Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J V Becker.
Eight female subjects underwent vaginal photoplethysmographic recordings while asleep. Results demonstrated consistent findings of decreases in relative blood volume and increases in relative pulse pressure within the vagina during REM periods. Thes vascular changes indicate that females undergo phasic shifts in vascular blood flow in the vagina during REM sleep, similar to the phasic shifts of blood flow in the male's penis during REM sleep.
The purpose of this investigation was to examine patterns of abatement of depressive symptomatology in 30 young widows at three time periods: immediately following the death of the husband, a year later, and at present. Data on all three time periods were gathered during one interview. The study thus provides retrospective information on patterns of depressive symptomatology. It was expected that such information would enhance understanding of the stages of the grief process described by Glick et al. and by Maddison.
In a study of the interaction of hospitalized alcoholic and nonalcoholic husbands and their wives, husbands tended to speak more during alcohol-related conversations, while wives spoke more when discussing other topics. Wives in both groups looked at their spouses more than their husbands did during alcohol-focused periods.
Clinical evaluations can play a useful role in making a variety of dispositional decisions concerning child molesters provided they are done carefully, using relevant techniques, and their limitations are clearly understood. Assessment instruments and techniques that can differentiate child molesters from other persons, that are related to treatment planning, and that predict the commission of future sexual offending are the most useful. Sex offense history and phallometric assessments are useful in planning treatment and supervision programs and in assessing risk. The Psychopathy Checklist is also a strong predictor of sexual recidivism but its usefulness in treatment planning is equivocal. Measures of attitudes and beliefs that support child molestation are suitable for designing treatment programs but their prognostic significance remains to be established. More general measures of personality and psychopathology have not been established as predictors of recidivism but can be used to address collateral clinical issues.
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People who sexually abuse children are diverse in terms of age, occupation, income level, marital status, and ethnic group. At one time it was believed that sex offenders could be easily categorized along three dimensions: offending against either adults or children; offending against either members of their families or against acquaintances and strangers; offending in noncontact ways (for example, exhibitionism) or through bodily contact. There is growing evidence that a number of offenders offend across these categories. Many child sexual abusers are themselves adolescents, and many adult offenders first offended when they were adolescents. A review of the literature reveals a paucity of controlled therapy outcome studies on the effectiveness of treatment, and existing uncontrolled studies are marked by methodological problems. This has led some to conclude that there is insufficient evidence to prove the effectiveness of treatment for child molesters. However, there have been major changes in treatment programs over the years, and some more recent studies provide reason for optimism about the effectiveness of current treatment methods for some offenders.