Carol A. Ireland

Attitudes towards sex offenders and the influence of offence type: a comparison of staff working in a forensic setting and students

The objective of this study was to investigate attitudes towards individuals who commit different types of sex offence, with subsidiary aims of exploring the influence of respondent sex and the influence of personal experience of sexual abuse. The sample comprised 139 participants (49 students and 90 forensic staff). All were provided with a vignette depicting a specific type of sex offence, and asked to complete a scale assessing attitudes towards sex offenders (Hogue, 1993). Forensic staff were more likely than students to view sex offenders in positive terms, viewing them as individuals who could be rehabilitated. Participants who reported being victims of sexual abuse, or that someone close to them had been abused, viewed sex offenders less negatively than non‐victims. Men demonstrated less positive attitudes towards child incest and child indecent assault offenders than to stranger rapists. Women held more positive views towards sex offenders than men, and this was consistent across offence type.

How do offenders define bullying? A study of adult, young and juvenile male offenders

Purpose. The main aim of the present study was to explore how offenders define bullying and how this relates to school-based definitions, with a subsidiary aim of exploring age differences. Methods. The sample was selected from two separate prisons in the UK housing male offenders (one adult prison and one housing both young and juvenile offenders) and consisted of 322 offenders (127 adults, 95 young offenders and 100 juveniles). Offenders were asked to complete a questionnaire designed to assess their perceptions of bullying, including an assessment of what types of behaviours made up bullying based on the Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behaviour Checklist (DIPC©: Ireland, 1999). Results. Differences were found between school-based definitions and those applied by offenders. In particular, offenders reported that a single act of aggression could be considered bullying and that there was not always an imbalance of power between the bully and the victim. Victims were often seen to provoke bullies. Bullies were not always respected by their peers and one-quarter of offenders felt that the term ‘bullying’ was a ‘childish’ one. Offenders reported a range of discrete aggressive behaviours, both direct and indirect in nature, which could be considered to be bullying. Indirect behaviours were reported as bullying less frequently than direct behaviours. Conclusions. The study demonstrated how school-based definitions of bullying do not readily apply to offenders and the findings are discussed in relation to the specific population and environment under study.

Attitudes towards male and female sex offenders: a comparison of forensic staff, prison officers and the general public in Northern Ireland

This study explored the attitudes of prison officers, forensic staff and members of the public towards and male and female sex offenders. Participants were provided with a vignette depicting a specific sexual offence committed against either an adult or a child, by either a male or a female perpetrator, and were then asked to complete a scale assessing attitudes to sex offenders based on the offender depicted in the vignette. Forensic staff emerged as having the most positive attitudes to sex offenders, viewing them as individuals who could be rehabilitated. Prison officers emerged as having the most negative attitudes, in that they were supportive of harsh and untrusting attitudes. Overall, females emerged as viewing sex offenders in more positive terms, whereas males were more supportive of harsh attitudes to sex offenders. Respondents did not have a more negative attitude to female sex offenders than to male sex offenders.

Violent and sexual offenders: Assessment, treatment and management

Foreword by Professor David P. Farrington Part I: Risk assessment - current perspectives 1. Violence risk assessment, Jennifer Lavoie, Laura Guy and Kevin Douglas 2. Sexual offender risk assessment: research, evaluation, best practice recommendations, and future directions, Douglas P. Boer and Stephen Hart 3. Domestic violence and stalking risk assessment, Randall Kropp Part II: Clinical assessment - current perspectives 4. Therapeutic assessment issues to consider with violent offenders, Jane L. Ireland 5. Assessing therapeutic needs for sex offenders, Leigh Harkins and Tony Beech 6. Assessing the clinical needs for stalking and domestic violence, Werner Tschan Part III: Treatment and management - current perspectives 7. Treatment approaches for violence, Jane L. Ireland 8. Treatment approaches for sexual violence, Carol A. Ireland and Rachel Worthington 9. Implications for treatment approaches for interpersonal violence: stalking and domestic, Niki Graham-Kevan and Stefanie Ashton Wigman 10. In their own worlds: the relationship between thinking and doing for convicted paedophiles, David Wilson and Tim Jones 11. Comparative analysis of the management of sex offenders within the USA and UK, Bill Hebenton 12. Challenges of managing the risk of violent and sexual offenders in the community, Tom Considine and Philip Birch

Substance misuse: the relationship between attachment styles, personality traits and coping in drug and non‐drug users

This study examined an individuals drug use in relation to their coping styles, personality traits and attachment style. A total of 98 participants (46 females and 52 males) took part in the study. Analysis did not show a significant difference in insecure/ambivalent attachment in the drug‐using group. Yet, there was evidence to suggest that the drug‐using group exhibited higher levels of personality disorder traits, based only on self‐report. Individuals with more personality disorder traits had a more insecure attachment style. Participants who use drugs had a more avoidant coping style. The results are discussed with reference to previous research and the implications of the current research on attachment theory and personality disorder etiology, as well as implications for drug treatment.

