Adult Criminal Behavior Research Articles

A developmental etiological model for drug abuse in men

BackgroundWe attempt to develop a relatively comprehensive structural model of risk factors for drug abuse (DA) in Swedish men that illustrates developmental and mediational processes. MethodsWe examined 20 risk factors for DA in 48,369 men undergoing conscription examinations in 1969–70 followed until 2011 when 2.34% (n=1134) of them had DA ascertained in medical, criminal and pharmacy registries. Risk factors were organized into four developmental tiers reflecting i) birth, ii) childhood/early adolescence, iii) late adolescence, and iv) young adulthood. Structural equational model fitting was performed using Mplus. ResultsThe best fitting model explained 47.8% of the variance in DA. The most prominent predictors, in order, were: early adolescent externalizing behavior, early adult criminal behavior, early adolescent internalizing behavior, early adult unemployment, early adult alcohol use disorder, and late adolescent drug use. Two major inter-connecting pathways emerged reflecting i) genetic/familial risk and ii) family dysfunction and psychosocial adversity. Generated on a first and tested on a second random half of the sample, a model from these variables predicted DA with an ROC area under the curve of 83.6%. Fifty-nine percent of DA cases arose from subjects in the top decile of risk. ConclusionsDA in men is a highly multifactorial syndrome with risk arising from familial-genetic, psychosocial, behavioral and psychological factors acting and interacting over development. Among the multiple predisposing factors for DA, a range of psychosocial adversities, externalizing psychopathology and lack of social constraints in early adulthood are predominant.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring antisocial behaviour: findings from a longitudinal investigation of discordant siblings

BackgroundAlthough many observational studies have found a strong association between maternal smoking during pregnancy (MSP) and offspring antisocial behaviour, the likelihood that this relationship is causal remains unclear. To comment...

The protective effect of character maturity in child aggressive antisocial behavior

BackgroundChildhood aggressive antisocial behavior (CD) is one of the strongest predictors of mental health problems and criminal behavior in adulthood. The aims of this study were to describe personality profiles in children with CD, and to determine the strength of association between defined neurodevelopmental symptoms, dimensions of character maturity and CD. MethodsA sample of 1886 children with a close to equal distribution of age (9 or 12) and gender, enriched for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric problems were selected from the nationwide Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden. Their parents rated them according to the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory following a telephone interview during which information about the children's development and mental health was assessed with the Autism-Tics, AD/HD and other Comorbidities inventory. ResultScores on the CD module significantly and positively correlated with scores on the Novelty Seeking temperament dimension and negatively with scores on character maturity (Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness). In the group of children with either neurodevelopmental or behavioral problems, the prevalence of low or very low character maturity was 50%, while when these two problems coexisted the prevalence of low or very low character maturity increased to 70%. Neurodevelopmental problems (such as: oppositional defiant disorder, symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder) and low scores on character maturity emerged as independently significant predictors of CD; in a multivariable model, only oppositional defiant symptoms and impulsivity significantly increased the risk for coexisting CD while a mature self-agency in a child (Self-Directedness) remained a significant protective factor. ConclusionThese results suggest that children's willpower, the capacity to achieve personally chosen goals may be an important protective factor – even in the presence of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric problems – against progressing into persistent negative outcomes, such as aggressive antisocial behaviors.

Effects of Formal and Informal Deviant Labels in Adolescence on Crime in Adulthood

The study reported in this article used labeling theory to examine the relationship between multiple labels in adolescence and self-reported criminal behavior in adulthood. This study used childhood, adolescent, and adult interviews (N = 357) from the Lehigh Longitudinal Study, which followed a high-risk community sample of individuals recruited from child welfare caseloads and other group settings in Pennsylvania. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate the effects of three measures of labeling (formal legal system involvement, false stops by the police, and reflected parental perceptions) on crime in adulthood. Gender differences also were examined. Reflected parental perceptions of adolescents as deviant were significantly associated with criminal behaviors in adulthood, but both legal system labels (that is, formal legal system involvement and false stops by the police) were not. There were no gender differences in the effect of labeling on later criminal behaviors.

The Interplay of MAOA and Peer Influences in Predicting Adult Criminal Behavior.

Evidence concerning the ability of genetic risk factors to moderate the effects of environments has continued to accumulate over the last decade or so. For the behavioral sciences, this means that genetic risk factors might interact with environmental triggers to influence various human outcomes, including antisocial and aggressive behaviors. The current study seeks to further expand this line of inquiry by examining data drawn from the National Youth Survey Family Study. More specifically, we examined whether a polymorphism in the promoter region of the MAOA gene might condition the influence of exposure to deviant peer groups in the prediction of criminogenic behavior. Our findings offer some mixed evidence that genotype might condition the influence of delinquent peer affiliation on antisocial behavior during the course of human development.

