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Criminal Records (criminal + record)
Selected AbstractsThe probabilities of sex offender re-arrestCRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 2 2003Roderic Broadhurst Associate Professor Background Estimates of the probabilities of re-arrest for sex offenders apprehended in Western Australia between April 1984 and December 1994 are reported. Population and method Of the 116,151 distinct male persons arrested for the first time from 1984,94, 2785 were identified with at least one sex offence. Subjects on average were followed up for 5.7 years and assessed by criminal record, Aboriginality, bail status, age, occupation and penal intervention. Three criteria, rearrest for any, repeat sex or a violent offence are used to summarize the ,careers' of sex offenders. Results Overall ultimate probabilities of rearrest for any offence were 0.61, for a repeat sex offence 0.33 and for a violent offence 0.51. Probabilities of re-arrest for non-Aboriginal offenders were lower for all definitions. Younger offenders, Aborigines and those with prior arrest for non-sex offences had higher probabilities for any or violent rearrest but older offenders tended to have higher probabilities of repeat sex offending. Community supervision and imprisonment significantly reduced the ,rate' or speed of re-arrest. Discussion Actuarial risk assessments for low-probability high-consequence events such as dangerous recidivism are useful for identifying groups with a high probability of rearrest, assisting management of these groups and evaluating penal interventions. Copyright © 2003 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source] A comparison of risk factors for habitual violence in pre-trial subjectsACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 2002S. Z. Kaliski Objective: Pre-trial referrals to the Valkenberg Hospital forensic unit over a 6-month period were studied. Habitually violent offenders were compared with those with no history of violence. Methods:, Risk factors known to be associated with violent behaviour were elicited, i.e. demographics, behaviour during index offence (such as impulsivity, identity of victim, use of weapon, accomplices, intoxication, psychotic symptoms), psychiatric and family histories, history of suicide attempts, past child abuse, head injury, criminal record, psychiatric diagnosis and presence of medical disorders. EEG's, Barratt's Impulsivity, Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking and Mini-Mental Scales were administered. Behaviour in the ward during the 30 days was also appraised. Logistic regression models were used to determine relative risks. Results:, There were 155 subjects; 89.7% were male, 71.6% were single and 58.7% were unemployed. For 44.5% the index offence was violent, and 9.7% had committed sexual offences; 61.9% had histories of habitual violence. A psychotic disorder was diagnosed in 32.3% and a personality disorder in 48.4%. Habitually violent subjects were distin- guished by a history of issuing threats (OR=3.68; CI=3.19,4.16; P= 0.000), delusions of persecution (OR=3.43; CI=2.67,4.17; P=0.001), history of conduct disorder (OR=1.95; CI=1.70,2.19; P=0.006), alcohol/substance abuse (OR=2.08; CI=1.53,2.61; P=0.008) and violent index offence (OR=1.66; CI=1.54,2.61; P=0.035). Conclusion: This seems to confirm the relationship between threats, feeling threatened, psychosis, a history of antisocial behaviour and alcohol abuse. [source] Making the Punishment Fit the Crime and the Criminal: Attributions of Dangerousness as a Mediator of Liability,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2000Catherine A. Sanderson This research examines how individuals use information regarding characteristics of crimes (e. g., crime severity) and characteristics of the offender (e. g, prior criminal record) to form an impression of the criminal as dangerous to society, and to make liability judgments. Two studies presented college students and community members with crime scenarios and asked for ratings of crime severity, likelihood of recidivism, perceived dangerousness of the offender, and liability. Type of crime, severity. and likelihood of recidivism significantly predicted both liability and perceived dangerousness. Further more, in crimes against people only, the effects of severity and recidivism on liability were partially mediated by individuals' perceptions of the offender as criminally dangerous. The discussion examines the implications of these findings for attribution theory and sentencing in the criminal-justice system. [source] The effect of time spent in treatment and dropout status on rates of convictions, cautions and imprisonment over 5 years in a primary care-led methadone maintenance serviceADDICTION, Issue 4 2010Phillip Oliver ABSTRACT Background Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) in primary care settings is used increasingly as a standard method of delivering treatment for heroin users. It has been shown to reduce criminal activity and incarceration over periods of periods of 12 months or less; however, little is known about the effect of this treatment over longer durations. Aims To examine the association between treatment status and rates of convictions and cautions (judicial disposals) over a 5-year period in a cohort of heroin users treated in a general practitioner (GP)-led MMT service. Design Cohort study. Setting The primary care clinic for drug dependence, Sheffield, 1999,2005. Participants The cohort comprised 108 consecutive patients who were eligible and entered treatment. Ninety were followed-up for the full 5 years. Intervention The intervention consisted of MMT provided by GPs in a primary care clinic setting. Measurements Criminal conviction and caution rates and time spent in prison, derived from Police National Computer (PNC) criminal records. Findings The overall reduction in the number of convictions and cautions expected for patients entering MMT in similar primary