Nonviolent Crimes Research Articles

An Assessment of the Prevalence, Perceived Significance, and Response to Dowry Solicitation and Domestic Violence in Bangladesh.

The current study focuses on the prevalence of two pervasive gender-related crimes in Bangladesh: dowry solicitation and domestic violence. We assess victim perceptions of how these two crimes rank in significance compared with other types of crimes experienced and the actions victim households took in response. Our research builds on prior qualitative studies by making use of nation-wide household survey data, collected by the World Bank, to examine dowry and domestic violence in the context of all legal conflicts experienced by households in every administrative region of the country. The analyses show that both dowry solicitation and domestic violence rank in the top five most common crimes, including violent and non-violent crimes. Women report more experiences of dowry solicitation and domestic violence, with urban females most frequently disclosing both. Among the households that experienced multiple types of violent and non-violent crimes, 55.9% of dowry and 70.8% of domestic violence victims reported another crime ranked higher in significance. Of the households that considered these two crimes the most serious they experienced, 56.1% of dowry and 32.5% of domestic violence households took no action at all in response. Among the households that took action, most eschewed both police and state judicial institutions. Choosing to act alone or with the help of family members was the most frequent response. The findings illustrate the need for governance reforms in Bangladesh and may inform state and non-state improvement initiatives.

The link between crime risk and property prices in England and Wales: Evidence from street-level data

This paper uses street-level data on property sales and crime rates for England and Wales to investigate compensating differentials for crime risk. My identification strategy relies on the use of non-parametric regional time trends on various levels of spatial aggregation as well as various fixed effects for streets and wider areas to control for unobserved amenities and regional economic conditions. The data comes from transaction data collected by the land registry and recently published crime maps for the whole of the UK. My estimates, which are robust to a range of sensible specification changes, suggest that each case of anti-social behaviour per ten population in the same street leads to an approximately 0.6–0.8% drop in property prices, while a corresponding increase in violent crime decreases prices by roughly 0.6–1.6% and a corresponding increase in non-violent crime by about 0.2–0.4%. The majority of estimates are at the upper end of these intervals. Estimates for robbery, burglary and vehicle crime are either zero or positive, but are possibly biased because of reverse causality. Crime outside of the respective street does not appear to matter, which is consistent with earlier findings. Expressed in monetary terms each case of anti-social behaviour costs society between £5000 and £6700 and each violent crime between £5000 and £13,300. The results confirm estimates based on prior willingness-to-pay studies and other studies using smaller areas such as single cities.

Firearm Ownership and the Murder of Women in the United States: Evidence That the State-Level Firearm Ownership Rate Is Associated with the Nonstranger Femicide Rate

Abstract Femicide is an important but understudied public health and criminal justice issue. The majority of femicides in the United States are perpetrated with a firearm, and policies that may reduce firearm-related homicides are now being considered at federal and state levels. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of data on firearm ownership and homicide rates in general, and there is an even more severe lack of data on this topic as it pertains to femicide specifically. This is the first study to examine the relationship between firearm ownership and total and gender-specific, stranger versus nonstranger firearm, and total homicide rates across all 50 states during the 33-year period from 1981 through 2013, while controlling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, urbanization, poverty, unemployment, income, education, income inequality, divorce rate, alcohol use, nonviolent crime rate, hate crime rate, suicide rate, and incarceration rate. This study expands upon previous work by using a new and improv...

The role of set-shifting ability in differentiating between subgroups of female violent offenders

The aim of the present study was to extend the current understanding of the relationship between executive functions and violent crime in women. This was done by investigating whether set-shifting ability differentiated between subgroups of female violent offenders, with regard to criminal diversity and frequency of violent offenses. The study was conducted in a nationwide sample of 42 women imprisoned for violent crimes. Important characteristics common in violent offenders, such as certain personality disorders and substance abuse, were taken into account. The results indicated that offenders who only committed violent crimes had poorer set-shifting ability and less frequently personality disorders than offenders who had also committed non-violent crimes. Set-shifting ability was not connected to violent crime frequency.

