Index Offence Research Articles

Differences between homicide and filicide offenders; results of a nationwide register-based case-control study

BackgroundFilicide, the killing of one's child, is an extraordinary form of homicide. It has commonly been associated with suicide and parental psychiatric illness. In the research on filicide, nationwide studies with comparison groups, specific perpetrator subgroups, and assessment of possible risk factors have been called for. The purpose of the current study was to provide all that.MethodsIn this nationwide register-based case-control study all filicide offenders who were in a forensic psychiatric examination in Finland 1995–2004 were examined and compared with an age- and gender matched control group of homicide offenders. The assessed variables were psychosocial history, index offence, and psychiatric variables as well as psychopathy using the PCL-R.ResultsFilicide offenders were not significantly more often diagnosed with psychotic disorders than the controls but they had attempted suicide at the crime scene significantly more often. Filicide offenders had alcohol abuse/dependence and antisocial personality less often than the controls. Filicide offenders scored significantly lower on psychopathy than the controls. Within the group of filicide offenders, the psychopathy items with relatively higher scores were lack of remorse or guilt, shallow affect, callous/lack of empathy, poor behavioral controls, and failure to accept responsibility.ConclusionSince filicide offenders did not seem significantly more mentally disordered than the other homicide offenders, psychiatry alone cannot be held responsible for the prevention of filicide. Extensive international studies are needed to replicate our findings and provide more specific knowledge in order to enhance prevention.

The alcohol treatment needs of violent and non‐violent prisoners

In 2004, HM Prison Service launched an alcohol strategy that promotes treatment of alcohol‐related problems in imprisoned offenders. In commissioning services for prisoners, the needs of any prison population must first be established. The purpose of this study was to establish the need for an alcohol intervention in a local prison and to explore whether there might be a need to address alcohol‐related violence, rather than simply looking at alcohol misuse. The research identified the extent of the need for alcohol interventions in a UK prison for men, concluding that in this sample those who had also committed violent index offences might require interventions that specifically target alcohol‐related violence.

A Comparative Study of Two Groups of Sex Offenders Identified as High and Low Risk on the Static-99

The purpose of this study was to identify possible differences between high- and low-risk sex offenders. The subjects included 285 sex offenders on probation. They were evaluated with the Static-99, Abel Assessment, Raven's, and MMPI-2. A criminal history review identified the number of prior offenses and the age/sex category in the index offense. The high- and low-risk groups were compared on 26 variables: intelligence, age, criminal history, denial patterns, measured sexual interest in children, admission of sexual interests, a childhood history of sexual abuse, victim's age, and personality variables. Four variables significantly accounted for 64% of the variance: age, prior number of felonies, the Cognitive Distortion Score, and the MMPI-2 Infrequency scale score.

Community Outcomes of Mentally Disordered Homicide Offenders in Victoria

The aim of the present study was to describe characteristics and post-release outcomes of Victorian homicide offenders under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997 (and/or its forerunner legislation) released from forensic inpatient psychiatric care since the development of specialist forensic services. A legal database identified subjects meeting inclusion criteria: hospitalized in forensic psychiatric care due to finding of mental impairment or unfitness to stand trial for homicide in Victoria; released into the community; and released between 1 January 1991 and 30 April 2002. Using clinical records, demographics, index offence, progress in hospital, diagnosis, psychosocial and criminological data were obtained. Outcomes (offending or readmission into secure care) were obtained from the clinical records. Of the 25 subjects, 19 (76%) were male. Primary diagnoses on admission to forensic hospital care were schizophrenia, n = 16 (64%); other psychotic disorder, n = 5 (20%); depression, n = 3 (12%); and personality disorder, n = 1 (4%). Mean time in custodial supervision was 11 years and 2 months, less for those whose offence occurred after the development of forensic rehabilitation services. In the first 3 years after release, there was a single episode of criminal recidivism, representing a recidivism rate of 1 in 25 (4%) over 3 years. Twelve subjects (48%) were readmitted at some point in the 3 year follow up. There was a very low rate of recidivism after discharge, but readmissions to hospital were common. Lengths of custodial care were reduced after the introduction of forensic rehabilitation facilities. Recidivism is low when there are well-designed and implemented forensic community treatment programmes, consistent with other data suggesting a reciprocal relationship between safe community care and a low threshold for readmission to hospital, lessening re-offending at times of crisis. Further research should be directed at timing of release decisions, based on reducing identified risk factors to acceptable levels.

