Federal Abortion Policy and Politics: 1973-1996 Why is Abortion Such a Controversial issue in the United States Barriers to Access to Abortion Services The Impact of Anti-abortion Activities on Women Seeking Abortions Black Women and the Question of Abortion Latinos and Abortion Abortion and Asian Pacific Islander Americans The Acceptability of Medical Abortion to Women Understanding the Relationship of Violence Against Women to Unwanted Pregnancy and it's Resolution Testing a Model of the Psychological Consequences of Abortion Men and Abortion: The Gender Politics of Pregnancy Resolution Abortion Among Adolescents A Cognitive Approach to Patient-Centered Abortion Care Abortion Issues in Psychotherapy Bringing Lessons Learned to the United States Improving Access to Abortion Services Abortion Practice, Policy, and Research: Recommendations for the 21st Century

Violent offenders: Appraising and managing risk.

This article reviews the literature from 1996 to 2007 to update the 1998 Brestan and Eyberg report on evidence-based psychosocial treatments (EBTs) for child and adolescent disruptive behavior, including oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder. Studies were evaluated using criteria for EBTs developed by the task force on promotion and dissemination of psychological procedures (Chambless et al., 1998; Chambless et al., 1996). Sixteen EBTs were identified in this review, up from 12 in the earlier report, and 9 “possibly efficacious” treatments (Chambless & Hollon, 1998) were identified as well. This article describes the EBTs and their evidence base and covers research on moderators and mediators of treatment outcome, as well as the clinical representativeness and generalizability of the studies. Best practice recommendations from the current evidence base also are offered, as well as calls for future research that increases understanding of the moderators and mechanisms of change for children an...

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Evidence-Based Psychosocial Treatments for Children and Adolescents With Disruptive Behavior

Reviews psychosocial interventions for child and adolescent conduct problems, including oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder, to identify empirically supported treatments. Eighty-two controlled research studies were evaluated using the criteria developed by the Division 12 (Clinical Psychology) Task Force on Promotion and Dissemination of Psychological Procedures. The 82 studies were also examined for specific participant, treatment, and methodological characteristics to describe the treatment literature for child and adolescent conduct problems. Two interventions were identified that met the stringent criteria for well-established treatments: videotape modeling parent training program (Spaccarelli, Cotler, & Penman, 1992; Webster-Stratton, 1984, 1994) and parent-training programs based on Patterson and Gullion's (1968) manual Living With Children (Alexander & Parsons, 1973; Bernal, Klinnert, & Schultz, 1980; Wiltz & Patterson, 1974). Twenty of the 82 studies were identified as supporting the efficacy of probably efficacious treatments.

Effective psychosocial treatments of conduct-disordered children and adolescents: 29 years, 82 studies, and 5,272 kids

Ninety-four children (aged 9-13 years) with anxiety disorders were randomly assigned to cognitive behavioral treatment or waiting-list control. Outcomes were evaluated using diagnostic status, child self-reports, parent and teacher reports, cognitive assessment and behavioral observation: maintenance was examined using 1-year follow-up data. Analyses of dependent measures indicated significant improvements over time, with the majority indicating greater gains for those receiving treatment. Treatment gains returned cases to within nondeviant limits (i.e., normative comparisons) and were maintained at 1-year follow-up. Client age and comorbid status did not moderate outcomes. A preliminary examination of treatment segments suggested that the enactive exposure (when it follows cognitive-educational training) was an active force in beneficial change. Discussion includes suggestions for future research.

Therapy for youths with anxiety disorders: a second randomized clinical trial.

This meta-analytic review examined the effectiveness of psychological treatment for sex offenders by summarizing data from 43 studies (combined n = 9,454). Averaged across all studies, the sexual offence recidivism rate was lower for the treatment groups (12.3%) than the comparison groups (16.8%, 38 studies, unweighted average). A similar pattern was found for general recidivism, although the overall rates were predictably higher (treatment 27.9%, comparison 39.2%, 30 studies). Current treatments (cognitive–behavioral, k = 13; systemic, k = 2) were associated with reductions in both sexual recidivism (from 17.4 to 9.9%) and general recidivism (from 51 to 32%). Older forms of treatment (operating prior to 1980) appeared to have little effect. Future directions for improving the quality of sex offender treatment outcome evaluations are discussed.

First report of the collaborative outcome data project on the effectiveness of psychological treatment for sex offenders.

This article examined the long-term effects of multisystemic therapy (MST) vs. individual therapy (IT) on the prevention of criminal behavior and violent offending among 176 juvenile offenders at high risk for committing additional serious crimes. Results from multiagent, multimethod assessment batteries conducted before and after treatment showed that MST was more effective than IT in improving key family correlates of antisocial behavior and in ameliorating adjustment problems in individual family members. Moreover, results from a 4-year follow-up of rearrest data showed that MST was more effective than IT in preventing future criminal behavior, including violent offending. The implications of such findings for the design of violence prevention programs are discussed.

Multisystemic treatment of serious juvenile offenders: Long-term prevention of criminality and violence

This study compared the efficacy of multisystemic therapy (MST) and individual therapy (IT) in the outpatient treatment of adolescent sexual offenders. Sixteen adolescent sexual offenders were randomly assigned to either MST or IT conditions. Youths in the MST and IT conditions received an average of 37 hours and 4S hours of treatment, respectively. Recidivism data were collected on all subjects at an approximately 3-year follow-up. Betweengroups comparisons showed that significantly fewer subjects in the MST condition had been rearrested for sexual crimes and that the frequency of sexual rearrests was significantly lower in the MST condition than in the IT condition. The relative efficacy of MST was attributed to its emphasis on changing behavior and interpersonal relations within the offender's natural environment.

