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This is the Afrikaans translation of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ). Originally developed in English, the PAQ is a 24-item measure of alexithymia. Alexithymia is a trait comprised of difficulties identifying feelings, difficulties describing feelings, and externally orientated thinking. The PAQ assesses all components of alexithymia across negative and positive emotions.

Many patrons in nightlife settings around the world experience and engage in behavior that some find distressing and others find a useful method of interacting with potential sexual partners. Some ...

In relation to the admissibility of evidence obtained using projective personality tests arose in F v. Bevandorlasi es Allampolgarsagi Hivatam (2018). The Court of Justice of the European Union has...

Apologies are ordered in law without certainty about whether or not recipients perceive ordered and voluntary apologies differently. This exploratory study investigates whether or not the voluntariness of apologies influences recipients’ perceptions of their sincerity, acceptance of apologies, willingness to forgive and intended retributive behaviour. We manipulated the voluntariness of apologies whilst considering offender (age, gender, ethnicity and prior wrongful behaviour) and offence (seriousness) characteristics in 3 studies (ns = 164, 121, 236). Participants adopting the role of a hypothetical victim received either a voluntary or an ordered apology. The voluntary apologies were found to have a significantly more positive impact than the ordered apologies on acceptance and perception of sincerity in all 3 studies and on forgiveness in 2 studies, but did not significantly change participants’ retributive behaviour in any study. Age was the only other variable found to make a significant difference, with younger offenders’ apologies being rated as sincerer.

This book is part of the American Psychological Association’s Psychology, Crime and Justice series of which the overt aim is to showcase psychologists’ contribution to the study of crime and crimin...

Psychologists find it difficult to balance their clients' and society's interests when these interests differ from each other, such as when their clients pose a risk of harm to others. Society's in...

Much of what we know about sexual offenders and risk management is derived from empirical studies on sex offender populations in North America. In comparison to Canada and the United States, the evidence base in Australia on sexual offender risk management is under-developed. In this paper, we describe a current research project tasked with developing a national sex offender recidivism database to advance the evidence base in Australia. It is argued that a national database would advance knowledge and practice in the field of sex offender risk management in Australia in a multitude of ways. Yet there are many obstacles and difficulties in developing such a database. After putting forward a case for the need for such a database, we outline the issues we have encountered and the approaches we have adopted to develop this database. It is intended that this contemporary comment may not only alert readers to this emerging data resource in Australia but also function as a road map to guide future empirical research on offender population databases in Australia.

Forensic psychologists' role is well established, and they are rightly well regulated because their decisions and behaviour can have a significant impact on people's rights and interests. Their ethical integrity, however, partly hinges on the psycholegal research products (data, methods and instruments) that they and others use. The ethical regulation of researchers who produce products and their research processes is, however, fragmented, limited and narrow and largely focuses on domestic research. Relatively few scholars have examined the regulation of psycholegal research or commented on the ethical implications of recent court decisions. The purpose of this paper is to start a debate about the ethical regulation of researchers in the psycholegal field and consider methods of improving it to maintain society's trust in the field.

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a public health menace, especially in developing countries. A periodic review of mass drug administration (MDA) performance is critical to monitoring elimination progress. However, investigating the spatial pattern of LF with respect to MDA intervention is yet to be documented. This is essential to appreciating the transmission dynamics across LF-endemic communities and how it is spatially impacted by MDA programs. The aim of this study was to map and explore the spatial variation and hotspots of LF infection among endemic communities and evaluate the impact of the MDA intervention program on its spatial pattern in Ghana. Relative risks, clustering and clusters, prevalence odds ratios, and their confidence intervals were studied with community-level LF data prior to intervention and post intervention periods. The overall risk of LF infection was 0.12% and 0.02% before and after MDA, respectively, suggesting reduced transmission. Using empirical Bayesian smoothing to map the relative risk, a substantial variation in the spatial distribution of the relative risk of LF among endemic communities was observed. Most of the excess prevalence communities were unexpectedly visible even after years of MDA. The Empirical Bayesian Moran’s Index for global clustering showed a reduction in clustering of LF prevalence after MDA with IM = 0.455 and 0.119 for before and after MDA, respectively. Furthermore, examining risks associated with ecological zones, it was observed that the Guinea Savannah and the Transition Zone were the most vulnerable zones for LF infection with prevalence odds ratios 18.70- and 13.20-fold higher than in the reference Moist evergreen zone, respectively. We observed a drastic reduction in risk in the Wet evergreen zone after MDA, while the Guinea Savannah sustained high levels of risk even after MDA. These findings should prompt public health officials to adopt stratified cluster sampling in LF-endemic regions to monitor the rate and density of microfilaria.

