Introduction: The consumption of psychoactive substances in Portugal has been decreasing in the last decade. However, the latest report from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug ...Addiction (EMCDDA) indicates that 5.1% of the Portuguese population has frequent cannabis use. The effect of psychosocial development in childhood and adolescence, or their life history, is considered to be a particularly important element in the genetic variation of the endocannabinoid system
1
. There are several techniques and instruments that can be used in the evaluation of drug addiction, namely: interview, self-registration, psychometric instruments and biological tests
2
. Although this study has a genetic and psychosocial approach, we will only present the psychological component of the research.
Materials and methods: Objective data, such as consumption changes, age, initiation substance, routes of administration used, substances consumed, relapse circumstances, previous attempts to quit, and drug-related health problems allow access to the standard of consumption, as well as data on the subject's feelings, circumstances and thoughts before and after consumption. To assess drug use we opted for the development of a small questionnaire focused on the above mentioned issues and aimed. Due to the association with psychopathology we use the Brief Symptoms Inventory (BSI). All ethical principles have been taken due to the sensitive nature of the data involved.
Results: The large majority of studies on cannabinoid consumption suggest that hereditary influences that may be at the basis of predisposition towards substance use are attenuated in the presence of adequate parental monitoring/supervision
1
,
3
. Although this is still an investigation in curses, with no final results, there is a tendency for those evaluated to show a history of initiation of adolescents' consumption with cannabis, followed by harder drugs. There is also a lack of parental control and supervision, apparently capable of correcting patterns of early deviant behavior. The psychopathology not yet have significant results due to sample size.
Discussion and conclusions: As a working paper which derives from the application of a research pre-test, the results obtained only seek to understand the adequacy of the methodology to be used in the pilot study that will be started soon. This research is a pioneer, since it analyzes in parallel, possible genetic and psychosocial impacts on the consumption of psychoactive substances, contrary to what appears in most of the literature of reference.
Introduction: Violence against the elderly is a complex multidisciplinary social problem that requires cooperation between institutions and professionals. World Health Organization
1
defines this ...kind of violence as a single or repeated action, or the absence of an appropriate action, arising in the context of a relationship where there is an expectation of trust that causes suffering or harm to an elderly person. Occurs through several behaviors involving psychological, physical, sexual, financial violence, neglect and self-neglect
2
. In Portugal it is possible to identify a small number of studies about elder abuse, only about general prevalence and about some subtypes of elder abuse
3
, but not about risk assessment. According to Portuguese Association for Victims Support, between 2013 and 2015, were recorded 2.063 processes of elderly people were victims of violence
4
. The main goal of this research is to contribute for the definition and prevalence of elder abuse in Portugal, identifying familiar, social and cultural dynamics and develop an integrative risk management protocol that will allow the elder abuse risk assessment.
Materials and methods: In order to assist the victims' support professionals and the criminal justice system have been developed a new risk assessment tool, called "Assessment Guidelines for Elder Domestic Violence" (AGED). This work is organized in 3 phases/studies: Study I. Elderly abuse prevalence, risk, protective and vulnerability factors study, and checklist variables construction; Study II. Retrospective study of the elder abuse cases reported in the victims support organizations and criminal justice system; Study III. Development of the AGED. All ethical principles have been taken due to the sensitive nature of the data involved.
Results: After study 1 and study 2, the results of the development of AGED were composed by five sections/areas: I. Victim's Risk factors; II. Offender's Risk Factors; III. External, Contextual and Relational Risk Factors; IV. Victim/Context Protective Factors; and finally, V. Institutional Risk Factors, if applicable. AGED also contemplates the possibility of the evaluator being able to add other additional factors that they consider necessary, contributing to the effectiveness of the measurement of the level of risk of the victim (low, moderate or high) and critical factors.
Discussion and conclusions: AGED is developed with the main goal to supporting professionals who work in domestic violence. Scientific community make evident the need for an evidence-based, valid, user-friendly risk assessment tool of elder abuse to support the professionals. This study offers the opportunity to provide professionals specific knowledge, skills, competences and a tool, in order to an effective risk assessment and management of elder abuse, contributing to the efforts for protect victims and prevent the occurrence of future cases.
Introduction: The main goal of risk assessment is to prevent and develop management strategies to minimize risk, mainly to understand how and why individuals choose to act violently and to determine ...what factors may contribute to the individual's future choice of violence
1-3
and supporting the criminal justice system in judicial decision-making process (e.g. sentence, intervention)
4
.
