MAKE MOST OF THE KNOWLEDGE NETWORK, JOIN ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOUNDATION

Mental health and forensic settings experience the highest workplace violence incidents in the healthcare field (Harrell, 2011), yet graduate programs in psychology generally do not teach clinicians how to manage risk in these settings (Burl et al., 2012). To identify preventable risk factors in forensic settings seven subject matter experts employed in forensic settings completed a qualitative survey. Responses were combined into themes with the goal of representing both variety and prevalence of responses. Those sources of risk included: self-awareness, situational awareness, system checks, and de-escalation and offender knowledge. Some of their recommendations for addressing these issues included having staff identify and monitor their own needs and boundaries, with particular attention to sexual cues. Avoid becoming complacent with offenders, remain skeptical, and keep up to date on threats. Ensure facility staff are aware of your movements and schedule. Lastly, enlist interpersonal skills, de-escalation techniques, and adequately prepare for the setting, to effectively work with dangerous persons.

Keywords: graduate training, workplace violence, forensic psychology, workplace violence, assault

There is a copious body of literature on many types of family homicide, including spousal homicide, filicide, and parricide. Much less researched is the type of family homicide known as familicide, a homicidal event in which a person slays his or her spouse and one or more of their children. The paucity of information on this type of multiple-family homicide is particularly acute in the non-western non-industrialized societies of Africa, Asia, South America, and the South Pacific. The aim of the present study therefore was to examine the criminological aspects of familicides that occurred in Ghana, West Africa, during 2010-2020. The study utilized mass media news data extracted from various Ghanaian print and electronic sources. The article finds that familicide is an extremely rare crime in Ghana. The majority of offenders were male and most familicides occurred in the family’s shared residence. The most common method of killing was slashing with a machete or stabbing with a knife. Familicide perpetrators were often suicidal, with 3 out of the 7 offenders committing suicide at the scene of the crime or shortly after the killings and one other engaging in nonfatal suicidal behavior.

Keywords: familicide, mass murder, homicide, murder-suicide, Ghana

In adolescents and adults with persistent and severe externalizing behavior problems, such as aggression and other forms of delinquent behavior, trauma-related symptoms and/or PTSD are often present. Trauma treatment appears to be a valuable addition to interventions for adolescents with trauma symptoms and aggression or other externalizing behavior problems. However, it remains unclear whether similar outcomes are achieved in adults. Therefore, this multilevel meta-analysis examined whether standard trauma treatments reduce trauma symptoms and externalizing behaviors in both adolescents and adults.

Based on 15 independent samples and 92 effect sizes, the results showed that trauma treatment had a medium to large, statistically significant overall effect on reducing trauma symptoms and externalizing behavior problems in both adolescents and adults. No significant differences were found between types of externalizing behavior, although better outcomes were observed in reducing anger and aggressive behavior (medium effect) compared to other externalizing behavior problems (small effect). Age was found to moderate the effects: a small effect was observed in adolescents, while a large effect was observed in adults. Session duration also moderated the effects, with sessions longer than 120 minutes being less effective. A trend was noted concerning the type of intervention: Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) had a large effect, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) had a medium effect, and other interventions had a small effect.

The assessment of treatment integrity showed a trend: when treatment integrity was assessed, a large effect was observed compared to a small effect when it was not assessed. This study underscores the importance of assessing treatment integrity to accurately evaluate treatment effectiveness. The findings indicate that established trauma interventions are valuable for clients with externalizing behavior problems.

This study explores the associations between a Native American Indian ethnic identity and its accompanying cultural values to an individual’s decision to refrain from criminal behavior. Data were gathered during the Southern Ute Indian Community Safety Survey, a study of crime and violence on the reservation involving Indian (n = 312) and non-Indian (n = 355) respondents who completed a 72-item survey questionnaire. Qualitative data from Indians (n = 85) who participated in one-hour face-to-face structured interviews were quantified and analyzed. Using a variety of analytical techniques, it was found Indians have primarily culturally-based reasons for refraining from criminal behavior. The implications from these findings are broad and span multiple disciplines beyond criminology to include psychology, anthropology, and ethnic studies.

