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Violent Offending (violent + offending)
Selected AbstractsChanges over time in homicides by women: a register-based study comparing female offenders from 1982 to 1992 and 1993 to 2005CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 5 2008Hanna Putkonen Background,The contribution of women to violent offending, including homicide, may be increasing as society changes. Aims,The aim of this paper was to test for trends in homicide by women in Finland. Methods,A retrospective register-based study was conducted by comparing two national cohorts: one from 1982 to 1992 and the other from 1993 to 2005. Results,There was a small increase in the proportion of homicides committed by women over time, but the most striking difference between the cohorts was in the significantly higher frequency of alcohol abuse/dependence in the later cohort and of being under the influence of alcohol during the crime. Fewer perpetrators were regarded as lacking or being of diminished responsibility in the later cohort. The victims of the earlier cohort were emotionally closer to the offender than those of the later one. Conclusions,In Finland, there have been changes in characteristics of women who commit homicide and their crimes over time, with the apparent development of a subgroup of women who kill who are much more like men who kill than women in the 1980s and early 1990s. Preventing substance abuse and marginalization are likely to be important ways of preventing homicide by both female and male perpetrators. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Evaluation of a treatment programme for alcohol-related aggressionCRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2008Anna McCulloch Background,The development of effective treatments for alcohol-related aggression and violence is important in binge drinking cultures, as in parts of the UK. Aim,The aim was to evaluate the progress and experience of 10 participants in Control of Violence for Angry Impulsive Drinkers (COVAID) using a single case methodology. Method,Participants completed 10 individual weekly sessions with trained facilitators following the COVAID manual. Change scores on psychometric questionnaires were examined by calculating clinical significance and reliability of change. Self-reports of alcohol consumption and aggression were examined. Follow-up data on convictions were collected. Participants were asked their opinions about COVAID. Results,Scores on the Alcohol-Related Aggression Questionnaire (ARAQ) improved for nine participants; change was both clinically significant and reliable in five cases. Nine participants improved on the Controlled Drinking Self-Efficacy Scale (CDSES), with seven showing clinically significant improvement. Six participants reported a reduction in alcohol consumption from the first to the second half of the programme. At a mean of 29 weeks post-treatment, none of the participants had been reconvicted for a violent offence. Participants reported finding COVAID useful and interesting. Conclusion,Overall, our findings support the possibility that COVAID may assist in reducing alcohol-related violence and violent offending. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Psychosis and offending in British Columbia: characteristics of a secure hospital populationCRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 3 2001Nicola Hodelet Specialist Registrar Introduction There is an increased likelihood of violence in the mentally ill although the risk is small. Aims The study aimed to ascertain the features in a secure hospital population that linked offending and mental illness. Method A survey of patients in the high security hospital serving the province of British Columbia in Canada was carried out. Information on 175 mentally disordered offenders was extracted and included demographic data and specific characteristics of their offences, diagnoses and psychotic symptoms. Results The most prevalent offences were crimes of violence, but 39% of patients were not primarily violent offenders. Almost two-thirds (61%) had two or more diagnoses. A large majority of the patients were psychotic, schizophrenia being the most common diagnosis. There was a highly significant association between psychosis and violence, but the strength of the association was not increased by the presence of imperative hallucinations or delusions. The sample comprised various ethnic groups, one of which, Native Americans, was over-represented. However, no association was found between violent offending and ethnicity, or age or years of illness. Discussion The study replicates previous findings of the link between violent offending and psychosis, but not a specific link between violent offending and psychotic drive. A surprising finding was a lack of association between violent offences and substance misuse. Copyright © 2001 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source] Trauma in the family: groupwork on family awareness for men in high security hospitalCRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2000Estelle Moore BSc MSc PhD C.Psychol Introduction It is typically considered important in clinical practice to generate an understanding of the relationships and consequences of interaction patterns within the families of patients with serious interpersonal difficulties and histories of violent offending. Method Eight men on a dedicated treatment unit for patients with personality disturbance within a maximum security hospital participated in structured groupwork which focused on family awareness. Results Two measures of outcome were employed: their recollections of family life were assessed before and after the intervention, and their general progress in rehabilitation was followed up 12 months later. Summary scores of the participants' recall of feelings associated with familial figures indicate that the group reported changes in their feelings over the eight-month period. For the duration of the group, and during the subsequent year, the group members remained on the same ward; two had been transferred to medium security at follow-up. Discussion The inherent bias and the small numbers in the group prevent generalization. However, it seems that patients who participated in group work are likely to remain on the ward studied or be moved to lower security. The recollection and sharing experiences of family life may have reduced the patients' sense of isolation. Copyright © 2000 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source] DESTINATION EFFECTS: RESIDENTIAL MOBILITY AND TRAJECTORIES OF ADOLESCENT VIOLENCE IN A STRATIFIED METROPOLIS,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 3 2010PATRICK SHARKEY Two landmark policy interventions to improve the lives of youth through neighborhood mobility,the Gautreaux program in Chicago and the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) experiments in five cities,have produced conflicting results and have created a puzzle with broad implications: Do residential moves between neighborhoods increase or decrease violence, or both? To address this question, we analyze data from a subsample of adolescents ages 9,12 years from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, a longitudinal study of children and their families that began in Chicago,the site of the original Gautreaux program and one of the MTO experiments. We propose a dynamic modeling strategy to separate the effects of residential moving across three waves of the study from dimensions of neighborhood change and metropolitan location. The results reveal countervailing effects of mobility on trajectories of violence; whereas neighborhood moves within Chicago lead to an increased risk of violence, moves outside the city reduce violent offending and exposure to violence. The gap in violence between movers within and outside Chicago is explained not only by the racial and economic composition of the destination neighborhoods