Perpetrators Of Violent Crimes Research Articles

Gender and Justice: Violence, Intimacy, and Community in Fin-de-Siècle Paris (review)

Reviewed by: Gender and Justice: Violence, Intimacy, and Community in Fin-de-Siècle Paris Mariah Devereux Herbeck Ferguson, Eliza Earle . Gender and Justice: Violence, Intimacy, and Community in Fin-de-Siècle Paris. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010. Pp [i]-x; 268. ISBN 978-0-8018-9428-2. $60.00, cloth. Article 324 of the late nineteenth-century French penal code "provided that a wife or a husband was excused for killing her or his spouse if the killer's life was in peril at the moment of the murder" (175). However, as Eliza Earle Ferguson astutely demonstrates in her historical examination, Gender and Justice: Violence, Intimacy and Community in Fin-de Siècle Paris, this law was often applied liberally, allowing (most frequently) men to kill their adulterous wives without impunity, and thus arguably privileging personal revenge and retribution over public justice: "Voting to acquit in spite of irrefutable evidence that the accused had committed the deed clearly went contrary to the law" (176). In her fascinating and thorough study of the role gender played in the French justice system, Ferguson analyzes and compiles statistics based on 264 dossiers from "the Cour d'assises de la Seine from 1871 to the end of the nineteenth century, concerning violent crimes between domestic partners" (8). Ferguson provides a carefully balanced analysis of the cases, quick to remind the reader that, although less frequently than men, women were also perpetrators of violent crimes of passion and experienced an especially high rate of acquittal: "Women who were acquitted for crimes against their partners proved to be exemplary in fulfilling their household duties" (215). Manipulation of the system was not limited to female defendants but also female victims who would play "one patriarchal institution (the state judicial system) against another (their families)" (159). The first half of Ferguson's historical study consists of information about many of the aforementioned 264 cases, told in snippets and compiled under various chapters and sub-chapters such as "La vie intime," "Parenting," The Distribution of Household Resources," "Links to the Pays," and "Family Ties." This piecemeal approach to presenting each individual case proves both compelling and frustrating. On the one hand, it is incredibly heartening to read about these victims—for the most part, working class people—whose stories in [End Page 139] all likelihood would have otherwise gone untold. As the book jacket states, Ferguson does perform excellent detective work in this hefty tome of research. However, since tidbits of information gleaned from dossiers are grouped according to themes, the onus is on the reader to perform his or her own investigative work. In some instances, a single page of text may present thematically relevant information from five different cases. Given the scope and intent of the work, the detailed index is commendable; however, since the names and stories reappear under different headings, a chart of names and a general description of the cases examined may have helped the reader conceptualize a more complete portrait of each individual story. The second half of Ferguson's work is undeniably of interest to French historians and literary scholars alike. Chapter four, "Reciprocity and Retribution" begins with a quotation from Dumas fils' 1872 essay, L'Homme-femme, in which he proclaims his prescribed treatment of an adulterous wife: "Kill her!"(128). His text provides a springboard for discussion of the political climate of the times with regard to issues of gender and social obligation—such as family honor and punishment. In her sixth chapter, "Stories of Intimate Violence," Ferguson examines the importance of the written word—whether literary texts, newspaper articles or letters written between victims and family members or victims and defendants. Literary scholars will be attracted to her relating of moments at which contemporary literature seemingly influences these cases. For example, according to Ferguson, one defendant describes his "disturbed emotional state before launching into a poem that sounds very much inspired by Rimbaud's 'Les Voyelles'" (207). Ferguson's examination provides the reader with a meticulous analysis of the important role played by gender in the fin-de-siècle French justice system, all the while astutely painting an unprecedented portrait of everyday life of...

Meda Chesney-Lind & Nikki Jones (Eds.): Fighting for Girls: New Perspectives on Gender and Violence