The relationship between types of childhood victimisation and young adulthood criminality.

Previous research suggests that some types of childhood abuse and neglect are related to an increased likelihood of perpetrating criminal behaviour in adulthood. Little research, however, has examined associations between multiple different types of childhood victimisation and adult criminal behaviour. We sought to examine the contribution of multiple and diverse childhood victimisations on adult criminal behaviour. Our central hypothesis was that, after controlling for gender, substance use and psychopathy, each type of childhood victimisation - specifically experience of property offences, physical violence, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and witnessed violence - would be positively and independently related to criminal behaviour in young adults. We examined data from a large, nationally representative sample of 2244 young Swedish adults who reported at least one form of victimisation, using hierarchical regression analysis to also account for gender, substance use and psychopathy. Experiences of physical assaults, neglect and witnessing violence as a child were significantly associated with adult criminal behaviour, but not experiences of property, verbal or sexual victimizations. Our findings help to identify those forms of harm to children that are most likely to be associated with later criminality. Even after accounting for gender, substance misuse and psychopathology, childhood experience of violence - directly or as a witness - carries risk for adulthood criminal behaviour, so such children need targeted support and treatment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Childhood Adversity, Substance Abuse, and Violence: Implications for Trauma-Informed Social Work Practice

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on adult substance abuse and violence in a sample of offenders (n = 180). Higher ACE scores were significantly correlated with substance abuse scores and violence scores. Substance abuse and violence were also significantly correlated with each other. The violent offenders had significantly higher ACE and substance abuse scores than the nonviolent offenders. In a hierarchical logistic regression model, the ACE score and substance score both emerged as significant predictors of violence. Better understanding of the links between early adversity and adult criminal and addictive behavior will help improve social work practice in forensic and correctional settings. Implications for trauma-informed social work practice and policy are discussed.

School truancy among Turkish high school students: A test of General Strain Theory

School absenteeism is a complicated problem with a variety of causes. It has been shown to be one of the main predictors of school drop-outs as well as leading to delinquency and criminal behavior in adulthood. This study examines the applicability of General Strain Theory on educational factors by considering truancy as a risk behavior. In this empirical study, we test the explanatory powers of certain kinds of strain, including school strain, economic deprivation, negative life events, anger, college plans, past victimization, and depression on students’ truancy. Data were drawn from the part of 2008 Youth in Europe Survey conducted in Istanbul in 2008. The sample consists of 2445 high school students. Results indicate that school strain, anger, and negative life events are significantly associated with likelihood of truancy while past victimization and economic strain have no effect. College goal and depression, on the other hand, have relatively weaker effects on students’ school absenteeism. Findings revealed that there is a relationship between cutting classes and certain kinds of strain among Turkish adolescents. The study also demonstrates that General Strain Theory is applicable for problematic behaviors in an educational context and generalizable to countries other than the U.S.

Psychosocial and genetic risk markers for longitudinal trends in delinquency: an empirical assessment and practical discussion

The increased use of biosocial perspectives in criminological research has expanded the scope of factors considered in understanding the etiology of adolescent antisocial behavior. At the same time, its practical utility for preventive and remedial intervention has not been examined to the same degree. Using a large, nationally representative sample of youth (N = 2573) and a series of latent growth curve models, this study examines the relative utility of a psychosocial risk composite and genetic indicators (DRD2, DRD4, DAT1, 5-HTTLPR, MAO-A) in predicting the onset and later developmental patterns of adolescent and early adult delinquency and criminal behavior. The results show that the psychosocial risk composite measure has significant effects on the latent growth factors, while the main and interactive effects of the genetic indicators do not. The subsequent discussion considers the practical implications of these empirical findings in the context of extant research and pinpoints some possible future applications of this area of research. It also identifies some parallel cases of translational criminology that may serve as indications of how this research might inform policy and practice going forward.

Childhood predictors and age 48 outcomes of self-reports and official records of offending.

The key question is: are self-reports and official records equally valid indicators of criminal offending? We examine the correspondence between self-reports and official records of offending, the similarity of childhood and adolescent individual and contextual predictors of both measures of offending, and the similarity of age 48 correlates of both measures of offending. Men (N=436) from the Columbia County Longitudinal Study, a sample of all 3rd graders in Columbia County, New York, in 1959-60, participated. The youth, their peers and their parents were interviewed when the youth were age 8; the youth were later interviewed at ages 19, 30 and 48. We found moderate to high correspondence between self-reports of having been in trouble with the law and official arrest records. Lifetime self-reports and official records of offending were generally predicted by the same childhood and adolescent variables, and were correlated with many of the same adult outcome measures. By age 48, life-course non-offenders defined by either self-reports or official records had better outcomes than offenders. The results validate the use of adolescent and adult self-reports of offending, and the early identification of individuals at risk for adult criminal behaviour through childhood parent and peer reports and adolescent self and peer reports.

