Criminal Risk Research Articles

Factor structure of the J-SOAP-II among Black and White male youth: A confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis

The Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II (J-SOAP-II) is a tool used to aid clinicians in assessing the sexual and criminal reoffense risk of male youths who have committed a sex offense. Despite its popularity, the factor structure has not been thoroughly assessed. The present study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the factor structure of the four subscales of the J-SOAP-II in a group of youths aged 12-18 who were confined for sexual offenses (N = 909), and whether the fit is affected by youth race. The results showed a poor fit to the data. An ad-hoc goal was added, to propose a new factor structure using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on one half of the data, and CFA on the second half of the data. The EFA identified three-factors: Sexual Offending and Victimization History, Risk for General Delinquency, and Antisocial Beliefs and Attitudes. This three-factor model, provided an improved, but not good, fit, indicating that further modifications to the J-SOAP-II are required to meaningfully capture risk-relevant latent constructs.

Links between adverse childhood experiences, psychopathological symptoms and recidivism risk in juvenile delinquents

Research in the field of developmental psycho-criminology shows that conduct disorders and deviant behaviours are frequently associated with traumatic and adverse developmental experiences. Personality traits and psychopathological symptoms also increase the risk of criminality. However, the role of psychopathological symptoms in the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and offending has rarely been researched. The present study was designed to throw further light on these issues by analysing risk factors in a group of adolescents and young adults in a juvenile detention centre in southern Italy. Results support the idea that the accumulation of risk factors is a major factor in recidivism and highlight the key role played by the contexts and emotional environments in which children and adolescents grow up. They also underline the link between paternal antipathy and hostile behaviours and the potential impact of paternal antipathy and hostility on triggering delinquent trajectories. Our study’s main limitations are its small sample size and the absence of longitudinal measures. Nevertheless, combining detailed measures of a wide variety of factors with risk assessments drawn up by professionals who work with young offenders provided insights into the most suitable interventions for young delinquents. More precisely, because young offenders are victims of adverse childhood experiences as well as perpetrators of delinquent acts, interventions aimed at changing their life courses must adopt a global perspective that encompasses both their personal characteristics and their family circumstances, in order to provide an external environment conducive to non-recidivism.

Robotization and Artificial Intelligence: Criminal Law Risks in the Field of Public Security

Large-scale robotization is becoming one of the challenges of modern society. Jurisprudence in general and criminal law in particular cannot remain aloof from the challenges associated with the introduction of artificial intelligence in all spheres of public life. The process of forming the legal space has begun, but there is no comprehensive approach to solving the problem, since scientists consider robots within the framework of only those social relations that are part of the subject of the relevant branch of law. In this regard, there is a lag in the development, for example, of criminal law norms, since the process of determining the civil law status of a robot is not completed, and the construction of the concept of criminal law risks in robotics and artificial intelligence depends on it. The paper attempts to describe the criminal legal risks of using robotics and artificial intelligence for public security, to assess the available criminal legal means of counteracting the onset of socially dangerous consequences in the absence of adequate measures, to propose directions for improving the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Problems of criminal legal forecasting of individual criminal behavior

The subject of the article is the problem of typical assessments of criminal legal risk by offenders. The purpose of the article is to confirm or refute the hypothesis that the attitude of various persons to the possibility of being punished for violating a criminal prohibition can be typologized, and the probability of being punished depends on the criminal's belonging to the corresponding type. The methodology includes dialectical, comparative legal, sociological, statistical, psychological methods, expert assessments, generalizing indicators. The main results, scope of application. The original criminal-legal aspect of predicting individual criminal behavior consists primarily in determining the probability of a potential criminal being brought to criminal responsibility for a possible offense and being punished. Foresight in this case is individual in the literal sense of the word – its subject is primarily a person who is inclined to commit a crime. The position of the researcher of criminal law forecasting of individual criminal behavior, who is obliged to put himself "in the place" of a socially dangerous person, to understand the nature and process of risk assessment, and to be brought to criminal responsibility, is also original. The attitude of different persons to the possibility of being brought to justice for violating a criminal law prohibition may vary widely, acquire a different character, and have specific features. In this regard, theoretically, we can distinguish the following groups of criminal risk: out of risk (“above the law”); habitual risk; "justified" risk; frivolous risk; emotional risk; situational risk; professional risk. The validity of this typology is confirmed by both empirical experience and materials of criminal-legal and psychological research. Conclusion. The magnitude of the criminal legal risk, of course, should be taken into account in the criminal law policy: both when assessing its purposefulness and effectiveness, and when solving the task of a comprehensive information and analytical support for it.

