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Violent Crime (violent + crime)
Selected AbstractsLOCAL POLITICS AND VIOLENT CRIME IN U.S. CITIES,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 4 2003THOMAS D. STUCKYArticle first published online: 7 MAR 200 Recent research has begun to examine the effects of politics on crime. However, few studies have considered how local political variation is likely to affect crime. Using insights from urban politics research, this paper develops and tests hypotheses regarding direct and conditional effects of local politics on violent crime in 958 cities in 1991. Results from negative binomial regression analyses show that violent crime rates vary by local political structures and the race of the mayor. In addition, the effects of structural factors such as poverty, unemployment, and female-headed households on violent crime depend on local form of government and the number of unreformed local governmental structures. Implications for systemic social disorganization and institutional anomie theories are discussed. [source] RIGHT-TO-CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS AND VIOLENT CRIME: CRIME CONTROL THROUGH GUN DECONTROL?,CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 3 2003TOMISLAV V. KOVANDZIC Research Summary: "Right-to-Carry" (RTC) concealed-handgun laws mandate that authorities issue concealed handgun permits to qualified applicants. The supposition by those supporting the laws is that allowing private citizens to carry concealed handguns in public can reduce violent crime by deterring prospective criminals afraid of encountering armed civilians. Critics of the laws argue that violent altercations are more likely to turn deadly when more people carry guns. Whether the laws cause violent crime to increase or to decrease has become an important public policy question, as most states have now adopted such legislation. The present study evaluates Florida's 1987 RTC law, which prior research suggests plays a key role in the RTC debate. Specifically, we use panel data for 58 Florida counties from 1980 to 2000 to examine the effects on violent crime from increases in the number of people with concealed-carry permits, rather than before-after dummy and time-trend variables used in prior research. We also address many of the methodological problems encountered in earlier RTC studies. We present numerous model specifications, and we find little evidence that increases in the number of citizens with concealed-handgun permits reduce or increase rates of violent crime. Policy Implications: The main policy implication of this research is that there appears to be little gained in the way of crime prevention by converting restrictive gun carrying laws to "shall-issue" laws, although the laws might still prove beneficial by (1) eliminating arbitrary decisions on gun permit applications, (2) encouraging gun safety, (3) making permit holders feel safer when out in public, (4) providing permit holders with a more effective means of self-defense, and (5) reducing the costs to police departments of enforcing laws prohibiting unlicensed gun carrying. [source] The Religious Institutional Base and Violent Crime in Rural AreasJOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Issue 3 2006MATTHEW R. LEE Research on the relationship between religion and crime has typically focused on individual religiosity and delinquency, or moral communities and crime at the macro level. This study extends prior research by delineating the sociological implications of a strong religious institutional base, and investigating the ties between the religious institutional base and violent crime across rural communities. Multivariate regression analysis of Uniform Crime Report data on violent crime, Census of Churches and Church membership data, and U.S. Census data circa 2000 reveal that rural violent crime rates on average are consistently lower where there are more churches per capita. This relationship holds net of the overall adherence rates, the presence of civically engaged religious adherents, and the presence of conservative Protestant adherents. Moreover, regional variations are evident, with the South and the Midwest,two highly religious regions of the country,sustaining most of the observed institutional effects. [source] Stalking: A Violent Crime or a Crime of Violence?THE HOWARD JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, Issue 5 2002Emily Finch This article examines the sufficiency of the legal response to stalking in terms of the penalty that can be imposed under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. It is argued that the statute places limitations upon the availability of a sentence that adequately reflects the severity of the harm involved. This is exacerbated by the sentencing policy outlined in the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, which delineates the circumstances in which a sentence of imprisonment may be imposed. Central to this article is the distinction between a violent act and an act of violence and the role of the relevant conduct and consequences in the categorisation process. The article concludes with a consideration of whether the recommendations