How Do You Eat an Elephant? Reducing Mass Incarceration in California One Small Bite at a Time

While most states are considering reducing the impact of mass incarceration in their prison systems, few states have faced a larger challenge than California, and few states have reduced their convict and parole population as much as California. Federal court intervention and a series of legislative and voter-initiated reforms in California have changed the landscape in one of the nation’s largest criminal justice systems. This article draws on a variety of data sources to explore a potentially historic moment in the quest to end mass incarceration; it remains to be seen whether the public debate over appropriate punishments changed among criminal justice interest groups, such as corrections officers, law enforcement, prosecutors, the judiciary, victim advocates, and liberal and conservative spokespersons. Has the fear of crime among the citizenry changed, and has the public embraced a different response to lawbreakers? There have been important law changes that reduce some felonies to lesser crimes and incentives to punish offenders in local corrections rather than state prisons (known as Realignment), but genuine reductions in mass incarceration will require even more actions. Based on my review of California trends in crime, punishment, and public opinion, I argue that even while there will likely be more progress in decriminalizing drug crimes and other nonviolent crimes, public attitudes toward more serious offenders will be decisive in forecasting the future of mass imprisonment and the California prison gulag. At present, California is pursuing an incremental approach to reducing the numbers in prison for very serious crimes. Reform of prisons is likely to consist of small bites of change in sentencing and parole policies.

What Deters Crime? Comparing the Effectiveness of Legal, Social, and Internal Sanctions Across Countries.

The question of what deters crime is of both theoretical and practical interest. The present paper focuses on what factors deter minor, non-violent crimes, i.e., dishonest actions that violate the law. Much research has been devoted to testing the effectiveness of legal sanctions on crime, while newer models also include social sanctions (judgment of friends or family) and internal sanctions (feelings of guilt). Existing research suggests that both internal sanctions and, to a lesser extent, legal sanctions deter crime, but it is unclear whether this pattern is unique to Western countries or robust across cultures. We administered a survey study to participants in China, Colombia, Germany, Portugal, and USA, five countries from distinct cultural regions of the world. Participants were asked to report the likelihood of engaging in seven dishonest and illegal actions, and were asked to indicate the probability and severity of consequences for legal, friend, family, and internal sanctions. Results indicated that across countries, internal sanctions had the strongest deterrent effects on crime. The deterrent effects of legal sanctions were weaker and varied across countries. Furthermore, the deterrent effects of legal sanctions were strongest when internal sanctions were lax. Unexpectedly, social sanctions were positively related to likelihood of engaging in crime. Taken together, these results suggest that the relative strengths of legal and internal sanctions are robust across cultures and dishonest actions.

Low resting heart rate is associated with violence in late adolescence: a prospective birth cohort study in Brazil.

Background : Youth violence is a major global public health problem. Three UK and Swedish studies suggest that low resting heart rate predicts male youth violence, but this has not been tested in other social settings nor for females. Methods : A prospective, population-based birth cohort study was conducted in Pelotas, Brazil. Heart rate was measured using a wrist monitor at ages 11, 15 and 18 years. Violent crime and non-violent crime were measured at age 18 in self-reports and official records ( N = 3618). Confounding variables were assessed in the perinatal period and at age 11, in interviews with mothers and children. Logistic regression was used to estimate associations between quartiles of heart rate at each age, and violent and non-violent crime at age 18, separately for males and females. Results : Lower resting heart rate was a robust correlate of violent and non-violent crime for males. Comparing males in the lowest and top quartiles of heart rate at age 15 years, adjusted odds ratios were 1.9 for violent crime [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4–2.7] and 1.7 for non-violent crime (95% CI 1.1–2.6). For females, crime outcomes were associated only with low resting heart rate at age 18. Associations were generally linear across the four heart rate quartiles. There was no evidence that associations differed according to socioeconomic status at age 15. Conclusions : Low resting heart rate predicted violent and non-violent crime for males, and was cross-sectionally associated with crime for females. Biological factors may contribute to individual propensity to commit crime, even in a middle-income setting with high rates of violence.