Long sentenced women prisoners: Rights, risks and rehabilitation

This paper re-examines critically the role of rehabilitative interventions for a seriously neglected group of prisoners: women serving long sentences. Drawing on empirical research conducted in a democratic therapeutic community in a women’s prison in the south of England, it considers how far established criticisms identify insuperable difficulties that exacerbate existing harms and inequalities. It argues that evidence can be adduced to support rehabilitative interventions that are not predominantly concerned with the reduction of criminal risk but which provide tangible benefits to the personal wellbeing of women in prison and may increase their prospects of integration post release. It explores how such rehabilitative policies and practices could be supported and protected from attrition by penal power, by embedding them within a doctrine of human rights. By challenging and replacing prevalent assumptions and justifications that uphold existing power relations in prisons, we argue that a specific duty of care, owed by the prison service to women serving long sentences, can protect, support and re-imagine their right to rehabilitative opportunities.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONALITY DISORDERS AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN FORENSIC CONTEXT

Aim, methods and outcomes. In this research, the mediators of domestic violence were approached from psychological, psychiatric, and forensic theoretical-experimental paradigm perspective, but also by studying working hypotheses issue regarding correlations between mediators (personality disorders) and participants’ behavioral output from experimental perspective. The research included 3 samples: 2 control samples and one experimental sample. These are part of the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Cluj-Napoca database. The gross results of examined patients revealed psychiatric morbidity and co-morbidity, personality disorders and psychiatric disorders absence at the time of forensic psychiatric examination. Results. The following statistical data were obtained from a total of N120 respondents: significant results were obtained (GVD, GDD and GM) F = 25,465, Sig. 0,000 in multiple comparisons using the ANOVA method on independent samples; significant results were obtained for mixed analysis of variance ANOVA two-way on GVD and GM groups F 25,465, Sig. 0.000; and good results weren’t obtained for GVD and GDD groups F 0.453, Sig. 0.503; whereas no significant results were obtained for the Test of Homogeneity of Variances Levene Statistic 0.295 and Sig. 0,589; and significant scores of KMO 0.477 and Sig. 0.000 were obtrained to the statistical method KMO and Bartlett’s Test regarding the eligibility of study participants. Clinical implications and Conclusion. Our research confirms the transdiagnostic approaches from literature perspective about the eight variables of criminal risk regarding domestic violence: history of deviant behavior, antisocial personality pattern, psychopathological cognitive schemas, parental antisocial model, education/ work, leisure / recreation, substances abuse. The correlation/ mediator of domestic violence is the morbidity/ co-morbidity of personality disorders. Our proposal is developing new assessment tools and testing mental and personality disorders in order to be used effectively within the forensic psychiatric committees.

How accurately can researchers measure criminal history, sexual deviance, and risk of sexual recidivism from self-report information alone?

ABSTRACT Sexual recidivism risk measures are primarily scored using official documentation (e.g. criminal records), but such reviews are time-consuming, and limited by the quality and availability of relevant information. In this study, we examined the agreement between self-reported and official file information. We conducted secondary analyses on two datasets in which 24 and 27 adult males convicted of sexual offences provided self-report information under confidential conditions, which we used to score the Static-99 and the Screening Scale for Pedophilic Interests. Criminal history information was reliable across both studies, whereas victim characteristics were not. We also used self-reports to create a self-report risk scale – the Sexual Offence Self-Report Risk Scale, which was positively correlated with the Static-99 across both studies (r = .73 and .56). Our results suggest that some self-report information gathered under confidential conditions can be reliable and provide acceptably valid estimates of relative risk for research purposes when official documentation is limited.