Alexithymia is a multidimensional personality trait comprised of difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally orientated thinking. The assessment of alexithymia in people with acquired brain injury (ABI) is of clinical interest because alexithymia is linked to poor psychosocial functioning and community reintegration after ABI. To date, alexithymia measures have not been psychometrically investigated/validated in an ABI sample, restricting confident empirical work in this area. We aimed to fill this gap by assessing the psychometric properties of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ) in adults with ABI and determining whether the alexithymia construct manifests similarly in ABI samples compared to the general community.The PAQ and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 were administered to an ABI sample (N = 350) and a community sample (N = 1012). Factor structure, measurement invariance, internal consistency reliability, and concurrent/discriminant validity were explored.Our confirmatory factor analysis of the PAQ supported the intended five-factor correlated model as the best solution, where items loaded well onto the five intended subscales. This factor structure was invariant across ABI and community samples. Good reliability and concurrent and discriminant validity were also established.The PAQ is a self-report measure and may be impacted by insight deficits known to occur after ABI.Our data suggests that the PAQ has good validity and reliability as a measure of alexithymia. The latent structure of alexithymia manifests similarly in ABI and community samples. This study provides the first psychometric foundation for confident assessment of alexithymia in ABI.

Terminally ill people might want to discuss the options they have of hastening their deaths with their psychologists who should therefore know the law that regulates euthanasia in the jurisdictions...

Background Ever since alexithymia was defined in the 1970s, robust associations have been observed between alexithymia and a variety of symptoms of psychopathology. Alexithymia is now widely regarded as an important transdiagnostic risk factor, and it is frequently assessed in clinical and research settings. However, despite this strong interest, it remains unclear exactly why (i.e., by which mechanisms) alexithymia is linked to psychopathology. In this paper, we hypothesise that alexithymia is linked to affective disorder symptoms because alexithymia impairs people's ability to regulate their emotions, and we empirically test this hypothesis. Method We administered a battery of psychometric measures to 501 adults in the United States, and examined the direct and indirect effects between alexithymia (Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire), emotion regulation ability (Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory), and affective disorder symptoms (Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21). Results In the Pearson bivariate correlation matrix, alexithymia, emotion regulation difficulties, and affective disorder symptoms were all significantly correlated. In the modelling of direct and indirect effects, alexithymia was indirectly associated with affective disorder symptoms through emotion regulation difficulties (no significant direct effect). Limitations Our online survey data were all self-report data and cross-sectional. Future longitudinal work would be beneficial. Conclusions Our findings support contemporary theorising that alexithymia is linked to affective disorder symptoms via emotion regulation difficulties. These results help to clarify the mechanisms by which alexithymia may predispose people to affective disorder symptoms, and highlight the importance of considering the roles of alexithymia and emotion regulation in case conceptualisations and treatment planning.

Emotion regulation problems underlie the abnormal levels of negative or positive emotion that characterise many forms of psychopathology. Several self-report measures of emotion regulation ability exist, but many are inconsistent with contemporary emotion regulation theory, and none comprehensively assess this construct across both negative and positive emotions. In this paper, we report our attempt to remedy these measurement limitations by developing and validating the Perth Emotion Regulation Competency Inventory (PERCI), a 32 item self-report questionnaire that measures emotion regulation ability as it is defined by the extended process model of emotion regulation. In Study 1, our confirmatory factor analyses in a sample of adults (N = 231) suggested that the PERCI had a factor structure consistent with its theoretical basis and could separately measure people's ability to regulate their negative and positive emotions. All subscale and composite scores had high internal consistency reliability. Study 2 (N = 1175) replicated these findings with respect to factor structure and internal consistency reliability, and correlational or regression analyses with measures of psychopathology, emotion regulation processes, alexithymia, and interpersonal attachment style also supported the validity of the PERCI. We conclude that the PERCI appears to have strong psychometric properties. Clinical and research implications are discussed.