Sex Differences in Risk Factors and Conditions of Incarcerated Violent Offenders

Background: Violence is widely recognized as a major public health problem requiring public policy intervention. Previous studies have not adequately addressed possible sex differences in risk factors and risk conditions of incarcerated violent offenders. Using a large, nationally representative sample of state and federal prisoners, this study tested if sex moderated the association between risk (factors and conditions) and type of adult crime conviction (violent versus nonviolent crime). Methods: Using the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, self-reported socioeconomic and mental health-related risk factors and background factors were obtained for a cross-section of N=16,152 incarcerated adults in stratified sample state and federal prisons located in the United States. The sample was weighted to reflect the population of prisoners. Results: Parental substance abuse, a history of physical abuse or sexual abuse, depression symptoms, and psychosis symptoms all distinguished incarcerated violent offenders from incarcerated non-violent offenders regardless of sex. A history of sexual abuse was particularly high in men compared to women among incarcerated violent offenders but not among non-violent offenders. Conclusion: This study highlights the fact that regardless of sex, childhood background, reports of abuse, and select mental health disorders predicted the type of crime that resulted in incarceration as an adult. Findings support path dependence of type of criminal incarceration of adults. The predictors distinguishing violent and non-violent crime incarceration are almost identical for males and females. The risk factor distinguishing non-violent crime incarceration is adult drug use. The risk factors distinguishing adults incarcerated for violent crime indicate more social and environmental vulnerability as children, increased likelihood of abuse, and greater burden of psychosis and depression. This study supports that the treatment foci for violent and nonviolent prisoners should differ by type of crime but not by sex given type of crime.

Terrorism and Organized Crime

IntroductionThere is little question that criminal activity has been and continues to be a lucrative source of funding for all kinds of terrorists. However, there is still ongoing disagreement about the extent of overlap between the worlds of terrorism and organized crime (OC). Confusion over the nature of the threat in turn acts as a barrier to developing more effective countermeasures. This article attempts to clarify the situation, beginning with an examination of the similarities and differences between terrorists and criminals, including profiles, methods, systems of organization, and motives. In other words, the who, what, how and why of terrorism and OC. This is followed by a discussion of the crime-terror nexus and the concept of convergence, i.e. the relationships between the two. The chapter then concludes with a brief discussion of implications for counter-terrorism (CT) and law enforcement (LE).Similarities and DifferencesBy systematically breaking down the similarities and differences between terrorists and criminals we can gain a better appreciation of who they are, what they do, how they operate and why they do what they do. We can then better understand the parallels between these two worlds as well as the potential for cooperation.ProfilesIt is often thought that factors which seem to protect against involvement in crime (namely, being married, better educated and of higher occupational status), fail to reduce the likelihood of involvement in terrorism.2 On the one hand, higher socioeconomic status may reduce the motivation to engage in criminal activity for financial gain, while being married can counter negative social influence. By contrast, the ideological/political motives of terrorists appear to override these factors. Nevertheless, this overlooks the tremendous diversity among both terrorists and criminals. The bottom line is that while the single biggest risk-factor for involvement in either terrorism or crime is being a young male, there is no unique demographic profile of either population and there is a great deal of overlap between the two.MethodsTo appreciate the extent of overlap in terms of terrorist and criminal methodology, it is useful to begin by breaking down the different types of crime that terrorists engage in, in order to achieve different objectives:1.Inherent / violentActs of terrorism inherently involve a variety of different criminal offences relating to the use of violence, often including (but not limited to) murder, assault, threatening behavior, property damage, kidnap and weapons / explosives offences. In fact, because the majority of terrorist behaviors are already proscribed in law, there is an argument to be made that specialized CT legislation is unnecessary. While this is open to debate, there is no doubt that organized criminals commit all of these same offences. However, criminal use of violence, generally speaking, is more discriminate 3 and more deliberately covert, whereas terrorists strive for publicity. In connection with this (as discussed below) the motivation or purpose is also different.2. Preparation / FacilitationTerrorists must frequently break the law in order to prepare or facilitate attacks. Offences here can include arms trafficking, forgery, immigration violations, smuggling, and corruption. When it comes to these, and other ostensibly non-violent crimes aimed at making attacks possible, terrorists are much more similar to criminals in the sense that they want to remain under the radar.3. FundingMuch of the discussion of terrorists' involvement in crime tends to focus on crimes committed for financial gain. Although drug-trafficking is the most lucrative and widely documented criminal endeavor that terrorists are involved in, other profitable offences include kidnap-for-ransom (KFR), smuggling, robbery, extortion, fraud, counterfeiting, theft, trading in illicit goods, illegal mining and money laundering. …

Estudio de los textos de la propaganda ilegal contra el Franquismo a través de las sentencias TOP

The study of the leaflets and similar publications generated by the political opposition to Franco’s regime is presented as fundamental for providing a global perspective of the history of Francoism. Through these writings, we can discover the theoretical and practical aspects of the struggle staged by opposition groups to the political system imposed from 1939. This article analyses the material through a detailed study of the content of the judge-ments of the TOP (Tribunal de Orden Público), the court created in 1963 to prosecute non-violent political crimes, and which was an attempt to give an appearance of modernity to Franco’s justice system and bring it more in line with the international environment. The novelty of this study is working with lost material, mainly due to the fact that the law provided for its destruction once sentencing had taken place; those judgments, therefore, are the main way we have of knowing what generated a crime. Illegal propaganda, which was present throughout the whole life of the court, was quantitatively the second most important, after illegal association.