Initial development of an implicit and explicit approach to assess psychopathy

Four studies outline the ACL (Affective, Cognitive and Lifestyle) assessment, a new means of assessing psychopathy capturing implicit and explicit functioning. Studies 1 and 2 comprised students (Study 1, n=42, 14 men, 28 women; Study 2, n=50 men), Study 3 comprised 80 young prisoners (men) and Study 4, 40 forensic psychiatric patients (men). It was predicted that the ACL affective, cognitive and interpersonal components would positively correlate with the interpersonal factor of another measure of psychopathy (PCL-SV), whereas the ACL Lifestyle component would correlate with the criminal history/lifestyle component of the PCL-SV. Evidence for internal reliability for the ACL was noted. The ACL correlated as expected with the PCL-SV although variation across samples was noted. Implicit affect and specific aspects of cognition positively correlated with increased psychopathy on the PCL-SV. Implicit affect correlated differently across samples. Findings are discussed regarding implications. Directions for future research are indicated.

Sleep and its association with aggression among prisoners: Quantity or quality?

OBJECTIVE The current paper aims to examine the association between self-reported sleep quality and quantity and how these relate to aggression motivation and hostile cognition in a male prisoner sample. The cognitive component of sleep, namely perception, is consequently a variable of particular interest and one neglected by previous research. METHODS Two independent studies are presented. The first comprised 95 adult male prisoners who completed a sleep quality index along with measures of implicit and explicit aggression. The second study extended this to consider aggression motivation and hostile attribution biases using a sample of 141 young male adult prisoners. RESULTS In study one, sleep quantity and indicators of sleep quality were found not to associate with aggression whereas the perception of poor sleep did; those perceiving poor sleep quality were more likely than those perceiving good sleep to report they had perpetrated aggression in the previous week and to report higher levels of implicit aggression. Study two found that while increased indicators of poor sleep quality were associated with lower prosocial attribution tendencies and higher levels of reactive and proactive aggression, sleep quantity was not associated. The perception of poor quality sleep was important; those perceiving poor sleep were more likely to report higher levels of reactive and proactive aggression than those reporting good sleep. CONCLUSIONS Collectively the studies highlight the importance of accounting for the perception of sleep quality as an important cognitive component in understanding the association between sleep and aggression.

Developing a self‐report measure to assess disclosure strategies in adult male prisoners and its association with personality

Purpose – The current study aims to report on the development of a self‐report measure of disclosure strategies in adult male prisoners (violent and acquisitive offences) and its association with personality and self‐esteem.Design/methodology/approach – The study employed an adapted version of the Delphi technique to develop initial items for inclusion in the new disclosure measure (Disclosure Management Questionnaire: DMQ). This element of the study utilised an “expert sample” of forensic psychologists. A total of 94 prisoners then completed the developed measure. Factor analysis was utilised to explore the structure of the measure, which subsequently allowed associations between disclosure strategies, personality and self‐esteem to be identified.Findings – Analysis revealed a measure of disclosure (the DMQ) comprising four subscales: Exploratory Engagement, Placatory/Evasive Engagement, Passive Resistance and Active Resistance. Significant correlations were identified between the personality trait Neuro...

Personality structure among prisoners: how valid is the five-factor model, and can it offer support for Eysenck's theory of criminality?

BACKGROUND Research with offenders has tended to use a categorical system of diagnosis or a three-factor model. There is growing evidence among non-offending groups that a five-factor model (FFM), which is more holistic and emphasises strengths as well as limitations, may be more clinically useful. AIM The purpose of this study was to test the validity of the FFM of personality in a sample of adult male prisoners. It was predicted that they would show higher scores for extraversion (E) and lower scores for emotional stability (ES) [the equivalent of higher neuroticism (N)], that E would be predicted by prison experience and age and that the FFM would be confirmed as a better fit to the data over Eysencks three-factor [P(psychoticism)EN] model. METHODS Two independent samples of adult male prisoners were asked to complete the International Personality Item Pool while locked in their cells over the lunchtime period. Parallel and confirmatory factor analyses were used to test the hypotheses. RESULTS There was a 65 and 75% response rate across the independent samples, resulting in samples of 259 and 183, respectively. Overall, more positive personality traits were evidenced across both samples. E was not predicted by prison experience or age, with increased ES related to increased age in only one sample. The best-fitting model comprised five factors, but represented a variant of the FFM. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE The value of applying broad conceptualisations of personality to special samples is discussed, with the importance of accounting for positive, as well as negative, traits acknowledged. The presence of increased positive traits in comparison to negative traits is not in keeping with Eysencks original personality theory of criminal behaviour, with the study highlighting value in accounting more for environmental factors.

Homesickness amongst a prison population

Purpose. The aim of this study is to validate a modified version of the 33-item Homesickness Questionnaire (HQ; Archer, Ireland, Amos, Broad, & Currid, 1998) for use within a prison population. Methods. The HQ was reworded to fit the experiences of prisoners rather than students. 179 male young offenders completed the 30-item scale (the modified Homesickness Questionnaire, HQ-P), and a single-item homesickness measure (SIHM; Fisher & Hood, 1987). Results. The HQ-P was internally consistent, and 25 items showed significant differences between homesick and non-homesick groups formed on the basis of the SIHM. Factor analysis revealed a main factor consistent with one of two found by Archer et al. (1998), representing attachment to the home. Removal of other items left a total of 21 items in the final HQ-P. There were high positive correlations between the HQ-P total scores and the SIHM for current and initial levels of homesickness. Conclusions. The findings reveal a coherent construct of homesickness among these prisoners, and provide a simple way of assessing and screening inmates for homesickness. Language: en