First-time Offenders Research Articles

Effects of Washington State’s alcohol ignition interlock laws on DUI recidivism: An update

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the effects of changes to Washington State’s alcohol ignition interlock laws: moving issuance of interlock orders from the courts to the driver licensing department (July 2003); extending the interlock order requirement to all persons convicted of driving under the influence (DUI; June 2004); allowing an interlock in lieu of an administrative driver’s license suspension (January 2009); and requiring proof of interlock installation to reinstate the driver’s license (January 2011).Method: Trends in conviction types, interlock installation rates, and 2-year cumulative recidivism rates were examined for first-time and repeat offenders with convictions stemming from DUI arrests during 1999–2012. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models examined the association between law changes and installation rates, law changes and recidivism rates, and installation rates and recidivism rates.Results: During the study period, there was a large increase in the proportion of first-time DUI arrests reduced to alcohol-related negligent/reckless driving convictions, offenses not requiring interlock orders. The interlock installation rate increased substantially and the recidivism rate declined substantially among both first and repeat offenders. Based on the ARIMA models for first offenders, the 2004 and 2009 law changes were associated with increased interlock installation rates and lower recidivism rates. For first offenders arrested during the last quarter of 2012, the model estimates a 26% reduction in the recidivism rate (from an expected 7.7% without the 4 laws to 5.6%). A 1 percentage point increase in the interlock installation rate was associated with a 0.06 percentage point decline in the recidivism rate among first offenders. If the association carried forward and if the installation rate had been 100% rather than 38% in the last quarter of 2012, the 2-year recidivism rate would have been reduced from 5.6 to 2%. Among repeat offenders, the 2003 and 2009 law changes were associated with increased interlock installation rates, and the 2009 law change was associated with a nonsignificant decline in recidivism.Conclusions: In Washington, rates of interlock installations increased as interlock laws were strengthened, and the increase was associated with reductions in recidivism among first DUI offenders. Washington’s experience suggests that states can reduce DUI recidivism by requiring interlock orders for all offenders, allowing offenders to install interlocks in lieu of an administrative driver’s license suspension, and closing statutory loopholes that allow plea reductions to convictions without interlock orders.

3.28 Pregnancy Attitudes and Intentions Among First-Time Offending Youth

3.28 Pregnancy Attitudes and Intentions Among First-Time Offending Youth

Differences in alcohol cognitions, consumption, and consequences among first-time DUI offenders who co-use alcohol and marijuana

BackgroundA significant portion of alcohol-related DUI offenders engage in co-use of alcohol and marijuana (AM). Given expanding marijuana legalization and the impaired driving risks associated with co-use, it is of increased importance to understand how characteristics of AM co-users compare to those who use alcohol only (AO) in order to inform DUI interventions and prevent recidivism. MethodsParticipants were 277 first-time DUI offenders enrolled in a first-time DUI offender program across three locations. Using well-established measures, we evaluated differences in alcohol-related cognitions (positive expectancies and self-efficacy), frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related consequences between AO users and AM co-users by running a series of multivariate generalized linear models. ResultsCompared to AO users, AM co-users reported lower self-efficacy to achieve abstinence and avoid DUI. Differences in abstinence self-efficacy largely explain higher relative rates of average and peak drinking quantity and higher odds of binge drinking among AM co-user. Despite lower self-efficacy and higher drinking quantity, there were no significant differences between AM and AO-users on alcohol-related consequences and past month reports of drinking and driving. ConclusionsOur results provide preliminary evidence that DUI offenders who co-use alcohol and marijuana have higher alcohol use and lower self-efficacy than AO-users, and long-term consequences for this group should be monitored in future research. DUI programs may screen and identify co-users and consider tailoring their interventions to build self-efficacy to address the risks associated with AM co-use uniquely.

A Retrospective Study on How Psychopathic Traits Differentiate Recidivists From First-Time Female Youth Offenders in Juvenile Detention Centers

ABSTRACTThe aim of the present study was to analyze the relation between recidivism and self-reported psychopathic traits, more specifically the callous-unemotional, impulsivity, and narcissism dimensions of the psychopathy construct among female juvenile delinquents. The Antisocial Process Screening Device–Self-Report (APSD-SR) and other self-report psychometric instruments (i.e., Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits [ICU], Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, version 11 [BIS-11], Narcissistic Personality Inventory-13 [NPI-13]) independently measuring the different dimensions of psychopathy were completed by a sample of incarcerated female juvenile offenders (N = 81) that were retrospectively classified as first-time offenders versus recidivists. The only statistically significant relation between recidivism and psychopathic traits found was with narcissism, namely with the Grandiose/Exhibitionism and the Entitlement/Exploitativeness dimensions of the NPI-13. Our results argue for some utility of self-reported psychopathic traits in retrospectively predicting recidivism among female juvenile delinquents.

