General Offenders Research Articles

Hope, trust and segregation in schools: An analysis of contextual effects on violent and general offending

Abstract Influenced by the theoretical concepts of ‘Relative deprivation’ and ‘Social cohesion’, this study adds to the relatively limited literature of socio-structural approaches to the school–crime relationship. Multilevel analysis was conducted to explore the independent and interactive effects of three distinct features of the school setting—concentrated (dis)advantage, the proportion of students with poor future prospects and teacher-rated social cohesion—in relation to self-reported offending. Using information from three data sources on 4,608 students and 1,056 teachers from 77 lower secondary schools in Stockholm, the results showed that school concentrated (dis)advantage and school-level future prospects were directly related to offending. In addition, cross-level interactions indicate that the association between student performance and offending differs depending on school type.

Supplemental Material for An Epidemiological Analysis of Public Mass Shooters and Active Shooters: Quantifying Key Differences Between Perpetrators and the General Population, Homicide Offenders, and People Who Die by Suicide

Supplemental Material for An Epidemiological Analysis of Public Mass Shooters and Active Shooters: Quantifying Key Differences Between Perpetrators and the General Population, Homicide Offenders, and People Who Die by Suicide

Psychological Risk Factors of Future Drug Offending among Young Offenders in Hong Kong - A Longitudinal Study

In recent years there is a growing concern on drug offenders in Hong Kong. Despite its over-representation in prison and recidivists, drug offending has seldom been studied systematically in risk factor research. The issue as to whether drug offending has specific psychological risk factors or they share a common set of risk factors with general offending remains largely unaddressed. This research applied a longitudinal design to investigate this issue. Using a data-set on young offenders’ psychological characteristics established in 2004 in the Hong Kong Correctional Services, and re-conviction data retrieved 11 years later in 2015, ANCOVA with planned orthogonal contrasts and Discriminant Function Analysis, Correlation and Regression analyses were used to analyze factors predicting post-release outcomes including recidivism, drug offending, and crime severity. Results revealed two sets of psychological risk factors with little overlap that could predict general recidivism (of all types of crime) and future drug offending. Recidivism could be predicted by low Future Time Perspective and Empathy, and high Assertiveness. Low Empathy was predictive of post-release crime severity of non-drug offending recidivists. Drug offending, in contrast, could be predicted by high Impulsiveness and Social Problem-solving deficits during adolescence. These two variables, together with low Assertiveness, also predicted post-release crime severity of drug-offending recidivists. Implications to future intervention and research were discussed.

Barriers to accessing psychological treatment for medium to high risk male young offenders

ABSTRACT Within the young offender population, rates of personality disorder and mood disorders are considerably higher than both the general and adult offender population. Despite this high level of need and high risk of harm, psychological services within prisons are widely underutilized. Little is known about the barriers to accessing treatment for young offenders. This study investigated barriers to accessing psychological treatment for male young offenders detained in a UK prison. There were 128 participants, aged 18–21. A cross-sectional design compared self-reported barriers and psychological distress for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and White young offenders not accessing treatment, as well as those who were. A preference for self-reliance, a lack of trust in the prison system, lengthy waiting times and a general reluctance to talk about emotions were the most commonly cited barriers. BME young offenders not engaged in treatment reported significantly more barriers to accessing treatment than BME young offenders who were engaged in treatment, but both BME groups had equal levels of psychological distress. There was no significant difference between BME and White young offenders in the number of barriers reported, including stigma barriers. Future research should evaluate interventions to increase access for this marginalised population.

