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    A study of Family Court report writers : their practices relating to child care and protection custody evaluations, and their views about the best interest of the child standard and mandatory reporting of child abuse : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2003) Field, Garry M
    This is the first known study of psychologists and their evaluations of children specifically subject to care and protection Family Court custody proceedings, and replicates and extends some overseas research. The Family Court refers to these psychologists as report writers. The evaluations are referred to as s178 Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act (1989) psychological reports. Overall, report writers in this study meet the criteria to be considered as forensic experts. When compared to overseas studies (e.g., LaFortune & Carpenter, 1998), the most popular evaluation procedures used here were similar with the exception of the use of test instruments. It was found that report writers here (a) do not often use test instruments, (b) do not utilise a wide range of instruments, and (c) do not use test instruments specifically designed for custody evaluations. Report writers do believe that they have an important contribution to make in Family Court matters. The majority also expressed positive comments about this type of work. However, it does appear that report writers are operating in some respects within various sets of guidelines, but not so in other respects. In particular, and contrary to the guidelines, report writers provide recommendations, do not obtain relevant on-going training or engage in the administration of appropriate tests, and importantly do not appear to keep current with relevant literature. Furthermore, it is recommended that one set of guidelines be developed and that these offer greater levels of specificity. This research also extends the study of Jameson, Ehrenberg, and Hunter (1997) that looked into factors relating to the best interests of the child standard. Abuse factors (e.g., sexual and physical) rated the highest among report writers. Many new factors introduced for this study, including historic abuse, were also highly rated (e.g., emotional abuse and/or neglect, child's safety with other children, and child's physical or psychological vulnerability). Participants were also surveyed concerning the mandatory reporting of child abuse. The majority do not favour its introduction. If such a policy were to be introduced, the majority of participants want professionals who interact with children, particularly medical doctors and school teachers, to report confirmed incidents of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and the neglect of physical needs. The Discussion considers the value of one coherent set of guidelines for report writers, which includes up to date research findings.
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    Writing truth as non-violence : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2011) Webb, Simon Christopher
    This thesis explores some of the ways violence can constrain, inform, and otherwise impact upon psychological theory, the ways psychological theory can contribute to various forms of violence, and some of the implications of this reflexive cycle. Arguing for non-violence as a truth criterion of psychological knowledge claims, the thesis sets out to question the conditions of possibility for producing non-violent psychological theory. Drawing upon contemporary theories of language, subjectivity, and power, it discusses technologies of truth production in terms of violence. The work of literary theorist and feminist post-structuralist philosopher Judith Butler is discussed in this context. After developing a set of theoretical resources for addressing reflexive epistemological problems of violence, some practice implications of non-violent psychological theory are considered in relation to the specific domain of forensic psychology. Returning to discussion of the broader theoretical issues, the thesis identifies some promising areas of focus for non-violent theory development. A key claim arising from this discussion is that the tradition of validity as representational accuracy or referential truth is closely linked to the prioritisation of power in many Western scientific, economic and other cultural enterprises. In this context psychology can emulate other sciences and produce technologies for more efficient control of subjectivity; but it can also use these technologies reflexively to address the desires embodied in its own pursuit of theoretical power, actively challenging the truth status of violent knowledge claims. The initial commitment to non-violent truth is now articulated as an argument that a commitment to forms of encounter with others that do not objectify those others involves a theoretical commitment to validating knowledge claims in terms of social justice. This calls into question the traditional hierarchy of “hard” and “soft” sciences, in which the truth claims of psychology and other social sciences are positioned as having to conform to the truth claims of natural sciences like physics and chemistry: a social epistemological framework positions psychological theory as a key resource for assessing the truth status of knowledge claims in other sciences. The thesis raises questions around this opportunity, both with respect to some of the details of its possible theoretical forms, and its possible political implications in academic, therapeutic and other contexts.