Fighting for Girls: New Perspectives on Gender and Violence, an excellent new book edited by Meda ChesneyLind and Nikki Jones, dares readers to question media representations of girls as increasingly violent. The editors offer readers empirical evidence that the moral panic resulting from this representation of girls is not only unjustified but also very harmful to the girls themselves, especially to girls of color who are more likely to live in highly policed urban areas. Throughout the book, the research discussed is informed by perspectives of feminist scholarship; these perspectives emphasize the importance of understanding how gender, class and race intersect to affect certain individuals unequally and how important it is for the voices of girls, especially disadvantaged girls, to be heard. The ten chapters which comprise the book present studies which clearly demonstrate that the supposed evidence of girls’ new-found aggression results not from actual increases in girls’ use of violence but from circumstances, including zero tolerance policies, which render girls more likely to be arrested for behaviors which would previously have gone unnoticed by the criminal justice system. Fighting For Girls provides ample evidence that current depictions of girls must be challenged; most importantly, Fighting For Girls supplies readers with the crucial information essential to taking up that formidable challenge. In Chapter 1, Mike Males takes issue with both media and popular psychology’s preoccupation with the idea that girls have become both more violent and more pathological. Contending that such depictions are not accurate, Males bases his conclusions on analyses of FBI arrest data as well as findings from two large, longitudinal studies: Monitoring the Future, which surveyed 500,000 high school seniors between 1975 and 2005, and The American Freshman, which surveyed 16,000,000 college freshman between 1966 and 2006. According to the empirical evidence provided by these studies, Males concludes that girls are not only happier and healthier but actually less violent than in past. For instance, according to Males, recent years have been marked by declines in girls’ alcohol and illegal drug use, pregnancy and abortion rates, and violent crime perpetration and victimization. According to Males, the only sign that girls are increasingly in trouble can be found in the fact that girls’ arrests rates did increase between the 1970’s and 1990’s. As Males’ notes, however, this period marked a dramatic increase in arrest rates not just for girls but also for juvenile boys as well as adult men and women. In addition, as Males notes, much of the increase in girls’ arrests involves the category of simple or misdemeanor assault. Males concludes that the negative depictions of girls stem not from reality but from a persistent ‘‘gut-level fear of and for girls’’ (p. 30) who are moving into equal participation in society. He also notes that, with approximately 40% of the population of girls comprised of minorities, spreading fear of this demographic serves to keep these particular girls both marginalized and pathologized. Eve S. Buzawa and David Hirschel, in Chapter 2, ask why greater numbers of girls are being arrested for assault. Buzawa and Hirschel examine the possibility that girls may be negatively impacted by domestic violence statutes, which were initially meant to protect female victims, but which have fueled increases in arrests for many categories of offences relating to domestic incidents. The authors speculate that girls ages 13–18 may be more likely than either boys or adults to be arrested in these incidents H. L. Levesque (&) Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA e-mail: hlevesqu@indiana.edu

Life History of Aggression scores are predicted by childhood hyperactivity, conduct disorder, adult substance abuse, and low cooperativeness in adult psychiatric patients

The prevention of aggressive behaviours is a core priority for psychiatric clinical work, but the association between the diagnostic concepts used in psychiatry and aggression remains largely unknown. Outpatients referred for psychiatric evaluations of childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorders ( n = 178) and perpetrators of violent crimes referred to pre-trial forensic psychiatric investigations ( n = 92) had comprehensive, instrument-based, psychiatric assessments, including the Life History of Aggression (LHA) scales. Total and subscale LHA scores were compared to the categorical and dimensional diagnoses of childhood and adult DSM-IV axis I and II mental disorders, general intelligence (IQ), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), and personality traits according to the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Overall, the two groups had similar LHA scores, but the offender group scored higher on the Antisocial subscale. Higher total LHA scores were independently associated with the hyperactivity facet of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), childhood conduct disorder, substance-related disorders, and low scores on the Cooperativeness character dimension according to the TCI. IQ and GAF-scores were negatively correlated with the LHA subscale Self-directed aggression. Autistic traits were inversely correlated with aggression among outpatients, while the opposite pattern was noted in the forensic group. The findings call for assessments of aggression-related behaviours in all psychiatric settings.

Understanding and Treating Unwanted Trauma Memories in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Distressing and intrusive reexperiencing of the trauma is a hallmark symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). However, unwanted memories of trauma are not a sign of pathology per se. In the initial weeks after a traumatic experience, intrusive memories are common. For most trauma survivors, intrusions become less frequent and distressing over time. A central question for understanding and treating patients with PTSD is therefore what maintains distressing intrusive reexperiencing in these people. Three factors appear to be important: (1) memory processes responsible for the easy triggering of intrusive memories, (2) the individuals’ interpretations of their trauma memories, and (3) their cognitive and behavioral responses to trauma memories.