of the Halliday report would strengthen the law in this respect. [source] Association for Methodology and Documentation in Psychiatry Profiles Predict Later Risk for Criminal Behavior and Violent Crimes in Former Inpatients with Affective Disorder,JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, Issue 3 2010Michael Soyka M.D. Abstract:, Few studies have investigated criminal and violent behavior in patients with affective disorders. We reviewed the national crime register for records of criminal offenses committed by 1561 patients with affective disorders and studied the predictive value of certain psychopathological symptoms assessed with the Association for Methodology and Documentation in Psychiatry (AMDP) system concerning future criminal behavior. Sixty-five (4.2%) patients had been convicted in the 7,12 years after discharge (307 cases). Patients with the AMDP syndrome mania had a significantly higher risk for later criminal behavior. The combination with the hostility syndrome further increased the risk. These findings are in line with previous data indicating a higher risk for later criminal behavior in patients with a manic/bipolar disorder compared to depressive disorder. As previously demonstrated in another sample of schizophrenic patients, the AMDP syndromes mania (and hostility) is associated with a higher risk of later criminal behavior. [source] Countries with fewer males have more violent crime: marriage markets and mating aggressionAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 1 2009Nigel Barber Abstract Violent crimes (murders, rapes, and assaults) are substantially higher in countries with a relative scarcity of men according to research using INTERPOL data [Barber, 2000a]. This is a paradox given that males are more criminally violent and likely reflects increased direct mating competition. The present research sought to confirm and extend Barber's [2000a] finding, using murder data from the United Nations and homicides from World Health Organization that are of higher quality than the INTERPOL data, and using more rigorous controls. In addition to level of economic development, control variables included, income inequality, urbanization, population density, the number of police, and whether the country was a major center of illegal drug trafficking. Regression analyses with all controls found that killings in both data sets increased with declines in the male proportion of the population. The findings are discussed in terms of direct reproductive competition and alternative explanations are considered. Aggr. Behav. 35:49,56, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Why is violent crime so common in the Americas?AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 5 2006Nigel BarberArticle first published online: 11 JUL 200 Abstract Violent crimes, including murders, rapes, and assaults are substantially higher in the Americas than other regions of the world. This study investigated the role of single parenthood ratios in accounting for this regional variation in violent crime of 39 countries using INTERPOL data. It pitted the prediction of parental investment (calling for a delayed relationship between single parenthood and crime) against a mating aggression hypothesis that predicted a contemporaneous effect. Regression analyses found that current single parenthood ratios were strongly and consistently predictive of violent crimes whereas single parenthood ratios 18 years earlier were not and this conclusion remained following controls for income inequality and the population sex ratio. The results indicate that the regional difference in violent crime is best explained in terms of mating competition rather than reduced parental investment. Aggr. Behav. 32:1,9, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Violent crimes and their relationship to personality disorders,PERSONALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 2 2007Michael H. Stone Persons committing murder and other forms of violent crime are likely to exhibit a personality disorder (PD) of one type or another. Essentially any personality disorder can be associated with violent crime, with the possible exception of avoidant PD. This includes those described in DSM as well as other disorders such as sadistic PD and psychopathy. The latter two, along with antisocial and paranoid PDs, are the most common personality accompaniments of violent crime. Narcissistic traits (if not narcissistic PD (NPD) itself) are almost universal in this domain, since violent offenders usually place their own desires and urges far above those of other persons. While admixtures of traits from several disorders are common among violent offenders, certain ones are likely to be the main disorder: antisocial PD, Psychopathy, Sadistic PD, Paranoid PD and NPD. Instrumental (as opposed to impulsive) spousal murders are strongly associated with NPD. Men committing serial sexual homicide usually show psychopathy and sadistic PD; half these men also show schizoid PD. Mass murderers usually show strong paranoid traits. With a focus on murder, clinical examples drawn from the crime literature and from the author's personal interviews reflect 14 varieties of personality disorder. Animal torture before adulthood is an important predictor of future violent (including sadistic) crime. Whereas many antisocial persons are eventually capable of rehabilitation, this is rarely the case with psychopathic or sadistic persons. Suggestions for future research are offered. