Chris Hatcher

The role of the psychologist in crisis/hostage negotiations

Over the past three decades, there has been a noted increase in hostage and barricade incidents involving perpetrators with a variety of emotional, economic, and political motives. A hostage incident may be defined as an incident in which (a) perpetrator(s) hold(s) one or more persons against their will in a location known to police. A barricade incident, on the other hand, is an incident without hostages in which a perpetrator is barricaded, also in a location known to police and refusing to surrender. Approximately 25 years ago, a theory of crisis/hostage negotiations was developed which has been continuously refined in field applications. This article will define the goal of crisis/hostage negotiation, review the history of hostage taking from biblical times to the present, review the utilization of psychologists and other mental health consultants by police crisis/hostage negotiation teams, and discuss the four roles and related functions of psychologists on crisis/hostage negotiation teams.

Couple complementarity and similarity: A review of the literature

Abstract This review examines couple complementarity and similarity, and their relationship to dyadic adjustment, from three perspectives: social/psychological research, clinical populations research, and the observations of family therapists. Methodological criticisms are discussed suggesting that the evidence for a relationship between similarity and attraction/satisfaction has been erroneously overstated. The views of family theorists emphasizing the role of complementary structures in dyads are presented, as well as a model of “failed” complementarity as a source of marital dissatisfaction. The few clinical studies available indicate that similarity is associated with marital success and is less associated with marital instability and divorce. Evidence suggests that dissimilarity per se is associated with instability and divorce. Within troubled dyads, there is some implication of a mechanism of stability-maintaining complementarity, as well as spousal differences in level of general emotionalism. Cli...

Suicide and violence risk in law enforcement: practical guidelines for risk assessment, prevention, and intervention.

Research and anecdotal reports indicate that suicide and violence risk may be higher among members of law enforcement than those in other occupational categories. This article examines the phenomenon of suicide and violence risk within this population, and law enforcement cultural variables that may contribute to elevated risk. Suicide and violence risk factors and clues unique to law enforcement are described, as are intervention approaches which may be helpful to managing and reducing risk.

Family characteristics in high and low health care utilization

Despite the position of the family as the basic social unit, the majority of studies of medical care utilization focus on individuals. In this preliminary study, nine families of high utilizers and 12 families of low utilizers were compared using the Moos Family Environment Scale and a semistructured interview. Significant differences were seen in structure, interactional patterns, and health-related behavior. The high utilizer families, as a whole, saw themselves as less expressive and more achievement-oriented. High utilizer children saw much more parental control than did low utilizer children. There was greater divergence in perspective between husbands and wives of high utilizing families than between spouses in low utilizing families. High utilizer families were less social than low utilizer families. There was greater use of tranquilizers and greater dissatisfaction with doctors in the high utilizer families as well.

False Victimization Syndromes in Stalking

Publisher Summary This chapter illustrates the false victimization syndromes in stalking. When suspicions arise that a stalking complaint might not be legitimate, there are at least 12 categories of descriptors. Moreover, these should be assessed to determine the presence of a potential false victimization syndrome. Victim presentation refers to the kinds of behavior the victims engage in, and whether this behavior is consistent with typical victim behavior or not. Enlistment of others refers to the manner in which the complainant interfaces with the individuals support system around the incident. In some cases of false victimization it is not at all uncommon to clearly see the obvious secondary gains that the victim is getting out of the allegations. Psychological data refers to whether there are any mental health problems in the victims background. Historical clues include information gleaned from the history of the complainant and other collateral sources that may point in the direction of a false allegation. Suspect problems refer to problems with the victims description of the suspect, often centering on the notion that the victims characterization of the suspect conflicts with known suspect behavior.

Managing data entry of a large-scale interview project with optical scanning hardware and software

A hardware and software system for the cost-effective preparation of interview data is described. Scantron optical scanning hardware and DataBlocks software were used to prepare ASCII data files from structured interviews and questionnaires. These data were then edited for analysis with SPSS-X Data Entry software. Three different processes for preparing interview data were compared. Time, personnel, hardware, and software costs were projected for each process, as well as comparative risks to the integrity of data. A scanning procedure saves time and money, and it reduces the risk of errors.