Forensic psychiatric inpatients and aggression: An exploration of incidence, prevalence, severity, and interventions by gender

Background Previous investigations suggest that women judged to be not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCR-MD) differ markedly from their male counterparts in important ways, underscoring the necessity of subsequent study. Objective The goal of the present study was to inform our understanding of the presenting profile of female forensic psychiatric patients and contrast their risk of inpatient aggression with their male counterparts. Method The population of patients assessed and/or treated at a secure Canadian forensic psychiatric hospital were available for study. In total, 527 patients had complete data and were part of intensive retrospective file reviews; inpatient aggression was evaluated using the Overt Aggression Scale. Results Women were no less likely than men to have a violent index offence and to perpetrate inpatient aggression. Examining the range of aggressive behaviours and severity levels did little to increase the relevance of gender to inpatient risk. Discussion Female forensic patients represent a highly selected subgroup of women with exceptional clinical and behavioural challenges and associated treatment needs.

Mental disorder in violent women in secure settings: Potential relevance to risk for future violence

The relevance to women of common violence risk factors identified in men has in many instances yet to be established. Consequently, there is a reluctance to accept without question the application to women of practices relating to violence risk assessment and management developed from research into men. This study examines mental disorder in women who are violent in order comment on its relevance to the practice of violence risk assessment and management. A sample of 95 violent women in high secure prison and forensic psychiatric care were assessed. Structured assessments of Axis I and II mental disorders and psychopathy were undertaken on all women and conviction histories were recorded. Very high levels of psychiatric morbidity were noted and patterns in comorbidity were detected. Among Axis I conditions, psychotic disorders and disorders of mood co-occurred at a very high rate. Among the Axis II conditions, dimensional ratings of borderline personality disorder (PD) correlated with dimensional ratings of avoidant, dependent and paranoid PDs while ratings of antisocial PD correlated with those of narcissistic, histrionic and obsessive–compulsive PDs. Women who had been incarcerated for a major violent offence were four times more likely to have a diagnosis of borderline PD than women whose index offence was one of minor violence. A number of the findings reported are in contrast to those reported in similar studies of men. Findings suggest that practitioners are right to question the application to women of knowledge derived from research into men. The practice of violence risk assessment and management with women should emphasise the development of individual risk formulations and responding to psychiatric comorbidity should be the rule rather than the exception with this population.

Juvenile sex offenders and institutional misconduct: the role of thought psychopathology

Little is known about the institutional behaviour of incarcerated sex offenders. To study the relationships between juvenile sex offending, thought psychopathology and institutional misconduct. We applied negative binomial regression and Area Under Curve Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUC-ROC) analyses to self-report and records data from institutionalised delinquents (N = 813) committed to the California Youth Authority to explore the links between sex offending and institutional misconduct, controlling for offender demographics, institution, index offence, and self-reported and official criminal history. Juvenile sex offending was associated with six forms of institutional misconduct (sexual, general and total misconduct as reviewed by parole board) over 12 and 24 months prior to rating. Two measures of thought psychopathology, which were related to psychosis-like thought, were significantly associated with juvenile sex offender status. These constructs did not, however, mediate the independent predictive effects of adolescent sex offending on institutional misconduct. Interventions to help incarcerated young offenders are likely to be particularly important for those with a sex offending history as they are otherwise likely to persist with antisocial behaviours of all kinds within and beyond the institution. Attention to their thought processes may be particularly useful.