FC02-01 - Trait aggression in adult psychiatry is predicted by childhood hyperactivity, conduct disorder, adult substance abuse, and low cooperativeness

The prevention of aggressive behaviours is a core priority for psychiatric clinical work, but the association between the diagnostic concepts used in psychiatry and aggression remains largely unknown.ObjectiveWe aimed to describe aggression according to the subscales formed in the Life History of Aggression (LHA) in relation to life-time psychiatric diagnoses.Methods178 adults referred for psychiatric evaluations of childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorders (outpatients) and 92 perpetrators of violent crimes referred to pre-trial forensic psychiatric investigations had comprehensive, instrument-based, psychiatric assessments, including the LHA scales. Total and subscale LHA scores were compared to the categorical and dimensional diagnoses of childhood and adult DSM-IV axis I and II mental disorders, general intelligence, GAF, and personality traits according to Cloninger's biopsychosocial model.ResultsThe two groups had similar LHA scores (despite higher scores on the Antisocial scale in the offender group). Higher total LHA scores were independently associated with the hyperactivity facet of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), childhood conduct disorder, substance-related disorders, and low scores on the Cooperativeness character dimension according to the Temperament and Character Inventory. IQ and GAF-scores were negatively correlated with the LHA subscale Self-directed aggression. Autistic traits were inversely correlated with aggression among outpatients, while the opposite pattern was noted in the forensic group.ConclusionIn these study groups, aggression was predicted by childhood behaviour aberrations, adult substance-related problems, and character immaturity rather than by symptoms associated with the major mental disorders. AD/HD in combined or hyperactive, but not inattentive, forms, was associated with high scores on aggressive behaviours.

Offenders' Memories of Violent Crimes by S.A. Christianson (Ed.)

Chichester : Wiley ( 2007 ) 380pp. £80.00hb ISBN 978-0-470-01507-0 £31.99pb ISBN 978-0-470-01508-7 The stated purpose of this anthology of essays written by an international sample of (mostly) forensic psychologists is to supplement the already existing literature on victims' and witnesses' memories of violent crimes, which have been relatively extensively investigated, with a volume that would, for the first time, provide a comprehensive review of current theory and research on the memories of the perpetrators of those crimes. As such, this volume is a welcome corrective to the, all too frequent, tendency on the part of scientific investigators of the psychology of violent behaviour to pay attention only to the experience of victims and witnesses while ignoring the psychology of perpetrators. The editor is a forensic psychologist affiliated to Stockholm University and the Sundsvall Forensic Psychiatric Hospital. The unifying theme of the book is the attempt to distinguish between malingerers, true amnesiacs (both dissociative or psychogenic, and neurological, such as the amnesia following brain concussions), confabulators, false confessors, and valid reporters of the crime committed. The strength of this book, which is also (as is usually the case) its weakness, is its comprehensiveness – the fact that although every chapter deals in one way or another with the same subject, it approaches that subject from so many different points of view, with so many different audiences in mind, and with so many different, and sometimes contradictory, conclusions reached, that it is difficult to arrive at any clear-cut conclusions by the time one has finished reading it, or to be able to summarise any central thesis as emerging from it. That is a strength of the book insofar as its purpose is to present a comprehensive review of the present state of research on this subject, the wide variety of approaches taken, purposes pursued, and conclusions reached; and it is also, to some extent, an unavoidable limitation of it, since it is grappling with the central epistemological problem of all psychology, including forensic psychology, which is that it is never possible to know for certain what is going on, or has gone on, in another person's mind (let alone one's own). However, at the risk of over-simplifying, one can summarise a few general conclusions on which there appears to be a consensus (though never a unanimous one). A repeated finding is that a substantial minority of perpetrators of violent crimes report amnesia for the crime itself (although not usually for the events leading up to the violent act and the events following it), especially if the crime was homicide, and committed in a state of extreme emotional arousal (rage, jealousy, etc.) toward a victim who was emotionally important to the perpetrator. Also, people who report amnesia for a murder may be at increased risk of committing murder again in the future. Since those who claim amnesia in this way do not generally deny their guilt, and it cannot, in any case, decrease their criminal responsibility as judged by the legal system, these descriptions of amnesia seem at least plausible, if not always (or ever) certain. Amnesia is reported less commonly the more the violence was ‘instrumental’, that is, planned, and goal-directed toward some purpose other than the violence itself, against victims who are of little personal significance to the offender, by an individual with a psychopathic personality. Malingering, of course, also occurs (that is, deliberately making a false claim of amnesia, in an attempt to avoid conviction for a murder), especially in this latter group, but so does false confessing (which may occur under a variety of circumstances), and the forensic psychologist's formidable task, which this book addresses, includes that of developing techniques enabling us to distinguish between the objective truth and both of those forms of distortion of it. One question about which there can be little doubt, however, is that the field of forensic psychology is unquestionably made richer by the appearance of this important book.

