Are virtuous people happy all around the world? Civic virtue, antisocial punishment, and subjective well-being across cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Stavrova, Olga; Schlösser, Thomas; Fetchenhauer, Detlef

2013-07-01

Psychological research postulates a positive relationship between virtue and happiness. This article investigates whether this relationship holds in cultures where virtue is not socially appreciated. We specifically focus on civic virtue, which is conceptualized as citizens' honesty in interactions with state institutions (e.g., tax compliance). Two indicators served as measures of the degree to which civic virtue is a part of a country's normative climate: These were each country's mean level of punishment directed at above-average cooperative players in public good experiments and the extent to which citizens justify fraud and free-riding. The results of two studies with data from 13 and 73 countries demonstrate that a positive relationship between civic virtue and happiness/life satisfaction is not universal: In countries where antisocial punishment is common and the level of justification of dishonest behaviors is high, virtuous individuals are no longer happier and more satisfied with life than selfish individuals.

Relationship of corporal punishment and antisocial behavior by neighborhood.

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Grogan-Kaylor, Andrew

2005-10-01

To examine the relationship of corporal punishment with children's behavior problems while accounting for neighborhood context and while using stronger statistical methods than previous literature in this area, and to examine whether different levels of corporal punishment have different effects in different neighborhood contexts. Longitudinal cohort study. General community. 1943 mother-child pairs from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Internalizing and externalizing behavior problem scales of the Behavior Problems Index. Parental use of corporal punishment was associated with a 0.71 increase (Pcorporal punishment and children's externalizing behavior problems was not dependent on neighborhood context. The research found no discernible relationship between corporal punishment and internalizing behavior problems.

Group Membership Modulates the Neural Circuitry Underlying Third Party Punishment.

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Morese, Rosalba; Rabellino, Daniela; Sambataro, Fabio; Perussia, Felice; Valentini, Maria Consuelo; Bara, Bruno G; Bosco, Francesca M

2016-01-01

This research aims to explore the neural correlates involved in altruistic punishment, parochial altruism and anti-social punishment, using the Third-Party Punishment (TPP) game. In particular, this study considered these punishment behaviors in in-group vs. out-group game settings, to compare how people behave with members of their own national group and with members of another national group. The results showed that participants act altruistically to protect in-group members. This study indicates that norm violation in in-group (but not in out-group) settings results in increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and temporo-parietal junction, brain regions involved in the mentalizing network, as the third-party attempts to understand or justify in-group members' behavior. Finally, exploratory analysis during anti-social punishment behavior showed brain activation recruitment of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, an area associated with altered regulation of emotions.

Direct and indirect punishment among strangers in the field.

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Balafoutas, Loukas; Nikiforakis, Nikos; Rockenbach, Bettina

2014-11-11

Many interactions in modern human societies are among strangers. Explaining cooperation in such interactions is challenging. The two most prominent explanations critically depend on individuals' willingness to punish defectors: In models of direct punishment, individuals punish antisocial behavior at a personal cost, whereas in models of indirect reciprocity, they punish indirectly by withholding rewards. We investigate these competing explanations in a field experiment with real-life interactions among strangers. We find clear evidence of both direct and indirect punishment. Direct punishment is not rewarded by strangers and, in line with models of indirect reciprocity, is crowded out by indirect punishment opportunities. The existence of direct and indirect punishment in daily life indicates the importance of both means for understanding the evolution of cooperation.

Exploring the Motivations for Punishment: Framing and Country-Level Effects.

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Bone, Jonathan E; McAuliffe, Katherine; Raihani, Nichola J

2016-01-01

Identifying the motives underpinning punishment is crucial for understanding its evolved function. In principle, punishment of distributional inequality could be motivated by the desire to reciprocate losses ('revenge') or by the desire to reduce payoff asymmetries between the punisher and the target ('inequality aversion'). By separating these two possible motivations, recent work suggests that punishment is more likely to be motivated by disadvantageous inequality aversion than by a desire for revenge. Nevertheless, these findings have not consistently replicated across different studies. Here, we suggest that considering country of origin-previously overlooked as a possible source of variation in responses-is important for understanding when and why individuals punish one another. We conducted a two-player stealing game with punishment, using data from 2,400 subjects recruited from the USA and India. US-based subjects punished in response to losses and disadvantageous inequality, but seldom invested in antisocial punishment (defined here as punishment of non-stealing partners). India-based subjects, on the other hand, punished at higher levels than US-based subjects and, so long as they did not experience disadvantageous inequality, punished stealing and non-stealing partners indiscriminately. Nevertheless, as in the USA, when stealing resulted in disadvantageous inequality, India-based subjects punished stealing partners more than non-stealing partners. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that variation in punitive behavior varies across societies, and support the idea that punishment might sometimes function to improve relative status, rather than to enforce cooperation.

The advantage of democratic peer punishment in sustaining cooperation within groups

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pfattheicher, Stefan; Boehm, Robert; Kesberg, Rebekka

2018-01-01

(i.e., antisocial punishment) is possible. In the present work, we propose that a system of democratic peer punishment, that is, direct and equal participation of each individual in the punishment decision‐making process with punishment only executed when a majority has voted for its execution, can......In social dilemma situations, individuals benefit from uncooperative behavior while exploiting resources of the collective. One prominent solution to prevent uncooperative behavior and to increase cooperation is to establish a system of costly peer punishment, that is, the possibility for every...

Evolution of cooperation by the introduction of the probabilistic peer-punishment based on the difference of payoff

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Ohdaira, Tetsushi

2016-05-01

There are two types of costly punishment, i.e. peer-punishment and pool-punishment. While peer-punishment applies direct face to face punishment, pool-punishment is based on multi-point, collective interaction among group members. Regarding those two types of costly punishment, peer-punishment is especially considered to have the flaws that it lowers the average payoff of all players as well as pool-punishment does, and facilitates antisocial behaviour like retaliation of a defector on a cooperator. Here, this study proposes the new peer-punishment that punishment to an opponent player works at high probability when an opponent one is uncooperative, and the difference of payoff between a player and an opponent one becomes large in order to prevent such antisocial behaviour. It is natural to think that players of high payoff do not expect to punish others of lower payoff because they do not have any complaints regarding their economic wealth. The author shows that the introduction of the proposed peer-punishment increases both the number of cooperative players and the average payoff of all players in various types of topology of connections between players.

Amphetamine increases schedule-induced drinking reduced by negative punishment procedures.

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Pérez-Padilla, Angeles; Pellón, Ricardo

2003-05-01

d-Amphetamine has been reported to increase schedule-induced drinking punished by lick-dependent signalled delays in food delivery. This might reflect a drug-behaviour interaction dependent on the type of punisher, because no such effect has been found when drinking was reduced by lick-contingent electric shocks. However, the anti-punishment effect of amphetamine could be mediated by other behavioural processes, such as a loss of discriminative control or an increase in the value of delayed reinforcers. To test the effects of d-amphetamine on the acquisition and maintenance of schedule-induced drinking reduced by unsignalled delays in food delivery. Rats received 10-s unsignalled delays initiated by each lick after polydipsia was induced by a fixed-time 30-s food reinforcement schedule or from the outset of the experiment. Yoked-control rats received these same delays but independently of their own behaviour. d-Amphetamine (0.1-3.0 mg/kg) was then tested IP. d-Amphetamine dose-dependently increased and then decreased punished schedule-induced drinking. The drug led to dose-dependent reductions when the delays were not contingent or when they were applied from the outset of training. These results support the contention that d-amphetamine has an increasing effect on schedule-induced drinking that has been previously reduced by a negative punishment procedure. This effect cannot be attributed to other potentially involved processes, and therefore support the idea that drug effects on punished behaviour depend on punishment being delays in food or shock deliveries.

Attitudes to reducing violence towards women: punishment or prevention?

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Martin, J L; O'Shea, M L; Romans, S E; Anderson, J C; Mullen, P E

1993-04-14

To investigate the attitudes of abused and nonabused women to reducing physical and sexual violence in the community. A random community sample of 3000 women was surveyed by postal questionnaire as part of the Otago Women's Health Survey. Seventy three percent (n = 1663) of those under 65 replied. As well as demographic, mental health and abuse information, responses to the question "what steps would you like to see taken to reduce the incidence of sexual and physical harm to women and children?" were analysed. Education was the most favoured approach to reducing violence in the community, followed by increased punishment of the offender. Women who had experienced sexual abuse, particularly as children, were more likely to advocate measures other than punishment. Rural women, those without formal qualifications and those who were not abused were more likely to advocate increased punishment, or made no comment. The finding that victims of sexual assault were likely to report a preference for prevention over punishment highlights the importance of representing the views of the community which appear to be at variance with more extreme views publicized in the media.

Self-organization of punishment in structured populations

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Perc, Matjaž; Szolnoki, Attila

2012-04-01

Cooperation is crucial for the remarkable evolutionary success of the human species. Not surprisingly, some individuals are willing to bear additional costs in order to punish defectors. Current models assume that, once set, the fine and cost of punishment do not change over time. Here we show that relaxing this assumption by allowing players to adapt their sanctioning efforts in dependence on the success of cooperation can explain both the spontaneous emergence of punishment and its ability to deter defectors and those unwilling to punish them with globally negligible investments. By means of phase diagrams and the analysis of emerging spatial patterns, we demonstrate that adaptive punishment promotes public cooperation through the invigoration of spatial reciprocity, the prevention of the emergence of cyclic dominance, or the provision of competitive advantages to those that sanction antisocial behavior. The results presented indicate that the process of self-organization significantly elevates the effectiveness of punishment, and they reveal new mechanisms by means of which this fascinating and widespread social behavior could have evolved.

Free will and punishment: a mechanistic view of human nature reduces retribution.

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Shariff, Azim F; Greene, Joshua D; Karremans, Johan C; Luguri, Jamie B; Clark, Cory J; Schooler, Jonathan W; Baumeister, Roy F; Vohs, Kathleen D

2014-08-01

If free-will beliefs support attributions of moral responsibility, then reducing these beliefs should make people less retributive in their attitudes about punishment. Four studies tested this prediction using both measured and manipulated free-will beliefs. Study 1 found that people with weaker free-will beliefs endorsed less retributive, but not consequentialist, attitudes regarding punishment of criminals. Subsequent studies showed that learning about the neural bases of human behavior, through either lab-based manipulations or attendance at an undergraduate neuroscience course, reduced people's support for retributive punishment (Studies 2-4). These results illustrate that exposure to debates about free will and to scientific research on the neural basis of behavior may have consequences for attributions of moral responsibility. © The Author(s) 2014.

How mothers in poverty explain their use of corporal punishment: A qualitative study in Kampala, Uganda.

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Boydell, Nicola; Nalukenge, Winifred; Siu, Godfrey; Seeley, Janet; Wight, Daniel

2017-11-01

Corporal punishment in the early years is associated with anti-social behaviour and violence, but little is known about its social and cultural context in low income countries. This paper analyses how 12 deprived women in Kampala, Uganda, perceived corporal punishment, drawing on repeated semi-structured interviews. All thought it was sometimes necessary, for three main reasons. First, it was an important strategy to ensure good behaviour and maintain their and their child's, respectability, crucial to self-respect given severe poverty. Second, it was a means of establishing household routines and managing scarce resources. Third, it was a way to protect children from health risks. However, all mothers thought corporal punishment could be excessive, and most said it can be counter-productive, making children 'stubborn'. There appeared to be considerable variation in their degree of harsh parenting and emotional support. These findings could inform culturally appropriate interventions to reduce violence against children.

Moral Orientation and Relationships in School and Adolescent Pro-and Antisocial Behaviors : A Multilevel Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wissink, Inge B.; Dekovic, Maja; Stams, Geert-Jan; Asscher, Jessica J.; Rutten, Esther; Zijlstra, Bonne J. H.

This multilevel study examined the relationships between moral climate factors and prosocial as well as antisocial behaviors inside and outside the school (school misconduct, delinquent behavior, and vandalism). The moral climate factors were punishment- and victim-based moral orientation,

Punishment Insensitivity in Early Childhood: A Developmental, Dimensional Approach.

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Nichols, Sara R; Briggs-Gowan, Margaret J; Estabrook, Ryne; Burns, James L; Kestler, Jacqueline; Berman, Grace; Henry, David B; Wakschlag, Lauren S

2015-08-01

Impairment in learning from punishment ("punishment insensitivity") is an established feature of severe antisocial behavior in adults and youth but it has not been well studied as a developmental phenomenon. In early childhood, differentiating a normal: abnormal spectrum of punishment insensitivity is key for distinguishing normative misbehavior from atypical manifestations. This study employed a novel measure, the Multidimensional Assessment Profile of Disruptive Behavior (MAP-DB), to examine the distribution, dimensionality, and external validity of punishment insensitivity in a large, demographically diverse community sample of preschoolers (3-5 years) recruited from pediatric clinics (N = 1,855). Caregivers completed surveys from which a seven-item Punishment Insensitivity scale was derived. Findings indicated that Punishment Insensitivity behaviors are relatively common in young children, with at least 50 % of preschoolers exhibiting them sometimes. Item response theory analyses revealed a Punishment Insensitivity spectrum. Items varied along a severity continuum: most items needed to occur "Often" in order to be severe and behaviors that were qualitatively atypical or intense were more severe. Although there were item-level differences across sociodemographic groups, these were small. Construct, convergent, and divergent validity were demonstrated via association to low concern for others and noncompliance, motivational regulation, and a disruptive family context. Incremental clinical utility was demonstrated in relation to impairment. Early childhood punishment insensitivity varies along a severity continuum and is atypical when it predominates. Implications for understanding the phenomenology of emergent disruptive behavior are discussed.

Understanding and Addressing Cultural Variation in Costly Antisocial Punishment

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-15

first round of the first public goods game they played, in cases where no punishment was allowed. Recall that subjects will have read the instructions and...either together with AP (top, purple colour ) or exclusively (second from top, blue colour ) in the first round. (Note that this also proves that ASP...time?), lifespan (how long can you learn?), rate of transmission of information, reliability of transmission, and memory capacity. A paper on this

When Do Punishment Institutions Work?

OpenAIRE

Patrick Aquino; Robert S. Gazzale; Sarah Jacobson

2015-01-01

While peer punishment sometimes motivates increased cooperation, it sometimes reduces cooperation. We use a lab experiment to study why punishment sometimes fails. We begin with a gift exchange game with punishment as it has typically been implemented therein since punishment has often backfired in this game. We modify two features of punishment that could increase its efficacy: punishment's strength and its timing (whether the punisher publicly pre-commits to punishment or acts after the pun...

The Impact of Emotions and Empathy-Related Traits on Punishment Behavior: Introduction and Validation of the Inequality Game.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga M Klimecki

Full Text Available In the prevention and resolution of conflicts in social contexts, an important step is to understand how different emotions and empathic traits are linked to punishment behaviors. Unfortunately, few paradigms exist to study these phenomena. Here, we developed the Inequality Game (IG as an economic and verbal interaction paradigm in which participants are faced with an "unfair other" as opposed to a "fair other" and subsequently have the opportunity to engage in a range of social behaviors. These social behaviors include cooperative or competitive economic choices and nice or derogatory verbal behavior toward the unfair and fair other. Participants could thus engage in punishment or forgiveness behavior toward the unfair other as well as in cooperative or aggressive behavior toward the fair other. We validated the IG through multimodal measures comprising the assessment of personality traits, emotions (by means of facial expressions and self-reports, arousal (by means of skin conductance responses, physical effort (force exertion, and behavioral reactions. Second, we examined the influence of emotions and empathy-related traits on punishment behavior. With regard to emotions, we observed a positive relation between malicious joy and punishment behavior. This result highlights the role of reward-related mechanisms in favoring punishment behavior. In addition, different empathic traits had opposing effects on antisocial behavior. Whereas personal distress predicted aggressive verbal behavior, perspective taking and empathic concern predicted a reduction in punishment behavior. Empathic traits also modulated emotional experience and person evaluations, such that perspective taking was related to more positive affect (less frowning and more smiling and a more favorable evaluation of the unfair other. The current data validate the IG, reveal that malicious joy is positively related to punishment behavior, and show that different types of empathic

The Impact of Emotions and Empathy-Related Traits on Punishment Behavior: Introduction and Validation of the Inequality Game

Science.gov (United States)

Klimecki, Olga M.; Vuilleumier, Patrik; Sander, David

2016-01-01

In the prevention and resolution of conflicts in social contexts, an important step is to understand how different emotions and empathic traits are linked to punishment behaviors. Unfortunately, few paradigms exist to study these phenomena. Here, we developed the Inequality Game (IG) as an economic and verbal interaction paradigm in which participants are faced with an “unfair other” as opposed to a “fair other” and subsequently have the opportunity to engage in a range of social behaviors. These social behaviors include cooperative or competitive economic choices and nice or derogatory verbal behavior toward the unfair and fair other. Participants could thus engage in punishment or forgiveness behavior toward the unfair other as well as in cooperative or aggressive behavior toward the fair other. We validated the IG through multimodal measures comprising the assessment of personality traits, emotions (by means of facial expressions and self-reports), arousal (by means of skin conductance responses), physical effort (force exertion), and behavioral reactions. Second, we examined the influence of emotions and empathy-related traits on punishment behavior. With regard to emotions, we observed a positive relation between malicious joy and punishment behavior. This result highlights the role of reward-related mechanisms in favoring punishment behavior. In addition, different empathic traits had opposing effects on antisocial behavior. Whereas personal distress predicted aggressive verbal behavior, perspective taking and empathic concern predicted a reduction in punishment behavior. Empathic traits also modulated emotional experience and person evaluations, such that perspective taking was related to more positive affect (less frowning and more smiling) and a more favorable evaluation of the unfair other. The current data validate the IG, reveal that malicious joy is positively related to punishment behavior, and show that different types of empathic traits can

Characteristics of the evolution of cooperation by the probabilistic peer-punishment based on the difference of payoff

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohdaira, Tetsushi

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The probabilistic peer-punishment based on the difference of payoff is introduced. • The characteristics of the evolution of cooperation are studied. • Those characteristics present the significant contribution to knowledge. - Abstract: Regarding costly punishment of two types, especially peer-punishment is considered to decrease the average payoff of all players as well as pool-punishment does, and to facilitate the antisocial punishment as a result of natural selection. To solve those problems, the author has proposed the probabilistic peer-punishment based on the difference of payoff. In the limited condition, the proposed peer-punishment has shown the positive effects on the evolution of cooperation, and increased the average payoff of all players. Based on those findings, this study exhibits the characteristics of the evolution of cooperation by the proposed peer-punishment. Those characteristics present the significant contribution to knowledge that for the evolution of cooperation, a limited number of players should cause severe damage to defectors at the large expense of their payoff when connections between them are sparse, whereas a greater number of players should share the responsibility to punish defectors at the relatively small expense of their payoff when connections between them are dense.

How to keep punishment to maintain cooperation: Introducing social vaccine

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Yamamoto, Hitoshi; Okada, Isamu

2016-02-01

Although there is much support for the punishment system as a sophisticated approach to resolving social dilemmas, more than a few researchers have also pointed out the limitations of such an approach. Second-order free riding is a serious issue facing the punishment system. Various pioneering works have suggested that an anti-social behavior or noise stemming from a mutation may, surprisingly, be helpful for avoiding second-order freeloaders. In this work, we show through mathematical analysis and an agent-based simulation of a model extending the meta-norms game that the coercive introduction of a small number of non-cooperators can maintain a cooperative regime robustly. This paradoxical idea was inspired by the effect of a vaccine, which is a weakened pathogen injected into a human body to create antibodies and ward off infection by that pathogen. Our expectation is that the coercive introduction of a few defectors, i.e., a social vaccine, will help maintain a highly cooperative regime because it will ensure that the punishment system works.

Evolution of flexibility and rigidity in retaliatory punishment.

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Morris, Adam; MacGlashan, James; Littman, Michael L; Cushman, Fiery

2017-09-26

Natural selection designs some social behaviors to depend on flexible learning processes, whereas others are relatively rigid or reflexive. What determines the balance between these two approaches? We offer a detailed case study in the context of a two-player game with antisocial behavior and retaliatory punishment. We show that each player in this game-a "thief" and a "victim"-must balance two competing strategic interests. Flexibility is valuable because it allows adaptive differentiation in the face of diverse opponents. However, it is also risky because, in competitive games, it can produce systematically suboptimal behaviors. Using a combination of evolutionary analysis, reinforcement learning simulations, and behavioral experimentation, we show that the resolution to this tension-and the adaptation of social behavior in this game-hinges on the game's learning dynamics. Our findings clarify punishment's adaptive basis, offer a case study of the evolution of social preferences, and highlight an important connection between natural selection and learning in the resolution of social conflicts.

Free will and punishment: A mechanistic view of human nature reduces retribution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sharrif, A.F.; Greene, J.D.; Karremans, J.C.; Luguri, J.B.; Clark, C.J.; Schooler, J.W.; Baumeister, R.F.; Vohs, K. D.

2014-01-01

If free-will beliefs support attributions of moral responsibility, then reducing these beliefs should make people less retributive in their attitudes about punishment. Four studies tested this prediction using both measured and manipulated free-will beliefs. Study 1 found that people with weaker

[Impulse control disorders in borderline and antisocial personality disorder].

Science.gov (United States)

Herpertz, S

2007-01-18

A borderline personality disorder is associated with highly impulsive acts that cannot be controlled by cognitive inhibition. In a psychopathic/antisocial personality disorder emotional inhibition of hostile acts is lacking. The patient has a high proclivity for risk-seeking, and is incapable of responding appropriately to punishment. In both disorders, the result is (auto)aggressive behavior. The family doctor must refer such patients to a specialist, when there is an acute danger of self-harm or when a grave functional limitation in the areas of work or interpersonal relationship has persisted over a long period of time.

Subcomponents of psychopathy have opposing correlations with punishment judgments.

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Schaich Borg, Jana; Kahn, Rachel E; Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter; Kurzban, Robert; Robinson, Paul H; Kiehl, Kent A

2013-10-01

Psychopathy research is plagued by an enigma: Psychopaths reliably act immorally, but they also accurately report whether an action is morally wrong. The current study revealed that cooperative suppressor effects and conflicting subsets of personality traits within the construct of psychopathy might help explain this conundrum. Among a sample of adult male offenders (N = 100) who ranked deserved punishment of crimes, Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) total scores were not linearly correlated with deserved punishment task performance. However, these null results masked significant opposing associations between task performance and factors of psychopathy: the PCL-R Interpersonal/Affective (i.e., manipulative and callous) factor was positively associated with task performance, while the PCL-R Social Deviance (i.e., impulsive and antisocial) factor was simultaneously negatively associated with task performance. These relationships were qualified by a significant interaction where the Interpersonal/Affective traits were positively associated with task performance when Social Deviance traits were high, but Social Deviance traits were negatively associated with task performance when Interpersonal/Affective traits were low. This interaction helped reveal a significant nonlinear relationship between PCL-R total scores and task performance such that individuals with very low or very high PCL-R total scores performed better than those with middle-range PCL-R total scores. These results may explain the enigma of why individuals with very high psychopathic traits, but not other groups of antisocial individuals, usually have normal moral judgment in laboratory settings, but still behave immorally, especially in contexts where social deviance traits have strong influence.

The limits of child effects: evidence for genetically mediated child effects on corporal punishment but not on physical maltreatment.

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Jaffee, Sara R; Caspi, Avshalom; Moffitt, Terrie E; Polo-Tomas, Monica; Price, Thomas S; Taylor, Alan

2004-11-01

Research on child effects has demonstrated that children's difficult and coercive behavior provokes harsh discipline from adults. Using a genetically sensitive design, the authors tested the limits of child effects on adult behavior that ranged from the normative (corporal punishment) to the nonnormative (physical maltreatment). The sample was a 1994-1995 nationally representative birth cohort of 1,116 twins and their families who participated in the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Study. Results showed that environmental factors accounted for most of the variation in corporal punishment and physical maltreatment. However, corporal punishment was genetically mediated in part, and the genetic factors that influenced corporal punishment were largely the same as those that influenced children's antisocial behavior, suggesting a child effect. The authors conclude that risk factors for maltreatment are less likely to reside within the child and more likely to reside in characteristics that differ between families. (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved

Corrigendum: Free Will and Punishment: A Mechanistic View of Human Nature Reduces Retribution.

Science.gov (United States)

2018-02-01

Original article: Shariff, A. F., Greene, J. D., Karremans, J. C., Luguri, J. B., Clark, C. J., Schooler, J. W., . . . Vohs, K. D. (2014). Free will and punishment: A mechanistic view of human nature reduces retribution. Psychological Science, 25, 1563-1570. doi:10.1177/0956797614534693.

Corrigendum: Free will and punishment: A mechanistic view of human nature reduces retribution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Shariff, A.F.; Greene, J.D.; Karremans, J.C.T.M.; Luguri, J.B.; Clark, C.J.; Schooler, J.W.; Baumeister, R.F.; Vohs, K.D.

2018-01-01

Original article: Shariff, A. F., Greene, J. D., Karremans, J. C., Luguri, J. B., Clark, C. J., Schooler, J. W., . . . Vohs, K. D. (2014). Free will and punishment: A mechanistic view of human nature reduces retribution. Psychological Science, 25, 1563-1570. doi:10.1177/0956797614534693

Defectors, not norm violators, are punished by third-parties.

Science.gov (United States)

Bone, Jonathan; Silva, Antonio S; Raihani, Nichola J

2014-07-01

Punishment of defectors and cooperators is prevalent when their behaviour deviates from the social norm. Why atypical behaviour is more likely to be punished than typical behaviour remains unclear. One possible proximate explanation is that individuals simply dislike norm violators. However, an alternative possibility exists: individuals may be more likely to punish atypical behaviour, because the cost of punishment generally increases with the number of individuals that are punished. We used a public goods game with third-party punishment to test whether punishment of defectors was reduced when defecting was typical, as predicted if punishment is responsive to norm violation. The cost of punishment was fixed, regardless of the number of players punished, meaning that it was not more costly to punish typical, relative to atypical, behaviour. Under these conditions, atypical behaviour was not punished more often than typical behaviour. In fact, most punishment was targeted at defectors, irrespective of whether defecting was typical or atypical. We suggest that the reduced punishment of defectors when they are common might often be explained in terms of the costs to the punisher, rather than responses to norm violators.

Punishment – and Beyond

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruno S. Frey

2011-06-01

Full Text Available This paper argues that the “Economics of Crime” concentrates too much on punishment as a means of preventing crime, which is unwise for several reasons. There are important instances in which punishment simply cannot reduce crime. Several feasible alternatives to punishment exist, such as offering positive incentives or handing out awards for law abiding behavior. These alternative approaches tend to create a positive sum environment. When people appreciate living in a society that is to a large extent law abiding, they are more motivated to observe the law.

Irrational evaluations and antisocial behavior of adolescents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vukosavljević-Gvozden Tatjana

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The principles of the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy point out to the role of irrational beliefs in the occurrence of aggressive and antisocial behavior. The goal of this research is to determine whether there are links between irrational beliefs and self-assessment of antisocial behavior and whether there are differences with respect to irrational beliefs between the young who were sentenced by juvenile court judges compared to the control group. The research was conducted on two subsamples - the first consisted of male adolescents (N=116, aged 16 to 19, and the second comprised male adolescents 50 out of whom were sentenced by juvenile court judges, aged averagely 17 and a half, and 50 members of the control group. The modified version of the General Attitude and Belief Scale (GABS (Marić, 2002, 2003 and Antisocial Behavior Scale (ABS (Opačić, 2010, in print were used. Multiple regression analysis showed that the best predictor of the score on antisocial behavior scale was “the demand for absolute correctness of others and their devaluation”, followed by the aspiration towards perfectionism and success which acts as the factor that reduces the probability of antisocial behavior. Almost identical results were obtained by group comparison. The obtained results provide guidelines for designing preventive programs (sketched in the discussion that would be able to reduce the frequency of aggressive and antisocial behavior at adolescent age.

Punishment for bedwetting is associated with child depression and reduced quality of life.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Zaben, Faten Nabeel; Sehlo, Mohammad Gamal

2015-05-01

This study assessed the relationship between parental punishment and depression as well as quality of life in children with primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (PMNE). A consecutive sample of 65 children (7-13 years) with PMNE and 40 healthy children, selected as controls (Group III), were included in the study. The children with PMNE were further sub-classified into two groups: Group I, which included children who received parental punishment for enuresis and Group II, which comprised children who were not punished for bedwetting. Depression and health-related quality of life (HRQL) were assessed among the three groups. The number of wet nights per week was significantly increased in Group I compared with Group II (Pcorporal punishment (B=0.55, P=.008), as well as the frequency (B=0.73, Ppunishment (B=0.33, P=.02) were strong predictors of increased depressive symptom severity. It was also found that prior punishment (B=-0.42, P=.01) and the frequency (B=-0.62, Ppunishment (B=-0.34, P=.02) were strong predictors for poor psychosocial HRQL. Overall, parental punishment has a poor outcome in children with PMNE. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neurobiologia do transtorno de personalidade anti-social Neurobiology of anti-social personality disorder

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Cristina Marta Del-Ben

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Nos últimos anos, tem havido um interesse crescente a respeito de uma melhor compreensão sobre o comportamento anti-social. O aumento da criminalidade e violência urbanas pode ter contribuído para esse maior interesse. Além de fatores psicossociais, outros biológicos têm sido implicados na fisiopatogenia do transtorno de personalidade anti-social (TPAS. Estudos de neuroimagem apontam o envolvimento de estruturas cerebrais frontais, especialmente o córtex orbitofrontal, e a amígdala. Também tem sido sugerido que prejuízos na função serotonérgica estariam associados à ocorrência de comportamento anti-social, já que pacientes com diagnóstico de TPAS apresentam respostas hormonais atenuadas a desafios farmacológicos com drogas que aumentam a função serotonérgica cerebral e redução da concentração de receptores serotonérgicos. Uma abordagem ampla dos diferentes fatores possivelmente envolvidos na fisiopatogenia do TPAS poderia contribuir para o desenvolvimento de novas técnicas de prevenção e intervenção.Violence and crime have been increasing considerably in urban societies. As a consequence, some efforts have been made aiming at a better understanding of antisocial bevaviour. Apart from psychosocial factors, some evidences suggest the occurrence of biological factors in the pathogenesis of antisocial personality disorders (ASPD. Neuroimaging studies have shown the involvement of prefrontal areas, especially orbitofrontal cortex, and amygdala. Also, impaired serotonin (5-HT neurotransmission has been implicated, since patients with ASPD present alterations in measures of 5-Ht system, such as blunted hormonal response to 5-HT pharmacological challenges and reduced 5-HT receptors numbers. A comprehensive approach of antisocial behavior, including biological and psychosocial aspects could lead to the development of new techniques for prevention and intervention in ASPD.

When Punishment Pays

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Roberts, Gilbert

2013-01-01

Explaining cooperation in groups remains a key problem because reciprocity breaks down between more than two. Punishing individuals who contribute little provides a potential answer but changes the dilemma to why pay the costs of punishing which, like cooperation itself, provides a public good. Nevertheless, people are observed to punish others in behavioural economic games, posing a problem for existing theory which highlights the difficulty in explaining the spread and persistence of punishment. Here, I consider the apparent mismatch between theory and evidence and show by means of instructive analysis and simulation how much of the experimental evidence for punishment comes from scenarios in which punishers may expect to obtain a net benefit from punishing free-riders. In repeated games within groups, punishment works by imposing costs on defectors so that it pays them to switch to cooperating. Both punishers and non-punishers then benefit from the resulting increase in cooperation, hence investing in punishment can constitute a social dilemma. However, I show the conditions in which the benefits of increased cooperation are so great that they more than offset the costs of punishing, thereby removing the temptation to free-ride on others' investments and making punishment explicable in terms of direct self-interest. Crucially, this is because of the leveraging effect imposed in typical studies whereby people can pay a small cost to inflict a heavy loss on a punished individual. In contrast to previous models suggesting punishment is disadvantaged when rare, I show it can invade until it comes into a producer-scrounger equilibrium with non-punishers. I conclude that adding punishment to an iterated public goods game can solve the problem of achieving cooperation by removing the social dilemma. PMID:23483907

Molecular neuroeconomics of crime and punishment: implications for neurolaw.

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Takahashi, Taiki

2012-01-01

Criminal behaviors have been associated with risk, time and social preferences in economics (Becker 1968; Davis 1988), criminology (Chamlin & Cochran 1997), and neurolaw (Goodenough & Tucker 2010). This study proposes a molecular neuroeconomic framework for the investigation into crime and punishment. Neuroeconomic parameters (e.g., risk-attitude, probability weighting, time discounting in intertemporal choice, loss aversion, and social discounting) are predicted to be related to criminal behavior. Neurobiological and neuroendocrinological substrates such as serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, cortisol (a stress hormone), sex hormones (e.g., testosterone), and oxytocin in brain regions such as the orbitofrontal cortex, the amygdala, and the cingulate may be related to the neuroeconomic parameters governing criminal behaviors. The present framework may help us develop "neurolaw" based on molecular neuroeconomics of criminal and antisocial decision-making processes.

Implications of antisocial parents.

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Torry, Zachary D; Billick, Stephen B

2011-12-01

Antisocial behavior is a socially maladaptive and harmful trait to possess. This can be especially injurious for a child who is raised by a parent with this personality structure. The pathology of antisocial behavior implies traits such as deceitfulness, irresponsibility, unreliability, and an incapability to feel guilt, remorse, or even love. This is damaging to a child's emotional, cognitive, and social development. Parents with this personality makeup can leave a child traumatized, empty, and incapable of forming meaningful personal relationships. Both genetic and environmental factors influence the development of antisocial behavior. Moreover, the child with a genetic predisposition to antisocial behavior who is raised with a parental style that triggers the genetic liability is at high risk for developing the same personality structure. Antisocial individuals are impulsive, irritable, and often have no concerns over their purported responsibilities. As a parent, this can lead to erratic discipline, neglectful parenting, and can undermine effective care giving. This paper will focus on the implications of parents with antisocial behavior and the impact that this behavior has on attachment as well as on the development of antisocial traits in children.

Use of Peer Tutoring, Cooperative Learning, and Collaborative Learning: Implications for Reducing Anti-Social Behavior of Schooling Adolescents

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Eskay, M.; Onu, V. C.; Obiyo, N.; Obidoa, M.

2012-01-01

The study investigated the use of peer tutoring, cooperative learning, and collaborative learning as strategies to reduce anti-social behavior among schooling adolescents. The study is a descriptive survey study. The area of study was Nsukka education zone in Enugu State of Nigeria. The sample of the study was 200 teachers randomly sampled from…

Human Responding on Random-Interval Schedules of Response-Cost Punishment: The Role of Reduced Reinforcement Density

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Pietras, Cynthia J.; Brandt, Andrew E.; Searcy, Gabriel D.

2010-01-01

An experiment with adult humans investigated the effects of response-contingent money loss (response-cost punishment) on monetary-reinforced responding. A yoked-control procedure was used to separate the effects on responding of the response-cost contingency from the effects of reduced reinforcement density. Eight adults pressed buttons for money…

Anger Management: Aggression and Punishment in the Provision of Public Goods

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Laura K. Gee

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The ability to punish free-riders can increase the provision of public goods. However, sometimes, the benefit of increased public good provision is outweighed by the costs of punishments. One reason a group may punish to the point that net welfare is reduced is that punishment can express anger about free-riding. If this is the case, then tools that regulate emotions could decrease the use of punishments while keeping welfare high, possibly depending on pre-existing levels of aggression. In this lab experiment, we find that adopting an objective attitude (objective, through a form of emotion regulation called cognitive reappraisal, decreases the use of punishments and makes a statistically insignificant improvement to both net earnings and self-reported emotions compared to a control condition (natural. Although the interaction between the emotion regulation treatment and level of aggression is not significant, only low aggression types reduce their punishments; the results are of the same direction, but statistically insignificant for high aggression types. Overall, our findings suggest that pairing emotion regulation with punishments can decrease the use of punishments without harming monetary and mental welfare.

Creative Punishment.

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Sweeney, John

1988-01-01

Punishment given in a caring, supportive environment can assist children to learn some tasks more quickly, when used in conjunction with programmed positive reinforcement. The manner in which a punishment is implemented impacts its effectiveness. Two experiments are presented in which teachers used creative punishment to produce classroom behavior…

Punishment.

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Goodwin, Geoffrey P; Gromet, Dena M

2014-09-01

Retributivism is a deontological theory of punishment that calls for the deserved punishment of a guilty offender in proportion with his moral blameworthiness for a past offense. It is often referred to as punishment based on 'just deserts', and it contrasts with consequentialist theories that ground punishment in its potentially beneficial future consequences. Rich philosophical debate surrounds the appropriateness of retributivism. From a psychological perspective, the key question concerns whether retributivism underlies ordinary individuals' desire for the legal punishment of wrongdoers. Past research in social psychology has answered this question in the affirmative. However, much of this existing evidence requires a new look, because it is premised on a fundamental ambiguity. We review alternative evidence for the existence of retributive motives from lesser-known correlational studies, and from studies of the punishment of companies and animals. We also explore the links between retributivism and restorative justice-an alternative justice approach that focuses on repairing the harms caused by an offense. Although often cast as diametrically opposed to one another, retributive and restorative justice in fact share more in common than is often supposed. Both are premised on notions of deservingness, and their goals can be achieved by the same action (i.e., retributive punishment can restore victims). In all areas of the research we review, more work is needed to better understand: retributivism directed at human offenders, the commonalities and discontinuities between retributive and restorative justice, and how the notion of desert structures moral life and thought more generally. WIREs Cogn Sci 2014, 5:561-572. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1301 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

School corporal punishment in global perspective: prevalence, outcomes, and efforts at intervention.

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Gershoff, Elizabeth T

2017-03-01

School corporal punishment continues to be a legal means of disciplining children in a third of the world's countries. Although much is known about parents' use of corporal punishment, there is less research about school corporal punishment. This article summarizes what is known about the legality and prevalence of school corporal punishment, about the outcomes linked to it, and about interventions to reduce and eliminate school corporal punishment around the world.

Alcohol consumption, masculinity, and alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour in sportspeople.

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O'Brien, Kerry S; Forrest, Walter; Greenlees, Iain; Rhind, Daniel; Jowett, Sophia; Pinsky, Ilana; Espelt, Albert; Bosque-Prous, Marina; Sonderlund, Anders Larrabee; Vergani, Matteo; Iqbal, Muhammad

2018-04-01

There is no research examining alcohol-related aggression and anti-social behaviour in UK or European sportspeople (athletes), and no research has examined relationships between masculinity, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related aggression and antisocial behaviour in sportspeople (athletes). This study addresses this gap. Cross-sectional. A sample (N=2048; women=892, 44%) of in season sportspeople enrolled at UK universities (response 83%), completed measures of masculinity, alcohol consumption, within-sport (on-field) violence, and having been the perpetrator and/or victim of alcohol-related violent/aggressive and antisocial behaviour (e.g., hit/assaulted, vandalism, sexual assault). Logistic regressions examined predictors of alcohol-related violence/aggression and anti-social behaviours. Significant bivariate relationships between masculinity, within-sport violence, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related aggression and anti-social behaviour were found for both men and women (p'smasculinity and alcohol consumption in men and women were related to an increased odds of having conducted an aggressive, violent and/or anti-social act in the past 12 months when intoxicated. Odds ratios were largest for relationships between masculinity, alcohol consumption, within-sport violence, and interpersonal violence/aggression (p'smasculinity and excessive drinking. Interventions that reduce excessive alcohol consumption, masculine norms and associated within-sport violence, could be effective in reducing alcohol-related aggression and antisocial behaviour in UK sportspeople. Copyright © 2017 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Peer punishment promotes enforcement of bad social norms.

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Abbink, Klaus; Gangadharan, Lata; Handfield, Toby; Thrasher, John

2017-09-20

Social norms are an important element in explaining how humans achieve very high levels of cooperative activity. It is widely observed that, when norms can be enforced by peer punishment, groups are able to resolve social dilemmas in prosocial, cooperative ways. Here we show that punishment can also encourage participation in destructive behaviours that are harmful to group welfare, and that this phenomenon is mediated by a social norm. In a variation of a public goods game, in which the return to investment is negative for both group and individual, we find that the opportunity to punish led to higher levels of contribution, thereby harming collective payoffs. A second experiment confirmed that, independently of whether punishment is available, a majority of subjects regard the efficient behaviour of non-contribution as socially inappropriate. The results show that simply providing a punishment opportunity does not guarantee that punishment will be used for socially beneficial ends, because the social norms that influence punishment behaviour may themselves be destructive.Punishment by peers can enforce social norms, such as contributing to a public good. Here, Abbink and colleagues show that individuals will enforce norms even when contributions reduce the net benefit of the group, resulting in the maintenance of wasteful contributions.

Evaluation of Two Interventions to Reduce Aggressive and Antisocial Behavior in First and Second Graders in a Resource-Poor Setting

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Klevens, Joanne; Martinez, Jose William; Le, Brenda; Rojas, Carlos; Duque, Adriana; Tovar, Rafael

2009-01-01

We conducted a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial (n = 2491) to evaluate a teacher delivered intervention to reduce aggressive and antisocial behavior and increase prosocial behavior in the classroom. A second aim of this trial was to establish whether combining this intervention with an intervention for parents was better than the…

The Effects of Moral Identity on Moral Emotion and Antisocial Behavior in Sport

OpenAIRE

Kavussanu, M; Stanger, N; Ring, C

2015-01-01

Given the prevalence and significance of antisocial behavior in sport, researchers have begun to explore the role that self conscious moral emotions play in reducing such behavior. In this research, we examined whether moral identity inhibits antisocial behaviour and whether these effects are mediated by anticipated guilt. Using a cross-sectional design, Study 1 showed that moral identity was negatively related to antisocial behavior. Study 2 found that the negative association between moral ...

Parental monitoring and knowledge: Testing bidirectional associations with youths’ antisocial behavior

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Wertz, Jasmin; Nottingham, Kate; Agnew-Blais, Jessica; Matthews, Timothy; Pariante, Carmine M.; Moffitt, Terrie E.; Arseneault, Louise

2017-01-01

In the present study, we used separate measures of parental monitoring and parental knowledge and compared their associations with youths’ antisocial behavior during preadolescence, between the ages of 10 and 12. Parental monitoring and knowledge were reported by mothers, fathers and youths taking part in the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study which follows 1,116 families with twins. Information on youths’ antisocial behavior was obtained from mothers, as well as teachers. We report two main findings: First, longitudinal cross-lagged models revealed that greater parental monitoring did not predict less antisocial behavior later, once family characteristics were taken into account. Second, greater youth antisocial behavior predicted less parental knowledge later. This effect of youths’ behavior on parents’ knowledge was consistent across mothers’, fathers’, youths’, and teachers’ reports, and robust to controls for family confounders. The association was partially genetically-mediated according to a Cholesky decomposition twin model; youths’ genetically-influenced antisocial behavior led to a decrease in parents’ knowledge of youths’ activities. These two findings question the assumption that greater parental monitoring can reduce preadolescents’ antisocial behavior. They also indicate that parents’ knowledge of their children’s activities is influenced by youths’ behavior. PMID:27427796

Parental monitoring and knowledge: Testing bidirectional associations with youths' antisocial behavior.

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Wertz, Jasmin; Nottingham, Kate; Agnew-Blais, Jessica; Matthews, Timothy; Pariante, Carmine M; Moffitt, Terrie E; Arseneault, Louise

2016-08-01

In the present study, we used separate measures of parental monitoring and parental knowledge and compared their associations with youths' antisocial behavior during preadolescence, between the ages of 10 and 12. Parental monitoring and knowledge were reported by mothers, fathers, and youths taking part in the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study that follows 1,116 families with twins. Information on youths' antisocial behavior was obtained from mothers as well as teachers. We report two main findings. First, longitudinal cross-lagged models revealed that greater parental monitoring did not predict less antisocial behavior later, once family characteristics were taken into account. Second, greater youth antisocial behavior predicted less parental knowledge later. This effect of youths' behavior on parents' knowledge was consistent across mothers', fathers', youths', and teachers' reports, and robust to controls for family confounders. The association was partially genetically mediated according to a Cholesky decomposition twin model; youths' genetically influenced antisocial behavior led to a decrease in parents' knowledge of youths' activities. These two findings question the assumption that greater parental monitoring can reduce preadolescents' antisocial behavior. They also indicate that parents' knowledge of their children's activities is influenced by youths' behavior.

The Social Contagion of Antisocial Behavior The Social Contagion of Antisocial Behavior

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Milena Tsvetkova

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Previous research has shown that reciprocity can be contagious when there is no option to repay the benefactor and the recipient instead channels repayment toward strangers. In this study, we test whether retaliation can also be contagious. Extending previous work on “paying it forward,” we tested two mechanisms for the social contagion of antisocial behavior: generalized reciprocity (a victim of antisocial behavior is more likely to pay it forward and third-party influence (an observer of antisocial behavior is more likely to emulate it. We used an online experiment with randomized trials to test the two hypothesized mechanisms and their interaction by manipulating the extent to which participants experienced and observed antisocial behavior. We found that people are more likely to harm others if they have been harmed and they are less likely to do so if they observe that others do not harm.

Trajectories of Antisocial Behaviour towards Siblings Predict Antisocial Behaviour towards Peers

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Ensor, Rosie; Marks, Alex; Jacobs, Lorna; Hughes, Claire

2010-01-01

Background: Young siblings' antisocial behaviour is common yet its impact has received relatively little research attention. Methods: We examined trajectories of antisocial behaviour for a socially diverse sample (n = 99, 58 boys and 41 girls) who were filmed with their older siblings (52 boys and 47 girls) at ages 3 and 6 and with unfamiliar…

Examining Punishment and Discipline: Defending the Use of Punishment by Coaches

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Seifried, Chad

2008-01-01

Confusion, uncertainty, and debate often surround the terms "discipline" and "punishment" because scholars fail to publicize that they possess distinctive meanings. This article differentiates punishment from discipline and attempts to present some rationale supporting its use, especially corporal punishment, in a sport setting from a coaching…

Psychopathy/antisocial personality disorder conundrum.

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Ogloff, James R P

2006-01-01

Psychopathy has traditionally been characterised as a disorder primarily of personality (particularly affective deficits) and, to a lesser extent, behaviour. Although often used interchangeably, the diagnostic constructs of psychopathy, antisocial personality disorder, and dissocial personality disorder are distinct. In this article, the relevant historical and contemporary literature concerning psychopathy is briefly reviewed. The diagnostic criteria for psychopathy, antisocial personality disorder, and dissocial personality disorder are compared. Consideration is given to the assessment, prevalence, and implications of psychopathy for violence risk and treatment efficacy. The DSM-IV-TR criteria for antisocial personality disorder, in particular, are largely behaviourally based. The ICD criteria for dissocial personality disorder, while paying more attention to affective deficits, also do not represent the broad personality and behavioural components of psychopathy. Since 1980, a great deal of research on these disorders has been conducted, using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, Revised (PCL-R). The PCL-R assesses both personality (interpersonal and affective) and behavioural (lifestyle and antisocial) deficits. As such, the research and clinical implications of psychopathy, as operationalised by the PCL-R, cannot be readily extrapolated to the diagnoses of antisocial personality disorder and dissocial personality disorder. As currently construed, the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder grossly over-identifies people, particularly those with offence histories, as meeting the criteria for the diagnosis. For example, research shows that between 50% and 80% of prisoners meet the criteria for a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, yet only approximately 15% of prisoners would be expected to be psychopathic, as assessed by the PCL-R. As such, the characteristics and research findings drawn from the psychopathy research may not be relevant for those

Choosy moral punishers.

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Christine Clavien

Full Text Available The punishment of social misconduct is a powerful mechanism for stabilizing high levels of cooperation among unrelated individuals. It is regularly assumed that humans have a universal disposition to punish social norm violators, which is sometimes labelled "universal structure of human morality" or "pure aversion to social betrayal". Here we present evidence that, contrary to this hypothesis, the propensity to punish a moral norm violator varies among participants with different career trajectories. In anonymous real-life conditions, future teachers punished a talented but immoral young violinist: they voted against her in an important music competition when they had been informed of her previous blatant misconduct toward fellow violin students. In contrast, future police officers and high school students did not punish. This variation among socio-professional categories indicates that the punishment of norm violators is not entirely explained by an aversion to social betrayal. We suggest that context specificity plays an important role in normative behaviour; people seem inclined to enforce social norms only in situations that are familiar, relevant for their social category, and possibly strategically advantageous.

Original article Impulsive antisociality and executive control problems: evidence from go/no-go and stop-signal tasks

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Jarosław M. Michałowski

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Background People with impulsive-antisocial traits may engage in unplanned behaviors that reduce their efficiency and may even result in harm to self and others. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between executive control functions and impulsive antisociality, as assessed with the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI. Using go/no-go and stop-signal paradigms, we examined whether healthy participants with high impulsive-antisocial traits would show delayed response inhibition and error monitoring deficits when compared to those reporting low levels of impulsive antisociality. Participants and procedure A total of 26 participants were recruited from different Warsaw universities based on the Impulsive Antisociality subscale scores of the PPI. Subjects scoring in the first quartile were assigned to the low and those with a score in the fourth quartile were selected for the high impulsivity group. All participants were tested with go/no-go and stop-signal tasks that were executed in a random order. Results Higher levels of impulsive-antisocial traits were associated with poorer executive control. In particular, high impulsive-antisocial individuals demonstrated reduced post-error slowing in response to go stimuli following an error and took longer to respond to the stop signal than the control group. The two groups did not differ in their performance accuracy. Conclusions The study extends previous findings regarding the relationship between impulsivity and executive control showing that non-clinical impulsive antisociality results in decreased conflict detection ability and delayed response inhibition. These problems may result in reduced executive effectiveness in everyday life situations.