Intoxication and violent women

Alcohol and drugs have been linked to severe violent offending among women as well as men. The purpose of this study was to make a contribution to the limited knowledge of characteristics related to the state of intoxication in violent female offenders. The putative differences in the characteristics of female offenders and their violent offenses in relation to the state of intoxication at the time of the violent offending were examined. Of a nation-wide sample of 109 female offenders found guilty of homicide and other violent crimes and incarcerated in 1999-2000 in Finland, 60 offenders participated in the study. Of these offenders 49 (81.7%) had been intoxicated at the time the of index offenses. These were compared with 11 (18.3%) non-intoxicated offenders using a structured interview, the Structured Clinical Interview II for DSM-IV (SCID-II) and the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). The prevalence of substance abuse or dependence (73.3% and 0%), personality disorder (89.6% and 36.4%), particularly antisocial personality disorder (66.7% and 0%), as well as a history of criminality (69.4% and 0%) were significantly higher among the intoxicated women than among the non-intoxicated. The PCL-R scores were also significantly higher among the intoxicated offenders than among non-intoxicated offenders. The victims of the intoxicated women (23.9%) were less often emotionally close to the perpetrator than were the victims of the non-intoxicated women (66.6%). No differences emerged between the groups in experiences of childhood and adulthood abuse or stressful life events prior to the index crime. The findings indicate that intoxicated violent female offenders exhibit more of the characteristics previously found in violent men, than do the non-intoxicated female offenders. Moreover, the non-intoxicated group comprises both psychotic non-responsible and non-psychotic, fairly well-adjusted women, who are educated, working or studying at the time of the offense and has no history of criminality. Substance misuse constitutes an obvious risk factor for violent behavior in women, and therefore the prevention should include substance abuse treatment.

Recidivism Rates for Registered and Nonregistered Juvenile Sexual Offenders

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the effects of South Carolina's comprehensive registration policy on recidivism of juveniles who sexually offend. Registered and nonregistered male youth are matched on year of index offense, age at index offense, race, prior person offenses, prior nonperson offenses, and type of index sexual offense, for a total of 111 matched pairs. Recidivism is assessed across a mean 4.3-year follow-up (SD = 2.5). The sexual offense reconviction rate is too low (2 events) to support between-group analyses. Cox regression results indicate no significant between-group differences with respect to new nonsexual person offense convictions but significant between-group differences with respect to new nonperson offense convictions. Specifically, registered youth are more likely than nonregistered youth to have new nonperson offense convictions across follow-up. Public policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Sexualdelinquenz bei Schizophrenie – eine Vergleichsstudie

Studies suggest a complex relationship between schizophrenia and sexually offensive behaviour. The mental disorder itself, antisocial personality traits, drug abuse and adverse childhood experiences are suggested to have an impact on sexual offending in mentally disordered offenders. Similarities in psychosexual variables for schizophrenic and sexual offenders in general are found. This study aimed to preserve first findings of sex offence features and behaviours exhibited by psychotic men in Germany. Furthermore a typology of the schizophrenic offenders was developed. Records of 64-male restricted hospital order in-patients (32 patients with and 32 patients without an ICD-10 psychotic disorder) examined at the Institute for Forensic Psychiatry or resident in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the prisons in Berlin from 1980 - 2006 with an index conviction for a contact sex offence against a woman provided the material for research. A comparative trial design was used to differentiate the psychotic and non psychotic offender group. A check list which based on the method of a content analysis containing items related to the offender and the index offence was developed and applied to the records of men. A similar extent of social isolation, psychosexual variables and adverse childhood experiences are found for schizophrenic and non schizophrenic offenders. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia as well as antisocial traits had a great impact on schizophrenic sexual offending. Solely the occurrence of bizarre behaviour was influenced by positive symptoms. Different offence characteristics appeared in the four outlined schizophrenic subgroups such as bizarre behaviour of the psychotic, assaultive behaviour of the dissocial, chaotic behaviour of the substance abusive and negative childhood experiences of the sadistic schizophrenic offenders. The partly controversial findings underline the need for further studies to understand sexual offending in the heterogeneous group of schizophrenic men.

