Young Offender Population Research Articles

Using ASSET data for mental health research on young offenders: Issues and implications for researchers

The ASSET profiling system was introduced in April 2000 as a structured risk assessment for use by all Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) to help target problems associated with reoffending and promote consistency of practice. It is also potentially useful to researchers as it provides an opportunity to study large samples of young offenders. One particular area where ASSET may be useful is mental health. Mental health problems are extremely common in the young offender population. This population is also unlikely to have had previous contact with mental health services, making active screening particularly important. Most evaluations of forensic mental health screening so far have focused on incarcerated samples, but have typically shown mental health screening to be inadequate. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to assess the quality of the mental health data from ASSET. A random selection of ASSET data from a large city-based YOT were analysed to examine suicidal behaviour in young offenders. Problems were encountered including reliability issues specific to the YOT context but also general difficulties involved in screening with this population. Recommendations are made both for researchers, for example further use of anonymous self-report data, and for screening for mental health problems in young offenders generally, such as the use of more interactive screening formats. Despite the current problems encountered we believe that continued efforts to improve the use of ASSET will lead to the development of a valuable data set both for researchers and frontline staff.

The mortality of young offenders sentenced to prison and its association with psychiatric disorders: a register study

We studied the nationwide mortality in Finland of young offenders sentenced to prison, with the advantage of a long-term follow-up in an unselected population. In addition, we aimed to clarify the relationship between psychiatric disorders requiring hospital treatment and early death in young offenders sentenced to prison. All offenders sentenced to prison between 1984 and 2000 in Finland and aged 15-21 years when the crime was committed were selected for this study. The mortality of the young offenders was compared with the age- and sex-matched mortality data of the general population, obtained from Statistics Finland. Information on hospital treatment periods for psychiatric diagnoses was collected from the Finnish Health Care Register and linked to the mortality data. The study population consisted of 3,743 young male and 89 young female offenders. Of these, 435 (11.4%) had died by the end of the follow-up period, including 3 girls. The standardized mortality ratio for young male prisoners was 7.4 (95% confidence interval 6.7-8.1). There was a higher mortality rate among young offenders convicted in the later years of the study period. The causes of death were mostly unnatural and often violent. Hospitalization for a psychiatric disorder or substance abuse was significantly associated with the risk of death. However, hospitalization for emotional disorders with an onset specific to childhood and adolescence were associated with a lower death risk. The mortality rate in the population of young offenders sentenced to prison is alarmingly high. The high mortality in this group is associated with substance abuse and psychiatric disorders, but not with emotional disorders with an onset specific to childhood and adolescence.

Preliminary study of the prevalence of speech and language difficulties in young offenders.

There are no systematic surveys of the UK prison population, but data from several sources suggest that a significant number of prisoners might have limitations in their speech, language and communication abilities. To examine the hypothesis that compared with the general population, a significantly larger number of the prison population has speech, language and communication difficulties. A survey of 10% of the young offenders within one young offender's institution was conducted. Tests of naming, picture description, grammatical competency and comprehension were used. Forty-three per cent of participants scored at a level significantly lower than the limits acceptable for their age on the Boston Naming Test; 73% scored significantly below the acceptable limits for their age on grammatical competency; 23% scored significantly below the acceptable limits for their age on language comprehension; 47% of participants received more than one rating of moderate impairment on picture description. It was confirmed that high levels of speech, language and communication difficulties are found among the young offender population. The implications for the management of young offenders, the limitations of the study and indications for further research are discussed.

Intellectual ability in adolescents with conduct disorder.

A U.K. population of young offenders show the typical deficits in Verbal IQ reported in conduct disordered populations. Performance IQs are generally lower than those of previous studies from the 1970s, raising a question about decline in intellectual ability.