Social gradients in child and adolescent antisocial behavior: a systematic review protocol

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Piotrowska Patrycja J

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The relationship between social position and physical health is well-established across a range of studies. The evidence base regarding social position and mental health is less well developed, particularly regarding the development of antisocial behavior. Some evidence demonstrates a social gradient in behavioral problems, with children from low-socioeconomic backgrounds experiencing more behavioral difficulties than children from high-socioeconomic families. Antisocial behavior is a heterogeneous concept that encompasses behaviors as diverse as physical fighting, vandalism, stealing, status violation and disobedience to adults. Whether all forms of antisocial behavior show identical social gradients is unclear from previous published research. The mechanisms underlying social gradients in antisocial behavior, such as neighborhood characteristics and family processes, have not been fully elucidated. This review will synthesize findings on the social gradient in antisocial behavior, considering variation across the range of antisocial behaviors and evidence regarding the mechanisms that might underlie the identified gradients. Methods In this review, an extensive manual and electronic literature search will be conducted for papers published from 1960 to 2011. The review will include empirical and quantitative studies of children and adolescents ( Discussion This systematic review has been proposed in order to synthesize cross-disciplinary evidence of the social gradient in antisocial behavior and mechanisms underlying this effect. The results of the review will inform social policies aiming to reduce social inequalities and levels of antisocial behavior, and identify gaps in the present literature to guide further research.

Group Cooperation without Group Selection: Modest Punishment Can Recruit Much Cooperation.

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Krasnow, Max M; Delton, Andrew W; Cosmides, Leda; Tooby, John

2015-01-01

Humans everywhere cooperate in groups to achieve benefits not attainable by individuals. Individual effort is often not automatically tied to a proportionate share of group benefits. This decoupling allows for free-riding, a strategy that (absent countermeasures) outcompetes cooperation. Empirically and formally, punishment potentially solves the evolutionary puzzle of group cooperation. Nevertheless, standard analyses appear to show that punishment alone is insufficient, because second-order free riders (those who cooperate but do not punish) can be shown to outcompete punishers. Consequently, many have concluded that other processes, such as cultural or genetic group selection, are required. Here, we present a series of agent-based simulations that show that group cooperation sustained by punishment easily evolves by individual selection when you introduce into standard models more biologically plausible assumptions about the social ecology and psychology of ancestral humans. We relax three unrealistic assumptions of past models. First, past models assume all punishers must punish every act of free riding in their group. We instead allow punishment to be probabilistic, meaning punishers can evolve to only punish some free riders some of the time. This drastically lowers the cost of punishment as group size increases. Second, most models unrealistically do not allow punishment to recruit labor; punishment merely reduces the punished agent's fitness. We instead realistically allow punished free riders to cooperate in the future to avoid punishment. Third, past models usually restrict agents to interact in a single group their entire lives. We instead introduce realistic social ecologies in which agents participate in multiple, partially overlapping groups. Because of this, punitive tendencies are more expressed and therefore more exposed to natural selection. These three moves toward greater model realism reveal that punishment and cooperation easily evolve by

Group Cooperation without Group Selection: Modest Punishment Can Recruit Much Cooperation.

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Max M Krasnow

Full Text Available Humans everywhere cooperate in groups to achieve benefits not attainable by individuals. Individual effort is often not automatically tied to a proportionate share of group benefits. This decoupling allows for free-riding, a strategy that (absent countermeasures outcompetes cooperation. Empirically and formally, punishment potentially solves the evolutionary puzzle of group cooperation. Nevertheless, standard analyses appear to show that punishment alone is insufficient, because second-order free riders (those who cooperate but do not punish can be shown to outcompete punishers. Consequently, many have concluded that other processes, such as cultural or genetic group selection, are required. Here, we present a series of agent-based simulations that show that group cooperation sustained by punishment easily evolves by individual selection when you introduce into standard models more biologically plausible assumptions about the social ecology and psychology of ancestral humans. We relax three unrealistic assumptions of past models. First, past models assume all punishers must punish every act of free riding in their group. We instead allow punishment to be probabilistic, meaning punishers can evolve to only punish some free riders some of the time. This drastically lowers the cost of punishment as group size increases. Second, most models unrealistically do not allow punishment to recruit labor; punishment merely reduces the punished agent's fitness. We instead realistically allow punished free riders to cooperate in the future to avoid punishment. Third, past models usually restrict agents to interact in a single group their entire lives. We instead introduce realistic social ecologies in which agents participate in multiple, partially overlapping groups. Because of this, punitive tendencies are more expressed and therefore more exposed to natural selection. These three moves toward greater model realism reveal that punishment and cooperation

Neural components of altruistic punishment

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Emily eDu

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Altruistic punishment, which occurs when an individual incurs a cost to punish in response to unfairness or a norm violation, may play a role in perpetuating cooperation. The neural correlates underlying costly punishment have only recently begun to be explored. Here we review the current state of research on the neural basis of altruism from the perspectives of costly punishment, emphasizing the importance of characterizing elementary neural processes underlying a decision to punish. In particular, we emphasize three cognitive processes that contribute to the decision to altruistically punish in most scenarios: inequity aversion, cost-benefit calculation, and social reference frame to distinguish self from others. Overall, we argue for the importance of understanding the neural correlates of altruistic punishment with respect to the core computations necessary to achieve a decision to punish.

Blunted cardiovascular reactivity in dysphoria during reward and punishment anticipation.

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Franzen, Jessica; Brinkmann, Kerstin

2015-03-01

Hyposensitivity to reward in depression and dysphoria has been found in behavioral and neuroimaging studies. For punishment responsiveness, some studies showed hyposensitivity to punishment while other studies demonstrated hypersensitivity. Only few studies have addressed the motivational question as to whether depressed individuals mobilize less effort in anticipation of a positive or a negative consequence. The present study aimed at investigating reward and punishment responsiveness in subclinical depression from an effort mobilization perspective. Working on a recognition memory task, one third of the participants could earn small amounts of money, one third could lose small amounts of money, and one third could neither earn nor lose money. Effort mobilization was operationalized as participants' cardiovascular reactivity during task performance. As expected, reactivity of cardiac pre-ejection period and heart rate was higher in both incentive conditions compared to the neutral condition for nondysphorics, while it was blunted across conditions for dysphorics. Moreover, the present study found that dysphorics show an altered behavioral response to punishment. These findings thus show that dysphorics present a reduced motivation to obtain a reward or to avoid a punishment in terms of reduced effort-related cardiac reactivity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Differential vulnerability to the punishment of cocaine related behaviours: effects of locus of punishment, cocaine taking history and alternative reinforcer availability.

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Pelloux, Yann; Murray, Jennifer E; Everitt, Barry J

2015-01-01

The availability of alternative reinforcement has been shown to reduce drug use, but it remains unclear whether it facilitates a reduction or cessation of drug seeking or taking. We compared the effects of punishment of cocaine seeking or taking behaviour after brief or extended cocaine-taking histories when behavioural reallocation was facilitated or not by making available an alternative ingestive reinforcer (sucrose). In the first experiment, punishment of either seeking or taking responses was introduced immediately after training on the seeking-taking chained schedule. In the second experiment, punishment of cocaine seeking was introduced after 12 additional days of either 1 or 6 h daily access to cocaine self-administration. In both experiments, beginning 1 week before the introduction of punishment, a subset of rats had concurrent nose poke access to sucrose while seeking or taking cocaine. The presence of an alternative source of reinforcement markedly facilitated behavioural reallocation from punished cocaine taking after acquisition. It also facilitated punishment-induced suppression of cocaine seeking after an extensive cocaine self-administration history likely by prompting goal-directed motivational control over drug use. However, a significant proportion of rats were deemed compulsive-maintaining drug use after an extensive cocaine history despite the presence of abstinence-promoting positive and negative incentives. Making available an alternative reinforcer facilitates disengagement from punished cocaine use through at least two different processes but remains ineffective in a subpopulation of vulnerable animals, which continued to seek cocaine despite the aversive consequence of punishment and the presence of the alternative positive reinforcer.

Human cooperation based on punishment reputation.

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dos Santos, Miguel; Rankin, Daniel J; Wedekind, Claus

2013-08-01

The threat of punishment usually promotes cooperation. However, punishing itself is costly, rare in nonhuman animals, and humans who punish often finish with low payoffs in economic experiments. The evolution of punishment has therefore been unclear. Recent theoretical developments suggest that punishment has evolved in the context of reputation games. We tested this idea in a simple helping game with observers and with punishment and punishment reputation (experimentally controlling for other possible reputational effects). We show that punishers fully compensate their costs as they receive help more often. The more likely defection is punished within a group, the higher the level of within-group cooperation. These beneficial effects perish if the punishment reputation is removed. We conclude that reputation is key to the evolution of punishment. © 2013 The Author(s). Evolution © 2013 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Reciprocity, culture and human cooperation: previous insights and a new cross-cultural experiment.

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Gächter, Simon; Herrmann, Benedikt

2009-03-27

Understanding the proximate and ultimate sources of human cooperation is a fundamental issue in all behavioural sciences. In this paper, we review the experimental evidence on how people solve cooperation problems. Existing studies show without doubt that direct and indirect reciprocity are important determinants of successful cooperation. We also discuss the insights from a large literature on the role of peer punishment in sustaining cooperation. The experiments demonstrate that many people are 'strong reciprocators' who are willing to cooperate and punish others even if there are no gains from future cooperation or any other reputational gains. We document this in new one-shot experiments, which we conducted in four cities in Russia and Switzerland. Our cross-cultural approach allows us furthermore to investigate how the cultural background influences strong reciprocity. Our results show that culture has a strong influence on positive and in especially strong negative reciprocity. In particular, we find large cross-cultural differences in 'antisocial punishment' of pro-social cooperators. Further cross-cultural research and experiments involving different socio-demographic groups document that the antisocial punishment is much more widespread than previously assumed. Understanding antisocial punishment is an important task for future research because antisocial punishment is a strong inhibitor of cooperation.

[The neurobiology of antisocial behaviour].

Science.gov (United States)

Loomans, M M; Tulen, J H M; van Marle, H J C

2010-01-01

Neuro-imaging is being used increasingly to provide explanations for antisocial behaviour. To make a neurobiological contribution to the diagnosis of many types of antisocial behaviour. The literature was searched using PubMed and combinations of the keywords 'psychopathy', 'antisocial', 'neurobiology' and 'neuro-anatomy' for the period 1990-2009. Impairments in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, superior temporal gyrus, corpus callosum and anterior cingulate cortex provide a possible explanation for a large number of the symptoms associated with antisocial behaviour. The concept of psychopathy is connected mainly with impairments in a prefrontal-temporal-limbic system. CONCLUSION Combinations of deficiencies in the associated brain areas and malfunctioning of the communication between the various brain structures seem to play a more important role than deficiencies in the separate brain structures.

Cooperation under punishment: Imperfect information destroys it and centralizing punishment does not help

OpenAIRE

Sven Fischer; Kristoffel Grechenig; Nicolas Meier

2013-01-01

We run several experiments which allow us to compare cooperation under perfect and imperfect information and under a centralized and decentralized punishment regime. We find that (1) centralization by itself does not improve cooperation and welfare compared to an informal, peer-to-peer punishment regime and (2) centralized punishment is equally sensitive to noise as decentralized punishment, that is, it leads to significantly lower cooperation and welfare (total pro ts). Our results shed crit...

Corporal punishment.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauman, L J; Friedman, S B

1998-04-01

Pediatricians differ on the optimal ways to discipline children. The major controversy surrounds the use of corporal punishment. In an effort to resolve this controversy, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) cosponsored a conference entitled "The Short and Long-Term Consequences of Corporal Punishment" in February 1996. This article reviews scientific literature on corporal punishment and summarizes the proceedings from the conference. The authors conclude that, although the research data are inadequate to resolve the controversy, there are areas of consensus. Practitioners should assess the spanking practices of the parent they see and counsel parents to avoid those that are, by AAP consensus, dangerous, ineffective, or abusive.

Conceptualising Animal Abuse with an Antisocial Behaviour Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Gullone, Eleonora

2011-01-26

This paper reviews current findings in the human aggression and antisocial behaviour literature and those in the animal abuse literature with the aim of highlighting the overlap in conceptualisation. The major aim of this review is to highlight that the co-occurrence between animal abuse behaviours and aggression and violence toward humans can be logically understood through examination of the research evidence for antisocial and aggressive behaviour. From examination through this framework, it is not at all surprising that the two co-occur. Indeed, it would be surprising if they did not. Animal abuse is one expression of antisocial behaviour. What is also known from the extensive antisocial behaviour literature is that antisocial behaviours co-occur such that the presence of one form of antisocial behaviour is highly predictive of the presence of other antisocial behaviours. From such a framework, it becomes evident that animal abuse should be considered an important indicator of antisocial behaviour and violence as are other aggressive and antisocial behaviours. The implications of such a stance are that law enforcement, health and other professionals should not minimize the presence of animal abuse in their law enforcement, prevention, and treatment decisions.

Indirect reciprocity provides a narrow margin of efficiency for costly punishment

Science.gov (United States)

Iwasa, Yoh; Nowak, Martin A.

2008-01-01

Indirect reciprocity1-5 is a key mechanism for the evolution of human cooperation. Our behavior toward other people depends not only on what they have done to us, but also on what they have done to others. Indirect reciprocity works via reputation5-17. The standard model of indirect reciprocity offers a binary choice: people can either cooperate or defect. Cooperation implies a cost for the donor and a benefit for the recipient. Defection has no cost and yields no benefit. Currently there is considerable interest in studying the effect of costly (or altruistic) punishment on human behavior18-25. Punishment implies a cost for the punished person. Costly punishment means that the punisher also pays a cost. It has been suggested that costly punishment between individuals can promote cooperation. Here we study the role of costly punishment in an explicit model of indirect reciprocity. We analyze all social norms, which depend on the action of the donor and the reputation of the recipient. We allow errors in assigning reputation and study gossip as a mechanism for establishing coherence. We characterize all strategies that allow the evolutionary stability of cooperation. Some of those strategies use costly punishment, while others do not. We find that punishment strategies typically reduce the average payoff of the population. Consequently, there is only a small parameter region where costly punishment leads to an efficient equilibrium. In most cases, the population does better by not using costly punishment. The efficient strategy for indirect reciprocity is to withhold help for defectors rather than punish them. PMID:19122640

Prosocial And Antisocial Boys Together

Science.gov (United States)

Feldman, Ronald A.; And Others

1973-01-01

It may not help antisocial boys to segregate them, but wouldn't it harm prosocial boys to be integrated with antisocial boys? This study examines both propositions in the light of investigation at a summer camp. (Author)

Antisocial behavior and alcohol consumption by school adolescents Conducta antisocial y consumo de alcohol en adolescentes escolares Conduta anti-social e consumo de álcool em adolescentes escolares

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karla Selene López García

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Adolescence is a vulnerable period and facilitates the start of risk behaviors, for instance the use of drugs. This study aims to describe the differences between antisocial behavior and alcohol consumption according to gender, age and education; as well as to discover the relation between antisocial behavior and alcohol consumption in 1,221 school adolescents from Monterrey - Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The findings reveal differences in antisocial behavior according to gender. Evidences showed that 41.3% of the students had consumed alcohol at sometime in their lives, and that differences exist in alcohol consumption according to age and education. Finally, the study found positive and significant relations between antisocial behavior and alcohol consumption (r s = .272, p La adolescencia se convierte en una etapa de vulnerabilidad y facilitador para el inicio de conductas de riesgo como es el consumo de drogas. Los objetivos del presente estudio fueron: describir las diferencias de la conducta antisocial y consumo de alcohol según sexo, edad y escolaridad; conocer la relación existente de la conducta antisocial con el consumo de alcohol en 1221 adolescentes escolares de Monterrey, Nuevo Léon, México, en relación a los hallazgos encontrados se presentan diferencias de la conducta antisocial por sexo; se destaca que 41.3% de los estudiantes consumieron alcohol alguna vez en su vida, y existen diferencias de consumo de alcohol por edad y escolaridad. Finalmente se encontró relación positiva y significativa de la conducta antisocial con el consumo de alcohol (r s=.272, pA adolescência se apresenta como uma etapa de vulnerabilidade e facilitadora para o início de condutas de risco como o consumo de drogas. Os objetivos do presente estudo foram: descrever as diferenças entre sexo, idade e escolaridade na conduta anti-social e o consumo de álcool e conhecer a relação existente entre a conduta anti-social e o consumo de álcool em 1221

The antisocial family tree: family histories of behavior problems in antisocial personality in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaughn, Michael G; Salas-Wright, Christopher P; DeLisi, Matt; Qian, Zhengmin

2015-05-01

Multiple avenues of research (e.g., criminal careers, intergenerational family transmission, and epidemiological studies) have indicated a concentration of antisocial traits and behaviors that cluster among families and within individuals in a population. The current study draws on each of these perspectives in exploring the intergenerational contours of antisocial personality disorder across multiple generations of a large-scale epidemiological sample. The analytic sample of persons meeting criteria for antisocial personality disorder (N = 1,226) was derived from waves I and II of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Path analytic, latent class, and multinomial models were executed to describe and elucidate family histories among persons diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Three classes of an antisocial family tree were found: minimal family history of problem behaviors (70.3 % of sample) who were characterized by higher socioeconomic functioning, parental and progeny behavior problems (9.4 % of sample) who were characterized by criminal behaviors, psychopathology, and substance use disorders, and multigenerational history of problem behaviors (20.3 % of sample) who were characterized by alcoholism, psychopathology, and versatile criminal offending. These findings add a typology to intergenerational studies of antisocial behavior that can assist in identifying etiological and treatment factors among those for whom crime runs in the family.

Protestant fundamentalism and attitudes toward corporal punishment of children.

Science.gov (United States)

Grasmick, H G; Bursik, R J; Kimpel, M

1991-01-01

The present research demonstrates what others have suspected: Protestant fundamentalism is closely linked to favorable attitudes toward corporal punishment of children in the home and the school. The relationship persists with controls for socioeconomic and demographic variables. Three explanations of the greater support for corporal punishment among people affiliated with fundamentalist denominations are tested. Greater personal religiosity and adherence to a punitive image of God account for very little of the relationship. Instead, the emphasis on biblical literalness among fundamentalists appears to be a major source of their advocacy of corporal punishment. Given the potential political effectiveness of fundamentalist churches, the policy implications of these findings present a difficult challenge for those who have called for the prohibition of corporal punishment of children as a crucial step toward reducing the level of violence in our society.

Should we punish a remorseful offender? Punishment within a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A theory of symbolic restoration depends on an expressivist account of punishment, like Joel Feinberg's. Expressivism gives us an insight into the importance of the feeling of moral condemnation and it is this feeling that gives rise to the longing for punishment and remorse. Because of moral condemnation after a crime we ...

A Study of the Effectiveness of a Saturday School in Reducing Suspension, Expulsion, and Corporal Punishment.

Science.gov (United States)

Winborn, John Douglas

Lack of proper discipline in schools has long been a major concern of the public. Proposals on how to improve discipline have ranged from the bizarre to the cruel. Educators and administrators must devise alternative punishments to replace traditional methods, such as corporal punishment, suspension, and expulsion, that are frequently ineffective.…

Reward and punishment.

Science.gov (United States)

Sigmund, K; Hauert, C; Nowak, M A

2001-09-11

Minigames capturing the essence of Public Goods experiments show that even in the absence of rationality assumptions, both punishment and reward will fail to bring about prosocial behavior. This result holds in particular for the well-known Ultimatum Game, which emerges as a special case. But reputation can induce fairness and cooperation in populations adapting through learning or imitation. Indeed, the inclusion of reputation effects in the corresponding dynamical models leads to the evolution of economically productive behavior, with agents contributing to the public good and either punishing those who do not or rewarding those who do. Reward and punishment correspond to two types of bifurcation with intriguing complementarity. The analysis suggests that reputation is essential for fostering social behavior among selfish agents, and that it is considerably more effective with punishment than with reward.

Disentangling the relative contribution of parental antisociality and family discord to child disruptive disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Bornovalova, Marina A; Blazei, Ryan; Malone, Stephen H; McGue, Matt; Iacono, William G

2013-07-01

A number of familial risk factors for childhood disruptive disorders have been identified. However, many of these risk factors often co-occur with parental antisociality, which by itself may account for both the familial risk factors and the increased likelihood of offspring disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs). The current study aimed to examine the association of parenting behaviors, marital conflict, and divorce with child DBDs while accounting for (a) coparent parenting behaviors, and (b) parental adult antisocial behavior (AAB). A series of regressions tested the association between family-level variables (namely, parent-child relationship quality, parental willingness to use physical punishment, marital adjustment, and history of divorce) and DBDs (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder) alone and after statistically adjusting for coparent variables and parental AAB. Results indicated that parents with AAB were more likely to engage in various forms of maladaptive parenting, to divorce, and to have conflictual marriages. Maladaptive parenting, marital conflict, and divorce were associated with heightened rates of child DBDs, and these associations persisted after adjusting for coparent parenting and parental AAB. Finally, the mother's parenting behaviors had a higher impact on child DBDs than the father's parenting behaviors. Thus, familial variables continue to have an effect on childhood DBDs even after accounting for confounding influences. These variables should be a focus of research on etiology and intervention.

Punishment goals of crime victims.

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, Uli

2003-04-01

Research on subjective punishment goals has focused on the perspective of third-party observers of criminal offenses and neglected the perspective of victims. This study investigates punishment goals among 174 adult crime victims (rape and nonsexual assault) for each participant's real criminal case. Scales measuring support for punishment goals are constructed by factor analysis of an 18-item list. Results show that 5 highly supported goals can be distinguished: retaliation, recognition of victim status, confirmation of societal values, victim security, and societal security. Analysis of relations between punishment goal scales and personal variables, situational variables, and demanded punishment severity corroborates the view that the punishment goals revealed can be classified according to the two independent dichotomies of moral versus instrumental goals, and micro versus macro goals.

Antisocial behaviour and psychopathy: Uncovering the externalizing link in the P3 modulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Pasion, Rita; Fernandes, Carina; Pereira, Mariana R; Barbosa, Fernando

2017-03-22

In 2009, Gao and Raine's meta-analysis analysed P3 modulation over the antisocial spectrum. However, some questions remained open regarding the P3 modulation patterns across impulsive and violent manifestations of antisocial behaviour, phenotypic components of psychopathy, and P3 components. A systematic review of 36 studies was conducted (N=3514) to extend previous results and to address these unresolved questions. A clear link between decreased P3 amplitude and antisocial behaviour was found. In psychopathy, dimensional approaches become more informative than taxonomic models. Distinct etiological pathways of psychopathy were evidenced in cognitive tasks: impulsive-antisocial psychopathic traits mainly predicted blunted P3 amplitude, while interpersonal-affective psychopathic traits explained enhanced P3 amplitude. Supporting the low fear hypothesis, the interpersonal-affective traits were associated with reduced P3 amplitude in emotional-affective learning tasks. From the accumulated knowledge we propose a framework of P3 amplitude modulation that uncovers the externalizing link between psychopathy and antisocial behaviour. However, the main hypotheses are exploratory and call for more data before stablishing robust conclusions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Punishment in a complementarity game

Science.gov (United States)

Li, W.; Cai, X.; Wang, Q. A.

2006-05-01

We study the effects arisen from the punishment in an evolutionary complementarity game. Each round one member of population “buyers” deals with a randomly chosen member of population “sellers”. When the buyer's offer is greater than the seller's, a deal is done and both players are rewarded by gaining some points. Otherwise the transaction is not successful and both will lose certain points as punishment. Our simulations indicate that the resulting equilibrium of the game with punishment embedded is remarkably time-delayed compared to the counterpart of the non-punishment game. However, the median fee and the success rate of deals at the equilibrium remain nearly unchanged in various cases of games with different degrees of punishment, whether severe or not. Symmetry, between the two populations, and the equilibrium value can still be maintained when the members of both of them are punished fairly in any failed transaction. If they are done in a different manner, namely, the members of one population are subject to very severe punishment whereas their opponents receive less or no punishment at all, the latter in most cases will be better off.

More 'altruistic' punishment in larger societies.

Science.gov (United States)

Marlowe, Frank W; Berbesque, J Colette

2008-03-07

If individuals will cooperate with cooperators, and punish non-cooperators even at a cost to themselves, then this strong reciprocity could minimize the cheating that undermines cooperation. Based upon numerous economic experiments, some have proposed that human cooperation is explained by strong reciprocity and norm enforcement. Second-party punishment is when you punish someone who defected on you; third-party punishment is when you punish someone who defected on someone else. Third-party punishment is an effective way to enforce the norms of strong reciprocity and promote cooperation. Here we present new results that expand on a previous report from a large cross-cultural project. This project has already shown that there is considerable cross-cultural variation in punishment and cooperation. Here we test the hypothesis that population size (and complexity) predicts the level of third-party punishment. Our results show that people in larger, more complex societies engage in significantly more third-party punishment than people in small-scale societies.

From Blame to Punishment: Disrupting Prefrontal Cortex Activity Reveals Norm Enforcement Mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckholtz, Joshua W; Martin, Justin W; Treadway, Michael T; Jan, Katherine; Zald, David H; Jones, Owen; Marois, René

2015-09-23

The social welfare provided by cooperation depends on the enforcement of social norms. Determining blameworthiness and assigning a deserved punishment are two cognitive cornerstones of norm enforcement. Although prior work has implicated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in norm-based judgments, the relative contribution of this region to blameworthiness and punishment decisions remains poorly understood. Here, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and fMRI to determine the specific role of DLPFC function in norm-enforcement behavior. DLPFC rTMS reduced punishment for wrongful acts without affecting blameworthiness ratings, and fMRI revealed punishment-selective DLPFC recruitment, suggesting that these two facets of norm-based decision making are neurobiologically dissociable. Finally, we show that DLPFC rTMS affects punishment decision making by altering the integration of information about culpability and harm. Together, these findings reveal a selective, causal role for DLPFC in norm enforcement: representational integration of the distinct information streams used to make punishment decisions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of Social Punishment on Cooperative Behavior in Complex Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhen; Xia, Cheng-Yi; Meloni, Sandro; Zhou, Chang-Song; Moreno, Yamir

2013-10-01

Social punishment is a mechanism by which cooperative individuals spend part of their resources to penalize defectors. In this paper, we study the evolution of cooperation in 2-person evolutionary games on networks when a mechanism for social punishment is introduced. Specifically, we introduce a new kind of role, punisher, which is aimed at reducing the earnings of defectors by applying to them a social fee. Results from numerical simulations show that different equilibria allowing the three strategies to coexist are possible as well as that social punishment further enhance the robustness of cooperation. Our results are confirmed for different network topologies and two evolutionary games. In addition, we analyze the microscopic mechanisms that give rise to the observed macroscopic behaviors in both homogeneous and heterogeneous networks. Our conclusions might provide additional insights for understanding the roots of cooperation in social systems.

Strict or graduated punishment? Effect of punishment strictness on the evolution of cooperation in continuous public goods games.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hajime Shimao

Full Text Available Whether costly punishment encourages cooperation is one of the principal questions in studies on the evolution of cooperation and social sciences. In society, punishment helps deter people from flouting rules in institutions. Specifically, graduated punishment is a design principle for long-enduring common-pool resource institutions. In this study, we investigate whether graduated punishment can promote a higher cooperation level when each individual plays the public goods game and has the opportunity to punish others whose cooperation levels fall below the punisher's threshold. We then examine how spatial structure affects evolutionary dynamics when each individual dies inversely proportional to the game score resulting from the social interaction and another player is randomly chosen from the population to produce offspring to fill the empty site created after a player's death. Our evolutionary simulation outcomes demonstrate that stricter punishment promotes increased cooperation more than graduated punishment in a spatially structured population, whereas graduated punishment increases cooperation more than strict punishment when players interact with randomly chosen opponents from the population. The mathematical analysis also supports the results.

Moral punishment in everyday life

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hofmann, W.; Brandt, M.J.; Wisneski, D.C.; Rockenbach, B.; Skitka, L.J.

2018-01-01

The present research investigated event-related, contextual, demographic, and dispositional predictors of the desire to punish perpetrators of immoral deeds in daily life, as well as connections among the desire to punish, moral emotions, and momentary well-being. The desire to punish was reliably

Using Baby Books to Change New Mothers’ Attitudes About Corporal Punishment

Science.gov (United States)

Reich, Stephanie M.; Penner, Emily K.; Duncan, Greg J.; Auger, Anamarie

2012-01-01

Research has found corporal punishment to have limited effectiveness in altering child behavior and the potential to produce psychological and cognitive damage. Pediatric professionals have advocated reducing, if not eliminating its use. Despite this, it remains a common parenting practice in the U.S. Using a three-group randomized design, this study explored whether embedding educational information about typical child development and effective parenting in baby books could alter new mothers’ attitudes about their use of corporal punishment. Low-income, ethnically diverse women (n = 167) were recruited during their third trimester of pregnancy and followed until their child was 18 months old. Findings from home-based data collection throughout this period suggest that educational baby books compared with non-educational baby books or no books can reduce new mothers’ support for the use of corporal punishment (respective effect sizes = .67 and .25) and that these effects are greater for African-American mothers (effect size = .75 and .57) and those with low levels of educational attainment (high school diploma, GED or less) (effect sizes = 0.78 and .49). Given their low cost and ease of implementation, baby books offer a promising way to change new mothers’ attitudes and potentially reduce the use of corporal punishment with infants and toddlers. PMID:22391417

Using baby books to change new mothers' attitudes about corporal punishment.

Science.gov (United States)

Reich, Stephanie M; Penner, Emily K; Duncan, Greg J; Auger, Anamarie

2012-02-01

Research has found corporal punishment to have limited effectiveness in altering child behavior and the potential to produce psychological and cognitive damage. Pediatric professionals have advocated reducing, if not eliminating its use. Despite this, it remains a common parenting practice in the US. Using a three-group randomized design, this study explored whether embedding educational information about typical child development and effective parenting in baby books could alter new mothers' attitudes about their use of corporal punishment. Low-income, ethnically diverse women (n=167) were recruited during their third trimester of pregnancy and followed until their child was 18 months old. Findings from home-based data collection throughout this period suggest that educational baby books compared with non-educational baby books or no books can reduce new mothers' support for the use of corporal punishment (respective effect sizes=.67 and .25) and that these effects are greater for African-American mothers (effect sizes=.75 and .57) and those with low levels of educational attainment (high school diploma, GED, or less) (effect sizes=.78 and .49). Given their low cost and ease of implementation, baby books offer a promising way to change new mothers' attitudes and potentially reduce the use of corporal punishment with infants and toddlers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Differential heritability of adult and juvenile antisocial traits.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyons, M J; True, W R; Eisen, S A; Goldberg, J; Meyer, J M; Faraone, S V; Eaves, L J; Tsuang, M T

1995-11-01

Studies of adult antisocial behavior or criminality usually find genetic factors to be more important than the family environment, whereas studies of delinquency find the family environment to be more important. We compared DSM-III-R antisocial personality disorder symptoms before vs after the age of 15 years within a sample of twins, rather than comparing across studies. We administered the Diagnostic Interview Schedule Version III-revised by telephone to 3226 pairs of male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Biometrical modeling was applied to each symptom of antisocial personality disorder and summary measures of juvenile and adult symptoms. Five juvenile symptoms were significantly heritable, and five were significantly influenced by the shared environment. Eight adult symptoms were significantly heritable, and one was significantly influenced by the shared environment. The shared environment explained about six times more variance in juvenile anti-social traits than in adult traits. Shared environmental influences on adult antisocial traits overlapped entirely with those on juvenile traits. Additive genetic factors explained about six times more variance in adult vs juvenile traits. The juvenile genetic determinants overlapped completely with genetic influences on adult traits. The unique environment (plus measurement error) explained the largest proportion of variance in both juvenile and adult antisocial traits. Characteristics of the shared or family environment that promote antisocial behavior during childhood and early adolescence also promote later antisocial behavior, but to a much lesser extent. Genetic causal factors are much more prominent for adult than for juvenile antisocial traits.

Punishing second-order free riders before first-order free riders: The effect of pool punishment priority on cooperation

OpenAIRE

Ozono, Hiroki; Kamijo, Yoshio; Shimizu, Kazumi

2017-01-01

Second-order free riders, who do not owe punishment cost to first-order free riders in public goods games, lead to low cooperation. Previous studies suggest that for stable cooperation, it is critical to have a pool punishment system with second-order punishment, which gathers resources from group members and punishes second-order free riders as well as first-order free riders. In this study, we focus on the priority of punishment. We hypothesize that the pool punishment system that prioritiz...

The social costs of punishment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Berg, Pieter; Molleman, Lucas; Weissing, Franz J.

Lab experiments on punishment are of limited relevance for understanding cooperative behavior in the real world. In real interactions, punishment is not cheap, but the costs of punishment are of a different nature than in experiments. They do not correspond to direct payments or payoff deductions,

Moral Punishment in Everyday Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Hofmann, Wilhelm; Brandt, Mark J; Wisneski, Daniel C; Rockenbach, Bettina; Skitka, Linda J

2018-05-01

The present research investigated event-related, contextual, demographic, and dispositional predictors of the desire to punish perpetrators of immoral deeds in daily life, as well as connections among the desire to punish, moral emotions, and momentary well-being. The desire to punish was reliably predicted by linear gradients of social closeness to both the perpetrator (negative relationship) and the victim (positive relationship). Older rather than younger adults, conservatives rather than people with other political orientations, and individuals high rather than low in moral identity desired to punish perpetrators more harshly. The desire to punish was related to state anger, disgust, and embarrassment, and these were linked to lower momentary well-being. However, the negative effect of these emotions on well-being was partially compensated by a positive indirect pathway via heightened feelings of moral self-worth. Implications of the present field data for moral punishment research and the connection between morality and well-being are discussed.

Affiliation with Antisocial Peers, Susceptibility to Peer Influence, and Antisocial Behavior during the Transition to Adulthood

Science.gov (United States)

Monahan, Kathryn C.; Steinberg, Laurence; Cauffman, Elizabeth

2009-01-01

Developmental theories suggest that affiliation with deviant peers and susceptibility to peer influence are important contributors to adolescent delinquency, but it is unclear how these variables impact antisocial behavior during the transition to adulthood, a period when most delinquent individuals decline in antisocial behavior. Using data from…

Corporal Punishment and the Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Gordon B.; And Others

1990-01-01

In order to understand and evaluate the continued prevalence of corporal punishment in school systems, this article reviews the following topics: (1) historical issues; (2) current demographics and correlates; (3) the effectiveness of corporal punishment in school settings; (4) myths; (5) alternatives to corporal punishment; and (6) social policy.…

Strict or Graduated Punishment? Effect of Punishment Strictness on the Evolution of Cooperation in Continuous Public Goods Games

Science.gov (United States)

Shimao, Hajime; Nakamaru, Mayuko

2013-01-01

Whether costly punishment encourages cooperation is one of the principal questions in studies on the evolution of cooperation and social sciences. In society, punishment helps deter people from flouting rules in institutions. Specifically, graduated punishment is a design principle for long-enduring common-pool resource institutions. In this study, we investigate whether graduated punishment can promote a higher cooperation level when each individual plays the public goods game and has the opportunity to punish others whose cooperation levels fall below the punisher’s threshold. We then examine how spatial structure affects evolutionary dynamics when each individual dies inversely proportional to the game score resulting from the social interaction and another player is randomly chosen from the population to produce offspring to fill the empty site created after a player’s death. Our evolutionary simulation outcomes demonstrate that stricter punishment promotes increased cooperation more than graduated punishment in a spatially structured population, whereas graduated punishment increases cooperation more than strict punishment when players interact with randomly chosen opponents from the population. The mathematical analysis also supports the results. PMID:23555826

Motives of sanctioning: Equity and emotions in a public good experiment with punishment

OpenAIRE

Crosetto, Paolo; Güth, Werner; Mittone, Luigi; Ploner, Matteo

2012-01-01

We study conditional cooperation based on a sequential two-person linear public good game in which a trusting first contributor can be exploited by a second contributor. After playing this game the first contributor is allowed to punish the second contributor. The consequences of sanctioning depend on the treatment: whereas punishment can reduce inequality in one treatment, it only creates another inequality in the other. To capture the effect of delay on punishment both treatments are run on...

More ‘altruistic’ punishment in larger societies

Science.gov (United States)

Marlowe, Frank W; Berbesque, J. Colette; Barr, Abigail; Barrett, Clark; Bolyanatz, Alexander; Cardenas, Juan Camilo; Ensminger, Jean; Gurven, Michael; Gwako, Edwins; Henrich, Joseph; Henrich, Natalie; Lesorogol, Carolyn; McElreath, Richard; Tracer, David

2007-01-01

If individuals will cooperate with cooperators, and punish non-cooperators even at a cost to themselves, then this strong reciprocity could minimize the cheating that undermines cooperation. Based upon numerous economic experiments, some have proposed that human cooperation is explained by strong reciprocity and norm enforcement. Second-party punishment is when you punish someone who defected on you; third-party punishment is when you punish someone who defected on someone else. Third-party punishment is an effective way to enforce the norms of strong reciprocity and promote cooperation. Here we present new results that expand on a previous report from a large cross-cultural project. This project has already shown that there is considerable cross-cultural variation in punishment and cooperation. Here we test the hypothesis that population size (and complexity) predicts the level of third-party punishment. Our results show that people in larger, more complex societies engage in significantly more third-party punishment than people in small-scale societies. PMID:18089534

Neuroimaging in Antisocial Personality Disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdullah Yildirim

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Neuroimaging has been used in antisocial personality disorder since the invention of computed tomography and new modalities are introduced as technology advances. Magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging and radionuclide imaging are such techniques that are currently used in neuroimaging. Although neuroimaging is an indispensible tool for psychiatric reseach, its clinical utility is questionable until new modalities become more accessible and regularly used in clinical practice. The aim of this paper is to provide clinicians with an introductory knowledge on neuroimaging in antisocial personality disorder including basic physics principles, current contributions to general understanding of pathophysiology in antisocial personality disorder and possible future applications of neuroimaging. [Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry 2015; 7(1: 98-108

Hate and punishment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kauppinen, Antti

2015-06-01

According to legal expressivism, neither crime nor punishment consists merely in intentionally imposing some kind of harm on another. Crime and punishment also have an expressive aspect. They are what they are in part because they enact attitudes toward others--in the case of crime, some kind of disrespect, at least, and in the case of punishment, society's condemnation or reprobation. Punishment is justified, at least in part, because (and when) it uniquely expresses fitting condemnation or other retributive attitude. What makes retributive attitudes fitting is that they protect the victim's status as inviolable. Hate or bias crimes dramatize the expressive aspect of crime, as they are often designed to send a message to the victim's group and society at large. Treating the enactment of contempt and denigration toward a historically underprivileged group as an aggravating factor in sentencing may be an appropriate way to counter this message, as it reaffirms and indeed realizes the fundamental equality and inviolability of all members of a democratic community. © The Author(s) 2014.

Early concern and disregard for others as predictors of antisocial behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Rhee, Soo Hyun; Friedman, Naomi P.; Boeldt, Debra L.; Corley, Robin P.; Hewitt, John. K.; Knafo, Ariel; Lahey, Benjamin B.; Robinson, JoAnn; Van Hulle, Carol A.; Waldman, Irwin D.; Young, Susan E.; Zahn-Waxler, Carolyn

2012-01-01

Background Prediction of antisocial behavior is important given its adverse impact on both the individuals engaging in antisocial behavior and society. Additional research identifying early predictors of future antisocial behavior, or antisocial propensity, is needed. The present study tested the hypothesis that both concern for others and active disregard for others in distress in toddlers and young children predict antisocial behavior during middle childhood and adolescence. Methods A representative sample of same-sex twins (N = 956) recruited in Colorado was examined. Mother-rated and researcher-observed concern and disregard for others assessed at age 14 to 36 months were examined as predictors of parent- (age 4 to 12), teacher- (age 7 to 12), and self-reported (age 17) antisocial behavior. Results Observed disregard for others predicted antisocial behavior assessed by three different informants (parents, teachers, and self), including antisocial behavior assessed 14 years later. It also predicted a higher-order antisocial behavior factor (β = .58, p concern for others. Mother-rated disregard for others predicted parent-reported antisocial behavior. Contrary to predictions, neither mother-rated nor observed concern for others inversely predicted antisocial behavior. Results of twin analyses suggested that the covariation between observed disregard for others and antisocial behavior was due to shared environmental influences. Conclusions Disregard for others in toddlerhood/early childhood is a strong predictor of antisocial behavior in middle childhood and adolescence. The results suggest the potential need for early assessment of disregard for others and the development of potential interventions. PMID:23320806

Role of mutual punishment in the snowdrift game

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Han-Xin; Wang, Zhen

2015-09-01

The effects of punishment on cooperation have drawn increasing attention. In this paper, we propose a new mechanism of punishment, in which an individual will punish each neighbor if their strategies are different, and vice versa. We incorporate the mutual punishment into the snowdrift game. Results for well-mixed and structured populations have shown that, for no punishment or small values of punishment fine, the fraction of cooperators continuously decreases with the temptation to defect. However, for large values of punishment fine, there exists an abrupt transition point, at which the fraction of cooperators suddenly drops from 1 to 0. Compared to no punishment, mutual punishment promotes cooperation when the temptation to defect is small but inhibits cooperation when the temptation to defect is large. For weak (strong) temptation to defect, the cooperation level increases (decreases) with the punishment fine. For moderate temptation to defect, there exists an optimal value of the punishment fine that leads to the highest cooperation level.

Paddling, Punishing and Force

Science.gov (United States)

Hyman, Irwin A.; And Others

1977-01-01

Discusses the extent and use of corporal punishment in public schools, the results of research on the effectiveness of corporal punishment as a deterrent to misbehavior, and the use and effect of alternative measures of classroom management. (BF)

Patient and impatient punishers of free-riders.

Science.gov (United States)

Espín, Antonio M; Brañas-Garza, Pablo; Herrmann, Benedikt; Gamella, Juan F

2012-12-22

Costly punishment of cheaters who contribute little or nothing to a cooperating group has been extensively studied, as an effective means to enforce cooperation. The prevailing view is that individuals use punishment to retaliate against transgressions of moral standards such as fairness or equity. However, there is much debate regarding the psychological underpinnings of costly punishment. Some authors suggest that costly punishment must be a product of humans' capacity for reasoning, self-control and long-term planning, whereas others argue that it is the result of an impulsive, present-oriented emotional drive. Here, we explore the inter-temporal preferences of punishers in a multilateral cooperation game and show that both interpretations might be right, as we can identify two different types of punishment: punishment of free-riders by cooperators, which is predicted by patience (future orientation); and free-riders' punishment of other free-riders, which is predicted by impatience (present orientation). Therefore, the picture is more complex as punishment by free-riders probably comes not from a reaction against a moral transgression, but instead from a competitive, spiteful drive. Thus, punishment grounded on morals may be related to lasting or delayed psychological incentives, whereas punishment triggered by competitive desires may be linked to short-run aspirations. These results indicate that the individual's time horizon is relevant for the type of social behaviour she opts for. Integrating such differences in inter-temporal preferences and the social behaviour of agents might help to achieve a better understanding of how human cooperation and punishment behaviour has evolved.

Antisocial alcoholic patients show as much improvement at 14-month follow-up as non-antisocial alcoholic patients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verheul, R.; van den Brink, W.; Koeter, M. W.; Hartgers, C.

1999-01-01

The authors investigated the impact of DSM-III-R adult criteria for antisocial personality disorder (and co-occurrence of childhood conduct or mood disorder) on one-year changes of multi-domain problem severity in 309 alcoholic patients. Adult antisocial traits were associated with more drug, legal,

Neural foundations to moral reasoning and antisocial behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yaling

2006-01-01

A common feature of the antisocial, rule-breaking behavior that is central to criminal, violent and psychopathic individuals is the failure to follow moral guidelines. This review summarizes key findings from brain imaging research on both antisocial behavior and moral reasoning, and integrates these findings into a neural moral model of antisocial behavior. Key areas found to be functionally or structurally impaired in antisocial populations include dorsal and ventral regions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), amygdala, hippocampus, angular gyrus, anterior cingulate and temporal cortex. Regions most commonly activated in moral judgment tasks consist of the polar/medial and ventral PFC, amygdala, angular gyrus and posterior cingulate. It is hypothesized that the rule-breaking behavior common to antisocial, violent and psychopathic individuals is in part due to impairments in some of the structures (dorsal and ventral PFC, amygdala and angular gyrus) subserving moral cognition and emotion. Impairments to the emotional component that comprises the feeling of what is moral is viewed as the primary deficit in antisocials, although some disruption to the cognitive and cognitive-emotional components of morality (particularly self-referential thinking and emotion regulation) cannot be ruled out. While this neurobiological predisposition is likely only one of several biosocial processes involved in the etiology of antisocial behavior, it raises significant moral issues for the legal system and neuroethics. PMID:18985107

Reduced cortical call to arms differentiates psychopathy from antisocial personality disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Drislane, L E; Vaidyanathan, U; Patrick, C J

2013-04-01

Psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) are both characterized by impulsive, externalizing behaviors. Researchers have argued, however, that psychopathy is distinguished from ASPD by the presence of interpersonal-affective features that reflect an underlying deficit in emotional sensitivity. No study to date has tested for differential relations of these disorders with the brain's natural orienting response to sudden aversive events. Method Electroencephalography was used to assess cortical reactivity to abrupt noise probes presented during the viewing of pleasant, neutral and unpleasant pictures in 140 incarcerated males diagnosed using the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised and DSM-IV criteria for ASPD. The primary dependent measure was the P3 event-related potential response to the noise probes. Psychopaths showed significantly smaller amplitude of P3 response to noise probes across trials of all types compared with non-psychopaths. Follow-up analyses revealed that this overall reduction was attributable specifically to the affective-interpersonal features of psychopathy. By contrast, no group difference in general amplitude of probe P3 was evident for ASPD versus non-ASPD participants. The findings demonstrate a reduced cortical orienting response to abrupt aversive stimuli in participants exhibiting features of psychopathy that are distinct from ASPD. The specificity of the observed effect fits with the idea that these distinctive features of psychopathy reflect a deficit in defensive reactivity, or mobilization of the brain's defensive system, in the context of threat cues.

Early concern and disregard for others as predictors of antisocial behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Rhee, Soo Hyun; Friedman, Naomi P; Boeldt, Debra L; Corley, Robin P; Hewitt, John K; Knafo, Ariel; Lahey, Benjamin B; Robinson, JoAnn; Van Hulle, Carol A; Waldman, Irwin D; Young, Susan E; Zahn-Waxler, Carolyn

2013-02-01

Prediction of antisocial behavior is important, given its adverse impact on both the individuals engaging in antisocial behavior and society. Additional research identifying early predictors of future antisocial behavior, or antisocial propensity, is needed. The present study tested the hypothesis that both concern for others and active disregard for others in distress in toddlers and young children predict antisocial behavior during middle childhood and adolescence. A representative sample of same-sex twins (N=956) recruited in Colorado was examined. Mother-rated and researcher-observed concern and disregard for others assessed at age 14-36 months were examined as predictors of parent- (age 4-12), teacher- (age 7-12), and self-reported (age 17) antisocial behavior.   Observed disregard for others predicted antisocial behavior assessed by three different informants (parents, teachers, and self), including antisocial behavior assessed 14 years later. It also predicted a higher order antisocial behavior factor (β=.58, pconcern for others. Mother-rated disregard for others predicted parent-reported antisocial behavior. Contrary to predictions, neither mother-rated nor observed concern for others inversely predicted antisocial behavior. RESULTS of twin analyses suggested that the covariation between observed disregard for others and antisocial behavior was due to shared environmental influences. Disregard for others in toddlerhood/early childhood is a strong predictor of antisocial behavior in middle childhood and adolescence. The results suggest the potential need for early assessment of disregard for others and the development of potential interventions. © 2012 The Author. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2012 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Social cognition in antisocial populations

OpenAIRE

Bratton, Helen

2015-01-01

Introduction: Impairments in facial affect recognition have been linked to the development of various disorders. The aim of the current work is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining whether this ability is impaired in males with psychopathy or antisocial traits, when compared to healthy individuals. Method: Studies were eligible for inclusion if they compared facial affect recognition in either a) psychopathic vs. antisocial males, b) psychopa...

Automatic imitation of pro- and antisocial gestures: Is implicit social behavior censored?

