Sibling incest within violent families : Children under 12 years seeking nurture.

This article will draw on theories of childhood and current sociological debates of shame to explore and understand the formation of sexual identity in children who experience a violent family. Children have limited resources available to them and in violent family situations may turn to their siblings for nurture. Contextualising this type of dependency within the usual processes of childhood sexual development, including exploration and experimentation, may increase the likelihood of sibling incest.

Legal loophole protecting violent men : why the defence of provocation needs to change

This comment analyses the successful use of the provocation defence in New South Wales in cases of male perpetrated intimate homicide. In doing so, it makes an argument for why the defence should be abolished.

Does school suspension affect subsequent youth non-violent antisocial behaviour? A longitudinal study of studnets in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, United States

School suspension has been not only associated with negative behaviours but also is predictive of future poor outcomes. The current study investigates (1) whether school suspension is a unique predictor of youth non-violent antisocial behaviour (NVAB) relative to other established predictors, and (2) whether the predictors of NVAB are similar in Australia and the United States (USA). The data analysed here draw on two statewide representative samples of Grade 7 and 9 students in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, USA, resurveyed at 12-month follow-up (N = 3,677, 99% retention). School suspension did not uniquely predict NVAB in the final model. The predictors of NVAB, similar across states, included previous student NVAB, current alcohol and tobacco use, poor family management, association with antisocial friends, and low commitment to school. An implication of the findings is that US evidence-based prevention programmes targeting the influences investigated here could be trialled in Australia.

Violent offending, masculinity and age: exploring the role of developmental processes in adulthood

While the link between violent crime and masculinity is often implicitly assumed, to date, research has not specifically investigated beliefs about violence and masculinity at different stages of the adult life-course. This thesis explored the role of maturational processes in the way beliefs about masculinity and violence may differ in early and middle adulthood. Results of a quantitative study did not uncover statistically significant differences between younger and older adult violent offenders on a measure of criminal thinking. However, results of an interpretative phenomenological analysis indicated that beliefs about masculinity may differentially influence violent crime at different stages of adulthood. The results of these two studies provide a foundation for arguing that beliefs about violence and masculinity change throughout the life-course, and that masculinity in particular may be important treatment target in contemporary rehabilitation programs.

More than a game : the impact of sport-based youth mentoring schemes on developing resilience toward violent extremism

This paper draws upon the findings of an evaluation of “More than a Game”, a sport-focused youth mentoring program in Melbourne, Australia that aimed to develop a community-based resilience model using team-based sports to address issues of identity, belonging, and cultural isolation amongst young Muslim men in order to counter forms of violent ex-tremism. In this essay we focus specifically on whether the intense embodied encounters and emotions experienced in team sports can help break down barriers of cultural and religious difference between young people and facilitate ex-periences of resilience, mutual respect, trust, social inclusion and belonging. Whilst the project findings are directly rel-evant to the domain of countering violent extremism, they also contribute to a growing body of literature which con-siders the relationship between team-based sport, cross-cultural engagement and the development of social resilience, inclusion and belonging in other domains of youth engagement and community-building.

Toward a clinically meaningful taxonomy of violent offenders: the role of anger and thinking styles

 This thesis identified a clinically meaningful three-group classification system of violent offenders utilising patterns of anger and crime-supporting beliefs using a sample of 305 male violent prisoners. The three types demonstrated differential outcomes following completion of a violence intervention program, highlighting the need for interventions more tailored toward treatment needs.

The influence of mindfulness meditation on angry emotions and violent behavior on Thai technical college students

Introduction: Violence among technical college students is a significant issue in Thailand, South East Asia, and yet few interventions are available for use with this group. In this study the outcomes of a culturally appropriate intervention, mindfulness meditation (MM), on anger and violent behavior are reported. The MM intervention was delivered over three consecutive weeks to technical college students (n = 40) and the effects compared to a comparison group (n = 56) who attend classes as usual. Methods: Both the intervention and comparison group completed a series of validated self-report measures on aggressive and violent behavior perpetration and victimization on three occasions (pre-intervention, 1 month and 3 month post-intervention). Results: Program participants reported lower levels of anger expression at one month follow-up, but there were no observed group. ×. time interactions for self-reported violent behavior. Rates of victimization changed over time, with one interaction effect observed for reports of being threatened. Conclusions: MM may have the potential to improve emotional self-control, but is likely to only impact on violent behavior when this is anger mediated.