Crime and social cognition: a meta-analytic review of the developmental roots of adult criminal thinking

In an effort to investigate and verify the developmental roots of adult criminal thinking, a meta-analysis was performed on nine social cognitive variables organized into three clusters and hypothesized to precede the criminal thinking dimensions of proactive criminal thinking, reactive criminal thinking, and criminal identity. The three proactive antecedents were moral disengagement, neutralization, and positive outcome expectancies for crime; the three reactive antecedents were hostile attribution biases, temporal discounting, and thrill/sensation seeking; and the three criminal identity antecedents were criminal self-efficacy, feared possible selves, and reflected appraisals. A series of random effects meta-analyses were performed, the results of which revealed the presence of significant pooled effect sizes for the proactive (k = 26, r = 0.34), reactive (k = 25, r = 0.25), and criminal identity (k = 11, r = 0.24) antecedents as correlates of juvenile delinquency and adult crime. Restricting the analyses to studies with prospective data indicated that each antecedent cluster successfully predicted future offending. The results of this meta-analytic review denote that social cognitive variables proposed to serve as antecedents to adult criminal thinking both correlate with and predict delinquency and general offending in adolescent populations.

The Relationship Between the Development of General Offending and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration in Young Adulthood.

This study examined how patterns in general offending relate to the occurrence of and likelihood of persistence in intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration in young adulthood. The study used longitudinal data from the cohort of 18 year olds from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods study. Self-reported offending was measured in all three waves, and data on IPV were collected in Waves 1 and 3. Group-based trajectory modeling identified three distinct general offending trajectory groups: non-offenders, low-rate offenders, and high-rate offenders. The majority of respondents engaged in psychological IPV perpetration, and half of all young adults reported physical IPV, but prevalence rates decreased over the waves. Binary logistic regression analyses showed that those involved in offending, especially those who showed a diverse offending pattern, were at increased risk of perpetrating psychological and (severe) physical IPV, as well as to show persistence in the different forms of IPV perpetration. The findings highlight an important overlap between general crime and IPV perpetration. In recognition that IPV is often part of a broader pattern of antisocial behavior, interventions should focus on interrupting the criminal careers of all young offenders to reduce the prevalence and harms of IPV.

Does childhood victimization predict specific adolescent offending? An analysis of generality versus specificity in the victim-offender overlap

BackgroundA large body of research has examined the relationship between victimization and future offending, with results suggesting that crime victims are at higher risk of future criminal behavior—known as the victim-offender overlap. Prior studies have primarily examined the relationship between general victimization (e.g., violent victimization, sexual abuse, and more) and general offending (e.g., violence, sexual offending, and drug use), and focused on adult populations. ObjectiveThe goal of the present study is to expand on prior literature by examining if specific forms of childhood victimization increase the risk of specific and analogous forms of offending among delinquent youth. MethodBased upon a population of 64,329 high-risk youth offenders in Florida, this study evaluates the specificity of the overlap among youth who were physically abused, sexually abused, or witnessed illegal substance use at home during childhood to determine if these forms of victimization increased the risk of violence, sexual offending, and drug use, respectively, when assessed in multivariate logistic regression models. ResultsResults provide considerable support for specificity in the victim-offender overlap, as hypothesized. Specifically, experiencing physical abuse (OR = 1.55, p < .001), sexual abuse (OR = 3.58, p < .001) and witnessing household substance abuse (OR = 1.66, p < .001) in childhood each significantly and substantially increased the risk of analogous criminal behavior in adolescence, even when controlling for other risk factors and forms of victimization. ConclusionThis study provided novel evidence for specificity in the victim-offender overlap, even after controlling for confounding variables. Practical implications for early intervention and crime prevention are discussed, as well as implications for future research. Highlighting the importance of specificity in the victimization and adverse childhood experience (ACE) paradigms.

Long-Term Violent Reoffending Following Forensic Psychiatric Treatment: Comparing Forensic Psychiatric Examinees and General Offender Controls.