Presentations of psychosis with violence: variations in different jurisdictions. A comparison of patients with psychosis in the high security hospitals of Scotland and England

International literature is consistent on there being a significant relationship between psychosis and violence, less so on its extent and nature, but two main presentational types are increasingly recognized. In one, people are unremarkable before onset of illness and psychotic symptoms commonly drive violence; in the other, psychosis is preceded by childhood conduct problems, associated with personality disorder, and psychotic symptoms seem less relevant. To explore the extent to which variations in aspects of social and service context in different jurisdictions affect presentational type among people admitted to high security hospitals. There will be differences between jurisdictions in proportions of patients with pure psychosis or with psychosis and antecedent personality disorder, but symptom drive to violence will be more common in the pure psychosis group regardless of social, legal and service context. Independently conducted record studies were used to compare high security hospital patients with psychosis in Scotland and England, all resident between 25 August 1992 and 13 August 1993. The cohorts were similar in offence histories, predominance of schizophrenia, age at first hospitalization for psychosis and first high security hospitalization. More Scottish patients had co-morbid substance misuse diagnoses and/or personality disorder than patients in England. Psychotic symptom drive to the index offence was, however, four times more likely in the pure psychosis groups, regardless of sex, ethnic group or country. Scottish patients spent less time in high security after the index act. Our hypotheses were sustained. Knowledge about lifestyle before onset of psychosis is important for interpreting literature on how psychotic symptoms relate to violence. This may also influence longer term outcome, although the shorter length of secure hospital stay in Scotland was perhaps affected more by greater availability of open 'step-down' beds.

The Role of Substance Abuse in Psychotic Versus Personality Disordered Offenders Detained Under the Dutch Entrustment Act (TBS): An Exploratory Study

Mentally disordered patients that abuse drugs or alcohol have a larger number of criminal convictions. Early starters who had their first conviction before the age of 18, especially, more often have a diagnosis of substance abuse and are more often intoxicated at the time of the offense compared to late starters. The present study involved four groups of Dutch patients (n = 137): three groups of violent offenders (psychotic and personality disordered patients) and one group of non-delinquent psychotic patients from general psychiatry. All data were retrieved retrospectively. The results showed that early starters were intoxicated more often, started with substance abuse at an earlier age and more often had a diagnosis of substance abuse at the time of the index offense than late starters. Personality disordered offenders were intoxicated more often and more often had a prior diagnosis of substance abuse at the time of the offense than psychotic offenders. To a limited extent, psychotic offenders with a diagnosis of a substance-related disorder or intoxication at the time of the offense had a more extensive criminal history than personality disordered offenders. Substance abuse has an aggravating effect on criminogenic behavior, depending on the age at first conviction and diagnosis.

Offence characteristics, trauma histories and post‐traumatic stress disorder symptoms in life sentenced prisoners

Life‐long trauma histories and PTSD symptoms in 26 life sentence prisoners detained in a British Category B prison were examined. Prisoners were categorised on the basis of whether index offence violence resulted in human fatality, and whether reactive or instrumental violence was used in the index offence. Symptom measures included the Impact of Events Scale ‐ Revised and the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale. Eight prisoners (31%) met all DSM‐IV criteria for current PTSD diagnosis. Partial PTSD was common in the remaining prisoners. Number of PTSD symptoms was unrelated to both the act of killing and the nature of violence. The rate of trauma prior to index offences was positively related to intrusive, avoidant and hyperarousal symptoms attributed by the prisoners to their index offence. The results suggest that prior trauma sensitised prisoners' traumatic reactions to their offences.

Sociological, Social Psychological, and Psychopathological Correlates of Substance Use Disorders in the U.S. Jail Population

The objective of this study was to examine sociological, social psychological, and psychopathological correlates of substance abuse disorders in a nationally representative sample of jail inmates. Criminal history and clinical factors most strongly differentiated convicted inmates with and without substance use disorders regardless of current index offense. Policy implications are discussed in terms of targeting antisocial attitudes and peer associations and more effective clinical treatments for substance use disorders among the inmate population. High rates of co-occurring depression symptoms and anger dyscontrol found among inmates with substance use disorders in this study underscore the need for assessment and evaluation of specialized programs for co-occurring disorders and anger management programs among U.S. inmates.

