1,354,139 research outputs found
Recidivism and Characteristics of Highly Dangerous Offenders Being Released from Retrospectively Imposed Preventive Detention: An Empirical Study
No full textThis study examines the recidivism of offenders who are considered to be highly dangerous but who, as a result of a decision of the German Federal High Court, have not been in preventive detention because it was imposed retrospectively (Group II preventive detention cases; 66b StGB). Taking into consideration the restrictions imposed by the study, the data were evaluated regarding their usefulness for predicting the likelihood of reoffending. The results of this study suggest that it could be useful to describe criteria for the not very severe reoffending group. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Recidivism after Final Rejection of a Subsequent Order of Preventive Detention
No full textFollowing the decisions of the European Council on Human Rights since 2009 and the German Federal Constitutional Court of 2011, the regulation of preventive detention in Germany had to be reregulated. Though they were based on a thin amount of data, the discussions about the dangerousness of the detainees were controversial and emotional. In 2011, we published results of a study on recidivism after (legally not ordered) subsequent preventive detention (S 66b German StGB). In the meantime, both the number of cases studied and the observation period covered has been expanded. The evaluation of the Federal Registry of Excerpts (Bundeszentralregister; BZR) from those offenders considered highly dangerous, but due to the jurisprudence of the Federal Supreme Court, not placed under subsequent preventive detention (nachtragliche Sicherungsverwahrung: nSV; S 66b German StGB) now detects an average period of 6.5 years (time at risk phi 78 months). Within this period, 28% were convicted of a serious offense relapse, 37% were convicted of a non-serious offense, and 34% were not reconvicted
Recidivism after Final Rejection of a Subsequent Order of Preventive Detention
No full textFollowing the decisions of the European Council on Human Rights since 2009 and the German Federal Constitutional Court of 2011, the regulation of preventive detention in Germany had to be reregulated. Though they were based on a thin amount of data, the discussions about the dangerousness of the detainees were controversial and emotional. In 2011, we published results of a study on recidivism after (legally not ordered) subsequent preventive detention (S 66b German StGB). In the meantime, both the number of cases studied and the observation period covered has been expanded. The evaluation of the Federal Registry of Excerpts (Bundeszentralregister; BZR) from those offenders considered highly dangerous, but due to the jurisprudence of the Federal Supreme Court, not placed under subsequent preventive detention (nachtragliche Sicherungsverwahrung: nSV; S 66b German StGB) now detects an average period of 6.5 years (time at risk phi 78 months). Within this period, 28% were convicted of a serious offense relapse, 37% were convicted of a non-serious offense, and 34% were not reconvicted
Diagnostic Accuracy of Eye Movements in Assessing Pedophilia
No full textIntroduction. Given that recurrent sexual interest in prepubescent children is one of the strongest single predictors for pedosexual offense recidivism, valid and reliable diagnosis of pedophilia is of particular importance. Nevertheless, current assessment methods still fail to fulfill psychometric quality criteria. Aims. The aim of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of eye-movement parameters in regard to pedophilic sexual preferences. Method. Eye movements were measured while 22 pedophiles (according to ICD-10 F65.4 diagnosis), 8 non-pedophilic forensic controls, and 52 healthy controls simultaneously viewed the picture of a child and the picture of an adult. Fixation latency was assessed as a parameter for automatic attentional processes and relative fixation time to account for controlled attentional processes. Main Outcome Measures. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses, which are based on calculated age-preference indices, were carried out to determine the classifier performance. Cross-validation using the leave-one-out method was used to test the validity of classifiers. Results. Pedophiles showed significantly shorter fixation latencies and significantly longer relative fixation times for child stimuli than either of the control groups. Classifier performance analysis revealed an area under the curve (AUC) = 0.902 for fixation latency and an AUC = 0.828 for relative fixation time. The eye-tracking method based on fixation latency discriminated between pedophiles and non-pedophiles with a sensitivity of 86.4% and a specificity of 90.0%. Cross-validation demonstrated good validity of eye-movement parameters. Conclusions. Despite some methodological limitations, measuring eye movements seems to be a promising approach to assess deviant pedophilic interests. Eye movements, which represent automatic attentional processes, demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy. Fromberger P, Jordan K, Steinkrauss H, von Herder J, Witzel J, Stolpmann G, Kroner-Herwig B, and Muller JL. Diagnostic accuracy of eye movements in assessing pedophilia. J Sex Med 2012;9:18851899
The Role of Testosterone in Sexuality and Paraphilia—A Neurobiological Approach. Part I: Testosterone and Sexuality
No full textABSTRACT
Introduction
Antiandrogen therapy has been used for 30 years to treat paraphilic patients and sexual offenders. Yet the therapeutic success of antiandrogens is uncertain. Furthermore, there is still a lack of comprehensive knowledge about the effects of androgen-lowering therapy in paraphilic patients.