Research on the Path of the Construction of Rule-of-Law Business Environment in China: Taking Jiangsu Province’s Experience as a Research Sample

In recent years, China’s private economic development has encountered some difficulties. We need to attach great importance to the construction of the rule of law in order to optimize the business environment. A good business environment will relieve the private economy. However, there are still many innovative measures that need legal support. It is necessary to improve the legalization of grass-roots government; the crime of illegal fund-raising is becoming more and more serious, and efforts are needed to achieve judicial justice. The legal business environment of Jiangsu Province is in the forefront of the country, which has certain representativeness and typicality. It is an important topic whether we can extract the replicable and generalizable reference experience. At the same time, it is very likely that the World Bank will expand the investigation of cities for economies with a population of more than 300 million; it will conduct regional business environment assessment. Jiangsu Province, as an important province of the Yangtze River Delta economic integration construction, should be ready to meet the challenges and accept the World Bank’s regional business environment assessment. The experience of Jiangsu Province is to optimize the policy system of business environment, innovate the way of enterprise credit financing, and continuously build a business environment ruled by law. The long-term large-scale economic growth is not the spontaneous result of free market, but the benign interaction between government and market. Douglas North proposed: good law+good law enforcement=good economic performance. Therefore, “legal system is extremely important”. A good legal system arrangement can stimulate the vitality of the society and enhance the social productivity. Therefore, the legal system is also an important part of the productivity. Based on the experience of Jiangsu Province and developed countries in building business environment, the path and countermeasures of building legal business environment in China are as follows: （1） We should improve legislation and provide system guarantee in top-level design. （2） We should standardize law enforcement and build a government ruled by law and a government of good faith, innovate the examination and approval service mode, innovate the credit supervision system, and establish the accountability and fault tolerance mechanism. （3） It is important for fair administration of justice and improvement of the court’s judicial capacity to promote the legalization of business environment. Financial supervision + financial trial cooperation regulation can prevent and control local financial risks. We should improve the way of property preservation to prevent and control the criminal risk of private enterprise executives, improve the bankruptcy system, and improve the diversified dispute resolution mechanism.

T244. FURTHER EVIDENCE SUPPORTING COORDINATED SPECIALTY CARE FOR EARLY PSYCHOSIS: FINDINGS FROM THE SAMHSA SUPPORTED PENN PSYCHOSIS EVALUATION AND RECOVERY CENTER (PERC)

