First-time Offenders Research Articles

The Development and Validation of an Actuarial Risk Assessment Tool for the Prediction of First-Time Offending.

For prevention purposes, it is important that police officers can estimate the risk for delinquency among juveniles who were involved in a criminal offense, but not in the role of a suspect. In the present study, the Youth Actuarial Risk Assessment Tool for First-Time Offending (Y-ARAT-FO) was developed based solely on police records with the aim to enable Dutch police officers to predict the risk for first-time offending. For the construction of this initial screening instrument, an Exhaustive Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector (Exhaustive CHAID) analysis was performed on a data set that was retrieved from the Dutch police system. The Y-ARAT-FO was developed on a sample of 1,368 juveniles and validated on a different sample of 886 juveniles showing moderate predictive accuracy in the validation sample (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC] = .728). The predictive accuracy of the Y-ARAT-FO was considered sufficient to justify its use as an initial screening instrument by the Dutch police.

Cognitive and behavioral preoccupation with alcohol in recidivist DUI offenders.

A high proportion of individuals convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) are repeat offenders. Efforts have sought to identify specific factors underlying DUI recidivism. Of particular interest is the role that alcohol-related cognitions might play in the development and escalation of alcohol use. The present study investigated the degree to which preoccupation with, and attentional bias to, alcohol are heightened among repeat DUI offenders. Three groups of participants (recidivist DUI offenders, first-time offenders, and controls; n = 20 per group) performed a visual probe task to measure attentional bias and completed questionnaires regarding their cognitive and emotional preoccupation with alcohol and drinking habits. Recidivist offenders displayed a significantly heightened alcohol attentional bias and reported greater preoccupation with alcohol compared with both first-time offenders and controls. By contrast, none of the groups differed with regard to the self-reported quantity and frequency of their consumption. Factors reflecting preoccupation with alcohol have utility for differentiating recidivist offenders from both first-time offenders and nonoffenders. These findings highlight the value of moving beyond self-reported assessments of drinking patterns toward assessing specific cognitive and behavioral characteristics that can improve our understanding, assessment, and treatment of the problem of DUI recidivism.

Predictors of post-sentence mental health service use in a population cohort of first-time adult offenders in Western Australia.

Little is known about whether or how offenders use mental health services after sentence completion. This study aimed to determine the likelihood of such service use by adult (18-44 years) first-time offenders up to 5 years after sentence completion and possible predictor variables. Pre-sentence and post-sentence mental health service use was obtained from whole-population linked administrative data on 23,661 adult offenders. Cox proportional hazard models were used to determine which socio-demographic, offending and pre-sentence health service variables were associated with such post-sentence service use. The estimated 5-year probability of any post-sentence mental health service use was 12% for offenders who had not previously used such services, but still only 42% for those who had. For the latter, best predictors of post-sentence use were past psychiatric diagnosis and history of self-harm; history of self-harm also predicted post-sentence use among new mental health services users and so also did past physical illness. Indigenous offenders had a greater likelihood of service use for any mental disorder or for substance use disorders than non-Indigenous offenders, irrespective of pre-sentence use. Among those with pre-sentence service contact, imprisoned offenders were less likely to use mental health services after sentence than those under community penalties; in its absence, socio-economic disadvantage and geographic accessibility were associated with greater likelihood of post-sentence use. Our findings highlight the discontinuity of mental healthcare for most sentenced offenders, but especially prisoners, and suggest a need for better management strategies for these vulnerable groups with mental disorders.

Occupying Anonymous: Juvenile Arbitration Girls Perform Disidentities

In this article, we discuss a video project, Occupying Anonymous, conducted with a group of adolescent girls in an arts-based arbitration program for first-time juvenile offenders. By law, the program requires all adolescent participants to conceal their faces and other physical identity markers in their artwork to protect their public image. Through Occupying Anonymous, we aspired to address the tension between our participants’ public visibility and anonymous art making by embracing anonymity as a performative strategy. The girls transformed their physical identities by creating alternate personas using wigs, makeup, costumes, and props to perform their poems or prose about significant issues in their lives. We employ productive intersections between theoretical frameworks of Muñoz’s (1999) theory of disidentification, Deleuze’s and Guattari’s (1987) concept of becoming, and Butler’s (1990, 1993) notion of performativity to reframe gendered identity and self as supple, fluid, and open to multiple possibilities.

Pre-sentence mental health service use predicts post-sentence mortality in a population cohort of first-time adult offenders.

