Sharon Lambert

Deductive Thematic Analysis of a Female Paedophilia Website

The role of the Internet and other technologies in sexual offending has recently received much attention. The literature, however, has focused largely on male sexual abusers and much has to be learned about deviant female arousal patterns. The purpose of this article was to investigate how women with a sexual interest in children engage with the Internet. Data taken from one female paedophilia website have been subjected to a deductive thematic analysis. The analysis generated five main categories: cognitive distortions, recognition barriers, sexual motivation, the role of the Internet, and personal factors. The findings indicate that women are using the Internet to express a sexual interest in children and that they display similar characteristics to male individuals engaged in the same processes.

Substance use in young persons in Ireland, a systematic review.

Adolescence is a time of physical and mental development when small changes can impact on the rest of a persons life. Substance use in this crucial period can have long-lasting consequences for the individual and for society. The prevalence of substance use in young people is an area of concern for policy makers and health workers. This systematic review looked at prevalence for four substances: alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and benzodiazepines, across the Republic of Ireland for persons between the ages of 13 and 24, and compared usage between 2000 and 2012. Eighteen articles were included in the review. It was seen that tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use has fallen in the lifetime and previous month use. The level of benzodiazepine use has remained similar in the period of study. Future work should redress the imbalance in substance use research that sees the majority of researchers looking at a few substances while little work is done on the others.

Perspectives on female sexual offending in an Irish context

The issue of child sexual abuse perpetrated by women has received little recognition by researchers and when the subject is addressed it is often dismissed as being a rare event. It is only in the last decade that greater interest has been shown in the area of female-perpetrated sexual abuse of children. This is due to the dramatic increase of research into all types of sexual offending and the decrease in the taboo surrounding victimisation. Current literature in the area has largely looked at the development of typologies and establishing prevalence rates. More recently research has focused on ‘barriers’ to recognising this type of abuse. The purpose of this paper is to identify Irish perspectives on female sexual abusers and how this relates to the current literature. A questionnaire was distributed to health care professionals and volunteer workers in children’s charities. The results indicate that there is confusion about how to manage female sexual abusers and this is similar to other research findings in the area.

The effects of mindfulness-based interventions for health and social care undergraduate students – a systematic review of the literature

Abstract Health and social care undergraduate students experience stress due to high workloads and pressure to perform. Consequences include depression and burnout. Mindfulness may be a suitable way to reduce stress in health and social care degree courses. The objective of this systematic review is to identify and critically appraise the literature on the effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for health and social care undergraduate students. PubMed, EMBASE, Psych Info, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library and Academic Search Complete were searched from inception to 21st November 2016. Studies that delivered Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, or an intervention modelled closely on these, to health or social care undergraduate students were included. Eleven studies, representing medicine, nursing and psychology students met the inclusion criteria. The most commonly used measurement tools were; the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire. Short term benefits relating to stress and mood were reported, despite all but one study condensing the curriculum. Gender and personality emerged as factors likely to affect intervention results. Further research with long-term follow-up is required to definitively conclude that mindfulness is an appropriate intervention to mentally prepare health and social care undergraduate students for their future careers.

Benzodiazepine use among young attendees of an Irish substance treatment center.

Objective:To describe the demographic characteristics of those service users attending Matt Talbot Services, and their current and past substance use, and to explore the use of benzodiazepines among this group. Method:There were 198 service users who attended a substance misuse treatment center in Cork, Ireland, between January 2005 and August 2011. Results:Benzodiazepines had ever been used by 51.0%, and of these, 55.8% were regular benzodiazepine users. The mean age of first use was 14.9 ± 1.4 years. Regular users of benzodiazepines were regular users of significantly more substances (3, interquartile range [IQR] = 2-3) when compared with nonregular benzodiazepine users (1, IQR = 1-2). Regular benzodiazepine users showed more behavioral signs (12, IQR = 10-14) than nonregular users (9, IQR = 7-12). Physical signs were significantly different between regular (8, IQR = 6-11) and nonregular (5, IQR = 3-10) users. Conclusions:The effects of benzodiazepine misuse affect the individual, their family, and society as a whole through hospitalization, substance treatment, and crime. Identifying regular benzodiazepine users can help reduce the burden of benzodiazepines.

Applying knowledge of female sexual arousal to the forensic context

The application of psychological theory and research to understanding human sexuality is not a new phenomenon. However, the application of genital devices to the measurement of specific aspects of sexual arousal is emerging as an important area of research in the forensic domain given the recognition of the increased numbers of women who are abusing children. Although controversial, phallometric measures of sexual arousal have had considerable success with male offenders both in the assessment and treatment of deviant arousal and disorders of sexual preference. Deviant arousal patterns are now known to be predictive in re-offending and treatability but the reliance on self-report measures creates difficulties for clinicians as they are likely to be biased by response tendencies. Therefore, the challenge now facing forensic and clinical psychologists is how to assess genital arousal in women with a view to assessing deviant sexual interest. The main aim of this paper is to explore the physiology of female ...

