Given recent attention to emotion regulation as a potentially unifying function of diverse symptom presentations, there is a need for comprehensive measures that adequately assess difficulties in emotion regulation among adults. This paper (a) proposes an integrative conceptualization of emotion regulation as involving not just the modulation of emotional arousal, but also the awareness, understanding, and acceptance of emotions, and the ability to act in desired ways regardless of emotional state; and (b) begins to explore the factor structure and psychometric properties of a new measure, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Two samples of undergraduate students completed questionnaire packets. Preliminary findings suggest that the DERS has high internal consistency, good test–retest reliability, and adequate construct and predictive validity.

/pdf/multidimensional-assessment-of-emotion-regulation-and-xwrpw05nqr.pdf

Multidimensional Assessment of Emotion Regulation and Dysregulation: Development, Factor Structure, and Initial Validation of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/5/110/206.full.pdf

The american psychological association.

reoffending than those who completed treatment. The predictors of nonsexual violent recidivism and general (any) recidivism were similar to those predictors found among nonsexual criminals (e.g., prior violent offenses, age, juvenile deliquency). Our results suggest that applied risk assessments of sexual offenders should consider separately the offender's risk for sexual and nonsexual recidivism. Assessing chronicity is crucial for clients whose sexual behaviors have brought them into conflict with the law. Many exceptional criminal justice policies, such as postsentence detention (e.g., Anderson & Masters, 1992), lifetime community supervision, and community notification, target those sexual offenders likely to reoffend. Clinicians need to judge whether the client's behaviors are truly atypical of the individual (as the client would like us to believe) or whether the client merits a virtually permanent label as a sexual offender.

/pdf/predicting-relapse-a-meta-analysis-of-sexual-offender-ml492rgh0h.pdf

Predicting relapse: a meta-analysis of sexual offender recidivism studies.

A meta-analysis of 82 recidivism studies (1,620 findings from 29,450 sexual offenders) identified deviant sexual preferences and antisocial orientation as the major predictors of sexual recidivism for both adult and adolescent sexual offenders. Antisocial orientation was the major predictor of violent recidivism and general (any) recidivism. The review also identified some dynamic risk factors that have the potential of being useful treatment targets (e.g., sexual preoccupations, general self-regulation problems). Many of the variables commonly addressed in sex offender treatment programs (e.g., psychological distress, denial of sex crime, victim empathy, stated motivation for treatment) had little or no relationship with sexual or violent recidivism.

/pdf/the-characteristics-of-persistent-sexual-offenders-a-meta-19hgzia124.pdf

The Characteristics of Persistent Sexual Offenders: A Meta-Analysis of Recidivism Studies.

In this innovative book, a well-known feminist and sociologist-who is also the founding editor of Gender & Society-challenges our most basic assumptions about gender. Judith Lorber argues that gender is wholly a product of socialization, subject to human agency, organization, and interpretation, and that it is a social institution comparable to the economy, the family, and religion in its significance and consequences. Calling into question the inevitability and necessity of gender, she envisions a society structured for equality, where no gender, racial ethnic, or social class group is allowed to monopolize positions of power.

Paradoxes of gender

Pooling data from four samples in which 1,882 men were assessed for acts of interper­ sonal violence, we report on 120 men whose self-reported acts met legal definitions of rape or attempted rape, but who were never prosecuted by criminal justice authorities. A majority of these undetected rapists were repeat rapists, and a majority also committed other acts of interpersonal violence. The repeat rapists averaged 5.8 rapes each. The 120 rapists were responsible for 1,225 separate acts of interpersonal violence, including rape, battery, and child physical and sexual abuse. These findings mirror those from studies of incarcerated sex offenders (Abel, Becker, Mittelman, Cunningham-Rathner, Rouleau, & Murphy, 1987; Weinrott and Saylor, 1991), indicating high rates of both repeat rape and multiple types of offending. Implications for the investigation and prosecution of this so­ called "hidden" rape are discussed.

Repeat rape and multiple offending among undetected rapists.

One of the most controversial disputes affecting the discourse related to violence against women is the dispute about the frequency of false allegations of sexual assault In an effort to add clarity to the discourse, published research on false allegations is critiqued, and the results of a new study described All cases (N = 136) of sexual assault reported to a major Northeastern university over a 10-year period are analyzed to determine the percentage of false allegations Of the 136 cases of sexual assault reported over the 10-year period, 8 (59%) are coded as false allegations These results, taken in the context of an examination of previous research, indicate that the prevalence of false allegations is between 2% and 10%

False Allegations of Sexual Assualt: An Analysis of Ten Years of Reported Cases

Masculine gender role stress and masculine ideology were investigated to better understand each factor's role in men's aggressive and violent behaviors perpetrated within their romantic relationships. Participants were 165 men attending an urban university campus. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to analyze each factor's contribution to predicting aggression and violence. Results indicated that masculine gender role stress accounted for a significant portion of the variance in aggression and violence scores. In addition, the interaction effect of Ideology × Gender Role Stress emerged as a significant predictor of aggression and violence. Results are discussed in terms of clinical implications and future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

The Role of Masculine Ideology and Masculine Gender Role Stress in Men's Perpetration of Relationship Violence

Autobiographical interviews with 26 adult male survivors of childhood sexual abuse were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim and content analyzed to identify common psychological themes. Approximately equal numbers of men were abused by male and female perpetrators, almost half came from disrupted or violent homes and a majority had a history of substance abuse. Fifteen psychological themes were identified: Anger, Betrayal, Fear, Homosexuality Issues, Helplessness, Isolation and Alienation, Legitimacy, Loss, Masculinity Issues, Negative Childhood Peer Relations, Negative Schemas about People, Negative Schemas about the Self, Problems with Sexuality, Self Blame/Guilt and Shame/Humiliation. The themes are discussed and illustrated with examples drawn from the transcripts.

The psychological impact of sexual abuse: Content analysis of interviews with male survivors

Research on convicted rapists has demonstrated the importance of several key motivational factors in male sexual aggression. In particular, anger at women and the need to dominate or control them have been repeatedly implicated. Although anger and power have also been shown to be important in understanding college men who report sexually aggressive behavior, there has been little research on what underlies these motives. This research combined questions assessing these underlying motivational factors, as well as questions dealing with underlying sexual motivation and disinhibition, with a slightly modified version of the Sexual Experiences Survey (Koss & Oros, 1982). In Study 1, subjects were 184 male undergraduates. Factor analysis of the questions composing the four scales yielded four slightly modified scales. Scales measuring underlying anger, underlying power, and disinhibition significantly differentiated sexually aggressive from nonaggressive men but did not distinguish between men who were coercive, manipulative, or nonaggressive. In a replication on a smaller sample (n = 70), underlying anger, underlying power, and disinhibition again differentiated sexually aggressive from nonaggressive men.

David Lisak

Papers

Repeat rape and multiple offending among undetected rapists.

False Allegations of Sexual Assualt: An Analysis of Ten Years of Reported Cases

The Role of Masculine Ideology and Masculine Gender Role Stress in Men's Perpetration of Relationship Violence

The psychological impact of sexual abuse: Content analysis of interviews with male survivors

Motivational factors in nonincarcerated sexually aggressive men.