Digit Vigilance Test (DVT), a measure of sustained attention and psychomotor speed, was evaluated in terms of test-retest and alternate-form reliability as well as sensitivity to a single dose of diazepam (10 mg). A one-page version was compared to the standard two-page format. Forty undergraduates, randomly assigned in a double-blind manner to either drug or placebo condition, were tested three times in two sessions (1 week apart).

Center for forensic psychiatry evaluation unit services.

Court-ordered evaluations regarding issues such as competency to stand trial and legal insanity are assigned a specialized staff at the Center for Forensic Psychiatry.

Training and education in forensic psychiatry.

Training in the specialty of forensic psychiatry is in flux, but existing standards provide interesting insight into the field.

Workplace violence in a psychiatric facility: estimated frequency and staff perceptions.

Frequent media reports may lead to the perception that violent incidents in the workplace are widespread, but little is known of the actual situation. Here are preliminary results of a study of perceived and reported frequencies of staff-on-staff violence.

Criminal responsibility and solvent exposure.

This case report contains the history of a man's exposure to benzene, trichloroethylene, and toluene. J suffered acutely from classic symptoms of toxic exposure to these compounds, such as fatigue, clumsiness, staggering, and hematopoietic depression. During his medical hospitalization, he was exposed to further organic insults, such as being treated with medications like Cytoxan and medications to treat an abscess in his right parietal lobe.

Training psychologists to function as competent scientists in criminal forensics.

Psychologists planning to work in the criminal forensic area can benefit from a structured training experience, with learning objectives designed to bridge the gap between clinical practice and the legal system.

Challenges for women in forensic psychiatry.

Women in forensic psychiatry must confront the obstacles imposed by predominantly male systems and patients, and learn to cope with dangerous situations and hostile environments.

Security and patient management in a forensic hospital.

Emphasizing the use of humane techniques and interventions, the security model discussed here has proven more effective, more therapeutic, and more economical than traditional approaches.

Insanity and filicide: women who murder their children.

A mother who murders her child challenges the empathic skills of evaluating clinicians. In this chapter, original research, supplemented by detailed case histories, compares women adjudicated criminally responsible for the murders of their children with those adjudicated not guilty by reason of insanity.

Forensic child and adolescent psychiatry.

This brief chapter has been written as an overview of child and adolescent forensic psychiatry. An attempt was made to briefly and simply summarize several topics. At the end of the chapter, the interested reader will find additional sources to pursue areas of interest in depth.

From mental health professional to expert witness: testifying in court.

Our democratic principles rest on the belief that truth is discovered through the fair and open combat of ideas in a court of law. When mental health professionals participate in this adversary process as expert witnesses, it is essential for them to understand that attorneys will attempt to impeach their credibility. Mental health professionals who appreciate the spirit and mechanics of courtroom communication will be best prepared to protect the integrity of their testimony.

The sexual abuse victim in the courts.

This article explores the impact of court procedures on victims of sexual abuse and on the process of psychotherapy. Differences between civil and criminal litigation are described as is the psychiatrist's role in these cases. Recommendations are made as to how to render the experience of testifying in court less traumatic for the victim.