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Facets on the psychopathy checklist screening version and instrumental violence in forensic psychiatric patientsCRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2010Jenny Laurell Background,There is a recognised relationship between psychopathy and instrumental violence, but not all violence by people who meet the criteria for psychopathy is instrumental. Aims,Our aims were to compare offence types among forensic psychiatric patients with and without the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL: SV) criteria for psychopathy. Our specific questions were whether factor 1 , the interpersonal affective dimension , was related to instrumentality and on severity of the violent crime. Our hypothesis was that the relationship between psychopathy and instrumental violence would be dependent on the severity of the violent crime. Methods,Sixty-five male patients at the forensic psychiatric hospital in Sundsvall, all with a violent criminal history, were assessed for psychopathy through interview and records using the PCL: SV. Severity and the instrumentality of their previous violence were coded using the Cornell coding guide for violent incidents. Results,The interpersonal features of psychopathy (the interpersonal facet), and only the interpersonal features were significantly associated with instrumentality and severity of violence. Instrumentality was also significantly related to the severity of the violence, independent of psychopathy score. Conclusions,The results indicated that, at least among forensic psychiatric patients, planning is more likely than not with respect to serious crimes. The specific link between interpersonal features of psychopathy and instrumental and severe violence suggests potential clinical value in recognising subtypes of psychopathy. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A REAPPRAISAL OF THE OVERLAP OF VIOLENT OFFENDERS AND VICTIMS,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 4 2008CHRISTOPHER J. SCHRECK Because research shows a close association between offending and victimization, recent work has argued that theories that account for crime should explain victimization as well. The current study uses a new approach to examine the extent of the overlap between offenders who commit violent crime and victims of violence to determine whether it is worthwhile to pursue separate theories to account for these phenomena. Specifically, we take the statistical approach that Osgood and Schreck (2007) developed for analyzing specialization in violent versus property offending and apply it to analyzing tendencies to gravitate toward violent offending versus victimization. In doing so, we treat the differentiation into victim and offender roles as an individual-level latent variable while controlling for confounding between the likelihood that individuals will take either role in violent acts and their overall numbers of encounters with violence (as either offender or victim). Our purpose is to examine 1) whether significant differentiation can be observed between the tendency to be an offender versus the tendency to be a victim, 2) whether any such differential tendency is stable over time, and 3) if it is possible to predict whether individuals will tend toward violent offending versus victimization. Using two waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to explore these objectives, we find significant and stable levels of differentiation between offenders and victims. Moreover, this differentiation is predictable with explanatory variables. [source] LOCAL POLITICS AND VIOLENT CRIME IN U.S. CITIES,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 4 2003THOMAS D. STUCKYArticle first published online: 7 MAR 200 Recent research has begun to examine the effects of politics on crime. However, few studies have considered how local political variation is likely to affect crime. Using insights from urban politics research, this paper develops and tests hypotheses regarding direct and conditional effects of local politics on violent crime in 958 cities in 1991. Results from negative binomial regression analyses show that violent crime rates vary by local political structures and the race of the mayor. In addition, the effects of structural factors such as poverty, unemployment, and female-headed households on violent crime depend on local form of government and the number of unreformed local governmental structures. Implications for systemic social disorganization and institutional anomie theories are discussed. [source] REASSESSING NONLINEARITY IN THE URBAN DISADVANTAGE/VIOLENT CRIME RELATIONSHIP: AN EXAMPLE OF METHODOLOGICAL BIAS FROM LOG TRANSFORMATION,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 4 2003LANCE HANNON Sociologists and criminologists have become increasingly concerned with nonlinear relationships and interaction effects. For example, some