Background: Long-term violent re-offending in forensic psychiatric (FP) patients vs. non-FP offenders is largely unknown. Methods: We studied rates and facets of long-term violent reoffending among 1,062 violent forensic psychiatric examinees (FPE) consecutively undergoing pre-trial, forensic psychiatric examination (FPE) in Denmark during 1980–1992. Altogether, 392 were sentenced to FP treatment (FPE+T); the remaining 670 examinees received ordinary non-FP sanctions (FPE-T). FPE+T were compared to 392 contemporary matched violent general offenders (GEN) without FPE or other psychiatric contacts and sentenced to ordinary non-FP sanctions. FPE data were linked to population-based registers with sociodemographic, psychiatric, and crime information, and we estimated relative risks controlling for birth year, sex, educational and marital status, and previous violent crime. Results: During follow-up (mean = 18.0–19.5 years), FPE+T and GEN had any violent recidivism rates of 43% vs. 29% [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1–1.9], respectively. Corresponding findings for severe violence (21% vs. 14%; aHR = 1.3; 95% CI, 0.9–1.9) and recurrent violence (3+ violent convictions; 16% vs. 6%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.5; 95% CI, 1.5–4.4) also suggested weakly to moderately increased risks in FPE+T, albeit non-significantly for the former. Comparing FPE+T to FPE-T suggested decreased risk of any violence (43% vs. 51%; aHR = 0.8; 95% CI, 0.6–1.1), severe (21% vs. 34%; aHR = 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4–0.8), and recurrent violence [16% vs. 22%; adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.7; 95% CI, 0.5–1.0] in FP patients, though non-significantly for any violence and recurrent violence. Among all FPE examinees, violent reoffending was independently predicted by male sex, younger age, pre-index violent crime, personality disorder (vs. schizophrenia spectrum and other psychiatric disorder), substance use disorder, and 5+ hospital admissions. Conclusion: FPE examinees, untreated followed by treated, reoffend violently more often than GENs. Similar trends are suggested also for severe and recurrent violence suggesting a need for continua of services for FPE examinees, independently of medico-legal status (i.e., sentencing to treatment or not).

Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration, Victimization, and Overlap Among Serious Juvenile Offenders: Trajectories of Emerging Adulthood.

This study uses group-based trajectory analysis and data from the Pathways to Desistance Study to examine the prevalence and patterns of intimate partner victimization, offending, and overlap among justice-involved adolescents (i.e., general offenders) who reported dating (n = 909); regression analysis was further utilized to assess predictors of intimate partner violence (IPV) group membership. Findings revealed that 40% of adjudicated youth reported IPV as a victim, an offender, or as both a victim and an offender during emerging adulthood. Findings also indicated that there was significant overlap between victimization and offending, and 5% of the sample was assigned to both the high-rate perpetration and victimization trajectory groups. Maternal hostility, alcohol use, and witnessing violence predicted higher rate perpetration and victimization overlap group membership compared with very-low-rate perpetration/victimization group membership. Implications for informing policy and future research are discussed.

Predicting aggression in adults with intellectual disability: A pilot study of the predictive efficacy of the Current Risk of Violence and the Short Dynamic Risk Scale.

Structured assessments have been shown to assist professionals to evaluate the risk of aggression in secure services for general offender populations and more recently among adults with intellectual disabilities. There is a need to develop intellectual disability sensitive measures for predicting risk of aggression in community samples, especially tools with a focus on dynamic variables. The study prospectively followed 28 participants for up to 2months to test whether the Current Risk of Violence (CuRV) and Short Dynamic Risk Scale (SDRS) were able to predict verbal and physical aggression in a community sample of adults with intellectual disability. CuRV and SDRS ratings significantly predicted verbal and physical aggression over a 2-month period. The current study supports the use of the CuRV with adults with intellectual disability living in community settings. The CuRV and SDRS are worthy of future development and evaluation in independent investigations.

A Latent Profile Analysis of Violent Offenders Based on PCL-R Factor Scores: Criminogenic Needs and Recidivism Risk.

Clinicians and theorists have often proposed the two psychopathic subtypes of “primary” and “secondary” psychopathy, with recent research indicating some empirical support for both psychopathy subtypes, though the findings across studies are far from uniform. For the current study, latent profile analysis was used to investigate if homogeneous latent classes exist within a sample of 215 adult male violent offenders from Berlin, Germany. The age of the offenders at the time of the index offense ranged from 19 to 59 years. The results indicated a solution with four latent classes, which we refer to as prototypical psychopaths (LC1), callous-conning offenders (LC2), sociopathic or dyssocial offenders (LC3), and general offenders (LC4). Validation of the four subtypes involved examination of differences on recidivism risk; criminogenic needs; and general, violent, and sexual reoffending. The results also are discussed in terms of the issue of treatment amenability.

