In the Netherlands, as in many other countries, victims of intentionally committed violent crimes may apply for state compensation if the offender is unknown or unable to pay for the damages of the... Show moreIn the Netherlands, as in many other countries, victims of intentionally committed violent crimes may apply for state compensation if the offender is unknown or unable to pay for the damages of the crime. This state compensation scheme is run by the Dutch Violent Offences Compensation Fund (VOCF). Lawyers who work for this fund need to evaluate applicants´ eligibility for state compensation on the basis of two criteria: (1) the plausibility of the applicant’s victimization story and (2) the severity of the injury sustained by the applicant. Whether these criteria are fulfilled is largely left to the discretion of the lawyer who evaluates the application. This discretionary power makes the decision-making process prone to biased outcomes. Inspired by previous research, this study investigated whether information from mental health care providers, such as psychiatrists or clinical psychologists, serves as a potential source of bias. Although this type of information may or should sometimes be used to evaluate an applicant’s eligibility for compensation, in most cases it should not affect the outcome of this evaluation because of its potential unreliability. A statistical association between availability of information from mental health care providers and adjudication of state compensation is therefore not to be expected. Analyzing 246 applications submitted to the Dutch VOCF between July 1st 2016 and July 1st 2017, this study tested the empirical validity of this expectation. Results indicated that the availability of information of mental health care providers was associated with adjudication of state compensation. This finding was discussed in view of the literature on heuristic thinking and biased decision making and the study’s limitations. Show less
Children and adolescents with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) are at increased risk for the development of psychosocial problems compared to their peers without DLD. There is much individual... Show moreChildren and adolescents with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) are at increased risk for the development of psychosocial problems compared to their peers without DLD. There is much individual variation within the group of children with DLD regarding their level and development of psychosocial problems. However, there is no systematic relationship between the severity of children’s communication problems and their psychosocial problems.Emotional competence refers to the ability to recognise, understand, regulate, and express emotions adaptively in social interactions. Emotional competence is gained through social interactions, in which language plays an important role. In children without DLD, problems in emotional competence are important risk factors for the development of different psychosocial problems, which may also be the case in children with DLD. Therefore, it this research project we examined whether problems in emotional competence could explain the level and development of children with and without DLD between 9 and 16 years old. We found that problems in emotional competence indeed explained higher levels of psychosocial problems in children with and without DLD and that increasing levels of emotional competence were related to lower levels of psychosocial problems across time. These outcomes indicate that difficulties in emotional competence make children with DLD vulnerable to psychosocial problems and requires specific support and interventions. Show less
Domburgh, L. van; Geluk, C.; Jansen, L.; Vermeiren, R.; Doreleijers, T. 2019
Not only are childhood onset offenders at high risk of becoming serious persistent offenders, they are also at high risk of becoming victimized themselves. Furthermore, studies in the general... Show moreNot only are childhood onset offenders at high risk of becoming serious persistent offenders, they are also at high risk of becoming victimized themselves. Furthermore, studies in the general population suggest that a combined perpetrator-victim group can be distinguished from a perpetrator-only and a victim-only group on individual and family risk factors. The current study investigated the co-occurrence of offending and victimization among first-time arrestees and the 2-year predictive value of previously found clusters of dynamic risk factors of offending. Childhood first-time arrestees (N = 308; M-age = 10.3, SD = 1.45) were clustered into three groups based on dynamic risk factors of offending in the individual, peer, school, and family domains: a pervasive high, an externalizing intermediate, and a low problem group. Police records and self-report data on re-offending and victimization of these children were collected over a 2-year follow-up period. Compared with the low problem group, the prevalence of re-offending was higher in both the externalizing intermediate group and the pervasive high group. The pervasive high group was most likely to display co-occurring future antisocial behavior and victimization. These findings emphasize that attention should be paid to victimization in addition to future antisocial behavior, especially if additional internalizing and family problems are present. Furthermore, the differences in re-offending and victimization between subgroups of childhood onset offenders stress the need for specific interventions tailored to the risk profile of a child. Show less
Dahamat Azam, N.; Novin, S.; Oosterveld, P.; Rieffe, C. 2019
Motives for aggression can be reactive or proactive. While research on these motives for aggression exists in Western societies, little is known about their prevalence in a non-Western society such... Show moreMotives for aggression can be reactive or proactive. While research on these motives for aggression exists in Western societies, little is known about their prevalence in a non-Western society such as Malaysia. The first step to narrow this gap is to validate an instrument, which measures levels of reactive and proactive aggression. In the present study we translated the instrument for reactive and proactive aggression (IRPA) self-report, and examined its psychometric properties in 957 Malaysian adolescents. Participants completed the IRPA self-report along with instruments measuring victimization, anger, shame, and guilt. The outcomes confirmed the expected two-factor structure, good internal consistency and validity of the IRPA self-report in a Malaysian sample. Show less
Plessis, M.R. du; Smeekens, S.; Cillessen, A.H.N.; Whittle, S.; Güroğlu, B. 2019
Narrative is intimately connected to victimization and radicalization. Trouble, the notion that drives narrative, is often coupled with victimization: the experience of suffering intentional harm.... Show moreNarrative is intimately connected to victimization and radicalization. Trouble, the notion that drives narrative, is often coupled with victimization: the experience of suffering intentional harm. This experience can play a turning point in the stories that radicals construct about their own lives and thus play a role in their pathway to radicalization. In this article, three main themes of narrative will be further explored in relation to victimization and radicalization: identity, emotions, and culture. Central in this article is the discussion on how narrative can contribute to theory and research into victimological processes in radicalization, while offering new means to further develop key constructs. Show less
While the study of victimology and radicalization mainly focuses on those who suffered from terrorist attacks, this article explores the role of victimological processes in deradicalization.... Show moreWhile the study of victimology and radicalization mainly focuses on those who suffered from terrorist attacks, this article explores the role of victimological processes in deradicalization. Experts from different international deradicalization initiatives were interviewed. Using the narrative framework with its three key concepts—identity, emotion, and culture—as set forth by Pemberton and Aarten in this issue, the relationship between victimization and deradicalization is more thoroughly examined. Key findings include the delicacy of the term “victim” in radicals’ narrative identity, the power of narrative in triggering and transmitting emotions, and the importance of a former radical that acknowledges the narratives of the radical and offers alternative narratives to their radicalized ideologies. Show less
Victims’ perspectives on justice in the aftermath of crime are a key victimological topic. The main justice concepts that have received scholarly victimological attention are retributive justice,... Show moreVictims’ perspectives on justice in the aftermath of crime are a key victimological topic. The main justice concepts that have received scholarly victimological attention are retributive justice, value restoration and procedural justice. In this paper, we argue that the so-called Big Two framework – agency and communion – can further help us understand victims’ experiences with justice. Agency refers to a person striving for individuality, while communion refers to the participation of the individual in and connection with a group. According to the framework outlined in this paper, we argue that victimization by crime involves an impaired sense of agency and communion, and justice can be viewed as an attempt to repair both these dimensions. Retributive justice is a prominent means to repair agency, but other options to do so are also open to the victim. A similar observation can be made about value restoration with respect to communion. Acknowledging this can be of particular importance in cases where no offender is apprehended. As to procedural justice, the framework emphasizes the need to distinguish process participation as a means to re-establish agency from participation to re-establish communion with representatives of society. Show less