recent studies suggest that the positive relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and violent crime is nonlinear with an accelerating slope, whereas other research indicates a nonlinear decelerating slope. The present paper considers the possibility that this inconsistency in findings is partially caused by lack of attention to an important methodological concern. Specifically, we argue that researchers have not been sensitive to the ways in which logarithmic transformation of the dependent variable can bias tests for nonlinearity and statistical interaction. We illustrate this point using demographic and violent crime data for urban neighborhoods, and we propose an alternative procedure to log transformation that involves the use of weighted least-squares regression, heteroscedasticity consistent standard errors, and diagnostics for influential observations. [source] STRUCTURAL INEQUALITY AND HOMICIDE: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE BLACK-WHITE GAP IN KILLINGS,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 3 2003MARÍA B. VÉLEZ This paper examines the relationship between race and violent crime by directly modeling the racial gap in homicide offending for large central cities for 1990. We evaluate the role of black-white differences in aspects of both disadvantage and resources in explaining which places have wider racial disparities in lethal violence. The results show that where residential segregation is higher, and where whites' levels of homeownership, median income, college graduation, and professional workers exceed those for blacks to a greater degree, African Americans have much higher levels of homicide offending than whites. Based on these results, we conclude that the racial homicide gap is better explained by the greater resources that exist among whites than by the higher levels of disadvantage among blacks. [source] RIGHT-TO-CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS AND VIOLENT CRIME: CRIME CONTROL THROUGH GUN DECONTROL?,CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 3 2003TOMISLAV V. KOVANDZIC Research Summary: "Right-to-Carry" (RTC) concealed-handgun laws mandate that authorities issue concealed handgun permits to qualified applicants. The supposition by those supporting the laws is that allowing private citizens to carry concealed handguns in public can reduce violent crime by deterring prospective criminals afraid of encountering armed civilians. Critics of the laws argue that violent altercations are more likely to turn deadly when more people carry guns. Whether the laws cause violent crime to increase or to decrease has become an important public policy question, as most states have now adopted such legislation. The present study evaluates Florida's 1987 RTC law, which prior research suggests plays a key role in the RTC debate. Specifically, we use panel data for 58 Florida counties from 1980 to 2000 to examine the effects on violent crime from increases in the number of people with concealed-carry permits, rather than before-after dummy and time-trend variables used in prior research. We also address many of the methodological problems encountered in earlier RTC studies. We present numerous model specifications, and we find little evidence that increases in the number of citizens with concealed-handgun permits reduce or increase rates of violent crime. Policy Implications: The main policy implication of this research is that there appears to be little gained in the way of crime prevention by converting restrictive gun carrying laws to "shall-issue" laws, although the laws might still prove beneficial by (1) eliminating arbitrary decisions on gun permit applications, (2) encouraging gun safety, (3) making permit holders feel safer when out in public, (4) providing permit holders with a more effective means of self-defense, and (5) reducing the costs to police departments of enforcing laws prohibiting unlicensed gun carrying. [source] The quantitative risk of violent crime and criminal offending: a case-control study among the offspring of recidivistic Finnish homicide offendersACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 2002A. Putkonen Objective: To study if later risk of violent offending and criminality among high-risk children can be estimated quantitatively on the basis of parental crimes. Method:, The criminal and prison records of the offspring (N=11) of homicide recidivists (N=36) were compared with data from controls (N=220) who were matched for sex, domicile of birth and date of birth and death. Results:, The risk (odds ratio) was increased up to 24-fold for violent crimes (P=0.01), and up to 17-fold for criminality (P=0.0008) among the offspring of homicide recidivists. Conclusion:, The quantitative risk of a child for later violent offending and criminality can be estimated on the basis of parental homicide recidivism. This kind of method could be used to choose target groups for early preventive interventions, and to study the effectiveness of prevention. [source] Comparative rates of violent crime among regular methamphetamine and opioid users: offending and victimizationADDICTION, Issue 5 2010Shane Darke ABSTRACT Aims To determine the comparative