Biosignal measures of female sexual interest: their feasibility in a forensic context

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the status of biosignal measures of female sexual arousal with a view to examining the feasibility of such procedures in a forensic context. Although adult women represent the minority of sexual offenders, female perpetrated sexual abuse has been gaining increasing attention in the forensic psychological literature as criminal justice is confronted with female offending populations to a greater extent than previously recognised. Design/methodology/approach – Psychological assessments of sex offenders have tended to be over-dependent on the use of self-report measures (i.e. an individuals appraisal and report of their emotional state of sexual arousal). There is a dearth of empirical knowledge concerning the psychophysiological assessment of female sexual interest in general and especially so for female sex offenders. Physiological measures are those that rely on directly observable physiological responses of the individual in order to identify patterns of ...

Grief, Tragic Death, and Multiple Loss in the Lives of Irish Traveller Community Health Workers:

Recent data on the inequities in mortality, health, and access to health services experienced by the Traveller community in Ireland show higher rates of death by suicide and other sudden causes among members of this marginalized minority group than in the general population. Psychological literature on bereavement suggests that traumatic deaths and multiple deaths within a close network may be more likely to lead to complicated grief reactions. The aim of this study is to add to our understanding of the effects of the differential mortality rate by exploring how grief is experienced within the Traveller community in the context of bereavement from multiple deaths or sudden deaths (including suicide). Data from three semistructured focus group interviews with a total of 10 Traveller Community Health Worker participants (nine female and one male) were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Two master themes organized the salient phenomenological aspects of the grief experience: Living with Tragic Loss and Communicating Tragic Loss. A picture emerged of individual and community-level loss that is extensive, profound, and enduring. The sequelae of deaths by suicide include difficulties in coping, a search for meaning, and a pervasive sense of fear. Silence, the embodied act of giving voice to tragic loss, and strategies for managing disclosure of tragic deaths with children were all strong themes which emerged from the analysis. This study uses interpretative phenomenological analysis to generate a vivid picture of the lived psychological experience of grief as it is experienced by members of a minority group with above average rates of sudden and early deaths. This contributes to understanding the burden of health inequality in an underresearched population. Findings in relation to challenges in communicating with children about tragic deaths can be integrated into bereavement support resources.

You don't feel: The experience of youth benzodiazepine misuse in Ireland.

ABSTRACT There are negative effects to inappropriate use of benzodiazepines, yet the percentage of young people in Ireland experimenting with benzodiazepines has increased. There is a paucity of research about why Irish young people misuse benzodiazepines. In this study, people between 18 and 25 years attending substance misuse services in the south of Ireland (N = 13) were interviewed in a semi-structured style between June 2012 and April 2013. Content analysis was performed. The main motivations for benzodiazepine misuse were to self-regulate negative emotions and to induce dissociation from their environment. Interviewees also described the consequences of benzodiazepine misuse, such as disengagement from family relationships and other protective environments such as school and sports clubs. The consequences of chronic misuse were discussed, such as the compulsion to take more benzodiazepines despite experiencing severe side-effects. The incidence of paradoxical aggression on benzodiazepines is also explored. Education about benzodiazepines and their risks to young people, families, and the public may reduce benzodiazepine misuse. Future research on the role of trauma and mental health in young people’s substance misuse is needed.

An Evaluation of Practitioner’s Experience of Service Users Seeking Community Detoxification from Benzodiazepines

ABSTRACT A recent report in Ireland identified that two-thirds of poisoning deaths involved poly drug use with an average of four different drugs involved. Of these, benzodiazepines were the most common drug group involved. Concern has been expressed regarding high levels of benzodiazepine prescriptions globally. Community-based detoxification programs are required, but detoxification is complex with associated high risks, such as overdose. This study utilized a survey to gather the experiences of a range of drug workers in addiction settings in the southern region of Ireland who are tasked with the management of supporting service users who wish to detoxify from benzodiazepines. The purpose of this study is to identify the issues highlighted in the data and consequently inform policy development, service delivery, future training, and pathways to support service users (SUs). Findings indicate that, while practitioners had high levels of confidence in managing community-based detoxes, levels of knowledge of schedules, contraindications, access to support, and appropriate referral pathways were limited. Barriers to supporting detoxes emerged, emphasizing the importance of multidisciplinary and interagency care planning. Changing trends in drug use led participants to indicate a need for pharmacology training and development of specific local protocols.