Sexual Minority, Justice-Involved Youth: A Hidden Population in Need of Integrated Mental Health, Substance Use, and Sexual Health Services

PurposeWe sought to compare the demographic characteristics, drug and alcohol use, sexual behaviors, delinquency, and mental health indicators of sexual minority and nonsexual minority first-time offending, court-involved, nonincarcerated adolescents. MethodsUsing adolescent- and caregiver-reported baseline data from the Epidemiologic Study Involving Children in the Court, a prospective cohort study of 423 adolescent-caregiver dyads recruited from a Northeastern family court system, we compared demographic and behavioral health characteristics of sexual minority and nonsexual minority first-time offending, court-involved, nonincarcerated adolescents. ResultsNearly one-third of the adolescents (31.4%, n = 133) were classified as a sexual minority; 19.6% (n = 81) self-identified with a nonheterosexual sexual orientation. Sexual minority adolescents were more likely than their nonsexual minority peers to identify as female, to have used psychiatric services or psychotropic medications, to have used an illicit drug or alcohol or to know peers who use these substances, to report alcohol/drug use during sex, to endorse more severe mental health problems, to have more recent post-traumatic symptoms, and to have engaged in self-harm behaviors. However, sexual minority adolescents did not differ from nonsexual minority adolescents in other demographic characteristics (including school performance) or delinquent behavior. ConclusionsOne-third of court-involved, nonincarcerated adolescents may be sexual minorities. Specificscreening methods are necessary to identify these adolescents and to address their unique risk characteristics, which include more severe mental health difficulties and higher rates of high-risk sexual behavior and drug/alcohol use compared with their nonsexual minority peers.

Exploring the educative role of judges’ sentencing remarks: an analysis of remarks on child exploitation material

The online viewing of child exploitation material (CEM) is a seemingly intractable problem. Evidence suggests that CEM is viewed not only by the paedophilic ‘other’, but by people without prior offending histories or pre-existing sexual interests in children. Studies emphasise the role of offence-supportive attitudes in enabling first-time offending. Relatedly, nascent research indicates that some sections of the Australian community express ambivalence about the harms involved in viewing such material. Taking a crime prevention perspective, this article considers the need and value of tackling such attitudes and the educative role that judges’ sentencing comments may play. In doing so, this article presents a content analysis of judicial comments from Victoria and Tasmania. Encouragingly, results show that judges provide some explanation of the harms involved in most instances. Yet, some of the explanations that judges give may be perpetuating, rather than reducing, ambiguity about the wrongfulness of ‘just’ viewing CEM online.

Tailoring Negligence Standards to Accident Records

The standard 1-period, unilateral care accident model assumes identical injurers and perfect information of an individual’s risk type. However, these assumptions are unlikely to hold in real-world accident scenarios. This paper considers a 2-period, unilateral care accident model in which injurers differ by probabilities of accident (their risk types) and have incomplete information about their risk types. We find that courts should optimally examine an individual’s accident history to accurately infer the risk type and adjust the due level of care accordingly. We show that tailoring due levels of care in the second period affects the definition of the due level of care in the first period. When judges have access to accident records but the risk type is hidden, they should relax the due level of care for first-time offenders to generate more information about an individual’s risk type, which helps to establish more efficient differentiated standards in the subsequent period.

The Associations Among Callous-Unemotional Traits, Worry, and Aggression in Justice-Involved Adolescent Boys

Previous research has reported that elevations on both callous-unemotional (CU) traits and anxiety (measured as trait worry) among adolescents are associated with a particularly severe pattern of aggressive behavior. In the current study, we tested whether elevated trait worry would add only to the prediction of less severe and reactive aggression assessed by self-report but not to more severe violence, proactive aggression, and official records of violent arrests. First-time male juvenile offenders ( N = 1,216) were assessed at 6-month intervals for 30 months. Contrary to predictions, our analyses found both CU traits and worry independently predicted self-reported violent offenses (regardless of violence severity) and aggression (both proactive and reactive) across 30 months after their first arrest. However, when using arrest records, only CU traits were associated with violent offenses. This suggests that the additive effects of anxiety and worry in predicting risk for later violence may be limited to self-report.

