Crime Register Research Articles

Criminal behaviour and violent crimes in former inpatients with affective disorder

Background: Several studies have reported criminal and violent behaviour in people with schizophrenia but few have investigated the association between affective disorders and violent behaviour. Methods: We reviewed the national crime register for records of criminal offences committed by 1561 patients with affective disorders treated between 1990 and 1995 in the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Munich. The sample was divided into patients with bipolar I disorder, manic disorder and major depressive disorder. Sociodemographic and other risk factors for non-violent and violent criminal behaviour were analysed. Results: Sixty-five (4.16%) patients had been convicted in the 7 to 12 years after discharge (307 cases). The rate of criminal behaviour and violent crimes was highest in the manic disorder group: 15.7% (14 of 89) were listed in the national crime register and 5.6% (5 of 89) were convicted of physical injury offences. Violence and criminality were comparatively rare in patients with major depressive disorder: only 1.42% (10 of 702) committed violent crimes. Male gender was a substantial risk factor for non-violent and especially violent behaviour: the rate of violent crimes was six times higher than in females. Marital status appeared to influence the prevalence of later delinquency: separated, divorced and widowed patients committed offences more frequently. A history of substance use problems before clinical treatment was reported by 21.2% (329 of 1561) of the sample. A wide range of different crimes were committed, with defalcation, theft and fraud being the most frequent. Twenty-one cases of physical assault and one case of later homicide were recorded. In contrast to other forensic studies, we did not find a significant effect of substance abuse on the risk of later delinquent behaviour. Conclusion: The frequency of criminal behaviour and violent crimes in individuals with affective disorder depends on much more than just the diagnosis. This study may stimulate further research to identify psychopathological predictors for future violent and criminal behaviour.

Registered criminality and sanctioning of schizophrenia patients

Background: Patients with schizophrenia have been shown to have an increased risk of criminality, especially violent crimes. Aims: The aim of the current study was to describe the pattern of crimes committed by Danish patients with schizophrenia and examine the sanctions given for crimes in relation to the different periods in the patients’ lives: not yet known to the psychiatric hospital system, known to the system but not yet diagnosed with schizophrenia, and after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. Methods: Information from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register was correlated with data from the Danish National Crime Register. Results: One of the more prominent findings was that 16% of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia receive a prison sentence or a suspended prison sentence, despite the fact that Denmark is a co-signatory of the European Prison Rules and should treat, rather than imprison, individuals with schizophrenia. Conclusion: The findings suggest that greater alertness is needed in the judicial system for individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Criminal and alcohol problems among Swedish drunk drivers — Predictors of DUI relapse

The prevalence and types of crime offences, as well as predictors of relapse, among drivers suspected of driving under influence (DUI) were investigated. A total of 1830 Swedish DUI drivers responded to the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test — AUDIT. Information about previous DUI offences, other traffic offences along with other types of criminal offences was taken from a crime register. A total criminality (including all traffic offences) of 64% in the period of five years before investigation was analyzed. 40% of the sample had other criminality besides traffic violations during that period. 14.3% of the drivers relapsed to DUI in the two-year period after the investigation. In terms of DUI relapse, the following factors were the main predictors: previous traffic violations, previous DUI offences, previous other criminality (frauds or other acts of dishonesty) and detection hours between 12.00 and 19.00. Detection in general traffic controls and high BAC (blood alcohol concentration) when detected were the strongest factors with negative correlation to DUI re-offence.

Clinical correlates of later violence and criminal offences in schizophrenia

BackgroundViolence and criminality in patients with schizophrenia has been described in several studies but prediction of later criminal behavior is difficult. MethodsWe reviewed the national crime register for records of criminal offences committed by 1662 patients with schizophrenia treated between 1990 and 1995 in the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Munich. Analyses were performed to determine predictors of later criminal behavior, and the psychopathological syndrome scales in the Association for Methodology and Documentation in Psychiatry (AMDP) system were used to establish possible psychopathological characteristics for such behavior. ResultsOne hundred and sixty nine (10.2%) of the 1662 patients had been convicted in the 7–12 years after discharge, whereby male patients (117 of 685, 17.1%) outnumbered female patients ( 52 of 977, 5.3%) by more than 3 to 1. The rate of violent crimes was especially high: 62 (3.7%) patients were convicted for physical injury offences. Five cases of manslaughter or murder were recorded. AMDP syndrome scales were found to be predictive for later criminal offences. Significantly higher rates of criminal conviction and recidivism were found for patients with lack of insight at discharge. Analyses also showed a significantly higher risk of non-violent and violent crimes in patients with a hostility syndrome at admission and discharge. There was a significantly lower incidence of criminal behavior in subjects with a depressive syndrome. ConclusionData indicate a significant rate of minor and serious physical injury offences in former inpatients with schizophrenia. Moreover, results identify risk factors for future non-violent and violent criminal behavior in patients with schizophrenia.

