Cognitive distortions and blame attribution in sex offenders against adults and children

OBJECTIVE: Sexual offenders tend to hold attitudes and beliefs which minimize and justify their offending behavior. It was hypothesized that distorted thinking supporting sexual offending and blame attribution would differ depending on the offence characteristics of different groups of sexual offenders. METHOD: Two groups of sexual offenders separated on the basis of the age of their victims (sex offenders against children, 36; sex offenders against adults, 30) were compared on measures of cognitive distortions relating to sex with children and rape and a measure of blame attribution which assesses external, mental element, and guilt feeling attributions. RESULTS: Child sexual offenders endorsed more cognitive distortions relating to sex with children, but there were no group differences in cognitive distortions relating to rape. Those who offended against adults reported more external attributions and child offenders reported more guilt feeling attributions. Mental element attribution related to alcohol intoxication and use of violence in the offence, but was not related to group differences. CONCLUSIONS: Results are interpreted as suggesting that child sex offenders support their offending by more enduring distorted cognitions, while those who offend against adults use blame attributions associated with the particular offence.     

Cultural Considerations: Interpretations of blame and perceived ability among children in India

In the first study, children's ability attributions following teacher blame was assessed for 218 Tamil-speaking children in India between 6 and 12 years of age. Indian children of all ages attributed low ability to the child that was blamed and high ability to the child who was not blamed by the teacher. This finding does not conform to expectations based on studies conducted in the West. In the second study, children between the ages of 6 and 12 were given questionnaires that attempted to explore their conceptions of ability and effort. It was found that the Indian sample did not clearly distinguish between ability and effort. Studies conducted in the West have found that older children clearly differentiate between ability and effort and value ability more than effort. The reasons for these culturally different findings in children's attributions is examined, and several possible explanations are offered.     

The development of responsibility in young children: A 25-year view

This study was designed to determine if parental perceptions of children's potential contribution to household work has changed over the past 25 years. Data for this study were collected in 1956 and in 1983. The 1956 sample consisted of 170 white mothers and 210 black mothers of elementary school-age children, and 19 child development specialists. The 1983 sample was made up of 126 mothers and 92 fathers of preschool and school-age children. The Children's Responsibility Scale was adapted from the early Walters, Stromberg, and Lonian (1957) instrument. Median ages were given for boys and girls on 62 household tasks. The results were consistent: parental perceptions have changed very little over time. The major differences were that parents in the 1983 sample estimated older ages for items relating to tasks involving safety. An instructional component was incorporated in the study to test whether preschool-age children (n = 23) were capable of accomplishing household tasks. The results of this component were positive.     

Personal responsibility and behavioral disengagement in innocent bystanders during classroom management events: The moderating effect of teacher aggressive tendencies

Recent studies have shown that student behavioral engagement is malleable. For example, these studies have reported that students who feel emotionally supported by their teachers experience higher levels of behavioral engagement. The authors contributed to this research by investigating behavioral disengagement among innocent bystanders during classroom management events. Participants included 528 Year 7 students from Melbourne, Australia, who completed 3 questionnaire measures. Results revealed that personal responsibility is inversely related to behavioral disengagement during classroom management events. This relationship is moderated by teacher aggressive tendencies, with higher levels of teacher aggression leading to higher levels of behavioral disengagement. However, the Johnson-Neyman technique analysis revealed that the moderating influence of teacher aggressive tendencies was only statistically significant equal to or below the 76th percentile of the distribution of the variable. Implications regarding the influence of the teacher–student relationship on behavioral disengagement are discussed.     

Impression management messages and reactions to organizational reward allocations: The mediating influence of fairness and responsibility

In this scenario‐based experiment we examined the relationships among impression management messages, evaluations of reward allocations (fairness and responsibility) and reactions to rewards (anger, approval of manager and overall job satisfaction). The results suggest that impression management messages directly influence fairness and responsibility, and indirectly influence anger and approval. Specifically, justifications and enhancements increased evaluations of fairness, excuses decreased attributions of responsibility for unfair rewards, and entitling accounts increased attributions of responsibility for fair rewards. Also, justifications and enhancements indirectly decreased anger, increased approval, and increased job satisfaction through the mediating influence of fairness. Excuses and entitling accounts indirectly decreased anger and increased approval through the mediating influence of responsibility.     