levels of violent offending and victimization among regular methamphetamine and heroin users. Design Cross-sectional Setting Sydney, Australia. Participants A total of 400 regular methamphetamine (METH) and heroin (HER) users (118 methamphetamine users: METH; 161 regular heroin users: HER; 121 regular users of both: BOTH). Findings Eighty-two per cent reported a life-time history of committing violent crime, 41% in the past 12 months. There were no group differences in life-time violence, but the METH group were significantly more likely than the HER group to have committed violence in the past 12 months (odds ratio 1.94). Nearly all (95%) reported that they had been a victim of violent crime, 46% in the preceding 12 months, with no group differences. Those who had committed a violent crime in the past 12 months were 13.23 times more likely to have been a victim in that period. The majority believed it unlikely that they would be a victim of (78%), or commit (87%), a violent crime in the next 12 months. Conclusions Regular methamphetamine use appears to be associated with an increased risk of violent offending, but not victimization, compared with heroin use. [source] Psychological trauma exposure and trauma symptoms among individuals with high and low levels of dental anxietyEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORAL SCIENCES, Issue 4 2006Ad De Jongh This questionnaire-based study investigated the traumatic background and trauma-related symptomatology among 141 treatment-seeking individuals with high levels of dental anxiety and among a low-anxious reference group consisting of 99 regular dental patients. The highly anxious individuals reported a significantly higher number of traumatic events, both within and outside the dental or medical setting, than those in the reference group (73% vs. 21%). Horrific experiences in the dental setting were the most common traumatic events reported. Of the highly anxious individuals, 46.1% indicated suffering from one or more of the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom clusters (re-experiencing, avoidance, loss of interest, and insomnia), while in the reference group this percentage was 6%. Severity of dental anxiety was significantly associated with number of screening criteria for specific phobia and the extent to which the anxious subjects displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Two variables were uniquely predictive for positive diagnostic screens for dental phobia and PTSD: having experienced a horrific dental treatment and having been a victim of a violent crime. In conclusion, post-traumatic symptoms are common accompaniments of severe forms of dental anxiety and are experienced even when dental treatment is not imminent. [source] The Religious Institutional Base and Violent Crime in Rural AreasJOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Issue 3 2006MATTHEW R. LEE Research on the relationship between religion and crime has typically focused on individual religiosity and delinquency, or moral communities and crime at the macro level. This study extends prior research by delineating the sociological implications of a strong religious institutional base, and investigating the ties between the religious institutional base and violent crime across rural communities. Multivariate regression analysis of Uniform Crime Report data on violent crime, Census of Churches and Church membership data, and U.S. Census data circa 2000 reveal that rural violent crime rates on average are consistently lower where there are more churches per capita. This relationship holds net of the overall adherence rates, the presence of civically engaged religious adherents, and the presence of conservative Protestant adherents. Moreover, regional variations are evident, with the South and the Midwest,two highly religious regions of the country,sustaining most of the observed institutional effects. [source] Role of executive dysfunction in predicting frequency and severity of violenceAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 5 2010Megan Hancock Abstract The adverse consequences of violence on society are tremendous. The proportion of offenders incarcerated for violent offenses is large, and the cost of keeping these offenders incarcerated is startling. Understanding and treating the causal underpinnings of violent crime is of utmost importance for individuals and society as a whole. Several factors have been identified as potential contributors to violent crime, including cognitive deficits in executive functioning [Hoaken et al., 2007]. To investigate this further, 77 offenders from Fenbrook Institution, a federal facility, were tested on a battery of executive functioning measures. Offenders were found to have broad and pervasive dysfunction in their executive abilities. In addition, specific scores from the battery were found using regression techniques, to predict the frequency and severity of past violent offending but not nonviolent offending. This speaks of the possibility of a new type of correctional rehabilitation program, one that focuses on the rehabilitation of basic executive functions. Aggr. Behav. 