Research round-up

Research round-up

Violence by and against people with mental illnesses

There is robust evidence for an increased risk of violence through people with psychotic disorders. Until recently this was frequently denied to prevent stigmatization. Alcohol and drug abuse equally increases the risk, while appropriate treatment reduces it drastically. Staff in psychiatric hospitals is exposed to an elevated risk of aggressive assaults. A limited number of severely ill and socially disintegrated patients accounts for these incidents, which are often recurrent. Besides patient characteristics, factors such as ward climate, staffing levels, education and attitudes of staff, and physical environment play a major role in aggressive escalations. On the other hand, mentally ill people, particularly women, are themselves at a higher risk of becoming victims of violent and non-violent crime. This also applies after correction for variables such as social status and living environment. Additionally mentally ill people are confronted with violence in the form of coercive interventions legitimised by the state (involuntary admission, involuntary treatment, freedom-restrictive measures such as seclusion or manual/physical restraint). In contrast to other countries in Central and Western Europe, involuntary outpatient treatment has never been legalized in Germany. Efforts to reduce violence and coercion in psychiatric facilities by evidence-based interventions are widespread nowadays, treatment guidelines are available.

A Longitudinal Study of Resting Heart Rate and Violent Criminality in More Than 700 000 Men.

Low resting heart rate is a well-replicated physiological correlate of aggressive and antisocial behavior in children and adolescents, but whether low resting heart rate increases the risk of violence and other antisocial and risk-taking behaviors in adulthood has not been studied in representative samples. To study the predictive association of resting heart rate with violent and nonviolent criminality and with fatal and nonfatal injuries owing to assaults and unintentional injuries in the population. We conducted a study of data from several Swedish national registers on 710 264 Swedish men in the general population born from 1958 to 1991, with a follow-up of up to 35.7 years. Outcome data were available and analyzed from January 1, 1973, through December 31, 2009. Resting heart rate was measured together with blood pressure at mandatory military conscription testing at a mean (SD) age of 18.2 (0.5) years. Violent and nonviolent criminal convictions and medical treatments or deaths owing to assaults and unintentional injuries. In models adjusted for physical, cardiovascular, psychiatric, cognitive, and socioeconomic covariates, compared with 139 511 men in the highest quintile of the distribution of resting heart rate (≥83 beats/min), 132 595 men with the lowest quintile (heart rate, ≤60 beats/min) had a 39% (95% CI, 35%-44%) higher hazard of being convicted of violent crimes and a 25% (95% CI, 23%-28%) higher hazard of being convicted of nonviolent crimes. The corresponding hazard was 39% higher for assault injuries (95% CI, 33%-46%) and for unintentional injuries (95% CI, 38%-41%). Further adjustment for cardiorespiratory fitness in a subset of 572 610 men with data from an exercise test did not reduce the associations. Similar associations were found between low systolic blood pressure and violent and nonviolent criminality and for assault injuries when systolic blood pressure was studied instead of resting heart rate in more than 1 million men. Among men, low resting heart rate in late adolescence was associated with an increased risk for violent criminality, nonviolent criminality, exposure to assault, and unintentional injury in adulthood. Most of these results were replicated with low systolic blood pressure. Resting heart rate and other autonomic measures merit further study in the development and prevention of violence and antisocial behavior.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and Violent Crime: A Cohort Study.

