Sentences For Crimes Research Articles

Incidence of suicidal behaviour and violent crime following antidepressant medication: a Danish cohort study.

To examine the incidence of suicidal and violent behaviour following initiation of antidepressant medication. Cohorts of 997911 conscripts and 95794 patients with a first-time affective disorder were followed for purchase of antidepressant medication, suicide, suicide attempts and conviction for violent crime in Danish registries between 1997 through 2015. Incidence of outcomes was estimated for the first 28days, 28-365days or later after initiation of antidepressants or study entry. Of 16.5% of conscripts and 73.7% of patients with affective disorders initiated antidepressant medication. Incidence of suicide was 3-4 times higher during the first 28days after initiation compared to the rates in the following year in both cohorts. A similar trend was seen among the untreated patients with affective disorders, whereas suicide incidence was stable at a low level among conscripts not treated with antidepressants. Incidence of attempted suicide was highest during the 28days before and after initiation of antidepressants, while rates of violent crime were similar before and after initiation. These trends in incidence were independent of class of antidepressant. Higher rates of suicidal behaviour in the weeks following initiation of antidepressant medication probably reflect disease severity and a delay in mood response.

The female offender - A century of registered crime and daily press reporting on women’s crime

ABSTRACTThis article examines how women’s crime has been reflected in crime statistics and media crime reporting. We employ a long-term historical perspective, looking at developments from the beginning of the 20th century until the present. We describe the overarching processes that underlie the decline in the gender gap in convictions for theft and violent crime, respectively, at different times during the past century. The study also use a new data set comprised of newspaper articles on women’s and men’s offending published by the Swedish press between 1905 and 2015. We compare the trend in the number of articles focused on offences committed by women and men respectively, variations in the offence types that the daily press choose to report on and the overarching explanations for crime that are discussed in the articles. The results show that levels of coverage and the types of crime that attract media attention are strikingly similar for men and women, but throughout the whole period there is a greater need for the newspapers to find reasons for women’s offending. Moreover, there has been no marked increase in the press focus on women’s crime as women have comprised an increasing proportion of those convicted of criminal offences.

Vulnerability in Narratives of Women Imprisoned for Violent Crimes

This paper focuses on ways in which vulnerability is given meaning and related to in narratives of women serving a prison sentence for violent crimes. These women can be seen as inhabiting specifically vulnerable social positions in many respects, while at the same time their vulnerability is often denied. In my analysis I view the past, present, and future vulnerabilities of these women in a dialectical relation with the narratives they tell and the identities they enact through these tellings. In their narratives, vulnerability entwines with agentic orientations towards violence in complex ways. While often figuring as part of the context of doing violence, vulnerability is also refuted, combated, and distanced from the selves constituted in the narratives. In my reading, these ambivalent relations to vulnerability reflect the gendered trouble it poses for being seen as a worthy subject in the context of Western valorization of autonomy and individual agency.
 Keywords: vulnerability, violence, women, affects, discourse

From Vagabond to Tourist: <i>Second-Generation Turkish-German Deportees’ Narratives of Self-Healing and Well-being</i>

The paper explores the social integration, well-being and self-healing strategies and outcomes of a sample of second-generation Turkish-Germans who were deported to Turkey due to conviction for youth crimes. Based on the life-story narratives of 14 male participants living and working in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, I analysed the way in which this tourist city offers spaces for self-discovery and socioeconomic integration, based on profitable work in the tourist economy. Although deportation was a traumatic event, it facilitated possibilities for life transformation – from ‘vagabond’ to ‘tourist’.

A natural experiment study of the effects of imprisonment on violence in the community.

One of the goals of imprisonment is to reduce violence1. Although imprisonment has risen dramatically since the 1970s, its effects on future violent crime are poorly understood2. This study's objective was to examine the effect of imprisonment on violent crime in the community among individuals on the policy margin between prison and probation sentences. Drawing on data from a population-based cohort of individuals convicted of a felony in Michigan between 2003 and 2006 (n = 111,110) and followed through June 2015, we compared the rates of commission of violent crime committed by individuals sentenced to prison with those of individuals sentenced to probation using a natural experiment based on the random assignment of judges to criminal cases. Being sentenced to prison had no significant effects on arrests or convictions for violent crimes after release from prison, but imprisonment modestly reduced the probability of violence if comparisons included the effects of incapacitation during imprisonment. These results suggest that for individuals on the current policy margin between prison and probation, imprisonment is an ineffective long-term intervention for violence prevention, as it has, on balance, no rehabilitative or deterrent effects after release.