BackgroundThe early years following a first episode of psychosis (FEP) present unique opportunities to prevent declines in clinical and social function. Early intervention programs target factors known to be associated with poor long-term outcomes, including longer duration of untreated psychosis, treatment non-adherence, affective symptoms, and cognitive dysfunction. The RAISE trial and other work in the U.S. and internationally spurred congress to fund comprehensive specialty care (CSC) programming across the US through a SAMHSA block-grant set-aside that began in 2015 and was doubled in 2016. As a Pennsylvania recipient of these funds since 2015, the Penn Psychosis Evaluation and Recovery Center (PERC) enrolls individuals age 15–34 who have experienced psychosis onset within two years prior to enrollment. We received complementary funding in 2018 to provide step-down care to FEP participants, and to expand PERC services to individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis.MethodsPERC services, offered for a minimum of two years, include pharmacotherapy, recovery oriented cognitive therapy and case management, supported employment and education, multi-family group cognitive therapy and psycho-education, peer support, and cognitive remediation. SAMHSA funds are used to provide CSC elements that cannot be supported through available insurance coverage. A comprehensive computerized assessment, conducted at admission and at 6-, 12-, 18- and 24- month follow-up intervals, includes measures from the Pennsylvania FEP Program Evaluation core battery assessing participant-level outcomes (employment and education, hospitalization, criminal justice involvement and risk behaviors, and overall functioning and clinical symptoms), complemented by standardized measures of cognitive insight, sleep quality, and other relevant domains. Systems-level data on outreach efforts, incoming and outgoing referrals, admissions and discharges are also collected. Data collection is integrated into clinical care.ResultsTo date, PERC has enrolled 202 individuals (mean age=22.2, SD=4.4; 78% male; 56% European-American, 31% African-American, 13% other), of whom 106 consented to use of clinical data for research purposes. Admission and 6- month follow-up data reflect improved psychosis and mood symptoms, increased engagement in employment or school, and low re-hospitalization rates. Clinician rated global role and social function significantly increased by 6-month follow-up. Participants self-reported significantly increased satisfaction with mental health services and improved perception of their recovery process at 6-month follow-up. Duration of untreated psychosis prior to PERC admission (mean=7.4 months, SD=7.4) was not correlated with improvements in global role or social function at 6-months. Clinical and functional changes beyond 6 months remain to be analyzed.DiscussionOur results add to growing evidence that individuals who have experienced a first episode of psychosis benefit from participating in comprehensive interventions that can improve clinical symptoms, function and quality of life. They also provide further evidence of the feasibility and clinical utility of FEP CSC programs supported by federally mandated funds, which can reduce the personal and societal burdens associated with psychotic disorders. As our program continues to expand, ongoing comprehensive assessment across the early psychosis spectrum will afford evaluation of longer-term therapeutic benefits and analyses of predictors of varying outcomes.

The Effectiveness of Precautionary Measures in Reducing Criminal Risk

The Effectiveness of Precautionary Measures in Reducing Criminal Risk

Female Involvement in the Criminal Justice System and Risk of Violent Victimization: an Examination of Gang Involvement

Research on gang membership is widespread and, as a result, findings from such studies have produced a significant amount of information about gangs and gang members. Historically, most of the gang research has focused on male gang members, but during the past couple of decades a considerable emphasis has been placed on understanding female gang members. At the same time, knowledge on female gang members still lags behind that of male gang members. Against that backdrop, the current study sought to add to the existing literature on female gang members by analyzing the association between female gang membership and contact with the criminal justice system, involvement in acts of violent crime and delinquency, and experiences with being victimized. To do so, female respondents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) were analyzed. The results of the analyses revealed that 17.2% of females had been part of a gang during their lifetime. Moreover, gang membership was associated with greater involvement in violent crime and delinquency and it was also associated with a greater number of victimization experiences. Gang membership also was associated with an increased risk of being arrested and incarcerated, though these associations were no longer significant after accounting for a number of key control variables.

A Cumulative Substance Use Score as a Novel Measure to Predict Risk of Criminal Recidivism in Forensic Juvenile Male Outpatients.

This longitudinal study aimed to evaluate a newly developed cumulative measure for substance use problems as predictor of criminal recidivism in youth. Questionnaires-based substance-related behaviors (tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and further drugs), and interview-based psychiatric disorders were assessed in a sample of 142 male adolescent forensic outpatients in Zurich, Switzerland (mean age 16.8years, SD = 1.4years). Cox regressions were used to test whether substance use behaviors/disorders were predictors of officially recorded criminal offenses 365days after the initial assessment. The cumulative substance problem score (SPS) was a valid measure for assessing the risk of criminal recidivism for youth having 2-3 (OR 2.24-2.56) and 4+ problems (OR 3.40-4.37) in comparison to youth with 0-1 problems. Forensic experts and clinicians should comprehensively assess substance use patterns in juvenile offenders and may use the SPS as an indicator for further criminal risks. Additional analysis of the SPS in other forensic samples and cultures would be worthwhile.

The impact of mental health diagnoses on perceptions of risk of criminality.

