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Biomedical subjects

G T Harris

Publications and source records attributed to G T Harris.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Salient victim suffering and the sexual responses of child molesters.

In phallometric testing, audiovisual stimuli in which the audio component depicted a child victim's suffering described from the child's point of view were compared with similar scenarios described from the adult male offender's point of view and to portrayals of consenting adult heterosexual activity. Fifteen male participants who had sexually assaulted girls and 15 nonoffenders were also administered questionnaire measures of empathy and opinions regarding sex with children. Consistent with predictions, maximal discrimination between groups was obtained using deviance indices based on stimuli that emphasized victim trauma. Also consistent with predictions, the questionnaire measures were related to sexual deviance. Recommendations are made regarding stimuli for phallometric testing. The results point to the relevance of changing deviant preferences and enhancing empathy for the victim in the treatment of child molesters.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Violent recidivism: assessing predictive validity.

Until very recently, there has been little evidence of the ability of either clinicians or actuarial instruments to predict violent behavior. Moreover, a confusing variety of measures have been proposed for the evaluation of the accuracy of predictions. This report demonstrates that receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) have advantages over other measures inasmuch as they are simultaneously independent of the base rate for violence in the populations studied and of the particular cutoff score chosen to classify cases as likely to be violent. In an illustration of the value of this approach, the base rates of violence were altered with the use of data from 3.5-, 6-, and 10-year follow-ups of 799 previously violent men. Base rates for the 10-year follow-up were also altered by changing the definition of violent recidivism and by examining a high-risk subgroup. The report also shows how ROC methods can be used to compare the performance of different instruments for the prediction of violence. The report illustrates how ROCs facilitate decisions about whether, at a particular base rate, the use of a prediction instrument is warranted. Finally, some of the limitations of ROCs are outlined, and some cautionary remarks are made with regard to their use.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1994

Psychopathy as a taxon: evidence that psychopaths are a discrete class.

Taxometric analyses were applied to the construct of psychopathy (as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist) and to several variables reflecting antisocial childhood, adult criminality, and criminal recidivism. Subjects were 653 serious offenders assessed or treated in a maximum-security institution. Results supported the existence of a taxon underlying psychopathy. Childhood problem behaviors provided convergent evidence for the existence of the taxon. Adult criminal history variables were continuously distributed and were insufficient in themselves to detect the taxon.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Sexual recidivism among child molesters released from a maximum security psychiatric institution.

The recidivism of 136 extrafamilial child molesters who had received phallometric assessment in a maximum security psychiatric institution from 1972 to 1983 was determined over an average 6.3-year follow-up. Fifty had participated in behavioral treatment to alter inappropriate sexual age preferences. Thirty-one percent of the subjects were convicted of a new sex offense, 43% committed a violent or sexual offense, and 58% were arrested for some offense or returned to the institution. Subjects convicted of a new sex offense had previously committed more sex offenses, had been admitted to correctional institutions more frequently, were more likely to have been diagnosed as personality disordered, were more likely to have never married, and had shown more inappropriate sexual preferences in initial phallometric assessment than those who had not. Behavioral treatment did not affect recidivism.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

An empirical approach to classification and treatment planning for psychiatric inpatients.

Treatment efforts for psychiatric patients traditionally are organized according to diagnosis, length of stay, age, and level of management difficulty. The current study, prompted by an attempt to reorganize services for 178 patients at a regional psychiatric hospital, examined the incidence of 72 problems exhibited either in the community prior to admission or within the institution. Factor and cluster analyses were used to identify clinically important subgroups of patients. Implications of the results for institutional organization also are discussed.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1989

The relationship between neuroleptic drug dose and the performance of psychiatric patients in a maximum security token economy program.

This study examined the relationship between neuroleptic medication dose and performance in a token economy program on two maximum security psychiatric wards. Patients receiving higher than average doses exhibited poorer than average program performance but there was a small but statistically significant positive relationship between neuroleptic drug dose (measured in CPZ units/kg) and program performance. However, this positive relationship existed only for the first few weeks of patients' hospital stays, and there was a delay (approximately 2 weeks) between the administration of the drug and the maximal positive effect on program performance. Only a very small minority of medication changes were ever followed by improvements in program performance. The results are discussed in terms of what is a rational strategy for the provision of psychiatric medication and other forms of treatment in institutional settings.

Adaptation, Psychological↗