36:338,349, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Strategies for enhancing the adoption of school-based prevention programs: Lessons learned from the Blueprints for Violence Prevention replications of the Life Skills Training programJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2003Abigail A. Fagan Widespread implementation of effective programs is unlikely to affect the incidence of violent crime unless there is careful attention given to the quality of implementation, including identification of the problems associated with the process of implementation and strategies for overcoming these obstacles. Here we describe the results of a process evaluation focused on discovering common implementation obstacles faced by schools implementing the Life Skills Training (LST) drug prevention program. The evaluation was conducted by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) under the Blueprints for Violence Prevention Initiative in conjunction with the designer of the LST program, Dr. Gilbert Botvin and his dissemination agency, National Health Promotion Associates (NHPA), and was funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). This evaluation revealed that the 70 sites involved in the project faced many obstacles when implementing this science-based program in the "real" classroom setting, outside the rigorous controls of a research trial. Nonetheless, the schools were very successful in delivering the program in its entirety and with a high level of fidelity to the program model, and we attribute much of this success to the high level of independent monitoring provided by CSPV, as well as our ongoing efforts to work with schools to identify and overcome problems associated with implementation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 31: 235,253, 2003. [source] Countries with fewer males have more violent crime: marriage markets and mating aggressionAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 1 2009Nigel Barber Abstract Violent crimes (murders, rapes, and assaults) are substantially higher in countries with a relative scarcity of men according to research using INTERPOL data [Barber, 2000a]. This is a paradox given that males are more criminally violent and likely reflects increased direct mating competition. The present research sought to confirm and extend Barber's [2000a] finding, using murder data from the United Nations and homicides from World Health Organization that are of higher quality than the INTERPOL data, and using more rigorous controls. In addition to level of economic development, control variables included, income inequality, urbanization, population density, the number of police, and whether the country was a major center of illegal drug trafficking. Regression analyses with all controls found that killings in both data sets increased with declines in the male proportion of the population. The findings are discussed in terms of direct reproductive competition and alternative explanations are considered. Aggr. Behav. 35:49,56, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Why is violent crime so common in the Americas?AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 5 2006Nigel BarberArticle first published online: 11 JUL 200 Abstract Violent crimes, including murders, rapes, and assaults are substantially higher in the Americas than other regions of the world. This study investigated the role of single parenthood ratios in accounting for this regional variation in violent crime of 39 countries using INTERPOL data. It pitted the prediction of parental investment (calling for a delayed relationship between single parenthood and crime) against a mating aggression hypothesis that predicted a contemporaneous effect. Regression analyses found that current single parenthood ratios were strongly and consistently predictive of violent crimes whereas single parenthood ratios 18 years earlier were not and this conclusion remained following controls for income inequality and the population sex ratio. The results indicate that the regional difference in violent crime is best explained in terms of mating competition rather than reduced parental investment. Aggr. Behav. 32:1,9, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Age-Based Factors in FemicideJOURNAL OF FORENSIC NURSING, Issue 4 2005Ann Wolbert Burgess Homicide is a topic of interest not only because of its severity but because it is a fairly reliable barometer of all violent crime, especially as it affects women. This exploratory study compared a group of murdered women over age 60 with a group of murdered women 30,59 and included age-based factors for both groups. Discussion focuses on forensics as insight to crime scene dynamics and homicidal behavior. [source] The impact of criminal justice involvement on victims' mental healthJOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS, Issue 2 2010Jim Parsons The aftermath of violent crime can leave victims with persistent emotional and mental health problems. Although research has shown the potential benefits of prosecuting cases through the courts, there is also a substantial literature that suggests that common features of the criminal justice system can exacerbate the impact of the initial crime, leading to a secondary