This article reflects on a nationally insufficiently known reality – stalking after the breakup of an abusive relationship. Being so, the aim was to get to know the dynamics associated to this type of victimisation, the answers victims gave to it and the predictors of psycho­?social maladjustment on the victim. The sample was constituted by 104 women who were victims of abuse during the ex­?relationship and of stalking after they ended the relationship. Results have pointed out the prolonged nature of stalking and documented a continuum of actions referring to extremely different acts on what concerns their seriousness. The majority of the victims reported fear when dealing with stalking and admitted it had a negative influence on their lives. However, these women have assumed an active position when dealing with it and have developed different coping strategies (...) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v27i2.63

The process­?dissociation procedure (PDP) is a methodological paradigm widely used in different domains of psychological research. The main innovation of this procedure stems from the possibility it offers to dissociate and to quantify the degree of automaticity and control underlying human performance in different tasks. The PDP embodies a particular definition of automaticity and control, which is an important contribution to solve methodological problems related with direct and indirect tests and with dissociation of processes based on tasks. In the present paper the paradigm will be described using several examples from different areas of psychological research (e.g., memory, stereotypes, judgment and decision making). The basic assumptions underlying the PDP, guidelines to its application, the PDP main limitations and some alternative procedures will also be described. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v27i2.150

The purpose of this article is to systematize the main guidelines of scientific writing suggested by the American Psychological Association. We begin by briefly reviewing the process that led to the development of such guidelines and the advantages of using them. Then we describe and illustrate the guidelines regarding the general writing and formatting styles, structure and content of scientific papers, preparation of tables and figures, references and source citations. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v27i2.183

The research on sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence has been reporting a variety of potential adverse consequences of abusive experience in the victims’ development, but it is relatively scarce on the factors that characterize the adaptive/resilient development. In this sense, a study was conducted with victims of sexual abuse (based on the narrative model of White and Epston), whose purpose was to understand the abusive experience and the associated change processes. 16 in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with victims of sexual abuse and the data was submitted to a process of grounded analysis and coding, using the of Innovation Moments Coding System. The results reflect a considerable diversity of IMs, with Reflection as the most salient IM while Reconceptualization appears underrepresented. The change resources identified by the children include social support (peers, family and teachers), the disclosure, expectations of justice, religious beliefs and the construction of new meanings for the self. These resources were viewed as dimensions that reinforce the personal competence and the perception of control. The narrative model was useful in understanding the dynamics of meaning of the process of change, emphasizing the role of children as active “protagonists” of their personal narratives of abuse. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v27i1.240

This article presents the historical and conceptual context of Peace Psychology. The main goal of this research area is to apply the knowledge and methods of Psychology with a view to prevent conflicts and promote human rights and peace. The psychological focus on such topics took place within the context of the Cold War: concerns about the possibility of a nuclear war encouraged some psychologists to contribute to efforts of war prevention and peace promotion. Since then, Peace Psychology has offered important contributions at the level of research and intervention in this domain, particularly within the United States context. Although in most european countries this research area is booming, it still remains relatively unknown in Portugal.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v27i1.241

In this study we make a comparative analysis between the discourse of participants with a history of violence in intimate relationships and the discourse of the participants without a history of violence, both in the youth population as in the adulthood. The study includes 24 participants with a history of violence and 28 participants without a history of violence, with who we conducted an individual interview about the love story of their lives. Five interpretative repertoires about love were identified in all participants, and we also found differences in the use pattern and in the range of the repertoires. We discuss how the participants use the interpretative repertoires to facilitate or limit the intimate violence. Finally, considering the specificities identified in the discourse of victims, offenders and young people, we discuss some potential intervention issues for each case. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v27i1.242

Research on violence in intimate relationships began to privilege marriage as the main object of study, neglecting dating relationships and occasional juvenile and homosexual relations. Despite this delayed interest in the study of juvenile violence in intimate relationships, we have witnessed a progressive proliferation of studies in this area. It is in this context that emerges the project “Violence in juvenile dating relationships”, whose main goal was to reduce the gap of knowledge about the extent and severity of this phenomenon. In this article, we proceed to a broad overview of the national and international research and the theoretical knowledge produced on this subject, describe the research project, analyze and discuss the results as well as their implications for prevention. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v27i1.244

International studies developed at the university context consistently point out for the over-representation of athletes as frequent perpetrators of sexual assault in intimate relationships. The scientific literature has argued that there are aspects of the athletic culture that contribute to greater adherence to sociocultural myths and stereotypical attitudes to gender, increasing the propensity of athletes to commit more sexually abusive behaviors. This exploratory study sought to analyze the possible differences between two independent samples of male college students – athletes and non-athletes – at two levels: 1) degree of acceptance of sexual violence against women, 2) prevalence rate and types of sexually violent behaviors perpetrated in non-marital romantic relationships (dating). For the data collection we used the Beliefs Scale about Rape (ECV) and the Sexual Experiences Survey – Short Form-perpetration (SES-SFP), which were both administered to 50 college athletes of contact sports and to 50 non-athletes. The results suggest that college athletes do not report higher overall levels of legitimacy of sexual violence against women, and that they do not have higher rates of committing acts of sexual violence in the intimacy. In terms of behavior, there is empirical evidence that both college athletes, as non-athletes, report disturbing perpetration levels of severe acts of sexual assault in private (e.g., rape).  DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v27i1.245

In this paper three socially relevant topics are discussed: the evolution of migration patterns in Portugal, the social construction of ‘the immigrant’ and last decade's evolution of the numbers and characteristics of foreign nationals in Portuguese prisons. If there has been an historical tendency to associate immigration and crime, recent research has proved that this is not always accurate and that immigrants can have a positive impact on societies’ demography and dynamics (Rosa et al., 2003). In this paper it is argued that, even though there is a strong evidence of the increase in the proportion of foreign nationals in prisons, there is a lack of knowledge about the different scenarios of foreign nationals’ criminality, depending on their status (legal versus illegal, residents versus non residents). By providing this discussion we expect to contribute to the deconstruction of the stereotypes that relate foreign nationals to crime. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v27i1.246