Prädiktoren für Gewalt während des Strafvollzugs

The factors leading to violent behaviour in prison have been the subject of various research projects. Besides causing financial and structural damage to the penitentiary, violent behaviour during prison sentences is considered to be an important predictor of re-offending. The following article provides an overview of the research literature concerning predictors of violence during imprisonment. The examined criteria include socio-demographic (e.g. age, marital status and level of education) as well as criminological (e.g. previous violent convictions, duration of sentence and type of offence) factors. However, the analysis of the significance of the individual factors is not conclusive. Considering the results of numerous replication studies, young age seems to be connected to an increase in risk for intramural infractions while partnership (marriage) seems to have a protective influence. Regarding vocational training and educational level, mixed results were found. However, being unemployed at the time of the crime seemed to increase the risk for rule violations during imprisonment in most studies analysed. Furthermore, it is generally accepted that duration of sentence and time already served has an influence on the risk of violence as well. Inmates with shorter or finite sentences presented violent behaviour more frequently. The relationship between duration of sentence and violent infractions has repeatedly been described as an inverse U-shaped curve. Accordingly, most violations of prison rules occurred in mid-sentence. The literature examined presents inconsistent results concerning previous violent convictions, type of index offence, ethnic origin and the influence of alcohol consumption and drug use. Evidence seems to be more consistent regarding pre-existing risk-associated socio-demographic variables rather than institutional conditions. Overall comparability of the studies was, however, reduced by the fact that violent behaviour was defined very heterogeneously in the different institutions - sometimes even including verbally aggressive behaviour. Institutions also differed in the likelihood of an infraction being recorded. The heterogeneity of the results can furthermore be explained with the very different cultural and sociological backgrounds of the different institutions examined. As prognostic models are very sample sensitive it is vital to define precisely for which populations the prediction is valid and to examine samples of appropriate size and representativeness as well as control a wide variety of influencing factors with multivariable controlling strategies.

Arson: characteristics and predisposing factors in offenders with intellectual disabilities

The prevalence rate of arson in offenders with intellectual disabilities (ID) has been reported to be higher than that in the general population. This retrospective study focuses on examining the characteristics of offenders with ID and the range of identified reasons for the index offence. The findings indicate a higher prevalence of arson in this population, along with the fact that the majority of people with ID who have committed arson tend to bypass the Criminal Justice System. A significant number are likely to repeat the behaviour and will also commit other offences. The most common reason for arson appears to be revenge, closely followed by suggestibility. The majority had an associated diagnosis of personality disorders along with an Axis 1 psychiatric diagnosis. Other factors include large family size, history of childhood psychiatric disorders, abuse, homelessness, unemployment and relationship difficulties.

Threats to kill: a follow-up study

Mental health clinicians are frequently asked to assess the risks presented by patients making threats to kill, but there are almost no data to guide such an evaluation. This data linkage study examined serious violence following making threats to kill and the potential role of mental disorder. A total of 613 individuals convicted of threats to kill had their prior contact with public mental health services established at the time of the index offence. The group's subsequent criminal convictions were established 10 years later using the police database. Death from suicidal or homicidal violence was also established. Within 10 years, 44% of threateners were convicted of further violent offending, including 19 (3%) homicides. Those with histories of psychiatric contact (40%) had a higher rate (58%) of subsequent violence. The highest risks were in substance misusers, mentally disordered, young, and those without prior criminal convictions. Homicidal violence was most frequent among threateners with a schizophrenic illness. Sixteen threateners (2.6%) killed themselves, and three were murdered. In contrast to the claims in the literature that threats are not predictive of subsequent violence, this study revealed high rates of assault and even homicide following threats to kill. The mentally disordered were over-represented among threat offenders and among those at high risk of subsequent violence. The mentally disordered threateners at highest risk of violence were young, substance abusing, but not necessarily with prior convictions. Those who threaten others were also found to be at greater risk of killing themselves or being killed.