Intrusive Memories in Perpetrators of Violent Crime: Emotions and Cognitions

Intrusive Memories in Perpetrators of Violent Crime: Emotions and Cognitions

Intrusive memories in perpetrators of violent crime: Emotions and cognitions.

The authors investigated factors that may determine whether perpetrators of violent crime develop intrusive memories of their offense. Of 105 young offenders who were convicted of killing or seriously harming others, 46% reported distressing intrusive memories, and 6% had posttraumatic stress disorder. Intrusions were associated with lower antisocial beliefs before the assault, greater helplessness, fear, dissociation, data-driven processing and lack of self-referent processing during the assault, more disorganized assault narratives, and greater negative view of the self, negative interpretations of intrusive memories, perceived permanent change, and self-blame. In a logistic regression analysis, the cognitive and emotional variables explained substantial variance over and above demographic factors. The results suggest that cognitive factors that predict reexperiencing symptoms in victims of crime generalize to perpetrators.

African women, violent crime and the criminal law in colonial Zimbabwe, 1900-1952

This article contributes to the emerging historiography on violent female crime in Africa by examining African women's violent crime in colonial Zimbabwe using a feminist conceptual framework of female criminality. It attempts to reconstruct and analyse the experiences of violent African female offenders in the colonial legal system by focusing on colonial High Court judges' perceptions of African women as perpetrators of violent crime and on the female offenders' perceptions of their own criminality. Two interrelated issues constitute the central focus. First, the article aims to show that colonial judges' interpretations of violent African female criminality often sought to diminish these women's moral responsibility for their crimes and to deny the rational nature of their crimes. Judicial treatment of such accused women was also highly paternalistic and partly based on the offenders' conformity to traditional gender-role stereotypes. Second, the agency of violent African women is highlighted by arguing that, contrary to the opinion of colonial judges, such female offenders were rational agents who had an awareness of the legal merits of their cases and often made a conscious effort to exploit those aspects of the colonial criminal justice system which they believed could work in their favour. The courtroom demeanour of African female offenders and their interpretations of their own crimes are given particular focus. The article is based mainly on an analysis of High Court of Southern Rhodesia criminal records relating to the most preponderant violent crimes committed by African women. These were intra-familial murders, namely spousal murder, the murder of other men and women closely related to the female offender, and the murder of newborn twins.

New evidence for an association between the CSF HVA:5-HIAA ratio and psychopathic traits

Objectives: To replicate the relation between the CSF HVA:5-HIAA ratio and psychopathic traits previously reported in a pilot group of 22 perpetrators of violent crimes. Methods: CSF monoamine metabolite concentrations...

Costs of juvenile violence: policy implications.

Costs of juvenile violence: policy implications.

Post-traumatic stress disorder in perpetrators of violent crime

Whilst much research and attention has rightly been focussed on victims of violent crime there is evidence that in some cases the perpetrator/offender may be traumatised by witnessing their own act...

Police and Mental Health Professionals: Collaborative Responses to the Impact of Violence on Children and Families