Crisis—A Wide Range of Issues

EditorialCrisis—A Wide Range of IssuesJohn ConnollyJohn ConnollySearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:January 01, 2003https://doi.org/10.1027//0227-5910.24.4.141PDFView Full Text ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInReddit SectionsMore References Alte, da Veiga F, Braz, Saraiva CAge patterns of suicide: Identification and characterization of European clusters and trends.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 56–67 Link, Google ScholarBrophy, JSuicide outside of prison settings among males under investigation for sex offenses in Ireland during 1990 to 1999.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 155–159 Link, Google ScholarBrown, GS, Jones, ER, Betts, E, Wu, JImproving suicide risk assessment in a managed-care Environment.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 49–55 Link, Google ScholarChioqueta, AP, Stiles, TCSuicide risk in outpatients with specific mood and anxiety disorders.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 105–112 Link, Google ScholarDe Fauw, N, Andriessen, KNetworking to support suicide survivors.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 29–31 Link, Google ScholarHaw, C, Hawton, K, Whitehead, L, Houston, K, Townsend, EAssessment and aftercare for deliberate self-harm patients provided by a general hospital psychiatric service.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 145–150 Link, Google ScholarHoward, J, Lennings, CJ, Copeland, JSuicidal behavior in a young offender population.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 98–104 Link, Google ScholarLabelle, R, Lachance, LLocus of control and academic efficacy in the thoughts of life and death of young Quebec university students.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 68–72 Link, Google ScholarLeenaars, AACan a theory of suicide predict all “suicides” in the elderly?. Crisis, (2003). 24, 7–16 Link, Google ScholarLester, D, McIntosh, JLThe variation of the mean age of suicides in the United States.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 173–174 Link, Google ScholarManley, RS, Leichner,, PAnguish and despair in adolescents with eating disorders—Helping to manage suicidal ideation and impulses.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 32–48 Link, Google ScholarMcAuliffe, C, Corcoran, P, Keeley, HS, Perry, IJRisk of suicide ideation associated with problem-solving ability and attitudes toward suicidal behavior in university students.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 160–172 Link, Google ScholarNoor-Mahomed, SB, Schlebusch, L, Bosch, BASuicidal behavior in patients diagnosed with cancer of the cervix.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 168–172 Link, Google ScholarOsváth, P, Kelemen, G, Erdös, MB, Vörös, V, Fekete, SThe main factors of repetition: Review of some results of the Pecs Center in the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behavior.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 151–154 Link, Google ScholarOwens, C, Booth, N, Briscoe, M, Lawrence, C, Lloyd, KSuicide outside the care of mental health services: A case-controlled psychological autopsy study.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 113–121 Link, Google ScholarReith, DM, Whyte, I, Carter, G, McPherson, MAdolescent self-poisoning: A cohort study of subsequent suicide and premature deaths.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 79–84 Link, Google ScholarSarfati, Y, Bouchaud, B, Hardy-Baylé,, M-CCathartic effect of suicide attempts not limited to depression: A short-term prospective study after deliberate self-poisoning.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 73–78 Link, Google ScholarSattar, GThe death of offenders in England and Wales.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 17–23 Link, Google ScholarSchlebusch, L, Naseema, BM, Bosch, BASuicidal behavior in Black South Africans. Crisis, (2003). 24, 24–28 Link, Google ScholarSethi, S, Bhargava, SCChild and adolescent survivors of suicide.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 4–6 Link, Google ScholarSimkin, S, Hawton, K, Yip, PSF, Yam, CHKSeasonality in suicide: A study of farming suicides in England and Wales.. Crisis, (2003). 24, 93–97 Link, Google ScholarStanistreet, D, Jeffrey, VInjury and poisoning mortality among young men—Are there any common factors amenable to prevention?. Crisis, (2003). 24, 122–127 Link, Google ScholarFiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 24Issue 4July 2003ISSN: 0227-5910eISSN: 2151-2396 Published online2003 InformationCrisis (2003), 24, pp. 141-144 https://doi.org/10.1027//0227-5910.24.4.141.© 2003Hogrefe & Huber PublishersPDF download

Children Who Kill Family Members

Abstract The assessment of risk in young offenders is complicated by the general lack of specific assessment instruments. Young offenders who kill family members constitute a small group and often display characteristics that set them apart from the general young offender population. The following article reviews information about young offenders who murder family members in the context of three cases. Young Australian parricidal offenders appear to differ greatly from cases reported in the North American literature; hence, it is unlikely that insights gained from analyzing such cases will have great utility for Australia, and presumably other non-North American cultures. Although child abuse and substance abuse are seen as important and ubiquitous factors underlying homicidal behaviour in this group in North American studies, these influences are absent in the Australian cases. It is necessary to establish “local portraits” (in the absence of a sufficiently large group to provide normative data) in order...