Previous research has examined the relation between mental illness (MI) and perceptions of dangerousness, but less research has focused on its relation to perceived risk of criminality. Individuals with MI are perceived to be more dangerous than those without, and individuals with schizophrenia or substance abuse diagnoses are viewed as being more dangerous. Research also supports that race of individuals with MI plays an important role in the conceptualization and experience of stigma. The current study investigated the relation between MI, perceived criminality and race of diagnosed individuals. Two hundred ninety participants were randomly assigned to read one of the four vignettes and answer a series of questions. The first three vignettes depicted someone with MI (schizophrenia, depression or alcohol dependency), while the fourth vignette served as a control. Participants were asked to indicate likelihood of committing a future crime, severity of the future crime and the person's potential for rehabilitation. Levels of sympathy and trust, as well as perceived race of the person, were also measured. Presence of MI was a significant predictor where MI elicited higher levels of perceived risk of criminality. The remaining predictor variables (type of MI, familiarity with MI and criminality and perceived race) were not significant predictors. Exploratory analyses revealed the schizophrenia and alcohol dependency conditions elicited higher levels of perceived severity of future crimes. Perceived MI severity and likelihood of rehabilitation were all significantly correlated with perceived risk of criminality. Presence of MI appears to be the most important in influencing participant attitudes about perceived risk of criminality, though type of MI may influence beliefs about severity of future crimes. The impact of race could not be examined but should be examined in future studies.

Juvenile delinquency risk factors: Individual, social, opportunity or all of these together?

There is extensive literature on risk factors leading to criminal behavior. However, most of these studies have been conducted in European and Anglo-Saxon countries, and there are few analogous studies in Latin America. Our main aim was to analyze whether the criminal risk level estimated from the interaction between antisocial motivation and criminal opportunities helps to differentiate between adolescents with and without delinquent behavior (as proposed in the Triple Risk for Delinquency Model). We measured both official and self-reported antisocial behavior in a sample of 211 young people in Argentina. The results show a significant association between delinquency and personal, social and opportunity risk factors. Also, it was possible to differentiate between adolescents with and without official and self-reported antisocial behavior with high sensitivity and specificity, based on the estimation of criminal risk levels. We discuss the relevance and implications of these findings within the particular context of this study.

The Mediating Role of Perceived Threat in the Relationship between Casual Contact and Attitudes towards Syrian Refugees in Turkey

Abstract Turkey hosts the largest Syrian refugee population in the world. As an attempt to understand antecedents of residents attitudes towards Syrian refugees, the present study aimed to investigate the relationships between contact experience, perception of threat, and the attitudes. Specifically, we hypothesized that perception of threat would mediate the relationship between contact experience and the attitudes. Frequency of different contact types, threats associated with economic, cultural, and criminal risks, and attitudes towards male or female targets based on preferred social distance were subjected to analyses in an adult sample of 170 women and 183 men. Results revealed a full mediation effect both for female and male Syrian refugee targets. We discussed the findings referring the observed nature of contact as mostly being casual, threat level being high, and attitudes being relatively negative within a specific media-effects framework.

Criminal and Legal Risks in the Field of Digital Technologies: Problems and Suggestions

Countering cyber threats poses new challenges for information security specialists, and requires developing legal protection mechanisms that will allow them to respond to criminal threats in the digital environment ahead of time. The path chosen by the national legislator to counteract crimes in the information sphere suffers from a delay, a gap and an inability to cover all possible socially dangerous acts and their consequences. The paper analyzes the spheres of life that innovative technologies affect or will have the greatest impact on, thus pursuing a propaedeutic goal — creating the necessary theoretical foundation for further consideration of special criminal law issues. These areas include social networks, e-commerce, digital medicine, sharing economy, industry 4.0.The authors conclude that the digitalization of many spheres of life is accompanied by a positive effect, but also carries new threats and risks that are not reflected in criminal legislation. In such a situation, it is necessary to review the criminal law policy and develop a unified approach.