The Population Impact of Severe Mental Illness on Violent Crime

This study aimed to determine the population impact of patients with severe mental illness on violent crime. Sweden possesses high-quality national registers for all hospital admissions and criminal convictions. All individuals discharged from the hospital with ICD diagnoses of schizophrenia and other psychoses (N=98,082) were linked to the crime register to determine the population-attributable risk of patients with severe mental illness to violent crime. The attributable risk was calculated by gender, three age bands (15-24, 25-39, and 40 years and over), and offense type. Over a 13-year period, there were 45 violent crimes committed per 1,000 inhabitants. Of these, 2.4 were attributable to patients with severe mental illness. This corresponds to a population-attributable risk fraction of 5.2%. This attributable risk fraction was higher in women than men across all age bands. In women ages 25-39, it was 14.0%, and in women over 40, it was 19.0%. The attributable risk fractions were lowest in those ages 15-24 (2.3% for male patients and 2.9% for female patients). The population impact of patients with severe mental illness on violent crime, estimated by calculating the population-attributable risk, varies by gender and age. Overall, the population-attributable risk fraction of patients was 5%, suggesting that patients with severe mental illness commit one in 20 violent crimes.

The Population Impact of Severe Mental Illness on Violent Crime

Objective: This study aimed to determine the population impact of patients with severe mental illness on violent crime. Method: Sweden possesses high-quality national registers for all hospital admissions and criminal convictions. All individuals discharged from the hospital with ICD diagnoses of schizophrenia and other psychoses (N=98,082) were linked to the crime register to determine the population-attributable risk of patients with severe mental illness to violent crime. The attributable risk was calculated by gender, three age bands (15–24, 25–39, and 40 years and over), and offense type. Results: Over a 13-year period, there were 45 violent crimes committed per 1,000 inhabitants. Of these, 2.4 were attributable to patients with severe mental illness. This corresponds to a population-attributable risk fraction of 5.2%. This attributable risk fraction was higher in women than men across all age bands. In women ages 25–39, it was 14.0%, and in women over 40, it was 19.0%. The attributable risk fractions were lowest in those ages 15–24 (2.3% for male patients and 2.9% for female patients). Conclusions: The population impact of patients with severe mental illness on violent crime, estimated by calculating the population-attributable risk, varies by gender and age. Overall, the population-attributable risk fraction of patients was 5%, suggesting that patients with severe mental illness commit one in 20 violent crimes.

Aspects of the crime geography of Calabar urban

The main focus of this research is to established, through an objective empirical process, the spatial pattern and trend with regards to the crime geography of Calabar Urban. Six, of the Police posts in the town, two from each of the three zones into which the town has been sub-divided became the sample points. The crime register at each of the selected stations became the sample frame from which numerical statistical information on criminal assault and theft cases were purposely collected. The characteristic pattern of this societal menace in Calabar urban is highest in Zone A or predominantly Calabar South Local Government Area declining very sharply away from it in direct response to declining population density and income among others. These spatially different distributions are significant at (F C > F t = 116.64 > 3.35), 99% level of confidence for stealing; and, (F C > F t = 3.24 > 2.75), 95% level of confidence for criminal assault. Stealing, for the period, showed no discernable pattern other than its constant high incidence year after year; assaults, on the other hand, showed a somewhat increasing trend which when tested, wasn't significant. Poverty alleviation programmes and scientific approach to crime prevention and management, from studies such as this, greatly hold the key to effective crime reduction and control in the town. Keywords : urban crimes, felony, city structure, misdemeanor and simple crime Global Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 4(1&2) 2005: 49-56

Does It Take a Village? Policing Strategies and Fear of Crime in Latin America

AbstractHow can policymakers reduce public fear of crime in Latin America? This study compares the effectiveness of “zero tolerance” and community-based policing strategies in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. At the micro level, it assesses the links between fear of crime and social identity characteristics, contextual factors, the media, community participation, and other insecurities. It finds that citizens' economic, political, and social insecurities are the main determinants of their fear of crime. At the macro level, the study compares levels of public insecurity and finds that cities that employ community-based strategies to fight crime register lower levels of public fear of crime.

Conduct disordered adolescents hospitalised 1963–1990

Secular trends in the criminal activity of conduct disordered adolescents admitted as psychiatric in-patients in Norway were examined. A nationwide sample of 650 adolescents hospitalised with DSM-IV Conduct Disorder during the years 1963-1990 was followed up 12-33 years after index hospitalisation by register linkage to the National Crime Register. In all, 469 patients, 82% of the males and 57% of the females, had a criminal record at follow-up. The study population was divided into four consecutive cohorts and gender-specific cohort differences in registered criminality were investigated, using survival analysis. There was a marked increase and subsequent levelling off in overall registered criminality from the first to the most recent cohort of conduct disordered females, in contrast to unchanged crime rates in conduct disordered males. Monitoring specific types of crime, males' violent crime rates initially increased but levelled off in more recent cohorts, whereas female violent crime rates increased steadily, with the highest level seen in the most recent cohort. A marked increase in drug offences was observed in both genders. Cox regression demonstrated numerous strong cohort effects, even when controlling for other important factors, including substance use comorbidity. Research into causal mechanisms is warranted.