Multisystemic Treatment of Adolescent Sexual Offenders

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research conducted by Blaske et al. was to conduct a controlled study of adolescent sexual offenders and violent offenders without the methodological shortcomings which have plagued previous studies. The authors evaluated the characteristics of adolescent sexual offenders and violent offenders with regard to individual adjustment, family relations, and peer relations. METHODOLOGY: This study was quasi-experimental and cross-sectional in design. The 60 subjects in this study were drawn primarily from a larger sample of 212 adjudicated boys used in a previous study conducted by the authors. To select the boys in the present study the researchers first located the 15 sex offenders from the larger sample of boys and then looked for an equal number of delinquent boys in two other categories, assaultive offenders and nonviolent offenders. These boys matched the sex offenders with respect to age (13 to 17), mothers age, race, social class, and having an absent father. A fourth group comprised of nondelinquent boys matched the other three groups in these demographic characteristics and was selected with the help of social services and a local school. In total, the sample consisted of 60 boys and their mothers, with 15 boys each in the categories of sex offenders, assaultive offenders, nonviolent offenders, and nondelinquent youth. Researchers visited the boys and their mothers at their homes (87%) or at a local youth center (13%), whichever was more convenient for the family. The mother was asked to fill out a demographic questionnaire, the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist (RPBC), and the Missouri Peer Relations Inventory (MPRI). The RPBC is an 89-item checklist that measures several dimensions of child/adolescent psychopathology, including conduct disorder, socialized aggression, anxiety withdrawal, and attention problems. The MPRI is comprised of 39-items which rate the adolescent's behavior in areas such as physical aggression toward peers, popularity, and shyness on a 5-point Likert scale. Next, the mother and son completed several self-report measures privately and without discussion. The instruments used were the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluating Scales II (FACES II), a 30 item measure of family relations, family cohesion and family adaptability; the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), a 90-item inventory that assesses symptomatology on 9 scales, including obsessive-compulsiveness, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, and anxiety; and the Unrevealed Differences Questionnaire-Revised (URD-R) which consists of 9 items (each a situation or problem) with several alternative responses for each, such as, "A distant relative recently passed away and left our family $500. What should be done with the money?" (p 849). After completing these instruments independently, the mother and son were asked to fill out the URD-R together. The two were videotaped completing this task, but the interviewer left the room. Finally, one of the boy's current teachers, selected at random, completed the MPRI. Data were analyzed using multiple analyses of variance (MANOVAs) on the dependent variables of individual adjustment, family relations, and peer relations for each respondent. The authors then performed a one-way (offender type) univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the dependent measures for each of the significant MANOVAs. When significant ANOVAs were revealed, Duncan's Multiple Range Test was used to determine the nature of the between-groups differences (p FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: Several significant findings surfaced with regard to the independent variable individual adjustment. Sex offender boys reported more ruminative-paranoid symptoms (obsessive-compulsive, discomfort and uneasiness about interpersonal transactions, tendency to blame others) than did the assaultive offenders, and more anxiety than the three other groups. The mothers of the sex offenders reported more ruminative-internalizing symptoms (obsessive-compulsive, anxiety, nervousness, tension) than did the mothers of sons in other groups. The mothers of assaultive offenders reported more aggressive behavior from their sons than did mothers from other groups, and, along with the nonviolent offenders' mothers, reported more problem behavior. Relations with ones family varied by offender type, as assaultive offender mothers reported lower family adaptability, and both assaultive offenders and their mothers reported lower family cohesion than the other groups. The researchers noted from their videotaped observations that nondelinquent mothers and sons had higher rates of positive communication than did the other pairs of mothers and sons. Peer relations also varied by offender type. Assaultive offender mothers rated their sons as more aggressive with their friends than other mothers rated their sons, and nondelinquent mothers gave higher scores to their sons in terms of emotional bonding than did sexual offender mothers. The authors concluded that assaultive offenders came from "rigid" families and had low bonding to the family and high bonding to deviant peers. Although their personal relationships seem dysfunctional, the authors pointed out that the assaultive offenders do not feel anxious when interacting with others while the sexual offenders do. Sexual offenders were found to be less emotionally bonded to their peers and more likely to feel interpersonal isolation than other boys. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: The authors recommended future research into the idea that assaultive offenders may have "poorly developed moral reasoning, empathy, and social perspective-taking skills" (p. 852). (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) Juvenile Male Juvenile Offender Juvenile Violence Male Offender Male Violence Early Adolescence Late Adolescence Offender Characteristics Family Characteristics Family Relations Peer Relations Sexual Assault Offender 07-03

Individual, family, and peer characteristics of adolescent sex offenders and assaultive offenders.

Two important theoretical assumptions of family therapy were examined: (a) Child behavior problems are associated with cross-generational coalitions, and (b) treatment of these coalitions using family therapy leads to decreases in individual symptomatology. Ss were 45 delinquent adolescents assigned to multisystemic therapy (MST) or individual therapy and 16 well-adjusted adolescents. Pretreatment and posttreatment assessments included measures of observed family relations and self-reported symptoms. Cross-generational coalitions were more evident in families of delinquents vs. families of well-adjusted adolescents. In addition, changes in adolescent and paternal symptoms in the MST group were linked with changes in marital relations. Implications for systemic conceptualizations of symptom maintenance and change are highlighted.

David M. Blaske

Papers

Multisystemic treatment of serious juvenile offenders: Long-term prevention of criminality and violence

Multisystemic Treatment of Adolescent Sexual Offenders

Individual, family, and peer characteristics of adolescent sex offenders and assaultive offenders.

An investigation of systemic conceptualizations of parent-child coalitions and symptom change