The behavior of some nightlife-setting patrons would be unacceptable in workplaces or public settings and could cause distress to other patrons. This quantitative study determined 381 young Austral...

Alexithymia is a trait comprising people's ability to focus attention on and accurately appraise their own emotions. Its assessment is of clinical interest because people who have difficulty processing their negative and positive emotions are more vulnerable to developing psychopathology symptoms, however, existing alexithymia measures cannot comprehensively assess the construct across both negative and positive emotions. In this paper, we attempt to remedy these measurement limitations by developing and validating a new 24-item self-report measure, the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ), which is based on the attention-appraisal model of alexithymia. In Study 1, our confirmatory factor analyses in a sample of 231 adults suggested that the PAQ had a factor structure consistent with its theoretical basis; it could separately measure all components of the construct and do so across negative and positive emotions. All subscale and composite scores had high internal consistency reliability. Study 2 (N = 748) replicated these findings with respect to the PAQ's factor structure and internal consistency reliability, and statistical comparisons with measures of psychopathology and emotion regulation supported the PAQ's concurrent and discriminant validity. Our data therefore suggest that the PAQ has strong psychometric properties as a measure of alexithymia. Clinical and research applications are discussed.

Alexithymia is an important mental health construct, but there is continuing debate regarding its definition and measurement. We attempt to resolve this definitional uncertainty in two ways. Firstly, we trace the development of the alexithymia construct, focusing particularly on what we call the Toronto and Amsterdam models, and examine a body of empirical research that shows strong support for the hypothesis that alexithymia consists of three components (difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally orientated thinking). Based on these components, we formulate an alternate theoretical model of alexithymia, the attention-appraisal model of alexithymia , that aligns alexithymia theory with recent advances in the broader emotion regulation field. Secondly, we examine the construct's latent structure by factor analysing data from multiple psychometric measures administered to a community sample ( N = 368). Our results suggest statistical support for our model, rather than the Toronto or Amsterdam models. We end by discussing how our model accounts for several unresolved issues within the alexithymia field, including the construct's relation to imaginal capacities and emotional reactivity, whether alexithymia is a deficit or a defence, how it might be addressed in psychiatric treatment, and the discordance that has existed between alexithymia theory and alexithymia measurement. Ethical statement Ethics approval for this project was granted by the Edith Cowan University Human Research Ethics Committee. The guidelines of this committee were followed. All participants provided informed consent for their data to be used.

The Australian family courts introduced Child Inclusive Conferencing after the country adopted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The legislation governing these conferences is minimalistic but the Family Court Consultants in the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court have well-developed and documented guidelines. The Family Court of Western Australia is, however, a separate entity and in the absence of regulatory guidelines its Family Consultants developed their own process and criteria. This model is unique, in Australia at least, because it has been organically developed by the practitioners providing the Child Inclusive Conferences with very little, if any, statutory and regulatory guidance. This model therefore serves as an example of how practitioners think child inclusive services should be offered. The model is, however, not documented and the aim of this study was to understand and document Family Consultants’ decision making regarding if and when they will conduct a Child Inclusive Conference in the Family Court of Western Australia. Ten Family Consultants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. A thematic analysis was conducted on the transcripts of the interviews identifying 12 themes. Overall the data suggested that Family Consultants take into account a range of criteria and although they were very cognisant of the importance for the child to be engaged in decision making they noted specific challenges regarding how they could use Child Inclusive Conferencing to do this. These findings provide a basis for the development of regulations that ensure that Child Inclusive Conferences are used optimally to improve the inclusion of children in the family court procedures in Western Australia and potentially elsewhere. Further research is, however, necessary before such regulations can be finalised.