BackgroundAlthough selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are widely prescribed, associations with violence are uncertain.Methods and FindingsFrom Swedish national registers we extracted information on 856,493 individuals who were prescribed SSRIs, and subsequent violent crimes during 2006 through 2009. We used stratified Cox regression analyses to compare the rate of violent crime while individuals were prescribed these medications with the rate in the same individuals while not receiving medication. Adjustments were made for other psychotropic medications. Information on all medications was extracted from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register, with complete national data on all dispensed medications. Information on violent crime convictions was extracted from the Swedish national crime register. Using within-individual models, there was an overall association between SSRIs and violent crime convictions (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.19, 95% CI 1.08–1.32, p < 0.001, absolute risk = 1.0%). With age stratification, there was a significant association between SSRIs and violent crime convictions for individuals aged 15 to 24 y (HR = 1.43, 95% CI 1.19–1.73, p < 0.001, absolute risk = 3.0%). However, there were no significant associations in those aged 25–34 y (HR = 1.20, 95% CI 0.95–1.52, p = 0.125, absolute risk = 1.6%), in those aged 35–44 y (HR = 1.06, 95% CI 0.83–1.35, p = 0.666, absolute risk = 1.2%), or in those aged 45 y or older (HR = 1.07, 95% CI 0.84–1.35, p = 0.594, absolute risk = 0.3%). Associations in those aged 15 to 24 y were also found for violent crime arrests with preliminary investigations (HR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.16–1.41, p < 0.001), non-violent crime convictions (HR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.10–1.34, p < 0.001), non-violent crime arrests (HR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.07–1.20, p < 0.001), non-fatal injuries from accidents (HR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.22–1.36, p < 0.001), and emergency inpatient or outpatient treatment for alcohol intoxication or misuse (HR = 1.98, 95% CI 1.76–2.21, p < 0.001). With age and sex stratification, there was a significant association between SSRIs and violent crime convictions for males aged 15 to 24 y (HR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.13–1.73, p = 0.002) and females aged 15 to 24 y (HR = 1.75, 95% CI 1.08–2.84, p = 0.023). However, there were no significant associations in those aged 25 y or older. One important limitation is that we were unable to fully account for time-varying factors.ConclusionsThe association between SSRIs and violent crime convictions and violent crime arrests varied by age group. The increased risk we found in young people needs validation in other studies.

Violent Street Crime Versus Harmful White-Collar Crime: A Comparison of Perceived Seriousness and Punitiveness

Recent studies have challenged traditional wisdom regarding public apathy about white-collar crime by revealing equal or greater perceived seriousness of these offenses among respondents relative to traditional crime. Nevertheless, subjects in those studies were generally asked to contrast white-collar crime scenarios with a non-violent street crime baseline vignette. Perhaps a violent street crime would have invited lower perceived seriousness for the white-collar offenses. Participants in the present study were asked to (1) read vignettes describing violent street crimes and physically harmful white-collar crimes, (2) compare their seriousness, and (3) determine appropriate sanctions. Subjects perceived the violent crime scenarios presented to them to be more serious than the harmful white-collar crime vignettes. Further, they were less punitive toward white-collar offenders compared with street criminals. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Measuring Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Nonviolent Crime Using Multiple Methods

Use of geographic information systems (GIS) in crime analysis has a long history, from the days of pin maps until now. Statistical analysis combined with visual representation is a powerful tool to examine and analyze crime. This study aims to measure the temporal displacement of nonviolent crimes like burglary and motor vehicle theft in Harris County, Texas. GIS tools used by crime analysts include buffer, hotspot analysis, and quadrant analysis. Each tool functions uniquely to determine spatial extent, locate clusters, and analyze spatial relationships. The Directional Distribution tool in ArcGIS 10.0 helps not only in finding spatial extent but also in determining the direction of crime. There are various benefits in determining crime direction. For instance, the directional trend of crime can be used in identifying current locations and to predict future occurrences of crime. In this study, temporal analysis is used to find displacement of nonviolent crimes. Finally, this displacement is analyzed to identify if there exists a relationship between orientation of crime events and city growth.

Risk of Criminal Victimisation in Outpatients with Common Mental Health Disorders.

BackgroundCrime victimisation is a serious problem in psychiatric patients. However, research has focused on patients with severe mental illness and few studies exist that address victimisation in other outpatient groups, such as patients with depression. Due to large differences in methodology of the studies that address crime victimisation, a comparison of prevalence between psychiatric diagnostic groups is hard to make. Objectives of this study were to determine and compare one-year prevalence of violent and non-violent criminal victimisation among outpatients from different diagnostic psychiatric groups and to examine prevalence differences with the general population.MethodCriminal victimisation prevalence was measured in 300 outpatients living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with outpatients with depressive disorder (n = 102), substance use disorder (SUD, n = 106) and severe mental illness (SMI, n = 92) using a National Crime Victimisation Survey, and compared with a matched general population sample (n = 10865).ResultsOf all outpatients, 61% reported experiencing some kind of victimisation over the past year; 33% reported violent victimisation (3.5 times more than the general population) and 36% reported property crimes (1.2 times more than the general population). Outpatients with depression (67%) and SUD (76%) were victimised more often than SMI outpatients (39%). Younger age and hostile behaviour were associated with violent victimisation, while being male and living alone were associated with non-violent victimisation. Moreover, SUD was associated with both violent and non-violent victimisation.ConclusionOutpatients with depression, SUD, and SMI are at increased risk of victimisation compared to the general population. Furthermore, our results indicate that victimisation of violent and non-violent crimes is more common in outpatients with depression and SUD than in outpatients with SMI living independently in the community.

