Abstract
Introduction: Different developmental and environmental vulnerability conditions can influence violent behavior in young people.Objectives: To describe the characteristics of young males who were convicted of murder or attempted murder in the province of Buenos Aires, based on indicators of maturity, impulsivity, and socio-family vulnerability.Materials and Methods: Descriptive and exploratory study. The sample consisted of 195 young men (mean: 16.8 years) imprisoned in reformatory institutions of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, as they were convicted of murder (n=130), repeated murder (n=15), or attempted murder (n=50). Self and hetero-informed instruments, and professional assessment scales were used, namely: the Consideration of Future Consequences Scale (CFC); the Psychosocial Maturity Inventory (PSM); the Weinberg Adjustment Inventory (WAI); the Resistance to Peer Influence Questionnaire (RPIQ); the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV); the Inventory of Callous Unemotional Traits (ICU), and the Barrat Impulsiveness Scale version 11 (BIS-11).Results: The distribution of the total BIS 11 and the PSM Individual Adaptation were normal (mean: 62.33 and 6.38, respectively). The mean of the total PCL:YV was 25.87. In 32.8% of the cases a first degree relative was also imprisoned. “Impulsive” and “Nonimpulsive” clusters were empirically established.Conclusions: The participants’ profile is characterized by several psychological and socio-family vulnerabilities that should be targeted in preventive interventions aimed at preventing violent recidivism.
Highlights
Different developmental and environmental vulnerability conditions can influence violent behavior in young people
The study population consisted of young males who had been convicted of murder or attempted murder by the competent authority (Juzgado de Responsabilidad Juvenil), and who were imprisoned in reformatory institutions belonging to the Provincial Youth and Family Agency of the Ministry of Social Development of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, between 2015 and 2017, and who met the following inclusion criteria:
Inventory of Callous Unemotional Traits (ICU) and Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL):YV scales are relevant since they allow obtaining the assessment of a technician and a professional respectively, that is, the participant’s information bias does not have a direct influence on the scores obtained through them, both sources are expected to vary simultaneously
Summary
Different developmental and environmental vulnerability conditions can influence violent behavior in young people. [6,7,8,9] In one of these studies, a group of Colombian young people (n=83, mean age: 16 years old), both male and female, who had committed murder were compared with a control group matched by several variables. A group of Argentine adolescent murderers (n=15, mean age: 17 years old) were compared with a control group made up of young males who were in prison for having committed crimes different than homicide. The whole sample had a history of behavior disorders, with an average of 6 types of disorders ranging from 0 to 11. [6,7]
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