Mediation is a process that provides opportunities for parties to civil disputes to engage in dialogue that can satisfy their expectations and needs for apologies. While the literature on law and apology identifies why and ways in which the process can be beneficial, there are concerns associated with apologies offered in mediation. This article provides an overview of the apology and mediation literature in which these benefits and concerns are explored and the psychological research that reveals the complexity of apologies. We use case examples that illustrate this complexity and indicate ways that mediators working with parties in mediation who have indicated that apologies are important to them, might work with this. The article also reflects on the ways that the law interacts with apologies in the mediation of private law disputes and concludes that the law plays a significant indirect role in supporting parties who seek an apology as an outcome of mediationLa mediación es un proceso que ofrece a las partes implicadas en disputas civiles la oportunidad de entablar un diálogo que permita satisfacer sus expectativas y necesidades de disculpas. Mientras la literatura sobre derecho y disculpas identifica el porqué y las formas en las que el proceso puede ser beneficioso, existen preocupaciones asociadas a las disculpas ofrecidas en la mediación. Este artículo ofrece una visión de la literatura sobre disculpas y mediación, que analiza estos beneficios y preocupaciones, y de la investigación psicológica que muestra la complejidad de las disculpas. Se usan ejemplos de casos que ilustran esta complejidad e indican formas en las que podían aplicarlos los mediadores que trabajan en mediaciones en las que las partes han indicado que las disculpas son importantes para ellos. Este artículo también refleja las formas en las que el derecho interactúa con las disculpas en la mediación entre disputas de derecho privado y llega a la conclusión de que el derecho juega un papel indirecto importante en apoyar a las partes que buscan una disculpa como el resultado de la mediación.DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3029486

Apologies have become an accepted feature in many fields of law and there is evidence that they make a constructive contribution to the resolution of disputes. The reason for this might be that they address the intangible needs of parties after adverse events that law otherwise find difficult to address. Legal reformers introduced apologies into law primarily on the basis of deductive reasoning without being able to refer to a comprehensive psychological theory that explains the apology process; in part because apology was only identified as a psychological construct worthy of empirical research during the last quarter of the 20th century. Researchers’ contributions since the 1980s greatly improved the knowledge base about the apology process and we reviewed the relevant literature to find a comprehensive integrated theory of apology that legal reformers and practitioners can use to understand and predict the apology process. We could not find such a theory, but we try to integrate the empirical findings regarding interpersonal apologies into a rudimentary explanation that we believe could assist them. We conclude that apologies will generally be a part of the negotiated corrective interaction between the parties and that legislation should accommodate the process without being overly prescriptive and that lawyers should therefore refrain from judging the apologies their clients offer or accept.Las disculpas se han convertido en una figura aceptada en muchas áreas del derecho, y se ha demostrado que contribuyen de forma constructiva a la resolución de disputas. La razón parece ser que hacen referencia a las necesidades intangibles de las partes después de eventos adversos que el derecho, de otro modo, tiene dificultades para abordar. Algunos reformadores jurídicos incorporaron las disculpas a la legislación principalmente en base al razonamiento deductivo, sin que fueran capaces de alegar una teoría psicológica general que explicase el proceso de disculpa; en parte, porque la disculpa sólo se identificó como constructo psicológico merecedor de una investigación empírica en el último cuarto del siglo XX. Las contribuciones de los investigadores a partir de 1980 mejoraron mucho la base del conocimiento sobre el proceso de disculpa, y nosotros hemos revisado la literatura relevante para tratar de encontrar una teoría general integrada de la disculpa que pueda ser usada por reformadores y practicantes de la ley a fin de entender y predecir el proceso de disculpa. No hemos podido encontrar dicha teoría, pero hemos procurado integrar los descubrimientos empíricos referidos a las disculpas interpersonales en una explicación rudimentaria que, creemos, puede serles de ayuda. Nuestra conclusión es que las disculpas, generalmente, serán parte de una interacción negociada correctiva entre las partes, y que la legislación debería incluir el proceso sin ser excesivamente prescriptiva y que, por consiguiente, los abogados deberían abstenerse de juzgar las disculpas que sus clientes ofrecen o aceptan.DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3003881

Alexithymia, which involves difficulties identifying, communicating, and thinking about emotions, could be an important factor in violent offending. Our aim with the current study was to explore th...