With the high risk of death associated with mental disorders and their increased prevalence in offenders, it is judicious to investigate the risk of post-sentence mortality with respect to offenders' psychiatric treatment history. Using linked administrative data for a whole-population retrospective cohort of first-time adult offenders (n = 25,537) sentenced to either prison or non-custodial orders in Western Australia, we determined the risk and baseline predictors of post-sentence mortality. Of 192 deaths within 2 years of sentence completion, deaths from injury/poisoning (55.6 %), cancer (13.3 %) and cardiovascular disorders (9.7 %) were the most common. Pre-sentence history of mental health service (MHS) contact doubled the risk of post-sentence all-cause and injury/poisoning-related mortality. Physical comorbidity was the strongest predictor of mortality irrespective of pre-sentence MHS contact. Baseline history of attempted self-harm and being an Indigenous male were associated with an elevated risk of death in offenders with a pre-sentence MHS contact. In offenders without a pre-sentence MHS contact, socio-economic disadvantage and incarceration almost doubled the risk of dying from any cause and injury/poisoning. Mortality risk in the 2 years following sentence completion is associated with pre-sentence health service use and a range of socio-demographic factors for both incarcerated and non-custodial offenders. The opportunity afforded by imprisonment could be exploited by provision of funding to identify and treat mental illness, impart preventive health education addressing modifiable risk factors and provide transitional care to community-based services, all of which may help reduce preventable post-sentence deaths. Diversion to non-custodial sentences is also a plausible option.

White-collar crime and first-time adult-onset offending: Explorations in the concept of negative life events as turning points

The article explores first-time adult-onset offending in cases of white-collar crime where the crime occurs as a consequence of a breakdown, brought by negative life events, in the circumstances that previously kept one from engaging in criminal activity. Criminal cases involving a bank manager and a male options broker working in the Swedish banking and finance sector are analyzed. Negative life events are proposed to offer a useful explanation for first-time adult-onset offending if conceptualized as turning points caused by a chain of life events entailing enmeshment in problems of a scope and kind one has never been forced to deal with in the past, threatening essential aspects of one's identity and life project, and accompanied by perceived loss of previously available social support for one's prioritizings, at the same time as one remains in possession of resources making criminal solutions seem comparatively expedient. Directions for future research are suggested.

The ABCs of caring for sexual assault patients

The ABCs of caring for sexual assault patients

A Preliminary Assessment of the Impact of Plea Bargaining Among a Sample of Waiver-Eligible Offenders

This study examines the use of plea bargaining among a sample of waiver-eligible juveniles. Using focal concerns as our theoretical foundation, we examine whether concerns about public safety and blameworthiness help to shape plea bargain decision making. Data from a juvenile court in one South Carolina jurisdiction were analyzed using logistic regression ( N = 241). This research finds that several factors influence the plea bargain decision including type of offense, number of victims, age, and race. Additionally, the analysis shows that there are several interactive effects between race, first-time offenders, and presence of an attorney. The theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Types of crimes committed by repeat DUI offenders

This study investigates whether repeat driving under the influence (DUI) offenders have more extensive histories of violent, property, and drug crimes than first-time drunk drivers. It also offers an exploratory investigation into the extent of their criminal specialization. Negative binomial regression was performed on arrest and criminal history data from a systematic random sample of 429 DUI arrestees. Analyses controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, and employment found that being a repeat DUI offender increased the total number of violent and property convictions (regardless of severity) and petty misdemeanor/violation property convictions. The results suggest DUI recidivists are generalists rather than specialists and that impaired driving is best viewed as just one manifestation of a host of deviant behaviors. They also illustrate the challenges of rehabilitating and deterring DUI recidivists and the potential differences between first-time and repeat DUI offenders. The findings should not be interpreted as support of enforcement or deterrent DUI policies that focus on repeat offenders, as limited resources are most efficiently directed at the general population of impaired drivers.

First-Time Violent Juvenile Offenders: Probation, Placement, and Recidivism

Rising costs, inefficient systems, and high recidivism rates have recently challenged the social and economic value of secure confinement for juvenile offenders; however, current empirical evidence is inconclusive concerning the value of placing violent youth offenders in secure settings to deter them from future involvement in crime. Using propensity score matching and survival analysis, this study examined the risk of recidivism for first-time violent juvenile offenders assigned to one of three judicial dispositions in Los Angeles County: in-home probation, group-home placement, or probation camp (a secure setting). Approximately half (48%) of first-time violent offenders experienced a subsequent arrest, and the risk of re-offending varied by disposition. Compared with in-home probation, the likelihood of recidivism was 2.12 times greater for youths assigned to probation camps and 1.28 times greater for youths assigned to group homes. African American adolescents, Hispanic adolescents, and adolescents with an open child welfare case were also at an increased risk of recidivism. The findings from this study indicate that in-home probation is a more sensible and effective approach to interrupting criminal trajectories of first-time violent offenders as compared with out-of-home placements. Implications for research, system collaboration, and the training of social work professionals are discussed.