学会负责与学校责任教育

“百名学者评论中国教育”专栏,以教育研究者的角度,就教育理论和实践中的热点、焦点、难点、冰点问题发表各种建设性见解。先期办成开放式的,一事一议,或提出问题,或分析评论,力求形成百家争鸣、百花齐放之势,激活中国之教育学术。待有重点问题时,再分专题讨论。特邀教育界有影响的专家学者参与,以教授和博士为主办成一个高层次论坛。各位同仁可就自己认为教育理论与实践中的重要问题写成评论,每篇2000-3000字为宜,诚请各位同仁在百忙中赐教赐稿。     

Longitudinal antecedents of executive function in preschoolers

Despite an extensive history underscoring the role of social processes and child contributions to the development of executive functions (C. Lewis & J. Carpendale, 2009; L. S. Vygotsky, 1987), research on these relations is sparse. To address this gap, 68 mother-child dyads were examined to determine whether maternal attention-directing behaviors (attention maintaining, attention redirection) and toddlers' temperament predicted executive processes during preschool (mean age = 4.5 years, SD = 0.46)-delay and conflict inhibition. Maternal attention maintaining was associated with high levels of conflict inhibition for inhibited and exuberant children, whereas attention redirection was associated with low levels of delay and conflict inhibition for inhibited children. Therefore, maternal attention-directing behaviors may enhance the development of executive functions but only for children with inhibited and exuberant temperaments.     

决定主义与自由主义道德责任观对立的理性思考

决定主义道德责任观与自由主义道德责任观以各自为阵营展开冲突与对抗,两者分别执着于不同的两端论述了自由与责任的关系。通过决定主义与自由主义道德责任观的理性思考,挖掘决定主义与自由主义道德责任观的未来发展趋势,完善道德责任伦理,延伸道德责任法律介入。     

经济法责任的归责原则和构成要件

经济法责任是经济法主体对其违反经济法义务或者不当行使经济法规定的权利所应承担的法律后果。经济法责任侧重于无过错责任和公平责任,尤其侧重于公平责任。在法律责任构成要件上,与其它部门法责任相比较,既有相同点,也有不同点。     

Trajectories of traumatic stress reactions in children exposed to intimate partner violence

BackgroundUnderstanding different longitudinal patterns of traumatic stress reactions in children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) can promote early identification of at-risk children.ObjectiveOur study aims to explore trajectories of traumatic stress reactions following childhood IPV exposure, and their relation with parental traumatic stress and child emotional security in the interparental subsystem.Participants and SettingThe sample comprised 303 children (age 3–10, M = 6.20) from families referred to institutions for IPV. Data were collected at home.MethodsThree waves of parent-reported questionnaire data were analyzed using latent class growth analysis and linear regression.ResultsFive trajectories were identified: ‘resilient’, ‘moderate stable’, ‘struggling’, ‘improving’, and ‘elevated adjusting’. Only the ‘struggling’ trajectory had dysfunctional symptom levels at the final wave. Higher parental traumatic stress predicted ‘improving’ trajectory membership (β = 0.17, p = .033), whereas lower parental traumatic stress (β = −0.20, p = .003) and child emotional insecurity (β = −0.45, p = < .001) predicted ‘resilient’ trajectory membership. Higher child emotional insecurity predicted membership in trajectories with higher initial traumatic stress (improving: β = 0.26, p < .001; struggling: β = 0.31, p < .001; elevated adjusting: β = 0.27, p < .001). Child emotional security did not buffer the effect of parental traumatic stress on likelihood of dysfunctional trajectory membership (β = 0.04, p =.380).ConclusionsChildren exposed to IPV show different trajectories of traumatic stress reactions, partly corresponding to trajectories identified in other populations. Child emotional security and parental traumatic stress predict trajectory membership.