Violent crime among Swedish military veterans after deployment to Afghanistan: a population-based matched cohort study.

ObjectiveTo investigate the incidence of violent crime conviction among Swedish military veterans after deployment to Afghanistan versus non-deployed comparators. The main outcome was first conviction of a violent crime, retrieved from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention Register until December 31, 2013.MethodsThis was a cohort study of military veterans identified through personnel registers regarding deployment to Afghanistan between 2002 and 2013 (n = 5894). To each military veteran, up to five non-deployed comparators identified via the Military Service Conscription Register were matched by age, sex, conscription year, cognitive ability, psychological assessment, self-reported mental health, body mass index, antidepressants/anxiolytics prescriptions and self-harm (fully matched comparators; n = 28 895). Multivariable adjustment was made for substance abuse and previous health care visits with psychiatric diagnoses. An additional comparator group matched only for age, sex and conscription year was also used (age-sex-matched comparators; n = 29 410).ResultsDuring 21 898 person-years of follow-up (median = 3.6 years) there were 26 events among deployed military veterans compared with 98 in non-deployed fully matched comparators [12 vs 9 per 10 000 person-years, adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.36; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.88–2.10]. Among non-deployed age-sex-matched comparators there were 170 violent crime convictions (16 per 10 000 person-years; aHR 0.85; 95% CI 0.56–1.29). Factors associated with greater risk of violent crime convictions were younger age, lower scores on cognitive ability tests and psychological assessment, and convictions preceding deployment.ConclusionThe violent crime conviction rate after returning from military deployment to Afghanistan was not different compared with non-deployed comparators in individuals without history of violent crime convictions.

Adolescent criminality: multiple adverse health outcomes and mortality pattern in Swedish men

BackgroundTo investigate the impact of adolescent violent and non-violent criminality and subsequent risk of morbidity and mortality in adulthood in a large Swedish cohort of young men conscripted for military service in 1969/70.MethodsThe cohort consisted of 49,398 18-year-old Swedish conscripts followed up for morbidity and mortality up to the age of 55 years in Swedish national registers. Information about convictions for crime before conscription was obtained from national crime registers. Data from a survey at conscription were scrutinized to get information on potential confounders.ResultsHospitalization due to alcohol and drug related diagnoses and attempted suicide were significantly more evident in the violent group compared to non-violent criminals and non-criminals. More than one fifth (21.13%) of the young violent offenders, 12.90% of the non-violent offenders and 4.96% of the non-criminals had died during the follow-up period. In Cox proportional multivariate analyses, young violent offenders had twice the hazard (HR = 4.29) of all-cause mortality than the non-violent offenders (HR = 2.16) during the follow-up period. Alcohol and drug related mortality, suicide and fatal accidents were most evident in both violent and non-violent offenders.ConclusionsMen with adolescent criminality received more inpatient care due to alcohol and drug related diagnoses and attempted suicide as adults. Mortality due to unnatural causes, alcohol, and drug related diagnoses, suicide and accidents was most evident in violent offenders, while these causes of death were much lower in non-criminals. Men with adolescent criminality are a high-risk group for multiple adverse health outcomes and for early death. Efforts for detection of substance use and psychiatric disorders in this group is important for the prevention work in both local- and community levels as well as national prevention programs.

The dark figure of sexual recidivism.

