Recommendations for the Use of Telepsychology in Psychology-Law Practice and Research: A Statement by American Psychology-Law Society (APA Division 41).

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent impact on psychological work, Division 41 of the American Psychological Association convened a taskforce to provide guidance to its membership regarding the use of technology for practice and research at the intersection of psychology and law. Drawing from existing research in psychology-law and beyond, as well as the first-hand experience of taskforce members, this document outlines foundational guidance to apply technology to forensic and correctional work while acknowledging these settings provide unique challenges to ethical practice. The recommendations provide support for psychologists involved in assessment, treatment, training, and research. However, these recommendations may not exhaustively apply to all areas of psycholegal practice or all forms of technology. Further, these recommendations are intended to be consulted in conjunction with other professional practice guidelines, emerging research, and policy changes that impact the integration of technologies into this work.

Forensic practitioners' use and perceptions of telepsychology before and during COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: This survey study reports the substantial impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the use and perceived advantages and disadvantages of telepsychology among forensic practitioners. HYPOTHESES: We hypothesized that telepsychology use among forensic practitioners would substantially increase during the pandemic. Additional exploratory research questions examined (a) changes in the frequency, type, nature, and motivation for use of telepsychology; (b) changes in impressions of advantages and disadvantages; and (c) barriers specific to the remote administration of assessment instruments in forensic evaluations. METHOD: We disseminated an online survey to one group of forensic practitioners (N = 128; 52% female, 89% White, Mage = 48 years) via various listservs approximately 4 months before COVID-19 shutdowns in the United States and to a second group of forensic practitioners (N = 156; 63% female, 90% White, Mage = 48 years) 1 year later (approximately 8 months after COVID-19 shutdowns began). RESULTS: Respondents used telepsychology at a significantly higher rate after the onset of COVID-19 (92%, n = 143) than before its onset (55%, n = 71). Nonusers of telepsychology before COVID-19 identified a number of perceived barriers to its use that were unsubstantiated by telepsychology users both before and during COVID-19 (e.g., rapport issues, confidentiality, and privacy issues). CONCLUSION: Self-reported use of telepsychology in forensic practice has nearly doubled since the pandemic began. Forensic practitioners will likely continue to use telepsychology, requiring research to address some of their remaining concerns. This includes research on the validity of forensic assessment instruments administered via telepsychology and research informing best practice guidelines. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Juror perceptions of false confessions versus witness recantations.

In false confessions, someone confesses to a crime but then later retracts that confession, whereas in witness recantations, an eyewitness testifies but then later revokes that testimony. The revocations are conceptually similar, but they differ in the author of the revocation - the defendant versus a third party. The current study examines differences in juror perceptions of the legitimacy of false confessions versus witness recantations, and also takes contextual influences (coercion and crime severity) into account. False confessions were found to be judged more harshly than witness recantations, but, surprisingly, levels of coercion and the severity of the crime did not influence decision-making in the manner that the original hypotheses predicted. Implications for the application of this research are discussed.

An Internet study of men sexually attracted to children: Correlates of sexual offending against children.

We conducted an Internet survey of 1,102 men sexually attracted to children concerning their history of adjudicated offenses related to child pornography and sexual contact with children. Most of the men reported no offenses, but their rate of offenses was much higher than that expected for adult-attracted men. Correlates of offending are consistent with a strong role of the cumulative effects of temptation, especially age. Older men, men who had repeatedly worked in jobs with children, men who had repeatedly fallen in love with children, and men who had often struggled not to offend were especially likely to have offended. Attraction to male children, relative attraction to children versus adults, and childhood sexual abuse experiences were also strong predictors of offending. In contrast, permissive attitudes regarding child-adult sex and frequent indulgence in sexual fantasies about children were not significantly related to offending. Our findings represent the first large study of offending among men sexually attracted to children who were not recruited via contact with the legal system. Because of methodological limitations, our findings cannot be definitive. Reassuringly, however, results are generally consistent with those from the most pertinent existing studies, of recidivism among convicted sex offenders. (PsycINFO Database Record

An Internet study of men sexually attracted to children: Sexual attraction patterns.

To our knowledge, this is the first large study of the attractions of child-attracted men recruited in any manner other than their being charged with legal offenses. We recruited 1,189 men from websites for adults attracted to children. Men in our sample were highly attracted to children, and they were much less attracted to adults, especially to adult men. However, men varied with respect to which combination of gender and age they found most attractive. Men in our sample were especially attracted to pubescent boys and prepubescent girls. Their self-reported attraction patterns closely tracked the age/gender gradient of sexual arousal established in prior research. Consistent with the gradient, men most attracted to prepubescent children were especially likely to have bisexual attractions to children. Pedohebephilia-attraction to sexually immature children-is best considered a collection of related if distinct sexual orientations, which vary in the particular combination of gender and sexual maturity that elicits greatest sexual attraction. Finally, our study reveals the potential power and efficiency of studying highly cooperative child-attracted men recruited via the Internet. (PsycINFO Database Record