Developing a Crime Harm Index for Western Australia: the WACHI

Research QuestionCan a reliable measure of precise harm levels for the 100 most harmful and frequently occurring offences be developed in Western Australia (WA) based on analysis of actual court penalties for first-time offenders?DataCriminal and traffic court sentences in 2.2 million records over 6.5 years were analysed to extract the number of days of imprisonment actually imposed in sentencing decisions for approximately 52,000 first-time offenders (see House 2017).MethodsSentences for all first offenders in a sample of the 102 most common offence categories were analysed to compute for the median number of days of imprisonment to which each first offender was sentenced in each of the categories. Monetary penalties and conditional community sentences were converted to equivalent ‘prison days’ and added to the computation of the median of days of imprisonment per offence category. The number of reported offences in WA in the study period for each of the 102 categories was then multiplied by the median prison days sentenced per category. The sum of the products of median prison days times offence count was then tallied across all offence categories to form a weighted index of crime harm, which we define as the Western Australian Crime Harm Index (WACHI). Applying a minimum requirement of at least five separate court cases for each crime category, a total of 88 offence categories survived the reliability threshold for inclusion in the index.FindingsThe 88 offence categories in the WACHI contain both high-harm and high-volume offences, permitting 95% of all offences reported for over 5 years to be assessed for WACHI scores. The counts for these offences moved in different directions from the WACHI total in two of the four year-to-year comparisons. Changes in WACHI were shown to have been highly sensitive to increased reporting of historical sex crimes, isolated in one district each of both Metropolitan Perth and one Regional centre.ConclusionsCarefully implemented use of the West Australian CHI could improve both public safety and policing by adding precision to resource allocation decisions, assessments of priorities and evaluations of policing initiatives. The WACHI would be even more reflective of the changing level of harm to victims if all crime trends were to be based on crimes that occurred in the year under analysis, with separate reporting of crimes that happened many years ago. With that key adjustment, police professionals, department of justice officials, citizens and local governments can use a WACHI to make better decisions about how to prioritise policing in a wide range of contexts.

Do incarcerated male juvenile recidivists differ from first-time offenders on self-reported psychopathic traits? A retrospective study

The current study analyzed the relation between recidivism and self-reported psychopathic traits, more specifically the callous-unemotional, impulsivity, and narcissism dimensions of the psychopathy construct. The Antisocial Process Screening Device – Self-Report (APSD-SR) and other self-report instruments independently measuring the three different dimensions of psychopathy (that is, Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11, Narcissistic Personality-13) were completed by a sample of incarcerated male juvenile offenders ( N = 244) who were retrospectively classified as recidivists versus non-recidivists. The only statistically significant relation found between recidivism and self-reported psychopathic traits after controlling for age and socioeconomic status was with the impulsivity dimension of the APSD-SR. Additionally, results showed that recidivism was associated with alcohol use but not with drug use or crime seriousness.

How Does Juvenile Offending Relate to Mothers' Aspirations and Expectations for Their Sons?

Mothers of 317 first-time juvenile offenders (M=15.35years old) were interviewed over 2.5years about their expectations and aspirations for their sons' futures. Mothers' expectations were lower than their aspirations, reflecting a discrepancy between what mothers felt was important for their child's future and what they considered likely to happen. As their children continued to engage in delinquent acts, mothers' expectations for their sons' future success diminished. Youth age moderated the association between delinquency and maternal expectations, such that when perceived delinquency was high, expectations were lower for mothers of young sons compared to mothers of older sons. These findings carry implications for practice and intervention, as parent expectations and aspirations are both directly and indirectly associated with youth achievement.

Understanding the link between exposure to violence and aggression in justice-involved adolescents.

The current study advanced research on the link between community violence exposure and aggression by comparing the effects of violence exposure on different functions of aggression and by testing four potential (i.e., callous-unemotional traits, consideration of others, impulse control, and anxiety) mediators of this relationship. Analyses were conducted in an ethnically/racially diverse sample of 1,216 male first-time juvenile offenders (M = 15.30 years, SD = 1.29). Our results indicated that violence exposure had direct effects on both proactive and reactive aggression 18 months later. The predictive link of violence exposure to proactive aggression was no longer significant after controlling for proactive aggression at baseline and the overlap with reactive aggression. In contrast, violence exposure predicted later reactive aggression even after controlling for baseline reactive aggression and the overlap with proactive aggression. Mediation analyses of the association between violence exposure and reactive aggression indicated indirect effects through all potential mediators, but the strongest indirect effect was through impulse control. The findings help to advance knowledge on the consequences of community violence exposure on justice-involved youth.