Life-Course Criminal Trajectories of Mafia Members

Through a novel data set comprising the criminal records of 11,138 convicted mafia offenders, we compute criminal career parameters and trajectories through group-based trajectory modeling. Mafia offenders report prolific and persistent careers (16.1 crimes over 16.5 years on average), with five distinct trajectories (low frequency, high frequency, early starter, moderate persistence, high persistence). While showing some similarities with general offenders, the trajectories of mafia offenders also exhibit significant differences, with several groups offending well into their middle and late adulthood, notwithstanding intense criminal justice sanctions. These patterns suggest that several mafia offenders are life-course persisters and career criminals and that the involvement in the mafias is a negative turning point extending the criminal careers beyond those observed in general offenders.

The Impact of Juvenile Sex Offending on the Adult Criminal Career.

Although past studies demonstrated the heterogeneity of the criminal career patterns of juveniles with sexual offenses (JSOs), such studies did not directly assess whether JSOs have different adult offending outcomes compared with juvenile nonsex offenders. Using data on a subsample of males from the Incarcerated Serious and Violent Young Offender Study, JSOs (n = 78), juveniles with violent offenses (JVOs; n = 550), and juveniles with nonviolent offenses (JNVOs; n = 281) were compared across a variety of adult offending outcomes. JSOs were not associated with a specific trajectory of general offending in adulthood, nor were they associated with a range of adult criminal career parameters (e.g., frequency, severity, specialization, and versatility). However, a range of other indicators of juvenile offending were associated with general offending in adulthood. For juvenile males who experience incarceration, many elements of their offending history mattered for adult offending outcomes, but not sexual offending. Policy implications for treatment and management are discussed.

Arbitrary decision making in the absence of evidence: an examination of factors related to treatment selection and recidivism for female sexual offenders

ABSTRACT As criminal justice professionals are asked to assign risk levels and treat females who sexually offend, identifying risk factors for recidivism prediction and treatment targets is important. Although the majority of risk and treatment studies have focused on males, general female offender research and developing research with female sex offenders both provide some evidence for possible factors related to sexual offending behaviour in women. The purpose of this study was to explore what possible factors were related to treatment selection in a sample of 506 females serving prison sentences for a sexual offense, and, in turn, to examine which factors predicted non-sexual and sexual recidivism. Results demonstrated that exploratory variables were significantly related to treatment selection, as opposed to variables previously supported in research. Furthermore, living with a significant other for more than two years, and prior sexual offending arrests predicted sexual recidivism, while decreased age and treatment participation predicted non-sexual recidivism. These findings indicate that while similarities between male and female sexual offenders exist, females still demonstrate gender-specific risk factors.

Sexual Sadism and Psychopathy in Sexual Homicide Offenders: An Exploration of Their Associates in a Clinical Sample.

Sexual sadism and psychopathy are often considered synonymous with sexual homicide, but there is limited research on their associates in sexual homicide offenders. Associates of dimensional measures of sexual sadism (Sexual Sadism Scale; SeSaS) and psychopathy (Psychopathy Check List-Revised [PCL-R] total, Factor 1, and Factor 2) were examined in 51 male Scottish cases. Over a third were DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV) sexual sadists, just under a third screened in with the SeSaS, and a quarter were "Hare psychopaths." Sexual sadism and PCL-R measures were moderately associated. Sexual sadism predicted control, sexual deviance, and unusual behaviour at crime scenes; attempted homicide and having a co-accused; and multiple sexual homicides and previous sexual offending. PCL-R Factor 1 predicted violent, exploitative, and evading detection behaviours at crime scenes; completed homicide; and previous violent offending. PCL-R Factor 2 predicted impulsive behaviours at crime scenes, substance misuse, and previous general offending. Psychopathy and sexual sadism play key roles in sexual homicide, interact with each other, and determine different aspects of offences and offenders.