Empirical studies of sexual offender recidivism have proliferated in recent decades. Virtually all of the studies define recidivism as a new legal charge or conviction for a sexual crime, and these studies tend to find recidivism rates of the order of 5-15% after 5years and 10-25% after 10+ years. It is uncontroversial that such a definition of recidivism underestimates the true rate of sexual recidivism because most sexual crime is not reported to legal authorities, a principle known as the "dark figure of crime." To estimate the magnitude of the dark figure of sexual recidivism, this paper uses a probabilistic simulation approach in conjunction with the following: (i) victim self-report survey data about the rate of reporting sexual crime to legal authorities; (ii) offender self-report data about the number of victims per offender; and (iii) different assumptions about the chances of being convicted of a new sexual offense given that it is reported. Under any configuration of assumptions, the dark figure is substantial, and as a consequence the disparity between recidivism defined as a new legal charge or conviction for a sex crime and recidivism defined as actually committing a new sexual crime is large. These findings call into question the utility of recidivism studies that rely exclusively on official crime statistics to define sexual recidivism, and highlight the need for additional, long-term studies that use a variety of different measures to assess whether or not sexual recidivism has occurred.

Amicus Curiae Brief to the Russian Constitutional Court on the Right to be Forgotten

This expert opinion was submitted to Russia’s Constitutional Court in case No. 1244/15-01/2019 in case referenced as 'By appeal of attorney-at-law Sarkis Darbinyan acting on behalf of SOVA Center for Information and Analysis (SOVA) with respect to its challenge of Law No. 149-FZ About regulating the right to be forgotten'. The case concerns so-called ‘right to be forgotten’ in context of articles on hate crimes that have been removed from Google search results. In 2016, a ‘Right to be Forgotten’ Law entered into force in Russia that restricts free flow of information online by enabling Russian citizens to request that search engines delist links about them. The only requirement is that information is “inaccurate and outdated” or “has lost meaning to applicant due to subsequent events.” The law provides a limited exception for information relating to criminal offences, where conviction has not been quashed or removed from official record. The law has allegedly been used by Russian public officials to remove online content addressing their misconduct and/or corruption. In 2017, a court ordered Yandex to remove links to articles concerning a Swiss investigation into money laundering that led to a temporary freeze on her bank accounts totalling $61 million, which it said defamed dignity and business reputation of former minister of agriculture Elena Skrynik. That same year, a St Petersburg court ordered Russian search engine Yandex to remove search results regarding businessman Ilya Kligman that linked him with allegations of corruption because they did not result in a criminal conviction. This law was challenged before Constitutional Court of Russian Federation by SOVA Center for Information and Analysis, a Moscow-based non-profit that publishes news releases on news related to radical nationalism, hate crime, and counter-responses; and maintains a public database that records incidents of hate crimes and convictions for extremism. As part of this news coverage, SOVA published two articles in 2006 and 2008 about convictions for hate crimes. The first incident covered convictions of Yuri Shchebyetuk and Alexei Ershov for beating an Angolan national. The second related to conviction of 8 individuals for supporting neo-Nazism, including Yuri Shchebyetuk. In 2016, Google notified SOVA that it had received a request to de-list those two articles. Google did not disclose source of request, since search engines are forbidden from disclosing this information. ARTICLE 19 submitted an expert opinion to support SOVA’s challenge of law. ARTICLE 19’s brief argues that law violates Russian Federation’s obligation to comply with international and European freedom of expression standards for following reasons: - The law fails to provide basic safeguards necessary to protect right to freedom of expression, particularly exceptions for personal information that is in public interest and/or concerns public figures. - Furthermore, law lacks critical procedural safeguards, including right of linked-to sites to be notified that a request for delisting has been made regarding their content, and a requirement that search engines publish transparency reports containing sufficiently detailed information about nature, volume and outcome of requests. - Finally, law is overly broad because it requires search engines to potentially take action in relation to any domain name on Internet, rather than limiting its scope to .ru domain names.