Professions have a social obligation to ensure that their members’ professional behavior is morally appropriate. The psychology profession in most jurisdictions delegates the responsibility of ensu...

[EN]For security and justice professionals (e.g., police officers, lawyers, judges), the thousands of peer-reviewed articles on nonverbal communication represent important sources of knowledge. However, despite the scope of the scientific work carried out on this subject, professionals can turn to programs, methods, and approaches that fail to reflect the state of science. The objective of this article is to examine (i) concepts of nonverbal communication conveyed by these programs, methods, and approaches, but also (ii) the consequences of their use (e.g., on the life or liberty of individuals). To achieve this objective, we describe the scope of scientific research on nonverbal communication. A program (SPOT; Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques), a method (the BAI; Behavior Analysis Interview) and an approach (synergology) that each run counter to the state of science are examined. Finally, we outline five hypotheses to explain why some organizations in the fields of security and justice are turning to pseudoscience and pseudoscientific techniques. We conclude the article by inviting these organizations to work with the international community of scholars who have scientific expertise in nonverbal communication and lie (and truth) detection to implement evidence-based practices., [ES]Para los profesionales de la seguridad y la justicia (policías, abogados, jueces), los miles de artículos revisados por pares sobre comunicación no verbal representan fuentes importantes de conocimiento. Sin embargo, a pesar del alcance del trabajo científico realizado sobre este tema, los profesionales pueden recurrir a programas, métodos y enfoques que no reflejan el estado real de la ciencia. El objetivo de este artículo es examinar (i) los conceptos de comunicación no verbal transmitidos por estos programas, métodos y enfoques, pero también (ii) las consecuencias de su uso (por ejemplo, sobre la vida o la libertad de las personas). Para lograr estos objetivos, describimos el alcance de la investigación científica sobre la comunicación no verbal. Se examina un programa (SPOT: Evaluación de pasajeros mediante técnicas de observación), un método (BAI: Entrevista de análisis de conducta) y un enfoque (sinergología) que contradicen el estado de la ciencia. Finalmente, presentamos cinco hipótesis para explicar por qué algunas organizaciones en los campos de la seguridad y la justicia están recurriendo a la pseudociencia y a las técnicas pseudocientíficas. Concluimos el artículo invitando a estas organizaciones a trabajar con la comunidad académica internacional especializada en la investigación sobre comunicación no verbal y detección de mentiras (y verdad) para implementar prácticas basadas en la evidencia.

Objective There is ongoing uncertainty about the structure and definition of alexithymia. Conceptually, alexithymia has traditionally been defined as a multidimensional trait with four components: difficulty identifying feelings , difficulty describing feelings , externally orientated thinking , and difficulty fantasizing . However, some authors suggest that difficulty fantasizing might not be a component, and others suggest low emotional reactivity is a fifth component. In this study, we sought to clarify this issue using factor analysis. Method In a sample of adults (N = 508), we administered a comprehensive battery of psychometric measures and analyzed their latent structure using exploratory factor analysis. Results Subscales assessing difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally orientated thinking all loaded well together on the alexithymia factor. However, none of the subscales assessing aspects of difficulty fantasizing (i.e., daydreaming frequency, vividness, content, or use of daydreams to regulate emotions) loaded on the alexithymia factor. Similarly, no emotional reactivity subscales loaded on the alexithymia factor, and alexithymia was associated with higher (not lower) levels of emotional reactivity for negative emotions. Conclusions Difficulty fantasizing and low emotional reactivity are not components of the latent alexithymia construct. The traditional four‐component definition of alexithymia likely warrants refinement to a more parsimonious three‐component solution.

Background Alexithymia is a trait involving difficulties processing emotions. Existing data suggest it is associated with violent offending. In violent offender programmes, therefore, violent offenders are screened for alexithymia and it is attended to if necessary. No studies have, however, examined alexithymia levels in nonviolent offenders and it is, therefore, unknown whether it is also a criminogenic factor in this population. Aims To investigate alexithymia levels among incarcerated nonviolent offenders and compare them with a community comparison group. Method The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale was used to compare the alexithymia levels of 67 incarcerated nonviolent offenders with a group of 139 people from the general public living in the community. Results Alexithymia levels did not differ between the groups. Conclusion It appears that alexithymia is not a criminogenic factor for nonviolent offenders and screening of such offenders appears unnecessary.