Science.gov (United States)

Cracco, Emiel; Genschow, Oliver; Radkova, Ina; Brass, Marcel

2018-01-01

According to social reward theories, automatic imitation can be understood as a means to obtain positive social consequences. In line with this view, it has been shown that automatic imitation is modulated by contextual variables that constrain the positive outcomes of imitation. However, this work has largely neglected that many gestures have an inherent pro- or antisocial meaning. As a result of their meaning, antisocial gestures are considered taboo and should not be used in public. In three experiments, we show that automatic imitation of symbolic gestures is modulated by the social intent of these gestures. Experiment 1 (N=37) revealed reduced automatic imitation of antisocial compared with prosocial gestures. Experiment 2 (N=118) and Experiment 3 (N=118) used a social priming procedure to show that this effect was stronger in a prosocial context than in an antisocial context. These findings were supported in a within-study meta-analysis using both frequentist and Bayesian statistics. Together, our results indicate that automatic imitation is regulated by internalized social norms that act as a stop signal when inappropriate actions are triggered. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Punishing adolescents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ryberg, Jesper

2014-01-01

Should an adolescent offender be punished more leniently than an adult offender? Many theorists believe the answer to be in the affirmative. According to the diminished culpability model, adolescents are less mature than adults and, therefore, less responsible for their wrongdoings and should...... consequently be punished less harshly. This article concerns the first part of the model: the relation between immaturity and diminished responsibility. It is argued that this relation faces three normative challenges which do not allow for easy answers and which are still widely ignored in the comprehensive...

Corporal punishment.

Science.gov (United States)

Zolotor, Adam J

2014-10-01

Corporal punishment is used for discipline in most homes in the United States. It is also associated with a long list of adverse developmental, behavioral, and health-related consequences. Primary care providers, as trusted sources for parenting information, have an opportunity to engage parents in discussions about discipline as early as infancy. These discussions should focus on building parents' skills in the use of other behavioral techniques, limiting (or eliminating) the use of corporal punishment and identifying additional resources as needed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Antisocial features and "faking bad": A critical note.

Science.gov (United States)

Niesten, Isabella J M; Nentjes, Lieke; Merckelbach, Harald; Bernstein, David P

2015-01-01

We critically review the literature on antisocial personality features and symptom fabrication (i.e., faking bad; e.g., malingering). A widespread assumption is that these constructs are intimately related. Some studies have, indeed, found that antisocial individuals score higher on instruments detecting faking bad, but others have been unable to replicate this pattern. In addition, studies exploring whether antisocial individuals are especially talented in faking bad have generally come up with null results. The notion of an intrinsic link between antisocial features and faking bad is difficult to test and research in this domain is sensitive to selection bias. We argue that research on faking bad would profit from further theoretical articulation. One topic that deserves scrutiny is how antisocial features affect the cognitive dissonance typically induced by faking bad. We illustrate our points with preliminary data and discuss their implications. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Corporal and capital punishment of juveniles.

Science.gov (United States)

Frazier, H C

1990-01-01

There is a previously unobserved connection between corporal punishment of public school children and capital punishment of juveniles. Both are barometers of acceptable levels of violent punishment and their elimination is a hallmark of a maturing and decent society. Within a majority of the eighteen states where school authorities most frequently strike children are housed 25 of the nation's 28 juvenile death row inmates. On average, the homicide rates of these jurisdictions are two and a half times greater than those that have abolished both state-sanctioned corporal and capital punishment or limit death sentences to those age eighteen and older at the time of their crime(s). Most of the eighteen state abolitions of corporal punishment occurred in the 1980's. The US Supreme Court has ruled both corporal and capital punishment of juveniles constitutional. Additional state legislative abolition of both is anticipated in the 1990s.

Cool and hot executive function impairments in violent offenders with antisocial personality disorder with and without psychopathy.

Science.gov (United States)

De Brito, Stephane A; Viding, Essi; Kumari, Veena; Blackwood, Nigel; Hodgins, Sheilagh

2013-01-01

Impairments in executive function characterize offenders with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and offenders with psychopathy. However, the extent to which those impairments are associated with ASPD, psychopathy, or both is unknown. The present study examined 17 violent offenders with ASPD and psychopathy (ASPD+P), 28 violent offenders with ASPD without psychopathy (ASPD-P), and 21 healthy non-offenders on tasks assessing cool (verbal working memory and alteration of motor responses to spatial locations) and hot (reversal learning, decision-making under risk, and stimulus-reinforcement-based decision-making) executive function. In comparison to healthy non-offenders, violent offenders with ASPD+P and those with ASPD-P showed similar impairments in verbal working memory and adaptive decision-making. They failed to learn from punishment cues, to change their behaviour in the face of changing contingencies, and made poorer quality decisions despite longer periods of deliberation. Intriguingly, the two groups of offenders did not differ significantly from the non-offenders in terms of their alteration of motor responses to spatial locations and their levels of risk-taking, indicated by betting, and impulsivity, measured as delay aversion. The performance of the two groups of offenders on the measures of cool and hot executive function did not differ, indicating shared deficits. These documented impairments may help to explain the persistence of antisocial behaviours despite the known risks of the negative consequences of such behaviours.

Physical Punishment, Childhood Abuse and Psychiatric Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Afifi, Tracie O.; Brownridge, Douglas A.; Cox, Brian J.; Sareen, Jitender

2006-01-01

Objectives: Physical punishment, as a means of disciplining children, may be considered a mild form of childhood adversity. Although many outcomes of physical punishment have been investigated, little attention has been given to the impact of physical punishment on later adult psychopathology. Also, it has been stated that physical punishment by a…

Less crime, more punishment.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooney, Mark; Burt, Callie Harbin

2008-09-01

Recasting Durkheim's "community of saints" thesis, the authors argue that the severity of punishment is predicted in part by the prevalence of the deviant behavior of which the deviant stands accused. Although there is some curvilinearity at low levels of prevalence, the relationship is generally negative. Thus, all else equal, where a particular crime is frequent, any punishment applied to it is likely to be mild; conversely, where a crime is infrequent, its punishment ought to be severe. Using hierarchical regression models, the authors support this hypothesis with 1988 homicide conviction and imprisonment decisions in 32 U.S. counties.

Shame, Guilt, and Punishment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodogno, Raffaele

2009-01-01

The emotions of shame and guilt have recently appeared in debates concerning legal punishment, in particular in the context of so called shaming and guilting penalties. The bulk of the discussion, however, has focussed on the justification of such penalties. The focus of this article is broader...... than that. My aim is to offer an analysis of the concept of legal punishment that sheds light on the possible connections between punishing practices such as shaming and guilting penalties, on the one hand, and emotions such as guilt, shame, and perhaps humiliation, on the other. I contend...

Corticolimbic gating of emotion-driven punishment.

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Treadway, Michael T; Buckholtz, Joshua W; Martin, Justin W; Jan, Katharine; Asplund, Christopher L; Ginther, Matthew R; Jones, Owen D; Marois, René

2014-09-01

Determining the appropriate punishment for a norm violation requires consideration of both the perpetrator's state of mind (for example, purposeful or blameless) and the strong emotions elicited by the harm caused by their actions. It has been hypothesized that such affective responses serve as a heuristic that determines appropriate punishment. However, an actor's mental state often trumps the effect of emotions, as unintended harms may go unpunished, regardless of their magnitude. Using fMRI, we found that emotionally graphic descriptions of harmful acts amplify punishment severity, boost amygdala activity and strengthen amygdala connectivity with lateral prefrontal regions involved in punishment decision-making. However, this was only observed when the actor's harm was intentional; when harm was unintended, a temporoparietal-medial-prefrontal circuit suppressed amygdala activity and the effect of graphic descriptions on punishment was abolished. These results reveal the brain mechanisms by which evaluation of a transgressor's mental state gates our emotional urges to punish.

Parenting Style Dimensions As Predictors of Adolescent Antisocial Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Álvarez-García, David; García, Trinidad; Barreiro-Collazo, Alejandra; Dobarro, Alejandra; Antúnez, Ángela

2016-01-01

Antisocial behavior is strongly associated with academic failure in adolescence. There is a solid body of evidence that points to parenting style as one of its main predictors. The objective of this work is to elaborate a reduced, valid, and reliable version of the questionnaire by Oliva et al. (2007) to evaluate the dimensions of parenting style and to analyze its psychometric properties in a sample of Spanish adolescents. To that end, the designed questionnaire was applied to 1974 adolescents 12-18 years of age from Asturias (Spain). Regarding construct validity, the results show that the model that best represents the data is composed of six dimensions of parenting style, just as in the original scale, namely affection and communication; promotion of autonomy; behavioral control; psychological control; self-disclosure; and humor. The psychological control factor negatively correlates with the other factors, with the exception of behavioral control, with which it positively correlates. The remaining correlations among the factors in the parenting style questionnaire are positive. Regarding internal consistency, the reliability analysis for each factor supports the suitability of this six-factor model. With regard to criterion validity, as expected based on the evidence available, the six dimensions of parenting style correlate in a statistically significant manner with the three antisocial behavior measures used as criteria (off-line school aggression, antisocial behavior, and antisocial friendships). Specifically, all dimensions negatively correlate with the three variables, except for psychological control. In the latter case, the correlation is positive. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Parenting style dimensions as predictors of adolescent antisocial behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Álvarez-García

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Antisocial behavior is strongly associated with academic failure in adolescence. There is a solid body of evidence that points to parenting style as one of its main predictors. The objective of this work is to elaborate a reduced, valid, and reliable version of the questionnaire by Oliva et al. (2007 to evaluate the dimensions of parenting style and to analyze its psychometric properties in a sample of Spanish adolescents. To that end, the designed questionnaire was applied to 1974 adolescents 12 to 18 years of age from Asturias (Spain. Regarding construct validity, the results show that the model that best represents the data is composed of six dimensions of parenting style, just as in the original scale, namely affection and communication; promotion of autonomy; behavioral control; psychological control; self-disclosure; and humor. The psychological control factor negatively correlates with the other factors, with the exception of behavioral control, with which it positively correlates. The remaining correlations among the factors in the parenting style questionnaire are positive. Regarding internal consistency, the reliability analysis for each factor supports the suitability of this six-factor model. With regard to criterion validity, as expected based on the evidence available, the six dimensions of parenting style correlate in a statistically significant manner with the three antisocial behavior measures used as criteria (off-line school aggression, antisocial behavior, and antisocial friendships. Specifically, all dimensions negatively correlate with the three variables, except for psychological control. In the latter case, the correlation is positive. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Parenting Style Dimensions As Predictors of Adolescent Antisocial Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Álvarez-García, David; García, Trinidad; Barreiro-Collazo, Alejandra; Dobarro, Alejandra; Antúnez, Ángela

2016-01-01

Antisocial behavior is strongly associated with academic failure in adolescence. There is a solid body of evidence that points to parenting style as one of its main predictors. The objective of this work is to elaborate a reduced, valid, and reliable version of the questionnaire by Oliva et al. (2007) to evaluate the dimensions of parenting style and to analyze its psychometric properties in a sample of Spanish adolescents. To that end, the designed questionnaire was applied to 1974 adolescents 12–18 years of age from Asturias (Spain). Regarding construct validity, the results show that the model that best represents the data is composed of six dimensions of parenting style, just as in the original scale, namely affection and communication; promotion of autonomy; behavioral control; psychological control; self-disclosure; and humor. The psychological control factor negatively correlates with the other factors, with the exception of behavioral control, with which it positively correlates. The remaining correlations among the factors in the parenting style questionnaire are positive. Regarding internal consistency, the reliability analysis for each factor supports the suitability of this six-factor model. With regard to criterion validity, as expected based on the evidence available, the six dimensions of parenting style correlate in a statistically significant manner with the three antisocial behavior measures used as criteria (off-line school aggression, antisocial behavior, and antisocial friendships). Specifically, all dimensions negatively correlate with the three variables, except for psychological control. In the latter case, the correlation is positive. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. PMID:27679591

Taxing behavioral control diminishes sharing and costly punishment in childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Steinbeis, Nikolaus

2018-01-01

Instances of altruism in children are well documented. However, the underlying mechanisms of such altruistic behavior are still under considerable debate. While some claim that altruistic acts occur automatically and spontaneously, others argue that they require behavioral control. This study focuses on the mechanisms that give rise to prosocial decisions such as sharing and costly punishment. In two studies it is shown in 124 children aged 6-9 years that behavioral control plays a critical role for both prosocial decisions and costly punishment. Specifically, the studies assess the influence of taxing aspects of self-regulation, such as behavioral control (Study 1) and emotion regulation (Study 2) on subsequent decisions in a Dictator and an Ultimatum Game. Further, children's perception of fairness norms and emotional experience were measured. Taxing children's behavioral control prior to making their decisions reduced sharing and costly punishment of unfair offers, without changing perception of fairness norms or the emotional experience. Conversely, taxing children's emotion regulation prior to making their decisions only led to increased experience of anger at seeing unfair offers, but left sharing, costly punishment and the perception of fairness norms unchanged. These findings stress the critical role of behavioral control in prosocial giving and costly punishment in childhood. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

God's punishment and public goods : A test of the supernatural punishment hypothesis in 186 world cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Dominic D P

2005-12-01

Cooperation towards public goods relies on credible threats of punishment to deter cheats. However, punishing is costly, so it remains unclear who incurred the costs of enforcement in our evolutionary past. Theoretical work suggests that human cooperation may be promoted if people believe in supernatural punishment for moral transgressions. This theory is supported by new work in cognitive psychology and by anecdotal ethnographic evidence, but formal quantitative tests remain to be done. Using data from 186 societies around the globe, I test whether the likelihood of supernatural punishment-indexed by the importance of moralizing "high gods"-is associated with cooperation.

COUNTER-PUNISHMENT, COMMUNICATION AND COOPERATION AMONG PARTNERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giulia eAndrighetto

2016-04-01

Full Text Available We study how communication affects cooperation in an experimental public goods environment with punishment and counter-punishment opportunities. Participants interacted over thirty rounds in fixed groups with fixed identifiers that allowed them to trace other group members’ behavior over time. The two dimensions of communication we study are asking for a specific contribution level and having to express oneself when choosing to counter-punish. We conduct four experimental treatments, all involving a contribution stage, a punishment stage and a counter-punishment stage in each round. In the first treatment communication is not possible at any of the stages. The second treatment allows participants to ask for a contribution level at the punishment stage and in the third treatment participants are required to send a message if they decide to counter-punishment. The fourth combines the two communication channels of the second and third treatments. We find that the three treatments involving communication at any of the two relevant stages lead to significantly higher contributions than the baseline treatment. We find no difference between the three treatments with communication. We also relate our results to previous results from treatments without counter-punishment opportunities and do not find that the presence of counter-punishment leads to lower cooperation level. The overall pattern of results shows that given fixed identifiers the key factor is the presence of communication. Whenever communication is possible contributions and earnings are higher than when it is not, regardless of counter-punishment opportunities.

Freedom deprivation punishment in Serbia during 1804-1860

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Mirković Zoran

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This text is on freedom deprivation punishment in Serbia during the first half of 19th century, i.e. since the beginning of the First Serbian uprising in 1804 and till passing the Criminal law in 1860. Author first emphasises that the freedom deprivation punishment doesn't have long tradition, although in medieval Serbia and under Turkish rule existed imprisonment in dungeon, but it was foremost some form of custody before a trial, and subsequently as keeping a prisoner after the verdict until its effectuation. It wasn't a freedom deprivation punishment in modern sense. During 1804 - 1813 there was so called 'haps' i.e. apprehension, though Uprising authorities built also 'real' prisons for punishment purpose. Imprisonment of culprits was a condition for compulsory labour, which could be very useful utilized under given circumstances. Since the beginning 1820-ties when first Serbian courts were established, beside 'haps' appears also imprisonment in heavy shackles. However there was no substantial difference between apprehension and imprisonment. In this time the sentence to imprisonment was combined with the punishment with beating (or sometimes with the flogging at the end of imprisonment. The Regulation of County courts from January 26th 1840 mentions several forms of freedom deprivation punishment, but in praxis freedom deprivation was reduced on either 'eternal' imprisonment or time-sentenced imprisonment. Since the beginning of 1840-ties freedom deprivation was more frequently used as punishment and its implementation was continually spreading. For heaviest crimes was instead death penalty and running gauntlet sentenced freedom deprivation, either from courts or from supreme authority in the amnesty process. Imprisonment was effectuated either at police reformatories (for shorter penalties or at the penitentiary institutions (for longer imprisonment. By the end of 1830-ties an issue of imprisonment of female perpetrators emerged, together

EARLY LIFE RISKS, ANTISOCIAL TENDENCIES, AND PRETEEN DELINQUENCY*

Science.gov (United States)

Staff, Jeremy; Whichard, Corey; Siennick, Sonja; Maggs, Jennifer

2015-01-01

Early age-of-onset delinquency and substance use confer a major risk for continued criminality, alcohol and drug abuse, and other serious difficulties throughout the life course. Our objective is to examine the developmental roots of preteen delinquency and substance use. Using nationally representative longitudinal data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (n = 13,221), we examine the influence of early childhood developmental and family risks on latent pathways of antisocial tendencies from ages 3 to 7, and the influence of those pathways on property crime and substance use by age 11. We identified a normative, non-antisocial pathway; a pathway marked by oppositional behavior and fighting; a pathway marked by impulsivity and inattention; and a rare pathway characterized by a wide range of antisocial tendencies. Children with developmental and family risks that emerged by age 3—specifically difficult infant temperament, low cognitive ability, weak parental closeness, and disadvantaged family background—face increased odds of antisocial tendencies. There is minimal overlap between the risk factors for early antisocial tendencies and those for preteen delinquency. Children on an antisocial pathway are more likely to engage in preteen delinquency and substance use by age 11, even after accounting for early life risk factors. PMID:26900167

Corporal Punishment: Legalities, Realities, and Implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinchey, Patricia H.

2003-01-01

Presents a quiz that will help readers determine the reliability of their own perceptions relating to corporal punishment in schools. Discusses U.S. Courts and corporal punishment, worldwide and nationwide legality, and the realities of corporal punishment in the United States. Discusses implications for what teachers can do to address corporal…

Antisocial behavior: Dimension or category(ies?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Biro Mikloš

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Classificatory systems (DSM-IV, ICD-10 use different criteria for defining a rather common antisocial disorder, traditionally referred as psychopathy. Most empirical studies of this phenomenon use Cleckley's operational definition that was applied and amended in Hare's revised Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R. In modern literature, the fact that there is less than a perfect correspondence between classificatory systems and Hare's PCL-R is often cited as an indication that antisocial behavior is not confined to a distinct category of people but is rather a continuous personality dimension. In order to further elucidate the nosology of antisocial behaviors, a Psychopathy Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ based on Cleckley - Hare's criteria and consisting of 40 binary items was administered to 339 men (135 prisoners and 204 members of the general population. Four distinct clusters of respondents were identified by means of hierarchical cluster analysis: Psychopathic type (characterized by high positive scores on dimension of Unemotionality; Antisocial type (characterized by high positive scores on Social deviance dimension; Adapted type (characterized by negative scores on all dimensions; and Hyper-controlled type (characterized by extremely negative scores on dimension Social deviance accompanied with positive scores on Unemotionality dimension. Additional comparison with MMPI profiles which classified prison sample in two groups ("Psychopathic profiles" and "Non- Psychopathic profiles" shows that there is no expected compatibility between MMPI and PAQ. We conclude that Antisocial type can be treated as a distinct category, while Psychopathic type displays characteristics of dimensional distribution.

Commitment to Cooperation and Peer Punishment: Its Evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatsuya Sasaki

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Theoretical and empirical studies have generally weighed the effect of peer punishment and pool punishment for sanctioning free riders separately. However, these sanctioning mechanisms often pose a puzzling tradeoff between efficiency and stability in detecting and punishing free riders. Here, we combine the key aspects of these qualitatively different mechanisms in terms of evolutionary game theory. Based on the dilemmatic donation game, we introduce a strategy of commitment to both cooperation and peer punishment. To make the commitment credible, we assume that those willing to commit have to make a certain deposit. The deposit will be refunded as long as the committers faithfully cooperate in the donation game and punish free riders and non-committers. It turns out that the deposit-based commitment offers both the efficiency of peer punishment and the stability of pool punishment and that the replicator dynamics lead to transitions of different systems: pool punishment to commitment to peer punishment.

Synapsin determines memory strength after punishment- and relief-learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Niewalda, Thomas; Michels, Birgit; Jungnickel, Roswitha; Diegelmann, Sören; Kleber, Jörg; Kähne, Thilo; Gerber, Bertram

2015-05-13

Adverse life events can induce two kinds of memory with opposite valence, dependent on timing: "negative" memories for stimuli preceding them and "positive" memories for stimuli experienced at the moment of "relief." Such punishment memory and relief memory are found in insects, rats, and man. For example, fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) avoid an odor after odor-shock training ("forward conditioning" of the odor), whereas after shock-odor training ("backward conditioning" of the odor) they approach it. Do these timing-dependent associative processes share molecular determinants? We focus on the role of Synapsin, a conserved presynaptic phosphoprotein regulating the balance between the reserve pool and the readily releasable pool of synaptic vesicles. We find that a lack of Synapsin leaves task-relevant sensory and motor faculties unaffected. In contrast, both punishment memory and relief memory scores are reduced. These defects reflect a true lessening of associative memory strength, as distortions in nonassociative processing (e.g., susceptibility to handling, adaptation, habituation, sensitization), discrimination ability, and changes in the time course of coincidence detection can be ruled out as alternative explanations. Reductions in punishment- and relief-memory strength are also observed upon an RNAi-mediated knock-down of Synapsin, and are rescued both by acutely restoring Synapsin and by locally restoring it in the mushroom bodies of mutant flies. Thus, both punishment memory and relief memory require the Synapsin protein and in this sense share genetic and molecular determinants. We note that corresponding molecular commonalities between punishment memory and relief memory in humans would constrain pharmacological attempts to selectively interfere with excessive associative punishment memories, e.g., after traumatic experiences. Copyright © 2015 Niewalda et al.

Synapsin Determines Memory Strength after Punishment- and Relief-Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Niewalda, Thomas; Michels, Birgit; Jungnickel, Roswitha; Diegelmann, Sören; Kleber, Jörg; Kähne, Thilo

2015-01-01

Adverse life events can induce two kinds of memory with opposite valence, dependent on timing: “negative” memories for stimuli preceding them and “positive” memories for stimuli experienced at the moment of “relief.” Such punishment memory and relief memory are found in insects, rats, and man. For example, fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) avoid an odor after odor-shock training (“forward conditioning” of the odor), whereas after shock-odor training (“backward conditioning” of the odor) they approach it. Do these timing-dependent associative processes share molecular determinants? We focus on the role of Synapsin, a conserved presynaptic phosphoprotein regulating the balance between the reserve pool and the readily releasable pool of synaptic vesicles. We find that a lack of Synapsin leaves task-relevant sensory and motor faculties unaffected. In contrast, both punishment memory and relief memory scores are reduced. These defects reflect a true lessening of associative memory strength, as distortions in nonassociative processing (e.g., susceptibility to handling, adaptation, habituation, sensitization), discrimination ability, and changes in the time course of coincidence detection can be ruled out as alternative explanations. Reductions in punishment- and relief-memory strength are also observed upon an RNAi-mediated knock-down of Synapsin, and are rescued both by acutely restoring Synapsin and by locally restoring it in the mushroom bodies of mutant flies. Thus, both punishment memory and relief memory require the Synapsin protein and in this sense share genetic and molecular determinants. We note that corresponding molecular commonalities between punishment memory and relief memory in humans would constrain pharmacological attempts to selectively interfere with excessive associative punishment memories, e.g., after traumatic experiences. PMID:25972175

Antisocial Notworking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cox, Geoff

2010-01-01

Antisocial Notworking refers to a repository of projects that explore the pseudo-agency of online social platforms. It takes a number of recent software projects as its inspiration to reflect upon the fashion for 'participation' within the arts sector and culture in general. The concern is how th...

Criminal Law and the Internal Logic of Punishment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krause-Jensen, Katrine; Rodogno, Raffaele

2015-01-01

We argue that punishment has an essentially retributive core that carries its own retributive type of logic or reasons. In particular, we show that punishment is something that we understand as in principle always being assessable in terms of deservingness and that this is ultimately......, that is, that the latter involves punishment. For one, purely instrumentalist justificatory accounts of punishment will not work as they fail properly to consider the retributive core of punishment. Next, we consider what follows from the fact that by inflicting punishment, the state takes it upon itself...

Similarity increases altruistic punishment in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Mussweiler, Thomas; Ockenfels, Axel

2013-11-26

Humans are attracted to similar others. As a consequence, social networks are homogeneous in sociodemographic, intrapersonal, and other characteristics--a principle called homophily. Despite abundant evidence showing the importance of interpersonal similarity and homophily for human relationships, their behavioral correlates and cognitive foundations are poorly understood. Here, we show that perceived similarity substantially increases altruistic punishment, a key mechanism underlying human cooperation. We induced (dis)similarity perception by manipulating basic cognitive mechanisms in an economic cooperation game that included a punishment phase. We found that similarity-focused participants were more willing to punish others' uncooperative behavior. This influence of similarity is not explained by group identity, which has the opposite effect on altruistic punishment. Our findings demonstrate that pure similarity promotes reciprocity in ways known to encourage cooperation. At the same time, the increased willingness to punish norm violations among similarity-focused participants provides a rationale for why similar people are more likely to build stable social relationships. Finally, our findings show that altruistic punishment is differentially involved in encouraging cooperation under pure similarity vs. in-group conditions.

Conditional punishment is a double-edged sword in promoting cooperation.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Feng; Chen, Xiaojie; Wang, Long

2018-01-11

Punishment is widely recognized as an effective approach for averting from exploitation by free-riders in human society. However, punishment is costly, and thus rational individuals are unwilling to take the punishing action, resulting in the second-order free-rider problem. Recent experimental study evidences that individuals prefer conditional punishment, and their punishing decision depends on other members' punishing decisions. In this work, we thus propose a theoretical model for conditional punishment and investigate how such conditional punishment influences cooperation in the public goods game. Considering conditional punishers only take the punishing action when the number of unconditional punishers exceeds a threshold number, we demonstrate that such conditional punishment induces the effect of a double-edged sword on the evolution of cooperation both in well-mixed and structured populations. Specifically, when it is relatively easy for conditional punishers to engage in the punishment activity corresponding to a low threshold value, cooperation can be promoted in comparison with the case without conditional punishment. Whereas when it is relatively difficult for conditional punishers to engage in the punishment activity corresponding to a high threshold value, cooperation is inhibited in comparison with the case without conditional punishment. Moreover, we verify that such double-edged sword effect exists in a wide range of model parameters and can be still observed in other different punishment regimes.

Disrupted functional connectome in antisocial personality disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Weixiong; Shi, Feng; Liao, Jian; Liu, Huasheng; Wang, Tao; Shen, Celina; Shen, Hui; Hu, Dewen; Wang, Wei; Shen, Dinggang

2017-08-01

Studies on antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) subjects focus on brain functional alterations in relation to antisocial behaviors. Neuroimaging research has identified a number of focal brain regions with abnormal structures or functions in ASPD. However, little is known about the connections among brain regions in terms of inter-regional whole-brain networks in ASPD patients, as well as possible alterations of brain functional topological organization. In this study, we employ resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) to examine functional connectome of 32 ASPD patients and 35 normal controls by using a variety of network properties, including small-worldness, modularity, and connectivity. The small-world analysis reveals that ASPD patients have increased path length and decreased network efficiency, which implies a reduced ability of global integration of whole-brain functions. Modularity analysis suggests ASPD patients have decreased overall modularity, merged network modules, and reduced intra- and inter-module connectivities related to frontal regions. Also, network-based statistics show that an internal sub-network, composed of 16 nodes and 16 edges, is significantly affected in ASPD patients, where brain regions are mostly located in the fronto-parietal control network. These results suggest that ASPD is associated with both reduced brain integration and segregation in topological organization of functional brain networks, particularly in the fronto-parietal control network. These disruptions may contribute to disturbances in behavior and cognition in patients with ASPD. Our findings may provide insights into a deeper understanding of functional brain networks of ASPD.

Reflexive intergroup bias in third-party punishment.

Science.gov (United States)

Yudkin, Daniel A; Rothmund, Tobias; Twardawski, Mathias; Thalla, Natasha; Van Bavel, Jay J

2016-11-01

Humans show a rare tendency to punish norm-violators who have not harmed them directly-a behavior known as third-party punishment. Research has found that third-party punishment is subject to intergroup bias, whereby people punish members of the out-group more severely than the in-group. Although the prevalence of this behavior is well-documented, the psychological processes underlying it remain largely unexplored. Some work suggests that it stems from people's inherent predisposition to form alliances with in-group members and aggress against out-group members. This implies that people will show reflexive intergroup bias in third-party punishment, favoring in-group over out-group members especially when their capacity for deliberation is impaired. Here we test this hypothesis directly, examining whether intergroup bias in third-party punishment emerges from reflexive, as opposed to deliberative, components of moral cognition. In 3 experiments, utilizing a simulated economic game, we varied participants' group relationship to a transgressor, measured or manipulated the extent to which they relied on reflexive or deliberative judgment, and observed people's punishment decisions. Across group-membership manipulations (American football teams, nationalities, and baseball teams) and 2 assessments of reflexive judgment (response time and cognitive load), reflexive judgment heightened intergroup bias, suggesting that such bias in punishment is inherent to human moral cognition. We discuss the implications of these studies for theories of punishment, cooperation, social behavior, and legal practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Costly third-party punishment in young children.

Science.gov (United States)

McAuliffe, Katherine; Jordan, Jillian J; Warneken, Felix

2015-01-01

Human adults engage in costly third-party punishment of unfair behavior, but the developmental origins of this behavior are unknown. Here we investigate costly third-party punishment in 5- and 6-year-old children. Participants were asked to accept (enact) or reject (punish) proposed allocations of resources between a pair of absent, anonymous children. In addition, we manipulated whether subjects had to pay a cost to punish proposed allocations. Experiment 1 showed that 6-year-olds (but not 5-year-olds) punished unfair proposals more than fair proposals. However, children punished less when doing so was personally costly. Thus, while sensitive to cost, they were willing to sacrifice resources to intervene against unfairness. Experiment 2 showed that 6-year-olds were less sensitive to unequal allocations when they resulted from selfishness than generosity. These findings show that costly third-party punishment of unfair behavior is present in young children, suggesting that from early in development children show a sophisticated capacity to promote fair behavior. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Psycho-education for substance use and antisocial personality disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thylstrup, Birgitte; Schrøder, Sidsel; Hesse, Morten

2015-01-01

Background: Antisocial personality disorder often co-exists with drug and alcohol use disorders. Methods: This trial examined the effectiveness of offering psycho-education for antisocial personality disorder in community substance use disorder treatment centers in Denmark. A total of 176 patients......%) of participants randomized to psycho-education attended at least one counselling session, and 21 (23%) attended all six sessions. The Median number of sessions was 2. All patients reduced drug and alcohol problems at 9 months with small within-group effect sizes. Intention-to-treat analyses indicated significant...... differences between ILC and TAU in mean drugs composite score (p = .018) and in PDA (p = .041) at 3 months. Aggression declined in both groups, but no differences between ILC and TAU were observed in terms of alcohol problems or aggression at any follow-up. Conclusions: Moderate short-term improvements...

Human punishment is not primarily motivated by inequality.

Science.gov (United States)

Marczyk, Jesse

2017-01-01

Previous theorizing about punishment has suggested that humans desire to punish inequality per se. However, the research supporting such an interpretation contains important methodological confounds. The main objective of the current experiment was to remove those confounds in order to test whether generating inequality per se is punished. Participants were recruited from an online market to take part in a wealth-alteration game with an ostensible second player. The participants were given an option to deduct from the other player's payment as punishment for their behavior during the game. The results suggest that human punishment does not appear to be motivated by inequality per se, as inequality that was generated without inflicting costs on others was not reliably punished. Instead, punishment seems to respond primarily to the infliction of costs, with inequality only becoming relevant as a secondary input for punishment decisions. The theoretical significance of this finding is discussed in the context of its possible adaptive value.

Human punishment is not primarily motivated by inequality

Science.gov (United States)

Marczyk, Jesse

2017-01-01

Previous theorizing about punishment has suggested that humans desire to punish inequality per se. However, the research supporting such an interpretation contains important methodological confounds. The main objective of the current experiment was to remove those confounds in order to test whether generating inequality per se is punished. Participants were recruited from an online market to take part in a wealth-alteration game with an ostensible second player. The participants were given an option to deduct from the other player’s payment as punishment for their behavior during the game. The results suggest that human punishment does not appear to be motivated by inequality per se, as inequality that was generated without inflicting costs on others was not reliably punished. Instead, punishment seems to respond primarily to the infliction of costs, with inequality only becoming relevant as a secondary input for punishment decisions. The theoretical significance of this finding is discussed in the context of its possible adaptive value. PMID:28187166

Human punishment is not primarily motivated by inequality.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jesse Marczyk

Full Text Available Previous theorizing about punishment has suggested that humans desire to punish inequality per se. However, the research supporting such an interpretation contains important methodological confounds. The main objective of the current experiment was to remove those confounds in order to test whether generating inequality per se is punished. Participants were recruited from an online market to take part in a wealth-alteration game with an ostensible second player. The participants were given an option to deduct from the other player's payment as punishment for their behavior during the game. The results suggest that human punishment does not appear to be motivated by inequality per se, as inequality that was generated without inflicting costs on others was not reliably punished. Instead, punishment seems to respond primarily to the infliction of costs, with inequality only becoming relevant as a secondary input for punishment decisions. The theoretical significance of this finding is discussed in the context of its possible adaptive value.

Patient and impatient punishers of free-riders

OpenAIRE

ESPIN Antonio; BRAÑAS-GARZA Pablo; HERRMANN BENEDIKT; GAMELLA Juan

2012-01-01

Costly punishment of cheaters who contribute little or nothing to a cooperating group has been extensively studied, as an effective means to enforce cooperation. The prevailing view is that individuals use punishment to retaliate against transgressions of moral standards such as fairness or equity. However, there is much debate regarding the psychological underpinnings of costly punishment. Some authors suggest that costly punishment must be a product of humans' capacity for reasoning, self-c...

The Developmental Costs of High Self-Esteem for Antisocial Children

Science.gov (United States)

Menon, Madhavi; Tobin, Desiree D.; Corby, Brooke C.; Menon, Meenakshi; Hodges, Ernest V. E.; Perry, David G.

2007-01-01

Two hypotheses--high self-esteem leads children to act on antisocial cognitions (disposition-activating hypothesis) and high self-esteem leads children to rationalize antisocial conduct (disposition-rationalizing hypothesis)--were investigated in two longitudinal studies. In Study 1 (N = 189; mean age = 11.1 years), antisocial behavior was…

Blunted Ambiguity Aversion During Cost-Benefit Decisions in Antisocial Individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckholtz, Joshua W; Karmarkar, Uma; Ye, Shengxuan; Brennan, Grace M; Baskin-Sommers, Arielle

2017-05-17

Antisocial behavior is often assumed to reflect aberrant risk processing. However, many of the most significant forms of antisocial behavior, including crime, reflect the outcomes of decisions made under conditions of ambiguity rather than risk. While risk and ambiguity are formally distinct and experimentally dissociable, little is known about ambiguity sensitivity in individuals who engage in chronic antisocial behavior. We used a financial decision-making task in a high-risk community-based sample to test for associations between sensitivity to ambiguity, antisocial behavior, and arrest history. Sensitivity to ambiguity was lower in individuals who met diagnostic criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder. Lower ambiguity sensitivity was also associated with higher externalizing (but not psychopathy) scores, and with higher levels of aggression (but not rule-breaking). Finally, blunted sensitivity to ambiguity also predicted a greater frequency of arrests. Together, these data suggest that alterations in cost-benefit decision-making under conditions of ambiguity may promote antisocial behavior.

Individual mobility promotes punishment in evolutionary public goods games.

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Cong, Rui; Zhao, Qianchuan; Li, Kun; Wang, Long

2017-10-25

In explaining the pressing issue in biology and social sciences how cooperation emerges in a population of self-interested individuals, researchers recently pay intensive attentions to the role altruistic punishment plays. However, as higher-order cooperators, survival of punishers is puzzling due to their extra cost in regulating norm violators. Previous works have highlighted the importance of individual mobility in promoting cooperation. Yet its effect on punishers remains to be explored. In this work we incorporate this feature into modeling the behavior of punishers, who are endowed with a choice between leaving current place or staying and punishing defectors. Results indicate that optimal mobility level of punishers is closely related to the cost of punishing. For considerably large cost, there exists medium tendency of migration which favors the survival of punishers. This holds for both the direct competition between punishers and defectors and the case where cooperators are involved, and can also be observed when various types of punishers with different mobility tendencies fight against defectors simultaneously. For cheap punishment, mobility does not provide with punishers more advantage even when they are initially rare. We hope our work provide more insight into understanding the role individual mobility plays in promoting public cooperation.

Neurodevelopmental marker for limbic maldevelopment in antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Raine, Adrian; Lee, Lydia; Yang, Yaling; Colletti, Patrick

2010-09-01

Antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy have been hypothesised to have a neurodevelopmental basis, but this proposition has not been formally tested. This study tests the hypothesis that individuals with cavum septum pellucidum (CSP), a marker of limbic neural maldevelopment, will show higher levels of psychopathy and antisocial personality. Cavum septum pellucidum was assessed using anatomical magnetic resonance imaging in a community sample. Those with CSP (n = 19) were compared with those lacking CSP (n = 68) on antisocial personality, psychopathy and criminal offending. Those with CSP had significantly higher levels of antisocial personality, psychopathy, arrests and convictions compared with controls. The pervasiveness of this association was indicated by the fact that those lacking a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, but who were charged or convicted for an offence, had a more extensive CSP than non-antisocial controls. Results could not be attributed to prior trauma exposure, head injury, demographic factors or comorbid psychiatric conditions. Our findings appear to be the first to provide evidence for a neurodevelopmental brain abnormality in those with antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy, and support the hypothesis that early maldevelopment of limbic and septal structures predisposes to the spectrum of antisocial behaviours.

Syntax of Emotional Narratives of Persons Diagnosed with Antisocial Personality

Science.gov (United States)

Gawda, Barbara

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to show some specificity of syntax of narratives created by persons diagnosed with antisocial personality. The author attempted to verify and supplement information that persons with antisocial personality have an incapacity for emotional language. Scores of 60 prisoners with high antisocial tendencies, 40 prisoners with…

Cool and hot executive function impairments in violent offenders with antisocial personality disorder with and without psychopathy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephane A De Brito

Full Text Available Impairments in executive function characterize offenders with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD and offenders with psychopathy. However, the extent to which those impairments are associated with ASPD, psychopathy, or both is unknown.The present study examined 17 violent offenders with ASPD and psychopathy (ASPD+P, 28 violent offenders with ASPD without psychopathy (ASPD-P, and 21 healthy non-offenders on tasks assessing cool (verbal working memory and alteration of motor responses to spatial locations and hot (reversal learning, decision-making under risk, and stimulus-reinforcement-based decision-making executive function.In comparison to healthy non-offenders, violent offenders with ASPD+P and those with ASPD-P showed similar impairments in verbal working memory and adaptive decision-making. They failed to learn from punishment cues, to change their behaviour in the face of changing contingencies, and made poorer quality decisions despite longer periods of deliberation. Intriguingly, the two groups of offenders did not differ significantly from the non-offenders in terms of their alteration of motor responses to spatial locations and their levels of risk-taking, indicated by betting, and impulsivity, measured as delay aversion. The performance of the two groups of offenders on the measures of cool and hot executive function did not differ, indicating shared deficits.These documented impairments may help to explain the persistence of antisocial behaviours despite the known risks of the negative consequences of such behaviours.

Emotion expression in human punishment behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Erte; Houser, Daniel

2005-05-17

Evolutionary theory reveals that punishment is effective in promoting cooperation and maintaining social norms. Although it is accepted that emotions are connected to punishment decisions, there remains substantial debate over why humans use costly punishment. Here we show experimentally that constraints on emotion expression can increase the use of costly punishment. We report data from ultimatum games, where a proposer offers a division of a sum of money and a responder decides whether to accept the split, or reject and leave both players with nothing. Compared with the treatment in which expressing emotions directly to proposers is prohibited, rejection of unfair offers is significantly less frequent when responders can convey their feelings to the proposer concurrently with their decisions. These data support the view that costly punishment might itself be used to express negative emotions and suggest that future studies will benefit by recognizing that human demand for emotion expression can have significant behavioral consequences in social environments, including families, courts, companies, and markets.

Attitudes towards corporal punishment and reporting of abuse.

Science.gov (United States)

Tirosh, Emanuel; Offer Shechter, Shlomit; Cohen, Ayala; Jaffe, Michael

2003-08-01

To assess physicians' attitudes towards corporal punishment in childhood and their subsequent actions regarding the reporting of child abuse. 107 physicians (95 pediatricians and 12 family practitioners) who work in hospitals and community clinics in northern Israel were interviewed. Of the participants, 16% were new immigrants. A structured interview was conducted by one of two pediatric residents. Attitudes towards corporal punishment were not influenced by the physicians' sex or specialty. Corporal punishment was approved by 58% of the physicians. A significant difference in attitudes towards corporal punishment between immigrants and Israeli born physicians was found (p=.004). Family practitioners and especially senior ones were found significantly less tolerant towards corporal punishment than pediatricians (p=.04). While reporting behavior was not found to be associated with parental status and the past experience of the physicians with child abuse, a significant effect of attitudes towards corporal punishment on reporting behavior was found (p=.01). (1) Corporal punishment is still perceived as an acceptable disciplinary act by a significant proportion of physicians responsible for the health care of children in our area. (2) Attitudes towards corporal punishment are different between immigrants and native born Israeli trained doctors and, unexpectedly, pediatricians were more tolerant of corporal punishment than family practitioners.

Neurodevelopmental marker for limbic maldevelopment in antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy

Science.gov (United States)

Raine, Adrian; Lee, Lydia; Yang, Yaling; Colletti, Patrick

2010-01-01

Background Antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy have been hypothesised to have a neurodevelopmental basis, but this proposition has not been formally tested. Aims This study tests the hypothesis that individuals with cavum septum pellucidum (CSP), a marker of limbic neural maldevelopment, will show higher levels of psychopathy and antisocial personality. Method Cavum septum pellucidum was assessed using anatomical magnetic resonance imaging in a community sample. Those with CSP (n = 19) were compared with those lacking CSP (n = 68) on antisocial personality, psychopathy and criminal offending. Results Those with CSP had significantly higher levels of antisocial personality, psychopathy, arrests and convictions compared with controls. The pervasiveness of this association was indicated by the fact that those lacking a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, but who were charged or convicted for an offence, had a more extensive CSP than non-antisocial controls. Results could not be attributed to prior trauma exposure, head injury, demographic factors or comorbid psychiatric conditions. Conclusions Our findings appear to be the first to provide evidence for a neurodevelopmental brain abnormality in those with antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy, and support the hypothesis that early maldevelopment of limbic and septal structures predisposes to the spectrum of antisocial behaviours. PMID:20807962

Disrupted functional connectome in antisocial personality disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Weixiong; Shi, Feng; Liao, Jian; Liu, Huasheng; Wang, Tao; Shen, Celina; Shen, Hui; Hu, Dewen

2017-01-01

Studies on antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) subjects focus on brain functional alterations in relation to antisocial behaviors. Neuroimaging research has identified a number of focal brain regions with abnormal structures or functions in ASPD. However, little is known about the connections among brain regions in terms of inter-regional whole-brain networks in ASPD patients, as well as possible alterations of brain functional topological organization. In this study, we employ resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) to examine functional connectome of 32 ASPD patients and 35 normal controls by using a variety of network properties, including small-worldness, modularity, and connectivity. The small-world analysis reveals that ASPD patients have increased path length and decreased network efficiency, which implies a reduced ability of global integration of whole-brain functions. Modularity analysis suggests ASPD patients have decreased overall modularity, merged network modules, and reduced intra- and inter-module connectivities related to frontal regions. Also, network-based statistics show that an internal sub-network, composed of 16 nodes and 16 edges, is significantly affected in ASPD patients, where brain regions are mostly located in the fronto-parietal control network. These results suggest that ASPD is associated with both reduced brain integration and segregation in topological organization of functional brain networks, particularly in the fronto-parietal control network. These disruptions may contribute to disturbances in behavior and cognition in patients with ASPD. Our findings may provide insights into a deeper understanding of functional brain networks of ASPD. PMID:27541949

Are the effects of benzodiazepines on discrimination and punishment dissociable?

Science.gov (United States)

Hodges, H; Green, S

1987-01-01

Studies have shown that benzodiazepines (BZs) both disrupt discrimination and increase resistance to punishment. Using a delayed response task, we provide evidence that effects of BZs on discrimination cannot be fully explained by deficits in either short or long term memory, or by intolerance for delay of reward. A schedule with rewarded, nonrewarded (Time out: TO) and conflict components was used to investigate effects in rats of compounds active at the BZ receptor on successive discrimination and punished responding in parallel. The GABA transaminase inhibitor ethanolamine-O-sulphate exerted additive effects with chlordiazepoxide (CDP) on punished but not TO responding. Both GABA and CDP injected into the amygdala selectively increased conflict rates, but with peripheral treatment CDP also increased TO rates. Two inverse BZ agonists, CGS 8216 and FG 7142 antagonzied the anti-conflict effects of GABA and CDP, given within the amygdala or peripherally, but the increase in TO rates induced by systemic CDP was counteracted only by peripheral treatments. These compounds also reduced rates of conflict responding below baseline, consistent with anxiogenic activity. Effects of the BZ antagonist Ro 15-1788 were broadly similar to those of the inverse agonists, except that it did not antagonise the anti-conflict action of intra-amygdaloid GABA, nor significantly reduce punished responding at the single dose used. We conclude from these results that the anti-conflict effects of BZs are mediated by a GABAergic amygdaloid mechanism, but that the same mechanism is not involved in BZ effects on discrimination.

Corporal Punishment is a Necessary Evil: Parents’ Perceptions On The Use Of Corporal Punishment In School

OpenAIRE

Gomba, Clifford

2015-01-01

Corporal punishment in Zimbabwe is a “hot potato” that is bringing challenges both on the legal and cultural fronts. My interest in doing this study stems from the Supreme Court ruling that ruled the use of corporal punishment is unconstitutional. After the ruling, it became imperative to understand the views of different people pertaining to the use of corporal punishment, especially in schools because that is where it is prevalent. For this study I sought to discover and understand the pers...

Race, punishment, and the Michael Vick experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Piquero, Alex R; Piquero, Nicole Leeper; Gertz, Marc; Baker, Thomas; Batton, Jason; Barnes, J C

2011-01-01

Objective. The relationship between race and crime has been contentious, focusing primarily on offending and incarceration patterns among minorities. There has been some limited work on public perceptions of criminal punishment, and findings show that while minorities believe in the role and rule of law, they simultaneously perceive the justice system as acting in a biased and/or unfair manner. Two limitations have stalled this literature. First, research has focused mainly on criminal punishments to the neglect of noncriminal punishments. Second, most studies have not examined whether race remains salient after considering other demographic variables or discrimination and legitimacy attitudes.Methods. Using data from 400 adults, we examine how race affects perceptions of criminal punishment and subsequent reinstatement into the National Football League in the case of Michael Vick, a star professional quarterback who pled guilty to charges of operating an illegal dog-fighting ring.Results. Findings show that whites are more likely to view Vick's punishment as too soft and that he should not be reinstated, while nonwhites had the opposite views. Race remained significant after controlling for other variables believed to be related to punishment perceptions.Conclusion. Attitudes toward both criminal punishment and NFL reinstatement vary across race such that there exists important divides in how individuals perceive the system meting out punishment and subsequently reintegrating offenders back into society. These results underscore that white and nonwhites perceive the law and its administration differently.

The Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior in Sport Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Kavussanu, Maria; Boardley, Ian D

2009-02-01

This research aimed to (a) develop a measure of prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport, (b) examine its invariance across sex and sport, and (c) provide evidence for its discriminant and concurrent validity. We conducted two studies. In study 1, team sport athletes (N=1,213) recruited from 103 teams completed questionnaires assessing demographics and prosocial and antisocial behaviors in sport. Factor analyses revealed two factors representing prosocial behavior and two factors representing antisocial behavior. The model had a very good fit to the data and showed configural, metric, and scalar invariance across sex and sport. The final scale consisted of 20 items. In Study 2, team-sport athletes (N=106) completed the scale and measures of empathy and goal orientation. Analyses provided support for the discriminant and concurrent validity of the scale. In conclusion, the new scale can be used to measure prosocial and antisocial behaviors in team sport.

Punishment models of addictive behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vanderschuren, L.J.M.J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/126514917; Minnaard, A.M.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/413292533; Smeets, J.A.S.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/413578577; Lesscher, H.M.B.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/258637196

2017-01-01

Substance addiction is a chronic relapsing brain disorder, characterized by loss of control over substance use. In recent years, there has been a lively interest in animal models of loss of control over substance use, using punishment paradigms. We provide an overview of punishment models of

Predicting Filipino Mothers' and Fathers' Reported Use of Corporal Punishment From Education, Authoritarian Attitudes, and Endorsement of Corporal Punishment.

Science.gov (United States)

Jocson, Rosanne M; Alampay, Liane Peña; Lansford, Jennifer E

2012-03-09

The relations of education, authoritarian childrearing attitudes, and endorsement of corporal punishment to Filipino parents' reported use of corporal punishment were examined using two waves of data. Structured interviews using self-report questionnaires were conducted with 117 mothers and 98 fathers from 120 families when their children were 8 years old, and when their children were 9 years old. Path analyses showed that, among mothers, higher education predicted lower authoritarian attitudes, which in turn predicted lower reports of corporal punishment use. Among fathers, higher education predicted lower endorsement of corporal punishment, which in turn predicted lower reports of its use. Results suggest that education has an indirect relation to use of corporal punishment through parenting cognitions, and highlight distinctions in Filipino mothers' and fathers' parenting roles.