The link between dyslexic traits, executive functioning, impulsivity and social self-esteem among an offender and non-offender sample

Purpose The current study had two core aims; first to explore the link between dyslexic traits and other aspects of functioning among a sample of offenders and non-offenders (students); and, second, to explore if dyslexic traits were over-represented among offenders. A subsidiary aim was to explore if the results were influenced by an offender's current index offence (i.e. violent versus non-violent). Method Ninety-two adult male participants took part: sixty offenders and thirty-two non-offenders. All completed a structured interview assessing dyslexic traits, namely the Dyslexia Adult Screening Test battery (DAST: Fawcett and Nicholson, 1998). Participants also completed a measure of executive functioning (Benton Word Fluency Test, Benton, A. (1968) Differential behavioural effects in frontal lobe disease. Neuropsychologica, 6, 53–60), impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale: BIS-II, Barratt, E.S. (1994), Impulsiveness and Aggression. In J. Monahan and H.J. Steadman (Eds.), Violence and Mental Disorder: Developments in Risk Assessment (pp.61–79). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.) and social self-esteem (Texas Social Behavior Inventory: TSBI, Helmreich and Stapp, 1974). Results Offenders presented with more dyslexic traits than non-offenders, with those with violent index offences presenting with more traits than those with non-violent index offences. Offenders performed poorly on assessments of executive functioning when compared with non-offenders. Dyslexic traits were predicted most significantly by executive functioning difficulties followed by decreased social self-esteem. There was a trend for increased impulsivity to correlate with increased dyslexic traits. Dyslexic traits were also predictive of membership to the offender group whereas impulsivity, executive functioning or social self-esteem was not. Conclusion Preliminary evidence is provided for increased dyslexic traits among offenders compared to non-offenders. The study highlights the correlates of dyslexic traits. The implications of these findings for future research are outlined.

Theory of mind function, motor empathy, emotional empathy and schizophrenia: A single case study

It has been proposed that theory of mind dysfunction contributes to the development of paranoid schizophrenia. The inability to represent others' thoughts and feelings has implications for the type of behaviour expressed by people with delusional beliefs. Evidence has shown that a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia is associated with an increased risk of violence. This case study explores the role of theory of mind and emotional processing in the violent index offence of a 33-year-old man (SB) with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. Neuropsychological and theory of mind assessment measures were administered during SB's admission to medium secure services. SB was found to be within the average range on standardised neuropsychological assessment measures but was found to be significantly impaired on measures examining theory of mind and various aspects of emotional functioning. The implications of SB's emotional deficits within the context of his index offence are discussed.

Background, Offence Characteristics, and Criminal Outcomes of Aboriginal Youth Who Sexually Offend: A Closer Look at Aboriginal Youth Intervention Needs

Canada's Aboriginal peoples face a number of social and health issues. Research shows that Aboriginal youths are over-represented in the criminal justice system and youth forensic psychiatric programmes. Within the literature on sex offending youth, there appears to be no published data available to inform clinicians working with adjudicated Aboriginal youth. Therefore, the present study examines the background, offence characteristics, and criminal outcomes of Aboriginal (n = 102) and non-Aboriginal (n = 257) youths who engaged in sexual offending behaviour and were ordered to attend a sexual offender treatment programme in British Columbia between 1985 and 2004. Overall, Aboriginal youths were more likely than non-Aboriginal youths to have background histories of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), substance abuse, childhood victimization, academic difficulties, and instability in the living environment. Both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youths had a tendency to target children under 12-years-old, females, and non-strangers. Aboriginal youths were more likely than non-Aboriginal youths to use substances at the time of their sexual index offence. Outcome data revealed that Aboriginal youths were more likely than their non-Aboriginal counterparts to recidivate sexually, violently, and non-violently during the 10-year follow-up period. Furthermore, the time between discharge and commission of all types of re-offences was significantly shorter for Aboriginal youths than for non-Aboriginal youths. Implications of these findings are discussed with regards to the needs of Aboriginal youth and intervention.