Psychiatric Morbidity Among Homicide Offenders: A Swedish Population Study

The authors examined psychiatric diagnoses of all individuals convicted of homicide and attempted homicide in Sweden from 1988 to 2001 (N=2,005). High-quality national crime and hospital registers were linked to investigate standardized psychiatric diagnoses of homicide offenders. The presence or absence of psychiatric diagnoses was ascertained for 1,625 (81%) of the homicide offenders; 1,464 (90%) of these offenders had a psychiatric diagnosis. Twenty percent (N=409) of all 2,005 offenders had a psychotic illness, and 54% (N=589) of a subgroup of 1,091 offenders with information on secondary diagnoses had a personality disorder as a principal or secondary diagnosis. Only 10% of the offenders for whom psychiatric diagnostic information was available had no diagnosis. Using a comprehensive method for identifying psychiatric illness in homicide offenders, the authors found higher rates of psychiatric morbidity than previous studies. Their findings underline the importance of psychiatric assessment in homicide offenders and suggest that treatment might have a preventive role.

Substance misuse and violent crime: Swedish population study

Many studies have reported strong associations between substance misuse and violent crime. But the population impact of people diagnosed with substance use disorders on such crime is not known. Calculating...

Risk of repeat offending among violent female offenders with psychotic and personality disorders.

The aim of this study was to examine the rate of criminal recidivism among female homicide offenders evaluated by forensic psychiatrists, to compare this rate with that of other violent female offenders, and to analyze the explanatory variables of recidivism. This was a retrospective study of all women (N=132) sent for forensic psychiatric examination after being convicted of homicide or attempted homicide in Finland during 1982-1992; subjects were followed up until mid-1999. Data were collected from the national crime register, the prisoner record, and Statistics Finland. The authors compared the rate of violent repeat offending in this group with that of other violent women and analyzed the explanatory variables of recidivism. During the follow-up period, 23% of the study group committed a repeat offense, 15% of which were violent and 3% of which were homicides. Almost half of all repeat offenses occurred within the first 2 years after the index offense. There was no statistically significant difference in violent recidivism between the study group and other violent female offenders. Of those who committed repeat offenses, 81% were diagnosed with a personality disorder, and 10% were diagnosed with psychosis. Criminality prior to the index event, alcohol or drug dependency, and young age significantly raised the risk and rapidity of further offenses. The risk of recidivism was high in this study group yet was similar to that of other violent female offenders. The risk was high very early after release. It seems that women and men who are violent and have personality disorders are comparable in their risk of recidivism.

Somatic morbidity and criminality: the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between adverse physical disorders and violent/non-violent criminal behaviour. Design: The study material consisted of the large, prospectively followed, unselected and genetically homogenous Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort, the Finnish Hospital Discharge Registers and the National Crime Register ( n=10,934). Main results: The results of the logistic regression analyses showed that male offenders had statistically significantly more injuries (adj. OR=1.81, 95% CI=1.51–2.17), when compared with males without a criminal history. Violent male offenders exhibited greater morbidity to the diseases of the respiratory system (adj. OR=1.64, 95% CI=1.03–2.60) when compared with non-violent criminals. Female offenders suffered more commonly from poisonings (adj. OR=3.84, 95% CI=1.69–8.72), injuries (adj. OR=2.79, 95% CI=1.67–4.66), infections (adj. OR=1.87, 95% CI=1.16–2.99) and indefinite symptoms (adj. OR=2.02, 95% CI=1.20–3.40) than non-offending females. Conclusions: At epidemiological level, criminal behaviour seems to be associated especially with an increased risk of injuries for both sexes. The observed increase of the diseases of the respiratory system among violent but not among non-violent males calls for further investigations.

Family type and criminal behaviour of male offspring: the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study.

Unstable family environment during childhood is known to predispose to juvenile delinquency. This study explored whether childhood family structure is associated with violent behaviour of adult offspring. We used a large, unselected general population birth cohort (n = 5589 males) linked with the national crime registers (up to the age of 32 years). The Ministry of Justice provided information on registered offences for all subjects. A logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between family type and criminality (violent and non-violent crimes). We found that single-parent family "at birth" (adj. OR 3.6, 95% CI 1.8-7.0) and "all time" (up to the age of 14 years) (adj. OR 5.2, 95% CI 2.5-10.6) were risk factors for violent offences of an adult offspring. Also parental death (adj. OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.3-3.6) and divorce (adj. OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.6-3.7) doubled the risk for violence. Non-violent offences were associated only with parental death and, divorce. A single-parent family of origin is strongly associated with later violent criminality of male offspring. Further studies are needed to explore the psychosocial aspects of single-parent family environment which may promote the vulnerability to violent offending in adulthood.

