Search

Research suggests that sexual offending is one of the more common forms of offending behaviour committed by autistic individuals. Despite this, very little research has investigated approaches to rehabilitation for autistic individuals who have sexually offended. The small body of literature that does exist suggests that interventions to address sexual offending may not be sufficiently adapted for this group. In this paper we present an exploratory qualitative study that (i) explores how prison-based interventions to address sexual offending are experienced by autistic individuals with sexual offense convictions and the staff who work with them, and (ii) identifies and explores the features of prison-based sexual offending interventions that may be challenging or beneficial for autistic individuals, from the perspective of those involved in treatment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 autistic men serving prison sentences for sexual convictions, and 13 members of prison staff. A multi-perspective phenomenologically-informed thematic (MPT) analysis identified three themes of 'Feeling overwhelmed', 'Out of the comfort zone', and '(Dis)connected to others'. These themes highlight some of the key issues relating to the format and delivery of interventions, as well as the impact of the broader prison context on rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Fire Ecology is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

People with sexual attractions to children are often subject to heavy stigmatization, and several studies have started to look at how this affects their mental health. This is likely due to a conflation with offending and sexual risk within society, which translates into academic work on the topic. In this context, little is known about how the experiences of non-offending individuals with attractions to children inform their treatment needs in non-forensic contexts. We conducted anonymous semi-structured interviews with large sample of 31 non-offending adult men who are attracted to children, recruited through online forums. The results focus on two superordinate themes central to interpersonal and intrapersonal experiences, and the effects of these on both everyday functioning ("Living with a sexual interest in children"), and perceived treatment needs ("Establishing treatment targets"). These findings hold significance for the effective design and delivery of both preventative and healthcare-related support services, particularly in relation to early intervention and assisting this population in living full lives with their sexual attractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measurement of sexual attraction patterns has significance in relation to the assessment and treatment of people who may have caused sexual harm. However, it is also important to understand the drivers of sexual attractions within the community. In recent times there has been an increased level of interest in people with attractions to children, but minimal attention has been paid to fully understand how different indicators of age might influence their level of attraction to a range of child targets. In this paper we report three studies wherein we developed a merged person stimulus set that allowed us to manipulate the configuration of a target's apparent age (depicted by facial features) and their physical development stage (depicted by non-facial bodily features). In Studies 1 and 2 we find that our merged person set performs comparatively well on indices of realism and estimated age, while in Study 3 we find that manipulating the apparent age of a body influences the attractiveness judgements made by people with attractions to different age groups. We discuss the theoretical and practical significance of our findings within the context of accurate assessment techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managers use morphometric data collected from harvested animals as indicators of nutritional condition. Antler or horn size often are considered in ungulates, but there are problems associated with biased and limited harvest data available from male animals in many populations. Adult female body mass also may be collected, but little information exists on how male antler size scales with female body mass. We evaluated the relationship between property‐specific mature male white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) antler size and adult female body mass from harvest data collected at 2 spatial scales. Regression predicted a 4.4‐cm increase in average mature male antler size for every 1‐kg increase in female body mass from 31 properties across the eastern United States, 2015–2023. Adult female mass explained 64% of the variation in mature antler size, and including latitude as a covariate did not improve model fit. When we considered data from 174 properties in Mississippi, USA, 1991–1994, we predicted a 4.7‐cm increase in average mature male antler size for every 1‐kg increase in adult female body mass. Including soil resource region in the Mississippi model explained 48% of the variation in mature male antler size by accounting for differences in average sizes across regions. Our results indicate average female body mass correlates with mature male antler size at multiple spatial scales. We recommend managers collect body mass and age from harvested female deer, as female mass represents a useful metric to track management progress and predict changes in antler size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PRACTICE IMPACT STATEMENTResearch suggests that autistic individuals have qualitatively unique experiences of prison social environments, and that these experiences may have implications for autistic prisoners’ mental wellbeing and engagement with offending behaviour interventions. However, this has yet to be quantitatively tested. Using a sample of 177 adult prisoners from two UK prisons that exclusively house individuals with sexual convictions, this study tested a hypothesised double-mediation model, to investigate associations between autistic traits and prisoners’ readiness to engage with treatment, and whether this was mediated by experiences of the prison social climate and mental wellbeing. Results indicated that prisoners with higher levels of autistic traits had poorer experiences of prison social climates, which, in turn, predicted higher levels of anxiety and depression, which subsequently predicted reduced level readiness to engage with offending behaviour interventions. Implications for research and practice are discussed, emphasising the need for increased autism-related awareness and support provisions in prisons.The present study is a novel quantitative study, which is the first to statistically demonstrate that neurodivergence can significantly influence prisoners’ perceptions of prison social climates, mental wellbeing, and ultimately readiness to engage with rehabilitate interventions. As such, these findings emphasise the importance of embedding understanding neurodiversity in prison staff training, as well as considering and accommodating neurodiversity as a key dimension in the development of a prison’s rehabilitative culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten state wildlife management agencies in the United States, including six within the Southeast, have delayed their spring wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) hunting seasons since 2017 by five or more days to address concerns related to the potential effects of hunting on wild turkey seasonal productivity. One hypothesis posits that if the spring hunting season is too early, there may be insufficient time for males to breed hens before being harvested, thus leading to reduced seasonal productivity. We conducted an experiment to determine whether delaying the wild turkey hunting season by 2 weeks in south‐middle Tennessee would affect various reproductive rates. In 2021 and 2022, the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission experimentally delayed the spring hunting season to open 14 days later than the traditional date (the Saturday closest to 1 April) in Giles, Lawrence, and Wayne counties. We monitored reproductive rates from 2017 to 2022 in these three counties as well as two adjacent counties, Bedford and Maury, that were not delayed. We used a Before‐After‐Control‐Impact design to analyze the proportion of hens nesting, clutch size, hatchability, nest success, poult survival and hen survival with linear mixed‐effect models and AIC model selection to detect relationships between the 14‐day delay and reproductive parameters. We detected no relationship (p >.05) between the 14‐day delay and any individual reproductive parameter. In addition, recruitment (hen poults per hen that survived until the next breeding season) was very low (<0.5) and did not increase because of the 14‐day delay. The traditional Tennessee start date had been in place since 1986 while the turkey harvest increased markedly until about 2006 and more recently stabilized. Our data indicate that moving the start of the hunting season from a period just prior to peak nest initiation to 2 weeks later, to coincide with a period just prior to peak nest incubation initiation, resulted in no change to productivity or populations in wild turkey flocks in south‐middle Tennessee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]