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The epidemic of violence now occurring in the United States constitutes one of the nation's most important social problems. Each year the boundaries of violence extend. Because its effects now touch all areas and populations, violence has been officially declared a major pubic health issue. The intent of this study was to explore the root causes of violence as reported by the violent offender. The study contains a review of the literature which looks at violence from a historical, biological, psychological, sociological, and psycho-social point of view. However, because the majority of research does not include direct interview or the perspective of the perpetrator, this study was designed to gather this absent information present it in their own voice. Twelve men from three different correctional facilities were interviewed. Each interview was conducted face-to-face in a private setting within the prison. Each participant was asked to talk about their life experience, history of violence, understanding of their violent activities, and finally based on their insight, offer recommendations for intervention. Additionally, they were asked to complete a powerlessness survey that queried their sense of self-esteem and self-efficacy at the time of their violent offense. In order to give the reader an opportunity to hear the voice of the participants, their stories are crafted in their own words and presented in narrative form. A number of interconnected thematic characteristics emerged from the interviews and survey. In addition to illuminating and verifying many of the speculations presented in the literature review, the findings suggest the presence of deficient, inadequate, or damaging conditions which occurred during critical developmental periods in the lives of the participants. Commonality of experience was noted within the following areas: lack of safety, lack of stable relationships, lack of education, lack of power and resources, lack of respect, lack of self-esteem, lack of self-worth, lack of self-efficacy, lack of coping skills, and lack of meaning. In this study, these deficits appear as significant predictors of eventual violent behavior. Based on the above findings, implications for clinical practice, programmatic development, and future research is suggested.

The current study was designed to give a greater understanding into the variables correlated with successful adjustment to college ( as measured by the four subscales of the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire). Data was analyzed from 446 students from undergraduate psychology courses at the University of Central Florida. After partialing out potential covariates ( ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, social support, symptoms of depression, and anxiety), it was found that need for achievement and self-efficacy significantly correlated with academic adjustment; need for affiliation and need for achievement significantly correlated with social adjustment; need for achievement and self-esteem significantly correlated with personal/emotional adjustment; and need for affiliation, need for achievement, self-efficacy, and ethnic identity significantly correlated with attachment/institutional commitment.

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<p> The thesis investigated debated intelligence theories: Cattell&rsquo;s (1943) &ldquo;Theory of Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence&rdquo; and Gardner&rsquo;s (1983) &ldquo;Theory of M.I.&rdquo; The research asks: Which existing theory-based and hypothetically based measurement models of intelligence fit the measurement data better? How does a traditional vs. modified M.I. Theory measurement model fit? How does a combined measurement model of the theories fit? Participants (n=287) were students (age 18-25) from a top-tier East-Coast university. Approximate statistical power is .90 with effect size of .5 (<i>p</i>&le;.05). Participants were administered the <i>Reynolds Adaptable Intelligence Test and Multiple Intelligence Developmental Assessment Scales</i>. Structural equation modeling revealed better fit for the &ldquo;Theory of Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence&rdquo; data (&chi;²(4) =8.08, <i>p</i>=.09; CMIN/d.f.=2.02; RMSEA= .06; TLI= .98; CFI= .99; IFI=.99; SRMR=.0221). The traditional Theory of M.I.&rdquo; model fit was insupportable (&chi;²(300) =1441.448, <i>p</i>&lt;.000; CMIN/d.f.=4.80; RMSEA= .12; TLI= .61; CFI= .64; IFI=.65; SRMR=.2239), but alternative M.I. models were supported. A correlated M.I. model (&chi;²(264) =569.09, p&lt;.001; CMIN/d.f.=2.16; RMSEA= .06; TLI= .88; CFI= .90; IFI= .91; SRMR=.06) and 4-factor model M.I. with distinct bodily-kinesthetic and musical talent (&chi;²(267) =526.32, p&lt;.001; CMIN/d.f.=2.12; RMSEA= .06; GFI=.91; TLI= .92; CFI= .94; IFI= .94; SRMR=.06) show acceptable to good fit. A M.I. Indicator &amp; R.A.I.T. TII to <i>g</i> SCU Model shows good fit (&chi;²(120) =247.56, p&lt;.001; CMIN/d.f.=2.06; RMSEA= .06; TLI= .89; GFI=.94; CFI= .96; IFI= .96; SRMR=.10). Current findings are further discussed in relation to analogous studies.</p>

Cross-cultural assessment in South Africa has become more prominent since the first democratic elections held in April 1994, and stronger demands for the cultural appropriateness of psychological tests have arisen. The use of psychometric testing, including personality assessment in the workplace, is now strictly controlled by legislation, among others the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996), the Labour Relations Act (66 of 1995), and the Employment Equity Act (55 of 1998), and the Health Professions Act (56 of 1974). Much controversy has arisen regarding the relevance and applicability of assessment instruments in South Africa. The majority of assessment procedures still make use of imported instruments that are either used in their original or adapted form. Psychological assessment instruments imported from abroad have an insufficient suitability in the multicultural South African context. There are various perspectives regarding the appropriate measurement of personality across cultures. In this research study implicit perspectives of personality, the lexical approach, indigenous psychology and the emic approach were used to determine the personality perspectives of the Tsonga culture in South Africa. The objectives of this study were to investigate how personality is conceptualised in literature, to identify the problems surrounding personality measurement for the South African context, to explore how personality perspectives could be determined and to investigate the personality descriptive terms in the Tsonga language group. A qualitative research design was used to collect the data of this research. A total of 5 502 personality descriptors were obtained through the 1 0-item interview questionnaires. Content analysis was used to analyse, reduce and interpret the data obtained from the participants. The personality descriptors obtained were reduced by removing superfluous words. These personality descriptors were then interpreted and categorised into a total of 109 personality dimensions. These characteristics were categorised into nine clusters, namely Optimism, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, Narrow-mindedness, Intelligence, Conscientiousness, Aggressiveness, Dominance and Sociability. The following personality dimensions had the highest frequency: Emotional Stability, Caring, Helpful, Hard working, Advising, Generous, Traditional, Aggression, Recreational, Substance use, Religious, Sociable and Loving. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.