Toward a clinically meaningful taxonomy of violent offenders: the role of anger and thinking styles

Violent offender rehabilitation programs aim to reduce the risk of re-offending in known offenders by addressing a range of different treatments needs, often with core intervention targets of improving anger regulation and altering antisocial beliefs and thinking styles. Such programs have proven efficacy in reducing recidivism for some, but not all, violent offenders, and little is known about the effects of these programs on different offender types. This study investigates whether subtypes of violent offenders can be meaningfully identified and considers how this influences short-term treatment outcomes. Cluster analysis identified three distinctive violent offender groups within a sample of 305 male offenders who had been assessed for participation in a violent offender rehabilitation program. An "unregulated" group had high levels of anger experience and expression and low levels of anger control, and held beliefs that were strongly supportive of a criminal lifestyle. A "regulated" group demonstrated levels of anger and beliefs supporting criminal activity that were not in a range that warranted treatment. Finally, an "overregulated" group was assessed as the group at highest risk of violent re-offending and had low levels of anger experience and expression and an absence of beliefs supporting criminal activity. The unregulated group appeared to gain the most benefit from treatment, although it had the highest levels of criminal thinking and problematic anger. These findings nonetheless offer support for the hypothesis that violent offender treatment programs may be optimally effective when targeted at particular types of offenders.

Regional homogeneity of resting-state brain abnormalities in violent juvenile offenders: A biomarker of brain immaturity?

The authors investigated whether male violent juvenile offenders demonstrate any differences in local functional connectivity indicative of delayed maturation of the brain that may serve as a biomarker of violence. Twenty-nine violent juvenile offenders and 28 age-matched controls were recruited. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) method was used to analyze resting-state magnetic resonance images. Violent offenders showed significantly lower ReHo values in the right caudate, right medial prefrontal cortex, and left precuneus, and higher values in the right supramarginal gyrus than the controls. These regions had both high sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing between the two groups suggesting that dysfunction in these regions can be used to correctly classify those individuals who are violent. Dysfunction in the right medial prefrontal-caudate circuit may, therefore, represent an important biomarker of violence juvenile males.

The role of leverage in cross-border mergers and acquisitions

We examine the relationship between leverage and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Using a sample of 85,560 cross-border mergers and acquisitions in 57 countries over the period 1990 to 2010, we find that firms with higher leverage are less likely to acquire foreign targets, whereas firms with lower leverage tend to be targets acquired by foreign firms. These effects are more pronounced in Asian countries than North America. Acquisition premium, the likelihood of all-cash offer and the percentage of cash in the acquisition offer decrease with leverage in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Foreign targets gain positive abnormal returns in the both short run and long run, while acquirers earn positive abnormal returns in the short-run, but negative returns in the long run. We also find that firms adjust their capital structure after the acquisition by issuing more equity if they were overleveraged, or issuing more debt if they were underleveraged before the acquisition. Our results provide international evidence on how leverage affects managerial decision to acquire foreign targets, payment method and acquisition premium in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. This study shows that the interdependent relationship between investment decision and financing decision exists worldwide.

Anxiety, depression, impulsivity and substance misuse in violent and non-violent adolescent boys in detention in China

The present investigation aims to identify the factors which differentiate violent from non-violent juvenile offenders, with a particular emphasis on the association between internalizing psychiatric morbidity (i.e. anxiety and depression), impulsivity, substance misuse, and violence. A total of 323 incarcerated male juvenile offenders from one of three Youth Detention Centers (YDCs) in China were recruited between August 2007 and November 2008. Interviews were conducted by trained psychiatrists using the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11), the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), and the Birleson Depression Self-Rating Scale (DSRS) to assess impulsivity, anxiety and depression, respectively. The Schedule for Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children Present and Lifetime (K-SADS-PL) was also used to assess psychiatric diagnoses. Violent offenders had significantly higher BIS-11 total scores, and attention and nonplanning subscale scores (p<0.05). In the multiple logistic regression model, substance use disorders (SUD) and BIS-11 total scores independently predicted violence. Prison-based treatment services designed to reduce impulsivity and substance misuse in juvenile detention facilities should be prioritized.