Neurobiology of empathy and callousness: implications for the development of antisocial behavior.

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Shirtcliff, Elizabeth A; Vitacco, Michael J; Graf, Alexander R; Gostisha, Andrew J; Merz, Jenna L; Zahn-Waxler, Carolyn

2009-01-01

Information on the neurobiology of empathy and callousness provides clinicians with an opportunity to develop sophisticated understanding of mechanisms underpinning antisocial behavior and its counterpart, moral decision-making. This article provides an integrated in-depth review of hormones (e.g. peripheral steroid hormones such as cortisol) and brain structures (e.g. insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and amygdala) implicated in empathy, callousness, and psychopathic-like behavior. The overarching goal of this article is to relate these hormones and brain structures to moral decision-making. This review will begin in the brain, but will then integrate information about biological functioning in the body, specifically stress-reactivity. Our aim is to integrate understanding of neural processes with hormones such as cortisol, both of which have demonstrated relationships to empathy, psychopathy, and antisocial behavior. The review proposes that neurobiological impairments in individuals who display little empathy are not necessarily due to a reduced ability to understand the emotions of others. Instead, evidence suggests that individuals who show little arousal to the distress of others likewise show decreased physiological arousal to their own distress; one manifestation of reduced stress reactivity may be a dysfunction in empathy, which supports psychopathic-like constructs (e.g. callousness). This integration will assist in the development of objective methodologies that can inform and monitor treatment interventions focused on decreasing antisocial behavior. Copyright 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The role of the lateral habenula in punishment.

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Jean-Richard Dit Bressel, Philip; McNally, Gavan P

2014-01-01

The lateral habenula (LHb) is a small epithalamic structure that projects via the fasciculus retroflexus to the midbrain. The LHb is known to modulate midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons, including inhibition of ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons via glutamatergic excitation of the GABAergic rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg). A variety of lines of evidence show activity in LHb and the LHb-RMTg pathway is correlated with, and is sufficient to support, punishment learning. However, it is not immediately clear whether LHb is necessary for punishment. Here we used a within-subjects punishment task to assess the role of LHb in the acquisition and expression of punishment as well as in aversive choice. Rats that pressed two individually presented levers for pellet rewards rapidly suppressed responding to one lever if it also caused footshock deliveries (punished lever) but continued pressing a second lever that did not cause footshock (unpunished lever). Infusions of an AMPA receptor antagonist (NBQX) into LHb had no effect on the acquisition or expression of this punishment, or on aversive choice, but did increase locomotion. Infusion of the sodium channel blocker bupivacaine likewise had no effect on expression of punishment. However, infusion of the calcium channel blocker mibefradil did affect expression of punishment by significantly decreasing the latency with which rats responded on the punished lever and significantly increasing unpunished lever-pressing. Taken together, these findings indicate that the LHb plays a limited role in punishment, influencing only latency to respond. This role is linked to calcium channel permeability and not AMPA receptor or sodium channel permeability.

Internet Addiction and Antisocial Internet Behavior of Adolescents

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Hing Keung Ma

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Internet addiction and the moral implication of antisocial Internet behavior will be investigated in this paper. More and more people use the Internet in their daily life. Unfortunately the percentage of people who use the internet excessively also increases. The concept of Internet addiction or pathological use of Internet is discussed in detail, and the characteristics of Internet addicts are also delineated. The social (especially the antisocial use of Internet is discussed. It is argued that the behavior of Internet use is similar to daily life social behavior. In other words, Internet behavior is a kind of social behavior. Kohlberg's theory of moral development is employed to delineate the moral reasoning of the antisocial Internet behavior. The following behaviors are regarded as antisocial Internet behavior: (1 the use of Internet to carry out illegal activities such as selling faked products or offensive pornographic materials, (2 the use of Internet to bully others (i.e., cyberbullying such as distributing libelous statements against a certain person, (3 the use of Internet to cheat others, and (4 the use of Internet to do illegal gambling. The characteristics of the moral stages that are associated with these antisocial Internet behaviors are investigated in detail.

Internet Addiction and Antisocial Internet Behavior of Adolescents

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Ma, Hing Keung

2011-01-01

Internet addiction and the moral implication of antisocial Internet behavior will be investigated in this paper. More and more people use the Internet in their daily life. Unfortunately the percentage of people who use the internet excessively also increases. The concept of Internet addiction or pathological use of Internet is discussed in detail, and the characteristics of Internet addicts are also delineated. The social (especially the antisocial) use of Internet is discussed. It is argued that the behavior of Internet use is similar to daily life social behavior. In other words, Internet behavior is a kind of social behavior. Kohlberg's theory of moral development is employed to delineate the moral reasoning of the antisocial Internet behavior. The following behaviors are regarded as antisocial Internet behavior: (1) the use of Internet to carry out illegal activities such as selling faked products or offensive pornographic materials, (2) the use of Internet to bully others (i.e., cyberbullying) such as distributing libelous statements against a certain person, (3) the use of Internet to cheat others, and (4) the use of Internet to do illegal gambling. The characteristics of the moral stages that are associated with these antisocial Internet behaviors are investigated in detail. PMID:22125466

Antisocial Traits as Modifiers of Treatment Response in Borderline Inpatients

OpenAIRE

CLARKIN, JOHN F.; HULL, JAMES; YEOMANS, FRANK; KAKUMA, TATSUYUKI; CANTOR, JENNIFER

1994-01-01

The relationship of antisocial traits to treatment response in 35 female inpatients with borderline personality disorder was studied. Antisocial traits were measured with the Personality Assessment Inventory. Treatment response was measured by weekly ratings on the Symptom Checklist-90—Revised over 25 weeks of hospitalization. Treatment course was found to be significantly associated with the level of antisocial behavior reported at admission.

Reconceptualizing antisocial deviance in neurobehavioral terms.

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Patrick, Christopher J; Durbin, C Emily; Moser, Jason S

2012-08-01

We propose that neuroscientific understanding of antisocial behavior can be advanced by focusing programmatic efforts on neurobehavioral trait constructs, that is, individual difference constructs with direct referents in neurobiology as well as behavior. As specific examples, we highlight inhibitory control and defensive reactivity as two such constructs with clear relevance for understanding antisocial behavior in the context of development. Variations in inhibitory control are theorized to reflect individual differences in the functioning of brain systems that operate to guide and inhibit behavior and regulate emotional response in the service of nonimmediate goals. Variations in defensive reactivity are posited to reflect individual differences in the sensitivity of the brain's aversive motivational (fear) system. We describe how these constructs have been conceptualized in the adult and child literatures and review work pertaining to traditional psychometric (rating and behaviorally based) assessment of these constructs and their known physiological correlates at differing ages as well as evidence linking these constructs to antisocial behavior problems in children and adults. We outline a psychoneurometric approach, which entails systematic development of neurobiological measures of target trait constructs through reference to psychological phenotypes, as a paradigm for linking clinical disorders to neurobiological systems. We provide a concrete illustration of this approach in the domain of externalizing proneness and discuss its broader implications for research on conduct disorder, antisocial personality, and psychopathy.

Turkish Primary School Pupils' Views on Punishment

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Aydin, Bahri

2010-01-01

Teachers meet with unwanted behavior when they are acting as facilitators of the learning process and they resort to certain tactics to deal with them. One of these tactics is punishment. This study aimed to identify the views held by Turkish primary school pupils on punishment. According to the results of the study, pupils were punished for…

Corporal Punishment and Youth Externalizing Behavior in Santiago, Chile

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Ma, Julie; Han, Yoonsun; Grogan-Kaylor, Andrew; Delva, Jorge; Castillo, Marcela

2012-01-01

Objectives Corporal punishment is still widely practiced around the globe, despite the large body of child development research that substantiates its short- and long-term consequences. Within this context, this paper examined the relationship between parental use of corporal punishment and youth externalizing behavior with a Chilean sample to add to the growing empirical evidence concerning the potential relationship between increased corporal punishment and undesirable youth outcomes across cultures. Methods Analysis was based on 919 adolescents in Santiago, Chile. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the extent to which parents’ use of corporal punishment and positive family measures were associated with youth externalizing behavior. Furthermore, the associations between self-reported externalizing behavior and infrequent, as well as frequent, use of corporal punishment were investigated to contribute to understanding how varying levels of parental use of corporal punishment were differently related to youth outcomes. Results Both mother’s and father’s use of corporal punishment were associated with greater youth externalizing behavior. Additionally, increases in positive parenting practices, such as parental warmth and family involvement, were met with decreases in youth externalizing behavior when controlling for youth demographics, family socioeconomic status, and parents’ use of corporal punishment. Finally, both infrequent and frequent use of corporal punishment were positively associated with higher youth problem behaviors, though frequent corporal punishment had a stronger relationship with externalizing behavior than did infrequent corporal punishment. Conclusions Parental use of corporal punishment, even on an occasional basis, is associated with greater externalizing behavior for youth while a warm and involving family environment may protect youth from serious problem behaviors. Therefore, findings of this study add

Social Adversity and Antisocial Behavior: Mediating Effects of Autonomic Nervous System Activity.

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Fagan, Shawn E; Zhang, Wei; Gao, Yu

2017-11-01

The display of antisocial behaviors in children and adolescents has been of interest to criminologists and developmental psychologists for years. Exposure to social adversity is a well-documented predictor of antisocial behavior. Additionally, measures of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, including heart rate variability (HRV), pre-ejection period (PEP), and heart rate, have been associated with antisocial behaviors including rule-breaking and aggression. Social neuroscience research has begun to investigate how neurobiological underpinnings affect the relationship between social adversity and antisocial/psychopathic behavior in children and adolescents. This study investigated the potential mediating effects of ANS activity on the relationship between social adversity and antisocial behavior in a group of 7- to 10-year-old children from the community (N = 339; 48.2% male). Moderated multiple mediation analyses revealed that low resting heart rate, but not PEP or HRV, mediated the relationship between social adversity and antisocial behavior in males only. Social adversity but not ANS measures were associated with antisocial behavior in females. Findings have implications for understanding the neural influences that underlie antisocial behavior, illustrate the importance of the social environment regarding the expression of these behaviors, and highlight essential gender differences.

Empathy deficit in antisocial personality disorder: a psychodynamic formulation.

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Malancharuvil, Joseph M

2012-09-01

Empathic difficulty is a highly consequential characteristic of antisocial personality structure. The origin, maintenance, and possible resolution of this profound deficit are not very clear. While reconstructing empathic ability is of primary importance in the treatment of antisocial personality, not many proven procedures are in evidence. In this article, the author offers a psychodynamic formulation of the origin, character, and maintenance of the empathic deficiency in antisocial personality. The author discusses some of the treatment implications from this dynamic formulation.

Risky decisions and their consequences: neural processing by boys with Antisocial Substance Disorder.

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Thomas J Crowley

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Adolescents with conduct and substance problems ("Antisocial Substance Disorder" (ASD repeatedly engage in risky antisocial and drug-using behaviors. We hypothesized that, during processing of risky decisions and resulting rewards and punishments, brain activation would differ between abstinent ASD boys and comparison boys.We compared 20 abstinent adolescent male patients in treatment for ASD with 20 community controls, examining rapid event-related blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD responses during functional magnetic resonance imaging. In 90 decision trials participants chose to make either a cautious response that earned one cent, or a risky response that would either gain 5 cents or lose 10 cents; odds of losing increased as the game progressed. We also examined those times when subjects experienced wins, or separately losses, from their risky choices. We contrasted decision trials against very similar comparison trials requiring no decisions, using whole-brain BOLD-response analyses of group differences, corrected for multiple comparisons. During decision-making ASD boys showed hypoactivation in numerous brain regions robustly activated by controls, including orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, anterior cingulate, basal ganglia, insula, amygdala, hippocampus, and cerebellum. While experiencing wins, ASD boys had significantly less activity than controls in anterior cingulate, temporal regions, and cerebellum, with more activity nowhere. During losses ASD boys had significantly more activity than controls in orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, brain stem, and cerebellum, with less activity nowhere.Adolescent boys with ASD had extensive neural hypoactivity during risky decision-making, coupled with decreased activity during reward and increased activity during loss. These neural patterns may underlie the dangerous, excessive, sustained risk-taking of such boys. The findings suggest that the dysphoria, reward

Gossip Versus Punishment: The Efficiency of Reputation to Promote and Maintain Cooperation

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Wu, Junhui; Balliet, Daniel; Van Lange, Paul A. M.

2016-01-01

Prior theory suggests that reputation spreading (e.g., gossip) and punishment are two key mechanisms to promote cooperation in groups, but no behavioral research has yet examined their relative effectiveness and efficiency in promoting and maintaining cooperation. To examine these issues, we observed participants interacting in a four-round public goods game (PGG) with or without gossip and punishment options, and a subsequent two-round trust game (TG). We manipulated gossip as the option to send notes about other group members to these members’ future partners, and punishment as the option to assign deduction points to reduce other group members’ outcomes with a fee-to-fine ratio of 1:3. Findings revealed that in the four-round PGG, the option to gossip increased both cooperation and individual earnings, whereas the option to punish had no overall effect on cooperation (but a positive effect on cooperation in the last two rounds of the PGG) and significantly decreased individual earnings. Importantly, the initial option to gossip made people more trusting and trustworthy in the subsequent TG when gossip was no longer possible, compared to the no-gossip condition. Thus, we provide some initial evidence that gossip may be more effective and efficient than punishment to promote and maintain cooperation. PMID:27039896

Gossip Versus Punishment: The Efficiency of Reputation to Promote and Maintain Cooperation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Junhui; Balliet, Daniel; Van Lange, Paul A M

2016-04-04

Prior theory suggests that reputation spreading (e.g., gossip) and punishment are two key mechanisms to promote cooperation in groups, but no behavioral research has yet examined their relative effectiveness and efficiency in promoting and maintaining cooperation. To examine these issues, we observed participants interacting in a four-round public goods game (PGG) with or without gossip and punishment options, and a subsequent two-round trust game (TG). We manipulated gossip as the option to send notes about other group members to these members' future partners, and punishment as the option to assign deduction points to reduce other group members' outcomes with a fee-to-fine ratio of 1:3. Findings revealed that in the four-round PGG, the option to gossip increased both cooperation and individual earnings, whereas the option to punish had no overall effect on cooperation (but a positive effect on cooperation in the last two rounds of the PGG) and significantly decreased individual earnings. Importantly, the initial option to gossip made people more trusting and trustworthy in the subsequent TG when gossip was no longer possible, compared to the no-gossip condition. Thus, we provide some initial evidence that gossip may be more effective and efficient than punishment to promote and maintain cooperation.

Mutual punishment promotes cooperation in the spatial public goods game

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Han-Xin; Rong, Zhihai

2015-01-01

Punishment has been proved to be an effective mechanism to sustain cooperation among selfish individuals. In previous studies, punishment is unidirectional: an individual i can punish j but j cannot punish i. In this paper, we propose a mechanism of mutual punishment, in which the two individuals will punish each other if their strategies are different. Because of the symmetry in imposing the punishment, one might expect intuitively the strategy to have little effect on cooperation. Surprisingly, we find that the mutual punishment can promote cooperation in the spatial public goods game. Other pertinent quantities such as the time evolution of cooperator density and the spatial distribution of cooperators and defectors are also investigated

Punishment mechanisms and their effect on cooperation: A simulation study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Farjam, M.D.; Faillo, M.; Sprinkhuizen-Kuyper, I.G.; Haselager, W.F.G.

2015-01-01

In social dilemmas punishment costs resources, not just from the one who is punished but often also from the punisher and society. Reciprocity on the other side is known to lead to cooperation without the costs of punishment. The questions at hand are whether punishment brings advantages besides its

Tolerance-based punishment in continuous public goods game

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Gao, Jia; Li, Zhi; Cong, Rui; Wang, Long

2012-08-01

Altruistic punishment for defectors is considered as a key motive for the explanation of cooperation. However, there is no clear border between the cooperative and defective behaviors in a continuous strategy game. We propose a model to study the effect of punishment on the evolution of cooperation in continuous public goods game, wherein individuals have the traits to punish the co-players based on social tolerance. We show that a reasonable punishment with a uniform tolerance can spur individuals to make more investments. Additionally, for a fixed punishment cost and a fixed fine, a moderate value of tolerance can result in the best promotion of cooperation. Furthermore, we investigate the coevolutionary dynamics of investment and tolerance. We find that the population splits into two branches: high-tolerance individuals who make high investments and low-tolerance individuals who make low investments. A dynamic equilibrium is achieved between these two types of individuals. Our work extends punishment to continuous cooperative behaviors and the results may enhance the understanding of altruistic punishment in the evolution of human cooperation.

Peer pressure: Enhancement of cooperation through mutual punishment

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Yang, Han-Xin; Wu, Zhi-Xi; Rong, Zhihai; Lai, Ying-Cheng

2015-02-01

An open problem in evolutionary game dynamics is to understand the effect of peer pressure on cooperation in a quantitative manner. Peer pressure can be modeled by punishment, which has been proved to be an effective mechanism to sustain cooperation among selfish individuals. We investigate a symmetric punishment strategy, in which an individual will punish each neighbor if their strategies are different, and vice versa. Because of the symmetry in imposing the punishment, one might intuitively expect the strategy to have little effect on cooperation. Utilizing the prisoner's dilemma game as a prototypical model of interactions at the individual level, we find, through simulation and theoretical analysis, that proper punishment, when even symmetrically imposed on individuals, can enhance cooperation. Also, we find that the initial density of cooperators plays an important role in the evolution of cooperation driven by mutual punishment.

Boys with conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits: Neural response to reward and punishment and associations with treatment response

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy L. Byrd

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Abnormalities in reward and punishment processing are implicated in the development of conduct problems (CP, particularly among youth with callous-unemotional (CU traits. However, no studies have examined whether CP children with high versus low CU traits exhibit differences in the neural response to reward and punishment. A clinic-referred sample of CP boys with high versus low CU traits (ages 8–11; n = 37 and healthy controls (HC; n = 27 completed a fMRI task assessing reward and punishment processing. CP boys also completed a randomized control trial examining the effectiveness of an empirically-supported intervention (i.e., Stop-Now-And-Plan; SNAP. Primary analyses examined pre-treatment differences in neural activation to reward and punishment, and exploratory analyses assessed whether these differences predicted treatment outcome. Results demonstrated associations between CP and reduced amygdala activation to punishment independent of age, race, IQ and co-occurring ADHD and internalizing symptoms. CU traits were not associated with reward or punishment processing after accounting for covariates and no differences were found between CP boys with high versus low CU traits. While boys assigned to SNAP showed a greater reduction in CP, differences in neural activation were not associated with treatment response. Findings suggest that reduced sensitivity to punishment is associated with early-onset CP in boys regardless of the level of CU traits. Keywords: Conduct problems, Callous-unemotional (CU traits, Reward, Punishment, fMRI

Attitudes mediate the intergenerational transmission of corporal punishment in China.

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Wang, Fang; Wang, Meifang; Xing, Xiaopei

2018-02-01

This research aimed to examine the intergenerational transmission of corporal punishment and the role of parents' attitudes toward corporal punishment in the transmission processes in Chinese societies. Based on social-cognitive theory, it was hypothesized that parents' attitudes toward corporal punishment would mediate the transmission of corporal punishment. Seven hundred and eighty-five fathers and eight hundred and eleven mothers with elementary school-age children (data collected in winter 2009) were recruited through convenience sampling techniques. The Chinese version of Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale (CTSPC) and Attitude toward Physical Punishment Scale (ATPP) were used as the main assessment tools to measure parents' corporal punishment experiences in childhood, current use of corporal punishment and attitudes toward corporal punishment. Findings revealed that the strength of intergenerational transmission of corporal punishment was strong and parents' attitudes toward corporal punishment played a mediating role in the continuity of corporal punishment for both fathers and mothers in China. The findings highlighted the role of attitudes in the intergenerational transmission of corporal punishment within the Chinese cultural context and also suggested the need for intervention programs to focus on modification of maladaptive attitudes toward what is appropriate and effective discipline. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A New Definition of Punishment

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Hall, Philip S.

2013-01-01

Punishment is a procedure in which responses are followed by either the removal of positive reinforcement or the presentation of an aversive stimulus (Skinner, 1953) that results in a decrease in the frequency and/or intensity of the response (Azrin & Holtz, 1966). By definition, punishment seeks to stop unacceptable, unwanted, and bothersome…

Parenting and antisocial behavior: a model of the relationship between adolescent self-disclosure, parental closeness, parental control, and adolescent antisocial behavior.

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Vieno, Alessio; Nation, Maury; Pastore, Massimiliano; Santinello, Massimo

2009-11-01

This study used data collected from a sample of 840 Italian adolescents (418 boys; M age = 12.58) and their parents (657 mothers; M age = 43.78) to explore the relations between parenting, adolescent self-disclosure, and antisocial behavior. In the hypothesized model, parenting practices (e.g., parental monitoring and control) have direct effects on parental knowledge and antisocial behavior. Parenting style (e.g., parent-child closeness), on the other hand, is directly related to adolescent self-disclosure, which in turn is positively related to parental knowledge and negatively related to adolescents' antisocial behavior. A structural equation model, which incorporated data from parents and adolescents, largely supported the hypothesized model. Gender-specific models also found some gender differences among adolescents and parents, as the hypothesized model adequately fit the subsample of mothers but not fathers. Mothers' closeness to girls predicted their knowledge of their daughters' behavior; mothers' control predicted boys' antisocial behavior.

A Longitudinal Study on the Effects of Parental Monitoring on Adolescent Antisocial Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Adolescent Empathy

Science.gov (United States)

Crocetti, Elisabetta; Van der Graaff, Jolien; Moscatelli, Silvia; Keijsers, Loes; Koot, Hans M.; Rubini, Monica; Meeus, Wim; Branje, Susan

2016-01-01

In adolescence, youth antisocial behaviors reach a peak. Parents can use different strategies, such as parental solicitation and control, to monitor their children’s activities and try to prevent or reduce their antisocial behaviors. However, it is still unclear if, and for which adolescents, these parental monitoring behaviors are effective. The aim of this study was to examine if the impact of parental solicitation and control on adolescent antisocial behaviors depends on adolescent empathy. In order to comprehensively address this aim, we tested the moderating effects of multiple dimensions (affective and cognitive) of both trait and state empathy. Participants were 379 Dutch adolescents (55.9% males) involved in a longitudinal study with their fathers and mothers. At T1 (conducted when adolescents were 17-year-old) adolescents filled self-report measures of antisocial behaviors and trait empathy during one home visit, while their state empathy was rated during a laboratory session. Furthermore, parents reported their own monitoring behaviors. At T2 (conducted 1 year later, when adolescents were 18-year-old), adolescents reported again on their antisocial behaviors. Moderation analyses indicated that both affective and cognitive state empathy moderated the effects of parental solicitation on adolescent antisocial behaviors. Results highlighted that solicitation had unfavorable effects on antisocial behaviors in adolescents with high empathy whereas the opposite effect was found for adolescents with low empathy. In contrast, neither state nor trait empathy moderated the effects of control on adolescent antisocial behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. PMID:27857703

Corporal Punishment and Child Adjustment

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Aucoin, Katherine J.; Frick, Paul J.; Bodin, S. Doug

2006-01-01

The association between corporal punishment and children's emotional and behavioral functioning was studied in a sample of 98 non-referred children with a mean age of 12.35 (SD=1.72) recruited from two school systems in the southeastern United States. Children were divided into those who had experienced no corporal punishment over approximately a…

Wrath of God: religious primes and punishment.

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McKay, Ryan; Efferson, Charles; Whitehouse, Harvey; Fehr, Ernst

2011-06-22

Recent evidence indicates that priming participants with religious concepts promotes prosocial sharing behaviour. In the present study, we investigated whether religious priming also promotes the costly punishment of unfair behaviour. A total of 304 participants played a punishment game. Before the punishment stage began, participants were subliminally primed with religion primes, secular punishment primes or control primes. We found that religious primes strongly increased the costly punishment of unfair behaviours for a subset of our participants--those who had previously donated to a religious organization. We discuss two proximate mechanisms potentially underpinning this effect. The first is a 'supernatural watcher' mechanism, whereby religious participants punish unfair behaviours when primed because they sense that not doing so will enrage or disappoint an observing supernatural agent. The second is a 'behavioural priming' mechanism, whereby religious primes activate cultural norms pertaining to fairness and its enforcement and occasion behaviour consistent with those norms. We conclude that our results are consistent with dual inheritance proposals about religion and cooperation, whereby religions harness the byproducts of genetically inherited cognitive mechanisms in ways that enhance the survival prospects of their adherents.

Antisocial behaviour in children with and without callous-unemotional traits.

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Viding, Essi; Fontaine, Nathalie M G; McCrory, Eamon J

2012-05-01

More than 15 years of research have documented behavioural differences between callous-unemotional and non-callous subtypes of children with antisocial behaviour. Recent studies also suggest that children with callous-unemotional traits may be genetically vulnerable to antisocial behaviour, while those without callous-unemotional traits appear to have primarily environmental aetiology to their antisocial behaviour. Furthermore neurocognitive profiles differ between antisocial children with and without callous-unemotional traits. While the former group appears emotionally under-reactive, particularly to others' distress, the latter group may be emotionally over-reactive, particularly to perceived threat. In this review we provide an overview of the current evidence base with regard to callous-unemotional and non-callous subgroups of children with antisocial behaviour and discuss the implications of the current evidence base for prevention and intervention. This overview selectively focuses on recent advances in this area of research, as well as earlier studies where these help set the research context.

Cognitive control deficits associated with antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeier, Joshua D; Baskin-Sommers, Arielle R; Hiatt Racer, Kristina D; Newman, Joseph P

2012-07-01

Antisociality has been linked to a variety of executive functioning deficits, including poor cognitive control. Surprisingly, cognitive control deficits are rarely found in psychopathic individuals, despite their notoriously severe and persistent antisocial behavior. In fact, primary (low-anxious) psychopathic individuals display superior performance on cognitive control-type tasks under certain circumstances. To clarify these seemingly contradictory findings, we administered a response competition (i.e., flanker) task to incarcerated offenders, who were assessed for Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) symptoms and psychopathy. As hypothesized, APD related to poorer accuracy, especially on incongruent trials. Contrary to expectation, however, the same pattern of results was found in psychopathy. Additional analyses indicated that these effects of APD and psychopathy were associated with overlapping variance. The findings suggest that psychopathy and APD symptoms are both associated with deficits in cognitive control, and that this deficit relates to general antisociality as opposed to a specific antisocial syndrome. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Renewal after the punishment of free operant behavior.

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Bouton, Mark E; Schepers, Scott T

2015-01-01

Three experiments examined the role of context in punishment learning. In Experiment 1, rats were trained to lever press for food in Context A and then punished for responding in Context B (by presenting response-contingent footshock). Punishment led to complete suppression of the response. However, when responding was tested (in extinction) in Contexts A and B, a strong renewal of responding occurred in Context A. In Experiment 2, renewal also occurred when initial reinforcement occurred in Context A, punishment occurred in Context B, and testing occurred in a new context (Context C). In both experiments, behavioral suppression and renewal were not observed in groups that received noncontingent (yoked) footshocks in Context B. In Experiment 3, 2 responses (lever press and chain pull) were separately reinforced in Contexts A and B and then punished in the opposite context. Although the procedure equated the contexts on their association with reinforcement and punishment, renewal of each response was observed when it was tested in its nonpunished context. The contexts also influenced response choice. Overall, the results suggest that punishment is specific to the context in which it is learned, and establish that its context-specificity does not depend on a simple association between the context and shock. Like extinction, punishment may involve learning to inhibit a specific response in a specific context. Implications for theories of punishment and for understanding the cessation of problematic operant behavior (e.g., drug abuse) are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Shame, Guilt, and Punishment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodogno, Raffaele

2009-01-01

that this analysis enhances our understanding of the various theories of punishment that populate this part of criminal law theory and thereby sharpens the critical tools needed to assess them. My general conclusion is that, in different ways, all of the theories we encounter in this area can benefit from paying...... renewed attention to the nature of the connection between the states act of punishing and its expected or perceived emotional effect on the individual. Udgivelsesdato: 2009...

[Cognition-Emotion Interactions and Psychopathic Personality: Distinct Pathways to Antisocial and Violent Behavior].

Science.gov (United States)

Verona, Edelyn

Researchers have long acknowledged heterogeneity among persons who exhibit antisocial and violent behaviours. The study of psychopathic personality or psychopathy can help elucidate this heterogeneity through examination of the different facets that constitute this disorder. In particular, the distinct correlates of the interpersonal-affective traits (Factor 1) and the impulsive-antisocial traits (Factor 2) of psychopathy suggest at least two possible pathways to antisocial behaviours. Building on basic studies in cognitive and affective neuroscience, we provide a focused, non-comprehensive review of work identifying the biopsychological mechanisms involved in these two pathways, with special attention to studies using event-related potential (ERP) methods. In specific, a series of studies are discussed which examined affective and cognitive processes that may distinguish offenders high on psychopathic traits from other offenders, with emphasis on alterations in emotion-cognition interactions related to each factor of psychopathy. The set of findings reviewed highlight a central conclusion: Factor 1 represents a pathway involving reduced emotional responding, exacerbated by attentional abnormalities, that make for a more deliberate and emotionally insensitive offender profile. In contrast, Factor 2 characterizes a pathway marked by emotional and behavioural dysregulation and cognitive control dysfunctions, particularly in emotional contexts. Implications for identifying etiological processes and the further understanding of antisocial and violent behaviours are discussed.

Altruism in multiplayer snowdrift games with threshold and punishment

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chunyan; Liu, Zhongxin; Sun, Qinglin; Chen, Zengqiang

2015-09-01

The puzzle of cooperation attracts broader concerns of the scientific community nowadays. Here we adopt an extra mechanism of punishment in the framework of a threshold multiple-player snowdrift game employed as the scenario for the cooperation problem. Two scenarios are considered: defectors will suffer punishment regardless of the game results, and defectors will incur punishment only when the game fails. We show by analysis that given this assumption, punishing free riders can significantly influence the evolution outcomes, and the results are driven by the specific components of the punishing rule. Particularly, punishing defectors always, not only when the game fails, can be more effective for maintaining public cooperation in multi-player systems. Intriguingly larger thresholds of the game provide a more favorable scenario for the coexistence of the cooperators and defectors under a broad value range of parameters. Further, cooperators are best supported by the large punishment on defectors, and then dominate and stabilize in the population, under the premise that defectors always incur punishment regardless of whether the game ends successfully or not.

Beyond revenge: neural and genetic bases of altruistic punishment.

Science.gov (United States)

Strobel, Alexander; Zimmermann, Jan; Schmitz, Anja; Reuter, Martin; Lis, Stefanie; Windmann, Sabine; Kirsch, Peter

2011-01-01

It is still debated how altruistic punishment as one form of strong reciprocity has established during evolution and which motives may underlie such behavior. Recent neuroscientific evidence on the activation of brain reward regions during altruistic punishment in two-person one-shot exchange games suggests satisfaction through the punishment of norm violations as one underlying motive. In order to address this issue in more detail, we used fMRI during a one-shot economic exchange game that warrants strong reciprocity by introducing a third party punishment condition wherein revenge is unlikely to play a role. We report here that indeed, reward regions such as the nucleus accumbens showed punishment-related activation. Moreover, we provide preliminary evidence that genetic variation of dopamine turnover impacts similarly on punishment-related nucleus accumbens activation during both first person and third party punishment. The overall pattern of results suggests a common cognitive-affective-motivational network as the driving force for altruistic punishment, with only quantitative differences between first person and third party perspectives. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Predictors of Parental Use of Corporal Punishment in Ukraine.

Science.gov (United States)

Grogan-Kaylor, Andrew; Burlaka, Viktor; Ma, Julie; Lee, Shawna; Castillo, Berenice; Churakova, Iuliia

2018-05-01

Despite a great deal of evidence that corporal punishment is harmful, corporal punishment is still very prevalent worldwide. We examine predictors of different types of corporal punishment among Ukrainian mothers in 12 communities across Ukraine. Findings suggest that maternal spirituality, maternal coping styles, family communication, and some demographic characteristics are predictive of mothers' use of corporal punishment.

[Impulsiveness Among Short-Term Prisoners with Antisocial Personality Disorder].

Science.gov (United States)

Lang, Fabian U; Otte, Stefanie; Vasic, Nenad; Jäger, Markus; Dudeck, Manuela

2015-07-01

The study aimed to investigate the correlation between impulsiveness and the antisocial personality disorder among short-term prisoners. The impulsiveness was diagnosed by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS). Short-term prisoners with antisocial personality disorder scored significant higher marks on the BIS total scale than those without any personality disorder. In detail, they scored higher marks on each subscale regarding attentional, motor and nonplanning impulsiveness. Moderate and high effects were calculated. It is to be considered to regard impulsivity as a conceptual component of antisociality. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Antisocial features and “faking bad” : A critical note

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Niesten, I.J.M.; Nentjes, L.; Merckelbach, H.; Bernstein, D.P.

We critically review the literature on antisocial personality features and symptom fabrication (i.e., faking bad; e.g., malingering). A widespread assumption is that these constructs are intimately related. Some studies have, indeed, found that antisocial individuals score higher on instruments

Research Review: Evaluating and reformulating the developmental taxonomic theory of antisocial behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

Fairchild, Graeme; Goozen, Stephanie HM; Calder, Andrew J; Goodyer, Ian M

2013-01-01

BackgroundThe developmental taxonomic theory proposes that there are two subtypes of antisocial behaviour. The first is a neurodevelopmental disorder which emerges in early childhood and follows a life-course persistent course, whereas the second emerges in adolescence, remits in early adulthood and reflects peer processes such as mimicry of antisocial peers. The aim of this review was to evaluate the developmental taxonomic theory in the light of recent empirical research. MethodsWe conducted a comprehensive literature review comparing these subtypes of antisocial behaviour based on searches on PubMed and other scientific databases covering the period from 1993 to 2013. We focused on research encompassing psychiatric epidemiology, personality assessment, neuropsychology, neuroendocrinology, genetics, and structural and functional neuroimaging. Sixty one empirical studies were identified that investigated one of these forms of antisocial behaviour separately or explicitly compared childhood-onset and adolescence-onset forms of antisocial behaviour. ResultsEmpirical research provides support for the hypothesis that life-course persistent antisocial behaviour is a neurodevelopmental disorder which emerges in the transactions between individual vulnerabilities and environmental adversity. In contrast to the developmental taxonomic theory, however, empirical findings suggest that severe antisocial behaviour that emerges in adolescence frequently has a negative prognosis and is rarely limited to the adolescent period. In addition, both forms of antisocial behaviour are associated with emotion processing deficits, changes in brain structure and function, alterations in cortisol secretion, and atypical personality traits (such as increased callous-unemotional traits). ConclusionsWe conclude that the developmental taxonomic theory is in need of revision, as differences between life-course persistent and adolescence-onset forms of antisocial behaviour appear to be

Age, sex, and racial differences in harsh physical punishment: results from a nationally representative United States sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Taillieu, Tamara L; Afifi, Tracie O; Mota, Natalie; Keyes, Katherine M; Sareen, Jitender

2014-12-01

The purpose of this research was to examine age, sex, and racial differences in the prevalence of harsh physical punishment in childhood in a nationally representative sample of the United States. Data were from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) collected in 2004 and 2005 (n=34,653). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine age, sex, and racial differences in the prevalence of harsh physical punishment. Results suggest that the prevalence of harsh physical punishment has been decreasing among more recently born age groups; however, there appear to be sex and racial differences in this trend over time. The magnitude of the decrease appears to be stronger for males than for females. By race, the decrease in harsh physical punishment over time is only apparent among Whites; Black participants demonstrate little change over time, and harsh physical punishment seems to be increasing over time among Hispanics. Prevention and intervention efforts that educate about the links of physical punishment to negative outcomes and alternative non-physical discipline strategies may be particularly useful in reducing the prevalence of harsh physical punishment over time. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Expanding our Lens: Female Pathways to Antisocial Behavior in Adolescence and Adulthood

Science.gov (United States)

Javdani, Shabnam; Sadeh, Naomi; Verona, Edelyn

2012-01-01

Women and girls’ engagement in antisocial behavior represents a psychological issue of great concern given the radiating impact that women’s antisociality can have on individuals, families, and communities. Despite its importance and relevance for psychological science, this topic has received limited attention to date and no systematic review of risk factors exists. The present paper aims to systematically review the empirical literature informing risk factors relevant to women’s antisocial behavior, with a focus on adolescence and adulthood. Primary aims are to 1) review empirical literatures on risk factors for female antisocial behavior across multiple levels of influence (e.g., person-level characteristics, risky family factors, and gender-salient contexts) and fields of study (e.g., psychology, sociology); 2) evaluate the relevance of each factor for female antisocial behavior; and 3) incorporate an analysis of how gender at both the individual and ecological level shapes pathways to antisocial behavior in women and girls. We conclude that women’s antisocial behavior is best-understood as being influenced by person-level or individual vulnerabilities, risky family factors, and exposure to gender-salient interpersonal contexts, and underscore the importance of examining women’s antisocial behavior through an expanded lens that views gender as an individual level attribute as well as a social category that organizes the social context in ways that may promote engagement in antisocial behavior. Based on the present systematic review, an integrative pathway model is proposed toward the goal of synthesizing current knowledge and generating testable hypotheses for future research. PMID:22001339

The Dark Side of Altruistic Third-Party Punishment

Science.gov (United States)

Leibbrandt, Andreas; Lopez-Perez, Raul

2011-01-01

This article experimentally studies punishment from unaffected third parties in ten different games. The authors show that third-party punishment exhibits several features that are arguably undesirable. First, third parties punish strongly a decider if she chooses a socially efficient or a Pareto efficient allocation and becomes the richest party…

Do discriminatory pay regimes unleash antisocial behavior?

OpenAIRE

Grosch, Kerstin; Rau, Holger A.

2017-01-01

In this paper, we analyze how pay-regime procedures affect antisocial behavior at the workplace. In a real-effort experiment we vary two determinants of pay regimes: discrimination and justification of payments by performance. In our Discrimination treatment half of the workforce is randomly selected and promoted and participate in a tournament (high-income workers) whereas the other half receives no payment (lowincome workers). Afterwards, antisocial behavior is measured by a Joy-of-Destruct...

Integrating simultaneous prosocial and antisocial behavior into theories of collective action.

Science.gov (United States)

Basurto, Xavier; Blanco, Esther; Nenadovic, Mateja; Vollan, Björn

2016-03-01

Trust and cooperation constitute cornerstones of common-pool resource theory, showing that "prosocial" strategies among resource users can overcome collective action problems and lead to sustainable resource governance. Yet, antisocial behavior and especially the coexistence of prosocial and antisocial behaviors have received less attention. We broaden the analysis to include the effects of both "prosocial" and "antisocial" interactions. We do so in the context of marine protected areas (MPAs), the most prominent form of biodiversity conservation intervention worldwide. Our multimethod approach relied on lab-in-the-field economic experiments (n = 127) in two MPA and two non-MPA communities in Baja California, Mexico. In addition, we deployed a standardized fishers' survey (n = 544) to verify the external validity of our findings and expert informant interviews (n = 77) to develop potential explanatory mechanisms. In MPA sites, prosocial and antisocial behavior is significantly higher, and the presence of antisocial behavior does not seem to have a negative effect on prosocial behavior. We suggest that market integration, economic diversification, and strengthened group identity in MPAs are the main potential mechanisms for the simultaneity of prosocial and antisocial behavior we observed. This study constitutes a first step in better understanding the interaction between prosociality and antisociality as related to natural resources governance and conservation science, integrating literatures from social psychology, evolutionary anthropology, behavioral economics, and ecology.

Maternal depression and co-occurring antisocial behaviour: testing maternal hostility and warmth as mediators of risk for offspring psychopathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Sellers, Ruth; Harold, Gordon T; Elam, Kit; Rhoades, Kimberly A; Potter, Robert; Mars, Becky; Craddock, Nick; Thapar, Anita; Collishaw, Stephan

2014-01-01

Disruption in the parent-child relationship is a commonly hypothesized risk factor through which maternal depression may increase risk for offspring psychopathology. However, maternal depression is commonly accompanied by other psychopathology, including antisocial behaviour. Few studies have examined the role of co-occurring psychopathology in depressed mothers. Using a longitudinal study of offspring of mothers with recurrent depression, we aimed to test whether maternal warmth/hostility mediated links between maternal depression severity and child outcomes, and how far direct and indirect pathways were robust to controls for co-occurring maternal antisocial behaviour. Mothers with a history of recurrent major depressive disorder and their adolescent offspring (9-17 years at baseline) were assessed three times between 2007 and 2010. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing their own depression severity and antisocial behaviour at Time 1 (T1). The parent-child relationship was assessed using parent-rated questionnaire and interviewer-rated 5-min speech sample at Time 2 (T2). Offspring symptoms of depression and disruptive behaviours were assessed using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment at Time 3 (T3). Maternal hostility and warmth, respectively, mediated the association between maternal depression severity and risk for offspring psychopathology. However, the effects were attenuated when maternal antisocial behaviour was included in the analysis. In tests of the full theoretical model, maternal antisocial behaviour predicted both maternal hostility and low warmth, maternal hostility predicted offspring disruptive behaviour disorder symptoms, but not depression, and maternal warmth was not associated with either child outcome. Parenting interventions aimed at reducing hostility may be beneficial for preventing or reducing adolescent disruptive behaviours in offspring of depressed mothers, especially when depressed mothers report co

ACE inhibitors could be therapeutic for antisocial personality disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Hobgood, Donna K

2013-11-01

Antisocial personality traits are an important topic for research. The societal cost of these behaviors encourages efforts at a better understanding of central nervous system causes. Catecholamine genes are being studied to facilitate this understanding, and some tentative findings are being reached about several of these genes. It seems that many genes play a role to produce antisocial behaviors so complexity of elucidating each gene is obvious. One conclusion that could be drawn from the current research findings is that DA2 like receptors (DRD2, DRD3, DRD4) with alleles that decrease neurotransmission are facilitatory of antisocial behaviors. DA2 like receptors cause neuronal firing to inhibit many peripheral functions through adenylyl cyclase inhibition. When these receptors are less active by genetically decreased density, lower affinity, or by low dopamine levels as final common pathways then inhibition is released and a state of disinhibition can be said to describe this state. Peripheral metabolism is increased and behavioral activation is noted. Renin is disinhibited in this setting thus allowing sympathetic nervous system activation. The fight or flight behaviors thus produced, in the extreme, would be the setting of antisocial behavior. Research validates this hypothesis. Understanding this final common pathway toward antisocial behavior should lead to better treatment for individuals with this pattern of behavior before they have caused harm to themselves and others. ACE inhibitors are well tolerated drugs used in the treatment of hypertension and heart failure and would also treat antisocial behavior disorders. Copyright © 2013 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Punishment-induced fear modifies the daily course of yawning in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Moyaho, Alejandro; Valencia, Jaime

2010-01-01

A challenge in the study of yawning behavior is understanding the way external factors may modify it. This study investigated whether response-dependent punishment or random punishment decreased yawning by the application of buzzer noise paired with electric shocks in a high-yawning strain of Sprague-Dawley male rats. Yawn rate increased daily in response to the experimental cage, and also to the buzzer noise. Two alternate periods of no punishment and punishment were followed by a final period of buzzer noise occurring alone. Punishment did not diminish yawning significantly in either condition although the yawn rate increased in the following period of no punishment and in the buzzer-noise period, relative to the period of yawn-dependent punishment. Yawn rate increased in the buzzer-noise period relative to the first period of no punishment and first period of random punishment. These findings indicate that there are constraints that impede the suppression of yawning using punishment, and that yawning is a delayed response to fear produced by response-dependent punishment. Copyright 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Law & psychiatry: punishing juveniles who kill.

Science.gov (United States)

Appelbaum, Paul S

2012-10-01

Punishment of juvenile murderers forces policy makers to weigh the developmental immaturity of adolescents against the heinousness of their crimes. The U.S. Supreme Court has progressively limited the severity of punishments that can be imposed on juveniles, holding that their impulsivity, susceptibility to peer pressure, and more fluid character render them less culpable for their actions. Having eliminated the death penalty as a punishment, the Court recently struck down mandatory life sentences without prospect of parole. The decision is interesting for its emphasis on rehabilitation, opening the door to further restrictions on punitive sentences for juveniles-and perhaps for adults too.

Corporal punishment in schools: myths, problems and alternatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Dubanoski, R A; Inaba, M; Gerkewicz, K

1983-01-01

In many countries, corporal punishment of school children continues to be an officially or unofficially sanctioned form of institutional child abuse. Continuing support for the use of corporal punishment is related to the following factors: (1) widely held beliefs regarding the effectiveness of corporal punishment, (2) an unawareness of problems resulting from the use of physical punishment, and (3) a lack of knowledge about effective disciplinary alternatives. The purpose of this paper is threefold: One is to show that many of the beliefs are myths, e.g., corporal punishment is not needed to build character. The second purpose is to show that physical punishment can lead to more problems than it appears to solve, e.g., the punitive teacher is avoided, and thus, is not a positive factor in the child's education and development. The third purpose is to discuss two types of alternatives to punishment, the social learning approach and communication skills training. These positive methods of discipline not only enhance classroom behavior, but also facilitate learning. In an atmosphere free of abusing and demeaning acts and in a classroom characterized by positive mutual regard, teachers can maximize their effectiveness as teachers and students can maximize their effectiveness as learners.

Corporal punishment in South African schools : a neglected ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The South African education system historically has used corporal punishment to maintain discipline. Criticism of its effects led, in 1996, to the banning of this form of punishment. But this legislative intervention did not end the use of corporal punishment in schools. This article offers an explanation for the ongoing use of ...

A comparison of latent profiles in antisocial male offenders

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Driessen, J.M.A.; Fanti, k.A.; Glennon, J.C.; Neumann, C.S.; Baskin-Sommers, A.R.; Brazil, I.A.

2018-01-01

Purpose: Within forensic settings, the tools used to evaluate subtypes of antisocial offenders (e.g. interview-based measures such as the Psychopathy Checklist) are expensive and time consuming. The purpose of the present study was to identify and validate distinct antisocial profiles in male

Moral emotions associated with prosocial and antisocial behavior in school-aged children.

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz Barón, María J; Etxebarria Bilbao, Itziar; Apodaca Urquijo, Pedro; Conejero López, Susana; Pascual Jimeno, Aitziber

2018-02-01

The present study aims to explore the main effects and interactive effects of empathy, guilt, shame, pride (authentic and hubristic), and moral pride, on prosocial and antisocial behavior in children. The sample group comprised 351 children aged between 10 and 14 selected from four schools in the Basque Country (Spain). Hierarchical multiple regression models were used in the statistical analyses. Prosocial behavior was found to be predicted by the additive interaction between empathy and moral pride, by guilt and, to a lesser extent and negatively, by shame. In relation to antisocial behavior, children with a strong disposition to guilt scored lower for antisocial behavior, regardless of their empathy levels. Nevertheless, the combination of low empathy and low guilt levels was associated with highest antisocial behavior scores. As regards shame, this emotion was moderately associated with antisocial behavior. By exploring interactions the present study provided a more nuanced view of the emotional factors associated with children´s prosocial and antisocial behavior.

Self-Punishment Promotes Forgiveness in the Direct and Indirect Reciprocity Contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Ruida; Shen, Xueyi; Tang, Honghong; Ye, Peixia; Wang, Huagen; Mai, Xiaoqin; Liu, Chao

2017-06-01

Most previous studies regarding self-punishment have focused on the correlation between moral emotion and self-punishment. Only a few studies have attempted to understand self-punishment from the perspective of seeking forgiveness, and no study has yet directly tested whether wrongdoers' self-punishment promotes others to forgive the wrongdoers. In three studies, the participants judged the wrongdoers' self-punishment behaviors following an unfair allocation and reported the extent to which they forgave the wrongdoers. The results demonstrated that self-punishment did promote forgiveness in both the direct (Studies 1 and 2) and indirect reciprocity (Study 3) contexts. Consistent with costly signaling theory, the costlier the self-punishment was, the stronger the effect it had on forgiveness. Moreover, communicative self-punishment had a better effect than silent self-punishment when the cost was relatively high in the direct-reciprocity studies. These findings can guide us regarding how to address a damaged relationship via self-punishment when compensation is not feasible or acceptable.

Coevolution between positive reciprocity, punishment, and partner switching in repeated interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wubs, Matthias; Bshary, Redouan; Lehmann, Laurent

2016-06-15

Cooperation based on mutual investments can occur between unrelated individuals when they are engaged in repeated interactions. Individuals then need to use a conditional strategy to deter their interaction partners from defecting. Responding to defection such that the future payoff of a defector is reduced relative to cooperating with it is called a partner control mechanism. Three main partner control mechanisms are (i) to switch from cooperation to defection when being defected ('positive reciprocity'), (ii) to actively reduce the payoff of a defecting partner ('punishment'), or (iii) to stop interacting and switch partner ('partner switching'). However, such mechanisms to stabilize cooperation are often studied in isolation from each other. In order to better understand the conditions under which each partner control mechanism tends to be favoured by selection, we here analyse by way of individual-based simulations the coevolution between positive reciprocity, punishment, and partner switching. We show that random interactions in an unstructured population and a high number of rounds increase the likelihood that selection favours partner switching. In contrast, interactions localized in small groups (without genetic structure) increase the likelihood that selection favours punishment and/or positive reciprocity. This study thus highlights the importance of comparing different control mechanisms for cooperation under different conditions. © 2016 The Author(s).