Infection during childhood and the risk of violent criminal behavior in adulthood

Infections during brain development appear to contribute to cognitive impairment and aggressive behavior, as well as to a number of developmental mental disorders closely associated with violent criminal behavior. Yet, no study has thus far ever investigated whether infections during brain development increases the risk of violent criminality later in life.In this population-based cohort study, about 2.2 million individuals born in Sweden between the years 1973 and 1995 were included in an effort to estimate the association between infections during childhood (registered ICD-10 diagnoses of infections incurred before the age of 14 years) and violent criminal behavior (registered convictions for a violent crime between the ages of 15 and 38 years, prior to December 31, 2011). After inclusion of several sociodemographic parameters, risks of violent criminal behavior conferred by childhood infections – expressed as hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) – were calculated by means of Cox regression. Mediation analyses were performed to explore the effect of psychiatric disorders on the association between infections during childhood and violent criminality. Results revealed a modest, yet significant, association between an infection during childhood and violent criminality later in life (adjusted HR 1.14, 95% CI 1.12–1.16). Infections during the first year of life and infections in the central nervous system were associated with the highest risks of subsequent violent criminality (adjusted HR 1.20, 95% CI 1.18–1.23, and adjusted HR 1.17, 95% CI 1.08–1.26, respectively). The association was partly mediated by the presence of a psychiatric disorder.In summary, independent of a wide range of covariates, our results suggest that infections during brain development could be part of the genesis of violent criminal behavior.

Association of Fetal Growth With General and Specific Mental Health Conditions

ImportanceIt is unclear if the associations between fetal growth and later mental health conditions remain after controlling for familial factors and psychiatric comorbidity.ObjectiveTo examine the associations between fetal growth and general and specific mental health conditions, controlling for familial factors.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis register-based study conducted in Sweden analyzed 546 894 pairs of full siblings born between January 1, 1973, and December 31, 1998. Sibling pairs were followed up through December 31, 2013. First, population-based and within-sibling pair associations (which controlled for time-invariant familial confounders) between fetal growth and the outcomes were estimated. Second, exploratory factor analysis was applied to the outcomes to derive 1 general factor and 4 specific and independent factors. Third, the general and specific factors were regressed on fetal growth. Statistical analysis was performed from March 27, 2017, to October 27, 2018.Main Outcome and MeasuresThe outcomes were 11 psychiatric diagnoses (depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, alcohol abuse, drug use, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder) and court convictions of violent crimes. Birth weight (in kilograms) statistically adjusted for gestational age was the exposure.ResultsThe mean (SD) age of the 1 093 788 participants was 27.2 (6.8) years (range, 15.1-40.9 years) and 51.5% were male. Nine outcomes were significantly associated with birth weight in the population at large: depression (odds ratio [OR], 0.96; 95% CI, 0.95-0.98), anxiety (OR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.92-0.95), posttraumatic stress disorder (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.89-0.93), bipolar disorder (OR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.89-1.00), alcohol abuse (OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.87-0.91), drug use (OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.80-0.85), violent crimes (OR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.83-0.86), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (OR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.86-0.90), and autism (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.92-0.97). Only depression (OR, 0.95; 95% CI 0.92-0.98), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.87-0.99), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.82-0.89), and autism (OR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.69-0.76) remained significantly associated within sibling pairs. An exploratory factor analysis indicated that 1 general and 4 specific factors (capturing anxiety, externalizing, neurodevelopmental, and psychotic conditions) fit the outcomes well. Across almost all sensitivity analyses, an increase in birth weight by 1 kg significantly reduced the general (β, −0.047; 95% CI, −0.071 to −0.023) and the specific neurodevelopmental factors (β, −0.159; 95% CI, −0.190 to −0.128) within sibling pairs.Conclusions and RelevanceControlling for familial confounders, reduced fetal growth was associated with a small but significant increase in the general factor of psychopathology and a moderate increase in a specific neurodevelopmental factor.

