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Legal scholars and philosophers have long debated the moral standing of the act-omission distinction, with some favoring the view that actions ought to be considered as morally different from omissions, while others disagree. Several empirical studies suggest that people judge actions that cause harm as worse than omissions that cause the same harm with the implication that our folk psychology commonly perceives this distinction as morally significant. Here we explore the robustness of people's moral intuitions, and in particular, whether the omission bias can be eliminated in the face of explicit and familiar laws that take away the moral standing of the distinction between actions and omissions. We show that although Dutch law allows both active and passive euthanasia, and although our Dutch participants were well aware of this law and supported it, they nonetheless showed a robust omission bias across a wide range of moral dilemmas. We conclude by discussing the relationship between our folk moral intuitions and explicit moral rules that are handed down by law and religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although dissociative symptoms are observed in several psychiatric disorders and linked to antisocial behavior and offending, the relation between dissociation and psychopathology or comorbidity has not been consistently investigated in residential youth yet. This brief report documented prevalence and comorbidity rates of several psychiatric disorders and examined their relation to dissociation in residential youth. The study included 100 male adolescents ( M age = 16.51) admitted to residential youth care facilities. Psychopathology was assessed with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for children and adolescents (MINI-KID) and dissociation was measured with the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale (A-DES). Externalizing problems (conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) were the most prevalent (81%) followed by substance abuse/dependence (71%), manic/hypomanic symptoms (40%), anxiety (35%), and depression (33%). High comorbidity was also observed in externalizing problems with alcohol/substance abuse/dependence (67%), manic/hypomanic symptoms (35%), depression (31%), and anxiety (30%). Logistic regression analyses revealed a significant link between dissociation and externalizing problems, depression, and manic/hypomanic symptoms, as well as comorbid externalizing problems and depression or manic/hypomanic symptoms. The findings highlight the need to assess dissociation in order to better understand the multifaceted individual profile of residential youth and incorporate it in the treatment plan.

This study reports reliability and validity of the Dutch Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ). In total, 845 participants completed the RPQ along with other measures of aggression. Groups consisted of non-offender participants, criminal offenders, youngsters (age 6-18), and adults (age above 18). Test-retest stability in a subsample of 324 childhood arrestees was good (all ICC's > 0.41). A confirmatory factor analysis supported the same two-factor structure as in the original RPQ. Convergent validity was adequate (all r's > 0.16). Moreover, results demonstrated that the proactive and reactive subscales were differentially related to measurements of callousness and impulsiveness, respectively. Criterion validity was shown in that non-offender subjects demonstrated significantly lower RPQ scores than offender samples. Finally, construct validity was demonstrated in that violent offenders showed higher aggression scores than non-violent offenders. Proactive aggression showed different developmental trajectories within non-offender versus criminal samples, indicating that this form of aggression may be more pathological., (© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The objective of this study was to investigate whether levels of psychopathy predicted claims of crime-related amnesia. Different characteristics of psychopathy were based on the factor structure of the self-report questionnaire Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI). Crime-related amnesia claims were scored from inmates (N=31) criminal file records. Results demonstrated that claims of crime-related amnesia were more frequently reported by individuals scoring high on impulsive antisocial psychopathy traits. Furthermore, offenders who claimed crime-related amnesia reported lower levels of instrumental/proactive aggression. There was no relationship between fearless-callous psychopathy traits or the use of reactive violence, and claims of crime-related amnesia. Within offenders who claimed amnesia for their crime, the majority demonstrated elevated levels of deception, suggesting that claims of amnesia might serve a strategic purpose. In addition, they more often reported having had a previous experience with memory loss, which may have formed the basis of simulation., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The Inventory of Callous-Unemotional (CU) Traits (ICU) is a self-report questionnaire which was developed to measure the affective features of psychopathy in children and adolescents. Previous studies reported both support and difficulties with this promising new measure. The present study investigated the psychometric and discriminating qualities of the Dutch questionnaire across different groups by examining its structure, distribution and correlates. The ICU was administered to young clinical offenders (detained, N=127), healthy controls (community, N=172), non-clinical offenders (not detained, N=42) and an externalizing non-offender group (under treatment for behavioral problems, N=42). The age range for all groups was 13-20years. Since confirmatory factor analysis of models from earlier research did not yield an acceptable fit, exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Five factors were extracted: Lack of Conscience, Uncaring, Unemotional, Callousness and Lack of Empathy. The results indicated moderate to good test-retest stability and adequate internal consistency. CU traits correlated well with measures of conduct problems and aggression, indicating a good criterion and convergent validity. Results indicate weak associations with expert (Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version, PCL:YV) and informant (Antisocial Process Screening Device, APSD) measures of psychopathic traits. Although groups could be differentiated on a statistical basis, no meaningful distinction based on CU traits alone was possible. Results of this study cast doubt on the validity of the current ICU. Suggestions are made for improvement., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)