Deborah F. Hellmann

A brief form of the Perceived Social Support Questionnaire (F-SozU) was developed, validated, and standardized

OBJECTIVES Development of a brief instrument (F-SozU K-6) for the measurement of perceived social support in epidemiologic contexts by shortening a well-established German questionnaire (F-SozU K-14). STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING The development of the F-SozU K-6 consisted of two phases; phase 1: the F-SozU K-14 was presented to a general population sample representative for the Federal Republic of Germany (N = 2,007; age: 14-92 years). Six items for the short form were selected based on the maximization of coefficient alpha. Phase 2: the new short form (F-SozU K-6) was evaluated and standardized in an independent second population survey (N = 2,508, age: 14-92 years). RESULTS The F-SozU K-6 showed very good reliability and excellent model fit indices for the one-dimensional factorial structure of the scale. Furthermore, strict measurement invariance was detected allowing unbiased comparison of means and correlation coefficients and path coefficients between both sexes across the full lifespan from adolescence (14-92 years). Well-established associations of perceived social support with depression and somatic symptoms could be replicated using the short form. CONCLUSION The F-SozU K-6 presents a reliable, valid, and economical instrument to assess perceived social support and can thus be effectively applied within the frameworks of clinical epidemiologic studies or related areas.

The prevalence of stalking: Current data from a German victim survey

The present study, as part of a large-scale victim survey, examines the prevalence and nature of stalking in a representative German quota sample (N = 5779). Applying a broad definition of stalking, the lifetime prevalence added up to 15 percent, depending on respondents’ age, gender, and immigrant background, as well as household size and relationship status. Conditional inference trees revealed that gender, relationship status, and household size were key factors in identifying victims of stalking. Offenders mostly committed stalking against the opposite gender. This pertains especially to female (vs. male) victims. In most cases the offender and victim knew each other prior to the stalking. The results are compared with national and international findings. Implications and potential limitations are discussed.

(Why) do victims become perpetrators? Intergenerational transmission of parental violence in a representative German sample.

Child maltreatment can severely impair children’s emotional and physical well-being as well as their individual development across the life span. In 2011, the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (Germany), conducted a nationally representative victim survey on diverse forms of victimizations (N = 11,428). Among other things, experienced and exerted parental violence as well as participants’ knowledge regarding the abolition of the parental right of corporal punishment were assessed. Apart from providing current estimates of the prevalence of experienced and exerted parental violence in Germany, we identified specific risk markers for the intergenerational transmission of parental violence. In summary, 52.6% of the participants reported experiences of at least one incident of at least minor parental violence until the age of 16 years, and 22.9% had exerted at least once at least one act of minor violence against their own children. Nonparametric conditional inference tree analyses revealed experienced parental violence as the most important risk marker for exerting parental violence. Furthermore, the number of children currently cared for, parental age, and origin as well as knowledge about the current legal situation regarding corporal punishment were significantly associated with exerting parental violence. For individuals without a history of parental violence, lack of experienced parental warmth and an age between 33 and 40 years increased the risk of exerting parental violence. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for designing effective prevention and intervention strategies.

“A letter for Dr. Outgroup”: on the effects of an indicator of competence and chances for altruism toward a member of a stigmatized out-group

The lost letter technique is an unobtrusive method to investigate attitudes in a particular population. Ostensibly lost letters from senders who apparently belong to different groups or addressed to recipients from apparently different groups are dispersed in public places, and return rates represent a measure of altruistic or discriminatory behavior toward one group or another. In two field experiments using the lost letter technique, we investigated the influence of group membership and the presence or absence of a doctorate degree as an indicator of competence on the likelihood of receiving helping behavior. Experiment 1 showed that a generic member of a low-status ethnic out-group (Turks living in Germany) was the target of discrimination, while a generic member of a non-stigmatized out-group (French in Germany) was not. Moreover, when the name of the member from the stigmatized out-group was (vs. was not) preceded by a doctorate degree, more of the allegedly lost letters were returned. There were no such differential effects for recipients who were members of the in-group (Germans) or the non-stigmatized out-group (French). Experiment 2 showed that a recipient from the stigmatized out-group (Turk) with a doctorate degree received more letters when the sender was German versus Turkish (i.e., from the recipient’s own group). Overall, the sender’s ethnic group membership was an important factor for the likelihood of receiving an ostensibly lost letter, in that fewer letters arrived from a sender with a Turkish (vs. German) name. We conclude that the likelihood of altruistic behavior toward out-group members can increase when in-group members intend to communicate with competent out-group members. Therefore, under certain conditions, the presentation of a highly competent member of an otherwise stigmatized out-group may serve as a discrimination buffer.

In the aftermath of disclosing child sexual abuse: consequences, needs, and wishes

ABSTRACT Experiencing child sexual abuse (CSA) can have enormous consequences for the victims. However, reporting rates are comparably low. Thus, it is essential to consider the wishes and needs of disclosing CSA victims in order to develop measures that can improve the disclosure and reporting of CSA. We analysed data of a subsample of n = 394 victims of contact CSA from a representative victim survey (N = 11,428) conducted by the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony, Germany, in 2011. Overall, 76% of the victims disclosed their CSA experience to somebody. However, only 14% of the cases were made known to law enforcement agencies. Of the disclosing victims, only one-third was believed and 43% reported that the disclosure led to no further consequences. Overall, being believed as well as supported by the victims’ family proved to be crucial. Implications are discussed against the background of previous research.

Sexual Violence against Women in Germany: Prevalence and Risk Markers

Previous research has repeatedly shown that gender-based violence affects a considerable proportion of women in any given population. Apart from providing current estimates of the prevalence of sexual violence against women in Germany, we identified specific risk markers applying an advanced statistical method. We analyzed data from a survey of N = 4450 women representative of the German population, conducted by the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony in 2011. Lifetime prevalence for experiencing sexual violence was 5.4% for women aged 21–40 years (five-year prevalence: 2.5%). Non-parametric conditional inference tree (C-Tree) analyses revealed that physical and sexual abuse during childhood as well as being divorced, separated, or widowed was the most informative constellation of risk markers, increasing the five-year prevalence rate of experienced sexual violence victimizations up to 17.0%. Furthermore, knowing about the official penalization of marital rape was related to a lower victimization risk for women without a history of parental violence. Possible explanations for these findings as well as implications for future research are critically discussed.

Attribution of crime motives biases eyewitnesses’ memory and sentencing decisions

ABSTRACT In court, the basic expectation is that eyewitness accounts are solely based on what the witness saw. Research on post-event influences has shown that this is not always the case and memory distortions are quite common. However, potential effects of an eyewitness’ attributions regarding a perpetrator’s crime motives have been widely neglected in this domain. In this paper, we present two experiments (N = 209) in which eyewitnesses were led to conclude that a perpetrator’s motives for a crime were either dispositional or situational. As expected, misinformation consistent with an eyewitness’ attribution of crime motives was typically falsely recognised as true whereas inconsistent misinformation was correctly rejected. Furthermore, a dispositional vs. situational attribution of crime motives resulted in more severe (mock) sentencing supporting previous research. The findings are discussed in the context of schema-consistent biases and the effect of attributions about character in a legal setting.