Heritability of antisocial behaviour

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kretschmer, Tina; DeLisi, Matt

2016-01-01

This chapter reviews important strands of research on the heritability of antisocial behavior and crime, including both quantitative genetic studies using twin or adoption designs as well as molecular genetic approaches. Study designs are introduced and findings discussed. Contemporary avenues

Research on Corporal Punishment Effectiveness: Contributions and Limitations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hapkiewicz, Walter G.

A review of research literature on corporal punishment reveals that the incidence of corporal punishment has increased over the last twenty years and that it is widely used in some local school districts. Because it is limited by ethical problems, research cannot answer many questions about the direct and indirect effects of corporal punishment.…

Punishing the enemies of all mankind

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smeulers, A.L.

2008-01-01

How do we and how should we punish perpetrators of international crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide? Is it fair to hold individuals responsible for their role in manifestations of this type of collective violence? Do the punishments issued by international criminal

Antisocial personality disorder with and without antecedent childhood conduct disorder: does it make a difference?

Science.gov (United States)

Walters, Glenn D; Knight, Raymond A

2010-04-01

The purpose of this study was to test whether prior conduct disorder increased deviance in persons diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. One hundred and three male inmates satisfying adult antisocial and conduct disorder criteria for antisocial personality disorder achieved significantly higher scores on self-report measures of criminal thinking and antisocial attitudes than 137 male inmates satisfying only the adult criteria for antisocial personality disorder and 87 male nonantisocial inmates. Inmates satisfying adult antisocial and conduct disorder criteria for antisocial personality disorder were also more likely to receive disciplinary infractions for misconduct than inmates in the other two conditions. The theoretical, diagnostic, and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Rationality alters the rank between peer punishment and social exclusion

Science.gov (United States)

Sui, Xiukai; Wu, Bin; Wang, Long

2018-02-01

Peer punishment and social exclusion are two ways to punish free-riders. Previous work usually focuses on how their presence, either peer punishment or social exclusion, shapes the evolution of cooperation. Little attention has been given to which of these two strategies is favored by natural selection when they are both present. Here we investigate how rationality alters the ranking of these two strategies. Under weak rationality, for compulsory public goods games, peer punishment has an evolutionary advantage over social exclusion if the efficiency of punishment or the cost of exclusion is high. Furthermore, this rank is preserved for voluntary public goods games where loners are involved. Under strong rationality, however, peer punishment cannot prevail over social exclusion for both compulsory and voluntary public goods games. This indicates that rationality greatly alters the rank between peer punishment and social exclusion. Moreover, we find that this ranking is sensitive to the rationality. Our work thus gives an insight into how different types of punishment evolve.

Multidimensional Model of Trauma and Correlated Antisocial Personality Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Martens, Willem H. J.

2005-01-01

Many studies have revealed an important relationship between psychosocial trauma and antisocial personality disorder. A multidimensional model is presented which describes the psychopathological route from trauma to antisocial development. A case report is also included that can illustrate the etiological process from trauma to severe antisocial…

Gene variants associated with antisocial behaviour: a latent variable approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Bentley, Mary Jane; Lin, Haiqun; Fernandez, Thomas V; Lee, Maria; Yrigollen, Carolyn M; Pakstis, Andrew J; Katsovich, Liliya; Olds, David L; Grigorenko, Elena L; Leckman, James F

2013-10-01

The aim of this study was to determine if a latent variable approach might be useful in identifying shared variance across genetic risk alleles that is associated with antisocial behaviour at age 15 years. Using a conventional latent variable approach, we derived an antisocial phenotype in 328 adolescents utilizing data from a 15-year follow-up of a randomized trial of a prenatal and infancy nurse-home visitation programme in Elmira, New York. We then investigated, via a novel latent variable approach, 450 informative genetic polymorphisms in 71 genes previously associated with antisocial behaviour, drug use, affiliative behaviours and stress response in 241 consenting individuals for whom DNA was available. Haplotype and Pathway analyses were also performed. Eight single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from eight genes contributed to the latent genetic variable that in turn accounted for 16.0% of the variance within the latent antisocial phenotype. The number of risk alleles was linearly related to the latent antisocial variable scores. Haplotypes that included the putative risk alleles for all eight genes were also associated with higher latent antisocial variable scores. In addition, 33 SNPs from 63 of the remaining genes were also significant when added to the final model. Many of these genes interact on a molecular level, forming molecular networks. The results support a role for genes related to dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, glutamate, opioid and cholinergic signalling as well as stress response pathways in mediating susceptibility to antisocial behaviour. This preliminary study supports use of relevant behavioural indicators and latent variable approaches to study the potential 'co-action' of gene variants associated with antisocial behaviour. It also underscores the cumulative relevance of common genetic variants for understanding the aetiology of complex behaviour. If replicated in future studies, this approach may allow the identification of a

Constitutional Liberty and the Progression of Punishment

OpenAIRE

Smith, Robert; Robinson, Zoe

2018-01-01

102 Cornell L. Rev. 413 (2017) The Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment has long been interpreted by scholars and judges to provide very limited protections for criminal defendants. This understanding of the Eighth Amendment claims that the prohibition is operationalized mostly to prevent torturous methods of punishment or halt the isolated use of a punishment practice that has fallen into long-term disuse. This Article challenges these assumptions. It argues that wh...

The Dark Side of Personality: Anti-Sociality Increases Strategic Game Play

OpenAIRE

Engelmann, Jan; Schmid, Basil; Chumbley, Justin; Fehr, Ernst

2018-01-01

We assess the role of anti-social personality traits in explaining heterogeneity in commonly observed social preferences. We identified a personality profile that clearly reflects anti-social personality characteristics, with high positive loadings on Machiavellianism and high negative loadings on empathy, trustworthiness and agreeableness. Anti-sociality predicts decision strategies in a manner that is consistent with its name: significantly lower levels of trust and decreased trustworthines...

Teammate Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviors Predict Task Cohesion and Burnout: The Mediating Role of Affect.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Yaaribi, Ali; Kavussanu, Maria

2017-06-01

The manner in which teammates behave toward each other when playing sport could have important achievement-related consequences. However, this issue has received very little research attention. In this study, we investigated whether (a) prosocial and antisocial teammate behaviors predict task cohesion and burnout, and (b) positive and negative affect mediates these relationships. In total, 272 (M age  = 21.86, SD = 4.36) team-sport players completed a multisection questionnaire assessing the aforementioned variables. Structural equation modeling indicated that prosocial teammate behavior positively predicted task cohesion and negatively predicted burnout, and these relationships were mediated by positive affect. The reverse pattern of relationships was observed for antisocial teammate behavior which negatively predicted task cohesion and positively predicted burnout, and these relationships were mediated by negative affect. Our findings underscore the importance of promoting prosocial and reducing antisocial behaviors in sport and highlight the role of affect in explaining the identified relationships.

I dare you to punish me-vendettas in games of cooperation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katrin Fehl

Full Text Available Everybody has heard of neighbours, who have been fighting over some minor topic for years. The fight goes back and forth, giving the neighbours a hard time. These kind of reciprocal punishments are known as vendettas and they are a cross-cultural phenomenon. In evolutionary biology, punishment is seen as a mechanism for maintaining cooperative behaviour. However, this notion of punishment excludes vendettas. Vendettas pose a special kind of evolutionary problem: they incur high costs on individuals, i.e. costs of punishing and costs of being punished, without any benefits. Theoretically speaking, punishment should be rare in dyadic relationships and vendettas would not evolve under natural selection. In contrast, punishment is assumed to be more efficient in group environments which then can pave the way for vendettas. Accordingly, we found that under the experimental conditions of a prisoner's dilemma game, human participants punished only rarely and vendettas are scarce. In contrast, we found that participants retaliated frequently in the group environment of a public goods game. They even engaged in cost-intense vendettas (i.e. continuous retaliation, especially when the first punishment was unjustified or ambiguous. Here, punishment was mainly targeted at defectors in the beginning, but provocations led to mushrooming of counter-punishments. Despite the counter-punishing behaviour, participants were able to enhance cooperation levels in the public goods game. Few participants even seemed to anticipate the outbreak of costly vendettas and delayed their punishment to the last possible moment. Overall, our results highlight the importance of different social environments while studying punishment as a cooperation-enhancing mechanism.

I dare you to punish me-vendettas in games of cooperation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fehl, Katrin; Sommerfeld, Ralf D; Semmann, Dirk; Krambeck, Hans-Jürgen; Milinski, Manfred

2012-01-01

Everybody has heard of neighbours, who have been fighting over some minor topic for years. The fight goes back and forth, giving the neighbours a hard time. These kind of reciprocal punishments are known as vendettas and they are a cross-cultural phenomenon. In evolutionary biology, punishment is seen as a mechanism for maintaining cooperative behaviour. However, this notion of punishment excludes vendettas. Vendettas pose a special kind of evolutionary problem: they incur high costs on individuals, i.e. costs of punishing and costs of being punished, without any benefits. Theoretically speaking, punishment should be rare in dyadic relationships and vendettas would not evolve under natural selection. In contrast, punishment is assumed to be more efficient in group environments which then can pave the way for vendettas. Accordingly, we found that under the experimental conditions of a prisoner's dilemma game, human participants punished only rarely and vendettas are scarce. In contrast, we found that participants retaliated frequently in the group environment of a public goods game. They even engaged in cost-intense vendettas (i.e. continuous retaliation), especially when the first punishment was unjustified or ambiguous. Here, punishment was mainly targeted at defectors in the beginning, but provocations led to mushrooming of counter-punishments. Despite the counter-punishing behaviour, participants were able to enhance cooperation levels in the public goods game. Few participants even seemed to anticipate the outbreak of costly vendettas and delayed their punishment to the last possible moment. Overall, our results highlight the importance of different social environments while studying punishment as a cooperation-enhancing mechanism.

I Dare You to Punish Me—Vendettas in Games of Cooperation

Science.gov (United States)

Fehl, Katrin; Sommerfeld, Ralf D.; Semmann, Dirk; Krambeck, Hans-Jürgen; Milinski, Manfred

2012-01-01

Everybody has heard of neighbours, who have been fighting over some minor topic for years. The fight goes back and forth, giving the neighbours a hard time. These kind of reciprocal punishments are known as vendettas and they are a cross-cultural phenomenon. In evolutionary biology, punishment is seen as a mechanism for maintaining cooperative behaviour. However, this notion of punishment excludes vendettas. Vendettas pose a special kind of evolutionary problem: they incur high costs on individuals, i.e. costs of punishing and costs of being punished, without any benefits. Theoretically speaking, punishment should be rare in dyadic relationships and vendettas would not evolve under natural selection. In contrast, punishment is assumed to be more efficient in group environments which then can pave the way for vendettas. Accordingly, we found that under the experimental conditions of a prisoner’s dilemma game, human participants punished only rarely and vendettas are scarce. In contrast, we found that participants retaliated frequently in the group environment of a public goods game. They even engaged in cost-intense vendettas (i.e. continuous retaliation), especially when the first punishment was unjustified or ambiguous. Here, punishment was mainly targeted at defectors in the beginning, but provocations led to mushrooming of counter-punishments. Despite the counter-punishing behaviour, participants were able to enhance cooperation levels in the public goods game. Few participants even seemed to anticipate the outbreak of costly vendettas and delayed their punishment to the last possible moment. Overall, our results highlight the importance of different social environments while studying punishment as a cooperation-enhancing mechanism. PMID:23028776

Attitudes of Kuwaiti parents toward physical punishment of children.

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Qasem, F S; Mustafa, A A; Kazem, N A; Shah, N M

1998-12-01

The major aim was to describe parental attitudes to physical punishments and examine their sociodemographic correlates. A related aim was to assess the association of parents' own experience of physical punishment with attitudes to punishment of children. A cross-sectional survey was conducted during the second week of December, 1996 in five general clinics covering the major administrative areas of Kuwait: 337 Kuwaiti mothers and fathers with at least one living child were contacted; 95% were successfully interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Eighty-six percent of parents agreed with physical punishment as a means of child disciplining. Agreement with punishment was higher in case of serious misbehaviors such as stealing (63%), sniffing glue and using drugs (77%). Multiple regression results showed that parent's lower level of education and Bedouin ethnicity were positively associated with agreement on physical punishment. Larger percentages of parents who had experienced physical punishments themselves agreed with such punishment to discipline their children, but this was not statistically significant. In recent years education has become widespread for both sexes. An inverse association between educational level and agreement on physical beating suggest that attitudes to this form of child disciplining are changing. Those with a Bedouin ethnic background still adhere more strictly to the traditional forms of child disciplining including physical beating. There is a need for conducting research on the possible negative psychosocial impacts of physical punishment in view of findings from other countries.

Against the Corporal Punishment of Children

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Clark, John

2004-01-01

John Wilson suggests there are six advantages for corporal punishment: cheap and easy to administer, effective deterrent, effective reform, adjustable pain, fair because of similar dislike of pain, no permanent damage. None of these survive close scrutiny. An alternative, deontological argument against corporal punishment is proposed building on…

An economic experiment reveals that humans prefer pool punishment to maintain the commons

Science.gov (United States)

Traulsen, Arne; Röhl, Torsten; Milinski, Manfred

2012-01-01

Punishment can stabilize costly cooperation and ensure the success of a common project that is threatened by free-riders. Punishment mechanisms can be classified into pool punishment, where the punishment act is carried out by a paid third party, (e.g. a police system or a sheriff), and peer punishment, where the punishment act is carried out by peers. Which punishment mechanism is preferred when both are concurrently available within a society? In an economic experiment, we show that the majority of subjects choose pool punishment, despite being costly even in the absence of defectors, when second-order free-riders, cooperators that do not punish, are also punished. Pool punishers are mutually enforcing their support for the punishment organization, stably trapping each other. Our experimental results show how organized punishment could have displaced individual punishment in human societies. PMID:22764167

Expressed emotion and its relationship to adolescent depression and antisocial behavior in northern Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Lue, Bee-Horng; Wu, Wen-Chi; Yen, Lee-Lan

2010-02-01

Despite widespread recognition of the occurrence of antisocial behavior and depression in adolescents, the specifics of the relationship between them have not been clarified. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of expressed emotion as a proximal factor for depression and antisocial behavior among adolescents, by looking at direct and indirect relationships. Secondary data analysis using path analysis was carried out on 2004 data from the Child and Adolescent Behaviors in Long-term Evaluation project. The study sample consisted of 1599 seventh-grade students in Northern Taiwan. Variables included family factors, personal factors (sex and academic performance), expressed emotion [emotional involvement (EI) and perceived criticism (PC)], depression, and antisocial behavior. We found that one dimension of expressed emotion, PC, directly influenced student depression and related indirectly to antisocial behavior. Depression was an important mediator between PC and antisocial behavior. Another dimension, EI, did not influence either depression or antisocial behavior. Sex was related directly to expressed emotion, depression, and antisocial behavior, and also indirectly to antisocial behavior through PC and depression. Academic performance was related directly to expressed emotion and indirectly to antisocial behavior through PC and depression. Greater PC from parents directly contributed to higher levels of student depression and was related indirectly to more student antisocial behavior. It is suggested that parents should decrease overly critical parenting styles to promote adolescent mental health and avoid the development of antisocial behavior. (c) 2010 Formosan Medical Association & Elsevier. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stimulus variation as a means of enhancing punishment effects.

OpenAIRE

Charlop, M H; Burgio, L D; Iwata, B A; Ivancic, M T

1988-01-01

We compared the effects of varied punishers (presentation of one of three available punishers) with the single presentation of one of the punishers on the occurrence of inappropriate behaviors with three developmentally delayed children. Two children were presented with varied-punisher conditions in which either overcorrection, time-out, or a verbal "no" was presented contingent upon inappropiate behavior. A loud noise was substituted for overcorrection for a third child. Results of the multi...

Research review: evaluating and reformulating the developmental taxonomic theory of antisocial behaviour.

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Fairchild, Graeme; van Goozen, Stephanie H M; Calder, Andrew J; Goodyer, Ian M

2013-09-01

The developmental taxonomic theory proposes that there are two subtypes of antisocial behaviour. The first is a neurodevelopmental disorder which emerges in early childhood and follows a life-course persistent course, whereas the second emerges in adolescence, remits in early adulthood and reflects peer processes such as mimicry of antisocial peers. The aim of this review was to evaluate the developmental taxonomic theory in the light of recent empirical research. We conducted a comprehensive literature review comparing these subtypes of antisocial behaviour based on searches on PubMed and other scientific databases covering the period from 1993 to 2013. We focused on research encompassing psychiatric epidemiology, personality assessment, neuropsychology, neuroendocrinology, genetics, and structural and functional neuroimaging. Sixty one empirical studies were identified that investigated one of these forms of antisocial behaviour separately or explicitly compared childhood-onset and adolescence-onset forms of antisocial behaviour. Empirical research provides support for the hypothesis that life-course persistent antisocial behaviour is a neurodevelopmental disorder which emerges in the transactions between individual vulnerabilities and environmental adversity. In contrast to the developmental taxonomic theory, however, empirical findings suggest that severe antisocial behaviour that emerges in adolescence frequently has a negative prognosis and is rarely limited to the adolescent period. In addition, both forms of antisocial behaviour are associated with emotion processing deficits, changes in brain structure and function, alterations in cortisol secretion, and atypical personality traits (such as increased callous-unemotional traits). We conclude that the developmental taxonomic theory is in need of revision, as differences between life-course persistent and adolescence-onset forms of antisocial behaviour appear to be quantitative, rather than qualitative, in

The Genetic and Psychophysiolgical Basis of Antisocial Behavior: Implications for Counseling and Therapy.

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Raine, Adrian; Dunkin, Jennifer J.

1990-01-01

Argues that an understanding of the genetic and psychophysiological basis of crime and antisocial behavior has important implications for counselors dealing with antisocial behavior. Contends that psychophysiological factors interact with social factors in producing antisocial behaviors. (Author/ABL)

The Ethics of Proportionate Punishment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ryberg, Jesper

The book deals with the question of how severely criminals should be punished for their crimes. It provides a critical investigation of a fundamental principle in penal theory and practice: the principle of proportionality.......The book deals with the question of how severely criminals should be punished for their crimes. It provides a critical investigation of a fundamental principle in penal theory and practice: the principle of proportionality....

Integrating simultaneous prosocial and antisocial behavior into theories of collective action

OpenAIRE

Basurto, Xavier; Blanco, Esther; Nenadovic, Mateja; Vollan, Bj?rn

2016-01-01

Trust and cooperation constitute cornerstones of common-pool resource theory, showing that ?prosocial? strategies among resource users can overcome collective action problems and lead to sustainable resource governance. Yet, antisocial behavior and especially the coexistence of prosocial and antisocial behaviors have received less attention. We broaden the analysis to include the effects of both ?prosocial? and ?antisocial? interactions. We do so in the context of marine protected areas (MPAs...

Conceptualising Animal Abuse with an Antisocial Behaviour Framework

OpenAIRE

Eleonora Gullone

2011-01-01

Simple Summary There is increasing acceptance of the links between animal abuse and aggressive or antisocial behaviours toward humans. Nevertheless, researchers and other professionals continue to call for methodologically sound empirical research amongst claims that current animal abuse research is methodologically limited. Below, I argue that current conceptualizations of antisocial and aggressive human behavior logically incorporate animal abuse. Given that the body of empirical evidence a...

Neurological soft signs in antisocial men and relation with psychopathy.

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Demirel, Omer Faruk; Demirel, Aysegul; Kadak, Muhammed Tayyib; Emül, Murat; Duran, Alaattin

2016-06-30

Neurological soft signs (NSS) were studied in some axis-I disorders like schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, alcohol and substance abuse disorder. Aim of this study is detection of neurological soft signs in antisocial personality disorder and relation of these signs with psychopathy. The study was included 41 antisocial men and 41 healthy control subjects. Sociodemographic form, neurological evaluation scale and Hare psychopathy checklist was applied to the antisocial subjects, whereas sociodemographic form and neurological evaluation scale were applied to the controls. Antisocial men exhibited significiantly more NSS in total score and subgroups scales (ppsychopathy scores and NSS sequencing complex motor tasks (r=0.309; p=0.049) and NSS other tests subgroup scores (r=0.328; p=0.037). Similar relation was also observed in comparison between psychopathy subgroups. NSS accepted as being endophenotypes in schizophrenia, were also detected in antisocial group significantly more than controls in our study. Significant relationship between psychopathy and NSS may also hint the role of genetic mechanisms in personality development, though new extended studies with larger sample size are needed for clarification of this relationship. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alternatives to Using Exercise as Punishment

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Rosenthal, Maura; Pagnano-Richardson, Karen; Burak, Lydia

2010-01-01

Although the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and other governing bodies discourage coaches and teachers from using exercise as punishment, its use is still fairly widespread. In order to better understand why coaches and teachers use exercise as punishment, this article examines some of the findings from a recent study (Burak…

Four factors of impulsivity differentiate antisocial and borderline personality disorders.

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DeShong, Hilary L; Kurtz, John E

2013-04-01

Impulsivity is a shared criterion for the diagnosis of antisocial and borderline personality disorders, and this link may account for the high comorbidity rates between the two disorders. The current study aimed to differentiate between borderline and antisocial personality disorders using the four factors of impulsivity identified by Whiteside and Lynam (2001). Five hundred thirty-six undergraduate participants completed the personality assessment inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991) to assess borderline and antisocial personality features and the NEO personality inventory, third edition (NEO-PI-3; McCrae & Costa, 2010) to assess the four factors of impulsivity. Results indicate that negative urgency and lack of perseverance were significantly and uniquely related to borderline features, while sensation seeking and lack of premeditation were significantly and uniquely related to antisocial features. The implications of these results for improved differential diagnosis are discussed.

Childhood and Adolescent Television Viewing and Antisocial Behavior in Early Adulthood

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Lindsay A.; McAnally, Helena M.

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether excessive television viewing throughout childhood and adolescence is associated with increased antisocial behavior in early adulthood. METHODS: We assessed a birth cohort of 1037 individuals born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972–1973, at regular intervals from birth to age 26 years. We used regression analysis to investigate the associations between television viewing hours from ages 5 to 15 years and criminal convictions, violent convictions, diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, and aggressive personality traits in early adulthood. RESULTS: Young adults who had spent more time watching television during childhood and adolescence were significantly more likely to have a criminal conviction, a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, and more aggressive personality traits compared with those who viewed less television. The associations were statistically significant after controlling for sex IQ, socioeconomic status, previous antisocial behavior, and parental control. The associations were similar for both sexes, indicating that the relationship between television viewing and antisocial behavior is similar for male and female viewers. CONCLUSIONS: Excessive television viewing in childhood and adolescence is associated with increased antisocial behavior in early adulthood. The findings are consistent with a causal association and support the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation that children should watch no more than 1 to 2 hours of television each day. PMID:23420910

Avoiding Corporal Punishment in School: Issues for School Counselors.

Science.gov (United States)

Forness, Steven R.; Sinclair, Esther

1984-01-01

Focuses on the legal status and societal values that promote the use of corporal punishment in public schools, and on the role of the elementary school counselor in helping teachers deal with punishment. Discusses factors affecting the effectiveness of punishment and suggests alternatives. (JAC)

Leading Character?s Antisocial Personality Disorder In James B Stewart?s Blind Eye

OpenAIRE

Lestari, Ayu

2016-01-01

110705043 The title of this thesis isLeading Character?s Antisocial Personality Disorder in James B Stewart?s Blind Eyethat is research about antisocial personality of leading character in the novel, namely Dr. Michael Swango. The purpose of this thesis is to find out characteristic of Swango that show he has antisocial personality disorder and to know the causes of his disorder. The writer refers to theory antisocial personality disorder that take in a research of APA (American Psychiatri...

Competitions between prosocial exclusions and punishments in finite populations

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Linjie; Chen, Xiaojie; Szolnoki, Attila

2017-04-01

Prosocial punishment has been proved to be a powerful mean to promote cooperation. Recent studies have found that social exclusion, which indeed can be regarded as a kind of punishment, can also support cooperation. However, if prosocial punishment and exclusion are both present, it is still unclear which strategy is more advantageous to curb free-riders. Here we first study the direct competition between different types of punishment and exclusion. We find that pool (peer) exclusion can always outperform pool (peer) punishment both in the optional and in the compulsory public goods game, no matter whether second-order sanctioning is considered or not. Furthermore, peer exclusion does better than pool exclusion both in the optional and in the compulsory game, but the situation is reversed in the presence of second-order exclusion. Finally, we extend the competition among all possible sanctioning strategies and find that peer exclusion can outperform all other strategies in the absence of second-order exclusion and punishment, while pool exclusion prevails when second-order sanctioning is possible. Our results demonstrate that exclusion is a more powerful strategy than punishment for the resolution of social dilemmas.

Changing public attitudes towards corporal punishment: the effects of statutory reform in Sweden.

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Roberts, J V

2000-08-01

One justification for a statutory ban on physical punishment is that passage of such legislation changes public attitudes towards the use of this form of parental discipline. The experience in Sweden is often cited as an example of legislation which changed public opinion. The aim of this brief article is to review the public opinion findings in Sweden in order to evaluate in greater detail the impact of changing the law. A search was conducted to generate all published and publicly-available quantitative surveys of the public in Sweden and elsewhere. The results of time-series analysis of the data are clear. The 1979 legal reform in Sweden did not reduce the level of public support for parental use of corporal punishment as a means of disciplining children. Support for physical punishment began declining years before the reform was passed and the decline was in no way accelerated by the law reform. Changes in public opinion may have generated the legal reform, but the reverse is not true. Data from other jurisdictions also support the view that there is no relationship between the status of the law and the nature of public views with regard to corporal punishment. This result is consistent with analyses of the effects of legal reforms in other areas. The Swedish ban on corporal punishment did not affect public attitudes. Changing public views requires other initiatives.

No evidence for punishment in communally nursing female house mice (Mus musculus domesticus).

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrari, Manuela; König, Barbara

2017-01-01

Punishment is claimed as an important mechanism to stabilise costly cooperation in humans, but its importance in social animals has been questioned recently due to both conceptual considerations and a lack of empirical evidence (only few published studies). We empirically tested whether there is evidence for punishment in communally nursing house mice (Mus musculus domesticus, direct descendants of "wild" animals). Communally breeding females pool their litters and raise all offspring together, indiscriminately caring for own and other offspring. Such a situation resembles a public good and provides scope for exploitation if females vary in their relative contributions to the joint nest (offspring number). We allowed two females to communally breed and conducted removal experiments both in the presence and absence of pups. We aimed to test whether reduced investment by one of the females (induced through separation from the partner and their combined offspring for 4 or 12 hours) leads to increased aggression by the other female after the reunion. We found no evidence for punishment, on the contrary, females increased socio-positive behaviours. The costs of losing a partner in a communally breeding species might be too high and hinder the evolution of punishment. Our findings add to a growing list of examples questioning the role of punishment in cooperating non-human animals and emphasise the importance of empirical testing of its assumptions and predictions.

Rewarding and punishing children of different social behavior

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Lalić-Vučetić Nataša

2007-01-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the actions of rewarding and punishing children of different social behavior. The application of rewarding and punishing demands knowing and fulfilling several conditions which enable their efficiency: the nature of reward and punishment, the way in which pupils receive them, the context in which rewarding and punishing takes place and the characteristics of the subject (age, gender, cognitive capacities, social behavior. It is familiar that teachers prefer pupils who are cooperative, socially responsible, prone to conforming to school rules, kind, friendly and polite, while teacher’s work can often be aggravated on the part of the pupils who are aggressive, asocial, socially irresponsible, disruptive or prone to deviant behavior. In order to accomplish the outcomes which want to be achieved by these procedures, in applying reward and punishment, it is necessary to figure out carefully the criteria of rewarding and punishing and adhere to them consistently, paying attention to the characteristics of social behavior of the pupils. A special chapter is devoted to the consideration of unjust reward and punishment as one of the phenomena present in the experience of a large number of children. The analyzed problems assume adequate preparation of teachers, that is, the knowledge about basic characteristics of upbringing procedures applied in working with pupils, and which will have as a result a more successful social behavior, a more positive attitude towards school and studying.

A double-edged sword: Benefits and pitfalls of heterogeneous punishment in evolutionary inspection games

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Perc, Matjaž; Szolnoki, Attila

2015-06-01

As a simple model for criminal behavior, the traditional two-strategy inspection game yields counterintuitive results that fail to describe empirical data. The latter shows that crime is often recurrent, and that crime rates do not respond linearly to mitigation attempts. A more apt model entails ordinary people who neither commit nor sanction crime as the third strategy besides the criminals and punishers. Since ordinary people free-ride on the sanctioning efforts of punishers, they may introduce cyclic dominance that enables the coexistence of all three competing strategies. In this setup ordinary individuals become the biggest impediment to crime abatement. We therefore also consider heterogeneous punisher strategies, which seek to reduce their investment into fighting crime in order to attain a more competitive payoff. We show that this diversity of punishment leads to an explosion of complexity in the system, where the benefits and pitfalls of criminal behavior are revealed in the most unexpected ways. Due to the raise and fall of different alliances no less than six consecutive phase transitions occur in dependence on solely the temptation to succumb to criminal behavior, leading the population from ordinary people-dominated across punisher-dominated to crime-dominated phases, yet always failing to abolish crime completely.

Power to punish norm violations affects the neural processes of fairness-related decision making

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Xuemei eCheng

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Punishing norm violations is considered an important motive during rejection of unfair offers in the Ultimatum Game (UG. The present study investigates the impact of the power to punish norm violations on people’s responses to unfairness and associated neural correlates. In the UG condition participants had the power to punish norm violations, while an alternate condition, the Impunity Game (IG, was presented where participants had no power to punish norm violations since rejection only reduced the responder’s income to zero. Results showed that unfair offers were rejected more often in UG compared to IG. At the neural level, anterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex were more active when participants received and rejected unfair offers in both UG and IG. Moreover, greater dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity was observed when participants rejected than accepted unfair offers in UG but not in IG. Ventromedial prefrontal cortex activation was higher in UG than IG when unfair offers were accepted as well as when rejecting unfair offers in IG as opposed to UG. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the power to punish norm violations affects not only people’s behavioral responses to unfairness but also the neural correlates of the fairness-related social decision-making process.

A double-edged sword: Benefits and pitfalls of heterogeneous punishment in evolutionary inspection games.

Science.gov (United States)

Perc, Matjaž; Szolnoki, Attila

2015-06-05

As a simple model for criminal behavior, the traditional two-strategy inspection game yields counterintuitive results that fail to describe empirical data. The latter shows that crime is often recurrent, and that crime rates do not respond linearly to mitigation attempts. A more apt model entails ordinary people who neither commit nor sanction crime as the third strategy besides the criminals and punishers. Since ordinary people free-ride on the sanctioning efforts of punishers, they may introduce cyclic dominance that enables the coexistence of all three competing strategies. In this setup ordinary individuals become the biggest impediment to crime abatement. We therefore also consider heterogeneous punisher strategies, which seek to reduce their investment into fighting crime in order to attain a more competitive payoff. We show that this diversity of punishment leads to an explosion of complexity in the system, where the benefits and pitfalls of criminal behavior are revealed in the most unexpected ways. Due to the raise and fall of different alliances no less than six consecutive phase transitions occur in dependence on solely the temptation to succumb to criminal behavior, leading the population from ordinary people-dominated across punisher-dominated to crime-dominated phases, yet always failing to abolish crime completely.

High novelty seeking as a predictor of antisocial behaviour in early adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Foulds, James; Boden, Joseph; Horwood, John; Mulder, Roger

2017-11-01

This study aimed to examine the association between novelty seeking (NS) and antisocial behaviours (age 18-35). A New Zealand general population birth cohort was studied from 1977 to 2012. Sample sizes ranged from n = 962 (age 35) to n = 1025 (age 18). NS was measured at age 16 using the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire. Perpetration of antisocial behaviours was ascertained by self-report at ages 18, 21, 25, 30 and 35. Generalized estimating equation models investigated the association between NS and antisocial behaviours net of individual factors and correlates of NS before age 16 and alcohol and substance use disorders at age 18-35. Higher NS scores were associated with a higher unadjusted incidence of all forms of antisocial behaviour. Assault, theft, property damage and dishonesty offending remained associated with NS after adjustment for individual factors and correlates of NS before age 16. After further adjustment for alcohol and substance use disorders, NS was not associated with any antisocial behaviour outcomes, suggesting those disorders mediate the association between NS and antisocial behaviours. Alcohol and substance use disorders mediate the association between NS and antisocial behaviours in early adulthood. NS may be a useful endophenotype for investigating the causation of externalizing behaviours. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Controlling young people through treatment and punishment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bengtsson, Tea Torbenfeldt

2015-01-01

This chapter demonstrates how both treatment and punishment is part of controlling young people involved in crime in the Danish welfare state. Lately there has been an increase in the use of confinement in young offenders institutions and thus a turn towards stricter punishments for crime. However......, treatment aiming at rehabilitation is still an integrated part of the system and the organization of the young offenders institutions. For the young people subjected to control both treatment and punishment are regarded as effective means of risk-control but there are also limitations and unintended results...

Cultural Norms for Adult Corporal Punishment of Children and Societal Rates of Endorsement and Use of Violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Lansford, Jennifer E; Dodge, Kenneth A

2008-07-01

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that societal rates of corporal punishment of children predict societal levels of violence, using "culture" as the unit of analysis. DESIGN: Data were retrieved from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample of anthropological records, which includes 186 cultural groups, to represent the world's 200 provinces based on diversity of language, economy, political organization, descent, and historical time. Independent coders rated the frequency and harshness of corporal punishment of children, inculcation of aggression in children, warfare, interpersonal violence among adults, and demographic, socioeconomic, and parenting covariates. RESULTS: More frequent use of corporal punishment was related to higher rates of inculcation of aggression in children, warfare, and interpersonal violence. These relations held for inculcation of aggression in children and warfare after controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and parenting confounds. CONCLUSION: More frequent use of corporal punishment is related to higher prevalence of violence and endorsement of violence at a societal level. The findings are consistent with theories that adult violence becomes more prevalent in contexts in which corporal punishment is frequent, that the use of corporal punishment increases the probability that children will engage in violent behaviors during adulthood, and that violence in one social domain tends to influence behavior in other domains. If corporal punishment leads to higher levels of societal violence, then reducing parents' use of corporal punishment should lead to reductions in societal violence manifested in other ways.

Drunk, Powerful, and in the Dark: How General Processes of Disinhibition Produce Both Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirsh, Jacob B; Galinsky, Adam D; Zhong, Chen-Bo

2011-09-01

Social power, alcohol intoxication, and anonymity all have strong influences on human cognition and behavior. However, the social consequences of each of these conditions can be diverse, sometimes producing prosocial outcomes and other times enabling antisocial behavior. We present a general model of disinhibition to explain how these seemingly contradictory effects emerge from a single underlying mechanism: The decreased salience of competing response options prevents activation of the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS). As a result, the most salient response in any given situation is expressed, regardless of whether it has prosocial or antisocial consequences. We review three distinct routes through which power, alcohol intoxication, and anonymity reduce the salience of competing response options, namely, through Behavioral Approach System (BAS) activation, cognitive depletion, and reduced social desirability concerns. We further discuss how these states can both reveal and shape the person. Overall, our approach allows for multiple domain-specific models to be unified within a common conceptual framework that explains how both situational and dispositional factors can influence the expression of disinhibited behavior, producing both prosocial and antisocial outcomes. © Association for Psychological Science 2011.

Exploring the effects of antisocial personality traits on brain potentials during face processing.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela M Pfabigan

Full Text Available Antisocial individuals are characterized to display self-determined and inconsiderate behavior during social interaction. Furthermore, recognition deficits regarding fearful facial expressions have been observed in antisocial populations. These observations give rise to the question whether or not antisocial behavioral tendencies are associated with deficits in basic processing of social cues. The present study investigated early visual stimulus processing of social stimuli in a group of healthy female individuals with antisocial behavioral tendencies compared to individuals without these tendencies while measuring event-related potentials (P1, N170. To this end, happy and angry faces served as feedback stimuli which were embedded in a gambling task. Results showed processing differences as early as 88-120 ms after feedback onset. Participants low on antisocial traits displayed larger P1 amplitudes than participants high on antisocial traits. No group differences emerged for N170 amplitudes. Attention allocation processes, individual arousal levels as well as face processing are discussed as possible causes of the observed group differences in P1 amplitudes. In summary, the current data suggest that sensory processing of facial stimuli is functionally intact but less ready to respond in healthy individuals with antisocial tendencies.

Crime and punishment: Does it pay to punish?

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Iglesias, J. R.; Semeshenko, V.; Schneider, E. M.; Gordon, M. B.

2012-08-01

Crime is the result of a rational distinctive balance between the benefits and costs of an illegal act. This idea was proposed by Becker more than forty years ago (Becker (1968) [1]). In this paper, we simulate a simple artificial society, in which agents earn fixed wages and can augment (or lose) wealth as a result of a successful (or not) act of crime. The probability of apprehension depends on the gravity of the crime, and the punishment takes the form of imprisonment and fines. We study the costs of the law enforcement system required for keeping crime within acceptable limits, and compare it with the harm produced by crime. A sharp phase transition is observed as a function of the probability of punishment, and this transition exhibits a clear hysteresis effect, suggesting that the cost of reversing a deteriorated situation might be much higher than that of maintaining a relatively low level of delinquency. Besides, we analyze economic consequences that arise from crimes under different scenarios of criminal activity and probabilities of apprehension.

Antisocial behavior: Connection with bullying/cyberbullying and conflict resolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maite Garaigordobil

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The goal of this work was to explore the relations among antisocial behavior, engagement in bullying/cyberbullying, and conflict resolution skills. The sample comprised 3,026 Spanish participants, aged between 12 and 18years (48.5% males, 51.5% females, enrolled in various public (45.6% and private (54.4% schools of the Basque Country. Using a descriptive and correlational design, 4 assessment instruments were administered to measure the variables under study (antisocial behavior, bullying/cyberbullying, and conflict resolution skills. The correlational analyses and analyses of variance confirmed that adolescents and youth of both sexes with high scores in antisocial behavior were significantly more involved in all the roles of bullies and cyberbullies (victims, bullies, and bystanders and they used significantly more aggressive strategies as an interpersonal conflict resolution technique. The study identifies relevant variables for the design of intervention programs. The discussion focuses on the importance of implementing psychoeducational prevention and intervention programs targeting antisocial behavior, as well as the role of the family and society.

Sustainable institutionalized punishment requires elimination of second-order free-riders

Science.gov (United States)

Perc, Matjaž

2012-03-01

Although empirical and theoretical studies affirm that punishment can elevate collaborative efforts, its emergence and stability remain elusive. By peer-punishment the sanctioning is something an individual elects to do depending on the strategies in its neighborhood. The consequences of unsustainable efforts are therefore local. By pool-punishment, on the other hand, where resources for sanctioning are committed in advance and at large, the notion of sustainability has greater significance. In a population with free-riders, punishers must be strong in numbers to keep the ``punishment pool'' from emptying. Failure to do so renders the concept of institutionalized sanctioning futile. We show that pool-punishment in structured populations is sustainable, but only if second-order free-riders are sanctioned as well, and to a such degree that they cannot prevail. A discontinuous phase transition leads to an outbreak of sustainability when punishers subvert second-order free-riders in the competition against defectors.

Punishment as a means of competition: implications for strong reciprocity theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Paál, Tünde; Bereczkei, Tamás

2015-01-01

Strong negative reciprocity, that is, sanctions imposed on norm violators at the punisher's own expense, has powerful cooperation-enhancing effects in both real-life and experimental game situations. However, it is plausible that punishment may obtain alternative roles depending on social context and the personality characteristics of participants. We examined the occurrence of punishing behavior among 80 subjects in a strongly competitive Public Goods game setting. Despite the punishment condition, the amount of the contributions decreased steadily during the game. The amount of contributions had no significant effect on received and imposed punishments. The results indicate that certain social contexts (in this case, intensive competition) exert modifying effects on the role that punishment takes on. Subjects punished each other in order to achieve a higher rank and a financially better outcome. Punishment primarily functioned as a means of rivalry, instead of as a way of second-order cooperation, as strong reciprocity suggests. These results indicate the need for the possible modification of the social conditions of punishment mechanisms described by the strong reciprocity theory as an evolutionary explanation of human cooperation.

The Association Between ADHD and Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Storebø, Ole Jakob; Simonsen, Erik

2013-01-01

Objective: Children with ADHD have an increased risk of later developing personality disorders and criminal behavior. The object of the present review is to analyze the associations between ADHD and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Method: A review of literature was done using EMBASE, Psyc......INFO, and Medline databases. Results: Eighteen prospective studies (n = 5,501) showed that ADHD with and without comorbid conduct disorder (CD) is a strong predictor for the risk of later development of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Some of the 13 cross-sectional/retrospective studies (n = 2...... with or without comorbid CD to develop later onset of antisocial personality disorder. (J. of Att. Dis. 2013; XX(X) 1-XX)....

Parenting style dimensions as predictors of adolescent antisocial behavior

OpenAIRE

David Álvarez-García; Trinidad García; Alejandra Barreiro-Collazo; Alejandra Dobarro; Ángela Antúnez

2016-01-01

Antisocial behavior is strongly associated with academic failure in adolescence. There is a solid body of evidence that points to parenting style as one of its main predictors. The objective of this work is to elaborate a reduced, valid, and reliable version of the questionnaire by Oliva et al. (2007) to evaluate the dimensions of parenting style and to analyze its psychometric properties in a sample of Spanish adolescents. To that end, the designed questionnaire was applied to 1974 adolescen...

Did you get any help? A post-hoc secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial of psychoeducation for patients with antisocial personality disorder in outpatient substance abuse treatment programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Thylstrup, Birgitte; Schrøder, Sidsel; Fridell, Mats; Hesse, Morten

2017-01-09

People in treatment for substance use disorder commonly have comorbid personality disorders, including antisocial personality disorder. Little is known about treatments that specifically address comorbid antisocial personality disorder. Self-rated help received for antisocial personality disorder was assessed during follow-ups at 3, 9 and 15 months post-randomization of a randomized trial of psychoeducation for people with comorbid substance use and antisocial personality disorder (n = 175). Randomization to psychoeducation was associated with increased perceived help for antisocial personality disorder. Perceived help for antisocial personality disorder was in turn associated with more days abstinent and higher treatment satisfaction at the 3-month follow-up, and reduced risk of dropping out of treatment after the 3-month follow-up, and perceived help mediated the effects of random assignment on days abstinent at 3-month. Brief psychoeducation for antisocial personality disorder increased patients' self-rated help for antisocial personality disorder in substance abuse treatment, and reporting having received help for antisocial personality disorder was in turn associated with better short-term outcomes, e.g., days abstinent, dropout from treatment and treatment satisfaction. ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN67266318 , retrospectively registered 17/7/2012.

Internet Addiction and Antisocial Internet Behavior of Adolescents

OpenAIRE

Ma, Hing Keung

2011-01-01

Internet addiction and the moral implication of antisocial Internet behavior will be investigated in this paper. More and more people use the Internet in their daily life. Unfortunately the percentage of people who use the internet excessively also increases. The concept of Internet addiction or pathological use of Internet is discussed in detail, and the characteristics of Internet addicts are also delineated. The social (especially the antisocial) use of Internet is discussed. It is argued ...

Corporal Punishment in Schools: Theoretical Discussion and Personal Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Alsaif, Omar Abdulaziz

2015-01-01

This paper ponders the lasting effects of corporal punishment on students. The paper first considers the benefits and faults of corporal punishment by comparing the experiences of two generations of students and teachers. Starting with the definition of corporal punishment as applied locally and globally, the paper analyzes the reasons for its…

Kierkegaardian Implications of Punishment, Guilt, and Forgiveness for Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Senyshyn, Yaroslav

1998-01-01

Explores Soren Kierkegaard's notion of punishment, which should interest educators because it provides a way to avoid the pitfalls of unjust punishment by viewing it in conjunction with the implications of guilt and forgiveness. The paper notes the need to question the notion of punishment closely and seek to understand its implications. (SM)

Stimulus Variation as a Means of Enhancing Punishment Effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Charlop, Marjorie H.; And Others

1988-01-01

The study examined effects of varied punishers (overcorrection, time-out, or a verbal "no" compared with the single presentation of one punisher (a loud noise) on occurrence of inappropriate behaviors in three developmentally delayed children (ages 5-6). Both formats produced a decrease in target behaviors, with the varied-punisher format slightly…

Parental attitudes to corporal punishment of children and the analysis of possible Reasons for applying corporal punishment in the family

OpenAIRE

Jusienė, Roma

2006-01-01

Parental use of corporal punishment is one of the most emotionally charged and attention eliciting topic in child rearing theory and practice, and in social and legal debates as well. The aim of this study is to analyse the parental use of corporal punishment (CP) and attitude to it as related to personal experience of corporal punishment in childhood and to children's psychological adjustment. 110 parents (88 mothers and 22 fathers) who have children aged 4 to 16 years old participated in th...

Reward/Punishment reversal learning in older suicide attempters.

Science.gov (United States)

Dombrovski, Alexandre Y; Clark, Luke; Siegle, Greg J; Butters, Meryl A; Ichikawa, Naho; Sahakian, Barbara J; Szanto, Katalin

2010-06-01

Suicide rates are high in old age, and the contribution of cognitive risk factors remains poorly understood. Suicide may be viewed as an outcome of an altered decision process. The authors hypothesized that impairment in reward/punishment-based learning, a component of affective decision making, is associated with attempted suicide in late-life depression. They expected that suicide attempters would discount past reward/punishment history, focusing excessively on the most recent rewards and punishments. The authors further hypothesized that this impairment could be dissociated from executive abilities, such as forward planning. The authors assessed reward/punishment-based learning using the probabilistic reversal learning task in 65 individuals age 60 and older: suicide attempters, suicide ideators, nonsuicidal depressed elderly, and nondepressed comparison subjects. The authors used a reinforcement learning computational model to decompose reward/punishment processing over time. The Stockings of Cambridge test served as a control measure of executive function. Suicide attempters but not suicide ideators showed impaired probabilistic reversal learning compared to both nonsuicidal depressed elderly and nondepressed comparison subjects, after controlling for effects of education, global cognitive function, and substance use. Model-based analyses revealed that suicide attempters discounted previous history to a higher degree relative to comparison subjects, basing their choice largely on reward/punishment received on the last trial. Groups did not differ in their performance on the Stockings of Cambridge test. Older suicide attempters display impaired reward/punishment-based learning. The authors propose a hypothesis that older suicide attempters make overly present-focused decisions, ignoring past experiences. Modification of this "myopia for the past" may have therapeutic potential.

Corticostriatal Connectivity in Antisocial Personality Disorder by MAO-A Genotype and Its Relationship to Aggressive Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolla, Nathan J; Dunlop, Katharine; Meyer, Jeffrey H; Downar, Jonathan

2018-05-09

The influence of genetic variation on resting-state neural networks represents a burgeoning line of inquiry in psychiatric research. Monoamine oxidase A, an X-linked gene, is one example of a molecular target linked to brain activity in psychiatric illness. Monoamine oxidase A genetic variants, including the high and low variable nucleotide tandem repeat polymorphisms, have been shown to differentially affect brain functional connectivity in healthy humans. However, it is currently unknown whether these same polymorphisms influence resting-state brain activity in clinical conditions. Given its high burden on society and strong connection to violent behavior, antisocial personality disorder is a logical condition to study, since in vivo markers of monoamine oxidase A brain enzyme are reduced in key affect-modulating regions, and striatal levels of monoamine oxidase A show a relation with the functional connectivity of this same region. We utilized monoamine oxidase A genotyping and seed-to-voxel-based functional connectivity to investigate the relationship between genotype and corticostriatal connectivity in 21 male participants with severe antisocial personality disorder and 19 male healthy controls. Dorsal striatal connectivity to the frontal pole and anterior cingulate gyrus differentiated antisocial personality disorder subjects and healthy controls by monoamine oxidase A genotype. Furthermore, the linear relationship of proactive aggression to superior ventral striatal-angular gyrus functional connectivity differed by monoamine oxidase A genotype in the antisocial personality disorder groups. These results suggest that monoamine oxidase A genotype may affect corticostriatal connectivity in antisocial personality disorder and that these functional connections may also underlie use of proactive aggression in a genotype-specific manner.

Punishment as a means of competition: implications for strong reciprocity theory.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tünde Paál

Full Text Available Strong negative reciprocity, that is, sanctions imposed on norm violators at the punisher's own expense, has powerful cooperation-enhancing effects in both real-life and experimental game situations. However, it is plausible that punishment may obtain alternative roles depending on social context and the personality characteristics of participants. We examined the occurrence of punishing behavior among 80 subjects in a strongly competitive Public Goods game setting. Despite the punishment condition, the amount of the contributions decreased steadily during the game. The amount of contributions had no significant effect on received and imposed punishments. The results indicate that certain social contexts (in this case, intensive competition exert modifying effects on the role that punishment takes on. Subjects punished each other in order to achieve a higher rank and a financially better outcome. Punishment primarily functioned as a means of rivalry, instead of as a way of second-order cooperation, as strong reciprocity suggests. These results indicate the need for the possible modification of the social conditions of punishment mechanisms described by the strong reciprocity theory as an evolutionary explanation of human cooperation.