Skin conductance fear conditioning impairments and aggression: a longitudinal study.

Autonomic fear conditioning deficits have been linked to child aggression and adult criminal behavior. However, it is unknown if fear conditioning deficits are specific to certain subtypes of aggression, and longitudinal research is rare. In the current study, reactive and proactive aggression were assessed in a sample of males and females when aged 10, 12, 15, and 18 years old. Skin conductance fear conditioning data were collected when they were 18 years old. Individuals who were persistently high on proactive aggression measures had significantly poorer conditioned responses at 18 years old when compared to others. This association was not found for reactive aggression. Consistent with prior literature, findings suggest that persistent antisocial individuals have unique neurobiological characteristics and that poor autonomic fear conditioning is associated with the presence of increased instrumental aggressive behavior.

Gender Differences in Juvenile Gang Members: An Exploratory Study

Over the past two decades, gang membership within the United States has continued to rise and has spread from urban centers to suburban and rural areas. Juvenile gang membership is of particular concern because of the relationship between early gang involvement and later adolescent and adult criminal behavior and incarceration. Female gang membership and affiliation are receiving increased attention as female crime and incarceration rates outpace those of their male counterparts. This study explores gender differences between male and female juveniles who have verified gang membership in one suburban jurisdiction. Findings suggest important differences between males and females, and implications for research and practice are discussed.

Child maltreatment and adult criminal behavior: Does criminal thinking explain the association?

Criminal thinking styles were examined as mediational links between different forms of child maltreatment (i.e., sexual abuse, physical abuse, and physical neglect) and adult criminal behaviors in 338 recently adjudicated men. Analyses revealed positive associations between child sexual abuse and sexual offenses as an adult, and between child physical abuse/neglect and endorsing proactive and reactive criminal thinking styles. Mediation analyses showed that associations between overall maltreatment history and adult criminal behaviors were accounted for by general criminal thinking styles and both proactive and reactive criminal thinking. These findings suggest a potential psychological pathway to criminal behavior associated with child maltreatment. Limitations of the study as well as research and clinical implications of the results are discussed.

Genetic and environmental influences on the co-occurrence of early academic achievement and externalizing behavior

PurposeSeveral studies have observed a relationship between academic achievement and externalizing behaviors, both of which are predictors of delinquency and criminal behavior in adulthood. There is, however, no consensus on an explanation for their co-occurrence. One perspective is that both emerge as a result of a common underlying factor. This study investigates the degree to which the same genetic and environmental factors account for the co-occurrence of these two outcomes. MethodsThe sample consists of twins (N=360) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey-Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999. Bivariate genetic analyses were conducted to assess the genetic and environmental influence on the relationship between academic achievement and externalizing behaviors during kindergarten. ResultsThe covariation was due primarily to common shared environmental factors (55-87%), followed by common genetic (8-44%) and nonshared environmental factors (1-13%). ConclusionsBoth early academic achievement and externalizing behaviors are partially influenced by the same genetic and environmental factors. The large proportion of covariance attributed to shared environmental influences suggests that identifying and targeting shared environmental factors in prevention and intervention strategies may improve both behavior and academic achievement.

Learning difficulties: A retrospective study of their co morbidity and continuity as indicators of adult criminal behaviour in 18–70-year-old prisoners

The development of learning difficulties is associated with problems in external (executive) and extensive behaviour in a co-occurrence with psycho-emotional problems beginning from pre-school, school age, and adolescence up to adulthood. Through the current survey, we aim to emphasise the early role of learning difficulties during the school age and adolescence of prisoners and their effects on the onset of offending behaviours in adulthood, such as criminal behaviour. Altogether, we studied 117 Greek adult prisoners from 18 to 70 years old who were accused of different types or degrees of offences. Through statistical analyses, the following factors were observed with high statistical significance as early indicators of criminal behaviour in the adult lives of the prisoners: (i) learning difficulties, (ii) family problems, (iii) behaviour disorders, (iv) developmental disorders, and (v) psycho-emotional disorders. As a result, the learning difficulties were assumed to be the most decisive factor in the developmental progression of prisoners because they manifested early in the prisoners' lives, weakened the prisoners to be competitive and robust, provoked a bad self-image and low self-esteem, and, in the frame of a weak or negative family and educational environment, they accompanied antisocial behaviour and psycho-emotional disorders even from adolescence, which continued into adulthood.