Materials and methods: The sample is comprised by 25 cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) risk assessment was collected between 2017 and 2018 in Forensic Psychology Office of Egas Moniz Forensic and Psychological Sciences Laboratory (GPF-LCFPEM). We assessed 13 victims: 12 women and 1 man, aged between 18 and 56 years old (M = 34.08, sd = 11.13); and 12 defendants: 10 men and 2 women, aged between 23 and 59 years old (M = 38.25, sd = 13.27). The relationship between victims and defendants are: 14 ex-partners; 7 ex-boyfriend/girlfriend; 2 married; 2 ex-spouses. Data was collected from lawsuits, semi-structured interviews of the victims and defendants, collateral information and clinical and forensic assessment tools e.g. BSI; SARA; PCL: SV. Victims and defendants signed an informed consent term, which contained the goal of the evaluation, the limits of the confidentiality, and also information about the ethics and impartiality of the technicians.
Results: Defendants had more symptoms of somatization (75%), hostility (75%), and phobic anxiety (75%), and victims had more symptoms of interpersonal sensitivity (69.2%) and hostility (69.2%). The defendant's personality assessments unveiled that 33.3% had antisocial personality disorder, especially traits dealing with the interpersonal and affective deficits (e.g., shallow affect, superficial charm, manipulation, lack of empathy) (M = 8.71; sd = 2.29), than whereas symptoms relating to antisocial behavior (e.g. criminal versatility, impulsiveness, irresponsibility, poor behavior controls, juvenile delinquency) (M = 5.86; sd = 2.19). In the risk assessments, the majority of the cases presented a high risk (52%), followed by moderate risk (40%) and low risk (4%), especially factors associated with extreme minimization or denial of spousal assault history (52%), attitudes that support or condone spousal assault (54%), recent relationship problems (48%), former physical assault (44%), severe and/or sexual assault (44%), victim of and/or witness to family violence as a child or adolescent (40%), violence against strangers and acquaintances (36%), recent employment problems (32%), past sexual assault/sexual jealousy (32%) and past use of weapons and/or credible threats of death (32%).
Discussion and conclusions: The results have demonstrated that defendants presented more clinical symptomatology indicators than victims. Higher risk is the most common level in the cases assessed by GPF-LCFPEM. We found several risk factors for IPV. These results suggest that we need of risk assessment in criminal justice system and the guidelines of a better articulation among Forensic Psychology and Law.
Introduction: Determining the ink age in a document has always been a complex challenge in forensic sciences
1
. To determine the time since deposition (TSD) of an ink, factors such as the physical ...and chemical properties of the paper (support), the storage conditions, as well as the physical-chemical of ink processes after deposition on paper must be considered
2
. Ink aging process involves specifically solvent evaporation, dye degradation, polymerization and hardening of the resins
3
. The aim of this work is to develop analytical methodologies that allow the determination of the time of ink deposition through the characterization of the dyes chemical changes.
Materials and methods: Linear liquid and viscous ink´s pens samples of 4 cm were cut from an ink entry of recent deposition (T0) and a 5 months' deposition (T5) samples. Paper ink extraction was performed using 120 µL of methanol with the help of an ultrasonic bath and vortexed at 1400 rpm at 35 °C. The total extraction time was 40 min. For the quantitative analysis, 20 µL of O-cresol was added to each sample to be used as an internal standard. Chromatographic analyses were executed with HPLC/DAD (Eclipse XDB-C8 5 µm 4,6 × 150 mm) at 25° C and a flow rate of 0,8 mL/min. Samples were eluted with a gradient system: 80% in a buffer solution of NH
4
HCO
2
pH 4 and 20% in CH
3
CN as an initial condition, finishing with 0% in a buffer solution of NH
4
HCO
2
after 32 min. Chromatograms samples were monitored at 590 and 273 nm.
Results: The chromatograms revealed that the two types of inks under analysis have different profiles. Moreover, the chromatogram of inks under study changes with time. Concerning the preliminary results, in the case of viscous inks, at 590 nm, the chromatogram shows three peaks at T0 (tr = 18,18 min, tr = 16,59 min and tr = 14,99 min) and two peaks at T5 (tr = 18,17 min and tr = 16,57 min). The peaks of tr = 18,18min and tr = 16,57min decrease by about 44% and 39% in 5 months, respectively. For the liquid ink samples, it is possible to identify only two chromatographic peaks (tr = 18,22 min and tr = 16,61 min).