victimization. The authors present a review of the research on the positive and negative impact of criminal justice involvement, and common points of failure in the efforts of justice institutions to meet the needs of victims. They conclude with recommendations for future work, including the need for research on restorative justice, victim impact statements, court notification systems, victim services, and victim advocates. [source] Violent crimes and their relationship to personality disorders,PERSONALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 2 2007Michael H. Stone Persons committing murder and other forms of violent crime are likely to exhibit a personality disorder (PD) of one type or another. Essentially any personality disorder can be associated with violent crime, with the possible exception of avoidant PD. This includes those described in DSM as well as other disorders such as sadistic PD and psychopathy. The latter two, along with antisocial and paranoid PDs, are the most common personality accompaniments of violent crime. Narcissistic traits (if not narcissistic PD (NPD) itself) are almost universal in this domain, since violent offenders usually place their own desires and urges far above those of other persons. While admixtures of traits from several disorders are common among violent offenders, certain ones are likely to be the main disorder: antisocial PD, Psychopathy, Sadistic PD, Paranoid PD and NPD. Instrumental (as opposed to impulsive) spousal murders are strongly associated with NPD. Men committing serial sexual homicide usually show psychopathy and sadistic PD; half these men also show schizoid PD. Mass murderers usually show strong paranoid traits. With a focus on murder, clinical examples drawn from the crime literature and from the author's personal interviews reflect 14 varieties of personality disorder. Animal torture before adulthood is an important predictor of future violent (including sadistic) crime. Whereas many antisocial persons are eventually capable of rehabilitation, this is rarely the case with psychopathic or sadistic persons. Suggestions for future research are offered. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Promoting Infant Health Through Home Visiting By a Nurse-Managed Community Worker TeamPUBLIC HEALTH NURSING, Issue 4 2001Cynthia Barnes-Boyd R.N., Ph.D. This article describes the Resources, Education and Care in the Home program (REACH-Futures), an infant mortality reduction initiative in the inner city of Chicago built on the World Health Organization (WHO) primary health care model and over a decade of experience administering programs to reduce infant mortality through home visits. The program uses a nurse-managed team, which includes community residents selected, trained, and integrated as health advocates. Service participants were predominately African American families. All participants were low-income and resided in inner-city neighborhoods with high unemployment, high teen birth rates, violent crime, and deteriorated neighborhoods. Outcomes for the first 666 participants are compared to a previous home-visiting program that used only nurses. Participant retention rates were equivalent overall and significantly higher in the first months of the REACH-Futures program. There were two infant deaths during the course of the study, a lower death rate than the previous program or the city. Infant health problems and developmental levels were equivalent to the prior program and significantly more infants were fully immunized at 12 months. The authors conclude that the use of community workers as a part of the home-visiting team is as effective as the nurse-only team in meeting the needs of families at high risk of poor infant outcomes. This approach is of national interest because of its potential to achieve the desired outcomes in a cost-effective manner. [source] Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in CanadaCNS: NEUROSCIENCE AND THERAPEUTICS, Issue 3 2008Michael Van Ameringen Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has become a global health issue, with prevalence rates ranging from 1.3% to 37.4%. As there is little current data on PTSD in Canada, an epidemiological study was conducted examining PTSD and related comorbid conditions. Modified versions of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) PTSD module, the depression, alcohol and substance abuse sections of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), as well as portions of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) were combined, and administered via telephone interview in English or French. Random digit dialing was used to obtain a nationally representative sample of 2991, aged 18 years and above from across Canada. The prevalence rate of lifetime PTSD in Canada was estimated to be 9.2%, with a rate of current (1-month) PTSD of 2.4%. Traumatic exposure to at least one event sufficient to cause PTSD was reported by 76.1% of respondents. The most common forms of trauma resulting in PTSD included unexpected death of a loved one, sexual assault, and seeing someone badly injured or killed. In respondents meeting criteria for PTSD, the symptoms were chronic in nature, and associated with