Coordinating responses through the Child Development-Community Policing Program has led to multiple changes in the delivery of clinical and police services. Mental health clinicians and police officers have developed a common language for assessing and responding to the needs of children and families who have been exposed to or involved in violence. Learning from each other, these unlikely partners have established close working relationships that improve and expand the range of interventions they are able to provide while preserving the areas of expertise and responsibilities of each professional group. The immediate access to witnesses, victims, and perpetrators of violent crimes through the consultation service provides a unique opportunity to expand the understanding of clinical phenomena from the acute traumatic moment to longer-term adaptation, symptom formation, and recovery. In turn, the initiative introduces the systematic study of basic psychological and neurobiologic functions involved in traumatization as well as the investigation of psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic therapies. Similarly, program involvement with juvenile offenders has led to a coordinated response from the police, mental health, and juvenile justice systems. This project provides an opportunity to develop detailed psychological profiles and typologies of children engaged in different levels of antisocial behavior as well as to determine the characteristics that might predict with whom community-based interventions might be most successful. A recent survey of New Haven public school students has yielded promising evidence that community policing and the program are having a positive impact on the quality of life. In a survey of sixth-, eighth-, and tenth-grade students there were substantial improvements in students' sense of safety and experience of violence between 1992 and 1996. When asked if they felt safe in their neighborhood, there was an increase in the percentage of positive responses from 57% to 62% for sixth-grade students, 48% to 66% for eighth-grade students, and 53% to 73% for tenth-grade students, and when asked if they had seen someone shot or stabbed there was a decrease in positive responses from 43% to 28% for sixth-grade students, 46% to 31% for eighth-grade students, and 34% to 28% for tenth-grade students. Today, we are all too familiar with the developmental trajectory that leads children into violent crime. Newspaper articles and clinical case reports have taken on a dreary repetitiveness. These young criminals are often poor, minority, inner-city children who are known to many agencies to be at risk because of family disorganization, neglect, and abuse. They are failing in school or are already on the streets. One day they are victims and the very next they are assailants. We are all familiar with the inadequacies in the social response to these children, from their preschool years through the point at which they become assailants themselves. What is shocking is that the age at which children make the transition from being abused to being abusive seems to be getting earlier, and the number appears to be increasing. On the positive side, there is an increased awareness of the need and the ability of the various sectors of society to respond in concert. The institutions that function in the inner city--schools, police, mental health and child welfare agencies, churches--are all concerned about the same children and families. By working together, with a shared orientation to the best interests of the children, they can intervene earlier and more effectively: first, to disrupt the trajectory leading to violence; and, second, to help those children who are already caught in the web of exposure to violent crime and inner-city trauma. The experience with community-based policing and mental health in New Haven, now being replicated throughout the United States, can thus stand as a model of an active social response to an overwhel

Psychoticism in the effect of prolonged exposure to gratuitous media violence on the acceptance of violence as a preferred means of conflict resolution

Within a prolonged-exposure, delayed-measurement paradigm, respondents consumed films that featured no violence, old-style violence, gratuitous violence, or horror. Both male and female respondents had been classified as low vs high in psychoticism weeks prior to consumption. Delayed measures were: (1) the acceptance of violence as a means of conflict resolution; (2) crime apprehension; (3) evaluation of police brutality; and (4) the endorsement of the death penalty for perpetrators of violent crime. Female respondents, whether low or high in psychoticism, were not appreciably affected by the consumption of any of the violent genres. Similarly, male respondents in the lower half of psychoticism were not appreciably affected. In contrast, male respondents in the upper half of psychoticism, estimated to represent half the population, were significantly affected: Consumption of gratuitous violence consistently fostered greater acceptance of violence as a means of conflict resolution. Consumption of old-style violence and horror did not. Crime apprehension was not appreciably affected by genres differing in amount and type of violence featured. Neither were evaluations of police brutality. However, respondents, especially male respondents and respondents in the upper half of psychoticism, endorsed the death penalty more strongly after gratuitous violence than after consumption of alternative genres.

Clinical Forensics for Perioperative Nurses

Perioperative nurses frequently care for victims and suspected perpetrators of violent crimes. Nurses often are the first health care providers to assess the trauma patient and collect crucial evidence for future legal action. Informational evidence includes observations about patients' behavior and appearance and documentation of their comments. Nurses also must protect the chain of evidence so that evidence can be admissible in court. To function in this role, perioperative nurses must understand the concepts of clinical forensics, which is the application of the principles and practices of forensic science to questions of law in the investigation of violent crime.

Reparation or Restitution by the Criminal Offender to His Victim: Applicability of an Ancient Concept in the Modern Correctional Process

In theory victims of crime have for centuries had available to them the civil remedy of a tort action against persons who have wronged them through the commission of crime. In practice, however, this remedy is in most instances of little value. In many cases the offender is unknown; or where he is known, the victim often cannot afford the expense, in terms of money and time, of bringing a law suit against the offender.l In addition, since perpetrators of violent crimes are typically poor or financially destitute,2 a judgment against such oSenders would be uncollectible. Moreover, if convicted and imprisoned, an offender's incarceration merely serves to compound his destitute condition for as a rule inmates of today's prisons are able to earn very little, if any, money during their con-