An Examination Between Single-Parent Family Background and Drunk Driving in Adulthood: Findings From The Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort

Background: It has been suggested earlier that parental loss could be an important risk factor for alcoholism in adulthood. We e-plored the association between different types of childhood families with later alcohol-related problems of the offspring, in particular drunk driving. Methods: We used a large, prospectively collected general population birth cohort database (n= 10,934), the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort. Linked with the National crime register, it provided information on drunk driving offenses known to the police that involved persons 15 to 32 years of age (n= 432). Type of family was categorized into five subgroups: two-parent family and four types of single-parent families (single-parent all the time, single-parent at birth, parental death, parental divorce). The information about family type was obtained from questionnaires given to the mothers during mid-pregnancy and at the time of the 14-year follow-up. Results: Single-parent family during childhood significantly increased the risk of drunk driving in adulthood among both males and females. Males who were born in single-mother families were at the highest risk of drunk driving offenses in adulthood (adjusted OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.4–4.2). The association between single-parent family and drunk driving among males was seen in all types of single-parent families e-cept for parental death. Conclusions: Results suggest that growing up in a single-parent family is a potentially powerful predictor of adult alcohol-related problems, i.e., early-onset, late-onset, and recidivistic drunk driving.

An Examination Between Single‐Parent Family Background and Drunk Driving in Adulthood: Findings From The Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort

It has been suggested earlier that parental loss could be an important risk factor for alcoholism in adulthood. We explored the association between different types of childhood families with later alcohol-related problems of the offspring, in particular drunk driving. We used a large, prospectively collected general population birth cohort database (n = 10,934), the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort. Linked with the National crime register, it provided information on drunk driving offenses known to the police that involved persons 15 to 32 years of age (n = 432). Type of family was categorized into five subgroups: two-parent family and four types of single-parent families (single-parent all the time, single-parent at birth, parental death, parental divorce). The information about family type was obtained from questionnaires given to the mothers during mid-pregnancy and at the time of the 14-year follow-up. Single-parent family during childhood significantly increased the risk of drunk driving in adulthood among both males and females. Males who were born in single-mother families were at the highest risk of drunk driving offenses in adulthood (adjusted OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.4-4.2). The association between single-parent family and drunk driving among males was seen in all types of single-parent families except for parental death. Results suggest that growing up in a single-parent family is a potentially powerful predictor of adult alcohol-related problems, i.e., early-onset, late-onset, and recidivistic drunk driving.

Psychiatric admissions at different levels of the national health care services and male criminality: the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort study.

It has earlier been suggested that one-third of violent offenders are recorded in psychiatric case registers. Our aim was to study whether violent and non-violent offenders differ with respect to admissions to any health care inpatient service due to psychiatric disorders. We used a genetically homogeneous, general population database from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort, together with the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register and national crime registers. We found that one-third of violent and one-fourth of non-violent male offenders had at least one hospital admission due to a psychiatric disorder before the age of 32. Sixty-five violent criminals - 1.2% of all cohort males (n = 5636) - accounted for 14.4% of all psychiatric treatment days. The admission rates among both violent and non-violent male offenders were significantly higher when compared with males with no criminal history. Among violent males, only half (55.5%) of the inpatient hospital days due to psychiatric disorders occurred in psychiatric hospitals. The corresponding percentages for non-violent criminals and non-criminals were 64.9% and 74.1%, respectively. Among the violent offenders, one-third of hospital inpatient days occurred in university hospitals or central hospitals, and only 1.9% of them occurred in a comprehensive community care system. Violent offenders' admission rates due to a psychiatric diagnosis are high, and they are frequently treated at an inappropriate health care level.

“Serious Gourmet Shit”: Quentin Tarantino’ s Pulp Fiction

Summary Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994a) is a prime instance of postmodern meta‐cinema, a highly eclectic anthology of narratives which oscillate between filmic genres. Tarantino sets up his stories within the regime of the crime film, then overwrites this with the codes of comedy, using humorous conventions to defuse the suspense of the crime thriller and register its elements as comic. These two sets of conventions organise narrative materials in different ways, offering radically different forms of viewer identification and different forms of closure. The whole is organised as a comic mise en abyme in which the cultural debris of the text mirrors the subjectivity of its characters, and the fictional predicaments of its protagonists mirror the decoding dilemmas of the film's spectators. Pulp Fiction operates as a metatext which at once inhabits and dismantles the conventions of the crime movie and “performs” the cooperative principle of filmic narrativity.