Attitudes to Punishment. The Results of Three Surveys

In public debate the subject of penal policy often returns on the extent of sentences for particular crimes and petty offences. Questions are raised such as whether the Polish criminal law is effective, just and\or severe. The discussion focuses on the need to make the existing provisions stricter, especially those concerning the most frequent crimes. The general question of punishing perpetrators of offences is regularly undertaken in the media, especially with every subsequent criminal case that receives extensive coverage. One such occasions the same question is raised again: does the criminal law need amendments? Today we are witness to a crime drop and improvement of safety in Poland, nonetheless questions to do with penal policy remain the same. It is therefore worth checking what opinions Poles currently express about this very issue. This research is aimed at checking what Poles think of the criminal law currently in force and what the attitude is to increasing the severity of punitive provisions. For this purpose, in July and August 2018, on the commission of the Institute of Justice, three independent opinion surveys concerning penal policy were conducted. The following were chosen for this purpose: Kantar, CBOS and Ipsos. Every survey was conducted by means of the Omnibus Method, which guarantees the completion of research on a nationwide representative sample of Polish residents. In all the surveys discussed in this study, a clear majority of respondents were of the opinion that in order to limit crime and improve the safety of citizens it is necessary to make the provisions of the Penal Code stricter, with harsher punishments for offences. Over half of respondents in every survey took the position that punishments should be made more severe only in cases of serious offences. The remainder (approximately 30% in every survey) answered that was necessary to introduce more severe punishments for all crimes. In the light of a preference for tougher penal laws, of particular interest was Poles’ stance on the age from which juveniles might be held criminally liable just as adults. The majority of respondents were of the opinion that the age of criminal responsibility for juveniles (15 years) should not be changed, while those who thought otherwise most often suggested increasing this threshold.

Offender interviews: implications for intelligence-led policing

PurposeIntelligence-led policing (ILP) involves the analysis of data to inform the development and implementation of strategic actions aimed at more efficiently reducing crime. The purpose of this paper is to examine how chronic acquisitive offenders – a focus of ILP – respond to police patrol, and how this knowledge can be turned into actionable strategies to reduce crime.Design/methodology/approachInterviews were conducted with 137 chronic offenders who had multiple convictions for burglary, robbery and/or vehicle crime. The interviews involved the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data, including responses to situational crime vignettes.FindingsWhen encountering police patrols, criminals were initially more likely to displace (e.g. committing crime elsewhere and/or later in the day) than to desist from offending. Some of the conditions under which police patrol was most effective were identified, including offenders’ fear of being recognized by officers. Repeated thwarted crime attempts appeared to be most impactful, with even the most chronic offenders becoming “worn down.”Practical implicationsThe profiles of top offenders should be systematically disseminated to front line officers to augment the effectiveness of police patrol and minimize the possibility of crime displacement.Originality/valueOffender interviews are a valuable source of information but they have been underutilized within an ILP framework. This research illustrates how offender interview research can inform and support the role of police in preventing crime.

Introduction

Introduction

Family income inequalities and trajectories through childhood and self-harm and violence in young adults: a population-based, nested case-control study

Childhood poverty is associated with elevated later risks for self-directed and externalised violence, but how risks are modified by parental socioeconomic mobility remains unclear. We investigated parental income trajectories during childhood and subsequent risks of self-harm and violent criminality in young adulthood. Using Danish national registers, we delineated a nested case-control study of Danish citizens born from Jan 1, 1982, to Dec 31, 2000, with first hospital-treated self-harm episodes and first violent crime convictions at ages 15-33 years. Each case was matched on age and gender to 25 randomly selected controls. Parental income was assessed in birth-year and at ages 5 years, 10 years, and 15 years. We considered parental age, the child's number of siblings, parental mental health, and parental education to be covariates. We estimated incidence rate ratios (IRRs) by conditional logistic regression inherently adjusted for age, gender, and calendar year; we then made additional adjustments for the covariates considered. We identified 21 267 first episodes of hospital-treated self-harm, to which we matched 531 675 controls, and 23 724 first violent crime convictions, to which we matched 593 100 controls. We observed inverse relationships between parental income and risks for the two outcomes for each of the ages parental income was measured. The longer a child lived in poorer circumstances, the higher their subsequent risks for self-harm and violent criminality, and vice versa for time spent living in affluent conditions. Associations were stronger for violent criminality than for self-harm. Compared with individuals who were born and remained in the most affluent families, all other income trajectories were associated with elevated risks for both outcomes. Those who remained in the least affluent quintile showed the highest risks for self-harm (IRR 7·2, 95% CI 6·6-7·9; 1174 [6%] cases) and for violent criminality (IRR 13·0; 95% CI 11·9-14·1; 1640 [7%] cases). The risk patterns were attenuated, but essentially persisted, after covariate adjustment. For any parental income level at birth, being upwardly mobile was associated with lower risk compared with downward mobility. Parental income represents a multitude of unmeasured familial sociodemographic indices. Tackling the causes of inequality and associated psychosocial and sociocultural challenges to enable upwards socioeconomic mobility could potentially reduce risks for self-directed and externalised violence. European Research Council.