Aim
This article reviews current neurobiological and clinical knowledge about testosterone and its impact on sexuality, acquired from animal and human basic research. This knowledge may not only enhance our understanding of the great variability of the therapeutic outcome, but could also offer new opportunities to evaluate the effect of androgen-lowering therapy in paraphilia.
Methods
A comprehensive review of the human and animal literature is presented, considering the classical and non-classical mechanisms of androgens and the androgen brain receptors. Furthermore, the clinical evidence about the impact of testosterone on human sexual behavior is discussed. These are integrated into two current neurobiological theories of sexual behavior, the four-component model and the dual-control model.
Results
The wide distribution of androgen receptors throughout the whole brain and their numerous mechanisms demonstrate that androgens can modulate almost every aspect of sexual behavior—i.e., not only autonomic functions, but also emotional, motivational, and cognitive aspects. Furthermore, testosterone participates in excitatory and inhibitory processes of sexual functions by modulating the activity of mainly dopaminergic neurotransmitter systems.
Conclusions
Using the data presented, we combine the two models and present a new integrated approach to understand the role of testosterone in the excitation and inhibition of sexual function, at the neurochemical, neuroanatomical, and behavioral levels. This knowledge will help us to gain a better understanding of the few and inconsistent data that are currently available concerning (i) the association between testosterone and paraphilic behavior; and (ii) the highly variable effects of antiandrogen therapy, discussed in Part II of this review.
</jats:sec
The Role of Testosterone in Sexuality and Paraphilia—A Neurobiological Approach. Part II: Testosterone and Paraphilia
No full textABSTRACT
Introduction
Antiandrogen therapy has been used for 30 years to treat paraphilic patients and sexual offenders. Yet the therapeutic success of antiandrogens is uncertain. Furthermore, there is still a lack of comprehensive knowledge about the effects of androgen-lowering therapy in paraphilic patients.
Aim
We discuss endocrinological, neurobiological, and therapeutic aspects of paraphilia with the aim of integrating these on the basis of the current neurobiological and clinical knowledge on testosterone that was set out in Part I of this review.
Methods
Our review of the human literature comprises the current knowledge about the neurobiology of paraphilia and the known endocrinological, pathophysiological, and genetic aspects of this disorder. The role of testosterone is discussed. A survey of antiandrogen therapy and its outcome in paraphilic patients and sex offenders is provided.
Results
Although not all data are consistent, current imaging research suggests that structural and functional changes in pedophilia appear for the most part in brain regions also involved in sexual functions. Not exclusively testosterone but also some other endocrinological and neurochemical parameters could be disturbed in pedophilic patients and child molesters; these include changes in hypothalamic–pituitary function, prolactin levels, and dopaminergic or serotonergic functions. There appears to be a sex-steroid-related genetic influence on antisocial traits, externalizing behavior, and sexual behavior. Most of the studies in which antiandrogen therapy in paraphilic patients and sex offenders have been examined were case reports, or observational or open-label studies, and many did not include adequate control groups. Only a few placebo-controlled double-blind studies have been published with inconsistent results concerning treatment effects. Outcome measures differ between the studies and do not seem ideally suited to their purpose.
Conclusions
On the basis of the current knowledge about testosterone and its effects on brain and behavior as described in Part I, and of available results on the relationship between testosterone and paraphilia as well as antiandrogen therapy, we present from a neurobiological perspective an extended scientific proposal for design features to investigate the effects of antiandrogen treatment in large clinical trials.
</jats:sec
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Neurobiological research on pedophilia - results and their consequences for the assessment of pedophilic offenders
No full textThe difficulty with the assessment of pedophilic offenders is in the valid assessment of a pedophilic interest. The current methods lack of validity and reliability. In the last decade the amount of neurobiological investigations in pedophilia accelerates, however, the results are very heterogeneous. Relevant results for the assessment of pedophilia do not exist yet. In addition a verification of the validity and reliability of the used designs is absent. It is the challenge of the neurobiological forensic research to examine carefully the potential in assessing pedophilic offenders
Variations on the Author
No full text“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
No full textWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
- …