Discussion and conclusions: Preliminary chromatographic results suggest that it is possible to discriminate a liquid (2 peaks) from a viscous ink (3 peaks) as well as distinguishing time since deposition (TSD) for the viscous inks. From the analysis of chromatograms and spectra, it is possible to obtain qualitative and quantitative chemical information of the different dyes in inks and use this information to use the study of dyes to dating inks. The methodology under development is promising to discriminate ink types and time since deposition of an in on a paper. However, more data must be gathered.
Introduction: Attachment theory focuses on the emergence and development of models acquired during child development and on the role that such models play in future interpersonal relationships ...throughout the life cycle
1
. The insecure attachment can be seen as a risk factor for intimate partner violence. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate attachment as a risk factor, mainly analyse the relationship between adult attachment, beliefs about intimate violence, aggression, and the presence of psychopathology in adulthood.
Materials and methods: Data was collected in Victims Information and Assistance Office (partnership with Egas Moniz High University), between 2014 and 2018 from lawsuits, semi-structured interviews of the defendant, collateral information and clinical and forensic assessment tools e.g. Experiences in Close Relationships, Brennan, Clark & Shaver, 1998; Portuguese Version Moreira, et al., 2006; Scale of Beliefs about Marital Violence, Matos, Machado & Gonçalves, 2000; Aggression Questionnaire, Buss & Perry, 1992; Portuguese Version Simões, 1993; Brief Symptom Inventory, Derogatis, 1993; Portuguese Version Canavarro, 1995). Defendants signed an informed consent term, which contained the goal of the evaluation, the limits of the confidentiality, and also information about the ethics and impartiality of the technicians. A total of 41 intimate partner violence offenders were evaluate.
Results: The results show us that 21 offenders had a secure attachment and 20 had an insecure attachment (assess the two basic dimensions of individual differences in adult attachment style, namely avoidance and preoccupation). We found a positive association between preoccupation and beliefs about violence, namely minimizing small acts of violence (r=.55; p=.00), supporting violence through women's misconduct (r=.36; p=.02), supporting violence through family privacy (r=.41; p=.00) and the general level of tolerance/acceptance of physical and psychological violence (r=.48; p=.00). There is a significant correlation between preoccupation and aggression (r=.52; p=.00), specifically anger (r=.48; p=.00) and hostility (r=.44; p=.00). Finally, we corroborate a relationship between preoccupation and psychopathology: Somatization (r=.34; p=.02), interpersonal sensitivity (r=.40; p=.01), depression (r=.44; p=.00), hostility (r=.37; p=.01), phobic anxiety (r=.49; p=.00) and psychoticism (r=.45; p=.00).
Discussion and conclusions: The data demonstrated that some offenders tends to develop an insecure attachment in their intimate relationships, have an intense concern with relationships and a constant desire of closeness and obsession with abandonment and loss of intimacy. In a global analysis it appears that the attachment is relate with beliefs, aggression and psychopathology. In fact, these results allow aid professionals and institutions to have a deep knowledge about adult attachment as a risk factor.
Introduction: In our everyday life we see a large number of faces that share a set of basic elements, making it necessary to distinguish those that we already know from those we know for the first ...time. This is particularly important in crimes where victims need to identify their offenders, making facial recognition an important theme in Forensic Psychology
1
. Over the time, there are more and more studies that attach greater importance to the face, which is increasingly considered an important aspect for human interaction since it provides a large amount of information that should be analyzed efficiently
2
. It is known that we have more difficulties in recognizing a face from a different race of our own, and this variable has been designated as race bias, cross race effect, other race bias and own race bias.
This paper aims at a better understanding of race effects in face recognition from the 80's until today as it is still an understudied but relevant subject to Forensic Psychology.
Materials and methods: For this study we included articles that focused on the effect of race on face recognition. To that end, studies were included from the 80's until 2018, written in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Quantitative studies were included. Finally, the research was limited to articles published in peer-reviewed journals/journals limited to full-text articles. The articles were selected by reading the title and the respective abstract.
The included articles are available in full text in the EBSCOhost Web, B-On and SAGE Journals databases. The articles were found by combining the following descriptors: "other race bias"; "own race bias" and "eyewitness AND cross-race identifications".
After applying the inclusion criteria, a total of 510 articles were found (already with the duplicates removed). Of the total number of articles 497 articles were excluded. These were excluded for the following reasons: they were not available for reading (n = 257); are not quantitative studies (n = 113); do not report the effect of race on face recognition (n = 77); were not relevant to forensic psychology (n = 50).