The empowering effect of punishment on forgiveness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Strelan, Peter; Di Fiore, Carolyn; van Prooijen, Jan Willem

2017-01-01

We examined the process by which punishment enables forgiveness, testing the proposition that punishment restores a sense of justice to victims, an experience that is empowering. In Study 1 (N = 69), university students received insulting feedback and were given the opportunity (or not) to sanction

changing perceptions of discipline and corporal punishment

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Through a qualitative research methodology of semi-structured inter- views, data ... punishment for classroom discipline in order to achieve the vision of quality education. ... committed to ending corporal punishment of children. Being hit ... are relevant to policymakers and other stakeholders who should take cognisance of.

Building the Leviathan--Voluntary centralisation of punishment power sustains cooperation in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Gross, Jörg; Méder, Zsombor Z; Okamoto-Barth, Sanae; Riedl, Arno

2016-02-18

The prevalence of cooperation among humans is puzzling because cooperators can be exploited by free riders. Peer punishment has been suggested as a solution to this puzzle, but cumulating evidence questions its robustness in sustaining cooperation. Amongst others, punishment fails when it is not powerful enough, or when it elicits counter-punishment. Existing research, however, has ignored that the distribution of punishment power can be the result of social interactions. We introduce a novel experiment in which individuals can transfer punishment power to others. We find that while decentralised peer punishment fails to overcome free riding, the voluntary transfer of punishment power enables groups to sustain cooperation. This is achieved by non-punishing cooperators empowering those who are willing to punish in the interest of the group. Our results show how voluntary power centralisation can efficiently sustain cooperation, which could explain why hierarchical power structures are widespread among animals and humans.

Gender differences in the transmission of risk for antisocial behavior problems across generations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pin Li

Full Text Available Previous studies have shown that children of alcohol use disorder (AUD parents are more likely to develop alcohol problems as well as antisocial and other behavior problems. The purpose of this study was to examine gender discordance in the effect of early maternal and paternal influences on antisocial behaviors of boys and girls, as well as the environmental factors that moderate the parental effects. Specifically, we examined the effects of childhood and adulthood antisocial behavior of the parents on offspring antisocial behavior as young adults. We also examined whether mothers' and fathers' drinking problems when offspring were young children (6-8 years affected offspring antisocial behavior as young adults (18-21 years. We evaluated 655 children from 339 families in the Michigan Longitudinal Study (MLS, a prospective study of AUD and non-AUD families. Path models were constructed in order to test for the parental contributions to offspring outcomes. We found that both mothers' and fathers' antisocial behavior contributed to the children's young adult antisocial behavior. Only mothers' drinking problems while their children were little had a significant effect on their sons' later drinking, but not on their daughters'. These different parental effects suggest that maternal and paternal influences may be mediated by different mechanisms.

Personality disorders, violence, and antisocial behavior: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Rongqin; Geddes, John R; Fazel, Seena

2012-10-01

The risk of antisocial outcomes in individuals with personality disorder (PD) remains uncertain. The authors synthesize the current evidence on the risks of antisocial behavior, violence, and repeat offending in PD, and they explore sources of heterogeneity in risk estimates through a systematic review and meta-regression analysis of observational studies comparing antisocial outcomes in personality disordered individuals with controls groups. Fourteen studies examined risk of antisocial and violent behavior in 10,007 individuals with PD, compared with over 12 million general population controls. There was a substantially increased risk of violent outcomes in studies with all PDs (random-effects pooled odds ratio [OR] = 3.0, 95% CI = 2.6 to 3.5). Meta-regression revealed that antisocial PD and gender were associated with higher risks (p = .01 and .07, respectively). The odds of all antisocial outcomes were also elevated. Twenty-five studies reported the risk of repeat offending in PD compared with other offenders. The risk of a repeat offense was also increased (fixed-effects pooled OR = 2.4, 95% CI = 2.2 to 2.7) in offenders with PD. The authors conclude that although PD is associated with antisocial outcomes and repeat offending, the risk appears to differ by PD category, gender, and whether individuals are offenders or not.

Corporal punishment and long-term behavior problems: the moderating role of positive parenting and psychological aggression.

Science.gov (United States)

Gámez-Guadix, Manuel; Straus, Murray A; Carrobles, José Antonio; Muñoz-Rivas, Marina J; Almendros, Carmen

2010-11-01

The aims of this study were: (a) to examine the prevalence of corporal punishment (CP) of children in Spain; (b) to analyze the extent to which CP is used in combination with psychological aggression and positive parenting among Spanish parents; and (c) to investigate whether the relation between CP and behavior problems is moderated by a positive parenting context in which CP may be used, and by the co-occurrence of psychological aggression. The sample comprised 1,071 Spanish university students (74.8% female; 25.2% male). Findings indicate a high prevalence of CP of Spanish students, revealing that significantly more mothers than fathers used CP. Furthermore, more CP is related to more use of psychological aggression and less of positive parenting. Regression analyses revealed that CP was associated with an increased probability of antisocial traits and behaviors regardless of whether there was positive parenting and psychological aggression. These results highlight that, though many Spanish parents use CP as a disciplinary strategy, it appears to be related to negative outcomes for children regardless the parental context in which it is used.

[Parental corporal punishment in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity syndrome].

Science.gov (United States)

Błachno, Magda; Szamańska, Urszula; Kołakowski, Artur; Pisula, Agnieszka

2006-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the frequency and causes of corporal punishment in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in comparison with the general population and to evaluate methods of prevention applied in The Department of Child Psychiatry in Warsaw. 82 parents of children with ADHD participating in the Parental Training Programme were asked to fill in an anonymous questionnaire concerning corporal punishment. 95% parents abuse their children physically. ADHD in parents and co-occurrence of ADHD symptoms in children influence punishment frequency. Parents with ADHD, in comparison with parents without ADHD use more serious types of physical punishment. After the Parental Training Programme 72% parents used other kinds of punishment. Parental corporal punishment in children with ADHD is not uncommon. The efficacy of psychoeducation in the examined area seems to be very promising.

Adult antisocial personality traits are associated with experiences of low parental care and maternal overprotection.

Science.gov (United States)

Reti, I M; Samuels, J F; Eaton, W W; Bienvenu, O J; Costa, P T; Nestadt, G

2002-08-01

To investigate the role of parenting in the development of adult antisocial personality traits. A total of 742 community-based subjects were assessed for adult DSM-IV antisocial personality disorder traits and for measures of parental behavior experienced as children, including by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). Three fundamental dimensions of parental behavior - care, behavioral restrictiveness and denial of psychological autonomy - were derived by factor analysis from the PBI. These dimensions significantly correlated with measures of parental behavior considered influential in later antisocial behavior. Adult antisocial traits in males were associated with low maternal care and high maternal behavioral restrictiveness, and in females, antisocial traits were associated with low paternal care and high maternal denial of psychological autonomy. These dimensions did not, however, explain all variance parental behavior has on adult antisocial personality traits. Adult antisocial personality traits are associated with experiences of low parental care and maternal overprotection.

Administrators' Perceptions of Corporal Punishment in Four Tennessee Counties

Science.gov (United States)

Hanger, Brian S.

2009-01-01

Corporal punishment is one of the most litigious issues in education. Proponents of corporal punishment believe it is a necessary and effective way to keep order in the schools. Opponents of corporal punishment feel it is detrimental to the welfare of children and should be prohibited in schools. Many states have banned the use of school corporal…

Punishments, Rewards, and the Production of Evidence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boer, A.

2014-01-01

In legal knowledge acquisition, the threat of punishment remains an important litmus test for categorizing legal rules: something is a real duty if it is backed - directly or indirectly - by a threat of punishment. In practice, no accounts of how enforcement design patterns are superposed on

changing perceptions of discipline and corporal punishment

African Journals Online (AJOL)

punishment and, secondly, their perceptions of their disciplinary techniques since ... research on teachers' (un)changing perceptions with regard to the practice of corporal punishment for classroom discipline in order to achieve the vision of quality ...... teaching and classroom management with the aim of enhancing teacher ...

Predicting Overt and Covert Antisocial Behaviors: Parents, Peers, and Homelessness

Science.gov (United States)

Tompsett, Carolyn J.; Toro, Paul A.

2010-01-01

Parental deviance, parental monitoring, and deviant peers were examined as predictors of overt and covert antisocial behaviors. Homeless (N=231) and housed (N=143) adolescents were assessed in adolescence and again in early adulthood. Homelessness predicted both types of antisocial behaviors, and effects persisted in young adulthood. Parental…

From Correlates to Causes: Can Quasi-Experimental Studies and Statistical Innovations Bring Us Closer to Identifying the Causes of Antisocial Behavior?

Science.gov (United States)

Jaffee, Sara R.; Strait, Luciana B.; Odgers, Candice L.

2011-01-01

Longitudinal, epidemiological studies have identified robust risk factors for youth antisocial behavior, including harsh and coercive discipline, maltreatment, smoking during pregnancy, divorce, teen parenthood, peer deviance, parental psychopathology, and social disadvantage. Nevertheless, because this literature is largely based on observational studies, it remains unclear whether these risk factors have truly causal effects. Identifying causal risk factors for antisocial behavior would be informative for intervention efforts and for studies that test whether individuals are differentially susceptible to risk exposures. In this paper, we identify the challenges to causal inference posed by observational studies and describe quasi-experimental methods and statistical innovations that may move us beyond discussions of risk factors to allow for stronger causal inference. We then review studies that use these methods and we evaluate whether robust risk factors identified from observational studies are likely to play a causal role in the emergence and development of youth antisocial behavior. For most of the risk factors we review, there is evidence that they have causal effects. However, these effects are typically smaller than those reported in observational studies, suggesting that familial confounding, social selection, and misidentification might also explain some of the association between risk exposures and antisocial behavior. For some risk factors (e.g., smoking during pregnancy, parent alcohol problems) the evidence is weak that they have environmentally mediated effects on youth antisocial behavior. We discuss the implications of these findings for intervention efforts to reduce antisocial behavior and for basic research on the etiology and course of antisocial behavior. PMID:22023141

Clinical differences between cocaine-dependent patients with and without antisocial personality disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Comín, Marina; Redondo, Santiago; Daigre, Constanza; Grau-López, Lara; Casas, Miguel; Roncero, Carlos

2016-12-30

The aim of this study is to compare the features of two groups of cocaine dependent patients in treatment, one of them with co-morbid diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder and the other not. Cross-sectional design, with 143 cocaine-dependent patients attending a drug unit, distributed in two groups: patients with and without Antisocial Personality Disorder. As results, we found that the 15.38% of the sample were diagnosed with an Antisocial Personality Disorder. In relation to socio-demographic variables, Antisocial Personality Disorder patients have less probability of being working or studying (9.1% vs. 47.9%). After multivariate analysis it was found that significantly Antisocial Personality Disorder patients have more opiates dependence (OR: 0.219; 95% IC 0.072-0.660), sedative dependence (OR: 0.203; 95% IC 0.062-0.644) and in more cases show Borderline Personality Disorder (OR: 0.239; 95% IC 0.077-0.746). This study highlights significant differences between cocaine addicts with or without an Antisocial Personality Disorder. All these differences are good indicators of the complexity of the patients with this personality disorder. Better knowledge of their profile will help us to improve the design of specific treatment programs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Punishing hypocrisy: the roles of hypocrisy and moral emotions in deciding culpability and punishment of criminal and civil moral transgressors.

Science.gov (United States)

Laurent, Sean M; Clark, Brian A M; Walker, Stephannie; Wiseman, Kimberly D

2014-01-01

Three experiments explored how hypocrisy affects attributions of criminal guilt and the desire to punish hypocritical criminals. Study 1 established that via perceived hypocrisy, a hypocritical criminal was seen as more culpable and was punished more than a non-hypocritical criminal who committed an identical crime. Study 2 expanded on this, showing that negative moral emotions (anger and disgust) mediated the relationships between perceived hypocrisy, criminal guilt, and punishment. Study 3 replicated the emotion finding from Study 2 using new scenarios where group agents were clearly aware of the hypocrisy of their actions, yet acted anyway. Again, perceived hypocrisy worked through moral emotions to affect criminal guilt and punishment. The current studies provide empirical support for theories relating hypocrisy and moral transgressions to moral emotions, also informing the literature on the role of moral emotions in moral reasoning and legal decision making.

Punishment Strategies: First Choice or Last Resort

Science.gov (United States)

Lukowiak, Twila; Bridges, Jennifer

2010-01-01

Is it appropriate to implement punishment strategies in the home and school settings when children display disrespectful and inappropriate behaviors? This article depicts the advantages and disadvantages of teachers and parents utilizing an array of punishment strategies including: (a) reprimands, (b) response cost, (c) timeout, and (d) corporal…

Prosocial vs antisocial coping and general life satisfaction of youth with mild intellectual disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Kurtek, P

2018-04-22

The purpose of this study was to find differences in general life satisfaction in adolescents with mild intellectual disability (MID) with respect to exhibiting a prosocial or an antisocial coping style. According to the ecological approach, using the antisocial style in a competitive school environment (a zero-sum game) may increase personal satisfaction, while in the family, which operates on the principles of 'common good' or 'common failure' (a non-zero-sum game), the antisocial style may reduce general satisfaction of the individual. However, according to the self-regulatory approach, antisocial coping in interactions with parents and teachers in adolescence may increase life satisfaction as it heightens the individual's sense of autonomy. The differences between the two approaches in the hypothesised influence of a particular coping style on life satisfaction led us to conduct empirical research. A total of 151 students with MID were qualified for the final study (75 females and 76 males). The age of the examined group varied from 18 to 22 years. The study was conducted using the R-PDPI test, which is based on the Strategic Approach to Coping Scale by Hobfoll (). The test measures coping with domination and humiliation from parents and teachers as well as isolation and humiliation from peers (Kurtek ). Next, the Index of General Affect by Campbell et al. () was used to assess general life satisfaction. Generally, a positive relationship between the indirect prosocial style and life satisfaction was found. Also, the results indicate that using the prosocial coping style to deal with humiliating acts of the mother and dominant acts of the father was connected with increased general life satisfaction, whereas the antisocial coping style employed in these situations - with a lower level of satisfaction. Moreover, it was found that general life satisfaction was positively related to passive and suppressive coping styles but negatively correlated with the

Probability differently modulating the effects of reward and punishment on visuomotor adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yanlong; Smiley-Oyen, Ann L

2017-12-01

Recent human motor learning studies revealed that punishment seemingly accelerated motor learning but reward enhanced consolidation of motor memory. It is not evident how intrinsic properties of reward and punishment modulate the potentially dissociable effects of reward and punishment on motor learning and motor memory. It is also not clear what causes the dissociation of the effects of reward and punishment. By manipulating probability of distribution, a critical property of reward and punishment, the present study demonstrated that probability had distinct modulation on the effects of reward and punishment in adapting to a sudden visual rotation and consolidation of the adaptation memory. Specifically, two probabilities of monetary reward and punishment distribution, 50 and 100%, were applied during young adult participants adapting to a sudden visual rotation. Punishment and reward showed distinct effects on motor adaptation and motor memory. The group that received punishments in 100% of the adaptation trials adapted significantly faster than the other three groups, but the group that received rewards in 100% of the adaptation trials showed marked savings in re-adapting to the same rotation. In addition, the group that received punishments in 50% of the adaptation trials that were randomly selected also had savings in re-adapting to the same rotation. Sensitivity to sensory prediction error or difference in explicit process induced by reward and punishment may likely contribute to the distinct effects of reward and punishment.

Childhood Corporal Punishment and Future Perpetration of Physical Dating Violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Temple, Jeff R; Choi, Hye Jeong; Reuter, Tyson; Wolfe, David; Taylor, Catherine A; Madigan, Sheri; Scott, Lauren E

2018-03-01

To test whether experiencing childhood corporal punishment is linked to later perpetration of dating violence. Young adults (n = 758; 61% female; mean age of 20 years), originally recruited for a longitudinal study as 9th- and 10th-grade Texas high school students, were asked about their childhood experiences with corporal punishment and physical abuse, as well as current experiences with dating violence. A path model was used to determine whether childhood corporal punishment was related to recent perpetration of physical dating violence, while controlling for childhood physical abuse, age, sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. In all, 19% of participants (n = 134) reported physical dating violence perpetration and 68% reported experiencing corporal punishment as children (n = 498). Analysis showed a significant positive association between corporal punishment and physical perpetration of dating violence (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.07-1.59). Even after controlling for sex, ethnicity, age, parental education, and child physical abuse, childhood corporal punishment was associated significantly with physical dating violence perpetration (aOR 1.29, 95% CI 1.02-1.62). The finding that childhood corporal punishment was associated with perpetration of young adult physical dating violence, even after controlling for several demographic variables and childhood physical abuse, adds to the growing literature demonstrating deleterious outcomes associated with corporal punishment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A survey of parental opinions on corporal punishment in schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, P C; Weir, M R; Fearnow, R G

1985-06-01

Forty-three states permit corporal punishment in schools. This practice continues despite the universal opposition of professional organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics. This study determines parental attitudes concerning the use of physical punishment in schools. The surveyed sample is drawn from parents of military dependents who brought their children to this clinic for routine physical examinations. One hundred and twenty-nine of 132 questionnaires were returned for a 98% response rate. Fifty-one percent of the parents supported the use of corporal punishment in schools, 37% disagreed (77% of these strongly), 11% had no opinion, and 1% did not respond to the question. Analysis of the responses displayed a relationship between parental attitudes on the use of corporal punishment and opinion of the positive effects of physical punishment on children's behavior (p less than 0.0001). No relationship was found between position on corporal punishment and the respondent (mother, father, or both), the age of parents, the military rank of the sponsor (the individual whose military service makes the child eligible for military medical care, i.e., father, mother, guardian, etc.), the sex of the children, the marital status of the parents, or the schools attended by the children (public or private). Thirty-four percent of parents believed corporal punishment would improve behavior, and 20% of parents felt that physical punishment would improve their child's academic performance.

Using Baby Books to Change New Mothers' Attitudes about Corporal Punishment

Science.gov (United States)

Reich, Stephanie M.; Penner, Emily K.; Duncan, Greg J.; Auger, Anamarie

2012-01-01

Objective: Research has found corporal punishment to have limited effectiveness in altering child behavior and the potential to produce psychological and cognitive damage. Pediatric professionals have advocated reducing, if not eliminating its use. Despite this, it remains a common parenting practice in the US. Methods: Using a three-group…

Corporal punishment: mother's disciplinary behavior and child's psychological profile in Alexandria, Egypt.

Science.gov (United States)

Abolfotouh, Mostafa A; El-Bourgy, Mohamed D; Seif El Din, Amira G; Mehanna, Azza A

2009-01-01

Although all professionals oppose abusive physical punishment, nonabusive physical punishment is still controversial. The aim of the present study was (i) to determine parents' behavior regarding the discipline of their children using corporal punishment or other alternative disciplinary methods, (ii) to identify the different associated factors for corporal punishment, and (iii) to determine the association between exposure of the child to corporal punishment and his or her psychosocial well-being. A representative sample of 400 fifth-grade primary school children and their mothers were subjected to a cross-sectional survey. Mothers were subjected to a questionnaire to assess their behavior on corporal punishment and other disciplinary methods. The children were subjected to Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory to assess their self-esteem, and a questionnaire to assess their relationship with others. About three-quarter of children (76.3%) were corporally punished, and about half of them (46.2%) were punished on sites other than the extremities or buttocks. In 59.3% of them the frequency of the punishment ranged from once or twice/week to more than once/day, and it left marks in about 20%. Other disciplinary methods used by mothers were yelling/insulting (43.5%), taking away a toy or privilege (39.3%), discussing/explaining (9.5%), and time out (2.8%). The significant predictors of mothers' use of corporal punishment were male gender of the child (p corporal punishment of children and their self-esteem was not statistically significant; however, corporally punished children scored lower on their relationship with others than noncorporally punished ones (Z= 2.60, p Corporal punishment is a widespread disciplinary method in Alexandria. The use of corporal punishment could have adverse effects on the child especially on his or her relationship with others. Planning an awareness-raising educational program for current and expectant parents is recommended, to promote

The juvenile antisocial brain : brain imaging studies in clinically antisocial youth with nascent phychopathic traits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aghajani, M.

2018-01-01

The work presented in this thesis provides important new clues on the neurobiology of juvenile psychopathic traits in clinically antisocial juveniles. The data specifically shows that these traits are ostensibly underpinned by highly specific corticolimbic network dysfunctions, in which

A Cross-Cultural Study of Punishment Beliefs and Decisions.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yanyan; Chen, Chuansheng; Greenberger, Ellen; Knowles, Eric D

2017-02-01

The current research examined cultural similarities and differences in punishment beliefs and decisions. Participants were European Americans ( N = 50), Chinese Americans ( N = 57), and Chinese in Mainland China ( N = 50). The Functions of Punishment Questionnaire was used to measure participants' beliefs about the retributive or deterrent functions of punishment and a scenario method was used to measure the extent to which punishment decisions were driven by individuals' concerns for retribution or deterrence. The results indicated that, contrary to the hypothesis that the retributive function would be emphasized by individualistic groups and the deterrent function by collectivistic groups, Mainland Chinese participants had a stronger belief in retribution and a weaker belief in deterrence than did European and Chinese Americans. The results also indicated that retribution played a bigger role in punishment decisions for Chinese than for the other two groups, but the importance of the deterrence function in punishment decisions did not differ across the three groups. Finally, the correlation between interdependence orientation and the belief in retribution was positive for Chinese but negative for European Americans. Taken together, the findings provided little evidence that collectivists are more deterrence-oriented and individualists more retribution-oriented.

Punishment Learning in U.S. Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

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Sawyer, Alice T; Liverant, Gabrielle I; Jun, Janie J; Lee, Daniel J; Cohen, Andrew L; Dutra, Sunny J; Pizzagalli, Diego A; Sloan, Denise M

2016-08-01

Learning processes have been implicated in the development and course of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, little is currently known about punishment-based learning in PTSD. The current study investigated impairments in punishment-based learning in U.S. veterans. We expected that veterans with PTSD would demonstrate greater punishment-based learning compared to a non-PTSD control group. We compared a PTSD group with and without co-occurring depression (n = 27) to a control group (with and without trauma exposure) without PTSD or depression (n = 29). Participants completed a computerized probabilistic punishment-based learning task. Compared to the non-PTSD control group, veterans with PTSD showed significantly greater punishment-based learning. Specifically, there was a significant Block × Group interaction, F(1, 54) = 4.12, p = .047, η(2) = .07. Veterans with PTSD demonstrated greater change in response bias for responding toward a less frequently punished stimulus across blocks. The observed hypersensitivity to punishment in individuals with PTSD may contribute to avoidant responses that are not specific to trauma cues. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies No claim to original US government works.

Parenting Programs to Prevent Corporal Punishment: A Systematic Review

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Paolla Magioni Santini

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Studies have shown that corporal punishment against children is a common family practice, causing damage to child development. Considering that parents are the main perpetrators of this type of aggression, parenting programs are needed to raise children without violence. This study aimed at performing a systematic review of parenting programs evaluations to reduce corporal punishment. Intervention procedures, as well as design, results and limitations were identified for each study. The PRISMA protocol (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses was used for reporting the results. A literature survey was conducted in Brazilian databases, as well as English ones from 1994-2014. One Brazilian study and eight international studies were selected as relevant, and only four used randomized controlled trials (RCT. All studies reported satisfactory results in decreasing aggression by parents against their children. Further research in the area with solid methodology is recommended.

Educational Expansion, Economic Growth and Antisocial Behaviour: Evidence from England

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Sabates, Ricardo

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the impact of the increase in post-compulsory schooling and economic growth on conviction rates for antisocial behaviour in England. I hypothesise that both educational and employment opportunities should lead to greater reductions in antisocial behaviour when they are combined than when they exist in isolation. I test this…

On the effectiveness of and preference for punishment and extinction components of function-based interventions.

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Hanley, Gregory P; Piazza, Cathleen C; Fisher, Wayne W; Maglieri, Kristen A

2005-01-01

The current study describes an assessment sequence that may be used to identify individualized, effective, and preferred interventions for severe problem behavior in lieu of relying on a restricted set of treatment options that are assumed to be in the best interest of consumers. The relative effectiveness of functional communication training (FCT) with and without a punishment component was evaluated with 2 children for whom functional analyses demonstrated behavioral maintenance via social positive reinforcement. The results showed that FCT plus punishment was more effective than FCT in reducing problem behavior. Subsequently, participants' relative preference for each treatment was evaluated in a concurrent-chains arrangement, and both participants demonstrated a dear preference for FCT with punishment. These findings suggest that the treatment-selection process may be guided by person-centered and evidence-based values.

Rational Choice and Developmental Influences on Recidivism Among Adolescent Felony Offenders

OpenAIRE

Fagan, Jeffrey; Piquero, Alex R.

2007-01-01

Recent case law and social science both have claimed that the developmental limitations of adolescents affect their capacity for control and decision making with respect to crime, diminishing their culpability and reducing their exposure to punishment. Social science has focused on two concurrent adolescent developmental influences: the internalization of legal rules and norms that regulate social and antisocial behaviors, and the development of rationality to frame behavioral choices and dec...

To Punish or Not to Punish-That Is the Question.

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Chen, Gila; Einat, Tomer

2017-02-01

Attitudes toward punishment have long been of interest to policymakers, researchers, and criminal justice practitioners. The current study examined the relationship between academic education in criminology and attitudes toward punishment among 477 undergraduate students in three subgroups: police officers, correctional officers, and criminology students who were not employed by the criminal justice system (CJS). Our main findings concluded that (a) punitive attitudes of the correctional officers and police officers at the beginning of their academic studies were harsher than those of the criminology and criminal justice students who were not employed by the CJS, (b) punitive attitudes of the correctional officers at the end of their academic studies were less severe than their first-year counterparts, (c) fear of crime was higher among women than among men, and (d) the strongest predictor of punitive attitudes was a firm belief in the principles of the classical and labeling theories (beyond group). Implications of these results are discussed.

Predicting Filipino Mothers' and Fathers' Reported Use of Corporal Punishment from Education, Authoritarian Attitudes, and Endorsement of Corporal Punishment

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Jocson, Rosanne M.; Alampay, Liane Pena; Lansford, Jennifer E.

2012-01-01

The relations of education, authoritarian child-rearing attitudes, and endorsement of corporal punishment to Filipino parents' reported use of corporal punishment were examined using two waves of data. Structured interviews using self-report questionnaires were conducted with 117 mothers and 98 fathers from 120 families when their children were 8…

Punishment as a Means of Competition: Implications for Strong Reciprocity Theory

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Paál, Tünde; Bereczkei, Tamás

2015-01-01

Strong negative reciprocity, that is, sanctions imposed on norm violators at the punisher’s own expense, has powerful cooperation-enhancing effects in both real-life and experimental game situations. However, it is plausible that punishment may obtain alternative roles depending on social context and the personality characteristics of participants. We examined the occurrence of punishing behavior among 80 subjects in a strongly competitive Public Goods game setting. Despite the punishment condition, the amount of the contributions decreased steadily during the game. The amount of contributions had no significant effect on received and imposed punishments. The results indicate that certain social contexts (in this case, intensive competition) exert modifying effects on the role that punishment takes on. Subjects punished each other in order to achieve a higher rank and a financially better outcome. Punishment primarily functioned as a means of rivalry, instead of as a way of second-order cooperation, as strong reciprocity suggests. These results indicate the need for the possible modification of the social conditions of punishment mechanisms described by the strong reciprocity theory as an evolutionary explanation of human cooperation. PMID:25811464

Antisocial boys and their friends in early adolescence: relationship characteristics, quality, and interactional process.

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Dishion, T J; Andrews, D W; Crosby, L

1995-02-01

This study examines the close friendships of early adolescent boys in relation to antisocial behavior. 186 13-14-year-old boys and their close friends were interviewed, assessed at school, and videotaped in a problem-solving task. Similarity was observed between the demographic characteristics and antisocial behavior of the boys and their close friends. There was a tendency for the close friends of antisocial boys to live within the same neighborhood block and to have met in unstructured, unsupervised activities. Direct observations of interactions with close friends revealed a reliable correlation between antisocial behavior, directives, and negative reciprocity. Positive interactions within the friendship were uncorrelated with antisocial behavior and relationship quality. Implications of these findings for clinical and developmental theory are discussed.

Gene Variants Associated with Antisocial Behaviour: A Latent Variable Approach

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Bentley, Mary Jane; Lin, Haiqun; Fernandez, Thomas V.; Lee, Maria; Yrigollen, Carolyn M.; Pakstis, Andrew J.; Katsovich, Liliya; Olds, David L.; Grigorenko, Elena L.; Leckman, James F.

2013-01-01

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if a latent variable approach might be useful in identifying shared variance across genetic risk alleles that is associated with antisocial behaviour at age 15 years. Methods: Using a conventional latent variable approach, we derived an antisocial phenotype in 328 adolescents utilizing data from a…

The Role of Compassion in Altruistic Helping and Punishment Behavior.

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Weng, Helen Y; Fox, Andrew S; Hessenthaler, Heather C; Stodola, Diane E; Davidson, Richard J

2015-01-01

Compassion, the emotional response of caring for another who is suffering and that results in motivation to relieve suffering, is thought to be an emotional antecedent to altruistic behavior. However, it remains unclear whether compassion enhances altruistic behavior in a uniform way or is specific to sub-types of behavior such as altruistic helping of a victim or altruistic punishment of a transgressor. We investigated the relationship between compassion and subtypes of altruistic behavior using third-party paradigms where participants (1) witnessed an unfair economic exchange between a transgressor and a victim, and (2) had the opportunity to either spend personal funds to either economically (a) help the victim or (b) punish the transgressor. In Study 1, we examined whether individual differences in self-reported empathic concern (the emotional component of compassion) was associated with greater altruistic helping or punishment behavior in two independent samples. For participants who witnessed an unfair transaction, trait empathic concern was associated with greater helping of a victim and had no relationship to punishment. However, in those who decided to punish the transgressor, participants who reported greater empathic concern decided to punish less. In Study 2, we directly enhanced compassion using short-term online compassion meditation training to examine whether altruistic helping and punishment were increased after two weeks of training. Compared to an active reappraisal training control group, the compassion training group gave more to help the victim and did not differ in punishment of the transgressor. Together, these two studies suggest that compassion is related to greater altruistic helping of victims and is not associated with or may mitigate altruistic punishment of transgressors.

The Role of Compassion in Altruistic Helping and Punishment Behavior.

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Helen Y Weng

Full Text Available Compassion, the emotional response of caring for another who is suffering and that results in motivation to relieve suffering, is thought to be an emotional antecedent to altruistic behavior. However, it remains unclear whether compassion enhances altruistic behavior in a uniform way or is specific to sub-types of behavior such as altruistic helping of a victim or altruistic punishment of a transgressor. We investigated the relationship between compassion and subtypes of altruistic behavior using third-party paradigms where participants (1 witnessed an unfair economic exchange between a transgressor and a victim, and (2 had the opportunity to either spend personal funds to either economically (a help the victim or (b punish the transgressor. In Study 1, we examined whether individual differences in self-reported empathic concern (the emotional component of compassion was associated with greater altruistic helping or punishment behavior in two independent samples. For participants who witnessed an unfair transaction, trait empathic concern was associated with greater helping of a victim and had no relationship to punishment. However, in those who decided to punish the transgressor, participants who reported greater empathic concern decided to punish less. In Study 2, we directly enhanced compassion using short-term online compassion meditation training to examine whether altruistic helping and punishment were increased after two weeks of training. Compared to an active reappraisal training control group, the compassion training group gave more to help the victim and did not differ in punishment of the transgressor. Together, these two studies suggest that compassion is related to greater altruistic helping of victims and is not associated with or may mitigate altruistic punishment of transgressors.

Prevalence of corporal punishment among students in Washington State schools.

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Grossman, D C; Rauh, M J; Rivara, F P

1995-05-01

To determine the prevalence of corporal punishment in Washington State and the factors associated with its use in Washington elementary and secondary schools. Cross-sectional mail survey performed during the summer of 1992. All elementary and secondary schools in the state of Washington. One thousand eighteen schools (47%) responded to the survey, of which 80% were publicly funded and 63% were located in urban areas. The study sample closely resembled the profile of all schools in the state. Almost 11% of participating schools permitted corporal punishment at the time of the survey and 3.2% reported its actual use during the 1991-1992 school year, resulting in an estimated prevalence of 7.2 incidents per 1000 students per year. Sixteen percent of corporal punishment actions occurred in schools not permitting its use. Ninety percent of public schools relied on district policy regarding corporal punishment. School characteristics associated with the use of corporal punishment included rural location (crude odds ratio, 2.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.5 to 3.4), enrollment of less than 500 students (crude odds ratio, 1.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 2.7), and kindergarten to eighth-grade or kindergarten to 12th-grade enrollment (crude odds ratio, 2.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.6 to 3.9). The lack of a statewide ban on school corporal punishment at the time of this survey was associated with the continued use of corporal punishment against children in districts that continued to permit it. School policies against corporal punishment were associated with much lower prevalence. Continued efforts are needed to enact and enforce laws in the remaining states that have not yet banned corporal punishment.

Neurological soft signs in Chinese adolescents with antisocial personality traits.

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Wang, Xin; Cai, Lin; Li, Lingyan; Yang, Yanjie; Yao, Shuqiao; Zhu, Xiongzhao

2016-09-30

The current study was designed to explore the specific relationship between neurologic soft signs (NSSs) and characteristics of antisocial personality traits in adolescents, and to investigate particular NSSs linked to certain brain regions in adolescents with antisocial personality traits. The research was conducted on 96 adolescents diagnosed with ASP traits (ASP trait group) using the ASPD subscale of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire for the DSM-IV (PDQ-4+) and 96 adolescents without traits of any personality disorder (control group). NSSs were assessed using the soft sign subscales of the Cambridge Neurological Inventory. Adolescents with ASP traits showed more motor coordination, sensory integration, disinhibition, and total NSSs than the control group. Seven NSSs, including stereognosia in right hand, finger agnosia and graphesthesia in both hands, left-right orientation, and go/no go stimulus, were significantly more frequent in teenagers with ASP traits. Sensory integration was positively associated with ASP traits. Adolescents with antisocial personality traits might have abnormalities in the central nervous system, and sensory integration might be the particular indicator of antisocial personality disorder. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural reward and punishment sensitivity in cigarette smokers.

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Potts, Geoffrey F; Bloom, Erika L; Evans, David E; Drobes, David J

2014-11-01

Nicotine addiction remains a major public health problem but the neural substrates of addictive behavior remain unknown. One characteristic of smoking behavior is impulsive choice, selecting the immediate reward of smoking despite the potential long-term negative consequences. This suggests that drug users, including cigarette smokers, may be more sensitive to rewards and less sensitive to punishment. We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to test the hypothesis that smokers are more responsive to reward signals and less responsive to punishment, potentially predisposing them to risky behavior. We conducted two experiments, one using a reward prediction design to elicit a Medial Frontal Negativity (MFN) and one using a reward- and punishment-motivated flanker task to elicit an Error Related Negativity (ERN), ERP components thought to index activity in the cortical projection of the dopaminergic reward system. The smokers had a greater MFN response to unpredicted rewards, and non-smokers, but not smokers, had a larger ERN on punishment motivated trials indicating that smokers are more reward sensitive and less punishment sensitive than nonsmokers, overestimating the appetitive value and underestimating aversive outcomes of stimuli and actions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Parent's perspective on child rearing and corporal punishment].

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Donoso, Miguir Terezinha Vieccelli; Ricas, Janete

2009-02-01

To describe parents' current perception of corporal punishment associated to child rearing and its practices. There were studied 31 family members whose children were warded due to child abuse complaints (12) and not warded (19) at a health care unit and a local social service unit in the city of Belo Horizonte (Southeastern Brazil) in 2006. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and speech analysis was performed grouped by subjects and categories. ANALYSIS OF DISCOURSE: There was limitation of the respondents' speeches based on their production means. There was a diversity of conceptions on child rearing and its practices and corporal punishment was reported by all parents, even among those who expressed strong disapproval of this practice. Speeches were characterized by heterogeneity and polyphony with emphasis on the tradition speech, the religious speech and the popular scientific speech. Respondents did not express concepts of legal interdiction of corporal punishment or its excesses. The culture of corporal punishment of children is changing; tradition approving it has weakened and prohibition has been slowly adopted. Reinforcing legal actions against this practice can contribute to speed up the process to end corporal punishment of children.

Punishment sustains large-scale cooperation in prestate warfare

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Mathew, Sarah; Boyd, Robert

2011-01-01

Understanding cooperation and punishment in small-scale societies is crucial for explaining the origins of human cooperation. We studied warfare among the Turkana, a politically uncentralized, egalitarian, nomadic pastoral society in East Africa. Based on a representative sample of 88 recent raids, we show that the Turkana sustain costly cooperation in combat at a remarkably large scale, at least in part, through punishment of free-riders. Raiding parties comprised several hundred warriors and participants are not kin or day-to-day interactants. Warriors incur substantial risk of death and produce collective benefits. Cowardice and desertions occur, and are punished by community-imposed sanctions, including collective corporal punishment and fines. Furthermore, Turkana norms governing warfare benefit the ethnolinguistic group, a population of a half-million people, at the expense of smaller social groupings. These results challenge current views that punishment is unimportant in small-scale societies and that human cooperation evolved in small groups of kin and familiar individuals. Instead, these results suggest that cooperation at the larger scale of ethnolinguistic units enforced by third-party sanctions could have a deep evolutionary history in the human species. PMID:21670285

Emotions and Actions Associated with Altruistic Helping and Punishment

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Omar Tonsi Eldakar

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Evolutionary altruism (defined in terms of fitness effects exists in the context of punishment in addition to helping. We examine the proximate psychological mechanisms that motivate altruistic helping and punishment, including the effects of genetic relatedness, potential for future interactions, and individual differences in propensity to help and punish. A cheater who is a genetic relative provokes a stronger emotional reaction than a cheater who is a stranger, but the behavioral response is modulated to avoid making the transgression public in the case of cheating relatives. Numerous behavioral differences are not accompanied by emotional differences, suggesting that other psychological mechanisms dictate the specific response to emotion-provoking events. Paradoxically, there is a positive correlation between temptation to cheat and propensity to punish others for cheating, leading to a concept of “selfish punishment” that has been substantiated by a computer simulation model. This study demonstrates that fictional scenarios can provide an important methodological tool for studying the psychological basis of helping and punishment.

Preschoolers' group bias in punishing selfishness in the Ultimatum Game.

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Wu, Zhen; Gao, Xiaohe

2018-02-01

Previous studies have shown that both adults and children tend to favor members of their own group and expect reciprocity of such in-group privilege. If a person is treated unfairly by an in-group member, a conflict arises between the tendency of in-group favoritism and the desire to punish violators of in-group norms. How do children solve the conflict at different points in development? We compared how preschoolers punished in-group and out-group members (marked by color preference) for selfishness in the Ultimatum Game. We found that (a) 3- to 6-year-old Chinese children rejected selfish allocations more often than fair ones, showing a robust preference for fairness; (b) 3- and 4-year-olds showed no group differences in their punishment behavior, suggesting that second-party punishment of selfishness is not biased during early childhood; (c) 5- and 6-year-old girls were more likely to punish selfishness of in-groups than of out-groups, illuminating an early sign of maintaining group-based fairness norms even at a personal cost; and (d) 5- and 6-year-old boys, however, punished in-groups and out-groups equally often and punished out-groups more often than did girls. These age and gender differences in children's punishment imply that socialization may play an important role in showing group bias when enforcing fairness norms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sanctions as honest signals--the evolution of pool punishment by public sanctioning institutions.

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Schoenmakers, Sarah; Hilbe, Christian; Blasius, Bernd; Traulsen, Arne

2014-09-07

In many species, mutual cooperation is stabilized by forms of policing and peer punishment: if cheaters are punished, there is a strong selective pressure to cooperate. Most human societies have complemented, and sometimes even replaced, such peer punishment mechanisms with pool punishment, where punishment is outsourced to central institutions such as the police. Even before free-riding occurs, such institutions require investments, which could serve as costly signals. Here, we show with a game theoretical model that this signaling effect in turn can be crucial for the evolution of punishment institutions: In the absence of such signals, pool punishment is only stable with second-order punishment and can only evolve when individuals have the freedom not to take part in any interaction. With such signals, individuals can opportunistically adjust their behavior, which promotes the evolution of stable pool punishment even in situations where no one can stand aside. Thus, the human propensity to react opportunistically to credible punishment threats is often sufficient to establish stable punishment institutions and to maintain high levels of cooperation. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary snowdrift game incorporating costly punishment in structured populations

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Chan, Nat W. H.; Xu, C.; Tey, Siew Kian; Yap, Yee Jiun; Hui, P. M.

2013-01-01

The role of punishment and the effects of a structured population in promoting cooperation are important issues. Within a recent model of snowdrift game (SG) incorporating a costly punishing strategy (P), we study the effects of a population connected through a square lattice. The punishers, who carry basically a cooperative (C) character, are willing to pay a cost α so as to punish a non-cooperative (D) opponent by β. Depending on α, β, the cost-to-benefit ratio r in SG, and the initial conditions, the system evolves into different phases that could be homogeneous or inhomogeneous. The spatial structure imposes geometrical constraint on how one agent is affected by neighboring agents. Results of extensive numerical simulations, both for the steady state and the dynamics, are presented. Possible phases are identified and discussed, and isolated phases in the r-β space are identified as special local structures of strategies that are stable due to the lattice structure. In contrast to a well-mixed population where punishers are suppressed due to the cost of punishment, the altruistic punishing strategy can flourish and prevail for appropriate values of the parameters, implying an enhancement in cooperation by imposing punishments in a structured population. The system could evolve to a phase corresponding to the coexistence of C, D, and P strategies at some particular payoff parameters, and such a phase is absent in a well-mixed population. The pair approximation, a commonly used analytic approach, is extended from a two-strategy system to a three-strategy system. We show that the pair approximation can, at best, capture the numerical results only qualitatively. Due to the improper way of including spatial correlation imposed by the lattice structure, the approximation does not give the frequencies of C, D, and P accurately and fails to give the homogeneous AllD and AllP phases.

Parsing the Behavioral and Brain Mechanisms of Third-Party Punishment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ginther, Matthew R; Bonnie, Richard J; Hoffman, Morris B; Shen, Francis X; Simons, Kenneth W; Jones, Owen D; Marois, René

2016-09-07

The evolved capacity for third-party punishment is considered crucial to the emergence and maintenance of elaborate human social organization and is central to the modern provision of fairness and justice within society. Although it is well established that the mental state of the offender and the severity of the harm he caused are the two primary predictors of punishment decisions, the precise cognitive and brain mechanisms by which these distinct components are evaluated and integrated into a punishment decision are poorly understood. Using fMRI, here we implement a novel experimental design to functionally dissociate the mechanisms underlying evaluation, integration, and decision that were conflated in previous studies of third-party punishment. Behaviorally, the punishment decision is primarily defined by a superadditive interaction between harm and mental state, with subjects weighing the interaction factor more than the single factors of harm and mental state. On a neural level, evaluation of harms engaged brain areas associated with affective and somatosensory processing, whereas mental state evaluation primarily recruited circuitry involved in mentalization. Harm and mental state evaluations are integrated in medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate structures, with the amygdala acting as a pivotal hub of the interaction between harm and mental state. This integrated information is used by the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex at the time of the decision to assign an appropriate punishment through a distributed coding system. Together, these findings provide a blueprint of the brain mechanisms by which neutral third parties render punishment decisions. Punishment undergirds large-scale cooperation and helps dispense criminal justice. Yet it is currently unknown precisely how people assess the mental states of offenders, evaluate the harms they caused, and integrate those two components into a single punishment decision. Using a new design, we isolated

[Comorbid antisocial and borderline personality disorders: mentalization-based treatment].

Science.gov (United States)

Bateman, Anthony; Fonagy, Peter

2010-01-01

Mentalization is the process by which we implicitly and explicitly interpret the actions of ourselves and others as meaningful based on intentional mental states (e.g., desires, needs, feelings, beliefs, and reasons). This process is disrupted in individuals with comorbid antisocial (ASPD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD), who tend to misinterpret others' motives. Antisocial characteristics stabilize mentalizing by rigidifying relationships within prementalistic ways of functioning. However, loss of flexibility makes the person vulnerable to sudden collapse when the schematic representation is challenged. This exposes feelings of humiliation, which can only be avoided by violence and control of the other person. The common path to violence is via a momentary inhibition of the capacity for mentalization. In this article, the authors outline their current understanding of mentalizing and its relation to antisocial characteristics and violence. This is illustrated by a clinical account of mentalization-based treatment adapted for antisocial personality disorder. Treatment combines group and individual therapy. The focus is on helping patients maintain mentalizing about their own mental states when their personal integrity is challenged. A patient with ASPD does not have mental pain associated with another's state of mind; thus, to generate conflict in ASPD by thinking about the victim will typically be ineffective in inducing behavior change.

Comorbid antisocial and borderline personality disorders: mentalization-based treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Bateman, Anthony; Fonagy, Peter

2008-02-01

Mentalization is the process by which we implicitly and explicitly interpret the actions of ourselves and others as meaningful based on intentional mental states (e.g., desires, needs, feelings, beliefs, and reasons). This process is disrupted in individuals with comorbid antisocial (ASPD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD), who tend to misinterpret others' motives. Antisocial characteristics stabilize mentalizing by rigidifying relationships within prementalistic ways of functioning. However, loss of flexibility makes the person vulnerable to sudden collapse when the schematic representation is challenged. This exposes feelings of humiliation, which can only be avoided by violence and control of the other person. The common path to violence is via a momentary inhibition of the capacity for mentalization. In this article, the authors outline their current understanding of mentalizing and its relation to antisocial characteristics and violence. This is illustrated by a clinical account of mentalization-based treatment adapted for antisocial personality disorder. Treatment combines group and individual therapy. The focus is on helping patients maintain mentalizing about their own mental states when their personal integrity is challenged. A patient with ASPD does not have mental pain associated with another's state of mind; thus, to generate conflict in ASPD by thinking about the victim will typically be ineffective in inducing behavior change. 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Cortical GluN2B deletion attenuates punished suppression of food reward-seeking.

Science.gov (United States)

Radke, Anna K; Nakazawa, Kazu; Holmes, Andrew

2015-10-01

Compulsive behavior, which is a hallmark of psychiatric disorders such as addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder, engages corticostriatal circuits. Previous studies indicate a role for corticostriatal N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) in mediating compulsive-like responding for drugs of abuse, but the specific receptor subunits controlling reward-seeking in the face of punishment remain unclear. The current study assessed the involvement of corticostriatal GluN2B-containing NMDARs in measures of persistent and punished food reward-seeking. Mice with genetic deletion of GluN2B in one of three distinct neuronal populations, cortical principal neurons, forebrain interneurons, or striatal medium spiny neurons, were tested for (1) sustained food reward-seeking when reward was absent, (2) reward-seeking under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement, and (3) persistent reward-seeking after a footshock punishment. Mutant mice with genetic deletion of GluN2B in cortical principal neurons demonstrated attenuated suppression of reward-seeking during punishment. These mice performed normally on other behavioral measures, including an assay for pain sensitivity. Mutants with interneuronal or striatal GluN2B deletions were normal on all behavioral assays. Current findings offer novel evidence that loss of GluN2B-containing NMDARs expressed on principal neurons in the cortex results in reduced punished food reward-seeking. These data support the involvement of GluN2B subunit in cortical circuits regulating cognitive flexibility in a variety of settings, with implications for understanding the basis of inflexible behavior in neuropsychiatric disorders including obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) and addictions.

Predictors of antisocial and prosocial behavior in an adolescent sports context

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rutten, E.A.; Schuengel, C.; Dirks, E.; Stams, G.J.J.M.; Biesta, G.J.J.; Hoeksma, J.B.

2011-01-01

This study examined antisocial and prosocial behavior of N = 439 adolescent athletes between 14 and 17 years of age (67 teams). Multi-level analyses showed that team membership explained 20 and 13 percent of the variance in antisocial and prosocial behavior in the sports context, respectively. The

Monopolizing sanctioning power under noise eliminates perverse punishment but does not increase cooperation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sven Fischer

2016-09-01

Full Text Available We run several experiments which allow us to compare cooperation under perfect and imperfect information in a centralized and decentralized punishment regime. Under perfect and extremely noisy information, aggregate behavior does not differ between institutions. Under intermediate noise, punishment escalates in the decentralized peer-to-peer punishment regime which badly affects efficiency while sustaining cooperation for longer. Only decentralized punishment is often directed at cooperators (perverse punishment. We report several, sometimes subtle, differences in punishment behavior, and how contributions react.