Werk, uitkeringen en criminaliteit - Kwetsbare jongeren gevolgd van 18 tot 32 jaar

This study examines effects of employment as well as different types of income support on crime, using longitudinal information on a sample of vulnerable men and women (N = 540) who were institutionalized in a Dutch juvenile justice institution in the 1990s. Results show that, although the vast majority of the sample is employed at least once during the observation period, a large number of men and women receive income support at some point during the observational period as well. In addition, the majority of the sample engages in serious criminal behavior in adulthood. Random effects and fixed effects models show that for men, both work and income support are associated with a reduction in the rate of offending. For women, however, those employed show a lower offending rate, while receiving income support, and in particular disability benefits, is associated with an increase in offending. These findings suggest that for men, income from either work or social security can reduce the financial motivation for crime, whereas for women, desistance may primarily result from social control associated with being employed.

Victims of bullying in childhood, criminal outcomes in adulthood

Objective. Being bullied in childhood is empirically associated with a number of negative psychosocial outcomes, including delinquency. However, no study to date has examined in a clinical population relationships between being bullied in childhood and accruing charges for criminal behavior in adulthood – the focus of the present study. Method. In this cross-sectional study of 377 consecutive outpatients from an internal medicine clinic, we examined relationships between three self- reported bullying variables and self-reported charges for any of 27 criminal behaviors as schematized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Results. In this sample, approximately 45% of participants self-reported being victims of bullying in childhood. Men, but not women, evidenced relationships between being a victim of bullying in childhood and the number of different illegal charges reported in adulthood. Conclusions. Although the methodology of this study does not allow for the determination of a causal relationship, findings suggest that being a victim of bullying in childhood may be associated with criminal behavior in adulthood, particularly among males.

When a victim becomes violent perpetrator: Violent victimization in childhood, violent criminal behavior in adulthood

Numerous international research has identified that direct or indirect exposure to violent victimization in a familial context during childhood is a risk factor for violent criminal behavior of victimized children in adulthood. Studies of violent victimization of children in Serbia are rare, and are mostly directed at determining the prevalence, the main characteristics of or the immediate physical, psychological and behavioral consequences of victimization. Empirical analysis of the criminological consequences of early violent victimization in adulthood are an exception in scientific studies in Serbia. The aim of the paper is to present the results of research into the influence of early violent victimization on violent crime of adult men and women. After the introduction a brief overview of the worldwide research confirming the correlation between the experience of violent victimization and subsequent violent behavior is given. The results of the research conducted by the author will then be discussed. The results illustrate the possibility of predicting violent criminal behavior in adulthood based on indicators of direct and indirect victimization in childhood.

Childhood maltreatment and conduct disorder: Independent predictors of criminal outcomes in ADHD youth

ObjectiveChildren with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at heightened risk for maltreatment in childhood and criminality as they enter into adolescence and early adulthood. Here, we investigated the effect of moderate to severe childhood maltreatment on later criminality among adolescents/young adults diagnosed with ADHD in childhood while accounting for the contributions of other known risk factors such as early conduct disorder (CD). MethodsEighty-eight participants from a longitudinal study of children diagnosed with ADHD and screened for comorbid disorders at age 7–11 years were assessed for maltreatment histories at the time of the 10-year adolescent follow-up. Detailed juvenile and adult criminal records were obtained from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services approximately 3-years after commencement of the follow-up study. We used regression analyses to determine predictors of adolescent/young adult criminal behavior. ResultsModerate to severe childhood maltreatment increased the risk of adolescent/young adult arrest over and above the risk associated with childhood CD, while both childhood maltreatment and childhood CD significantly increased the risk of recidivism. ADHD youth classified as maltreated were three and a half times more likely to be arrested when compared to ADHD youth without a maltreatment classification. ConclusionWe established maltreatment as a risk factor for criminality in ADHD youth and demonstrated that this relationship was independent of the contributions of CD, and established risk factor for antisocial behavior in this population. The findings highlight the need for maltreatment screening in children with ADHD in order to identify those at heightened risk for criminal activity, and target treatment to improve outcome in this high-risk group of children.

Study of the Catechol‐O‐Methyltransferase (COMT) Gene with High Aggression in Children

The etiology of childhood-onset aggression (COA) is poorly understood, but early COA can be considered as a strong risk factor for adult delinquency and criminal behavior. Callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been proposed as a developmental model of antisocial behavior. Catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) has been associated with aggression, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and other psychiatric disorders. We report an association study between COMT single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), childhood aggression, and the CU trait in our sample of 144 children with scores at or exceeding the 90th percentile on the aggression subscale of the parent-reported Child Behavior Checklist and the Teacher's Report Form. The genotype analysis of rs6269 showed nominally significant association (P = .019) and rs4818 showed a trend (P = .064) with COA. Trends were observed for rs6269 and rs4818 with CU scores (P < .10) as well. The analyses stratified by ADHD, or gender showed no significant results. This is the first report to our knowledge evaluating COMT SNPs with the phenotype of high aggression in children with a possible role for the COMT marker in CU traits. Given the importance of CU traits in antisocial behavior, further investigation of COMT is warranted.