Medico-Legal Evaluation of Adolescent Parricide Offenders: Thirty Nine Cases from Turkey

Parricide which is defined as the murder of one’s parents is a rare event. We describe a consecutive series of adolescent
parricide offenders referred to the Council of Forensic Medicine for medico-legal evaluation. Majority of the adolescent parricide
offenders were male with a frequency of 79.5%. Age of the offenders ranged from 12 to 18 years old with a median age of 15.13.
The majority of the victims were the fathers of the offenders (27; 69.2%). Firearms and cutting devices were the most frequently
used weapons. The history of abuse in the family as a motive for the murder was detected in 51.2% of the offenders. The major
abuse type was physical abuse. There was no history of psychiatric disorders in the majority of the offenders (37; 94.9%).
After the medico-legal evaluation of the adolescent parricide offenders in the Council of Forensic Medicine, psychiatric disorder
was diagnosed only in 4 offenders. Schizophrenia was the final diagnosis in 3 cases and paranoid disorder (otherwise unclassified)
in only 1 offender. Our study confirmed the frequency of mental illness among adolescent parricide offenders to be very low
when compared to adult offenders. Adolescent parricide offenders differ from the other perpetrators particularly in terms
of motives of the murder and psychiatric illnesses. Abuse in the family seems to play an important role in these murders.
Therefore, it is extremely important that individuals in the legal, criminal justice, social work, psychology, educational
and other professional communities be more conscious and informed of child maltreatment and family violence and more research
is essential in understanding and preventing adolescent parricide offenders.

A random sample of 247 Canadian single mothers currently receiving social assistance participated in a study designed to:
a) provide a comprehensive description of mother’s lifetime exposure to 11 adversities, four psychological traumas, and eight
assaultive traumas; b) examine the association between exposure to childhood and adulthood adversities and traumas, and mother’s
current post-traumatic stress symptom. Of those surveyed, 31% met the criteria for a probable PTSD diagnosis. Between 78%
and 80% reported 1 or more lifetime adversity, psychological trauma, and assaultive trauma. Rates of adversities were similar
to the general female population. However, rates of psychological and assaultive trauma were six to ten times greater than
the general female population. Results show that level of exposure to psychological and assaultive traumas, but not adversity,
differentially impacted both the patterning and severity of mothers’ current PTSD symptoms. Psychological trauma exposure
was the only event type that differentiated the mean scores for the re-experiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyper-arousal
symptom clusters. While exposure to assaultive trauma differentiates mean scores primarily for the avoidance/numbing symptoms
cluster. Implications for health promotion initiatives across health and social service sectors are discussed.

This qualitative research sought to understand the needs of Turkish university students related to adjustment to university,
the sources they seek help from, their attitudes about and barriers to psychological help-seeking. Data analysis of interview
transcriptions from 15 undergraduates identified several themes. Interpersonal problems, difficulties with staff and authority
and future concerns were the most frequent issues. Students preferred informal sources of help in dealing with problems and
in the main did not seek psychological help when confronted with problems. Perceiving one’s problems as manageable and having
an unwillingness to disclose oneself to others were among the barriers to help-seeking. Students were also unwilling to seek
help from a professional unless the problem seemed crucial.

A grounded theory was utilized to develop a model of stress and coping experienced by recent immigrants to the United States.
Maximum variation sampling was used to gather data from 20 leaders within immigrant and refugee communities in a Midwest U.S.
city. A theoretical model was developed by identifying causal conditions, contexts, intervening conditions, and consequences
related to experiences of stress and coping. Specific propositions in regard to the process of stress, coping, and adaptation
among recent immigrants were made. Implications for clinical services and research with this population are considered.

This paper explores the ramifications of masculinized military culture and operational stress on cross-cultural adaptation.
The author examines how characteristics of military culture may obstruct effective cross-cultural adaptation by promoting
a hypermasculinity that tends to oppose effective management of trauma, and thereby suppresses skills of social interaction
(e.g., adaptive emotional resilience, behavioral flexibility) that could assist military members with cross-cultural interactions.
Because these cultural aspects may tend to exacerbate difficulties members have when transitioning between cultures and dealing
with trauma effects, possible approaches in counseling intervention to mitigate these effects are discussed.

Triadic supervision has been considered a credible and effective form of clinical supervision within counselor education programs
since being included in the 2001 standards for the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs
(CACREP). A phenomenological study was conducted to examine the experiences of masters-level counselor trainees in practicum
with triadic supervision. Several transcendent themes emerged, namely: Initial Apprehensions, Shared Developmental Process,
Vicarious Learning, Multiple Perspectives, and Safety through Trust and Relationship. The results of this study are discussed
as they impact the field of counselor education and supervision.