but also by the quality of school contexts, adolescents' perceived control over their new environment, and fear. These findings highlight the need to simultaneously consider residential mobility, mechanisms of neighborhood change, and the wider geography of structural opportunity. [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] VIOLENCE AMONG ADOLESCENTS LIVING IN PUBLIC HOUSING: A TWO-SITE ANALYSIS,CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2003TIMOTHY O. IRELAND Research Summary: Current knowledge about violence among public housing residents is extremely limited. Much of what we know about violence in and around public housing is derived from analysis of Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data or victimization surveys of public housing residents. The results of these studies suggest that fear of crime among public housing residents is high and that violent offense rates may be higher in areas that contain public housing compared with similar areas without public housing. Yet, "[r]ecorded crime rates (and victimization rates) are an index not of the rate of participation in crime by residents of an area, but of the rate of crime (or victimization) that occurs in an area whether committed by residents or non-residents" (Weatherburn et al., 1999:259). Therefore, neither UCR nor victimization data measurement strategies address whether crime in and around public housing emanates from those who reside in public housing. Additionally, much of this research focuses on atypical public housing,large developments with high-rise buildings located in major metropolitan areas. To complement the existing literature, we compare rates of self-reported crime and violence among adolescents who reside in public housing in Rochester, N.Y., and Pittsburgh, Pa., with adolescents from the same cities who do not live in public housing. In Rochester, property crime and violence participation rates during adolescence and early adulthood among those in public housing are statistically equivalent to participation rates among those not in public housing. In Pittsburgh, living in public housing during late adolescence and early adulthood, particularly in large housing developments,increases the risk for violent offending, but not for property offending. The current study relies on a relatively small number of subjects in public housing at any single point in time and is based on cross-sectional analyses. Even so, there are several important policy implications that can be derived from this study, given that it moves down a path heretofore largely unexplored. Policy Implications: If replicated, our findings indicate that not all public housing is inhabited disproportionately by those involved in crime; that to develop appropriate responses, it is essential to discover if the perpetrators of violence are residents or trespassers; that policy should target reducing violence specifically and not crime in general; that a modification to housing allocation policies that limits, to the extent possible, placing families with children in late adolescence into large developments might reduce violence perpetrated by residents; that limited resources directed at reducing violence among residents should be targeted at those developments or buildings that actually have high rates of participation in violence among the residents; and that best practices may be derived from developments where violence is not a problem. [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] Drinking patterns in mid-adolescence and psychosocial outcomes in late adolescence and early adulthoodADDICTION, Issue 12 2004J. Elisabeth Wells ABSTRACT Aims To describe the pattern of drinking at age 16 and to relate this to outcomes at 16,21 years and 21,25 years across a number of psychosocial domains. Design A prospective birth cohort study with annual follow-up until age 16 then at 18, 21 and 25 years. Setting Christchurch, New Zealand. Participants Of 1265 subjects, 953 were interviewed at age 16. Measurements Multiple measures of family background were collected from birth to 16 years. Alcohol consumption was measured in terms of frequency, usual or last quantity drunk and most drunk per occasion. Problems were also recorded. Questions about psychiatric symptoms enabled Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) criteria to be applied. Detailed reports on educational outcomes, employment, sexual behaviours and offending were collected. Findings Four latent classes were required to describe drinking at age 16, but these appeared to lie along a single dimension which strongly predicted outcomes at ages 16,21 and 21,25 across all domains (alcohol-related, substance dependence, mental health, education, sexual relationships and offending). After controlling for background and correlates only a small number of outcomes were still related consistently to drinking at age 16 over both periods: most alcohol-related outcomes, the number of sexual partners and the extent of violent offending. Conclusions Drinking at age 16 is a clear indicator of future life-course over most domains in late adolescence and early adulthood. Many of these associations are due to other covariates. Outcomes specific to drinking at age 16 are alcohol outcomes, number of sexual partners and violence. [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] The association between substance use co-morbidity in adolescence and adult criminal behaviourPERSONALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 2 2008Ellen KjelsbergArticle first published online: 26 MAR 200 The impact of substance use co-morbidity in adolescence on criminal behaviour in adulthood was investigated in a long-term follow-up study of former adolescent psychiatric in-patients. A nationwide representative sample of 1,,095 adolescents (46% females) was followed up 15-33 years after admission to the National Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Oslo, Norway. At index hospitalisation in adolescence, 32% fulfilled the DSM-IV criteria for a co-morbid substance use disorder (SUD). At follow-up, 63% of all males and 39% of all females had received a court conviction. SUD in adolescence seemed to be a sine qua non for later registered overall criminality in females but not in males. The association between substance use co-morbidity and later violent offending was strong in both genders. Substance use was closely associated with life-course-persistent criminality and more serious criminal careers in both genders. Substance use was also associated with increased mortality. Analysing secular trends in criminal activity during the last several decades, we found that substance use co-morbidity remained an independent predictor for violent and drug related offences in both genders after controlling for cohort membership. The findings could help identify high-risk populations in need of preventive interventions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Predictive validity of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version for general and violent recidivismBEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 1 2004Raymond R. Corrado Ph.D. Several authors have expressed concern regarding the use of youth psychopathy assessments in determinations of risk for general and violent offending. The Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) was completed with 182 male adolescent offenders in this prospective study (average 14.5 month follow-up) of general and violent recidivism. Both a two-factor and three-factor model of the PCL:YV significantly predicted general and violent recidivism at a predictive accuracy ranging from 68 to 63%. However, regression analyses indicated these associations were explained primarily by behavioral psychopathic symptoms, rather than interpersonal or affective traits. Implications for the use of psychopathy assessments for risk during adolescence are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||