Keywords: cultural efficacy, Native American Indian, mixed methods, interdisciplinary research, disciplined behavior.

Crime is generally understood as behavior that breaks the law and deviates from societal norms and established social expectations. However, there is ongoing debate over the definition of crime, as the legal system’s perspective tends to dominate, while social and religious frameworks of understanding cannot be ignored. This paper explores the legal, social, and religious perspectives on crime, acknowledging that while they are distinct, they can often overlap. These contradictions highlight the absence of a universally accepted definition of crime. Through a review of literature and critical analysis, the findings suggest that a more comprehensive understanding of crime includes concepts such as the Absolute View of Crime, the Relatively Absolute View of Crime, and the Symbolic Meaning of Absolute Crime. Absolute crime refers to intentional aberrant behavior that harms individuals physically, mentally, and economically, creating insecurity, and unsafety, and violating human rights. The severity of crime is measured by the extent of harm it causes, both immediately and in the long term, affecting both social and individual lives. This concept is linked to the idea of relatively absolute crime, where the level of crime is assessed based on its impact. The understanding of crime and the corresponding punishment also depends on factors like the severity of the offense, the criminal’s motives, and the underlying causes, forming what is known as the symbolic meaning of absolute crime. A well-structured social system, rational political and legal frameworks, and the moral application of religious values can help reduce such criminal behaviors in society.

Keywords: Crime, Universal view of crime, Absolute view of crime, Sociology

This work is an exposition of the nexus between the pervasive intelligence breaches and countless jail breaks in the country. Essentially, the work focuses on the key correlates of intelligences failures and the consequential jail breaks in Nigeria. Employing a mixed method for analytical purposes, I relied on data generated from news articles security reports, and interviews with competent stakeholders. The findings of the work underscores that the unprecedented intelligence failures in the country is the core precursor to jailbreaks in Nigeria.. These failures are inherent from the collection, analytical and consumption stages rooted in the state formation and nation building lacuna in Nigeria. Several other factors identified so far comprises poor and insufficient manpower development, inadequate acquisition and deployment of information communication technology and indeed institutional corruption in the sector. Furthermore, other factors identified include; poor prisons condition and prisoners’ welfare, poor physical security architecture around prisons and insider threats by criminal gangs and non-state actors. In all the study advocates a pragmatic template to proactively address the menace of intelligence failures and jail breaks in the country.

This study examined patterns and trends of mobile phone theft in selected tertiary institutions in Ibadan, South West Nigeria. Routine Activity theory provided insight on this discuss and was adopted as the theoretical framework. The study used qualitative method via Key informant interviews and In-depth interviews to generate data from fifty six (56) respondents which comprised of students and staff of the University of Ibadan and Polytechnic Ibadan respectively. The study revealed that most phone theft cases occurred was at night at the hostels, when students are asleep and in the lecture rooms/theaters during tests or examinations when students have to leave their phones in their bags in front of the hall and away from their own watchful eyes. Smarts phones like, “Iphone”, “Samsung”, “Infinix”, “Tecno Camon” are mostly targeted by culprits. Female students are more vulnerable to become victim of mobile phone theft than their male counterparts. Findings from the study revealed that victims of phone theft cope by borrowing phones from their friends and colleagues to communicate with parents and relatives. Purchasing hardcopy materials to study for tests or examinations and also going to cafes to do assignments or projects are how victims of mobile phone theft cope. Hence, it becomes imperative for school management to beef up security within the school hostels especially in the night and provide lockable cabinets where students can lockup their school bags before entering the examination hall.

Keywords: Mobile phone theft, Patterns and Trends, Smartphones, Coping strategies, Tertiary institutions.