La inclusión social educativa de los reos en cárcel por delito contra el patrimonio

Consideramos que la inclusión social educativa de los reos en cárcel, es la situación donde éstas personas están directamente vinculadas a procesos de integración educativa, pero desaprovechada por este grupo poblacional, alienados culturalmente, que son inducidos a optar por el delito como alternativa de vida; y que son aceptados desde un punto de vista democrático por el Estado. El desarrollo del estudio tuvo como objetivo describir la inclusión social educativa de los reos en cárcel del Centro Penitenciario de Potracancha de Huánuco, reos que purgan condena por delitos contra el patrimonio; para ello se tuvo en cuenta el tipo de muestreo criterial, encuestados que tiene un rango de edad de 18 a 72 años. Para la recogida de datos se optó por un cuestionario, el cual estuvo basado en siete dimensiones. Los resultados muestran que en las siete dimensiones mayormente no existe inclusión social educativa, en forma general; un 70% de los encuestados considera que no existe inclusión social educativa, un 22% considera ocasionalmente y solo un 8% responde afirmativamente. Estos resultados demuestran que el país enfrenta una compleja y desafiante situación interna y que desborda la capacidad de la autoridad competente para solucionarlo.

Differences by sex in associations between injection drug risks and drug crime conviction among people who inject drugs in Almaty, Kazakhstan

BackgroundThe criminalization of drug use leads to high rates of drug crime convictions for engaging in injection drug use behaviors, introducing barriers to HIV prevention and drug treatment for PWID. Females (FWID) face unique vulnerabilities to HIV compared to males (MWID) in Kazakhstan. This study examined sex differences in associations between HIV/HCV infection, HIV knowledge, injection drug risk behaviors, and conviction for a drug crime in a sample of people who inject drugs (PWID) in Almaty, Kazakhstan. MethodsAnalyses were performed on baseline data from 510 PWID and stratified by males (MWID) (329) and females (FWID) (181) from Kazakhstan in a couples-focused HIV prevention intervention. Logistic regression analyses using mixed effects (AOR) examined associations between HIV/HCV infection, HIV knowledge, injection drug risk behaviors, drug use severity, drug treatment history and conviction for a drug crime. ResultsAbout three quarters of PWID reported drug crime conviction (73.92%, n = 377). HCV infection was associated with increased odds of drug crime conviction for FWID (AOR = 4.35, CI95 = 1.83–10.31, p < .01) and MWID (AOR = 3.62, CI95 = 1.09–12.07, p < .01). HIV transmission knowledge was associated with increased odds of conviction for MWID (AOR = 1.19, CI95 = 1.00–1.41, p < .05). Injection drug risk knowledge was associated with lower odds of conviction (AOR = .75, CI95 = .59–.94, p < .05) for FWID. Receptive syringe sharing (AOR = 3.48, CI95 = 1.65–7.31, p < .01), splitting drug solutions (AOR = 4.12, CI95 = 1.86–7.31, p < .05), and injecting with more than two partners (AOR = 1.89, CI95 = 1.06–3.34, p < .05) was associated with increased odds of conviction for FWID. Receptive syringe or equipment sharing with intimate partners was associated with conviction for both MWID (AOR = 1.90, CI95 = 1.03–3.92, p < .05) and FWID (AOR = 1.95, CI95 = 1.02–3.70, p < .05). For FWID, injection drug use in public spaces was associated with conviction (AORME = 3.25, CI95 = 1.31–7.39, p < .01). Drug use severity was associated with increased odds of conviction for FWID (AOR = 1.29, CI95 = 1.09–1.53, p < .001) and MWID (AOR = 1.24, CI95 = 1.09–1.41, p < .001). Ever receiving drug treatment was associated with conviction for MWID (AOR = 2.31, CI95 = 1.32–4.12, p < .01). ConclusionHigh-risk behaviors, HCV infection and more severe substance use disorders are associated with drug crime conviction for PWID, particularly FWID. Structural interventions are necessary to increase the engagement of PWID with drug crime convictions in HIV prevention and substance abuse treatment.