Social Group Work for Young Offenders with Learning Disabilities

ABSTRACT Despite the high incidence of learning disabilities among young offenders, research suggests that young offenders with learning disabilities do not receive interventions that address their learning disabilities. Group treatment approaches for young offenders typically utilize a cognitive-behavioral orientation. Cognitive behavioral techniques have been found to be effective with the young offender population by targeting their faulty thinking. However, cognitive behavioral treatment is less effective with youth who have academic delays. Individuals with learning disabilities may have difficulties with the cognitive tasks used in cognitive behavioral treatment. This paper describes a treatment group, with illustrations, adapted for young offenders with learning disabilities, combining cognitive-behavioral and mutual-aid principles.

Anger and general health in young offenders

There is a substantial literature that focuses upon the experience and expression of anger, and the effect that this might have upon an individual's general health. However, remarkably little is known about the relationship between anger and general health with young offenders. Using self-report measurements, the relationship between anger and general health is explored in a population of young offenders. The study showed that a series of significant relationships existed between young offenders' responses on measures of anger and their general health. The implication of these findings for both staff training and the development of anger management programmes is explored as well as methodological limitations.

The Health of Criminals Related to Behaviour, Food, Allergy and Nutrition: A Controlled Study of 100 Persistent Young Offenders

This questionnaire-based research addressed the young offender population in order to estimate the proportion likely to have food allergic and other nutritionally related disorders such as hyperactivity. A controlled health and dietary survey was conducted with 100 young offenders and 100 matched non-offenders. The offender group reported significantly higher rates of ill health than the non-offender group. It is suggested that the nutritional health of young offenders could be investigated as part of present statutory requirements to consider the physical and mental health of young criminals. There was no real difference between the diets of the two groups. Further research is justified into the association between nutrition, health and behaviour problems. From this study, the proportion of the persistent young offender population with maladaptive behaviours linked to food allergy, food intolerance and nutritional problems is cautiously estimated to be 75% whereas 18% of the young non-offender population...

A high risk recognition program for adolescents in conflict with the law.

AbstractWe describe a novel high risk recognition program aimed at reducing recidivism among the heterogeneous young offender population. The program is based on cognitive-behavioural relapse prevention programs for adult sexual offenders. Young offenders identify risk factors or warning signs for various forms of offending behaviour based on their analysis of past criminal acts. They then generate strategies for coping with future recurrence of these risk factors. We consider the potential utility and applicability of such an intervention and make recommendations for researching the technique.Limitations in our ability to adequately deter and treat young offenders are reflected in high rates of rearrest among this population. Jaffe, Leschied, Sas, and Austin (1985) observed a recidivism rate, based on new charges, of 36% over one year in a Canadian sample of 576 adolescents selected to undergo court-ordered assessments as a result of the serious nature of their offenses, chronic histories of delinquency, or emotional difficulties. Among recidivists, 78% were rearrested within the first three months of follow-up. A subsequent analysis of 126 youths from the Jaffe et al. (1985) sample charged since 1984 under the existing Young Offender Act revealed an even higher rate of recidivism: 58% over one year, with 75% of recidivists rearrested within the first three months of follow-up (Leschied, Austin, & Jaffe, 1988). Similar findings of high rearrest rates, particularly within the first several months of follow-up, have been obtained using much larger samples in the U.S., with rates approaching 70% over a six-year period (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1987 cited in Visher, Lattimore, & Linster, 1991).Meta-analyses examining the impact of rehabilitation on reoffense most often reveal recidivism rates only slightly lower among treated young offenders relative to those who are untreated (Garrett, 1985; Gottschalk, Davidson, Gensheimer, & Mayer, 1987; Whitehead & Lab, 1989). A more recent meta-analysis suggests that reoffense rates are reduced by about 50% among young offenders treated in comprehensive cognitive-behavioural treatment programs relative to youths not receiving such treatment (Andrews, Zinger, Hoge, Bonta, Gendreau, & Cullen, 1990). These more optimistic findings nonetheless suggest that a significant percentage of treated young offenders continue tobe at risk for reoffense.High rates of reoffense, particularly within the first several months of follow-up, may reflect the focus of current interventions on the short-term cessation of adolescents' offending behaviour and the relative lack of consideration of long-term maintenance of behavioural change. Recidivism can be viewed as failing to maintain behavioural changes made during a period of incarceration or treatment (George & Marlatt, 1989). Interventions directly aimed at maintaining non-offending behaviour may reduce young offender recidivism to a greater degree than reductions obtained through periods of incarceration or through traditional clinical interventions aimed only at initial behaviour change.Marlatt and Gordon (1980, 1985) developed relapse prevention (RP) as a means of maintaining therapeutic gains following substance abuse treatment. Based on behavioural and social cognitive theories of human behaviour, RP interventions foster the long-term maintenance of adaptive behaviour through improved self-management and enhanced self-efficacy. The RP approach assumes that certain personal and environmental high risk factors (e.g., negative emotional states, social pressure) and other more subtle processes (e.g., lifestyle imbalances) increase the probability of a recurrence of maladaptive behaviour. Factors which exceed a person's ability to adaptively cope with current circumstances lead to a lapse, or temporary loss of self-control. If the lapse is accompanied by self-blaming attributions, negative emotions, and a desire for immediate gratification, a relapse, or full-blown recurrence of the maladaptive behaviour, may occur. …