Adolescent Substance Misusers with and without Delinquency: Death, Mental and Physical Disorders, and Criminal Convictions from Age 21 to 45

Little is known about adult outcomes of males who as adolescents sought treatment for alcohol misuse or drug use, and who additionally were engaging or not engaging in other forms of delinquency. Since the rates of negative outcomes vary in the general population, the study determined whether the sub-groups of clinic attendees fared differently as compared to males of the same age who had not sought treatment for substance misuse from age 21 to 45. Adolescent males who consulted the only substance misuse clinic in a Swedish city between 1968 and1971 were divided into four groups: ALCOHOL no drug use, no criminal offending (n=52); ALCOHOL+D no drug use, plus criminal offending (n=105); DRUG use, no criminal offending (n=92); and DRUG+D plus criminal offending (n=474). These four groups were compared to a general population sample (GP) of males matched on age and birthplace, who did not seek treatment for SM in adolescence. National Swedish registers provided data on death, hospitalizations for substance misuse (SM), mental and physical disorders, and criminal convictions. Compared to the GP, and after controlling for co-occurring adult outcomes, ALCOHOL showed elevated risks for SM hospitalization and convictions for violent crimes, and DRUG showed elevated risks for SM hospitalization, convictions for non-violent crimes, and hospitalization for psychosis. ALCOHOL+D and DRUG+D showed increased risk for SM hospitalization, violent and non-violent convictions, and DRUG+D additionally, for death, and hospitalizations for psychosis and physical illness. Misuse of alcohol without drug use or other delinquency in adolescence was associated with increased risk for convictions for violent crimes during the subsequent 25years, in addition to SM, while adolescent drug use without other forms of delinquency was associated with increased risks for convictions for non-violent crimes, hospitalizations for SM, and non-affective psychosis. Cannabis use, with and without delinquency, was associated with subsequent hospitalization for non-affective psychosis. Consistent with contemporary studies, most adolescents treated for SM from 1968–1971 presented delinquency that was associated with an increase in risk of all adverse outcomes to age 45.

Serotonin and Dopamine Candidate Gene Variants and Alcohol- and Non-Alcohol-Related Aggression.

Aggressive and criminal traits have a complex genetic background which interacts with environmental factors. Alcohol intoxication has been related to lower thresholds of aggressive behaviors. In this association study of two independent samples, a number of candidate gene variants (5HT2A T102C, 5-HTTLPR, DRD Ins-141Del, DAT1 VNTR) were related to violent criminal behavior and alcohol-related aggressive traits. Treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent individuals (293 patients and 499 controls from Germany, 180 patients and 402 controls from Poland) underwent a Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism interview which gathered information on alcohol-related violence and criminal behaviors, beside alcohol dependence characteristics. Patients with a history of violent or non-violent crime were more often male, had an earlier onset of alcoholism, more withdrawal seizures and delirium tremens, and were more likely to have a history of suicide attempts. No significant association between candidate gene variants and criminal behavior was detected. 5HTTLPR variant was related to one characteristic of alcohol-related violence. With findings from genome-wide association studies linking aggression-related traits to second messenger systems, further studies are needed to determine the genetic underpinnings of non-alcohol and alcohol-related aggression.

From problem gambling to crime? Findings from the Finnish National Police Information System

In previous studies, problem gambling was found to have many adverse consequences, including crime. However, links between crime and problem gambling have been studied relatively little. To fill this gap, we collected problem gambling-related police reports from the Finnish National Police Information System. Fifty-five problem gambling-related crime incidents reported to the police 2011 in Finland were subjected to qualitative analysis. The role of problem gambling, as self-identified by the gamblers themselves, was examined as highlighted in different crime reports: what common features did the gamblers share, and what were the possible causal mechanisms between problem gambling and crime? The data consisted of text documents produced by the police, specifically crime reports and preliminary investigation documents. Collected documents were coded using Weft QDA and SPSS. Grounded theory approach was applied. The majority of the cases were non-violent property crimes, committed at home or at the workplace. We determined that problem gambling, through financial difficulties, does indeed lead to crime.