Monopolizing Sanctioning Power under Noise Eliminates Perverse Punishment But Does Not Increase Cooperation

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Sven; Grechenig, Kristoffel; Meier, Nicolas

2016-01-01

We run several experiments which allow us to compare cooperation under perfect and imperfect information in a centralized and decentralized punishment regime. Under perfect and extremely noisy information, aggregate behavior does not differ between institutions. Under intermediate noise, punishment escalates in the decentralized peer-to-peer punishment regime which badly affects efficiency while sustaining cooperation for longer. Only decentralized punishment is often directed at cooperators (perverse punishment). We report several, sometimes subtle, differences in punishment behavior, and how contributions react. PMID:27746725

Effects of monetary reward and punishment on information checking behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Simon Y W; Cox, Anna L; Or, Calvin; Blandford, Ann

2016-03-01

Two experiments were conducted to examine whether checking one's own work can be motivated by monetary reward and punishment. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a flat-rate payment for completing the task (Control); payment increased for error-free performance (Reward); payment decreased for error performance (Punishment). Experiment 1 (N = 90) was conducted with liberal arts students, using a general data-entry task. Experiment 2 (N = 90) replicated Experiment 1 with clinical students and a safety-critical 'cover story' for the task. In both studies, Reward and Punishment resulted in significantly fewer errors, more frequent and longer checking, than Control. No such differences were obtained between the Reward and Punishment conditions. It is concluded that error consequences in terms of monetary reward and punishment can result in more accurate task performance and more rigorous checking behaviour than errors without consequences. However, whether punishment is more effective than reward, or vice versa, remains inconclusive. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Building the Leviathan – Voluntary centralisation of punishment power sustains cooperation in humans

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Gross, Jörg; Méder, Zsombor Z.; Okamoto-Barth, Sanae; Riedl, Arno

2016-01-01

The prevalence of cooperation among humans is puzzling because cooperators can be exploited by free riders. Peer punishment has been suggested as a solution to this puzzle, but cumulating evidence questions its robustness in sustaining cooperation. Amongst others, punishment fails when it is not powerful enough, or when it elicits counter-punishment. Existing research, however, has ignored that the distribution of punishment power can be the result of social interactions. We introduce a novel experiment in which individuals can transfer punishment power to others. We find that while decentralised peer punishment fails to overcome free riding, the voluntary transfer of punishment power enables groups to sustain cooperation. This is achieved by non-punishing cooperators empowering those who are willing to punish in the interest of the group. Our results show how voluntary power centralisation can efficiently sustain cooperation, which could explain why hierarchical power structures are widespread among animals and humans. PMID:26888519

Sex differences in the genetic and environmental influences on childhood conduct disorder and adult antisocial behavior.

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Meier, Madeline H; Slutske, Wendy S; Heath, Andrew C; Martin, Nicholas G

2011-05-01

Sex differences in the genetic and environmental influences on childhood conduct disorder and adult antisocial behavior were examined in a large community sample of 6,383 adult male, female, and opposite-sex twins. Retrospective reports of childhood conduct disorder (prior to 18 years of age) were obtained when participants were approximately 30 years old, and lifetime reports of adult antisocial behavior (antisocial behavior after 17 years of age) were obtained 8 years later. Results revealed that either the genetic or the shared environmental factors influencing childhood conduct disorder differed for males and females (i.e., a qualitative sex difference), but by adulthood, these sex-specific influences on antisocial behavior were no longer apparent. Further, genetic and environmental influences accounted for proportionally the same amount of variance in antisocial behavior for males and females in childhood and adulthood (i.e., there were no quantitative sex differences). Additionally, the stability of antisocial behavior from childhood to adulthood was slightly greater for males than females. Though familial factors accounted for more of the stability of antisocial behavior for males than females, genetic factors accounted for the majority of the covariation between childhood conduct disorder and adult antisocial behavior for both sexes. The genetic influences on adult antisocial behavior overlapped completely with the genetic influences on childhood conduct disorder for both males and females. Implications for future twin and molecular genetic studies are discussed.

Reductions in Parental Use of Corporal Punishment on Pre-School Children Following Participation in the Moms' Empowerment Program.

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Grogan-Kaylor, Andrew; Galano, Maria M; Howell, Kathryn H; Miller-Graff, Laura; Graham-Bermann, Sandra A

2016-06-09

Corporal punishment is a widely used and widely endorsed form of parental discipline. Inter-partner violence places enormous stress upon women. The rate of corporal punishment is higher in homes where other types of domestic violence are also occurring. This study compares two groups: those who participated in an intervention for women exposed to intimate partner violence (The Moms' Empowerment Program [MEP]) and those in a comparison group. Using standardized measures, women in both groups were assessed at baseline and at the end of the program, 5 weeks later. The 113 mothers who participated in the MEP program had significantly improved their parenting, such that they had less use of physical punishment post-intervention. Findings suggest that a relatively brief community-based intervention program can reduce the use of parental physical punishment even in disadvantaged populations coping with stressful circumstances. © The Author(s) 2016.

Power Asymmetries and Punishment in a Prisoner's Dilemma with Variable Cooperative Investment.

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Bone, Jonathan E; Wallace, Brian; Bshary, Redouan; Raihani, Nichola J

2016-01-01

In many two-player games, players that invest in punishment finish with lower payoffs than those who abstain from punishing. These results question the effectiveness of punishment at promoting cooperation, especially when retaliation is possible. It has been suggested that these findings may stem from the unrealistic assumption that all players are equal in terms of power. However, a previous empirical study which incorporated power asymmetries into an iterated prisoner's dilemma (IPD) game failed to show that power asymmetries stabilize cooperation when punishment is possible. Instead, players cooperated in response to their partner cooperating, and punishment did not yield any additional increase in tendency to cooperate. Nevertheless, this previous study only allowed an all-or-nothing-rather than a variable-cooperation investment. It is possible that power asymmetries increase the effectiveness of punishment from strong players only when players are able to vary their investment in cooperation. We tested this hypothesis using a modified IPD game which allowed players to vary their investment in cooperation in response to being punished. As in the previous study, punishment from strong players did not increase cooperation under any circumstances. Thus, in two-player games with symmetric strategy sets, punishment does not appear to increase cooperation.

Power Asymmetries and Punishment in a Prisoner's Dilemma with Variable Cooperative Investment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan E Bone

Full Text Available In many two-player games, players that invest in punishment finish with lower payoffs than those who abstain from punishing. These results question the effectiveness of punishment at promoting cooperation, especially when retaliation is possible. It has been suggested that these findings may stem from the unrealistic assumption that all players are equal in terms of power. However, a previous empirical study which incorporated power asymmetries into an iterated prisoner's dilemma (IPD game failed to show that power asymmetries stabilize cooperation when punishment is possible. Instead, players cooperated in response to their partner cooperating, and punishment did not yield any additional increase in tendency to cooperate. Nevertheless, this previous study only allowed an all-or-nothing-rather than a variable-cooperation investment. It is possible that power asymmetries increase the effectiveness of punishment from strong players only when players are able to vary their investment in cooperation. We tested this hypothesis using a modified IPD game which allowed players to vary their investment in cooperation in response to being punished. As in the previous study, punishment from strong players did not increase cooperation under any circumstances. Thus, in two-player games with symmetric strategy sets, punishment does not appear to increase cooperation.

Sanctions as honest signals – The evolution of pool punishment by public sanctioning institutions

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Schoenmakers, Sarah; Hilbe, Christian; Blasius, Bernd; Traulsen, Arne

2014-01-01

In many species, mutual cooperation is stabilized by forms of policing and peer punishment: if cheaters are punished, there is a strong selective pressure to cooperate. Most human societies have complemented, and sometimes even replaced, such peer punishment mechanisms with pool punishment, where punishment is outsourced to central institutions such as the police. Even before free-riding occurs, such institutions require investments, which could serve as costly signals. Here, we show with a game theoretical model that this signaling effect in turn can be crucial for the evolution of punishment institutions: In the absence of such signals, pool punishment is only stable with second-order punishment and can only evolve when individuals have the freedom not to take part in any interaction. With such signals, individuals can opportunistically adjust their behavior, which promotes the evolution of stable pool punishment even in situations where no one can stand aside. Thus, the human propensity to react opportunistically to credible punishment threats is often sufficient to establish stable punishment institutions and to maintain high levels of cooperation. PMID:24768866

Outcomes and intentions in children's, adolescents', and adults' second- and third-party punishment behavior.

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Gummerum, Michaela; Chu, Maria T

2014-10-01

Theories of morality maintain that punishment supports the emergence and maintenance of moral behavior. This study investigated developmental differences in the role of outcomes and the violator's intentions in second-party punishment (where punishers are victims of a violation) and third-party punishment (where punishers are unaffected observers of a violation). Four hundred and forty-three adults and 8-, 12-, and 15-year-olds made choices in mini-ultimatum games and newly-developed mini-third-party punishment games, which involved actual incentives rather than hypothetical decisions. Adults integrated outcomes and intentions in their second- and third-party punishment, whereas 8-year-olds consistently based their punishment on the outcome of the violation. Adolescents integrated outcomes and intentions in second- but not third-party punishment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

On the determinants and consequences of punishment goals : power, distrust, and rule compliance

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Mooijman, M.

2016-01-01

This dissertation focuses on the determinants and consequences of leaders’ punishment goals. I investigate how and why leaders rely on certain punishment goals, and how and why leaders’ reliance on such punishment goals affects punishment effectiveness. Specifically, in this dissertation I

A Phenomenological Examination of Antisocial Behaviors in the Elementary School Workplace

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Morton, Cynthia

2010-01-01

Antisocial behavior has a direct impact on the public elementary school setting. While considerable research has been conducted on collegiality in postsecondary schools, this study addressed the gap in practice concerning the lack of attention in regard to the impact of antisocial behavior on collegial relationships in the elementary school…

[A retrospective survey of childhood corporal punishment by school teachers in students].

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Chen, Jing-qi; Wu, Chun-mei; Dunne, Michael P; Ma, Yu-xia; Chen, Bo; Liang, Yi-huai; Cheng, Ya-jie

2006-01-01

To ascertain the prevalence of childhood corporal punishment by teachers in students, to explore the influencing factors and associations between childhood corporal punishment and psychological problems. Five hundred and twenty-eight students from a college and a technical secondary school in Hebei province were surveyed by self-administered questionnaire anonymously in Dec. 2004. The questionnaire used for this survey mainly included (1) general demographic information; (2) 5 forms of childhood corporal punishments, in this study, cases of teachers' corporal punishments were defined as those who answered positively one or more of the 5 questions relating to childhood corporal punishment by school teachers occurring before the age of 16 years; (3) Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90); (4) Youth Risk Behaviours. Overall, 57.6% of students reported having been corporally punished at least one time, one of four forms of corporal punishment by teachers before age of 16 years, the four forms corporal punishment were non-contact corporal punishment, e.g., running for punishment, repeat-doing homework many times for punishment, standing for punishment, kneel down for punishment, not allowing to eat, sending outside in winter, etc. (53.4%), hitting/kicking/pushing very hard with open hands/fist/feet/other part of body (16.1%), beating with an object (10.2%), and locking in a small compartment/tying with rope (0.2%). No students reported having been choked, or burned/scalded, or stabbed with a sharp object by the teachers. Males had a significantly higher overall prevalence rate than females (66.4% vs. 46.6%, chi(2) = 21.01, P = 0.000). There was no statistically significant association between a history of childhood corporal punishment and the three other demographic indicators, which included residence region (rural and non-rural area) prior to 16 years of age, parental education level, and whether the respondent lived in a single or multiple children family. Compared with their

Elimination of corporal punishment of children's a human right

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Stevanović Ivana

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The authors indicate the necessity of explicit legal prohibition of all corporal punishment of children that represent a violation of the right of the child to respect his/her physical integrity and human dignity. The paper emphasizes why all corporal punishment of children should be prohibited and points out the progress made at the legislative level to the elimination of all corporal punishment of children in some member states of the Council of Europe and the Republic of Serbia.

Crime and punishment in a roaming cleanerfish.

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Mills, Suzanne C; Côté, Isabelle M

2010-12-07

Cheating is common in cooperative interactions, but its occurrence can be controlled by various means ranging from rewarding cooperators to active punishment of cheaters. Punishment occurs in the mutualism involving the cleanerfish Labroides dimidiatus and its reef fish clients. When L. dimidiatus cheats, by taking scales and mucus rather than ectoparasites, wronged clients either chase or withhold further visits to the dishonest cleaner, which leads to more cooperative future interactions. Punishment of cheating L. dimidiatus may be effective largely because these cleaners are strictly site-attached, increasing the potential for repeated interactions between individual cleaners and clients. Here, we contrast the patterns of cheating and punishment in L. dimidiatus with its close relative, the less site-attached Labroides bicolor. Overall, L. bicolor had larger home ranges, cheated more often and, contrary to our prediction, were punished by cheated clients as frequently as, and not less often than, L. dimidiatus. However, adult L. bicolor, which had the largest home ranges, did not cheat more than younger conspecifics, suggesting that roaming, and hence the frequency of repeated interactions, has little influence on cheating and retaliation in cleaner-client relationships. We suggest that roaming cleaners offer the only option available to many site-attached reef fish seeking a cleaning service. This asymmetry in scope for partner choice encourages dishonesty by the partner with more options (i.e. L. bicolor), but to be cleaned by a cleaner that sometimes cheats may be a better option than not to be cleaned at all.

The Role of the Basolateral Amygdala in Punishment

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Dit-Bressel, Philip Jean-Richard; McNally, Gavan P.

2015-01-01

Aversive stimuli not only support fear conditioning to their environmental antecedents, they also punish behaviors that cause their occurrence. The amygdala, especially the basolateral nucleus (BLA), has been critically implicated in Pavlovian fear learning but its role in punishment remains poorly understood. Here, we used a within-subjects…

Antisocial violent offenders with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder demonstrate akathisia-like hyperactivity in three-channel actometry.

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Tuisku, Katinka; Virkkunen, Matti; Holi, Matti; Lauerma, Hannu; Naukkarinen, Hannu; Rimon, Ranan; Wahlbeck, Kristian

2003-01-01

Actometry enables quantitative and qualitative analysis of various hyperactivity disorders. Antisocial violent offenders have demonstrated diurnal increases in motor activity that may be related to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that often precedes antisocial development. Motor restlessness in ADHD has common features with neuroleptic-induced akathisia. In this study, three-channel actometry was used to compare 15 antisocial violent offenders who had a history of ADHD with 15 healthy control subjects and 10 akathisia patients. The Barnes Akathisia Rating Scale (BARS) was used for clinical evaluation of akathisia symptoms. Ankle movement indices and the ankle-waist ratio differentiated the antisocial patients from the healthy controls significantly, with no overlap, and the same parameters expectedly differentiated the akathisia patients from the healthy controls. The repetitive, rhythmic pattern of akathisia was found in 13 of the 15 antisocial patients. Nine of the antisocial patients scored 2 or 3 (mild to moderate akathisia) on the BARS. Thus, the motor hyperactivity of antisocial ADHD patients has common features with mild akathisia. This may be due to a common hypodopaminergic etiology of ADHD and akathisia.

Antisocial peer affiliation and externalizing disorders: Evidence for Gene × Environment × Development interaction.

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Samek, Diana R; Hicks, Brian M; Keyes, Margaret A; Iacono, William G; McGue, Matt

2017-02-01

Gene × Environment interaction contributes to externalizing disorders in childhood and adolescence, but little is known about whether such effects are long lasting or present in adulthood. We examined gene-environment interplay in the concurrent and prospective associations between antisocial peer affiliation and externalizing disorders (antisocial behavior and substance use disorders) at ages 17, 20, 24, and 29. The sample included 1,382 same-sex twin pairs participating in the Minnesota Twin Family Study. We detected a Gene × Environment interaction at age 17, such that additive genetic influences on antisocial behavior and substance use disorders were greater in the context of greater antisocial peer affiliation. This Gene × Environment interaction was not present for antisocial behavior symptoms after age 17, but it was for substance use disorder symptoms through age 29 (though effect sizes were largest at age 17). The results suggest adolescence is a critical period for the development of externalizing disorders wherein exposure to greater environmental adversity is associated with a greater expression of genetic risk. This form of Gene × Environment interaction may persist through young adulthood for substance use disorders, but it appears to be limited to adolescence for antisocial behavior.

Antisocial Peer Affiliation and Externalizing Disorders: Evidence for Gene × Environment × Development Interaction

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Samek, Diana R.; Hicks, Brian M.; Keyes, Margaret A.; Iacono, William G.; McGue, Matt

2016-01-01

Gene × environment interaction contributes to externalizing disorders in adolescence, but little is known about whether such effects are long-lasting or present in adulthood. We examined gene-environment interplay in the concurrent and prospective associations between antisocial peer affiliation and externalizing disorders (antisocial behavior and substance use disorders) at ages 17, 20, 24, and 29. The sample included 1,382 same-sex twin pairs participating in the Minnesota Twin Family Study. We detected a gene × environment interaction at age 17, such that additive genetic influences on antisocial behavior and substance use disorders were greater in the context of greater antisocial peer affiliation. This gene × environment interaction was not present for antisocial behavior symptoms after age 17, but was for substance use disorder symptoms through age 29 (though effect sizes were largest at age 17). Results suggest adolescence is a critical period for the development of externalizing disorders wherein exposure to greater environmental adversity is associated with a greater expression of genetic risk. This form of gene × environment interaction may persist through young adulthood for substance use disorders, but is limited to adolescence for antisocial behavior. PMID:27580681

Reward and punishment enhance motor adaptation in stroke.

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Quattrocchi, Graziella; Greenwood, Richard; Rothwell, John C; Galea, Joseph M; Bestmann, Sven

2017-09-01

The effects of motor learning, such as motor adaptation, in stroke rehabilitation are often transient, thus mandating approaches that enhance the amount of learning and retention. Previously, we showed in young individuals that reward and punishment feedback have dissociable effects on motor adaptation, with punishment improving adaptation and reward enhancing retention. If these findings were able to generalise to patients with stroke, they would provide a way to optimise motor learning in these patients. Therefore, we tested this in 45 patients with chronic stroke allocated in three groups. Patients performed reaching movements with their paretic arm with a robotic manipulandum. After training (day 1), day 2 involved adaptation to a novel force field. During the adaptation phase, patients received performance-based feedback according to the group they were allocated: reward, punishment or no feedback (neutral). On day 3, patients readapted to the force field but all groups now received neutral feedback. All patients adapted, with reward and punishment groups displaying greater adaptation and readaptation than the neutral group, irrespective of demographic, cognitive or functional differences. Remarkably, the reward and punishment groups adapted to similar degree as healthy controls. Finally, the reward group showed greater retention. This study provides, for the first time, evidence that reward and punishment can enhance motor adaptation in patients with stroke. Further research on reinforcement-based motor learning regimes is warranted to translate these promising results into clinical practice and improve motor rehabilitation outcomes in patients with stroke. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Altered neural processing of reward and punishment in adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder.

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Landes, I; Bakos, S; Kohls, G; Bartling, J; Schulte-Körne, G; Greimel, E

2018-05-01

Altered reward and punishment function has been suggested as an important vulnerability factor for the development of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Prior ERP studies found evidence for neurophysiological dysfunctions in reinforcement processes in adults with MDD. To date, only few ERP studies have examined the neural underpinnings of reinforcement processing in adolescents diagnosed with MDD. The present event-related potential (ERP) study aimed to investigate neurophysiological mechanisms of anticipation and consumption of reward and punishment in adolescents with MDD in one comprehensive paradigm. During ERP recording, 25 adolescents with MDD and 29 healthy controls (12-17 years) completed a Monetary Incentive Delay Task comprising both a monetary reward and a monetary punishment condition. During anticipation, the cue-P3 signaling attentional allocation was recorded. During consumption, the feedback-P3 and Reward Positivity (RewP) were recorded to capture attentional allocation and outcome evaluation, respectively. Compared to controls, adolescents with MDD showed prolonged cue-P3 latencies to reward cues. Furthermore, unlike controls, adolescents with MDD displayed shorter feedback-P3 latencies in the reward versus punishment condition. RewPs did not differ between groups. It remains unanswered whether the observed alterations in adolescent MDD represent a state or trait. Delayed neural processing of reward cues corresponds to the clinical presentation of adolescent MDD with reduced motivational tendencies to obtain rewards. Relatively shorter feedback-P3 latencies in the reward versus punishment condition could indicate a high salience of performance-contingent reward. Frequent exposure of negatively biased adolescents with MDD to performance-contingent rewards might constitute a promising intervention approach. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Differentiating corporal punishment from physical abuse in the prediction of lifetime aggression.

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King, Alan R; Ratzak, Abrianna; Ballantyne, Sage; Knutson, Shane; Russell, Tiffany D; Pogalz, Colton R; Breen, Cody M

2018-05-01

Corporal punishment and parental physical abuse often co-occur during upbringing, making it difficult to differentiate their selective impacts on psychological functioning. Associations between corporal punishment and a number of lifetime aggression indicators were examined in this study after efforts to control the potential influence of various forms of co-occurring maltreatment (parental physical abuse, childhood sexual abuse, sibling abuse, peer bullying, and observed parental violence). College students (N = 1,136) provided retrospective self-reports regarding their history of aggression and levels of exposure to childhood corporal punishment and maltreatment experiences. Analyses focused on three hypotheses: 1) The odds of experiencing childhood physical abuse would be higher among respondents reporting frequent corporal punishment during upbringing; 2) Corporal punishment scores would predict the criterion aggression indices after control of variance associated with childhood maltreatment; 3) Aggression scores would be higher among respondents classified in the moderate and elevated corporal punishment risk groups. Strong support was found for the first hypothesis since the odds of childhood physical abuse recollections were higher (OR = 65.3) among respondents who experienced frequent (>60 total disciplinary acts) corporal punishment during upbringing. Partial support was found for the second and third hypotheses. Dimensional and categorical corporal punishment scores were associated significantly with half of the criterion measures. These findings support efforts to dissuade reliance on corporal punishment to manage child behavior. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Antisocial personality disorder: a current review.

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Glenn, Andrea L; Johnson, Alexandria K; Raine, Adrian

2013-12-01

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5) classification of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) describes individuals who engage in repetitive irresponsible, delinquent, and criminal behavior. The diagnosis is highly controversial, with many researchers and clinicians arguing that the category is too heterogeneous, overinclusive, and demonstrates considerable overlap with other disorders. This review focuses on recent studies that have improved our understanding of the characteristics of individuals who fit the ASPD definition by exploring how subtypes differ and how comorbid conditions influence the presentation of ASPD. In addition, we discuss research on the etiology of ASPD that has identified genetic and environmental factors that may contribute to the development and persistence of antisocial behavior, and brain imaging research that has improved our understanding of the relationships between ASPD and other psychopathology. Finally, we discuss promising preliminary research on treatment for this disorder.

Crime and Punishment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dostoevsky, Fyodor

2005-01-01

Crime and Punishment is the story of a brutal double murder and its aftermath. Raskolnikov, a poor student, kills a pawnbroker and her sister, and then has to face up to the moral consequences of his actions. The novel is compelling and rewarding, full of meaning and symbolism, and raises profound

Moral emotions as determinants of third-party punishment

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Rob M. A. Nelissen

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Third-party punishment has recently received attention as an explanation for human altruism. Feelings of anger in response to norm violations are assumed to motivate third-party sanctions, yet there is only sparse and indirect support for this idea. We investigated the impact of both anger and guilt feelings on third-party sanctions. In two studies both emotions were independently manipulated. Results show that anger and guilt independently constitute sufficient but not necessary causes of punishment. Low levels of punishment are observed only when neither emotion is elicited. We discuss the implications of these findings for the functions of altruistic sanctions.

Corporal Punishment and Student Outcomes in Rural Schools

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Han, Seunghee

2014-01-01

This study examined the effects of corporal punishment on student outcomes in rural schools by analyzing 1,067 samples from the School Survey on Crime and Safety 2007-2008. Results of descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analyses indicated that schools with corporal punishment may decrease students' violent behaviors and…

Effects of punishment in a mobile population playing the prisoner's dilemma game

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Amor, Daniel R.; Fort, Joaquim

2011-12-01

We deal with a system of prisoner's dilemma players undergoing continuous motion in a two-dimensional plane. In contrast to previous work, we introduce altruistic punishment after the game. We find punishing only a few of the cooperator-defector interactions is enough to lead the system to a cooperative state in environments where otherwise defection would take over the population. This happens even with soft nonsocial punishment (where both cooperators and defectors punish other players, a behavior observed in many human populations). For high enough mobilities or temptations to defect, low rates of social punishment can no longer avoid the breakdown of cooperation.

Stability of antisocial behavior on the infancy-adolescence transition: a developmental perspective / Estabilidade do comportamento anti-social na transição da infância para a adolescência: uma perspectiva desenvolvimentista

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Janaína Pacheco

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The term antisocial is widely used in the literature to describe non-specific behavior problems such as delinquent behavior, aggressiveness, and oppositionist behavior. The aim of the present study was to describe and to discuss the concept of antisocial behavior as an indicator of specific mental disorders such as Attention-deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and Antisocial Personality Disorder. Also, we discuss the factors that contribute to the stability of such behaviors in the transition from childhood to adolescence and the losses incurred throughout development. A recommendation is made to broaden conceptual discussions about mental disorders using wider categories such as antisocial behavior.

The immigrant paradox: immigrants are less antisocial than native-born Americans.

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Vaughn, Michael G; Salas-Wright, Christopher P; DeLisi, Matt; Maynard, Brandy R

2014-07-01

Although recent research on crime and violence among immigrants suggests a paradox--where immigrants are more socially disadvantaged yet less likely to commit crime--previous research is limited by issues of generalizability and assessment of the full depth of antisocial behavior. We surmount these limitations using data from waves I and II of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) and compare immigrants (N = 7,320) from Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America to native-born Americans (N = 34,622) with respect to violent and nonviolent forms of antisocial behavior. After controlling for an extensive array of confounds, results indicate that immigrants are significantly less antisocial despite being more likely to have lower levels of income, less education, and reside in urban areas. These findings hold for immigrants from major regions of the world including Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. This study confirms and extends prior research on crime and antisocial behavior, but suggests that it is premature however to think of immigrants as a policy intervention for treating high crime areas.

Parenting and adolescent antisocial behavior and depression: evidence of genotype x parenting environment interaction.

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Feinberg, Mark E; Button, Tanya M M; Neiderhiser, Jenae M; Reiss, David; Hetherington, E Mavis

2007-04-01

Little is known about the interplay of genotypes and malleable risk factors in influencing adolescent psychiatric symptoms and disorders. Information on these processes is crucial in designing programs for the prevention of psychiatric disorders. To assess whether latent genetic factors and measured parent-child relationships interact (G x E) in predicting adolescent antisocial behavior and depression. We characterized risk of antisocial behavior and depression in adolescents by means of a genetically informed design. We used in-home questionnaire and observational measures of adolescent outcomes and environmental moderators (parenting), and a latent variable behavior genetic analytic model. A nationally distributed sample recruited from random-digit dialing and national market panels. A total of 720 families with at least 2 children, 9 through 18 years old, stratified by genetic relatedness (monozygotic and dizygotic twins, full biological siblings in nondivorced and stepfamilies, and half-siblings and biologically unrelated siblings in stepfamilies). Antisocial behavior and depressive symptoms. There was an interaction of genotype and both parental negativity and low warmth predicting overall antisocial behavior, as well as aggressive and nonaggressive forms of antisocial behavior, but not depression. Genetic influence was greater for adolescent antisocial behavior when parenting was more negative or less warm. Genotype-environment correlation was partialled out in the analysis and thus did not account for the results. This study demonstrates, on the basis of careful measurement and appropriate analytic methods, that a continuous measure of parenting in the normative range moderates the influence of genotype on antisocial behavior.

The Predictors of Parental Use of Corporal Punishment

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Grogan-Kaylor, Andrew; Otis, Melanie D.

2007-01-01

Corporal punishment has been the focus of considerable study over the past decade. Some recent research suggesting that the use of corporal punishment may have significant long-term negative effects on children has prompted increasing exploration and interest in the issue. We used tobit regression analysis and data from the 2000 National…

Talking about Corporal Punishment: Nine Low-Income African American Mothers' Perspectives

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Ispa, J.M.; Halgunseth, L.C.

2004-01-01

Qualitative interviews conducted over the course of 5 years with nine young low-income African American mothers were analyzed in order to gain understanding of their perspectives on corporal punishment. All used corporal punishment with their children. Results pertain to the vocabulary mothers used to describe corporal punishment (pop, tap, whup,…

The Importance of Emotions for the Effectiveness of Social Punishment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reuben, Ernesto; Hopfensitz, Astrid

This paper experimentally explores how the enforcement of cooperative behavior in a social dilemma is facilitated through institutional as well as emotional mechanisms. Recent studies emphasize the importance of anger and its role in motivating individuals to punish free riders. However, we find...... that anger also triggers retaliatory behavior by the punished individuals. This makes the enforcement of a cooperative norm more costly. We show that in addition to anger, ‘social’ emotions like guilt need to be present for punishment to be an effective deterrent of uncooperative actions. They play a key...... role by subduing the desire of punished individuals to retaliate and by motivating them to behave more cooperatively in the future...

Reduced prefrontal cortical gray matter volume in young adults exposed to harsh corporal punishment.

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Tomoda, Akemi; Suzuki, Hanako; Rabi, Keren; Sheu, Yi-Shin; Polcari, Ann; Teicher, Martin H

2009-08-01

Harsh corporal punishment (HCP) during childhood is a chronic, developmental stressor associated with depression, aggression and addictive behaviors. Exposure to traumatic stressors, such as sexual abuse, is associated with alteration in brain structure, but nothing is known about the potential neurobiological consequences of HCP. The aim of this study was to investigate whether HCP was associated with discernible alterations in gray matter volume (GMV) using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). 1455 young adults (18-25 years) were screened to identify 23 with exposure to HCP (minimum 3 years duration, 12 episodes per year, frequently involving objects) and 22 healthy controls. High-resolution T1-weighted MRI datasets were obtained using Siemens 3 T trio scanner. GMV was reduced by 19.1% in the right medial frontal gyrus (medial prefrontal cortex; MPFC, BA10) (P=0.037, corrected cluster level), by 14.5% in the left medial frontal gyrus (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; DLPFC, BA9) (P=0.015, uncorrected cluster level) and by 16.9% in the right anterior cingulate gyrus (BA24) (P<0.001, uncorrected cluster level) of HCP subjects. There were significant correlations between GMV in these identified regions and performance IQ on the WAIS-III. Exposing children to harsh HCP may have detrimental effects on trajectories of brain development. However, it is also conceivable that differences in prefrontal cortical development may increase risk of exposure to HCP.

Acting on social exclusion: neural correlates of punishment and forgiveness of excluders.

Science.gov (United States)

Will, Geert-Jan; Crone, Eveline A; Güroğlu, Berna

2015-02-01

This functional magnetic resonance imaging study examined the neural correlates of punishment and forgiveness of initiators of social exclusion (i.e. 'excluders'). Participants divided money in a modified Dictator Game between themselves and people who previously either included or excluded them during a virtual ball-tossing game (Cyberball). Participants selectively punished the excluders by decreasing their outcomes; even when this required participants to give up monetary rewards. Punishment of excluders was associated with increased activation in the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) and bilateral anterior insula. Costly punishment was accompanied by higher activity in the pre-SMA compared with punishment that resulted in gains or was non-costly. Refraining from punishment (i.e. forgiveness) was associated with self-reported perspective-taking and increased activation in the bilateral temporoparietal junction, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and ventrolateral and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These findings show that social exclusion can result in punishment as well as forgiveness of excluders and that separable neural networks implicated in social cognition and cognitive control are recruited when people choose either to punish or to forgive those who excluded them. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Change in Corporal Punishment Over Time in a Representative Sample of Canadian Parents.

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Fréchette, Sabrina; Romano, Elisa

2015-08-01

Corporal punishment is a controversial form of discipline. Although its prevalence appears high, legal reforms and public education efforts to limit corporal punishment may be resulting in a decrease in its prevalence and frequency of use. This study drew on Canadian nationally representative data to understand the social change that might be happening and to characterize parents who continue to use corporal punishment. The study relied on cross-sectional data from Cycles 1 (1994) to 8 (2008) of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth to examine parental reports of corporal punishment for children ages 2–11 years. Analyses were conducted separately for 2- to 5-, 6- to 9-, and 10- to 11-year-olds, and sociodemographics associated with corporal punishment were examined. A significant decrease in the prevalence and frequency of corporal punishment use was observed across time for all age groups. Child sex, parent age, employment status, family structure, household size, immigration status, ethnicity, and religion significantly distinguished parents who use corporal punishment from those who do not, but there was variability across the age groups. Effect sizes question the relevance of the observed decrease in corporal punishment from an applied perspective. Approximately 25% of Canadian parents still use corporal punishment with children ages 2–11 years; therefore, it remains an issue that merits continued attention. Certain child, parent, and family characteristics seem to characterize parents who use corporal punishment, but other more dynamic variables may be important to consider, such as parental stress and their attitudes toward corporal punishment.

The Natural History of Antisocial Personality Disorder.

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Black, Donald W

2015-07-01

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is characterized by a pattern of socially irresponsible, exploitative, and guiltless behaviour. ASPD is associated with co-occurring mental health and addictive disorders and medical comorbidity. Rates of natural and unnatural death (suicide, homicide, and accidents) are excessive. ASPD is a predictor of poor treatment response. ASPD begins early in life, usually by age 8 years. Diagnosed as conduct disorder in childhood, the diagnosis converts to ASPD at age 18 if antisocial behaviours have persisted. While chronic and lifelong for most people with ASPD, the disorder tends to improve with advancing age. Earlier onset is associated with a poorer prognosis. Other moderating factors include marriage, employment, early incarceration (or adjudication during childhood), and degree of socialization.

Opinions about Child Corporal Punishment and Influencing Factors

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Bell, Tessa; Romano, Elisa

2012-01-01

The use of corporal punishment has been linked to negative developmental outcomes for children. Despite this finding, Section 43 of the Canadian Criminal Code permits the use of corporal punishment by parents for children 2 to 12 years of age. Therefore, this study's first objective is to investigate opinions toward Section 43 and spanking more…

Estabilidade do comportamento anti-social na transição da infância para a adolescência: uma perspectiva desenvolvimentista Stability of antisocial behavior on the infancy-adolescence transition: a developmental perspective

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Janaína Pacheco

2005-04-01

Full Text Available O termo anti-social tem sido amplamente utilizado na literatura científica para descrição de problemas de comportamento não específicos, como comportamentos delinqüentes, agressividade e oposicionismo. O objetivo desse estudo é descrever e discutir o conceito de comportamento anti-social, como um indicador de transtornos mentais específicos e de algumas categorias de problemas comportamentais. Para isso, examinamos a relação entre o comportamento anti-social e o Transtorno Desafiador Opositivo, o Transtorno da Conduta, o Transtorno de Déficit de Atenção e Hiperatividade e o Transtorno de Personalidade Anti-social. Além disso, discute-se também os fatores que contribuem para a estabilidade desse comportamento na transição da infância para a adolescência e os prejuízos decorrentes ao longo do desenvolvimento. Propõe-se a ampliação das discussões conceituais acerca dos transtornos mentais, utilizando-se categorias mais amplas, como a de comportamento anti-social.The term antisocial is widely used in the literature to describe non-specific behavior problems such as delinquent behavior, aggressiveness, and oppositionist behavior. The aim of the present study was to describe and to discuss the concept of antisocial behavior as an indicator of specific mental disorders such as Attention-deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and Antisocial Personality Disorder. Also, we discuss the factors that contribute to the stability of such behaviors in the transition from childhood to adolescence and the losses incurred throughout development. A recommendation is made to broaden conceptual discussions about mental disorders using wider categories such as antisocial behavior.

The Effects of Perceived Anonymity on Altruistic Punishment

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Jared Piazza

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Previous studies investigating altruistic punishment have confounded the effects of two independent variables: information transmission (or breach of privacy and personal identification (or breach of anonymity. Here we report findings from a brief study in which participants were asked to respond to a social norm violation (i.e., an anonymous actor had behaved selfishly in an economic game by deciding whether to sacrifice their own endowment to punish this person. A third of the participants were told that their economic decisions would be made known to another player but could not be identified (privacy breach condition, whereas another third were informed that their decision as well as their names would be made known (anonymity breach condition. (The decisions of control participants were completely anonymous and private. Participants also justified their economic decisions and reported their emotional experiences. The results were participants punished most in the privacy and anonymity breach conditions and least in the control condition. These findings have implications for existing evolutionary accounts of altruistic punishment.

Looking Under the Hood of Third-Party Punishment Reveals Design for Personal Benefit.

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Krasnow, Max M; Delton, Andrew W; Cosmides, Leda; Tooby, John

2016-03-01

Third-party intervention, such as when a crowd stops a mugger, is common. Yet it seems irrational because it has real costs but may provide no personal benefits. In a laboratory analogue, the third-party-punishment game, third parties ("punishers") will often spend real money to anonymously punish bad behavior directed at other people. A common explanation is that third-party punishment exists to maintain a cooperative society. We tested a different explanation: Third-party punishment results from a deterrence psychology for defending personal interests. Because humans evolved in small-scale, face-to-face social worlds, the mind infers that mistreatment of a third party predicts later mistreatment of oneself. We showed that when punishers do not have information about how they personally will be treated, they infer that mistreatment of other people predicts mistreatment of themselves, and these inferences predict punishment. But when information about personal mistreatment is available, it drives punishment. This suggests that humans' punitive psychology evolved to defend personal interests. © The Author(s) 2016.

Facial Likability and Smiling Enhance Cooperation, but Have No Direct Effect on Moralistic Punishment.

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Mieth, Laura; Bell, Raoul; Buchner, Axel

2016-09-01

The present study serves to test how positive and negative appearance-based expectations affect cooperation and punishment. Participants played a prisoner's dilemma game with partners who either cooperated or defected. Then they were given a costly punishment option: They could spend money to decrease the payoffs of their partners. Aggregated over trials, participants spent more money for punishing the defection of likable-looking and smiling partners compared to punishing the defection of unlikable-looking and nonsmiling partners, but only because participants were more likely to cooperate with likable-looking and smiling partners, which provided the participants with more opportunities for moralistic punishment. When expressed as a conditional probability, moralistic punishment did not differ as a function of the partners' facial likability. Smiling had no effect on the probability of moralistic punishment, but punishment was milder for smiling in comparison to nonsmiling partners.

The effect of power asymmetries on cooperation and punishment in a prisoner's dilemma game.

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Jonathan E Bone

Full Text Available Recent work has suggested that punishment is detrimental because punishment provokes retaliation, not cooperation, resulting in lower overall payoffs. These findings may stem from the unrealistic assumption that all players are equal: in reality individuals are expected to vary in the power with which they can punish defectors. Here, we allowed strong players to interact with weak players in an iterated prisoner's dilemma game with punishment. Defecting players were most likely to switch to cooperation if the partner cooperated: adding punishment yielded no additional benefit and, under some circumstances, increased the chance that the partner would both defect and retaliate against the punisher. Our findings show that, in a two-player game, cooperation begets cooperation and that punishment does not seem to yield any additional benefits. Further work should explore whether strong punishers might prevail in multi-player games.

Who Punishes? Personality Traits Predict Individual Variation in Punitive Sentiment

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S. Craig Roberts

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Cross-culturally, participants in public goods games reward participants and punish defectors to a degree beyond that warranted by rational, profit-maximizing considerations. Costly punishment, where individuals impose costs on defectors at a cost to themselves, is thought to promote the maintenance of cooperation. However, despite substantial variation in the extent to which people punish, little is known about why some individuals, and not others, choose to pay these costs. Here, we test whether personality traits might contribute to variation in helping and punishment behavior. We first replicate a previous study using public goods scenarios to investigate effects of sex, relatedness and likelihood of future interaction on willingness to help a group member or to punish a transgressor. As in the previous study, we find that individuals are more willing to help related than unrelated needy others and that women are more likely to express desire to help than men. Desire to help was higher if the probability of future interaction is high, at least among women. In contrast, among these variables, only participant sex predicted some measures of punitive sentiment. Extending the replication, we found that punitive sentiment, but not willingness to help, was predicted by personality traits. Most notably, participants scoring lower on Agreeableness expressed more anger towards and greater desire to punish a transgressor, and were more willing to engage in costly punishment, at least in our scenario. Our results suggest that some personality traits may contribute to underpinning individual variation in social enforcement of cooperation.

Punitive preferences, monetary incentives and tacit coordination in the punishment of defectors promote cooperation in humans

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Diekmann, Andreas; Przepiorka, Wojtek

2015-05-01

Peer-punishment is effective in promoting cooperation, but the costs associated with punishing defectors often exceed the benefits for the group. It has been argued that centralized punishment institutions can overcome the detrimental effects of peer-punishment. However, this argument presupposes the existence of a legitimate authority and leaves an unresolved gap in the transition from peer-punishment to centralized punishment. Here we show that the origins of centralized punishment could lie in individuals’ distinct ability to punish defectors. In our laboratory experiment, we vary the structure of the punishment situation to disentangle the effects of punitive preferences, monetary incentives, and individual punishment costs on the punishment of defectors. We find that actors tacitly coordinate on the strongest group member to punish defectors, even if the strongest individual incurs a net loss from punishment. Such coordination leads to a more effective and more efficient provision of a cooperative environment than we observe in groups of all equals. Our results show that even an arbitrary assignment of an individual to a focal position in the social hierarchy can trigger the endogenous emergence of more centralized forms of punishment.

High School Sports Involvement Diminishes the Association Between Childhood Conduct Disorder and Adult Antisocial Behavior.

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Samek, Diana R; Elkins, Irene J; Keyes, Margaret A; Iacono, William G; McGue, Matt

2015-07-01

Life course-persistent antisocial behavior manifests as a display of aggressive and antisocial behavior beginning in childhood (conduct disorder [CD]) and lasting through adulthood (adult antisocial personality disorder). This study aimed to build on prior research by evaluating whether involvement in high school sports helped attenuate the association between CD and subsequent adult antisocial behavior (AAB). A prospective sample of 967 male and female adolescents (56% adopted) was used. Structured interviews were used to assess CD (symptoms before the age of 15 years), involvement in sports during high school, and past-year adult antisocial personality disorder symptoms in young adulthood (M age = 22.4 years). As expected, the association between CD and AAB was significantly less for those involved in sports (β = .28; p antisocial behavior in the model (age, gender, adoption status), and results were consistent across males and females. Involvement in other extracurricular activities (e.g., student government, plays, clubs) did not significantly moderate the relationship between CD and AAB. Although selection effects were evident (those with more CD symptoms were less likely to be involved in sports), findings nevertheless suggest high school sports involvement may be a notable factor related to disrupting persistent antisocial behavior beginning in childhood and adolescence and lasting through young adulthood. Implications are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Tobacco Smoking and Antisocial Deviance among Vietnamese, Vietnamese-American, and European-American Adolescents.

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Weiss, Bahr; Nguyen, Tam; Trung, Lam; Ngo, Victoria; Lau, Anna

2018-03-21

Tobacco smoking is one of the most significant modifiable behavioral health risk factors worldwide. Although smoking rates in some high-income countries (HIC) have declined, rates in many low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) remain high. Adolescence is a key developmental risk period for smoking initiation. Research indicates that a major adolescent risk factor for tobacco smoking is antisocial deviance, which includes such behaviors as aggression, risk-taking, and rule-breaking. The linkages between antisocial deviance and smoking suggest that these behaviors and their underlying attitudes can be important targets for smoking prevention programs, but for public health efficiency it is important to target the components of antisocial deviance most closely linked smoking. However, although 80% of smokers live in LMIC, most relevant research has been conducted in HIC and its applicability to LMIC is unclear, given cultural differences between many HIC and LMIC. The purpose of the present study was to assess cross-cultural variations in relations among components of antisocial deviance and self-reported tobacco smoking among 2,724 10th and 11th grade Vietnamese, Vietnamese-American, and European-American students. Within the combined sample the relation between self-reported smoking and overall antisocial deviance was β = 0.33. However, the component of antisocial deviance most strongly related to smoking varied across groups, with Risk-taking most strongly related to smoking for Vietnamese-American (β = 0.37) and Vietnamese (β = 0.36) adolescents, and Rule-breaking Behavior most strongly related to smoking for European-American (β = 0.51) adolescents. These and other findings suggest the possible importance of culturally-tailored foci for smoking prevention programs emphasizing different aspects of antisocial deviance.

School Factors as Moderators of the Relationship between Physical Child Abuse and Pathways of Antisocial Behavior

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Klika, J. Bart; Herrenkohl, Todd I.; Lee, Jungeun Olivia

2013-01-01

Physical child abuse is a predictor of antisocial behavior in adolescence and adulthood. Few studies have investigated factors that moderate the risk of physical child abuse for later occurring outcomes, including antisocial behavior. This analysis uses data from the Lehigh Longitudinal Study to investigate the prediction of antisocial behavior…

Paternal antisocial behavior and sons' cognitive ability: a population-based quasiexperimental study.

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Latvala, Antti; Kuja-Halkola, Ralf; Långström, Niklas; Lichtenstein, Paul

2015-01-01

Parents' antisocial behavior is associated with developmental risks for their offspring, but its effects on their children's cognitive ability are unknown. We used linked Swedish register data for a large sample of adolescent men (N = 1,177,173) and their parents to estimate associations between fathers' criminal-conviction status and sons' cognitive ability assessed at compulsory military conscription. Mechanisms behind the association were tested in children-of-siblings models across three types of sibling fathers with increasing genetic relatedness (half-siblings, full siblings, and monozygotic twins) and in quantitative genetic models. Sons whose fathers had a criminal conviction had lower cognitive ability than sons whose fathers had no conviction (any crime: Cohen's d = -0.28; violent crime: Cohen's d = -0.49). As models adjusted for more genetic factors, the association was gradually reduced and eventually eliminated. Nuclear-family environmental factors did not contribute to the association. Our results suggest that the association between men's antisocial behavior and their children's cognitive ability is not causal but is due mostly to underlying genetic factors. © The Author(s) 2014.

Psycho-education for substance use and antisocial personality disorder: a randomized trial.

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Thylstrup, Birgitte; Schrøder, Sidsel; Hesse, Morten

2015-11-14

Antisocial personality disorder often co-exists with drug and alcohol use disorders. This trial examined the effectiveness of offering psycho-education for antisocial personality disorder in community substance use disorder treatment centers in Denmark. A total of 176 patients were randomly allocated to treatment as usual (TAU, n = 80) or TAU plus a psycho-educative program, Impulsive Lifestyle Counselling (ILC, n = 96) delivered by site clinicians (n = 39). Using follow-up interviews 3 and 9 months after randomization, we examined changes in drug and alcohol use (Addiction Severity Index Composite Scores), percent days abstinent (PDA) within last month, and aggression as measured with the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire-Short Form and the Self-Report of Aggression and Social Behavior Measure. Overall engagement in psychological interventions was modest: 71 (76 %) of participants randomized to psycho-education attended at least one counselling session, and 21 (23 %) attended all six sessions. The Median number of sessions was 2. All patients reduced drug and alcohol problems at 9 months with small within-group effect sizes. Intention-to-treat analyses indicated significant differences between ILC and TAU in mean drugs composite score (p = .018) and in PDA (p = .041) at 3 months. Aggression declined in both groups, but no differences between ILC and TAU were observed in terms of alcohol problems or aggression at any follow-up. Moderate short-term improvements in substance use were associated with randomization to Impulsive Lifestyle Counselling. The findings support the usefulness of providing psycho-education to outpatients with antisocial personality disorder. ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN67266318 , 17/7/2012.

Punishment in public goods games leads to meta-stable phase transitions and hysteresis

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Hintze, Arend; Adami, Christoph

2015-07-01

The evolution of cooperation has been a perennial problem in evolutionary biology because cooperation can be undermined by selfish cheaters who gain an advantage in the short run, while compromising the long-term viability of the population. Evolutionary game theory has shown that under certain conditions, cooperation nonetheless evolves stably, for example if players have the opportunity to punish cheaters that benefit from a public good yet refuse to pay into the common pool. However, punishment has remained enigmatic because it is costly and difficult to maintain. On the other hand, cooperation emerges naturally in the public goods game if the synergy of the public good (the factor multiplying the public good investment) is sufficiently high. In terms of this synergy parameter, the transition from defection to cooperation can be viewed as a phase transition with the synergy as the critical parameter. We show here that punishment reduces the critical value at which cooperation occurs, but also creates the possibility of meta-stable phase transitions, where populations can ‘tunnel’ into the cooperating phase below the critical value. At the same time, cooperating populations are unstable even above the critical value, because a group of defectors that are large enough can ‘nucleate’ such a transition. We study the mean-field theoretical predictions via agent-based simulations of finite populations using an evolutionary approach where the decisions to cooperate or to punish are encoded genetically in terms of evolvable probabilities. We recover the theoretical predictions and demonstrate that the population shows hysteresis, as expected in systems that exhibit super-heating and super-cooling. We conclude that punishment can stabilize populations of cooperators below the critical point, but it is a two-edged sword: it can also stabilize defectors above the critical point.

Punishment in the form of shared cost promotes altruism in the cooperative dilemma games.