significant impairment and high rates of comorbidity. PTSD is a common psychiatric disorder in Canada. The results are surprising, given the comparably low rates of violent crime, a small military and few natural disasters. Potential implications of these findings are discussed. [source] Psychopathy and offence severity in sexually aggressive and violent youthCRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2009Amber Fougere Background,A large proportion of violent crimes are committed by youths. Youths with psychopathic traits may have a higher risk for recidivism and violence. Aims/hypotheses,Our aim was to compare sexually aggressive with violent young men on offence severity and psychopathy. Three hypotheses were proposed: first, young men with previous offences would display a progressive increase in seriousness of offence during their criminal career; secondly, the sexually aggressive and violent young men would not differ in scores on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV); but, thirdly, PCL:YV scores would be positively correlated with the severity of the index crime, as measured by the Cormier,Lang System for Quantifying Criminal History. Methods,Information was collected from the files of 40 young men in conflict with the law, and the PCL:Youth Version (YV) rated from this by trained raters. Results,The offences of these young men became more serious over time, but we found no association between PCL:YV scores and offence type or seriousness. Conclusions and implications,This exploratory research suggests the importance of understanding the progression in offending careers, but a limited role for the PCL:YV in doing so. Given the small sample size, however, and the limit on access to information about details of age, the findings need replication. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] LIFE SPAN OFFENDING TRAJECTORIES OF A DUTCH CONVICTION COHORT,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 4 2005ARJAN A.J. BLOKLAND The aim of this paper is to describe the development of criminal behavior from early adolescence to late adulthood based on conviction data for a sample of Dutch offenders. Measuring over an age span of 12 to 72, we ask whether there is evidence for (1) criminal trajectories that are distinct in terms of time path, (2) a small group of persistent offenders, (3) criminal trajectories that are distinct in the mix of crimes committed, or, more specifically, persistent offenders disproportionately engaging in violent offences, and (4) different offender groups having different social profiles in life domains other than crime. The analysis is based on the conviction histories of the Dutch offenders in the Criminal Career and Life Course Study. Four trajectory groups were identified using a semi-parametric, group-based model: sporadic offenders, low-rate desisters, moderate-rate desisters and high-rate persisters. Analyses show that high-rate persisters engage in crime at a very substantial rate, even after age 50. Compared to other trajectory groups the high-rate persistent trajectory group disproportionately engages in property crimes rather than violent crimes. Also, these distinct trajectories are found to be remarkably similar across age cohorts. [source] FUNDING COMMUNITY POLICING TO REDUCE CRIME: HAVE COPS GRANTS MADE A DIFFERENCE?,CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2002JIHONG "SOLOMON" ZHAO Research Summary: This research examines how funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), has affected violent and property crime rates in the United States from 1995 to 1999. Drawing on six years of panel data, we examine the effects of three types of awards made by COPS to 6,100 law enforcement agencies serving more than 145 million citizens. We estimate their impact on crime reduction over time in jurisdictions receiving funding and controlling for baseline levels of crime, socioeconomic characteristics, city size, and population diversity and mobility. Our analyses suggest that COPS hiring and innovative grant programs have resulted in significant reductions in local crime rates in cities with populations greater than 10,000 for both violent and nonviolent offenses. Multivariate analysis shows that in cities with populations greater than 10,000, an increase in one dollar of hiring grant funding per resident contributed to a corresponding decline of 5.26 violent crimes and 21.63 property crimes per 100,000 residents. Similarly, an increase in one dollar of innovative grant funding per resident has contributed to a decline of 12.93 violent crimes and 45.53 property crimes per 100,000 persons. In addition, the findings suggest that COPS grants have had no significant negative effect on violent and property crime rates in cities with less than 10,000 population. Policy Implications: The findings of this study imply that COPS program funding to medium- and large-size cities has been an effective force in reducing both violent and property crime. Federal government grants made directly to law enforcement agencies to hire additional officers and promote innovations may be an effective way to reduce crime on a national scale. 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