Results: In this review, 13 empirical articles were included, most of them being carried out between 2004 and 2016, reinforcing the importance given to this issue today. The absence of studies between 1990 and 2004 could be due to a possible lack of interest in the subject during this time. Most studies are distributed across Europe (n = 7) and North America (n = 5) and only one in Asia (Zhou, Pu, Young, & Tse, 2014). The total number of participants is 1493, with the lowest being 40 participants (Brigham, Maass, & Martinez, 1983, Yan, Andrews, Jenkins & Young, 2016) and the largest being 304 participants (Lawson & Dysart, 2014). Only five studies used an experimental method (38%) while the others used quantitative methods (62%).
After analysing the articles chosen, it was possible to underline some results. In the 80's, it was believed there was no bias in facial recognition when it came to race
3
, thus it was pointed out that own-race effect is no more common than the cross-race identifications
4
. However, in the 90's it started to be implied that there was a better memory to identify own race faces than other races, which meant that other race bias would increase when the contact with other races would decrease
4
. In the new millennium, a greater number of variables, as well as the use of different methodologies and facial recognition technique begins to emerge. In a showup, observing an innocent person of the same race of the perpetrator suspect increased the identification of false lineups
5
. Young people have a better accuracy when discriminating their own race from other races, which is not influenced by interracial contact, unlike what happens with elderly
6
. Also, Caucasian people were found to make more mistakes in identifications, comparing to other races, and it's more common to mistake identity and expressions of Caucasian than Asian faces
7
. Facial expressions began to be given more relevance in the last few years
7
.
Discussion and conclusions: There are significant differences in how individuals of different races look at the same face and determine recognition points differing from each other. Some faces are better recognized than others, creating practical implications in white witnesses which will lead to a greater probability of identifying a non-familiar black face than an unfamiliar face white and thereby increasing the likelihood of "false positive" results when the lineups are shown
5
. There is still no significant methodology evolution to test the effect of race in facial recognition, being the most used one the grey-scale photography line up.
Do we really know what's in our plate? Dourado, Miriam; Martins, Catarina; Palma, Miguel ...
Annals of medicine (Helsinki),
01/2024, Letnik:
51, Številka:
sup1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Introduction: Food fraud is an ancient crime that in the last decade has received substantial attention from the criminal and food authorities, industry, academic community, media and consumers
1-5
.... The global food fraud costs have been estimated to ascend $10 billion and $15 billion per year, affecting approximately 10% of all commercially sold food products
3
. In EU, food fraud crimes are considered intentional acts that violate the food law, target illicit economic gains and cause consumer deception
5
. Generally they do not harm the human health. This study aims to survey the reported food frauds/adulteration cases in the EU and in Portugal (PT) in the 21st century in order to identify overall patterns regarding these crimes.
Materials and methods: Concerning the EU cases, we collected and analysed all food product category notifications (30) of the public Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) database, notified between 01.2000 and 04.2018, under the hazard category of 'fraud/adulteration' (n= 1223)
6
, the OPSON reports (II-VI)
1
, an Interpol-Europol project to mitigate food fraud, and the monthly summary of articles on food fraud and adulteration from the recent Knowledge Centre for Food Fraud and Quality (09.2016-04.2018)(food fraud cases n = 197)
7
. The PT fraud cases were retrieved and analysed from the Portuguese Economic and Food Safety Authority (ASAE)(Press release 2016-04.2018, n = 151)
8
.
Results: 53% of the RASFF fraud notifications were carried out in 2014 and 2018. This could also reflect the recent EU efforts combating food fraud. Fish and seafood, meat, including poultry, and their products, are among the largest categories among the fraud notifications (34% of RASFF and ASAE cases; OPSON reports II-VI, 2011e2016 ≈3×10
6
tones seized), along with nuts, nuts products, and seeds and fruits and vegetables (38% of RASFF cases). 4% of the RASFF notifications concerns food presenting a serious risk and/or that required a rapid intervention. Illegal trade and/or changed expire dates are the main reasons of those alert notifications. In Portugal, fraud in wine and wine products is important (19% of ASAE cases). The predominant types of fraud described in the monthly summary articles are mislabeling and origin masking (53% and 18% of the EU cases). Fish is also a food category prone to fraud.
Discussion and conclusions: In general, in EU and in PT, food categories of animal origin, namely fish, seafood, meat and their products are very vulnerable food categories to food safety frauds. Alcoholic beverages, mostly wine, extra virgin olive oil and other high quality food linked to a geographical origin, a varietal identification and/or a specific quality are very sensitive foods regarding authenticity and others deceiving consumer types of infringements.