Sexual Offender Recidivism Among a Population-Based Prison Sample

The present study examines recidivism rates in sexual offenders using officially registered reconvictions in a representative data set of N = 1,115 male sexual offenders from Austria. In general, results indicate that most sexual offenders do not reoffend sexually after release from prison. More detailed, within the first 5 years after release, the sexual recidivism rate was 6% for the total sample, 4% for the rapist subgroup, and 8% for the child molester subgroup. The findings confirmed previous studies about sex offender recidivism which have shown that first-time sexual offenders are significantly less likely to sexually reoffend than those with previous sexual convictions. With regard to the relationship between age and sexual recidivism, the results challenged the traditional assumption of a clear linear function between age and recidivism. Taken together, compared with previous studies, the recidivism rates found in the present investigation are substantially lower than previous research has indicated.

Screening Offenders: The Exploration of a Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) Brief Screener

Although structured assessments have helped standardize juvenile court processes by systematically measuring risk for recidivism, it has been argued that some assessments lack the ability to perform as a brief screener. This study explored the potential for the original 42-item Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) risk assessment to perform as a brief screener for a sample of first-time juvenile offenders in a Midwestern, industrialized county. Results indicated that the original and shortened version of the YLS/CMI significantly predicted 2-year recidivism for male and female offenders. Implications for situationally targeted forms of risk assessment are discussed.

Evaluation of Pedophilia Patients of the National Forensic Hospital by Types of Offense according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Typologies of Child Molesters

This study aimed to classify individuals who had perpetrated child sexual abuse according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) typologies of child molesters and to assess the correlations between sociodemographic and criminal variables. We examined a total of 26 patients diagnosed with pedophilia (DSM-Ⅳ-TR criteria) who had been hospitalized in the National Forensic Hospital for Cure Custody. Data were obtained through self-administered questionnaires and reviews of patient records. Patients were classified into preferential offenders or situational offenders based on FBI typologies. Current and first offense ages of preferential offenders were younger than those of situational offenders. Preferential offenders were more likely to have been exposed to sexual abuse during childhood, and were more likely to watch child pornography than situational offenders (p < 0.05). Additionally, recidivists had lower IQs (intelligence quotient), lower levels of education, and longer illness durations than first-time offenders (p < 0.05). A multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that IQ and duration of illness might be risk factors of recidivism, although results were not statistically significant (p < 0.1). We found that classification of individuals who had sexually abused children into preferential or situational types, based on FBI typologies, provided on pedophile characteristics and probability of recidivism. We highly recommended that low IQ patients receive intensive treatment and education in order to reduce the possibility of future offenses.

More than Service-Learning: What I Learned About Me, and You, and Them. Relationships Matter.

Here I was, a 48-year-old, recently divorced woman, returning to school to finally finish a college degree. As part of my Ethics requirement for an undergraduate degree in Psychology, I enrolled in the course Self, Community, and Service: Thinking and Action for Ethical Being. I teamed up with a community partner, Marin YMCA Youth Court as a Case Manager. My role as Case Manager was to help troubled teens who had broken the law. The Marin County Youth Court is an innovative restorative justice alternative to the traditional juvenile justice system. It is an early intervention program for first-time misdemeanor offenders. The program is designed to give youth between the ages of ten and seventeen, who have broken the law and admitted their guilt, a second chance. If the offender completes his/her sanctions within three months, his/her juvenile record is cleared. The Case Manager’s responsibilities include attending the youth’s hearing and meeting with the youth and his/her family immediately following the hearing. The Case Manager helps the youth find a non-punitive community service opportunity, ensures the youth attends all sanctioned youth court meetings, and makes weekly contact with the youth (usually via telephone) until completion of the sanctions, including community service hours. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I assumed this would be just another hurdle to jump over in my efforts to finish my college degree. It turned out to be so much more.

The Successful Onset of Sex Offending: Determining the Correlates of Actual and Official Onset of Sex Offending

PurposeThe current study investigates the covariates of age of onset (actual and official) and cost avoidance of sex offending in first-time convicted sex offenders. MethodsThe current study utilized a large sample (n=332) of federally sentenced first-time convicted adult male sex offenders. Actual onset was measured using self-report, victim statements, and police investigation notes. Official onset was measured using age at first conviction. Cost avoidance was measured as the time gap between actual and official onset. ResultsFirst, while most offenders initiated their sexual criminal career in their early adult years (25–35years) they were typically not arrested until middle adulthood. Second, the covariates for official onset are in line with cost avoidance, but not actual onset. Third, offenders best able to avoid costs were early starters with a conventional background (i.e., employed, absence of a conviction for a non-sex crime), targeting prepubescent children within the family context. ConclusionsWhile early actual onset offenders were more likely to target stranger victims, early official starters exhibited an unconventional background, prior criminal record, more extensive sexual criminal career, and targeted strangers. Thus, official, but not actual onset revealed a profile in line with prior research.