care settings is 10% for each 6 months retained in treatment. Patients in continuous treatment had the greatest reduction in judicial disposal rates, similar to those who were discharged for positive reasons (e.g. drug free). Patients who had more than one treatment episode over the observation period did no better than those who dropped out of treatment. Conclusions MMT delivered in a primary care clinic setting is effective in reducing convictions and cautions and incarceration over an extended period. Continuous treatment is associated with the greatest reductions. [source] Aggressive behavior, related conduct problems, and variation in genes affecting dopamine turnoverAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 3 2010Elena L. Grigorenko Abstract A number of dopamine-related genes have been implicated in the etiology of violent behavior and conduct problems. Of these genes, the ones that code for the enzymes that influence the turnover of dopamine (DA) have received the most attention. In this study, we investigated 12 genetic polymorphisms in four genes involved with DA functioning (COMT, MAOA and MAOB, and D,H) in 179 incarcerated male Russian adolescents and two groups of matched controls: boys without criminal records referred to by their teachers as (a) "troubled-behavior-free" boys, n=182; and (b) "troubled-behavior" boys, n=60. The participants were classified as (1) being incarcerated or not, (2) having the DSM-IV diagnosis of conduct disorder (CD) or not, and (3) having committed violent or nonviolent crimes (for the incarcerated individuals only). The findings indicate that, although no single genetic variant in any of the four genes differentiated individuals in the investigated groups, various linear combinations (i.e., haplotypes) and nonlinear combinations (i.e., interactions between variants within and across genes) of genetic variants resulted in informative and robust classifications for two of the three groupings. These combinations of genetic variants differentiated individuals in incarceration vs. nonincarcerated and CD vs. no-CD groups; no informative combinations were established consistently for the grouping by crime within the incarcerated individuals. This study underscores the importance of considering multiple rather than single markers within candidate genes and their additive and interactive combinations, both with themselves and with nongenetic indicators, while attempting to understand the genetic background of such complex behaviors as serious conduct problems. Aggr. Behav. 36:158,176, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The Dilemma of the Criminal Defendant with a Prior Record,Lessons from the Wrongfully ConvictedJOURNAL OF EMPIRICAL LEGAL STUDIES, Issue 3 2008John H. Blume This article examines the conventional wisdom that innocent defendants will testify on their own behalf at trial. Data gathered from the cases of persons subsequently exonerated due to DNA evidence demonstrate that factually innocent defendants with criminal records do not testify on their own behalf at substantially higher rates than criminal defendants generally. Why? Ninety-one percent of factually innocent defendants with prior records declined to testify compared to the 55 percent rate at which defendants with prior criminal records declined to testify in a four-county sample of criminal cases. Why the difference? In the innocence cases, the primary reason counsel give for not taking the stand is that many of these individuals had been previously convicted of a crime, and they did not testify at trial because of the risk that their credibility would be impeached with evidence of the prior record, and that, despite any limiting instruction the court might give, the jury would infer that they were guilty based on their prior misdeeds. If one assumes that the defendants in a four-county sample are guilty, and that both the innocence sample and the four-county sample are reasonably representative, then there is a statistically significant association between defendants with criminal records failing to testify and innocence. Because the current legal regime appears to disproportionately discourage defendants, even factually innocent defendants, from telling their story at trial, the law should be changed. Only prior convictions for perjury should be potentially available for impeachment purposes. [source] Psychopathic traits in adolescent offenders: an evaluation of criminal history, clinical, and psychosocial correlates,BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 1 2004Mary Ann Campbell Ph.D. Although a large body of research has established the relevance of psychopathy to adult offenders, its relevance to adolescent offenders is far less clear. The current study evaluated the clinical, psychosocial and criminal correlates of psychopathic traits in a sample of 226 male and female incarcerated adolescent offenders. According to an 18-item version of the Psychopathy Checklist,Youth Version (PCL-YV; Forth, Kosson, & Hare, 2003), only 9.4% exhibited a high level of psychopathic traits (PCL-YV,25). Consistent with past research, higher PCL-YV scores were positively associated with self-reported delinquency and aggressive behavior and were unrelated to emotional difficulties. Although higher PCL-YV scores were associated with the experience of physical abuse, the only psychosocial factor to predict PCL-YV scores was a history of non-parental living arrangements (e.g. foster care). In terms of criminality, a violent/versatile criminal history was positively associated with psychopathic traits. However, PCL-YV scores were unrelated to participants' official criminal records for total, non-violent, violent, and technical violation convictions. In conclusion, the data partially support the construct validity of psychopathy with adolescent offenders, but some inconsistencies with prior adult and adolescent psychopathy research were evident. These issues are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||