Securities settlements as examples of crisis-driven regulation

International bodies have criticized Canadian financial markets for being lax in the area of enforcement. We examine whether such criticisms are applicable to settlements struck by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). We reach a number of important findings. First, the total number of parties sanctioned and the total amount of payments made to the OSC increased after the 2008 financial crisis, although these numbers decreased in subsequent years. Second, there is no discernible trend in the types of proceedings by which cases were concluded, although the OSC does use settlements more than other provincial regulators. Third, corporations, first-time offenders, and financial service companies are more likely than individuals or repeat offenders to settle and the OSC tends to settle less often when the case involves serious offences such as fraud or manipulation. Finally, penalties imposed as a result of a settlement were not statistically different than those imposed in a hearing. Interestingly, while there are outliers, financial service companies did not pay higher penalties than other parties, nor did repeat offenders although this has recently changed with the introduction of no-contest settlements. Our data support the idea that regulatory activity follows a cyclical pattern and, following a crisis, regulatory activity increases.

Multiple “Lower BAC” offenders: Characteristics and response to remedial interventions

BackgroundIn recent years, there has been increasing attention to “lower BAC” drinking drivers, typically those whose blood alcohol content (BAC) is under the legal limits defined in criminal law. In 2009, legislation was enacted in Ontario, Canada that enabled police to issue roadside license suspensions to individuals caught driving with BAC between 0.05% and 0.08%, known as the “warn range”. Multiple warn range (MWR) offenders are required to attend the Back on Track (BOT) remedial measures program. This study aimed to provide: (1) a preliminary characterization of MWR drivers charged under warn range legislation; and (2) an initial assessment of outcomes associated with BOT participation among MWR offenders. MethodsA subsample of 727 MWR offenders was drawn from program records, and compared to samples of 3597 first-time Criminal Code (CC) offenders (those caught driving with a BAC of 0.08% or higher) and 359 second-time CC offenders. To provide an initial assessment of outcomes associated with BOT participation, another subsample consisted of 394 MWR participants from whom pre- and post-workshop questionnaires were collected and successfully matched using probabilistic matching processes. ResultsSimilarities in demographic profile and driving history between MWR and first-time CC participants were apparent. MWR offenders scored higher on risk of problem drinking and drink-driving recidivism than either of the CC offender groups. Second-time CC offenders scored higher on these measures than first-time CC offenders. Following BOT participation, MWR participants demonstrated positive change including improved knowledge of and intentions to avoid drink-driving. ConclusionsMWR offenders share a similar demographic profile to that of first-time CC offenders and they report significantly higher risk of problem drinking and recidivism. MWR offenders may include high-functioning problem drinkers who are likely to continue drink-driving and who may escalate to a CC drink-driving offense. Like CC offenders, MWR offenders benefited from BOT participation.

The School Experiences of Male Adolescent Offenders: Implications for Academic Performance and Recidivism

Adolescents with juvenile justice system experience may be enrolled into alternative schools to increase academic success or to reduce delinquency. This study used longitudinal data on a racially/ethnically diverse sample of 1,216 male, first-time adolescent offenders to examine how youthful offenders’ school experiences were associated with academic outcomes, school attitudes, and delinquency. Effects varied by domain in important ways. Youth who attended alternative schools generally fared better academically than youth who attended traditional schools. However, importantly, youth who attended alternative schools subsequently engaged in more delinquency and violent reoffending than youth in traditional schools. The findings indicate that disrupting normative schooling appears to be the most detrimental to youth outcomes across domains.