A Comparison of First-Time and Repeat Rural DUI Offenders

The purpose of the current study was to examine whether the differences found between first-time and repeat rural DUI offenders were the same as those found previously in urban samples. A total of 118 rural DUI offenders were interviewed, approximately half (51.7%) of whom were repeat offenders. Although demographic and mental health characteristics were similar across the two groups, repeat offenders reported more extensive substance use and criminal histories. Results suggest that the pattern of differences between rural first-time and repeat DUI offenders may be different from the pattern found in prior urban-based studies. Treatment implications are discussed.

Addressing the small business tax compliance burden: Evidence from South Africa

Small businesses have the potential to grow the economy, generate jobs and reduce poverty, but they face many constraints including high tax compliance costs and burdens. A comparison of the findings and recommendations made in small business tax compliance cost studies conducted in South Africa with initiatives introduced by the South African Revenue Service (SARS), substantiated by consultations with a SARS and a South African Institute of Chartered Accountants official, reveals that SARS has, in most cases, attempted to address the tax compliance burdens identified in these studies. However, SARS has only partially addressed the complexity of the tax law, the lack of software to assist small businesses with their record-keeping and the compliance burden associated with provisional tax. SARS has failed to address the need for a threshold below which no small business tax return is required to be submitted, the inclusion of tax in the school syllabus, the requirement for first-time offenders to attend courses instead of raising penalties and the need for a reduction in the rates of interest and penalties raised by SARS. These initiatives should be considered by SARS and it is recommended that further research into the success and effectiveness of all the initiatives already introduced by SARS be performed.

The Criminal History of Repeat DUI Offenders

This study tested whether repeat driving under the influence (DUI) offenders have more extensive criminal histories, exclusive of DUI and traffic offenses, than first-time offenders. Analysis of arrest and criminal history data from a random sample of 429 DUI arrestees found that being a repeat DUI offender increased the total number of convictions (regardless of severity), misdemeanor convictions, and petty misdemeanor/violation convictions. The results illustrate the challenges of rehabilitating and deterring DUI recidivists and the potential differences between first-time and repeat DUI offenders. Among DUI recidivists, impaired driving is best viewed as just one manifestation of a host of deviant behaviors.

Pattern of psychiatric morbidity among theft offenders remanded or referred for psychiatric evaluation and factors associated with reoffence

In Singapore, theft and related crimes constitute more than 50% of all reported crime, and are the most common offences committed by accused persons remanded to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Singapore. There is a need for better understanding of the forensic psychiatric aspects of such offenders. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among theft offenders remanded or referred for forensic assessment in 2010, compare the differences between first-time and repeat theft offenders, and identify the factors associated with reoffence. Forensic evaluations of inpatient and outpatient theft offenders that were conducted at IMH in the year 2010 were retrieved and reviewed. The sociodemographic and clinical data of first-time and repeat theft offenders were collected and compared using Student's t-test and chi-square test for continuous and categorical variables, respectively. Multivariate regression was used to identify the factors that were predictive of repeat offence. Overall, 10% of offenders had no mental illness. Substance use disorders, mood disorders and psychotic disorders were the most common diagnoses. Psychotic disorders were significantly less common in repeat offenders. Repeat offenders also tended to have a history of conduct problems in childhood. Noncompliance with psychiatric treatment was positively associated with repeat offence, while psychotic disorders were negatively associated. The pattern of psychiatric morbidity among theft offenders in Singapore has changed over the last ten years. Kleptomania remains rare. Significant differences between first-time and repeat offenders have implications on the treatment, follow-up and rehabilitation of theft offenders in Singapore.

Overview of: “Moving beyond BAC in DUI: Identifying Who Is at Risk of Recidivating”

Research Summary Driving under the influence (DUI) represents a significant threat to public safety in the United States, and a significant proportion of first-time DUI offenders go on to become repeat offenders. Substantial resources have been expended to identify variables that predict DUI recidivism, but less progress has been made in developing clinically useful tools to predict recidivism accurately. In the current study, we developed a brief empirically based tool containing markers of recidivism risk and treatment need and conducted a small study to examine the ability of items to discriminate between first-time and repeat DUI offenders. Analyses identified several criminal risk and treatment need variables that discriminated between the two groups; however, blood alcohol concentration (BAC) did not. Policy Implications Further validation of these findings and the refinement of the triage tool could provide a practical, evidence-based means of screening and triaging first-time DUI offenders and help to inform and refine policy and sentencing guidelines.