Transparency and Simplicity in Criminal Risk Assessment

Transparency and Simplicity in Criminal Risk Assessment

Psychopathic Traits, Risk and Protective Factors, and Attractiveness in Forensic Psychiatric Patients: Their Role in Review Board Dispositions

ABSTRACTStudies have demonstrated that the mere mention of criminal risk factors for future violent criminal behavior predicted decisions to detain or release not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCRMD) patients following their review board hearing. We looked to further our understanding of review board decisions by assessing the influence of the mention of risk factors as well as psychopathic traits, protective factors, and the moderating effect of physical attractiveness. To this end, we coded the mention of risk factors, psychopathic traits, and protective factors in clinical reports of 90 former male NCRMD patients and rated their attractiveness on a scale of 1–10, of which 62 cases adhered to all inclusion and exclusion criteria. Analyses demonstrated that the mention of Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) items significantly increased the odds of being detained following a review board hearing, while attractiveness predicted decisions to discharge the patient. In addition, an interaction effect between PCL-R item-mentions and attractiveness was identified, such that highly attractive patients with high levels of PCL-R item-mentions were more likely to be detained following review board hearings. These results further our understanding of what factors influence review board decisions and demonstrate how extraneous factors can moderate the influence of risk-relevant information. Ultimately these results speak to the need to further educate decision-makers on evidence-based risk and protective factors and furthermore, how to avoid the pitfalls of allowing irrelevant information, such as physical attractiveness, from influencing such critical decisions affecting this vulnerable population.

Examining violence among Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity state hospital inpatients across multiple time points: the roles of criminogenic risk factors and psychiatric symptoms.

Institutional violence in state hospitals is a public health problem that has been severely understudied. Given the personal (ie, staff and patients) and fiscal harms associated with institutional violence, more research into contributing factors for violence is needed. The overarching aim of this study then was to examine associations among psychiatric symptoms, criminal risk factors, and institutional violence. Participants were 200 male, female, and transgender forensic mental health inpatients adjudicated Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity and committed to the California Department of State Hospitals. Participants completed a psychiatric symptom measure, and measures of and associated with criminal risk. Institutional violence was recorded from file review and includes physical violence toward staff or patients for 6-months prior to and post patient participation in this study. After adjusting for previous institutional violence, results indicated that psychiatric symptoms were not associated with follow-up institutional violence; however, criminal risk was associated with follow-up institutional violence. Unexpectedly, 2 aspects of criminal risk, antisocial cognitions and associates, were not associated with follow-up institutional violence after adjusting for previous institutional violence. Results also provided a tentative cutoff score on the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire for predicting follow-up institutional violence. These results have important implications for treating and managing patients at risk for institutional violence, including the need to assess criminogenic risk and leverage treatments that target these risk factors as a best practice approach.

The Increasing Strategy of Communities Palm Oils Productivity through Corporate Social Responsibility Program at PT. Austindo Nusantara Jaya Agri

The productivity of the communities palm oils in Kecamatan Simangambat is lower compared to the palm oil productivity by PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya Agri. In line with the development of Company’s Corporate Social Responbility (CSR) program and the effort district government Padang Lawas Utara to develop communities by increasing the economical income, therefore the good cooperation between related government office and company is needed, as well as the support from community to solve the problem. Eight individuals were selected for the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) to decide three criteria, seven sub-criteria and four alternative strategies in order to improve the productivity of palm oils. The financial criteria consists of two sub-criteria namely the charges and costs. Operational criteria consists of high quaility seeds, land management and planting technology, plant cultivation and harvesting. Next, risk criteria of social and criminal risk. Moreover, the four alternative strategies consists of institutional strengthening of farmers groups, production facilities support, education of cultivation technique and rejuvenation of palm oils. Based on the questionnaire and data analysis using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), therefore the main priority is to increase the communities palm oils production by rejuvenating palm oils. It can be achieved by coorperating between company and district government (DISBUN). This can be concluded by the surveys and the discusssion with the people of Kecamatan Simangambat, Padang Lawas Utara district. The result is confirmed through interviews and discussion with the communities group in subdistrict of Simangambat, District Padang Lawas Utara.