NEWS AND UPDATES
NEW PAPER PUBLISHED : Rejection sensitivity and violence
9th April 2021
Nobody likes being rejected. It makes us feel sad, humiliated and isolated. For some people, rejection has an even more acute impact and can be tied to quite extreme anger. People who are sensitive to rejection also end to feel rejected more easily. In our recent paper, we were surprised to find that violent inmates and members of the public are equally sensitive to rejection. Where they differed was in the link between rejection sensitivity and anger. Violent offenders had a stronger anger reaction linked to rejection. Knowledge of this has informed our approaches and interventions to reduce aggression. You can read the study here.
NEW PAPER PUBLISHED : It's not what you say, it's the way that you say it
5th March 2021
When we report being assaulted, it is important that our accounts are believed. Otherwise, we risk re-traumatising people and encouraging under-reporting. As a result, justice cannot be achieved, and lessons can't be learned about prevention and after-care.
In our new paper, we discover that when victims of sexual assault used non-literal language like hyperbole (for example, "I was literally frozen with fear", "the assault seemed to last for an eternity") in their testimonies, they were considered to be less credible, less likeable and given less sympathy if the people reading their testimonies were were on career pathways associated with forensic and criminal justice careers. Readers who were simply eligible for jury service, found these forms of language made the victim more believable and more negatively impacted. The article can be found in full here.
It's important to consider whether those of us working in fields relating to offending and security are judging victim's credibility on what they said, or how how they say it.
DEALING WITH VIOLENCE DURING COVID-19: WEBINAR ON THE CHALLENGE TO SECURITY
January 2021
Thought Leaders Webinar: Dealing with Violence during Covid-19
In the UK, we have started the new year in a way none of us wanted - with another lockdown and rising cases of Covid-19. It's a good chance to watch Dr Claire Lawrence's contribution to a Thought Leaders webinar asking: how we can help keep businesses peaceful during these difficult times?
BRINGING UP BRITAIN
14th October 2020
As a new series of the fantastic BBC radio series Bringing up Britain begins, here is the episode I was featured in last year looking at aggression and how it begins in children. How do we stop aggression being rewarding? Listen here.
NEW PAPER PUBLISHED: Interpreting other people's behaviour
October 2020
How is this woman feeling, do you think? Differences in people's sensitivity to provocation influences their perception of the behaviour and facial expressions of others. Read about our latest study in this early online version here
PODCAST FOR THE SUZY LAMPLUGH TRUST ON AGGRESSION AND COVID-19
9th July 2020
Dr Claire Lawrence was the podcast guest for the Suzy Lamplugh podcast series. In Right to be Safe: the psychology of aggression and personal safety, Claire talks about why people become aggressive and how this is exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Listen here for ways to manage the risk to staff, clients and customers and personal safety tips
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP WEBINAR ON AGGRESSION DURING COVID-19
August 4th 2020
Claire Lawrence is delighted to be a panel member for this thought provoking webinar. The period under Covid-19 has witnessed a shift in violence incidents. The distinction between home and work has blurred, but where does this leave the security sector if what was domestic abuse is now violence at work?
On the frontline we are hearing about the patience needed to enforce social distance rules in an ongoing way, and we are hearing about security officers and retail staff facing changing forms of aggression and violence, so how should the security sector react to that?
The webinar will examine:
● The ways in which violence is changing and being understood in a Covid-19 environment
● The specific problems facing the security sector and the clients and stakeholders it serves
● The new ways and approaches that need to be considered by the security sector as it moves to the ‘new normal’.
Register free of charge here