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Zhang, Chunyan; Zhu, Yuying; Chen, Zengqiang; Zhang, Jianlei

2017-05-07

One phenomenon or social institution often observed in multi-agent interactions is the altruistic punishment, i.e. the punishment of unfair behavior by others at a personal cost. Inspired by the works focusing on punishment and the intricate mechanism behind it, we theoretically study the strategy evolution in the framework of two-strategy game models with the punishment on defectors, moreover, the cost of punishing will be evenly shared among the cooperators. Theoretical computations suggest that larger punishment on defectors or smaller punishment cost incurred by cooperators will enhance the fixation of altruistic cooperation in the population. Through the replicate dynamics, the group size of the randomly selected individuals from the sufficiently large population will notably affect the strategy evolution in populations nested within a dilemma. By theoretical modeling the concept of shared cost for punishment from one point of view, our findings underscore the importance of punishment with shared cost as a factor in real-life decisions in an evolutionary game context. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dimensions of physical punishment and their associations with children's cognitive performance and school adjustment.

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Font, Sarah A; Cage, Jamie

2018-01-01

This study examined how a range of physical punishment measures, ranging from mild corporal punishment to physical abuse, are associated with cognitive performance, school engagement, and peer isolation over a 3- year span among 658 children initially observed between the ages of 8 and 14. Physical punishment was captured in three groups: mild corporal punishment, harsh corporal punishment, and physical abuse, and both caregiver- and child-reported punishment measures were considered. After accounting for socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, only Ninitial exposure to physical abuse was significantly associated with declines in cognitive performance. However, all forms of physical punishment were associated with declines in school engagement, and harsh corporal punishment was associated with increased peer isolation. Our findings were relatively consistent regardless of whether physical punishment was reported by the child or caregiver. Overall, our findings suggest that the prevention of physical abuse may enhance children's cognitive performance, but that alone may not be sufficient to ensure children are engaged and well-adjusted in school. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Children's Antisocial Behavior, Mental Health, Drug Use, and Educational Performance After Parental Incarceration

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Murray, Joseph; Farrington, David P.; Sekol, Ivana

2012-01-01

Unprecedented numbers of children experience parental incarceration worldwide. Families and children of prisoners can experience multiple difficulties after parental incarceration, including traumatic separation, loneliness, stigma, confused explanations to children, unstable childcare arrangements, strained parenting, reduced income, and home, school, and neighborhood moves. Children of incarcerated parents often have multiple, stressful life events before parental incarceration. Theoretically, children with incarcerated parents may be at risk for a range of adverse behavioral outcomes. A systematic review was conducted to synthesize empirical evidence on associations between parental incarceration and children's later antisocial behavior, mental health problems, drug use, and educational performance. Results from 40 studies (including 7,374 children with incarcerated parents and 37,325 comparison children in 50 samples) were pooled in a meta-analysis. The most rigorous studies showed that parental incarceration is associated with higher risk for children's antisocial behavior, but not for mental health problems, drug use, or poor educational performance. Studies that controlled for parental criminality or children's antisocial behavior before parental incarceration had a pooled effect size of OR = 1.4 (p children with incarcerated parents, compared with peers. Effect sizes did not decrease with number of covariates controlled. However, the methodological quality of many studies was poor. More rigorous tests of the causal effects of parental incarceration are needed, using randomized designs and prospective longitudinal studies. Criminal justice reforms and national support systems might be needed to prevent harmful consequences of parental incarceration for children. PMID:22229730

Primary Care Parenting Intervention and Its Effects on the Use of Physical Punishment Among Low-Income Parents of Toddlers.

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Canfield, Caitlin F; Weisleder, Adriana; Cates, Carolyn B; Huberman, Harris S; Dreyer, Benard P; Legano, Lori A; Johnson, Samantha Berkule; Seery, Anne; Mendelsohn, Alan L

2015-10-01

As part of a large randomized controlled trial, the authors assessed the impact of 2 early primary care parenting interventions-the Video Interaction Project (VIP) and Building Blocks (BB)-on the use of physical punishment among low-income parents of toddlers. They also determined whether the impact was mediated through increases in responsive parenting and decreases in maternal psychosocial risk. Four hundred thirty-eight mother-child dyads (161 VIP, 113 BB, 164 Control) were assessed when the children were 14 and/or 24 months old. Mothers were asked about their use of physical punishment and their responsive parenting behaviors, depressive symptoms, and parenting stress. The VIP was associated with lower physical punishment scores at 24 months, as compared to BB and controls. In addition, fewer VIP parents reported ever using physical punishment as a disciplinary strategy. Significant indirect effects were found for both responsive parenting and maternal psychosocial risk, indicating that the VIP affects these behaviors and risk factors, and that this is an important pathway through which the VIP affects the parents' use of physical punishment. The results support the efficacy of the VIP and the role of pediatric primary care, in reducing the use of physical punishment among low-income families by enhancing parent-child relationships. In this way, the findings support the potential of the VIP to improve developmental outcomes for at-risk children.

A look at corporal punishment and some implications of its use.

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Wilson, F C

1982-01-01

The author notes several legal, social, philosophical and educational attitudes common to Canada and the United States which have, for centuries, characterized the uses of corporal punishment with children. Specifically, corporal punishment is viewed as a technique for developing discipline within the school system. Inconsistencies in both Canada and the U.S. are noted regarding court decisions and their application in the classroom. Recent revisions to The Ontario Child Welfare Act are discussed in light of its implications for parents and teachers who physically punish their children or students. Research findings related to corporal punishment and their implications for schools are cited. Negative side-effects of administering punishment are also described. The evidence suggests that corporal punishment besides being an ineffective learning technique, is not the uncomplicated, quick solution many may think it. The author concludes by proposing that because of their important role in the lives of developing children and considering the resources devoted to teacher training, teachers should be held as legally accountable for their use of corporal punishment with children as parents are. As well, he indicates the need for (1) increased teacher training in the areas of child management, classroom management and interactional processes; (2) greater opportunity to devise creative problem-solving strategies; and (3) a re-ordering of priorities at universities, colleges and faculties of education which would benefit not only teachers, but ultimately their students.

'Being hit was normal': teachers' (unchanging perceptions of discipline and corporal punishment

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D Sagree Govender

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Global and national concerns that corporal punishment is still being used, openly in certain milieus and surreptitiously in others, suggests that education stakeholders need to take cognisance of teachers' perceptions and experiences that influence their classroom discipline in the context of changing curriculum policies and legislation. This study was guided by research objectives that explored, firstly, teachers perceptions of their past experiences of corporal punishment and, secondly, their perceptions of their disciplinary techniques since the abolition of corporal punishment. Through a qualitative research methodology of semi-structured interviews, data were collected from seven primary school teachers in KwaZulu-Natal. Teachers' perceptions of their experiences and practices of corporal punishment were explored through two dimensions of the Foucauldian concept of bio-power, namely, disciplinary power and governmentality. The findings show that although all teachers experienced corporal punishment negatively when they were pupils, their responses to the abolition of corporal punishment were varied, multiple and complex. Recommendations for further research include exploring the resilience of authoritarian teaching approaches and teacher professional development of learner-centred approaches to curb teacher frustration that contributes to their use of corporal punishment.

The impact of reward and punishment on skill learning depends on task demands.

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Steel, Adam; Silson, Edward H; Stagg, Charlotte J; Baker, Chris I

2016-10-27

Reward and punishment motivate behavior, but it is unclear exactly how they impact skill performance and whether the effect varies across skills. The present study investigated the effect of reward and punishment in both a sequencing skill and a motor skill context. Participants trained on either a sequencing skill (serial reaction time task) or a motor skill (force-tracking task). Skill knowledge was tested immediately after training, and again 1 hour, 24-48 hours, and 30 days after training. We found a dissociation of the effects of reward and punishment on the tasks, primarily reflecting the impact of punishment. While punishment improved serial reaction time task performance, it impaired force-tracking task performance. In contrast to prior literature, neither reward nor punishment benefitted memory retention, arguing against the common assumption that reward ubiquitously benefits skill retention. Collectively, these results suggest that punishment impacts skilled behavior more than reward in a complex, task dependent fashion.

Parental use of corporal punishment in Europe: intersection between public health and policy.

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duRivage, Nathalie; Keyes, Katherine; Leray, Emmanuelle; Pez, Ondine; Bitfoi, Adina; Koç, Ceren; Goelitz, Dietmar; Kuijpers, Rowella; Lesinskiene, Sigita; Mihova, Zlatka; Otten, Roy; Fermanian, Christophe; Kovess-Masfety, Viviane

2015-01-01

Studies have linked the use of corporal punishment of children to the development of mental health disorders. Despite the recommendation of international governing bodies for a complete ban of the practice, there is little European data available on the effects of corporal punishment on mental health and the influence of laws banning corporal punishment. Using data from the School Children Mental Health Europe survey, the objective of this cross-sectional study was to examine the prevalence and legal status of corporal punishment across six European countries and to evaluate the association between parental use of corporal punishment and children's mental health. The study found that odds of having parents who reported using occasional to frequent corporal punishment were 1.7 times higher in countries where its use is legal, controlling for socio-demographic factors. Children with parents who reported using corporal punishment had higher rates of both externalized and internalized mental health disorders.

Parental use of corporal punishment in Europe: intersection between public health and policy.

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Nathalie duRivage

Full Text Available Studies have linked the use of corporal punishment of children to the development of mental health disorders. Despite the recommendation of international governing bodies for a complete ban of the practice, there is little European data available on the effects of corporal punishment on mental health and the influence of laws banning corporal punishment. Using data from the School Children Mental Health Europe survey, the objective of this cross-sectional study was to examine the prevalence and legal status of corporal punishment across six European countries and to evaluate the association between parental use of corporal punishment and children's mental health. The study found that odds of having parents who reported using occasional to frequent corporal punishment were 1.7 times higher in countries where its use is legal, controlling for socio-demographic factors. Children with parents who reported using corporal punishment had higher rates of both externalized and internalized mental health disorders.

Parental Use of Corporal Punishment in Europe: Intersection between Public Health and Policy

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duRivage, Nathalie; Keyes, Katherine; Leray, Emmanuelle; Pez, Ondine; Bitfoi, Adina; Koç, Ceren; Goelitz, Dietmar; Kuijpers, Rowella; Lesinskiene, Sigita; Mihova, Zlatka; Otten, Roy; Fermanian, Christophe; Kovess-Masfety, Viviane

2015-01-01

Studies have linked the use of corporal punishment of children to the development of mental health disorders. Despite the recommendation of international governing bodies for a complete ban of the practice, there is little European data available on the effects of corporal punishment on mental health and the influence of laws banning corporal punishment. Using data from the School Children Mental Health Europe survey, the objective of this cross-sectional study was to examine the prevalence and legal status of corporal punishment across six European countries and to evaluate the association between parental use of corporal punishment and children’s mental health. The study found that odds of having parents who reported using occasional to frequent corporal punishment were 1.7 times higher in countries where its use is legal, controlling for socio-demographic factors. Children with parents who reported using corporal punishment had higher rates of both externalized and internalized mental health disorders. PMID:25674788

Symmetric vs. asymmetric punishment regimes for bribery

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Engel, Christoph; Goerg, Sebastian J.; Yu, Gaoneng

2012-01-01

In major legal orders such as UK, the U.S., Germany, and France, bribers and recipients face equally severe criminal sanctions. In contrast, countries like China, Russia, and Japan treat the briber more mildly. Given these differences between symmetric and asymmetric punishment regimes for bribery, one may wonder which punishment strategy is more effective in curbing corruption. For this purpose, we designed and ran a lab experiment in Bonn (Germany) and Shanghai (China) with exactly the same...

Early prevention of antisocial personality: long-term follow-up of two randomized controlled trials comparing indicated and selective approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Stephen; Briskman, Jackie; O'Connor, Thomas G

2014-06-01

Antisocial personality is a common adult problem that imposes a major public health burden, but for which there is no effective treatment. Affected individuals exhibit persistent antisocial behavior and pervasive antisocial character traits, such as irritability, manipulativeness, and lack of remorse. Prevention of antisocial personality in childhood has been advocated, but evidence for effective interventions is lacking. The authors conducted two follow-up studies of randomized trials of group parent training. One involved 120 clinic-referred 3- to 7-year-olds with severe antisocial behavior for whom treatment was indicated, 93 of whom were reassessed between ages 10 and 17. The other involved 109 high-risk 4- to 6-year-olds with elevated antisocial behavior who were selectively screened from the community, 90 of whom were reassessed between ages 9 and 13. The primary psychiatric outcome measures were the two elements of antisocial personality, namely, antisocial behavior (assessed by a diagnostic interview) and antisocial character traits (assessed by a questionnaire). Also assessed were reading achievement (an important domain of youth functioning at work) and parent-adolescent relationship quality. In the indicated sample, both elements of antisocial personality were improved in the early intervention group at long-term follow-up compared with the control group (antisocial behavior: odds ratio of oppositional defiant disorder=0.20, 95% CI=0.06, 0.69; antisocial character traits: B=-4.41, 95% CI=-1.12, -8.64). Additionally, reading ability improved (B=9.18, 95% CI=0.58, 18.0). Parental expressed emotion was warmer (B=0.86, 95% CI=0.20, 1.41) and supervision was closer (B=-0.43, 95% CI=-0.11, -0.75), but direct observation of parenting showed no differences. Teacher-rated and self-rated antisocial behavior were unchanged. In contrast, in the selective high-risk sample, early intervention was not associated with improved long-term outcomes. Early intervention with

Undestanding of the past and present meaning of punishment and penal policies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marjeta Tesla

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Punishment has a dual meaning: it is necessary because it leads to a change in behavior, but it also causes emotional imbalance between teachers and pupils. There are three basic theories of punishment – retributivism, which requires pu- nishment as a method that will stop the individual from wanting to repeat the offense; utilitarianism, in which the primary goal of punishment is changing the individual, whereas the abolitionism theory searches for alternative forms of resolving disputes and deviant behavior. Zero tolerance means application of the same penalties for minor and major transgressions. Its opposite is inclusion, aimed at enabling people of different abilities to live together in peace and develop positive values. It is hard to imagine upbringing without punishment, despite the fact that the use of sanctions have negative effects. Theore- tically speaking, if punishment is whatever an individual experiences as unpleasantness, then penalty cannot be eliminated in upbringing. Classic penalties can be replaced by measures proposed by opponents of traditional punishment

A review on the relationship between testosterone and life-course persistent antisocial behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yildirim, B.O.; Derksen, J.J.L.

2012-01-01

Life-course persistent antisocial behavior is 10 to 14 times more prevalent in males and it has been suggested that testosterone levels could account for this gender bias. Preliminary studies with measures of fetal testosterone find inconsistent associations with antisocial behavior, especially

Monopolizing sanctioning power under noise eliminates perverse punishment but does not increase cooperation

OpenAIRE

Sven Fischer; Kristoffel Grechenig; Nicolas Meier

2016-01-01

We run several experiments which allow us to compare cooperation under perfect and imperfect information in a centralized and decentralized punishment regime. Under perfect and extremely noisy information, aggregate behavior does not differ between institutions. Under intermediate noise, punishment escalates in the decentralized peer-to-peer punishment regime which badly affects efficiency while sustaining cooperation for longer. Only decentralized punishment is often directed at cooperators ...

Serotonergic neurons signal reward and punishment on multiple timescales

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Jeremiah Y; Amoroso, Mackenzie W; Uchida, Naoshige

2015-01-01

Serotonin's function in the brain is unclear. One challenge in testing the numerous hypotheses about serotonin's function has been observing the activity of identified serotonergic neurons in animals engaged in behavioral tasks. We recorded the activity of dorsal raphe neurons while mice experienced a task in which rewards and punishments varied across blocks of trials. We ‘tagged’ serotonergic neurons with the light-sensitive protein channelrhodopsin-2 and identified them based on their responses to light. We found three main features of serotonergic neuron activity: (1) a large fraction of serotonergic neurons modulated their tonic firing rates over the course of minutes during reward vs punishment blocks; (2) most were phasically excited by punishments; and (3) a subset was phasically excited by reward-predicting cues. By contrast, dopaminergic neurons did not show firing rate changes across blocks of trials. These results suggest that serotonergic neurons signal information about reward and punishment on multiple timescales. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.06346.001 PMID:25714923

Antisocial Behavioral Syndromes and Three-Year Quality of Life Outcomes in United States Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, Risë B.; Dawson, Deborah A.; Smith, Sharon M.; Grant, Bridget F.

2013-01-01

Objective To examine 3-year quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes among United States adults with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), syndromal adult antisocial behavior without conduct disorder (CD) before age 15 (AABS, not a DSM-IV diagnosis), or no antisocial behavioral syndrome at baseline. Method Face-to-face interviews (n= 34,653). Psychiatric disorders were assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule – DSM-IV Version. Health-related QOL was assessed using the Short-Form 12-Item Health Survey, version 2 (SF-12v2). Other outcomes included past-year Perceived Stress Scale-4 (PSS-4) scores, employment, receipt of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), welfare, and food stamps, and participation in social relationships. Results ASPD and AABS predicted poorer employment, financial dependency, social relationship, and physical health outcomes. Relationships of antisociality to SSI and food stamp receipt and physical health scales were modified by baseline age. Both antisocial syndromes predicted higher PSS-4, AABS predicted lower SF-12v2 Vitality, and ASPD predicted lower SF-12v2 Social Functioning scores in women. Conclusion Similar prediction of QOL by ASPD and AABS suggests limited utility of requiring CD before age 15 to diagnose ASPD. Findings underscore the need to improve prevention and treatment of antisocial syndromes. PMID:22375904

Attributions of guilt and punishment as functions of physical attractiveness and smiling.

Science.gov (United States)

Abel, Millicent H; Watters, Heather

2005-12-01

The authors found an interaction between sex of participant and sex of defendant in the leniency bias toward a smiling defendant. Differences occurred for male participants when levying punishment for a smiling male defendant vs. a smiling female defendant and for a smiling male defendant vs. a nonsmiling male defendant, whereas differences did not occur for female participants. The authors found moderating effects of physical attractiveness and smiling between guilt and punishment. The only significant positive relationship between guilt and punishment occurred for the defendant whom participants rated low in physical attractiveness and who was not smiling. When guilty, the smiling and unattractive defendant received less punishment than did the smiling and attractive defendant. The authors discussed complex relationships between physical attractiveness, smiling, guilt, and punishment.

Physical punishment of children: can we continue to accept the status quo?

Science.gov (United States)

Oates, Kim

2011-08-01

All children require discipline, although physical punishment is just one form of discipline. Parental use of physical punishment is inter-generational. There is now evidence that physical punishment of children is not only less effective than other forms of discipline but can also lead to aggressive behaviour in childhood and adult life. Twenty-nine countries, including New Zealand, have laws against physical punishment in the home. Australian attitudes are slowly changing in favour of less use of physical punishment, but there is a long way to go. As advocates for children, paediatricians should not be content to accept the status quo. © 2011 The Author. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2011 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

Parental Attachment for At-Risk Children's Antisocial Behaviour: A Case of Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Abu Bakar, Siti Hajar; Wahab, Haris Abd.; Rezaul Islam, M.

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was twofold: to explore the influential factors of parents' attachment for at-risk children's antisocial behaviour, and to know the types of children's antisocial behaviour caused by being a single-parent family. The sample comprised 1,434 secondary school children from the state of Johore, Malaysia. Results from the…

Corporal Punishment and Youth Externalizing Behavior in Santiago, Chile

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Julie; Han, Yoonsun; Grogan-Kaylor, Andrew; Delva, Jorge; Castillo, Marcela

2012-01-01

Objectives: Corporal punishment is still widely practiced around the globe, despite the large body of child development research that substantiates its short- and long-term consequences. Within this context, this paper examined the relationship between parental use of corporal punishment and youth externalizing behavior with a Chilean sample to…

Religious Beliefs, Sociopolitical Ideology, and Attitudes toward Corporal Punishment

Science.gov (United States)

Ellison, Christopher G.; Bradshaw, Matt

2009-01-01

The use of corporal punishment to discipline children remains a perennial focus of controversy. Several studies published in the 1990s linked support for, and use of, corporal punishment with religious factors, particularly core doctrines of conservative (i.e., evangelical and fundamentalist) Protestantism. This study reexamines the relationships…

The Effects of Four-Hour Delay of PUnishment under Two Conditions of Verbal Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Verna, Gary B.

1977-01-01

The effects of 4-hour delay of punishment (withdrawal of reward) on response inhibition was studied with 24 fourth-grade children. Results showed that verbal expression of the punishment contingency allows the 10-year-old child to profit from 4-hour delayed punishment as much as immediate punishment. (Author/JMB)

Developmental Factors Associated with the Formation of the Antisocial Personality: A Literature Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Cannon, Kent Wesley

Research on factors which contribute to the development of antisocial personality disorder is reviewed. Methodological issues are critiqued, including major assessment instruments and frequently used research designs. Factors which current research indicates might lead to the continuation of antisocial behavior from childhood into adulthood are…

The Incompatibility of Punishment and Moral Education: A Reply to Peter Hobson.

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, James D.

1989-01-01

Responds to Peter Hobson's assertions concerning the relationship of punishment and moral education. Draws upon the writings of Michael Foucoult in suggesting that punishment in the legal sense does not fit well with efforts to develop rational autonomy. Suggests that traditional talk of punishment obscures the reality of practice. (KO)

Distinct medial temporal networks encode surprise during motivation by reward versus punishment

Science.gov (United States)

Murty, Vishnu P.; LaBar, Kevin S.; Adcock, R. Alison

2016-01-01

Adaptive motivated behavior requires predictive internal representations of the environment, and surprising events are indications for encoding new representations of the environment. The medial temporal lobe memory system, including the hippocampus and surrounding cortex, encodes surprising events and is influenced by motivational state. Because behavior reflects the goals of an individual, we investigated whether motivational valence (i.e., pursuing rewards versus avoiding punishments) also impacts neural and mnemonic encoding of surprising events. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), participants encountered perceptually unexpected events either during the pursuit of rewards or avoidance of punishments. Despite similar levels of motivation across groups, reward and punishment facilitated the processing of surprising events in different medial temporal lobe regions. Whereas during reward motivation, perceptual surprises enhanced activation in the hippocampus, during punishment motivation surprises instead enhanced activation in parahippocampal cortex. Further, we found that reward motivation facilitated hippocampal coupling with ventromedial PFC, whereas punishment motivation facilitated parahippocampal cortical coupling with orbitofrontal cortex. Behaviorally, post-scan testing revealed that reward, but not punishment, motivation resulted in greater memory selectivity for surprising events encountered during goal pursuit. Together these findings demonstrate that neuromodulatory systems engaged by anticipation of reward and punishment target separate components of the medial temporal lobe, modulating medial temporal lobe sensitivity and connectivity. Thus, reward and punishment motivation yield distinct neural contexts for learning, with distinct consequences for how surprises are incorporated into predictive mnemonic models of the environment. PMID:26854903

Distinct medial temporal networks encode surprise during motivation by reward versus punishment.

Science.gov (United States)

Murty, Vishnu P; LaBar, Kevin S; Adcock, R Alison

2016-10-01

Adaptive motivated behavior requires predictive internal representations of the environment, and surprising events are indications for encoding new representations of the environment. The medial temporal lobe memory system, including the hippocampus and surrounding cortex, encodes surprising events and is influenced by motivational state. Because behavior reflects the goals of an individual, we investigated whether motivational valence (i.e., pursuing rewards versus avoiding punishments) also impacts neural and mnemonic encoding of surprising events. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), participants encountered perceptually unexpected events either during the pursuit of rewards or avoidance of punishments. Despite similar levels of motivation across groups, reward and punishment facilitated the processing of surprising events in different medial temporal lobe regions. Whereas during reward motivation, perceptual surprises enhanced activation in the hippocampus, during punishment motivation surprises instead enhanced activation in parahippocampal cortex. Further, we found that reward motivation facilitated hippocampal coupling with ventromedial PFC, whereas punishment motivation facilitated parahippocampal cortical coupling with orbitofrontal cortex. Behaviorally, post-scan testing revealed that reward, but not punishment, motivation resulted in greater memory selectivity for surprising events encountered during goal pursuit. Together these findings demonstrate that neuromodulatory systems engaged by anticipation of reward and punishment target separate components of the medial temporal lobe, modulating medial temporal lobe sensitivity and connectivity. Thus, reward and punishment motivation yield distinct neural contexts for learning, with distinct consequences for how surprises are incorporated into predictive mnemonic models of the environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated decoding of facial expressions reveals marked differences in children when telling antisocial versus prosocial lies.

Science.gov (United States)

Zanette, Sarah; Gao, Xiaoqing; Brunet, Megan; Bartlett, Marian Stewart; Lee, Kang

2016-10-01

The current study used computer vision technology to examine the nonverbal facial expressions of children (6-11years old) telling antisocial and prosocial lies. Children in the antisocial lying group completed a temptation resistance paradigm where they were asked not to peek at a gift being wrapped for them. All children peeked at the gift and subsequently lied about their behavior. Children in the prosocial lying group were given an undesirable gift and asked if they liked it. All children lied about liking the gift. Nonverbal behavior was analyzed using the Computer Expression Recognition Toolbox (CERT), which employs the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), to automatically code children's facial expressions while lying. Using CERT, children's facial expressions during antisocial and prosocial lying were accurately and reliably differentiated significantly above chance-level accuracy. The basic expressions of emotion that distinguished antisocial lies from prosocial lies were joy and contempt. Children expressed joy more in prosocial lying than in antisocial lying. Girls showed more joy and less contempt compared with boys when they told prosocial lies. Boys showed more contempt when they told prosocial lies than when they told antisocial lies. The key action units (AUs) that differentiate children's antisocial and prosocial lies are blink/eye closure, lip pucker, and lip raise on the right side. Together, these findings indicate that children's facial expressions differ while telling antisocial versus prosocial lies. The reliability of CERT in detecting such differences in facial expression suggests the viability of using computer vision technology in deception research. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Continuum of Conscientiousness: The Antagonistic Interests among Obsessive and Antisocial Personalities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hertler Steven C.

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The five factor trait of conscientiousnessis a supertrait, denoting on one hand a pattern of excessive labor, rigidity, orderliness and compulsivity,and on the other hand a pattern of strict rectitude, scrupulosity, dutifulness and morality. In both respects the obsessive-compulsive personality is conscientious; indeed, it has been labeled a disorder of extreme conscientiousness (Widiger et al., 2009. Antisocial personality disorder, in the present paper, is described as occupying the opposite end of the conscientiousness continuum. The antisocial is impulsive rather than compulsive, illicit rather than licit, and furtive rather than forthright.After clinically comparing the obsessive and antisocial personalities, the present paper invokes evolutionary theory to explain their resultant behavioral, ideological, political and demographic differences.

Corporal punishment-related ocular injuries in Nigerian children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oluwakemi Adegbehingbe

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: To determine the contribution of corporal punishment to ocular morbidity and visual impairment in Nigerian children. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted of all patients aged 0-15 years seen with ocular injuries over a four year period. Those who sustained ocular injuries during the administration of corporal punishment were further studied. Relevant information was documented using a semistructured questionnaire. Data was analyzed by simple descriptive statistics using SPSS statistical package version 10. Results: A total of 186 children were seen within the study period. Eighty-nine (47.8% had ocular injuries and 27 (30.3% had ocular injuries resulting from corporal punishment. Of the latter group, eighteen were males and nine were females. Their ages ranged from 3-15 years (mean = 8.5 ± 2.4 years. Corporal punishment-associated injuries occurred most commonly as seen in 17 (63% of our study population who were aged 7-12 years. These 27 cases of injuries were sustained in the schools: 13 (48.2%, homes: eight (29.6%, market place: three (11.1%, workshop: two (7.4% and worship houses: one (3.7%. A stick was the object mostly implicated in causing ocular injuries in 13 (48.2% followed by a belt in five (18.5% and a whip in four (14.8%. Severe visual impairment occurred in two (7.4% patients while blindness occurred in three (11.1% patients. Conclusion: Corporal punishment is a major cause of ocular morbidity and blindness in Nigerian children.

Development of the Observation Scale for Aggressive Behavior (OSAB) for Dutch forensic psychiatric inpatients with an antisocial personality disorder.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hornsveld, R.H.J.; Nijman, H.L.I.; Hollin, C.R.; Kraaimaat, F.W.

2007-01-01

The Observation Scale for Aggressive Behavior (OSAB) has been developed to evaluate inpatient treatment programs designed to reduce aggressive behavior in Dutch forensic psychiatric patients with an antisocial personality disorder, who are "placed at the disposal of the government". The scale should

Predictive Mapping of Anti-Social Behaviour

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smit, S.K.; Vecht, B. van der; Lebesque, L.H.E.M.

2014-01-01

Predictive mapping of crime and anti-social behaviour is becoming more and more popular as a tool to support police and policy makers. Important ingredients of such models are often demographic and economic characteristics of the area. Since those are hard to influence, we propose to use the

Effects of Corporal Punishment on Disciplinary Control of Secondary ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Administration of corporal punishment in secondary schools tends to be cruel, inhuman and could result in child abuse. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the use of corporal punishment on the disciplinary control of secondary education students in Calabar Metropolis of Nigeria. The study ...

Corporal Punishment: Does It Hinder the Development of Children?

Science.gov (United States)

Chenoweth, T.; Just, H.

Noting that parents' use of corporal punishment to discipline their children remains a strongly debated issue, this paper examines the impact of corporal punishment on children's development, focusing primarily on its long-term effectiveness. The paper presents the history of spanking in the United States, including public opinion on corporal…

Phase diagrams for the spatial public goods game with pool punishment

Science.gov (United States)

Szolnoki, Attila; Szabó, György; Perc, Matjaž

2011-03-01

The efficiency of institutionalized punishment is studied by evaluating the stationary states in the spatial public goods game comprising unconditional defectors, cooperators, and cooperating pool punishers as the three competing strategies. Fines and costs of pool punishment are considered as the two main parameters determining the stationary distributions of strategies on the square lattice. Each player collects a payoff from five five-person public goods games, and the evolution of strategies is subsequently governed by imitation based on pairwise comparisons at a low level of noise. The impact of pool punishment on the evolution of cooperation in structured populations is significantly different from that reported previously for peer punishment. Representative phase diagrams reveal remarkably rich behavior, depending also on the value of the synergy factor that characterizes the efficiency of investments payed into the common pool. Besides traditional single- and two-strategy stationary states, a rock-paper-scissors type of cyclic dominance can emerge in strikingly different ways.

Dimensions of child punishment in two Central American countries: Guatemala and El Salvador.

Science.gov (United States)

Speizer, Ilene S; Goodwin, Mary M; Samandari, Ghazaleh; Kim, Shin Y; Clyde, Maureen

2008-04-01

Severe physical punishment of children is an important issue in international child health and welfare. This study examines such punishment in Guatemala and El Salvador. Data came from nationally representative surveys of women aged 15-49 and men aged 15-59 residing in Guatemala (2002) and El Salvador (2002-2003). The surveys included questions about punishment experienced during childhood, with response options ranging from verbal scolding to beating. In Guatemala, parents were asked how they disciplined their children; questions allowed them to compare how they were punished in their childhood with how they punished their own children. Bivariate and multivariate analyses are presented. In Guatemala, 35% of women and 46% of men reported being beaten as punishment in childhood; in El Salvador, the figures were 42% and 62%, respectively. In both countries, older participants were relatively more likely than younger participants to have been beaten as children. Witnessing familial violence was associated with an increased risk of being beaten in childhood. In Guatemala, having experienced physical punishment as a child increased the chance that parents would use physical punishment on their own children. Multivariate analyses revealed that women who were beaten in childhood were significantly more likely in both countries to be in a violent relationship. The use of beating to physically punish children is a common problem in Guatemala and El Salvador, with generational and intergenerational effects. Its negative and lingering effects necessitate the introduction of policies and programs to decrease this behavior.

[Antisocial personality disorder].

Science.gov (United States)

Repo-Tiihonen, Eila; Hallikainen, Tero

2016-01-01

Antisocial personality disorder (ASP), especially psychopathy as its extreme form, has provoked fear and excitement over thousands of years. Ruthless violence involved in the disorder has inspired scientists, too.The abundance of research results concerning epidemiology, physiology, neuroanatomy, heritability, and treatment interventions has made ASP one of the best documented disorders in psychiatry. Numerous interventions have been tested, but there is no current treatment algorithm. Biological and sociological parameters indicate the importance of early targeted interventions among the high risk children. Otherwise, as adults they cause the greatest harm. The use of medications or psychotherapy for adults needs careful consideration.

Co-occurring mental illness, substance use disorders, and antisocial personality disorder among clients of forensic mental health services.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogloff, James R P; Talevski, Diana; Lemphers, Anthea; Wood, Melisa; Simmons, Melanie

2015-03-01

Despite the number of studies investigating co-occurring disorders, and more recently, co-occurring disorders and criminal offending, few studies have considered samples from forensic mental health services. The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between mental illness, substance use disorders, antisocial personality disorder, and offending. The prevalence of co-occurring disorders was investigated in 130 male offenders who had contact with the statewide forensic mental health service in Victoria, Australia. Offense histories and severity of offending were compared among participants diagnosed with a single mental illness (or no mental illness), co-occurring mental illness and substance use, and co-occurring disorders plus antisocial personality disorder. The majority of participants had co-occurring mental and substance use disorders; a significant minority met the criteria for antisocial personality disorder. Participants with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders, and those who had an additional diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, were responsible for more serious and frequent offending than those with mental illness alone. Forensic mental health services must take into account the effect that co-occurring disorders have on clients' functioning and offending. Those who work with people with psychiatric disabilities and co-occurring substance use disorders must ensure that the substance disorders are addressed to help ensure recovery from the mental illness and to reduce the likelihood of offending. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

No Punishment Without Guilt: The Case concerning German Prosecution of a Former GDR Border Guard

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rytter, Jens Elo

2003-01-01

Menneskerettigheder, Human Rights, Den Europæiske Menneskerettighedskonvention, European Convention of Human Rights, Straf, Punishment, tilbagevirkende straf, retroactive punishment......Menneskerettigheder, Human Rights, Den Europæiske Menneskerettighedskonvention, European Convention of Human Rights, Straf, Punishment, tilbagevirkende straf, retroactive punishment...

Does dishonesty really invite third-party punishment? Results of a more stringent test.

Science.gov (United States)

Konishi, Naoki; Ohtsubo, Yohsuke

2015-05-01

Many experiments have demonstrated that people are willing to incur cost to punish norm violators even when they are not directly harmed by the violation. Such altruistic third-party punishment is often considered an evolutionary underpinning of large-scale human cooperation. However, some scholars argue that previously demonstrated altruistic third-party punishment against fairness-norm violations may be an experimental artefact. For example, envy-driven retaliatory behaviour (i.e. spite) towards better-off unfair game players may be misidentified as altruistic punishment. Indeed, a recent experiment demonstrated that participants ceased to inflict third-party punishment against an unfair player once a series of key methodological problems were systematically controlled for. Noticing that a previous finding regarding apparently altruistic third-party punishment against honesty-norm violations may have been subject to methodological issues, we used a different and what we consider to be a more sound design to evaluate these findings. Third-party punishment against dishonest players withstood this more stringent test. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Third-party punishment increases cooperation in children through (misaligned) expectations and conditional cooperation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lergetporer, Philipp; Angerer, Silvia; Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela; Sutter, Matthias

2014-05-13

The human ability to establish cooperation, even in large groups of genetically unrelated strangers, depends upon the enforcement of cooperation norms. Third-party punishment is one important factor to explain high levels of cooperation among humans, although it is still somewhat disputed whether other animal species also use this mechanism for promoting cooperation. We study the effectiveness of third-party punishment to increase children's cooperative behavior in a large-scale cooperation game. Based on an experiment with 1,120 children, aged 7 to 11 y, we find that the threat of third-party punishment more than doubles cooperation rates, despite the fact that children are rarely willing to execute costly punishment. We can show that the higher cooperation levels with third-party punishment are driven by two components. First, cooperation is a rational (expected payoff-maximizing) response to incorrect beliefs about the punishment behavior of third parties. Second, cooperation is a conditionally cooperative reaction to correct beliefs that third party punishment will increase a partner's level of cooperation.

A new perspective on punishments and rewards in marketing channel relationships

OpenAIRE

Chow, M.W.

2007-01-01

How effective are punishments and rewards in influencing dealer performance in marketing channel relationships? Although often used in managerial practice, academic research on the relationship between punishment/reward and dealer performance has been scarce and demonstrates variable results. The aim of this dissertation is to resolve the indistinctness that currently surrounds academic research on the use of punishments and rewards in marketing channel relationships. The three studies in thi...

The Role of Empathy and Parenting Style in the Development of Antisocial Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Schaffer, Megan; Clark, Stephanie; Jeglic, Elizabeth L.

2009-01-01

This study examined the relationship among parenting, empathy, and antisocial behavior. Two hundred forty-four undergraduate students attending an urban university completed self-report questionnaires assessing their antisocial behavior, empathy, and mothers' and fathers' parenting styles. Support was found for a model in which maternal permissive…

The role of perspective taking and emotions in punishing identified and unidentified wrongdoers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kogut, Tehila

2011-12-01

We present two studies examining the effect of identifiability on willingness to punish, emphasising that identifiability of the wrongdoer may increase or decrease willingness to punish depending on the punisher's perspective. When taking the wrongdoer's perspective, identifiability increases pity and decreases anger towards the wrongdoer, leading to a lighter punishment. On the other hand, when adopting the injured perspective, identifiability decreases pity and increases anger, resulting in a severe punishment. We show that while deliberation and rational factors affect the decision regardless of identification, the role of emotions in the decision is greater in the identified condition. Possible implications for public and educational policy are discussed.

Parents’ Monitoring Knowledge Attenuates the Link Between Antisocial Friends and Adolescent Delinquent Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Criss, Michael M.; Pettit, Gregory S.; Dodge, Kenneth A.; Bates, John E.

2009-01-01

Developmental trajectories of parents’ knowledge of their adolescents’ whereabouts and activities were tested as moderators of transactional associations between friends’ antisociality and adolescent delinquent behavior. 504 adolescents (50% female) provided annual reports (from ages 12 to 16) of their parents’ knowledge and (from ages 13 to 16) their own delinquent behavior and their friends’ antisociality. Parents also reported the adolescents’ delinquent behavior. Growth mixture modeling was used to identify two sub-groups based on their monitoring knowledge growth trajectories. Adolescents in the sub-group characterized by decreasing levels of parents’ knowledge reported more delinquent behavior and more friend antisociality in early adolescence, and reported greater increases in delinquent behavior and friend antisociality from early to middle adolescence compared to adolescents in the sub-group characterized by increasing levels of parents’ knowledge. Transactional associations consistent with social influence and social selection processes also were suppressed in the increasing knowledge sub-group as compared to the decreasing knowledge sub-group. PMID:17874291

Corporal Punishment in Schools and Fundamental Human Rights: A South African Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Prinsloo, Justus

In many western countries, corporal punishment has been abolished as a form of punishment in criminal trials and in schools. Under South African common law, persons entitled to enforce discipline may inflict corporal punishment within certain guidelines established by the Supreme Court. For the first time in the Republic of South Africa (RSA), the…

High strength-of-ties and low mobility enable the evolution of third-party punishment

Science.gov (United States)

Roos, Patrick; Gelfand, Michele; Nau, Dana; Carr, Ryan

2014-01-01

As punishment can be essential to cooperation and norm maintenance but costly to the punisher, many evolutionary game-theoretic studies have explored how direct punishment can evolve in populations. Compared to direct punishment, in which an agent acts to punish another for an interaction in which both parties were involved, the evolution of third-party punishment (3PP) is even more puzzling, because the punishing agent itself was not involved in the original interaction. Despite significant empirical studies of 3PP, little is known about the conditions under which it can evolve. We find that punishment reputation is not, by itself, sufficient for the evolution of 3PP. Drawing on research streams in sociology and psychology, we implement a structured population model and show that high strength-of-ties and low mobility are critical for the evolution of responsible 3PP. Only in such settings of high social-structural constraint are punishers able to induce self-interested agents toward cooperation, making responsible 3PP ultimately beneficial to individuals as well as the collective. Our results illuminate the conditions under which 3PP is evolutionarily adaptive in populations. Responsible 3PP can evolve and induce cooperation in cases where other mechanisms alone fail to do so. PMID:24335985

Gendering Corporal Punishment: Beyond the Discourse of Human Rights

Science.gov (United States)

Humphreys, Sara

2008-01-01

In the last few years the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children has been gathering momentum, with a submission to "The United Nations Secretary General's study on violence against children" the most recent addition to the cause. Nevertheless, corporal punishment in schools is still condoned in many countries and…

Collective punishment is more effective than collective reward for promoting cooperation

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Lei; Wang, Zhen; Pansini, Riccardo; Li, Yao-Tang; Wang, Rui-Wu

2015-12-01

Collective punishment and reward are usually regarded as two potential mechanisms to explain the evolution of cooperation. Both scenarios, however, seem problematic to understand cooperative behavior, because they can raise the second-order free-rider problem and many organisms are not able to discriminate less cooperating individuals. Even though they have been proved to increase cooperation, there has been a debate about which one being more effective. To address this issue, we resort to the N-player evolutionary snowdrift game (NESG), where a collective punishment/reward mechanism is added by allowing some players to display punishment/reward towards all remaining players. By means of numerous simulations and analyses, we find that collective punishment is more effective in promoting cooperation for a relatively high initial frequency of cooperation or for a relatively small group. When the intensity of punishment exceeds a certain threshold, a stable state of full cooperation emerges for both small and large groups. In contrast, such state does not appear for large groups playing a NESG with reward mechanism. In the case of mutualistic interactions, finally, our results show the new payoff with collective punishment/reward can lead to the coexistence of cooperators and defectors when discrimination between these two is not possible.

Standardising antisocial personality disorder: the social shaping of a psychiatric technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Pickersgill, Martyn

2012-05-01

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is one of the most influential and controversial terminological standards ever produced. As such, it continues to provide a valuable case study for sociologists of health and illness. In this article I take as my focus one particular DSM category: antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). The analysis charts the shifting understandings of personality disorders associated with antisocial behaviour in the DSM and in US psychiatry more broadly from 1950 to the present day. Memos, letters and minutes produced by the DSM-III committee and held in the American Psychiatric Association (APA) archives ground the discussion. Finally, the article explores more recent constructions of antisocial personality disorder and examines the anticipatory discourse pertaining to the rewriting of this category expected in the forthcoming DSM-5. In presenting an in-depth socio-historical narrative of the development - and potential future - of standards for pathological antisociality, this analysis casts new light on the ASPD construct. In particular, by considering it as a technology, I elaborate how processes of path dependency constrain innovation and how imaginaries of users and publics are implicated in the APA debates constitutive of this. © 2011 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2011 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Broad supernatural punishment but not moralizing high gods precede the evolution of political complexity in Austronesia.

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Watts, Joseph; Greenhill, Simon J; Atkinson, Quentin D; Currie, Thomas E; Bulbulia, Joseph; Gray, Russell D

2015-04-07

Supernatural belief presents an explanatory challenge to evolutionary theorists-it is both costly and prevalent. One influential functional explanation claims that the imagined threat of supernatural punishment can suppress selfishness and enhance cooperation. Specifically, morally concerned supreme deities or 'moralizing high gods' have been argued to reduce free-riding in large social groups, enabling believers to build the kind of complex societies that define modern humanity. Previous cross-cultural studies claiming to support the MHG hypothesis rely on correlational analyses only and do not correct for the statistical non-independence of sampled cultures. Here we use a Bayesian phylogenetic approach with a sample of 96 Austronesian cultures to test the MHG hypothesis as well as an alternative supernatural punishment hypothesis that allows punishment by a broad range of moralizing agents. We find evidence that broad supernatural punishment drives political complexity, whereas MHGs follow political complexity. We suggest that the concept of MHGs diffused as part of a suite of traits arising from cultural exchange between complex societies. Our results show the power of phylogenetic methods to address long-standing debates about the origins and functions of religion in human society. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Using the Personality Assessment Inventory Antisocial and Borderline Features Scales to Predict Behavior Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Penson, Brittany N; Ruchensky, Jared R; Morey, Leslie C; Edens, John F

2016-11-01

A substantial amount of research has examined the developmental trajectory of antisocial behavior and, in particular, the relationship between antisocial behavior and maladaptive personality traits. However, research typically has not controlled for previous behavior (e.g., past violence) when examining the utility of personality measures, such as self-report scales of antisocial and borderline traits, in predicting future behavior (e.g., subsequent violence). Examination of the potential interactive effects of measures of both antisocial and borderline traits also is relatively rare in longitudinal research predicting adverse outcomes. The current study utilizes a large sample of youthful offenders ( N = 1,354) from the Pathways to Desistance project to examine the separate effects of the Personality Assessment Inventory Antisocial Features (ANT) and Borderline Features (BOR) scales in predicting future offending behavior as well as trends in other negative outcomes (e.g., substance abuse, violence, employment difficulties) over a 1-year follow-up period. In addition, an ANT × BOR interaction term was created to explore the predictive effects of secondary psychopathy. ANT and BOR both explained unique variance in the prediction of various negative outcomes even after controlling for past indicators of those same behaviors during the preceding year.

Childhood-Limited Versus Persistent Antisocial Behavior : Why Do Some Recover and Others Do Not? The TRAILS Study

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Veenstra, Rene; Lindenberg, Siegwart; Verhulst, Frank C.; Ormel, Johan

2009-01-01

Possible differences between childhood-limited antisocial youth and their stable high-antisocial counterparts were examined. Children were 11 years old at wave 1 (T1) and 13.5 at wave 2 (T2). At both waves, the same parent, teacher, and self-reports of antisocial behavior were used. Stable highs and

Adult antisocial syndrome co-morbid with borderline personality disorder is associated with severe conduct disorder, substance dependence and violent antisociality.

Science.gov (United States)

Freestone, Mark; Howard, Rick; Coid, Jeremy W; Ullrich, Simone

2013-01-01

This study tested the hypothesis that syndromal adult antisocial behaviour (AABS) co-morbid with borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a syndrome that emerges from severe conduct disorder (CD) in childhood and adolescence and is strongly associated, in adulthood, with both violence and substance dependence. In a sample of 8 580 community-resident adults screened for the presence of personality disorders, the following predictions arising from this hypothesis were tested: first, that those with AABS co-morbid with BPD would, in comparison with those showing AABS or BPD only, show a high level of antisocial outcomes, including violence; second, that adjusting for co-morbid alcohol dependence would attenuate group differences in many of the antisocial outcomes, and violence in particular; and third, that the AABS/BPD group would show both a high prevalence and a high severity of CD, and that adjusting for co-morbid CD would attenuate any association found between AABS/BPD co-morbidity and violence. Results confirmed these predictions, suggesting that AABS/BPD co-morbidity mediates the relationship between childhood CD and a predisposition to adult violence. The triad of AABS/BPD co-morbidity, alcohol dependence and severe CD is likely associated with the risk of criminal recidivism in offenders with personality disorder following release into the community. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Testing developmental pathways to antisocial personality problems

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S. Diamantopoulou; F.C. Verhulst (Frank); J. van der Ende (Jan)

2010-01-01

textabstractThis study examined the development of antisocial personality problems (APP) in young adulthood from disruptive behaviors and internalizing problems in childhood and adolescence. Parent ratings of 507 children's (aged 6-8 years) symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,

Libertarian Punishment Theory: Working for, and Donating to, the State

OpenAIRE

Walter Block

2009-01-01

In this paper we assume the contours of the libertarian philosophy, its view toward the unjustified state, and, also, the punishment theory of this perspective. We address the narrow question of what punishment is justified for partaking in statist activities.

I dare you to punish me - vendettas in games of cooperation

OpenAIRE

Fehl, K.; Sommerfeld, R.; Semmann, D.; Krambeck, H.; Milinski, M.

2012-01-01

Everybody has heard of neighbours, who have been fighting over some minor topic for years. The fight goes back and forth, giving the neighbours a hard time. These kind of reciprocal punishments are known as vendettas and they are a crosscultural phenomenon. In evolutionary biology, punishment is seen as a mechanism for maintaining cooperative behaviour. However, this notion of punishment excludes vendettas. Vendettas pose a special kind of evolutionary problem: they incur high cos...

Effects of lesions to the dorsal noradrenergic bundle on counterconditioning of punished barpressing.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsaltas, E; Gray, J A; Preston, G C

1987-01-01

The possible contribution of the dorsal noradrenergic bundle (DB) to the development of a simple form of counterconditioning (an associative mechanism leading to behavioural tolerance for stress) was assessed by comparison of the performance of animals with 6-hydroxydopamine-induced lesions of the DB to that of sham-operated (SH) animals. Animals engaging in barpressing for food reward on a random-interval (RI) 64 sec schedule were presented with a stimulus signalling the concurrent operation of an RI-64 sec schedule of response-contingent shock. In the control condition (punishment), shock and reward never occurred as a result of the same barpress. In the experimental condition (counterconditioning), the frequency of shock and reward were the same as for the punishment condition but the two events always occurred in succession, with food following shock, as a consequence of the same barpress. DB lesions had no effect on the acquisition of rewarded barpressing or on the initial acquisition of the discrimination between the shock-free and shock-containing (signalled) components of the schedule. However, once performance on the discrimination had reached asymptote, DB animals in the punishment control group showed significantly less suppression to the signal than SH animals. The counterconditioning schedule used was effective, leading to significantly reduced response suppression in the SH animals in comparison to the SH group subjected to punishment. The pattern of findings in the DB groups was consistent with a blockade by the lesion of the development of counterconditioning. These results suggest, therefore, that the DB is involved in at least one associative mechanism leading to tolerance for stress.

Sensitivity for cues predicting reward and punishment in young women with eating disorders

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