Prediction of Violence, Suicide Behaviors and Suicide Ideation in a Sample of Institutionalized Offenders With Schizophrenia and Other Psychosis.

This study examined the predictive validity of the Spanish version of the Suicide Risk Assessment Manual (S-RAMM) and the Historical-Clinical-Risk Management-20 (HCR-20) in a sample of violent offenders with schizophrenia and other psychosis, who had committed violent crimes and had been sentenced to compulsory psychiatric treatment by the criminal justice system. Patients were prospectively monitored within the institution for 18 months. During the follow-up period, 25% of offenders were involved in any suicidal behavior including acts of self-harm, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts and 34% were physically or verbally violent. The S-RAMM and HCR-20 risk assessment tools were strongly correlated and were able to predict suicidal behavior and violence with a moderate-large effect size (AUCs = 0.81–0.85; AUCs = 0.78–0.80 respectively). Patients scoring above the mean on the S-RAMM (>20-point cut-off) had a five times increased risk of suicide related events (OR = 5.05, 95% CI = 2.6–9.7) and sevenfold risk of violence in the HCR-20 (>21-point cut-off) (OR = 7.13, 95% CI = 2.0–21.2) than those scoring below the mean. Offenders at high risk for suicide and violence had significantly more suicide attempts (p < 0.001) and more prior sentences for violent crimes (p < 0.001). These results support the use of the S-RAMM and HCR-20 for clinical practice by providing evidence of the utility of these measures for predicting risk for suicidal and violent behavior in mentally disordered offenders.

Gambling Disorder in Male Violent Offenders in the Prison System: Psychiatric and Substance-Related Comorbidity

Gambling disorder is an addiction that can cause major suffering, and some populations seem to be more vulnerable than others. Offender populations have a remarkably high prevalence of gambling problems and they are also over-represented in a number of diagnoses related to gambling disorder, like substance use disorders and antisocial personality disorder. Yet, there are few studies investigating gambling disorder prevalence and related psychiatric comorbidity in this group. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of, and association between, gambling disorder and other psychiatric diagnoses in a sample of young, male violent offenders. Two hundred and sixty-four male offenders, all serving sentences for violent crimes (recruited between 2010 and 2012) participated in this study and went through comprehensive psychiatric evaluation, including assessment for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition criteria. Sixteen percent of the participants met criteria for gambling disorder. Antisocial personality disorder, cannabis, cocaine and anabolic steroids abuse were significantly more common among participants with gambling disorder. The gambling disorder group also showed significantly lower educational attainment. Cocaine abuse and failure to graduate elementary and middle school in expected time were independently associated with gambling disorder in a regression analysis. This study confirms the previously described high prevalence of gambling disorder in offenders. The psychiatric comorbidity was high and the problems had started early, with lower educational attainment in the gambling disorder group. The findings stress the importance of increased awareness of gambling problems among convicted offenders and of gambling research on young people with delinquent behavior. There is a need of more research to investigate this further, in order to develop preventive strategies and treatment.

Race, crime, and emotions

Experimental research on racial attitudes examines how Whites’ stereotypes of Black Americans shape their attitudes about the death penalty, violent crime, and other punitive measures. Marginally discussed in the race-to-crime literature are Blacks’ perceptions of retribution and justice. We fill this void by using an original survey experiment of 900 Black Americans to examine how exposure to intra- and- intergroup violent crime shapes their policy attitudes and emotional reactions to crime. We find that Black Americans are more likely to support increased prison sentences for violent crimes when the perpetrator is White and the victim is Black, and reduced sentences for “Black-on-Black” crime. Our analyses further reveal that Black people express higher levels of anger when the victim is Black and the perpetrator is White; levels of shame and anger also increase in instances of Black-on-Black crime. Given current race relations in the United States, we conclude by speculating about how these emotional reactions might shape one’s willingness to participate in the political arena.