Recovery, desistance, and the role of procedural justice in working alliances with mentally ill offenders: a critical review

Recovery and desistance in mentally ill offenders can be more complicated than in respectively general psychiatric or offender populations due to factors and processes on individual, contextual and structural levels. In this paper we focus on a specific element of the interplay between the individual and the contextual level; the working alliance. Beneficial working alliances during (quasi-)compulsory treatment and offender supervision can facilitate recovery and desistance in mentally ill offenders. These alliances are however characterized by a tension between care and control and further complicated by mentally ill offenders’ experiences of trauma and stigma. To our opinion, a procedurally just approach can counterbalance these two difficulties by setting a sound rehabilitative climate in which recovery and desistance can be facilitated in mentally ill offenders. We support our argument by a critical review of findings from theoretical papers and empirical research studies from psychological-psychiatric and legal-criminological scientific domains on the subjects of recovery, desistance, (quasi-)compulsory treatment processes, and procedural justice. A procedurally just approach can be valuable for policy, treatment as well as future research regarding recovery and desistance in mentally ill offenders.

School variation in offending: A macro-level strain approach

This study employs Macro-level Strain Theory (MST) as a framework to provide a better understanding of the way in which the structural and social context of Stockholm schools covaries with self-reported violent and general offending. The findings contribute to the literature in this area by directing a special focus at the interplay between the theory’s macro-level components and some individual-level mechanisms that may be assumed to condition the effect of strain on offending. Using multi-level data on 4789 students nested in 82 schools (violent offending) and 4643 students nested in 83 schools (general offending) in the City of Stockholm, the study notes significant contextual effects of anger, meaninglessness and life dissatisfaction on offending. School-level deprivation appears to have a confounding effect on the relationship between school-contextual negative affect and offending. Further, school-contextual anger influences some individuals more than others. Implications of these findings are discussed.

General offender theory

We present an offender theory that is symmetric in offender and offended group and also a replacement theorem that does not need that the groups in question are abelian. We then use this theory to define variations of Thompson and Baumann subgroups and prove a general Baumann argument.

Employment and Housing Challenges Experienced by Sex Offenders during Reentry on Parole

ABSTRACTAlthough the general offender populations are known to experience numerous barriers to successful community reentry from prison, existing research suggests that barriers for sex offenders may be particularly acute. This research qualitatively examines the barriers to two key reentry dimensions—employment and housing—experienced by a sample of sex offenders (n = 65) during reentry on parole, while also drawing on a comparison sample of nonsex offenders (n = 30) to contextualize the results. The findings suggest that social stigma and sex offender supervision compound reentry challenges experienced by general offender populations, increasing strain during the reentry process. For this sample, sex offender–specific conditions limiting access to computers and difficulties surrounding transitional housing facilities were cited as especially problematic. Implications for future research and reentry practice are discussed.

Alexithymia among Perpetrators of Violent Offences in Australia: Implications for Rehabilitation

ObjectiveAlexithymia, which involves difficulties identifying, communicating, and thinking about emotions, could be an important factor in violent offending. Our aim with the current study was to explore the levels of alexithymia among perpetrators of different types of violence (i.e., general and intimate partner) in Australia to better understand their treatment needs.MethodSeventy‐nine male general violent offenders incarcerated in Western Australian prisons, 31 male intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators from IPV intervention programs, and 80 men from the general community completed the 20‐item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS‐20).ResultsGeneral violent offenders and IPV perpetrators both scored significantly higher than men from the general community on total alexithymia score and the subscales that measure difficulty identifying and describing feelings; the violent groups did not differ from the general community on externally oriented thinking style. There was no significant difference between the general violent offenders and IPV perpetrators on the total alexithymia score or any of the three subscales of the TAS‐20.ConclusionsThe results of this study suggest that perpetrators of violence in Australia have higher levels of alexithymia than non‐offending men, and that alexithymia should be assessed in the treatment of violent offenders. Our findings also suggest both types of violent offenders have similar alexithymia profiles and that both have difficulties identifying and describing their emotions.