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    Predicting offending within the New Zealand youth justice system : evaluating measures of risk, need, and psychopathy : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2010) Mooney, Nicholas Patrick
    Youth offending in New Zealand is an often touted problem. The reality is that, although many young people break the law as part of normal adolescent behaviour, the number of youth committing antisocial acts has decreased over the past decade. There is however one exception. The number of young people who exhibit patterns of persistent, chronic and violent offending behaviour is increasing. Recent theoretical approaches have attempted to conceptualise these complex young people by considering the numerous interacting causal factors associated with their offending. These models can inform appropriate assessment, treatment, and prevention strategies. To date, social learning models incorporating risk and need factors have been the best supported. However, new developmental approaches have also been applied, including the downward extension of psychopathy: an adult personality disorder associated with recidivistic offending and treatment non-compliance. Based on these theories, promising new actuarial risk assessment measures have been developed. These measures are being increasingly employed by youth justice systems internationally as a means of identifying and case managing persistent and serious offenders. However, these measures are not widely used in New Zealand, and virtually none have been empirically examined with New Zealand youth. This gap in evidence-based practice is perplexing given the international recognition and respect afforded to New Zealand’s youth justice system. The current study therefore sets a number of objectives. Firstly, it aimed to identify a profile of youth offenders across the New Zealand youth justice system by providing data on demographics, offending behaviours, education/ employment status, and mental health using the Massachusetts Youth Screening Inventory - 2 (MAYSI-2). Secondly, the study evaluated the predictive validity of three assessment measures of youth offending. These measures were the Youth Level of Service/ Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI), the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI), and the Inventory of Callous/ Unemotional Traits (ICU). Finally, the study explored the utility of these measures within a restorative justice system whereby limited resources could be matched to those most at risk of re-offending. Using a prospective study design, two samples aged between 14 and 17 were selected. These samples represented youth offenders at two opposing ends of the youth justice system. The “Diversion” sample initially consisted of 70 youth offenders whose matters had been diverted by Police Youth Aid Officers in Counties-Manukau. All measures were administered during a 90-minute initial assessment phase. After 6-months, 63 (90%) were followed up to complete a self-report measure of offending behaviour committed since the first assessment. The “Clinical” sample initially consisted of 59 youth offenders who had been referred for a psychological assessment by a Youth Court within the Auckland region. The YLS/CMI was part of the assessment process. A total of 44 (75%) of the clinical participants were followed up after six-months. All measures, including the self-reported offending measure, were administered to this cohort. Male gender, Māori ethnicity, and previous police contact were overrepresented within both samples. Approximately 40% of participants from both samples were either not attending school or were unemployed. Theft and dishonesty index offences were the most prevalent for both samples, however nearly 60% of the clinical sample was charged with a violent offence. The MAYSI-2 mental health screen revealed that approximately half of both samples scored on the Caution range or above for Alcohol/ Drug Use, while over 30% of both samples reported difficulties with Anger and Irritability. Over 60% of the Clinical sample received a formal clinical diagnosis, with conduct disorder and substance use disorders being the most prevalent. The two samples were merged to describe the results of the assessment measures. The YLS/CMI total produced fair internal consistency (α = .79). Total scores from the Clinical sample were significantly higher than the Diversion sample. Internal consistency was excellent for the YPI (α = .92) and fair for the ICU (α = .77). There were no significant differences in scoring between the two samples on these psychopathy measures. All three risk measures correlated with each other; while the re-test reliability of the YLS/CMI was significant (.79). Māori ethnicity was associated with higher total scores on the YLS/CMI and the YPI. Māori youth were also more likely to come into police contact during the six-month follow-up period. Medium to large associations were found between the three risk assessment measures and the seriousness of self-reported offences, contact with police, and contact with the youth court. Binary logistic regression, multiple regression, and Receiver Operator Curve (ROC) analyses confirmed the overall predictive validity of three measures, however the YLS/CMI total score was superior to the psychopathy screening measures across all analyses. Finally, results show that many participants who scored highly on the YLS/CMI received a higher level of intervention service during the follow-up period. However, a similar number of high risk youth received little or no services. It was concluded that the YLS/CMI, the YPI, and the ICU have a high level of predictive validity over a short time frame. These findings have direct implications for assessment, prevention, and intervention practices. However, it is argued that new assessment measures relevant to both restorative justice practices and New Zealand’s youth offenders be developed that compensate for the limitations of these generic international measures. Overall, this research has been successful in adding to the accumulating literature on youth offender risk assessment, as well as the conceptualisation of psychopathic traits within youth.