Objective: Competence to proceed (CTP) is a constitutional protection intended to facilitate fairness and dignity of court proceedings. Researchers have estimated that between 60,000 and 94,000 ...defendants are evaluated for CTP each year. Yet no research has systematically identified the number of evaluations conducted each year, despite their critical role and many profound implications. We used large-scale, systematic data collection to address this knowledge gap. Hypotheses: Given the siloed nature of the judicial and forensic mental health systems, we anticipated incomplete data and that the number of evaluations would far exceed previous estimates. Method: In September 2019, we used public information requests to solicit CTP evaluation order data from the judiciaries of 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. We accepted evaluation proxies, such as evaluations ordered or evaluations filed, from the 2018/2019 calendar/fiscal year. We used Uniform Crime Reporting data to estimate a nationwide evaluation-to-arrest ratio and annual evaluation volume. Results: Twenty-five states provided data. We deemed data from 18 states acceptable while acknowledging that data likely underrepresented actual evaluation volume. By extrapolating data from these 18 states, we estimated a conservative national evaluation-to-arrest ratio of 0.015 (95% confidence interval −0.007, 0.037), which suggested that 15 evaluations are conducted per 1,000 arrests each year. Consequently, it seems likely that at least 140,000 evaluations are ordered each year nationwide, with several hundred people referred for evaluations each day. Conclusions: Annual CTP evaluation volume likely far exceeds previous estimates. Transparent data are difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. As a result, researchers, legal and forensic mental health professionals, and policymakers lack the ability to implement informed, constitutionally protected CTP practices. Key implications, research directions, and detailed data infrastructure recommendations are provided.
Public Significance Statement
Evaluations of competence to proceed safeguard defendants' capacity to understand case proceedings and meaningfully engage in their legal defense. Despite the constitutional protection provided by these evaluations, nationwide competence to proceed with evaluation data is exceptionally inconsistent and weak, if not entirely absent. Our study facilitates improved understanding of this critical issue for researchers, legal and mental health professionals, policymakers, and civil rights advocates.
The aim of this study was to investigate and reflect upon the role of the psychosocial judicial staff in the placement phase of the adoption process. Seven psychologists and 11 judicial social ...workers, from seven cities in southern Brazil, were interviewed. From the content analysis, it was possible to grasp that while placement in most counties is conducted by the team of Juvenile Court, with or without help from the foster care’s staff, in a few counties it is conducted only by teams of foster care. Differences between the practices of professionals were also found, with psychologists in charge of the processes considered more complex, like the late adoption cases. The authors propose reflections about the implications of the differences found on practice, for the role of the psychologist in the placement stage. We conclude that the legal team has a central role in the placement stage, but efforts still need to be employed to achieve a consensual methodology. Este estudo objetivou investigar e refletir sobre o papel da equipe psicossocial do Judiciário na fase de inserção, ou em termos legais colocação, nos processos de adoção. Foram entrevistados sete psicólogos e 11 assistentes sociais judiciários de sete cidades do Rio Grande do Sul. A partir da análise de conteúdo foi possível constatar que a maioria das colocações são conduzidas pela equipe do Juizado da Infância, com ou sem auxílio da equipe da instituição de acolhimento, e em algumas comarcas conduzidas apenas pelas equipes dessas instituições. Observaram-se também diferenças entre as práticas dos profissionais, ficando os psicólogos mais encarregados dos processos considerados complexos, a exemplo dos casos de adoção tardia. Discute-se a falta de uma metodologia consensuada nesta etapa, bem como o papel do psicólogo apenas nos casos considerados mais difíceis. Também se aponta a importância de se atentar para práticas realmente voltadas para o melhor interesse da criança. El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar y reflexionar sobre el rol del equipo psicosocial judicial en la etapa de inserción, o en términos legales ‘colocación’, en los procesos de adopción. Se entrevistaron siete psicólogos y 11 trabajadores sociales judiciales en siete ciudades del sur de Brasil. A través del análisis de contenido se observó que, en la mayoría de los casos, la colocación es conducida por el equipo judicial, con o sin auxilio del equipo de las instituciones de acogimiento. En algunos casos, el proceso es conducido solamente por las instituciones. También se constataron diferencias entre las prácticas de los profesionales, estando los psicólogos más encargados de los procesos considerados complejos, como los de adopción tardía. Se discuten las implicaciones de las distintas maneras de actuar de los equipos, en lo que se refiere a la práctica del psicólogo en la colocación. Se concluye que el equipo judicial tiene un rol central en la colocación, aunque todavía sean necesarios esfuerzos para alcanzar un método consensual para conducir esa etapa.
PDF