Disadvantages of Judicial Interpretation of the Concept of a First-Time Offender

Disadvantages of Judicial Interpretation of the Concept of a First-Time Offender

The Sociology of Human Rights: An Introduction by Mark Frezzo

Reviewed by: The Sociology of Human Rights: An Introduction by Mark Frezzo Alex Workman (bio) and Tinashe Dune (bio) Mark Frezzo, The Sociology of Human Rights: An Introduction (Polity Press, 2015), ISBN 978–0–7456–6011–0, 192 pages. The Sociology of Human Rights: An Introduction offers an alternative perspective to the traditional approaches and understanding from the growing complexities of human rights as a field of study. As such, this book is well situated to help transform this field. Within each chapter, [End Page 1054] Mark Frezzo provides a comprehensive discussion of the many dimensions related to human rights. In addition, Frezzo suggests that, until recently, sociology and human rights have not been investigated together. Due to the growing complexities and challenges facing the world, Frezzo insists that it is important to place the study of human rights within a sociological framework. For example, though human rights belong to every person, the equal distribution of rights is not always plausible. Frezzo claims that a sociological investigation of this type of problem will create new knowledge in regards to the utility and deployment of human rights. Additionally, Frezzo further claims that if human rights are to be maintained on a global scale, a globally binding framework for human rights can exist. That said, cultural pluralism protects the worlds many cultures, and human rights must consider the dichotomy between western and non-western, and secular and non-secular. Notably, this field of study, (being the sociology of human rights) as described by Frezzo, uses a pluralistic framework drawing on various theoretical and methodological underpinnings to explore human rights from diverse sociological perspectives. Frezzo postulates that both quantitative and qualitative methodologies can be utilized to effectively engage with this new school of thought.1 Therefore, the overall structure of this book review will follow the logical sequence as outlined within The Sociology of Human Rights: An Introduction. This book is rich in detail that is achieved by breaking down broad concepts into their understandable components, and providing an exceptionally thorough terminology section at the end of the book. Furthermore, this book steps away from a traditional approach to human rights, utilizing sociology to both evaluate and critique how human rights are executed and adopted between the global "North" and "South." Chapter One provides a general overview of the book. The historical context of sociology is discussed by highlighting the founding "fathers": Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. This chapter also gives a detailed contextual framework for each of the subsequent chapters by briefly discussing the historical origins of each topic, as well as how they can be viewed through a sociological lens. Chapter Two explores and critiques how human rights have been compounded into similar categories, such as negative (i.e., governmental overreach; or as mandatory sentencing for first-time offenders) and positive (i.e., services to which citizens are entitled), individual and collective, and generational; where the first generation of rights are civil and political, the second are economic and social, and the third and most recent are collective, cultural, and environmental rights. Frezzo refers to this classification system as the three-genreations framework and highlights both similarities and differences between these categories.2 Collective and individual human rights are critiqued as Frezzo points out how conflicting ideologies between nation-states and cultures become problematic. With regards to rights claims, Frezzo discusses how such claims both benefit and hinder individuals, and also vary drastically from one nation-state and cultural context to another depending on the priorities of dominant groups. For example, a cultural group may be hindered [End Page 1055] when a sovereign nation-state promotes a set of rights which privilege one culture over another.3 Frezzo uses examples to show how discrepancies between the implementation of human rights and the sovereign nation-state create complex systems in which human rights become selectively applied, with some people's rights being expanded, contracted, or even abolished entirely. In Chapter Three, Frezzo discusses the ways that the civil and political rights enshrined by documents generated during the European Enlightenment are "significant not only as ends-in-themselves, but as means to further ends."4 Frezzo considers these civil and political...

Different Strokes for Different Folks

This paper argues that the false acquittals of serial offenders are much costlier than the false acquittals of first-time offenders. Because that is so, it is plausible to entertain the idea that different standards of proof should be used in trying criminal cases of the two sets of defendants. First-time offenders should continue to be tried using proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Known serial felony offenders should be tried by the clear and convincing evidence standard.

Criminal characteristics of a group of primary criminals diagnosed with aspd: approach to criminal recidivis.

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is commonly associated with the risk of criminal recidivism. Knowing more about the factors associated with this pattern of behaviour can help with the design of effective prevention strategies. The purpose of this article is to establish if there are differences in socio-criminogenic variables of a group of criminals sentenced for the first time and with APSD compared to another group of first-time offenders who do not present this disorder. Analytical observation study of 70 men classified into 2 groups according to the presence of ASPD TPA (n=47; age: 29.98±7.8 years) or absence of ASPD (n=23; age: 32.35±8.7 years). The inmates with ASPD showed higher frequencies of current consumption of psychoactive substances (31.9%), criminal associations and simultaneous use of psychoactive substances (70.2%), having committed the crime under the effects of a psychoactive substance (55.3%), not having the possibility of distancing themselves from criminal associations (83%) and a lack of legal resources for proceedings for defence and release (76.6%). This sample contains a group of variables called dynamic that are more commonly present amongst first time offenders with ASPD; said variables have been associated as major predictors of recidivism. Given that they are regarded as dynamic, they may well be modifiable.

What are the characteristics of first time older sexual offenders?

Research papers published in MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and EMBASE were searched systematically. Following removal of duplicates and irrelevant papers, a total of 423 papers were reviewed to determine whether the selection criteria were met. A total of seven publications were included and evaluated by two researchers. Of the seven publications, there were two retrospective research studies and five case reports. There was a higher proportion of neurocognitive disorder in this offender group and the victims were usually vulnerable individuals. Yet, cognitive assessments were rarely done or reported. Two subtypes of older sex offenders were identified: (i) offenders who had offended in the past but were not previously detected; (ii) first-time offenders with a high proportion of neurocognitive disorder. There is a paucity of research in first time sex offending by older people. This review has highlighted a need for better designed studies to explore the characteristics of older sex offenders. Better collaboration between forensic and old-age psychiatric services is required for improved assessment and management of older sex offenders.