Cyberbullying can be harmful to adolescents using online technology, and one way of combating it may be to use interventions that have been successfully utilised for traditional bullying, such as encouraging peer bystander intervention. The online environment, however, differs notably from the environment in which traditional bullying takes place raising questions about the suitability of transferring traditional bullying approaches to the cyber environment. This study explored the perceptions of, and key influences on, adolescent bystanders who witness cyberbullying. In all, 24 interviews were conducted with students aged 13–16 years. Relationships emerged as a key theme with participants believing that a bystander’s relationship with both the perpetrator and the target influenced whether they would intervene when witnessing cyberbullying. Relationships also influenced their ability to understand the context of the situation, the perceived severity of the effect of the incident on the target and therefore the need, or otherwise, to seek help from adults.

Psychologists need clients’ information to provide a service to them and must do it within the parameters of the normative framework that regulates the collection and management (i.e., storing, accessing, amending, using, and disposing) of client information. Presiding officers’ comments in the course of tribunal hearings and research findings, however, suggest that many psychologists do not fully understand this framework and/or its practical implications. In this article we aim to provide information to psychologists that will allow them to keep records in a ethico-legal defensible manner and to the optimal benefit of their clients and society. We do this by exploring the Australian normative framework, paying special attention to the relevant legal provisions, case law, ethical principles and standards, and the aims of record-keeping. We then use this normative framework to examine the practical aspects of the collection and management of client information.

The aim of this study was to add to the emerging knowledge about the role of bystanders in cyberbullying. To differentiate online versus offline bystander behaviors, 292 Australian children (mean age = 15.2; female = 54.4%) reviewed hypothetical scenarios experimentally manipulated by bystander sex, relationship to target and perpetrator, and severity of bullying incident. In both environments, bystander helping behaviors were more likely when the target was a close friend, perceived harm to the target was high, and when bystanders were female. Bystanders also reported being less likely to approach teachers or publicly defend targets in online versus offline environments. This suggests programs designed to encourage positive bystander behaviors online can be similar to face-to-face approaches, but they need to recognize some aspects unique to the online environment.

Alexithymia is a trait involving difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally orientated thinking. Over the past two decades, it has usually been assessed using the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Recently, the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ) was developed to provide more detailed facet-level (and valence-specific) analysis. To date, no studies have compared these two measures, and few data are available on the PAQ. We examined the psychometric properties of the PAQ and TAS-20 in United States adults (N = 675). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that both measures had a theoretically congruent factor structure. While the PAQ assessed alexithymia for both negative and positive emotions, the TAS-20 assessed alexithymia only for negative emotions. All PAQ and TAS-20 subscales had good reliability, except for the TAS-20 externally orientated thinking subscale. Pearson correlations supported the convergent validity of both measures. We conclude that the PAQ and TAS-20 both have strong qualities and assess a similar alexithymia construct, however, the PAQ appears to provide a more comprehensive facet-level profile.

The assessment of offenders’ risk of reoffending, particularly sexual reoffending, is a core activity of forensic mental health practitioners. The purpose of these assessments is to reduce the risk of harm to the public, but they are controversial and become more contentious when Australian practitioners who want to undertake such assessments in an ethically responsible way must use reliable validated instruments, disclose the limitations of their assessment methods, instruments and data to judicial decision-makers and understand how decision-makers might use their reports. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to explore the practices of Australian practitioners and courts in respect of the assessment of Australian Indigenous male sexual offenders’ risk of reoffending. We could not identify an instrument that has been developed for the assessment of this population group. Australian courts differ in whether they admit and give weight to practitioners’ evidence and opinions based on data obtained with non-validated instruments. We could only identify three possible predictor variables with enough quantitative support to justify including them in an instrument that could be used to assess Indigenous sexual offenders. There is a need for research regarding the validity of the instruments that practitioners use.