Further Research on Personality Organization Using the Differential Diagnostic Technique

Two recent studies utilizing the Differential Diagnostic Technique as a primary means of assessment delineated several personality dimensions that reflect the over-all functioning of children in various placement settings. Ammons' 1991 study involved a young offender population of 110 males aged 12 to 17 years. Erdman (1992) looked at 691 children in residential care, both male and female, who ranged in age from 7 to 16 years. Despite different populations and statistical analyses, the personality dimensions produced in the different studies reflected a similar type of personality organization. In assessing personality, the Differential Diagnostic Technique is shown to be consonant with more traditional, empirically based modes of symptom and behavioral classification.

Brief Psychotherapy in Two-Plus-One Sessions with a Young Offender Population

This study represents an attempt to evaluate Barkham and Shapiro's (1988) two-plus-one model of brief psychotherapy with a young offender population as a way of significantly improving service delivery for clinical teams working in prisons. Brief cognitive-behavioural interventions were administered to young offenders referred for problems with depression, alcohol and anger whilst in custody. Significant treatment effects were found at the time of follow-up, suggesting that the interventions significantly accelerated improvement in these problem areas. It is suggested that the two-plus-one model is both an appropriate and effective model of service delivery in working with this client group.

Consistency of alcohol self‐report measures in a male young offender population

The consistency among a number of measures of self-report of alcohol consumption in imprisoned male young offenders was studied by asking 56 young offenders to report, based on a 'typical week', how many days they had consumed alcohol, how many days they were drunk and how much alcohol they had consumed. They were asked to rate their confidence in the accuracy of their self-report and to complete the short EPQ-R, which contains a Lie Scale. Results show that self-report in this population is reliable over time and that different indices of alcohol consumption correlate significantly with each other. Young offenders report a moderate degree of confidence in their accuracy of self-report and the mean EPQ-R Lie Scale score is within 1 standard deviation of the norm for a comparable sample.

MMPI characteristics of difficult-to-manage federal penitentiary offenders.

Many MMPI patterns for inmate prison groups have been reported, e.g., mean profiles for male prisoners being reported as 4' 26 91 76 3-50 ( 1 ) . Investigators have correlated offender MMPI profiles with various cr~m~nological criteria ( 2 ) . The present study investigated personality characteristics of a special population of young adult offenders in the U. S. federal prison system. These men had experienced educational and disciplinary difficulties and were being transferred to a new facility oriented toward rehabilitation. Identification of this group and planning appropriate treatment programs were needed. The booklet form of the MMPI was administered to 74 inmates selected at random at rhe U. S. Penitentiary, Marion, Illinois. Ss' M.,. was 24 yr., a Stanford Achievement grade level 8.9, and an over-all Mlo 105. None were atypical of the population in which they resided. Criteria of invalidity for both groups included raw F-I; of +9 or above, raw L score of 10 or above, raw F score of 16 or above. Comparison Ss were 120 literate male penitentiary inmates with a sixrh grade reading level o r above, admitted to a male penal instirution in Maryland (3 ) . Table 1 presents the raw score means, standard deviarions and rs of the offenders and the comparison group. Significant differences were noted in all but the Pd and Ma scales and K score. The scaled mean profile was 48' 27 6935-101 F L K / , which suggested that the offenders were lacking in behavioral controls as well as display~ng some serious misperceptions and inappropriate emotional reactions to their surround~ngs Examination of behavioral correlates and MMPI profiles is needed to plan specific treatment programs.